History TabletopGame / DarkFuture

* CrapsackWorld: And how. Distilled elements from JudgeDredd, Robocop, MadMax combined with a ruined environment, corrupt government and privatized police forces. Throw in resource shortages, evil corporations and a whole subculture devoted to being AxCrazy and leave to simmer gently.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Dark Future pretty much exemplifies this trope; from it's not even a decade away setting, accentuated urban decay, inner city crime gone wild, dubious [[MegaCorp Mega Corps]] and Japan taking over the world in the shape of the [=GenTech=] Corporation.

Dark Future was set in the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future year of 1995,]] with a world controlled by global megacorporations where the populace was divided into those who lived in the increasingly barren deserts and wastelands and those who lived in the cities. Even city-dwellers were further demarcated into the fortunates who could afford to live in corporately-controlled Policed Zones or [=PeeZees=] and the have-nots who lived in the un-policed, dangerous slums referred to as "[=NoGos=]." The game primarily focused on the United States; environmental damage having caused a significant increase in desertification, caused by over-farming; over-industrialization and increasing water shortages and drought. The original rulebook describes the waters of the Pacific Coast as being "too polluted to evaporate," and Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado forming what's officially designated "The Great Central Desert." Utah, Nevada and Arizona have developed into a sort of North American Atacama Desert, and Manhattan has had to build huge concrete flood defences that see Long island connected to the mainland.

Law Enforcement in the game setting has been extensively privatized. The Deregulation of Law Enforcement Act in 1985 and the subsequent Enderby Amendment allowed individuals with an appropriate government license to conduct law enforcement (including the use of deadly force) and towns, cities and neighbourhoods to tender contracts for individuals and companies to carry out law enforcement duties on their behalf. The aforementioned Sanctioned Operatives are a product of this deregulation, and range from independent freelancers to fully-fledged companies, referred to as Agencies, with their own private armies, legal and PR departments. There's even sub-contracting to be done, as Policed Zone companies hire independent Ops to conduct off-the-books assignments, detective work, espionage and more dangerous tasks they don't want to deal with.

The game was successful enough for GamesWorkshop to commission a series of novels based on the setting. These started out with the short story anthology ''Route 666,'' and was relatively short-lived; the best-known and remembered being the trilogy of novels written by horror novelist and film critic KimNewman under the pen name Jack Yeovil.

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!!Examples specific to the novels:
* MadScientist: Dr. Zarathustra, head researcher of [=GenTech=] is widely implied to be at the very least skirting the edges of sanity.
** Dr. Simon Threadneedle, genius cyber-surgeon and definitely a bit on barmy side.
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* Cyborg

* MadScientist: Dr. Zarathustra in the novels.

* AlternateTimeline

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Dark Future pretty much exemplifies this trope; from it's not even a decade away setting, accentuated urban decay, inner city crime gone wild, dubious [[MegaCorp s]] and Japan taking over the world in the shape of the GenTech Corporation.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Dark Future pretty much exemplifies this trope; from it's not even a decade away setting, accentuated urban decay, inner city crime gone wild, dubious MegaCorps and Japan taking over the world in the shape of the GenTech Corporation.

Gameplay took place on the cardboard track sections; simulating the high-speed chase along the roadway. Road layout was generated randomly from a starting point of three straight sections, until a total of ten sections had been placed. Various non-mobile hazards such as mines, sand drifts, rubble and so on could also be placed on the road, and the game had detailed rules about speed, manoeuvring around obstacles and corners; with a higher speed adding significantly to the risk factor of a given manoeuvre.

Law Enforcement in the game setting has been extensively privatized. The Deregulation of Law Enforcement Act in 1985 and the subsequent Enderby Amendment allowed individuals with an appropriate government license to conduct law enforcement (including the use of deadly force) and towns, cities and neighbourhoods to tender contracts for individuals and companies to carry out law enforcement duties on their behalf. The aforementioned Sanctioned Operatives are a product of this deregulation, and range from independent freelancers to fully-fledge companies referred to as Agencies with their own private armies, legal and PR departments.

Dark Future was set in the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future year of 1995,]] with a world controlled by global megacorporations where the populace was divided into those who lived in the increasingly barren deserts and wastelands and those who lived in the cities. Even city-dwellers were further demarcated into the fortunates who could afford to live in corporately-controlled Policed Zones or [=PeeZees=] and the have-nots who lived in the un-policed, dangerous slums referred to as "[=NoGos=]." The game primarily focused on the United States; environmental damage having caused a significant increase in desertification, caused by over-farming; over-industrialization and increasing water shortages and drought. The original rulebook describes the waters of the Pacific Coast as being "too polluted to evaporate," and Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado forming what's officially designated "The Great Central Desert." Utah, Nevada and Arizona have developed into a sort of North American Atacama Desert, and Manhattan has had to build huge concrete flood defences that see Long island connected to the mainland.

''Dark Future'' was a tabletop miniature wargame produced by GamesWorkshop and originally published in 1988. Initially developed by writer Marc Gascoigne as a CyberPunk RolePlayingGame, he combined his concept of the titular dark future with fellow GW employee Richard Halliwell's idea for a car-racing game, using mechanics which Gascoigne had originally developed for the JudgeDredd RPG in the supplement ''Slaughter Margin.''

Dark Future was set in the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future year of 1995,]] with a world controlled by global megacorporations where the populace was divided into those who lived in the increasingly barren deserts and wastelands and those who lived in the cities. Even city-dwellers were further demarcated into the fortunates who could afford to live in corporately-controlled Policed Zones or [=PeeZees=] and the have-nots who lived in the un-policed, dangerous slums referred to as "[=NoGos=]." The game primarily focused on the United States; environmental damage having caused a significant increase in desertification, caused by over-farming; over-industrialization and increasing water shortages and drought. The original rulebook describes the waters of the Pacific Coast as being "too polluted to evaporate," and Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado forming what's officially designated "The Great Central Desert." Utah, Nevada and Arizona have developed into a sort of North American Atacama Desert, and Manhattan has had to build huge concrete flood defences that see Long island connected to the mainland.

Dark Future was set in the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future year of 1995,]] with a world controlled by global megacorporations where the populace was divided into those who lived in the increasingly barren deserts and wastelands and those who lived in the cities. Even city-dwellers were further demarcated into the fortunates who could afford to live in corporately-controlled Policed Zones or PeeZees and the have-nots who lived in the un-policed, dangerous slums referred to as "[=NoGos=.]" The game primarily focused on the United States; environmental damage having caused a significant increase in desertification, caused by over-farming; over-industrialization and increasing water shortages and drought. The original rulebook describes the waters of the Pacific Coast as being "too polluted to evaporate," and Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado forming what's officially designated "The Great Central Desert." Utah, Nevada and Arizona have developed into a sort of North American Atacama Desert, and Manhattan has had to build huge concrete flood defences that see Long island connected to the mainland.