Fighting for the Ratings

The rich and grim setting of SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 is not simply about fighting to win! Its also about fighting for Ratings.

• Of the billions of beings whom live in the World of Progress, the vast majority are unemployed – SLA Industries helps keep the populace quiet and off the streets by ensuring that there is a TV in every home, and that the TV is always on, and that the shows are always Compulsive viewing.
• There are cameras everywhere in Downtown – on street corners, in remote drones, in Shiver Helmets.. and you can never be sure that the guy next to you doesn’t have a chip implanted behind his eye.. SLA does not see all – but sees enough.
• One of the surest ways to fame and fortune, for every member of SLA from the lowliest Shiver to the most glamorous Operative – is to be seen on the News Channels, and being seen winning in glorious battle is one of the best ways to get on the News.
• Studies have shown that a good Melee is far more likely to draw Ratings than a short but brutal firefight, plus – SLA owns pretty much everything on Mort and firefights have a nasty way of causing massive collateral damage to property and equipment, and of course the occasional Civilian fatality does not make for good viewing. The introduction of Bullet Taxes has helped mitigate this and higher bonuses for Assaults help drive the behaviour home.
• Reality Style Shows draw a big audience at home – from watching live Shiver patrols engage in battle with the enemies of SLA, to a huge range of popular Game Shows (think Running Man!), SLA’s many Channels are abuzz with Live Combat – and Contract Killers are the Rockstars of the World of Progress.
• The most successful Operatives are seen on the News regularly – and in many cases are shadowed by News Crews for much of their working lives, wherever that work takes them. This leads to lucrative Sponsorship deals which, in turn, often leads to better exposure – the glamorous life of a successful Operative is an ideal that few in the World of Progress can aspire to and offers Fame, Money and Fortune that fewer still even dream of.

Delia the Destroyer – Operative, Supermodel, Media Darling, Killer.. Poster Girl for Life After Death – note the bullet hole in the forehead..

Ratings in the Game

The Televised aspect of the World of Progress, and the feeling that SLA is always watching.. is such an integral part of the background of the Setting that we knew, we had to somehow include in the CS1 Skirmish Wargame.

Our Head rules writer – Brad, has nailed it perfectly. There is an abstract Points based Ratings system built into the very fabric of CS1 – this represents that the Cameras are always watching, and if you are doing well – more and more viewers will tune in to watch your success (or failure!). Every action in the CS1 game is opposed, but the better you roll against your opponent – be it a shot taken, a flashy melee move or a special ability, potentially earns you more Ratings Points. An opposed 2d10 roll, with various modifiers for Skills, Situations, etc – the Margin of Success (MoS) of the roll dictates not only how successful the attack is (with higher MoS inflicting more damage, triggering special moves, etc) but also earns you Ratings Points!!

In the World of Progress, you get more Ratings for Melee than you do for shooting, due to the Bullet Tax rule and the simple fact that the Studio Audience at home are bored by firefights.. you can’t beat a good Assault!

You can track those ratings points on a 20 sided SLA Ratings Tracker, now this is the good bit.. you can choose to either miserly horde your Ratings and they can contribute toward Victory Conditions in many scenarios, or you can gamble them..

Every Model has access to a variety of Ratings Abilities – the nature of these abilities varies greatly from faction to faction, but each has many signature moves and plays. All of these Ratings Abilities have a cost attached – in theory, if you use them well, this will lead to a return or increase in Ratings as the audience at home tunes in to watch the battle unfold. Some of the Operatives and Leaders have downright powerful and scary abilities that can burn through or generate a stack of Ratings points.

The Ratings system lends a level of depth to the CS1 Skirmish Game and forces you to take risks during gameplay – risks that reward you for success, and can penalise you heavily for failure. Such is life in the Cannibal Sectors..

Dream Entities

Dream Entity Master

We will look at the Dream Entities in detail in a later update, for now though we will leave you with this snippet – in the World of Progress, the more a Dream Entity is seen and believed in, the more powerful it becomes – now imagine 1 of these unpleasant fellas getting on Primetime News.. several million new believers can elevate a Master to downright scary levels of power.. now – what was the Contact Number for that Aetherman again?

We thoroughly recommend you head over to your Playtest Pages and download the rules, they are a lot of fun and capture both the Dark and Horrific feel of CS1 as well as the Rampant Commercialism of the World of Progress. Check them out at;

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzgFHmX5_Z8xRmdIOGpuT0lWWUU

If you want to give the game a proper go, we have also just introduced this amazing Shiver Army deal;

http://www.daruma.productions/Shiver-Army-Deal-p84848229

++ Welcome to the World of Progress ++