Dark Future Roleplay

In the Dark Future there are many Gangs, Cults, and Ops Teams engaged in battle on the Highways, Roads, Cities, and Wastelands of the world, but there is always room (and often desire) for more, Players that wish to focus on the development of a single Character can play Dark Future as a Roleplaying Game, this requires a Referee and at least one Player, though 2 - 6 is recommended.

Playing Dark Future as a Roleplaying Game can offer the Players and Referee an opportunity to explore the World in a whole new way, beyond the road battles and bloody conflict (Though a Roleplaying Game can include such elements), allowing them to indulge in the environment and History of the Dark Future.

## Referee's in Roleplay

(See Referee)

In order to create the scene and set challenges for the Players, one Player must act as Referee for Roleplaying Games in Dark Future, this player acts as a Referee would in normal Dark Future Engagements, except that they also control the dialogue and actions of all the Non-Player Characters the Players encounter while playing.

The Referee must create the scene for the other Players, describing the landscape, buildings, denizens, and objects that fill the world (Though highly detailed scenes may be very beautiful it is not always necessary to describe every scene in such exquisite detail), the Referee must control all the aspects of the world except the Character that are controlled by the other Players.

### Setting the Scene

When the Characters enter an area in the game it is the job of the Referee to detail the environment and control the conditions and denizens of the scene. This may seem like an impossible task but once the basics of the environment have been established the players own imaginations will fill in the rest, but it is always best to keep the descriptions short but colorful.

*Across the City the Neon Lights illuminated the rain with an eerie blue glow that seemed to bleach the dirt on the streets a luminous blue.*

This short statement creates a scene of a wet and dirty city with the bright lights of the city center bathing everything with its blue glow, but more than that it evokes a dark and rich sensation of the environment, the tone you set for your game will determine what sort of game it will be, if you highlight the dark and dystopian elements of the game then it will have that feel for the players, if instead you highlight the horrific, comedic, technological, or wasteland feel of the game then the players will see the game differently and treat it differently.

Much of the Dark Future is set in the wasteland or futuristic environments of the NoGo and PZ areas of the world, this will heavily affect the sort of places the players can visit and the general descriptions of these places will be similar so not every street, room, or desert needs a detailed description. Background Music and Props can also allow the Referee to expand on the scene and help make the players feel like they are part of the world.

### Non-Player Characters

The Referee must also control the dialogue and actions of the characters in the game that are not controlled by the other Players, this will frequently mean controlling one off throwaway characters such as Hydroburger employees and Enforcers, but some will be recurring characters and opponents, these will have names, descriptions, and backgrounds that may be explored by the Players.

The Recurring Non-Player Characters (or NPC's for short) that the Referee Controls will in most respects be similar to Player Characters (or PC's), often even having Character Record Sheets like PC's for the most important NPC's. These characters are often important to the story that is being created and will fill many roles, such as Sidekicks, Enforcer Captains, Nemesis', Gang Leaders, and a host of other possibilities beyond.

The Referee should keep track of the important NPC's in a Game as they are likely to require notation for their various Stats, Abilities, and Equipment that they may have, and keeping records will allow the Referee to better maintain the quality and accuracy of their game world.

### The Story

Much like Campaign Games a Roleplaying game is played over successive sessions and engagements that create a complete story such as those of a movie or novel, in such games the Referee creates a story and draws the players into it using plot devices and settings much like the director of a movie when they set the scene or move from one scene to another, the Referee should keep the main story in mind during a Roleplaying Campaign and try to draw the Players along it with the NPC's and Environment.

The Referee is the only Player who should know the story and how it will unfold, but it is important for the Players to have an actual impact on the events and outcome, bearing witness to the events of the Game is not as fun as actually having a hand in shaping the outcome, Characters in Movies will typically have some impact on the outcome of the story and can take it in unexpected directions and players should be able to do so as well.

It is often best to have a well planned Story in advance of beginning the Game but it is also possible to Improvise and Freestyle the story, especially if the players drift too far from the main plot, this effort can help to get the players back into the main story and it can also create side plots for the players to deal with (E.g. The Players are tracking down a Gang Supplier and encounter a Slum Dealer, though unexpected they engage the Dealer in a long conversation and the Referee decides that he is dealing to get the money together for a ransom for his sister, the Players decide to help and the Referee has created a Side Plot that can then be used to draw the players back on track, perhaps the Gang Supplier is known to the kidnapper or the Dealer has contact with them.)

## Players in Roleplay

All Players other than the Referee in a Roleplaying game are responsible for only a single character, this is their Player Character (PC), and acts as the Players mechanism for interacting with the Referees Story.

Each player acts out the dialogue of their character as they engage in the story and they decide what physical actions the character takes during the game, players cannot dictate outcomes or NPC action's as they are not in control of these elements, and they cannot make actions that the Character is physically unable to perform, the player must use their character in a realistic way within the game, as a rule a Character cannot perform an action that is impossible in reality, and even then only actions that are reasonably possible and acceptible to the Referee can be taken.

### Character Stats

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**Skill:** represents the characters overall athletic and dexterous ability, this stat is used to determine the characters ability to make jumps, leaps, attacks, and dodges, as well as their general competence behind the wheel of a vehicle.

**Intellect:** Indicates how quick thinking and smart the character is, this is typically used for Medical, Technical, and Hacking tests, as well as the general ability of the Character to solve problems and technical issues.

**Kudos:** Both represents how much visibility the character has gained in the media and how well received the character is in social situations, while most people will have little or no Kudos to begin with, as it grows so does the characters ability to talk or threaten their way out of a situation.

**Weight:** Generally this indicates the Weight of the Character, but it also determines how much weight they can carry and how likely they are to break things they apply their strength and weight to, this can vary and will typically be represented by two values, the Characters actual weight and their maximum carrying capacity.

**Damage:** Represents how lethal the character is when they attack others with hand to hand attacks, this will generally begin at a negative value but will increase based on the weapons and training the character has.

**Wounds:** generally represents how much injury the character can absorb before they are unable to function, this is usually reduced as a result of damage sustained during battles, but it can also be a result of poison, radiation, and a variety of other factors.

**Psychosis:** measures the general mental well being of the character and will always begin at zero, as it increases the character suffers greater mental problems and eventually begins to suffer from disorders.

**Mileage:** is the general level of experience the character has gained over the course of a Roleplaying Game or Campaign Game, Mileage always begins at zero, but as the game progresses the characters Mileage will increase and can be spent to improve the Characters other Stats.

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## See Also

Main Rules

On Foot

Index