Dark Times
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The trains don't run through this part of town anymore. Not since someone stood on the tracks and tried to rob one. Thirteen years ago¸ he would've just ended up in the obituaries¸ but instead he melted the engine with an energy blast from his hand and thirty-seven people were injured. Downtown¸ they have "Peacekeepers" to prevent that. Dressed in their corporate power armor¸ they stand on every street corner¸ looming over the pedestrians. Waiting for an excuse. Here¸ things work a little differently. People pay their protection money to crooked supers. Folks grumble about it¸ but when a man who can shoot lighting from his fingers floats down from the sky and demands you call him king¸ you call him king. The corporations say they are doing their best to round up the renegade creations they made¸ but there are a few good Enhanced out there too¸ caught between the corps and their own kin. This is the world of Dark Times: a tabletop roleplaying game about superheroes in the corporate slum that has swallowed up most of the United States. Twenty-six years ago a man named Dr. Anton Valasakis changed everything with the discovery of a gene that unlocked superhuman powers. He started his experiments at pharmaceutical supergiant Prometheus Medical¸ working first on "willing volunteers"¸ and soon he was sanctioned by the government. By this time Prometheus Medical was already a powerful corporation and had its hooks deep in controlling many politicians. Many of the first test subjects were prisoner who were on death row. This was a chance for them to gain a chance at life. Many died¸ and not much is known about this few who survived. The experiments continued and soon a rash of industrial espionage broke out. Many large corporations¸ seeing the potential in customized superhuman technology¸ were now in a race to have their own Enhanced on their payroll. These laboratory creations were treated as slaves and many fled their masters¸ hiding in the slums. Some of the ones that got away even had kids. Now there exists a second generation of Enhanced and still the corporations view them as company property. By now the laws had been warped to protect the rights of the corporations and their "investments" and not the people. This is just the tip of the iceberg. In Dark Times¸ players work together with their powers¸ protect their people¸ and build their community¸ all under the shadow of a corporation that has replaced the government and seeks to enslave them since they are viewed as "company property". With a little bit of cyberpunk¸ a little bit of noir¸ and a whole lot of superpowers¸ Dark Times mixes old-school and new-school design to create a game that is fast¸ pulpy¸ immersive¸ and fun to play.