The 1980s were a dark time, with the shadow of nuclear annihilation, and the constant give and take of the Cold War, Central American Guerrilla Uprisings, corporate greed and the rise of MTV. There is, however, another danger, more evasive, but more immediate. There is a dark and supernatural subculture that lives parallel to our own, a world of vampires, ghouls, monsters, mad scientists and demons. Only the heroes—using their divinely inspired, sorcerous, or technological abilities—can keep these hidden, but deadly, forces of evil at bay.

This setting takes place in 1980s New York City, and enmeshes the players deeply into the modern horror genre as vampires and worse prey on the populace.

You will need a WOIN core rulebook to make use of this setting, ideally N.O.W. The Modern Action Roleplaying Game.

New York in the 1980s

New York’s unique confluence of styles and people that emerged during the 1980s allows or a lush, yet dark, backdrop for the action oriented stories of the Dark Decade.

Between the dying of the punk scene, the emergence of hip-hop and b-boys and the geeky chic college kids playing weirdo new wave at CBGBs, there are limitless colorful and disturbed characters that can make an appearance and breathe life into the adventure.

The presence of the Cold War, rampant homelessness, and race crime in New York also help give the adventure a dark edge of worry, since after the heroes save the world from demons, it might be destroyed the next day in a nuclear exchange. The huge metropolis of New York also allows for countless abandoned and burned out buildings, bad neighborhoods, and haunted subway stations where you can set encounters.

The World Within A World

Dark Decade assumes that many, if not all, of the legends of the supernatural are true. This is a world where vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, and ghosts are all real, but the knowledge of their existence is submerged, so that people on the whole do not believe in their existence. Consider it a form of collective mental defense against the horrors that wait in the night and in dark places. Even when these things are witnessed by the public at-large, pseudoscientific explanations usually arise, along with theories of fraud and mass hysteria. This is because of a powerful spell cast at the end of what is colloquially called the Dark Ages, meant to protect mankind, but that inadvertently helped to hide their predators.

The heroes of the game are among the few people that know of the reality of these things. Perhaps they have happened upon the knowledge by accident, or are part of a sect of occultists and underworld figures that know the truth, or are even supernatural creatures themselves.

The tone of this world is dark; while its influences include Buffy The Vampire Slayer and similar supernatural pop culture, the Dark Decade is more adult, less humorous, and more bloody.

Characters

Players should avail themselves of the Human, Augmented, and Chosen heritages found in N.O.W. The Mutant heritage is less appropriate for this setting. Also available are the Dhampir (half-vampire) heritage, and the new Werewolf heritage.

While most careers in N.O.W. are available, we also present a selection of new careers, including the Demonologist, Exorcist, Guardian, Sorcerer, and Vampire Slayer.