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They said the Cold War would end when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. It didn’t. The Warsaw Pact might have been dissolved and Germany united, but The Gang of Eight restored Communism in Russia. Not only that, but it revived the Soviet economy and retrained the Red Army. We didn’t find out how good it was until 1996 when the USSR decided to reoccupy Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Then Poland a year later to prevent it becoming a Western ally. Within months, even after a sustained bombing campaign, U.S. and NATO forces are fighting a Soviet invasion on the ground all across Europe, from Sweden in the north to Romania in the south, and when the Red Army is forced to retreat, the head of the Soviet Union authorises the use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. It shatters NATO forces and escalates into a devastating exchange of nuclear missiles that destroy military, industrial, and civilian sites on all sides. Communication networks and transportation routes break down, the food supply chain collapses, and first famine, then disease, hits Europe and elsewhere. By the end of 1999, billions are dead. Even as federal authority crumbles in the USA, NATO launches one last desperate attempt to capture Warsaw and Stockholm, the capitals of Poland and Sweden. Operation Reset is stopped by unexpectedly determined Soviet defence and the last offensive of the war is done. What survivors there are, are told, “Good luck. You’re on your own now.”
This is the situation at the beginning of
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was. It is the classic situation that dates all the way back to the first edition of
Twilight 2000, published by Game Designer’s Workshop in 1984. Where the original, written at the height of the Cold War, was set in a much-feared future, the new fourth edition, published by
Free League Publishing following a successful
Kickstarter campaign, takes place in an alternate past that hinges on the success of the
coup d’état against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 by the Gang of Eight that saw the restoration of Communism. The result is same. A mixture of U.S. and Allied forces, the last remnants of US 5th Mechanized Infantry Division, struggling to survive in a Europe that has been shattered by war and poisoned by weapons of mass destruction, at the mercy of marauders and petty warlords, the potential hope of survivors who want protection, and in search of a home. That may well be the true home of the US 5th Mechanized Infantry Division, the USA, as it has been in the previous editions of
Twilight 2000. However,
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was also offers another starting option and another option for long term play. Traditionally, the last hurrah of the US 5th Mechanized Infantry Division has always been the city of Kalisz in central Poland, but
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was offers the alternative starting point of Sweden, near the central city of Örebro with US 2nd Marine Division. The situation is not much changed otherwise, for whilst the terrain and the people are different, the invaders are not. In both case, they maintain a strong military presence, though not a co-ordinated one. The broken infrastructure and communication links have prevented that.
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was is more expansive in other ways. It is upfront about what the Player Characters are expected to do. One option is find a way home, but others include surviving, helping others in need, gathering information, finding a safe haven, staking a claim, and even helping to reset the world. With the last three, the roleplaying game gives objectives which will be later supported by the community building rules, these being a common feature to many roleplaying games from Free League Publishing. In many of these objectives, there is a moral imperative, one of making the world a better place despite the damage done to it. How they do it is up to the Player Characters, who can of course, be soldiers as the default set-up, but
Twilight 2000 also suggests campaign frameworks involving civilians, members of law enforcement, and even prisoners! These are not explored in any detail, but they are intriguing possibilities. They are, though, presented as options in terms of characters that the players can roleplay.
Like the First Edition,
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was comes as a boxed set. This contains a one-hundred-and-fifty-two page ‘Player’s Manual’, a one-hundred-and-twelve page ‘Referee’s Manual’, a large 864 × 558 mm double-sided full-colour map which depicts central and northern Poland on one side and central and southern Sweden on the other, a set of fifteen dice, eight double-sided battle maps, two double-sided scenario-specific maps, one-hundred-and-eight cardboard counters depicting various figures and vehicles, sixteen dice, ten Initiative cards, fifty-two Encounter cards, five character sheets, and two player handouts. The fifteen dice consist of two sets of Base Dice—six-, eight-, ten-, and twelve-sided dice marked with crosshair symbols for successes and explosion symbols for failure and damage, six six-sided Ammo Dice used to roll for ammunition use and possible damage to a firearm, and a six-sided Hit location die. The two double-sided scenario-specific maps are larger than the eight double-sided battle maps which are designed to be modular and used with the Encounter cards and the counters. The maps depict a variety of urban and rural terrain. The player handouts are briefings for Operation Reset and the default start of play, giving intelligence data on the NATO and Soviet military deployment at the start of the offensive, one for Poland and one for Sweden. The whole set has a sturdy handsomeness to it and a solid physical presence.
A Player Character in
Twilight 2000 is defined by his Nationality, Branch of Service, and Military Rank (as much as it holds sway in the post-war collapse). He has four attributes—Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Empathy—each represented by a letter, with ‘A’ representing the most capable, ‘C’ average, and ‘D’ weak. Each letter also corresponds to a die type. Thus, A to a twelve-sided die, B to a ten-sided die, C to an eight-sided die, and D to a six-sided die. There are also twelve core skills, three per attribute, and these are also by a letter and a die type, from ‘A’ and a twelve-sided die for Elite to ‘D’ and a six-sided die for Novice, with ‘C’ and an eight-sided die for Experienced. A rating of ‘F’ does not have an associated die type and it represents being untrained in a skill. Skills can also have specialities. In addition, a Player Character has a rating for his ‘Coolness Under Fire’, again rated from ‘A’ to ‘D’, as is the Player Characters’ Unit Morale. Whilst ‘Coolness Under Fire’ is important for a Player Character to not panic when the bullets start flying, in the long term it can have detrimental effects upon him, for every time it goes up, there is a chance that the Player Character’s Empathy goes down and thus his ability to interact with others as he becomes hardened to the loss of human life. Which is good balancing factor in play, as the Player Characters try to survive and still keep their humanity.
Beyond the stats, a Player Character will have a Moral Code, such as ‘You have a moral obligation to help those worse off than you.’, which can grant bonuses to skills if the Player Characters acts in accordance with it or cause Stress if acted against; a Big Dream that will give extra Experience Points if the Player Builds towards it; and a Buddy, who will also give a Player Character a bonus to a skill if coming to his aid and Stress if he is injured or killed. Every Player Character has some base equipment and access to starting group equipment, and potentially, a vehicle shared by the group, which could be an ordinary car, a jeep, or even a main battle tank! Important amongst this gear is ammunition, which can be used as a currency as well as in weapons. Lastly, every Player Character begins play with one more points of permanent Radiation damage.
In terms of character creation,
Twilight 2000 offers two options. One is to select and modify an Archetype, of which there are nine. These are the Civilian, the Grunt, the Gunner, the Kid, the Mechanic, the Medic, the Officer, the Operator, and the Spook. Of these, the Operator is the Special Forces operative. The other option is to follow a Lifepath. Beginning with the character’s childhood, the player takes him through a series of terms, rolling to see if he gains specialities, is promoted, how many years he ages, and whether or not war breaks out. When this occurs, he receives some military training and experience. Civilian characters will have a wider range of skills, whilst soldiers will have better military skills and are more likely to have been promoted. In terms of background,
Twilight 2000 supports Americans, Swedes, Poles, and Soviets, whilst there are tables for various careers, including law enforcement and criminal, education, blue collar and white-collar occupations, as well as the one for a military career and lastly, the ‘At War’ career, which covers both conscripts for Player Characters from nationalities involved in the war and civilians if not.
Nationality: Quinn McConnell
Branch of Service: Infantry
Military Rank: Private
Age: 24
Childhood: Streetkid
Career: Burglar, Prisoner, Conscript
Moral Code: Freedom is everything. No one tells you what to do. Ever.
Big Dream: Find a place to settle down with your friends, and defend it with our life
Coolness Under Fire: C
Hit Capacity: 5
Stress Capacity: 6
Radiation: 2
ATTRIBUTES/SKILLS
Strength: B [Close Combat B (Brawler)]
Agility: B [Ranged Combat D, Mobility D (Mountaineer)]
Intelligence: A [Recon B (Infiltrator), Survival D (Scrounger), Tech D (Electrician, Locksmith)]
Empathy: B
Gear
Assault rifle (1 reload), flak jacket and helmet, knife, personal medkit, basic tools, vehicle tools, backpack
Mechanically,
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was uses the same variant of the
Year Zero Engine that has since been seen in the
Blade Runner – The Roleplaying Game. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls one Base Die the Attribute and one Base Die for the Skill. Rolls of six or more count as a Success. Rolls of ten or more grant two Successes, which can grant extra benefits. In general, unless rolls are opposed, only one success is required to succeed at an action. Modifiers, whether from equipment, a skill-related speciality, or the situation will increase, or sometimes in the case of the latter, decrease the size of the die rolled. If the roll is failed and no successes are rolled or the player needs more successes, he can push the roll. This enables him to reroll any dice that do not already show Successes or Explosions, but whilst this means that he might roll Successes to succeed or succeed better, it is not without its dangers. Every result of an Explosion inflicts damage on the Player Character, either physical and deducted from the Player Character’s Hit Capacity if rolled with Strength or Agility, or mental and deducted from the Player Character’s Stress Capacity if rolled with Intelligence or Empathy. Actually, rolling is thus potentially dangerous to the Player Character and the rules advise that the players should not roll too often as a consequence.
Combat uses these basic rules and expands greatly upon them as you would expect for a military-based roleplaying game with an emphasis on combat. Combat in
Twilight 2000 is fought on the roleplaying game’s hex maps using its counters. Initiative is handled by drawing cards from a deck of ten cards, numbered one to ten and then counting up. It is possible to swap initiative cards if a Player Character needs to go first. When a Player Character acts, he can conduct one fast and one slow action, or two fast actions. A slow action might be to break free of a grapple, fire a gun, or exit a vehicle, whilst a fast action could be to seek cover, run, aim, or reload. Combat covers a multitude of situations and rules—cover and line of sight, ambushes, overwatch and suppressive fire, close and ranged combat, explosives—both landmines and IEDs, heavy weapons, and more. Notably, when an attack with a firearm is made, a player does not just roll the Base Dice for his character’s Attribute and Skill. He can also roll Ammo Dice, the more shots fired, the more Ammo Dice rolled. These also have Success icons on them, marked by bullet symbols rather than Target symbols, as well as Explosion symbols. Successes on Ammo Dice can be used to increase the damage done beyond the base damage inflicted by the weapon or to inflict a second hit on the same or a second target. An attack roll can fail and the attack miss, but Successes on the Ammo Dice will still have the effect of suppressing the target. When an attack roll is pushed, the Ammo Dice are also rolled and enough Explosion symbols means that the weapon is jammed and possibly damaged. Successes on Ammo Dice also determine to track how much ammunition is used in an attack and a player is expected to track the amount of ammunition used.
The other die rolled with an attack is the Hit Location die. This determines where damage is inflicted, which is important because bodily locations can be protected by both armour and cover. Armour can stop small amounts of damage and it can suffer damage itself (and be repaired), but damage can be deadly. Suffer total damage equal to Hit Capacity and a Player Character is incapacitated, but suffer damage equal to or greater than a weapon’s ‘Crit Threshold’—for example, the Crit Threshold for a Beretta M9 is two and three for the M16A2—and a critical injury is suffered. Critical injuries are determined by location and can be lethal, requiring a player to make Death Saves for his character until someone can render medical help. In addition, there is a chance of infection… Few of the critical injuries are permanent, but they all take time to heal and they do require medical attention. Having access to a doctor or medic is a necessity in
Twilight 2000. It also possible to be incapacitated via mental stress.
The devastated world of
Twilight 2000 has its own additional dangers—the residue from chemical warfare and of course, the lingering effects of radiation. Each time a Player Character encounters a radiation hotspot, there is a chance he gains a point of Radiation, which can become permanent, and also suffer from radiation sickness. If he does, there is the possibility that unless treated, as with other diseases like dysentery or cholera, that the Player Character will die.
The scale of combat in
Twilight 2000 is at the skirmish level and that also applies to vehicle combat. For the most part, due to the lack of fuel, parts, and ammunition, a group of Player Characters will only be operating a vehicle or two, so vehicle combat will often be one-on-one engagements or small and fire and anti-armour weapons be deployed against vehicles of various types. The rules for vehicle combat in
Twilight 2000 are quite straightforward and the aim in general is not necessarily to destroy opposing vehicles as much as render them operable so that they are no longer a danger. A good quarter of the ‘Player’s Manual’ is dedicated to the arms, armour, and equipment, that the Player Characters might find and deploy as they make their way across Poland or Sweden. Although there are some weapons and equipment deployed by other NATO forces described, the descriptions are mostly that of jury-rigged and civilian weapons, as well as American, Soviet, Polish, and Swedish gear reflecting the change in location offered by
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was.
One feature of roleplaying games from Free League Publishing is that they include rules for establishing, developing, and protecting a community, and
Twilight 2000 is no exception. More so given that doing so is written into what the Player Characters are expected to do in the game. A base of operations provides the Player Characters somewhere to rest without the need to make Survival rolls to make camp, and not only they can make use of existing facilities, but also add to them. These can be as basic as cultivating cropland or building a cow pen, but then facilities like these are going to be a necessity. In comparison to other roleplaying games from Free League Publishing, such where they originated in
Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, the community rules are not as detailed or as expansive, but in providing facilities for the Player Characters to build and protect, they can serve as the basis for storytelling and events. Further, a base-focused campaign means that the area around it becomes the space in which stories and events can be told and developed. The rules for travel also cover foraging and scrounging as well as difficulty of travel in the post-apocalyptic world of
Twilight 2000.
Where the ‘Player’s Manual’ presents the rules for
Twilight 2000, the ‘Referee’s Manual’ presents the setting. This includes how the world slide into the war and the state of both Poland and Sweden as the primary starting points. There is some background on other countries such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the USA, but only in the broadest of details. There is good advice for the Game Master on starting a campaign from the collapse of Operation Reset and beyond, really developing a campaign driven by what the players and their characters want to do, whether that is to try and find a way home back to the USA or establish a base and even a future where they are. To back this up, the Referee is a given details of the remaining factions, forces, and their goals in both countries, as well as fifty-two encounters to add to her campaign. Each of the latter can be drawn from the ‘Encounter Deck’, which can be anything from encountering a band of refugees, a village ready to barter, or a marauder roadblock to a simply the weather getting better, finding an ambushed Soviet vehicle, or a burnt-out bus, ready to be scavenged, but home to a poisonous viper! They are all easily adjusted so that they can be used again. Four specific scenario sites are described in some detail, including a prison, a town that has fallen under the ‘protection’ of American forces, a military academy turned into a fortress by the surviving cadets, and a burnt-out town whose inhabitants are only beginning to come to terms with what happened. All are nice detailed and include rumours and hooks that ideally should get the Player Characters to want to stick around and investigate a little further. Lastly, the ‘Referee’s Manual’ includes solo rules, conversion notes from previous editions of
Twilight 2000, and most interestingly, designer’s notes. This explains how and why the new edition came about and some of the design changes made.
Physically,
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was is very well produced. Both books are well written and the illustrations really do capture the look and feel of the desolate and damaged world broken by mankind’s worst fears. The production values of the maps, cards, and counters are also very good.
The
Twilight 2000 of 1984 was the military roleplaying game of its day and
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was is the military roleplaying game of the early twenty-first century. As much as this new edition is a fantastic update of the original, retaining all of its scope, it better emphasises its potential as makes explicit that it is as much a military survival game as it is one of rebuilding and resetting the world. Whilst the setting is bleak and the rules often brutal, this gives
Twilight 2000: Roleplaying in the World War III That Never Was a sense of hope that makes it worthwhile taking a look at beyond simple nostalgia.
A mountain infested with rival bandits, a tomb to a saint and a tree of swords on which hangs the saint’s sword, and a giant with stolen horn that can cause avalanches. A lake whose goddess gives swords to high kings, yet there has been no high king in an age, on whose shores stands a fortress commanded by a corrupt captain and manned by a soldiery whose swords have been stolen and who are preparing for mutiny, whilst a Gelatinous King lurks in the nearby forest. A patch of sea shrouded in fog and marked by four islands, one a ships’ graveyard, the second a pirate port, the third home to a sea serpent, and the fourth a tower of friendly and inquisitive liches, and three pirate crews each with three parts of a treasure map! A desert ruled from a city drawn on skids by a giant across the sands hunted by a Crawling Citadel which slides forward one black monolith at a time. A swamp dotted with shipwrecks and infested with swamp zombies, and home to six witches feuding over which one of them should be ‘The Swamp Witch’. These are just some of the entries in Summer’s End and Other One-Page Adventures, an anthology of adventures for Knave, Second Edition, the Old School Renaissance-style microclone published by Questing Beast.
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