Last time, we covered the broad strokes of world building in Crime Drama, but now we’re diving into your first big choice: the era. The time period you pick will shape everything; how people communicate, what crimes are even possible, and how law enforcement responds. After all, a drug empire in the 1970s looks a whole lot different than one in the 2000s.
We assume your game will take place sometime between 1970 and 2010 because so many iconic crime stories take place in those decades. We debated going back as far as the 1910s, but decided that those would be better handled in a separate supplement later on. The technology was just so different, and with the backdrop of the World Wars, we felt that needed different mechanics that would be too big a departure from our core system.
Picking a decade isn’t just an aesthetic choice; it changes the way your campaign will play. The ‘70s were all about old-school crime: payphones, analog cars, and cops who relied on informants and strong-arm tactics. Fast forward to the ‘90s, and suddenly cybercrime is on the rise, surveillance tech is getting better, and law enforcement is finally catching up. By the 2000s, crime goes digital: online drug markets, burner phones, and security cameras everywhere.
There’s no mechanical weight to this decision during world building; it’s all about what kind of crime story you want to tell. If you want a gritty, low-tech world where criminals can disappear off the grid, go for the ‘70s. If you want something fast-paced with high-tech crime and high-stakes policing, the 2000s might work better.
To help you pick your chosen time period, we'll provide short breakdowns of each era. These sections are divided into five-year increments, 1970-74 for example, and include a variety of information. Technology, law enforcement tactics, major crime trends, notable cultural touchstones, and important current events are all featured and laid out in a way we hope will help get you started if you need it.
Next week, we're going to start touching on how cinematography will play a role in Crime Drama as you pick your campaign's Color Palette.