Blank Generation: Zero Tolerance

The city declared war on you.

Tompkins Square Park fell in August 1988. The bulldozers came for the squats. The Cabaret Law shut down venues. Quality of Life policing made existence illegal. Giuliani's coming in '93—zero tolerance means total erasure.

You're still here. You're still making art. You're still resisting.

BLANK GENERATION III: ZERO TOLERANCE is a solo journaling RPG about surviving NYC's urban crackdown era (1989-1993). You're an artist, activist, or both—trying to create while the state actively tries to erase you.

THE CRACKDOWN

This is the dark middle chapter of the Blank Generation series. The scene fractured into activists and artists. The underground went deeper or disappeared. Your friends are in Rikers, deported, or broken. Police know your face. The media calls you "thugs." The city wants you gone.

But you're documenting everything. Because someone has to prove you existed.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Generate crises using historical tables: squat evictions, police raids, benefit shows, undercover infiltration
• Navigate occupied territory: ABC No Rio, Tompkins tent city, squatted buildings, Legal Aid offices
• Make the choice: Is your art political, artistic, or commercial? Can you be both activist and artist?
• Track your resistance: At 6, you're broken, imprisoned, or fled. What did you create before you fell?
• Document the war: Journal prompts capture the cost of resisting state violence

NEW MECHANICS (Book III)

• Resistance (replaces Burnout) - political exhaustion and breaking points
• Police Heat (replaces Exposure) - NYPD, Feds, surveillance, raids
• Raid Table - what happens when Heat reaches 6: SWAT, harassment, asset seizure, federal charges
• Split Reputation System - Activist Circles vs Underground Music vs Political Art vs Street Survival
• The Political/Artistic Choice - serve the movement, keep it pure, or sell resistance to galleries

THE SCENE

Real locations: ABC No Rio. Tompkins Square Park. CBGB's rent battle. Squatted buildings on 13th Street. Anarchist bookshops. Public access TV studios. Legal Aid offices. Precinct 9.

Real context: Clayton Patterson documenting everything. Quality of Life campaign. Cabaret Law enforcement. Gulf War protests. Giuliani's 1993 election. The last squats falling.

Real stakes: Your friends are getting arrested, beaten, deported, and evicted. The scene is fracturing. The city is militarizing. Art becomes evidence. Resistance becomes survival.

PLAY IT STANDALONE OR AS A CAMPAIGN

Standalone: Play Book III on its own—1989-1993, the crackdown era, complete in itself.

Campaign Mode: Carry your character forward from Book II (Reagan's Children, 1984-1988). Your Burnout becomes starting Resistance. Track cumulative toll across scenarios. Watch Giuliani's countdown clock. At 12 Resistance across the series, you've left NYC or become a cautionary tale.

FORMAT & DETAILS

• Trifold brochure: Print double-sided on 8.5" × 11" paper (landscape), fold into thirds
• Print-and-play: Everything you need in one elegant, DIY format
• Solo journaling RPG: 1-2 hours per crisis scenario
• 2d6 resolution: Success (10+), Success with cost (7-9), Failure (6-)
• Deep historical research: Real venues, real people, real crackdown tactics
• Anti-nostalgic: Documents loss and state violence, not "the good old days."

THE SERIES

Book I: BLANK GENERATION (1977-1983) - The birth. CBGB, Max's, pure artistic struggle.

Book II: REAGAN'S CHILDREN (1984-1988) - The corruption. AIDS crisis, crack epidemic, selling out vs dying out.

Book III: ZERO TOLERANCE (1989-1993) ← YOU ARE HERE - The crackdown. State violence, scene fracture, resist or flee.

Book IV: ZERO HOUR (1994-1999) - Coming soon. The death. Giuliani's NYC, what remains, was it worth it?

CONTENT WARNINGS

This game explores:

• State violence and police brutality
• Mass incarceration and political repression
• Community displacement and gentrification
• Addiction and survival sex work
• Death and injury from state violence

Use safety tools (X-Card, Lines & Veils) as needed. The focus is on resistance and documentation, not exploitation.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

• Solo RPG players who want historically grounded, emotionally resonant games
• Anyone interested in underground art history, activism, and urban resistance
• People who lived through these scenes and want to process that experience
• Younger players who want to understand what was lost and what it cost
• Fans of journaling RPGs like Thousand Year Old Vampire, Wretched & Alone, and The Machine

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"BLANK GENERATION doesn't romanticize poverty or struggle—it documents what it actually costs to make art when the city wanted you dead. Book III is where the series gets real about state violence."

"Finally, a game that treats activism and art as equally valid—and equally exhausting. The split between political and artistic reputation perfectly captures the scene's fracture."

"I lived through this. The Tompkins Square riot, the squat evictions, the friends who disappeared. This game got it right. It hurts, but it's accurate."

THE QUESTION

The city is trying to erase you.

Do you fight or flee?

Can you survive the fight?

The work demands everything. Resistance is the only option. Document the war.