I've decided to create a Dark Conspiracy clone, basically to allow me to produce whatever material I want. Now while I know I could just publish the mechanics (these can not be copyrighted), as we'll all agree its the the background that makes DC the game it is (based, in my opinion, no small part due to Michael Stackpole's Fiddleback Trilogy). Seeing as we will need a new dystopian setting, I thought what better than to create ones own game.
The Background
Darkness Falls is set in an alternative 2020, a world that has come around due to events in the 80s and 90s. These are:
In 1995, right on budget and ahead of schedule, the U.S. Department of Energy opened The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) (nicknamed the Desertron); a particle accelerator complex constructed in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas. Building on the success of the much smaller ISABELLE, a large colliding beam particle accelerator opened in upstate New York in 1983, this complex was to bring a new golden age to particle physics.
But with great power comes great responsibility, and once more mankind stood on the brink of destruction, playing with forces it could not comprehend. The moment the SSC was activated it begun a chain of events that would forever change humanity!
In summary:
- The SSC opens a rift between our reality and every other, bringing in nightmares, demons and everything else
- A great plague hits humanity, killing almost 10% of the population and driving others into intensified urban-ification
- With a consolidation of power, a number of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (metroplexes) start to declare a level of autonomy yet to be seen in the US. Both State and Federal governments flounder in new world of 'city-states' who are propped up by the wealthy and influential
- After twenty years of change, a great enmity has arisen between the most powerful of metroplexes, and great wastelands now lie between them, home to just the hardiest of souls and things from the darkness
- More powerful entities from other worlds have entered our reality, and have begun to influence the leaders and corporations to their own unknown ends
As a clone of 90s games, it wouldn't be right to have a modern, streamlined system running this game. Instead I'm looking to replicate the style of 90s RPGs with both unified mechanics and some detailed mechanical complexity. So far I have:
- A chart driven D20 core mechanic
- A simple combat system that allows some depth (i.e, it locations, success levels) but easy resolution
- A Wounds system that impacts the characters as they are injured (i.e. thresholds to reflect the impact of damage of an individuals effectiveness)
I've decided that I will map this game out here on the forums. Why? Well A) It is likely that the readers here will be the only people interested but also B) It stops me focusing on formating and layout (which are a big distraction) and finally C) I can access these forums from anywhere and any device (plus they are mine to manage as I like ).