Dark Conspiracy's influence in RPGs
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:00 am
It always amazes me that despite being 30 years old (and having only one really far-reaching edition), that Dark Conspiracy has such a far reaching influence. As an example Chris Pramas (head of Green Ronin) posted this today (as part of his ongoing series of reflecting on RPGs)...
Today's game is Dark Conspiracy (1991) from GDW. The game takes place in the early 21st century. There's been a huge economic crash, multinational corporations are more powerful than governments, and the gulf between the rich and poor has become massive. Crazy stuff, right? On top of that there are aliens, vampires, demons, and a Cthulhu-style Great Old One, as well as some cyberpunk elements. This allows you to run all sorts of horror scenarios, and have some pulp and scifi weirdness too. It's a bit of kitchen sink (by design) but there is also a story that does a credible job of tying it all together. Makes more sense than the X-Files, which would mine similar territory two years later. Dark Conspiracy uses a variant of GDW's house system, as seen in Twilight: 2000 and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. It's not as obsessed with military equipment as Twilight: 2000 but it's still pretty crunchy for a horror game. Since GDW went out of business, Dark Conspiracy has been revived several times. A second edition came out in 1997 and a third in 2012. A fourth edition is on the way from Amargosa Press.
I had no professional involvement in Dark Conspiracy but I did meet designer Lester Smith several years later. I was publishing another horror RPG, Whispering Vault, which Lester had reviewed quite favorably in Dragon Magazine. He wrote an adventure for our next supplement, The Book of Hunts, and having someone from GDW and TSR writing for us felt like a big get for my tiny company.
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