Updates to www.darkconspiracy.info

[Linden]

I saw electronic outfit Survive a couple of years back. They were very Carpenter-esque. I thought they worked better live than on record oddly enough, the one album I listened to sounded a bit like a thin pastiche. In the flesh they had noticeably more "oomph". Could imagine them playing some DC style night spot.

[ReHerakhte]

We had a discussion about music somewhere else here on the forums (although from memory it was some years ago and it was more about music to play while gaming) where I raved about the soundtracks to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video games.
They all pretty much follow the same concept. Full of ambient noise and understated music, they really add to the atmosphere of those games because they do not break into some rousing orchestral theme whenever combat starts (or worse, some heavy metal song put in for no reasonable purpose other than to increase your pulse rate).

I still listen to this sort of music when I'm coming up with ideas for game scenarios and also when writing the scenario itself.
But to add to that, I also include the Gary Numan albums Exile and Dawn.
(Dawn is the US title for his album Sacrifice - it was released under the title Dawn with different artwork as a tie-in to a comic series of the same title by Joseph Michael Linsner, because, as the guy at the comics store I bought the album from told me, allegedly, Numan was a fan of the series. The bigger claim he made though was that you were supposed to listen to the album as you read through the comics. True or not, it's still a good example of multi-media pop-culture).

I also listen to the album Le Serpent Blanc ~ Le Serpent Rouge by Belgian industrial/tribal/ambient music group This Morn' Omina because it feels to me like the sort of music that would be played in the underground clubs of the DC world. The kind of places where rich and poor rub shoulders as they seek to escape the daily grind in music, booze and any other "pleasures" such clubs might offer.
More recently I added pretty much every album released by Scandroid to mu playlist for DC gaming inspiration because it is very much retro-80s synth music filled with Cyberpunk themes.

There's a few others I listen to that I can't think of at the moment.

[Marcus Bone]

Added a new 'Trigger Event' article to the site - http://www.darkconspiracytherpg.info/20 ... ers-court/ - this one adds an optional career and provides a setting for what I call my 'Harry S. Potter' DC campaign background.

[ReHerakhte]

Interesting stuff, I don't think anyone has done any sort of military cadet academy type career before so it's good to have some more options available for those who want to start before adulthood.

[Marcus Bone]

More Marcus made madness ... http://www.darkconspiracytherpg.info/20 ... automatic/

[ReHerakhte]

That's a nifty scenario, one which I'd be very happy to use, although I can't decide which of the three options I'd use.
Hmm, thinking... I'd be tempted to use A Deadman's Revenge first and then some time later a "copycat killer" emerges, using either Free Spirits or Slip Ways but either way, the Minions were inspired by the use of cars in A Deadman's Revenge and decided to try the same method.
If the PCs think it's another human going on a revenge rampage, this has the potential for a lot of red herrings and dead ends

[Morthrai]

Good stuff Marcus! Reminds me of something...

[Marcus Bone]

Good stuff Marcus! Reminds me of something...

Indeed - the idea came as I was driving home from work the other day. I thought I'd throw in all the normal tropes and blend in a bit of Dark Con specific stuff!

[ReHerakhte]

Interestingly enough, Christine was not my first thought when thinking about the possible inspiration for this scenario.
This was: -





The Car
I haven't seen the 2019 sequel but I suspect it's just a rehash of the 1977 original and its car just doesn't look as menacing as older cars.

[Morthrai]

Heh, I did think of The Car but I had already posted that on Facebook so I put Christine on here for variety

As for the sequel, it has a definite DC feel with gangs and gunplay and dystopia but it's just not a good film. They definitely got their money's worth out of what seems to be a single FX prosthetic though!

[Linden]

The vigilante angle made me think of TV movie The Gladiator. Mechanic goes on a vengeance rampage in a monster truck after his brother is killed by a homicidal motorist. Good cheesy fun, directed by Abel Ferrera of "Driller Killer" infamy.

[Marcus Bone]

One of my favourite interviews of all time is now up on the site - http://www.darkconspiracytherpg.info/20 ... r-w-smith/

[ReHerakhte]

That's a bit of a coup Marcus, quite comprehensive.
There's a lot of detail in that interview that I don't think I've read anywhere else.

[Marcus Bone]

That's a bit of a coup Marcus, quite comprehensive.
There's a lot of detail in that interview that I don't think I've read anywhere else.

Thanks! I really enjoyed the experience. Lester is a great guy and so friendly - I'm not sure he knows how much his work and writing influenced the likes of myself 20-30 years ago.

Marcus

[ReHerakhte]

After reading the interview I did exactly what he mentioned, I went to his website and dropped a message into his inbox saying that I had read the interview you did with him and that I wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed DarkCon and was still playing it 30 years after it's release date.
That might help him understand how much impact his little horror game had on us!