MAY 02, 2006

What's for the new conspiracy?

From the day I first saw it in my Friendly Local Game Store, Dark Conspiracy has been my favourite RPG setting. I don't know about you, but there was just something about the cover that really appealed to me, and no I'm not talking about the red-head in the skin white pants and leather – although, thinking about it, I'm sure she had some appeal to a 16-year-old such as myself!

Anyway, at the time I was just joining my first ‘adult' group of roleplayers - you know the first group in which everyone is earning money, and when a lifetime of school yard stories don't cut it as causal conversation anymore - and we had recently been playing Twilight 2000. Seeing that this new ‘Dark Conspiracy' setting used the same mechanics as the aforementioned T:2000, I took it upon myself to purchase the book and prepare a campaign for my fellow gamers.

Now, I'm unsure whether it was due to the nature of the group (which consisted totally of players who were vastly more experienced gamers than myself), or because I was more impressionable back then, but even now I remember almost every detail of every adventure I ran in that first DC campaign. From Dayton, Ohio, to the Everglades, my players, and their kitted out Hummer, travelled the length of America attempting to discover the ‘reasons' for their ever darkening Earth.

While the answers the group found weren't always the ones the wanted, these games were some of the best sessions of gaming I have ever have the pleasure of running. Eventually, however, like all good things, the campaign came to an end, in this case, as our gaming interests turned more towards Super Heroes and generic systems. But the lessons and memories of those sessions still stick with me today, and are, in all honestly, some of the most important drivers in the all new edition of Dark Conspiracy.

I suppose also that this is one of the key objectives of this journal as well; to explore what it is that makes Dark Conspiracy such a great game, and discover how to harness the appeal of the game in this new millennium.

To be honest, not only does DC's setting and history need to be updated, but so do many of its mechanics. I feel that today roleplayers are looking for a more comprehensive system, than the one currently available in the game, one that is not only simpler than that of the 1st edition rules, but also offers enough flexibility to fit seamlessly into each referee's own image of the game world.

That's not to say that I'm going to suggest that we – as they say – throw the baby out with the bathwater. Indeed, to start clean slate with Dark Conspiracy would be counterintuitive to whole idea of securing the rights to the game in the first place. Instead, we are currently reviewing each existing mechanic, and determining the function and usefulness it offers the game as a whole.

This isn't just a matter of thinking up a nice new rule or way of using for dice, but, instead, devising mechanics that fit with the game's overall theme and testing them as thoroughly possible.

However, and let's be honest here, it is universally agreed that some of the rules in the core system just don't work, or worse yet, are actually counter active to good game play. These need to be addressed, to be tested and changed to met the requirements of a RPG in the 21st Century.

However, I'm not saying that if ‘I' don't like a specific rule, then it's bound for the scrap heap. Not at all, there are plenty of existing rules that will, even if we decide to look in other directions to that aspect of gaming, will survive in the new edition as Optional Rules; allowing each group of gamers to determine what style is best for them.

Indeed, this concept of backward compatibility is one of the non-negotiables of this ‘core system' review. As we have previously stated, it is important to us that all the exist supplements - be they specifically for DC or even for one of the other GDW house rules games - will be completely compatible with any new mechanics we introduce. What I'm looking at here is a way to introduce some well needed, and past due, changes to the game, in an attempt to modernise the system and, more importantly, allow referees to focus on scene setting and decision making, and free up players to interact with the dark world presented to them. I want the new edition of DC to be about interactive fun, not dice rolling.

Whew! Well, that pretty much covers what I hope to achieve in this all new edition of Dark Conspiracy. Over the next few entries of this journal, I will be looking at discussing how we are going to do all these changes, all with the goal of, one day soon, once again calling Dark Conspiracy our hobby's PREMIER conspiracy horror RPG!

APRIL 02, 2006

Reviving the Conspiracy!

Welcome to the first post of this blog.

As you may know, my name is Marcus Bone, and I am the lead developer for the new edition of Dark Conspiracy (DC).

Right, now that that's out of the way, I suppose I should give you a little background about myself, and, more importantly, the purpose and goals of this web log. I suppose it might be best to use this entry to familiarise you all with who I am and what I think about the ‘journey' I'm about embark on – that being the rebirth of Dark Conspiracy.

Okay then, I'm a 30-year-old male, who, for his day job, capers about as a Consulting Information Analyst (a fancy name for a Technical Writer who charges way too much for his services). I'm happy married, and have been for, what, the past 6 years! I'm a keen role player (in fact my wife would probably say that it influences my life a bit too much), and in the past few years I have been actively involved in a number of roleplaying projects.

When it comes to my involvement with Dark Conspiracy, two things spring to mind; my time working on DEMONGROUND - the fanzine of Dark Conspiracy, and latterly all dark horror role playing – where I was a founding editor and regular contributor; and Of Gates and Gods, a not so good supplement for DPI's incarnation of DC (sure I liked aspects of it, but the adventure never really got off the ground, both in terms of plot and the influences of other, not to be named, individuals).

Recently, Emma (my wife) and I had our first child, Jonathon, and I suppose it could well have been his arrival that has been the real motivation for me to gather together a group of like-minded souls and track down a licence to republish Dark Conspiracy.

Well, how's that then? That pretty much wraps up my introduction, but never fear, I promise I'll be back with much more of my journey through the rebirth of DC. Indeed, join me next entry, when I discuss my fascination with the game and the real reason for this blog.