Although the original incarnation of Dark Conspiracy was only with us for a few brief years, I still stand amazed by just how much material was released for our favourite game in such a short period of time. Supported by a steady stream of detailed supplements and a multitude of regular articles, Dark Conspiracy was an incredibly well-rounded roleplaying game by the time its first edition disappeared from the local game stores shelves (along with the rest of Game Designers Workshop’s catalogue).
But, as I thought about this impressive back catalogue of material, it got me wondering just who and how did this ‘machine’ maintain its production line, and surely given the size and budgets of a small gaming company, there must be some secret in making sure Dark Conspiracy thrived and grew?
The answer was obviously, of course, freelancers, those doughty contributors who work – to this day – to ensure that we get our fix of our favourite RPGs. And if we are talking Dark Conspiracy and freelancers then there are few names as prevalent and well respected as Craig Sheeley.
Craig would go on to produce material for numerous publishers, including Steve Jackson Games, R Talsorian and, of course, GDW. In my gaming circles, he’s probably best known as the creator of such iconic darklings as the Mechaniacals (the Symboids), Super Rats (both favourite pf fan everywhere) and the Ptero-Raven (a creature that I used in my own adventure – Urban Nightmares), and was the author of numerous articles in GDW’s Challenge magazine and various other Dark Conspiracy supplements (including Protodimensions and the Empathic Sourcebook).
Recently, I was able to corner Craig and have a brief chat with him about his time working with GDW and his contributions to gaming in the 90s.
