[Review] Acute Care

Written by Dave Schuey (2011, 3Hombres)

Acute Care was the third and final adventure released during 3Hombres Games tenure as the publishers of the Dark Conspiracy 3rd Edition roleplaying game. Primarily focused on a series of suspicious events occurring at a large fictional hospital – Pangate Memorial – it was, as the author notes, written to be either an introductory mission for potential new Minion Hunters, or utilised as a reoccurring location available to an experienced party of Investigators (and what group of Minion Hunters isn’t in constant need for good medical facility?).

So does Acute Care live up to its stated goals? Is it an ‘operation’ needing urgent undertaking, or simply a product that survives simply on ‘life support’? Grab your surgical kit, load up on (legally prescribed) drugs and let’s find out!

Initial Impressions

Acute Care was released in 2012 as a PDF through DrivethruRPG¹ and comes in at a brief 22 pages. As was common during the 3 Hombres tenure, the cover is by David Lee Ingersoll, and it includes 3 pages of advertisement at the back of the PDF for other releases then available from the publisher. The interior art, again by David Lee Ingersoll, is considerable in quantity, although variable in quality, and the entire document is laid-out with the now familiar banner art and fonts that are typical of most Dark Conspiracy releases.

The scenario itself is divided into two sections: Act 1, covering the disappearance of a friend of the Minion Hunters, and Act 2 which details the main investigation inside the hospital. This is supported by a range of material, from key Non-Player characters, such as the Doctors at Pangate Memorial, through to maps of the hospital, and a couple of new Darklings. Of particular note is the introduction of a new empathic ability – Hitchhiking – and a brief section on adding Horror (or more specifically the result of being Horrified) to the game. All of this material is an interesting read and adds much to the otherwise all too brief scenario.

The Hook

The adventure opens with the Minion Hunters becoming aware that something has happened to their friend Carl Van Tyne. Carl, a reporter for an online news organisation, was, until recently, a patient of Pangate Hospital, but while his discharge was in order, has not been seen since! Carl’s disappearance is the trigger for a variety of investigations, all of which will lead the Minion Hunters to discover that the hospital fronts a number of experimental departments, that seem to be guided by an evil known as the Shadow Lords.  These inter-dimensional, insectoid Darklings (who are otherwise known as the Facilitators) that have conquered numerous worlds in their unfathomable quest to dominate others, and they now seem hell bent on invading our own reality!

The Chase

As written there is little in the way of a structured storyline to Acute Care, rather, after setting up the hook, it details a number of interesting activities that are ongoing in the hospital, and provides enough clues to allow the Minion Hunters to slowly reveal the terrors that the complex hides. As such, little can be really said about how the scenario might play out; the whole setting could provide a ‘touchstone’ for several sessions of play for one group, through to a single evening of play for another. In general, it is safe to say that the characters, after learning of Carl’s disappearance, will endeavour to infiltrate the hospital and discover if their friend is still there. These efforts will lead the group to interact with the hospital’s staff, likely break into the complex’s central computer and uncover the goings on in the building’s mysterious fifth floor. Along they way they will encounter everything from animated dead, angry spirits, a vampire and the aforementioned Darklings.

Extras

In addition to statistics for the Facilitators, the scenario provides details on the ominously named ‘Night Nurse’ (the undead guardian of the fifth floor), and plenty of other adversaries that the Minion Hunters might encounter.

Of special note are the mechanics for Hitchhiking – the power of empathic domination deployed by the Facilitators. The mechanics of these follow the familiar rules of other Dark Conspiracy empathy abilities, and in play allow the empath to attempt to take control of a target’s body… function by function (starting with their limbs, speech and senses, through to complete domination of the target). One can imagine both the humorous and yet terrifying ordeal of a Minion Hunter slowly being taken over by these powers…

There is also the simple, but actually most interesting, set of fear rules, that are suggested for horrifying scenes or situations (hence they are call Horrified rather than just Fear). Mechanically, these task resolution rules impact a Minion Hunter’s Willpower and Initiative statistics (which nicely reflects a character’s shock and their recoiling from the horror they are witnessing), and can cause them to be Stunned (as per the Stun/Head injury rules detailed on page 103 of the 1st Edition Dark Conspiracy rulebook). Again, these make a nice addition to the game and are well suited as they both utilise existing mechanics and yet allow some interesting roleplaying!

Opinions

Let me start by saying that Acute Care is not a traditional Dark Conspiracy scenario, at least not in my opinion. What it is, is a really interesting setting for the Minion Hunters to discover and explore! There is plenty of ‘meat’ in its 20-odd pages to create a good series of adventures, although it will most definitely fall on the Referee to ‘flesh’ the story out as their players reveal more of what is going on.  I could be critical of a number of aspects, but then nothing is ever prefect; perhaps what I will say is that at times it does feel a bit like a menagerie of darklings and minions inhabiting the hospital – but a good Referee will easily be able to work through this.

All in all, Acute Care is a fun, simple little setting for Dark Conspiracy adventures, and while getting hold of a copy might not be that easy these days, for those of you who have this in your DrivthruRPG library, you could do worse than taking another look.