Dark Conspiracy Interview

I'm excited by this as it will use the Traveller rules. Hopefully this means it will allow me to easily mix Traveller and Dark Conspiracy together. That way I can add starships to a Dark Conspiracy campaign, or pinch some supernatural elements and add them to a Traveller campaign. Looking forward to it's release in 2026!
 
You don't need to wait. Conversion from DC to MgT is pretty easy to do, if you still have your DC books :)

I offered a quick conversion on the DC reveal thread.

Use DC character generation with the following ajustments:
characteristics 2d6 (don't subtract the 2 :)
skills - skill levels have a rising cost to buy with the points available per term.
level 0 costs 1 skill point
level 1 costs 1 skill point
level 2+ costs 2 skill points

so a level 2 pilot would cost 1+1+2 = 4
a level 3 pilot would be 1+1+2+2 = 6
a level 4 pilot would be 1+1+2+2+2 = 8

(If you don't you can get the pdfs from Mongoose, but drivethru have a pod of the DC core rulebook, mine arrived last week and it compares well with my original copy)

I like the three book set up, there are so many conspiracy theories to explore with the first book...

and then curve balls can be thrown for the dark minions reveal... Earth:Final Conflict may be how I will do it to start with :)
 
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The original game was designed so that you could incorporate pretty much anything into your scenarios, so using the existing MgT material will be a continuation of that early principle. :cool:
 
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Thing is, Dark Conspiracy was released in 1991 when there was an explosion of dark, horror themed RPGs and was maybe drowned out of the market at the time while some may have felt that the GDW mechanics were possibly over familiar.

These days, there may actually be an extra niche of interest as most new games seem to be D&D retroclones. Dark Conspiracy might feel quite novel to a young audience. I like the idea of three run on games, advancing the timeline and power level.
 
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I think it is probably the best selling point. There is no rush to get the second one out of the door, there are plenty of conspiracies for the near future investigators to be dealing with.

You do know people will be expecting crossovers every Halloween...
 
I have to admit that I am already sorting through my old material to work out which of it would be worth converting to the MgT system - there's quite a lot of it after all these years :)
 
Ok here are my take aways:

Mongoose have had a game on the back burner for a couple of decades that was "missing something", DC has provided the missing ingredient.

The books:
1 "The Unseen War" set in the very near future, players investigated the oddness and help with the covering up, dark minions slow reveal.
2 "The Open War" this is the classic DC setting in a way, 15 years or so from the first book
3 "The Final War" multidimensional shenanigans

The same PCs can play through the whole thing if desired.

The old game will be honoured but there will be updating.

Real world politics will be dealt with in three ways, to paraphrase Trump good, Trump bad, fictional government

Empathy will start off next to useless in book one, gain in power and usefulness during book 2, full power in book 3.

Extensive Traveller like subsystems to aid the referee dealing with random player stuff, supplements will focus on setting and adventure.
 
tzunder said:
Given how much I like your stuff I am hoping we might see a return of the *Dark Times*
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Well, without meaning to go all soppy that's very kind of you to say so! Actually put a smile on my face :)
Because of previous mental baggage I was letting it slide even before COVID happened and I never have got my shiz together to revive the fanzine since. A new edition might just be the catalyst for a return, either with the old name or maybe a new one if such a thing presents itself. I think I would like to keep it open to many RPGs as before but let's see.
 
Morthrai said:
Well, without meaning to go all soppy that's very kind of you to say so! Actually put a smile on my face :)
Because of previous mental baggage I was letting it slide even before COVID happened and I never have got my shiz together to revive the fanzine since. A new edition might just be the catalyst for a return, either with the old name or maybe a new one if such a thing presents itself. I think I would like to keep it open to many RPGs as before but let's see.
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I of course would support such an action
 
boggo2300 said:
Dark Times being a somewhat loaded name in the Traveller community...
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That is a very good point of course. I wasn't originally going to use that title when I started so I might go back to my first choice, or maybe come up with a new one if I do get things moving again.
 
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For those who may be interested there is a long-established Dark Conspiracy Fans group on Facebook so look us up over there if you want :cool:
I also maintain a DC Fans Bluesky account where I post links to things that relate to RPGs in the conspiracy-horror-cyberpunk-weirdness genres, although there's not much on there at the moment. Maybe we can build that up a bit.

Now to seriously consider if it's worthwhile resurrecting my old fanzine idea.

(Also posted this to the Mongoose Acquires Dark Conspiracy thread - hope that's OK?)
 
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