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I remember going to a local gaming convention here in Columbus many years ago and picking up promotional material for Dark Conspiracy, back when it was going to be released by the now-defunct GDW. I bought a copy as soon as it came out. How could I resist a game set in the near future with vampires, aliens, and all other manner of ghoulies, ghosties, and long-leggity beasties? (Note to prospective game manufacturers: I still can't resist.)

The setting of the second edition of Dark Conspiracy is the same as first edition. I'll dive into setting and why a second edition was needed in the first place in a paragraph or two, but first let me explain some of the statistics of the game above. "Fifty-five dollars!" you say. "Almost nine hundred pages! I don't even own 900 pages of AD&D books!" Unlike first edition, second edition Dark Conspiracy comes in two books: one for the players and one for the gamemaster. The version I've seen in stores retails for the more reasonable price of $20 per book, but when Ken Whitman asked if I wanted to review the game in exchange for a free copy I jumped at the chance and was sent the "Master's Edition", which incorporates a lot of information from first edition supplements like Darktek, Empathic Sourcebook, Dark Races, and Proto-Dimensions.

I don't know if the regular, thinner version of the game contains all of the supplementary material, or any of it, so buyer beware. Judging from the advertisment in the back of the Player's Handbook, the Master's Edition may only be available from the website.

Physically, the books are digest-sized and printed on cream-colored paper with a dark border around each page. Whether or not this is attractive is up to you to decide. One of my friends swears it's horribly ugly; I think it looks just fine. Both books are very thick - there's a lot of information in there and it used to be in full-sized books.

The setting is what drew me to Dark Conspiracy the first time it was published. Aliens made contact with earth in 1947, and the government set up a secret alliance with them. All was well for a few decades, but then alien scouts opened up an interdimensional gate on Jupiter's moon Io in 1983 and things went downhill. (It seems aliens aren't much smarter than humans when it comes to opening things that should stay shut.) Evil intelligences from this other dimension took over the aliens and a whole host of supernatural critters came through into our universe. It's now sometime indeterminate in the 21st Century. Society hasn't quite collapsed, but it's on its last leg. Whole sections of cities and countrysides are "uncontrolled" zones given over to whichever gang has the biggest guns.

There are also sections which are worse than that: Demonground, where the monsters live. Not that most people believe in monsters, since the government is still covering up for the now-evil aliens and most people who encounter other monsters don't typically live to spread the stories. There is an "empathic underground" filled with psychics, government investigators, mercenaries, rogue aliens, and survivors who fight the good fight against the otherdimensional bad guys. Interesting times all around.

Finally, there is the matter of the system. The original Dark Conspiracy was a fun game, but it suffered from having the appallingly bad GDW house system for rules. This system was also used in the second edition of Twilight: 2000, with equally disastrous results. The new system bears great similarity to the old system, but it seems to be fixed. It's now possible to kill someone, even if he's wearing armor. Gunshots can slow a character down and sometimes kill them. Characters who don't have a skill in Observation can still notice things sometimes. One odd thing that stayed with the system was the 4-year career blocks. When creating a character, you choose your careers in "terms", which always last 4 years. Characters start their careers at age 17, then jump ahead to age 21, then 25, etc. If the total lack of 23-year olds isn't a clue that something's horribly wrong with the world, nothing is!

At any rate, the setting is enjoyable, the rules are now functional if not outstanding, and the books are practically overflowing with information. Although the price is steep, I'd recommend the Masters Edition to Dark Conspiracy fans or fans of the genre.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

2nd Edition Dark Conspiracy Masters Edition
Author: Lester W. Smith Category: game Company/Publisher: Dynasty Presentations, Inc. Line: Dark Conspiracy Cost: $55.00 Page count: 862 Capsule Review by Kevin Mowery on 04/27/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Horror Space Conspiracy Post-apocalypse	I remember going to a local gaming convention here in Columbus many years ago and picking up promotional material for Dark Conspiracy, back when it was going to be released by the now-defunct GDW. I bought a copy as soon as it came out. How could I resist a game set in the near future with vampires, aliens, and all other manner of ghoulies, ghosties, and long-leggity beasties? (Note to prospective game manufacturers: I still can't resist.) The setting of the second edition of Dark Conspiracy is the same as first edition. I'll dive into setting and why a second edition was needed in the first place in a paragraph or two, but first let me explain some of the statistics of the game above. "Fifty-five dollars!" you say. "Almost nine hundred pages! I don't even own 900 pages of AD&D books!" Unlike first edition, second edition Dark Conspiracy comes in two books: one for the players and one for the gamemaster. The version I've seen in stores retails for the more reasonable price of $20 per book, but when Ken Whitman asked if I wanted to review the game in exchange for a free copy I jumped at the chance and was sent the "Master's Edition", which incorporates a lot of information from first edition supplements like Darktek, Empathic Sourcebook, Dark Races, and Proto-Dimensions. I don't know if the regular, thinner version of the game contains all of the supplementary material, or any of it, so buyer beware. Judging from the advertisment in the back of the Player's Handbook, the Master's Edition may only be available from the website. Physically, the books are digest-sized and printed on cream-colored paper with a dark border around each page. Whether or not this is attractive is up to you to decide. One of my friends swears it's horribly ugly; I think it looks just fine. Both books are very thick - there's a lot of information in there and it used to be in full-sized books. The setting is what drew me to Dark Conspiracy the first time it was published. Aliens made contact with earth in 1947, and the government set up a secret alliance with them. All was well for a few decades, but then alien scouts opened up an interdimensional gate on Jupiter's moon Io in 1983 and things went downhill. (It seems aliens aren't much smarter than humans when it comes to opening things that should stay shut.) Evil intelligences from this other dimension took over the aliens and a whole host of supernatural critters came through into our universe. It's now sometime indeterminate in the 21st Century. Society hasn't quite collapsed, but it's on its last leg. Whole sections of cities and countrysides are "uncontrolled" zones given over to whichever gang has the biggest guns. There are also sections which are worse than that: Demonground, where the monsters live. Not that most people believe in monsters, since the government is still covering up for the now-evil aliens and most people who encounter other monsters don't typically live to spread the stories. There is an "empathic underground" filled with psychics, government investigators, mercenaries, rogue aliens, and survivors who fight the good fight against the otherdimensional bad guys. Interesting times all around. Finally, there is the matter of the system. The original Dark Conspiracy was a fun game, but it suffered from having the appallingly bad GDW house system for rules. This system was also used in the second edition of Twilight: 2000, with equally disastrous results. The new system bears great similarity to the old system, but it seems to be fixed. It's now possible to kill someone, even if he's wearing armor. Gunshots can slow a character down and sometimes kill them. Characters who don't have a skill in Observation can still notice things sometimes. One odd thing that stayed with the system was the 4-year career blocks. When creating a character, you choose your careers in "terms", which always last 4 years. Characters start their careers at age 17, then jump ahead to age 21, then 25, etc. If the total lack of 23-year olds isn't a clue that something's horribly wrong with the world, nothing is! At any rate, the setting is enjoyable, the rules are now functional if not outstanding, and the books are practically overflowing with information. Although the price is steep, I'd recommend the Masters Edition to Dark Conspiracy fans or fans of the genre. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

2nd Edition Dark Conspiracy Masters Edition