The Inside Scoop on Gaming

It's not every day that a favourite game you thought dead and buried comes back to life. But Dark Conspiracy has done just that. Dynasty Presentations has obtained the print rights for the old GDW horror role-playing game and given it a new lease on life. I've been waiting since 1993 for the 2nd Edition to re-released and I can honestly say I think it has been worth the wait.

Dark Conspiracy offers a game universe that is well suited for running games in the style of television shows like The X-Files, Millennium and The Outer Limits. It emphasises investigation, although it is possible to defeat the forces of darkness through superior firepower, if the players and referee prefer that style of game.

For those unfamiliar with Dark Conspiracy, the game is set in the near future on Earth. The world is gripped by the Greater Depression and the standard of living for the average citizen has dropped dramatically from today's levels. Mega-corporations have exploited the situation to the fullest, raping the planet and squeezing the consumers for every last cent.

Amid all this, a new threat has begun to come into play. In 1983, extraterrestrial explorers broke open a sealed temple on Io and released an inter-dimensional evil that has been contained for centuries. Since then, other evil beings have found their way into this dimension and they only have one thing in mind - conquest of the Earth.

The player characters are Minion Hunters, who have accepted the job of fighting the Dark Ones for the good of humanity. For the most part, this is a thankless job and the characters normally don't get any help from the government and the corporations.

The new edition of the game is basically just a reprint of the old GDW material. Some new rules have been incorporated, especially in character generation. The D20 system included in the original Empathic Sourcebook and Proto-dimensions Sourcebook Volume 1 replaces the D10 system in the original rulebook. To make life more interesting, the old material has been split into two books.

The Player's Handbook contains most of the rules for the game. It covers character generation, combat and also the entirety of the old Empathic Sourcebook. The equipment list covers most of the equipment from the original rulebook as well as about half of the equipment in the old DarkTek book.

The Referee's Guide, on the other hand, contains far more information that the referee would normally keep from the players. It contains the remainder of the original rulebook and DarkTek sourcebook as well as the entirety of Dark Races Volume 1 and Proto-dimensions Sourceboook Volume 1.

Breaking the source material in this way is an interesting concept as it allows the referees to preserve some of the mystery of the game universe.

Perhaps the most notable thing about the new books is the size. Each of them is a 6" x 9" book, as opposed to the 8.5" x 11" which is the de-facto standard in the RPG industry. Each book is about 400 pages long, which makes them both quite solid tomes.

The reason for the change in size is because of the printer. Dynasty Presentations is, to the best of my knowledge, the first game publisher to employ a company called Lightning Press to print the books. The 6" x 9" format was the largest they that offered at the time Dark Conspiracy went to the printers. Lightning Press is a specialist printer; with a "print on demand" service that can print books in lots as small as 25. For a small game publisher in current climate, the minuscule size of the print run compared to a conventional printer offers a lot of advantages. I would not be surprised if other game publishers start employing this format in the coming couple of years.

Overall, I really prefer the 6" x 9" format. Its small size makes it much more convenient to read in bed or on the bus on the way to work. As far as I can tell, the binding on the books is quite good, far better than in some of the other R P G books I have seen.

The first print run of Dark Conspiracy 2nd Edition does have quite a few errors in the layout. However, to be fair to Ken Whitman who did the layout of the new books, this has come about mainly because of the printing process used. Lightning Press stores the books in an electronic format, and poor font substitution at the time of printing is responsible for a lot of the problems. Some of the artwork has also suffered because of a downscaling of the number of dots per inch used for the art in the electronic format.

The good news for people thinking of buying the game is that Ken Whitman has promised to fix the errors in the manuscript before any more copies of the book are printed. Now the first print run has sold out, any books purchased from here on should be of a much higher quality.

Overall, though two new books provide a wealth of information for both players and referees. I don't ever think I've seen a core rules set with as much information as the new Dark Conspiracy books. The two books contain enough information on their own to run a quite detailed campaign for some time to come.

They also offer a considerable cost saving over the first edition of the game. Each of the new books has a cover price of US$20.00. When you consider that the new books include all of the information from the first edition rulebook (US$22.00), the Empathic Sourcebook (US$16.00), DarkTek (US$12.00), Dark Races Volume 1 (US$12.00) and Proto- dimensions Sourcebook Volume 1 (US$14.00) - a total of US$76.00 - the new books offer the same information for nearly half the cost. It really is good value for money.

If you're more interested in a game universe with a dark future, where the characters actually have a chance to defeat the evil critters, then Dark Conspiracy could be for you.

For information about ordering the second edition of Dark Conspiracy, see the Dynasty Presentations website.

A bimonthly electronic fanzine completely related to Dark Conspiracy will be available from October 1st, 1998. For more details about DEMONGROUND - the Electronic Fanzine of Dark Conspiracy, see the DEMONGROUND site.

On the whole, the 2nd Edition of Dark Conspiracy is a really good investment for anyone looking for a dark, near future horror game.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Dark Conspiracy 2nd Edition
Author: Lester W. Smith Category: game Company/Publisher: Dynasty Presentations Cost: $20 per book Page count: ~400 per book ISBN: Player's Handbook: 1-892886-00-6, Referee's Guide: 1-892886-01-4 Capsule Review by Geoff Skellams on 09/13/98. Genre tags: none	It's not every day that a favourite game you thought dead and buried comes back to life. But Dark Conspiracy has done just that. Dynasty Presentations has obtained the print rights for the old GDW horror role-playing game and given it a new lease on life. I've been waiting since 1993 for the 2nd Edition to re-released and I can honestly say I think it has been worth the wait. Dark Conspiracy offers a game universe that is well suited for running games in the style of television shows like The X-Files, Millennium and The Outer Limits. It emphasises investigation, although it is possible to defeat the forces of darkness through superior firepower, if the players and referee prefer that style of game. For those unfamiliar with Dark Conspiracy, the game is set in the near future on Earth. The world is gripped by the Greater Depression and the standard of living for the average citizen has dropped dramatically from today's levels. Mega-corporations have exploited the situation to the fullest, raping the planet and squeezing the consumers for every last cent. Amid all this, a new threat has begun to come into play. In 1983, extraterrestrial explorers broke open a sealed temple on Io and released an inter-dimensional evil that has been contained for centuries. Since then, other evil beings have found their way into this dimension and they only have one thing in mind - conquest of the Earth. The player characters are Minion Hunters, who have accepted the job of fighting the Dark Ones for the good of humanity. For the most part, this is a thankless job and the characters normally don't get any help from the government and the corporations. The new edition of the game is basically just a reprint of the old GDW material. Some new rules have been incorporated, especially in character generation. The D20 system included in the original Empathic Sourcebook and Proto-dimensions Sourcebook Volume 1 replaces the D10 system in the original rulebook. To make life more interesting, the old material has been split into two books. The Player's Handbook contains most of the rules for the game. It covers character generation, combat and also the entirety of the old Empathic Sourcebook. The equipment list covers most of the equipment from the original rulebook as well as about half of the equipment in the old DarkTek book. The Referee's Guide, on the other hand, contains far more information that the referee would normally keep from the players. It contains the remainder of the original rulebook and DarkTek sourcebook as well as the entirety of Dark Races Volume 1 and Proto-dimensions Sourceboook Volume 1. Breaking the source material in this way is an interesting concept as it allows the referees to preserve some of the mystery of the game universe. Perhaps the most notable thing about the new books is the size. Each of them is a 6" x 9" book, as opposed to the 8.5" x 11" which is the de-facto standard in the RPG industry. Each book is about 400 pages long, which makes them both quite solid tomes. The reason for the change in size is because of the printer. Dynasty Presentations is, to the best of my knowledge, the first game publisher to employ a company called Lightning Press to print the books. The 6" x 9" format was the largest they that offered at the time Dark Conspiracy went to the printers. Lightning Press is a specialist printer; with a "print on demand" service that can print books in lots as small as 25. For a small game publisher in current climate, the minuscule size of the print run compared to a conventional printer offers a lot of advantages. I would not be surprised if other game publishers start employing this format in the coming couple of years. Overall, I really prefer the 6" x 9" format. Its small size makes it much more convenient to read in bed or on the bus on the way to work. As far as I can tell, the binding on the books is quite good, far better than in some of the other R P G books I have seen. The first print run of Dark Conspiracy 2nd Edition does have quite a few errors in the layout. However, to be fair to Ken Whitman who did the layout of the new books, this has come about mainly because of the printing process used. Lightning Press stores the books in an electronic format, and poor font substitution at the time of printing is responsible for a lot of the problems. Some of the artwork has also suffered because of a downscaling of the number of dots per inch used for the art in the electronic format. The good news for people thinking of buying the game is that Ken Whitman has promised to fix the errors in the manuscript before any more copies of the book are printed. Now the first print run has sold out, any books purchased from here on should be of a much higher quality. Overall, though two new books provide a wealth of information for both players and referees. I don't ever think I've seen a core rules set with as much information as the new Dark Conspiracy books. The two books contain enough information on their own to run a quite detailed campaign for some time to come. They also offer a considerable cost saving over the first edition of the game. Each of the new books has a cover price of US$20.00. When you consider that the new books include all of the information from the first edition rulebook (US$22.00), the Empathic Sourcebook (US$16.00), DarkTek (US$12.00), Dark Races Volume 1 (US$12.00) and Proto- dimensions Sourcebook Volume 1 (US$14.00) - a total of US$76.00 - the new books offer the same information for nearly half the cost. It really is good value for money. If you're more interested in a game universe with a dark future, where the characters actually have a chance to defeat the evil critters, then Dark Conspiracy could be for you. For information about ordering the second edition of Dark Conspiracy, see the Dynasty Presentations website. A bimonthly electronic fanzine completely related to Dark Conspiracy will be available from October 1st, 1998. For more details about DEMONGROUND - the Electronic Fanzine of Dark Conspiracy, see the DEMONGROUND site. On the whole, the 2nd Edition of Dark Conspiracy is a really good investment for anyone looking for a dark, near future horror game. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Dark Conspiracy 2nd Edition