Dark Conspiracy is a horror roleplaying game set in our own modern world – or just a few years hence. A terrible threat lurks in the shadows, one utterly unknown by most of humanity. If the world is to be kept safe, this ignorance has to be maintained. A conspiracy of secrecy, ignorance and darkness must be constructed for the greater good of all.
The danger is real. Merciless creatures from dimensions beyond comprehension press against the veil that separates worlds. Their motives are unknown, but it is clear that they delight in suffering, chaos and pain. In the past, they have gone by many names; ghosts, bogeymen, supernatural phenomena, and cryptids of all shapes and sizes.
This project will bring three hardback books to life, along with the Referee's Screen.
Dark Conspiracy Core Rulebook: Everything you need to create your Operatives and launch yourself into missions against the Dark.
Dark Conspiracy Referee's Screen: Dark Minions move quickly and pose the greatest threat – make sure you have everything you need at your fingertips for your Operatives.
Field Ops: A collection of one-shot missions to ease you into the world of Dark Conspiracy and showcase what is possible. Send your Operatives to combat cults in Nevada, fight Dark intrusions in Norwich, and vanquish Demonground in the Italian Alps.
Dread Earth: A complete campaign set in Appalachia where a Minion Lord has begun to break down the barriers between dimensions. Your Operatives will be fighting to close Demonground portals while hunted by Dark Minions.
The wider world cannot know about this threat. No one knows the extent to which it has corrupted the power structures of the planet, and the defenders of humanity are simply not ready to take the fight to the enemy – right now, they do not even know the nature of the threat, what its goals are, or just what it is capable of.
Actions taken against the ultimate evil must be done with the utmost secrecy, whatever the cost. You will be the ones creating the conspiracy.
In Dark Conspiracy, players take the roles of Operatives, skilled individuals recruited by an organisation they know little about, yet it is clearly the last, best hope of humanity's defence.
They will be funded, equipped, and directed towards the worst of threats. However, Operatives may soon come to realise that no one really knows anything about the Dark or the dangers it really poses.
When starting Dark Conspiracy, players choose from several careers that they will have engaged in before recruitment. The skills and talents they learned during these years will dictate their capabilities in fighting Dark Minions.
There are an infinite number of dimensions. Most are empty. A tiny number are hospitable, and we can count our own world amongst these rare paradises.
Others are visions of hell, populated by beings who have been twisted by the Dark Ones, Minion Lords, and laws of nature devised by the mad. The veil between dimensions has begun to break down and these Dark Minions are now able to create breaches into our world.
Should they be allowed to enact their plans, our dimension will become as theirs.
Some Dark Minions can breach the veil into our world, given enough power and patience. Others rely on the creation of Demonground, a small but potent area of distorted physics that surrounds an actual portal into another dimension.
Although Demonground may be hidden from casual sight by a deep valley, cave system or entire city blocks, once close its presence is immediately apparent. Trees can walk, rocks can float, and the ground might constantly chitter in mind-bending and inhuman languages. Vegetation, if not scoured to bare bedrock, will be twisted, thorny and distinctly unnatural, while artificial structures warp and turn organic in appearance. Tunnels and tubes, big enough to crawl or walk through, will riddle buildings and sewer systems, reaching out to connect to other structures within the Demonground.
The particulars of Demonground vary greatly, taking on aspects of the Dark Dimension they are connected to. One might become an area of terrible pestilence that is death to any who enters while unprotected, while another could warp buildings into the hellish appearance of a demonic church.
Operatives will soon become aware of Empathic powers, even if they do not have an Empath within their cell. Human Empaths come from many walks of life – some are trained by the military in secret, while others wander the world as Mystics. The most ill-fated are Test Subjects, driven to their limits by governments and corporations that strive to discover the source of Empathy and what it is capable of.
However, they are all mere neophytes compared to Dark Minions, who all have an innate understanding of this supernatural force and long ago unlocked its true scope – their Dark Empathy is the real deal, and with it they can breach dimensions, break minds, bring entire cities to despair, and flay the flesh from an Operative's bones.
Potentially connected to Empathy is the concept of Dark Influence. It has become apparent that proximity to the entities of other dimensions has a corrupting effect. Empaths are clearly the most susceptible, but no one is immune when they walk Demonground, encounter Minion Lords, or begin researching and using DarkTech.
Dark Influence is insidious, and Operatives who begin to be corrupted may welcome it – at first. As malign energies begin coursing through their mind and body, they will feel invigorated, becoming stronger and more powerful than before. The mundane will find themselves beginning to use Empathy, while Empaths expand their powers, mimicking those of minions as they gain access to Dark Empathic talents.
Perhaps an Operative gains a physical aspect from another dimension. But that is okay. Not being able to walk within a crowd for fear of being spotted with translucent skin, vestigial horns, or an elongated tongue that constantly tastes the air is a small price to pay for the power you now command.
But there comes a tipping point. You will no longer desire Dark Influence. You begin craving it, You must acquire more, regularly, or suffer painful withdrawal. The power still builds, and Dark Minions begin recognising you as their own. You are one of the greatest defenders of the Earth and, in comparison, the sacrifices you make are small.
Once the tipping point has been passed, your inevitable end, whether it takes days, months, or years, is to eventually fade into another dimension where you will spend an eternity in hell. There is, as yet, no known counter to Dark Influence.
The Dark is corruption. Many of the rules in Dark Conspiracy are built around this concept and your Operatives must constantly balance the power made available to them against their own humanity.
