Es gibt da doch gleich zwei Segmente zu dem System und den Mechaniken:
The Rules
Our version of DARK CONSPIRACY uses and updated and streamlines version of the original rules. The resulting system is straightforward, runs quickly in play, and players can grasp it easily.
- The basic chance of success is equal to the relevant skill of the task being attempted plus the associated attribute that skill belongs to: Skill Rank + Attribute = Skill Value.
- All actions a character (whether minion hunter or nonplayer character) attempts are handled on a single d20, attempting to roll equal to or below the Skill Value. The d20 result itself is not modified, just the Skill Value being attempted.
- The Skill Value may be modified by the general difficulty of the task being attempted, such as due to environmental factors, conditions, how injured the character is, or other factors. The Difficulty Modifiers range from +6 for a Routine task to –9 for an Impossible one.
- A roll of 1 is always a success and a 20 is a failure, no matter what the modified Skill Value is.
- A roll of 10 lower than the modified Skill Value is an outstanding success (like a critical in other games), and a roll of 10 higher than the modified skill value is an outstanding failure (a fumble in other games).
Initiative is based on a combination of a character’s relevant combat skill rank plus their Agility attribute plus a roll of 1d6.
Each combat turn is broken into six five-second combat phases. In each combat phase, characters can perform a minor action and a combat action, as well as multiple reactions and/or free actions.
- Minor actions include things like bracing, moving at a walk or trot, switching gear, and standing from being prone.
- Major actions include aiming, firing, attacking in melee, readying a weapon for later use, reloading, running, using an object, throwing something, and disengaging.
- Reactions include blocking (parrying) and reactive attacks. The more you attempt in a round, the harder it gets.
- Free actions are things like dropping items, going prone, and brief talking.
Here’s what stands out with this new edition:
- This version of Dark Conspiracy is aimed specifically at a modern audience and modern gamers. The system is an updated version of the popular alternate rules system presented in The Empathic Sourcebook and has been optimized for rapid resolution of action sequences and conflicts. Unnecessarily complicated system elements are now resolved using the standard dice mechanic.
- Character generation has been streamlined, and the overwhelming superiority of military-based careers has been re-balanced in favor of allowing players to choose a wider variety of background options.
- The original game was cannily accurate about the shape of things to come when it first appeared, but some background elements have not aged well. The setting has been revised and updated, modernized but still in the original flavor and keeping many core concepts intact.
- One of the core aspects of this game are in its title: the conspiracy itself. The dark invaders are powerful and malignant, but they are being aided and abetted by humans, trading members of their own kind for temporary power or survival.
Many classic fantasy or folklore-based monsters and dark races from the original game — the fey, vampires, harpies, mummies, ogres, living skeletons, manticores — have been replaced with creatures and entities more suitable to an audience jaded by decades of exposure to horror films and games, or are modified into something more terrifying to the modern audience. Some are intact, but are not what they seem.
Indianapolis is presented as the default setting for the core book, and the game’s scope has been expanded to include demongrounds in other locales around the world, including Berlin.
These are only some of the changes, but veteran fans of the game will find that this new edition is still recognizably Dark Conspiracy, and newcomers will enjoy a strong and distinct game with a unique flavor, unlike anything else.[/list]
