I’d been a fan of Lester Smith‘s original Dark Conspiracy for many years. My gaming interests tend to have a dark streak and Lester’s vision of a near-future world overrun by all manner of horror was a perfect fit to my tastes. The setting saw two editions and numerous sourcebooks throughout both editions before disappearing in the late 90s. Fans kept it alive through unofficial support material though, including one of the best fanzines ever made, Demonground (whose website remains you can find here).

For the past five years or so, rumors of a new edition circulated under a couple different operations but nothing ever came to light. But when I heard that the folks at 3Hombres Games had picked up the license and were working on a new edition, I took notice. Now I knew Lee and Norm from their work on the excellent horror fanzine Protodimension and they knew me from Little Fears and the like so it wasn’t long before I wormed my way into contributing some fiction pieces to their project.

That was a while back, and I’ve been waiting (im)patiently since to see their baby in the light of day, which is why I am very excited to announce that the first book in Dark Conspiracy III, Conspiracy Rules!, is now out in PDF! Not only can you grab this basic rulebook, you can pick up three standalone adventures useful with any edition along with it. The next book, Conspiracy Lives!, is due out soon which will flesh out the third edition setting.

This new edition is written by Lester Smith, Marc Miller, Norm Fenlason, and Lee Williams, artwork by Bradley K. McDevitt, David Lee Ingersoll, and original Dark Conspiracy artist Earl Geier. Rounding it out is fiction by the incomparable Matt Forbeck and the guy who runs this website. Whoever he is.

All the stuff 3Hombres has put out so far has been well-received by the audience, and I’m glad to see a beloved license in the hands of some very cool folks. I hope you’ll check out the new edition of Dark Conspiracy whether you’re an old fan or a potential new one.