Dark Conspiracy FAQ

Much of this material originally appeared on Fear the Outside, however it was never polished. I created the material throughout the years and began compiling it in/around 2003, then formatted it in 2004. In 2005, I moved to an area without Web access due to telephone and cable installation problems (which I am told are rampant in that area of Memphis). I was formatting the material offline, then carrying my entire desktop to friends' and family's houses to publish it whenever possible. Obviously, I was publishing what I had whenever I could; all of it was one draft or another - none of it was ever completed. In 2006, I moved again and purchased The Weirding domain. No changes were made to the material which resided on Fear the Outside before this time.

In editing the Metrodome campaign and supplement, I realized exactly how rough these drafts were. The writing was pretty bad, the real story was buried (because I was trying so hard to write well), and many of the terms and concepts had been mangled.

Metrodome is the campaign world I created my Dark Conspiracy games. Originally, when I decided to put it online, I wrote it as a basic dark-future setting "template"; it was to be a generic set with rules and conversion notes for various systems (including Dark Conspiracy, Cyberpunk, Champions, SAFE, Psi Wars, and Over the Edge). In so doing, I had to keep game-specific concepts to a bare minimum. When I nixed the idea and began modifying the information, I had to fix this - which was far easier said than done. A lot of the Dark Conspiracy material on Fear the Outside was almost unusable because of this editing misstep and I had no idea! I also had no idea the formatting had made it unreadable on some computers and browsers.

It goes without saying that the formatting was atrocious.

The material has been entirely rewritten and much of it has never before been published in any form. Technically, the original material should be copyright 1992-2009, but I have no idea when what was developed. I settled for 2004 because that is when I began compiling it for publication in earnest.

I have no idea who owns what rights nor what that means for us. As always, The Weirding presents this as supporting material under US Fair Use guidelines. Metrodome is a completely original campaign setting 100% developed, written, and playtested by myself (and numerous troupes) and completely belongs to me, however I freely share it with everyone and encourage derivative works which add to or modify it, under the Creative Commons copyright agreement. The rules addenda and variations are under Creative Commons copyright and technically belong to no one, as whomever owns the rights cannot claim to have developed them and I cannot claim the rights to the game.

In all cases, Dark Conspiracy @ The Weirding adds to the original work from which it is derived and does not present the information necessary to play the game (found in the rulesbook). Dark Conspiracy @ The Weirding has no intentions of publishing its materials in print, except under mutual contract by any factions controlling the property. Dark Conspiracy @ The Weirding cannot be printed in any written form, and only in digital form online (HTML); please do not reprint Dark Conspiracy @ The Weirding online, except in limited cases as allowed for by law (critique/review, discuss, et.al.) - point here, to http://www.theweirding.net/RPG/DC/ instead.

I was contacted by a spokesperson for The Gamers' Conglomerate who invited me to "throw-in" on a new edition. However, after I showed him some of Dark Conspiracy @ The Weirding, I never heard back from him! I was told they have the rights to produce a new edition of the game, but their website has seen very little updating since 2006 and there is almost no content. After several attempts at contact, I gave up.

To whomever it concerns, The Weirding and C. Harris Lynn are more than willing to work with TGC and/or any other interested parties with a financial investment in the Dark Conspiracy game and properties. All business arrangements are negotiable; Dark Conspiracy @ The Weirding may be seen as a work "on spec" for these purposes. However, it was developed for publication online under Fair Use laws.

This work may not be redistributed in any form. Derivative works should credit me as the author and refer back to www.theweirding.net/RPG/DC/. Please send information on all derivative works here and I will happily link-back to your site. Commercial entities should contact me here for negotiations.

The Dark Conspiracy game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright 1977 - 2004 Far Future Enterprises. Dark Conspiracy is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Far Future Enterprise's copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008