For RPG-a-Day 2026 I am republishing Mirk the Meek's collaborative episodes on different genres. You can read all about that here: https://podbypost.com/nerds/rpg-a-day-2026
But for the blog I have somewhat followed Anthony's lead (read his post here: https://castingshadowsblog.com/2026/07/31/rpgaday2026-starts-tomorrow-my-plan/ )
I have posted a character on each Sunday of August. this final week of the month I will create one for Dark Conspiracy 1E. To give you an idea on what the game is about let me quote the book.
"We have a fighting chance. Anyone who thinks that we deserve more than that is probably a socialist. Nice philosophy-wrong century."
-Zena Marley
(Early 21st -century mercenary-philosopher)
In Dark Conspiracy, the players play the role of normal, or perhaps not-so-normal, human beings who are fighting a global menace of unprecedented proportions. An alien, malevolent intelligence, imprisoned for eons, has been released to wreak havoc on the world. It is doing a pretty good job.
Your character has become aware of this menace and, along with a small band of like-minded companions, has set out to uncover and destroy the menace.
The difficulty is that this in no simple back-room conspiracy. The driving force behind it is an otherworldly presence of profound power and evil. Its minions that roam the Earth are hauntingly similar to creatures of dark legend from around the world. Similar, but never quite identical.
But regardless of the power of the enemy, there have been victories. Some were small victories. Some were costly. But enough small victories can turn the tide.
I hadn't looked at the character creation rules for this game for 30 years, I wish I gave myself more time to do this as it is pretty in depth! Here is what the text says about it
In order to make the long process of character generation easier, a Character Generation Worksheet is included with this game. The Worksheet is largely self-explanatory, but occasional reference to the rules is necessary, at least for your first few characters. Players should read the rules as they generate their characters, filling in the appropriate blanks of a Worksheet as they go. Once a character is completely generated, the information from the the worksheet should be transferred to a Character Sheet. After that , the worksheet may be discarded, if you wish. Only the Character Sheet is necessary for play.
The worksheet is actually in two parts!
And here is the character sheet you would transcribe your work to.
There are five general steps to creating a character. Background, Attributes, Experience, Derived Values, and finally Equipment. We'll go through them in order.
Background
Rolling randomly on the Nationality table I got British, rolling on the subtables (English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh) I get Scottish. Again rolling randomly I got a male (up to this point I did my own randomization as the game doesn't provide tables for it) who I name Angus McBride. There are odds given to know Scots Gaelic, 3 on a d10, but I rolled a 7.
Attributes
You can use a random method or a point allocation method, I'm using the random method. We roll 2d6-2 for each attribute except Empathy and reroll results of 0 for a value between 1-10. Is that because you don't use d10s in this game? No, the game uses d10s but the writer, Lester W. Smith ( https://lestersmith.com )likes to play with bell curves and die combinations. For example his game D13 has you roll a d4 and a d10 (read 0-9) for a value of 1-13. Back to Dark Conspiracy 1E. For Empathy we roll a d6-1 for a value of 0-5. If the total value of your rolled attributes is less than 33 you can add points to attributes as you wish to bring the total up to 33.
The attributes all mean the normal things, Intelligence is a combination of D&D Intelligence and Wisdom, although I'll post the game's description of Empathy.
A measure of a character's sensitivity to
and attunement with the natural forces of the Earth and
its creatures, including cther humans. Empathy reflects
a character's ability to sense and influence things
beyond the normal five human senses. Only half the
population has any discernible Empathy rating.
Strength (STR) 3+4-2= 5
Constitution (CON) 5+6-2= 9
Agility (AGL) 1+5-2= 4
Intelligence (INT) 2+5-2= 5
Education (EDU) 1+5-2= 4
Charisma (CHR) 6+3-2= 7
Empathy (EMP) 5-1= 4
Well he is hearty, likable, and has an Empathy rating so that is a start! The total of the attributes is 38 so we don't get to add any extra points. Let's see what's next!
Experience
We start the game at the age of 17 and get to pick 4 background skills at level 2. I'm going to give Angus Foreboding 2 (precognition), Luck 2 (gives you a chance to redo a failed skill check if you make a successful check), Melee Combat (Unarmed) 2, and Persuasion 2.
Now we start a cycle of four year long terms, much like Traveller, and there is an option to roll a d10 at the end of the term but if you roll equal or less than the current number of terms you are finished and must start adventuring. I'll do that. There are a number of careers you can choose from and some have prerequisites. You can also choose to attend higher education. Psychic Test Subject looked promising but it requires a minimum EMP of 5 so Angus doesn't qualify, lucky guy! I thought Entertainer might be good, Angus could use his talents to swindle people, but Entertainer requires a CHR of 8. I can't make him a Criminal either as that requires a AGL of 5. Maybe Angus should just spend a term in the military, it did me good. With a combined STR CON and AGL of 18 he qualifies for Elite Forces Enlisted. We'll say he went into the Paras or Parachute Regiment.
1st Term ends at 21 Career Military, Enlisted Elite Forces
Basic Training Skills - Melee Combat (Unarmed) 2, Small Arms (Rifle) 2, Stealth 1, Thrown Weapon 1.
First Term Skills for Enlisted, Elite Forces - Heavy Weapons 1, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 2, Navigation 1, Small Arms 2, Thrown Weapon 1.
That gives Angus a 6 levels in Melee Combat (Unarmed) but since that is a Strength skill and his STR is only a 5 any skill levels above the attribute only count as a half level. So he really now has Melee Combate (Unarmed) 5.5 which is rounded down to 5 for skill checks. This is meant to show characters with high attributes may have natural talent but after they plateau in a skill it will take extra effort to see improvement, something I have seen in real life.
Contacts - One military per term, on 8+ on a d10 it is a foreign contact, I rolled a 4 so it will be British.
Angus also gets a Secondary Skill, I'm going to pick AGL +1.
This gives Angus the following Foreboding 2, Heavy Weapons 1, Luck 2, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 5.5, Navigation 1, Persuasion 2, Small Arms (Rifle) 4, Stealth 1, Thrown Weapon 2. One British Military Contact. +1 AGL
Now let's see if he has to start adventuring, I rolled an 8 so he can do another term.
I'm going to do another term of Military, Enlisted Elite Forces to get a special bonus of +1 Initiative.
2nd Term ends at 25 Career Military, Enlisted Elite Forces
This time Angus gets to pick a total of 6 levels from a number of skills. I'm going to pick Interrogation 2, Leadership 2, Parachute 1, Stealth 1. I rolled a 9 so he has a foreign military contact, I'm going to say it is American which will help us get him to the States since that is probably where the game will happen. He gets that one time +1 Initiative bonus, which is a big deal. For his Secondary Skill I'm going to pick STR+1 to allow him to use that extra level of Melee Combat (Unarmed).
So at the end of his second term Angus has Foreboding 2, Heavy Weapons 1, Interrogation 2, Leadership 2, Luck 2, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 6, Navigation 1, Parachute 1, Persuasion 2, Small Arms (Rifle) 4, Stealth 2, Thrown Weapon 2. One British Military Contact, One American Military Contact. +1 AGL, +1 STR, +1 Initiative.
Let's roll that d10 to see if he can keep going or has to start adventuring. I rolled a 6 so we can do a third term.
Angus is going to get out of the service and come to the States to be a Martial Artist, more specifically an instructor in a buddy's dojo.
3rd Term ends at 29 Career Martial Artist
First Term Skills STR +1, AGL +1, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 3, Willpower 1
For Contacts he gets to pick one business, criminal, or specialist (melee combat) and on a 7 or higher it is a foreign contact. I rolled a 8 so it is a foreign contact. Let's say it is a Japanese Martial Artist.
For secondary skills I'm going to go with another +1 STR.
At the end of the third term Angus has Foreboding 2, Heavy Weapons 1, Interrogation 2, Leadership 2, Luck 2, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 8.5, Navigation 1, Parachute 1, Persuasion 2, Small Arms (Rifle) 4, Stealth 2, Thrown Weapon 2, Willpower 1. One British Military Contact, One American Military Contact. One Japanese Martial Arts Contact, +2 AGL, +2 STR, +1 Initiative.
Now let's see if he can go on to another term, I rolled a 9 so he can!
This is the term age starts to kick in, at the beginning of the fourth and fifth terms you have to roll equal to or over your AGL on a d10 not to loose a point. The same at the beginning of the sixth and seventh terms but for both AGL and STR. Starting the eighth term and every term after you roll for AGL, STR and CON.
Angus rolls a 9 so no AGL loss this term, one more term as a Martial Artist.
4th Term ends at 33 Career Martial Artist
Angus has 6 levels to spread across a number of options, I'm going to go Instruction 2, Observation 2, AGL +1, STR +1. Secondary Skill Foreboding 1 Contact I rolled a 4 so an American (we are in the States now) Criminal Contact. He also qualifies for a +1 Initiative bonus but that does not stack with the military one, in this game military roll 1d6 for initiative and non military roll 1d6/2, if you have careers in both you can choose which you use. Angus can now add 1 to the roll of either choice.
At 33 years old Angus looks like this Foreboding 3, Heavy Weapons 1, Instruction 2, Interrogation 2, Leadership 2, Luck 2, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 9, Navigation 1, Observation 2, Parachute 1, Persuasion 2, Small Arms (Rifle) 4, Stealth 2, Thrown Weapon 2, Willpower 2. One British Military Contact, One American Military Contact. One Japanese Martial Arts Contact, One American Criminal Contact, +3 AGL, +3 STR, +1 Initiative for civilian and military initiative.
I will press Angus' luck for one more term. I roll a 4 and he loses one point of AGL.
5th Term ends at 37 Career Martial Artist
Again Angus has 6 levels to spend, I'm going to go Instruction 2, Observation 2, Willpower 2 and Secondary Skill Foreboding 1. I rolled a 5 so the contact is another American, lets go business this time.
Angus at 37. Foreboding 4, Heavy Weapons 1, Instruction 4, Interrogation 2, Leadership 2, Luck 2, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 9, Navigation 1, Observation 4, Parachute 1, Persuasion 2, Small Arms (Rifle) 4, Stealth 2, Thrown Weapon 2, Willpower 3. One British Military Contact, One American Military Contact. One Japanese Martial Arts Contact, One American Criminal Contact, One American Business Contact, +2 AGL, +3 STR, +1 Initiative for civilian and military initiative.
Derived Values
Let's knock out the derived values.
Hit Capacity is the amount of damage you can take before you suffer serious injury. It is broken down by body part. In fact since I posted the worksheet I'm not going to go through all these derived values as there are no additional rolls or choices, just doing calculations with what we already have.
Equipment
Starting money is usually $1,000 x EDU per term but some careers are different, for example Martial Artist is $1,000 x INT. So Angus has $4,000 for each of the two terms in the military and $5,000 for each term as a Martial Artist for a total of $23,000. You buy your initial equipment from that amount and what is left over is your savings. I'm not going to buy equipment but if I did I would definitely have a pair of the $300 Serengeti Sunglasses.
Mechanically Angus looks like this
Angus McBride, Scottish Martial Artist living in America, former Para.
STR 9 Heavy Weapons 1, Melee Combat (Unarmed) 9, Small Arms (Rifle) 4, Thrown Weapon 2
CON 9 Parachute 1
AGL 6 Stealth 2
INT 5 Navigation 1, Observation 4, Willpower 3
EDU 4
CHR 7 Instruction 4, Interrogation 2, Leadership 2, Luck 2, Persuasion 2
EMP 4 Foreboding 4
Contacts 1 American business, 1 American criminal, 1 Japanese Martial Artist, 1 British military, 1 American military,
Starting funds (before buying starting equipment) $23,000
Sorry this entry sort of petered out at the end.
By the way I don't have a financial stake in Mongoose but they do appear to be a company that cares and does right by their employees. I mention them because there is a crowdfunding campaign going on right now over at Backerkit for an updated version of Dark Conspiracy that uses the Mongoose Traveller ruleset. You have until 11 September 2026 to join that campaign.
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mongoose-publishing/dark-conspiracy-a-horror-rpg-in-the-modern-age
That is all for this week, see you next Sunday to find out what the plan for the blog is after #RPG-a-DAY2026!
