Dark States

'''Civilization on Earth is dying a slow and painful death. Avarice and fear rule the masses whilst the political establishment crumbles around them. Wars rage over dwindling resources but Mother Nature wants her revenge. Somewhere beyond human reckoning the eyes in the darkness have opened. Welcome to Dark Times. Welcome to DARK STATES.''' It is with great excitement (and a good dose of nerves) that I am proud to announce the release of Dark States! This is a near-future, conspiracy horror setting for Savage Worlds, released under SWAG, which draws upon inspirations from the conspiracy horror genre over the last 50 years! Three products have been launched as part of the initial release. The first is the Seeker’s Guide, an 80-page book containing everything you need to know to make your “Seeker”, a Player Character who is out to uncover secrets, mysteries and monsters that exist in the dystopian world of tomorrow. This is a Pay-What-You-Want product with an optional $5 price tag and contains the following:
 * An Overview of the dystopian world that is Dark States
 * 18 Archetypes to provide you with examples when creating your Seeker
 * 20 New Hindrances, from Amnesiac to Unfocused
 * 52 New Edges to help your seeker fight the darkness and supplement new rules, from Adept to Wild Conduit
 * 4 New Arcane Backgrounds as well as rules for conducting Experiments and Rituals
 * Additional Power Modifiers as well as changes to how specific powers operate
 * Setting Rules drawn from Savage Worlds, as well as modified and new Setting Rules
 * New Rules to cover Addiction, Corruption, Drones, Hacking, Wealth and Encumbrance
 * 9 pages containing all the gear you need to outfit your Seeker, from basic goods to high tech arsenals and a range of additional vehicles

This is supported by the second product, a Character Sheet for Dark States which gives you somewhere to hold your dark secrets! This is a free product consisting of 3 pages, 2 pages of which are required depending on whether you have an Arcane Background or not.

The third and final product is the Conspirator’s Handbook which contains everything the GM, or “Conspirator”, needs to run Dark States. This is a 136-page book, priced at $8.99, which contains the following:
 * The Secret History of Dark States, written from the perspective of three primary protagonist groups
 * Additional Arcane Backgrounds for those that have become corrupted, as well as the use of Xenotech
 * Rules for handling Environmental Disasters and “Singularities” in your game
 * 30 Factions covering Government Agencies, Corporate Entities, Criminal Organizations and Secret Societies
 * A Bestiary with over 50 entries, including Humans, Cryptids and Xenomorphs
 * Advice on how to run your game in Dark States, including different Modes, Flavors, Styles and Variant Plot options
 * An Adventure Generator for prepping quick sessions or providing ideas for your game
 * An Overview of the United States in the world of the near future, providing a regional breakdown including environmental disasters, active factions and adventure seeds
 * A Gazetteer of New York City and it’s surrounds, from Newark to Yonkers and Long Island, with details of each Borough, Island or Neighbor, and adventure seeds for each
 * An Adventure to introduce people to the world of Dark States which also allows seekers to explore the New York Metropolitan area.

That’s all for now, but I have already started work on a Plot-Point Campaign which will delve far more deeply into some of the conspiracies that underpin the setting! I will shortly be looking for willing volunteers to try out this PPC and provide feedback to make it work for as many people as possible!