Pyramid Pick: Dark*Matter

Pyramid Pick

Dark*Matter

Published by TSR/Wizards of the Coast

Written by Wolfgang Baur with Monte Cook

288 pages, $29.95

Without question, the 1990s were the Decade of the Conspiracy. The end of the Cold War, the downsizing of corporations, and worldwide epidemics flowed together with atavistic beliefs in the supernatural (or, its modern day equivalent, the extra-terrestrial) to produce a potent brew of millennial angst. Television shows like The X-Files played on these fears and in the process created a popular entertainment sub-genre. Nowadays, paranoid raving about the United Nations and UFOs is typical fare of our movies, TV programs, and novels.

Being a derivative medium, you'd expect roleplaying game treatments of these same topics to be a dime a dozen. Oddly, that isn't the case. With the notable exception of Eden Studios' Conspiracy X, Pagan Publishing's Delta Green, and GURPS Illuminati from Steve Jackson Games, there are very few roleplaying games or settings in which conspiracies take center stage. As the decade draws to a close, you'd also expect that few games companies -- let alone Wizards of the Coast -- would be much interested in rectifying this inexplicable oversight. Once again, you'd be wrong.

Dark*Matter is the latest campaign setting for TSR/WotC's Alternity game system. Published as a 288-page hardcover, Dark*Matter is a very attractive volume. With slick full color pages and an evocative graphic design that suits its subject matter, it's easy to be . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: November 25, 1999

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