Good afternoon, brave Operatives!

As we approach another weekend after passing the halfway point of this campaign, it is time to look at adventures in Dark Conspiracy - missions.

Now, you can approach missions/adventures in any fashion you see fit, but we have provided a template for you to use in the Dark Conspiracy Core Rulebook, allowing you to dive right into the action.

Typically, a mission begins with a briefing - the nature of this will depend greatly on your Operatives' relationship with The Company. Perhaps you get an encrypted email, perhaps a video call with a shadowy agent using a voice changer, maybe you receive it through a handler or a dead drop (we have a joke in the office that the worst of Operatives just get a piece of paper tied to a brick thrown through their window...).

This briefing will tell the Operatives what they are expected to do, along with all the information that The Company has gathered (and thinks they should know...) on the situation at hand.

Missions are graded (a fact that may or may not be made known to the Operatives: Green, Amber, Red, Black... and Severance. These grades guide what Operatives are expected to accomplish, and what Trust they will gain form the Company.

The next step is for the Operatives to gather intelligence to learn what it is they may be facing. In this template, they receive a dossier packed full of what may seem to be unrelated material - but it has all been vetted by the Company and is deemed vital.

This is a blessing for the Referee because there is little burden on their side of the screen in terms of getting their players going. All they have had to do is present the briefing and dossier, and now the players will be driving the story as their Operatives make enquiries, reach out to Contacts, hack into computer systems, consult specialised libraries, and perform reconnaissance. The Referee has all the answers in front of them, and can simply react to the player's questions.

Simples!

Once the Operatives think they know what they are doing (!), they can travel to where the Dark incursion is alleged to be taking place, perform last minute investigations and then hopefully, deal with the Dark Minion or cult that has been causing trouble.

Back home in time for tea and medals!

However, their job is not yet done. Before they leave, Operatives must ensure the conspiracy is maintained - no one must ever get credible evidence of Dark Minions and their designs for humanity. This can take many different forms, and no doubt the Operatives will get very creative at this stage.

Weird things in the sky? Get local news to report on weather balloons. Unexplained deaths in a forest? Bandits, we dealt with them, don't even worry about it. Someone saw something they really should not have seen? Ugh, not optimal - wipe any evidence they have and do everything you can to discredit their story...

Whatever happens, the conspiracy must be maintained or the war is lost before it has really started.

Oh, you can bet the Company is keeping a close eye on the results the Operatives come up with. For the Referee, we have a handy scoring system.

At each stage outlined above, the Operatives have a list of objectives they must accomplish (which are, of course, not made clear to them). If successful, the Referee notes down a set number of points for each stage.

Here's the thing...

What you score for successful intelligence gathering and dealing with Dark Minions is the same for both. However, what you can gain for maintaining the conspiracy is equal to both of those combined.

The Company's priorities are clear. You are permitted to completely stuff up a mission but so long as the conspiracy is maintained... well, we live to fight another day.

The points scored for a mission translate into Trust. With Trust, Operatives can make permanent requisitions from the Company, establish a new network of contacts and resources, upgrade their HQ... or get a brand new (better!) HQ.


This is just a base template, of course, and you can set your own adventures up as you see fit. You want to start in media res with Dark Minions breaking into the Operatives HQ, that is just fine!

However, we have one more addition to the Missions chapter, where the Operatives can conduct their own investigations outside of the Company's directives to uncover their own conspiracies.

We will take a look at player-generated missions next week!