Conspiracy X - useful for source material?

[Plane Sailing]

Forked from: d20 Modern 4E - I want it!

Conspiracy X is from Eden Studios, makers of Unisystem (Buffy, AFMBE, Witchcraft).

I have a few supplements that are excellent. Sub Rosa, the collection of conspiracies. Beautiful.

For those who have seen Conspiracy X and its supplements - are they useful enough to give background and adventures for any conspiracy themed game, or are they too tied in to the C-X game?

Cheers

 

[Derro]

If you have the full game and understand the rules the supplements are useful. By themselves they are a bit hard to comprehend. I'm speaking mainly of the first edition products. The original rule-set is a bit... whacky.

Of the few supplements I have every one of them has had some use. The factions in Sub Rosa are perfect and I hacked together a ritual magic system for 3.0 back in the day with Forbidden Rights. Atlantis Rising offers a really unique take on the Atlantis myth and is simply a great read.

I've only had a chance to play this game for one short campaign but a lot of the material has seeped into other games. You definitely need a good grasp of game mechanics to understand the supplements without the first edition rules though.

The base setting with the PCs as agents of Aegis is easy enough to adapt to many origins. The conspiracies offered aren't too tightly weaved and you can take or leave a lot of elements. The supplements cover a lot of ground but are largely independent of one another.

 

[Committed Hero]

The rules for setting up a cell and stocking it with goodies are a neat idea for groups that like resource allocation.

And getting bennies by guessing zener cards is cool, I don't care who you are.

 

[C.W.Richeson]

I think the earlier edition has more useful fluff than the current edition of Con X. The current corebook is very system focused.

 

[talien]

Conspiracy X has one of the few systems that represents, through rules, the complexities of political ang government favors, called "pulling strings." Conspiracy X also has a fully realized conspiracy setting, clearly outlining the goals of the Greys, what they are, who they are, etc.

I used the scenario in the Grey sourcebook adventure, "Grey Matter" and had fun with it in my D20 Modern game. You can read about it here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?t=214026

The scenario itself is big on concepts, poor on execution. It involves the retrieval of an alien corpse that's about to be shown as a televised alien autopsy. The agents can bluff their way in or sneak in, and the twist is that the company holding the Grey actually wants to let the agents in. But then there's another twist that one of the guy's in charge of security doesn't KNOW that the agents are supposed to be let in and is in fact working for a third party who also wants the alien corpse. And Black Book, the rival organization, is also sending in a team. And oh yeah, it's not a corpse...

All of that sounds like fun, but the scenario is missing a map (a huge problem for the complexities of a television studio with a film vault) and any details as to how security works there other than that there's lots of security...

I digress. Conspiracy X is chock full of ideas, even if not all of them are fleshed out.