Mongoose Publishing Acquires Dark Conspiracy RPG

Mongoose Publishing has acquired the rights to the Dark Conspiracy RPG, originally published in 1991 by Game Designers' Workshop. The game is set in the near future in the United States, and is described as a 'dark horror' game. The US is made of massive 'metroplexes' surrounded by the lawless 'Out-Law' areas and mysterious 'Demongrounds' which spawn dark monsters.

There have been three editions of the game since 1991. The 2nd Edition was published in 1995 by Dark Conspiracy Enterprises, and the 3rd Edition in 2012 by Kinstaff Media. The new Mongoose edition is expected in 2026.

The original creator, Lester W. Smith was also trying to acquire the property. Yesterday he posted on his blog that he failed to secure the rights--

I did my best, folks. Made an offer, had it approved, negotiated for some final wording about the state of previous licenses, and learned last week that the IP was being sold to someone else.

This isn't the first game that Mongoose has acquired in recent months. In October 2024 it acquired Twilight 2000 and 2300 AD, and in August 2024 the company announced that it had acquired the rights to Traveller from creator Marc Miller.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

Some of the Mongoose recent box sets - like 2300AD for one - are quite close to the production level of Free League’s Twilight: 2000.

I'm sorry, but I disagree. Mongoose products are plagued by typo, bad editing, contradictions. As for the physical production, Free League is years ahead of anything Mongoose does quality wise. The quality of the paper, the layout, the editing, the art direction, the quality of the material, the quality and content of the accessories for the price.

I don't own Twilight 2000, but I own several other box sets of Free League products, and they are in a class of their own.

 

[Dire Bare]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. Mongoose products are plagued by typo, bad editing, contradictions. As for the physical production, Free League is years ahead of anything Mongoose does quality wise. The quality of the paper, the layout, the editing, the art direction, the quality of the material, the quality and content of the accessories for the price.

I don't own Twilight 2000, but I own several other box sets of Free League products, and they are in a class of their own.

That was certainly true back in the day, I remember avoiding their products for that reason.

Is it still true with their more recent stuff over the past few years?

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

That was certainly true back in the day, I remember avoiding their products for that reason.

Is it still true with their more recent stuff over the past few years?

It seems erratic. I've looked at some 2024 Traveller stuff that friends purchased and one book would be okay, with just a couple of minor errors, and then another would show the same kind of shabby editing that earned them their reputation in the first place. Going by a very limited sample size, overall they've improved from the old days but it's still a good idea to do a thorough flip-through of any given title.

This is, of course, anecdotal, and I am biased against the company for reasons unrelated to editing issues. Take with as many grains of salt as you like.

 

[Alzrius]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. Mongoose products are plagued by typo, bad editing, contradictions.

I remember that being a thing about them during the d20 boom's heyday, but I thought it had gotten better since then?

 

[BovineofWar]

I've been happy with the Traveller books I've been picking up through them. No more errors/typos than a Wizards of the Coast product at least.

I think they had some quality issues a few years back, before I started Traveller and well after the d20 boom/crash. They switched to releasing pdf versions ~6 months before the hardcopies, so there's extra time to identify errors and typos in print copies. It seems to work.

 

[aramis erak]

I remember that being a thing about them during the d20 boom's heyday, but I thought it had gotten better since then?

Not by 2015... the 2022 and later are prettier, but still plenty of typos. It's been the bane of Traveller since the 80's.

 

[Gradine]

Yeah, every Mongoose d20 book I ever saw during the 3.X era has been dire, but I've absolutely loved everything I've gotten from their Traveller line at this point.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. Mongoose products are plagued by typo, bad editing, contradictions. As for the physical production, Free League is years ahead of anything Mongoose does quality wise. The quality of the paper, the layout, the editing, the art direction, the quality of the material, the quality and content of the accessories for the price.

I don't own Twilight 2000, but I own several other box sets of Free League products, and they are in a class of their own.

Well, I own both and disagree with you. Your representation is far from my own experience. You are wrong.

Mongoose had issues 15 years ago, but not now.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

That was certainly true back in the day, I remember avoiding their products for that reason.

Is it still true with their more recent stuff over the past few years?

I remember that being a thing about them during the d20 boom's heyday, but I thought it had gotten better since then?

I have no idea what the quality was years ago, I'm a recent purchaser of their products.

I wouldn't call the products bad. I think the books (physically) are entirely serviceable. But they absolutely do not compare to the quality of production of Free League's books.

As for the content, I bought into their second edition of Traveller and spent an enormous amount of time asking questions on the Discord. I've been told so many times that my confusion came from something that was just wrong in the book, or erratad, but hadn't been incorporated in the updates. I saw an ungodly amount of type too. It's not the worst I've seen, but I certainly wasn't impressed.

Well, I own both and disagree with you. Your representation is far from my own experience. You are wrong.

Mongoose had issues 15 years ago, but not now.

We might have different tastes. That's fine. Some people prefer glossy or matte paper. Others prefer some textures colors or not, some don't like the ribbons, etc. But Free League is almost universally known for the quality of its books and printings. My latest purchases from Mongoose were their second edition of Traveller and I was not impressed. They're definitely on the lower half of my library in terms of quality.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I have no idea what the quality was years ago, I'm a recent purchaser of their products.

I wouldn't call the products bad. I think the books (physically) are entirely serviceable. But they absolutely do not compare to the quality of production of Free League's books.

As for the content, I bought into their second edition of Traveller and spent an enormous amount of time asking questions on the Discord. I've been told so many times that my confusion came from something that was just wrong in the book, or erratad, but hadn't been incorporated in the updates. I saw an ungodly amount of type too. It's not the worst I've seen, but I certainly wasn't impressed.



We might have different tastes. That's fine. Some people prefer glossy or matte paper. Others prefer some textures colors or not, some don't like the ribbons, etc. But Free League is almost universally known for the quality of its books and printings. My latest purchases from Mongoose were their second edition of Traveller and I was not impressed. They're definitely on the lower half of my library in terms of quality.

Well, even the second edition was produced in 2016, and Mongoose has since updated that multiple times and had turnovers of staff and production, layout and so on too. Moreover, I have both the 2300AD box set and Free League’s Twilight: 2000 in front of me now and know that what you are saying is a misrepresentation.