5th Conspiracy
A character driven tabletop roleplaying game where you explore the power of ideas in an urban fantasy setting.
Join a conspiracy of ancient gods, angels, myths, and monsters who compete for control over the unsuspecting world's most precious resource, its attention. The more you’re worshiped, the more powerful you’ll become, even as the precious things that made you human slip away. Balance your need for veneration against the oratum’s number one rule: do not let mankind become aware of your true nature, lest the humans unleash the titan’s wrath back upon the earth, dooming us all.
Revolutionary Mechanics
The 5th Conspiracy system introduces three revolutionary mechanics that strive to resolve some of the most pernicious problems tabletop groups have struggled with since the dawn of gaming; the misaligned expectations that derail your game, creating believable characters that make good protagonists to your story, and action scenes that are as fast paced and exciting to play as for the characters living them.
The Premise Document: Why is it that so many games fall apart after only a few sessions? The group’s excited, everyone likes their character, and yet two sessions in one or more players call it quits. The Premise Document is a tool that helps your group detect and disarm the landmines of “Premise Rejection”, basic misalignments of expectations and desires that can and will derail your game.
Milestones: Many players struggle with the leap from concept (I’m Batman but with lightning powers) to a complex person with history and needs, the character worthy of being the protagonist of your story. The milestone system helps players craft fully fleshed out characters whose needs tie them tightly to the stakes of your story.
Dramatic Action Scenes: Let’s face it, the least action packed part of most tabletop games is, well… the action. Whether you’re checked out for fifteen minutes waiting for your turn or stopping to calculate the most optimal position to drop your fireball, you might as well be playing a strategy war game for how removed you are from the emotional experience of your character.
Urban Fantasy
Playtester's Opinions
All playtesters had no pre-existing relationship with AED Publishing before trying playing and sharing their experience.
I loved the modern setting and loved supernaturals hiding in plain sight. Mechanics seemed simple and easy to understand. I liked how the premise document set things right up from the start. The action scenes were very story driven, loved it.
Melissa Bassler
The premise document was very helpful - makes implicit assumptions of players + STs explicit. Action scenes moved quickly but also had nuance which is good. Also liked the narrative control players have.
Mathew Morman
All of the character concepts sounded cool, very fun, almost madlibs (but in a good way). I like using the spectrum of yes. The identities are coll instead of skills. I want to start using a premise document with my group. Really like the needs - esp. situational needs to keep them hooked in.
Mandy Hall
It is an urban fantasy game with an amazing live action mechanic. I like the premise sheet and the overall system mechanics.
Ross Miller
Easy rules, cool setting, good world building, lots of options. Always feel like you can do what you want.
Kenny Johnson
Really cool setting fun and unique and very adaptable. I loved how combat works, makes combat much more fluid. I liked how dramatic beats worked in the game.
Gavin Elliott
The premise document is a very useful tool, well thought out and has a purpose that is needed. Needs are a fantastic tool, as well.
Joshua
Love the Premise document. The free form nature of the system was very refreshing.
Andrew Perrone
The combat phase, when you state your goals vs strategically trying to get the best spot was a fresh take on action.
Nate Evans
I really enjoyed the political intrigue between the different supernatural factions. The white board based battles were very interesting. The premise document seems really helpful, although perhaps better for a session 0 then at the beginning of a session 1. I liked the pacing of the action scenes a lot. The character concepts seemed really unique, with lots of room for creativity.
Matt Dwyer
Many, many geat choices to pick from than the usual run of the mill characters and races.
Eric Valoff
I liked the blend of gods | fantasy in modern times. The combat system was fun and unique. Fun to play.
Marc Carozza
5C does a great job keeping your character's background and desires at the forefront of the story and your decision making. It makes it easy to quickly engage emotionally and build attachments to what's going on. Also, the game is designed to mitigate common difficulties that lead to groups falling apart, like lack of buy-in/commitment/matching expectations. Plus, the action scene resolution where everyone writes their approach simultaneously and reveals together is really cool.