Conspiracy games

[Bone White]

As most of the regular posters in the macro sub-forum will know, I've been working on a rpg called Alternity. It's a sci-fi themed game, but more of an open system than that. The Dark Matter source-book greatly directs play towards modern-day conspiracy games. These can be alien cover-up conspiracies (think x-com, x-files, men in black), or can cover political agendas, or anything you could think of, from assassinating the leader of a country, to purging all information about failed human clone production.

I was wondering how many people actually play games with these themes? I'm rather hooked on the whole idea, especially a campaign which focuses on plot twists/turns and a "deeper into the rabbit hole" approach, instead of a dungeon-crawl. Are there other games/systems which advocate this idea?

[wolph42]

Dark heresy and rogue trader, I gm both games with my friends. Dark Heresy is gritty down to earth investigation (playing members of the much feared and almighty Inquisition) which can vary from some cultist or alien insertion up to a planetary or even sector scale plot. Its an interesting mix of having ultimate power (in name) by wearing the shield of the Inquisition that which all fear.... and the fact that 5 big guys with big guns can still easily kill you and likely no-one will ever find out...

Rogue Trader is the other end of food chain where you play a multi multi multi multi multi multi multi multi multi xiljonair you have your own ship (later fleet) a warrant of the empire to do (nearly all) what you like, you wage war in sectors, conquer planets or lay waste to them when you trade you do it in terms of planets and the higher you get on the food chain the more your peers start to gnaw at your success....
that and it leaves everything open for either investigation, exploration, politics, intrigue, dungeon crawn, etc...

[JML]

Games I don't play, but I know have similarities: Cthulhutech, Conspiracy Theories for Shadowrun, The Laundry, Agents of Oblivion, Esoterrorist, GURPS (Black Ops, Conspiracy X, Illuminati, The Prisoner, Warehouse 23).

[Simetradon]

I write and run games for Chaos 6010, and it's very easy to run your games with conspiracies. A current online game I'm running has just reached the stage where I can start adding a few overarching elements that tie together a grand conspiracy.

Here's the link to the game I'm running:
http://shadows-and-chrome.blogspot.com/

[Xaelvaen]

Like Wolph, I use 40k for my more 'Film-Noir' type games. I love the dark themes that always overshadow the PCs, regardless of the mysteries that surround them.