Magazine Format
DEMONGROUND is released in Adobe’s PDF format. PDF was chosen because it allows us to produce a high quality publication that can be read by anyone with the Acrobat reader software installed on his or her machine. As the Acrobat reader is available for free on a wide range of computers and operating systems, using PDF format means that we are not restricting the readership to those with the latest versions of any particular product.
The look of the magazine is vitally important to us. The DEMONGROUND staff feels that although the magazine is available for free, we do not, and in fact should not, sacrifice presentation quality in order to make our lives simpler. We believe the genre of Modern Conspiracy/Horror is extremely adaptable, so information that has been produced for one game system, should be fairly easy to adapat to another. We feel that by producing a magazine that people will want to read, we will encourage more people to play these games.
RPG players and referees are spread across the world. The DEMONGROUND editorial staff live in four separate countries, and our contributors hail from even more. This has helped us to realize that we need to recognise the need for two different versions of each issue of the magazine; one in Letter sized (8.5" x 11") for the USA and one in A4 for Europe, Australia and the rest of the world. By producing the two versions, we can help make printing the magazine easier for you.
DEMONGROUND’s format is based upon Game Designers Workshop’s old house magazine, Challenge. Each issue is divided into a number of "departments" to help you find the articles you find the most interesting. Not every department will appear in every issue of the magazine, but the vast majority of them will. Note, these departments are just guides - if you feel we are missing a certain subject, please feel free to contact us with your requested department.
The Departments
Editorial/Opinion
This is the section where players and referee’s can voice their ideas about the Modern Conspiracy/Horror gaming. Editorial/Opinion articles are designed to give players and referees a forum in which to share some of their experience and ideas with other Modern Conspiracy/Horror fans. We’ve quite often had articles giving suggestions on where you can get inspiration for adventures in your campaign, or tips on how to make your games even better.
Adventures
Without adventures, any role-playing game would suffer. In every issue of DEMONGROUND, we present at least one full fleshed out adventure that a referee could run his or her players through. The Adventures department is one that we consider to be the most important sections of the magazine. We hope that the games we present will help give you and your players a lot of gaming enjoyment.
Home Rules
Not everyone uses the rules system for their game-of-choice exactly as it is printed. The Home Rules department gives referees a chance to share some of the tricks they use to make their games easier to run. Other articles we have run in this department have expanded on the basic game system, to give players and referees more options when they are playing.
Equipment/DarkTek
It’s important to have new and interesting gadgets to present to the players so that they can constantly experience something new. The Equipment/DarkTek department presents new gadgets that can both help or hinder the players in their fight against the Dark Minions. Some of these equipment might just be mundane items that can add a lot of color to a game session, but tend to be easily overlooked. Others can be new and often horrific creations of the Dark Lords and their minions.
NPCs
Non player characters add a lot of color to gaming sessions, but they also require a lot of work on the part of the referee to create individual personalities for them all. The NPCs department presents characters that referees can use in their adventure sessions to help the players out, or to send them off on new and dangerous adventures. Some of the may have been created specifically for use as NPCs; other are just player characters that people have written the histories for and sent in.
Dark Races
Modern Conspiracy/Horror games could easily become stale if the players are constantly running into the same dark minion races all the time. A new Dark Race could add a whole new twist to a campaign, throwing in complications that the players never expected.
Milieu
While the various game universes are well thought out, there are many areas where the descriptions are either extremely brief, or even non-existent. The Milieu department expands on some of the settings in the game universe. These might be articles about different countries that are not mentioned in the rulebooks, or they might be articles that give both players and referees a better idea about what life in these Dark Times is really like. Either way, Milieu articles tend to add more scope and colour to the game.
Dark Fiction
Sometimes a story can provide people with a better idea about what the game universe is actually like, without them having to play the game to find out. The fiction department gives budding authors a chance to show off their story-telling talents and expand on the setting for the game at the same time.
Tabloid Articles and Hooks
Dark Conspiracy originally presented the idea of using supermarket tabloid articles as the basis for new adventures. Unfortunately, most of the tabloids have become little more than gossip columns about the antics of famous people, so it is up to us to fill the void. Every issue, DEMONGROUND presents a number of short newspaper style articles that referees can give to their players as handouts, together with some seed ideas about the "truth" behind the report. Whether these articles are used as red herrings, short fill sessions or the start of whole campaigns is entirely up to your imagination.
Contact Information
The contact information department presents a growing list of people and websites where Modern Conspiracy/Horror fans can find more information about the games.
Gaming Announcements
As these games continue to grow and expand, we will try to keep you informed of new developments. These might be simple announcements about games at conventions around the world, or they may be detailed descriptions and reviews of new gaming books that have been published.
Writing for DEMONGROUND
DEMONGROUND is a fanzine. Fans of Modern Conspiracy/Horror have submitted all of the articles and artwork in the magazine. As such, we need your help to keep making DEMONGROUND bigger and better.
If you play one of the games we support, please consider writing something for us, so that we can share your experiences with others. You do not have to be a brilliant writer, or be able to write thousands upon thousands of words. Most tabloid articles and their hooks are a few hundred words at most.
As DEMONGROUND is divided into departments, we suggest you look at previous issues of the fanzine to get some ideas about the sorts of articles that we publish. These may give you a good starting point for your articles. But if you have a piece in mind that you think doesn’t fit into any of the existing hierarchy, then don’t worry about it. Send it in and we’ll find a place for it, even if it means creating a whole new department just to give it somewhere to fit.
Writing for fanzines is a very rewarding experience. It’s a great place to practice your writing skills if you have an interest in doing some professional writing in the future. Many authors in the role-playing industry today began by writing articles in fanzines for their favourite gaming systems. Many of them were noticed by line developers and were given contracts to write adventures and sourcebooks.
The game publishers have been asked to look at each issue of DEMONGROUND, and keep an eye out for potential new writers and artists. We can’t guarantee that writing for us will help land you your first writing contract. But the experience of writing for fanzines such as DEMONGROUND shows line developers that you are a motivated person who is willing to get something down on paper for other people to enjoy. If you dream of being a writer, it is certainly a great place to start.
But even if you don’t want to write professionally, there is still a lot of personal fulfilment to be had sharing your ideas with others. At the moment, several hundred people download each issue of DEMONGROUND. This means that something you write could really help out someone you may have never heard of before and it could well lead to the start of some great new friendships.
The DEMONGROUND editorial staff works hard to bring you the best fanzine we possibly can. We hope that you will continue to enjoy the magazine.