Play@YSDC

For questions, comments, or idle speculation.

This is only the second DG game I've run, and third game overall. So I'm still newish at this. Hopefully you all enjoy it.

"So, my son: have you seen the yellow sign?"

Let's have fun!

Posting this as a quick reminder for all players.

Everytime you fail a skill, note it. When each scenario concludes you raise every skill you failed to use by one point. So for our first skill test, everyone but Nik should check HUMINT.

Happy New Year, agents!

Yes Dave - Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year from Special Agent Honeydog!

Yes, Happy New Year. I hope it was nice for all, or will be.

Hopefully my celebrating did not affect the quality of my most recent post.

Quick question for you guys. There's a fair amount of dice rolling in the early stages of these investigations. Would you prefer I give you the basic info, ask you to make whatever required rolls,and then add to the info based on that? Or would you rather I roll these non critical rolls for you before posting, and have you only make rolls you either think of on your own or make in combat?

I'd be happy if you roll the non-critical ones and share with us what we learn.

While I prefer to roll my own dice, if you'd rather make non-critical rolls yourself, that's fine.

I'm with the other two - you can make the non-critical rolls SP.

Not really fussed one way or the other. I like to do the rolls, but for non important rolls, it's ... less important

Hmm, it seems we have some agreement. However, for those of you who do enjoy doing their own rolls I don't want to detract from that. I know it can be one of the most thrilling parts of the game.
So I think I'll roll for Dave and HoneyDog, while letting Mr.Handy and Cearlan make their own ones. Let's see how this works.

SP - are we (Nik & Vanessa) able to look at Stanyard's & Rue's posts? Or would it be more helpful to the game to pretend ignorance? I've been avoiding reading them so far.

The game is very mysterious - I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. But at the same time I have a bad feeling... it's not going to end well I fear.

Oh yes, feel free. I mostly spoiled so as to keep the posts from being huge. Unless one of the groups encounters a monster and is horrifyingly slain I assume once you guys meet back up you'll all catch each other up to speed.

I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far! There's a sense of rising dread in this scenario that I think works really well.

The best games NEVER end up ending really well HoneyDog - and I suspect that this one will be right up there with the best of 'em.

Aw. Hope you guys continue to enjoy it!

Slight retcon. Braverman is from Houston, not New Orleans. I've edited accordingly.

I feel like both our scenes are coming to an end. If there are no objections, Tomorrow I'll bring the group back together at their hotel, and they can talk out their leads and plan for further investigation.

Here's my assumptions. Correct me if I'm missing anything.

Stanyard and Edmund will want the case files of Kenneth Braverman, and will likely put in a request with Houston for them.

Vanessa and Nik will want to send the bodies to Phoenix and figure out if the labs there can determine the cause of the wounds.

Also, hope the pace is fine with everyone. I'm a bit worried I'm going too fast, so if y'all would like me to slow down a peg, let me know. I operate under the philosophy that pbp's work better if they have some forward momentum.

That's fine SP. It's moving along at a good pace which gives it a sense of urgency.

All good, and Stanyard gave the ball to the leading team. Just to keep in the back seat.

The pace is fine with me too, and I'm ready to head back to the hotel.

Dave wrote:Three shots @60%, hoping only 97-00 will be mishaps.

Dave rolled 3d100
82, 99, 69

Ouch. Well at least you can check Firearms for improvement.

I mostly wanted to quote this to explain how fumbles work in the new DG. If you score a doubles (11, 22) below or at your skill rating, it's a critical success. Above and it's a fumble. In this case, I'm going to have Stanyard's gun jam on the second shot, and he'll need to spend a turn trying to unjam it. Think I'll houserule here a bit.

Make a roll again. On anything but a fumble Stanyard gets the gun clear and wastes the next turn. On a fumble, the gun is rendered inoperable, at least in the short term. On a crit success, he's able to get it unjamed fast enough that he can still make his attack that turn. Sound good?

Putting a roll at the dice thread!

Hope you guys can excuse the railroadey nature of the last post. But I figured it was time to get the group back together. I'll try to keep such things to a minimum however.

So we're nearing the end of the first scenario. I'm willing to continue this if you guys want and there's still interest. Let me know if you're in.

Next ooc post will be going through the scenario and explaining some of what was going on and my own decisions running it, so you all can get a better idea of what happened.

I'm in!

Yes, I'd like to continue!

I'm in too, but Stanyard is not that impressed.

The monster in this scenario was called The Traveler. It arrived on Earth a few months ago during a meteor shower in West Virginia. Unfortunately for us, the Traveler was interested in a homicidal form of tourism. Infected a local, it began its killing spree, ding the most depraved things and enjoyed watching as its hosts screamed and went insane under his control. Whenever its host died or the attention became too much it switched bodies, and it carved a bloody path throughout the United States.

It's host before Santana was Elaine Braverman. Mrs. Braverman was an overweight housewife out in the middle of the desert. She was not a very effective host, and nearly died before getting too far from the car. Unfortunately Emmanuel Santana happened upon her. Unwilling to let her die, he came to her rescue. No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes.

You guys actually got pretty fortunate fighting the Traveler. First, once the host is dead all attacks against the body do an automatic 1 damage. Santana had 13 hp left when his head was blown off, but I decided the Traveler would play dead and let you guys take him back to the morgue. He'd have either infected another while being transported or have struck in the morgue. But the group's decision to burn him forced his hand.
Here too things could have gone badly. Had Vanessa's attack have failed to hit the Traveler and instead hit the host's flesh, she likely would have been paralyzed. The others would have likely followed. The Traveler also heals 1d10 points per turn, so even outside its host it's rather difficult to kill. But the attack hit and did more than enough damage to kill him, which made the fight rather trivial. Well done.

This scenario seemed rather railroaded, but it's designed to introduce the pc's to Delta Green and functions as more or less of a tutorial. I hope the next scenario will allow a bit more freedom to you guys. I've planned out a few different outcomes and it will be interesting to see where we head. This scenario is nearly done, just a bit of house keeping after the meeting with Ms. Green is over with and you're all officially inducted into Delta Green( at least the ones of you who decide to join. ; )

Any questions about the scenario or feedback feel free to give it. But I hope you all enjoyed and are looking forward to the next adventure.

I enjoyed it very much SP, thanks for running it. That’s the first Delta Green game I’ve played – I think I would enjoy it more as a player than a keeper. The investigative aspects of it were the most enjoyable for me. I like too that you can get pretty much straight into the story – there’s no need to spend ages introducing the characters. It is a bit railroady but it's a good story and I always wanted to see what would come next.

I must confess though that once I saw the pattern with the killer dying and then a new one starting, I knew where the game would go. The story seems inspired by the Kyle MacLachlan film The Hidden which I used to watch all the time, which in turn is inspired by the old Hal Clement novel Needle, which I read last year. So when Nik was talking about a virus, what I really wanted to say was ‘alien’! The story is obviously a bit different, but if you know those two works, you can see what might happen. Still it is original enough!

Thanks, I had a lot of fun too!

I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but I'd figured it was an alien parasitical creature that took over a new host when the previous one was killed. Of course, it did help that we had allies such as Coyote and Ms. Green revealing the evidence for us. I was lucky that I hit with the shotgun and did so much damage.

Ah yes, Coyote. That was a spirit summoned by one of the shamen The Traveler had captured. He either called out to his god or had the POW to summon a manifestation that persisted even after his death, depending on how pure you like your mythos.Coyote then set it digging up the Traveler's bodies and doing everything he could to foil the creature. You guys could have developed more of a relationship with the entity, but you got most of the pertinent clues.

Just waiting on Cearlan's response and I'll move us on. No rush on that, though.

SP, I enjoyed the game very much. Big thumbs for managing the scenario and taking in bits from other media,, and making new content. A good balance between player input and power managing what's happening. Good stuff!

Fully enjoyed the game and yes I'm in.

I figured out that it was an alien parasite pretty early on and was thinking along the lines of the Shan. One of the big give-aways for this was when we discovered about the previous meteor showers, along with the evidence of something bursting out of the bodies a-la John Hurt in Alien.

I'm playing Rue as being skeptical of anything connected with the NSA, hence my guarded response to Ms Green.

Stanyard will sit out the beginning of the next scenario but will be available within a phone call, should you need assistance.

That's fine. I'm sure the others will need your help soon enough.

Now it's time for probably the "nicest" part of the game; san rewards! I tend to be pretty liberal with these, but do let me know if you think I need to modify in either direction.

Everyone can get 1d4 san for killing the Traveler. Through a frightening enemy, the team knows it can be killed. More than that, they know the world, nay the universe is a little brighter with that thing gone.

Everyone who signs up with Delta Green gets an additional 1d4 san. You all know there's a support system out there and more people in the know fighting these things. You have the backing of parts of the most powerful government in the world. What can go wrong?

Sanity gain:
[dice]0[/dice]

Also, before I forget, everyone should go through and see what skills they failed to use during the scenario. Every skill you failed at using can be increased by one percent. It's not a lot, but every little bit helps.

Once you've all decided your names and leader of your cell I'll get into the other way you can improve skills and attributes.

Nik

SAN: 1d4 4

SAN: 1d4 3

Nik gets a point for both Bureaucracy and Search.

Rue

San 1
[dice]0[/dice]

San 2
[dice]1[/dice]

I marked my skill failures as they occurred. I gain a point each in HUMINT, Medicine, and Search.

Now we enter the Downtime segment of the game. This represents the time in between Delta Green missions. Players should take the opportunity to roleplay out any changes that have occurred, such as bonds weakening or explaining injuries gained during the operation to loved ones.

Unless otherwise noted, Agents can pick two from the following pursuits. The same pursuit can be picked twice.

Spoiled for length,[i]Fulfill Responsibilities[/i] If your Agent focuses on day-to-day obligations and relationships, describe something the Agent is doing at work or at home to support one Bond. Roll a SAN test. Success improves the Bond by 1D6 (up to your Agent’s CHA); a critical success also adds 1 SAN (up to your POW×5). A fumble means some disastrous conflict—probably related to your Agent’s involvement with Delta Green—reduces the Bond by 1D4 and your SAN by 1.Describe how the relationship has improved because of your Agent’s efforts or worsened despite them. (This is the default pursuit. If it's not successfully performed by an agent as one of the two pursuits, every other action undertaken leads to a bond being reduced by one.) [i] Back to Nature[/i] Your Agent can spend time in seclusion, minimizing stress, distractions, and obligations. This isn’t a vacation with the family; it’s extended time alone, or mostly alone, in an environment that’s physically active but places few other demands on the Agent. Roll a SAN test. Success adds 1D4 SAN, or 4 for a critical (up to your Agent’s POW×5). A fumble costs 1D4 SAN. [i]Establish a New Bond[/i] Your Agent attempts to create a new Bond with a character or group. This is not done lightly. It means this new character or group is developing into an essential, important part of your Agent’s life. Attempt a CHA×5 test. Success establishes a new Bond with a score equal to half your Agent’s CHA (round up). [i]Go to Therapy[/i] Therapy is a systematic deconstruction of mental trauma. It is an ongoing process requiring honesty and commitment. Your Agent must decide whether to truthfully tell the therapist what caused the SAN loss. If your Agent tells the truth, there are risks. If the SAN loss came from confronting the unnatural, the therapist attempts to treat your Agent for schizophrenia. Or if the therapist believes your Agent, he or she may lose SAN from the Agent’s stories. If your Agent described unnatural events and the therapist thinks they’re delusions, the roll is at a −20% penalty. If it fumbles, your Agent loses 1 SAN. If it succeeds, your Agent regains 1D6 SAN (or 6 with a critical success), up to his or her POW×5. If your Agent shares tales of terrible, illegal violence and it sounds like further violence is imminent, the therapist may report it to the authorities. Whether that happens is entirely up to the Handler. If your Agent doesn’t tell the therapist the truth, healing is limited. Make a Luck Roll. If it fumbles, your Agent loses 1 SAN. If it succeeds, your Agent regains 1D4 SAN (or 4 for a critical success), up to his or her POW×5. If your Agent suffers from a disorder, a critical success with the therapy’s Luck roll cures it (whether your Agent told the truth or not). Your Agent also develops a Bond with the therapist equal to half your Agent’s CHA (or add 1D4 to it if your Agent already has that Bond), and loses 1D4 from one other Bond of your choice. Write a note saying “cured” next to the disorder on the character sheet—but do not erase it. The next time you gain a disorder, you must roll another SAN test. If that fails, the “cured” disorder returns in full force alongside the new one. The Handler may substitute the therapist’s Psychotherapy skill for the therapy’s Luck Roll. [i]Improve a Skill or Stat[/i] By training or studying extensively, your Agent can try to boost a stat or a skill. Describe what your Agent is doing to improve the stat or skill: taking night classes for INT or a skill, lifting weights for STR, meditating to strengthen self-discipline for POW, socializing or taking leadership courses for CHA, going to physical therapy to regain stat points permanently lost from an injury, etc. Attempt a test of the stat × 5 or the skill. If the test fails, your Agent has improved. Add 1D10 percentage points to the skill (to a maximum of 99%) or one point to the stat (to a maximum of 18). [i]Personal Motivation[/i] Your Agent indulges in the things that he or she finds meaningful. Roll a SAN test. Success adds 1 SAN, or 1D4 for a critical (up to your Agent’s POW×5). A fumble costs 1 SAN. [i]Stay On the Case[/i] Your Agent can spend nights and weekends poring over an old operation’s evidence and case files. The Handler secretly rolls Criminology or Occult for your Agent. Success means you uncover some pertinent clue of the Handler’s devising, an especially valuable one with a critical. Failure means you find nothing. A fumble means you think you find a valuable clue but it will turn out to be dangerously wrong. Either way, your Agent gains 1D6–3 SAN in coming to terms with what happened—or in obsessing over it self-destructively if the roll means a loss of SAN.

I'm fine with roleplaying these moments out and playing family and friends If you guys want to spend a little more time in the downtime segments. I'm equally fine with you all just writing a paragraph or two detailing your pursuits and how they turn out. Do whatever you prefer.

Downtime activities:
1) Fulfill Responsibilities: Vanessa spends more time with Rex, taking him on walks and playing fetch with him.
2) Improve a Skill: Vanessa takes a tactical training course at Quantico to improve her Stealth skill.

OOC,Sanity test (current level 75): [dice]0[/dice] No gain (already at maximum) Stealth XP check: [dice]1[/dice] No improvement (Stealth roll succeeded)

Nik goes to the gym regularly to beef up:

Strength 13 x 5 = 65 Strength: 1d100 52

No improvement

He also spends more time away 'training' - hiking alone or sometimes with his girlfriend in the desert, which he is developing a feel for. It makes him feel rested and at ease, clearing his mind and helping him to minimise the horrors of the episode with the Traveller.

SAN: 1d100 4 Success!

SAN: 1d4 4 gains 4 points SAN

Nice! Do keep in mind though that since Nik did not chose to fulfill responsibilities as one of his actions he needs to reduce one of his bonds by one.

Okay, he breaks up with his girlfriend due to her dissatisfaction with his frequent absences because of work.

Oh, he only reduces the bond rating by 1 point. So all bonds start at your CHA rating, in Nik's case 11. He reduced his dad's during the mission, down to 10. So now he reduces his girlfriend's bond to 10 as well. Bonds are not broken until they reach 0. Nik's GF is probably a bit miffed at him ignoring her at the moment, but they're still together or at least an important part of each others life.

Sorry if this is a bit confusing. If anyone has any questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

Right;

1 point advances in Forensics (31%); Search (71%); HUMINT (61%) and Medicine (21%)

Fulfill Responsibilities
SAN 70%
[dice]0[/dice]
Edmund, having spent time in the mountains to get his head around events, (see below), comes back with a slightly different outlook on life and this is represented in a closer bond between himself and his friend Martin Watson who he has become increasingly more and more protective of. (However - as he's already on his max, it has no real effect - numerically)

Back to Nature
SAN 70%
[dice]1[/dice]
Edmund heads out to the Blue Ridge Mountains whenever possible to try and get his head around recent events which he just about manages to do (however - as he's already on his max, it has no real effect - numerically)

Understood SP! They're still an item then, but he might have to pay her more attention.

Players can chose some equipment going forward. It's assumed all characters have a medium pistol (1d10, 15 shots) But they can also take other weapons out into the field. If they feel the situation warrants, PC's can make requests for bigger weaponry or equipment. So if you guys suspect you're going to be raiding a cultist compound, feel free to request weapons and gear. As long as you can justify it( a bureaucracy roll helps, but I'll also allow it for good roleplay) you might get more assistance, either from the FBI or Delta Green. Remember that if you're in the field and the situation escalates.

The team is always assumed to have extra ammo and a spare shotgun (2d6, 5 shots) in their car. In addition, each team member gets kevler vests and a helmet. The vest protects against 3 points of damage. The helmet 1.

Anyway, next scenario should be starting sometime in the next 24 hours. Hope you all enjoy.

Enjoyed the last one so here's hoping the standard is maintained

So for anyone who has played this scenario, I've made some changes that will hopefully keep it fresh.

Out of curiosity though, could any of you who have played Delta Green before list the scenario you played in/ have read through? I'd like to know which ones I'd need to avoid or edit to maximize your enjoyment.

I haven't played any SP, so don't worry about me.

By the way Mr. Handy, did they say anything at the convention about when the Case Officer's Handbook for DG will be released?

No, I don't think they said anything. There was a Kickstarter update on that project today, but they didn't say anything about the release date either.

Silver Priest wrote:So for anyone who has played this scenario, I've made some changes that will hopefully keep it fresh.

Out of curiosity though, could any of you who have played Delta Green before list the scenario you played in/ have read through? I'd like to know which ones I'd need to avoid or edit to maximize your enjoyment.

I'm playing Kali Ghati right now (also on this site). I'm also in the Cell P game on this site, but I think those adventures are homebrewed. Other than that, the only other DG scenario I've played is PX Poker Night, and I haven't read any of them.

IIRC one of the updates said the pdf version is almost done and should be expected by the end of April, with the print version a few months after. The pages released certainly whetted my appetite for it.

I've been following the Kali game, it's quite a fun scenario. I doubt I'll ever run it since it's set pretty firmly in modern DG. And PX Poker Night works better as an introduction setting, so we probably won't see that either. I considered it for this game, but thought Puppet Shows would set up the campaign better.

Have you thought about any of the other scenarios from the original book?

It really depends on how far we get and if you guys express continued interest. I expect I'll run at least Convergence at one point. Next will probably be A Victim of The Art.

If you want a scenario to check out that we likely won't run, try Night Floors. It was fun, but when I ran it for my other pbp group they seemed to dislike it, so I doubt I'll be pulling it out here.

Anything is good! Even Night Floors. It might work out better the second time you try.

Personally, I've only dived into The Dreaming Man over at Delta Green dot com. And the thing called Emerald Hammer. Both are unpublished. I ran a short try with Moosehead Lake, a Twin Peaks DG. Also, the L.A.Skinner scenario in the Hall of Fame section, is influenced by Delta Green.

I played a couple of the scenarios from the Black Seal a long time ago, and another scenario that kinda fizzled out (tabletop). I also ran Cold Dead Hand from Unspeakable Oath which also crashed and burned - which was a pity as I was enjoying that one. (Cold Dead Hand isn't a DG scenario per se but is modern mythos)

I think Cold Dead Hand is actually DG, but set in Russia so the connection is rather limited.

Night Floors is a very highly regarded scenario. I think my group did not take to it for two reasons. First, for a lot of them it was their first CoC campaign( we had played mostly vampire:the masquerade up to that point) so it might have been a bit of adjusting to the new system. Secondly and more critically, it's a very atmospheric scenario. I think it was difficult to keep that built up in the pbp format. Still you never know, I may eventually pull it out again.

I don't want to let you all know everything I plan to run, since at least some of that depends on how things go in game. But there are a few modern non DG scenarios I'm eyeing up for conversion.

But great, seems like you guys are rather unspoiled. Hopefully I'll be able to lead you all on a journey of madness and intrigue.

I was in those games of Dave's and Norm's as well. Cold Dead Hand is also set very specifically in 1991, so it wouldn't be part of this campaign as we're already past that. I liked that one too, but we didn't get very far.

Fancy restarting CDH then? Could be a blast

Da, Tovarisch!

I'm tempted to call for a san roll for helplessness for Nik and Rue at seeing all these papers they have to sort through, but I'm not that cruel.

Nik has another plan up his sleeve...

Nice rolls from everyone. I probably should have made that check a bit harder even for succeeding, but live and learn.

Now that Vanessa has become hardened to violence, I'll offer a quick explanation. When a player becomes hardened to violence or helplessness, they auto succeed on every check of that type. So if a roll of 1/1d10 comes up in the future, you'd not even need to roll for a hardened agent; they'd just take the 1 point. In this way many sources of minor san loss can be avoided all together, and even severe situations won't cause that much grief for the agent. (For those curious, the Unnatural cannot be hardened to. Well, it can be if your agent reaches 0 san, but as you all can imagine that cure is worse than the disease.)

Being hardened to a type of san loss does come with drawbacks. Fundamentally it means something in your agent has died, and they become a bit less functional. For violence, this means an immediate loss of 1d6 CHA and a 1d6 loss from every bond. Even if the agent hides it well, the trauma is visible to those close to them to various degrees, and something seems off. For Helplessness, it's a loss of 1d6 POW as the agent loses their personal drive and grow accustomed to losing control.

In the book as written their is no avoidance against hardening. As a house rule though I'm going to give you guys a choice when you reach this state. Mr.Handy and anyone else who reaches 3 notches, think about your agents as a person. Faced with what they've seen, would they be the type to grow numb or remain horrified to the violence they've witnessed recently? If you think they'd grow numb or try to compartmentalize it, you can consider them hardened to violence. If you think they'd try to resist the state, roleplay out their horror. In that case, you can erase all three notches for now and consider the agent still "normal." Maybe later on in the game if they hit 3 violence notches again with a lower san they'll react differently, or maybe they'll continue to try and resist apathy and nihilism until the bitter end. It's up to you.

Actual post will come in a bit.

Thanks, I think Vanessa would resist, so I'll erase my checks.

Another scenario is done. Hope you guys enjoyed. This went in an unexpected direction for me, but I'm overall happy with it.

Improve any skills you failed by one percent, and roll for your san rewards:

1d3 for Completing the mission. When Delta Green called, your agents answered.

Reflect on how your agents feel about what they did. If they've convinced themselves "Marlene" was nor Marlene and was a threat, gain 1d3 for doing what you had to. If they harbor doubts that this was a monster that needed to be put down though, they lose 1d3 san.

Last post was the san gained, so look at that if you've not already.

Time for my thoughts on the scenario and what was really going on. I'll spoil a little here for any of you who want to remain in the dark.

Scenario overview and thoughts,Since Mr. Handy played this, I did change a few things, but I may have decided to make those changes anyway. The basic gist is that in the scenario as written, Marlene is in fact a monster. She came back wrong. She's not particularly malevolent and as written she poses no threat to the agents so long as they help her, but she's still only pretending to be human. While I like the scenario, I felt it would be more interesting to have the creature in fact be Marlene. The basic idea is that she was dying of cancer when Baughman got word of the DG operation dealing with the church. After seeing that the pastor could raise the dead, he caught the man and interrogated him into giving up the spell so that he could save his own wife. He then went home and remove his wife from hospice care, and took her to their cabin,w here he could conduct the ritual unnoticed. As soon as Marlene died he cast the spell, and it succeeded in bringing her back. Things were fine for a few days. But the ritual had an unintended side effect; Marlene started to crave raw flesh and blood. Unsure what was happening from her she kept it from Clyde, and though she felt an urge for even his, she had enough of a hold on herself to resist the impulses to murder her beloved husband. The urges did not go away though, and they naturally found another target in the Baughman's dog, Darcy. Marlene tried to avoid the animal, but she had been affectionate towards it during life, so it naturally sought her out. One moment she was petting it, the next, tearing into her flesh. Clyde happened on the sight. Already reasonably unstable, he concluded this thing was not his wife. He was able to subdue her and put her in the septic tank. He tried many times to destroy her, but hearing his wife's voice made him reluctant every time. He'd somehow do the thing a kindness and feed it raw meat, but after awhile he stopped even this. Marlene wasted away at the bottom of the tank. Lacking the blood that she needed, she gradually became hideous and corpselike. Despite it all, she retained her personality and intelligence, and somehow, much of her sanity. The agents avoided another nasty san roll to look at her, 1/1d6. Had they fed her though, she would have slowly begun to look like she had before she died the first time; it was only the lack of blood that made her hideous. I was expecting to roleplay out a great debate over if she could be trusted and whether or not to release her, but the agents chose a more direct approach. ;) Had they released her, Marlene would have tried to stay in the area near the cabin, and solely hunt the game around her. This would have worked, at least for awhile, but there would always be the risk her san would dip to low and she'd be willing to feed of humans. A bigger concern is her children. They'd have stumbled upon the cabin eventually. Or she would have grown lonely and if not given a good reason not to, would have tried to seek them out. This would have been bad for all involved. If you've any other questions or comments, feel free to ask or share. Thanks for another great scenario guys. :)

Thanks, that was great! It did play out differently than the first time I played it. In that one, "Marlene" leapt out of the septic tank and attacked us when we continued to pour the kerosene into it and ignored her pleas. Of course, in that one, I played an agent who started adapted to violence and had absolutely no compunction about doing what needed to be done. It actually came to blows between some of the other agents when deciding what to do.

Sanity gain for completing the mission:
[dice]0[/dice]
Sanity loss for destroying "Marlene":
[dice]1[/dice]

Nik

Mission completion: SAN gain: 1d3 1

I think Nik knew that Marlene was not the same, and so he felt he did the right thing, however shocking it felt.

SAN gain: 1d3 1

This brings his SAN back up to 59.

That was an enjoyable scenario SP - thanks very much. I think, from my perspective, that the earlier scenario made the characters prepared to take the actions they did. The encounter with Emanuel Santana and the Traveler showed that what is on the surface is not always the reality. If they hadn't that experience, they probably wouldn't have acted so quickly and decisively.

Shades of The Monkeys Paw and Pet Semetary in this adventure.

Glad you both enjoyed. Cearlan can make the rolls when they're able. In addition, the three of you need to decide your downtime activities. Please see here if you need a refresher viewtopic.php?f=399&t=5891#p190805 Remember to select two each.

Nik is still working on white-collar fraud cases, and feels he should review and revise his knowledge of accounting practices by taking a community college course.

Accounting 30: Accounting: 1d100 75

Accounting skill increase: 1d10 6

Stay on the case: He also pores through the paperbacks taken from Baughman's foot locker; "Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation" and "The Interrupted Journey". He hopes to gain more insight about the nature of the alien threat they face, and also if there is any mention about Saint Yig.

1) Fulfill Responsibilities: Vanessa spends time with her mother Angela, having been reminded of mortality and wanting to treasure the time she has with her while she's still around.

Sanity roll (current level 69):
[dice]0[/dice]
Critical success! Vanessa gains 1 Sanity, bringing her to 70.

2) Back to Nature: Vanessa spends a weekend relaxing at a resort to get her mind off of things.

Sanity roll (current level 70):
[dice]1[/dice]

I plan to get the next scenario started this weekend. Getting over a bit of a cold but should hopefully be good to go by then.

Okay, looking forward to it!

Maynard

Mission completion SAN gain:
[dice]0[/dice]

I think, like Nik, Maynard was all to aware that Marlene was not the same little old lady that Buchwald 'reanimated' after her passing, and so he felt he was correct in his mind, although it did affect him deeply.

SAN gain:
[dice]1[/dice]

This brings Maynard's SAN back up to a full 70% (assuming you cannot go over your initial San score - if you can then my SAN is now 73%).

Downtime;

Spends time with younger sister Amy. The young girl in the video reminds Maynard of Amy, young and vulnerable. The protective big brother comes out to play.

Stay on the case (kinda links with the above and Amy). Pours over the video time and again looking for something he may have missed, but finding nothing - other than Pastor Michael's manipulative machinations on a congregation of credulous people.

Alright. Make sure you all add one point to any skill you failed to use, if you've not done so already.

For Nik and Rue staying on the case, I'm going to roll the better of Criminology or Occult for them. I won't tell you guys what I roll, so you won't know if the info you get is useful or dangerously wrong. I will roll for san loss or gain now (And yes, san appears to only go up to pow*5. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm tempted to house rule it away, but I can see an argument being made that the stronger willpower one has the stronger mental fortitude they might have. I'll leave it as is for now.)

Spoilering for size, all can feel free to read.

Nik,Nik reads though the books, both of which take considerable time. The first book [i]Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation"[/i] Sounds very... unhinged. The author postulates that America going back to its Founding Fathers has been controlled by a satanic conspiracy to undermine democracy. He makes a lot of connections Nik feels are spurious. There seems to be little evidence to support any of it, aside from brief circumstantial ties. Nothing Nik reads in this is anything he's inclined to believe. The second book is more of a report on the Barney and Betty Hill case. The author seems to be a reporter of some sort, and he lays out their case without making judgements either way. The married couple were returning to their home from a roadtrip when they encountered a flying saucer shaped like a large pancake. After a short pursuit, they experienced alleged missing time, which the author explains is common in many alien abductions cases. Both of the Hill's were interviewed by the military and went under hypnosis, and were found to be repressing some memories. Nonetheless, generally they were found to be credible. Though Barney died in 1969, Betty continued her crusade for UFO disclosure until the present day, when she is still apparently alive. However, She seems to have experienced some sort of change starting in 1980, and apparently many within the UFO community now find her to be an attention seeker and delusional. The author raises the note that before 1980 she was well spoken and lucid, while afterwards she apparently seems to be not mentally right. Her latest book, released in 1995, asserts that she has seen dozens of UFO's since the incident and a truck levitating in broad daylight above the freeway. While the author does not come out and say it, it seems clear he thinks she's suffering from sort to dementia. Others think they They have gotten to her, though who They are depends on the speaker. Of most note is Clyde's notes in the margins. He writes about something called the Greys and how the Hill's initial report seems like a textbook case of their work. Nik can look it up, or perhaps he even knows it, but he finds the Greys are a common type of alien reported in abduction cases, perhaps the most common. [ooc]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_alien[/ooc] It would take some time to read up on the history, but Baughman seemed to think they were real and connected to what happened to the Hills. He also seems to have encountered them, referencing seeing them at one point in his diary, during a Platte operation. He does not elaborate on what Platte is. Nik gains/loses [dice]0[/dice] san

Edmund,The video remains disturbing. Some of Michael's congregation are as young as Amy. All seem desperate, and seem to regard the pastor as a sort of messiah figure. If Edmund does some research, he can find a few hints to a Pastor Michael Thomas. He appears to look quite similar to the man in the video. The odd thing is, he was last seen in the early 1920's. Reports indicate that his church, located in Boston, housed some disturbing content, and after scandalous reports of the worship the church was engaged in got out, the police raided it. They found that many of the congregation were using it as a form of depraved sex cult. Even worse, the bones of several missing children were found in the church's basement, torn apart as if by some animal. It was a big scandal for two days before being eclipsed by President Harding's death. After that, no further mention can be found of the church or its Pastor. Perhaps the Michael in the video is a grandson continuing the family business? If it's any consultation, the agents know that Baughman said he killed Thomas. Hopefully, unlike the people he revives, he stays dead. Edmund gains/loses [dice]1[/dice] san

So, UFO abduction is real. Sorry SP, does it mean that Nik loses SAN?

HoneyDog wrote:So, UFO abduction is real. Sorry SP, does it mean that Nik loses SAN?

Well, that depends on if you believe what Baughman's saying. The author of the Hill's book seems to come down on them being misguided or misled, though not purposefully deceitful, Baughman himself says he ran into these creatures, but Nik also think he was crazy, so does he believe him?

If he does, I'm going to say a 0/1d3 unnatural loss. It's disturbing, but it kind of helps to only have the word of a mentally unstable man. It prevents Nik from being fully impacted by it.

I'll say the same for Edmund. Unless he believes Pastor Thomas in the 1920's and 1990's are one and the same, he suffers no san loss. If he does, he can lose 0/1d3. Both men do look alike but there are enough subtle differences that it could be a family relative.

I think that Nik would believe Baughman, considering all of the experiences he's had. Nik thinks that Baughman was crazy but more as a result of what he'd been through, not because he was delusional. Nik has already seen one alien, so the existence of others would not seem so outlandish. The notion that they are abducting people would be disturbing though.

Understood. I'll roll your san. Seems to be 64.


[dice]0[/dice]

[dice]1[/dice] if fail.

Looks okay then! The new scenario looks good too.

No worries! Have a great trip, and happy birthday. If it's alright with you I'll NPC Rue if needed until you return, but I expect not to need to (Except perhaps to brief the others on what he found out.)

for those curious, a photo of the lovely Ms. Dewey:

Image,[img]https://s30.postimg.org/xjd9dq9kx/sonja-dewey.jpg[/img]

She's okay, I suppose...

The book describes her as ravishing. Though maybe you have to be into brunettes.

Just wanting to say I'm really enjoying the back and forth between everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all decide to do next.

I'm wondering if the story will go in the direction I think it might, or if we'll get an unexpected surprise...

I got the Need To Know condensed rule book recently to have a look at Last Things Last. I preferred your take on it - I thought the descriptions of the cult linked to Jolly Old Saint Yig were good and gave it a much better background.The scenario was a bit sketchy on that.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate that! I've been tweaking the scenarios as we go.

I did enjoy Last Things Last, but I thought the scenario as written made things too clear cut. Most players will probably expect Marlene to be some sort of monster posing as the wife, and that's indeed what she is. I think it is more effective to have her still be the person she was while alive, but now she's both A. Unable to pass as anything other than a monster in public and B. cursed with a desire for the flesh and blood of the living. It creates an interesting moral dilemma if instead she's an innocent who may or may not be a danger to others, if not today than that day down the line when she loses control.

The Yig stuff I admit I kind of made up off the top of my head, and tying Thomas in with the Pastor from The Haunting was a last minute inspiration. Kind of proud of it though. And there's always a chance it could pop up later...

Also been reading your Edge of Darkness thread and really enjoyed that. I was on the edge of my seat during the ritual.

Thanks SP. The monster might be vanquished in EoD but the players will be in a lot of trouble unless they're careful.

Yes, you made Marlene much more interesting than just an out and out monster. I suspect that our players though will become less influenced by moral qualms as time goes by.

The part where the zombies showed up reminded me of Evil Dead, so I had to make a reference to Army of Darkness when I botched the chant. I may not have said every little syllable, but, yeah, basically, I said the words.

I didn't get that reference! I was reminded of Night of the Living Dead. But these zombies wouldn't have eaten you, just slapped you around a little bit.

Waiting on seeing what Edmund does, but so you guys want to ask Principal Harolds for a staff list? That can be easily arranged.

Also, did Vanessa want to call DG and give them a status update and see if they can tell her anything about what they may be up against? She could also do this later, there's no time rush. That you guys know of.

Yes, a staff list would be nice. Nik can call DG, unless it's Vanessa's responsibility. I'll be around as it's only 5pm here; Mr. H is probably tucked in for the night.

I'm getting the feeling Nik does not much care for Thornton.

I think Nik will end up exposing Thornton anyway.

Well, Delta Green did ask you guys to find a good cover story/patsy for the killings if the true culprit could not be revealed.

Yes, he might be useful in that regard. He has motive after all (for Lauren anyway). And if he should die in a hail of gunfire, well...

Oh, what happened to my liberal sensibilities? I've become a jackbooted thug. Curse you, Delta Green!

"I need to get into that house" he thinks. But there must be an alarm system.

Oh, there's an alarm system, all right...

'As the vile creature gleefully rips off Nik's limbs and stuffs them in it's gaping maw, his last thoughts are "When do we get to the opera?"

Yikes, some unfortunate rolls. I think I'll give Cearlan a day or so to post and if need be will briefly puppet Edmund to keep us moving forward.

So it is that Nik unleashes that most potent horror of all; the law.

Actually, Nik would insist on having a lawyer review any confidentiality agreements before they began the interview to delay things further.

Okay, give me a bureaucracy roll, and let's see how successful he makes his arguments.

I know you guys are probably pretty eager to keep going, but I do encourage you to weigh your options here. Without giving too much away, the choice made here might decide how the scenario turns out and the agents lives as well. Each has their pros and cons, so chose wisely.

If you are set on one path, feel free to roll idea, and If you pass I'll try and give you some advice on how to go about it.

I still think dropping Thomas down an abandoned mine shaft or something is best, but Vanessa is the the team leader and would make the final decision. Cearlan might have another opinion but of course he'll need to tell us.

I like the idea of anonymously tipping off Thomas about the ""NSA" listening device and break-in so that he'll send the monster after them tonight. Maybe we can use one of those devices that electronically distorts your voice for that extra X-Filesy effect, using an untraceable phone, of course.

Going to wait on Cearlan before I move forward in game.

Another option to consider could be tipping off the NSA instead of Thomas. You guys have done enough investigation to link him to all of the attacks, and these guys are enough in the know to clue into that fact. That would take care of Thomas and save you all from any risk( except perhaps if your story was bad and you tipped off the NSA that you're DG.) The one downside here is that DG might not want Thomas's necklace in the hands of the other group. If Vanessa wants to ask about this route when she calls MARCUS I'll address it.

Hope you're all enjoying this, by the way. We're nearing the climax I think and I'm looking forward to running it for you all.

Yes this is a challenging adventure. Are you thinking of running another one after?

Let's hope Cearlan shows up soon, there are many ideas to consider. I wonder what his preferred choice will be?

If folks continue to be interested, I think I will. The one I have planned next is a scenario I quite enjoy. It was very difficult to find, I had to track down an old zine to get it. It's also one I created a second part for, so I'm eager to test it out.

I'll probably update us within the next day with Wu and MARCUS'S answers. Hopefully that will give you all some further direction.

Yes, I'll ask MARCUS what he thinks about the idea when I call him. I'm definitely enjoying this and looking forward to more.

My computer just died on me, so I think I'm going to take a few days to get everything back into order once again. I hope to be back on Wednesday, and will endeavor to move us forward by then(provided you guys have come to a plan by then.)

As a side note, if you all remember your code names please post them here once again. I kept them in my notes for this game on my old computer, which I foolishly neglected to back up.

Nik = Stanley
Vanessa = Sally
Rue = Scott

Thanks HoneyDog, much appreciated.

Also, you guys are bloodthirsty. Clearly you've all been playing CoC for too long. I'm fine with you going down this route, but know that there will be serious consequences for attempting to kill at least five people on your guys psyche. On the other hand, if you get through this you're pretty much guaranteed to become numb to future violence related horrors.

A picture of the Lighthouse in question. Ignore the buildings around it, it stands alone and is a tiny bit taller, but not by much.

Pic,[img]https://s14.postimg.org/t7y4dha01/Lighthouse.jpg[/img]

It might be damaging but don't forget those people, the agents and Thomas, would happily kill us simply for being in the way. It's more a matter of survival.

I considered this ending for a bit. It felt a bit anti climatic to me, but your agents all suffered a great loss in stopping the threat . (Remember to add a notch to your violence checks to become desensatised to it.) and I did not want to put that on all of you and then make you fight the creature you were trying your damndest to avoid. It's my first time really making my players roll for high san loss, so you guys got pretty lucky, all things considered.

We've just got a few posts of wrapup as to what you guys do next, and then I think the scenario will be done.

That was pretty dramatic, with them flying off to the heavens! It's better than us just killing Thomas.

Okay, let's start with the usual reminders. First, take note of any skill you failed to use and increase it by one. Second, start to decide your actions for downtime, detailed here: viewtopic.php?f=399&t=5891

San rewards: Well though the mission ended a bit messily, you guys did stop the main threat. Give yourselves a 1d6.

Now onto thoughts:

This scenario was a lot of fun to run, though I also found it difficult at times. It was much more of a sandbox, and you guys did go off on avenues I was not expecting more than once! I hope I did a good job of responding of those situations. I also enjoyed tossing out some red herrings such as the teacher Lauren was having an affair with and her aggressive boyfriend, and hopefully it took some sleuthing to figure out Thomas was responsible. Well, kind of. The truth is, Thomas had no idea he was responsible for the murders. But by wearing the necklace he forged a bond with the Ai-apa, and whenever he felt pain the creature acted to destroy the source of it. Dr. Mareti caused Thomas a bit of discomfort during the dental visit, and though he forgot it within half an hour, the Ai-Apa didn't. Vanassa Hatvan gave him detention, wherein he was tormented by Chad Jordan and a few other students. Lauren Harrogate publicly turned him down when he asked her out, and Chad bullied him. The true tragedy was that he never had a clue he was behind all of this, and would have felt horrible had he known(well, maybe not about Chad.) I was expecting the scenario to end with a classic moral dilemma as to wherever you would take out the relative innocent or try to kill the creature, but you all pretty much suspected him of being involved. The other group I ran this for thought the same, though it ended more happily for Thomas there. I am sort of proud of his ending fate, i came up with that on the fly.

Overall enjoyed running it though and hoped you all enjoyed playing. If you have any final thoughts or comments feel free to share, and thanks for sticking with me.

Sanity gain:
[dice]0[/dice]
Thank you, I did enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

That was a great roll for Sanity rewards! I'm now about halfway back to normal. For my downtime actions, I'm thinking of creating a new Bond and then fulfilling my responsibilities (with that new Bond, if I'm successful in establishing it). Vanessa needs a boyfriend, and it ties into her motivations. This will also allow me to have a stronger starting Bond if I do it now than after the next scenario, as I expect I'll become hardened to violence in that one, which will drop my Charisma. Only one more loss without hitting the Breaking Point will do it.

I will add to the character bio later, but Nik has checks for Bureaucracy, HUMINT, Persuade and Computer Science.

If we had found that Thomas was an unwitting antagonist, I'm sure that would have changed some things. Nik would have been more willing to finding a solution to destroying the necklace. I just assumed that Thomas was acting intentionally in these murders. Goes to show that I should keep a more open mind and not jump to conclusions!

I'm looking forward to starting the next one. Hopefully Cearlan will return at some point.

Charisma x 5 roll (65% stat) to Establish a New Bond:
[dice]0[/dice]
Bond established with Malcolm Devane, boyfriend, age 30 (7)

Sanity roll (current level 68) to Fulfill Responsibilites with Malcolm Devane:
[dice]1[/dice]
Bond with Malcolm Devane reduced:
[dice]2[/dice]
Vanessa meets Malcolm Devane, an Assistant District Attorney in Phoenix, and she begins a whirlwind romance with him. However, she feels guilty about concealing what she really does from him, and this is an invisible obstacle to their nascent relationship.

After the violence of the last case Nik feels himself becoming distanced from his girlfriend. He needs to fulfill his responsibilities, so he makes an effort to make time for her and pay her the attention she needs, especially in terms of supporting her in her busy job as a legal clerk.

SAN 68: SAN: 1d100 17

Bond Improvement: Bond improvement: 1d6 2

Debbie is receptive and things seem okay, for now at least.

Nik also tries to concentrate on his physical health, and changes his diet accordingly. But his heart isn't in it - what the hell is kale anyway?

CONx5 65: CON increase: 1d100 49

Seeing as Cearlan has not logged in for awhile, I'm trying to find someone to play Rue until he gets back. I'd feel better with 3 players than 2, given the lethality of the setting. Even if I don't find anyone though it's not as big a deal as it normally would be, as the next scenario actually has several friendly NPC's around, who can be easily inserted into the action or make a replacement character, so you'll all have some help regardless.

How about introducing a new player, while NPCing Rue until Cearlan returns? The team will be back to four, which is a nice balance.

That's another option and might be what i end up going with. I've pm'd Kabukiman and am awaiting his response. If he's not interested, I'll open the field wider up. With a new DG game starting I'm sure I could find another player.

I was thinking of my response to the scenario and my automatic assumption that Thomas was complicit in the murders, without considering anything else. That’s a lesson for me! Thank you for making me think more deeply about it.

I was a bit surprised by it, but you're not the only one. People tend to jump to Thomas being the killer. I think perhaps because it's set up like a whodunit, and once players figure that out they kind of assume he's guilty. Plus I think it seems more likely based on the setting that Dengler read a book or fell under a cult and is now lashing out at people he dislikes. If it helps, Nik likely won't ever feel any guilt for the kid.

Kabukiman seems like he's going to join, so once his character's ready we'll start the next scenario.

Not heard back from Kabukiman, but I assume he's making his character. I'll probably get us started today or tomorrow,and he can come in whenever. The nice thing about DG is new characters seem pretty trivial to introduce, as the group sending reinforcements.

Did a quick character creation for Eric Taylor, so going forward he's more or less an NPC ally, or a Friendly as DG would call him. Id either of your characters meet a grizzly end he's ready for a pc. Alternatively, if everyone survives and we decide to continue I'll try to recruit someone to play him going forward( assuming he still wants in on this whole thing after the rest of this scenario plays out.)

Since Colm has become such a major character, I decided to find a pic for him. This one sums him up pretty perfectly:

pic,[img]https://s26.postimg.org/5jxbdw1nd/htecthqp8rfz.jpg[/img]

Do aliens celebrate Festivus?

Nik will go to help Taylor but first wants to put the downed man back down, perhaps giving him smack across the head with his pistol. Should and what should I roll for that?

You're all presently airing of the grievances.

I'll say that sounds like stunning. To stun the man, try an unarmed combat roll( even though you have a pistol drawn it seems closest). However since you are specifically trying to stun, you'll take a -20 penalty as you try and line up the perfect hit to incapacitate him. Success does 1d4 damage and puts him down for at least a round. (until he makes a Con roll to rise)

since Nik at least is planning to shoot his opponent, It might be a good idea to look over the combat rules and see if any of the maneuvers described catch your interest.

viewtopic.php?f=399&t=5891#p189808

Fun fact: The Taxi Driver failed his drive roll by 1. My villains have not rolled the best in this confrontation.

Colm has gone? Can Nik go after the burnt man?

Yep. Colm made it to his car the second round and made a drive roll the third. Taylor was unfortunately preoccupied and not in a position to stop him.

He certainly can. He's right outside; Nik can both reach him and act this turn.

How's the info dumping and general game going? I don't want to dump too much of the setting on you guys, but a lot of factions have come into play during this operation.

I'm liking it. It's not too much to read, and it gives me some background about the world of DG that I didn't know.

Glad you're enjoying. I am making some adjustments to the setting and story I want to tell, but nothing too severe or far out from canon.

No it's fine. It's a good adventure so far.

For no reason whatsoever, I've added new rules to burst fire, should you use that in the future. viewtopic.php?f=399&t=5891&p=194400#p194400 Please let me know if you have any questions, as this is a house rule of mine.

I'll try to finish up See No Evil in the next day or two. But well done. You've both survived another scenario. I'll go into further detail and answer any questions as soon as we fully wrap up.

For now though I am interested in continuing this game, but I'd really actually rather run a one-shot and take a break from this for a bit. The one shot in question would cast the characters as friends or relatives whose teenage daughter has gone missing. I'd ideally like at least one of the investigators to play the mother or father of the missing girl, for added drama and plot cohesion. Would either of you be interested in a game along these lines?

Thanks!

I'd be interested in trying a game like that.

See No Evil is at its end. Let's start with SAN Rewards.

1d3 for shutting down the Review. 1d6 for saving the kids.

This scenario is probably one of my favorites. I like how it introduces a broader threat in the Karotechia, and if the campaign continues I suspect you'll be running into them again. I tend to find engaging with factions and cults more rewarding than one off threats, but I try to give you guys a bit of both.

The one thing I love about this scenario is how it turns the general rule on its head. Even with no pc intervention, the whole situation spirals out of control for the Karotechia, and the rest of it is about minimizing their loses. Stromn picks the wrong person to attempt to recruit, and at the first opportunity the heavily paranoid Colm flees. The rest of the scenario as written focuses on the Karotechia's attempt to silence Colm. Had you not killed both Stromn and Voss(the cab driver) They'd have made an attempt on him at the convention the next day. As it was, I decided to bring in Alzis and use the scenario to introduce him instead.

The second part of the scenario is actually my own invention, so I hoped you enjoyed it. I did not anticipate you calling Alzis. Instead the scene would have been a race against time, with me rolling for you to determine if you made it to the kids on time before the ghouls got them. You avoided a lot of that by making the deal with him, so well done.

If there's any further questions or comments, feel free to let me know. Overall though, hope you enjoyed, I've been looking forward to this one for awhile.

As for the new game, I may run DG along with it, though I don't want to overexert myself. I'll have to think on it. I'm still not sure what the next scenario for this campaign will be, though I have a few different ideas that could work. For the one-shot, I'll probably try to recruit 4 or so players, counting you both( if HoneyDog is interested and able) I'd also love for you both to play the parents of the missing teenager, though that's just because I know you two are great with rping and think you could do a lot with the "material." You'd be under no obligation to play that character type however, as I know it's not to everyone's tastes.

That was a really good scenario SP. It moved at a great pace with a satisfying conclusion. I liked the different villains, and the necessity of having to deal with Alzis. It seemed like the easiest way to solve the situation with the children.

I'm really happy to do another DG adventure, but the missing daughter one honestly doesn't appeal I'm afraid. I have a daughter and I don't think I would feel very comfortable role-playing something like that. I'm sure there'll be other players though - modern adventures seem quite popular on the site.

thanks, first scenario I've halfway written, so glad you enjoyed. I was worried it was a bit heavy on the exposition. It was a good option to deal with the situation. Interestingly enough, my first playtest had the players name drop Alzis to get Galt to back off. They expected he'd not want competition in town. It sort of worked, but this was "cleaner." And sets up a lot of interesting complications in the future.

And oh absolutely, definitely don't want anyone to play anything they're uncomfortable with. This one can get a bit dark, so I understand completely. I'll probably run another DG one then along with the new game, maybe after a short break. You seem to be enjoying the characters and I'm enjoying the setting we're building. No clue as to the next scenario at the moment. I was thinking Convergence, but I see you guys will be playing that soon. I'll have to think on what to run instead.

Thanks SP. My tolerance for violence and dystopian stuff declined dramatically after my children were born. I want to imagine a more optimistic future. Still, I love Lovecraftian stuff hence my participation in the games here.

Yes, it seems Convergence is coming up with leestriter. But if you feel you have enough time to run something else I'd love to play. Have you tried The New Age? That sounds like a good one.

Thank you, that was really good! I had thought the second part was actually part of it, as it fit seamlessly.

Sanity gain:
[dice]0[/dice]+[dice]1[/dice]

Highest complement possible, thank you kindly.

I've our next scenario in mind. It should prove a quick one, and I've never run it before but I think you might both enjoy it. Just going to do some tinkering. Hopefully I'll kick it off within a week or so, going to focus on recruiting for the other game now and take a bit of a break.

Hey guys,decided to put this on hold for a bit while I work on the next scenario. I'll let you both know when I start it up again. I hope you'll both be able to join; the next scenario involves cats.

Look forward to it. Take as long as you need.

I'll gladly wait too, and I'm going to be very busy over the next few weeks anyway. I like cats, though Vanessa is more of a dog person.

Now that Roots is done, I am considering starting this game up again. Would both of you still be interested? I'd probably try to recruit one more player as well.

I know you guys were both planing to do Convergence in your other game, but that seems to have never happened. Would you be interested in that? Failing that, I have another idea.

Hi SP - sure, I'd like to play again. I've enjoyed your games a lot.

I'd like to do Convergence with you. The other game seems to have died.

Yes, I'd like to play again too, and Convergence is fine with me.

Great, glad to have you both onboard! You both make an excellent team, ha ha.

I'm talking to a friend about joining a game, though I won't know for a few days. If he falls through, I'll try to recruit on here. In the meantime, you guys can take your downtime actions, via here viewtopic.php?f=399&t=5891#p190805 You're both back in Arizona, though your handling of the last case worked well enough for the FBI that a transfer may one day come. Delta Green though is unlikely to be happy you gave back the book that the Karotechia wanted.

As a heads up, Nik lost a lot of his bond to his girlfriend during the operation. He may want to work to repair that. If not, assume the two of them are going through a tough stretch at this time. Nik might be angry or jealous of her, since she does not understand the true horrors that lurk out there(among them immortal nazis and cannibalistic monsters lurking in the subways) In addition, he's made a deal with a sorcerer/crime boss, Stephen Alzis, and is still unsure of the consequences of that. Fortunately for her, Vanessa's own relationships are healthier at the moment.

If you've any questions or need a refresher do let me know.

Sanity roll (current level 70) to Fulfill Responsibilities with Malcolm Devane:
[dice]0[/dice]
Bond Improvement:
[dice]1[/dice]
Sanity roll (current level 70) to Fulfill Responsibilities with Malcolm Devane:
[dice]2[/dice]
Bond improvement:
[dice]3[/dice]

Once back in Phoenix, Vanessa spends most of her downtime with Malcolm Devane, enjoying her newfound romance. They go out to dinner, movies, and dancing. As their relationship blossoms, she wonders if she might be falling in love.

I just realized that when you fail to Fulfill Responsibilities during a downtime, a bond is reduced by 1D4. I had thought just making the attempt was enough. Since I failed in the previous downtime, I'll deduct 1D4 from my bond with Lucas:
[dice]4[/dice]

Nik

Fulfill responsibilities with his girlfriend:
SAN 64: SAN: 1d100 14

Bond improvement: Bond improvement: 1d6 4

Nik wants to try and forget about the New York experience, and its potential consequences. He devotes himself to Debbie, to make up for any lack of attention.

He also takes up juggling, but proves an abject failure.

DEXx5 60:dex: 1d100 41

Good rolls for you both. Looks like Nik's relationship with his girlfriend is somewhat repaired, though for Vanessa and her brother are currently working through a rough patch. Maybe she's been neglecting to call him, busy as she is with work and appreciating things with Malcolm.

My friend has expressed interest, but he's busy until next week so it may be a bit until we can start. This works for me, as I'm still deciding if I want to run Convergence immediately or build up to it first with another scenario. I'll let you both know soon.

Welcome back to Delta Green.

Convergence! Let 's converge.

Hmm, was actually thinking I'll run the other scenario first, but you guys have been waiting on convergence for a long time, so if you want we can do that first. Be warned, convergence does have something of a.. reputation for being difficult for poor pc's.

Friend confirmed interest and should have his character up in the next few days, upon which we'll start.

No pressure, SP. Do what you think works best.

Still hoping to get one more player, but if worse comes to worse this scenario should work with two. Tried to do a brief summary in the first post since I know it's been a while. Let me know if you've any questions or the like and I'll do my best to answer.

The last one worked fine with just two, so don't worry too much. Let's solve this case!

As you're both separated I'm going to try and keep you both on the same timeline, but as long as it's not life and death I'm not worrying too much about it. It takes Vanessa far longer to get to Alliance than Nik to Colombia, but I'm going to say he has to endure a convoluted PR campaign to convince him that Colombia had absolutely nothing to do with Wei's actions. So right now you're both technically near the same time period, 2:30 or so.

Unfortunately got a bit busy today, so post will have to come tomorrow.

Hoping you guys are enjoying this so far. I feel like my posts are a little long. I have a tendency to be long winded and add color Would you guys prefer if I tried to post smaller chunks? I don't want to overwhelm you all.

I've also decided that from now on I'm bolding each name a maximum of one time a paragraph. Took me longer to find and bold everything then to write the post!

It's good so far. Don't worry about the long posts, they're not a problem to read (must take a while to write though!) They make the game much more interesting.

I'm enjoying it too, and I'm also fine with the long posts.

When I write posts, I bold the names as I'm typing them rather than going back afterwards.

I write my posts in word. Had too many eaten over the years otherwise. But I'll try and make a note of that. Or refer to y'all by name less.

I just type in the Post A Reply box, but I always copy my posts to the clipboard periodically as I type them so that I don't lose much if that happens.

We're approaching the end of the scenario, and I wanted to ask you guys where you'd like to go from here.

If the Outlook hook has interested you, I have some ideas of where to take that. The caveat to that is that it would be pretty much content of my own creation, and I can't vouch for the quality. It would also be very linear. I try to give you guys options at all times, but if I ran this next part I think your freedom would be limited for awhile, unless you were very creative. If you'd rather start a new scenario and bring this one to a close we can, but if you're willing to continue 'll see what I can come up with.

Either way is fine with me.

I'm perfectly fine to start a new scenario if that's the easiest course to take. I've enjoyed this one.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll probably run a little addendum to this one before launching into the new scenario. Hopefully it will be enjoyable to you both. It should hopefully be a fun expierment.

A third player may be joining us, so this will also give me the opportunity to catch them up as well.

Sorry about recent developments, guys. I hate taking the power away from the players, but I promise neither of your guys are dead or unusable. There's still a way out of this. Hopefully you're both willing to trust me for just a bit longer. Normally DG provides a system to resist poisons and drugs, but there was basically no way either of you could have done so here.

Before we proceed,a question. Would both of you be okay portraying other characters for a brief scene? I have them pre generated. If so, I'll pm you details when it becomes appropriate.

Sure, just take it in whatever direction you think is necessary. I can do the other character thing. Nik has nothing to add to the cadillac scene. Let's hope it turns out for the best. Or not.

I'd be okay with it too.

Had a huge post written.

Forum logged me out.

I think I crit failed the san roll in response.

Oh no! I found out it's better to write in word and cut and paste - same problem.

So ends The Last Equation. It's a pretty fun scenario. I was a bit hesitant to run it due to how open ended it was, but it seemed to go well. I hope you guys enjoyed.

You guys did a pretty good job of containing the virus. The only major missteps you made were not dealing with Sarah Comox before she became infected, and not getting the site down the first night. When you failed that, I made a roll to see how many of the remaining list members were infected, and 4 were. One of them happened to be Tia. The others were dealt with by DG agents before they could kill anyone. OOC, the rest of the list was dealt with as well. DG did not take the time to determine who was infected and who was not. As for the Tumlinsons... well that would be telling! But your editing of the numbers meant the unnatural connection soon died out.

As for OUTLOOK, that stuff is all in one of the old DG books, but they actually had nothing to do with the scenario here as written. In the text, Wei happens across the Laqueus Equation and becomes the first person to solve it. Elated, he spreads his discovery to the group before quickly succumbing to it. While that was okay, I worried that the scenario would be over too soon if I did not add an additional hook to the scenario. Plus I really do enjoy the Majestic lore, and enjoyed showing off why a non cultist villain would seek to use the unnatural. Yrjo was incredibly fun to write.

The simulations you experienced were also lifted from the section on OUTLOOK. My only real complaint with DG is that the setting has an amazing amount of lore, but as written there's no real way your characters can encounter much of it. (OUTLOOK for example is a heavily guarded facility that even the most skilled and armored pc group would have trouble infiltrating.) So I'm looking for avenues to introduce as much of it as I can. As for dealing with OUTLOOK, if you guys really found this part of the scenario captivating and want to try and get revenge, I'll see if I can engineer an encounter in the future. But you guys should know that it would be no easy task, and I would probably have to shift those parts of the game to a more tactical setting, where you'd have a squad of pc's or npc's, as opposed to just the two of you. I'd not be opposed and it could make for a fun challenge, but just letting you know.

Anyway, hope you both enjoyed. For san rewards:

1d4 for stopping the Equation.

1d3 for editing the documents to obscure the unnatural aspect of the crime.

And 1 for both agents for holding firm and refusing to believe any of the OUTLOOK programing.

For the next scenario, while I admit I really enjoy the conspiratorial tilt of the game, I think the next one will be a more traditional COC scenario. It's well regarded but also fairly deadly, so I am hoping that third player I invited joins us!

Feel free to offer any comments or questions about the scenario. And do let me know if you enjoyed the Majestic content, or would prefer more straightforward stuff. Thanks for sticking with me.

Nik

For stopping the Equation: SAN gain: 1d4 4

For editing the documents: SAN gain: 1d3 2

Thanks for an enjoyable game, SP. I enjoyed the OUTLOOK addition and felt that it gave the game depth. If it had only started with Wei, I can't see it going that far - just hunting down the infected. By all means, introduce more Majestic antagonists; that part of the game is good fun. I'll have to read up on OUTLOOK again sometime, I've forgotten most of it.

Looking forward to the next one.

Thanks. I enjoyed the scenario, including the OUTLOOK part.

Sanity gain:
[dice]0[/dice]+[dice]1[/dice]

Thanks guys. I'll start the new scenario in the next few days. It's for modern times, so I need to change some dates to make it all fit. So if you see something that does not make sense timeline wise in the scenario, it's likely my fault. ;p Also going to try to find us a 3rd player.

You get two more downtime actions, described here. https://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/vi ... 399&t=5891 I'm curious to see what Vanessa in particular decides to do. Her bonds really took a beating in this scenario. Will she try to repair them or focus on trying to boost a skill, or restore some of her depleted sanity?

Nik gets interested in cooking. He tries various dishes – pot roasts, casseroles, stir fries, tempura etc. But his efforts generally fail. Eventually, Debbie asks him to stop, for the sake of her palate.

DEX 12x5=60: dex: 1d100 17


Curious about the man, Nik asks McRay out for a drink, hoping to learn more about him and his motivations.

Charisma x 5 = 30: Charisma: 1d100 80

They don't gel.

Poor Nik! He is not having a good time. Also, remember to reduce one bond by 1d4 since you did not take the opportunity to fulfill responsibilites.

Shame about the attempt to bond with McRay. You get him drunk and he could tell you some interesting stories.

I forgot that Nik's charisma is sadly reduced since he has become cold-blooded.

Bond reduction: Bond reduction: 1d4 3

Brooding over recent events, and humiliated by the experiments performed on him by Yrjo, Nik becomes easily irritated and begins to distance himself from Debbie, becoming less attentive to her.

Vanessa will definitely be repairing her Bonds. After her ordeal, she wants to spend more time with those she loves.

Action 1: Fulfill Responsibilities with Lucas.
Sanity roll (current level 66):
[dice]0[/dice]
Bond increase:
[dice]1[/dice]
Action 2: Fulfill Responsibilities with Rex.
Sanity roll (current level 66):
[dice]2[/dice]
Bond increase:
[dice]3[/dice]
Both Bonds have been restored to the new maximum of 7.

Just a quick update, I've gotten inquiries from two new potential players, so I'm waiting to see what characters they make before continuing. Thanks for your patience guys.

Seems like we are nearly done with character creation for the new players, so I will hopefully put up the new scenario later today.

Mr. Handy and HoneyDog, also just occurred to me I've been neglecting your Unnatural Skills. You've both seen enough, I'll say roll for Unnatural gain, 1d10(or take 5 if you prefer) Remember your unnatural knocks off the max san you can achieve, but at this point I'm not worried either of you will get that high up again.

Unnatural gain (current level 1%):
[dice]0[/dice]

Hey sorry maybe Im spaxing on where to look but do we have a credit rating or a budget for our mission? Thought I saw something about it but cant find it now.

In the corebook there are are all sorts of rules for operational budgets, but I've decided not to use most of them because I fear they'll slow the game down. Had you guys opted to pay the storage manager though, I was going to make the one of you with the least luck roll to see if you could afford to pay him without going into debt( and damaging your bonds) I'll continue to expierment with the system when issues of money and purchases come up.

You've not been given any special money for this situation, except the FBI covering your hotel bills. If you decide later on to buy something, I'll give it a cost category and have you roll for if you can afford it or not.

Ok cause I was considering giving Vanessa the money to pay the bill now in exchange for the owner putting us in contact with the worker who wouldve seen the comings and goings the most but now that I type it out I doubt hed know much lol.

Lwunder did you read back through wjats happened so far? We can help you out here if you have questions or feel lost just ask.

I doubt any of us hate you, this is awesome! Sorry Im late to the party didnt get notified unfortunately.

Glad you enjoyed. I try to post daily or near, just been both a bit busy and ill recently.

Hope to have a post up later today.

Yeah great so far. Take care of yoyrself hope youre feeling better I know Im going through it too.

頑張って!

I got my copy of The Last Equation SP - I didn't find it that exciting. It seemed like just simply stop the number from spreading, so go somewhere and kill someone, then go somewhere else and kill someone else, and try not to get infected yourself. Not really a lot to investigate. Lover in the Ice is also a lot like that. And there was no real backstory - why does knowing about the equation turn people into killers?

I thought your addition of the OUTLOOK organisation and their experiment gave it a lot more depth and made it much more interesting, so thanks for putting more imagination into it.

Thanks a lot, HoneyDog! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have to admit I was reluctant to run The Last Equation for awhile due to it being fairly straight forward. Honestly, if players are smart they can take down the web group Wei posted the equation at and... basically solve most of the scenario. I also disliked how he randomly just found the Equation and went crazy, so I knew I wanted to have an antagonist behind everything, and OUTLOOK seemed like the best bet while also tying into the lore. If I could have added one element, it would have been having you kill a potential innocent to keep the equation from spreading, but that never came up. Oh well, maybe in this scenario.

I did like Lover in the Ice, but you're correct in many ways that that's another bug hunt.

Provided we all survive this scenario, I'm finally planning to run Convergence. It's a pretty fun one that also ties into the metaplot, so no reading ahead.

Music seems like a good mystery so far. Pretty dangerous for the protagonists too.

I look forward to the next one! I won't read ahead.

Will post tomorrow.

As a friendly reference, here's the floorplan of the house,which I'm fairly certain Nik would share with you. I'm sorry for the small print, hopefully you can all see it.

picture,[img]https://i.postimg.cc/2j01sDFv/tumblr-inline-pn56j3-Wmx-J1uxzqji-540.png[/img]

Silver Priest wrote:Thanks a lot, HoneyDog! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have to admit I was reluctant to run The Last Equation for awhile due to it being fairly straight forward. Honestly, if players are smart they can take down the web group Wei posted the equation at and... basically solve most of the scenario. I also disliked how he randomly just found the Equation and went crazy, so I knew I wanted to have an antagonist behind everything, and OUTLOOK seemed like the best bet while also tying into the lore. If I could have added one element, it would have been having you kill a potential innocent to keep the equation from spreading, but that never came up. Oh well, maybe in this scenario.

I did like Lover in the Ice, but you're correct in many ways that that's another bug hunt.

Provided we all survive this scenario, I'm finally planning to run Convergence. It's a pretty fun one that also ties into the metaplot, so no reading ahead.

Id like to keep playing with you all whether we survive or not. Thanks again players and keeper Im loving this

Thanks Borderline, really glad you're enjoying! As long as you guys are interested I'll try to come up with stuff for you.

Going to wait on Borderline's response before I proceed.

Borderline's not been on since the 26th. I hope everything's okay and we've not lost him, that would be pretty disheartening.

I'll give it a few more days then npc Charley if needed.

I'll give Borderline a day or two more. If he's not replied by then, I'll move us on.

Trying to recruit someone to take over Charley unless and until Borderline returns. If that does not bail out I'll have to just NPC him indefinitely. So it might be a few days until I post again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Hi all, just dropping a line. Hopefully i'll be able to drop a post early next week on Charleys behalf in a IC thread. I will try to read up on the threads these work days.
Im new to Delta Green, so this will be cool at least for me

Welcome Anatomist. I've a feeling you'll be a great addition.

Going to just wait on HoneyDog to post, then I'll do an update.

Sorry, I was waiting for you guys to continue. We need to make what's-her-face an offer for the table. I don't see what else Nik can do right now.

No worries. I thought Nik was trying to get Debra out of the room so he could open up the table, but maybe he does not want to let out whatever horrors have been sealed inside around company. He's thinking like a true DG agent.

Will update shortly.

HoneyDog wrote:Sorry, I was waiting for you guys to continue. We need to make what's-her-face an offer for the table. I don't see what else Nik can do right now.

Do you want chaz to make a offer for the table? I though you were to investigate the table as i was distracting Debra (the sex machine)

HoneyDog wrote:“Don’t you roll your goddam eyes at me, Agent!” Nik says in a furious whisper. “We need that goddam table, so you play up to that old bag, you hear me? Go after her right now and tell her whatever sweet bullshit she wants to hear.”

We need the table - we have to examine it more closely but to do that here is unnecessarily risky and could bring unwanted attention. Debra needs to be made amenable to a sale. Charley can offer himself in partial exchange or something.

HoneyDog wrote:

HoneyDog wrote:“Don’t you roll your goddam eyes at me, Agent!” Nik says in a furious whisper. “We need that goddam table, so you play up to that old bag, you hear me? Go after her right now and tell her whatever sweet bullshit she wants to hear.”

We need the table - we have to examine it more closely but to do that here is unnecessarily risky and could bring unwanted attention. Debra needs to be made amenable to a sale. Charley can offer himself in partial exchange or something.

Ok. Just pick up the subject and chaz will convince her.

So to confirm, Chaz wants to make a pass at Debra and then try to convince her to sell the table? Well this got a bit more kinky than I was anticipating.

If that's the plan, I'll have a respectable, safe for work post up later today, detailing what happens next.

I'm trying to give you guys a little more freedon as to your investigation, this scenario is rather heavy on it. But if any of you ever feel like you're having trouble thinking of what to do next, feel free to roll int*5 and I'll give a hint. I know it's a fine line between fun investigations and running in circles, and hopefully we're still on the right side of that line.

Silver Priest wrote:I'm trying to give you guys a little more freedon as to your investigation, this scenario is rather heavy on it. But if any of you ever feel like you're having trouble thinking of what to do next, feel free to roll int*5 and I'll give a hint. I know it's a fine line between fun investigations and running in circles, and hopefully we're still on the right side of that line.

Chaz will follow Nik around for now, and do as told

Just waiting to see Anatomist's actions before I continue.

Silver Priest wrote:Just waiting to see Anatomist's actions before I continue.

Chaz is with nik, seems he dont get anything out of the investigation this round. feel free to move the plot.
Sorry about the delay, this week and the coming are full of school stuff of my kids getting done with their year. Its been crazy busy

No worries, take the time you need. You're all more or less back together now, so feel free to discuss your next steps when you can.

Wasn't the cellar a hotspot? Ir do I remember wrongly?

Hmm, I don't remember a cellar within the house. Vanessa did encounter a hallucination in the upstairs room and the kitchen, Nik encountered one in the den, and the whole team was exposed to one throughout the house when the gas smelled like it was on and all the doors were locked.

Going to wait to see if Mr.Handy has anything to add before I move us on. No rush though MR.H, because I will be away most of tomorrow and Wednesday so will be unable to update.

We're pretty close tot he end I think, thanks for sticking with the game guys. Mind, the hard part may be yet to come.

Per request, here's the layout of the house. I figured I'd post it here since this thread moves a lot slower than the ic one.

https://i.postimg.cc/2j01sDFv/tumblr-in ... ji-540.png

Thanks SP!

Just waiting on HoneyDog to post before I see how crazy everything gets.

I posted in the dice rolls thread on Monday! The roll failed.

Ack! Sorry I missed that. Post will hopefully be up soon.

Okay everyone, so Vanessa died during the last attack, though as posted she can still be saved.

I'm wrestling with taking back my last post, however. combat is supposed to go in dex order, meaning Chaz would have gotten to attack first. Yarrow(or any humanish npc) can only fight back against one person. While he can dodge multiple attacks with the action, if he uses fight back he must pick one attacker he succeeds against to do damage against. If you're confused( I am, I had to look through my books on this) please consult the rules thread where I try to break it down.

What this means essentially is that if we were playing in a RL game Chaz would have gotten to act first, and Yarrow would have chosen to fight back against him. So he not Vanessa would have been targeted for axe damage. I've been a little more lenient on the dex order when all players go in a row because PBP can be pretty slow, but in this case it really has a major impact on the game. I'd like to know if you guys want me to retcon Yarrow's action and have us go in dex order instead, which may change the fight's outcome significantly. Anatomist, since it's not fair for you to know your attack will be blocked and critted, I will throw out Yarrow's roll and roll again for him to see if he is able to dodge your attack.

Though just looking at threads, I forgot Vanessa has body armor(as do both Chaz and Nik, I'm pretty sure) which means the attack did not kill her at all, just reduced her to 3 HP. So a bit less serious, but I'd like to get a feel for what we want to do in the future before I go back to edit my post.

Sorry for all the confusion all, I'm fairly new to combat rules and always struggled with them a bit.

I think the combat should be done in DEX order, though admittedly I'm a bit biased. I thought fighting back was only in 7th edition. Is it part of the Delta Green rules? If not, he should only be able to attack on his own turn in DEX order, which is last. I also thought criticals were only doubles in Delta Green, not 01, but I don't know for sure.

I did as well, but I looked it up and that's not the case.

Quoting from the book here:

"Your Agent can Dodge or fight back against an incoming
attack even before your Agent’s DEX order in
a turn. If you do this, it becomes your Agent’s single
action for that turn. An Agent who has already taken
another action that turn can’t Dodge or fight back
until the next turn.

A roll to Dodge opposes all hand-to-hand attacks
that turn, and lets your Agent duck behind cover to
evade all ranged attacks that turn, if you win the contest.
Dodging never inflicts damage.

Fighting back opposes all hand-to-hand attacks
that turn. If you win the contest, you take no damage.
It does not protect you against ranged attacks unless
you’re close enough to push the ranged weapon
away. As part of your fighting back roll, choose one
offensive action—attack, called shot, disarm, or pin—
against a single attacker. If your roll beats that attacker’s
roll, your Agent takes no damage and your Agent’s
action affects the attacker instead."

And yep,a crit is also a 1, I looked that up as well to confirm.

In any case, one vote for Dex order. Not that I blame you given the circumstance.

In my head its always dex order.

Two votes for Dex order, so unless otherwise noted I'll do it that way. Sorry again for the confusion; I had completely forgotten about the Fight Back action and how it could impact combat.

Chaz's attack missed, so oddly enough things end exactly the way I first posted. 1. Chaz goes first and misses. 2. Vanessa tries to disarm Yarrow and succeeds. 3. Yarrow fights back and counters her attack, grievously wounding her with the axe. At least she does not die, remaining at 3 HP. Since Nik and Vanessa have the same dex, whichever of them posted first goes first, so I'm going to rule that this is the official results of this round. Nik still gets to attack, after which we start a new round.

Also, Chaz's axe does 1d8 damage as well.

I'm not sure how Delta Green handles it, but when people have the same DEX in 6th edition, they roll off on 1d100 to see in which order they go.

My Luck roll to see if I had pepper spray actually would have succeeded under my old Luck score, before my POW got reduced.

Sorry about the mistakes recently guys, and thanks for pointing them out. If you see any in the future please do feel free to mention them, I don't want to shortchange any of you. Hope you enjoyed the scenario. Once we're officially over I look forward to revealing what was going on and a few things you may have missed.

No problem, and it's all good. The mistake was corrected, and it has been fun. I'm looking forward to finding out the details.

Thanks SP, it was a good mystery. Look forward to the next one.

So, that was Music From a Darkened Room. Hope you enjoyed it. It tends to be a well regarded scenario due in part to its sandboxey nature and how much players can be screwed with by the house.

The one responsible for everything was in fact Isabelle Wheeler. Well no, it was actually Adele DiVetello, but the one who caused all the misery the agents faced was Isabelle. Due to her refusal to sign the Dark Man's book, she grew ill and died. She then found herself in the cold, black, realm Vanessa briefly visited. Faced with constant agony, her only respite were the mirrors that allowed her a glimpse back into the warm world of the living. She was able to see happy people living in her house, and the inability to feel that warmth drove her man and resentful. She began lashing out and killing people, discovering as she did so that this was the only thing capable of distracting her from her torment. Those she killed ended up on the other side of the mirror with her, half living phantoms she used to ensnare more souls. Completely insane by the time of the scenario, her only goal is to draw in and consume more prey; she will never be sated. Donnelly alerted her to the existence of Delta Green, which is why she was a bit more cautious with you guys. She far preferred ignorant prey than people who had even an inkling of an idea as to what she was. When he called to warn you off it was actually her. When that failed she ramped up her aggression.

The house can store a certain amount of POW within it. It is this POW it uses to posses or charm the people that are within in. Everytime any of you guys lost san while in the house it gained more and used that to fuel its powers. Had Vanessa killed Chaz it would have gained a great deal of POW, making it far harder to defeat. In general it prefers to charm its prey, but it resorted to possession in the end because it felt threatened. Had any of you been foolish enough to pick up the razor Isabelle would have attempted to compel you to carry it into the master bedroom, where she would have had you cut your throat for 1d20+4 damage. She's used this trick several times.

As written there's only two ways to defeat the house. The one you performed is by far the more moral way, but it also is far more dangerous because the house becomes an active adversary. The other way is the human sacrifice to call forth the Dark Man and have him lift the curse. This is less dangerous but more san blasting for obvious reasons. It would have been fun to watch you all pick a victim; I dropped some hints that the next door neighbor had a terminal illness and was in their 90's, so thought you might go for them. Or Yarrow. But the way you chose is actually mentioned offhandly in the book, and it's specifically mentioned that the agent shave to come up with it themselves. Personally I hated not letting you all discover it on your own, so I brought it up by leaving the axe with the runes engraved on it in Donnelley's Green Box. I then used Yarrow to deliver the information if he was asked about it. You guys did great investigative work to come up with that solution, so well done.

Speaking of Yarrow, if it's not obvious the man is a quack. He believes all of what he's saying, but it's all New Agey self help canards that have no real use in the world of DG. Most of his advise, such as entering the house alone or attempting to communicate with the manifestation, was dangerous to follow. I wanted you all to get a sense that he could not be trusted and then have him give you the actual solution to the problem and have you all really decide if you could risk using it.

Barbara Turner was also an original invention of mine. The scenario doe snot mention a realtor, but I felt like it was the perfect thing to include. In my take she had been long under the sway of the house and directs more victims there. After Nik spoke to her she did some digging and reported you guys being in town to the house. Isabelle suspected you all were Delta Green and set a trap, hoping only to scare you enough that you'd leave and call off any further hounds. When that failed, she had Turner kill herself for the extra POW, intent on using it to kill all of you.

Last notes, let's see... When you left the house I rolled a luck to see if the police would be called and take the axe away. Thankfully for you, it failed. And Nik succeeded on a roll to prevent himself from begin possessed, which is why the house could not target him after that. And I rolled for your mysterious admirer as well. Depending on how things went you could have met them this time. Maybe next time.

Hope you all enjoyed. Anatomist is planning to make a new character and we may be getting one new player. The next scenario is one of the most deadly DG operations. I won't be pulling any punches with it, so you'll all need to be on the top of your game to survive it. Hopefully we're get started on that within the next few weeks. Final thoughts or questions are welcome though, and you all still have your downtime actions to look forward to. Butt hanks for sticking through another scenario with me guys.

It was more of a traditional haunted house mystery, and a nice change. I don't know if we would have gone with a human sacrifice - or Nik would probably have offered himself. I saw Yarrow more as an enthusiastic amateur who was a bit out of his league, and needed to be jettisoned as soon as possible for his own safety.

Poor Isabelle.

I hope we can start the new one soon. Are you still planning to do Convergence?

You're welcome, and thanks for running it. I hadn't realized that Yarrow was faking it, which probably made it easier for me to accept his advice once the house's control over me wore off, especially since the house tried to stop us from doing it. I guess we can sell the antique furniture we went to such great lengths to get, now that it's harmless.

Good point on the furniture. I should probably figure out a way for that to benefit you if you go that route.

And yes, Convergence, after many delays, will be next. It's a scenario that ties into the metaplot of Dg more, something I admittingly enjoy more than the one off scenarios, but I like to have a good mix. It's also very deadly, but you guys are a good team, and I'm hoping you'll survive it. Some of you, at least.

Im so fresh to DG i know nothing of nothing on what your talking about
I like it though, i got so many ways to fuck up it will be epic.

Now that we have our new characters, Nik and Vanessa can improve every skill they failed to use during the scenario by one percent. They also have two downtime actions to use during the break in between missions. If you have any questions feel free to ask or consult the Rules and Info thread.

Hoping to perhaps get a good price on selling the furniture they picked up, Nik begins reading. His mind wanders though as he reflects on his experiences, and he doesn't learn as much as he could.

Art: 1d100 53

Art gain: 1d10 2

int: 1d100 15

1) Fulfill Responsibilities with Malcolm Devane:
Sanity roll (current level 68):
[dice]0[/dice]
Bond increase (current level 4):
[dice]1[/dice]
2) Improve CHA (current stat 35%):
[dice]2[/dice]
CHA increases to 8.

Motivated by her recent brushes with death, Vanessa submerges herself in enjoying life, spending more time with Malcolm and rebuilding her neglected social life.

Sounds like a few good months for Vanessa.

Am I correct that Nik tried to improve Art skill and INT stat? If so, he'll need to reduce one of his bonds by 1d4 due to his neglect of them.

In the future, if either of you guys want to try and sell the furniture I'd probably rule it as an accounting or Cha*5 roll to get a good deal on it. It would take up one of your downtime slots, as the market for these items is pretty small and you'll need to invest some time on it to get a good deal.

Nik neglects his parents somewhat, calling them less and being slower to return calls.

Reduce bonds: 1d4 2

"Let's sell the furniture after the next adventure" he tells Vanessa.

Vanessa agrees, not giving voice to the possibility that they won't survive the next adventure.

One of the new characters would be better at selling the furniture than we would.

Very nice. I'll be starting the next adventure in the next few days, when inspiration and time strikes me. Hope you all enjoy it.

shit i didnt notice the new thread before now... reading up and posting asap

If any of you are curious, here's a pic of Sonja:

Sonja Dewey,[img]https://i.postimg.cc/0y6zMzdT/sonja-dewey.jpg[/img]

It's possible Jose or Griff may have heard of Phenomen-X or even seen an episode. It's a late night television show, aired when the only other thing on TV is infomercials for diet products and the like. It's a show that purports to investigate the unknown, but in practice most of their reports are schlocky nonsense about Elvis sightings and JFK being killed by time travelers from the future. Despite this, it has a passionate following and large audience. Sonja Dewey is one of their star reporters, for a certain definition of star. And reporter.

Silver Priest wrote:If any of you are curious, here's a pic of Sonja:

Sonja Dewey,[img]https://i.postimg.cc/0y6zMzdT/sonja-dewey.jpg[/img]

It's possible Jose or Griff may have heard of Phenomen-X or even seen an episode. It's a late night television show, aired when the only other thing on TV is infomercials for diet products and the like. It's a show that purports to investigate the unknown, but in practice most of their reports are schlocky nonsense about Elvis sightings and JFK being killed by time travelers from the future. Despite this, it has a passionate following and large audience. Sonja Dewey is one of their star reporters, for a certain definition of star. And reporter.

I was not curious but i now appreciate it

For some reason I've not gotten push mail from the site. I'll catch up tomorrow

Understood Anatomist, I'll wait for you to respond before I continue; don't want you to get too far behind.

Apologies if I’m a little slower in posting at the moment. I’ve just got a new job and the learning curve is extremely steep! I’ll do my best to keep up and hope my middle-aged brain cells hold out

José will take reinforced kevlar +4, silencer to his glock and a set of thre flash-bang

Noted. Though you won't get the gear until the courier arrives tomorrow, so keep that in mind.

I’m still trying to decide what to pick from the lists. Griff isn’t a fighter, so it seems counterintuitive to select guns and the like.
Perhaps PPE kit and some advanced first aid/medical stuff?

Heads up. I will be traveling to an din Chile from 2019-12-13 to 2020-01-06.
I *think* i will be able to post daily, but i rather tell about it so no one thinks its strange if i disappear a couple of days at the time between those dates.

I think we are nearly done with the scenario. Feel free to post your final thoughts, and if there is anything else you'd like to do while in town, please let me know.

It was a lot of fun SP. I thought the group might get wiped out on a couple of occasions, but we pulled through. I would have liked to take on the Majestic group, but I didn’t want to sacrifice the other players.

I think the only things left to do are to make sure Sonja and Shaeffer are on board, and see to Jane. Sonja will need to account for the disappearance of her cameraman.

Do you have another scenario in mind?

Thanks-- I'll post some more info about the scenario and the moments that most surprised me later, spoiled so as not to ruin anyone's enjoyment who does not want to know more than their characters.

As for another scenario, I was torn on it honestly, but given the Nik cliffhanger I think I'd feel remiss if I did not. Still trying to decide what works best next however, and may take a brief break as I set everything up. Funny you should mention Majestic though, I may have an idea there...

Very happy you enjoyed though!

I enjoyed the scenario too, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

There's a follow-up campaign, The New Age. At least I think it loosely follows-up. Are you thinking about that?

I'm thinking of the New Age. It's a fun one, and doubles as a mini campaign of its own. But it seems like a season ender for me- the campaign may not end there, but I'd probably at least do a time skip after it. I've been dropping a few loose ends throughout the campaign that I want to clear up first beforehand.

Spoilers below on what was really going on and some of my thoughts on your actions while running it.

Spoiler warning,The Greys and Majestic have a strategic agreement. In exchange for certain benefits, Majestic allows them to expierment freely on American citizens as long as these citizens are not harmed. (As you can probably guess, the Greys have not always followed this agreement to the letter.) The Greys were conducting a large scale expierment on citizens in the rural town of Groversville, of which Billy Ray Spivey was an early victim of theirs. To prevent any outside attention, the Greys used protomatter to effectively drug most of the citizens who lacked exceptional will and have them rationalize away any particular anonymity, such as lights in the sky or certain "altered"members of the town no longer coming home. MJ-12 also did their part by launching a widespread disinformation campaign to overwhelm any legitimate UFO sighting that was able to get out. The result made Groversville a laughing stock. They also had a few actors in town to play the part of townsfolk and aggressively make fools of themselves to any UFO researches that came by to investigate. This was whom Sonja interviewed right before she and Allen were abducted. The plan likely would have worked had Billy Ray not been captured by Delta Green. You all arrived in town and were able to get to the bottom of things, after a fashion. And you all discovered that The Greys in turn are puppets of some other alien intelligence. I fully expected a fight to break out here, and it's hard to say if you guys would have won. But instead Nik surprised me by tying to parlay. The scenario gives no information on the consequences of this, but I recalled another scenario that involves dealing with the Mi-Go and ways for DG to communicate with them, and roughly used the same system. You all were able to say the right things, and were smart enough to press. Had you just have left satisfied after the Mi-Go agreed to fix the problem they would have weaponized the protomatter and the entire town would have been dead within 12 hours.(I'd probably have allowed you time to reach a hospital and seek medical treatment, but the roll would have been at a penalty.) By pressing the matter you came to an understanding with the aliens and the loss of life was about as low as it could have been. Nik was even able to save Jane. Speaking of Nik, this was written into the scenario. One of the agents is abducted and operated on by the Mi-Go, their memory then erased. I actually wish I had changed the circumstances of this operation a little, perhaps even having Nik appear clinically dead afterwards, but it worked well enough hopefully. As written, the character is effectively doomed-- when the Mi-Go cease their expierment the new organs fail, and only by allowing them to continue it indefinitely does he have a chance. But this struck me as unfair. And while DG is a harsh game, I feel like a character should always have some chance of survival, however slight. Actions outside of their control should never guarantee their death. This allowed me to reintroduce Alzis, and also draw Nik further into that orbit. I'm looking forward to seeing that play out. What else... Jane's baby was pure protomatter spawn. It was effectively an infiltrator for the aliens. Gutted as she is, it's probably for the best that it expired. Unfortunately her sanity has probably suffered from this experience, but if she ever has another child they will be normal. And Sonja's cameraman could have been saved, but it would have required great effort-- he was the brain in the vat, a fate now shared by Griff, but DG which tends to be unbendingly bleak actually is fairly optimistic about a long term stabilization for such a condition, so if you had rescued him he could have recovered to some extent. Unfortunately Majestic would have also been very interested in studying him, and would have demanded you hand him over. So really only killing both the aliens and Majestic's goons would have gotten him to safety. A near impossoble task, but I would have given it a very nice SAN cost to compensate for the difficulty.

I'm going to make a final wrap up post for the scenario before posting any san rewards you get here. Then before our next scenario I have a brief interlude planned, though I'm not sure if I'll open a new thread or attach it on here. If you've any questions or final thoughts about things, please post them here. I'm happy to answer them.

Sounds great! It would be good to get a chance to clear up the unfinished business with the Greys and their allies if possible.

My reasoning during the game for not fighting was that as the aliens were the ones who obviously created the mess, they would be the ones who could fix it. And they couldn't do that if they were dead. Nik was very close to opening up on the Majestic people though, if they had said the wrong thing...

Happy new year folks! Looking forward to the next bit SP

Glad you all enjoyed! Here's the san rewards:

1d6 for saving the town and ensuring the best relative outcome for it.

1d3 for recruiting Sonja, and 1d3 for recruiting Shaeffer. Thanks to the agents efforts, DG has gained two influential allies--provided they can be trusted.

Nik can have an extra 1 san for saving Jane's life. It would be more, but he's still not sure what he agreed to.

Unfortunately you all suffer a san loss as well. Lose 1/1d4 for failing to save Allen Eddington and abandoning Griff. Who knows what fate befell him? Even if the agents felt it was necessarily, it's likely to lead to some sleepless nights.

Feel free to post an yof your agents closing thoughts on this operation on the thread. How do they readjust to normal life, if they are able to? Do they feel haunted, or have they won enough of a victory to keep them grounded?

We're going to skip forward a few months. In the next few days, agents can decide on their two downtime actions as usual. There's one more thing that we need to do in the thread, but this will take place after the time skip. Thanks for sticking with me through another scenario, and here's to a great year in and out of game

Nik

SAN gain: 1d6 1

For Sonja: SAN gain: 1d3 3

For Shaeffer: SAN gain: 1d3 2

For losing Allen and Griff: SAN: 1d100 28 1 SAN

Total gain: 6

I don't know about guilt for abandoning characters - we did really well to save as many lives as we did! I think we would have spent more time trying to convince Griff if the aliens weren't intent on leaving so quickly. But the player decided to leave the game - what could we do?

Thanks to everyone and have a great new year.

Sanity gain for saving Groversville:
[dice]0[/dice]
Sanity gain for recruiting Sonja Dewey:
[dice]1[/dice]
Sanity gain for recruiting Dr. Shaeffer:
[dice]2[/dice]
Sanity roll for losing Griff and Allen:
[dice]3[/dice]

Silver Priest wrote: 1d6 for saving the town
1d3 for recruiting Sonja, and 1d3 for recruiting Shaeffer.
san loss as well. Lose 1/1d4 for failing to save Allen Eddington and abandoning Griff.

[dice]0[/dice]
[dice]1[/dice]
[dice]2[/dice]

wrong roll
[dice]3[/dice]

correct roll [dice]4[/dice]

José feel quite distant to the characters in play and will not have much trouble leaving them behind or seeing them killed unless its Nick), José accepts his destiny to be a pawn of the game, but he will assist as best he can.

I want Jose to attempt to gain a point in POW and Heavy Machinery as downtime actions
I dont understand the rule though.
"Attempt a test of the stat × 5 or the skill.
If the test fails, your Agent has improved. Add 1D10
percentage points to the skill (to a maximum of 99%)
or one point to the stat (to a maximum of 18)."

Then for POW: 70 (José's pow) *5 = 350 then im supposed to roll a 1d100? Its impossible the to "fail" the roll by rolling more then 350 on a 1d100 dice.
For Heavy Machinery it will be: 10 (José's Heavy Machinery skill) *5 = 50 (this is possible to "fail" on a 1d100 dice)

Delta Green is based on 6th edition rather than 7th, so stats are not usually multiplied by 5. Your POW is 14, so you would roll against POW x 5 or 70. You can still fail the roll, but it's not that likely. With skills, you don't multiply by 5 at all. You just roll against your skill, which is 10%, so you will probably fail.

Downtime actions:
1) Fulfill responsibilities with Angela:
Sanity roll (current level 67):
[dice]0[/dice]
2) Fulfill responsibilities with Angela:
Sanity roll (current level 67):
[dice]1[/dice]
Bond increase (maximum of 2):
[dice]2[/dice]
Vanessa spends a lot of time with her mother planning the upcoming wedding, growing closer to her. After seeing what happened with Jane, she treasures her mother more than ever.

Anatomist wrote:

Silver Priest wrote: 1d6 for saving the town
1d3 for recruiting Sonja, and 1d3 for recruiting Shaeffer.
san loss as well. Lose 1/1d4 for failing to save Allen Eddington and abandoning Griff.

I want Jose to attempt to gain a point in POW and Heavy Machinery as downtime actions
I dont understand the rule though.
"Attempt a test of the stat × 5 or the skill.
If the test fails, your Agent has improved. Add 1D10
percentage points to the skill (to a maximum of 99%)
or one point to the stat (to a maximum of 18)."

Then for POW: 70 (José's pow) *5 = 350 then im supposed to roll a 1d100? Its impossible the to "fail" the roll by rolling more then 350 on a 1d100 dice.
For Heavy Machinery it will be: 10 (José's Heavy Machinery skill) *5 = 50 (this is possible to "fail" on a 1d100 dice)

POW for +1 stat 14*5 = 70 [dice]0[/dice]
HM skill increase 10 [dice]1[/dice]

1d10 skill increase to HM [dice]2[/dice]

HoneyDog wrote:Nik

SAN gain: 1d6 1

For Sonja: SAN gain: 1d3 3

For Shaeffer: SAN gain: 1d3 2

For losing Allen and Griff: SAN: 1d100 28 1 SAN

Total gain: 6

I don't know about guilt for abandoning characters - we did really well to save as many lives as we did! I think we would have spent more time trying to convince Griff if the aliens weren't intent on leaving so quickly. But the player decided to leave the game - what could we do?

Thanks to everyone and have a great new year.

That's a decent point. And abandon was a bit harsh of a term-- The lose can just be for Allen then. No change to mechanics, but I don't want your characters to feelsurvivor's guilt if they acted on player's knowledge.


Also, Anatomist, Mr.Handy is correct. I believe you did it right the second time. Congrats on the huge increase to HM.

Nik suffers from nightmares, as memories of his 'surgery' come back to haunt him. To try to take his mind off events, he hits the books and the gym.

Artillery: 1d100 8

Artillery gain: 1d10 1

Athletics: 1d100 88

Athletics gain: 1d10 7

Two things. Do keep in mind that you all need to devote at least one of your activities to successfully fulfilling your responsibility to your bonds. Since Nik and Jose did not, they need to reduce one of their bonds by 1d4. This is totally okay and is actually somewhat encouraged in play-- as DG agents go on more operations their personal lives often suffer do to them having to devote more time to therapy or trying to improve skills that might be useful to them in the field.

Also, every skill you failed to use in the scenario is automatically increased by one.

Nik

Debbie: Reduce bonds: 1d4 1

Nik's brooding, sleepless nights and his inability to talk about the causes of the problem leads to strains with Debbie, who is beginning to feel more distant from him.

Skills increased: Alertness, HUMINT & Navigate

I increased Alertness, HUMINT, Medicine, and Search.

Will try to have my next post up within the next 48 hours or so.

Also happy birthday to Anatomist. Hope it was a good one.

Dog: Derren. aka TUM. As the short of "The Ultimate Mentalist"
loses
[dice]0[/dice]
bond points
Bonds left: 8

Silver Priest wrote: Also happy birthday to Anatomist. Hope it was a good one.

Thanks!

Feel free to post your guys first steps. I assume you want to head to Abigail's apartment building, but if you have any other plans before that let me know.

Also, equipment rules are in effect for this operation as well. If you haven't already, please remove all items you requested from DG during Convergence. You can then requisition any items you think would aid you during this operation. Please refer to the items and rules for them seen in this post.

Silver Priest wrote:Feel free to post your guys first steps. I assume you want to head to Abigail's apartment building, but if you have any other plans before that let me know.

Also, equipment rules are in effect for this operation as well. If you haven't already, please remove all items you requested from DG during Convergence. You can then requisition any items you think would aid you during this operation. Please refer to the items and rules for them seen in this post.

José would want the same equipment he already requested.

Done. In addition to my own pistol and Kevlar vest that I had originally, I've also requisitioned another shock baton and pepper spray, and a first responder medical kit, just in case (which I hope works with Medicine, seeing as I don't have points in First Aid).

Mr. Handy wrote:Done. In addition to my own pistol and Kevlar vest that I had originally, I've also requisitioned another shock baton and pepper spray, and a first responder medical kit, just in case (which I hope works with Medicine, seeing as I don't have points in First Aid).

First Aid is more done out in the field, as opposed to medicine in a hospital. But I'd certainly let you attempt a medicine roll with a kit, though maybe with a penalty depending on the exact situation.

Nothing more for me, although I suppose I should add a flashlight. Nik just wants one of those new digital cameras.

Jose Lopez has forensic = 0%

Hi sorry I've been MIA the last week. We decided to move to new house a week earlier, and suddenly the train was in motion and games felt to the bottom for my backlog. We are 75% moved now so hopefully, i can take some time @work to respond

Hey guys, unfortunately it looks like Anatomist will be leaving by the end of this scenario. I wish him the best, and will puppet Jose as needed to move the game forward.

That's a shame, good luck to him!

This is the Night Floors scenario, isn't it?

Sorry, I somehow missed your last post HoneyDog. But yes, you guessed correctly. Mind I was able to tie it into Nik's background, so was pretty happy about that. McRay tried to warn you guys.

Anyway, going to miss Nik, but I sadly don't believe he'll be coming back from this death. Are you planning to make a new character? I only had one more scenario planned after this, though I have a few plot ideas outside of that.

Sorry for the dramatic exit, but Nik was fatally compromised, and wracked with guilt for his part in creating the situation at the MacAllister. With a clearer mind he might have plotted a more elaborate scheme for vengeance, but the icing on the cake was now being under the thrall of The King in Yellow in addition to being Alzis' bitch. Maybe there weren't any other options.

I think you were planning to do The New Age, SP? I will get to work on a new character when I get a moment.

I had a feeling that Nik had been corrupted by the King in Yellow. I'll miss him, but I can see why he did it.

HoneyDog wrote:Sorry for the dramatic exit, but Nik was fatally compromised, and wracked with guilt for his part in creating the situation at the MacAllister. With a clearer mind he might have plotted a more elaborate scheme for vengeance, but the icing on the cake was now being under the thrall of The King in Yellow in addition to being Alzis' bitch. Maybe there weren't any other options.

I think you were planning to do The New Age, SP? I will get to work on a new character when I get a moment.

No worries HoneyDog-- your, character your exit. I too see why he did it. The King In Yellow handicap could have proven pretty significant going forward. And yes, Alzis' next favor was not likely to have been very pleasant either. Though he's someone who always collects.

I forgot about New Age-- I actually had another one planned, so I have at least two. Glad you'll be making a new character and rejoining us. This scenario is just about done, just need to detail the aftermath.

It seems Nik's actions have created quite a conundrum. My apologies!

I want to take on this Azis character more. He's too powerful, he needs to be taken down a notch.

As long as you're not planning on resurrecting Nik, I'll make the new character, and try to go for a different vibe.

Yes, Alzis is very much one of the setting's power players. I try not to use him too much, just because he can utterly screw the pc's over and there's not much they can do about it. My game philosophy is that if I introduce something into the game it can be defeated, however. It may not be a permanent defeat, but I feel the pc's should have a chance at a win. Mind that may be a 1% chance depending on their foe, but I want to always give them a way to achieve it.

As for Alzis himself, his potential vulnerability is a plothook I still have in my back pocket that I'm hoping to hint at very soon. Of course, if the agents decide to explore it they're exposing themselves to great danger-- but nothing is ever easy.

Vanessa can pot any thought she has about this if she likes. I'll be working on one final post a little later that I'm very much looking forward to.

Had Nik agreed to come back he would have been arrested for her murder, so Alzis had to get creative. Sorry HoneyDog, but Alzis was interested in sending a message to the other DG agents that crossing him is unwise. I thought awhile about how I'd resolve this subplot, and this seemed like the best way to go about it. I hope it proved haunting to all of you but not entirely unfair. Had Nik stayed alive and willing Alzis would have had him kill someone, but I picked Deborah specifically due to recent events.

Vanessa is very fortunate she's hardened to both violence or helplessness, or chances are good she'd have picked up another insanity here.

We'll have a few more posts in the next day or so to finish up the resolution of all of this, let Vanessa run her home scenes, and then we can move on to the next scenario and introduce HoneyDog's new character.

What a grim finale! I'm lost for words.

My new character is going to hate everyone and be hell to work with - this is my revenge.

Sounds good. Though Nik was already fairly bitter their towards the end, so I'm a bit worried this new character is going to be a full on nihilist. Looking forward to it.

The next scenario will actually start in San Francisco, so your new character does not have to work out of New York or even have met Vanessa or Jose before the events of the next opera.

The new character will be based out of Quantico. Sorry, my hands are full right now, but I'll make up the character as soon as I can.

No worries HoneyDog, it will probably be a few days at least before I'm ready to start the next scenario, so take as much time as you need.

Sanity gain:
[dice]0[/dice]
Downtime activities:
1) Fulfill Responsibilities with Rex:
Sanity roll (current level 59):
[dice]1[/dice]
Bond improves by:
[dice]2[/dice]
2) Improve a skill or stat (CHA):
CHA x 5 roll (40% stat):
[dice]3[/dice]
CHA increases by 1.

Vanessa spends a lot of time with Rex, making sure he doesn't feel neglected due to the addition of the new dog, whom she has named Snoopy. She integrates Snoopy into the household as well, helping the two dogs to become friends. She also immerses herself once more in her social life, hoping to recapture the part of herself that she lost long before she became a murderer, as she makes preparations for her wedding and honeymoon.

I sometimes get the impression Vanessa prefers Rex to Malcolm. Mind it would make sense.

Also HoneyDog, it's perfectly alright if you play another FBI agent, but don't feel limited to just play one. If there's another concept you'd like to play Delta Green takes in personal from a variety of fields.

Actually, I just try to shore up my weakest bond each time.

Question guys - I'm making the new character, and I've forgotten some stuff.

I add the scores to the professional skills, but do I take into account the existing base score? e.g. If Bureaucracy has a basic of 10 and I give it 50, it brings it up to a total of 60? But no score should be above 80 right?

That is correct.

Also HD-- your agent will already be a member of Delta Green, so feel free to tie him into any of the groups Nik and Vanessa have encountered previously if you like.

Okay, I posted the character, please tell me what you think.

He's quite good, think he'll be a great addition to the group. Do you have any thoughts as to what brought him to DG attention? No need to, but I'm happy to help you flesh that out if you'd like.

I'm terrible at that. I will surmise - he had a run in with a ghoul nest on assignment in Nashville, but didn't blink and got on with his job.

I'll try to have the next scenario up sometime in the next two weeks. Taking a little break at the moment.

That's fine. I've been snowed under with work stuff again lately.

Just for ease of access, listing the items Andre would like here and their expense category, so you can pick or chose which you want. Reminder for all of you that you can pick up as many incidental or standard items as you like, two items of unusual expense, and two items of major expense for the entire group. Feel free to discuss it as a group.


Andre: Advanced Binoculars(Standard Expense) Night Vision goggles (Standard or Major) Telephoto Camera( Unusual) Lockpicks (Incidential) Flashbangs (incidential) Body Armor ( Standard or Unusual) Respirators( Standard) SMG (Unusual) Suppressor(Standard) Rifle (Unusual or Major) Scope( Standard or Unusual).

I'll take a Heavy Rifle (Unusual), Reinforced Kevlar Vest (Unusual), Fiber Optic Scope(Standard), Directional Microphone and Acoustic Software (Standard), Weapon Light (Incidental), Civilian Night Vision Goggles (Standard), Advanced Binoculars (Standard), Personal Protective Equipment (Incidental), First Responder Medical Kit (Standard), Telescopic Sight (Standard). I also wanted a Stun Baton, but that page is no longer showing.

Final list for Andre:

Standard: Advanced Binoculars, Night Vision goggles, Lockpicks, Flashbangs, Body Armor, Respirators (for everyone)

Unusual: Telephoto Camera, and a suppressed SMG like a H&K MP5s would be preferable.

Major: Sniper rifle (should come with a scope)

Is there any chance of tear gas?

Looks good.

Andre: Tear Gas is listed as an incidental expense for grenades, so you can get a few. They require an athletics roll to throw, if they hit the target is at -40% to roll for an hour. Assuming the thing hit is susceptible to it, of course.

Suppressed smg seems fine. I don't see stats for a sniper rifle, but you can have one. Stats are the same, but it can hit up to 700 Meters.

Vanessa: Stun Baton's are listed as an incidental expense. It's a Dex*5 or Athletics roll. On a hit, it's a 20% penalty for 1d20 turns.

In addition to the other stuff, I think Jose will take a Light Rifle unless instructed to take something different. He's decently proficient with guns but wants something he can spray if needed.He'll also pick up some handcuffs for the party in case they need them.

Please keep note of your equipment, or just refer back to these posts. I hope to have the next IC post up in a few hours.

Will update a little later today, bit busy at the moment.

Given we're in a massive combat scene (I'm currently tracking 21 npc's. ) Keep in mind in addition to standard attacks you have other options on your turn, listed Here.

Also if you have any questions, please let me know. This is my first time running such a massive scene, but hopefully I've made it fairly easy to follow what's going on.

It's great so far. Gosh, it's really kicked off! I wasn't expecting things to escalate so quickly.

Apologies for being bossy - I can't help it, whatever the character. Andre will have more orders to shout!

Yes, you're doing great! I've had a lot of mass battles in Zombie Apocalypse, and I know it isn't easy.

I may or may not be able to post the next few days. Traveling, and it depends on my internet access-- and also how inspired, I feel, of course.

Are you still planning to run The New Age scenario SP? Or are you burnt out and in need of a rest? I'm wondering if I should make a new character, as Andre didn't last very long.

I appreciate the interest! I think after this one the game will go on hiatus again unfortunately, I need a bit of a break and this seems like a good place to stop, regardless of how Vanessa fairs. But I hope to pick it up again sometime in the future if you both still enjoy. I'm not sure I'll run The New Age next-- I have a few different ideas in mind.

Well I'm always interested, so let us know your plans when you're ready.

I'd be interested too.

Thanks guys, that really means a lot that you're still interested after all this time.

I'll have to read through The New Age-- it has been years. There's also Future Perfect, a mini campaign that could be quite nice. I also considered if I bring the game back doing a time skip; Delta Green was made into its own system a few years back, the rules of which we've been using, but it's also moved the timeframe from the 90's to now. We've run through most of the original scenarios. Modern day has some things I like, but it also wrapped up a lot of the storylines with Majestic and the Karotechia, and other antagonists your agents have encountered. Unfortunately scenarios were not really given on how to close these storylines out, and I'm not sure I'm creative enough to come up with anything. But I'll do some thinking on it, certainly. Even if your agents have died, I'm sure you as players would like to be part of bringing about the destruction of the Karotechia or downfall of Majestic.

No, I enjoy these games very much.

I believe The New Age continues the events from Convergence so it might be a good way to round out the Majestic storyline.

You're welcome. I'm also enjoying the games.

Trying to detail the scenario here. Some of this will be mild spoilers, but I'll try to avoid anything too overt.

This was in fact Dead Letter. You guys figured most of it out. The Karotechia were paying for ABC to mass produce the reanimation formula. Thomas Iron Shirt and his friends robbery revealed to ABC what exactly they were producing however, and Ray Turner switched his plan from covering up the company's drug did not work to refining this miracle formula and conquering death itself. (I didn't realize until I ran this how convenient it is the would be robbers happened to stumble their way into the one facility producing the reanimation formula as opposed to the other illicit but entirely mundane substances. But I suppose otherwise there would be no scenario, so oh well.)

Dr. Crisp finds out and tries to mail the package to Fiona Lin-Wei, a classmate at Berkeley who he had a secret crush on. Unfortunately for him the package is discovered. bringing Delta Green in.

You guys could have done some more with Fiona. She was in the office when Andre went to visit, but she's suspicious of cops and didn't want to reveal herself. She knows little and would have demanded the package had she known of it. You could have snuck in or bribed someone to get the membership list for her group though, which would have revealed Dr. Crisp as the source a lot earlier. You both seemed to think Thomas was the culprit for a lot longer than I was expecting, but it was a fun thing to play out.

(Speaking of Thomas, he was the only one of his friends who retained their intelligence, though he was now unable to sleep and his san would have sunk lower and lower. His friends both were animalistic zombies, as were most of the animals. A creature injected with it had to make a POW*1 roll. If they succeed, they roll 1d100 to see what percentage of their INT they retain.)

You all did good scoping the plant out. This was a hard part of the scenario and one of the reasons I was reluctant to run it. I'm not really sure how the average cell of 3 players is supposed to get inside the plant, avoid or deal with the guards, take down Sapphire and eliminate those with knowledge of it, and get out. To be honest, I'm still not sure. Even with Lynne and Crisp's help it seems pretty impossible. The way you did it was not something I was fully expecting but I think it was one of the best ways you could have done it.

Of course, eventually the Karotechia arrive, and unless the players are very quick/ruthless they'll run into them. Galt suspects something is wrong given the last shipment was delayed, so he takes Deschiel into the incinerator and then eats his brain, which allows him to learn all of his memories. Through that he learned of your agents sniffing around, the coverup, and that Dr. Crisp had told people about what was going on. After conferring with his colleagues, he was given his orders-- kill everyone who knew about Sapphire, destroy the plant, and plug the leak. Galt suspected you were Delta Green and sent three of his men to take over the security center. Jose got very lucky with a critical roll, or I fear the game may have ended right there. Andre's brilliant plan to use a truck as a weapon also helped.

The guards being tipped off forced Galt to act fast. He ordered his men to destroy the data system while he went to lab 6. Then his menw ent into Sapphire, killed all the guards, and rigged the system to explode. They were going to then head to the environmental control to sabotage that and ensure the entire plant filled with Sapphire to leave a nasty surprise for anyone coming to the plant, but they were unable to-- Galt was bluffing, and only the Sapphire unit itself wa sin danger of being infected. Thankfully the other DG team with a little help from the remaining guards killed Galt's remaining men and safely disposed of Sapphire. With records of how to make more destroyed and everyone who knew how to make it either dead or captured, the threat was neutralized.

Galt escaped with Crisp, taking a car because he figured DG had called in to take down the helicopter. He drove a few miles, hijacked another vehicle, and fled back to Canada. There he consumed Crisp and learned who he sent the package to. Using the Karotechia's contacts, he found a local group in California who could deal with both Fiona and her friends, just to be safe. If the players are successful in protecting Crisp or very reactive they can realize he's planning this and rush back to Berkeley to stop him, but that did not seem like an option here.

As for Galt himself, he can be damaged, but he has a tremendous amount of armor as you've seen. I will say had attacks on him and Metrrex been switched you would have actually been able to injure him. But it's probably best you didn't, given he would have certainly hunted down and killed Vanessa and probably Jose then.

You may notice the last post I made in the game thread; though your agents may not know it, you did achieve a victory. Delta Green has an agent with the same ability as Galt to learn corpse's memories; one of his commandos was shipped to this agent and she learned exactly where the Karotechia is hiding out. They are not aware of this, perhaps making this entire operation a pyrrhic victory for them.

Had Vanessa been taken by him she would have been eaten, but Alzis still owed her a favor. If she accepted his offer to save her she'd have woken up at home, no longer a part of DG. She'd have suffered a 1d10 san loss for remembering being eaten, and then another one when she realized Jose had taken her place at Galt's table as a sacrifice. But after that she could have had a happyish ending, if she was able to.

And that's the scenario. Hope you both enjoyed. I need a break but might run a continuation in the future. I do feel like we've set up a good ending to the Karotechia arc, but I'm not sure I trust myself to design it, ha ha. But we'll see.

That was a great cliffhanger! How can you not do another scenario? I want to see how it’s going to end up!

Of course take a break, but I really hope we can come back with another scenario. No pressure.

I’m glad Vanessa survived. I really didn’t know how the scenario would end up, so Andre took a gamble which cost him his life, but I think it was appropriate to his character. But it’s good that Vanessa, who is very pragmatic, made decisions looking at the long run.

Looking back at the story I realise now that Thomas knowing about an obscure environmental publication should be pretty unlikely. The focus on him maybe was because of having Lynn as a major source of information and motivation – he was the main motivator for her, and so it made sense to follow her lead. I enjoyed thinking about the best ways to infiltrate the plant – I really enjoy problem-solving scenarios.

I'm looking forward to the next scenario too, but I'm also good with taking a break. Vanessa was actually very trusting in Andre's plans, as they tended to work rather well, so she went along with his plan to go after Galt, which didn't work out quite so well. I wasn't sure what Galt's immortality meant, and I was hoping we could incapacitate him and chuck him in the incinerator (a la Torchwood: Miracle Day). I particularly liked the way we infiltrated the plant, and finding Lynne was the key to being able to do that. I'm glad Vanessa survived too. She's had a few close calls, but she's managed to survive since the beginning.

Yes, as I said I underestimated Galt's strength or power or whatever. I thought we might be able to blow off a limb or a head or something at least. It will obviously take more than just two agents to bring him down. Perhaps the next agent will be less action-oriented and more cautious.