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This story hour is an ongoing account of our D20 Modern conspiracy game. It follows the missions of Majestic-12 agents battling Lovecraftian horrors in a world rife with conspiracy and the occult. I also write a column about action horror gaming in general at RPG.net titled The Horror! and I'm the National RPG writer for the Examiner.

Rules Systems

• D20 Modern: This is our primary rules set. We’re trying to stick to just the core rulebooks for now.
• Character Statistics: The characters' statistics in all their ugly glory.
• Call of Cthulhu d20: I created a cultist advanced class, which covers most of the bad guys. All the monsters and spells have been converted to d20 Modern.
• Delta Green: Many of the scenarios the agents encounter are Delta Green or Cthulhu Now scenarios. However, in this universe, Delta Green has merged with Majestic-12. Majestic-12 is now a lot like Delta Green, broadening its scope to include “preternatural phenomena”.
• Alien Invasion: The structure of Majestic-12 has its roots in the organization I created for Alien Invasion. And of course, there will be aliens. I’m the author.
• Conspiracy X: Since the agents work for a much larger organization, I use many of the “pulling strings” rules from Conspiracy X to represent what Majestic-12 can do for them.
• Blood & Blades: The Profiler’s Guide to Slashers: We’re using these insanity rules from this book as well as some other bad guys as the mood strikes me.
• GURPS Black Ops: This book provides much of the background for the agents’ training.
• Dread: I use a variant of Dread with Jenga, which I like to call the Pillar of Sanity. I basically require all PCs to pull from the Pillar when sanity points are lost. This keeps sanity-tracking to a minimum, means only one investigator will go completely nuts in a scene at a time, and keeps the tension high.
• Jenga: Jenga's wooden blocks hold up well, despite having fallen in a couple of full glasses on more than one occasion.

Setting

• Blacknet: Our wiki for the agents.
• Delta Green: Because Delta Green is THE place for conspiracy fiction.
• Black Ops: GURPS Ops took Men in Black, gave it a dose of steroids, threw in the Colonial Marines from Aliens, and then set them loose on the worst the paranormal world has to offer.
• Bureau 13: If occasionally this game gets a little silly (*cough* Guppy *cough), I blame Bureau 13. This took the concept of stalking supernatural entities and made it fun and funny, because...because "preternatural" can also be pretty ludicrous when you think of it. In a laugh out loud, oh my god my head is going to explode Joker kind of way.

About the Agents

• Game Master: Michael Tresca
• Joseph “Archive” Fontaine (Dedicated Hero) played by Joe Lalumia: A licensed private detective and master of the mystical arts, Archive wanted to be a priest once. He freelances for X-investigations, a glamorous private detective agency that specializes in the occult. When he crossed paths with the Traveler and mistakenly identified it as a body-hopping demon, Majestic-12 recruited him for some much needed mystical backup.
• Jim “Jim-Bean” Baxter (Charismatic Hero) played by Jeremy Ortiz: A former British SAS and PISCES agent, Jim-Bean lost his partners to what can only be called "brain spiders." Although he's also psychic, Jim-Bean loathes his abilities and considers the majority of supernatural events to be bunk. He's also a wiseass.
• Hank “Guppy” Gupta (Smart Hero) played by Joseph Tresca: An American-born Indian, Guppy was abducted by aliens once, or so he believes, on an expedition to South America. He has never recovered, losing his girlfriend and his promising degree. Majestic-12 sprung him from the Van Dyson Institute for reasons known only to them. Guppy's the first one to panic, but fancies himself a kind of McGyver.
• Kurtis “Hammer” Grange (Fast Hero) played by George Webster: One of the agents who had a former government affiliation, Hammer was on a mission for the CIA when he encountered the "brain spiders." He lost both his partners. Hammer's the most level-headed of the group, and the only trained investigator among them.
• Jake “Blade” Iron Shirt (Strong Hero) played by Matt Hammer: A Native American bruiser and former Ultimate Fighting Champion, Blade is the only famous agent on the team. Unfortunately, he's famous for all the wrong reasons: his romance with the woman he was assigned to protect, Christine Dee; the birth of their child, Alex; his subsequent divorce and spiral into alcoholism. Blade is desperate to get visiting rights to see his son. Stephen Alzis has an unhealthy interest in Blade's family dynamics as well.
• Sebastian “Caprice” Creed (Fast/Smart Hero) played by Bill Countiss: An American engineer, Caprice is the closest agent who was "normal" before he joined Majestic-12. His fast thinking on his feet has proved useful on more than one occassion, especially when hunting down body-hopping aliens.

Inspiration and Ideas

• Fall of Cthulhu: The league of Cthulhu super villains that “Mister Arkham” put together will make an appearance for sure.
• Lori Lovecraft : That’s right, Christine Dee is based off of Lori Lovecraft. Many of her misadventures will find a place in my story hour. She’s the ex-wife of one of the agents, after all.
• Titus Crow: Probably the closest parallel in fiction to heroic characters fighting the minions of Cthulhu.
• Cold Print: Because I met Ramsey Campbell at World Fantasy Con and he kicks ass. His concept of horror is truly terrifying and modern in ways that traditional Lovecraft sometimes lacks.
• The Dresden Files: The inspiration for Joe "Archive" Fontaine.
• Heroes: Jim-Bean talks just like Takezo Kensei (and looks like him too).
• Office Space: Guppy is a lot like Samir Nagheenanajar, only less angry and more terrified.
• 24: Curtis Manning is the inspiration for Hammer.
• Reaper: To get Stephen Alzis down just right, think the Devil from Reaper.

Welcome to the show. Get ready for a wild ride...