Forum

[talien]

This scenario uses Delta Green and Delta Green: Countdown by Pagan Publishing as sources. Please note: This story hour contains spoilers!

Our cast of characters includes:

• Game Master: Michael Tresca
• Joseph “Archive” Fontaine (Dedicated Hero) played by Joe Lalumia
• Jim “Jim-Bean” Baxter (Charismatic Hero) played by Jeremy Ortiz
• Hank “Guppy” Gupta (Smart Hero) played by Joseph Tresca
• Kurtis “Hammer” Grange (Fast Hero) played by George Webster
• Jake “Blade” Iron Shirt (Strong Hero) played by Matt Hammer
• Sebastian “Caprice” Creed (Fast/Smart Hero) played by Bill Countiss

After the birth of my son, I took a three-month hiatus from role-playing. During that time, the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons was announced at Gen Con, which made me glad that we decided to go in another direction and this time play a modern conspiracy game. The game is a hybrid uniquely tailored to our tastes: we use d20 Modern rules and the campaign setting is as an unholy combination of the Black Ops GURPS supplement and the Delta Green setting.

This setting follows what seems to be the general consensus on the Internet: the cell style structure of the Delta Green conspiracy would never last in our post 9/11 age. Instead, Delta Green infiltrated Majestic-12, co-opting its resources and broadening its scope to include all “preternatural phenomena.” Enter our heroes.

What’s refreshing about these characters is that they all eminently flawed. Hank was committed to a mental institution, while Jake is divorced from his wife and estranged from his son. Kurt and Jim both lost their partners, and Joe struggles with the flashy glamour of his pimped up paranormal detective agency. I will of course exploit these flaws to their fullest. There are scenario seeds in all these backgrounds that will be much more relevant to the campaign in the future.

In addition to the background fiction, I compressed the training outlined in Black Ops into torturing the PCs with Project Outlook and a danger room style free-for-all that helped warm the players up to getting back into a d20 game after three months. I’ve got a good feeling about this story hour. I hope you’ll join us for the ride!

Relevant Media

• Delta Green Countdown: Jim-Bean and Kurt’s background are a revision of the short story from Delta Green: Countdown. This is also the source of the Outlook Group tests.
• Delta Green: Jake’s background draws on Puppet Shows and Shadow Plays.
• Uttati Asfet: Sebastian’s background in the Sudan.
• The Stars Are Right: Hank’s background draws on “Nemos Solus Sapit” and Jake’s is from “Love’s Lonely Children.”
• Unseen Masters: Jake’s background is tied to “The Wild Hunt” and “Coming of Age.” Hank’s background is tied to “The Truth Shall Set You Free.”
• Resection of Time: Also Hank’s background.
• Ladies and Gentlemen: by Saliva (AKA "Welcome to the Show"). It’s also the theme song to Last Man Standing.
• Mutants & Masterminds Beginner's Guide: The Doom Room in this supplement served as inspiration for Satan's Playroom.
• The Rock: Drake is pretty much Sean Connery from this film, only instead of being imprisoned in Alcatraz (that's just a cover story), he's been drafted into Majestic-12.
• Extreme Encounters: A great source for first-hand encounters of all kinds of torture. I used it as a template to describe the awful things that happen as a result of the Outlook mental endurance tests.
• Ground Zero Radio: Ground Zero Radio and Clyde Lewis are real, but he was gracious enough to be part of the Alien Invasion supplement. Consider him a replacement for the Conspiracy X television show. For the record, I actually did have a bizarre conversation with Clyde at 12 a.m. one night, just like Sebastian does (only it wasn't about my brother, it was an interview).
• Mad, Mad House: Palmer is referenced in a conversation with Simon Magnus; I took the inspiration for Palmer from Don the Vampire on this show.
• X-Investigations: Yep, it's a real agency.
• Fallen: Joe's hair-brained scheme about the body-hopping bad guy is the plot of this movie.