Two days ago, Cell Y was assigned the mission to pick-up a dangerous package - codenamed EPIMETHEUS - from a GreenBox and to deliver it, untouched, to Samuel Nitsch, a Friendly contact. After the delivery, seeing that the seals on the package have been broken, Nitsch immediately informed A-Cell.
Due to the perilous nature of “EPIMETHEUS”, A-Cell has declared Y-Cell compromised, and initiated BLEACH protocol - the elimination of the entire cell.
Problem is… you are Cell Y!
[Passages in brackets are advices, instructions or remarks intended for the GM.]
Ask your players the following questions and discuss their answers so they fit the story. Your players will come up with great ideas, and they will be more inclined to resolve a situation they defined.
Alternatively, you can roll a d4 for each question:
● You know you fucked up bad… Where are you hiding, right now?
1- A lousy motel, near the highway.
2- An old GreenBox, probably no longer in use.
3- An abandoned warehouse on the waterfront.
4- A remote farm in the countryside.
● Which one of you broke the seals of EPIMETHEUS and why did you do it? [Give a “Fate” token to the player whose character broke the seals.]
1- Curiosity got the better of you.
2- It was an accident!
3- You wanted to open it and you had your reasons. What were they?
4- You couldn’t resist the urge in your head.
● What did you saw, and do you have an idea of what is EPIMETHEUS?
1- A small red meteorite, carrying a xenoplague.
2- A torn piece of paper covered with strange symbols and the letters “Hstrr”, a memetic virus contaminating everyone who reads it.
3- An old sepia photograph of teenagers in front of an orphanage, haunted by their tormented ghosts.
4- An ever-shifting gem hidden in a stuffed mouse, that seems to fracture reality.
[Whatever your players chose, EPIMETHEUS should be: contagious in some way, deadly but with a delay, relentless and scary.]
● What are your symptoms, and how long do you have to live?
1- No visible symptoms / a few hours.
2- Light symptoms / a day.
3- Visible symptoms / two days.
4- Severe symptoms / four days.
[Here, it is interesting to introduce some kind of balance between the effects of EPIMETHEUS and the time the characters have to solve the problem and try to save their lives. A harmless threat with no deadline is no fun to play since they will only have to worry about the BLEACH protocol. You want the characters to be under pressure, so the players feel all that tension.
You should therefore let your players choose symptoms based on their version of EPIMETHEUS and give them an adequate deadline before they die: the more visible the symptoms, the more difficult it will be to interact with other people without frightening them.
If they ask for more time, ask them to add more creepy/scary/gory symptoms.
Depending on the nature of EPIMETHEUS, they may not all be at the same “stage” of contamination].
Now that the setting is in place, let’s populate it.
Ask your players the two following questions, have them discuss and write on pieces of paper some possible answers. You will need at least 4 answers (each written on a separate piece of paper) for each question.
If you need (or want) more opponents and allies for your story, you can choose or roll d4:
● Which agents are after you? [Opponents]
[Here is an occasion for your players to settle old scores with previously encountered agents. If they don’t have ideas or if you want more opponents, unleash the dreadful Cell Z (rumored to be “The disinfection cell”, composed of trained military killers) on their tracks].
1- Agent Zachary (agent Zachariah’s twin), specialized in close-combat.
2- Agent Zachariah (agent Zachary’s twin), specialized in guns.
3- Agent Zane, specialized in explosives.
4- Wade Silson, 65, a one-eyed retired sharpshooter and ex-agent Tycho, still devoted to the cause.
● Who could help you? [Allies]
1- Samuel Nitsch, the Friendly you gave EPIMETHEUS to. He must know something!
2- A-Cell. They could listen to reason, right?
3- The guys who are after you. You are “colleagues” after all…
4- Stephen Alzis. This guy knows everything.
Among the “Opponents” papers, pick one at random, take note of it and place it back with the others.
This is your Threat for the game: smart, cunning, resilient and persistent. The characters will have to face the Threat twice before being able to defeat it (or turn it, …). After the Threat is vanquished/dealt with…for the first time, return its paper with the others.
The others “Opponents” are mere Obstacles they might face once. Once they are dealt with, discard the paper.
Among the “Allies” papers, pick one at random, take note of it, and place it back with the others. This is your Solution for the game: if the players explore this solution wisely, they could arrive to an acceptable conclusion.
The others “Allies” are leads, that can turn out to be [Roll d4 or choose]:
1- An Obstacle, they will have to deal with.
2 or 3- A dead-end.
4- An ally who will help them.
Finally, ask every player (GM included) to write on papers two “Places” that fit the story, something like:
○ A roadside biker bar, just outside town.
○ An abandoned cement factory.
○ Rainy docks at night.
○ A dusty road in the desert, leading nowhere.
○ A sports bar or strip club, crowded with frat boys and a bachelor party.
○ A decrepit and seedy motel from the 60s, right next to the highway interchange.
○ An abandoned church near a forest.
○ A small family-run diner, almost empty.
[When you need a place for a scene, a meeting, an ambush … pick a “Places” paper at random.]
Now that you have a setting, a deadline, symptoms, Places, Obstacles, a Solution and a Threat, let’s begin the game with this last question:
[As usual, use your players’ answers; or roll/choose amongst the list.]
● How did someone just find you?
1- One of you contacted A-Cell [Give the player a Fate token].
2- A relative was forced to give leads on your position.
3- You were followed from the beginning.
4- You unknowingly carry a tracking device (in your car/cellphone/clothes/shoes/…)
Pick an “Opponent” paper at random, describe to your players this person approaching and ask them: “What do you do?”
Running the game.
● Ask questions to your players.
● Reuse their answers and twist them.
● If the pace of the game is slowing down, pick or choose an Opponent paper. He or she manifests in the story.
● If you don’t know the answer to a yes/no question, roll a die and look at the number: even means “Yes”, odd means “No”.
● If you’re out of ideas (for a scene, for an event, for an NPC …) ask your players. If they come up with something negative/bad/troublesome… for their characters, give them a “Fate” token.
● Don’t be afraid to kill characters. This is Delta Green, and they fucked up bad!
● If a player-character dies, give its player two “Fate” tokens, so he can still influence the rest of the game.
● Reward tension-inducing ideas with “Fate” tokens, but don’t be generous.
● Any PC with a “Fate” token is a target: go for the kill!
“Fate” tokens.
Players can spend “Fate” tokens during the game to either:
● Reroll dices for one of their tests.
● Introduce a small element in the story.
If a player doesn’t have a character anymore, he can also spend a “Fate” token to force the GM or a player to reroll the dices during a test.
Who is Samuel Nitsch?
A grey-bearded man in its sixties, Nitsch is an expert in the domain of EPIMETHEUS and a long-time friend of DG. A widower with no kids, he lives alone in a small pavilion in the suburbs and owns a shop related to his field of expertise, acting as a cover for its secret activity and set across the street of a large mall. The basement, filled with notes and strange apparatus, is rigged with incendiary devices… just in case.
Nitsch is a man obsessed with research in his field. However, as time passes by, he is beginning to realize that he’s never been lonelier in his life: he could be unexpectedly compassionate towards other human beings, especially if met face to face.
Credits
This was an entry to the 2017 Delta Green shotgun scenario contest, written by Tolkraft.