BLUE-ON-GREEN
This Shotgun Scenario exists to either be a subplot or a swerve, an outside-context problem clipping the main mission. A stray bullet. No matter what choices the Agents make, collateral damage will ensue.
It started when Mark Lowry’s father died and left his badge behind. A former linebacker and perennial underachiever, with his build and connections Lowry would’ve followed in his footsteps. But his old man complained about oversight, budgets, paperwork, day in and day out, maximizing overtime and sitting in a squad car. His father became worthless, weak, complacent. When Lowry held the dead man’s badge in his hand, he had an idea: the only thing better than being a cop is pretending to be one.
He mentioned it to the others (Doug Esperanza, Luke Finnegan, Marty Donahue) at poker night when they got in their cups and the game was too boring. They had their misgivings at first before they bombed around town in a sedan harassing teens, unhoused and drunks. Each found an infinitely more fun way to gamble; high risk, but such a reward to their egos, especially when their victims gave them bribes. They decided, generally, to be “fair”, to always let them off with a warning if they had their fun. It became the new poker night, an outlet. Catharsis.
It got more real when Finnegan bought the German Shepherd (creatively named “Killer”), Esperanza started trawling the cop shops for gear and Donahue outdid them all by buying a black SUV and kitting it out. Their families still think they go out on poker night when they’re actually driving a few towns over to get their blood up and their rocks off. Who cares about gambling? Putting on the uniform is fun enough.
Then they pulled up on the Agents.
How To Play Lowry’s Boys
Mark Lowry: ringleader, officer manager by day. Anhedonic. Charismatic to friends but keeps his mouth shut around strangers. Mostly likes to hold the badge, bark commands and rough up the targets.
Doug Esperanza: spokesperson, salesman by day. Talkative. Too clever by half. Has figured out a patter and script for shakedowns, loves to play the role of “good”/talkative cop to the others.
Luke Finnegan: tool guy, retail IT by day. Quiet, sullen, repressed. Genuinely loves Killer and this whole game. Often goes along with the most craven schemes the group can think of while feeling good about it. Most likely to go too far.
Marty Donahue: the driver, mechanic by day. Boisterous. Loves to gloat and play the wild cop. In it for the thrill of driving a black SUV too fast on empty streets. Hands off but will kick folks when they’re down.
Why The Agents?
Because they were there.
Delta Green is an existential horror game. For Lowry and company, they are the victims and the Agents are the monsters. Their collision is an inevitability, it’s just a matter of how and when.
Lowry’s Boys like to use the cover of night and will use any excuse they can make. If the Agents are vigilant, they get to see them coming. If they’re not or the dice break really bad for them, Lowry’s Boys are a horrible, sudden surprise.
Note: under no circumstances will Finnegan let Killer chase or fight people. He cannot make Killer listen to commands that aren’t “bark/look scary” and “stop barking”.
Now You See Me
If they’re in motion, they’ll flash cherries and Esperanza will use the SUV’s radio to tell the Agents to pull over. If not, they’ll roll in, cherries off, give them a chirp of the siren, climb out and get to work. Either way if anyone has Criminology or Law over 50%, they automatically know that these are not cops, but that doesn’t always mean they can warn the others in time.
Now You Don’t
If given the chance to ambush the Agents, they will absolutely take it to full-bore shock-and-awe them into submission. Badge out, guns out, have Killer bark his head off, cherries on, the whole nine yards. They’ll come at the Agents hard and fast, try to divide them and try to pick the most likely to crumple to bully into speaking for the rest. In an ideal (for them) world, they’ll surprise the Agents as they come out of a building or while otherwise too busy to think. It’ll take rolls to figure out they’re not actual LEOs and even then, it’ll come in bits and pieces without crits.
Dealing With Them
Fight
Let the players fight them. No, seriously, run it as a combat. Yes, they’re four dipshits and a dog. They’re also armed with hunting gear, drunk on ego and self-defense rhetoric and twitchy. Unfortunately for the Agents they’ve considered this possibility and generally assume numbers will let them win; unfortunately for them they’re armed with rock salt and not wearing body armor.
The moment one of them drops they have to make a Sanity check to not see red and fight to win, but if they run, they run and they don’t stop.
Figuring out what to do with the survivors and the dead when the smoke clears is all you need to be the wrench in the gears for this subplot.
Flight
So the Agents have decided to run. Smart choice. Lowry’s Boys will make chase somewhat half-heartedly on foot, but if they can get back to the SUV they’ll tear ass and chase for a bit to try and put the fear into the Agents. Once they’ve had enough fun or have lost sight of the Agents, they’ll peel off and go find someone else to harass or just flee the scene themselves if the Agents’ escape would bring heat down on their heads. This is probably the best outcome, in that everyone’s alive, though Lowry’s Boys are still loose in the world. That may change depending on what their Handler feels or if the Agents’ feel like they need to tie up loose ends. If they want to chase them down, let them. Surely OpSec is more important than the mission.
Flatter
If you’re going to talk to them, you’re either going to need to out-crazy or razzle-dazzle (or both!). Lowry’s Boys are a bunch of mediocre middle-aged men in cop cosplay certain that they’ve got the upper hand. They probably do not. Convincing them to back off will generally require groveling, bribes or both depending on how rolls go. Too complaint will invite sadism, too resistant will invite shows of force or threats against Helplessness/Violence.
It's easy to make them realize they shouldn’t fuck with you, though there’s a nonzero chance they will anyway. Go hard, confuse them with big words and attitude, make them realize they’re small men out of their element who’ve tried to mug the wrong people. Hit them hard back. If this approach fails, scroll back up to “Fight”.
Enterprising Agents can absolutely attempt to flip them into assets or Friendlies; stroking their egos and pretending they’re definitely cops can help get some extra hands (or even backup characters if things have gone/will go poorly) in the mix! Why not flash your badge and say you’re looking for patriots who can make a difference?
Four armed civilians playing dress-up, in over their heads, predisposed to becoming jumpy children who shoot first. They’ll fit in just fine with the Agents.
Pulling The Thread
HUMINT: These guys don’t have LEO swagger and self-confidence. They’re constantly psyching themselves up to figure out the next cheap shot to make you flinch.
Animal skills at any level: that’s not how you handle a police dog. Wait, that’s a civilian dog. He’s wagging and thinks this is playtime.
Bureaucracy: This isn’t how you do a stop at all. Why are there four cops and a dog in a single SUV?
Disguise: Good approximation of an officer’s uniform but they’re using shadows and night to let the mind fill in details.
Firearms: Cops do not roll around with a shotgun apiece. Nobody here has a service piece.
Law: go wild with divulging information here; essentially, “Officer Esperanza” does the majority of the talking and sounds official but is clearly just parroting media and glossing over details and procedures.
Alertness: wait, why does only one of them have a badge?
Lowry's Boys are written with the modern political climate in mind. They can easily fit in the past with three easy tweaks.
1: they will make less of an effort to look like cops. Less tech, less toys, etc. No matter what, they will have Killer.
2: in the modern day it’s trivially easy to find out they’re not cops; with any form of their ID or their phones it’s not hard to blow their cover. This is harder in the past without just forcing them to admit it.
3: they will do worse things with more impunity.
STAT BLOCKS
Mark Lowry
Bearer of the Badge
Str 15 Con 12 Dex 10 Int 10 Pow 10 Cha 12 HP 14 WP 10 San 45
Skills: Alertness 40% Athletics 50% Firearms 20% HUMINT 30% Persuade 50% Search 50% Unarmed 60%
Attacks:
Unarmed 60% 1d4 damage
Baton 30% 1d6 damage
Hunting Shotgun 20% 1d4 damage (regardless of range due to rock salt shot)
Doug Esperanza
“Police” Negotiator
Str 10 Con 14 Dex 12 Int 10 Pow 10 Cha 16 HP 12 WP 10 San 50
Skills: Computer Science 40% Dodge 50% Firearms 40% First Aid 40% HUMINT 45% Melee Weapons 40% Persuade 50% Unarmed 40%
Attacks:
Unarmed 40% 1d4 damage
Taser 40% Stun
Baton 30% 1d6 damage
Hunting Shotgun 40% 1d4 damage (regardless of range due to rock salt shot)
Luke Finnegan
Misanthropic K-9 Handler
Str 10 Con 10 Dex 14 Int 15 Pow 10 Cha 16 HP 10 WP 10 San 45
Skills: Animal Handling 40% Computers 60% Dodge 40% Firearms 60% Navigate 40% Sigint 50% Unarmed Combat 40%
Attacks:
Unarmed 40% 1d4 damage
Baton 30% 1d6 damage
Hunting Shotgun 60% 1d4 damage (regardless of range due to rock salt shot)
Marty Donahue
Of Course His Driving Playlist Has “Sabotage” On It
Str 10 Con 8 Dex 15 Int 10 Pow 13 Cha 10 HP 9 WP 13 San 55
Skills: Alertness 50% Craft Mechanics 50% Drive 60% Firearms 30% Law 40% Navigate 40% Unarmed Combat 40%
Attacks:
Unarmed 40% 1d4 damage
Baton 30% 1d6 damage
Hunting Shotgun 30% 1d4 damage (regardless of range due to rock salt shot)
Killer
Honestly Just Happy to Be Here
Use Dog/Wolf from the Handler’s Guide.
Credits
BLUE-ON-GREEN was written by Jessica Estes for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wtKb3D-KkVhIlOrjmSPOQQb79-VJW7oVzOxC4UBDZvA/edit