Briefing
2050
30 years ago, the Old Ones rose. Humans grovel underfoot as monsters roam the Earth. Their worshippers hunt and prey upon humans. The taint of the Old Ones has spread across the land, transforming it into an unrecognizable hellscape. The last humans are products of mutation and disease, subjected to slavery and torture by the forces of the mythos.
Huddled together in the ruins of the Old World, desperate camps of humans await oblivion.
Delta Green has failed. But there's still hope.
Through it all, a miracle occurs: what’s left of Delta Green Agents, have found each other. Putting their heads together, they plan one last Night at the Opera. The mission?
Figure out Where It All Went Wrong and send a Survivor back in time to stop this.
Where It All Went Wrong
Transform an Agent into a Survivor. See Appendix B.
Together, the Survivors figure they may sort through the information contained on a recovered memory crystal from the ruins of a Green Box. A different Survivor recognizes what it is, and yet another recalled where a machine may be to read it.
They must journey to Veltrum Plaza (currently located in Manhattan Lake) in search of a computing device to read the crystal.
Veltrum Plaza
The destination is the second floor of a building formerly owned by a March Tech subsidiary in Manhattan.
The Rooftop Garden is home to deadly flora.
The building is 7/8 floors underwater. The windows are covered by steel plates reinforced by beams from antigravity sigils, keeping the building sealed. A fumble with a gunshot may hit an underwater glass window, causing a leak. Stepping into the beam does 2d6 damage as the victim is flung into the wall.
The building has no obvious power source but is lit by mysterious auxiliary red lights. Floors 6-8 are cubicle farms in disarray.
The stairwell is blocked from the 8th to the 7th, as well as from the 1st to the 2nd.
The elevator rests, doors open, on the 8th floor. The shaft runs the length of the building, unobstructed. However, the Deep Ones that occupy the lobby may cut the cable, sending the elevator down for an easy meal.
The 8th and 7th floors are home to a cult of mutants. They have defects, usually having too many of different parts (teeth, breasts, legs, etc). The defects come from drinking nothing but Proto-Milk from the 6th floor. Food is notably absent.
They worship Radzinski as their Father and Shub-Niggurath as their mother. They offer a sign and countersign to the Survivors, some of which may know it (INTx5 to recall). Use one from your games, or try this: “Have you lost your mind?” / “Sanity is a social construct. We’re all mad here.” Otherwise, they allow Survivors to pass unheeded.
The 6th floor is covered in a Proto-Milk monster. It absorbs living beings and projects them as goop-clones. It is the Cerberus to Radzinski’s hell below. A sacrifice allows the Survivors to pass. The cult cult can help Survivors bypass the monster by offering a cultist sacrifice.
The 5th floor does not exist. The stairs have signs, and there is no 5th.
The way down to the 4th floor is a Penrose Staircase. Going downstairs brings them back to the 6th floor. The solution is propping the door to the 6th floor open, closing the loop.
The Last Scientist
Gabriel Radzinski, a scientist, sought protection in Veltrum Plaza, believing it would survive the Mythocalypse. He wasn’t wrong.
He found the time machine and used it to fortify the structure.
He utilizes an anti-gravity sigil and steel plates to plug leaks.
He utilized Protomatter and Mother’s Milk to create a formula that keeps himself young and healthy, and to create Cerberus, his “guard dog.” Protomilk may need to be explained more. On a second reading, I understand that it’s a combination of protomatter and mother’s milk, but I don’t know what those things are either.
Through his time journeys, he seeded myths and stories of himself as a deity figure for the cult of Shub Niggurath that lives on the upper floors.
The monster on the 6th floor is also his creation, married Mother’s Milk and Protomatter absorbs living beings.
He allows Deep Ones to live in the “ground floor.”
The 4th floor is Radzinski’s living quarters. Here are notebooks and computers filled with notes and plots referencing different operations that went poorly thanks to his efforts.
They show how he seeded stories of himself as a god to the mutants above. All spells known by Radzinski can be learned from a thorough reading of his writings.
There’s a fridge full of Proto-milkshakes.
There is an armory, supply room, dressing room. A prepper’s dream.
The 3rd and 2nd floor are labs.
The Labs
Floor Three houses biological studies.
Behind locked, secured laboratory doors, insert whatever experiments you desire. One room has a large selection of brains in jars, labeled with names. Some should be familiar to Survivors: Agents they have worked with in the past.
Floor Two is a physics lab, home to the time machine Radzinski built and utilized many times.
The crystal matrix decoder screen lines a wall. Survivors may access the crystal’s contents here. It allows memories to be uploaded via a salon style chair, catalogued and accessed on a view screen.
Hundreds of Agent memories are stored. Radzinski utilized the time machine to collect dead Agents’ brains, to decipher the exact point the Mythocalypse started.
The files are archived by Agent names and dates/timestamps.
The times are inconsistent with Survivor’s recollections of the Mythocalypse.
Survivors may come to the conclusion that Radzinski has just been buying time (1/1d10 SAN loss from Helplessness).
The Time Machine
A sleek, black plastic pod. Using it requires having a destination input into a connected computer. An appropriate skill allows use, otherwise reading Report: Exotic Particle Synthesis for the Anchoring of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge works. The machine can be put on a timer, to allow one person to send their self back. Only enough space for one person at a time.
A Hound of the Angles comes if the machine is utilized too much, due to the rapid breaking of the continuum.
If a player is sent to the future, they are effectively out of play. Perhaps the future is even worse, such as the Tsan-Chan Empire.
When It’s Over
The Survivors that return are now useful for the Handler to incorporate into future game sessions. They come to harass and kill themselves and other Agents, attempting to break the timeline.
Ultimately, it’s no good or the moment the Survivors themselves back, their current reality would cease to be.
After all, nothing can stop the Apocalypse.
Or: Run Schrodinger's Dilemma next.
Appendix A: Stat Blocks and Tomes
The Rooftop Garden
STR 16 CON 40 DEX 11 POW 10 INT 2 CHA *
HP: 28
Armor: RESILIENT
Attacks: VINE GRAB 40%
VINE GRAB: Vines grasp and grip the players. Make a STRx5 check to break loose. On subsequent rounds, LEECH SEED occurs
LEECH SEED: Needle points such 1d6 HP from victims, healing the plants.
SAN Loss: 0/1
Veltrum Plaza Cultist
Worships Radzinski as a Father deity and Shub-Niggurath as a Mother deity. Once regular humans, now deformed by daily drinking of Proto-Milk.
Cultists are helpful to Survivors if they can show their intentions are in line with Radzinski’s.
STR 13 CON 14 DEX 12 POW 9 INT 8 CHA 5
HP 14 WP 12
Attacks: Various Firearms 30%
PROTOHEALTH: Heals 1 HP per round.
Skills: Athletics 50, Firearms 30, Melee Weapons 60, Swim 50, Unarmed Combat 60, Unnatural 20
SAN LOSS: 0/1
Cerberus, The Good-Goop Boy
STR 14 CON 18* DEX 4 POW 16 INT 8
HP: 16* WP: 16
Armor: UNCANNY MATTER
A non-Newtonian marriage of Protomatter and Mother’s Milk. It stretches the length of the 6th Floor (20 meters), covering desks and cubicles. It can detect vibrations and use PSEUDOPODS in an effort to attack someone attempting to navigate around it.
*DISSOLVE: Anyone that breaks the surface of the goo (by failing an Athletics check and/or stopping movement in it) must make a CONx5 test. On a failure, Cerberus absorbs 1d4 CON and 1d8 POW. A second failure results in the victim being completely absorbed.
PSEUDOPODS: On it’s turn, Cerberus creates models of beings it has absorbed as if they were appendages. These beings attack with the skills they once had. Cultists, monsters, people, and rats have all been absorbed in the past. Use this to put a Mythos monster in the fight.
SUSTENANCE: Cerberus enteres empty containers willingly, as if on command. This includes buckets, cups, coffee mugs, etc. When placed into a vessel, Cerberus instead becomes a benevolent meal, healing 1d8 HP a day. However, drinking too much causes mutations.
SAN LOSS 1/1D4
Deep Ones (pg191)
Hound of the Angles (pg206)
Radzinski
STR 10 CON 10 DEX 10 INT 19 POW 13 CHA 6
HP 10 WP 14 SAN 0
Disorders: Addiction (Hypergeometry), Depersonalization Disorder, Depression, Fugues
Motivation: Undo the End of the World
Attacks: Firearms as needed.
PROTOHEALTH: Heals 1 HP per round.
Spells and Rituals: Create Gravitic Warp: Complex Ritual. Study Time: Days; 1d10 SAN, +1 Unnatural. Activation: varies; WP varies, 1d4 SAN. Permanent casting costs 1 POW.
The Elder Sign
Infallible Suggestion
Open Gate (Time Machine)
Preserve Living Brain
Skills: Bureaucracy 41, Computer Science 85, Craft: Microelectronics 42, Craft: Mechanic 82, Firearms 62, Forensics 45, Medicine 41, Occult 55, Pharmacy 46, Science (Physics) 92, Science (Biology) 91, Science (Chemistry) 93, Unnatural 41
Report: Exotic Particle Synthesis for the Anchoring of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. In English. Study Time: Hours. Science (Physics) +2%, Unnatural +3%, SAN loss 1d8.
A science report by Radzinski. Quantum physics theories related to closed-loop space-time curves. Allows the operation and repair of the Time Machine. The margins are scribbled with insane insights disproving and laughing at his own ideas.
Appendix B: Creating Your Survivor
Make these changes procedurally on a copy of a character sheet.
The Survivors may think they are the heroes, but they're no better than the monsters.
Your Survivor did and was subject to terrible things, and their experiences changed them. When a Survivor witnesses an Unnatural act not their own, it still calls for a SAN test.
Choose a Survivor Template. While the Disorder is suggested, you must take a Damaged Veteran Package that it calls for. Page numbers in parentheses from the Handler’s Guide.
Survivor Templates
Atlach-Nacha
You are a Herald for the Great Weaver. Perhaps the result of being bitten by an exotic spider, or the work of a cult.
Boons: +2 DEX, +2 CON
WALL CRAWL: Inexplicable ability to utilize hands and feet to climb vertical and upside down surfaces. Doesn’t work on wet walls or a structure that can’t sustain your weight. Works through light gloves and socks. (SAN 0/1 to witness)
SPINNER: Make a CONx5 test. On a success, you are capable of vomiting out webs. Use the result of the CONx5 test to make a ranged Pin action. Alternately, you may use the web as a utility.(SAN 0/1 to witness)
Banes: On a temp insanity, you must choose Flee, and attempt to go to the darkest, most enclosed areas. The Elder Sign affects you.
Suggested Disorders: Agoraphobia, Ligyrophobia
Package: TMWNMTK,
Draugr
You are the dead walking. Perhaps you were killed and resurrected by a cult.
Boons: FEEDING: Heal 1HP per bite attack (SAN 0/1d4 Violence to witness)
GIFT OF THE GRAVE: (pg 199) (SAN 0/1d4 Unnatural to witness)
PEPTIC RECALL: Eating the brain of a dead body allows you to access the knowledge and skills of the dead. For 1d4 SAN and with a successful INTx5 check, you can access the skills, spells, and knowledge of the recently eaten. Save some for later: this duration can be extended by eating more of the brain at a cost of 1 SAN for every hour after. (SAN 0/1d4 Unnatural to witness)
ROTTING RESILIENCE (pg232)
UNDEAD (pg232)
WORRY AND RIP (pg232) (SAN 0/1 Violence to witness)
Banes: First Aid is useless. Your skin rots and stinks. You must make a POWx5 check in the presence of fresh meat to avoid eating it.
Suggested Disorders: DID, PTSD
Package: Extreme Violence, TMWNMTK.
Ghoul
A dogfaced cannibal, you eat rotten flesh and brains and are capable of processing the consumed memories.
Boons: CHARNEL VISAGE: (pg 199) Must take Changeling Feast ritual.(SAN 0/1d4 to witness)
GIFT OF THE GRAVE: (pg 199)
IMMORTALITY: (pg199)
INHUMAN AGILITY: (pg199)(SAN 0/1 Unnatural to witness)
LIFE UNDERGROUND: (pg199) (SAN 0/1 Unnatural to witness)
MEPHITIC MEMORIES: (pg200) Uses INTx5
WORRY AND RIP: (pg199)
Banes: You must make a POWx5 check in the presence of fresh meat to avoid eating it. On temp insanities, one of the many personalities consumed comes to the forefront. The Elder Sign affects you.
Suggested Disorders: DID
Package: Extreme Violence, TMWNMTK
MJ12 Experiment
You were the recipient of Project CATALYST augmentations, becoming a superhuman.
Boons: +2 to STR, CON, and DEX
INHUMAN AGILITY: (pg199)
+20% to Alertness, Dodge, Firearms, Heavy Weapons, and Stealth
HPx1.5
Bioweave Skin (5 Armor)
Night Vision
Start with two weapons of your choice.
Banes: Your body is falling apart due to the modifications. You were not meant to live this long. Death or a specific killphrase triggers the Survivor to explode (15% Lethality, 10m radius)
Suggested Disorders: Intermittent Explosive Disorder, PTSD
Package: Extreme Violence; Captivity/Imprisonment
Protomatter Person
Either as a choice or as the results of an experiment, your body became host to Mi-Go protomatter. Your body loves and hates this.
Boons: +8 STR and CON
PROTOHEALTH: Heal 1 HP per round.(SAN 0/1 Unnatural to witness)
PROTOLIMBS: Your body is capable of transforming to extremes: lengthening limbs, extra appendages, regrowing lost parts. At a cost of 1d4 SAN and half as much WP, on a successful CONx5 check, transform your body as needed.(SAN 0/1d4 Unnatural to witness)
Banes: The Elder Sign affects you. Slowly, the Protomatter is overcoming you.
Suggested Disorders: Depersonalization, Fugues.
Package: Captivity/Imprisonment, Hard Experience
Psychonaut
You travel the Waking World, though you have died. Your soul and mind is trapped in the Dreamlands.
Boons: MANIFEST REALITY: At an appropriate cost of WP and SAN, your Survivor can manipulate reality from the Dreamlands. This can be the form of summoning items, or altering a landscape slightly.(SAN 0/1d4 Unnatural to witness)
Begin with an extra spell.
Banes: Your Survivor cannot sleep. Your link to reality relies on an object that is not easily concealable, such as a large ruby, or a scimitar. The object also relies on draining WP from other living beings. They may not realize it at first, but when they do, they probably won’t like it.If you ever lose it or travel more than 100m from it, you fade and are trapped in the Dreamlands.
Disorders: Sleep Disorder (you must take this).
Wizard
Boons: INT +2, POW +2
Two extra spells
+20% to 5 skills of your choice
WITCH’S FAMILIAR (pg231)
Banes: You are probably the most vulnerable member of the group.
Suggested Disorders: Addiction (Hypergeometry), Paranoia,
Package: TMWNMTKL, Hard Experience
Yithian
You have been a guest at the Library of Pnakotus. You have read much of the past, and of the future. Some parts are still hazy, but you recall how some of it goes. This is not the future the Great Race envisioned.
Boons: +2 INT
YITHIAN TOOL (Choose Electric Gun or Temporal Grenade)
SEMI-OMNISCIENCE: You have studied your life in glimpses and pieces. At the start of the game, roll INT/2 of d100s and record the values. At the start of the game, roll INT# of d100s and record the values. You may substitute these in place of your own die rolls, at a cost of 1 SAN each time.
Banes: Every instance of SEMI-OMNISCIENCE adds 5% and calls for a die roll; a success on this roll summons a Hound of the Angles.
Suggested Disorders: Addiction (SEMI-OMNISCIENCE), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Package: Captivity/Imprisonment; TMWNMTK
Then do the following in order:
Assign a Damaged Veteran package from the template chosen.
Survivors know INT/6 rounded down hypergeometry spells in addition to those granted by Templates. Pay the SAN cost to learn.
Decrease SAN by POW, choose disorder(s), and recalculate BP. This disorder is in addition to any already possessed or from the TMWNMTK package.
Halve CHA and adjust Bond scores. Make a CHAx5 test for each Bond. On a failure, remove a Bond.
Allocate 100 skill points, with skills capping at 90 and no gain in Unnatural.
Increase Unnatural by 4d10.
Consider changing the Motivations and Bonds your Survivor has.
Equipment
This is the Final Mission. Make acquisitions.
These modifications existing rules to represent scarcity. Your Bonds don’t understand why you must do this.
Survivors begin play with one Standard expense item/weapon, and one magazine of ammunition (if applicable), in addition to any given by Templates. Weapons may be unrestricted.
The number of acquisitions is only limited by Bond scores.
Your Survivor also has 5 Incidental items.
- Calling in a Favor. Use CHAx5, applying Bond damage as necessary.
- Crafting Yourself. Uses an Appropriate Craft skill to in place of Spend Your Own Money at one category lower.
- Scavenging. Utilize Search to locate goods. Limited to Standard or Incidental. This may be done INT/2 total times before play begins.
- Spend Your Own Money. INTx5 or Survival. Utilize goods you have scavenged to organize a trade.
Credits
This is an entry to the 2018 Delta Green shotgun scenario contest, written by Jake “ChiefMcClane” Cook.