The Briefing
A college student named Timothy Michaels purchased from a Program honeypot website a copy of a Dark Ages tome, Ignis Glaciem, rumored to contain the knowledge to turn heat into cold and vice versa through magic.
Agents are instructed to investigate Michaels. They have a copy of the book filled with Lorem Ipsum and a delivery driver outfit.
Michaels lives with his parents.
They are friendly enough, given a decent story and a Persuade test. He remembers going to the tournament, and the vague recollection that he was supposed to take the book to the next Friday night tournament but couldn’t recall much else.
His father took him to hospital and had tests done but no problems were found.
If Agents wait it out, they can tail Michaels to the tournament.
The Truth
Michaels is an unwitting lackey for an insane thief-wizard of Yog-Sothoth, David Kaley. Kaley mesmerized him at a card game tournament, instructing him to bring him a copy of Ignis Glaciem at the next tournament.
David Kaley
See Appendix.
No criminal record, but can be found in government databases.
Bureaucracy 40 or similar skill can tell that this is a falsely created identity.
Kaley’s real name is Daniel Thompson. His grandfather, Robert Thompson, has been missing for over a year several states away (there is a police report for this).
Old police report for this address: anonymous tip reported a marijuana growhouse at his house due to the roof having melted snow in the winter. The case was never opened. The house is a month-to-month rental.
Kaley is near insane. He is obsessed with the accumulation of silver and knowledge, in an effort to be closer to Yog-Sothoth.
He has terrible hygiene, and lives in appalling conditions. He exclusively orders takeout, to minimize contact with people.
At his house, a magic gate allows teleportation. His modus operandi is to Gate into a secure location,where Unnatural tomes, artefacts, and wealth are stored and steals them. and Key his way out.
Use magic to take care of guards. He is Paranoid and very afraid that he will be caught due to his thievery.
The Tournament
The tournament takes place at a local geek shop: comics, RPGs, card games: you know the place. Use your FLGS as a reference.
It requires a Standard Expense bribe or a Persuade at -20% to enter the grand prix tournament this late.
Disguise can blend Agents with the crowd and grants a +20% bonus versus Kaley’s opposed Paranoid Alertness checks: looking like a Fed won’t bode well for Agents.
INTx5 is used to play the game, unless they take time to learn the rules and earn Special Training (Geeky Card Game), which could be INTx5 +20%.
Furthermore, if they use surveillance equipment to cheat, add +20% to their rolls.
On a fumble, they are caught and thrown out.
Alternately, they may make an Unusual purchase to buy an elite deck for +20%.
Each game is won by winning three out of five rolls (even if Agents lose, it can still be a double elimination tournament, at Handler’s discretion). In between rolls, Agents may attempt to extract information and search for their target with appropriate skills.
Playing through the tournament allows increased chances of encountering Kaley, who can be observed mesmerizing new lackeys every game. Chance to encounter him starts at 5% and increases by 20% for every victory. They can witness handoffs to Kaley from his lackeys mid game against him.
If Agents lose twice, they may still hang around the shop.
The Agent that plays against Kaley may be prey to his magic. He may attempt to counter-question them using magic. Depending on what the Agents know, they may tell him the location of a Green Box, etc.
If Agents choose not to play, David is caught, or he suffers from a bout of Paranoia, he may summon a bound ifrit to provide a distraction and escape.
Kaley’s House
One-story, two bedroom house.
Alertness or Criminology notices security cameras, obvious and hidden.
If it is winter, the right side of the roof has melted snow/frost.
The house stinks of rot and body odor. The entire floor is covered in a layer of garbage: take out food on containers, pizza boxes, 2 liter soda bottles. The trash layer harbor rats and roaches.
Call for a CONx5 test to avoid vomiting.
Moving through the garbage quietly or quickly requires Stealth or Athletics rolls at a -20% penalty.
A low whirring can be heard throughout the house; dozens of fans attempt to remove the heat from the bitcoin mine.
Entrances: Front Door enters into a Living Room. It is barren and trashfilled, as the rest of the house. Leads to the Hallway.
Side Door enters into a kitchen that connects to Dining Room and Hallway
Dining Room: the remains of a human body rest atop a table with strange circular markings carved in the wood (SAN loss 0/1d4 Unnatural). This is the body of David’s grandfather, Robert.
Robert went missing months ago (a police report from several states over states this)
Hallway: Dead Ends into Master Bedroom on left and Office on right
Master Bedroom:
Bed covered in stinky clothes.
Work bench with a reloading station and a bucket full of silver jewelry
Metal casting station, and the rotten carcass of a large animal (neighbor’s missing German Shepherd), used to create Silvered Revolver (See Appendix)
Bookshelf full of Mythos tomes, academic texts, language learning software, other educational material.
Suggested Tomes: Livre d’Ivon
Insert Artefacts here as desired.
On a computer desk is Through the Gates of the Silver Key (See Appendix), open.
A gaming rig with cables snaking under the trash towards the office.
Office:
Large bank of computing hardware align an exterior wall.
Computer Science 20 suggests this is a cryptocurrency mining operation.
40 gets access to the computer.
60 deactivates a watchdog program and accesses David’s security camera recordings.
80 sorts through and finds a hidden program called Riftstone, which appears to use some sort of coordinate system.
Science (Mathematics), Navigate, or Unnatural realizes that it is used to control a Gate.
Exterior wall is bordered by two dozen high-end video graphics cards, the center of which shimmers slightly when viewed (0/1 SAN loss, Unnatural). See G8.EXE
If David is dead, his unbound ifrit comes through the gate in to eat the knowledge stored here.
The ifrit will attack anyone in possession of tomes, or will attempt to burn David’s library. Alternately, it will seek the knowledge in a target’s mind.
Use the Ifrit statblock in the Handler’s Guide, but add the following:
TRANSFERENCE: A target burned by the Ifrit shares the knowledge of a ritual the target knows with the Ifrit. On an additional turn, the Ifrit shares a different ritual with the target (pay the SAN cost to learn). This repeats until the target is dead.
Possible Resolutions
- Agents may confront Kaley at the tournament. Kaley will summon an Ifrit and flee to his house. If he flees to his house, he will Gate somewhere else.
- Unmolested, Kaley goes home and uses the Gate to go on a heist. This can be at a place where there is bulk silver (jewelry store, pawn shop), or a place where arcana is stored (Miskatonic University Library, D-Stacks).
- Either way, the Gate remains open after use. If he fears being followed, he may set up a trap.
Ways to Track David
- The Gate only goes one way. He must physically travel back to his base of operations. This means airplanes, buses, etc.
- David uses tournaments to recruit lackeys. He can be found at towns with these tournaments.
- Using Keys requires physical interaction, leaving Forensics evidence behind.
- David is a slob. With all of the fans going in an attempt to cool the house, a receipt for food delivery, a bulk order of video-graphics cards, etc. blows through an open portal and landed in the middle of the scene of one of his thefts.
- Exchanging cryptocurrency for USD occurs at an online exchange. Money is wired to and from accounts in exchange for Bitcoin, Dogecoin, whatever. It’s possible to find David’s account and see where he withdraws money from with appropriate skills.
Complications
- The Gate only appears to be one sided. Ifrits travel freely.
- Tailing David through a gate can have Agents appear from nowhere into a crime scene.
- If taken into custody, David Keys out of handcuffs, vehicles, holding cells, etc.
- Has at least one safehouse established due to paranoia and always has cryptocurrency. He has a fake identity, cash, and other goods stored. Given time, he establishes a new base of operations.
- Realizing he may be under investigation, may activate or trigger a dead man’s switch, sending videos and photos of Agents, and other files to various whistleblower websites.
Appendix
David Kaley, Insane Thief-Wizard of Yog-Sothoth
STR 9 CON 10 DEX 10 INT 19 POW 14 CHA 12 SAN 13 WP 14
Skills: Alertness 50% (+20% when suffering from Paranoia), Computer Science: 91%, Craft 40% (Microelectronics, Electrician, Mechanics, Locksmith, Firearms), Firearms 40%, Foreign Language 20% (Mandarin, German, Latin, French, Russian, Spanish, Greek, Italian, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, Swahili), Geeky Card Game 78%, Science 40% (Physics, Mathematics, Astrophysics, Quantum Physics),
Unnatural 33% (Add skills as needed. He is a genius)
Disorders: Obsession (Forbidden Knowledge), Paranoia, Addiction (Hypergeometry)
Motivation: Accumulation of Wealth and Knowledge
Rituals: Keys, Riftstone.EXE, Infallible Suggestion, G8.EXE, Summon Ifrit, Blessed Weapon of Yog-Sothoth, Exaltation of the Flesh, The Silvery Warning
Bonds: None
Attacks: Smith and Wesson Revolver 40%, Damage 1d10. Special: does hypergeometric damage when it fires silver bullets.
Inventory: USB device (G8.exe files), Silvered Revolver. Faraday bag with cell phone.
Silvered Revolver
Item. Blessed weapon of Yog-Sothoth in the form of a Smith and Wesson Model 19 .357 Magnum revolver (Heavy Pistol). The sides of the barrel contain circular carvings. When the revolver fires silver rounds, it does hypergeometry damage.
Keys
Complex Ritual. Study Time: Weeks. SAN loss 1d10. Activation: varies. SAN cost varies.
The operator comes into physical contact with a mechanism intended to keep people out. This could range from a simple padlock to a maximum security door.
Sample Activation costs:
Padlock: 1 SAN
Deadbolt/Door Lock: 1d2 SAN
Combination Lock/Handcuffs: 1d4 SAN
Keypad/Electronic lock: 1d6 SAN
Blessed Weapon of Yog-Sothoth
Simple Ritual. Study Time: Days, 1d4 SAN. Activation: varies, 1d4 WP, 1d4 SAN
Requires sacrifice of 10 HP and carving a series of interlinked circles onto the silvered metal of a weapon. Afterwards, the weapon is considered hypergeometric if it utilizes silver.
G8.exe (Create Stone Gate)
Elaborate ritual. Study time: weeks; +1 Unnatural, 1D4 SAN. Activation: days or weeks; 5 POW, 70 WP, 80 HP, 1D10 SAN.
A bank of computing hardware churning hypergeometric code, G8.exe allows the transportation of items and people. Electronics are fried passing through the Gate unless stored in a Faraday bag.
Riftstone.exe (Open Gate)
Simple ritual. Study time: days; 1D6 SAN. Activation: a turn; 1d4 WP, 1d4 SAN.
Program stored on a USB drive that allows control and open the Gate. The Gate remains open until it loses power or the program is used to shut it off. If restored strange sigils and glyphs mark the screen (0/1 Unnatural)
Through the Gates of the Silver Key
In English. Study Time: Days. Unnatural +4%. SAN loss 1d4.
A handwritten account of knowledge earned by a Sir William Talanda, an It names several Great Old Ones and lists the path one must walk in order to become one with Yog-Sothoth: selfless devotion and accumulation of knowledge, the sacrifice of flesh, and retaliation against unbelievers. Only then can one discover the path to enlightenment.
Rituals: Create Stone Gate, Open Gate, Blessed Weapon of Yog-Sothoth, Keys,
Credits
This is an entry to the 2018 Delta Green shotgun scenario contest, written by Jake “ChiefMcClane” Cook.