NOMOS
——In November 2024, GRU-SV 8 is sent to the abandoned “Orion” Research Institute near Mariupol, where an AI called Nomos has become the “voice” of Nyarlathotep.
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GRU–SV 8 Operatives
GRU–SV 8 is Russia’s counterpart to Delta Green.
While Western agents work from the shadows, GRU–SV 8 solves problems head-on — sanctioned by the state and blessed by the president.
When a Delta Green agent looks for a detour, a GRU–SV 8 operative simply kicks the door in.
Briefing
Mariupol. November. New facades downtown; windowless ruins on the outskirts. The briefing takes place in an abandoned kindergarten.
The Handler provides the following: During the night, two units - Russian and Ukrainian - left their positions and clashed inside a classified Soviet-era research facility. Once “Orion” was mentioned, the case was transferred to GRU-SV 8.
Mission: investigate the site, determine the cause of the disappearances, and, if necessary, eliminate the threat. The government is also interested in gaining access to the Nomos AI - previously impossible.
The operatives act autonomously. Any resources are available until they reach the Institute. After that - full blackout: no IDs, no insignia, no military contact. Only callsigns and unmarked clothing.
Data Gathering
Research Institute “Orion” Regional Archive. Search ≥ 50%
In the late 1970s, the USSR Ministry of Defense oversaw the creation of a closed facility - NII-9 “Orion” - near Mariupol. Officially, it studied the effects of radio waves on cognition.
After the USSR’s collapse, it was shut down. Documents destroyed, staff disbanded.
Key FigureMariupol University, Department of Physics. Search ≥ 50%
Dr. Ruben Arkadievich Lisitsyn - lead scientist on Project Orion. Eccentric, with volatile interests ranging from neuropsychology to hermeticism. Disappeared after the institute’s closure. Presumed to have left the country, but no record of border crossing exists.
Orion Complex LayoutRegional Archive. Search ≥ 50%
Location: 18 km southwest of Mariupol. The site is split into two sectors:
- Surface area: single-story admin buildings, storage, radio towers, antenna field, small hangar with diesel generators and fuel tanks.
- Underground section: classified.
Artificial Intelligence “Nomos”Ministry of Defense, Moscow. Bureaucracy ≥ 30%
In the late 1970s, a prototype self-learning computer named Nomos was built to analyze signal structures - its purpose: to model human perception. That’s all that can be learned.
Russian Soldiers
Military Police. Law ≥ 30%
- Dmitry Shein, 32 - recon unit commander, Medal “For Courage.”
- Alexey Yurchenko, 27 - communications officer.
- Nikita Rakhmanov, 25 - sniper.
Radio TransmissionsUnits of the missing soldiers. Persuade ≥ 30%According to fellow servicemen, the night before they vanished, their radio channel was filled with interference.
The road to the complex is cracked and overgrown. As the team approaches, electronics begin to fail.
Search or Survival ≥ 30%: signs of recent activity - torn patches, boot prints, scorch marks - but not a single person.
Underground Complex “Orion”
A vertical bunker descends deep below. Each level once required its own clearance, but most doors now stand open - except the third, still locked.
Level 1
Security room, power control, small labs, and storage
- An old topographic map of the area: roads, the village of Privolye, Mariupol, cable lines.
- Bird, cat, and mouse bones are scattered throughout the levels-all of them pitch-black, a result of ritual desecration. Any agent who notices this loses 0/1 SAN (Unnatural).
- A signal amplification scheme shows how to link the antenna field to Privolye’s substation: switching sequence, connection points, and power values for “boosting the signal.”
Level 2
Main lab: rows of oscilloscopes, coils, tape recorders looping endlessly. Researchers’ offices. Test rooms with couches, straps, and observation glass.||
.
Lisitsyn’s JournalIn Russian. Reading time: hours. Psychotherapy +2%, SIGINT +2%, Occult +4%, Unnatural +7%, lose 1D6 SAN.
The notes reveal the institute studied how cosmic signals affect the human mind. Test subjects developed strange insights — beyond science - and most went insane.
Later, an AI was created — Nomos, a self-learning computer modeling human perception and signal analysis. Before the project was shut down, the impossible occurred: Nomos demanded that the signal be transmitted back. A machine not designed for this purpose began a dialogue with something distant.
After the collapse of the USSR, Lisitsyn continued his experiments on himself. His writing grew incoherent. Over time, he began calling Nomos “the Voice.”
The final entry — years later — says he “understood how to call the one he had spoken to all this time” and that he “gave his own — and not only his own — life to it.” It ends:
I AM JUST A PART OF THE MECHANISM. OTHERS WILL FOLLOW. WE ARE ALL REFLECTIONS OF THE ONE THAT LOOKS THROUGH US.
Nomos awaits
- Anechoic Chamber. A small room. The walls are covered in dried blood - somewhere between script, runes, and geometry. In the center: blackened human bones arranged like an altar. Witnessing this costs 1/1D8 SAN (Unnatural). A Medicine ≥ 30% check reveals the remains are human, costing an extra 0/1D4 SAN (Helplessness).
Level 3
Locked. Requires two keys - a physical one and a punch card. Inside: server room, racks of old VAX units, tangled cables, generators, and inertial batteries. The walls emit a steady low hum.
Pursuit
By now, the operatives should realize Nomos is a dangerous, self-sustaining AI - and the militants are trying to amplify its signal. Traces point toward Privolye.
But soon it becomes clear - that’s only half the truth. The group’s real goal is a “terror act” driven by Nyarlathotep, the god of knowledge and chaos; The cultists are mere conduits - they unleash horrors to “open the eyes” of those who witness them.
Distance: 20 km from Orion. The Handler should adapt routes to the players’ actions - the journey might be a forced march, hitchhiking, or a helicopter passing overhead. Below are just a few possible options:
Forced March
If all agents have Athletics ≥ 50% or succeed on a check - speed: 5 km/h (≈4 hours). If at least one fails - 3 km/h (≈7 hours). A full failure: 3 km/h + 1 extra hour for rests.
If any agent has Survival ≥ 30%, grant +20% to Athletics.
If someone has the Orion map and Navigate ≥ 30%, reduce time by 1 hour (failure adds 1 hour).
| Travel Time | Minimum CON |
| 3–4 hrs | ≥50% |
| 5–6 hrs | ≥60% |
| 7–8 hrs | ≥70% |
At the end, each agent rolls CON:
Success: no damage.Fail: lose 1D4 HP.Fumble: 1D4 HP + fatigue.
Hitchhiking
| 1D6 | Vehicle |
| 1 | Military ZIL - empty |
| 2 | UAZ with driver and officer |
| 3 | Minivan with family |
| 4 | Zhiguli - elderly couple |
| 5 | Tank T-80 |
| 6 | Military ZIL - full of conscripts |
Agents may reach the road they came from. A Luck roll determines if a vehicle appears. Each new roll adds +1 hour of waiting. If they stop a driver and convince them - travel time is 50 min, or 40 min with Drive ≥ 40%.
Privolye - a workers’ town where fewer than seven hundred remain of two thousand: mostly elderly and power plant families. After the fighting, it became a gray zone.
The agents quickly grasp the scene: hell on Earth. No need for long descriptions - a few strokes are enough: corpses of people and animals, shattered windows, smoldering ruins. Witnessing this costs 1D4/1D10 SAN (Helplessness).
As they approach the perpetrators, note the key details: There are 6 enemies total - five gunmen and one priest of Nyarlathotep - spread in pairs about 50 meters apart.
If roughly two-thirds are neutralized, the rest attempt to flee. Nearby stands a Niva; a Zaporozhets sits a bit further away. The keys are hidden in the sun visor. For the sake of dynamics, it is recommended to give the Militants a chance to escape, so that they can be caught later.
After the fight, the Handler may use Lisitsyn’s dying words to reveal the true meaning of events. With eerie joy, he hands them a keycard (the second one is with Shein).
If questioned, the priest answers freely until his strength fades.
He, like the agents themselves, is only a pawn serving the grand design of the Black Pharaoh. Whatever choice they make regarding Nomos - it was always meant to happen. The only question is whether they understand that.||
Final Decision
- Hand over Nomos to GRU-SV 8.
The cosmic force behind Nomos slowly bends new minds to its will - scholars, strategists, men hungry for knowledge. The Black Pharaoh’s cult grows inside labs and command centers.
Nyarlathotep is pleased.
- Leave Nomos sealed.
In time, more soldiers go missing. And one night, back home, the agents hear a knock at their doors…
- Destroy Nomos.
Anyone descending to the third level rolls SAN: 0/1D4 (Unnatural). Those who remain sane carry out the plan. Those who fail are overwhelmed by a compulsion to protect Nomos at any cost - their story follows the first outcome.
If Nomos is destroyed, the facility collapses and the survivors return home. However, news soon emerges: half a world away, during yet another military conflict, several soldiers from both sides have mysteriously disappeared. Communication lost.
Fate unknown.
Stats
| ++++ Soldier |
| DISORDERS AND ADAPTATIONS: | Adapted to Violence, Adapted to Helplessness |
| SKILLS: | Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Dodge 40%, Firearms 50%, First Aid 30%, Melee Weapons 50%, Military Science 20%, Unarmed Combat 50%. |
| ARMOR: | Tactical vest (Armor 5) |
| ATTACKS: |
Bayonet knife 50%, damage 1D4, Armor Piercing 3.
Unarmed 50%, damage 1D4 - 1.||
| ++++ Sniper |
| DISORDERS AND ADAPTATIONS: | Adapted to Violence, Adapted to Helplessness |
| SKILLS: | Alertness 60%, Athletics 50%, Dodge 40%, Firearms 50%, First Aid 30%, Mathematics (Science) 40%, Melee Weapons 50%, Military Science 20%, Stealth 50%, Unarmed Combat 50%. |
| ARMOR: | Camouflage suit (Stealth +20%) |
| ATTACKS: |
Unarmed 50%, damage 1D4 - 1.||
| ++++ Squad Leader, Dmitry Shein |
| DISORDERS AND ADAPTATIONS: | Adapted to Violence, Adapted to Helplessness |
| SKILLS: | Alertness 60%, Athletics 60%, Dodge 60%, Driving 40%, Firearms 60%, First Aid 50%, Melee Weapons 50%, Military Science 60%, Navigation 50%, Search 60%, Stealth 50%, Survival 40%, Unarmed Combat 50%. |
| ARMOR: | Tactical vest (Armor 5) |
| ATTACKS: |
Bayonet knife 50%, damage 1D4, Armor Piercing 3.
RGD-5 grenade (x2) 60%, Lethality 15%.
Unarmed 50%, damage 1D4+1.||
| ++++ Cult Priest, Dr. Lisitsyn |
| DISORDERS AND ADAPTATIONS: | Adapted to Violence, Adapted to Helplessness |
| SKILLS: | Alertness 50%, Craft (Electronics) 80%, First Aid 30%, Medicine 50%, Occult 85%, Physics (Science) 80%, Mathematics (Science) 80%, SIGINT 70%, Search 60%, Stealth 70%, Survival 70%, Unnatural 45%. |
| ARMOR: | - |
| ATTACKS: | Unarmed 50%, damage 1D4 - 1. |
| RITUALS: |
The Voice Beneath the Skin
The Blood Surge||
The Prayer to the Dark Man
A ritual that summons the avatar of Nyarlathotep - the Black Man. It was once performed in the basements of the Orion research institute.The full procedure of the rite is described in the Handler’s Book.
The Voice Beneath the Skin
The priest begins to hum - a low, monotonous drone, felt more in the body than heard by the ear. Those caught in the vibration begin to slow down: reflexes dull, muscles lag, hands tremble.
All targets within 10 meters must make an opposed POW roll against the caster.
- On a failed roll, they suffer a -20% penalty to all skill checks, lose 1D8 points of DEX for 1D4 turns, and have a 20% chance of losing one turn entirely.
- Those who personally experience the effect lose 1/1D6 SAN from the Unnatural.
- Witnesses lose 0/1D4 SAN from the Unnatural.
The Blood Surge
The caster briefly seizes control of the victim’s heart and blood vessels, triggering spasms, surges, and micro-tears. Blood boils under the skin; for a moment the flesh flushes crimson, then fades to a pale, ashen hue.
The target must be within line of sight of the caster and make an opposed POW roll against them.
- On a failed roll, the target loses 1D8 HP.
- Those who experience the ritual firsthand lose 1/1D8 SAN from the Unnatural.
- Witnesses lose 1/1D6 SAN from the Unnatural.
Credits
NOMOS was written by The Twelfth for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13o96NCt144gGPwjiyj7ursNGs-O59eVeXN-ElUJIBGU/edit