Operation S.H.i.F.T.

(Squonk Hunt in Forested Terrain)

Background

CheeseSquatch is an amateur Bigfoot hunting group that posts their expeditions to YouTube. It consists of four members - Charlie Spint, the host; Jenna Taylor, the cryptobiologist; Beck McCleary, the tech expert; and finally James Bishop, the camera operator and undercover Delta Green agent. CheeseSquatch has found middling success, with 16,000 subscribers. Their work is, of course, typically inconclusive. Bishop has been treating it like a pet project, making sure they never get too close to any real cryptids.

Bishop checks in with a Handler now and then, keeping them apprised of CheeseSquatch’s findings. Usually there’s nothing, but this time, Bishop left a message saying CheeseSquatch had found residue that could lead to a huge discovery, and he’d report back when they were finished. He never did.

CheeseSquatch was last exploring Terry’s Woods, an old-growth hemlock forest in central Pennsylvania. Of course, bigfoots are native to the Pacific northwest, so they won’t find any here. What they will find is the Squonk. A squonk is a sad creature, shaped like a pig with mounds of extra skin, webbed left feet, and bulging eyes. Native to hemlock forests, they scourged logging camps with their acidic tears and pungent, nausea-inducing scent. One such squonk has made a den in an abandoned logging camp in Terry’s Woods, and has now become the doom of CheeseSquatch.

Locations of Interest

Terry’s Woods Visitor Center

Terry's Woods is a new addition to the Old-Growth Forest Network, and has a visitor’s center where people can rent out camping equipment and learn about the natural wildlife and history of the forest. There is a walk-through exhibit which showcases flora and fauna, including: what is dangerous to eat; examples of trilobites and dinosaur tracks from the area; and local legends, including examples of bigfoot and the squonk. This would be the first place players could hear about the squonk.

The visitor center includes a small shop to rent out camping equipment. Three tents were rented out a few days ago, and have not yet been returned. There is security footage and receipts showing McCleary renting them. There is also security camera coverage of the parking lot and immediate rear of the building.

The parking lot is empty when the agents arrive, save for two cars: a beat up sedan that belongs to the attendant at the front desk, and a mud-covered van with tinted windows that belonged to CheeseSquatch. The van is locked, with a two door cab and barn doors in the back. The mud can be wiped away to reveal “CheeseSquatch” on the side. If the lock is picked, the back of the car is a mess. There are notes all over, and a map of Terry’s Woods up on the wall, with a pin stuck in one of the campsites. There are empty brackets and shelves, missing its usual equipment. In the front seat, a pair of brown fuzzy dice hang from the mirror, and an unloaded light pistol is in the glovebox.

Camp Site

There are three tents set up at this campsite, a doused fire pit in the middle. It was clearly left in a hurry, and investigations show signs of movement towards and up the river.

• One tent was shared by Spint and Taylor, and the inside has two bedrolls and duffel bags of clothing. Taylor’s bag also has a notebook in it, stuffed with notes about cryptid biology and hazy photos (Successful Unnatural or Occult - these notes are amateur at best, and this group was not onto anything major).
• Another tent is full of tripods, rain sticks, trail cams, and other Bigfoot hunting equipment. McCleary stayed here, and investigating the footage in this tent reveals nothing unnatural on any camera.
• The final tent belonged to Bishop, and has his duffel bag and laptop. The duffel bag contains ammo matching the gun found in the glovebox of the van. The laptop has a few recordings on it from their time here, none of which showcase anything unnatural.

Nearby to the campsite is a river that runs through Terry’s Woods. This is noted on the maps, and agents may go there while trying to find the missing campers. Floating in the river, with her backpack snagged on an exposed root, is Taylor’s facedown body (0/1 San). There are deep scratch marks around her nose (Successful Forensics - these scratches match her own nails). Agents with Medicine or Forensics can discern the cause of death as drowning, maybe after she got caught on the root.

Logging Site

The old Riesling Logging Co. site is up the river from the camp site. This was shut down decades ago, long before Terry’s Woods was a tourist attraction. It is now CheeseSquatch’s tomb. The doors are easy to pull open, the main entrance having recently been opened by CheeseSquatch. There is a second floor overlook, with a staircase leading to it outside, but most of the stairs have been rotted through (Agents with high Athletics may be able to climb up still). One wall of the building is open to the river bank. Two bodies are visible in the main area: Bishop is lying dead against the wall, a camera in his hands and a grimace on his face (see Resolution for the video description). Spint is dead on an old, rusted saw blade, after tripping in his escape and impaling himself (0/1 San for each).

The Squonk has made itself a nest into the ground in the back of the room, creating a strangely smooth hole as a result of its acidic tears. There are small singe marks on the wooden floor from where its tears have left burns, and small drops of what looks like quicksilver can be seen near the hole. The Squonk is inside, and the sound of crying (mixed with pig-like snorting) can be heard from within. The other assaulted sense is smell - besides the dead bodies, the Squonk smells horrible, and is easily noticeable from outside of the building.

If the agents make too much noise, or push too far into the creaky old logging site, the Squonk will notice. Its primary goal is to find a group of people to play with, though its stench and acidic tears make this difficult.

Green Box

If you’d like to add a Green Box, one can easily be inserted somewhere in Terry’s Woods or nearby. The real woods this location is based off of is not far from Three Mile Island, which could be an easy connection for leftover materials or prior missions in the area.

Resolution

The Video: The camera in Bishop’s hands captured the final moments of CheeseSquatch. It starts in the campsite, Spint explaining that they heard something rustling in the woods and decided to chase it. As they approach the logging site, faint crying can be heard, and the group starts plugging their nose. Taylor mentions that it might be a newborn Squatch. When they enter the site, they comment on the awful smell and the strange hole at the bottom of the wall. As they quietly approach, the gleam of moonlight off its dark eyes becomes visible. As it emerges, the group screams and scatters - Bishop runs before grunting and falling against the wall, pointing the camera towards the rest of the room. Spint trips over a cable, falling hard onto the sawblade. Taylor screams about the smell, clawing at her own face as she runs, stumbling over the side and into the river. McCleary has frozen in place, falling to his knees, and sits in stunned silence as the Squonk walks up to him, now crying profusely. He sinks further to the ground, screaming in pain as the creature nuzzles against him, its tears eventually dissolving his body. When his screams die out, the Agents realize that they can no longer hear Bishop’s labored breathing, either. The Squonk sniffs the camera inquisitively, then returns to its den. The rest of the tape yields nothing.

San Checks: 0/1 for each death, 1/1d4 watching McCleary be dissolved.

The Bodies: The Agents will need to find a way to dispose of the three remaining bodies from the ill-fated members of CheeseSquatch. Taylor’s body, recovered from the river, shows clear signs of something scratching her face, either herself or someone/something else. If the body is reported, this will need to be explained. Spint’s impalement on the sawblade may be explanation enough, but would prompt an investigation of the Riesling Logging Site and discovery of the Squonk’s nest. Bishop’s heart gave out due to the unnatural stress from the scene in front of him, and may be the easiest to cover up from natural causes.

The Squonk: If the Agents killed the creature by conventional means, they’ll need to deal with its body. If they manage to make the Squonk see its reflection for long enough, it will cry itself to death, dissolving its own body.

Stat Blocks

Visitor Center Employee

STR 10 | CON 10 | DEX 10 | INT 12 | POW 10 | CHA 10

HP 10 | WP 10

SKILLS: First Aid 40%, Navigate 40%, Survival 40%

Forest Ranger

STR 12 | CON 12 | DEX 12 | INT 10 | POW 10 | CHA 8

HP 12 | WP 10

SKILLS: Alertness 50%, Firearms 50%, HUMINT 50%, Navigate 50%, Survival 50%, Unarmed Combat 50%

ATTACKS: Light Pistol 50%, 1d8 or Unarmed 50%, 1d4-1

The Squonk

STR 18 | CON 14 | DEX 10 | INT 6 | POW 10 | CHA 6

HP 16 | WP 10

ARMOR: 1 point of armor for the thick, layered, flabby skin that loosely fits around its frame.

SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Athletics 50%, Dodge 40%, Swim 30% (if the Squonk fails 3 Swim checks in a row, it will get stuck swimming in a circle on account of its webbed left feet)

ATTACKS: Ram 55%, damage 1d4

Acid Tears 60%, damage 1d4 (see ACIDIC TEARS continued damage), Armor Piercing 1

HORRID STENCH: The Squonk’s legendary stench was the scourge of loggers. It starts out smelling like decaying vegetation, then skunk, progressing until the scent of rot and decay subsumes the sniffer. Being within 30 feet of the Squonk without any kind of breathing assistance requires a CON check, with a failure resulting in wrenching, dry heaving, and eventually a painful burning sensation in the nostrils.

ACIDIC TEARS: The Squonk’s tears are highly acidic. They can easily burn through most clothes, and enough can burrow through wood, dirt and stone. Touching the tears will hurt, but will only eat through skin on prolonged exposure. An exposedAgent will take damage per the Fire rules in the Agent’s Handbook, starting at 1/turn.

EISOPTROPHOBIA: The Squonk finds its own appearance despicable. It will quickly try to turn away from reflections or reflective surfaces. If it is forced to see itself, it makes a POW check (+/-20 depending on the clarity of the reflection) for each round it sees itself. On a fail, it loses 1d4 WP. If the Squonk hits 0 WP in this way, it cries uncontrollably until it dissolves its own body.

SAN: 1/1d6 when encountered, 1d4 recovered when killed

Credits

Operation S.H.i.F.T. was written by QuietShouter for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x1S_-FM7i2YMO3MbU28ZonK1CoT7g7mV42emp7KfKZk/edit