The Polygraph
Overview
A cell of Outlaws must pass a polygraph examination and interrogation.
Incitement
This scenario is best played after a failed opera, especially one that got attention from federal agencies and the public.
The Agents are summoned to a polygraph center, at the same time. The Agents receive a message from their handler instructing them to meet Agent HOPKINS. If the Agents are currently ‘between’ handlers, HOPKINS reaches out directly. The meeting is to take place at the Yellow Rose, a local strip club. They’re not given a physical description of HOPKINS, but are told only that he’ll find them.
Meeting HOPKINS
The Yellow Rose is a dive. The place is packed, as HOPKINS has chosen to meet during a football game.
One of the Agents is tapped on the shoulder by a young man with blond hair and facial scars. This is HOPKINS. He’s in civilian attire and will want to sit at the bar to talk.
HOPKINS reveals that the Agents’ exams are to be conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). He’ll try to put the Agents at ease.
Hopkins on the OPR:
- “They’re a bunch of stuffed shirts. Lawyers. Started because of Watergate and Tricky Dicky. OPR looks into high-level federal misconduct.”
- “Took a look at who’ll be interviewing you. Low-level. Nobody to worry about.”
Hopkins on polygraphs:
- “It’s all bullshit, a parlor trick. They’ll put on a show and make you think they’re reading your mind, but they’re not.”
- “Ever hear of Aldrich Ames? He worked for the CIA, sold secrets on the side. Passed at least one poly every year for a decade. Said there’s no big secret to polygraphs. Be confident, be friendly. Make the examiner believe you’re not worried about the test, that you don’t care.”
Hopkins on exposure:
- “What happened, happened. You guys made mistakes. Isn’t the first time our organization has been through this kind of thing. It’s not like what we do is easy.”
HOPKINS offers the Agents two tablet pills each, joking that they’re cyanide before revealing that it’s a light sedative in case anyone’s feeling nervous on the day of the exam. He also gives the Agents the number of his current burner phone.
The Polygraph Center
On the day of the exam, the Agents arrive at the address, an office on the upper level of a strip mall located in a plaza off the highway. The setting feels odd to Agents who have undergone polygraphs before.
Lettering on the windows says ‘Designated Verification Services, Inc.’
Inside, the Agents find a modest reception area. The Agents are met by a tall, lean man dressed in a dark suit, just slightly out of style. The man introduces himself as Carl Miller from OPR. He makes small talk with the Agents for a bit, before explaining that they’ll undergo the exam individually. Remember: the Agents, ostensibly, are not supposed to have ever met before.
The Exam
The room is cramped and bare, containing a table, chairs, and a polygraph machine hooked up to a computer. Behind the computer sits a serious-looking woman introduced as ‘Tanya,’ the polygraph examiner.
One by one, the Agents undergo a polygraph. The Agents not undergoing an exam wait in the reception area. Conduct the exams separately for each player.
Tanya explains the procedure of a polygraph examination, that it measures physiological indicators in order to detect deception. There will be baseline questions to establish parameters for truthfulness and questions pertaining to illegal activity. She instructs the examinee to answer only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each question.
As the Handler, you should formulate Tanya’s questions based on your players’ previous scenarios, especially any that were failures or were especially public or damning. Players can attempt to lie during the exam (CHAx5). Having taken HOPKINS’ sedative pills grants a +10% bonus to any lie roll. Keep track of failures. A fumble earns a stern reprimand from Tanya, and a repeat of the question.
Some example question:
“Is your name [Agent name]?”
“Are we in [current US state]?”
“Have you been truthful in all official reports you’ve submitted?”
“Have you ever tampered with or destroyed evidence of a crime or significant incident?”
“Do you act outside of the law as you understand it?”
“Are you or have you ever been a member of a conspiracy or secret society?”
“Have you ever taken orders from someone outside of your official hierarchy?”
“Have you ever witnessed something you cannot explain?”
“Do you trust the people you work with?”
“Have you met the people in the waiting room before?”
“Do you regret any decisions you’ve made in the line of duty?”
“Were you in [location of failed opera] on [general date range of failed opera]?”
“Do you love your [spouse/family bond]?”
“Have you ever met [name of memorable NPC from previous opera] before?”
“Did you murder [name of human adversary]?”
“Do you know who murdered [name of human adversary]?”
“Have you ever met someone named ‘Hopkins?’
“Have you ever read [tome]?”
“Do you know what [hostile faction] is?”
“Have you ever encountered an alien intelligence?”
The final question is, at the Handler’s discretion: “Have you heard the term ‘Delta Green’ before?”
The First Interview
The Agents are given a moment of breathing room before the group ‘interview’ begins. Miller, previously friendly, looks over the results with some consternation. He highlights any failed questions. Tanya sits, observing.
Miller’s goal is to gain information on the Outlaws and the unnatural. He doesn’t care about crimes the Agents may have committed in the past, or regrets they have, but he’ll lean on anything he can to get answers.
Agents are questioned on failed lies. If they all failed the same question, Miller is quick to point this out.
The Agents can attempt to use whatever skills are appropriate to explain Miller’s questioning of their polygraph results, but, per page 168 of the Agents Handbook, interrogation typically involves the Persuade skill. Ignore the rules on that page for Miller’s interrogation, as this one is playing out in real time instead of by the hour, and should not yet be overtly hostile.
For every fumbled explanation roll, the Agent in question loses 1d6 Willpower (WP). Under these special circumstances, an agent with 0 WP takes Sanity damage from helplessness instead of fainting. Agents adapted to helplessness take half damage.
The Break
After enough questioning to put the Agents fully on the defensive, Miller offers them a five minute break. During this time, the Agents are left alone in the reception area.
The Agents get identical text messages from HOPKINS’ burner phone. It states, “Not OPR. They’re FBI.” Two personnel files are forwarded, indicating that ‘Miller’ is actually Anthony Gallo, a veteran FBI counterintelligence agent, and ‘Tanya’ is actually Margaret Olson, a behavioral expert specializing in countering domestic terrorism.
The Second Interview
This phase of interrogation is aggressive. ‘Miller’ doesn’t shy away and gives no breathing room. If the failed rolls indicate that the Agents are lying, he calls them liars. If the failed rolls indicate that the Agents are hiding evidence of the unnatural, he calls them insane and delusional. If the failed rolls indicate that the Agents are hiding a conspiracy, ‘Miller’ focuses in, accusing them of being criminals or terrorists.
This phase, for every failed explanation roll, the Agent in question loses 1d6 Willpower (WP). Under these special circumstances, an agent with 0 WP takes Sanity damage from helplessness instead of fainting. Agents adapted to helplessness take half damage. Mental breaks could lead to the interview breaking down in a dramatic and damning way.
‘Tanya,’ for her part, drops the pretense of being a mere polygraph examiner, and offers a more sympathetic line of questioning, calmly going over the most damning failed exam questions and asking for explanations, trying to catch the Agents' lies or pick apart false narratives.
‘Tanya’ will question blank spots in the Agent’s personal lives. “We talked to your [bond], and they can’t account for where you were on the date in question, before [failed opera].”
‘Tanya’ is experienced enough to know that the Agents aren’t terrorists or mobsters, but she can’t understand why they’re lying. She’ll present circumstantial evidence from previous operas, including papertrails, CCTV footage, accounts from NPCs - anything that places the Agents near where the operas took place.
During the interview, if things escalate, HOPKINS sends one more text. “Pills in toilet tank. Only one of you has to take them.” The pills in question are cyanide.
Aftermath
The aftermath of the scenario should represent how much suspicion the Agents have brought on themselves. A mental break could lead to a fistfight between ‘Miller’ and an Agent, or worse. It could also lead to an Agent spilling their guts figuratively, only for Delta Green to later spill them literally.
If a confession of criminality or unlawfulness is achieved, the Agents could be fired or prosecuted (Agents Handbook page 80). If an Agent took the pills, their guilt is assumed, and the investigation is closed.
Stat Blocks
Agent HOPKINS
STR 10 CON 13 DEX 10 INT 15 POW 12 CHA 12
HP 12 WP 12 SAN 97 BREAKING POINT 45
SKILLS: Alertness 28%, Bureaucracy 50%, Criminology 50%, Firearms 40%, HUMINT 40%, Persuade 73%, SIGINT 40%, Unarmed Combat 47%, Unnatural 2%
Anthony Gallo, AKA Carl Miller
STR 11 CON 12 DEX 10 INT 12 POW 14 CHA 12
HP 12 WP 14 SAN 70 BREAKING POINT 56
SKILLS: Accounting 59%, Athletics 63%, Bureaucracy 60%, Criminology 65%, Firearms 60%, HUMINT 65%, Intimidate 50%, Persuade 48%, Unarmed Combat 60%
ATTACKS: SIG Sauer P228 pistol 60%, damage 1d10
Unarmed 60%, damage 1d4
Margaret Olson, AKA Tanya
STR 9 CON 15 DEX 12 INT 15 POW 13 CHA 11
HP 12 WP 13 SAN 65 BREAKING POINT 52
SKILLS: Bureaucracy 45%, Criminology 65%, Firearms 50%, First Aid 44%, Forensics 63%, HUMINT 65%, Persuade 60%, Unarmed Combat 50%
ATTACKS: HK45 Tactical pistol 50%, damage 1d10
Unarmed 50%, damage 1d4-1
Credits
The Polygraph was written by Agent HOPKINS for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rKB62uue2CjQQug021PCoBelwKmzKupL7GclPVdG3fQ/edit