With Your Name On It

You don’t know when it happened. After you read the tome? Was it when you crossed that unnerving nightclub owner? Maybe it was when you smashed the jar and set fire to its contents… I guess it doesn’t matter now. You got someone’s attention, and now they’ve got yours.

The Hook

The Agents are in the midst of an investigation, prepping, cleaning, and reloading their firearms. One Agent (the Shooter) discovers that one of the bullets in their magazine has another Agent’s first name scratched on the casing (this other Agent is the Target). The Shooter doesn’t have any idea how this bullet was marked or made its way into their weapon’s magazine.

Examining the Named Bullet

The crude, angular markings (similar to Comic Runes Font) are nevertheless easily visible and legible. They appear to have been scratched on the casing by some sharp implement (needle? knife point? claw tip?), but no residue is present to identify the tool. The shallow scratches are filled with some sort of dark ink or resin, making the letters easier to read. Regardless of the method or solvent used, the name cannot be polished, obscured, or cleaned from the Named Bullet without destroying it.

The Named Bullet is otherwise normal in all respects - it may be dismantled, destroyed, or discarded as one would any mundane piece of ammunition.

Destroying or discarding the Named Bullet causes it to reappear in the original weapon’s magazine/ cylinder. It cannot be conventionally destroyed.

How to Fire the Named Bullet

The Named Bullet may be fired in three ways:

1. Pulling the weapon’s trigger after firing all of the other rounds in the weapon’s magazine/ cylinder, or
2. Purposely loading the Named Bullet into the weapon’s firing chamber and pulling the trigger, or
3. By completely unloading the weapon and replacing the empty magazine/ cylinder, then pulling the trigger. (Since the Named Bullet always appears as the last bullet in the magazine, it isn’t truly “empty” - loading an empty magazine and then ejecting it will reveal that the Named Bullet is present in the magazine, at the cost of 1/1d4 SAN from the unnatural).

“Dry firing” the weapon without a magazine or with the cylinder open has no effect, though it may damage the firearm, depending on the firing mechanism.

Effects of Firing the Named Bullet

The Named Bullet produces devastating effects when fired. Regardless of where the weapon is pointed, the distance to the target, or any intervening armor or barriers, the Named Bullet strikes the Target and inflicts a critical hit (double damage of the amount and type appropriate for the weapon it was fired from). If the Named Bullet is fired in a way that would make it conventionally impossible to hit the Target (e.g. the Shooter and the Target are in different cities), both the Shooter and the Target lose 1/1d4 SAN from the unnatural when they discover what has happened, in addition to normal SAN loss for inflicting or suffering violence or death.

Once the Named Bullet has been fired, the Shooter may eject the spent casing from their weapon. The Named Bullet no longer appears in that weapon.

Whether the Target survives being struck by the Named Bullet or not, a new Named Bullet appears in the Target’s weapon the next time it is cleaned/ unloaded. The new Named Bullet has a different Agent’s name inscribed on it, and functions as described above (i.e. the old Target has become the Shooter, and a new Target is designated). If the Target does not own a firearm, a new firearm of the Handler’s choosing appears amongst the Target’s possessions. This new firearm is loaded with a Named Bullet.

As long as it continues to be fired, the Named Bullet will chain from Shooter to Target indefinitely, each time appearing with a new Target’s name inscribed on it. After making its way through all of the Player Characters, it will begin appearing with the names of Bonds or other important NPCs.

Fun with the Named Bullet

• The Named Bullet cannot be fired before it is discovered. Part of the curse of the Named Bullet is knowing whose name is on it before deciding whether to fire it.
• The Named Bullet should not be a “gotcha” or a surprise - give Agents ample opportunity to discover that it continues to return to the weapon, even if discarded, disassembled, or otherwise removed. This heightens the threat and the tension of the Bullet and forces Agents to choose whether to fire it.
• The Named Bullet only ever displays the first name of the Target. This may create some ambiguity if the Target has a common first name.
• The Handler should decide if the Named Bullet is a curse on a specific weapon, or a curse on the Shooter (i.e. it appears in the Shooter’s new weapon if they discard their affected one).

Conclusion

The only way to “beat” the Named Bullet is to not fire it. There are two common approaches:

1. Never fire the affected weapon. When doing this, it is advisable to permanently disable the weapon, lest someone else accidentally pick it up and fire it.
2. Carefully count the number of rounds fired and regularly reload before emptying the magazine. If a Shooter takes this approach, the Handler should require a POW x5 check to determine whether the Shooter retains their composure in the midst of combat well enough to keep track of the shots fired. Of course, a Shooter who goes temporarily insane won’t be able to count rounds fired…

Credits

This was an entry to the 2021 shotgun scenario contest. Written by belmer11

The scenario can be seen in its original google docs form here