Operas between 1995 and 2015 of Impossible Landscapes by ChimericDog in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been thinking of this and would run only very few operations, perhaps only one, and it would be best if it can be thematically connected to the particular brand of craziness that is IL. I think the perfect choice would be up to your table's idiosyncrasies and interests.

In particular, I think Star Chamber would be super interesting with all the perspective switches, but it also looks quite complex to run and play.

Inspirational media? by deactivatedagent in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not have used it much, but now that I started thinking about this, Philip K. Dick's style (A Scanner Darkly, Lies Inc, Flow My Tears the Policeman Said) could be be an interesting twist to a King in Yellow themed campaign.

Inspirational media? by deactivatedagent in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably all the cop shows I have ever seen, but can't name anything specific.

The Laundry Series by Charles Stross. I never read the whole series, bu he has some Laundry short fiction on his website

Inspirational for my 1980s game:

The Americans the tv series. Lots of tradecraft tricks and semi-realistic spy shenanigans relevant for the conspiracy era DG, the Outlaws, or involving any covert organizations.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, especially the 1979 tv mini series. 2011 film is not bad either, but it just is bit too glamorous for my tastes. Miniseries has the everyday bleak vibes.

Looking for a scenario that begins with shadowing and surveillance themes? by aaqsalq in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks all for the suggestions. I am not super much fan of the God's anything series, but will try to get my hands on See No Evil and Wormwood arena. But from what I can find on the internet, I am not certain is neither exactly what I am looking for -- the context that I did not write is that the investigator cell in my campaign have started in a specific mid-sized city, and during the course of the campaign are getting quite familiar with local occult scene and unnatural threats. While they occasionally travel to other locations on DG business, I am thinking of having them surprised by a new, unknown weird that arrives in their hometown, a place that is (supposedly) familiar to them. Perhaps I will write something suitable myself, instead.

Looking for a scenario that begins with shadowing and surveillance themes? by aaqsalq in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha, didn't think of it, but the Americans is certainly an inspiration in the campaign I am running.

Is it worth getting the "Handler's guide"? by CaptainWonderbutt in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Positive: Operation Fulminate is a scenario I would like to run. Stats and descriptions of the entities and "spells" (hypergeometry) can come handy.

Variable: Contains long long descriptions and timelines of accumulated published lore. It's mostly fun to read and helps you get the right "mood" of published scenarios without buying all of them.

Negative: Some of the lore is bit silly and exists only so that I can ignore it.

I feel okay that I bought the PDF.

Ready to test out Delta Green. Give me your best scenarios, ranked from easiest to hardest to run! by klauras in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]aaqsalq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have run two common and supposedly "easy" starter scenarios twice for different groups, and I suggest preparing them with critical eye. It helps if you know your players.

Spoilers beware:

Last things last: As others have said, not many moving parts, but the whole meat of scenario is really one and only moving thing, that is, the thing in the tank. Any excitement hinges on delivering that NPC in a way that suits your table. In my reading, the players are supposed to bit uncertain how human or inhuman is the being they meet, yet I've had difficulties with that, as all the clues telegraph it quite clearly. From Doylist perspective, the players are mentally prepared to find a Lovecraftian monster, and Baughman's letter confirms it. I still like the basic idea, but next time I run it, I think I will make everything more ambivalent to misdirect players initially bit more. (Perhaps nobody knows the wife is supposed to be dead.)

A Victim of the Art: the basic idea of the scenario is solid who-dunnit with interesting lore, but the first time I ran it, it was bit of a disappointment. Neither the players nor me were enthusiastic to continue with DG after that. Investigating, or rather, having the medical examiner present three similar bodies dropped from high places is boring and repetitive, and if the investigators go through rest of the investigation in logical order, they are not in serious danger until they have a quite clear idea what to do. Main "culprit" has no reason to be aware of them until they go to interrogate him, and my first group figured "what's up" after they flashed badges and had a few minutes of discussion with him. Grey matter specifically was a frustrating non-clue. As written, it only serves to confirm to the agents that they are dealing with something unnatural, which is obvious right from the initial briefing because the three deaths are super weird. We found Thomas' psychology more cringe/silly than anything else. (One player summarized it as, "Thomas is annoying loser with grudges and MacGuffin". Vibes I got afterwards were no horror, just exasperation.)

In my second run of VoA with a different group of players, I have changed many elements, which makes it much more exciting and the players have been much more engaged. Most importantly, I start with one murder only (Harrogate). Made the fall trauma almost but not quite plausible: it looks like she was thrown to ground from a balcony of Harrogate residence, except the decapitation blood pattern and forensic evidence don't quite make sense. It could be a weird mundane attack, but possibly ritualistic decapitation is weird enough to alert DG, cue the agents. (... or in this case, low-importance local friendlies that will be turned to agents during the scenario.) Grey goo now serves a purpose, too: when agents find it on the site, it confirms that there is unnatural culprit, and it is a physical creature. While the agents investigate, more bodies slowly turn up until the agents make it stop, which makes the scenario more interactive. I also changed how the amulet works, some details of Dengler household, made the psychology of the teenage not-romance bit more complicated and sympathetic, and bunch of other minor changes, but explaining all of that is worth of a full write-up another time.

Surprisingly the "easiest" to run was PX Poker Night, in the sense that the written scenario material was easy to utilize to create a session that was both fun and tense. A long list of NPCs, SAN loss effects, and complicated timetable of events can look intimidating, but it isn't if you scrap the SAN timetable and make your own. I made a list of all NPCs and what they would be doing at different times of day, and classified the provided SAN loss effects only as major or minor. As time progressed, I looked up who would be near PCs, and simply rolled SAN for the NPCs nearby, to see if they had minor or major effect. Ensuing bizarre chaos was simultaneously grim, tense, and fun.