@Leidenschaft Alright, I will start working on my shit immediately. Question about SERE though, does this include things like general athletic fitness for running long distances and such or is just "how to be eat shit on the floor like bear grylls"? Because I imagine as a journalist looking for crazy shit he'd have to hide from security agencies quite often or maybe have long runs in forests away from said agencies, which would also hopefully help me evade Delta Green from busting my ass lol
Yes, it is assumed that members of the team are at least mildly athletic. SERE is the skill that gives your character the ability to live off the calories of drinking their own piss like Bear Grylls for a week.
I am making my sheet as we speak. I am making two though as I had inspiration for another. I'm going with my Lawyer though (working for the CIA as they deal with international stuff, opens more doors), but I had an idea for an army sniper. Stealthy, cool, calm. I'll play with both and whichever one I like best I'll submit for approval. Leaning towards the lawyer as I like what I think she can bring to the team the best.
Steve Foster can't walk ten feet without stubbing his toe on a nest of snipers. I too like the idea of this super-lawyer.
Edit:to those from the IntChk, please take note that “operational clothing” section may be redacted wholly or filled out in any way that makes sense for your character. I’m not going to force the librarian to breach and clear a room with the ex-Special Forces guy.
Delta Green: Whispers in the Darkness, Occult Action and Intrigue
Choose federal law enforcement. Choose the military. Choose NASA or the CDC. Choose lying to your superiors. Choose to ruin your career. Choose no friends. Choose divorce. Choose life through the bottom of a bottle. Choose destroying evidence and executing innocent people because they know too fucking much. Choose black fatigues and matching gas masks. Choose an MP5 stolen from the CIA loaded with glasers, with a wide range of fucking attachments. Choose blazing away at mind numbing, sanity crushing things from beyond the stars, wondering whether you'd be better off stuffing the barrel in your own mouth. Choose The King In Yellow and waking up wondering who you are. Choose a 9mm retirement plan. Choose going out with a bang at the end of it all, PGP encrypting your last message down a securely laid cable as an NRO Delta wetworks squad busts through your door. Choose one last Night at the Opera. Choose Delta Green. — An Agent Long Gone
You are sat in a room filled with peculiar characters you've met only an hour ago, or maybe you remember some faces, or know some names by reputation in the circles you're commonly found in. Scientists, scholars, as well as types you'd find in warzones or unmarked police cars, driving or riding in the back. Either way, it isn't every day you get a flight paid for by... well, you're not really sure. All is quiet in the small house here in Blackriver, West Virginia, that will be your home for the foreseeable future- even though the future could hold anything at this point. Finally, a man emerges from the door to the garage and smiles in a way that is too genuine to be trustworthy. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen, let's begin shall we?"
==Days Earlier==
You sit on the edge of your bed, the news playing in the background with a litany of what's wrong in the world- murders, kidnappings, pesticides, the war on terror, etc. You clutch a phone in your hand- not yours, a pre-paid thing of the past- waiting. Thinking and waiting.
The meeting with the higher-ups was odd. Told you to be at the meeting place- it could've been a coffee shop, a dive bar, a museum, a library, anywhere- but only if you got the go-ahead from the only number programmed on the phone. There was a man you'd never met before there, just sitting at the table, but eating and lounging as if no one else could see him. He wasn't even dressed like the others. The higher-ups asked you the routine questions- things about drug use in the past, past employment, what you were responsible for now in your current career. It was almost like a damned review, but nothing of that type was scheduled this month. After you give your answers, the man perks up and asks, "How do you feel about flying?"
What kind of question is that? You give your answer and he smiles and nods, then starts the conversation.
Have you ever been outside the US? Ever been in trouble with the law? Do you travel often? Do you have any friends or family overseas? You answer his questions, albeit a little stilted and awkwardly. You're not sure what the hell is with this guy.
"There's an opportunity for you. This is probably something you'd do well to take up. A door has opened for you, but only if you want it." The man says, suddenly the air in the room is even more serious than it was before the man first spoke.
"We do urge you to choose wisely."
A phone is slid across the table to you. A pre-paid thing of the past. "Wait for the text tonight."
The very same phone in your hands now buzzes. Flipping it open reveals the automated message '1 new txt msg.' Opening up the text reveals a peculiar message, You are cordially invited to a night at the opera. Meet me at, and you do. The meeting goes well, discussing you, your past, your home life, your social media presence. Then it delves into your knowledge of the recent news of the Blackriver Killer. Never heard of him. The man nods, "I wouldn’t think so. Let me tell you what this is about..."
==Present==
The day's briefing is held in the living room by the same lax-dressed man that you talked to those few days back, as well as an unnamed stranger. The familiar man hands out a sheet of paper to be passed around the room. A list of names, before he expands upon them. These people are all victims of the Blackriver Killer. A description of the wounds found on the victims, pictures of the victims from social media, etc..
"At 2200 hours, Officer Morales was kidnapped when he responded to the scene of the Blackriver Killer’s murder that night, which took the lives of Daniel and Vicki Mulligan. Officially, you are all advisers and consultants for the Department of Justice. The FBI has no presence here and the CDC hasn’t heard a word back from their team since they touched down and made their way to White Tree. It is of utmost importance that we find Morales, the Mulligans' killer, and these other missing individuals. The first lead I want you to visit is Maryanne Roy, a state police detective. Other than that, get a feel for this place, have a look around some places. Welcome to the team. My name is Steve Foster."
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All Forum-wide Rules Apply
The GM's word is law
This RP was inspired by the Delta Green tabletop game, The Cthulu Wars by Kenneth Hite and Kennon Bauman, True Detective S1 and Denis Villeneuve's Sicario
As the title says, this RP is one about action and intrigue with an occult bent. Heavily influenced by media such as the Delta Green tabletop game and the Cthulu Wars book, from which came the premise of this RP, and mainly season one of True Detective and Denis Villeneuve's Sicario film, the atmosphere of which I hope to weave into this game. Your characters can come from any number of organizations and institutions both government and civilian. Although this is an action game, I don't want players to think they have to necessarily be Hank Stonebulge, war veteran and supercop with ten machineguns and gets his calories from red meat and cigarettes.
That is to say, you can be a scientist, a scholar, a private eye, a federal agent, or a career criminal with a history of working for the law to cut a deal. Steve Foster is not beholden to tradition for recruiting teams and neither am I. This is mainly to not alienate people who are interested but don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of federal agencies or the like. I do encourage players to get creative with their characters, as long as they make sense, of course. An analyst probably won't be the greatest at making 400 meter shots with a rifle.
Like said above, I do hope to capture the atmosphere of Sicario and True Detective. The RP will mainly be about the investigation of the case the team has been brought on for, as well as how they bond with their teammates, cope with the events of the RP that might challenge their ideals, and grow along the time spent working this case and just what it uncovers about the true workings of the world around them. As such, don't expect shooting first and asking questions later to get you far. You may be working for a shadowy 'Man in Black' but that doesn't give you legal immunity. Player characters will have to navigate this new world of intrigue and horror smartly, and may be called upon to do morally repugnant things in the name of not only national security, but the preservation of humanity as they know it. Join me on this romp from the heartbroken hills of West Virginia to the rain-slick, somber city of Seattle, and all the way down to Juarez, Mexico, and beyond.
Over the course of the RP, questions may arise. Who is Steve Foster? Why are the Mulligans so important? What connections do the Argentinian Ratlines of WWII have with Sergeant Gregory Morales? Why is such a small case being treated with such secrecy and ambiguity? How far does this whole thing go? Who can I really trust?
And remember...
“Deception is a right. Truth is a privilege. Innocence is a luxury. The war is never over.”
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Name: And any aliases, nicknames or code names, if applicable
Age:
Gender: Take this into account when choosing an Agency/Organization. There isn't exactly a lot of females in the Army Rangers or other such organizations.
Appearance: Height, build, facial structure. Voice and mannerisms, even. A picture may be attached, but oh, so help me if it's anime.
Agency/Organization: Rank, if necessary. We do need a balanced team and it wouldn't make sense for a group comprised entirely of tier-one special missions unit guys to be sleuthing.
Education: Were you a straight-edge, motivated college-boy riding a scholarship through West Point straight into a Lieutenant rank or did you learn everything you know during your time in the military/law enforcement/criminal life?
Background: This is where you flex how good your writing and research into your character goes. Are they a scientist or scholar? A career criminal? A federal agent? A state detective? You are the cowboy, the idealist, the unfettered, grizzled veteran with one last op in him, or the person not knowing what he's getting himself into. You are motivated and believe in what you're doing, half the reason you were picked.
The other half is that you've brushed shoulders with the unknown in some way but have yet to go mad; come across some weird stuff in the Afghan mountains, seized some weird artifacts on a raid, busted a small-time religious cult while undercover. Cognitive dissonance worked wonders, it seems.
Personality: Try to get detailed with this. You'll want to know how they'll react if they ever come across a drug-fueled sacrificial blood orgy to Nyarlathotep.
Likes:
Dislikes:
Fears: I'm not talking about how your character's phobia of spiders in the shower, I'm talking about what keeps them up at night and makes them insecure. What drives them to do what they do to spite it so that it never becomes a dreaded reality?
Bonds & Opinions: Opinions of team members both good and bad. "Bonds" are those characters listed that your character has taken a very strong kinship with through shared hardship such as handling combat together, them saving your character, your character saving theirs, etc.
Weaknesses: At least one nonphysical and physical weakness.
Off-Duty Clothing/Equipment: Because you're not going to be walking around in door-kicking gear all day, every day on a clandestine op. Clothing: Weapons: Tools/Equipment:
Operational Clothing/Equipment: Nothing that would remove all doubt that you are part of the US military/are American. NATO weaponry is fine, but not required. Clothing: Weapons: Tools/Equipment:
Combat Marksmanship, long guns Marksmanship, handguns Marksmanship, sniper Demolitions/EOD – The ability to create makeshift explosives, use high-power explosives, and defuse them. Hand-to-Hand – Covers the use of one's own body as a weapon, as well as improvised weapons, knives, machetes and the like. Tactical Driving – Pit maneuvers, etc.
Tradecraft Subterfuge - The art of stealth and disguising yourself, an item, and concealment of items on your person. Awareness – Listening, spotting hidden things. Interrogation – You are well-versed in being both the good cop and the bad cop, as well as knowing the different and nuanced techniques of breaking a prisoner's will. Persuade – You are versed in flipping people to your side using anything from their vices to their ideals, as well as convincing people why they should or should not do something. Crafting – The ability to make rudimentary tools and weapons. SERE – Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Breaking-and-Entering - The knowledge of picking locks and other various manners of getting into places you should not be. Lockpicking, climbing, etc.
Sciences & Studies First Aid – Treating light wounds, broken bones Surgery – Self-explanatory Criminology Anthropology Archaeology Computer Science Military Science History Forensics Law Psychology Engine Mechanics
Foreign Language – Just list any other languages your character is fluent or knowledgeable in. Limit of 3. 1 fluent, 1 somewhat knowledgeable, 1 base level.
Dice Rules A d20 for each action pertaining to combat, investigation, interrogation, persuasion, and utilizing a contact to navigate through bureaucracy, red tape, and the law. Below is how the rolls can be interpreted. The rules below use terms pertaining mainly to combat, but can easily be interpreted to degrees of success in other situations.
*In combat engagements where your character is taken off guard, the modifier of your awareness skill is rolled on 1d20+[modifier]-5. 6-9 keeps your character from being overpowered and only lightly wounded, 10-20 lets your character successfully repel and counter with the weapon they are using.
*Just as well, in situations where your character gets the drop on a character, as in breaching and clearing a room, you get an automatic +5 on your initial combat roll against your first two targets. Successful stealth attacks get the same modifier, but only against the first target if attacking at hand-to-hand range, regardless if using a knife or a gun.
1-5 is a failure, your character will be injured and brought down, where a second roll of the dice will determine if the enemy will continue to focus on this character to finish the job or take on another target (less than 5, continue the attack, 5 and up, move on unless there’s no other characters to fight). Depending on the circumstances, GM will decide if the situation will be fatal. Close characters may elect to intervene, where if a player says they wish to intercept, will have to do another combat roll to see if they both make it to the character in time and receive injury in the process.
1-5 rolls for awareness means that you fail to notice the important detail. Interrogation yields no results, as the man either faints from pain, withstands it, or refuses to cooperate, etc. Persuasion rolls of this low a caliber are obviously failed, the NPC goes on with his business, you are barred from going past the door/gate/etc. Rolls for calling in favors that score this low obviously have the request fall through for reasons of legality or bureaucracy, or another suitable reason, given the contact. You may make a saving roll with a d10, with the resultant number being added to your initial score, but only if it was a roll of 3 or higher. Rolls in stealth that fall within this range are considered a failure. Your character is spotted.
6-9 is a success, but with minor injury. Your character receives a minor wound that will have to be treated and will hinder their ability to fight somewhat, but it won’t take them out of the fight. Each subsequent roll with an injury will have a -1 penalty on the roll, and each injury added increases the penalty.
Awareness rolls mean that you have the slightest inkling that you're being followed but fail to spot specific tails, do not catch as many clues as you would've at higher rolls or fail to recognize the importance of a piece of evidence. You may make a saving roll with a d10, with that roll being added to your initial score, but only if it was 7 or higher.
Interrogation isn't as successful as you'd like, the characters answers aren't clear or other complications come up. You may opt to roll again in interrogation up to two times at a penalty of -2 each roll. The contact is able to grant you the favor, but the results aren't as clean or as timely as they could've been. Persuade rolls in this area must be rolled for again at a penalty of -5.
Rolls in stealth that fall into this range are moderately successful. Your character manages to give his pursuers the slip, but they are made aware of his presence, not his location.
10-20 is a success where the best possible outcome for that engagement occurs. You are a good detective, you spot one tail on a phone at your 3 o'clock and another in a car at your 12 o'clock. Interrogation yields optimal results, you manage to persuade the person to your side/from doing something/to let you pass/etc. The favor you called in gets pushed along the proper channels and you get what you wanted. Stealth rolls are a resounding success.
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::CLEARANCE REQUIRED - DELTA GREEN:: ::MAY ONLY BE VIEWED BY CLEARED PERSONNEL:: ::PERSONNEL ASSIGNED UNDER FOSTER, STEVE::
::TEAM ROSTER:: ::CASE OFFICER:: FOSTER, STEVE | M | CIA DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS, OPERATIONS OFFICER
::TEAM LEADER:: HUGHES, FOSSTEN | M | CIA DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS, SPECIAL ACTIVITIES DIVISION, PARAMILITARY OPERATIONS OFFICER
::ASSETS:: GUNN, PIETER | M | CIA GLOBAL RESPONSE STAFF STILLMAN, WILLIAM | M | CIA DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS, SPECIAL ACTIVITIES DIVISION, CONTRACTOR HAVEL, LANCE | M | DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, ADVISER DUBOIS, CLARA/SMITH, JANE | F | CIVILIAN ASSET QUINT, CEDRIC | M | CIVILIAN ASSET CALAPSIS, JUDITH | F | CIVILIAN ASSET, CLASSIFICATION: FRIENDLY -- | -- | -- -- | -- | --
Alrighty gang! I got my start of our little writing exercise/ unofficial first post done which will be something of a collab/ meet an greet with the characters while we GMs work on the opening post for later on. I wrote a lot of stuff to kinda set the mood and establish the scene, so feel free just to pluck as much as you want and get some replies in while we get a feeling for our characters and how they're going to get along when they first head down into the ruin.
This also kinda works as one of those opinion game exercises, so two birds with one stone. ;D
@FantasyChicas long as you can get more creative than I can. I probably can’t think of many cases involving things the gov’t doesn’t want the public knowing about making it to court. She could’ve been brought into a legal council for a shady gov’t program like BOX TOP, feel free to look that spooky RL shit up.
Another concern of mine about a lawyer being brought on is the fact that the activities DG usually gets into in the name of preventing the inevitable can be pretty morally and legally corrupt.
This goes out to anyone drafting up a character concept, feel free to PM me once the OOC drops to bounce ideas off of. I want people to take their ideas as far as they can get, but they have to make sense within the context of the RP and the secrecy and sensitivity of the mission.
@TenslashsixCIA Analyst with tangential ties to the occult/mythos is very plausible as someone Foster would consider.
@FantasyChicthis character archetype and field/occupation is pretty feasible. She’d have to specialize in clients that would require her to have some sort of gov’t security clearance though. She could’ve had someone that ‘knew too much’, or something of that sort and gone digging too deep for her own good into his past when he “goes missing” aka tied up as a loose end as someone would be by Delta Green agents or other gov’t/foreign entities. Very light exposure to the occult/mythos/ET is one of the criteria characters would have to meet for Foster to try bringing them into the DG fold.
