[DELTA GREEN] - Agent Obtuse's Super-Slick Combat Rules

These are tentative house-rules I need to try out, in hope they speed up combat a bit and put more emphasis on rolling to do things rather than rolling Firearms until someone falls over.

Maybe they'll even work?

(They probably won't.)

[SHORT STORY REVIEW] - Ramsey Campbell's "The Insects from Shaggai"

"The Insects from Shaggai" was written by British horror author Ramsey Campbell c.1961 and published in 1964. A defining entry in his early Lovecraftian ouvre, it can be found in a number of collections, most prominently certain copies of Cold Print (1985). We'll cover the book's other stories (including "Cold Print") some other time, but right now let's talk brain-parasites and witches...

Spoilers beyond the cut.

"Sundered Sky (Left Face)" (M. Klaas, Stockholm, 1946)

[DELTA GREEN] - Pulp Action Feats and Special Training

For my 1940s "Monster Squad" scenarios I've decided to add a little extra flair. Players may pick any two from the following lists to give to their PCs (that is, two feats, two special trainings, or one feat and one special training). 

In most cases, feats offer unique bonuses in combat or special effects outside of it. Special trainings are typically - though not always - tied to a skill or statistic.

Learning a new feat or special training is a Home Scene; doing so reduces one Bond by 1D4.

 CLOSE-COMBAT FEATS

SUCKER-PUNCH: Rename your Unarmed to something more auspicious (e.g. Karate, Commando training, Wrestling savante). On a successful Unarmed attack roll you don't need to roll for damage; instead you may choose how much it inflicts, up to the maximum allowed (e.g. if your Unarmed deals 1D4 damage, a successful roll can inflict 1, 2, 3 or 4 damage). On a Critical success you can inflict up to double that amount.

ARMOR-BUSTER: On a Critical Unarmed or Melee roll you can choose to "tear apart" physical armor, removing the equivalent of your maximum damage (e.g. you critically succeed at Unarmed for 1D4 damage; you choose to rip apart 4-points of the opponent's 5-points of armor, leaving it with only 1-point). Things this feat can be used upon are up to the Handler, but might include: armor provided by cars, deep ones' scales, bulletproof glass, etc. It is unlikely to work on buildings, Huge creatures or vehicles like tanks.

FIGHTING TO LIVE: You are skilled in the art of Melee weapons. After a successful Melee attack roll you don't need to roll for damage; instead you may choose how much it inflicts, up to the maximum allowed (e.g. if your weapon deals 1D6 damage, a successful roll can inflict 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 damage). On a Critical success you can inflict up to double that amount.

KNIFEY-SPOONY: Pick a single melee weapon as your signature weapon. You gain a +20% to your Melee Weapon roll when using it in combat. If you permanently lose this weapon for whatever reason, you must choose a new signature weapon for your next Opera.

JAILHOUSE SHEATH: You can secrete one small knife (1D4, AP3) or sap (1D6) about your person which is unable to found during a visual or pat-down search. This concealment will not withstand X-rays, a metal detector, or full cavity search. It takes one round to ready the weapon for combat.

[BOOK REVIEW] - RITUAL by David Pinner

There’s probably not much to be added to the story of The Wicker Man but let's take a trip back in time, to the original source – a little novella called Ritual, written by stage-actor David Pinner and published in 1967.

The book that birthed The Wicker Man - kind of... 

If you’re not that interested in the history of the thing, feel free to skip to the synopsis section below…

PISCES Campaign - WONDER WALL - Session Three (After-Action Report)

Operation Roster (linked to After-Action Reports):

+ Ronald "Al" Frost - previously AFO with the Met's Diplomatic Protection Service
+ Chloe Thornes - ex-MI6 case officer with overseas experience in Russia
+ George Crackanthorpe - old-hand MI6 secondee
+ Holly Walker - a PISCES shrink and professional skeptic
+ Simon Spencer - millennial bad-boy computer hacker given another chance at life

WONDER WALL: SESSION THREE

"Forget it. This stinks. The whole operation stinks. And I'm gonna find out why..."

Leaving Hatton Garden Police Station, officers Frost, Thornes and a bandaged-handed Spencer pondered what they should do next. The had more than enough clues to go around - the dead shoot-out suspects and its injured survivor (still in ICU), the Kacey woman, the blue stone - but nothing they felt was concrete just yet. Phoning Control, Frost gave a brief and deliberately imprecise run-down on what they'd learned and informed his superiors the team would join up with their colleagues in Team Wenseclas and help with their "rat problem."

At the same time Crackanthorpe and Walker were having their own desires for aid. Drenched by rain, standing in a graveyard full of names, lost out of time, they sneaked out as swiftly as possible. Again they patched their wounds back in their car, Crackanthorpe applying bandages to his blood-soaked belly and switching to a spare shirt. Walker called the other team, requesting they meet up at Brixton Police Station to assist, as Crackanthorpe started the car and headed for an unannounced meeting with Det. Sgt. Styles...

PISCES Campaign - WONDER WALL - Session Two (After-Action Report)

Operation Roster (linked to After-Action Reports):

+ Ronald "Al" Frost - previously AFO with the Met's Diplomatic Protection Service
+ Chloe Thornes - ex-MI6 case officer with overseas experience in Russia
+ George Crackanthorpe - old-hand MI6 secondee
+ Holly Walker - a PISCES shrink and professional skeptic
+ Simon Spencer - millennial bad-boy computer hacker given another chance at life

WONDER WALL: SESSION TWO

"From mice to men
And then to rats
But only snakes behave like that..."

Last time we left the PISCES lads and ladettes, Team Wenceslas (Officers Walker and Crackanthorpe) had set up a surveillance post in one of the abandoned flats at the top of the Wyndham Court estate. Hoping to catch a snifter of Old Scratch's existence beyond second-hand stories, they tossed their bedrolls on the dirty, beer-can-and-tin-foil strewn floor and readied for the long haul.

Night falls, electric lights come on. Across the estate people return home to the warmth of their apartments. A bored Crackanthorpe saunters outside to poke his head around the estate after dark. He takes the stairs down to the fifth floor walkway, and as he rounds the corner spots one of those greasy "rat-prints" on a flat window. Inside, the sound of a TV buzzes.

Then something fat and heavy ran across his foot. A black rat. Behind him - tired of waiting, having come down to find him - Walker watched the creature rush past her.

Ahead on the balcony, the electric lights flickered out one by one. A solid darkness advanced...

Swallowing the two PISCES agents in impenetrable gloom.

Esoteric Enterprises - Continuity of Government Bunker Complex

"Alright. Flush the bombers, get the subs in launch mode. We are at DEFCON 1."

Unless you've been hiding under a rock most of your life (and, to be fair, if that was the case I can guarantee you definitely know what I'm talking about), you've probably heard of Continuity of Government.

Continuity of Government (C.O.G.) is the planning and preparation for how government can continue after a catastrophe, like a nuclear war or asteroid strike or Cthulhu waking up. Among the most important parts, beside laying out a list of contingencies and picking a Designated Survivor to sit out all the public events in case a bomb goes off, is building bunkers to hide in until the radiation levels drop enough for a go at repopulating the Earth.

Obviously, the government's not just going to let any Tom, Dick or Harry into those super-special-secret bunkers they've built though. Nope; only the lucky few, the most important, cleverest, bestest people are at the top of that list. Oddly enough, the guys who drew up the list - namely the politicians - seem to think politicians are the most important, cleverest, bestest people for the job.

Whatever the case, there are a lot of those bunkers. Most were built a long time ago, back during the Cold War. A lot are just sitting there. Unmanned. Untouched. Unused. Safe. Secure.

Now home to other things.

This is an underworld C.O.G. chamber for Esoteric Enterprises.