From: owner-deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org (deltagreen-digest) To: deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org Subject: deltagreen-digest V1 #67 Reply-To: Delta Green List Sender: owner-deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org Errors-To: owner-deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org Precedence: bulk deltagreen-digest Tuesday, July 14 1998 Volume 01 : Number 067 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 20:05:20 -0400 (EDT) From: The Man in Black Subject: DG: Karotechia Koncentration Kamp I am feeling extra sadistic today as a result of intense preparation for a game convention tomorrow. Thus here's a Shotgun Scenario (TM) for you deranged keepers to use: Agents investigating missing persons turn up a KKK/Militia/Karotechia backed Concentration Camp operating on US Soil. List discussion about modern methods of genocidal efficiency should probably be aborted in the interests of good taste. However, I can't help thinkin' of Reinhard Galt's Slaughterhouse here :) The Man in Black is : not well, not well at all Novus Ordo Seclorum : Annuit Coeptus : E Pluribus Unum ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 17:24:27 -0700 (PDT) From: scott cleverdon Subject: DG: D Notice For anyone interested in the Governments powers of censorship in the United Kingdom, where I hail from, I've included the following on D-Notices. A D-Notice basically allows the government to step in and censor anything that they wish if they deem it to be a threat to the National Security. The D Notice system Guidance on national security is made available to the media through the Defence Press and Broadcasting Committee. The system is advisory and voluntary and has no legal authority. Editors do not have to seek advice, nor do they have to take any advice that may be offered. In effect, the system is a code of self-censorship by the press in matters of national security. The committee is composed of representatives of the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, and the Foreign Office, and of the newspapers, periodicals, and broadcasting news organisations. The chairman is a civil servant, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence. The press and broadcasting members select one of their number as chairman of their side of the committee. He acts as their spokesman at meetings of the committee and provides a point of day to day contact for the permanent secretary of the committee (the D Notice secretary), who is normally a retired senior officer from the armed forces. There are eight standing D Notices. The D is assumed to stand for defence, but its origin is obscure. The notices are written in general terms and describe the broad areas where the government and media members of the committee have agreed that secrets affecting national security may lie. Machinery exists to issue D Notices at short notice to protect specific pieces of information. Notices are held by editors of national and provincial newspapers, radio and television organisations, and some publishers of periodicals, and books on defence and related subjects, who are invited to seek advice before publishing information which falls within the broad area of the D Notices. The D Notice secretary is available at all times to give advice. His telephone number is 0171 218 2206. Editors, defence correspondents, other journalists, and authors frequently consult the secretary to check whether information considered for publication comes within a sensitive area. As a result of consulting the secretary, editors are sometimes able to get information into the paper which they might otherwise leave out. On the other hand, the secretary may advise editors not to publish information which is covered by a D Notice but which has already appeared elsewhere. The secretary says that spies get their information from a variety of sources and by piecing it together can build up a composite picture of a subject. Terrorists who lack the resources to gather their own information can also exploit the dissemination of sensitive information. The committee has no statutory powers of enforcement and the final decision whether or not to publish always rests with the editor. The system has no direct link with the Official Secrets Acts, but an editor who publishes information which is the subject of a D Notice knows that the government regards that information as secret and realises, therefore, that he is risking prosecution under the acts. On the other hand an editor who complies with a D Notice does not necessarily escape prosecution. As noted above the D Notice system is concerned only with security matters but the Official Secrets Acts have much wider concerns, including for example breach of trust. The secretary will not advise on whether any publication will breach the act, only whether released information is a danger to national security. In 1987 the value of the system was called into question after the government was granted an injunction preventing BBC Radio 4 from broadcasting the programme 'My Country: Right or Wrong'. the BBC had followed D Notice procedures and was confident the programme did not endanger national security. However, the Attorney-General learnt from a newspaper gossip column (as he claimed in the House of Commons) the number of former members of the security service who were to take part and on the eve of the programme obtained an injunction on the grounds of the civil duty of confidentiality which the Government claimed was owed it by its servants and former servants. Intelligence and Security Committee Thankfully!? MP's and 'Lords' are scrutinising!? the activities - including the money being spent - of SIS, the Secret Intelligence Services. This is the Intelligence and Security Committee run out of the Cabinet Office. New members - as of Autumn 1997 are: Tom King, (Chairman), Lord Archer of Sandwell, Kevin Barron, Alan Beith, Dale Campbell Savours, Yvette Cooper, Barry Jones, Michael Mates, Allan Rogers. How interesting that the Chairman is a Tory - bizarre! The D Notices The eight D Notices in force in 1990 covered the following subjects: 1 - Defence plans, operational capability, state of readiness and training. 2 - Defence equipment. 3 - Nuclear weapons and equipment. 4 - Electronic equipment and electro-magnetic transmissions. 5 - Cyphers and communications. 6 - British security and intelligence services. 7 - War precautions and civil defence. 8 - Photography, etc. of defence establishments and installations. D Notice No. 1 is given below as an example Defence plans, operational capability, state of readiness and training: 1 - The defensive capability of the United Kingdom, particularly as to broad overall strategy, is in general terms a proper subject fro public discussion. It is important, however, that such discussion should not disclose details whose publication could damage British interests by giving a potential enemy important strategic or operational advantages. 2 - It is requested therefore that information of the kind listed below should not be discussed without first seeking advice: (a) defence plans or particulars of defence policy which would enable a potential enemy to deduce details of our intentions at any level of operations; (b) plans for allocation, handling and deployment of service resources and civil resources in support of the services, to meet particular hostile situations, and other contingency plans; (c) details of the work carried out at, or the specific function of, defence establishments, installations or units where such detail has not been officially released or is not readily apparent; (d) the state of readiness and detailed operational capability of individual units or formations; (e) operational movements of individual units or formations (as distinct from routine peacetime movements); (f) particulars of current or projected tactics, trials, techniques, and training (including anti-interrogation training). Though the notices are issued direct to editors, copies are available on request. They were once classified documents (for reasons which are hard to fathom) but are no longer, and may be displayed on notice boards. Defence Press and Broadcasting Committee contact details Room 2235, Main Building, London, SW1A 2HB, England. Telephone No: 0171 218 2206 This information correct in 1990, for more up-to-date information get hold of a journalists' legal guide such as 'McNae's Essential law for Journalists' ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 17:39:31 -0700 (PDT) From: scott cleverdon Subject: DG: secret organizations in the UK Here's an interesting web page with a ton of stuff detailing British shady dealings. http://www.cc.umist.ac.uk/sk/ regards to one and all scott ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 02:21:36 -0500 (CDT) From: Don Juneau Subject: DG: SJ Games Daily Illuminator for 7/10/98 (fwd) Sounds like the place to be.. - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 00:01:02 -0500 From: Steve Jackson Games Subject: SJ Games Daily Illuminator for 7/10/98 SJ Games News: Fight the Illuminati/Grey Conspiracy Illuminated Site of the Week: EagleNet: Citizens Against the New World Order that's the title of this mega-mall of conspiracy sites. Illuminati, Area 51, Earthquake Projectors, Clinton murders, alien abductions, the Gathering of Zion, solar engineering, faces on Mars; just about any modern conspiracy you want. They also have a mailing list for the latest breaking conspiracy news. Lots of pictures, lots of content, lots of conspiracies. "We believe that this [New World Order] agenda, which seeks the overthrow of the U.S. CONSTITUTION, the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and the BILL OF RIGHTS is being carried out by a collaborative alien-human military force based in the Neu Schwabia region of Antarctica." from the EagleNet web page. Submitted by SeanMike Whipkey Related Links: 1. http://www.sjgames.com/ill/illsotw/ 2. http://www.eagle-net.org/ The Daily Illuminator is also posted on the SJ Games website, at http://www.sjgames.com/. To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to majordomo@pyramid.sjgames.com with the message "unsubscribe illuminator". ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 11:46:23 EDT From: CroakerJr@aol.com Subject: DG: Sources Somebody asked whether current games use DG-specific elements or stick with more traditional Lovecraftian things. I've intentionally tried to combine the elements. To me, DG works best as a synthesis of Lovecraftian mythology, modern conspiracy, and real-world paranormal occurances. Hence, Operation SANDMAN revolves around voudoun, modern urban conspiracy theory, certain elements of the DG sourcebook, and some straight Lovecraft. And that's all I'm going to say about that. ;-) Shane Ivey http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6580/dg.htm PS: That was a fun story, Mr. Mendez! I could probably use FrontPage Express or Hotmetal Pro to convert the .rtf file to .html without much trouble, if you would like me to do so for you. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 15:58:25 EDT From: CroakerJr@aol.com Subject: DG: Site index In conducting an extensive redesign of my website I have added an index of websites which are primarily devoted to Delta Green. If you have a site which should be included, be sure to let me know! http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6580/dgsites.htm Shane Ivey ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 12:56:52 EDT From: Imandos@aol.com Subject: DG: Fiction Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu fiction collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were particularly useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories would be welcome. Thomas Woodall Imandos@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 13:01:09 -0700 From: paposehn@juno.com (Phil A Posehn) Subject: Re: DG: Fiction On Mon, 13 Jul 1998 12:56:52 EDT Imandos@aol.com writes: > Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu >fiction >collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were >particularly >useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories >would >be welcome. I have read the Dunwich, Hastur and Nyarathothep cycles and found them all very entertaining. As far as DG source material goes, There is a story in Dunwich that has poor Wilber trying to find the Necronomicon in the modern era and finding several totally different editions in the local bookstore that I intend to use in a game soon. Phil _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 15:35:00 -0700 (PDT) From: scott cleverdon Subject: Re: DG: Fiction I would try the "new tales of the Chthulhu Mythos" collection. I don't know where to get it, but if you can't hunt down the story "Crouch End", quite simply one of the most inspirational Mythos stories. And, believe it or note its written by Steven King!! regards sc At 12:56 PM 7/13/98 EDT, you wrote: > Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu fiction >collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were particularly >useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories would >be welcome. > >Thomas Woodall >Imandos@aol.com > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 19:37:19 EDT From: CroakerJr@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: Fiction In a message dated 98-07-13 13:07:41 EDT, you write: << Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu fiction collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were particularly useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories would be welcome. >> I'm sad to say the only one I have is the Hastur Cycle; considering how downright fabulous it is, I really wish I had my hands on the rest of the series. Looking at specifically DG-ready references, the Hastur Cycle includes Richard Lupoff's "Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley," which features a federal agent (most likely FBI, though it is not specified) investigating events in a sequel to Lovecraft's "The Whisperer in Darkness." More than once I've idly planned on writing up stats for the agent in question and introducing him in a game as a contact or fellow DG conspirator or MJ-12 agent--or most likely, a cipher who could be either one. Heck, if not for those annoying copyright laws I'd love to see a Delta Green sequel to the sequel (or write it myself). But then, that's what roleplaying games are for, right? I seem to remember hearing that an Innsmouth collection published a few years ago had a couple of modern stories that were worth their salt, so to speak, but I never read them myself. Speaking more generally, I would of course recommend Thomas Harris' RED DRAGON and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in the "run, don't walk, and read-read-read" category. These are not supernatural fiction, but they are brilliant and scary, and Harris is a master at portraying the FBI in a way that is easily believable. Stephen King's THE STAND has some great moments portraying governmental ruthlessness; I never read FIRESTARTER, but I heard that it heavily featured a govt.-research-into-the-paranormal angle. By the way, how about some recommendations on modern alien/paranormal theories. I'm a little thin on this literature, myself. Should I go ahead and get COMMUNION and FIRE IN THE SKY from the library, or should I find something better for inspiration in those MJ12/Grey plotlines? Shane Ivey http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6580/dg.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 20:26:32 EDT From: PaganArt@aol.com Subject: Re: Re: DG: Fiction Let me recommend wholeheartedly the fabulous "Passport to Magonia" by Jaques Vallee. Fantastic source material on inhuman visitors, fairies and creatures....For grey plotlines and portrayals, nothing even comes close to this one... - -Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 20:31:56 -0400 From: "Walter B. Haight" Subject: Re: DG: Fiction At 07:37 PM 7/13/98 EDT, you wrote: > >By the way, how about some recommendations on modern alien/paranormal >theories. I'm a little thin on this literature, myself. Should I go ahead >and get COMMUNION and FIRE IN THE SKY from the library, or should I find >something better for inspiration in those MJ12/Grey plotlines? > >Shane Ivey >http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6580/dg.htm > I don't know about Fire in the Sky, but Communion was one of the most frightening books I've ever read. I read it when I was about 17 and for a couple of weeks I went to bed with a knife on my bedside stand. The movie isn't nearly as good, and I saw it a few months after reading the book. It instantly cured my fear by making the whole thing seem silly ( which I don't believe was the exact intention of the movie ). It does provide a very detailed account of what an abductee may remember, and I have used it in my games. The Lord of Milk and Cookies Aaron Litz ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 20:47:54 -0400 From: Steven Kaye Subject: Re: DG: Fiction Imandos@aol.com wrote: > Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu fiction >collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were particularly >useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories would >be welcome. Well, there's a pair of Will Murray stories, "To Clear The Earth" (in THE SHUB-NIGGURATH CYCLE) and "Black Fire" (in CTHULHU CYCLE) which deal with the NRO's Cryptic Events Evaluation section. I take it back; CTHULHU CYCLE also has "Rude Awakening" by Will Murray, another NRO story. Pick it up - I couldn't inflict SHUB-NIGGURATH CYCLE on someone in good conscience. Besides, you'l get to find out what happened to Legrasse AFTER "The Call of Cthulhu." SINGERS OF STRANGE SONGS also has a few tales which might prove useful - "Not To Force the Rhymes," "In His Daughter's Darkling Womb," and an interesting approach to covering up supernatural events by John Tynes, "The Nullity of Choice." Steven - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Kaye box_nine@ix.NOSPAM.netcom.com "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." -- Satchell Paige ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 11:17:18 +0900 From: ft203004@fsinet.or.jp (Jay and Mikiko Noyes) Subject: Re: DG: Fiction > Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu fiction >collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were particularly >useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories would >be welcome. I know its not fropm Chaosium, but I highly recommend "The Starry Wisdom" Lovecraft anthology, published by England's Creation Books. Jay - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --------- Stercus, stercus, stercus, moriturus sum Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times" - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 12:26:38 +0900 From: "David Farnell" Subject: RE: DG: Fiction - -----Original Message----- ol : Imandos@aol.com : deltagreen@nocturne.org : 1998N714 2:26 : DG: Fiction Thomas Woodall wrote: > Has anyone on the list read any of the various Call of Cthulhu fiction >collections from Chaosium. I was wondering if any of them were particularly >useful as DG reference material. Any recommendations for good stories would >be welcome. What a coikidink. I'm re-reading Made in Goatswood right now. Just finished C.J. Henderson's "Free the Old Ones," which is quite a nice story and related to DG. The basic idea is (for those who can't find the book), a bunch of cultists are arrested in England (in the Severn Valley, in fact), mid-ceremony. Many of them are rich and powerful, including a minor royal. It becomes big news, and a movement among the people at large pressures the police to release them in the name of religious freedom. Lovely slogans like "Free the Old Ones," "Christ is Guilt--Glaaki is Love," "Don't be at odds/With the Elder Gods." But it's actually often serious and scary, especially in its depiction of the process of terror that the main character goes through--excellent resource for role-playing. I also vote for The Hastur Cycle as a great resource, as it reprints those old pre-Lovecraft stories about The King in Yellow and Carcosa and such. My copy is a continent away, however. David ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 12:48:16 +0900 From: "David Farnell" Subject: RE: DG: Dee and Enoch (was Tyson (was Re: DG: Queen in Red - a warning to the curious - -----Original Message----- ol : Daniel Harms : Delta Green List : 1998N710 12:34 : Tyson (was Re: DG: Queen in Red - a warning to the curious Daniel Harms (Lord of Wool) wrote: >they seem to >state that the Enochian Keys of Dr. John Dee, when spoken, would >bring about the Apocalypse. The only other thing I know about >his works is that they're favorites of Marilyn Manson, for some >reason. Since this is getting quite off-topic, I'll see what else I can find. Off-topic? This is great stuff, surely useful to someone. I remembered an article about this in Gnosis Magazine, issue 40 (Hermeticism), and yes, checking the website ( www.lumen.org ), it's Donald Tyson. Article name is "The Enochian Apocalypse." I remember that the next issue carried a couple of letters which basically said that Tyson is of subnormal intelligence. But it was an interesting article (sadly, not archived online). By itself, it's not worth ordering the back issue for, but there was a lot of really good articles on Hermeticism--if you want to use Hermetic magic in your game, that issue is a good resource. I used it in my Vampire campaign a couple years back. Another thing for those interested in things Enochian is "Who the hell is this Enoch guy anyway?" by Frater Inominandum of the OTO, Thelesis Camp. www.thud.org/enoch.htm ). And you can get to the Thelesis OTO homepage through that. The OTO site has gobs of links to funky sites. Off to lunch, David ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 02:18:44 EDT From: Imandos@aol.com Subject: DG: DG Alien Site and Thanks: Thanks for the responses. Here is a place to start for Alien stuff on the net. http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prediction/51/files.html Warning this site is a SPOILER for MJ-12 information. As for books to read, try Dean Koontz. "Watchers" and " Dark Rivers of the Heart" are the best for DG ideas. Though "Phantoms", "Wintermoon", and "Dragon Tears" are fun too. His new book "Fear Nothing" works well for those wanting a doomsday plot. "Dark Rivers of the Heart" is a great example of an MJ-12 type organization hunting an individual and would be a good place to start reading Koontz's works. The organization is in some ways DG like in that it is a conspiracy as well. Thomas Woodall Imandos@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 01:25:31 -0500 (CDT) From: Don Juneau Subject: DG: GM: When Magnetic Fields Flip (fwd) Cross-posting this bit of entertainment where it can do some good. Original posting was discussing the (overdue?) "flip" of the magnetic poles/field of the planet, and the effects/aftermath thereof. Don - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 23:26:15 CDT -0500 From: Doc Bravado Reply-To: GMAST-L@phoenyx.net To: The Gamemasters List Subject: GM: When Magnetic Fields Flip Jeremy Hovance wrote: > > < something else entirely - though what, exactly, I'm not sure...>> > > The Van Halen belt is what they bounce DaveTV signals off. *smirk* Hmm. Band or belt? You make the call...must be where they send all the ex-lead singers. Oh, well. I should note here that not _all_ technology goes down the drain--just most. Shielded components and mechanical devices survive; guns and some older cars (without heavy computerization) survive, while a bunch of other stuff sparks and dies. (Please note: If you have a pacemaker, this will Really Suck For You.) I wouldn't be too surprised to see a distinct wave of abnormal levels of strokes and other blood clotting abnormalities, either. Expect heavy lightning storms and really bright auroras--all over the place. Weather patterns (which can be influenced by the solar wind, which is now interacting with a moving target) will get really, really strange for a while, making El Nino look like a normal seasonal variation. Some animals are thought to navigate using the Earth's magnetic field--expect several extinctions, especially bird species. Amusingly enough, water in enough quantities tends to make a decent barrier against EMP--nuclear subs at depth (read: missile subs) might not notice anything, until the compass goes haywire...at which point they surface, notice GPS isn't functioning, try to call home and get no response. So now you have all those boomers, thinking WWIII started and nobody bothered to notify them... - -- ...does the noise in my head bother you?... Doc Bravado "Happiness is a warm Uzi." --Bring Me The Head Of Charlie Brown ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 15:50:04 +0900 From: "David Farnell" Subject: DG: Mental balance (long) Happy Bastille Day everyone! Free the prisoners and sharpen up those guillotines! Speaking of which... Several weeks back we had a brief thread about KULT crossovers, seeing reality (as with that kid in At Your Door!). There was also the article by Scott Hatherley about "Losing Sanity" in TUO 14/15. Since then, I've been wanting to come up with an alternative to Sanity as it's used in the CoC rules. This draws upon the Kult rules for Mental Balance, somewhat modified (especially as the rules in Kult contradict themselves in different parts of the book), but I'm going to leave out the Kult cosmology as much as possible. This is just rules. If anybody has anything to add, please let me know. And please let me know how it went if you use it in your game. First, some terms. MENTAL BALANCE (MB): A replacement for Sanity. Beginning MB is 0, which indicates a normal, balanced, healthy individual. Since most DG agents and other CoC Investigators are not terribly "normal," even at the beginning, consider allowing the players to convert some of their MB points into skill points on a one-to-one basis. Thus, a character could start with MB -20, and get 20 more points for skills. The opposite could also be true, allowing a character with a positive MB. Don't allow the players to take more than 20 points off their MB--they'll be too irrational to play well. ALternately, you can use Advantages and Disadvantages from Kult, but let's not bother with that here. Negative MB is the Path of Darkness; positive MB is the Path of Light. At plus/minus 500 MB, the character achieves Awakening--what that is is up to the Keeper. But characters will be unplayable long before then. SAN Roll: Under this system, the SAN roll is now like the Idea roll or the Luck roll. It equals POWx5, and it doesn't go down along with MB. However, it does go down as one gains Cthulhu Mythos knowledge, on a 1 for 1 point basis. Also, it can be adjusted for altered states of mind, such as when the PC is exhausted, starved, or under the effects of drugs, resulting in a POWx4, POWx3, or lower roll. The "Mythos penalty" is applied after this adjustment. Example: The PC encounters a Mythos creature. She has a 12 POW and Cthulhu Mythos of 18. Her basic SAN roll is 42% ((12x5) -18). If she's tripping on PCP, her SAN roll could be POWx3, which means her roll is 18% ((12x3)-18)! Mythos knowledge is a disease which erodes the mind's immune system. SHOCK: This is what happens when you lose a lot of MB at once. Losing 5 points at once results in temporary insanity, just like in CoC. Losing an amount of MB greater than the PC's POW over a short time (say, one adventure) causes major shock, which is basically indefinite insanity. However, shock can also have other, bizarre results, such as... TIME/SPACE DISTORTIONS: When players have extreme Mental Balances (see charts below), they can have strange effects when experiencing Shock. Time/Space Distortions can result in localized changes in the rate of time's passage, or in distortions in distance (walking 10 miles in a couple of minutes, for example). This usually only affects the character who is in Shock, but more at more extreme MB, it can affect a whole area. At the greatest extremes, one no longer has to be in shock for it to happen, and can even begin to control it. Eventually, teleportation and time travel are possible. However, characters at these levels are far too unplayable to be PCs. PROJECTION: Again, extreme MBs (only negative this time) can cause this effect while in shock. The character's fears are projected on the surrounding area, causing distortion of the locale. For example, walls might grow mouths, ghosts may manifest, dead companions might rise and stare at the PC accusingly. This only lasts in the immediate locale and only until the character can make a SAN roll to deny the projection's existence. Like with Time/Space Distortions, this is only perceived by the character at less extreme MB, but it becomes real to everyone in the vicinity with more extreme MB. PHYSICAL DISTORTION: At extreme negative MB, the character's insanity warps his body. The character can suffer boils, stigmata, rotting flesh, grow armor, machine parts, claws, etc. These are temporary at first, but become permanent as the MB gets worse. Also, at the lowest depths of negative MB, the Physical Distortions become infective. SENSITIVE: As the character loses or gains MB, he/she will gain sensitivity to magic and otherworldly energies. The character will be able to detect magic, creatures, and people with great power or very high or low MB. SHADOW: The negative image of the character's mind. You can pretty much ignore this. It shows up at around plus/minus 100 MB, which is about when the character is too messed up to play anymore, anyway. The Shadow tries to help the character return to a more balanced life, trying to push the character away from extremes. To Awaken, the character must defeat and merge with the Shadow. CHAOS and NIRVANA: Terms for the mental states at plus/minus 400-499 MB. They are states of purity--pure darkness or pure light, pure good, pure evil. The character will probably be trapped in this seductive state and never break free to achieve Awakening. AWAKENING: After breaking free of Chaos or Nirvana, the character merges with the Shadow and Awakens. This can mean a number of things, but basically, the character no longer has a Mental Balance, cannot be shocked, and has incredible powers. The character can be killed and return after creating a new body. The character can warp reality, work great magics effortlessly, and so on. Stephen Alzis may be Awakened. While the character is now beyond light and darkness, good and evil, he or she is colored by the Path taken for many centuries to come. Now, charts: THE DARK PATH: - -25: Cannot pass a health check without being declared "abnormal." Slightly sensitive. - -50: Medical exam finds the character "insane." When in shock, may experience time/space distortions and projections. Sensitivity increases. - -75: Shock may cause physical distortions. Character is unable to maintain relationships. Starts avoiding people with high positive MB. Sensitivity increasing. - -100: Permanent physical changes begin. Shadow begins to haunt character. Time/space distortions and projections can happen any time. Pathologically violent, relationships mean nothing. Can often see reality as it really is. (Recommend handing the PC over to the Keeper.) - -150: Permanently schizophrenic. Able to control time/space distortions somewhat. - -200: Insanities become contagious to those around. - -250: Ruled by hunger, anger, fear, and desire. Human appearance gone. Real battles with the Shadow begin. - -300: Control over time/space, projections increases. Able to sense pain, ecil, fear over great distances; drawn to them, feed on them. Approaching Chaos. - -400: Full control over time/space, including teleportation and limited time travel. Enter Chaos. - -500: Break free of Chaos, merge with Shadow, and Awaken to true Humanity. Now, it's easy to LOSE MB--gaining it is tough. Negative MB can be repaired through psychoanalysis, but that can only bring it up to zero. Actually gaining positive MB requires defeating monsters, earning MB bonuses given out at the Keeper's discretion (for excellent role-playing, or for doing good deeds, maybe), or through following a mystical/religious practice. If anybody wants, I'll try to post more on this last one, but let's face it, we're not likely to have many PCs with a positive MB. Even so, here's... THE LIGHT PATH: 25: Can act in spite of temporary insanity at 1/2 skill levels with a successful SAN roll. Sensitive. 50: Natural empathy. People feel safe around character. Can recover from temporary insanity with a SAN roll, attempted every round. 75: Medical exam will find the character insane. Cannot be possessed by lesser spirits, only deities. Time/space distortions may occur when in shock. Character starts avoiding people with negative MB. 100: Altered time/space at any time. Any remaining indefinite insanities begin to disappear. Unable to use force except in extreme cases of defense. Unable to feel destructive aggression. Shadow begins to haunt character. (Recommend hand the character over to the Keeper.) 150: Enhanced awareness, sees true reality much of the time. Can manipulate sense of time and space. 200: Contagious sanity (insane people become sane around character, temporarily). Character loses coarser emotions, desires--no anger, greed, sexual desire, violent feelings. 250: Battle with Shadow begins. Character no longer needs to eat, sleep, or drink. Character becomes "filled with light," mesmerizes others with positive (but lower) MB. 300: Control over time/space increases. No longer has any emotional or physical needs. No desire to accomplish anything; just seeking perfect peace. 400: Can teleport, travel in time, increase/decrease distances, affect passage of time at will. Enter Nirvana. 500: Break free of Nirvana, merge with Shadow, Awaken to true Humanity. If people really want, I'll try to post something on the Advantages and Disadvantages in Kult and how they might be used in CoC. They are closely tied to Mental Balance. Be seeing you, David ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 15:28:56 +0100 (BST) From: Stephen Joseph Ellis Subject: DG: test Test, please ignore. I seem to have missed 3 days of messages. "Sometimes I think that war is God's way of teaching us Geography." -Stephen Fry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 15:29:52 From: Davide Mana Subject: DG: Re: Fiction Greetings. Here's my two cents about inspirational fiction... Chaosium's "Cthulhu's Heirs" has a few modern-day stories, plus a _very_ weird piece about an alternate victorian world. Worth taking a look at. The same goes for the already recommended "Made in Goatswood". The whole series is generally above average (making some concessions to personal tastes). I'd also suggest anything from Ramsay Campbell (even if his books are usually set in the DG-currently-off-limits U.K.) and Robert Bloch. I'd also recommend Kin Newman's "The Quorum" and "Bad Dreams", plus some of his shorter stuff (there are two collections) for some good new twists on the bad guys; Newman is also responsible for the excellent Mythos/hard-boiled crossover "The Big Fish" (higly recommended indeed) And finally, I'm currently going through Andrew Klavan's latest, called "The Uncanny" - the book features ghosts, a shady cult, creepy Romanthic art, Nazis (yeah, Nazis!) and a few other interesting bits. So far (100 pages out of 340) it's been a good read. Particularly good (and it's going to feature soon in my games, as it fits perfectly with my past campaigns) is the "Forbidden Museum", a London-based, privately-owned underground collection of "eldritch stuff" (photos, books, stuffed... things). And this is it. Now I'll go and try to track down this "Passport to Magonia" thing... Cheers. Davide Mana Torino, Italy doctor.dee@iol.it ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 11:50:28 -0700 From: Gil Trevizo Subject: DG: Delta Green, WW2-style I've been doing a lot of research into Nazi occultism and links to UFOs (secret flying disk weapon projects) for a fan fiction story I've been writing, and the "paranormal bouquet" I've found is overwhelming. I'm really surprised Delta Green just stopped at the Karotechia, as the sheer amount of occult/paranormal weirdness cooked up by the Third Reich could fill a book all on its own. There is simply so many scenario-making material here that, despite the fact that I still haven't been able to find a group in my area to play DG much less been a Keeper or even GM'd a game in about fifteen years, I've been driven to try an create a DG campaign set during World War 2. From Karotechia calling up Deep Ones to Nazi flying disk technology (possible Mi-Go involvement predating Roswell) to secret Antarctic U-boat bases (wasn't At the Mountains of Madness set there?) to pagan Nazi medieval rituals at Himmler's castle (perhaps Nyarlathotep's been messing with little Nazi heads even before he began impersonating Hitler for the Karotechia) to Unit 731's involvement with the Tcho-Tchos in Indochina to battling the Werewolves after the war to battling the NKVD for Nazi-developed Mi-Go-given technology in the ruins of Germany right into Roswell and the creation of MJ-12 (possible Karotechia involvement through Project Paperclip?) and the assault on the Argentine-financed Karotechia base in Antarctica - there are simply gobs upon gobs of possible scenarios for some kind of Delta Green espionage/commando unit, not too mention the possibility of bringing in their non-American counterparts in the British SOE or the Russian NKVD. I haven't even read that Spear of Destiny book, and I'm sure there's a Delta Green scenario there. What I'm wondering is, has anyone tried something like this before? It just seems too good - like a cross between Where Eagles Dare and The Dirty Dozen and the Cthulhu Mythos - that someone must've tried this before. I came across one CoC scenario set in a rather generic battlefield, but nothing specific to WW2. I'd appreciate any help that could be given. Gil, still looking for a DG game in the San Francisco Bay Area... furrylogic@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~furrylogic ------------------------------ End of deltagreen-digest V1 #67 *******************************