From: owner-deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org (deltagreen-digest) To: deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org Subject: deltagreen-digest V2 #47 Reply-To: Delta Green List Sender: owner-deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org Errors-To: owner-deltagreen-digest@nocturne.org Precedence: bulk deltagreen-digest Wednesday, September 1 1999 Volume 02 : Number 047 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 16:16:55 -0400 From: graemep@immagene.mcg.edu (Graeme Price) Subject: RE: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Davide wrote: >But the real sinister bit is, everything's aimed at kids! >The interview, that rants on for a few pages, keeps coming back to the >foundamental point that the story has to be accessible, appealing and >_meaningful_ for an audience of under 12-years-olds. >This, of course, so that they can _learn_! >Learn what? >Will the kids force-fed (ho ho ho) a Star Wars worldview turn into >something like a Lucas-ju:gend? Rather more sinister still is the Lucas take on Judeo-Christian myth (no offense intended, I just can't think of a better word) pattern. The whole Anakin Skywalker-born-to-a-celebate-mother-thing frankly makes me boggle that the religious right in the US didn't go absolutely apeshit. To me it smacked as a rewriting of classical religious teachings to appeal to the terminally attention-span challenged. The only question (as D. pointed out) is to what purpose? But then again, perhaps I'm just a paranoid conspiracy theory freak who's just reading too much into a children's movie... he said sarcastically. Later Graeme graemep@immag.mcg.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 22:45:22 +0200 From: EHuelshoff@t-online.de (Eckhard Huelshoff) Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Good Evening. Johnson Brad-QA1226 schrieb: > > Bad guys with an Oriental slur in USA, with a French slur in > > Germany .... > > it's the old script, all over again! > > I'm new to the list, but I couldn't sit this one > out.... > > I really think the alleged racism of The Phantom > Menace has been over-exaggerated. I have no proof > of this, having not seen the German version of the > film, but it would not surprise me at all if the > bad guys' accents were exactly the same in both > versions, and we just hear what we want to hear. Ehm, believe me: I DO recognize German spoken with a French accent when I hear it. ECKHARD ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 22:45:21 +0200 From: EHuelshoff@t-online.de (Eckhard Huelshoff) Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Graeme Price schrieb: [snip] > Rather more sinister still is the Lucas take on Judeo-Christian myth (no > offense intended, I just can't think of a better word) pattern. The whole > Anakin Skywalker-born-to-a-celebate-mother-thing frankly makes me boggle > that the religious right in the US didn't go absolutely apeshit. To me it > smacked as a rewriting of classical religious teachings to appeal to the > terminally attention-span challenged. The only question (as D. pointed out) > is to what purpose? But then again, perhaps I'm just a paranoid conspiracy > theory freak who's just reading too much into a children's movie... he said > sarcastically. But strangely enough Mr. Lucas chose that "virgin-mother-mythos" as the background for one of popular culture's most beloved villain.... ECKHARD ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 13:51:08 -0700 From: Phil A Posehn Subject: Re: DG: A plane crash First on the scene would be a team from the FAA, local police and the FBI. The FAA chrsh site investigation team has primary authority here until the cause of the crash has been determined. The FBI is primarily involved because of its identification of corpse's identity expertise. For very good information on how aircraft crash site investigations are done and some great ideas read "Millenium" by John Varley (DON'T rent the movie) and "The President's Plane is Missing" by Robert Serling. Good Luck! Phil Posehn On Tue, 31 Aug 1999 21:00:02 +0100 "Hugo Barbosa" writes: >Hi all, > >Given that I'm from outside the US, but love DG, there are a few >questions >I would like to ask to anyone on this list, and US players in >particular. >Before I get on with the questions, just a bit of background: > >I'm preparing my first Delta Green campaign. It involves the end of >the >world as we know it (like in the prophecies of the Apocalypse, and the >Stars Are Right). I don't know how this will come to be, but the Mi-Go >are >certainly aware that this will happen sometime soon putting all their >projects of the study of the Human race at risk. They are trying to >prevent >this (How? Don't ask me right now. :-)) Anyway, someone holds a few >vital >papers that clearly demonstrate that a catastrophe will happen soon. >When >this man is about to meet with others to expose the situation, the >Mi-go >intercept his plane and kidnap the poor man, while making the plane >crash. >(I was inspired but an X-files episode, although I don't recall >which). >This will be a cue for Delta Green intervention. > >My questions are: > >If a plane crashes, say somewhere between Boston and New York, and if >the >authorities suspected foul play, who would be involved? The FBI? Could >the >CIA be involved if there was a suspicion of terrorist attack? > >Where would the wreckage be taken to? A warehouse? Could someone fill >me in >on the details of an investigation dealing with a plane crash? Just to >give >the whole situation a more 'real' feel. > >This is it for now. See you all in no time. > >Hugo Barbosa >dwarin@mail.telepac.pt > ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 22:59:54 +0200 From: PM Subject: RE: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? >Bad guys with an Oriental slur in USA, with a French slur in Germany .... >it's the old script, all over again! I'll let you know which version will be used when the movie will be released in France (mid-october) :-) ============================================= Patrice Mermoud (Paris - France) mermoud@easynet.fr mermoud@multimania.com ============================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 15:59:23 -0500 From: "Shane Ivey" Subject: RE: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? <> I'll try to beat Davide to the punch: Check the Ice Cave! (There's a link from D-G.com if you need it.) Here's my advice in a nutshell: Start small! I would suggest that you start off with several scenarios focusing entirely on one enemy--Majestic, the Fate, PISCES, the Karotechia, SaucerWatch [wink], whatever--and allow the players to delve into the depths of one group; then let them brush the edges of other groups, to give them the dizzying sense that there's THAT MUCH to not just that first enemy, but to any number of conspiracies and groups out there. There are many ways of handling this. Maybe focus on the Network and the Fate, but introduce elements of the Karotechia on the side, just as enforcers or something; then a later scenario can revisit them and give depth to what were apparently just a gang of thugs. As for beginning a new campaign, here's what I think. If you have a group that's very stable and you expect to be gaming with them for a while, then your best bet might be to start their characters off ignorant of it all. Play them out as ordinary federal agents / intelligence officers / covert operatives / whatever, with an aside to each of them describing some past paranormal experience, if any. Start off an apparently mundane scenario; early into it, introduce a shadowy figure or two spying on one of the characters, then have them back off; leave the players wondering if it was really that suspicious, after all. Play out the scenario: this is a "virgin" scenario, so introduce plenty of ominous mind-blowing clues of the "But that's impossible! There must be another explanation!" variety, before any actual SAN-blasters are encountered. During in the scenario, a player might notice a familiar face on a bystander, a homeless person, somebody standing at the ATM line, whatever; have they seen the stranger before in the scenario? Then, the stranger is gone. In the end, the players should face the horror at the core of the scenario, alongside clues that they are not the only ones who have seen such horrors. The players might suspect that they were guided into this terrible sequence of events--perhaps it is too strong a coincidence that each of them encountered it. But leave it at that, just clues. Then, in the NEXT scenario, start it with a shadowy figure approaching the players with a Delta-Green style proposition. This should be somebody in the classic "Mr. Drew" mold from "Escape From Innsmouth," a veteran DG agent who is expert at assuming and discarding false identities, who the players won't be able to trace, ever. The point is to give a hint of DG's capabilities: creating false identities, tracing and altering communications, rerouting records, assignments, and materiel. Make Delta Green a sympathetic but somewhat frightening group; the players should want to get involved for the sake of having some sort of back-up and access to intelligence, but they should be worried by the fact that it's all an unknown quantity and their would-be allies are secretive and apparently downright criminal. The shadowy "Mr. Drew" figure should come across as something of an idealist, beneath all the tradecraft: he or she is offering a chance to do some good in a way that no other group can handle. All the players have to do is come aboard--and keep their mouths shut. That's one possible angle. I didn't do it that way in my current campaign, of course; they were all DG veterans and I had a game that needed playtesting, so we just dove right into it with the formation of a new cell around veteran DG agents and a few new Friendlies. Incidentally, you might want to think about how to handle players who already know everything there is to know about Delta Green and the setting. For starters, you might tell them flat-out that you've made some critical changes for your campaign, so any assumption based on the books might be very wrong. If you're really ambitious and/or honest, then go ahead and make those changes. You could also just trust the players to keep up that wall between what they know and what their characters know; but that's not as exciting as doing some legwork or lying to their faces, now, is it? SHANE IVEY, Editor and Webmaster, www.zealot.com This week at Zealot.com: Sean Bean as Boromir? Zealot looks at the filming of LORD OF THE RINGS Zealot: Sci-Fi News, Reviews, and Interactive Fun ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 16:38:46 -0500 From: "Shane Ivey" Subject: DG: RE: A plane crash This thread came up a while back and was explored pretty well; I tried finding it for you on the Ice Cave, but no luck. Davide, any pointers? Or do we need to rope MiB into rewriting the thesis? SHANE IVEY, Editor and Webmaster, www.zealot.com This week at Zealot.com: Sean Bean as Boromir? Zealot looks at the filming of LORD OF THE RINGS Zealot: Sci-Fi News, Reviews, and Interactive Fun - -----Original Message----- From: owner-deltagreen@nocturne.org [mailto:owner-deltagreen@nocturne.org]On Behalf Of Hugo Barbosa Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 1999 3:00 PM To: Delta Green List Subject: DG: A plane crash Hi all, [snip] My questions are: If a plane crashes, say somewhere between Boston and New York, and if the authorities suspected foul play, who would be involved? The FBI? Could the CIA be involved if there was a suspicion of terrorist attack? Where would the wreckage be taken to? A warehouse? Could someone fill me in on the details of an investigation dealing with a plane crash? Just to give the whole situation a more 'real' feel. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:48:19 +0200 From: EHuelshoff@t-online.de (Eckhard Huelshoff) Subject: DG: Starting a campaign [was: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it?] Ola. Shane Ivey schrieb: [snip] > Here's my advice in a nutshell: Start small! Wise words, Mr. Ivey! Don't your players face the apokalypse in their first campaign. If you start small, the next thing can be bigger, and bigger and bigger. If you start BIG [ in the sense of wasting EVERYTHING POSSIBLE ], your career as a DG - keeper will soon be over, because every ace has been played and there will be nothing left to surprise you players in the future... [snip] > Play them out as ordinary federal agents / intelligence officers / covert > operatives / whatever, with an aside to each of them describing some past > paranormal experience, if any. Now, that's the point: IF ANY!! If I have rookie players available, that either don't know the concept of the Lovecraftian mythos or of DG, or if they just don't know what kind of game they are taking part in, I always prefer to introduce them as members of some federal agency and let them play out one or several scenarios of the James Bond / mystery / MERC 2000 / etc. kind of game and THEN there'll be some scenario where they are confronted by some kind of paranormal activity/villain/phenomenon. This does not have to have any relation to the mythos, in fact it might even be better to start with some "classic", like vampires, ghosts, etc.. And then, slowly, you introduce the mythos... ECKHARD ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:00:03 -0400 From: graemep@immagene.mcg.edu (Graeme Price) Subject: Re: DG: A plane crash Hugo (welcome!) wrote: >If a plane crashes, say somewhere between Boston and New York, and if the >authorities suspected foul play, who would be involved? The FBI? Could the >CIA be involved if there was a suspicion of terrorist attack? This has been covered in depth before (check out the ICE CAVE), but a few pointers: 1. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the federal agency primarily responsible for investigation of plance crashes in the US. But... other agencies may also get involved, such as.... 2. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) who would be very interested in airline safety procedures prior to the "accident" 3. The FBI, if terrorism was suspected 4. The BATF, if a bomb was involved 5. The CIA, if foriegn terrorist groups were suspected 6. If the plane came down at sea, then the Coastguard and possibly the Navy would get in on the act (the reasoning is something like "So Mr. G-man, you suspect terrorism. Hmm, why don't you cooperate with my friendly Colleague LtCmdr. Sponge, the ONI investigator. After all, you don't have any salvage ships of your own, do you?") And then it turns into the whole inter-agency pissing contest thing. Note that in a recent real life example, this happened during the investigation into the TWA flight that blew up after leaving New York (Flight 800??) last year. Basically, the NTSB quickly decided that the explosion was due to a spark from damaged wiring igniting AvGas vapour in the fuel tanks. The FBI however insisted (for several months) that it was due to a bomb (despite the fact that no one claimed responsibility)... mainly to keep the FBI investigation open for as long as possible (agencies compete against each other all the time over budget). The end result when the NTSB engineers put the recovered bits of plane back together and confirmed the spark-vapour-explosion theory was that the FBI had to do an embarrassing climb down. >Where would the wreckage be taken to? A warehouse? Could someone fill me in >on the details of an investigation dealing with a plane crash? Just to give >the whole situation a more 'real' feel. A warehouse, possibly on a military base, would be favourite. NTSB engineers will the try to put the bits and pieces back together again. Like a big 3D jigsaw, only with more twisted metal. The actual mechanics may vary... a big passenger jet which crashes with the loss of a couple of hundred lives will doubtless be investigated more thoroughly than Uncle Bert's good 'ol Cessna crop duster. First thing (as a keeper) for you to decide is whether or not the aircraft was a scheduled (ie. Big) passenger fight, or a smaller commuter aircraft. This will also affect the level of press coverage etc. It may be easier to justify bringing inexperienced agents into an investigation if it was low key (a small plane) rather than a major (big plane, many deaths, many distraught relatives, many false leads, much press attention) incident. Hope this helps some. Graeme graemep@immag.mcg.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:02:17 -0400 From: graemep@immagene.mcg.edu (Graeme Price) Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Eckhard wrote: >But strangely enough Mr. Lucas chose that "virgin-mother-mythos" as the >background for one of popular culture's most beloved villain.... Oh yes. My point entirely. Worrying isn't it? Graeme graemep@immag.mcg.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 17:07:13 -0500 (CDT) From: "G. Wyckoff" Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? > > Eckhard wrote: > > >But strangely enough Mr. Lucas chose that "virgin-mother-mythos" as the > >background for one of popular culture's most beloved villain.... Graeme replied: > > Oh yes. My point entirely. Worrying isn't it? Only if the pre-Darth Anakin runs around screaming "IA! IA!" as he chops people up with his light saber, and names his first land-speeder "Goat with a thousand young" inexplicably. Then I'll be worried. Jerry gwyckoff@midway.uchicago.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:20:20 EDT From: Appelion@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: A plane crash Well! The Phil-ster has a handle on it! What's your take on the warehouse/lab/Tupperware container question ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:20:16 EDT From: Appelion@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: A plane crash A. The FAA, possibly the airport security forces and/or FBI if terrorism is suspected. Anyone else you want (as long as the players think it's real, your good). B. Some or all to labs (I think). Agent Xavier Kickin' 'em where it hurts ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:20:12 EDT From: Appelion@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? It could be that they wanted all the aliens to have an accent/slurred speech, etc., and French was the only way to get all of them the same? Agent Xavier Kickin' 'em where it hurts ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:27:26 -0400 From: "McGloin, Michael" Subject: RE: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Judeo-Chris tian Myth [McGloin, Michael] Dear Greame, While I found the virgin birth device a bit clumsy, I must point out that it is a common element of many myths. One for example would be the virgin birth of the Buddha. His mother dreamt of a white elephant whose tusk pieced her belly, when she awoke she was pregnant with little Siddarta. Second Jesus is not part of any Jewish myths. However I share your astonishment at the lack of response from Christians, perhaps they were too busy with Teletubbies. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 22:41:43 +0100 From: "Paul Radford" Subject: DG: ATTN : PHIL WARD Firstly, apologies to all other DG agents for something so off topic. Phil, I've tried to contact you off list but for some reason, your server keeps rejecting me. Assuming of course that you are definately going to play DG at Gencon UK, Steve Ellis as asked me to relay to you: If possible, he'd like to meet you prior to the DG game (on Saturday morning), on Friday afternoon in the Student Union bar (downstairs bar) after the Epic Experience game that usually goes on there is finished (about 6pm). We're both playing in the Epic Experience game. Steve will be wearing glasses and has gingery blond hair. Cheers, Paul ___________________________________________________ "Oh my god! They've summoned Cthulhu! You bastards! Web Pages: http://www.innotts.co.uk/~paulradford/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 19:36:22 EDT From: Appelion@aol.com Subject: Re: RE: DG: Falwell is an Alien, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Judeo-Christian Myth Yeah, what's up with Falwell? "It's purple like my undies, and has a triangle like my undies, but no lace (not like my undies)! Therefore it is gay! This message is not intended to be disparaging in any way to any member of any sexual minority other than the Rev. Jerry Falwell (he's off in his own little corner getting it on with Big Bird). Agent Xavier Kickin' 'em where it hurts ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 19:01:38 -0500 From: "Shane Ivey" Subject: RE: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Judeo-Christian Myth << While I found the virgin birth device a bit clumsy, I must point out that it is a common element of many myths. One for example would be the virgin birth of the Buddha. His mother dreamt of a white elephant whose tusk pieced her belly, when she awoke she was pregnant with little Siddarta. Second Jesus is not part of any Jewish myths. However I share your astonishment at the lack of response from Christians, perhaps they were too busy with Teletubbies.>> I think most of us were too busy being irritated with everything else done wrong in the film; the "virgin birth" twist was just one clumsy move among many. ObDG: Teletubbies. Can you get any more Mythos than that? I'm just waiting for the unveiling of Nyarly-Nyarly, the Verdigris Teletubby. But then, we've talked a little about them already. SHANE IVEY, Editor and Webmaster, www.zealot.com This week at Zealot.com: Sean Bean as Boromir? Zealot looks at the filming of LORD OF THE RINGS Zealot: Sci-Fi News, Reviews, and Interactive Fun ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 19:19:33 -0500 From: Nightstar Subject: Re: DG: ATTN : PHIL WARD Tell him to wear a red carnation! At 10:41 PM 8/31/1999 +0100, you wrote: >Firstly, apologies to all other DG agents for something so off topic. > >Phil, >I've tried to contact you off list but for some reason, your server keeps >rejecting me. >Assuming of course that you are definately going to play DG at Gencon UK, >Steve Ellis as asked me to relay to you: > >If possible, he'd like to meet you prior to the DG game (on Saturday >morning), >on Friday afternoon in the Student Union bar (downstairs bar) after the Epic >Experience game that usually goes on there is finished (about 6pm). We're >both playing in the Epic Experience game. Steve will be wearing glasses and >has gingery blond hair. > >Cheers, > >Paul > > >___________________________________________________ >"Oh my god! They've summoned Cthulhu! You bastards! > >Web Pages: >http://www.innotts.co.uk/~paulradford/ > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 20:28:04 -0500 (CDT) From: Tenebrous Technologies Subject: DG: Cult of Trandcendance? Been chewing on my recently arrived copy of Countdown (Thank's Pagans!) and noticed..where is the Cult of Transendence? Did I miss something in the vast wash of DG mail? Do they get thier own source book? Just curious as to where those guys were... your friends at Tenebrous Technologies, +_+_+_+_+_+_+ Tenebrous Technologies- 'What we are up to is none of your business' A tradition in Guile, Deceit and Treachery since 1997 Matt Cowger, CEO tenebrae@earthling.net http://home.gvi.net/~tenebrae Vox: (###)###-##### +_+_+_+_+_+_+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 19:12:52 -0700 From: Joseph Camp Subject: Re: DG: Cult of Trandcendance? >Do they get thier own source book? Just curious as to where >those guys were... Still in the works. You haven't missed anything. They were to be included in COUNTDOWN, but the book grew large enough on its own... be seeing you, Alphonse ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 21:45:19 -0500 (CDT) From: Tenebrous Technologies Subject: Re: DG: Cult of Trandcendance? At 07:12 PM 8/31/99 -0700, Joseph Camp wrote: >>Do they get thier own source book? Just curious as to where >>those guys were... > >Still in the works. You haven't missed anything. They were to be included >in COUNTDOWN, but the book grew large enough on its own... That's no joke...what a TOME (btw I loved the reference to a T.O.M.E. product from days gone by, they did some fun stuff!). Thanks for the reply. your friends at Tenebrous Technologies, +_+_+_+_+_+_+ Tenebrous Technologies- 'What we are up to is none of your business' A tradition in Guile, Deceit and Treachery since 1997 Matt Cowger, CEO tenebrae@earthling.net http://home.gvi.net/~tenebrae Vox: (###)###-##### +_+_+_+_+_+_+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 22:49:35 EDT From: USFORREC1@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: Cult of Trandcendance? Two further questions on COT. One: any kind of even preliminary release date? Two: Will it be a chapbook, full blown sourcebook or inclusion in some other project? Thanks, Dave K ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:36:14 -0400 (EDT) From: John Petherick Subject: RE: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Judeo-Christian Myth At 07:01 PM 8/31/99 -0500, you wrote: ><< While I found the virgin birth device a bit clumsy, I must point out that >it is a common element of many myths. One for example would be the virgin >birth of the Buddha. His mother dreamt of a white elephant whose tusk pieced >her belly, when she awoke she was pregnant with little Siddarta. Second >Jesus is not part of any Jewish myths. However I share your astonishment at >the lack of response from Christians, perhaps they were too busy with >Teletubbies.>> > >I think most of us were too busy being irritated with everything else done >wrong in the film; the "virgin birth" twist was just one clumsy move among >many. > Personally, I don't believe that Anakin Skywalker is the product of a virgin birth. Echoing the history of Luc and Darth Vader from the first / middle trilogy, Anakin is the hidden child of the Dark Lord who will come to join / supplant / kill his father. His mother simply does not *remember* doing the dirty deed with Senator Palpatine, but for an adept of the Dark Side this type of memory wiping should be simple. Tatooine is the wasteland, and Anakin will be the destroyer / savior who comes forth from it. The more apt comparison is King Arthur and Mordred than Jesus Christ. ObDG: "Golden Dawn" has a very different take on Arthur, that could be adapted to DG. Okay, that's a stretch but I had to do something. ********************************************************************* John Petherick, CIH jpetheri@cyberbeach.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 20:34:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Chris Womack Subject: DG: Human + Fungus = Humongous? An interesting article (originating in the NY Times) appeared in today's San Jose Mercury News. Here's the pertinent bit: As part of an outpouring of research that is revolutionizing notions about the genetic, biochemical, structural and evolutionary relationships among living things, fungi such as mushrooms have been revealed as being closer to animals like humans than to plants like lettuce. ... This is of course, like all mainstream newspaper coverage of scientific research, doubtless a gross oversimplification; nevertheless, for our purposes the implications are...promising. Humans and fungi related. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to flesh out a DG Friendly whose research in this area makes him a particular target for the Mi-Go... Chris Womack Keeper of the List oaktree@nocturne.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:55:44 -0400 (EDT) From: John Petherick Subject: DG: Items of Interest ... and a Poll This is serious research conducted by the Neuroscience Department at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. My office is just across the parking but, except for drinking the same fluoridated water, I have nothing in common with them. Honest. The Theory (there are obvious connections to Mi-Go activity with this one) http://www.laurentian.ca/www/neurosci/tectonicedit.htm The authour of this paper has an "official" website, where it is revealed that the only external funding agency was the U.S. Navy http://ALUMNI.LAURENTIAN.CA/www/neurosci/official.htm In fact, the entire Neuroscience department at Laurentian seems a little bit unusual. http://ALUMNI.LAURENTIAN.CA/www/neurosci/resgrp.htm For those of you who like RealAudio, a one hour segment describing some of this work was broadcast on CBC Radio. It's available at http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/ideas/sounds/haunted.ram Now ... for the poll. One of the things that the Neuroscience Group has done is develop a device that stimulates the brain using pulsed electromagnetic radiation. The effect is to create "sensed presences" similar to those reported by people experiencing religious visions, hauntings or UFO abduction experiences. They are still looking for research subjects. Should I volunteer as a subject for this research? ********************************************************************* John Petherick, CIH jpetheri@cyberbeach.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 20:55:02 -0700 From: Joseph Camp Subject: Re: DG: Cult of Trandcendance? >One: any kind of even preliminary release date? Nope. >Two: Will it be a chapbook, full blown sourcebook or inclusion in some other >project? Full stand-alone sourcebook. Not nearly as big as DG:CD, I assure you! be seeing you, Alphonse ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 00:20:23 -0400 From: Daniel Harms Subject: Re: DG: RE: Consistency/Hastur/Mythos At 11:47 AM 8/31/99 +0100, Peter wrote: >Well, I didn't expect that rant to provoke a thread! However, it has been >interesting to see all sides represented in some fashion. >I was actually arguing for anarchy, freedom and the use of Mythos >inconsistencies as a GM tool. As I see it internal campaign consistency >and logic is a question for each individual GM. For me, a little internal >inconsistency, at least from a players viewpoint, is as good a thing as set >rules and templates. Players (including those who have read the CoC rules >in a past life) should never be allowed to stand on firm ground when they >make their assumptions. Keep 'em off balance. Sounds like a good way to handle it. However, one last comment: >As for consistency within the Mythos (literature, RPG or other), who >cares, we should take what we want and leave the rest to the nitpickers. I >didn't want a definitive answer to my question about Leng, I wanted a >response that showed the Mythos scholars were actually alive and open >to ideas and discussion (c.f. Mr Harms, a fine example of the open- >minded breed of Mythos guru) rather than constipated and closed- >minded (c.f. many other boring types out there). >The commentaries viz Illuminati and suchlike have missed the point. I >have also heard Call of Cthulhu itself lambasted as being contrary to >the idea of the Cthulhu Mythos as enshrined by HPL et al. To me, >that's a sad, elitist standpoint to take. I'd like to think that the gaming >system induced new people to enjoy the stories rather than detracting >from them. However, this isn't always the case. A friend of mine pointed out that many people get excited about the Mythos because it _is_ consistent. They read the stories, and then want to find out what other stories say. If one's players are of this variety, they may complain. This isn't as great a problem as it might sound - it's little different from playing with someone who demands that all the gun info be correct, and someone with a decent collection of Mythos fiction could probably find enough ideas to keep them going for years (though what they come up on their own may be more entertaining). I don't think the Illuminatus Trilogy is a good addition to the Mythos, and I wouldn't use it in my games. The Call of Cthulhu game may not be considered a good addition, mainly because of the RPG structure (can you imagine four HPL characters going through a story and then deciding they wanted to do something like that AGAIN?). There will be people who don't like some elements, and who want a strictly fiction-based, or even Lovecraft-based, way to read or play. So long as neither the innovators nor the purists try to disparage each other, it's all right by me. Yrs., Daniel Harms dmharms@acsu.buffalo.edu "I had come frighteningly near to the capture of an old secret which ventured close to man's haunts and lurked cautiously just beyond the edge of the known. Yet in the end I had nothing." - H. P. Lovecraft and Robert H. Barlow ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 00:27:37 -0400 From: Daniel Harms Subject: Re: DG: Items of Interest ... and a Poll John Petherick said: >They are still looking for research subjects. >Should I volunteer as a subject for this research? I skipped the rest of this post, but I vote yes. Absolutely. Whatever it is. ;-) These are the dangers of putting the use of oneself to a popular vote. Yrs., Daniel Harms dmharms@acsu.buffalo.edu "I had come frighteningly near to the capture of an old secret which ventured close to man's haunts and lurked cautiously just beyond the edge of the known. Yet in the end I had nothing." - H. P. Lovecraft and Robert H. Barlow ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 02:28:03 -0500 From: "CO Christopher" Subject: DG: Site Update: Delta-Green.com Be advised that the Delta Green web server, http://www.delta-green.com, has been updated with several new files, including some first issued to this list and some never before published. As always, the Delta Green Mailing List information summary can be found at http://www.delta-green.com/summary.html. The information contained there is intended to be used only by list members to advance their Delta Green simulations; it is not to be disseminated or linked-to from another website. The next update is scheduled for October 1, 1999. Send files to me for review and publication. Christopher cochris@delta-green.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 03:32:15 EDT From: DHammann@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? When I was a kid a very popular cheap candy was 'Lemon Heads'. On the box was a lemon with a big stupid face, so instead of calling each other idiots or such we called each other 'lemon heads'. Did any one else notice that the only alien not able to start his pod in the pod race was a giant 'lemon head'? I think Lucas use to eat those candies too. Sorry, way off topic I know ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 04:00:58 EDT From: LizardRoi@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? Judeo-Christian Myth In a message dated 8/31/99 8:32:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jpetheri@cyberbeach.net writes: << Echoing the history of Luc and Darth Vader from the first / middle trilogy, Anakin is the hidden child of the Dark Lord who will come to join / supplant / kill his father. His mother simply does not *remember* doing the dirty deed with Senator Palpatine, but for an adept of the Dark Side this type of memory wiping should be simple. >> Actually, using the Sith Dragon's Breath power, Senator Palpatine came to Anakin's mother as her husband, and lo he lay with her and begat the once and future Jedi. All will be revealed when young Anakin draws the lightsaber from the stone in Part Two. Incidentally, is the injunction against revealing Phantom Menace plot points to our comrades across the pond now moot? Mark McFadden The Once and Future Lizard King ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 04:00:56 EDT From: LizardRoi@aol.com Subject: Re: DG: French Aliens, slightly off-topic, or, is it? In a message dated 8/31/99 8:59:59 AM Pacific Daylight Time, rand@lightstream.net writes: << OBDG: Who benefits from sneaking racist or nationalist propaganda in mainstream sci-fi movies? Who could possibly profit from the added paranoid sentiment? Or did I just answer my own question. So the Karotechia have killed George Lucas and regenerated him. They control the spell that can reduce him to his essential saltes, and use it to blackmail him. They have him change essential characters and cultures to promote "ethnic diversity", but instead it just raises racial tensions. Whats in the next movie? Jedi with white capes and hoods? Sith with swastikas tattooed on their foreheads? >> In the Real World, I suspect the culprit was a chimerical combination of PC aspirations, unconscious agendas and a clueless, soulless devotion to demographics. Lucas says that he wanted Jar Jar to be a character that children could identify with. So he is clumsy and scares easily, is open with his emotions and endearingly loyal. No problems with commitment for ol' Jar Jar. He's the perfect touchy-feely, in touch with his emotions modern guy. All the Cosmo quizzes say he's what every modern woman wants and needs. Naturally, everyone assumes he's gay. Mark McFadden All I'm saying is that Gungans prefer to live by the beach, have a bold fashion sense and dance with abandon. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ------------------------------ Date: 01 Sep 99 12:24:55 +0100 From: Peter Devlin Subject: DG: RE: Different Rules Systems IMHO if your players know the system well then there's really nothing wrong with the Chaosium/FASA system as is, other than the fact that you haven't got a deceptive, modern-day sourcebook on hand to give to players. Although a creative GM could bash one out in Quark XPress from OCR'd or scanned CoC rulesbooks. Having said that I went for the 2nd-4th edition Hero System with 125 - 130 points total including disads from a 75 point base. This began as an exercise to satisfy the curiosity of my players and ended up with a total conversion that would be suitable for a Hero campaign sourcebook. The flexible Hero system allows players to spend time designing detailed, larger than life characters which suit their personality and ideas. It also allows GM to tear those PCs into bloody Chunky-Chunks(tm) in spectacular fashions (hit locations, crits, disable/impair) or readily visit major psychoses upon them post-trauma (zero point psychological disads accquired during play). If you desire the element of brutal realism then you can use the doubled-up killing damage modifiers, making PC death or disablement from a single gunshot wound or Fungi claw a likely prospect; end result is no Rambos ignoring damage from attacks. SAN and POW/MP equivalents are based on EGO (willpower, force of personality) and INT (perceptive reasoning) stats, similar to rules for STUN and END; politicians, lawyers and other egomaniacs outshine physically-superior field agents when it comes to resistance to magical attack or brain-numbing horror. If you don't tell them the true nature of the campaign in advance most male players tend to neglect stats such as EGO during character design favouring (no surprise) combat skills. Such skills are great, most critters love it when their prey wriggles during feeding :) The intriguing area of character construction in this system is the potential for unusual talents or skills e.g. photographic memory, ability to see psychic auras, non human PCs (e.g. ghouls, Deep One hybrids) and other such weirdness. Your campaign can go off in unusual directions if you choose. Spells take a fair bit of conversion with costs on the high side but that is no bad thing as they tend to remain tools for NPCs; too costly for beginners and rare is the PC who survives long enough to gain significant XP, never mind having the desire to spend it learning sorcery with its attendant dangerous side effects. Mythos critters are quite faithful to the Mythos stories in this system as they come out very frightening once converted e.g. shoggoths come from a players worst nightmare, on average wielding STR 70 (25 metric tons capacity) over a variable 14 game hex area! Then add the enormous PRE stat which can leave PCs gobsmacked and quaking in their shoes whilst it closes in. I don't think you should do a half-hearted conversion to the Hero system or any other design-oriented system. Other rules-light(er) systems such as the Window, GURPS or even Twilight 2000 might be a better bet for conversion if you really have to. Cheers :-) --> :-0 Peter Devlin Bell, Book and Candle - http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns.html The South Side - http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/lovecraft/411/south/ Email - pdevlin@scotsys.co.uk ------------------------------ End of deltagreen-digest V2 #47 *******************************