Delta Green RPG - Adv - Future Perfect - Part 1

Future/Perfect, Part 1
A Scenario for Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game

Written by Dennis Detwiller
Published by Arc Dream Publishing in arrangement with Hellbend, Calif., Pop. 82

the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property
known as Delta Green is ™ and © the Delta Green Part- Hellbend was once a vibrant town of nearly 3,500 souls,
nership, which has licensed its use here. The contents of back when Hunt Electrodynamics ran the show. It was in
this scenario are © Dennis Detwiller. Editing, layout and the middle of Death Valley and no one knew why it was
additional material by Shane Ivey. Updated 19 JAN 2017. built there. In fact, no one cared.
In the late 1940s, Hellbend produced a third of the
Introduction electronics found in fighter aircraft around the world.
Hunt Electrodynamics ran everything from the schools,
Future/Perfect is a series of investigations linked together the town general store all the way down to the funeral
to form a single unbroken campaign. However, each inves- parlor. The company provided everything; and the people
tigation is self-contained and can be run as a one-off ad- liked it that way.
venture. Future/Perfect, Part 1 is a great way to introduce The explosion of 1952 changed everything.
new players and new characters. They can be brought in When the plant went up one August night, it took
completely ignorant of Delta Green. twenty-six locals with it, as well as the founder of Hunt
Electrodynamics—the elusive Arthur Hunt.
// Future/Perfect, Part 1 // // Delta Green //
In the midst of the destruction, Hunt Electrodynam- The Hellbend Investigation

ics fell under new ownership and changed. Hellbend was
left behind, crippled. The firm changed its name to Hunt Future/Perfect, Part 1 assumes that the players are special
Electronics and shifted its attentions to the east coast, and agents from the Bakersfield office of the FBI. They have
focused on contracts with NASA and the Pentagon. been assigned the case following the second murder of
Without the leadership of Hunt, who lived and a resident of Hellbend. Hellbend is inside Death Valley
worked in Hellbend, the town dried up like the earth in National Park, which is owned by the federal government.
Death Valley. People left, schools closed, things fell apart. That gives the FBI jurisdiction if it wants it.
Decades later, the town is nearly dead. Only eighty- The first death occurred on March 5 on the outskirts
two people call the crumbling remains of Hellbend home, of the town. Clifford Potter, a 53-year-old white male, was
and those few don’t look to the future. They get by on found mutilated less than four hundred yards from the re-
what they can, selling gas and goods to tourists on the mains of the ruins of the old Hunt Electrodynamics plant.
way to the Death Valley National Park and biding their Evidence was scant; he lay near the Bobcat tractor he had
time. In another few years, Hellbend will die a natural rented, which was splashed with blood. After a cursory
death, shriveling up in the 110-degree (43 C) summer heat, investigation by Inyo County Deputy Lucas Androzy, the
leaving behind a skeleton of ruined buildings as a monu- coroner ruled the death a bizarre accident.
ment to a better time. The second victim, Lucille Mayer, a 36-year-old white
But in the last month, something else has worn away female, was reported missing from Hellbend on the night
at the town, something decidedly unnatural. If the murder of April 24. Her body was discovered by Deputy Androzy
rate in Hellbend continues, it’ll die a lot faster than a few on May 8 when he was drawn into the desert by a gath-
years, and a lot more violently than just another victim of ering of buzzards. The physical evidence—what there is
some dead industry. of it—was consistent with the marks on Potter’s body:
Someone or something is killing the residents of Hell- violent blunt and cutting trauma.
bend, California. No one knows who or what it is. That was too much for coincidence. The coroner
ruled Mayer’s death a possible homicide, and now called
Potter’s death as a possible homicide, too.
Since both deaths were on U.S. government land, the
Inyo County Sheriff’s Office contacted the FBI office in
Bakersfield, which covers Inyo County. He asked if they
wanted to investigate, and meant to ask for help should
they decline to take the lead.
Somewhat to the sheriff’s surprise, the FBI wanted the
case.
Jurisdiction
Who are the player characters investigating this case?
The short answer is, it’s up to you. Future/Perfect, Part 1
assumes the case is investigated by FBI agents sent from
Bakersfield. But the FBI is unlikely to send more than one
or two people for this kind of investigation, so additional
Agents could come from other agencies. Or you could skip
the FBI altogether.
2
Other than the FBI, the most likely investigators The Agents
would be some mixture of:
These are the likeliest professions for Agents assigned to
»» Special agents from the National Parks Service. the Hellbend investigation.
»» Special agents from California’s Bureau of ANTHROPOLOGIST OR HISTORIAN: A consultant with
Investigation. the FBI or National Parks Service brought in for expert
»» Deputies from the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. knowledge of Death Valley.
COMPUTER SCIENTIST OR ENGINEER: A consultant with the
Hellbend has no police force of its own. Crimes there FBI or CBI brought in after the Agents discover unusual
are usually handled by the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, technology in Hellbend.
which keeps a two-deputy station at Furnace Creek, about FEDERAL AGENT: An FBI special agent from the Crimi-
10 miles southeast. The sheriff’s office rarely handles this nal Investigative Division, Bakersfield resident agency. Or
kind of “whodunnit” homicide investigation, so they a federal agent could be a special agent of the National
would likely reach out to the California Bureau of Inves- Parks Service, Investigative Services Branch. In that case,
tigation for aid if the FBI declined the case. The sheriff’s use the Outdoorsman bonus skill-point package.
office would then assign one or two deputies with local PHYSICIAN: An FBI or CBI forensic pathologist brought
knowledge to assist the lead investigators. in to examine the remains. Use the Criminalist or Police
The California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) some- Officer bonus skill-point package.
times provides special agents to assist county and local POLICE OFFICER: A special agent with the California
authorities with especially difficult cases. CBI agents more Bureau of Investigation’s Fresno Regional Office, on the
often investigate drug and corruption cases than murders, Unsolved Violent Crime Team. Use the Criminalist, Inter-
but they’re veteran detectives capable of handling any cas- rogator, or Police Officer (for a career cop) bonus skill-
es. One or two CBI detectives might come from the Fresno point package.
Regional Office’s Unsolved Violent Crime Team to lead SCIENTIST: An FBI forensic examiner specializing in
the investigation or, if requested, to assist FBI agents. biology and DNA analysis.
Hellbend is inside Death Valley National Park. The SPECIAL OPERATOR: A former Army Ranger who has
National Parks Service sometimes sends highly-trained hired on as an FBI special agent. Use the Criminalist or
special agents to work with local cops enforcing drug laws Police Officer bonus skill-point package.
and investigating abductions and other violent crimes
in national parks, so one might be sent to help with the Bakersfield FBI
Hellbend case.
The Bakersfield FBI office (“resident agency” in FBI lingo)
is located at 4550 California Ave. #450, Bakersfield, CA
93309. The nearly two dozen agents in Bakersfield report
to the much larger FBI field office in Sacramento. They
usually deal with drug trafficking, bank robberies, and
white-collar crimes. Homicides are typically handled by
local, county, or state police. Kidnappings and interstate
violent crimes are relatively rare.
The Hellbend case is different, and Bakersfield is the
closest FBI office.
Bakersfield is confident that someone is murdering
people in and around Hellbend. And its chief wants it
solved.
3
Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Kevin This creates an interesting tension between Agents and
Slotin runs the Bakersfield resident agency. The Hellbend therefore between players.
case smells like a big investigation. It’s the first significant THE AGENTS ARE DG “FRIENDLIES”: This works well if you
murder case the Bakersfield office has handled in years. want the Agents to have a whiff of the unnatural, but no
He wants it solved while he’s around to share the credit. definitive proof. They haven’t been inducted into Delta
Slotin has ambitions beyond Bakersfield. Green, but they unwittingly have Delta Green’s attention.
ASAC Slotin will keep close tabs on the case. The Sac- They may have seen or heard first-hand about things that
ramento office is also watching closely, ready to step in if science could not explain. The Hellbend case might see
they feel the case has bogged down. Slotin absolutely does them brought fully aboard.
not want that to happen. ALL AGENTS ARE OUTSIDE DG: This operation is a great
The Agents from Bakersfield are on a short leash. way to introduce Agents to Delta Green. Once they dis-
They must keep their i’s dotted and their t’s crossed, or cover what they are dealing with, few will be able to deny
face swift punishment or even replacement. This may have the existence of the unnatural. See DELTA GREEN IN SACRA-
terrible repercussions for more than their careers. MENTO on page 5 for details on how to set this up.
The director of the Sacramento FBI office is Special
Agent in Charge Michael Turk, a skilled investigator
known for his long memory and his ability to recall,
names, dates and personal histories in seconds. ASAC
Slotin lives in particular fear of Turk, and will do anything
to appease him.
If, God forbid, the investigation into Hellbend goes
south badly enough to generate media coverage, the Sac-
ramento field office will step in with both feet. The Agents,
and more specifically Delta Green, don’t want that to hap-
pen. Special Agent in Charge Turk is a large and looming
threat to the security and secrecy of Delta Green.
Are the Agents DG?

This is a question the Handler needs to determine before
the adventure begins. There are four options:
THE AGENTS ARE MEMBERS OF DELTA GREEN: This is the eas-
iest solution, and works well if this investigation is to be
run as a one-off adventure. In this case the normal routes
of unnatural investigation are open to the Agents, depend-
ing on whether they belong to the official program or the
illegal conspiracy: They can call in help, and they know
that they might have to use bizarre and illegal means to
get the job done.
SOME AGENTS ARE NOT DG: This can make for interest-
ing roleplaying as the knowledgeable Agents attempt to
“break in” those ignorant of the world of the unnatural.
4
Delta Green in Sacramento squared away. Makamura remains in Sacramento to keep

watch and to warn Grunberg if complications develop.
Three Delta Green agents work in the Sacramento FBI In Hellbend, Grunberg and Tralvayne review the
office: Special Agent Grunberg, Special Agent Tralvayne, Agents’ discoveries, listening for cues that the Agents have
and Special Agent Makamura (see page 28). Their exact indeed been exposed to the unnatural: evasiveness because
histories and their role depend on which Delta Green is at the Agents saw things that didn’t make sense, or objects
work in Hellbend. Are they with the official Delta Green set aside without being labelled as evidence because they
program or with the illegal conspiracy? And more impor- were too strange.
tantly, are the players’ Agents already in the know? Once they’re convinced that the Agents are indeed
dealing with the unnatural and know it, it goes much like
Already in Delta Green? if the Agents were in the official Delta Green program or
If the Agents and Grunberg’s people are in the official the illegal conspiracy. If the Agents seem reliable and dis-
Delta Green program, then Grunberg is the DG case creet, Grunberg and Tralvayne may tell them that they’re
officer assigned to the Hellbend operation. Tralvayne and part of a secret task force that looks out for weird cases
Makamura work on his behalf. The Agents get briefings like this. Or if the Agents seem prone to panic or publicity,
from Tralvayne and are expected to send word back to Grunberg and Tralvayne may try to cover everything up
Grunberg through her. If they uncover conclusive evidence and freeze them out.
of the unnatural, Grunberg reports it to the program. What happens next is up to you. Maybe Grunberg
Delta Green’s people in FBI headquarters in Washington and Tralvayne take over the investigation and send the
activate a new investigation under the aegis of counterter- players’ Agents away—but the Agents get called back by
rorism or counterespionage, classifies it Top Secret, and Makamura to help when Grunberg and Tralvayne go miss-
grants clearance only to its own people: Grunberg, Tral- ing, victims of the Hellbend killer.
vayne, Makamura, and the players’ Agents. That freezes
out the sheriff’s office, the state police, and even the rest The Program Takes
of the FBI, including Slotin and even Turk. That wins the
players’ Agents exactly zero new friends. an Interest
If the Agents and Grunberg’s people are in the illegal
conspiracy, then their task is more fraught. They have to If any of the unnatural oddities in this investigation—the
continue the Hellbend investigation while covering up all dragonfly, the gold cube, the radiation, the dinosaur—are
signs of the unnatural and keeping Bakersfield and Sacra- reported to the mundane authorities, or if Grunberg and
mento from sending more personnel. Grunberg, Tralvayne, company are part of the official Delta Green program,
and Makamura can run interference, but there’s only so then the program takes a deeper interest.
much they can do. They impress on the Agents how criti-
cal it is to walk with care and to provide a plausible cover Already in the Program?
story to keep Slotin and Turk happy. If Grunberg’s in the official program, he receives orders
to secure all such discoveries safely for pickup by other
Not in Delta Green? personnel. He and Tralvayne handle it and try to keep the
If the Agents aren’t yet part of Delta Green, it’s because players’ Agents uninvolved, compartmentalized, out of
the Hellbend case has not caught DG’s attention. The case sight. If necessary, they warn that the Agents are risking
begins as a mundane investigation. But when their reports careers cut short, pensions severed and internal investi-
back to Bakersfield start including bizarre details, that gations launched out of nowhere. Agents who ignore the
catches the attention of Grunberg, Tralvayne, or Makamu- warnings and get caught will find these threats very real.
ra in Sacramento. Grunberg persuades Turk to send him Within a day, Grunberg and Tralvayne take their finds
and Tralvayne to Hellbend to make sure everything is deep into the desert to meet a helicopter belonging to the
5
U.S. Air Force. Specialists in hazmat suits put the discover- Hellbend History
ies in sealed containers under the watchful eye of heavi-
ly-armed guards and fly them away a Delta Green lab in a Hellbend, California is little more than a bump in the road
restricted corner of a top-secret base. in the desolate wastes of Death Valley. The only thing that
makes it unique in the area is that it’s obvious it was once
Not in the Program? much more.
If Grunberg and the Agents are not part of the official The remnants of a formerly vibrant company town are
program, they may run into agents from it. These new still to be found surrounding the core of what Hellbend
agents approach the problem through official channels as has become. Derelict buildings, long abandoned and over-
investigators from elsewhere in the FBI, part of a high- run by weeds and witch grass dot the roads leading up to
ly-restricted task force sent from Washington. Turk in town, the legacy of Hunt Electrodynamics.
Sacramento tells Grunberg and the Agents (if the Agents Once the town supported a workforce of nearly 4,000,
are FBI) to cooperate and to not ask questions, and warns and they left their dwellings behind. Most have fallen into
them that their careers are on the line. He’s not in on this ruin: windows long ago shattered, paint peeled off, decks
other group’s secrets; he only knows they have clearance collapsed, foundations shifted. Only a few are still lived in.
that he doesn’t. Most of Hellbend was long ago surrendered to the desert.
These agents of the program weren’t sent to inves- No one goes into the abandoned areas if they can help it.
tigate the Hellbend killings, only to seize the fruits of Most of the 82 residents of Hellbend live near the
unnatural technology. They give the players’ Agents some center of town or within a few blocks of Main and State
pretext meant to let them persuade themselves that they streets. A handful live a bit further out.
saw nothing unnatural, after all. The only business worth mentioning is the Gas n’ Sip,
If the Agents have clearly seen the unnatural and don’t the local gas station/grocery store/post office on the corner
seem likely to pretend otherwise, the program’s agents tell of Main and State. Nearly every piece of mail comes or
them to keep quiet about it. Don’t take it public. There’s goes through the Gas n’ Sip. Nearly everyone who stops in
far more at stake than they know. Someone from the pro- Hellbend does so for one of two things: gas or directions.
gram will be in touch. On a busy day, a car or two will come through Hell-
If the Agents try to interfere with the program’s agents, bend on the way to Furnace Creek Ranch, a small resort
it could turn bloody, fast. The program’s agents are profes- ten miles south. A scattering of locals visit the Gas n’ Sip
sionals, some of them actual FBI agents and some of them each day. A cat and a couple of dogs wander around. If it’s
special forces with FBI covers. They are veterans of Delta a banner day, Jarvis Greene closes the Gas n’ Sip early and
Green’s mission and have learned the hard way that when plays horseshoes with neighbors in the lot in front of the
there’s killing to be done, it’s best to do it swiftly and to station.
cover it up thoroughly. They try to dissuade the players’ The town has no police force. If there’s trouble, a dep-
agents, showing respect for their diligence, not treating uty drives up from the sheriff’s office station at Furnace
them with scorn. But they clearly are ready to kill to take Creek, 16 km south.
these unnatural artifacts away from the public eye.
What happens next is up to you. »» HELLBEND AREA: 323.33 hectares (799 acres).
»» POPULATION: 82 (2010 Census), down from 3,526
(1950 Census).
»» FOUNDED: 1940.
»» INDUSTRY: Tourism (formerly military electronics).
»» TEMPERATURE: High, 53.3 C (128 F); Low, –7.7 C (18
F).
6
Hunt Electrodynamics In 1977, Thompson MacAfee handed over the reins

Arthur Hunt, a self-taught genius from rural Ohio, formed to William Lassiter. Lassiter moved Hunt Electronics into
Hunt Electrodynamics in 1926. With three significant pat- the realm of home computing. By 1990, the move proved
ents registered by Hunt in its first year of operation, the sound. Hunt became a premiere producer of computer
company was soon flush with capital. By the time radio equipment and components. As the Cold War shriveled,
and rural electrification had swept the nation, Hunt was Hunt restructured itself to the demands of the new market.
already at the head of the pack. The Hunt Resistor was The company remains an anomaly to this day. It has
a standard electronic component in nearly every radio pro- been privately held since its inception. William Lassiter
duced between 1933 and 1949. is a recluse, much like his predecessors. No one knows
With World War II, Hunt Electrodynamics revenues precisely which way the company will jump next.
exploded and the company grew to gargantuan propor- Much more about Hunt Electronics can be learned in
tions. By 1945, it employed nearly 11,000 workers across Future/Perfect, Part 3.
the U.S. In a move that would prove his genius, Hunt
expanded his business into home devices such as washing
machines, refrigerators and freezers, as well as electric
ovens. By 1948, Hunt was the second largest producer of
such items behind Westinghouse.
Hunt guided the company in several odd directions.
First, it never went public. Second, though it did have
large offices in both Los Angeles and New York, Hunt ran
the business from the Hunt Electrodynamics plant he had
constructed at great expense in one of the most inhospita-
ble places on earth: Hellbend, California, in the heart of
Death Valley.
Hunt rarely left Hellbend after 1940, and was the sub-
ject of some scrutiny due to his odd behavior. A legendary
recluse, he spent the last decade of his life working on the
design of a device that he said would “change the face of The Investigation Begins
the Earth.”
In August 1952, at age 46, Arthur Hunt died in an The seat of Inyo County, California, is the tiny Death
explosion that demolished the Hellbend plant. The plant Valley town of Independence. The county courthouse,
seemed to fold in on itself as the earth swallowed it whole. sheriff’s office, and coroner’s office are all right down the
Nothing salvageable remained. street from each other.
Hunt’s right-hand man, Thompson MacAfee, assumed Driving to Independence from Bakersfield takes three
control of the company, purchasing Hunt’s privately held hours. For CBI detectives coming from Fresno, it’s a drive
stock from his estate at an enormous sum. He renamed of four and a half hours; they pass Bakersfield along the
the company Hunt Electronics, shifted its headquarters way. From Sacramento, it’s a drive of more than five and
to Washington, D.C., and began actively reviving military a half hours past Fresno and Bakersfield, or a two-hour
contracts which had been slipping in recent years. flight aboard an FBI Cessna.
Beginning in September 1955, Hunt Electronics The Agents first meet the Inyo County sheriff and the
became a primary source of electronic components for deputy who handled the deaths up til now.
the U.S. Air Force. The company’s star rose along with
the arc of the Cold War, and its revenues and work force
exploded.
7
Sheriff Alfred Mann rumors, reports, and crimes in Inyo County. Both have
Sheriff Mann, 44 years old, is big and burly with a vice- lived in the region their whole lives, and are well versed in
grip handshake. A ten-year veteran of the Inyo County desert survival, hunting, and the ways of the locals. Every-
Sheriff’s Office—he was a deputy before being elected one knows and trusts them.
sheriff—Mann likes Death Valley and is a common sight They will not be easy to convince, however, unless
patrolling the roads. He is well liked and is regarded as directly exposed to obviously unnatural events (such as
fair. He’s friendly to the Agents and seems glad for the being confronted by the Hellbend killer). They’re likely to
help. shrug off more subtle evidence, such as the 6-kg gold cube
Nevertheless, Mann was not properly trained for the or Meganeura dragonfly from the Potter house. Sheriff
investigation he has found himself embroiled in. He did Mann will immediately grasp the importance of either of
not catch that Androzy’s search of Clifford Potter’s house those items, but Androzy will feel some sort of trick is
was, at best, shoddy. The report on the murders are in- being played on him. Convincing him requires unequivo-
complete. Luckily, Mann is not an egotist. He is eager for cal evidence.
more experienced detectives to work on the case.
Mann will assist the Agents if asked, but otherwise Dr. Abner White, Inyo County Coroner
stays out of their way. Along with Mann and Androzy, Dr. White can review the
details of the case with the Agents. He can show photo-
Deputy Lucas Androzy graphs of the bodies (taken by his staff and fairly compe-
At 26, Deputy Androzy has only a few years on the job. tent) and locations where the bodies were found (taken
He’s one of two deputies who work in the tiny Furnace sloppily by Androzy).
Creek station, near Hellbend. He investigated the Clifford The coroner could not readily determine how Potter
Potter death (inexpertly), and he found Lucille Mayer’s had died. The body was torn to pieces, but no one could
body. come up with a motive to indicate foul play. A nearby
Androzy tries to be friendly, but he’s young, head- Bobcat light construction vehicle was tentatively iden-
strong, and more than a little ticked off that the feds have tified as the instrument of his death—it was covered in
stepped in. This is more from a worry of not doing a good his blood—but even that made little sense. Potter had
job than from some deep-seated hatred of federal author- rented it at his own expense and was scavenging in the
ities. His policing skills were pretty clearly not up to the
task of dealing with the strange deaths. He professional Clifford Potter Lucille Mayer
experience has mostly included traffic stops. Murder is Victim (age 68) (age 36)
way out of his league, but watching CSI shows since child- Race/Gender White male White female
hood has convinced him differently. Occupation Retired steelworker Sculptor
Though his heart is in the right place, Androzy tends Height 5’10” (178 cm) 5’2” (157 cm)
to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. He’ll show up Weight 165 lbs. (75 kg) 102 lbs. (46 kg)
(smiling the whole time) at spots the Agents are searching; Time of Death Between 6 p.m. and Between April 24
9 p.m., March 5 and May 8
ask questions of witnesses who were already questioned
by the Agents; and complete searches after the fact, trying Discovered By Jarvis Greene Deputy Lucas An-
drozy
to cut the Agents off at the proverbial path.
Body Found 2.3 miles (3.7 km) 2 miles (3.2 km)
north of Hellbend southeast of Hellbend
Recruiting the Sheriff and Deputy Cause of Death Blunt/cutting trauma Blunt/cutting trauma
Alfred Mann and Lucas Androzy are prime candidates Family Brother (deceased) Emily Warren
to become Delta Green “friendlies”. They are unmarried (companion), Tanya
Mayer (mother)
and live alone, and their job allows them access to intelli-
Enemies None None
gence and weaponry. They can also very effectively quash
8
abandoned lot at the ruins of the Hunt plant as he had Around Hellbend, Clifford Potter was considered nei-
many times before. He was known as a treasure-hunter ther nice nor particularly rude. He had no friends to speak
and was considered just a little crazy. of, but helped others out as needed. He drank, but not
The investigation petered out after a week. Lacking enough to bother anyone. He seemed content to maintain
concrete evidence of foul play, Dr. White ruled it a bizarre his house and hike around the ruined areas of Hellbend.
accident. Potter must have somehow lost control of the He sometimes recovered valuable scrap metal to sell in
Bobcat and fallen underneath it while it was still moving. Independence.
The marks on his body didn’t exactly line up with that, A little less than two years ago, Potter began poking
but it was a closer fit than anything else. Any coroner can around the Hunt Electrodynamics plant. Locals usually
tell you, some deaths are just weird. avoided that area. The site is uninteresting, nothing more
When Androzy found Mayer two weeks later—he than a thigh-high sea of concrete rubble.
followed circling buzzards and found the body beneath Potter began digging up large portions of brass,
a rock shelter in a dry gully—very little of her was left to bronze and copper piping from the site. He was often
examine. Severe blunt trauma had occurred, and por- seen driving to the ruins of the plant in his old Ford truck
tions of her skeleton were missing, sheared off as if in an with an acetylene torch and other gear in the back. It was
industrial accident. The remains had been exposed to the common knowledge around town that Potter thought the
harsh elements of Death Valley for several days. Dr. White ruins were a proverbial gold mine.
identified her by her teeth. No one else in town really cared. After awhile, even
Agents with Forensics skill can examine the bodies. Potter stopped talking about it.
They find nothing new. Dr. White did a competent job.
Victim 2: Lucille Mayer
Victim 1: Clifford Potter Born in Los Angeles, Lucille Mayer spent most of her
Potter was born in Detroit, Michigan, and worked at adult life in and around the UCLA School of Arts and
a Ford auto plant there for twenty-five years. He took Architecture, first as pottery student and later as a teacher.
early retirement in 1992 just two weeks before the plant Six years ago, Mayer met Emily Warren, a painter
permanently closed. He had taken four vacations in those from Death Valley who sold canvases in L.A. twice yearly.
years, the last two to Death Valley. He fell in love with the After a brief affair, Mayer moved into Warren’s home in
climate and area. He bought a house in Hellbend in late Hellbend. They lived there together as a committed couple
1993 at a fire-sale price and lived in the town ever since. until Mayer’s death. They supported their leisurely lifestyle
9
by selling Mayer’s sculptures and Warren’s paintings in The night that Mayer failed to come home, Warren
Las Vegas and L.A. alerted the sheriff within an hour of nightfall. The town
Mayer and Warren were friendly and affable, well rapidly organized a search but found no signs of her. A
liked by the townsfolk. Some neighbors refer to them as painful two-week wait ensued, until her body was found
“the lesbians,” but that’s less a slur than a sign of the tiny two miles from Hellbend by Deputy Androzy.
size of the community. Few gave them a second glance.
For the past few years, Mayer had been creating popu- Hellbend and Furnace Creek
lar “desert wood” sculptures: assemblages of desert-dried
wood and other plants, woven together into complex After the Agents meet the sheriff and coroner in Indepen-
designs. Mayer spent much of her free time, particularly at dence, it’s a two-hour drive to Hellbend. The tiny town is
dawn and dusk, walking the perimeter of town, collecting 180 km from Independence, south and then west around
wood. She never went much further than a half a mile out dusty, stony mountains.
of town. She was not known to be skilled at survival but The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office maintains a tiny
nor was she known for taking risks. She was cautious. station in Furnace Creek, 16 km south of Hellbend. The
station is staffed four deputies, with one on duty at any
10
given time. They rarely see any criminal activity worse Deputy Androzy searched Potter’s house in a casual
than drunk driving. The deputies work out of a small fashion, looking for signs of a struggle or other simple
cabin with little more than a two-line phone, a ham radio clues. Otherwise, it has been ignored. Androzy took noth-
set and a sloth-like internet connection. Deputy Androzy ing from the house.
works the day shift, three 12-hour days one week and four
the next. The Kitchen
Furnace Creek is best known for Furnace Creek Potter’s kitchen seemed to be the hub of his life. The rest
Ranch, a small retiree resort with a tiny golf course, a of the house is military clean—even sparse—and only the
swimming pool, palm trees, a pleasant motel, a big lot kitchen seems “lived in.” A sign over the stove says, “You
for recreational vehicles, a post office, a few shops and a don’t have to be crazy to live here, but it helps.”
grocery store, and an airstrip where small planes can land. The food consists of canned meat and chili and boxed
It’s the only place for the Agents to rest near Hellbend. noodle dishes, all bought from the Gas n’ Sip downtown.
The real interest in the room lies on the table: gloves,
two books, a notepad, a map, a boom-box, and a series of
tapes.
THE GLOVES—RED DIRT: These heavy work gloves are
covered in red dirt that does not match the local terrain.
Anyone picking them up realizes they are unusually heavy.
They are leaded gloves, purchased from a medical supply
company in Winchester, Idaho, nearly a year ago. They’re
typically used by X-ray and lab technicians who deal with
radioactive substances on a daily basis.
THE BOOKS—DISTURBING IMPLICATIONS: Two beaten
books sit on the table: Radioactivity and Geology: An
Account of the Influence of Radioactive Energy on Terres-
trial History and Radioactivity and Its Measurement. Both
were ordered from Amazon.com nearly two years ago.
Clifford Potter’s House They are somewhat technical, but deal with the detection
and identification of radiation sources. They seem to be
Clifford Potter lived on the extremities of Hellbend, near well read, but are otherwise devoid of clues.
what is commonly referred to as the “bluff, ” a small rise THE MONTE GREENE TAPES—HEARSAY AND INNUENDO:
in the land northwest of town. His house was 1.8 km Twenty-four cassette tapes are strewn about the kitchen
from the center of town and 2 km from the ruins of the table, next to an ancient, nearly inoperable boom-box.
Hunt Electrodynamics plant. Each tape has a chicken-scratch label marking them as
Potter was the only resident for nearly a quarter of a “Monty Int.” followed by a number. They are not dated.
mile in any direction, and seemed to like it that way. His They contain the rambling recollections of Montgom-
small house was immaculately kept; in fact, it is the only ery Greene. (See MONTGOMERY GREENE on page 17.) Each
well-maintained house in the vicinity. Potter owned the captures a particular recollection by Monty Greene about
house outright, and went to great lengths to keep it in when he worked in the Hunt Electrodynamics plant for
prime shape, though hardly anyone ever came to see him. Arthur Hunt, the reclusive multimillionaire. The tapes
It is a one-story, gable-roofed house painted a sickly, appear to have no relevance on the case, but appearances
lime green. It has a low attic. Witchgrass outside the house can be deceiving. Deputy Androzy listened to part of one
is brown and dead. A small, hand-dug root cellar is in the tape and failed to see their importance. See MONTGOMERY
backyard, a short distance from the house. GREENE INTERVIEWS, pages 31–33, for samples.
11
THE NOTEPAD—BAFFLING SHORTHAND: A battered and pool. (In actuality, this is not a pool, but a gate; see THE
once water-logged (but now dry) notepad is on the kitchen GATE on page 22 and THE DRAWING on page 34.)
table as well. In it, Clifford potter took hundreds of notes. THE MAP—BUT OF WHAT? Clifford Potter obviously fash-
Few are clearly legible. Beside the poor penmanship, it ioned this hand-drawn map with great care. It shows what
is obvious Potter felt no need to label pages. He seemed appear to be several roads or passages from a bird’s-eye
to be writing about something he knew very well and view, all surrounding a large, central, circular location.
expected no one else to need to understand. Most of the There are careful measurements of distance and angles.
notes appear to be measurements of distance, such as 6’3”. It is not labeled. Agents exploring the ruins of the Hunt
Careful comparison of the notepad to the map (see below) Electrodynamics Plant will soon discover that the sinkhole
finds some identical measurements on both. A few notes there matches the width and dimensions of the hole in
are less obscure, such as “machine parts: gold, silver” and the center of the map. The tunnels shown on the map are
“radioactive?” The last page shows a simple drawing of not visible from the surface. If the Agents visit the culvert
what looks like an odd pool with sockets in the border beneath the rubble, the map and its measurements provide
surrounding it. Wavy lines are drawn in the center of the a precise guide.
12
The Root Cellar sticking their noses into all parts of the investigation, look-
ing for a dirty bomb. (See THE REAL FEDS STEP IN on page 25.)
Potter dug the root cellar recently. Locals can say that
he finished it just after he began going out to the Hunt The Cube
plant on a regular basis, about two years ago. It is about Buried in the dead center of the root cellar beneath less
three meters by four meters across and about four meters than a foot of dirt, wrapped in a large zip-lock bag, is a
underground, accessible through hand-made storm cellar 6.904 cm by 6.904 cm (2.718” by 2.718”) cube of solid
doors and a series of slate steps. It appears to be complete- gold. It weighs more than six kilograms (14 pounds). It
ly empty except for a single long- toothed rake propped has been precisely machined with rounded corners, a slight
against a shored-up wall. curve on the inner faces, and a strange icon carved into
Careful Agents who hover on the stairs before enter- each face. For the gold alone, it would be worth nearly a
ing and make a successful Search roll see by the footprints quarter of a million dollars.
that only one person has been walked on the soft dirt of The gold cube is radioactive, emitting 50 to 100 rems.
the cellar. (Deputy Androzy can confirm that he looked Prolonged exposure to it, such as by holding it close to
down the stairs but did not walk around.) It’s also obvi- the body for an hour, will cause an Agent’s Constitution
ous that whoever the footprints belong to, the person was to drop by 2 and give a general feeling of malaise, much
interested in raking the floor of the cellar. Those few foot- like the flu. An INT test identifies the culprit. If it is safely
prints disrupt an otherwise perfect sea of carefully raked contained, the Agent’s stats eventually return to normal—
dirt, like a strange, subterranean Zen garden. (Agents with though at your discretion, lasting health effects such as
Forensics at 20% or better can take plaster casts of one or sterility might remain.
two footprints. Examination matches them with Potter’s
shoes.)
Paranoia
Agents confronted with books on radiation in a dead
man’s house might jump to unpleasant conclusions. En-
courage paranoia. Did radiation kill the grass in Potter’s
lawn? (No, but it’s fun to freak the Agents out.)
Bringing a Geiger counter into the house yields inter-
esting (though thoroughly safe) results. The house is clean
for the most part, but the notebook and map read in the 3
to 4 REM range, unusual but not overly dangerous.
The root cellar is another story. Even at the top of the
stairs, the root cellar emits a strong 50 to 100 REM sig-
nature. This is dangerous enough to cause mild radiation
sickness after an hour and even cause male sterility with
prolonged exposure. The source is the center of the room,
in the floor. (See THE CUBE.)
This also offers up another serious threat, this one
political. The Agents all know that if anyone in the FBI
outside of Delta Green learns of such a strong radiation
source at a federal crime scene, they will report it to the
Department of Homeland Security and other authorities.
Within hours, the place will be crawling with specialists
13
To any Agent who has Science (Physics, Chemistry, or more—loses 1/1D6 SAN instead and can immediately
anything relevant) at 20% or higher, this level of radioac- identify it. It is thought to be the largest insect ever to
tivity in a cube of gold is bizarre. No gold found in nature have existed on earth, a Meganeura dragonfly.
is radioactive. Only man-made radioisotopes of gold re- The problem is that the Meganeura dragonfly lived
tain radioactivity—some are used in microscopic amounts in the Carboniferous Period, some 300 million years ago.
to destroy tumors—and most of those have half-lives of The sample is as fresh as if it were killed yesterday. If
only a few days. A radioisotope of gold with this size, this somehow genuine, its value would be incalculable. People
radioactive, makes no sense at all. would literally kill to obtain it. If anyone outside Delta
The six icons on the sides of the cube are are rectilin- Green sees the dragonfly, things could get bad, quick.
ear, mathematical-looking symbols. Each is unique, and all
are unrecognizable to any but the most erudite Agents. An
Agent who succeeds at an Unnatural test identifies them as
a language known as Aklo. Others can discover that only
after protracted research. (See ABOUT AKLO.)
If these symbols are shown to Montgomery Greene,
he says they are identical to Arthur Hunt’s “code.” (See
HUNT’S ECCENTRICITIES on page 18.)
If translated, the symbols mean:
About Aklo
»» Asa (“The West,” “The End,” “The Last”)
»» Suu (“The East,” “The First,” “The One”) A serious researcher with a background in language stud-
»» Shé (“The Between,” “Transitional,” “The Middle”) ies (at least 50% each in History, Occult, and a couple of
»» Sek (“The North,” “Above,” “Up,” “Cold”) ancient and exotic Foreign Language skills) can find sever-
»» Sesh (“The South,” “Below,” “Down,” “Warm”) al interesting sources about the glyphs on the cube.
»» Shi (“Time,” “Before,” “The Predecessor”)
On the Internet
Careful examination of the cube by an engineer (with A few days of searching turns up similar glyphs on several
Science (Engineering) or a relevant Craft skill at 20%) re- obscure websites such as www.glyphforge.net and www.
veals it was made with metalworking machinery that was inhumantongues.com. The language is apparently called
cutting-edge in the 1950s. “Aklo” and arguments rage as to its validity. Some claim
it is the tongue of creatures that existed before humanity.
The Meganeura Dragonfly Others say it is a modern-day fake, created to generate
Buried next to the cube is a huge glass jar filled with a interest in the occult.
thick, clear liquid. (An Agent with Forensics or Medicine None of these sites say what kind of creatures those
at 20% recognizes formalin, a formaldehyde like sub- pre-humans might be. But they all mention a single
stance for preserving samples.) Inside is a huge insect, a existing source of the Aklo tongue: the so-called “Federal
dragonfly that measures approximately 73 cm (29 inches) Papers” located in the special collection at Miskatonic
from tip to tail. Its wings are crushed (two are missing) University in Arkham, Massachusetts. PDF scans of the
and it has obviously suffered severe trauma. It is curled in Federal Papers are easily found online. They are filled with
its death position in the liquid, rolled up like a spiral. symbols identical to those on the cube. The copies are
Seeing this thing costs 0/1D4 SAN. An Agent with generally good, but lack extreme detail; some symbols are
knowledge of prehistoric life—Archeology, Anthropolo- dim, others cut off. The vague impression of notes scrib-
gy, Science (Paleontology), or the equivalent at 20% or bled on the pages can sometimes be seen but never clearly
read.
14
At the Library of Congress Handler who wants to ratchet up the red herrings may do
Two or three weeks of searching turns up two mentions so by playing up connections to her brother.
of Aklo in the Library of Congress. One is from a Boston
book on American Indians written in 1699, On the People Warren’s Brother
of the New Land. It is a study of American Indian tribal A background check with the National Crime Information
legends of pre-history. An unidentified Indian speaks of Center (NCIC) reveals Emily Warren’s brother Christopher
the “Aklo” people: men of great size who could control Warren (age 41) is a felon with multiple convictions for
minds, vanish from sight and who disrupted the Indian violent crimes, including assault, and attempted murder.
tribes in “the west.” If Emily is asked, she confesses her brother lived with
The second book is called Tongues of the Precursors them briefly, a year ago. She kicked him out when he
(New York, 1921). This sensationalist occult text refers became violent, injuring Lucille in a minor scuffle over a
briefly to the “Aklo (also called ‘Tsath-Yo’) tongue of the 20-dollar bill.
sorcerers.” It is otherwise unhelpful. Christopher Warren is currently couch-surfing with
friends in Malibu. He has an iron-clad alibi, literally: He
At Miskatonic’s Special Collection spent two weeks in the county lockup for failing to pay
Access to the Federal Papers is by special appointment child-support to one of his many children. Those two
only, though FBI agents should have no problem securing weeks coincide with Lucille Mayer’s disappearance and
an appointment. The Federal Papers, recovered in 1935 the discovery of her body.
from the belongings of vanished writer Robert Blake, were
given to the library by Arkham police. Once part of a The Gas n’ Sip
book, they are now loose sheafs of old vellum paper kept
in a folio, separated carefully by plastic guards. Their The Gas n’ Sip is a two-story (plus basement), rickety
validity is dubious. Many who study such things think building with a gable roof. It sits on the corner of Main
that Blake himself—a writer of weird tales—created them and State streets, dead center in Hellbend. It’s adorned
to generate interest in his fiction. However, Agents who with aging Coke signs, ancient ads for Brylcreem and oth-
go to the trouble of seeing the papers in person will find a er, less memorable products, long since washed out by the
reward. On the 12th page is a single, English handwritten relentless sun. There are two old gas pumps placed dead
line in faded pencil, not visible in the online resources. It is center on a simple concrete block out front. Not too far
a solution to the cipher of Aklo, broken by Blake in 1935 from them, Jarvis Greene, the current proprietor, can usu-
before his disappearance. Any linguist with access to this ally be found, generally lounging in the shade of the roof.
cipher can crack the Aklo tongue in a matter of hours. Inside, the front room (which was once a parlor) now
serves as the store. On the buckling, uneven wood floor,
Emily Warren two enormous refrigerators hold perishable foods. Ancient
military surplus racks hold potato chips, canned foods and
Emily Warren was Lucille Mayer’s life-partner, and the other nitrate-filled treats. A tiny register area—nothing
two enjoyed a rare, trouble-free relationship. They co- more than an old desk with a 1940s cash register precar-
existed in such a manner as their life was seamless—they iously perched on it—sits in the corner beneath one win-
simply got along. As can be expected, Warren is extremely dow, overlooking the pumps. Greene also takes credit-card
distraught by Mayer’s death. She is considering leaving payments via smartphone app.
Death Valley altogether, and cannot imagine life without Past the store is a long hallway that leads to a bath-
her lover. room, a door to the basement, a rickety staircase upstairs,
Warren is of little help. Her house (a small, two-bed- and a small kitchen in the back. The two rooms upstairs
room structure near the Gas n’ Sip) is devoid of clues. are the small, slope-roofed bedrooms of Montgomery
Warren is completely innocent of any wrongdoing, but any Greene (the ancient owner) and Jarvis (his 22-year-old
15
are not pleased with the situation. Jarvis’ father, William,

grew up in the heyday of Hellbend, when Hunt Electro-
dynamics ran the show, but has few fond memories of the
place. He made a dramatic exit at an early age for the East
Coast.
Jarvis only heard of his grandfather in passing before
he received a letter from him four years ago. Greene took
it as an opportunity to find a future other than the dull
grind of school. He finds Death Valley and Hellbend par-
ticularly relaxing (or at least he did, before the murders)
and enjoys his duties at the Gas n’ Sip. He even enjoys his
grandad’s company.
Jarvis spends most of his day sitting in a weather-beat-
en rattan chair in front of the station, waiting for cars or
customers. He hands out mail, sells about thirty to fifty
dollars worth of groceries to locals, and maybe twenty
to thirty dollars worth of gas every two or three days,
on a good week. He reads old paperback novels, plays
checkers with his grandfather, steps inside to play video
games, or goes outside for a game or two of horseshoes
with the locals. He is well liked and respected, despite his
grandson). During the day, these rooms boil. At night they
freeze.
Montgomery Greene, who is in his nineties, can often
be found in the kitchen or bathroom, or moving up or
down the stairs painfully, at a snail’s pace. He doesn’t usu-
ally go into the store if he can help it, and leaves the daily
grind to Jarvis.
People come and go from the Gas n’ Sip in the casual
nature of small-town folk. They often go inside without
even saying hello to Jarvis, use the bathroom, and leave.
No one at the Gas n’ Sip seems to mind.
Only recently has Jarvis Greene begun locking the
doors at night.
Jarvis Greene
Jarvis Greene is a young, sunburned hippy who has lived
with his elderly grandfather for four years. He took over
the Gas n’ Sip when his grandfather could no longer
maintain it. The two live together in the cramped upstairs
rooms of the smallish building.
Greene grew up with his parents in Plattsburgh, New
York, and attended SUNY Albany for a year before drop-
ping out to move to Hellbend. Needless to say, his parents
16
counter-culture appearance. People still think of him “as The Missing Four Hours
the new kid at the Gas n’ Sip.” Agents who look into the time surrounding the discovery
Jarvis knew Clifford Potter. In fact, he discovered his and reporting of Clifford Potter’s corpse notice a discrep-
body at the ruins of the Hunt Electrodynamics plant. It ancy of nearly four hours between the time Jarvis Greene
was Jarvis who rented Potter the Bobcat Lifter for the returned from the Hunt Electrodynamics Plant and the
afternoon. When Potter failed to return that evening with call to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office.
the equipment, Jarvis took his Jeep out to the site and The phone calls, as well as Jarvis’ own statement, fool-
found him, and alerted the sheriff’s office. ishly confirm that a twenty minute drive back from the
Jarvis saw a lot of Potter in the months leading up to Hunt plant somehow took Greene four hours. In actuality,
his death. The retired metal worker had taken to inter- Jarvis drove straight back, cleared out his pot plants and
viewing Jarvis’ grandfather Montgomery Greene about his grow-op equipment and only then called the sheriff.
personal experiences in the Hunt Electrodynamics Plant This discrepancy will likely draw a cloud of suspicion
before its destruction. On several occasions, Potter taped down on Jarvis, though he actually had nothing to do
his grandfather’s recollections, and asked specific ques- with the incident. A clever Handler can extend this red
tions about Hunt and the plant; though what they were, herring out until it seems very plausible that Jarvis had
Jarvis can’t recall. something to do with Potter’s death.
Jarvis’ Secret Montgomery Greene

Jarvis Greene left Albany for more than one reason. It’s Montgomery Greene was born in Carlsbad, California,
true he didn’t much care for school, but he also has an niney-eight years ago. Following his discharge from the
outstanding warrant for drug possession issued just two Marines in 1945 he answered a want ad in a newspaper.
weeks before his move west. A New York state trooper Montgomery found himself face to face with Arthur Hunt,
busted Greene while he was carrying a modest amount the elusive and cagey multimillionaire. His life was tied to
of marijuana. Luckily, it was a small enough amount that Hunt and his company for the next twenty years.
when Jarvis made bail, he was released and told to report Hunt Electrodynamics was taking off, and Montgom-
for a hearing the following month. A day later, he received ery found the man fascinating. Greene was able to endure
the letter from his grandfather. Any Agent checking on even the most terrible abuse. Hunt insulted him nonstop
Greene’s past in the National Crime Information Center
(NCIC, maintained by the FBI) finds this New York state
warrant still outstanding. Jarvis is a wanted man.
Jarvis brought his habit and knack for growing mar-
ijuana with him. In the basement of the Gas n’ Sip, the
remains of a grow-op can be found. For months, Greene
grew several large pot plants below his grandfather’s feet
and sold it to some residents of the town (though getting
anyone in town to admit this will be very difficult). Fol-
lowing the discovery of Potter’s body, Jarvis panicked and
rushed home to dispose of his grow-op before notifying
the police.
Any Agent examining the basement who makes a
successful INT test notices strange and recent additions to
both the water and electrical systems—and that unlike the
rest of the cluttered house, the basement seems relatively
empty.
17
during the initial interview, but almost in a casual way, as Montgomery Greene freely talks about Hunt and his
if he didn’t really understand what constituted an insult eccentricities:
at all. Greene had developed an immunity to such abuse Hunt refused to move anywhere in the plant without
during his time in the Marines, and found it routine, even specific lighting arrangements. This usually meant two
soothing to be back in a familiar situation. large floodlights with an aluminum reflector placed at
Hunt needed a personal assistant—a glorified go- even intervals in a room and lit before he even entered.
pher—to do a very specific series of things for him, with- Few could take the heat generated by such lamps, but
out wavering. Hunt seemed to thrive in it. He refused to move into
For seven years, Greene did as he was told and was rooms that were not like this unless they were absolutely
one of the few people in Hellbend to see Hunt on a reg- dark. He seemed quite comfortable in the dark.
ular basis. Hunt even seemed to care for him, something Hunt was completely eidetic, and recalled with perfect
unheard of. Greene moved to Hellbend and moved into a clarity anything he read, heard or saw. He could draw ex-
lavish house built on company funds. (It would eventually act duplicates of things he had seen only once, and never
become the Gas n’ Sip.) Greene paid nothing for the house used a ruler or guide. All his plans were drawn by hand
or the land. Each was silently granted to him when he with no tools, yet they appeared perfect.
renewed his contract the year the Hellbend plant opened. Hunt wrote in a code of odd mathematical symbols.
He did so, he claimed, to keep his most classified projects
Clifford Potter and Monty Greene secret.
Since Potter’s initial discoveries underneath Hunt Electro- Twice, Greene heard Hunt exclaim in a language he
dynamics Plant #004, he became obsessed with uncovering could not identify. He says it sounded like “some Polyne-
the secrets of Hunt’s research. The only living person in sian or South Seas lingo.”
Hellbend who knew Hunt was Monty Greene. For the Hunt slept rarely. Greene can recall seeing the man
last year and a half, Clifford Potter conducted extensive asleep only once in nearly twenty years of service.
interviews with the old man, in the hopes of uncovering Hunt read three to five books a day. Even while
something about the oddities he found beneath it. maintaining a grueling schedule of product design, Hunt
For the most part, Monty Greene remains ignorant as had Greene gather specific books for his perusal. Early
to what Potter was poking around to discover. To Greene, on, Hunt focused on politics, religion and current events.
Hunt was a demented genius. He was somewhat creepy, Later on the military, the history of world conflict and the
but otherwise nothing special. disposition of the post-war world.
Monty enjoyed Potter’s company, and is more than The sight of blood infuriated Hunt. No one knows
willing to repeat what he said (if he can recall it). why.
For more information on the interviews, see THE MONTY Hunt ate only carefully prepared vegetables. He ate
GREENE TAPES on page 11. copious amounts of cleaned, but otherwise unprepared
vegetables once a day. He would only eat vegetables
Hunt’s Eccentricities prepared by Greene, and seemed to “know” when Greene
The ad in the Carlsbad Examiner answered by Montgom- had prepared them.
ery Greene in the summer of 1945 is still perfectly pre- Hunt’s office in Hellbend was heated and lit from all
served in the old man’s memory, as are most of his memo- angles by specially made recessed lights. Hunt spent the
ries prior to 1965. See THE WANT AD on page 34. better part of his time in Hellbend in this room, only very
Greene, who had severed in the Pacific during his stint rarely venturing out.
in the Marines, thought the job sounded ideal. He found Hunt wore a thick pair of specially made Bakelite
Hunt abusive at first, but once he learned Hunt’s prefer- “goggles” when he went outside. These goggles were tinted
ences, he found the man—whom all called a tyrant—al- a deep yellow. Greene carried an extra pair with him at all
most generous. times.
18
recognizes this type of marking as a territorial or scent

marking common in large, predatory animals. It seems
as if a large animal rubbed against the vehicle repeatedly;
spreading Potter’s blood on it.
Also, the smell at the vehicle is something exception-
al. It is not just the smell of blood cooking in the Death
Valley sun. It reeks of ammonia and other, less identifiable
smells. A clear liquid has dried to a thin, shiny sheen on
the surface. It is not a human body fluid. Agents taking
a sample of this substance can have it examined easily,
though few of the locals will understand what the point is.
Greene’s cleaning attempt did one thing: it removed
a single, odd, feather-like scale from the Bobcat. It is now
under the vehicle, teetering on the edge of a slot-drain
The Bobcat sunk into the floor. It is not readily visible to anyone
This small, one-man, propane-powered vehicle was de- poking around the vehicle; they must move the Bobcat
signed for light digging, lifting and plowing. It is the only or carefully search the ground beneath it. If they do this,
one in town, owned by the Gas n’ Sip and rented out for an Agent with Search at 50% or better finds the bizarre
small, local jobs. Clifford Potter rented the machine twice: sample.
once to dig his root cellar, and the second time to poke
around the Hunt plant. The Feather-Like Sample
The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office returned it two days This odd, feather-like item is actually a portion of a giant
after Potter’s murder; still dirty with Potter’s blood and scale. It is a cluster of small, orange buds that seem to
marked up with various dried bodily fluids. sprout something like the end of a feather. It is not clear
Jarvis Greene attempted half-heartedly to clean the what kind of creature could have produced it, even to
vehicle, but quickly lost his appetite for the job. It now those skilled in Science (Zoology). DNA examination of
sits behind the Gas n’ Sip in the shade of a garage port, the sample, which will take five days, identifies it as from
stinking up the area. some sort of bird, though an exact identification cannot be
The vehicle is still in working condition. And any made. It is actually a portion of a scale from the Monolo-
Agent examining it who has an INT higher than 9 realizes phosaurus, the creature that killed Potter, left behind when
that it is highly unlikely that the vehicle was the murder the beast rubbed its scent glands against the Bobcat to
weapon that killed Clifford Potter. For one, the blood mark its territory.
and effluvia are on the side of the vehicle, meaning Potter
would have had to be struck by the vehicle on the side. The Clear Liquid Sample
Even at top speed (just over 8 kph or 5 mph), the Bobcat This substance turns out to be urine dried to a thin sheen.
could not have inflicted the wounds found on Potter. The DNA and protein analysis of the sample (which take two
only truly dangerous portion of the vehicle, the blade, is days) cannot identify the source, though it does appear to
stained only with dirt. be from some sort of large, warm-blooded animal. The
The marks of blood and effluvia on the side of the sample also contains two protein chains never before seen
vehicle are odd. Though they are long dry, they are clearly in science. No definitive answers can be gained from this
several distinct “layers.” It’s as if something applied sever- examination except, “Whatever it is, it eats meat.”
al layers of biological material on the vehicle. Anyone with
Science (Biology) or Science (Zoology) at 70% or better
19
The Ruins of Hunt concludes that the plant was destroyed by an implosion.
Electrodynamics Some great force pulled the building inwards.

All that remains are concrete slabs split into no larger
Plant #0004 than three-foot chunks, an occasional metal strut curled
by some huge force, and random, destroyed business de-
Located approximately 3.7 km (2.3 miles) from the center vices from the 1950s. Walking the site of the plant reveals
of Hellbend, on the ruins of a formerly beautiful asphalt little. There are no apparent entrances below, no tunnels,
road, a sea of destroyed concrete is all that remains of holes or stairs down. The site appears barren.
the Hunt Electrodynamics Plant #004. A partially ruined The point where Clifford Potter was digging with the
chain-link fence surrounds it 500 meters out from the ru- Bobcat is easily found. This six-meter by ten-meter (20’ by
ins on all sides. But it is hardly a deterrent, with large gaps 30’) bald spot has been meticulously cleared of rubble, and
every fifty feet or so. is covered in Bobcat tracks, footprints, and recent detritus
There are several odd things about the ruins. Agents such as candy-bar wrappers and soda cans. Beneath the
with Science (Engineering) or a relevant Craft skill of 20% rubble, the red dirt matches that on the gloves found on
or more notice that the plant was likely not destroyed Clifford Potter’s kitchen table. The Bobcat blade broke the
by an explosion, but a collapse. A skill of 50% or more ground maybe once or twice, and the hole it created dips
down only a foot or two, revealing nothing.
The site is suspiciously clear of anything else. Where The Flower Out of Time
Potter could have been “digging up metal pipes” is unclear, The tiny red flowers (none bigger than a quarter inch
unless they were already on the surface. There are no across) are a baffling oddity, but only upon close examina-
metal pipes—no metal at all except twisted steel enmeshed tion by someone with Science (Botany) at 20% or higher.
in concrete—on the surface. They are of a phylum never before seen. They seem to be
Whether this means Potter stripped the site or he somewhat primitive: vascular, fern-like plants that repro-
found the metal somewhere else is unclear. Smart Agents duce by spore, not by seed. Their flowers are fragrant but
will immediately begin searching the outskirts of the plant. the scent leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
Agents who search carefully notice a preponderance of
The Culvert bugs flying around the plants. Careful examination of the
ground surrounding these flowers will find spore-covered
Located 1.3 km (0.8 miles) northwest of the ruins, where corpses of hundreds of bugs. The plants secrete a chemical
the land drops eight meters (two dozen feet) or more, is that renders the bugs unconscious. The unconscious in-
a culvert connected to the subterranean structures of the sects are slowly covered by spores, creating a rich growth
Hunt plant. The culvert is a four-meter by four-meter medium.
(12’x12’) concrete tube that protrudes from the hill, and Samples of this flower will cause quite a stir at any
disappears into the depths of the ground that leads back facility of higher learning, but it’s not clearly drawn from
to the site. the wrong epoch. It won’t be nearly as destructive as, say,
The culvert is awash with a spray of greenery—small the revelation of the Meganeura dragonfly.
plants with a single red flower on each stem, that grow
in dribs and drabs on a delta-like stream of water which In the Hole
pours out into a fan before disappearing into the parched The concrete culvert, which leads into the earth heading
earth about five meters (15’) out. The area smells rich and towards the Hunt plant, is quite large (four meters around,
damp. Anyone with at least 50% in a naturalist skill, such or 12’). Agents that roll a successful Alertness test can
as Science (Botany) or Survival, realizes this is all highly hear an odd noise. It is not easily describable—it sounds
unusual. somewhat like an echoey clicking. It rises and falls over
time. It sounds mechanical or electronic.
The Print The culvert has a slow rush of warm water about 5
A partial print of the Monolophosaurus (see THE KILLER on cm (2 inches) deep. Its walls are covered in deep green
page 25) can be found in the mud of the culvert. This huge moss up to about hip height. The water seems to go in
print is easily mistaken for a natural occurrence by those cycles rising slightly in speed and depth every few minutes.
not looking for something highly unusual. If the Agents
don’t carefully search the area, one notices it only with The Geiger Counter
INT 16 or better—and then only if they make a Luck roll
to avoid accidentally ruining the print. If the Agents care- A long way into the tunnel, this contraption, connected
fully search as they enter, they find the print. by thick wires to a Sears Die-Hard battery, sits on an
The print itself is huge, but only shows the ball of the overturned orange crate on the floor. It is the source of the
creatures’ heel. If a cast of the print is made and exam- ghostly, echoing clicking. The device seems to be the old
ined, someone with Forensics of 50% or more can tell innards of a radio rewired to some other purpose. Anyone
that, whatever made the print, it weighs between 600 and who succeeds at an INT test, or who has any radiation-re-
650 kilograms (1,200 and 1,300 pounds). Nothing further lated Craft or Science skill at 20% or higher, recognizes it
can be gleaned from the print, except it doesn’t make any as a Geiger counter.
sense. Potter constructed it after his first extended foray into
the tunnels made him ill and he concluded that he was
21
emergency room will recognize and immediately report

the signs of severe radiation poisoning. (See THE REAL FEDS
STEP IN on page 25.)
The Caves
The culvert winds its way beneath what was once the
Hunt Plant, finally opening into a larger, open cement
room, approximately 10 meters by 14 meters across (30’
by 44’), awash with water and odd plants. The culvert
was once a drainage tunnel for this large room, but dam-
age from the 1952 explosion blew the reinforced concrete
wall in and has now made a single jagged space out of the
two areas.
suffering from radiation poisoning. Two other discarded Agents must scale a series of jagged ruined concrete
Die-Hard batteries (drained) are dumped to the side of the constructions, wet with warm water, to reach the larger
tunnel. It’s obviously been here a long time. room. Each must roll a Dexterity test at –20% or an Ath-
The machine spits out tiny clicks through a single, letics test, whichever is better, or else suffer 1D4 damage
hand-wired speaker. These clicks increase or decrease with in an accident.
time; sputtering away in a sudden onslaught of noise, then The caves and main gate room are quite large—much
just as suddenly fading to a barely audible click. larger than would be expected. Those who look back on
Those listening carefully to the clicking over an the area later can clearly see how a large predator, even a
extended time (more than two hours) and who succeed 15’ long one, could easily make its way through the gate,
at an INT test conclude that there is some sort of pattern down the tunnel and out the culvert. But then again, hind-
to the clicking. Every 27 minutes it spikes, and every 11.5 sight is always 20/20.
minutes after that drops to almost nothing. This gives the
Agents 15.5 minutes of relatively “clear” air in the tunnels The Gate
to search, before the radiation spikes again. This pattern is The gate is a 3.83 m by 3.83 m (12’7” by 12’7”) stone
very predictable and can be easily timed. archway with slots on the left hand side of a large portal.
Those that venture into the tunnels during the down- It is tilted forward at a 12-degree angle, pinned in place by
swing of a spike are subject to serious radiation poisoning. debris.
Each target in the tunnels during that period must make The stone is odd. It is a deep black soapstone-like
a CON test at –20% or suffer 1D6+2 HP damage and be substance with an almost metallic quality, unidentifiable
wracked with nausea, fever, headaches and general mal- by modern science. The slots each fit a 6.904 cm (2.718”)
aise for the next 1D6 days. Initially, they seem fine; these gold cube; the top slot is empty. (This is the source of Pot-
effects occur minutes, hours or even days after the expo- ter’s cube.) Though almost the entire archway is clear of
sure. The particulars are up to the Handler. debris, as well as the topmost cube slot, much of the gate
Those foolish enough to ignore the Geiger counter is obscured by rubble. Due to its geometric construction,
altogether and who spend more than one “upswing” in however, it is clearly implied that there are other cube
local radiation must make a CON test at –40% or suffer slots beneath the rubble. The exact number is not clear.
1d10+2 HP damage, and permanently lose 1d20 points The other two slots hold two identical cubes, buried
of Constitution over the next few days. If that reduces beneath extremely heavy portions of ruined steel girders,
an Agent’s Constitution to zero, the Agent dies of severe stone and masonry. There is evidence of someone (Potter)
radiation poisoning. Covering this up will be difficult. Any attempting to dig down to these cubes. The gate matches
22
perfectly the drawing on the last page of Clifford Potter’s inside is ruined by some sort of electromagnetic flux), a
notebook. tape recorder suffering similar symptoms, and even an old
The gate itself is fascinating. The archway is filled flashcube Kodak camera filled with film that shows noth-
with a deep gray mist, much like steam. There is some- ing (due to overexposure by radiation). Strangely enough,
thing odd about the way the mist drifts; it occasionally this camera is set on a timer and tied to a 1.5 m (5’) stick.
seems to twirl, twist and congeal into tiny storm-like
collections of clouds, but it never drifts far from the stone Using the Gate
doorway before evaporating. Seeing it for the first time The gate is a travel device to the past. The initial attempt
costs 0/1D4–1 SAN due to the Unnatural. to activate it in 1952 led directly to the destruction of the
Photographic and electronic equipment more com- Hunt Plant; but this explosion “burned off ” much of the
plicated than a pocket calculator immediately fail within excess energy produced by the poorly manufactured gold
visibility range of the gate. cube. It was designed to travel to one time period, the Pa-
Every 3.5 minutes, a stream of clear, warm water leozoic, 279 million years ago—the height of the Serpent
(barely 2.5 cm or one inch deep) pours from inside the People culture—but due to errors in its construction, it
gate. The stream flows down the tunnel and exits out of cannot “tune in” on the period. (These errors also led to
the concrete culvert. When this occurs, the strong smell of the first malfunction.)
a verdant jungle fills the tunnel. This costs 0/1D6–1 SAN Living creatures entering the gate are immediately
due to the Unnatural. “sucked” through at the cost of 1 POW point. Non-living
Initially, the gate was buried during the collapse, but material can be pushed through and pulled back through
subtle shifts in the space/time continuum occurred over the gate without difficulty, as long as the Agents’ flesh
the decades as one of the cubes used to control the device does not touch the mist.
shifted slowly out of alignment. Clever Agents may attempt to “rescue” trapped
On October 9, two years ago, the gate spontaneously Agents on the far side of the gate by throwing supplies, a
activated, after the cube found by Clifford Potter dropped rope or some other crude rescue device through, just as
out of place naturally. This accidental activation burned Clifford Potter attempted to photograph the period with
off the last bits of power that caused the 1952 malfunc- a camera tied to a stick. There is a major problem with
tion. For a brief period, due to this flux, the Carboniferous this, however. Since the last shift two years ago, due to the
and Jurassic periods were connected in an unbroken gate non-Euclidean nature of the gate, every “breach” into the
to the 21st century. time period occurs several microseconds before the last.
The underground explosion that occurred went unno- Agents on the far side will never see another breach; they
ticed by the town at large—there was a measured seismic represent the last and only breach into that time period;
event, but it was so small as to be nearly undetectable— previous breaches never catch up.
but it cleared a large portion of the tunnels of debris. Those foolish enough to attempt to step through the
Furthermore, the gate was now active, creating a cycling gate deserve what they get. The gate currently fluxes be-
link between various periods of Earthly history. tween two periods in time: the late Jurassic period, nearly
150 million years ago (the source of the water, flowers,
The Equipment the Monolophosaurus, and the smell), and the Cambrian
A stack of Clifford Potter’s equipment is scattered around period, nearly 542 million years ago.
a small, cleared-out area surrounding the gate. It is sitting But now, unlike the event which reactivated the event,
on top of a pile of rubble, well out of the way of the small gate travel is one-way. Plants and animals came through
stream of water. the gate at first, but now only water and radiation leak
It consists of an army bag filled with various ruined through. It is possible only to enter the past, not return
pieces of electronic equipment. There is a Sony camcord- from it.
er which does not work (every single piece of electronics
23
Both periods represent incredible dangers for anyone jagged peaks. Hanging above, improbably close to the
foolish enough to step through the gate. An Agent step- earth is a huge moon, its crater formations looking very
ping into the gate is transported to one of the two time different from what the Agents expect.
periods. Though they most likely have no clue, high levels of
radiation are bombarding them; this period is the source
Life in the Jurassic of much of the radiation in the tunnels beneath the plant.
Unfortunate Agents who find themselves in the Jurassic Within hours, they will perish from severe radiation poi-
period immediately lose 1d10+2 SAN as they realize the soning, 542 million years before they were born.
swirling mist of the gate does not exist on the far side.
There is no way back. If anyone came through holding Reconfiguring the Gate
one end of a chain or rope, the tether is perfectly severed. The three gold cubes, each marked with six symbols, con-
Even after the fixed time period of 3.5 minutes pass, trol what time-period the gate opens into. The gate always
the gate does not reappear; travel through the gate is one opens on Earth, and always in the same position (though
way. Congratulate them; they are now fossils in training. the time-period differs). It is powered by the energy con-
They find themselves in the midst of a lush, fern-cov- tained within living creatures (POW).
ered valley standing in a small stream. It is incredibly Closing the gate is as simple as removing the other
warm and humid. two gold cubes, or inserting Clifford Potter’s gold cube in
The landscape is covered in conifers, cycads and all the empty slot with the Asa symbol (“The West”, “The
sorts of huge and nearly alien looking ferns. Huge bugs End”, “The Last”) pointing outward. If this is done, the
buzz about, and will have no problem attempting to feast mist vanishes instantly and a ruined wall of metal and
on an Agent (1d4–2 damage, costing 0/1 SAN. The area is stone can be seen on the other side of the arch. The radia-
awash with all sorts of life, including obviously long-ex- tion bathing the area immediately stops.
tinct life forms. Suggestions for the effects of placing Clifford Potter’s
Occasionally, something huge and lumbering smashes cube in position with any of the other five symbols are
through the dense jungle. Those avoiding these sounds covered below.
(easily done) can survive for maybe a day or two, after SUU: The room immediately begins to heat up at an
which they succumb to various ailments caused by ancient amazing pace. Within a minute, it’s 140 degrees in the
bacteria, protozoa and other microscopic life inimical to room, and those who remain must make a CON test at
human life. Due to dehydration and diarrhea, their death –20% to not pass out. Those who pass out or fail to retreat
will be prolonged and painful. immediately suffer 1D6 HP damage per turn. Eventually,
Those who search around too long (instead of staying the heat rises to the point where the gold cubes melt and
put and laying low), make too much noise, or head to- the gate fails.
wards such sounds encounter an Allosaurus, Monolopho- SHÉ: There is a “pop” as the cube is put in place.
saurus or some other terrible creature, and a very quick Nothing seems to change, though the radiation and water
end to life. cease to fill the tunnel. This is an interim setting, a “stand-
by” if you will. The gate is dormant but ready to be
Life in the Cambrian activated.
As with the Jurassic, the Agent is in an alien environment SEK: There is a boom and air begins to be sucked
with no way back. The realization costs 1d10+2 SAN. through the gate at a high rate. Everyone present must
The environment is bizarre. The sky is a deep and make a DEX test at –20% or lose their footing and suffer
clear purple, drifting up to black. The air is thick, humid 1D4 damage. Eventually, as the pressure slowly increases,
and warm. The Agent finds themselves in an endless run the tunnel begins to rumble. In two or three minutes the
of shallow pools, raised portions of dirt crawling with entire culvert collapses in on itself. Anyone inside it is
tiny marine organisms like tiny fiddler crabs and distant, killed. The gate is effectively closed.
24
SESH: The gate opens underwater at some point in the its territory—both with scent glands located on its face
past. An explosive wave of seawater fills the room in sec- near its horn (which left the blood marks and anomalous
onds, knocking Agents off their feet. Each Agent who fails material found on the Bobcat lifter at the first murder
an immediate Swim test drowns in the thunderous flood. scene), and with urine.
Living and dead Agents are washed out into the culvert on It is not fearless. It lived in a time where bigger most
a wave of seawater. The real feds will most likely arrive definitely was better, and it learns quickly to avoid things
shortly, as seawater begins to fill the desert in the middle that are larger or louder than it. Since a run-in with a car
of Death Valley. Closing the gate at this point becomes alarm in Hellbend on its first night in the twenty-first cen-
impossible without powerful explosives to completely tury, it has avoided towns and roads, preferring to hunt
collapse the tunnels and stop up the source of water. in the wilderness. It does not like the smell of gasoline
SHI: Ripples in spacetime rock the room. The tunnel engines and vehicles and avoids them when possible. It
begins to shift as the room shudders in an odd mix of an can be rapidly dissuaded from a meal through both pain
earthquake and random time-lapse photography. Agents and even a shocking enough sound. A decent shot with a
are subjected to bizarre relativistic effects—things seem to large-caliber bullet or even an air-horn can send it else-
stutter, slow, speed up or even stop. Each Agent must pass where to look for easier prey.
an INT test to escape, riding these effects like a riptide in Still, seeing a five-meter bird-creature running around
time. Within minutes, the rift closes as the tunnel collapses. will be more than enough to send even the most stoic
Anyone still in the tunnel at the time is killed. Agents scattering. Few will think very clearly when con-
fronted with a throwback from the Jurassic era, particu-
The Killer larly in an area like Death Valley, which is riddled with
caves, hills and canyons large enough to easily hide such
The Hellbend killer is not human. It is a fugitive from the a beast. The Monolophosaurus is completely at home in
Jurassic period—a Monolophosaurus that came through Death Valley. As long as humans keep wandering into its
the fluxing gate in the ruins below Hunt Electrodynamics territory, it is quite content to remain indefinitely.
Plant #004.
This dinosaur is a cousin of the Allosaurus and is a »» LENGTH: nearly 5 meters (15.5 feet)
striking red-green color. At first glance, it looks like an »» SKULL LENGTH: 63 cm (24 inches)
enormous flightless bird the size of a pick-up truck. Its »» WEIGHT: 610 kg (1,344 lbs)
small forearms are sprinkled with orange-green feath- »» PERIOD: Jurassic (206 to 144 million years ago)
er-like extrusions, as is its back. It is quite obviously a kill-
er—its head is filled with two-inch serrated teeth, and its Complications
face is broken by one blunt horn. Its small forward arms
also are tipped with five-inch hook-like claws. This investigation is filled with booby-traps for poorly
It is also most definitely not a lizard. It is warm-blood- prepared or slow-thinking Agents to trigger. Got an Agent
ed and related more to birds than to ophidians. It’s fast stupid enough to report discovering a 6-kg radioactive
and, when it wants to be, quiet. It’s a skilled hunter on gold cube, or a 300-million-year-old, 74-cm dragonfly? Or
the par of a large lion or bobcat. It can track, scent and do they just rush in like bulls in a china shop and flagrant-
stalk nearly anything with ruthless efficiency. It’s nocturnal ly overstep their legal authority? Here’s what happens,
and sleeps in any dark cave it can find. It generally can be when, and why.
found prowling about within an hour of sundown up until
two to three hours before sunrise. The Real Feds Step In
It considers the culvert to the rear of the ruined Hunt If the Agents push the envelope of their legal powers
facility its “home” and hunts in a broad circle of many and don’t have the protection of the official Delta Green
miles surrounding Hellbend. Like any predator, it marks program (see DELTA GREEN IN SACRAMENTO on page 5), the
25
Sacramento FBI office will assign an “advisory agent” to The Great Race Operative
their team. This agent will never be more than a few steps Agents who begin fiddling with the gate (such as by send-
behind them, taking notes and poking her nose into all ing a living victim through or experimenting with cube
aspects of the investigation. This will make “borderline combinations) will soon be pursued by another force. The
illegal” things much harder to pull off. Great Race of Yith are alien entities that can hurl their
Until the advisory agent sees something supernatural minds through time and space. They send the mind of one
(such as, say a five-meter-long dinosaur running around of their operatives to occupy the body of a 17-year-old
Death Valley) it will be very difficult to get anything done. high-school student from Fargo, North Dakota—Michael
When she does see something that falls into the realm of Grunning—who comes to Hellbend to make an adjust-
the unexplained, the Agents must make a Luck roll. If they ment to the gate.
succeed, the advisory agent is onboard with keeping the The Great Race is concerned with preserving a precar-
situation quiet. If they fail, she reports it to her higher ups. ious timeline that, in the distant future, allows them to es-
If the Agents report radioactivity of any sort, an entire cape from the past into the hive-like minds of coleopterans
FBI task force (along with a mobile command center) in the far future. The Agents’ activation of the Hellbend
shows up. The Department of Homeland Security will gate has made a minute change that has sent that timeline
be alerted, NEST teams will begin combing the town for spiraling off course. The Great Race operative means the
other sources of radioactivity, and the story will make Agents no harm, but will do what is necessary to correct
national news. the harm they’ve unwittingly caused.
In either case, ASAC Slotin and Special Agent in See Future/Perfect, Part 4 for more details on the
Charge Turk turn the operation into a media circus until Great Race of Yith.
Delta Green interferes more actively; see THE PROGRAM Observant Agents might notice Grunning with an
TAKES AN INTEREST on page 5. In the meantime, it’s up ALERTNESS test at –20%. The young man can be seen
to you how many government personnel are exposed around Hellbend just hours after the Agents interfere with
to the gate beneath the Hunt plant or eaten by the the gate. (The Great Race send him back before the inter-
Monolophosaurus. ference occurs, so he’s already in Hellbend when it occurs.)
Grunning is blank-faced and odd looking. His clothing
is mismatched. Though he seems to understand English
perfectly, his voice has a strangely uncertain lilt.
Grunning has parked outside Hellbend in a rotted-out
Ford Duster that he drove from Fargo. Inside is a mish-
mash of various gutted and reconstructed consumer elec-
tronics, warped by the incredible minds of the Great Race
into technology centuries ahead of modern Earth.
Grunning attempts to make his way to the gate unob-
served—something which the Agents have hopefully made
difficult—and set up an elaborate electronic device outside
it. This device is composed of used sewing-machine parts,
a microwave oven, intercom equipment and a home com-
puter. This device is meant to “offset” whatever damage
the Agents caused, restoring the Great Races’ timeline.
Whatever the machine is, it is obviously more than
some weird toy. The blinking lights, odd cycles and move-
ments of the mechanical elements are as precise as a Swiss
26
clock. The computer equipment can be tracked back to there was treasure to be found in them. Amazingly, Hunt
Michael Grunning in Fargo, North Dakota. After several discovered a gold sarcophagus in the mound, almost as if
hours of cycling in front of the gate in that strange manner, he was drawn to it. Instead of containing further treasure,
the machine ceases working and will never work again. it held the slumbering form of the Serpent Man Xichlasa
Nothing significant can be gleaned from it except, “It’s trapped in a stasis for nearly two thousand years.
complicated.” Freed from the spell that held it in place, the creature
If the Agents (or mundane police) attempt to detain rose up and consumed Hunt. Through inhuman magic it
the Great Race operative, the creature pulls no punches. assumed his form, becoming him. Realizing that mam-
He reveals what looks like a hybrid garage-door opener mals had long since overrun the globe, Xichlasa set about
and cell phone, held together by duct tape, and opens fire. creating a gate back to antediluvian Earth, home of the
It turns out to be a lightning gun. Serpent Man civilization. In such an uncivilized time, the
Nevertheless, due to his odd discomfort in human task would take decades.
form, the Great Race operative is easy to kill. If this To the outside world, it appeared that Hunt—consid-
occurs, the Great Race keep sending operatives until their ered a garrulous idiot by most—had suddenly become an
mission at the gate is complete. incredibly intelligent recluse.
If the operative in Grunning’s body manages to “treat” “Hunt” absorbed most of the Chester, Ohio, library in
the gate, it departs. Michael Grunning wakes in Hellbend, a matter of weeks and quickly understood the primitive
Nevada, 2,700 km from home, terrified. hegemony the mammals had forged in the modern era.
“Hunt” formed the company Hunt Electrodynamics and
Michael Grunning’s Background began a stellar rise to power as a business owner patent-
Michael Grunning was a normal 17-year-old high school ing dozens of devices that were considered well ahead of
student from Fargo, North Dakota, who disappeared just their time. (In fact, the devices were the most rudimentary
days before the Agents interfered with the gate. He was Serpent Man technologies.)
a quiet, happy kid who worked at the local grocery, lived The entirety of the company was formed for a single
with his mother, and drove a 1976 Ford Duster. purpose: the construction of the gate that would allow
His disappearance is highly suspicious, and is major Xichlasa to bring other Serpent Folk from the distant past
news in Fargo. If he’s discovered alive in Hellbend, the to modern Earth. By 1940, “Hunt” had constructed the
story will vanish relatively quickly (happy news is rarely facility in Hellbend, California in which it would construct
harped upon). If, however, he’s killed by federal agents in the gate. It had chosen this location also for the tempera-
Hellbend, the shit will hit the fan. (See THE REAL FEDS STEP IN ture, which its ophidian biology found more comfortable
on page 25.) than Ohio.
A small group of humans understood a bit of what
Spoilers for Future/Perfect “Hunt” was up to—the sheer volume of materials and
components needed for the gate required human accom-
Just what is going on in the overall campaign arc of Fu- plices. None truly understood the purpose of the device
ture/Perfect? Good question. Keep this information from or “Hunt’s” true identity, though a few had their suspi-
your players. Also, it’s not necessary for the Handler to cions. One of these men, Thomspon MacAfee, knew that
know what is going on in the overall arc (in fact, some- something about Hunt was unnatural and that the device
times it’s better if you don’t!) to present Future/Perfect, he was building in Hellbend defied Earthly science.
Part 1. In 1952, “Hunt” was ready to activate his gate.
In 1923, an uneducated, small-town drunk named Unfortunately, one of the specially constructed cubes that
Arthur Hunt decided to dig up one of the smaller Serpent formed the portal had been machined improperly. The
Mounds in Chester, Ohio. Native Americans constructed human that constructed it was off by a few microns and
these mounds in the distant past, and many locals believed the results were disastrous.
27
The portal activated and immediately failed, tearing EDUCATION: M.S. in criminology.
the fabric of spacetime. It instantly rent the facility in SKILLS: Alertness 46%, Athletics 60%, Bureaucracy 62%,
two and killed everyone inside, including Xichlasa. The Computer Science 55%, Criminology 50%, Drive 55%,
remaining cubes were buried in the rubble of the factory. History 39%, HUMINT 60%, Law 50%, Occult 22%,
MacAfee, who had assisted “Hunt” in the creation Science (Biology) 22%, Science (Chemistry) 36%, Search
of the device, now used the illegal materials “Hunt” had 50%.
somehow gathered (including nearly a ton of gold from ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 60% (damage 1D4)
an unknown source) to purchase the company. MacAfee FBI-issue Glock 22 pistol 54% (damage 1D10)
became certain after perusing what remained of Hunt’s NOTES: Three Delta Green operations in the past six years:
other designs in the New York office, as well as his odd an investigation of alien activity, an investigation of a Yo-
collection of antique books, that something decidedly semity cult, and pursuit of a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis.
paranormal was going on. He had long suspected some-
thing was wrong with “Hunt” and had seen things that Special Agent Kimberly Tralvayne, FBI
confirmed his suspicions. By the late 1960s, with further Veteran Delta Green agent, age 43. Caucasian female
research into the area, MacAfee was convinced Hunt was with brown hair and blue eyes, tall and in perfect physical
not human at all but was some sort of extraterrestrial. health.
MacAfee set about reproducing the device “Hunt”
had been building in the desert. He had, after all, been STR 10 CON 18 DEX 16 INT 16 POW 15 CHA 12
“Hunt’s” right-hand-man, and had been involved in the HP 14 SAN 65 BREAKING POINT 60
Hellbend project from its inception. The plans and specifi- BONDS: Parents 7, FBI colleagues in Sacramento 6, Mor-
cations for the device were left in Hunt’s safe in New York. mon church family 8, Special Agent Grunberg 10.
By 1977, when William Lassiter took over Hunt EDUCATION: M.A. in clinical psychology.
Electronics, the new gate was well under way and Las- SKILLS: Accounting 21%, Anthropology 41%, Athletics
siter fully understood its implications. The small town of 55%, Bureaucracy 42%, Craft (Cooking) 22%, Crimi-
Duxbury, Pennsylvania, was the home of the new gate. By nology 50%, Dodge 35%, Computer Science 67%, Drive
1986, the gate was active, and Lassiter and his company 50%, Foreign Language (Latin) 12%, HUMINT 55%,
were exploring the depths of terrestrial history, traveling Law 55%, Persuade 43%, Psychotherapy 50%, Science
back in time to epochs completely unknown to man. Hunt (Chemistry) 44%, Search 53%.
Electronics, though the advent of alien science, had un- ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 60% (damage 1D4–1).
locked the secrets of time. FBI-issue Glock 22 pistol 51% (damage 1D10).
NOTES: Three Delta Green operations in the past six years:
Character Stats for an investigation of alien activity, an investigation of a Yo-

semity cult, and pursuit of a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis.
Future/Perfect, Part 1
Special Agent Lewis Makamura, FBI
Special Agent Clark Grunberg, FBI Inexperienced Delta Green agent, age 38. Japanese-Ameri-
Delta Green team leader, age 44. Caucasian male with can male with black hair and green eyes, sturdily built.
grey hair and green eyes, tall and athletic.
STR14 CON17 DEX 12 INT 16 POW 14 CHA 15
STR 14 CON 16 DEX 12 INT 14 POW 17 CHA 14 HP 16 SAN 63 BREAKING POINT 56
HP 15 SAN 72 BREAKING POINT 68 BONDS: Father 15, Grandmother 15, childhood best friend
BONDS: Brother and sister (as a group) 8, old FBI partner 11.
in the New York office 12, teenage son 9, Special Agent EDUCATION: M.S. in criminalistics.
Tralvayne (Delta Green) 9.
28
Athletics 50%, Bureaucracy 34%, Computer

SKILLS: Montgomery Greene
Science 71%, Criminology 60%, Drive 54%, Foreign Lan- Gas station owner and placid keeper of secrets, age 98.
guage (Japanese) 31%, Forensics 70%, HUMINT 60%, Caucasian male, short and feeble; gray hair, brown eyes.
Law 43%, Science (Chemistry) 61%, Search 60%.
ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 50% (damage 1D4). STR 7 CON 3 DEX 7 INT 8 POW 15 CHA 13
FBI-issue Glock 22 pistol 53% (damage 1D10). HP 5 SAN 75 BREAKING POINT 60
NOTES: Aided Grunberg and Tralvayne in pursuit of a copy BONDS: Jarvis Greene (grandson) 13.
of De Vermis Mysteriis. SKILLS: Accounting 11%, Alertness 34%, Craft (Cooking)
41%, Craft (Mechanic) 42%, Drive 33%, First Aid 21%,
Michael Grunning Foreign Language (Spanish) 25%, Persuade 55%, Science
Great Race operative in an ill-fitting 17-year-old shell. (Geology) 11%, Navigate 50%.
Caucasian male, a little heavyset, with brown hair and ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 20% (Damage 1D4–3).
blue eyes. .30-06 hunting rifle 55% (Damage 1D12+2).
STR 16 CON 3 DEX 5 INT 18 POW 18 CHA 3 Sheriff Alfred Mann

HP 10 SAN n/a BREAKING POINT n/a A good officer out of his depth, age 44. Tall and powerful,
BONDS: n/a with brown hair and blue eyes.
SKILLS: Computer Science 99%, Craft (Electronics) 81%,
Foreign Language (English) 50%, Foreign Language STR 17 CON 11 DEX 12 INT 16 POW 10 CHA 10
(Mandarin) 22%, Foreign Language (Russian) 22%, Sci- HP 14 SAN 50 BREAKING POINT 40
ence (Chemistry) 61%, Science (Temporal Physics) 99%. BONDS: Mom and dad 10, best friend 10, church 10.
ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 20% (damage 1D4). SKILLS: Bureaucracy 51%, Craft (Animal Husbandry) 22%,
Lightning gun 53% (damage 1D20+4). Computer Science 22%, Dodge 41%, Drive 60%, Law
NOTES: The listed stats are for the Great Race operative in 23%, Science (Veterinarian) 40%, Science (Zoology) 13%,
Grunning’s body. Grunning’s natural stats are: STR 11, CON Search 65%, Survival 60%.
9, DEX 10, INT 12, POW 10, CHA 9, SAN 50, BREAKING POINT ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 66% (Damage 1D4+1).
40. He has Bonds with family and friends back in Fargo. Glock 21 pistol 71% (Damage 1D10).
Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun 91% (Damage
Jarvis Greene 2D10).
Local pot-head and gas station attendant, age 22. Cau-
casian male, hefty and handsome, with brown hair and Deputy Sheriff Lucas Androzy
brown eyes. Too big for his britches, age 26. Burly, with blond hair
and green eyes.
STR 15 CON 10 DEX 11 INT 9 POW 7 CHA 13
HP 13 SAN 35 BREAKING POINT 28 STR 13 CON 15 DEX 9 INT 12 POW 15 CHA 10
BONDS: Montgomery Greene (grandfather) 13, Mom and HP 14 SAN 75 BREAKING POINT 60
Dad 13. BONDS: Mom and stepdad 10, grandmother 10, buddies
SKILLS: Computer Science 25%, Pharmacy 23%, Science from the Army 10.
(Chemistry) 12%, Science (Hydroponics) 41%, Drive SKILLS: Art (Photography) 40%, Bureaucracy 19%, Com-
40%. puter Science 40%, Drive 33%, Ride 30%, Search 39%,
ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 50% (Damage 1D4). Stealth 33%, Survival 51%.
ATTACKS: Unarmed Combat 50% (Damage 1D4).
Glock 21 pistol 44% (Damage 1D10).
AR-15 carbine 44% (Damage 1D12).
29
The Killer INHUMANLY STRONG: The Monolophosaurus succeeds at any

A rogue from the Jurassic. Monolophosaurus with red and STR or CON test other than a roll of 100, which fumbles.
green feathers, nearly 5 m (15.5’) long with a mass of 610 Any STR test that rolls 25 or lower, or any CON test that
kg (1,344 lbs). rolls 20 or lower, is a critical success for it.
FAST: The Monolophosaurus moves faster than humans
STR 25 CON 20 DEX 13 INT 5 POW 5 afoot. It can sprint at nearly 40 kph (25 mph) for short
HP 23 distances.
SKILLS:Alertness 50%, Athletics 44%, Search 61%, Stealth SANITY COST: 1/1D6.
59%, Track by Scent 41%. NOTES: The Monolophosaurus is not a direct hunter. It
ATTACKS: Forelimb claw 65% (Damage 1D8+1D6). stalks its prey for extended periods and takes targets by
Kick 45% (Damage 1D10+1D6). surprise. It will attack anything smaller than a car but it
Bite 55% (Damage 1D12+1D6). flees wounds and extremely loud noises. It hunts only at
HUGE: Heavy weapons do not roll for Lethality against the night. During the day it holes up in one of the many caves
Monolophosaurus. Instead it takes ordinary HP damage found in the Death Valley area. It is an advanced predator
equal to the percentile Lethality rating. on par with a wolf, and should be treated as wily, clever
ARMORED: The Monolophosaurus has a thick hide with an and exceptionally skilled at both hunting and avoiding
Armor rating of 3. detection.
Delta Green: Agent’s Handbook

Order in hardback from Amazon, Indie Press Revolution, or your favorite game store, or in PDF from RPGNow.
Delta Green: Need to Know

Order with sturdy Handler’s screen from Amazon, Indie Press Revolution, or your favorite game store, or in PDF from RPGNow.
30
NE INTERVIEWS
MONTGOMERY GREE
Page 1 of 3
lifornia, date
Green (age 98 ), resident of Hellbend, Ca
cer pts fro m a tap ed int erview with Montgomery
Ex
fford Potter (age 68).
unknown. Interviewer: Cli
talkin’ about Hunt again?

Montgomery Greene: We
nty, if that’s okay.
Clifford Potter: Yeah, Mo
talk about him someday.
: Su re, wh y the hel l no t? He said people would
MG
at
CP: Did he? working on down there
cha ng e the fac e of the Earth with what he was
ing to
MG: Sure. Said he was go
the plant.
CP: [Unintelligible]
MG: You know what?
ible response]
e adjustment][Unintellig
CP: [Sounds of microphon
MG: I believed him.
----
nt?
at went on below the pla
CP: Did you ever see wh just stayed in his office, the
er rea lly we nt down there, either. He together. It
MG: Nope, I never did.
He [H un t] nev
t str an ge. I hea rd it cos t a hundred grand to put
-- it was all decked ou ship.
Bathysphere we called it n doors like a damn battle
me tic all y sea led , wi th big rubber-lipped cast iro
was her
CP: Yeah? there, 110,
job bie s; yo u kn ow the ones? It COOKED in
those klieg lig ht k and drew his
MG: Yeah. It was all lit by he LO VE D it. He just sat a this weird des
y. He liked it. He ll, for a chunk of time,
sometimes 120 degrees eas d him cou ld sta nd it. I was in the South Pacific
e but me an
plans and cooked. No on awhile.
en I fou nd it uncomfortable after
you understand. Ev
on?
CP: What was he working worked freehand, from
d it wo uld cha nge the world. The man lk pencil
MG: I don’t really know
, exc ept he sai
e blu epr int s fro m scr atc h. I mean with a damn cha
t things that looked lik s doing the crosswords.
memory, just drawing ou t sat the re an d rattled it off like he wa
it. He jus
and some paper and that’s
like? e symbols. Then he’d
CP: What did they look e. It looked like math; lik
wr ote in thi s we ird cod
lain. Oh, he
MG: They’re hard to exp be built.
ng in En glish when it was ready to
redo the whole thi
----
[Continues]
31
MONTGOMER
Y GREENE INT
ERVIEWS
Page 2 of 3
Excerpts from a ta
ped interview with
unknown. Interv Montgomery Gre
iewer: Clifford Po en (age 98), resid
tter (age 68). ent of Hellbend,
California, da te
CP: So you don’t
think English was
his main language
MG: I don’t know ?
. He looked white
once or twice I he . H e looked like he w
ard him talk in th as from Europe or
is language... something. He se
CP: Can you desc emed normal, bu
ribe it? t
MG: Well...it soun
ded like some sort
heard some of th of South Seas lin
ose in the Corps, go. Like somethi
you understand. ng from New Gui
CP: Did he know nea or something
you overheard hi .I
m?
MG: Once.
CP: Did he ever sa
y anything to you
about it?
MG: Yeah, he sa
id to forget it. He
them, too. said he could spea
k twel ve languages, that
it was a gift. He co
---- uld write in
CP: So, his person
al habits, they wer
e strange?
MG: Well, if he H
AD any personal
vegetables. Only habits. He never
specially prepared slept. I only caug
eat it if I washed stuff. It was flow ht him dozing on
it by hand. He K n in every morning ce. The guy ate on
NEW when I didn by courier from Lo ly
CP: So he was od ’t do this. I don’t s Angeles. He’d on
d? know how. ly
MG: “Odd” ain’
t the word. But he
after the Corps. was a good boss.
Then again, I was
used to the Corps
CP: So he was a . Anything seems
good boss? good
MG: Oh yeah.
CP: Do you think
you could go into
that a bit more?
MG: Sure. Don’t
get me wrong, he
kind word to anyo hated everyone. A
ne. Conversations ll the guys who w
understand; you’ with him were al orked for him. H
d answer, and then ways about three e never once said
consistency. I had he’d berate you. sentences. He’d as a
that stuff down fr Bu t he was always rig k you a question,
was second nature om training. I did ht, and he rewarde you
. everything he aske d loyalty, and
d, down to the le
CP: So you think tter. By that time,
he liked you? it
MG: Nah, he TO
LERATED me, yo
u understand?
----
[Continues]
32
EENE INTERVIEWS
MONTGOMERY GR
Page 3 of 3
llbend, California,
mery Green (age 98), resident of He
interview with Montgo
Excerpts from a taped
68).
er: Clifford Potter (age
date unknown. Interview
de? he went.
CP: Did he ever go outsi Ba ke lite go gg les wi th black-out glass, when
ggles ,
n. He wore these old go
MG: Once or twice I see
ing
in the rooms surround
CP: Yeah?
He wa lke d aro un d after hours sometimes
just fine in the dark.
MG: Yeah, he could see
his office, in the dark.
light?
whenever he was in sun n, just his
CP: So, he wore them eth ing ab ou t the sun bugged him. Not his ski
but som
at, he liked the lamps,
MG: Yeah. He liked he
eyes.
----
out that, earlier?
n’t lik e blo od ? You said something ab t’s office] he got up and
CP: So he did
d wh en I walked in the tub [Hun
once while preparing his
lun ch , an e it was catching.
MG: Yes. I cut myself d. Re all y PO ’d. He stood away from me lik
ma
. He was really, really
started screaming at me
k.
CP: What was he yellin
g? my blood made him sic
me ba ck lat er. Th at he wasn’t hungry. That
to get out. To co
MG: [Laughs] For me
ing a lot? d in gauze.
CP: So you were bleed jus t on a fin ger. The finger was wrappe
all , an d
I didn’t bleed hardly at
MG: That’s the thing,
age.
CP: So he saw the band
door. He couldn’t see it.
Na h, I ha d my oth er hand with the cut on the
MG:
?
CP: So how did he know
he SMELT it.
MG: [Laughs] I think
----
[END]
33
The Want Ad
The Drawing
34

Delta Green RPG - Adv - Future Perfect - Part 1

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What happened to Hunt Electrodynamics and the town of Hellbend?

What happened to Hunt Electrodynamics and the town of Hellbend?

What was Arthur Hunt like as a person and employer?

What was Arthur Hunt like as a person and employer?

Future/Perfect, Part 1

A Scenario for Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game

Published by Arc Dream Publishing in arrangement with Hellbend, Calif., Pop. 82

In the midst of the destruction, Hunt Electrodynam- The Hellbend Investigation

Are the Agents DG?

Delta Green in Sacramento squared away. Makamura remains in Sacramento to keep

Hunt Electrodynamics In 1977, Thompson MacAfee handed over the reins

are not pleased with the situation. Jarvis’ father, William,

Jarvis’ Secret Montgomery Greene

recognizes this type of marking as a territorial or scent

Electrodynamics Some great force pulled the building inwards.

emergency room will recognize and immediately report

Character Stats for an investigation of alien activity, an investigation of a Yo-

Athletics 50%, Bureaucracy 34%, Computer

STR 16 CON 3 DEX 5 INT 18 POW 18 CHA 3 Sheriff Alfred Mann

The Killer INHUMANLY STRONG: The Monolophosaurus succeeds at any

Delta Green: Agent’s Handbook

Delta Green: Need to Know

talkin’ about Hunt again?

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