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Synopsis: Fifteen years after an unfortunate night at a lonely orphanage, five haunted men reunite to deal with the aftermath of their actions. A horrendous crime has been uncovered and someone must be made to pay for it. More importantly, the Program wants to know what happened and what danger it poses. The agents must clear their own names and track down what set this chain of events into motion…
“Sredni Vashtar went forth,/ His thoughts were red thoughts and his teeth were white. / His enemies called for peace, but he brought them death. / Sredni Vashtar the Beautiful.“
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Shouldn’t this say episode 2 Ross?
TYPOS GEEZ
If you’d changed it without saying something you could have made me look crazy 😛
1:50 in and this is shaping up to be great. The return of the white poodle is awesome.
Faust is really coming into his own in this campaign. His panic in the nursing home is perfect.
I was listening to this late at night, and might have lost track a little bit. Were the animals attacking the PCs or other people?
I love the “Teeth of God” idea here. It’s a great horrific take on the old Lovecraftian idea of Bast, and a great spin/inversion of the Derlethian concept of benevolent Elder Gods. They’re not benevolent, they’re just predators interested in maintaining a sustainable ecosystem. 🙂 That’s now going to be my standard thinking about Nodens and all the rest, I think.
And Caleb, big thanks for introducing me to the story “Sredni Vashtar”. I had no idea Saki wrote stuff like that. Are there any other stories of his that have a similar touch of weirdness?
Sooo…almost finished. I am starting to think this is Calebs take on Nodens.
I definitely did not spend several minutes trying and failing to think without language after Caleb mentioned it. What a trip.
Oh, not nodens! Even better!
so how much further past 11 is it even possible to go here in the next session?
was the crocopede inspired by DyE Fantasy’s man-tower monster?
the one thing I didn’t get–and I’m always multitasking while podcasting so generally I miss things–is how exactly the investigators got designated as the teeth. was there a particular moment? was that tied in with the precognitive mural?
This was great. Really cool idea for introducing a quasi episodic campaign. These last two sessions felt like the pilot for a delta green tv show or something. It feels like an origin story.
From here you can really go anywhere with the game. You could introduce more plot hooks, turn it into a “monster of the week” game, see how far the players look into their own “destiny” as the teeth of god.
As an introduction to the new Delta Green it’s pretty smart. You really hit that nail on the head Caleb. Awesome job.
Also, really happy Faust is becoming a regular. He really fits with the rest of the group.
also yes I keep meaning to say that Faust is a delight, his style reminds me a bit of Thad’s and that’s always awesome
While listening to this i thought to myself if it would have changed the tone of the game if during the end of the last episode instead of saying “This will go up on Huffington Post in 45 minutes!” Caleb said “This will go up on Buzzfeed in 45 minutes!”. “Top 56 kids we think were killed by these guys! You wont believe number 4!”
I’m reminded of the Clickhole headline Real-Life Liz Lemon? This Woman Hasn’t Been Seen Or Heard From Since 2013
Well, I’m glad my initial reaction to the first episode as I drove and listened to it was justified. But then that ending… it’s like crawling further down the rabbit hole. So awesome! Love that revelation and concept.
Still listening. Fantastic and creepy!
The city-wide occult related graffiti reminded me a little of the ending of I think the story Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_(short_story)
This is an unBEARable episode.
I really like this take on Bast/Sredni Vashtar, it feels more in-line with ArcDream/Pagan’s versions of the Mythos and definitely more intimidating than “Oh, it’s a cat-lady.”
Caleb, was Sredni Vashtar’s portrayal inspired by the Hastur write up in DG:Countdown? The way you describe it gives me that sort of feeling.
Was it ever explained why Clove was killed?
@Claive
As an agent, she had “the taint.” Anyone touched by or wielding Mythos magic is food for the Nameless God. It’s not so paltry as to feed on mere humans, but those touched by creatures in the mythos ecosystem become part of the food chain
That’s why the survivors killed Franklin Price (the former social worker in the nursing home): the spells that made him ignore the horrors at Wayfinders tainted him, making him food for Sredni Vashtar, Bast, or whatever you want to call it. If he died because of the agents (and he did…it wasn’t a coincidence that the cultist waited for them to arrive before attacking) his taint would be fed into the god. That’s also why the cult killed those no longer dedicated to the cause…to attract the attention of Delta Green and punish them for wasting food. All the killings, combined with the animal interventions of their god, were part of a plan to sacrifice themselves to their savior, and the agents were the sacrificial knife.
The PCs are fetishes for Sredni Vashtar. They are his teeth. They cut though they cannot taste. They consume until they crack. Bast keeps what they kill.
@ Noah
I was going more for apophenia, like I talked about in the ConScaricy episode. Is that just a bird, or is that bird here FOR ME? Is this dog friendly or too friendly? Is that sign just a sign or a grim portant of things to come? Is the graffiti on the bathroom stall a secret code scheduling profane religious rites, or have I finally gone insane?
As far as Hastur goes, I’ve got my own plans coming up for that.
@Caleb
Holy shit this is incredible. I need to see behind the scenes into the whole campaign.
“As far as Hastur goes, I’ve got my own plans coming up for that.”
*red emergency lighting, klaxons*
CONDITION ONE CODE BLACK THIS IS NOT DRILL
Great follow-up to Part One. There were parts early on of ‘Red Thoughts’ that reminded me of Paul Auster’s ‘City Of Glass’ where there is a deranged Literacy professor who tries to discover “God’s Language” by subjecting his child to words.
Loved it! Only quibble I had was the graffiti – it made sense, but it really seemed to drag down the pacing as a tradeoff for extra plot. I certainly can’t think of a better way to do it, though. Caleb’s ability as a GM shames my pitiful, non opposable thumbs butchery.
Had a weird bit of coincidence when I was listening to this, was looking up religious cults for inspiration while listening to this, and found the skoptsy a few minutes after Caleb mentioned them, and realized I remembered them. Have to say, the in-game cultists, while obviously kept vague and this being the result of that, didn’t have the same level of ‘oh god what’ to them as the real world skoptsy. Then again, not sure how you’d present the real ones in a game, what with all the horrific self-mutaliation.
The Skoptsi are given a mythos treatment in Delta Green: Countdown.
Ahh, makes sense. I’ll take a gander sometime, then.
Well, that’s pretty terrifying. Loved the concept of the kids’ language “difficulties”.
Question: Would it have made a difference if the group actually made up a cover story for the other state and local agencies explaining why their names appeared in Agent Clove’s records?
By this I mean, they could have:
1) told DG management (i.e. DOJ honcho) the actual events of the off the books raid,
2) worked with DG to develop a plausible cover story to lessen the current suspicion on them (i.e. Agent Clove initially contacted Faust to suggest looking into the caretakers of the home because they were suspected Russian spies/welfare fraudsters/multi-state regional drug dealers/etc.),
3) Explain that Faust was just about to contact the rest of the group as recommended experts in their field. However, the day after the initial contact/discussion the news of the state police and investigation of the home came out and the initial case was dropped…with a formal case file never being opened.
This way, they could have blamed bureaucratic ineptitude/staffing issues/oversight for the failure to discover the killings and such, and possibly diverted suspicion of their involvement or a cover-up in the proceedings. Obviously, Caleb would have probably thrown some sort of wrench in their to make it not as easy or clear-cut, but it def would have lead to some fun and creative roleplaying
Even granted it’s kind of incidental to the scenario/campaign sensu stricto, I love the repurposing of Saki’s uplifting tale of overcoming childhood misery through death by wild animal attacks.
Eagerly looking forward to an adaptation of ‘Tobermory’ into a Call of Cathulhu x William Burroughs mission of stamping out the language virus’s hopping of the species barrier.
Another excellent and horrifying game. Great ideas on making Bast (I could also seeing it working for Nodens) more terrible and horrifying.
I have to admit that the most chilling part for me was Chelsea’s speech to the agents. It’s a much too believable take on the question, “Why would anyone worship these nihilistic gods?”
@ crawlkill, I don’t think they really did anything on their own to become the teeth. They were designated by the god, thus the mural. Their interest or lack thereof is immaterial.
I’m curious if any of the characters try to just …stop, to retire and get away from this sort of thing in the next episode.
Love the take on Bast and the “ecology” of the mythos pantheon.
Also, I really appreciate another horror presented in this game, being what happens to the survivors by socioeconomic and political power structures: inadequate funding for care and support, bus therapy, high turnover of support staff, etc.. The cosmos may be uncaring, but not nearly as uncaring as capitalism.
Respectfully, you are completely wrong. The position is not “uncaring”. It is “predatory”.
Would it be at all possible in the future to restrict the snacking at the table when you are recording… I tried to get into it, but the person munching on potato chips or something drove me bonkers.
Vaguely reminds me of Enkidu in the Gilgamesh epic. Lives among the bars until he’s seduced, perhaps some symbolism there, and then can no longer be among them