OOC

OOC remains a cryptonym for Operation Ontological Cataclysm.

Hut hut hut!

Chaos, death and destruction... business as usual!

Tiff!

Harrigan!

What kinda time scale for the start are we thinking, I needed to catch up with everything!

I was hoping to see some motion by now, but so it goes. Let's say one week to get everyone's characters imported.

If you're having trouble with GP's interface, at least create a character sheet (using the instructions in the Character Sheet thread) and submit it to the game, so I can help transfer the information.

In the meantime, I've narrowed down the literally dozen or so operation hooks and ideas I have to three promising candidates. To help Harrigan (and any new recruits) focus in on a new character concept, you get to choose what you find the most intriguing, by way of teasers:

Hullo! Didn't realise GP wasn't going to send me email updates. Gonna start onboarding everything now.

GP has that feature, but you have to 'subscribe' to the thread, JS.

Reuban 'the Sandwich' Phelps is good to go. I added his injury, fixed a slight formatting error that gave him 15m long arms, and imported his distinguishing features. Also, because of his Hard Experience background one of his initial three Bonds was reduced to zero (I chose Condel, as I didn't see her on the original sheet), but leave it on the sheet as a reminder of what was lost (and because a broken bond can potentially be repaired).

I'll see about adding a heading to the sheet for background, personality, etc.

Let's talk about what Phelps wants to get up to in his Home Scene. For him, this is going to include rounds of surgery to deal with broken bones, deep bruises, burns, a concussion, getting full hearing replacement aids implanted and many months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation while the other agents are off gallivanting around on their next assignment; plus time for personal and professional development. For the Home Scene, we focus on one of many events over this period and give it a mechanical benefit.

The Need to Know quickstart has some of the Home Scene options; the Briefing Documents player guide has more. I've linked to both of these in the House Rules thread.

I'll explain how I interpret them here:
* Fulfill Responsibilities: Work on cultivating personal or professional Bonds, doing right by them.
* Back to Nature: This obviously sounds like camping, but I've also seen actual plays interpret it as going on holiday, hitting the bars, having casual sexual or romantic relationships, etc. It can be anything that helps you find solace away from your usual friends, family and colleagues.
* Establish a new Bond: Or repair an existing one that's at 0.
* Go to Therapy: No doubt Phelps knows plenty of psychologists and psychiatrists professionally, which may make this both easier and harder.
* Improve Skills or Stats: If he feels he needs training or if the physiotherapy works better than expected.
* Indulge a Personal Motivation: This is a little more low-risk, low-reward than Back to Nature; interestingly, it becomes less of an option as your character suffers more breaks and gains more disorders that replace their motivations.
* Special Training: Gain a special skill. Learning Sign Language would count, for example.
* Stay on the Case: There are a few loose ends from Operation Ashen Window one could pursue if they were so inclined. This could also cross over with Phelps' 'understand Harrison Bridges' motivation if he digs into those cold cases.
* Study the Unnatural: You didn't secure any grimoires or artifacts, so this isn't really an option at present.

Clitso looks good, too. I added lacunar amnesia (that is, loss of memory about a specific event) as a disorder. As far as I'm concerned, Styker, he's your character now; you're free to modify and add details as you see fit (like describing his Bonds, should they come up).

I've decided to treat languages as a special skill instead of a percentile skill (all I care about is whether a character can functionally communicate in it; whether you can speak it 30% or 70% is of such limited use to me that I'd rather not bother). So Clitso's 50% in Navajo can switch to one of the other optional skills for a Federal Agent: Accounting 60%, Comp Sci 50%, Heavy Weapons 50% or Pharmacy 50%. Accounting makes sense to me - he tracked Chamuscar's financial transactions in his intro scene and money is a useful trail in a manhunt.

I wondered why I didn't have a third Bond so I added one real fast! I mean, the obvious absence is Bridges who's still at large so maybe that should be my 0 instead? I didn't really have a specific plan for the former professor.

So do I only have one choice for the home scene? Cos it's going to have to be either picking up American Sign Language or Fluent Lipreading - given he's a therapist lipreading is more appealing - but I can absolutely picture him trying to piece together his now-two paranormal experiences into some kind of insight now that he can't box. That or he just spends his down time high on opiates.

Yeah, Clitso has some surprises (CHA 16? What was that for? Why is he carrying so many guns?) but I want to lean into the fact I didn't build him. And I definitely don't want to end up with a linked-to-the-land Native American cliche. I like that perhaps he's fallen into a forensic accountancy role just cos there was a gap in his office the same way that someone in a small workplace always ends up becoming the default IT person despite little prior interest and minimal skill. Maybe his sister's a full time accountant at a big firm, he helped her study when she was at uni, and picked up just enough by osmosis that he's been able to do a certificate.

Well, Bonds in DG are generally supposed to be important people or groups that help your character retain their grip, their connections to humanity. They're usually positive relationships, but I could see a perverse sort of inverse of that, where Phelps has almost idealised this exemplar of human evil as a yardstick against which he measures cosmic evil. Going with the forensics mentor would be the simpler choice, going with Bridges would be more twisted and complex.
One for the moment. After this next operation, I might allow a second for him, on reflection.
edit: One mechanically significant scene, that is. There's no reason that we can't touch on multiple aspects of the character's personal and professional life.
It's an odd build. I can only imagine the player was optimising for long-term mental survival - high CHA for strong Bonds, high POW for sanity.
It kind of works, though. The Agent's Handbook description of the Marshals Service emphasises how well they work with other LEOs, and are as much street- and face-to-face focused as lab- and procedure-.

Okay basic sheet is done, let me know if I missed anything important.

You'll need to go to the Game Details page (on the red bar at the bottom of the page) and then submit the character to this game (should be a drop down menu on the right of that screen).

Took me far too long to register the red bar as part of the page, but finally managed to get Misty loaded up.

Hoping to get a new PC brewed this week!

Knight
I took the liberty of rolling her skill increases - a lot of 1's, unfortunately. I've also decided to fold the Pilot skill together - it's going to come up so infrequently that knowing the difference between choppers, fixed-wing and drones won't matter enough to detail. So you can take her highest Pilot skill and apply it to all air vehicles, within reason.

That frees up two 50% skill picks. I might suggest Military Science and Heavy Weapons, to reflect her training as a Marine Corps aviator.

You also get the 20 points you spent on Spanish back. Firearms might be a good skill to boost, to bring her up to rifleman standards.

The Pilot profession grants 3 Bonds, minus 1 from Hard Experience, so you're entitled to one more.

I've added a Personality and Background section to the sheets at the end.

Thanks for that boss was on my list once everything was good to go! Swapped around the skills as suggested, as it happens I did have heavy weapons but transcribed it wrong. Still, I figure it won't hurt to have one of us forklift certified! :D

Hey all, I'm currently exclusively working off a phone until the moving truck delivers our stuff on Monday. But I'll catch up so dont delay on my behalf.

Glad you made it, saroufall!

Thanks! It's been a crazy ride, I'd like to see where we're all heading!

I apologize for the dumb question, but if I submit the character now am I still able to edit the sheet? I've copied the stats over from TK, but haven't rolled for advancements or anything yet. Still learning the ins and outs of the site.

Yep, you'll still be able to edit.

I guess one of the good things about this migration is I won't see mention of a problem with TK and think "What did I do this time?" :D

Great improvement rolls for Iris!

Okay -- I'm not quite finished with him, but I'm close... submitted Agent Dallas McKendry, fire fighter / hotshot with the National Park Service. Young guy, not that experienced with Operas, protective team player, big slab of beef, and so on.

Definitely used up all my luck on those rolls, but I'll take it!

Harrigan, your new character sounds great! And as someone that has worked for NPS, I have to admit that I'm already rooting for him.

I worked for Parks Canada, so I have a soft spot too -- though I wasn't a firefighter. :)

How are we all doing?

Have you 'accepted' my PC, D?

Nurps. Sorry for the delay, folks. Busy weekend for me, but I'll set aside some time to do a final pass over people's sheets.

In the mean time, consider what you all want your PCs to do in their home scenes, both in terms of the mechanical option and roleplaying/relationship notes you'd like to touch on.

K, Dallas is essentially ready. First scene, maybe in the shitty diner he goes to for one reason?

I think Iris would utilize the down time by seeking out some much needed Therapy or, alternatively, staying obsessively busy to distract from the recent memories by Staying On the Case. One of these things is much more healthy than the other though.

Sorry RL been kicking my butt! :( I guess Misty has been taking her Nieces and Nephews on approved trips, definitely not to the beach for one!

What the plan right now?

Other browsers are available... :D

Mosaic? =]

Egads. Sorry for the procrastination, folks. Working on it now.

Dallas McKendry
* I count 77 attribute points instead of 72. You might have to tone him down from being the centerfold of the firefighters calendar to just Mr. July.
* A former marine should probably have a few points in Military Science, if you can wrangle it.
* Does he still live in San Bernadino, or up in NorCal?
* Love his inciting incident. I can picture expecting one kind of danger and stumbling into another, decidedly more WTF horror vividly.
* Program Agents don't seem to have letter-cell-based codenames, as that's more of a Cowboy thing. However, it's cool and a custom we've adopted, so feel free to pick a codename.

Jake Tillman
* Not around any more, but a few loose ends I wanted to tidy up.
* If I'm reading his sheet right, after mustering out the last time he moved back to his family farm in Nebraska?
* Who is left to miss him - his father, brother, daughter in New Orleans who he was trying to reconnect with, marine buddies?
* What excuse did he leave them with before he headed out for Operation Ashen Window?

Mercedes Stevens
* With Harrigan, work out how familiar Mercy was with his family.
* Does she feel any obligation to explain to them that Jake won't be coming back? She knows Delta Green won't do them the courtesy of sending a telegram or an officer with a black arm band to deliver the news.
* You've still got a Bond available. You could roll on the table in the Briefing Documents .pdf in the House Rules thread for inspiration. One I might suggest is her father Colonel Carl Benson Stevens, MARSOC (Marines Special Forces Command); someone she knows from flight or ground crew in the corps or her current job; or perhaps Jake's daughter Camila if you wanted to tie into what's left of his family.
* Whereabouts in the country does Mercedes live?
* What does she do for a living? It's difficult to be active duty military and work for Delta Green, and I imagined she would have been discharged after the 'accident' with the Osprey, and probably had her pilot's license revoked. However, she still has the skills to maintain aircraft, plan flights, run preflight checklists, etc. Do you think she works as a contractor on an airbase? Or perhaps for a civilian air freight/logistics/air taxi firm?
* Home Scene ideas: Trying to get her license reinstated could figure into her Flying Free motivation, or getting her name cleared by the crash investigation board for the Prove Her Innocense motivation (either would be Pursue a Motivation). Spending time with her nieces and nephews sounds like Fulfill Responsibilities, but her bond with Emerald is already at maximum strength so that wouldn't help, mechanically. Or might be Establishing a New Bond with the kids specifically. Trying to do right by Jake's family, spending time on the farm could be considered Getting Back To Nature, perhaps.

Alexandra Jacobi
* Whereabouts in the country does Jacobi live? I sort of suggested Maryland in the wrap-up to the last operation, as that's where the NSA HQ is, but you're free to change that.
* Home Scene: Therapy or Staying on the Case are both viable options. Do you have a preference? If the former, will she be honest or evasive (perhaps framing it as a 'car accident' instead of 'shooting an emergent alien tyrannarachnid'). If the latter, I can suggest a few loose ends if you don't have one in mind.
* I also have an idea for a second quick scene involving her being passed information from a dubious source.

Reuban Phelps
* Whereabouts in the country does Phelps live? I'd imagine somewhere in the Washington DC / Quantico, Virginia commuter area.
* Home Scene: It took a bit of thought, but I have an idea for a scene to accompany his downtime activity of undertaking Special Training in reading lips.

Thom Clitso
* I dig the spin you've put on him. Good stuff.
* Regarding your question about his memory gap: it begins with him dropping into the Ancestral Pueblan ruins under the poultry farm, and ends with him bruised, bloodied and covered in dust carrying Phelps out of the same tunnel. In between is a sucking lacuna, with dim impressions of... spiders... seeping visible darkness... and snow... underground? A profound sense of wrongness, lacking detail or narrative, and all the more haunting for it.
* Wherabouts does Thom live, when not on the trail as a Marshal? Marshals are attached to a Federal judicial district, which would probably be centered in Phoenix, AZ, or Santa Fe, NM for him. Albuquerque, NM is another option, as it's very close to the Navajo Nation. His girlfriend lives in Phoenix so that's probably a sound choice.
* Home Scene: I'd like to do a scene covering him being read in to Delta Green, and also perhaps one visiting Ballard in prison to get closure or answers or just to say goodbye, if you think that's something he'd do (actually, that one can wait for later). Neither of those necessarily have a mechanical side, so you're open to pick something else to try and patch his sanity or enhance his skills.

Ideally, they should be passable as surnames. I didn't realise that at the start (hence, Agent Catfish - though I've retroactively figured out a reason for his non-standard designation).

Same goes for Thom, btw, regarding picking a codename.

Missed the Tillman questions!
Correct. Lived with his father and brother, but did travel a lot. You know. For work.
Those are the biggies. His daughter by now was, I think, in Texas and he was supposed to soon visit her. Young adult just getting started at a new job kind of thing, if memory serves. Just checked TK, and yeah, Camilla is in Dallas and he'd just recently seen her.

Good deets here: https://www.tavern-keeper.com/campaign/6278/characters/35129

I also see that I accidentally re-used USMC Buddies as a bond with McKendry, so I'll check his final bond to "Cal Fire Buddies."
Not much of one. Dad and bro knew Jake was kind of a drifter, and perhaps knew he did 'government work' he didn't like to talk about. His USMC pals -- not out of the question that one of them knew a -lot- more about what Jake did. (And his other bond was Mercedes!)

Camilla he'd just reconnected with and was hoping to get to know after years apart. She's probably wondering why he's not picking up, and seems to be avoiding her calls. She might pursue that. And given her family / mom's history... she might have her own issues.

Any of those sound good to me. I like Knox.

Good schtuff on the answers for Jake, taa.

They Knox three times!

On the ceiling if ya want me!

Phelps got very much chained to a desk post his backstory, so DC makes sense since FBI HQ is in the city - it might have been a pretty recent move depending on how far in the past it suits you for the Still Water Ripper case to have taken place.

I was thinking that Ballard being suddenly in prison after being Clitso's ticket out of banality would be front and centre in his mind depending on what he remembered. I think he's probably been intolerably restless trying to work out who those people were and what he experienced... and how he can get involved again.

Going to try and wrangle everything over the weekend! Any chance of starting for the spooky season?

Hey! Yeah, I was thinking the Baltimore area or a suburb? Really anywhere within the DMV area would be a feasible commute to Fort Meade to do NSA's bidding.

For home scene, I'm actually liking the unhealthy option of staying on the case. Her backstory shows that she really dug into the occult when she encountered stuff that couldn't be explained, I can't imagine she'd shy away from it now that she's experienced it. I'm definitely intrigued and open to any loose ends you might have in mind!

Study the occult, that never goes badly!

I mean Necronomicon.pdf didn't get flagged by any of the anti-virus vendors, how bad could it be?

Buffy has taught me that this means the internet is haunted by Lovecraftian horrors!

Well then if *Buffy* says it's true...

​Back home from travelling. Will catch up shortly.

Missed that. Where'd you get off to?

Hey all. Sorry for the deep cover radio silence - been facing a bit of a brainwall getting these home scenes up and running. Posting's going to be a bit slow anyway over the Christmas-New Years period, but I will be devoting some time and thought to getting us back in play and on course for the next operation.

All good. Enjoy the holidays, man, and let us know what we can do to help!

No worries, I think we're all in it for the slow descent into madness long haul. Happy holidays all!

Looks like TavernKeeper is closing up shop. If anything is needed from over there it looks like we might have until the end of the month to make a backup of it.

Cheers! Surprised it lasted this long, to be honest!

Whilst we're here, I'm guessing this is a no-go?

I'm in the process of schlorping old game files off TK.

Moving things over here will be a good excuse for me to get off my butt in regards to updating this game, too. Perhaps I've been fretting too much over how to play out the home scenes, as they're supposed to be relatively short.

If it's slowing you down might be worth skipping it for now and just dropping us into another adventure?