Last time I gave an AAR on a Delta Green adventure I had run. In it I mentioned creating a list of weird items for the players to find when exploring the Greenbox but the players hit the correct one immediately and never did more than glance at the rest. So they won’t be wasted, here is everything that was in the Greenbox. Some are real and some are just red herrings. I’ve provided explanations for a few.
- A number of flat, square objects (total of 9, all between 1 and 1 1/2 feet across) wrapped in newspaper.
When unwrapped these are all panes of glass with bio-hazard symbols drawn on them in a variety of substances, including blood and feces. Nothing else is unusual about them. The newspapers are from various cities on the east coast over a several month period about 4 years previous.
- 12 hardcover books, 15 paperbacks and a stack of photocopies. 2 old leather books. A VHS videotape. A narrow object about a foot long wrapped in cloth.
These are all copies of the play The King in Yellow with several variations. The tape is of a performance of the play by an amateur theatrical troupe that ends in chaos when one of the actors pulls a dagger and stabs another, followed by the audience rushing the stage and attacking the cast. The wrapped object is the dagger.
- 4 large, square cardboard boxes. They appear water stained.
The water stains were to indicate that this was one of the bins that had broken open and had been repackaged. Each box contains a human skull covered with intricate carvings. There is nothing else unusual about them.
- 5 heavily padded compartments holding what seem to be glass bottles with cork stoppers. The stoppers are sealed with wax. A 6th compartment is empty.
The jars are empty. There is absolutely nothing unusual about them. There were only ever 5 bottles here; none are missing.
- A narrow object about a foot long wrapped in a heavy, oiled cloth.
A dagger with an ornate, jeweled handle and a very sharp blade of some unidentifiable metal. Beyond the unique material used to make it there is nothing else special about it.
- A flat, circular object with a lump in the middle wrapped in bubble wrap.
A small brass mirror with a heavy stone disk lying on it. Shamelessly stolen from elsewhere. (I really wanted the players to mess around with this. Sadly, they never looked at it.)
- A small, surprisingly heavy cardboard box. The box is water stained.
An extremely heavy stone dodecahedron several inches across. There are unknown symbols carved on each face. There is nothing unusual about it though its origin is unknown.
- Several dozen heavily used yellow legal pads. An envelope. A hardcover book. A metal ammo box. All are water stained.
The MacGuffin for the adventure. The water stains were to indicate that this was one of the bins that had broken open and had been repackaged. (The first thing the players looked at when I ran this.)
- A leather camera bag. A matching leather lens case. A shoe box.
The camera is an older model SLR. The lens case holds a lens with an oddly-prismatic, purplish lens. The shoe box contains a number of photos of landscapes, all of which have unusual things in them. (See The Tree on the Hill for ideas)
- A pair of intricate brass and glass mechanisms, including a red gem, partially disassembled with connecting cables, two heavy wooden bases and a 12 volt marine battery.
This is a Yithian communicator. The players are unlikely to ever get it to work.
- Dozens of highway maps issued by a number of oil companies. All seem to be several decades old. Some appear water stained.
The water stains were to indicate that this was one of the bins that had broken open and had been repackaged. The idea here was that the maps would show routes that looked useful between certain cities that did not actually exist. If someone tried to follow the maps they would find themselves taken elsewhere.
- A large (about 5 gallon) glass jar filled with fluid. Some biological specimen is floating inside.
The specimen looks like a three-armed octopus with a bulbous head having a single, three-pupiled eye on the top. If the head is grasped with the eye facing forward the arms will wrap around the holder’s arm. It can then be used to fire electrical bolts. (Short range only. Costs 1 MP and 1 HP for every D6 of damage the bolt inflicts; wielder chooses how many dice of damage they want to inflict. Base chance to hit is same as Handgun skill. SAN cost is 1D6/1 to “put on” the weapon plus 1 SAN every time it is fired.)
- Several dozen small cardboard boxes shrink-wrapped together in a block. The shrink-wrap is open and one box is missing. The boxes are labelled “Dreamlands Sleep Aid”.
Sleeping pills that result in the user entering the Dreamlands. Hilarity will certainly ensue.
- A cardboard insert holding a dozen small glass bottles filled with a yellow liquid. The cardboard is water stained.
The water stains were to indicate that this was one of the bins that had broken open and had been repackaged. The bottles contain Space Mead.
- 10 VHS tapes with home-made labels reading “Kookie’s Kooky Karnival” numbered 1 – 12 (7 and 9 are missing).
What looks like a children’s show from a local access channel somewhere starring a masked clown named “Kookie”. Despite being obviously aimed at children and with children on the set the activities in the show involve things like cannibalism and vivisection.
- A rifle-looking device composed of a complex arrangement of steel rods and spheres surrounding three glass tubes full of green liquid.
Actually does nothing. It’s just a well-made prop.
- Five filled spiral notebooks. An envelope.
The notebooks are the journals from a caver. He and two friends were illegally exploring some caves on Native American lands in Oklahoma when they found themselves in K’n-Yan. He escaped, his friends did not. The letter explains what has happened and how he is going back after the friends. (See The Mound)
- A cardboard insert holding 4 sealed glass jars containing a coarse, grayish powder.
These are the essential salts from people who have been subjected to the Resurrection spell.
- A Styrofoam cooler labelled “Trauma Kits”. It holds about a dozen zip-lock bags each holding what looks like a damp, grey sponge.
These are made of protomatter and can be used for rapid healing. Basically stuffing one of these onto a wound will cause the protomatter to change to match the damaged tissue, healing the wound almost instantly. (Each will heal 2D6 in wounds and can even bring someone back from negative hit points if applied soon enough. Having a Trauma Kit used on you costs 1/1D6 SAN as the alien matter crawls inside of you. Keep track of how many Trauma Kits are applied to a single character and start requiring CON checks (CON vs number of dice healed, so 2 per Trauma Kit); if they fail have the protomatter start producing odd effects (twitching suddenly to throw off aim, sprouting tentacles, that sort of thing). Allow the effect to diminish with time if desired (reduce count by 1 every week or month).)
- A small box holding 5 drug ampules filled with a clear liquid along with several hypodermics. (There are slots for 12 ampules, the others are empty.) A hand-written index card in the box says “Paul! Stop using these! Patricia.”
These are experimental amnesiatic drugs. An injection causes the recipient to fall asleep and forget everything that happened since their last sleep (basically it prevents the brain from converting short-term to long-term memory). Use requires a INT check. If the check is successful the recipient realizes that they have lost a day which results in a SAN loss of 1/1D3. Medical or First Aid to properly administer. The other effect of these is that they will remove any SAN loss or gain from the “lost” day.
Just a fun list of things for players to find. Too bad my players missed most of them.
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