The Masque of the Red Death

This scenario is meant to be played at a point in the timeline where the Program exists, but can be set before then by changing March Technologies to Majestic. The setting can be any town or city. Players will probably finish the scenario before the gala, but it should be kept in to provide high stakes for failure.

## **Acronyms**

Asset Recovery Team - ART

Delta Green - DG

March Technologies - MT

## **Background**

Over the past month, numerous people have been found dead, drenched in blood and faces frozen in terror, from an unknown virus. All victims were seen as little as 30 minutes prior to their deaths, healthy and alive. Additionally, all were employees of Prospero Medical Technologies, a local biomedical research firm and MT front company.

A few days ago, security cameras at Prospero’s offices caught an incident on film. Footage shows several employees at a finance meeting when a figure in red robes suddenly walks in. The footage cuts out, then resumes 30 minutes later with everyone dead. No physical evidence of the figure can be found, and its face is never shown.

Behind everything is Dr Edgar Montresor, an ex-Prospero researcher. When he was fired for finally refusing to weaponize the research done on an artefact, he managed to sneak it home with help from his colleague, Dr Virginia Clemm. Planning to look into the Masque’s potential applications in medicine (excreting beneficial substances), his constant study of it drove him insane. The Masque gave Edgar an intense bloodlust, and he’s decided that if Prospero wants a bioweapon, he should turn it against them. Virginia hasn’t been fired, and continues to cover for him, unaware of where his research led him.

The next part of Edgar’s plan involves unleashing his gas at an upcoming gala for Prospero’s shareholders. The gala is in two days and numerous Prospero bigwigs will be there; adjust the timer based on the Players’ general skill levels and group size.

## **Entry**

* Outlaws / not agents: After seeing the security footage the local police fear the deaths may be the result of an unknown bioweapon, and has requested assistance from the FBI, who has assembled a joint task force with the CDC to investigate. The Agents will comprise, or be part of, this team. Agents are to follow standard operating procedures. If MT catches wind of the Agents looking into the unnatural, the ART will be sent to seize anything they have gathered, and dispose of the Agents if necessary.
* Program: MT is worried that these attacks are directed at them, and they’ve pulled some strings to have the Program assign a team of agents to investigate. Agents are told to collect everything they can relating to the unnatural figure, as well as any research on this virus / bioweapon, and bring it to their handler for safe disposal while ensuring that potential knowledge of the unnatural doesn’t reach the public. Unbeknownst to the Agents, everything they collect will be given directly to MT, and the ART will be dispatched to ensure a smooth drop-off.

## **Prospero Offices**

### Layout:

Prospero’s office is three stories tall; the first floor is generic office space, the second are standard medical labs, the third are executive offices, and a high security basement beneath the building houses labs equipped to study unnatural artefacts, and a containment zone to store them. The basement and third floor have panic buttons that’ll call in the ART.

Most employees in the building will do what they can to help the Agents, but won’t divulge information relating to the basement.

Access to the basement requires the Agents to go down one of the stairwells in the office, as the elevator will go down there, and have a high access level keycard, only given to the key figures below, or a successful computer science roll at -40% to get through the security doors. Failure on the roll causes the ART to arrive in 1d4 x10 minutes. Critical failure means ART arrives in 1d4 minutes.

One ART officer is on duty as security at all times.

### Key Figures:

* Allan Prospero
	+ CEO of Prospero and former member of Majestic.
* Poe Fortunato
	+ Head of R&D.
	+ Aware of Prospero’s connection to MT.
	+ Pushes researchers to find weapon applications for the items passed onto Prospero.
	+ Fired Edgar for refusing to weaponize the Masque.
* Virginia
	+ Lead researcher since Edgar left.
	+ Helped him steal the Masque believing he would find a way to use it for good.
	+ Is aware of the deaths; not of Edgar’s connection.
	+ Will provide Agents with her keycard and tell them all she knows if they reveal what Edgar is doing.

### Potential Clues (Feel free to come up with more as appropriate):

* The lead researcher was fired recently. He didn’t leave on good terms, and was escorted out by security.
* Footage from little over a month ago shows Edgar meeting Virginia behind the building at night. She hands him a package of some kind.
* Footage from the latest deaths shows a person in a porcelain mask and bloody lab coat across the street from the building. A forensics or criminology roll confirms them to have approximately the same height and build as Edgar.
* Employees have started receiving death threats recently. Prospero has convinced them not to go to the authorities. A computer science roll can track the IP address to Edgar’s home.
* Edgar’s address is on record.
* A break in occurred a month ago. The intruder accessed unknown files on the front desk’s computer before leaving. A forensics or criminology roll confirms them to have approximately the same height and build as Edgar. A critical forensics success reveals a car resembling Edgar’s to be parked in a dark area behind the building.
* Financial statements or similar documents linking Prospero to MT can be found throughout the building.

## **Edgar’s Home**

### Layout:

A small one story home in the suburbs. The main floor hasn’t been cleaned for some time, and trash is piling up. The basement is locked, and contains a makeshift lab with numerous virus samples. Edgar’s car is parked on the street out front when he’s home.

### Potential Clues:

* Edgar’s computer contains files detailing the addresses of numerous Prospero Employees.
* The basement has paper files detailing the process Edgar is using to allow the virus to survive as an aerosol and create bombs loaded with it.
	+ Some improvised gas bombs can be found around the basement.
* His plans for the attack on the gala are in the basement. If the Agents are running out of time, these plans can be found tucked away on the main floor.

## **Edgar**

In addition to the background information:

* Keeps the Masque in a locked briefcase.
* Took a job at the morgue for easy access to virus samples.
* Tries to convince Agents that Prospero is in the wrong.
* Will let Agents into his home if he doesn’t think they’ll discover he’s the culprit, otherwise he’ll attempt to escape through the backdoor with the briefcase and set up shop in a motel.
* Absolutely won’t let anyone into the basement.
* If he believes there is a threat to him or his plans, Edgar summons the Avatar to protect him in his own home.

## **Gala and Aftermath**

* Hosted at a local conference center.
* Allan and Poe will attend.
* Edgar will plant virus bombs throughout the building, and detonate them during the party.
* He’ll summon an Avatar to kill any survivors.
* If the Agents fail to stop this attack, Edgar releases a video afterwards threatening more attacks unless Prospero comes clean about their work. The attacks will happen regardless. The Program will be able to track him down through the video, and dispatch a hit team to execute him
	+ If they’re working for the Program, they are the hit team. The Avatar will be present to defend Edgar. If they stop him, they’ll be warned to do better next time, but nothing more happens to them. If they fail to stop Edgar, he escapes to kill more people; if the Agents survive failing, they’ll be on MT’s shit list.
	+ If they’re Outlaws, they can still try finding Edgar at his home, but have to face both ART and the Avatar. Edgar escaping has few consequences.

## **Handoff**

Agents are instructed to arrive at a field outside of town at night, and hand over any material gathered to the personnel there. An MT helicopter will arrive shortly after them, and ART will disembark fully armed. If Poe is alive, he’ll be the one Agents are to hand materials over to; otherwise it’s a generic member of ART.

* If Agents willingly hand over everything, they’re told they did the country a great service and are left unharmed. In future operations, the Handler can have Agents notice a news story in which weapons similar to those handed over are used by the US military.
* If Agents don’t hand over the materials, ART will open fire. Surviving Agents don’t need to worry about reprisal from the Program, but MT may want payback.

## **STATS**

### **Avatar of the Red Death**

**STR** 15   **CON** 20   **DEX** 10   **INT** 20   **POW** 15

**HP** N/A   **WP** 20

**SKILLS:** Dodge 40%

**ATTACKS:**

* Deathly Gaze 30%, Lethality 30% (see **DEATHLY GAZE**)
* Inevitability, special (see **INEVITABILITY**)
* Withering Touch 50%, damage 2D6 (see **WITHERING TOUCH**)

**DEATHLY GAZE:** The Avatar chooses one target it can see, and attempts to cause a severe heart attack, brain aneurysm, or other similar effect. If successful, the target is subject to a 30% Lethality check, a 0/1D6 SAN check from helplessness, and the effects outlined in **PLAGUE BRINGER**.

**INCORPOREAL BODY:** To destroy an Avatar, requires an attack using a weapon with a Lethality Rating, a melee attack (unarmed, knife, grappling, etc.), or a shotgun blast within 1 meter of the Avatar. Doing so results in the Avatar becoming nothing but an empty robe and a mask. Melee attacks are subject to the effects outlined in **PLAGUE BRINGER**, and destroying an Avatar does nothing to prevent the summoning of a new Avatar. An Avatar cannot be destroyed if the summoner is within view, wearing the Masque, and alive. An Avatar will cease existing once it kills its target and those around them.

**INEVITABILITY:** Once per day, the Avatar of the Red Death can force everyone it can see to make the CON check outlined in **PLAGUE BRINGER**.

**PLAGUE BRINGER:** Any mundane creature (including humans) which touches an Avatar must immediately make a CONx5 check at a penalty of -30%. A critical failure means the creature immediately succumbs to the plague, killing them. Failure means the creature has contracted the plague, and will die over the course of the next 30 minutes. Success means the creature will survive the plague, but will still exhibit symptoms for the next 30 minutes, and will age by 1d10 years. Critical success means the creature is resistant to the plague, and will be safe from exposure to it for the next 24 hours.

**MASQUE OF DEATH:** An Avatar appears to be a person wearing a blood drenched shroud, and an extremely lifelike, red porcelain mask depicting the rotting face of a corpse. The first time a person sees the mask of an Avatar, they must make a 1/1D8 SAN check from the unnatural. If an Agent attempts to check the DNA found on the shroud, there is blood from a large variety of people, but only their own blood can be identified.

**WITHERING TOUCH:** The Avatar of the Red Death attempts to place one of its hands on a target, draining the life from their body. On a hit, the target takes 2D6 HP damage, ages an equivalent number of years, and must make a 1/1D6 SAN check from the unnatural. The target is also subject to the effects outlined in **PLAGUE BRINGER**.

### **The Masque**

The Masque is a red porcelain mask made to look like the bloody, rotting face of a corpse, though not nearly as lifelike as the mask that makes up an Avatar’s face. For every hour spent in close proximity to the Masque, a character will lose 1d4 SAN from the unnatural. While wearing the Masque, a character is able to summon an Avatar of the Red Death at the cost of 1d6 WP and 1d12 SAN due to the unnatural. Summoning takes 1 hour if the wearer has 25 or more SAN, or 30 minutes if they have less. The Avatar will not harm the summoner, even if the summoner removes the Masque, and can be commanded to kill anyone the wearer knows exists, even if that person cannot presently be seen. If the summoner dies while the Avatar is alive, it will use it’s **INEVITABILITY** attack, even if it has already done so, before destroying itself.

### **Dr Edgar Peabody**

Use the Expert Scientist (Biochemist) stats found in the *Handler’s Guide*, pg 354, adding Firearms 40%, Melee Weapons 30%, Occult 50%, Unarmed 30%, Unnatural 20%, and 0 SAN.

Edgar owns a hatchet, light pistol, and The Masque.

### **Dr Virginia Clemm**

Use the Expert Scientist (Biochemist) stats found in the *Handler’s Guide*, pg 354, adding Firearms 30%, Occult 50%, and Unnatural 2%.

### **Poe Fortunato**

Use the Ordinary Bureaucrat stats found in the *Handler’s Guide*, pg 354, adding Firearms 30%, Occult 30%, and Unnatural 1%.

Poe has a medium pistol.

### **Allan Prospero**

Use the Expert Lawyer stats found in the *Handler’s Guide*, pg 354, adding Firearms 50%, Occult 50%, and Unnatural 4%.

Allan has a medium pistol.

### **Asset Recovery Team**

Use the Ordinary Special Operator stats found in the *Handler’s Guide*, pg 354, adding Occult 30% and Unnatural 1%.

Each operator has a combat dagger, heavy pistol, carbine, and a hand grenade.

It is recommended that Handlers have one member on the Asset Recovery Team per Agent, though use whatever number feels right for your group. If the Asset Recovery Team has 3 or more members, give one of them a light machine gun, or approximately half of them shotguns loaded with buckshot.

## Credits

The Masque of the Red Death was written by Mack Schmaltz for the 2021  shotgun scenario contest.

Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are © Mack Schmaltz, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

The Masque of the Red Death is not available here under CC-BY-SA.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12P66pwwr1r1XgXS2pSfr2qzOUI\_cP-1qpb\_MlQhruG0/edit