r/nightattheopera Group Contest

This contest is dedicated to all the cops, civilians, creatures, and cultists whose stories will never be told.

/r/nightattheopera is an open table RPG community that utilizes a living world where Delta Green Agents
and Operations take place in the same linear (or non-linear, non-Euclidean) timeline. This allows Agents
to fully experience the horrors the Delta Green RPG has to offer. For more info, check out the intro page
here or come chat with us in Discord here.

What’s a group anyway? A group or organization that interacts with the Delta Green universe. The
primary goal of this contest is to create new things and expand the playable universe such that the group
you create can be called upon for aid, used to stymie investigators, or simply provide flavor to a scenario.
A group might be a cult, a company, a criminal enterprise, a conspiracy, or a clandestine government
agency. Groups might fight the mythos, they might capture and weaponize the mythos, they might
uncover and expose the mythos, or they might interact in some other interesting way.

Contest Rules:
● Maximum two entries per person
● By submitting an entry you agree to participate in the voting process, including providing fair,
open, honest, and impartial (as much as possible) feedback on group(s)
● Submissions must be Google Docs (After the contest closes submitters may submit a laid-out
PDF as a final version)

What might be included in a group write up?

● How to insert them into a game. How will they interact with existing canon groups?
● Is the group intended to be an enemy to the players? An ally? Frenemies? Co-belligerents?
● The scope of the group. What is this organization capable of? Are they globally powerful, or
struggling to get by in a little town in the middle of nowhere?
● The group’s structure. Is it a Byzantine organization with structure of ranks and subranks, or a
loose collection of like-minded people working together? How does one join?
● Their strategies, tactics. How they get the job done?
● Prominent NPCs in the group. How they talk, how they behave, their history, hopes, and
maddening dreams. It will be helpful to include stat lines.
● The group's history. How did this group get to where they are today? What sacrifices (figurative
or literal) needed to be made to get there? Make it accessible to players because history is fun to
write and fun for Handlers to read, but don’t make it a black box to potential players
● Resources at their disposal. What powerful objects do they have access to? How do they peddle
their influence? If there are any artifacts or tomes central to this group, include their stats.
● Significant locations. What part of the world does this group operate in? Where do its members
live? Where is this group’s headquarters? Do they have any other important facilities?
● Player or NPC? Is this group intended to be played by players? What skill sets do members
typically have? What backgrounds do they typically come from? How does an average member
of the group behave? Tips for making agents from this group?
Where should I start?
Adam Scott Glancy has written a great article here on making intelligence agencies who deal with the
Mythos. While the article specifically deals with intelligence groups, it contains excellent advice for
creating any sort of group for the world of Delta Green.

Voting: Anyone who submits a group will be asked to rate 5 other groups based on the simple scheme
below. Non-voting submitters will have their own scores set to zero. Please do not submit if you’re not up
for reading and rating others.

Judging: Entries will be judged on the following criteria using a 1-5 scale:
● Theme: Does the group fit tonally and thematically in the Delta Green setting - that sweet spot
between gritty realism and supernatural horror?
○ 1 - The group is a poor fit for the Delta Green setting, requiring too much suspension of
disbelief
○ 3 - This group feels like it belongs in the Delta Green universe
○ 5 - The Delta Green universe fits this group. It is subtle but not boring, or bold but not
outlandish.
● Presentation: is the group write up easy to follow presented in a good order and flow?
○ 1 - The write up felt more like a stream of consciousness, difficult to follow
○ 3 - The write up flowed cleanly from point to point
○ 5 - The write up followed a clear, centralized outline, I always knew where to look for
the right information
● Novelty: is this group a fresh, new look or original concept? Or, does it use an established setting
element in a novel way?
○ 1 - This group relies heavily on tried and true setting tropes, or doesn’t bring much to the
table. It feels like a reskin of an existing setting element.
○ 3 - This group presents interesting ideas but does not break out of the box
○ 5 - This group presents a new angle to explore or goes off in a fresh new direction.
● Interactivity: Can a Handler use this in a game? Is there a way for players to learn about it? To
interact with it? To play as it? To destroy it? How does it react to those things?
○ 1 - The submission is basically a short story. It may be a rich tapestry of evocative story
beats and well realized characters, but there’s no way to actually use it in a game.
○ 3 - The group’s presents the Handler and players with a suite of options for playing
games that use it
○ 5 - The group is designed from the ground up to be played with. The Handler has a full
range of options for bringing it alive, and the Agents a full range of options for exploring
it.
● Bonus: Was there something that stood out in this group write up that you weren’t able to capture
in the rest of the voting rubric? Assign up to 5 bonus points (or 0).

Submissions open from May 4th, 2019 through July 4th, 2019. Submissions must be sent via email to
elendil004@gmail.com. Submission e-mail must contain a link your write up, a one sentence pitch, and
how you want to be credited. Deadline is by Noon Eastern Time on 4 July, 2019. Voting will commence
promptly and be completed before August. All submissions will be posted below as they are received.
Submissions are Closed

Prizes: We are offering the following prizes, sponsored by The Green Box:
1st place: Copy of Wrestlenomicon
2nd place: $25 DriveThruRPG voucher
3rd place: Hand picked interesting trinket from GenCon 2019

The Winners
1st Place: Project Big Wheel by Agent Obtuse
2nd Place: The Stormchasers by Lithobraker
3rd Place: The Orne Library by Kevin Ham and mellonbread*
*As sponsors of the contest, not eligible to win. Therefore:
3rd Place again: Tie between Throughline News by Michael Fox and Project Praise by WillWrite

Compiled feedback document

Submitted Groups

1. Human Dawn by YankeeBluejeans - On the surface, Human Dawn is a new age MLM corporate
cult - like NXIVM, Est, or Scentology - but in truth the leadership seeks enlightenment through
supernatural means as it nudges humanity towards oblivion.
2. The Watercolour Institute by threethreethree - The group known as The Watercolour Institute is
carrying out targeted killings with hypergeometric rituals. While the Institute looks like an enemy
of Delta Green on the surface, they are technically unwitting allies in secret - for now...
3. Taskforce MOONSTONE by threethreethree - A Japanese anti-unnatural conspiracy for Delta
Green RPG
4. The Orne Library by Kevin Ham and Mellonbread - The men and women of Miskatonic
University who collect, curate, and protect some of the world's most dangerous mythos tomes.
5. Dawson, Merritt & Edelman, PLCC by Michael Daumen - They say an attorney who
represents herself has a fool for a client. What does that make an attorney who represents Delta
Green?
6. The Circular Artist’s Circle of West 45th Street by Schadenfreudude - The Circular Artists'
Circle of West 45th Street are a mostly unsuccessful improvisational comedy and devised theatre
troupe, blissfully unaware of the existence of the unnatural. Through a cruel twist of fate, each of
them seems to have attracted the influence of the King in Yellow.
7. Special Research Department (特別研究部) - Japan by PromisingWriterGuy - A
(well-rounded) Japanese anti-alien/paranormal group
8. The Stormchasers by Lithobraker - A down-to-earth charity rebuilding homes in Tornado Alley,
run by the owners of a wealthy construction firm, practicing for the end of the world.
9. The Red Worm by Karl Parakenings - A friendly and highly-motivated research agency, eager to
help the Agents, and quick to corrode when exposed to the Unnatural.
10. The Children of Dada by Lighthouse - An Anarchist artist mythos group, intellectual armchair
activists who occasionally commit random acts of insanity.
11. White Stork Division by Lithobraker - Long-haul truckers carrying strange artifacts and
creatures across America, and the research division that builds their vehicles.
12. Throughline News by Michael Fox - A web startup whose site always shows you exactly the
stories you will find provoking. For some, too provoking.
13. The Fertile Crescent by Jake “ChiefMcClane” Cook - At the height of ISIS' power, a new terror
group rises up in Syria, threatening not only the region, but the whole world.
14. The League of One by YankeeBluejeans - Multiverse explorers looking for a timeline where
humanity isn’t doomed.
15. Church of the Fallen Angel by Algatress - God exists and he hates you.
 16. The Invisible Tentacle by magnificantophat - A Cthulhu cult for Delta Green that has no idea
what it's gotten itself into.
17. Project Big Wheel by Agent Obtuse - A faction about the USAF's attempt to weaponize
hypergeometry in drone warfare - and an opportunity for the Agents to stop it...
18. Project Praise by WillWrite - A Christian charity tries to reconvert cultists from their false gods
to Jesus Christ. They thought they would be fighting falsehoods and lies. They would find things
much worse than lies…
19. Moss Covered Arrowhead by mellonbread - Choose one last Night at the Bunga
20. The Fraternal Order of King Vold by mellonbread - Monster Hunters become the hunted.
21. Sub Rosa by Jake “Chief McClane” Cook - A mythos fighting organization founded by Teddy
Roosevelt

Members who voted were given the option to leave feedback. That has been collated into a document
which you can find here. Great work by everyone!