Project Nemesis is a fan driven website for games that use the One-Roll Engine (like Nemesis, Wild Talents, Reign and Monsters) or Chaosium's Basic Roleplay System (BRP) (like Call of Cthulhu) and the Delta Green setting.
It's really part of a
clever decades-old disinformation campaign; PISCES is behind it. They want to
discredit all of that "psychic" nonsense as much as possible in the US (and
elsewhere) so they can keep their near-monopoly on "Talents". Maybe
they quietly prop up the careers of people like Uri Geller, John Edward, Sylvia
Browne, the Ghosthunters (US), the Ghost Hunters (UK) and various New Age
flakes in order to occasionally "expose" them as frauds; toss one to
the lions when you've used 'em up and break out the next sacrificial lamb.
PISCES also anonymously supports and donates to organizations run by skeptics &
debunkers like James Randi, Martin Gardner, Skeptic magazine, Penn &
Teller's 'Bullshit' tv show, etc. Result: No reputable scientist has taken the
field of parapsychology or reports of "psychic phenomena" seriously
in decades. And PISCES is free to recruit (or abduct) the occasional Talents
they track down via stories in both the mainstream and fringe media, especially
in the US and Canada. And if
PISCES can't persuade, coerce or otherwise control the new Talents, they are
ruthlessly yet very quietly eliminated.
PCs take the roll of:
New and confused Talents on the run from PISCES "cleaners" (who may
be Talents themselves). They may also be on the run from US law
enforcement, especially if their talents unexpectedly manifested in a deadly
manner, ie - innocents were accidentally injured or killed.
PISCES agents operating covertly, mainly in the US
& Canada,
investigating reports of weirdness that might indicate Talent activity. In
their search for new conscripts, PISCES agents sow disinformation and
sabotage/eliminate anyone (Phenom-X, Saucerwatch) who gets too close to the
truth.
Delta Green agents investigating possible Mythos activity and encountering one
or both of the above groups.
Phenomen-X or freelance reporters/debunkers working for Saucerwatch,
investigating the paranormal. Note that PISCES agents keep a close eye on the
fringe press, especially Phenom-X, as they have inadvertently led PISCES to new
Talents on several occasions. If it suits their purposes, PISCES will give
Phenom-X anonymous tips and leads which may or may not be accurate. Or
dangerous.
Imagine the fun when PISCES agents have their first Mythos run-in. Or their
first DG encounter. And they mistake DG for a relatively harmless group like
Phenom-X or Saucerwatch.
Imagine the fun when DG agents have their first non-Mythos/Talents encounter,
either with new Talents on the run or PISCES cleaner Talents. DG agents assume
the Talents are Mythos-corrupted cultists/Lost Souls revenants. Hilarity
ensues.
Minor tweaks make this a UK-based campaign instead of US-based.
Note that the Shan aren't mentioned; they aren't necessary for a simple Talent
Hunt campaign involving DG and PISCES. If you want to include them, I can see
the traditionalists possessing or even "creating" popular psychics. After
years of laughable predictions and other crazy stunts, the traditionalists
force the psychic to self destruct as publicly as possible in order to keep
parapsychology a fringe pseudo-science.
Assume the Shan infiltrated Boeing in the late 1990s, which is a more logical
choice than Lockheed Martin due to Boeing's much larger revenue stream and
expanded focus. The Shan have been slowly consolidating power by taking over
more and more of the Boeing bigwigs. They have been diverting ever-larger
amounts of money.
MJ-12 is going notice that billions of bucks "wasted by contractors"
is vanishing into someone else's secret budget instead of theirs. And they're
gonna get pissed. And track down whoever is responsible.
Which means that Mi-Go "indirectly-controlled" MJ-12 and Shan
"directly controlled" PISCES are going to have a *very* nasty
surprise when they finally bump into each other. Is this what kicks off MJ-12's
civil war, ie - proof that the Greys have been lying? And why as of
~y2k/post-911 the Greys/Mi-Go and MJ-12 are not longer on speaking terms? Maybe
the Mi-Go corrupted the Report as a last "screw you" before
splitting, which explains the lack of WMDs in Iraq that the Bush administration
*KNEW* were there. Or maybe the WMDs were a cover for something else the
administration is frantically searching for, and still hasn't found amid the
buried ruins of man's earliest known civilizations.
Ooh! Maybe the Mi-Go ALSO globally "deactivated" all of the
protomatter before leaving, and people around the world (but mainly in the US) suddenly
had melting organs, limbs falling off, gaping incisions abruptly opening, etc. Phenom-X
has a field day and Saucerwatch is scrambling for a plausible explanation. Or
the Mi-Go turned the protomatter into a lethal virus a la 'Convergence'. Global
pandemic, anyone?
Back to the Shan and PISCES; if they survive their Mi-Go/MJ-12 encounter, the
Shan could move to fill the void left by MJ-12's defeat, or (more likely)
MJ-12's fragmentation into various smaller organizations fighting amongst
themselves. This would leave Lockheed open to Shan infestation, if their cover
hasn't been blown. Maybe a Lockheed takeover would look something like this:
So now we have a lot more options for PCs; all of the stuff originally listed
above, plus the following:
PISCES agents who slowly become aware that something is very wrong up the
chain of command. Do they run? Defect? (Defect to whom?) Turn on suspected members
and start a witch hunt?
PISCES Talents who are in the same position as the rank-and-file agents.
DG: If the events hinted at in "Through a Glass Darkly" come to
pass, PCs have the option of being typical agents who slowly realize that
something is not right with A cell. Or they may become modern
"Cowboy-era" renegades. A DG civil war as well?
MJ-12: Once they've gotten their hands on a few Talents and dissected them,
AND cleaned up the mess caused by Talents who didn't wish to be dissected, the
Greys are gonna have some splainin' to do. Especially WRT the Talents who are
obviously *not* protomatter/Cookbook experiments. How will the Greys/Mi-Go
react?
The Army of the Third Eye turns up stateside: They are vile cultists
practicing unspeakable rites, foreign terrorists, Talent killers and fellow
Mythos hunters, depending on your point of view and what you know about them. Playing
Third Eye PCs would be interesting, especially if they have mistaken a Talent
or two for someone Shan possessed.
The Fate: It wouldn't be surprising for Alzis & Co. to have (possibly
unwilling) Talents on their payroll. Mythos magic & Miracles, just two
sides of the same coin. The Fate will tell you everything you need to know
about Talents, if you'll do them a little favor... Another option might be
playing Fate-controlled Talent PCs who are trying to get out once they realize
what they've gotten themselves into; you think you're joining Xavier's School
for Gifted and find yourself in a William S. Burroughs novel instead.
Phenomen-X: What the heck are these guys gonna do? They're used as dupes and
cannon-fodder by MJ-12, DG en*and* PISCES. And possibly even the Fate. Phenom-X
reporters probably have shorter lifespans than a "Paranoia" Red-level
Troubleshooters or a Spinal Tap drummer. Phenom-X thinks all of these groups
are the same vast Conspiracy, the one that makes untraceable phonecalls and
whispers horrible secrets in the night, yet provides them with stunning news
tips and story leads the next day. What if Phenom-X gets to a rogue/on-the-run
Talent before anyone else? What if while investigating the mysterious
disappearance of Dr. Jahn and his colleagues, Phenom-X members start
manifesting Talents?
GRU SV-8: They want to know what is going on in America, and how they can get on
the action if it's something useful. Or blow it up if it's bad.
A couple of final twists:
#1: The "Fools! They mocked me all these years, but now I'll show them! I'LL
SHOW THEM ALL!" cue-mad-laughter option:
Robert G. Jahn & Co. actually found something. Something powerful and
totally unexpected by everyone, including PISCES/the Shan. The lab closure is a
ruse, so he and his associates can quietly explore and possibly exploit
whatever they found, away from the prying eyes of the Princeton
administration, the public and possibly even their own supporters,
philanthropists and fellow parapsychology researchers. Have they found
something Mythos related? Or perhaps they've found a way to turn *anyone* into
a Talent, and can even specify their abilities. And they want to give this
"gift" to everyone in the world. And there are hidden side-effects
that take a while to manifest. Very very BAD side effects...
This could set the stage for old-guard PISCES Talents vs the new PEAR-created
ones, with the latter capable of being quickly mass-produced. Might also be a
reason for DG, PISCES and MJ-12 to form an uneasy and temporary alliance. Ramp
it up a bit more, and you get the Fate, GRU SV-8, Section Disparu, the
Catholic/Vatican group from Worlds of Cthulhu #3 whose name escapes me, all joining
in to hold off the End Times. The Mi-Go and Shan don't want the End Times to
happen yet either, so MJ-12 and PISCES start cranking out some seriously weird
tech through their various front organizations and military contractors. Cram
ghouls & Serpent People in somehow, and you're dangerously close to a White
Wolf style World of Darkness apocalyptic reboot. We still have no idea where
the Cult of Transcendence fits into all of this, btw...
#2: Princeton has another ongoing
"science experiment" known as the "the Global Consciousness
Project".
Near as I can figure (and I freely admit I didn't waste too much
time on it) the experiment has something to do with the human race, as a whole,
projecting a "field" that can have an effect on reality; tweak it a bit
& you might have the basis for Talents, Mythos magic, the Dreamland, etc.
#3: Why did the Shan go with the US/Boeing/NASA and not the EU/BAE Systems
PLC/ESA? Well, the EU is a hodge-podge of numerous countries and various
non-English languages, but more frustrating (as far as the Shan are concerned)
is the byzantine EU bureaucracy and the insane number of regulations that vary
from country to country. This makes sneaking materials from one place to
another a royal pain in the ass, especially if you are only going a few hundred
kilometers but you're crossing two or three national borders.
The US,
by contrast, only has one set of bureaucratic nightmares to deal with. Travel
within the US is easier, in that there are no national border crossings despite
the continental US covering almost twice the area as the entire EU; in millions
of square miles, the US minus Alaska = a bit over 3.00M, EU = 1.67M. You metric
freaks can do your own conversions. The US also has that gargantuan
military budget to skim from, instead of the numerous comparatively small
military budgets of individual EU nations; lots more wiggle room. Finally (and
perhaps until very recently), the US seems to have the most advanced
technology in the world, sometimes decades beyond anyone else's. Companies like
Severn Aerospace are the exception, not the rule...
Delta Green 
