Shotgun scenarios

Remember that evening on the pier? Two ships coming in loaded with inhuman monsters? Cargo containers shaking like unstable bombs… the full moon glaring down with cold light in the frozen night? Steel rending with a metallic scream? That was a shotgun scenario… — The Man in Black answers a question

A shotgun scenario is a short plan for a DG simulation. Originally, the Man in Black pictured them as "ultra-condensed descriptions of possible adventures, plot-hooks, themes, or sub plots", essentially inspirational set-pieces and plug-ins rather than RPG adventure scenarios.

Shotgun scenarios are written mostly in an annual year-end contest on the DGML, where the rules state they must be 1500 words or less. No submissions are anywhere near as short as the Man in Black's original examples, so in effect, the connotation has changed from "ultra-condensed" to just short.

2019 Shotgun Contest Announcement

Copyright status

The copyright status of Delta Green material in general and non-commercial fan publications is described in the official FAQ. On that page you will find an official notice to be appended to “each web page that makes use of Delta Green characters and settings”, including those in shotgun scenarios. Any paid or commercial product that uses Delta Green, including any commercial republication of any shotgun scenario, must be separately and specifically licensed from the Delta Green Partnership as well as the author.

Please seek permission directly from the author even for non-commercial republication and translation online. Where permission is granted, please note, in each scenario’s article on the Fairfield Project wiki, where it has been published.

In the interest of simplifying this process, when you submit a scenario to the annual contest, please use your real name and supply contact details to be made public with your submission once the contest is over. By default, authors are assumed not to want their email addresses made public in this way.

Chronological index

2005

The poll to decide on a winner received 42 votes.

Schrodinger's Dilemma by Jonny X. A message, possibly from the future, says a man must be killed in Washington D.C. First place. 4500 words.

Last Things Last by Bret Kramer. Cleanup after a deceased old-timer in the group. Equal second. 1500 words.

Double Dog Dare by Jeff Campbell. A nasty time loop around a Green Box. Equal second. 1700 words.

A Future So Bright... by Janusz A. Urbanowicz. Spy work with the White House entourage to the G8 talks at Vienna. 1500 words.

Operation SPRING CLEANING by Robert Lint. Unexpected signs of a life from a broken cell. 1400 words.

Borderline by J. Edward Tremlett. The chupacabra kills in Texas. 1500 words.

The Colour and the Shape by Rob K was submitted after the deadline and was therefore not eligible for voting. In it, USDA inspectors act strangely following deaths among cattle. 4600 words.

2006

The poll to decide on a winner received 21 votes. The contest administrator wrote that The Tales Dead Men Tell "is 900 words over the word count, so that entry will not win unless it has more than double the votes of its nearest competitor".

2007

The poll to decide on a winner received 42 votes.

Metamorphosis by Graham Kinniburgh. An encounter with another team's op that has gone terribly wrong. First place.

U.X.O. by Bret Kramer. Investigation of an alleged UFO crash by Saucerwatch and Delta Green. Second place.

Wormwood by James Haughton and Arseny Kuznetsov. A mission to purchase and destroy Mythos documents from the Russian mob leads to unexpected complications. Third place.

Going Under by Simon RJB. Pursuing an anarchist cult leads to a showdown in Disneyland.

Through the Darkness of Futures Past by Simon RJB. Mopping up the remnants of an Alaskan cult brings forth dangers from a future age.

Tides of Doom by Ross Payton. Terrorists seeking to use Mythos sorcery must be stopped.

Whichever She Was by Viktor Eikman. A suspect disappears mysteriously from a police station.

2008

The poll to decide on a winner received 41 votes.

The Evidence Locker by weirmonken06. A quest to have Delta Green legitimized once more has dire consequences. First place.

Psych Eval by James Haughton. The responsibilities of an Agent's day job come to haunt. Second place.

Damaged by Graham Kinniburgh. A DG Friendly with psychic abilities is becoming a danger to those around her. Equal third.

Good Intentions by Bret Kramer. A do-gooder threatens the conspiracy and must be dealt with. Equal third.

Abduction by Brian Ridge. A flashback single-player scenario for a uniquely talented PC.

A Cult On The Couch by Marty Caplan. An expert on cults treads into Delta Green territory.

Burn Before Reading by Ross Payton. A former Friendly is being blackmailed by an unknown party.

Target Verification by Chad Bowser. The agents are tasked by A Cell to eliminate a compromised DG member.

2008 was the year the Large Hadron Collider was switched on. A scenario was written in honour of the potentially universe-destroying occasion:

Operation Schwarzchild by James Haughton. A self-aware spawn of Azathoth materialises inside the LHC.

To commemorate Halloween 2008, list member Jon Nyx suggested a scenario writing contest with a theme of the Naica Mine Crystals. There was one entry:

Bad Time to Die by James Haughton. Brujos, K'n-Yan and serial killers on the US-Mexico border.

2009

The poll to decide on a winner received 36 votes.

Memorial rules

In honor of Mark McFadden, a legendary member of the Delta Green community whose death had recently been confirmed on the DGML, Adam Crossingham wrote in the announcement for this year's contest:

1. Name dropping "McFadden" or the "Lizard King" gains entry 1 aditional vote. 2. Plots riffing cult movies gain 2 additional votes. (If you are riffing, please state how and which movies you are riffing in a second e-mail if you want to be sure to score the votes.) 3. Plots using Tcho-Fu gain entry 3 additional votes. 4. Use of “23” as a plot device and/or the surreal use of coincidences as plot gains entry 4 additional votes. 5. Plots credibly using Serpent People gain 10 additional votes. No just making the bad guy a Serpent Man! If the bad guy is a Serpent Man, the plot should reflect this as well. 6. If an entry meets LKM rules 1-5, they will score 23 additional votes instead of 20. 7. My decision on an entry’s eligibility for extra votes is final.

2010

The contest for 2010 was actually held in early 2011. The poll to decide on a winner received 36 votes.

Let's Learn Aklo by James Haughton. Multiple deaths at a community centre exist in a loop. First place. 2400 words (plus 400 words for stats).

Special Agent by Bret Kramer. A Delta Green cell is debriefed by a man the agents are later ordered to track down. Second place. 1500 words.

God Wills It Thus by David M Jacobs. Evelyn Waugh's black magic in Northern Ireland. Third place. 1500 words (plus 500 words for stats and references).

Drifting by Viktor Eikman. The Drifting Classroom (1972) plugged into Delta Green. 1300 words.

Fimbulvinter by Simon Brake. Ithaqua extends its reach through rock 'n' roll. 1500 words.

Integratron by Jason Graham. FBI agents investigate a power surge in California. 1500 words.

Train 198 to Churchill, Manitoba by Viktor Eikman. An M-EPIC scenario tying into Dead Letter (Delta Green: Countdown). 1400 words.

2011

The contest for 2011 was held in March and April of 2012. It was announced by list member David March without support from the makers of DG, as there had been no official contest for 2011. The poll to decide on a winner received a record 49 votes.

2012

The contest for 2012 began in December and ended in January 2013. It was announced by list member Bret Kramer. Submissions were to be anonymous until the results came in. The theme was ”the Maya”; scenarios making use of Mayan culture would win in the event of a tie in voting. The administrator announced that it was up to the individual voters to (detect and) decide for themselves whether a submission broke the rules. The poll to decide on a winner received 28 votes.

Holding Cell by Bret Kramer. A single agent is required to interrogate a victim of Ghatanothoa. First place. 1500 words.

Publish or Perish by Michael Daumen. A scholar changes history by rewriting a Mayan codex. Second place. 1500 words.

El Camino del Diablo by Chase Beck. Mass murder on the Mexico/U.S. border. Third place. 1900 words (600 more for stats).

Cohort by Viktor Eikman. PISCES fears an army of puppets. 1400 words (200 more for stats).

Mother's Brew by David Tormsen. Suggestive patterns in seemingly random deaths lead to Mexico. 1500 words.

Dream Cruise (Operation ONEIROI) by Owen Guthrie. An apocalyptic Disney cruise. 1500 words (not counting dashes added in formatting by Bret Kramer, or the splitting of Tcho-Tcho into "Tcho Tcho").

2013

The contest for 2013 ran from October to the end of the year. It was announced by list member Viktor Eikman. As in the previous year, submissions were to be anonymous until the results came in. As in 2006, it was announced that entries longer than 1500 words would be permitted but penalized. The poll to decide on a winner received 29 votes.

Secret Shopper by Ed Possing. The decline of the brick-and-mortar book store is avenged on Black Friday. First place. 1500 words.

I Hate My Job by Owen Guthrie. A man with a bomb takes a kindergarten class hostage in Seattle. Second place (divided). 1500 words.

Standard Deviation by Bret Kramer. A meeting with a radio astronomer at a scientific conference. Second place (divided). 1250 words.

Hoard by Viktor Eikman. Incidents in and around the home of two compulsive hoarders in Pasadena. 1400 words.

Black Lilith by Mark Brassington. A series of women act out in New York. 1150 words.

Son of This by Viktor Eikman. MI-13 talent recruiters are caught in the Egyptian revolt of 1919. 450 words.

Spawn Toss by Viktor Eikman. A hurricane drops something in Florida. 200 words.

2014

The contest for 2014 ran from October to the end of the year. It was announced by list member Ed Possing. As in the previous year, submissions were initially anonymous and entries longer than 1500 words were permitted but penalized. The poll to decide on a winner received 39 votes.

2015

Submissions for the 2015 contest were accepted until the end of the year 2015. Voting began Jan 1st, 2016. The contest was announced by list member Ed Possing. The poll to decide the winners received 28 votes.

2016

The 2016 Delta Green Shotgun Scenario Contest was announced and administered by Ed Possing. Submissions for the contest were accepted until December 10th. Voting ended December 31st. All submissions remained anonymous until the winner's were announced at contest's end. The poll to decide the winner received 31 votes.

2017

Submissions for the 2017 contest were accepted through December 9th, 2017. Voting took place from December 10th to Midnight December 31st, 2017. The contest was announced by list member Ed Possing. The poll to decide the winners received 73 votes.

2018

Submissions for the 2018 contest will be accepted through December 8th, 2018. Voting will take place from December 9th to Midnight December 31st, 2018. The contest was announced by list member Ed Possing.

2019

Alphabetic index

Please apply the tag "shotgun_scenario" only to all of the actual, playable scenarios, which are thereby shown here.

List of pages tagged with shotgun_scenario: