Apr 29

Apr 29 Delta Green RPG: Operation Review - Music From a Darkened Room

Delta Green RPG: Operation Review - Music from a Darkened Room

Hello and welcome to the Great Old Ones gaming podcast, the show centered around games about the weird and horrific. I am your host, Nate, and in today's episode we will be returning to the world of the Delta Green Roleplaying game for another operation review, this time with Music From a Darkened Room. Written by Dennis Detwiller, Music from a darkened room was originally written in 2012 and re-released as part of the Night at the Opera operation collection published back in 2018. The operation sees the Agents called in for Operation IAGO where the Agents are tasked with determining the cause of death of one FBI Special Agent and Delta Green Veteran, Arthur Donnelley. But before we trek any further I must warn any potential Agents in the audience that the rest of this episode is for Handler ears only, any Agents looking to experience this operation for themselves should sever their comms now or suffer the consequences. You have been warned.

Operation Briefing

**Operation IAGO** is assumed to take place in Meadowbrook New Jersey, late 2017. But Handlers can adjust the date and location to suit their needs. Whether the Agents are members of the Program or the Outlaws bears no significance to the operation at hand. Their assignment comes from their usual Delta Green contact or case officer. The team's contact has been given little information to relay. The Agent's goals are as follows:

1. The Agents are to determine Donnelley's cause of death.

2. The Agents are to focus their attention on the house at 1206 Spooner Avenue and determine whether the property will continue to pose a threat.

Donnelley's Fate

The Agent's contact can fill the Agents in on what Delta Green knows about Donnelley's death.

Donnelley went to the house two weeks ago without informing his Delta Green contact or following protocol. Nobody knows why. Donnelley's ex-wife called the Trenton FBI office and reported him missing. Two agents from the office checked his apartment the following day and discovered he had left his cellphone behind. The day after that, the agents worked with the phone provider to track his phone's recent movements and found a number of unexplained visits to 1206 Spooner Avenue.

The next day, the two agents went to the house and found Donnelley's body in the blood-drenched master bedroom, his throat slashed. The FBI agents notified local law enforcement and police chief, Michael Buffington, who then called in the county coroner, Elmer Perkin. The coroner ruled the death a suicide. The Agents' contact says Delta Green agents in the FBI worked hard to ensure the official investigation of Donnelley's death ended there. Donnelley already had a reputation among people who knew him as depressive, obsessive, and often overwhelmed by stress. Based on web search history and recent trips to the house, Donnelley had become focused on the property.

The tragedy was reported in the local paper and made the rounds on the internet for a day, but things have begun to calm down. The Agents' contact states if they're careful, they can keep it that way. The FBI and the local police are happy to sweep this under the rug and neighbors do not want the house's history to affect their property value. The Agents' contact will instruct them to tread the house with care.

Assets

The Agents' point of contact will provide them an old cell phone preprogrammed with the numbers and addresses of two nearby specialists that can aid the Agents' in their research.

Elizabeth Tucker:

The first is Elizabeth Tucker, an antiques dealer living in Meadowbrook. Tucker is a young attractive woman with a booming online business that hunts down lost family heirlooms and stolen artifacts. She became involved with Delta Green three years before the start of the operation when she tracked down a stolen amulet and witnessed some oddities involving its destruction. She believes Delta Green is a legal, albeit secret, part of the government. Tucker is an invaluable resource for the Agents when it comes to tracking down Isabelle's antiques.

Emil Yarrow:

The second, Emil Yarrow, is a parapsychologist who works at Fulton College a couple towns over. He became involved with Delta Green six years prior when he managed to uncover some useful information to the conspiracy during an investigation of a strange occult force killing people in an old hotel. Like Tucker, Yarrow believes Delta Green's legal legitimacy. Yarrow believes he is an expert in the occult but in reality he knows little. He has no knowledge of the Unnatural. His purpose in the operation is to direct the Agents into danger. He encourages Agents to go inside the house at night because *"the spirits more easily communicate at night"* or to go in along as *"The spirits are better with one-on-one conversations"*.

Lastly, the module states that the Agents' contact will instruct them to inspect a Green Box in town while they are there. Once those two tasks are dealt with, they are to report to their contact and await further instruction.

Handler Tips

- Don't dwell on the initial meeting for long. It's not an interview.

- Keep track of who has the phone. It is important for the later parts of the operation.

- I recommend waiting to tell the Agents about the Green Box until they have had a chance to investigate/enter the house for a few reasons.

- It keeps the players focused on the house.

- It gives the Agents a chance to start piecing out what happened to Donnelley on their own.

- And if they get stuck, Their contact can instruct them to visit the Green Box, pushing the narrative along.

- If you plan to run this in a single session, I would cut Yarrow out. His contributions to the investigation are geared at steering the Agents back towards the house.

Operation Background

Spooner Avenue is a quiet street and 1206 Spooner Avenue is a small house whose appearance is wholly unremarkable but has a garnered a reputation in Meadowbrook. After a Murder/Suicide that took place in the house fifty some years ago, sixteen more people have since died in the house. All but one of those deaths was uncanny. It’s a water-cooler topic across Meadowbrook. Somehow, the house has been continuously sold throughout the years despite new tenants never lasting more than a month. People in Meadowbrook believe that the house has a draw to it and those whose live near the house do their best to avoid the property.

The house was built in 1907 by Michael Wheeler who brought his wife Isabelle to die there. Isabelle was infected by an unknown ailment which robbed her of user of her legs and wracked her body with spasms and convulsions. Despite her condition, she would outlive Michael by decades. Michael was struck in the head and killed by a piece of marble at a worksite in 1910. Isabelle remained in the house for another 46 years.

In 1926, Isabelle hired a seamstress, an Italian woman named Adele DiVettelo, to re-sew her drapes but soon after the two became inseparable, and Adele eventually moved into the house. In reality, Adele is a witch who signed her life away to one of the many of masks of Nyarlathotep. During the summer of that year, Isabelle was seemingly cured of all her ailments; in reality, DiVettelo used dark magic to bind Isabelle's suffering to each mirror in the house. Locals began to talk, and it became clear that strange things were going on. Animals would regularly turn up dead and strange men began gathering at the house. In 1940, Adele consecrated the property to Nyarlathotep and built a room for her nightly rituals which culminated in the summer of 1955 when Adele's Patron appeared and opened his black book to Isabelle Wheeler. Isabelle refused to sign her name into the book and over the course of the following year, Adele left and Isabelle wasted away in house under the care of a private nurse.

Since he was a kid, Donnelley had always had interest in the house. During his time as a Delta Green Agent, he posed as a would-be buyer to investigate the house, sending word to Delta Green. Some time later, the house was purchased by Yamilla Isari. Donnelley had attempted to dissuade Isari from purchasing the house, but his warning fell on deaf ears. Not too long after, she died in the house, her throat seemingly slashed by a razor. Donnelley's obsession consumed him, and he too became another victim of the house on 1206 Spooner Avenue.

Investigating 1206 Spooner Avenue

The module provides Agents plenty of opportunity to do some proper gumshoeing if they desire. The module details what the Agents can learn from trudging up paperwork at the county offices, interviewing neighbors, local police and the coroner, and more about the house's history in news archives. If you're looking to run this over the course of many sessions then these sections are an invaluable resource you can draw from during your prep time. Whether you plan to run this operation as a one-shot, or over the course of multiple sessions, there are a few key things the Agents must learn/uncover if they are to stand a chance at overcoming the horrors of the house on Spooner Avenue.

Means of Destroying the House

The Agents have two possible means for dispatching the Unnatural threat from 1206 Spooner Avenue.

The Elder Sign

An Elder Sign. This is not mentioned anywhere in the house or its history.

The module admits that unless the Agents have prior knowledge of the Elder Sign, this is an unlikely solution. I understand its inclusion as a potential means of consecrating the house, but as written it feels unearned. Handlers wishing to include the Elder Sign as an option for the Agents may want to add clues into the investigation that allude to a means of creating such an artifact. The Green Box is a natural fit for such information.

As written however, unless your group has had previous exposure to the Elder Sign, Isabelle's Diary is going to be the Agents best option.

Isabelle's Diary

Isabelle's Diary containing the ritual Convochi L'Uomo Nero.

The bulk of the Agents efforts should be directed at finding Isabelle's Diary. The diary has been tucked away in an old end table unbeknownst to its current owner, Emily Harrison, a Meadowbrook local. The Agents' contact, Elizabeth Tucker can point them in Emily's direction or the Agents can discover this through the right skills. Secreted with the diary is a small bronze knife and bowl. The Diary itself is a great exposition tool for the Handler should the Agents have any holes in their understanding of the events that transpired and as mentioned earlier, it contains the ritual needed to banish the Dark Man from the house on Spooner Avenue.

Convochi L'Uomo Nero

This is the elaborate ritual detailed in Isabelle's diary. The ritual call the Dark Man (Nyarlathotep). First 200 HP worth of animals need to be sacrificed over many years on the nights of the new moon. Even then the presence of the Dark Man is not a guarantee. A definite method to summon the Dark Man is to conduct a human sacrifice to deconsecrate the ground and dismiss the Dark Man forever.

The module stresses that this decision should weigh heavy on the Agents minds, rightfully so. Mechanically, the ritual is no slouch either. If the Agents are willing and able to pay the price, they can rid the property of Nyarlathotep's influence and gain some sanity as a consultation.

Encounters During Investigation

The module outlines a few other encounters the Agents may experience during their investigation.

The Rest of Isabelle's Antiques

Apart from the Isabelle's journal hidden away in the end table, there are two other pieces of furniture still tied to the house. Her old upright piano at a nearby local shop appears to be a normal piano, but when music can be heard in 1206 Spooner Avenue, Agents are able to glimpse at Isabelle's incorporeal form playing the piano. If the Agents destroy the piano, the music in 1206 Spooner Avenue will cease.

The other antique of note is Isabelle's Armoire located in Columbia City. Tucker can help them locate the piece in a few days, but searching on their own will take months. Like the piano, the armoire is physically unremarkable, but anyone with a 15 or higher **POW** score that decides to enter the armoire and shut the door will witness the ritual Conviochi L'Uomo Nero as if it were occurring in the room outside. If they stay long enough, they can hear the Dark Man's voice followed by a blood-curdling scream after which the vision ends.

The armoire can be a neat way to show players some of the house's history to the Agents, if it wasn't so far out of the way, or time-consuming to locate. I like the connection the antiques have to Isabelle and by extension the story at large.

Interview with the Coroner

Elmer Perkin is the county coroner who has handled all the deaths on Spooner Avenue since '94. Perkin is a talkative sort, and is known for getting drunk at the local inn and spilling the details on local deaths. If the Agents approach him with some drinks, he may spill his guts to them, becoming a good source of information for the Agents to confirm or arise some of their suspicions. Perkin calls Isari's and Donnelley's deaths *"damn strange"*, stating the cuts on their throats were identical. The blood spray patterns were nearly identical as well, suspected that Donnelley obsessively tried to recreate Isari's death. In both cases it seems like the mirror was being blocked by something in the shape of a person. Perkin will admit that in neither case did the detectives find a suicide weapon but neither did they find any evidence of anyone else present in the house, and thus ruled both deaths a suicide and moved on. If the Agents reach Perkin through official means such as the police or using their cover as FBI agents, Perkin will be less forthcoming, and may even require the assistance of chief of police, Michael Buffington to sequester documents and information from Perkin.

The Green Box

Located in a storage facility not far from the house on Spooner Avenue, the unit that contains the Green Box has slipped through the cracks of Delta Green and the fee has gone unpaid for three quarters of a year and the owner, Brian Miglia, aims to collect. Miglia suspects that the shed is worth a lot of money. Depending on how the Agents approach Miglia and the fee, Miglia can become rash. If he does, he will have his three workers break into the unit one night. The Green Box contains some seemingly mundane items and others important for the operation but strangest of all is a coffin containing the remains of Anton Ture, a young boy who drowned in the house on Spooner Avenue. Agents who gain access to the Green Box can find Donnelley's notes next to a set of newly minted keys to the house on Spooner Avenue. Donnelley's notes paint a picture of his descent to madness.

The Green Box I think serves best as a mid-point in the operation *after* the Agents have had a chance to enter the house and experience it for themselves. Remember when I mentioned that the Agents point of contact will provide them with further instruction? I save the Green Box for that moment. It makes sense too given that Delta Green itself has let this particular Green Box fall to the wayside.

Handler Tips

- Resist the urge to plant seeds for future operations in the Green Box.

- Keep the investigation focused on the house. The module provides a ton of background information that can feel overwhelming to keep straight.

- Don't dwell too long on each encounter. Peripheral details serve as lows contrasting with the highs the Agents experience during their visits to the house on Spooner Avenue.

- If you are planning this for a single session:

- I'd recommend moving or cutting out some of the background information to keep the pace of the game going.

- Cut complications with Miglia to move the plot along.

The House Itself

The spirit of Isabelle Wheeler still resides in the house after all these years, and it is her spirit that is behind the horrific events that have taken place over the decades.

The house is nothing out of the ordinary, if a bit dated looking. Agents with the relevant skills can tell that the house has been extensively modified since its original construction (not uncommon for older buildings). A thorough investigation of the interior reveals that the house was renovated sometime in the 70s, a fire occurred in the bedrooms in the back half of the house and great effort was made repairing it. The interior of the house is still decorated with Yamilla Isari's things, which her family has yet to collect. The master bedroom is covered in blood stains. A single stain seemingly draws a line from one of the walls, across the ceiling and to the point on the floor where Donnelley's body still lay.

The house is fueled by anger and hatred of the people that live in it. The house draws strength from the fear of its visitors. Isabelle Wheeler was the first to be trapped behind the reflections and since then she has collected souls to join her in the dark world. A few of those who have perished in the house including Donnelley now find their spirits caught in a terrible loop of reliving their last moments over and over again or being controlled by Isabelle.

Wheeler's sole motivation is for the pain of others to distract her from her own torment. She will feed on the inhabitants of the house unless stopped. The house wants nothing more than to gather Willpower Points. In the modules own words "It is a batter for misery, death and sorrow, bent on affecting those who enter it to replenish itself." The house will devise a menagerie of wicked deeds to get the Agents to enter the house alone. Agents with a high enough POW Score will have an uncomfortable feeling of being watched anytime they are in the house.

Once the Agents enter the house, it will go out of its way to get them to return, preferably alone. It will make phone calls, send texts, emails all to get their attention. The house is also capable of creating manifestations that warp reality itself. The house is devious. The module provides the house with the ability to possess people should it need to. Rightfully so, the module recommends these types of effects be used sparingly. Mechanically, the house has a pool of POW points and can spend them to attempt to influence its potential victim. The harsher the effect, the more points the house must spend.

The manifestations work differently. Each room has three entries corresponding to Willpower thresholds. When an Agent enters a particular room, a manifestation may occur according to that Agent's current Willpower. The module stresses to pace these out, saving the best for last. A lot of the manifestations are events that have occurred in the house,

Handler Tips

- Let the players in and out of the house. The spirit likes to torment its subjects over the course of many years and will only hasten this if necessary.

- On a similar note, Make what the Agents discover relevant.

- Don't be afraid to use the house's manifestations to guide the Agents to further investigation if they are feeling stuck. Perhaps one of the trapped spirits is trying to communicate with them?

- Try your best to get at least one of your Agents alone in the house, at least once. Failing that, have an NPC like Yarrow, Tucker, or Perkin fall prey to the house.

Climax and Conclusion

If your Agents have unearthed Isabelle's Diary, then the climax of the scenario should be them performing the ritual. The ritual takes an hour to perform and during that time the Dark Man will dissuade them from finishing the ritual but upon completion will vanish. If the Agents fail to discover the ritual or Isabelle's Diary, there isn't anything the Agents can do to put an end to the horrors. Burning the house down is a stall tactic at best. The ritual is not an easy feat and will require the Agents to sacrifice someone to go through with it. This decision should weigh heavy on the Agents, serving as the operation's moral quandary. It is without a doubt a sanity blasting event and what the operation builds up to. This is why I stressed to direct the Agents in finding the diary. The ending of the operation hinges entirely on the Agents having the book in a way that feels easily avoidable. Handlers could place the evidence of the ritual elsewhere, and it wouldn't have much impact on the operation as a whole.

Banishing the Dark Man from the house rewards the Agents with some Sanity and mild praise from their Delta Green contact. No one said being a Delta Green Agent was glamorous.

Final Thoughts

What I liked

- The intrigue of Isabelle and the strange events surrounding her and the house are great. The operation goes above and beyond to fleshing out each of the NPCs stories of their experiences in 1206 Spooner Avenue.

- I really like the set-up and conflict surrounding the Green Box. Green Boxes are always fascinating and great ways to pique player interest. This operation restrains itself from having the Green Box be a dumping ground of Mythos artifacts that derails the investigation.

- I liked the consideration taken to how the Agents might go about their investigative work and ways to deal with it. It makes the environment feel more real, more lived in.

What I would change

- The ending and it's reliance on the Agents finding the Diary inside the end table. As written, the Agents have no other way of discovering the ritual. A lot of time is spent detailing events tangentially related to but not really helpful to the Agents' investigation. Without the diary, the scenario falls apart. The operation admits the ending may result in the Agents simply giving up their investigation. While I can understand that cold cases are a part of an Agents time in Delta Green, it doesn't *feel* very satisfying to have your game end in "Well we give up..." If I was going to run this, I would leave the diary in whatever antique they find, or even in the Green Box if need be.

- The operation also feels lacking in personal connection back to the Agents, so Handlers will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in that regard. Speaking of lacking, I wish this operation had a clear timeline of the house's history. There are several times throughout the operation where it will reference a person's death as a rough time frame for an event taking place, which leads to a lot of page flipping during prep.

Overall

I think Music for a Darkened Room is an operation with a lot of potential but is squandered by its flimsy ending. As someone who tends to run Delta Green for new groups on a fairly regular basis, this is not an operation I'm gravitating towards, but for Handler's with players who enjoy the investigative work, this is sure to be a hit.

That's going to do it for this review. As always if you enjoyed this review be sure to leave a review and share it with your friends. For episode show notes and general announcements be sure to check out our website. You can also chat with us on Discord and if you REALLY like the show and want to support us with your hard-earned money, you can do so by heading over to patreon.com/thegreatoldonesgaming. Patrons at any level get early access to episodes along with first dibs in any games that we run publicly. If you want to check out Music from a Darkened Room you can do so by picking up A Night at the Opera operation collection, or as a standalone PDF on DrivethruRPG. Links as always, are in the show notes.