8th Annual r/nightattheopera Scenario Contest

This contest is dedicated to all those on a government watchlist as a result of search terms used to write accurate scenarios.

Judge’s Winner: Operation TICKER TAPE by Kevin Dent

People’s Choice: Operation SEAL SONG by Carter Krummel

/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 nonlinear, 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 or the Reddit discussion thread here.


In honor of being around for another whole year, running games, ruining agents, and building a community of Handlers and Agents, we’re holding a Scenario Contest for Delta Green (Fall of Delta Green included).

Submissions

  1. The Blue Flu by Daktyl (newest version) - The program intercepts a suspicious report of an influenza outbreak in Rural Arizona in 2021, only to find that the CDC response team is missing and strange people have been wandering around town.
  2. Melt My Eyes by Emil Meriranta (newest version) - Delta Green has deployed a group of agents to investigate why a SIGINT technician in Mountain home went catatonic and how his eyes just melted off leaving a puddle of white liquid behind.
  3. The Enlightened by Fee Fi Fo Fin (newest version) - an IRS agent going undercover in a cult attracts the attention of the cult's leaders and Delta Green, who suspects the cult of horrific crimes.
  4. Operation TICKER TAPE by Kevin Dent (newest version) - An abandoned GRU SV-8 satellite has unexpectedly plunged to Earth, as Delta Green and SV-8 race to uncover what exactly the Russians sent into orbit decades ago.
  5. Yellow Journalism by Evelyn B (newest version) - In 1976, erratic behavior at a local television news station draws excellent ratings, but attracts an old Delta Green asset's attention for its similarity to a known memetic hazard.
  6. Operation SPARE PARTS by Chris Venzin (with special thanks to Patrick Grider) (newest version) - Agents are called in to investigate a hate crime in the town of Huntsville, Alabama, and learns that true evil never dies. In fact, it often festers and grows.
  7. A Rainbow of Muscle and Bone by Controlling Crowds & Rowan (Amber C) (newest version)  - After Clyde Boughman's death Delta Green wants to follow up on any cases he had kept information on just to be safe. One group is sent in to follow up on the tapes. Agents have 48 hours of designated leave
  8. Five Alarm Firefight by Bird Bailey (second edition) - A beginner combat scenario for first responders new to Delta Green..
  9. Operation SEAL SONG by Carter Krummel (newest version) - A hypergeometric animal encounter deep in the ancient pines of Olympic National Forest enters the Agents into a cycle of abuse, violence, and the exploitation of a long dead god.

Contest Rules

Unlike the Shotgun Scenario contest, the N@TO contest has no length requirement. We have other rules, though:

  1. Be a N@TO member. You can join Night at the Opera using this link. Grab the contest role, and feel free to chat about your scenario in #contest-discussion.
  2. No AI. Don’t submit scenarios written by generative chatbots (ChatGPT, Bard, etc) or containing assets by generative AI (like DALL-E, Midjourney, etc). The one exception is any portrait generated by ThisPersonDoesNotExist, which you may use.
  3. Themes. Scenarios must center at least three of the following eleven themes:
  • Conflict between mythos monsters, DG in the middle.
  • Early Delta Green History.
  • 1917-1955. This includes the P4, OSS, and early “official” eras (ending with the destruction of The Book of Dagon and most PUZZLEBOX artifacts).
  • Ensuring US hegemony for deathless aeons.
  • Hook does not involve a murder or a dead body.
  • Medical Horror.
  • A minor mythos-fighting group.
  • Mythos geopolitics.
  • Old School in a Modern World.
  • Original monster.
  • Set between 1970-1989.
  • Beginner scenario.
  • A beginner scenario is for a Handler new to Delta Green to run for players also new to Delta Green (like Last Things Last).

These features must be integral to the scenario, not just window dressing. For example, if you select the theme “Early Delta Green History,” having the Agents briefed while looking at photos from the 1929 Innsmouth raid, with the rest of the scenario having nothing to do with Innsmouth and instead about fighting time-travelers in Colorado, doesn’t make the theme integral. But a scenario where the Agents must pick through the remains of Innsmouth and track down descendants of the Innsmouth raid would be integral.

  1. No old scenarios. Your scenario must be original to this contest. You can’t submit a scenario from a previous contest or jam. Feel free to retool old WIPs and submit them (if they fit your chosen themes, of course).
  2. Delta Green Partnership. If you use the Delta Green intellectual property in your scenario (you almost certainly will), please include the Delta Green Partnership disclosure on the first page:

    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 ©<fill in author’s name/username/alias>, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

  1. (optional) playtest on N@TO: If you playtest your scenario online, we suggest that you do it on the Night at the Opera Discord. This keeps the community healthy and playful, helps prospective judges better evaluate your scenario, and builds hype for your scenario. So it’s a win-win-win.

Submitting

Scenarios must be submitted as a Google Doc (no PDFs) by Sunday, May 18th at 11:59pm EDT (GMT-4). Email your scenario to Sammy J at <email removed> with the following:

  • Subject: N@TO Scenario Contest 2025: <scenario-name>
    (replace     “<scenario-name>” with your scenario’s name)
  • Body:
  • Scenario’s name,
  • Google Docs link to scenario,
  • Author(s),
  • Your Discord/N@TO username,
  • One-sentence blurb (to get the Handler to read it),
  • The themes you used plus one sentence each for how you used each theme,
  • Whether you want your scenario backed up to the Fairfield Wiki.


Within 72 hours, you’ll receive confirmation from <email removed> (check your spam folder). If you have not received confirmation within 72 hours, email me to sort things out.

Due to how judging works, there needs to be a gap of at least 5 submissions between a user submitting two scenarios. If you send me a second submission I may need to put it on hold until other submissions arrive.

Voting

This year we will crown two winners.

Submitters will be asked to judge 5 other submissions, rating them using the rubric below and providing feedback.

A popular vote - open to all - will also be held to crown a “people’s choice.”

Anyone is also free to provide feedback to individual scenarios.

The prize for winning either category:

  • bragging rights,
  • Choice between a $20 DriveThruRPG gift card or a physical copy of the “latest” issue of the Dead Whispers fanzine, and
  • top billing in a future issue of Dead Whispers (assuming I get my shit together).

Judging

Entries will be judged on the following criteria using a 1-5 scale:

  • Legibility: Is the scenario written and organized in a manner conducive to understanding it?
  • 1 - The scenario needs an editor, badly. The writing is illogical and tough to read.
  • 3 - A run-on here, a weird explanation here. The scenario isn’t beautiful, but it’s a serviceable read. I’ll need to take my own notes if I want to run it, though.
  • 5 - The scenario reads as clear, well laid out, and flows from one section to the next in logical fashion. I don’t need to take notes to run it.
  • Freshness: Does the scenario bring something new to the medium?
  • 1 - The scenario is a trip down memory lane, full of tried and true tropes, setpieces, and characters.
  • 3 - The scenario doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the table, but avoids stale elements.
  • 5 - The scenario breathes fresh air into the world of Delta Green, trying something new.
  • Feature/Theme usage: How did the entry use the three (or more) included themes or features?
  • 1 - A theme was clearly shoehorned in to fit the requirement.
  • 3 - Features and themes are sufficiently integral, but not especially creative.
  • 5 - A novel interpretation of a theme that elevates the theme to new highs.

  • Runnability: Does this scenario include everything that is needed to run it?
  • 1 - No. Essential narrative (clues, locations, NPCs) and gameplay elements (mechanics, statblocks) are completely missing, the scenario lacks conflict or interesting choices, or the scenario is too frequently distracted with non sequiturs.
  • 3 - Mostly. The essentials are here, but a few things are either missing or frivolous. I’ll need to either expand or “fix” this scenario before it hits my table..
  • 5 - Yes, easily. This has everything I’d ever need or want to run this scenario: all the clues are well-arranged, each NPC is fleshed out but not over-detailed, the conflicts have only interesting resolutions/outcomes, and sidebars are focused yet useful.
  • X-Factor: How personally appealing do you find the scenario?
  • 1 - This scenario is absolutely not for me. No part of this will hit my table.
  • 3 - The scenario is fine. I may run a version of this or steal parts of it for my game, but I don’t have a strong desire to.
  • 5 - This scenario was written for me specifically. I need to run it ASAP.