Forbidden Psalm: Endless Horrors From Between The Stars, Book Review

All Endless Horror art posted with permission

 Forbidden Psalm: Endless Horrors From Between The Stars is a skirmish wargame built with solo/coop/verses modes in mind about five cultists striving to awaken their Endless Horror and bring about the End Times.  Written by Will Rahman, of Forbidden Psalm fame, and illustrated by artist Vil, Endless Horrors was kickstarted June 1st 2024 and the digital copy was fulfilled August 28th 2024. I was a kickstarter backer and I have in my hot little hands a pdf copy of the 168 page grotesque and disquieting wargame.

It is really cool and I hope you find it exciting as well.    

It is not yet available from DriveThruRPG, but give it time. The Stars must become Right.

Endless Horrors and Cults

One of the first things you do in Endless Horrors is create your titular Endless Horror!  This is the Great Old One or Elder God that your cult worships and commits horrible acts of murder and mayhem for.  The procedure for this is to roll 3d100 to determine your Endless Horror’s Description, Purpose and Desire.  There is one d100 table for each attribute.  Your Endless Horror’s Description is simply an evocative adjective. Purpose and Desire have game mechanical effects.

An Endless Horror’s Purpose gives every cultist of your cult a special ability. The Endless Horror’s Desire gives your entire cult a bonus to Rituals under certain conditions. These conditions vary from the thematically mechanical (+1 to Ritual for each Dead model on the table) to the silly (+2 to Ritual if you have eaten lunch today).  This is important because each successful Ritual casting during the game increases your cult’s Zealotry score, and your cult needs a Zealotry of at least 10 to attempt the Final Ritual to awaken their Endless Horror once and for all to successfully conclude the campaign. 

Next you have to choose the Era your unholy crusade is set in, and detail the advantages of your cultists and cult leader. There are three Eras to select for your tale of doom: Medieval, Turn of the Century, and Modern.  Each time period has its own set of weapons and equipment. So, the wargame could be a shooting war or a melee frenzy depending on what you pick. You can choose equipment from an earlier Era if you so desire.  Want to throw a slavering cultist into melee armed with a great knight sword and full plate against a firing line of enemy cultists armed with shotguns? You can do it.  Want to see how the humble crossbow fares against a cop with a taser? Go ahead. Your Endless Horror welcomes the entertainment, or at least drools and burbles to itself.

In addition to choosing a stat block for your cultists, you must also roll a Flaw and Feat for each cultist in addition to a name. Flaws are disadvantages rolled on a 1d20 table that make your cultists a little quirky. For example, it’s possible that Jimbob is delicious to all Horrors on the board or Uncle Frank turned feral and now can only bite enemies instead of using weapons. What. You are managing a cult, not a regimented warband of trained soldiers, so roll with the punches.

On the flipside of this, your motley crew of half-crazed miscreants does worship an Endless Horror with Godlike powers. Every cultist gets a Feat, also randomly rolled on a 1d20 table.  Your minions might have a body made of worms (essentially gains an additional point of armor), or be bestowed with a new mechanic. In the latter case, the Feat Take My Flesh allows a cultist to sacrifice a limb to succeed on a roll where they would have failed. Feats often open up new strategies for your cultists, however the randomness leaves it a bit gonzo.  Still, that is consistent with the game’s tone. After all, if you roll 99 on your Endless Horror’s Desire roll, It simply wants red balloons. Sing it with me now.

Choosing your Cult Leader benefit adds much needed focus to your warband and is the cherry on top of having a cult in the first place.  The player’s choice for cult leader range in benefits from having a hardy warrior that can bring the pain to your enemies, wizards that leverage the arcane power of Manuscripts in the battlespace, leaders who can guarantee your cultists pass their morale checks, and archvillains that enhance your chances to successfully cast Rituals.     

Mechanics and Actions

The central mechanics of the game are simple. If there is a test for something on the battlefield a success is a roll of 12 or higher on 1d20, unless otherwise indicated.  This is called a DR12 check. As is tradition, a 1 is a Fumble and a 20 is a Crit success.

When units are activated on the battleground, each unit can carry out one move, then one action. There are 10 distinct actions that can be carried out.  The ones unique to Endless Horrors are include: use a Manuscript, and convert a Civilian.  Manuscripts (magical scrolls) are one of the ways random weirdness is injected into the game, because each Manuscript has a Failure condition. In addition, a fumble when using a Manuscript invites a roll on the Calamities table, which may spawn a Cosmic Horror, or turn all your unit's items into Wooden Ducks.

Converting a Civilian is a critical action in Endless Horrors because success in this endeavor builds up your cult’s Zealotry level, which is crucial for successfully pulling off a Ritual and bringing down the End Times upon us all.  Functionally the cult’s Zealotry value also gives a cultist a bonus on converting further Civilians to their cause, causing a small but useful positive feedback loop because of the following rule:  if two Civilians are converted in a Scenario, then the cult gains one Zealotry. 

In addition to the previous rule, in Scenario 1, which your cult will likely repeat a couple times, for every five Civilians that are converted the cult earns an additional Zealotry point. So, converting five Civilians should earn the cult a net gain of 3 Zealotry (twice 2 Civilians are converted, and once 5 Civilians are converted) in Scenario 1.

The Infamy value for your cult is a measure of how well known your cult is and how much opposition they are going to attract in a given Scenario.  Infamy increases in value when your cult does horrible cult-like things such as completing Scenario objectives, killing/converting Civilians and killing any Knights/Investigators.  What are Knights/Investigators? Remember those nasty disruptive player characters from a Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green game that interfere with the glorious and transformative actions of a noble cult of the Outer Dark? Knights/Investigators are those guys. They are called Knights if you choose the Medieval Era to play in and Investigators if you play in Turn of the Century or the Modern Era.

When your cult’s Infamy reaches 20, all Civilians become Hostile to your cult, meaning that Civilians will be fully resistant to attempts to convert them, and try to attack your cultists. An Infamy value of 25 or more will result in one of your cultists being captured and taken away by investigators.  On the flipside, a cult with an Infamy higher than 10 gains an additional 100 Resources from “hidden donors” after each Scenario they complete.  Resources are cash, gold or whatever that can be spent to buy Equipment, Weapons and Armor.   I am not real sure what to think about the Infamy stat and the breaks it puts on cult growth. I’ll have to playtest this mechanic in order to come up with a valid opinion. 

Campaign Scenarios and Antagonists

I’ve already mentioned Knights/Investigators and Hostile Civilians.  Also opposing you are cults of enemy Endless Horrors, hostile mystic creatures, and the Cult of the Crawling Eye. It’s a busy occult underground, and danger lurks around every corner.  A note about the Cult of the Crawling Eye. Most enemy Endless Horror cults follow “normal” enemy AI behavior, but the Cult of the Crawling Eye is more insidious. Their members will move to convert Civilians into more cultists of the Crawling Eye, kill any unit that has been Downed on the battlefield, and try to start Rituals if they physically meet their cult brethren. These Rituals can summon all kinds of nasty Horrors into the area, including an Avatar of the Crawling Eye.  In short, the are a pain in the ass with attributes that make them more dangerous if they are ignored and time moves on in the Scenario. So, if you see them, kill them quick. Failure means your very eyes will be forfeit.

Every once in a while, a player of Endless Horrors might get the deviant idea that cults are a bad thing and should be stomped out. If you are a victim of this malaise of goodness and purity, rejoice!  The author has included full rules for you to play all 11 Scenarios in this book as Knights/Investigators.  They even have their own Feats, Flaws and names tables. This also opens up the possibility of playing verses mode where an Endless Horror cult takes on Knights/Investigators in a bloody confrontation. Carry out this gripping conflict in the middle of one of the prepared Scenarios for maximum violence and craziness where there may be third and even fourth parties with their own agendas.

There is a lot more I haven’t covered, like Artifacts, Avatars and their procedural creation, Blessings and Injuries in the Campaign system.  For 168 pages Endless Horrors is a meaty book. And I would be totally remiss if I didn’t mention the artwork. It is deliciously deviant, genuinely grotesque and eye-poppingly eldritch. In short, it is another great Forbidden Psalm art book that could serve as a lovely coffee table discussion piece in your cult headquarters.

Final Thoughts

I also must mention about the Tengoku Station expansion.  Hankering for a scifi Era Endless Horror setting where all of humanity is packed into a claustrophobically crowded orbital station where people can barely breathe unless of course you are one of the elites? Want to see it all burn? Get Tengoku Station. I’ve only read it once so far, but if you are a fanatic about Endless Horrors, it adds what you will like.

That’s all for now. I’m currently planning my cult’s weapons and equipment loadouts with the expectation to crush another cult in a verses game on Tabletop Simulator.  If all works out, I’ll detail that experience in an After Action Report next time I talk about Endless Horrors. Until then, go Burn the Sun.

Delta Green and Genetic Editing of Humans

 A Nature Briefing on the subject of gene editing slid into my emails a bit ago. It stated the following:

“In 2018, biophysicist He Jiankui kicked off a firestorm of controversy when he announced that he had edited the genomes of three embryos, resulting in the birth of the ‘CRISPR babies’ — an act that ultimately landed him in prison for three years. Nevertheless, some scientists are planning for a future in which gene editing babies eliminates certain diseases. Most scientists think it is unethical — at least for now — to introduce genetic mutations that can be passed to future generations. But the general public might be more sanguine: a survey [2023 published in Science] showed that 30% of people would edit their children’s genomes to improve the child’s chances ofattending a top university.”

The above addition in brackets is mine.

What this email linked to was a news article written by Antonio Regalado, published in the MIT Technology Review.  Regalado’s article was titled, “Beyond gene-edited babies: the possible paths for tinkering with human evolution.”

This is real. Regalado, a journalist specializing in genetic engineering, discusses the science of gene editing in embryos, the ethical considerations, what scientists are working on right now with CRISPR and other gene editing technologies, and potential genetic variants people may want to include in their genomes, or the genomes of their children.

Regalado also forecasts how people and governments could use or abuse genetic editing if it becomes widespread. The idea in our reality is terrifying.

Naturally my thoughts turn to the darker world of Delta Green. 

Below are some excerpts from the article “Beyond gene-edited babies: the possible paths for tinkering with human evolution.”  Additions in brackets and bolded sections are mine.

" “I would say my enthusiasm for what the human genome is going to be in 100 years is tempered by our history of a lack of moderation and wisdom,” he said. “You don’t need to be Aldous Huxley to start writing dystopias.” [By Fyodor Urnov of Berkeley]

…

At the Innovative Genomics Institute, a center established by Doudna in Berkeley, California, researchers anticipate that as delivery improves, they will be able to create a kind of CRISPR conveyor belt that, with a few clicks of a mouse, allows doctors to design gene-editing treatments for any serious inherited condition that afflicts children, including immune deficiencies so uncommon that no company will take them on. “This is the trend in my field. We can capitalize on human genetics quite quickly, and the scope of the editable human will rapidly expand,” says [Fyodor] Urnov, who works at the institute. “We know that already, today—and forget 2124, this is in 2024—we can build enough CRISPR for the entire planet. I really, really think that [this idea of] gene editing in a syringe will grow. And as it does, we’re going to start to face very clearly the question of how we equitably distribute these resources.”

...

Whether we encourage genetic enhancement—in particular, free-market genome upgrades—is one of them. Several online health influencers have already been touting an unsanctioned gene therapy, offered in Honduras, that its creators claim increases muscle mass. Another risk: If changing people’s DNA gets easy enough, gene terrorists or governments could do it without their permission or knowledge. "

Along with these ideas of gene terrorists or government gene controllers, consider that there could be gene scouts (an idea I’m taking from the book The Body Scout) that track down populations or individuals that have desirable genetic variants and obtain their DNA through any means necessary. Let your imagination run wild with that one. Do they use coercion or commerce to obtain the DNA? Who are they funded by? March Tech? Some cult like the Sowers? 

And another thing. Since Delta Green is part of the government, would they be on the leading edge of technology to actually understand what is going on or would they be like some sort of bureaucratic dinosaur ham-fistedly enforcing the law through violence and torching any new technology they find like a luddite?  I’m not saying either perspective is better; it may be interesting for a Handler’s group to deal with a well-funded rogue biotech firm rather than a Mythos threat for a change of pace.

Also consider that with this new technology, you will always have its early adopters and fanatical adherents. Instead of a Cult of Yog-Sothoth, how about a Cult of Human Perfection? They could function like a Mythos/religious cult, but their enforcers may be supermen with enhanced muscle mass and endurance rather than tentacles.

If Handlers decide to go down the Cult of Human Perfection route and want inspiration, look no further than the Ultimates faction in the scifi/horror transhuman rpg Eclipse Phase by Posthuman Studios. In the first edition of the Eclipse Phase core book (there is also a second edition now), the Ultimates are described as follows on page 82 of the pdf: 

“The ultimates are a controversial movement that embraces a philosophy of human perfection. Decried by some as immoral or even fascist, ultimates are typically viewed as elitists.

…

The ultimates advocate the use of applied eugenics, strict physical and psychological training, and asceticism in order to improve their overall mental and physical stamina and environmental adaptability. Their social traits and entire subculture visualizes life in the universe as an evolutionary battle for survival and is built around the victory of the superior transhuman over both its opponents and peers. Their movement is heavily militarized, and experienced ultimates offer their services as mercenaries and private security forces to hypercorps, independent city states, or wealthy individuals in need of additional protection.”

This is a good description of a militaristic cult that could slot in perfectly to the horror saturated world of the Delta Green Mythos.  After all, a good human-based horror is a nice break from fighting supernatural Things from Beyond the Stars.  

But let’s revisit the ideas of gene terrorists, gene controllers and gene scouts. Part of the horror with these three ideas is future-shock.  Or in the Delta Green dystopia, horrible things done in the name of human advancement. We’ve already discussed gene scouts, so let’s move on to the other two.

Let’s define a gene terrorist as someone who inflicts a genetic based disadvantage on a target to harm the target or exploit it for financial gain. For example, a gene terrorist could hold an individual or population’s health for ransom.  This biological ransomware could require Agents to travel to some isolated place on the globe and rescue, say high value tourists. Or it could be more nefarious, in which the gene terrorist blackmails a third party’s health and forces the third party to cause problems for the Agents.

In contrast, the idea of a government gene controller would be more subtle. Imagine a government mandating that certain genes are turned on or off in its employees. The idea is terrifying enough, but how would this mechanically function?  A Handler could impose a malus to skills or attributes…or if the Handler is particularly twisted, give the target Agent a genetic benefit but require the agent to pay monthly or carry out certain undesired tasks to get another hit of that sweet, sweet genetic augmentation.  At this point a particularly devious Handler could consider that this transient genetic augmentation functions as a drug…and the unfortunate target Agent has an addiction (both physical and mental) that affects how they behave from day to day.

How would the other Agents react to having a “juiced up” superman in their group? Is it a burdensome secret the modified Agent needs to keep from his Delta Green circle or even home life?  Would the modified Agent eventually start to sympathize with para-humans like ghouls or Deep Ones or cultists that court their Gods for mutations?  What if there is a population of cultists that turned to the Mythos for power to make them on par with a genetically modified population.  Could you blame them?

Special thanks to Sammy J and Doubloon, both on the Night at the Opera discord server, for thoughts, discussions and recommendations for this blog post.  In particular, Doubloon made me aware of the book The Body Scout, and Sammy J suggested the Ultimates and Eclipse Phase.   

Delta Green, PISCES North Jam Entry

 

There was a jam or a not-a-contest on the Night of the Opera discord.  The jam’s prompt was to create a character for a PISCES outpost in the North, specifically Inverness, Scotland.  

For those who are not familiar, PISCES is the UK dark mirror of American Delta Green that defends Great Briton from supernatural threats. Their acronym stands for the Paranormal Intelligence Section for Counterintelligence, Espionage, and Sabotage.

The jam’s author posits that PISCES North is a backwater posting, and it is suggested that the characters must scrape together their own resources to deal with supernatural threats that their handlers hand them at arm’s length. 

I must thank fellow Delta Green aficionado, Sammy J, for helping me make a very silly idea into a character I actually enjoyed writing. 

Character: Mortimer 'Mort' Milton. Bureaucrat and Project Manager

Quote: “Have you seen my stapler?”

Someone has to do it.  In any organization, large or small, there is at least one individual who has a talent with filing, organizing, collating and stapling; a caretaker of the paper skeleton of that organization.  Without them, everything would grind to a screeching halt.  Mortimer 'Mort' Milton is that person for PISCES Scotland. 

Mort has been affectionately described as a turtle.  A bald man in his mid-fifties, Mort sports coke-bottle thick glasses that would have been only passingly acceptable in the 80s and the ubiquitous paunch and stoop of a desk worker whose exercise is occasionally going to the vending machine in between breaks.

Mort doesn’t believe in breaks. They interrupt his important work of collating. You see, to Mort, filing and organizing isn’t just a job. It is a walled castle where he can be absolutely certain that things are logical, concrete and absolutely not messy or terrifying like the outside world. 

You see, Mort saw Something. He will absolutely not talk about it (he may be unable to) but it is clear he is using the only tool he has, being a fiendishly excellent bureaucrat, to keep him from thinking about The Bad Thing. His survival in the face of unlikely odds and the strange twinge of compassion from PISCES staff landed him in the PICES pipeline … and his odd, almost OCD demeanor about filing got him sent to up north PISCES.     

Against all odds, Mort has “flourished”.  Absolutely indispensable at finding piles of hidden funds in the government for north PISCES operations and with the ability to layer meters upon meters of agonizingly boring red tape upon secret projects Man Was Not Meant To Know, Mort is the sole person holding the illegal conspiracy together with white-out and staples, albeit shakily.

Despite his off-putting social skills, Mort is fiercely loyal to PISCES and if treated gently and with empathy could be a very useful ally for PISCES Agents.  As long as they keep him close to his red Swingline stapler. That heavy and irreplaceable piece of office equipment has been with Mort as long as he has been employed by PISCES.  And its heavy enough to be used as a weapon to kill someone. Which it was on the fateful night Mort became subject to PISCES scrutiny.

Mort’s Mechanics
Mort has the following special rule: Fight, Flight or File. Fight (Struggle) and Flight (Flee) are described on page 69 of the Agent’s Handbook. File is a special rule for Mort. While most people would Freeze or shut down upon going temporarily insane, Mort externalizes his actions, immediately seeking to make more orderly and thus controllable.  He will begin to catalogue, organize, or alphabetize objects in the scene around him where he has gone temporarily insane, regardless of the danger to his person.  This is a very strong compulsion he must do because Mort feels that once he can categorize the environment, he can control it, and thus himself.  He is so very wrong though.

Mort also has a Totemic Compulsion with the focus of his personal Red Swingline Stapler.  This heavy metal stapler is a source of calm and focus for him and he will not willingly part with it. Also, it may hold evidence to Mort’s only crime of homicide just that one time that brought him to the awareness of PISCES.  If Mort flies into a violent rage, he will use the stapler as a club in preference to other weapons.  The heavy metal stapler does 1d6-1 damage.