TEXT: i
  As Above, So Below
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  
  1
  As Above, So Below
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  Based on the Laundry Files novels by Charles Stross.
  The Laundry Files © 2001-2010 Charles Stross, used under license by Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.
  All rights reserved.
  The Laundry RPG © 2010 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.
  As Above, So Below © 2015 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.
  The Basic Roleplaying System © Chaosium Inc, used under license by Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.
  Published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd, Suite 3C Unit 4 Gemini House,  
  Hargreaves Road, Groundwell Industrial Estate, Swindon, SN25 5AZ.
  www.cubicle7.co.uk
  Printed in the USA
  Credits
  Writing: Martin Dougherty, Jason Keeley, WJ McGuffin and Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
  Editing: Benjamin Watkins
  Layout and Graphic Design: Tom Hutchings
  Art Direction: Jon Hodgson and Scott Purdy
  Cover Art: Malcolm McClinton
  Managing Editor: Andrew Kenrick
  Line Manager: Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
  Creative Director: Jon Hodgson
  Publisher: Dominic McDowall
  1
  Laundry
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  The
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  2
  Introduction  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .3
  Using This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Boots on the Ground   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .4
  Step One: Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Step Two: Character Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Step Three: Age  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Step Four: Training & Specialisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Step Five: Discretionary Skill Points  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Step Six: Team Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Step Seven: Extra Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Character Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Specialities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Weapons and Equipment  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 13
  Handguns  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  Submachine Guns and Personal Defence Weapons . 15
  Shotguns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Carbines and Rifles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Weapon Accessories and Related Equipment  . . . . . 26
  United Kingdom Special Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Special Forces Organisation  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .29
  Recruitment and Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Rank and Chain of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Primary UK Special Forces  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Clueless Responses to Incidents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Occult Engagement Protocols  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .37
  Conventional (ish) Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
  Containment and Suppression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
  Paranormal Reconnaissance and Exploration . . . . . 40
  Recovery of Personnel and Artefacts . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
  Non-Conventional Threat Responses  . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  Playing Special Ops  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
  Running Military Games  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .46
  Special Ops Missions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  Just Following Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  The Essence of a Military Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
  On Borrowed Time  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .49
  Gone Today, Here Tomorrow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
  The Laundry on the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
  Fit for a King  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
  Assembling the Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
  1. Welcome to the Jungle  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
  2. The Camp Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
  What to do with a Working Time Machine? . . . . . . . 60
  Tying Up Loose Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
  Status & Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
  The Shadow Of  Mahogany Row  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .62
  Pay Grade & Wealth Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
  Boosting Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
  Departmental Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
  Mentors and Allies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
  Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
  Example Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
  Running Political Games  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 71
  High Status Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
  Committee Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
  Intrigues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
  Political Adventures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
  Hardcore Nerdery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
  High-Level Meetings  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .76
  Cards on the Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
  The Aim of the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  Ways to Play  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  Set-up  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  Building the Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  Playing the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  Sample Interpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
  Hot Potato   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .85
  The Screwtape Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
  Mission Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
  1.SCREWed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  2. The Last Meeting  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
  3. The Leak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
  4. Long Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
  5. Internal Investigations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
  6. London Underground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
  7. Confrontations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
  8. Building 4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
  8. Lair of the Elder Ghoul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
  9. Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
  Fire Drill  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 105
  Mission Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
  1. Case SOMETHING COLOUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
  2. Killing Time in Kazakhstan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
  3. Committee Scene: Shipping and handling . . . . . 119
  4. Investigation Scene: Pick Your Apocalypse . . . . 119
  5. Flashpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
  Handout #1: Barrow report  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 123
  Handout #2: Pavlodar Police Report Summary   . 124
  Index  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 125
  Contents
  
  3
  INTRODUCTION
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Few of our decisions really mean anything. File that report, 
  fill that spreadsheet, attend that meeting – and at the end 
  of the day, did any of that matter? Few of us make life and 
  death decisions – and that’s a luxury. Even in the Laundry, 
  that secret branch of government charged with protecting 
  the world from horrors unimaginable, most decisions are 
  inconsequential. Do you fix the printer in the HR office 
  first or the DVD drive in the travel laptop first? Do you 
  read the files about the incidence of birth deformations in 
  cattle near dimensional weak spots, or the new directive on 
  time tracking work emails while out of the office? (Hint: 
  neither of them will ever have any future relevance to you). 
  This book is about two very different types of people 
  whose decisions matter.  
  When there’s a clear and present danger, when the Laundry 
  needs to apply force very quickly and very directly, they 
  turn to the professionals. They call in the SAS, the United 
  Kingdom Special Forces. Tough and highly trained, they’ll get 
  the job done. The decisions made by Special Forces matter; 
  their decisions are often made in the split second, and are 
  the difference between life and death. Hesitate, or make the 
  wrong call, and you die, or your squadmates die, or maybe 
  everyone in the world dies. They’re down in the trenches, 
  in the foxholes, in the godforsaken corners of the world, 
  on lonely plateaus in Central Asia or warzones in Africa, 
  spending the coin of their lives to complete the mission.
  And then there are those in the corridors of power, managers 
  and strategists and sorcerers who must weigh the fates of 
  nations. They meet in oak-panelled rooms with green baize 
  tables in Whitehall, in dimly-lit bunkers beneath obscure 
  government buildings, in anonymous conference rooms 
  with their counterparts from other nations, and they try to 
  prepare humanity for those unimaginable horrors. Their 
  decisions are made in committees, in briefing documents, 
  in agendas and initiatives, in the shuffling of papers – but 
  they affect more people than any bullet or bomb. 
  There may be thousands of miles between Whitehall and 
  that bloody ditch where a British soldier gives their life to 
  get the job done, but they’re two sides of the same coin.
  Using This Book
  As Above, So Below describes operations protocols, tactics, 
  equipment and character generation for Special Forces 
  working with the Laundry. It also contains details on high-
  level meetings, on politics and status games, and how the 
  Laundry fits into the British establishment. These are two 
  spheres where the average Laundry player character (PC) 
  never goes. Decisions get handed down from on high at the 
  start of a mission (your manager orders you to investigate…) and 
  the final confrontation often gets handed off to the Special 
  Forces (having uncovered the Cthulhu cult, the player characters need to 
  hold out until OCCULUS arrives to clean up). As above, so below 
  – and the average Laundry PC is somewhere in the middle.
  The intent of this book is to allow you to expand the scope 
  of your games by bringing in temporary player characters. 
  With these rules, you can quickly create a team of Special 
  Forces operatives who’ll take over from your regular PCs 
  when there’s fighting to be done. You can quickly whistle 
  up a high-level committee meeting where shadowy senior 
  figures make plans that the regular player characters have 
  to implement, or trace your player characters’ rise through 
  the ranks of the Laundry bureaucracy until they’re the 
  senior management giving orders to new recruits. With 
  these rules, there’s nowhere for the players to hide, no way 
  for them to avoid making the hard decisions.
  It’s all on them. They must decide who lives and who dies. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  4
  This chapter takes you through the procedure for creating 
  your own Special Forces character. Unlike regular Laundry 
  officers, Special Forces characters are highly competent 
  and highly focussed. Oh, and as they’re only called in when 
  things get really nasty, they tend to get horribly killed in the 
  course of play. Therefore, we’ve streamlined the character 
  generation process quite a bit.
  Step One: Identity
  Write down your character’s name in the space provided 
  on your character sheet. Your commanding officer will 
  need it when writing a letter home to your family in 
  the unfortunate event of your death. Also choose your 
  character’s gender at this point; the vast majority of Special 
  Forces soldiers are male, but some exceptions have broken 
  the Kevlar ceiling.
  Step Two: Character Package
  Pick one of the character packages listed on page 6 to 
  8. Each package gives a set of pre-rolled characteristics, 
  along with some derived characteristics, starting skills and 
  a suggestion of personality traits. Special Forces characters 
  have already gone through extensive training and have 
  been tested in battle – the guys with low CON, DEX 
  or INT got washed out in recruitment, and those with 
  low POW or CHA never made it through the rigorous 
  selection process. You’re the best of the best.
  The names of the character packages are just nicknames, 
  and while they might point you in the direction of a 
  particular role, they aren’t prescriptive. Taking the ‘Officer 
  Material’ package doesn’t guarantee promotion, just like the 
  ‘Lone Wolf’ package doesn’t mean you’re the squad sniper. 
  Also remember to note down the standard equipment for 
  your mission profile.
  Step Three: Age 
  Your character starts at an age of EDU +4 +1d6. 
  You may add an extra 5 years to your age; if you do so, 
  roll on the Veteran Action table. You may do this as many 
  times as you wish, but your character cannot be more than 
  40 years old. 
  Veteran Action Table
  d10 Result
  1
  Quiet, as tours go. Gain another 20 discretionary skill points.
  2
  A hostage rescue operation went badly wrong. Lose 
  5 SAN; gain First Aid +10%, Spot +10%, Stealth 
  +10%. You’ve promised to never make the same 
  mistake again – what was that mistake?
  3
  You were captured, tortured and interrogated by enemy 
  forces. Lose 5 SAN and 1 point of either STR, CON or 
  POW; gain a +10% bonus to Endurance, +10% Fast Talk, 
  +10% Insight and +10% Status. Also, decide on which of 
  your colleagues was on the team that rescued you, if any. 
  4
  You were trapped behind enemy lines, but survived. 
  Gain Navigate +10%, Hide +10%, Swim +10%, and 
  a souvenir from the region you were forced to cross.
  5
  You participated in black operations during (or just 
  before) a conflict. Gain Demolitions +10%, Status 
  +10%, Strategy +10%. You learned something about that 
  country’s OCCINTEL activities that may be relevant later 
  on, so specify the country or group you helped take down.
  6
  You participated in a high-profile mission that attracted 
  media attention. Gain Fast Talk +10%, Status +10%. 
  You can also either have written a book (no immediate 
  benefit, but you’ll be wealthy when you leave the 
  military; gain +5% SAN) or kept silent (no benefit, but 
  the Special Forces don’t take bows after a performance).
  7
  You’ve worked with the Laundry before, on a cult 
  suppression mission. Lose 5 SAN; gain Cthulhu 
  Mythos +5%, Knowledge (Occult) +10%, and +10% 
  in any skill related to how you took down the cult.
  8
  You helped contain a significant supernatural 
  incursion. Lose 10 SAN; gain Cthulhu Mythos 
  +10%, Knowledge (Occult) +10%, and Status 
  +10%. You also still have a Class III Ward left over 
  from that bad business.
  9
  You’ve been off-world. Lose 10 SAN; gain Cthulhu 
  Mythos +10%, Navigate +10% and Technology 
  Use (Survival Gear) +40%. 
  10
  You’ve seen things that… Lose 15 SAN. 
  Boots on the Ground
  
  5
  BOOTS ON THE GROUND
  Boots on the Ground
  Step Four: Training & Specialisation
  All members of a Special Forces group have the same core 
  skills, already included in the character packages. They are 
  familiar with all conventional (non-occult) weapons in the team 
  and able to operate most other weapon systems encountered. 
  These may range from spiky club-swords used by cultists to 
  gizmo-laden high-tech firearms. If it can be operated by a 
  human, a Special Forces trooper can make it hurt people. They 
  may not understand all possible features of a complex weapon 
  but the basic principles of how to break things and hurt people 
  are the operator’s key area of expertise. 
  Operators are also able to use most conventional 
  explosives, grenades and similar military hardware plus 
  vehicles, communications equipment and the like. Teams 
  are highly skilled with their own equipment but should be 
  able to figure out foreign or unfamiliar items from general 
  procedures. Other skills that all operators have in common 
  are stealth, observation skills, swimming, running and 
  climbing plus a can-do mindset. They also have the ability 
  to wait and observe patiently for a long period then go 
  from zero to full-throttle mayhem in an instant. 
  Each character package also includes basic equipment 
  suited to that operator’s role. 
  It is not possible for a small team to cover all available 
  specialities, but teams will include as broad a range of specialist 
  skills as possible. For example it is highly unlikely that a small 
  force would have more than one sniper, unless the mission 
  required it. Larger forces have the luxury of overlapping a little.
  Different specialities gain different added skills. Pick 
  two specialities from the list on page 9 to 11. The 
  Gamemaster (GM) may assign more specialities as needed. 
  Each specialty package includes the added gear your 
  character carries. 
  Step Five: Discretionary Skill Points
  Your character package gave you a number of discretionary 
  skill points; you may now allocate them to any skills you 
  want, as long as it doesn’t bring that skill above 90%. 
  Step Six: Team Building
  Describe your character briefly to the player to your left. 
  That player decides on the squad’s nickname or callsign 
  for your character. You don’t have to use your nickname, 
  but rest assured the rest of the team will, so get used to it.
  Collectively, decide on the team’s Commanding Officer 
  (CO). If there’s no obvious candidate, or if you can’t come 
  to a majority decision, it goes to the oldest character. Use 
  the highest Command skill to break ties. The CO gets an 
  extra 20 Discretionary Skill Points to spend, as well as 
  +20% to Bureaucracy and Status. 
  Optional Rule: Retroactive Skills
  Instead of assigning discretionary skill 
  points before play begins, players may 
  do so at any point during play, as long 
  as that player hasn’t tested that skill 
  already. The player must describe briefly 
  how their character honed that particular 
  skill. For example, instead of allocating 
  her 
  40 
  discretionary 
  points 
  during 
  character generation, Edel saves them for 
  later. During the game, the team has to 
  cross a treacherous ice bridge across a 
  chasm, requiring an Athletics test. Edel’s 
  character has Athletics 70%, but she’s 
  still not willing to trust those odds; she 
  puts 20 of her discretionary points into 
  Athletics, bringing her to 90%. “Just like 
  that time in Antarctica”, her character 
  mutters, “with that city in the mountains”.
  If Edel had already rolled Athletics for 
  that character, then they wouldn’t be 
  eligible for discretionary skill points.
  You can also apply this rule to equipment 
  requisitioning. Instead of making the 
  players roll for all their extra equipment 
  beforehand, you can let them roll in the 
  middle of play, as long as it’s plausible. 
  For example, Edel asks if her character has 
  a demolition charge on her. The GM asks her 
  to make a Status test; she fails, but makes 
  up the difference by spending the mission 
  budget, as per the normal rules (see page 
  108 of The Laundry Core Rulebook). As the 
  test is now a successful one, her character 
  always had a demolition charge stowed away 
  inside a backpack, just waiting for the 
  right moment. Preparedness pays off. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  6
  Character Packages
  Officer Material
  You’re cool, collected and charismatic. With a dry cool wit, 
  you could be an action hero.
  STR 14 
  CON 15 SIZ 12 
  INT 16  
  POW 13 
  DEX 12 
  CHA 16  EDU 19  SAN 65 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Major Wound Level: 8
  Experience Bonus: 8 
  Move: 8
  Discretionary Skill Points: 80 skill points.
  Starting Age: 23+1d6
  Skills: Athletics +40%, Bureaucracy +20%, Climb +20%, 
  Command +40%, Computer Use +20%, Demolition 
  +40%, Disguise +20%, Drive +40%, Etiquette +20%, Fine 
  Manipulation +20%, First Aid +20%, Grapple +40%, Hide 
  +40%, Jump +20%, Insight +20%, Knowledge (Politics) +20%, 
  Knowledge (History) +20%, Listen +20%, Navigate +40%, 
  Persuade 20%, Pilot +20%, Repair +20%, Ride +20%, Sense 
  +20%, Spot +40%, Status +40%, Stealth +40%, Strategy +60%, 
  Swim +20%, Technology Use (various) +20%, Track +20%.
  Standard Gear 
  Name
  Type
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  Combat Knife
  Melee (knife)
  1d4+1 +db
  -
  Impaling
  -
  -
  -
  1
  Walther P99
  Firearms 
  (Handgun)
  1d10+1 
  (.40 calibre)
  3
  Impaling
  20
  12
  12
  1
  H&K MP7
  Firearms 
  (SMG)
  2d6
  3 or 
  burst
  Impaling
  40
  8
  20, 30 
  or 40
  1.5
  Flashbang x 4
  Grenade (throw)
  Special
  1
  Special
  -
  4
  1
  0.5
  For Field missions
  Name
  Type
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  C8 Carbine 
  (L119A1)
  Firearms
  (Assault Rifle)
  2d6+3
  1,3 or 
  burst
  Impaling
  200
  12
  30 
  3
  Grenade x2
  Grenade (throw)
  4d6
  1
  Knockback
  -
  8
  1
  0.5
  Field Kit
  4
  Field Coveralls
  -
  Step Seven: Extra Gear
  If the team needs extra gear, they can requisition it using the 
  normal Status rules described on page 106 of The Laundry 
  Core Rulebook. Special Forces missions usually have a 
  Budget of 25-100, and there’s no benefit to not spending it 
  all (apart from the encumbrance rules, see Encumbrance 
  box on page 28). Special Forces characters are unlikely 
  to qualify for most Esoteric Weapons or heavy-duty Occult 
  items – if the team needs a thaumometer or SCORPION 
  STARE support, then some poor Laundry berk gets to 
  tag along for the ride, like Bob did in The Atrocity Archives. 
  
  7
  BOOTS ON THE GROUND
  Boots on the Ground
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Rifle) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (various) +40%, Throw +20%. 
  Tough as Nails
  Nothing slows you down, nothing hurts you. You may not be 
  the biggest guy in the fight, but you’ll be the last one standing.
  STR 17 
  CON 18 SIZ 15 
  INT 13 
  POW 10
  DEX 12 
  CHA 10 
  EDU 17  SAN 50  HP 17
  Damage Bonus: +1d6
  Major Wound Level: 8
  Experience Bonus: 7
  Move: 8
  Discretionary Skill Points: 40 skill points.
  Starting Age: 21+1d6
  Skills: Athletics +60%, Climb +40%, Command +20%, 
  Computer Use +20%, Demolition +40%, Disguise +20%, 
  Drive +40%, Fine Manipulation +20%, First Aid +20%, 
  Grapple +60%, Hide +40%, Jump +40%, Listen +20%, 
  Navigate +20%, Persuade +20%, Pilot +20%, Repair 
  +20%, Ride +20%, Sense +40%, Spot +40%, Status 
  +20%, Stealth +60%, Strategy +40%, Swim +40%, 
  Technology Use (various) +20%, Track +20%.
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +40%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Shotgun) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (Rocket Launcher) +60%, Throw +20%. 
  Lone Wolf
  You don’t get into the Special Forces without being able 
  to trust your squad mates, and you know you can rely on 
  them in a pinch. Still, you’re most comfortable operating 
  alone or in two-man team, on recce or sniper duty.  
  STR 14 
  CON 15 SIZ 13 
  INT 15  
  POW 14
  DEX 16 
  CHA 10 
  EDU 18  SAN 70 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1d4 
   
  Major Wound Level: 8
  Experience Bonus: 8
  Move: 8
  Discretionary Skill Points: 60 skill points.
  Starting Age: 22+1d6
  Skills: Athletics +40%, Climb +20%, Command +20%, 
  Computer Use +20%, Demolition +40%, Disguise +40%, 
  Drive +60%, Fast Talk +20%, Fine Manipulation +20%, 
  First Aid +20%, Grapple +40%, Hide +60%, Jump +20%, 
  Listen +40%, Navigate +40%, Pilot +20%, Repair +40%, 
  Ride +40%, Sense +20%, Spot +40%, Status +20%, 
  Stealth +60%, Strategy +40%, Swim +20%, Technology 
  Use (various) +20%, Track +40%.
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Rifle) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (various) +40%, Throw +20%. 
  Survivor
  You’ve faced death many times, but cling to life with 
  incredible tenacity. If anyone’s coming home from this 
  one, it’s you. The others might not be so lucky.
  STR 13 
  CON 17 SIZ 13 
  INT 14  
  POW 15
  DEX 16 
  CHA 13  EDU 17  SAN 75  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Major Wound Level: 9
  Experience Bonus: 7
  Move: 8 
  Discretionary Skill Points: 40 skill points.
  Starting Age: 21+1d6
  Skills: Appraise +20%, Athletics +60%, Bargain +20%, 
  Climb +20%, Command +20%, Computer Use +20%, 
  Demolition +40%, Disguise +20%, Drive +40%, Fine 
  Manipulation +20%, First Aid +40%, Grapple +40%, 
  Hide +40%, Jump +20%, Listen +40%, Navigate +40%, 
  Pilot +20%, Repair +20%, Ride +20%, Sense +40%, Spot 
  +60%, Status +20%, Stealth +40%, Strategy +40%, Swim 
  +40%, Technology Use (various) +20%, Track +40%.
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Rifle) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (various) +40%, Throw +20%. 
  Sensitive Soul
  You don’t fit the mould of most Special Forces types – 
  most people mistake you for a teacher or a counsellor or 
  an artist. Surely you’re too nice to be slitting throats in the 
  Hindu Kush?
  STR 13 
  CON 15 SIZ 13  
  INT 14 
  POW 17
  DEX 13 
  CHA 16 
  EDU 17  SAN 85  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1d4 
   
  Major Wound Level: 7
  Experience Bonus: 7
  Move: 8 
  Discretionary Skill Points: 40 skill points.
  Starting Age: 21+1d6
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  8
  Skills: Art (any) +20%, Athletics +40%, Climb +20%, 
  Command +20%, Computer Use +20%, Demolition 
  +40%, Disguise +40%, Drive +40%, Etiquette +20%, 
  Fast Talk +20%, Fine Manipulation +20%, First Aid 
  +20%, Grapple +40%, Hide +40%, Jump +20%, Insight 
  +20%, Knowledge (Occult) +20%, Knowledge (any) 
  +20%, Listen +20%, Navigate +20%, Pilot +20%, Repair 
  +20%, Ride +20%, Sense +40%, Spot +40%, Status 
  +20%, Stealth +60%, Strategy +40%, Swim +20%, Teach 
  +20%, Technology Use (various) +20%, Track +20%.
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Rifle) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (various) +40%, Throw +20%. 
  Technically Minded
  You work with things that go fast and explode. You prefer 
  solutions that involve the clever use of equipment – or 
  high explosive.
  STR 13 
  CON 13 SIZ 13 
  INT 17 
  POW 10
  DEX 12 
  CHA 14 
  EDU 19 SAN 50  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: None 
  Major Wound Level: 8 
  Experience Bonus: 8 
  Move: 8 
  Discretionary Skill Points: 80 skill points.
  Starting Age: 23+1d6
  Skills: Athletics +40%, Climb +20%, Command +20%, 
  Computer Use (any two) +40%, Demolition +60%, 
  Disguise +20%, Drive +40%, Fine Manipulation +40%, 
  First Aid +20%, Grapple +40%, Heavy Machine +20%, 
  Hide +40%, Jump +20%, Listen +20%, Navigate +20%, 
  Pilot +20%, Repair +40%, Ride +20%, Sense +20%, Spot 
  +40%, Status +20%, Stealth +40%, Strategy +40%, Swim 
  +20%, Technology Use (any two) +40%, Track +20%.
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Rifle) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (various) +40%, Throw +20%. 
  Spook
  You’re more at home undercover in plain clothes than in 
  camo gear. You straddle the line between Special Forces 
  and espionage. 
  STR 14 
  CON 14 SIZ 11 
  INT 16 
  POW 14
  DEX 13 
  CHA 13 
  EDU 18 SAN 70  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +1d4 
  Major Wound Level: 7
  Experience Bonus: 8
  Move: 8 
  Discretionary Skill Points: 60 skill points.
  Starting Age: 22+1d6
  Skills: Athletics +40%, Bureaucracy +20%, Climb +20%, 
  Command +20%, Computer Use +20%, Demolition 
  +40%, Disguise +40%, Drive +60%, Fast Talk +20%, 
  Fine Manipulation +20%, First Aid +20%, Grapple +40%, 
  Hide +40%, Jump +20%, Knowledge (Espionage) +20%, 
  Knowledge (Politics) +20%, Language (any) +20%, Listen 
  +20%, Navigate +20%, Pilot +20%, Repair +20%, Ride 
  +20%, Sense +20%, Spot +60%, Status +20%, Stealth 
  +60%, Strategy +40%, Swim +20%, Technology Use 
  (Surveillance) +40%, Track +20%.
  
  9
  BOOTS ON THE GROUND
  Boots on the Ground
  Combat Skills: 
  Artillery +40%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Firearm 
  (Assault Rifle) +40%, Firearm (Pistol) +40%, Firearm 
  (Rifle) +40%, Firearm (SMG) +40%, Heavy Weapons 
  (various) +40%, Throw +20%. 
  Other Skills:
  Add 20 Skill Points to each of the following skills: 
  Bureaucracy, Disguise, Drive, Fast Talk, Knowledge 
  (Espionage), Knowledge (Politics), Language (any), Spot, 
  Stealth, Technology Use (Surveillance).
  Specialities
  Close Protection 
  Some operators are trained as bodyguards, which goes 
  beyond simply shooting or beating up anyone or anything 
  threatening the principal (the person being protected). 
  Close Protection experts are trained to select a safe route, 
  to spot potential threats and avoid or neutralise them, to 
  search and secure a building, and to organise less skilled 
  personnel into an effective guard system. Close Protection 
  experts associated with the Laundry often have some 
  knowledge of the occult and can recognise many unusual 
  threats that would not be spotted by a conventionally 
  trained bodyguard.
  Skills: Command +20%, Brawl +20%, Dodge +20%, Drive 
  +20%, Etiquette +20%, First Aid +20%, Insight +20%, 
  Knowledge (Streetwise) +40%, Sense +40%, Spot +20%.
  Gear: Class III Ward, concealed bulletproof vest (Armour 4).
  Communications 
  Communications experts have the technical skills needed 
  to maintain a link between the team and their controllers. 
  They can operate and repair specialised communications 
  systems, eavesdrop on enemy traffic, and conceal their 
  position from hostile forces. On Laundry operations, 
  Communications officers often have to deal with added 
  complications, like the difficulty of getting a radio signal 
  through an interdimensional gate.
  Skills: Computer Use (Repair) +20%, Hide +20%, Language 
  (any two) +20%, Listen +20%, Repair (Electronic) +20%, 
  Science (Cryptography, Physics) +20%, Strategy +20%, 
  Technology Use (Communications) +60%.
  Gear: Comms Kit.
  Counter-Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) 
  CRW experts are trained to deal with insurgents, 
  revolutionaries and terrorists who might attempt to take 
  control of an area or group. CRW experts are skilled 
  at observing and watching for suspicious patterns of 
  behaviour as well as taking rather more direct action to 
  stop an attack. Covert operations and close-quarters 
  combat are important skills in this arena, and these can 
  also be used against less conventional threats. Laundry-
  affiliated operators specialise in dealing with cult activity 
  or occult-terrorism.
  Skills: Command +20%, Demolitions +20%, Firearms 
  (Pistol) +20%, Firearms (Rifle) +20%, Hide +20%, Insight 
  +20%, Knowledge (Anthropology) +20%, Knowledge 
  (Politics) +20%, Language (any two) +20%, Strategy 
  +40%, Teach +20%.
  Gear: None, usually, but you can source briefcases of cash 
  or high-grade heroin if you need to bribe someone.
  Explosives
  Explosives experts make destruction a fine art, and are 
  trained to improvise explosives as well as to use a variety of 
  standard ones. An explosives expert can place charges to get 
  the right result, ranging from utter destruction to moving or 
  damaging the target. Explosive ambushes can also be rigged 
  – anyone can plant a claymore mine or two, but it takes an 
  expert to get the most out of the available resources. Some 
  experts are trained to use nuclear devices or to make them 
  safe when someone else has tried to use one.
  Skills: Climb +20%, Demolition +40%, Fine Manipulation 
  +40%, Heavy Weapons (Rocket Launcher) +20%, Repair 
  (Electrical) +20%, Science (Chemistry, Physics) +40%, 
  Throw +20%.
  Gear: A selection of demo charges appropriate to the mission.
  Heavy Weapons
  When you absolutely need something dead (or at least 
  blown into lots of little wet pieces) call in the Heavy 
  Weapons operator. These skills are normally applied to the 
  destruction of enemy tanks and other armoured vehicles, 
  but what frags the T-72 also frags the shoggoth. 
  Skills: Athletics +20%, Demolitions +40%, Heavy 
  Weapons (any three) +40%, Hide +20%, Stealth +20%, 
  Spot +20%.
  Gear: Any one launcher or light support weapon. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  10
  Hostile Environment
  After the first British Lunar Expedition, the SAS 
  developed a hostile environment course for toshers and 
  other personnel who will go into places inimical to human 
  life – chemical spills, radioactive zones, alien worlds, low or 
  high-gravity environments. They train in using Chemical-
  Biological-Radiological-Nuclear (CBRN) suits and other 
  survival gear, in identifying and dealing with toxic threats, 
  and in moving and fighting while encumbered.
  Skills: Athletics +20%, Demolition +20%, First Aid 
  +20%, Medicine +20%, Sense +20%, Science (Physics, 
  Chemistry) +40%, Technology Use (CBRN Gear) +40%, 
  Swim +20%.
  Gear: CBRN suit or EPED suit, depending on what’s on 
  the far side.
  Human Terrain
  Experts in anthropology and psychology, Human Terrain 
  operators study customs and beliefs from different cultures. 
  They can make friends and influence people in a dozen 
  languages, and have contacts everywhere from Irkutsk to 
  Cape Town. Those attached to Laundry operations have 
  also studied cult psychology and occult traditions. 
  Skills: Bureaucracy +20%, Command +20%, Disguise 
  +20%, Fast Talk +20%, Insight +20%, Knowledge 
  (Anthropology, Espionage, Politics) +40%, Languages 
  (any three) +40%, Strategy +20%, Teach +20%.
  Gear: None.
  Infiltration
  Specialists at getting into places where they’re not supposed 
  to be, Infiltration operators combine an incredible talent 
  for stealth and deception with an understanding of 
  architecture and infrastructure, enabling them to identify 
  the best routes in and out of a target area.
  Skills: Athletics +20%, Climb +20%, Demolition +20%, 
  Fine Manipulation +20%, Hide +40%, Melee (Knife) or 
  Grapple +40%, Listen +20%, Stealth +40%, Strategy +20%.
  Gear: Ghillie suit if needed.
  Intelligence Analysis 
  Usually, when a Special Forces team is deployed, all the 
  decisions have been made at a higher level, and all that remains 
  is the implementation of that decision. In other, murkier 
  situations though, having expert analysis on hand can make 
  all the difference. Intelligence Analysts do everything that a 
  Laundry spook does from behind a desk in London, only 
  they may be called to carry out the consequences of their 
  own analyses and recommendations. When a desk analyst 
  recommends that a potential target be eliminated, it’s a cold 
  and clinical decision, divorced from the reality. A Special 
  Forces analyst doesn’t have that comforting distance.
  Skills: Bureaucracy +20%, Insight +20%, Knowledge 
  (Espionage) +40%, Knowledge (Politics) +40%, Language (any 
  one) +20%, Persuade +20%, Research +40%, Status +20%.
  Gear: Ruggedised laptop.
  Languages
  The ability to communicate with the locals is useful when 
  operating in foreign countries and many operators are 
  fluent in one or more languages. Others have a smattering 
  of various languages, enabling them to get across basic 
  ideas like ‘turn off the summoning grid and surrender’ or 
  to identify a suspect crate. The ability to figure out which 
  Chinese-labelled shipping crate contains boots and which 
  one has the nuclear warhead in it can come in useful from 
  time to time. In certain special operations teams, some 
  operators may have learned to speak, read or at least 
  identify non-human languages. 
  Skills: Bargain +20%, Command +20%, Etiquette 
  +20%, Fast Talk +20%, Insight +20%, Knowledge 
  (Anthropology) +20%, Language (any five) +60%, Listen 
  +20%, Research +20%.
  Gear: None
  Medical
  All personnel are capable of performing high-quality first 
  aid, but a medical specialist goes beyond this. Not only is 
  the medical specialist skilled in dealing with trauma but 
  they can also diagnose and treat many other ailments and 
  diseases. Whilst not a doctor as such, a medical specialist 
  can help win ‘hearts and minds’ by assisting friendly locals 
  with many medical conditions, and can train others in 
  basic medical procedures. In teams which have contact 
  with unusual circumstances, the medical specialist may 
  be trained to treat certain not-always-unfriendly races 
  or to perform autopsies on whatever creatures may be 
  encountered. The medical specialist can often advise on 
  the best way to kill any given non-human threat.
  Skills: Fine Manipulation +20%, First Aid +40%, 
  Language (Latin) +20%, Medicine +40%, Psychotherapy 
  +20%, Research +20%, Science (Biology, Chemistry, 
  Pharmacy) +40%.
  Gear: Field medical kit.
  
  11
  BOOTS ON THE GROUND
  Boots on the Ground
  Occult
  Most operators involved with the Laundry have some 
  knowledge of the occult, enough to recognise the most 
  common threats and to realise that something really bad is 
  going down. Some manage to gain enough knowledge to be 
  considered specialists, though not to the level of a Laundry field 
  operative. Thus while a typical operator will be able to recognise 
  some of the common forms of what is termed ‘animal’ (magic) 
  and will not be freaked out by it, a few will actually be able to 
  assist or to identify what the opposition is up to without asking 
  the Laundry agent. Unfortunately, some of what is ‘known’ 
  to these personnel is, for various reasons, incorrect. A Special 
  Forces Occult specialist may have a good working knowledge 
  of the occult but be wildly off target from time to time. 
  Skills: Computer Use (Magic) +20%, Demolition +20%, 
  Firearms (Esoteric) +20%, Knowledge (Occult, History) 
  +20%, Language (any two) +20%, Science (Thaumaturgy, 
  Mathematics) +20%, Strategy +20%, Status +20%.
  Gear: Thaumometer, Class III Ward.
  Search and Rescue
  Trained to find and recover missing personnel, Search 
  and Rescue operators have the medical skills to keep their 
  targets alive, and the combat and survival skills to get to 
  them. When a Laundry field team gets into trouble, Search 
  and Rescue are the people they call in.
  Skills: Athletics +20%, Command +20%, Drive +20%, 
  First Aid +20%, Listen +20%, Navigate +20%, Pilot (any 
  one) +40%, Sense +20%, Spot +20%, Track +40%.
  Gear: Field medical kit.
  Survival and Evasion
  Survival and Evasion training prepares operators for 
  extended missions in hostile territory. They train to live 
  off the land for long periods of time, to dodge enemy 
  patrols and hunting parties, to improvise and to blend in 
  with the local population. 
  Skills: Athletics +20%, Dodge +20%, Disguise +20%, 
  Drive +20%, Fast Talk +20%, Firearms (any one) +20%, 
  Hide +20%, Listen +20%, Navigate +20%, Repair +20%, 
  Sense +20%, Stealth +20%.
  Gear: Extra field kit.
  Sniping
  All operators are good marksmen, but those trained as 
  snipers have additional capabilities. As well as being among 
  the best shots in creation, Special Forces snipers have the 
  stealth skills to get into and out of position undetected, 
  and the observation skills to locate very hard targets 
  or figure out where a threat might be hiding. Although 
  snipers are most commonly appreciated for their precision 
  shooting, they are at least as valuable as reconnaissance 
  and surveillance assets. Snipers are trained to decide when 
  it is better not to shoot, and when they do shoot to make 
  the most of each bullet. 
  Skills: Climb +20%, Fine Manipulation +20%, Firearms 
  (Rifle) +40%, Hide +40%, Repair +20%, Spot +40%, 
  Stealth +40%, Strategy +20%. 
  Gear: Sniper Rifle of your choice, usually an L96A1.
  Underwater Operations
  While all Special Forces are at the very least SCUBA-
  qualified, this specialisation covers underwater combat, 
  submarine warfare, underwater demolitions and all sorts of 
  wet-wetwork. For those working with the Laundry, it also 
  includes a course in BLUE HADES culture and diplomacy 
  – no-one wants a repeat of the Devil’s Reef incident. 
  Skills: Athletics +20%, Demolition +20%, Grapple +20%, 
  Melee (Knife) +20%, Navigate +40%, Pilot (Submersible) +40%, 
  Spot +20%, Swim +40%, Technology Use (Scuba) +40%.
  Gear: Scuba gear.
  Vehicles
  Vehicle specialists are trained to maintain, repair and operate 
  a range of vehicles. At the most mundane level, they are 
  useful in getting a team to the crisis point in minimum time 
  despite rush-hour traffic. Pursuit driving, ramming hostiles 
  off the road and evading roadblocks are all-important 
  skills. Some specialists deal with more exotic vehicles than 
  cars and trucks, which might include helicopters, boats, 
  miniature submarines or earthmoving equipment.
  Skills: Drive or Pilot (any three) +60%, Heavy Machinery 
  +40%, Heavy Weapons (any) +40%, Navigate +20%, 
  Repair +40%.
  Gear: A vehicle suitable for the terrain of the mission. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  12
  Name:
  Age:
  Damage Bonus:
  Max HP:
  Current HP:
  Major Wounds:
  Gender:
  San:
  Specialities:
  Character Package:
  STR 
  DEX 
  SIZ 
  INT 
  POW 
  CHA 
  EDU
  Rank:
  Special Forces
  Secret / UK Eyes Only
  Special Forces
  Secret / UK Eyes Only
  Skills:
  Combat Skills:
  Weapons:
  Avail.
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  
  13
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  Military teams have access to a wide variety of weaponry, 
  some of it very powerful. Most team members are permitted 
  to choose their own weaponry, though compliance with 
  standard ammunition calibres is encouraged. The majority 
  of operators choose more or less the same weapons, and 
  UK Special Forces (UKSF) has a fairly standard selection 
  of favoured weaponry. 
  Special Forces weapons are commonly ‘sanitised’ – the 
  serial numbers are removed and the weapons rendered 
  more or less untraceable. That in itself is an indication of 
  Special Forces involvement, so in some cases (e.g. covert 
  operations overseas) weapons captured from the opposition 
  are sometimes used. This has the advantage that the team 
  can use enemy ammunition. On Laundry missions, using 
  the weapons of the enemy may not be an option. Grabbing 
  a cultist’s AK47 is one thing, but it’s best to leave that 
  strangely lustrous sacrificial dagger where it lies.
  A Note about ‘Silencers’
  There is no such thing as a ‘silencer’. A 
  suppressor, to use the more correct term, 
  greatly reduces the noise made by a weapon. 
  Some guns are very quiet with a suppressor, 
  others less so, but the important thing is 
  that the suppressor makes it less likely 
  that the sound of a gunshot will be heard 
  and identified as such, and also makes it 
  harder to figure out where a shot came from. 
  Basically a suppressor makes a big gun 
  sound like a smaller one, but does not 
  eliminate noise to the degree depicted on 
  television. If you want actual silence, 
  use a knife.
  A Note on Availability
  The Availability rating for weapons in 
  this section is for Laundry personnel 
  trying to request such an item from 
  stores, not for Special Forces characters 
  – SpecOps characters get to grab their 
  gear automatically at the start of a 
  mission. All these weapons are Certification 
  Required, demanding a Firearms or Heavy 
  Weapons skill of at least 50% before a 
  requisition request can be entertained.
  Handguns
  Handguns are carried mainly for self-defence or as a backup 
  where nothing better is available. They are sometimes the 
  only weapon that can be carried covertly. In short, a handgun 
  is an emergency weapon; a Special Forces operator who 
  expects trouble will arm himself with something much more 
  powerful if he gets the chance. That said, banishing rounds 
  are expensive, so in cases where the briefing suggests a bunch 
  of cultists and a small number of supernatural targets, loading 
  up the handgun with specialist ammo and switching to it when 
  needed is the most cost-effective strategy. It’s not like spraying 
  bullets is going to dissuade a Thing From Beyond, anyway.
  Modern handguns are very safe (i.e. they dispense bullets 
  only when requested by gripping the weapon properly and 
  pulling the trigger). Some have a manual safety catch, but 
  many top-end semi-automatic pistols (and all revolvers) do 
  not. Semi-automatic pistols are favoured by operators as 
  they are quicker to reload than revolvers; loading is a simple 
  matter of removing the magazine and replacing it with a full 
  one. Revolvers are still used in some circumstances, however.
  All handguns use Pistol skill.
  Weapons and Equipment
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  14
  Desert Eagle  .50 Calibre
  A ludicrously over-powered and heavy handgun, the Desert 
  Eagle is not favoured at all by operators as it lacks many of 
  the advantages of a handgun – i.e. speed of engagement 
  and ease of carry. It also suffers from massive recoil that 
  makes it hard to shoot accurately. However, some users 
  favour this weapon for its massive hitting power and the 
  fact that it looks way cool. That guy centre stage on The 
  Laundry Core Rulebook cover? Desert Eagle. ‘nuff said.
  FN Five-Seven
  The Five-Seven is an innovative weapon manufactured by 
  Fabrique Nationale. It uses a 5.7mm round which is fired 
  at a very high muzzle velocity. This gives it slightly superior 
  ballistic properties to 9mm Parabellum ammunition and 
  improves penetration. The same 5.7 round is used in the 
  FN P90 personal defence weapon; some operators choose 
  to carry both to maximise ammunition commonality.
  Jericho 941
  Marketed as the ‘Baby Eagle’, the Jericho 941 looks like a 
  Desert Eagle but is chambered for .41 Action Express, a 
  powerful handgun round. It is more favoured by poseurs 
  who cannot handle a Desert Eagle, than by serious 
  operators, but is sometimes encountered.
  Korth Combat Magnum
  Special Forces operators do not usually carry revolvers, but there 
  are some circumstances where they are useful. The ability to load 
  specialist ammunition quickly makes a revolver a possible choice, 
  and some shooters simply prefer them. The Korth Combat 
  Magnum is one of the very best guns available. Chambered for .357 
  Magnum, it is reassuringly heavy and quite intimidating to look at, 
  which is sometimes useful if you don’t want to have to shoot.
  Sig-Sauer P226 Tactical Operations
  More or less the ‘industry standard’ in handguns for Special 
  Forces and elite law enforcement, the P226 is available in 
  several variants, of which the ‘Tactical Operations’ model 
  is just one. It is available in various calibres but is normally 
  used with 9mm Parabellum ammunition. 15-round 
  magazines are normal but a high-capacity 20-round model 
  is used by some operators.
  SOCOM MK23 Mod 0
  Developed for US Special Operations Command 
  (SOCOM), the MK23 is a powerful .45 handgun designed 
  to rigorous standards of safety and reliability. Felt recoil 
  is surprisingly light due to a dual spring design, and the 
  weapon can take a quick-detach suppressor.
  Taurus Slim 708
  Intended as a backup gun or concealed weapon rather 
  than an overt sidearm, the Slim 708 is chambered for the 
  rather weak .380 ACP round, which is readily available in 
  North America and less so elsewhere. It is very narrow 
  and easy to conceal.
  Taurus Raging Judge
  This delightfully-named revolver was originally marketed to 
  US judges who felt the need for some additional courtroom 
  security. It is a 7-shot revolver firing a .410 gauge shotgun 
  cartridge. It is useful for close-range self-defence and can 
  fire various specialist rounds (such as projectiles of exotic 
  materials engraved with banishing enchantments) but is 
  primarily favoured as a means of dealing with nuisances 
  like snakes and small flying creatures.
  Walther P99
  Available in 9mm or more powerful .40 calibre, Walther’s 
  P99 is favoured by some operators for its reliability and 
  ease of maintenance. It can be stripped without tools, and 
  has no manual safety devices but can still be carried ready 
  to fire in perfect safety.
  
  15
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  Submachine Guns and 
  Personal Defence Weapons
  A submachine gun (SMG) is a small(ish) automatic weapon 
  firing pistol-calibre ammunition, interchangeable with handguns 
  in the same calibre. SMGs generally have a shorter range than 
  rifles and do not penetrate cover or armour as well, but make up 
  for this with volume of fire and short-range knockdown power. 
  Submachine guns can be broken down into three main 
  categories:
  • Assault Pistols are essentially handguns converted to 
  fully-automatic or burst-fire capability. They are not 
  generally favoured by operators as they get through 
  a lot of ammunition real fast, have a small magazine, 
  and are difficult to control. Assault pistols sometimes 
  can be fitted with tiny shoulder stocks and foregrips to 
  make them more controllable, and may use extension 
  magazines that stick out of the butt, increasing 
  ammunition capacity. 
  • Uzi-Type Submachine Guns are loaded through 
  the handgrip like a handgun but are larger and, almost 
  without exception, do not have an externally moving slide. 
  Instead the moving parts are internal, much like an assault 
  rifle. Weapons of this sort can be very compact and can 
  sometimes be carried in a shoulder holster like a handgun.
  • Carbine-Type Submachine Guns are normally loaded 
  through a magazine well located in front of the trigger 
  assembly, though some use a different configuration. 
  Weapons of this sort tend to be somewhat larger than an 
  Uzi-type, and may have a longer barrel for increased accuracy. 
  In recent years the term ‘personal defence weapon’ (PDW) 
  has emerged. PDWs are usually (but not always) carbine or 
  Uzi-type submachine guns. They offer high firepower in a 
  compact package and are favoured by operators working 
  covertly or in tight spaces like vehicles and buildings. 
  Although they lack range compared to a rifle, PDWs are 
  extremely effective at close quarters and can respond to a 
  threat quicker (and with more bullets) than a heavier weapon.
  All submachine guns use the Submachine Gun skill.
  BXP
  A South African weapon designed in the 1980s, the BXP is 
  an Uzi-type SMG with a folding stock that forms a foregrip 
  when folded. It is a fairly conventional 9mm weapon using 
  a 22 round magazine or a longer 32-round one that projects 
  out of the handgrip. The BXP can take a suppressor, but 
  is primarily liked by some Special Forces operators for its 
  capability to launch a rifle grenade. The BXP is possibly the 
  only SMG with this capability as standard.
  Pistols
  Name
  Avail .
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  Desert Eagle
  Average
  10
  2d6
  1
  Impaling
  20
  10
  7
  1.5
  FN Five-Seven
  Average
  20
  1d10+1
  3
  Impaling
  25
  8
  10
  1
  Jericho 941
  Average
  20
  1d12
  2
  Impaling
  20
  7
  10
  1
  Korth Combat Magnum
  Difficult
  20
  2d6
  2
  Impaling
  20
  9
  6
  1
  Sig-Sauer P226 
  Tactical Operations
  Average
  20
  1d10
  3
  Impaling
  20
  8
  15 or 
  20
  1
  SOCOM MK23 Mod 0
  Difficult
  20
  1d10+1
  3
  Impaling
  20
  8
  12
  1
  Taurus Slim 708
  Average
  20
  1d8
  3
  Impaling
  15
  6
  7
  0.5
  Taurus Raging Judge
  Average
  25
  2d6
  2
  Impaling
  10
  6
  7
  1
  Walther P99
  Average
  20
  1d10+1 
  (.40 calibre)
  3
  Impaling
  20
  12
  12
  1
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  16
  Calico M-950
  A highly unusual 9mm weapon consisting of a fairly large 
  submachine gun-like receiver which can take a variety of 
  barrels and (optionally) a shoulder stock, the California 
  Instrument Company M-950 uses a large helical feed 
  magazine holding 50 rounds, or a larger version containing 
  100. It can be configured as a carbine or an oversized 
  handgun, but is normally set up as a SMG. Unsuccessful 
  in the civilian marketplace (largely for legal reasons), the 
  M-950 is favoured by some operators who like having a lot 
  of ammunition ready for use.
  Cobray M11/9
  The M11/9 is a modernised version of the Ingram MAC-10 
  and MAC-11 family of Uzi-type submachine guns. Other 
  variants, chambered for various ammunition, exist but the 
  M11 in Laundry service uses standard 9mm Parabellum 
  ammunition. It is lighter than the original weapon, and in 
  Laundry service it is sometimes further modified. Some 
  weapons are converted to take a Sten gun magazine, which 
  is intriguing since the Sten is long-defunct. However, the 
  Sten gun magazine was itself co-opted from the German 
  MP-38 and MP-40 submachine guns used during the 
  Second World War, which raises the question: why do 
  some Laundry backup teams need weapons compatible 
  with WWII era German SMGs? The answer is probably 
  dull and bureaucratic, but you never know…
  FN P90
  Fabrique Nationale’s P90 uses the same 5.7x28mm 
  ammunition as the Five-Seven pistol. Loading is unusual 
  in that ammunition is carried in a 50-round cartridge 
  loaded from the top of the shoulder stock. The P90 is 
  favoured for urban operations as it is easier to handle in 
  confined spaces than an assault rifle and also has more 
  ammunition. Fired from a slightly longer barrel, its 5.7mm 
  ammunition performs a little better than in the Five-Seven 
  pistol. Larger magazines are available, in case you intend to 
  shoot lots of people at close range.
  Glock 18
  The Glock 18 is an assault pistol, i.e. a fully-automatic 
  version of the standard Glock 17 used by the Laundry and 
  many police agencies. The Glock 18 can take 17-round 
  Glock 17 magazines but can also use a 33-round extension 
  magazine. This sticks out of the weapon and is awkward 
  to carry, so commonly the smaller magazine is routinely 
  in place, with extension magazines carried separately. 
  Controlling a light weapon such as the Glock 18 under 
  very high rates of fire is a problem for many users.
  Heckler & Koch MP5K-PDW
  The 9mm H&K MP5 is a carbine-type submachine gun. It 
  has been a favourite of police agencies and Special Forces 
  for a long, long time, and rightly so. The ‘K’ variant is 
  especially short, and has a foregrip for stability when firing 
  from this hip. In its recent ‘PDW’ configuration, the weapon 
  Name
  Avail .
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  BXP
  Difficult
  20
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  15/30
  6
  22 or 
  32
  1.5
  Calico M-950
  Difficult
  20
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  15/30
  6
  50 or 
  100
  2
  Cobray M11/9
  Average
  15
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  15/30
  6
  16 or 32
  1.5
  FN P90
  Average
  15
  1d10+2
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  40
  10
  50
  2
  Glock 18
  Average
  10
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  10
  8
  17 or 33
  1
  H&K MP5K-PDW
  Average
  15
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  25
  9
  15 or 30
  1.5
  H&K MP7
  Difficult
  15
  2d6
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  40
  8
  20, 30 
  or 40
  1.5
  Israel Weapon Industries 
  Uzi-Pro
  Difficult
  10
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  20
  8
  25
  1.5
  Steyr TMP
  Average
  15
  1d10
  3 or burst
  Impaling
  25
  8
  15 or 30
  1.5
  
  17
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  has a folding/detachable shoulder stock and can be carried 
  concealed under a bulky coat with a small 15-round magazine 
  in place. Most police departments use a version with a fixed 
  stock and conventional rifle-type forearm, which has a 
  slightly longer accurate range. Both variants can use standard 
  30-round magazines and can be fitted with a suppressor.
  Heckler & Koch MP7
  Much more recent than the MP5, the MP7 is an Uzi-
  type weapon firing an unusual 4.6x30mm round. It is 
  surprisingly controllable when firing one-handed, even 
  fully automatic, but is normally used in both hands. A 
  folding foregrip increases stability under autofire.
  Israel Weapon Industries Uzi-Pro 
  The Uzi-Pro is a 9mm submachine gun derived from 
  the Micro-Uzi, smallest of all the Uzi family. It has a 
  ferociously high rate of fire and can carry a range of 
  accessories such as laser pointers, flashlights and sights 
  using a modular Picatinny rail system. The Uzi-Pro is small 
  enough for covert carry, and is sometimes issued instead 
  of a handgun. It can be built up into a larger weapon using 
  a family of accessories such as longer barrels and stocks, 
  but ceases to be concealable.
  Steyr TMP
  Steyr’s Tactical Machine Pistol (TMP) is a small Uzi-type 
  submachine gun with a foregrip. It uses 9mm ammunition. 
  A semi-automatic version, named SPP (Special Purpose 
  Pistol) also exists; both are essentially the same weapon 
  but for automatic fire capability.
  Shotguns
  Shotguns are smoothbore longarms capable of delivering 
  a range of ammunition types. Most commonly, heavy 
  buckshot is used, which gives heavy stopping power at 
  short range, coupled with a spread of shot to increase the 
  chances of a hit. However, buckshot does not penetrate 
  well and is defeated by most forms of armour – though it 
  may stun, knock down or at least badly bruise the target.
  Other ammunition includes solid slug, which is a single heavy 
  projectile with somewhat better range and penetration than 
  a buckshot spread, and specialist breaching ammunition. 
  This is used to shoot hinges or locks off doors when 
  entering a building, and breaks up on impact to avoid 
  collateral damage. Shotguns can also deliver tear gas and 
  similar small specialist rounds, and less-lethal baton or 
  beanbag rounds that will stun the target with little chance 
  of killing them. Specialist ammunition is dealt with under 
  Weapon Accessories and Related Equipment, below.
  Many shotguns use a pump action, which is extremely 
  reliable and robust, and has the advantage of enabling 
  a specialist round to be chambered. A magazine cutoff 
  (if fitted) permits the fired shell to be ejected without 
  chambering a new one from the magazine, enabling a 
  specialist round to be directly inserted into the breech. 
  Working the action after this is fired chambers a new shell 
  from the magazine.
  Semi-automatic shotguns are favoured by many operators, 
  as they give rapid fire capability in a close-quarters fight. 
  Fully-automatic shotguns are quite rare, as they can 
  be difficult to control under rapid fire. Perhaps more 
  importantly, shotgun ammunition is bulky and a full-
  automatic shotgun needs a large magazine. Drums are a 
  reasonable solution but they are bulky and very heavy.
  Traditional double and single-barrelled shotguns are 
  rarely used by operators, with one exception. A sawn-off 
  shotgun is short and fairly easy to carry, but deadly at close 
  range. Its manual operation is ideal for situations where 
  specialist ammunition might be needed, and when dealing 
  with opponents that can be intimidated, such a weapon 
  makes a very convincing threat.
  Most combat shotguns use 12-gauge ammunition, though 
  some military models use specialist shells that will not fit 
  in a standard shotgun.
  All shotguns use Shotgun skill.
  Amsel Protecta
  An updated version of the earlier Striker shotgun, the 
  Protecta uses a bulky 12-round drum magazine rather than 
  a more standard under-barrel tube. It is a semi-automatic 
  which can shoot faster and for longer than most shotguns, 
  and is thus favoured by some operators. However, it is 
  heavy and bulky.
  Benelli M1014/M4
  The standard semi-automatic shotgun used by many 
  Special Forces units, the M1014 can deliver baton rounds 
  as well as standard shells. Its action is very fast, enabling 
  several rapid shots, but ammunition capacity is limited.
  Beretta RS200
  A relatively modern pump-action shotgun capable of 
  handling a range of ammunition, the RS200 uses a 6-round 
  tubular magazine fixed under the barrel. Reloading it 
  through the breech and is much slower than with a 
  magazine-fed weapon.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  18
  Browning Cynergy
  A modern take on the classic over-under configuration double-
  barrelled shotgun, the Cynergy is designed for sporting use and 
  is in no way a military weapon. However, guns of this sort are 
  sometimes used for dealing with small flying creatures and similar 
  threats, or may be the only weapon available in a tight spot.
  Franchi SPAS-12
  The SPAS-12 is a primarily semi-automatic shotgun which 
  can be switched to pump-action if necessary. This enables 
  the gun to fire low-powered ammunition such as tear gas 
  or beanbag rounds which will not work the weapon’s semi-
  automatic action. It has a folding stock which can be used 
  to support reasonably accurate one-handed shooting.
  Ithaca Stakeout
  Based on a venerable but well-proven design, the Stakeout 
  is a short, pistol-grip version of the Ithaca Model 37 
  shotgun specifically developed for law enforcement use. It 
  has a pistol grip but no stock and a short barrel. Capacity 
  is 4 rounds plus one in the chamber.
  Pancor Jackhammer
  An innovative design using specialist ammunition that 
  will not fit in standard shotguns, the Jackhammer uses a 
  10-round rotating drum magazine at the rear of the weapon. 
  Spent shells are retained in the magazine; nothing is ejected.
  Remington M870 MCS
  The M870 has been in use for several decades. In its current 
  incarnation it is available in modular form, enabling the user 
  to swap between configurations. It is typically put together as 
  a fairly standard pump-action 6-shot full-sized shotgun or a 
  short 4-shot version with a pistol grip but no stock. The latter 
  is favoured for close encounters and by ‘point men’ who may 
  need to respond to a sudden threat with heavy knockdown 
  power. A stockless M870 can also be mounted under the 
  barrel of a rifle, enabling door breaching operations to be 
  undertaken whilst keeping the rifle ready for use. A breaching 
  shotgun in this configuration can be used for combat. In this 
  configuration the weapon is sometimes called the Masterkey. 
  It holds 3 rounds plus one in the chamber.
  Sawn-off  12-gauge, Generic
  Sawing the barrels off a quality sporting shotgun is a 
  horrible thing to do, so most guns of this sort are fairly 
  cheap models. The weapon is converted into an oversized 
  pistol by reshaping the stock into a pistol grip and 
  shortening the barrels to the point where range is severely 
  reduced. Alternatively, a ‘coach gun’ can be created by 
  leaving the stock in place and shortening the barrels by 
  a third. This reduces range and also spoils the weapon’s 
  measured swing, making it less effective for clay pigeon 
  or flying-creature elimination, but does create a powerful 
  short-range weapon that is handy to use and can be 
  improvised in most country houses in just a few minutes.
  Name
  Avail .
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  Amsel Protecta
  Difficult
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  3
  Impaling
  10/20/40
  12
  12
  5
  Browning Cynergy
  Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  2
  10
  2
  3
  Benelli M4/M101
  Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  4
  Impaling
  10/20/40
  12
  6
  3
  Beretta RS200
  Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  10/20/40
  12
  6
  3
  Franchi SPAS-12
  Average
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  10.20/40
  10
  6
  3
  Ithaca Stakeout
  Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  10/20/40
  10
  4
  2.5
  Pancor Jackhammer
  Difficult
  30
  5d6/3d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  10/20/50
  10
  10
  3.5
  Remington M870 MCS
  Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  10/20/40
  12
  6 or 4 
  or 3
  3 or 
  2 or 
  0.5
  Sawn-off Shotgun, Pistol Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  4/8/12
  7
  2
  2
  Sawn-off Shotgun, 
  Coach Gun
  Easy
  30
  4d6/2d6/1d6
  2
  Impaling
  8/16/32
  10
  2
  2.5
  
  19
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  Carbines and Rifles
  A ‘rifle’ is essentially any long-arm (i.e. a firearm intended 
  to be used in both hands) with a rifled barrel, but in 
  modern usage some weapons are defined differently. 
  Submachine guns are usually short weapons firing pistol 
  calibre ammunition, while a short rifle-type weapon using 
  the same ammunition is usually termed a carbine. 
  Most military units make use of what are termed assault 
  rifles, which are lightweight weapons firing an intermediate 
  cartridge – typically 5.56x45mm and equivalent to civilian 
  ‘small-bore’ rifles. Assault rifles are normally capable of 
  fully-automatic fire, though some use burst-fire instead, 
  whereby one pull of the trigger fires a set number of 
  rounds. A full-automatic weapon will continue to fire 
  until the trigger is no longer pulled or the ammunition 
  runs out. Most assault rifles are capable of semi-automatic 
  operation (one shot per pull of the trigger) as well as fully 
  automatic and/or burst fire. 
  Heavier military rifles are usually equivalent to civilian 
  ‘full bore’ weapons such as deer rifles, and typically use 
  cartridges in the 7.62x51mm range. Recoil on these 
  weapons is heavier and their ammunition is heavier, so 
  semi-automatic operation is the norm. Military rifles in 
  this range are often termed ‘battle rifles’. Although they 
  lack the lightness and rapid fire capability of assault rifles 
  their effective range is greater and individual rounds are 
  more potent.
  Sniper 
  weapons 
  normally 
  use 
  battle-rifle 
  calibre 
  ammunition, which offers superior ballistic performance 
  over intermediate cartridges. However, small-bore rifles 
  may be used for sniping at modest ranges, or when nothing 
  better than a civilian ‘plinking’ gun is available. Some 
  military sniper or marksman weapons are semi-automatic 
  in operation; others use bolt-action which is marginally 
  more accurate at long range. 
  Heavy ‘anti-materiel’ rifles are sometimes used by the 
  military for extremely long range sniping but are primarily 
  intended for use against hard targets such as vehicles, 
  communications equipment and the like. They can use 
  specialist ammunition such as incendiary or explosive 
  rounds, and are occasionally deployed when large or 
  unusually robust creatures are in the offing.
  Civilian weapons that might be used by Laundry backup 
  teams include small-bore and full bore hunting rifles 
  (which will be bolt-action) and possibly powerful big-
  game rifles if a suitably large threat presents itself. 
  Rifles use Assault Rifle skill if they are capable of automatic 
  fire, and Rifle skill if semi-automatic or bolt-action. 
  AK-103
  The latest in a long line of weapons descended from the 
  world-beating AK-47, the AK-103 uses the 7.62x39mm 
  cartridge used by the original AK-47. Although a heavy-
  calibre bullet, this ammunition uses a shorter cartridge than 
  NATO weapons and is thus an assault rifle rather than a 
  battle rifle. The AK-103 can be encountered in Russian hands 
  and is also exported, so can be found almost anywhere. Its 
  predecessor, the AK-47, is the commonest assault rifle in the 
  world; literally millions have been made. The AK-47 can be 
  considered more or less equivalent in performance to the 
  AK-103, though it will probably rattle more. Many operators 
  favour the AK series for its extreme reliability and robustness, 
  and for the fact that ammunition can be scrounged from the 
  opposition almost anywhere in the world. 
  AN-94
  A Russian assault rifle derived from the AK-74 and 
  thence from the AK-47, the AN-94 uses the 5.45x45mm 
  intermediate round developed for the AK-74. It is a 
  complex but clever weapon, capable of delivering a 
  2-round burst at an extremely high rate of fire (treated as a 
  single shot for additional damage) or fairly standard fully-
  automatic fire as well as semi-automatic. Ammunition is 
  normally carried in a standard 30 round magazine but a 
  larger 45 round magazine and a bulky 60-round casket 
  magazine can be used. This adds 1.5 SIZ to the weapon.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  20
  C8 SFW Carbine (L119A1)
  The C8 SFW (‘Special Forces Weapon’) is essentially an upmarket version 
  of the US M4 carbine which arms most US regular forces. Itself derived 
  from the venerable and successful M16 assault rifle, the M4 and its progeny 
  are short and handy, making them ideal weapons for close combat in 
  urban terrain. A shortened version, designated C8 CQB (‘Close Quarters 
  Battle’) is used by British Special Forces for close protection work. Both 
  weapons are similar in performance to the US M4, but of higher quality. 
  Their 30-round magazines and 5.56x45mm ammunition are compatible 
  with most NATO weapons. The C8 is known as the L119A1 in British 
  service and is the standard Special Forces weapon.
  FN2000
  A futuristic looking weapon, the FN2000 uses a ‘bullpup’ 
  configuration, i.e. the magazine well is behind the trigger assembly. 
  This reduces the overall length of the weapon whilst retaining a 
  long barrel for accuracy. Normally a bullpup weapon cannot be 
  used left-handed unless converted to left-hand use, as the ejected 
  cartridges will hit the user in the head. The FN2000 does not 
  suffer from this problem and can be used in either hand or even 
  shot one-handed with reasonable accuracy. The basic assault rifle 
  can be augmented with accessories including a grenade launcher.
  Heckler & Koch 416
  The HK416 assault rifle is an improved version of the M4 
  carbine used by most US forces, intended for use by US Special 
  Forces. It is produced to a higher build quality and has several 
  rails for modular accessories such as a foregrip, advanced 
  sights and a grenade launcher. The US Marine Corps uses a 
  variant designated M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle as a light 
  support weapon. The M416 can take 30-round magazines or a 
  100-round C-drum magazine that adds 2 SIZ to the weapon.
  Heckler & Koch G36
  H&K’s G36 is a 5.56x45mm assault rifle which can be put 
  together with a standard barrel, shorter ‘carbine’ barrel or 
  a heavier barrel as a light support weapon. It normally uses 
  a 30-round magazine but can take a 100-round c-drum 
  magazine which adds 2 SIZ to the weapon. The G36 is in 
  German service but can be encountered in use by Special 
  Forces operators worldwide as well as some police agencies. 
  Assault Rifles and Carbines
  Name
  Avail .
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  AK-103
  Easy
  20
  2d6+5
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  200
  14
  30
  3
  AN-94
  Difficult
  15
  3d6 (2-round 
  burst) or
  2d6+3
  1, 3 or burst, 
  or special 
  2-round burst
  Impaling
  300
  10
  30 or 
  45 or 
  60
  3
  C8 Carbine 
  (L119A1)
  Average
  20
  2d6+3
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  200
  12
  30 
  3
  FN2000
  Average
  20
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  250
  12
  30 
  3
  HK 416
  Easy
  15
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  400
  12
  30 or 
  100
  3
  HK G36
  Easy
  15
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  400
  12
  30 or 
  100
  3
  L85/L86
  Easy
  15
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  200/400
  10
  30 or 
  80
  2.5/
  3.5
  SIG550
  Easy
  15
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  250
  10
  4, 20 
  or 30
  3
  QBZ-03
  Difficult
  15
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  250
  10
  4, 20 
  or 30
  3
  
  21
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  L85A2
  The standard British assault rifle, the L85A2 is used by 
  some operators. Its Bullpup configuration creates a short 
  and handy weapon that is well-balanced and easy to bring 
  up from a carrying position. However, reliability issues 
  with earlier models of the rifle put some potential users 
  off. The L85A2 (also known as the SA80) has a ‘bigger 
  brother’ in the L86 light support weapon. Both can share 
  magazines and are used in an almost identical manner, but 
  the L86 can take an 80-round drum and has a heavier barrel 
  to resist overheating. Originally intended for use as a squad 
  support weapon, the L86 has been largely supplanted by 
  the FN Minimi and is now used as a marksman weapon; its 
  heavy barrel gives it a long effective range.
  SIG 550
  In many ways a typical modern assault rifle, the SIG550 
  is very well made and was designed for ‘usability’, i.e. it 
  is very user-friendly. It is a 5.56x45mm calibre assault 
  rifle, conventional in layout, which can be put together as 
  a short-barreled carbine. The SIG 550 can take 5, 20 or 
  30-round magazines. Under various names, this weapon 
  is in use with Swiss, German and Italian forces. Variants 
  include the SIG552-2P Commando, which is a short 
  carbine version, and the SIG 550 Sniper, which is a semi-
  automatic variant optimised for long-range accuracy.
  QBZ-03
  The most recent Chinese assault rifle, the QBZ-03 
  is a conventionally laid out weapon using 5.8x42mm 
  ammunition. It is also available chambered for 5.56x45mm 
  as used by NATO. It has a folding stock but is otherwise 
  fairly conventional.  This weapon has been supplied to 
  some Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and may be 
  encountered in the hands of their forces.
  Accuracy international AS50
  A .50 calibre (12.7x99mm) rifle sometimes used by British 
  Special Forces, the AS50 is a semi-automatic weapon 
  using a 5 or 10-round magazine. It is far too enormous to 
  be routinely deployed but can be set up in an overwatch 
  position from which it can hit anything within a kilometre.
  Barrett M82A1 ‘Light Fifty’
  The archetypical heavy anti-materiel rifle, the M82A1 uses 
  the same calibre of ammunition as a .50 calibre machine 
  gun and can shoot over very great distances. It is too big 
  and heavy to fire on the move, and is normally used only 
  when something large and robust needs breaking or killing. 
  It is primarily used by US forces, but may be available to 
  British units.
  Gepard M6
  Probably the most gigantic ‘rifle’ likely to be produced, the 
  M6 is part of a family of oversized anti-materiel weapons. 
  It uses a bullpup configuration with the magazine behind 
  the trigger assembly, and shoots a 14.5 round designed to be 
  used against helicopters, bunkers and the like. Manufactured 
  in Hungary, these weapons are not in common use anywhere 
  but may be available for ‘special purposes’.
  L96A1 
  The standard British Army sniping weapon, the L96A1 is 
  normally chambered for 7.62x51mm ammunition. It has a 
  10-round magazine but its bolt action does not allow rapid 
  fire. However, bolt-action weapons are very accurate as 
  there are no internal moving parts to disturb the weapon 
  while the round is on its way down the barrel. 
  L115A3
  The L115A3, or ‘Arctic Warfare Magnum’ is a bolt-action 
  weapon available in 7.62mm or .338 Lapua Magnum for 
  long-range work. The current world record for a sniper kill 
  was made with this weapon. 
  L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle
  Experience in Afghanistan showed the British Army that a 
  marksman rifle was needed, with a range greater than that of 
  the assault rifles in common use. The L129A1 can be used 
  for sniping, but is generally deployed to increase the range of 
  infantry forces rather than with specialist sniper units.
  M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System
  A lightweight ‘marksman rifle’ intended to increase the 
  effective range of infantry squads; the M110 is a battle-
  rifle calibre weapon, like most sniping rifles. 
  Stoner SR-25
  Custom-designed as a semi-automatic sniping weapon, the 
  US-made SR-25 looks a lot like an M16 type assault rifle 
  fitted with a bipod. It is accurate and capable of quick 
  semi-automatic fire. 
  Elephant Gun
  A range of what are politely now termed ‘stopping rifles’ 
  are available, chambered for ludicrously huge calibres such 
  as .600 Nitro, .577 Tyrannosaur and .600 Overkill. These 
  weapons are intended to stop a large animal such as an 
  elephant in mid-charge and are not for the faint of heart. 
  Some operators may bring them on a mission in anticipation 
  of meeting something that needs a bus firing at it.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  22
  Light Support Weapons
  Light support weapons range from what are essentially 
  overgrown rifles to grenade launchers and full-sized 
  machine guns. Technically, weapons such as heavy machine 
  guns are not really light support weapons but they are 
  included here for simplicity.
  Most machine guns (light, general-purpose and heavy) have 
  a quick-change barrel to allow one to cool while another 
  is being used, and use belted ammunition. This is usually 
  a disintegrating-link metal belt which can be held in a box 
  or drum for ease of carry. Belts are normally 50, 100 or 
  150 rounds long but can be joined together to make a very 
  long belt if this seems desirable. Machine guns usually have 
  a bipod and fittings to allow them to be used on a more 
  permanent mount such as a tripod or vehicle mount. 
  Rifle-type support weapons (i.e. those derived from assault 
  rifles) do not have a quick-change barrel and can be prone 
  to overheating under sustained fire, but they are lighter 
  and easier to handle in confined spaces. Most rifle-type 
  light support weapons are fed from standard assault rifle 
  magazines or an enlarged version of them.
  Grenade launchers fire a fairly low-velocity projectile 
  which travels in an arc, making them unsuitable for use 
  indoors. Most can also use direct-fire projectiles such as 
  beanbag rounds for close-range combat.
  Rifle grenades are not very common, but they do 
  sometimes see use. A rifle grenade fits on the end of an 
  adapter on a rifle barrel and is fired in an indirect arc. 
  They require some skill to use effectively but can be highly 
  accurate under the right conditions. A skilled operator 
  (with a dedicated launcher or rifle grenade) can put a 
  projectile into a fortified position or through a window 
  100-150m away.
  Shoulder-fired launchers range from what is essentially 
  an enlarged rifle grenade, in the case of rocket-propelled 
  grenade launchers, through to large powerful missiles fired 
  from a reusable launcher. 
  Hand grenades are thrown by hand or can be used in 
  various inventive ways such as setting up a tripwire to pull 
  the pin out of a grenade taped behind a door. This acts as 
  a sort of alarm system in addition to the obvious explosive 
  and fragmentation effects. 
  All light support weapons are used with the Heavy 
  Weapons skill, other than hand-thrown grenades which 
  use the Throw skill. 
  FN MAG-58 (L7A1)
  Designated L7A1 in British service, the Fabrique Nationale 
  MAG-58 is a venerable design that has seen service in 
  around 80 nations. It is a general-purpose machine gun 
  (GPMG) capable of fulfilling many roles. In the Special 
  Forces community it is sometimes found as a vehicle 
  mounted weapon or in the hands of old-school operators. 
  attle Rifles, Sniper Weapons and Heavy Rifles
  Name
  Avail.
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  Accuracy international AS50
  Difficult
  10
  4d10+2
  1
  Impaling
  1200
  18
  11
  8
  Barrett M82A1
  Difficult
  10
  4d10+4
  1
  Impaling
  1000
  18
  11
  9
  Gepard M6
  Difficult
  10
  4d10+10
  1
  Impaling
  1000
  18
  11
  9
  L96A1
  Difficult
  25
  2d10+4
  1 
  Impaling
  600
  10
  10 
  4
  L115A3 (.338 Lapua Magnum)
  Difficult
  20
  2d10+8
  1 
  Impaling
  900
  10
  5
  4.5
  L129A1
  Difficult
  20
  2d10+4
  1  or 2
  Impaling
  500
  10
  5
  4.5
  M110
  Difficult
  20
  2d10+4
  1 or 2
  Impaling
  500
  10
  10 or 20
  4
  Stoner SR-25
  Difficult
  20
  2d10+4
  1 or 2
  Impaling
  500
  10
  10 or 20
  4
  Elephant Gun
  Difficult
  5
  5d10+5
  1
  Impaling
  200
  12
  2
  6
  
  23
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  FN Minimi/M249/Mk46
  The 5.56mm FN Minimi is the standard light machine gun 
  of the British armed forces and is used by many special 
  ops teams. A number of variants exist, including the M249 
  which is in general US service and the Mk46, which is a 
  lightened variant used by US Special Forces. Standard 
  M249/Minimi weapons can take belted ammunition or any 
  magazine compatible with the M16 rifle and its derivatives. 
  Most weapons in special ops use lack the magazine adapter 
  and can use only belted ammunition.
  Heckler & Koch MG36
  A support version of the G36 assault rifle and sharing 
  many components, the G36 uses a 100 round drum  
  and has a heavy barrel plus a bipod. It was not adopted 
  by the German armed forces but is used by some Special 
  Forces units.
  Heckler & Koch MG4
  A 5.56x45mm calibre light machine gun produced in 
  Germany, the MG4 is a modern compact support weapon 
  favoured by many European operators.
  Negev
  The Israeli-made Negev machine gun is a multipurpose 
  5.56x45mm weapon. It has a folding stock and quick-
  change barrel, enabling the full-length heavy barrel and 
  bipod to be replaced with a shorter barrel and thus 
  creating a high-capacity assault rifle. It can also launch 
  rifle grenades. The weapon can take 35-round magazine or 
  belted ammunition.
  PKM
  A Russian-made weapon based on the AK series of assault 
  rifles, the PKM is a simple and robust weapon chambered 
  for 7.62x39mm ammunition. It is sometimes found in the 
  hands of operators from Eastern European countries, 
  Russia, and anywhere that Russia sells arms to.
  M2HB Heavy Machine Gun
  The M2HB is in no way a light support weapon. It cannot 
  be fired on the move and requires a tripod or vehicle 
  mount. However, it is used by Special Forces personnel as 
  a support weapon or for security of an area. The .50 calibre 
  rounds delivered by this weapon are potent against vehicles 
  and hard cover as well as personnel, and may be effective 
  against some of the more robust otherworldly threats.
  ARWEN
  The Anti-Riot Weapon, Enfield (ARWEN) has a 5-shot 
  rotary magazine and delivers a less-lethal beanbag or baton 
  round out to about 100m. A stockless shortened version is 
  available, and is sometimes carried by backup teams assigned 
  to snatch operations. The target must make a Resistance roll 
  against the weapon’s damage or be stunned for 2d6 rounds. 
  Brunswick RAW
  The Brunswick Rifleman’s Assault Weapon fits on an 
  adapter under the barrel of an assault rifle. It is a curious 
  bowling-ball shaped weapon which functions as a large 
  rifle grenade. The weapon will travel up to 2000m but is 
  not accurate much beyond 200m. It delivers a large high-
  explosive warhead, but variants are postulated that contain 
  more exotic payloads.
  Light Support Weapons
  Name
  Avail .
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  FN Mag-58 (L7A1)
  Average
  15
  2d10+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  800
  12
  Belt
  8
  FN Minimi/M249
  Easy
  20
  2d6+4
  1,3 or burst
  Impaling
  600
  12
  30 or Belt
  7
  H&K MG36
  Average
  20
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  400
  10
  100
  5
  H&K MG4
  Average
  15
  2d6+4
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  600
  12
  Belt
  6
  Negev
  Difficult
  20
  2d6+4
  1,3 or burst
  Impaling
  400
  10
  35 or Belt
  7
  PKM
  Average
  20
  2d6+3
  1, 3 or burst
  Impaling
  500
  10
  Belt
  7
  M2HB
  Difficult
  10
  4d10+4
  1,3 or burst
  Impaling
  400
  20
  Belt
  18
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  24
  FN303
  The FN303 is a modular launch weapon which can be used 
  alone or fixed under the barrel of a rifle. It uses compressed 
  air to fire 12-gauge projectiles from a 15-round drum 
  magazine. Baton rounds can stun the target; a Resistance 
  roll against the weapon’s damage is required, or the target 
  is down for 2d6 rounds. The FN303 can also be used to 
  deliver tear gas or other specialist munitions.
  Grenade Machine Gun
  The GMG, produced by Heckler & Koch, is in use with 
  British special operations units as a vehicle mounted or 
  tripod support weapon. It is too heavy to fire on the move 
  (other than from a vehicle) but can launch 40mm grenades 
  at a rate of about 350 per minute. Normally used to engage 
  larger Mythos creatures or to take out concentrations of 
  minor threats, the weapon can also deliver a radar-altimeter-
  fused area denial weapon codenamed BATSTOP. BATSTOP 
  munitions detonate at a set height, scattering small fragments 
  of phosphorous coated metal. These are (mostly) harmless 
  by the time they hit the ground but they create a no-fly 
  zone for smaller airborne creatures by a combination of 
  fragmentation, heat and smoke effects. BATSTOP has not 
  yet been deployed operationally, but tests are promising.
  Milan-SPW
  A variant of the UK’s MILAN guided anti-tank weapon, 
  the MILAN-Special Purpose Weapon is wire-guided 
  using a SACLOS (Semi-Active Command Line of Sight) 
  system. It is guided by the operator, which means that so 
  long as he retains his nerve and his sanity the weapon can 
  hit anything he can see. The system is heavy and requires 
  a vehicle to move it, but can be used for defence of an 
  area against larger supernatural threats. Standard load 
  is a shaped charge anti-tank warhead, but a specialist 
  thermobaric (heat/blast effect) warhead is available for 
  dealing with threats resistant to impaling type weapons.
  Milcor MGL
  The Milcor MGL uses a 6-round non-detachable cylinder 
  to hold 40mm grenades, giving rapid fire when it is needed. 
  It can be used for delivery of less-lethal ammunition such 
  as stunbag rounds or can blow up a satisfying amount of 
  stuff before requiring a reload.
  Panzerfaust 3
  The German-made Panzerfaust 3 uses a reusable sight/
  launcher to fire a range of warheads. Most commonly 
  this is a shaped-charge weapon intended to take out 
  light armoured vehicles but effective against some alien 
  creatures. 
  RPG-7D
  The RPG-7 is popularly associated with revolutionaries 
  and assorted crazies, but is in fact one of the most 
  widely used light anti-armour weapons in the world. The 
  reusable shoulder-fired launcher can take a range of rocket 
  propelled grenades, of which the commonest is a shaped 
  charge anti-armour weapon.  
  You can also set the fuse to detonate at a set distance 
  from the launcher, which might prove useful if you’re an 
  insurgent trying to take down a helicopter by showering 
  its rotors with shrapnel. Or, same principle, you’re trying 
  to take down a flying monster before it flaps over and eats 
  your lunch.
  SMAW
  The US-made Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault 
  Weapon  (SMAW) fires an unguided 83mm rocket which is 
  normally used against bunkers or light armoured vehicles. 
  The launcher is reusable.  
  Rifle Grenade, HEDP
  The basic rifle-launched grenade is an HEDP (high 
  explosive dual purpose) type which combines blast and 
  fragmentation effects to kill or injure ‘soft’ targets (e.g. 
  people) nearby.
  Rifle Grenade, HEAP
  A HEAP (High Explosive Armour-Piercing) grenade is 
  intended to punch through hard cover or armour using 
  a shaped charge. It has little blast effect and must hit the 
  target directly to cause any harm.
  Rifle Grenade, SMD
  An SMD (Special Munition Delivery) grenade is designed 
  to punch through light cover or a creature’s armour using 
  a small shaped charge, then burst using a secondary 
  dispersal charge, delivering whatever special munitions 
  are carried. This may be something as mundane as tear 
  gas or incendiary (heat/flame) munitions, but is normally 
  tailored to a specific creature. Basically, find out what it’s 
  allergic to, stuff it into a grenade and let fly. 
  Grenade, Launched, HEDP
  The standard grenade launched from an Underslung 
  Grenade Launcher (UGL) or a grenade machine gun, 
  High Explosive Dual Purpose grenades have a small 
  blast/fragmentation radius and are effective against 
  concentrations of enemy personnel.
  
  25
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  Launchers and Other Weapons
  Name
  Avail .
  Base
  Damage
  RoF
  Special
  Range
  HP
  Ammo
  SIZ
  ARWEN
  Average
  15
  4d6
  2
  Knockback, 
  Stun
  100
  6
  5
  4 or 3
  Brunswick RAW
  Difficult
  5
  5d6/2m
  1
  Knockback, 
  200
  4
  1
  4
  FN30303
  Average
  10
  2d6
  2
  Knockback, 
  Stun
  70
  4
  15
  4 or +2 
  if added 
  to a  rifle
  Grenade Machine Gun
  Difficult
  5
  3d6/2m
  Burst
  Knockback, 
  Special 
  Munutions
  1200
  20
  32-round 
  belt
  18
  MILAN SPW
  Average
  5
  14d6/ 5 
  metre
  1
  Knockback
  1200
  16
  1
  20
  Milcor MGL
  Difficult
  5
  40mm 
  grenade
  2
  Knockback
  400
  12
  6
  5
  Panzerfaust 3
  Difficult
  5
  9d6/1 
  metre
  1
  Knockback
  900
  12
  1
  6
  RPG-7D
  Easy
  5
  7d6/ 2 
  metre
  1
  Knockback
  200
  14
  1
  5
  SMAW
  Difficult
  5
  10d6/1 
  metre
  1
  Knockback
  500
  12
  1
  5
  Rifle Grenade HEDP
  Average
  5
  5d6/5 
  metre
  1
  Knockback
  200
  4
  1
  1
  Rifle Grenade HEAP
  Average
  5
  6d6/1 
  metre
  1
  Knockback
  200
  4
  1
  1
  Rifle Grenade SMD
  Average
  5
  Special
  1
  Special 
  Ammunition
  200
  4
  1
  1
  Launched 40mm 
  Grenade, HEDP
  Average
  5
  3d6/2m
  1
  Knockback
  -
  4
  1
  1
  Launched 40mm 
  Grenade, Burning
  Average
  5
  Varies
  1
  Special 
  Ammunition
  -
  4
  1
  1
  Launched 40mm Grenade, 
  Multiple Projectile
  Average
  5
  6d6
  1
  Impaling
  -
  4
  1
  1
  Launched 40mm 
  Grenade, Stunbag
  Average
  5
  5d6
  1
  Knockback/
  Stun
  -
  4
  1
  1
  Fragmentation Grenade
  Average
  25
  4d6
  1
  Knockback
  -
  8
  1
  0.5
  Flashbang
  Average
  25
  -
  1
  Special
  -
  4
  1
  0.5
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  26
  Grenade, Launched, Burning
  Burning-type grenades include those that produce tear 
  gas or other exotic gases intended to soothe or banish 
  otherworldly creatures, as well as common old smoke 
  grenades. 
  Grenade, Launched, Multiple Projectile
  Multiple Projectile grenades are direct-fire weapons with 
  a short range, essentially turning the launcher into a 
  shotgun. The standard ‘buckshot’ version is highly lethal 
  at close range, even through a door or other obstruction. 
  Grenade, Launched, Stunbag
  A stunbag round is simply a bag of lead shot fired from 
  a grenade launcher. It will knock down a man or similar 
  creature and will probably wind, stun and deeply upset 
  him. The target must match their CON + Armour against 
  the weapon’s damage or be stunned for 2d6 rounds and 
  very sore for days afterwards.
  Grenade, Thrown, Fragmentation
  Your standard option for ruining someone’s day. 
  Flashbang
  As the name suggests, there’s a flash and a bang, 
  disorientating anything with eyes that see in the visual 
  spectrum and with ears that work like ours. Anyone caught 
  in a confined space with a flashbang is stunned, making all 
  their rolls Difficult for one round. If they’re ready for the 
  blast, they get to make Luck rolls to avoid being stunned.
  Weapon Accessories 
  and Related Equipment
  Special Forces units make use of a range of equipment, 
  most of it utterly mundane. Boots are, pretty much, just 
  boots even if they’re issued by a secret sub-unit of the SAS. 
  Flashlights, personal radios and the like are simply tools of 
  the trade. UKSF uses generally pretty robust and effective 
  examples of these items, but most of a soldier’s kit is pretty 
  standard. A few items are worth noting, however.
  Field Coveralls, Urban Operations
  The standard outfit used by operators when on ‘overt’ 
  operations (i.e. they don’t care who realises that they are 
  soldiers) is a black coverall and boots, worn with gloves, a 
  cool black cap and sunglasses – sometimes even at night. 
  The coverall is somewhat fire-resistant and will offer 
  protection for a short time from threats that would set 
  normal clothing afire. It is tough and reinforced at the 
  knees and elbows with padding. A field coverall offers 
  four points of protection against slashing and impaling 
  weapons (e.g. knives, teeth and bullets) but is no use 
  against crushing threats.
  Field Protective Equipment, Urban 
  Operations
  If the team is expecting trouble then protective equipment 
  is broken out. It is usually carried in vehicles or a field 
  depot set up close to the site of operations. Protective kit 
  comprises a heavy flak jacket and helmet (though some 
  operators insist on retaining their cool cap rather than 
  a helmet) plus eye protection in the form of armoured 
  goggles. This kit gives the wearer 8 points of armour 
  against most types of physical attack. It is normally worn 
  over field coveralls, whose protection is included in the 
  armour rating. A gas mask is included in the kit, which will 
  provide complete protection from basic threats such as 
  tear gas or the smoke from a building fire. 
  Tactical Vest
  A tactical vest is basically a sleeveless jacket with lots of 
  pockets for useful things like weapon magazines, tools, 
  a flashlight and the odd grenade or two. Most have a 
  sidearm holster built in and can be kept handy, allowing an 
  operator to get tooled up with just one grab. 
  Ghillie Suit
  Ghillie suits are specially customised camouflage suits. 
  By covering the suit with leaves and other vegetation 
  from the local area, it breaks up the wearer’s outline and 
  blends perfectly into the surroundings, giving excellent 
  concealment. The downsides are the weight and bulk of 
  the suit, and the amount of time needed to fashion and 
  ‘season’ the suit, as each one takes weeks to customise 
  properly and only fits one particular terrain. Wearing a 
  Ghillie Suit gives a +20% bonus to Stealth tests.
  CBRN Suit
  Nicknamed a ‘Noddy suit’ because of the shape of the 
  hood, this garment offers moderate protection from 
  chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards. 
  Because when you’re dealing with things like that, nothing 
  reassures like ‘moderate’ protection. The standard UK-
  made suit is charcoal-impregnated nylon, made to be 
  quickly slipped on over a regular uniform. There’s a heavier 
  version (aka ‘Womble suit’) for longer-term operations 
  that, again, offers that wonderful ‘moderate’ protection. 
  
  27
  BIGGER STICKS
  Bigger Sticks
  EPDE Suit
  The bastard child of a CBRN suit and a spacesuit. 
  It’s designed for Extra Planetary/Extra Dimensional 
  Environments – it’s what you sling on when you’ve got 
  to go through a Gate. It’s pressurised, heated, moderately 
  shielded against hazards, and has a built-in radio and  
  air supply.  
  Field Kit
  This is a catch-all bag of tricks and gear – night vision 
  goggles, binoculars, GPS, ropes, tape, basic survival and 
  medical supplies – anything you might need on a mission 
  but don’t want to bother noting in advance. Nothing too 
  high-tech or unusual. If there’s ever a debate over whether 
  or not your Field Kit contains a particular item, make a 
  Luck test to see if you packed it.
  Mountaineering Kit
  Climbing gear – ropes, pitons, harnesses, ice picks and so 
  forth – in case you need to scale a glacier or the Plateau of 
  Leng or a haunted temple.
  Military Comms Kit, Compact
  A military comms kit is basically a headset and transmitter/
  receiver, carried in some cool-looking position on a 
  tactical vest or belt mounting. The kit gives secure, clear 
  communications over a modest distance, even indoors, 
  allowing a team to communicate with one another and with 
  a base or command post. The kit is reasonably resistant to 
  interference and jamming.
  Field Medical Kit
  Enough equipment to patch up a fallen comrade, perform 
  basic surgery, or treat an infected wound. Plenty of painkillers, 
  too. It also contains antivenins, antibiotics and treatments for 
  other common hazards – or to win hearts and minds. 
  Laser Designator
  A portable laser unit that does no real harm to the target 
  on its own, but can be used to ‘paint’ or ‘lase’ the target 
  for an airstrike or artillery attack to home in on. Guided 
  shells can home in on reflected laser light and will strike 
  with great accuracy, though the designator has to be kept 
  on target until the strike arrives. Ideally this is done from a 
  concealed location with a good field of view.
  Scuba
  Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, but you 
  knew that already. 
  Demo Charge, Conventional
  Small thing goes boom. Bigger thing falls over or goes 
  bye-bye. 
  Charge, Breaching
  Breaching charges can be a single shaped charge or a 
  more dispersed frame charge, but they work the same way, 
  blasting a hole in a wall or door to allow a rapid entry to 
  the room beyond. Explosive Method of Entry assaults are 
  normally used when attempting to neutralise hostiles who 
  have hostages or who might do something bad if given 
  time to prepare (shooting back at the assault team qualifies 
  as bad) but a charge might be used simply to gain access to 
  a locked or barricaded area.
  Charge, Agent Defeat
  Agent Defeat Munitions are normally used to destroy 
  stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons by creating a 
  massive thermobaric (heat and blast) explosion and incredibly 
  high temperatures – as in, it defeats any chemical or biological 
  agents present. An agent-defeat charge could also be used 
  to take out a site contaminated by something more exotic 
  than Anthrax. Few living things could survive the incredible 
  heat and pressure of the explosion, though a DEEP SEVEN 
  might find it produced a pleasantly cool breeze.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  28
  Name
  Avail .
  Protection
  SIZ
  Field Coveralls
  Easy
  4 vs. melee
  -
  Field Protective 
  Equipment
  Difficult
  8
  4
  Tactical Vest
  Easy
  -
  -
  Ghillie Suit
  Difficult
  -
  4
  CBRN suit
  Average
  -
  4
  EPDE suit
  Difficult
  -
  6
  Field Kit
  -
  -
  3
  Climbing Kit
  Average
  4
  Military Comms 
  Kit
  Average
  -
  3
  Field Medical Kit
  Average
  -
  3
  Laser Designator
  Average
  -
  0.5
  SCUBA
  Average
  -
  6
  Encumbrance 
  The Laundry generally doesn’t bother with 
  encumbrance or anything like that. Your 
  average player character doesn’t carry much 
  stuff – even the most unfit couch potato of 
  a player character can heft a laptop and 
  a smartphone at the same time. Carrying 
  capacity only comes up when you’re trying 
  to drag that blood-stained stone altar two 
  feet to the left so it’s no longer part of 
  the summoning pentagram.
  Things can be a bit different for Special 
  Forces. They’ve got to carry a lot of 
  gear, including a variety of gadgets for 
  accelerating small pieces of metal very 
  fast in a particular direction. Weight and 
  bulk matter for them. To keep things quick 
  and abstract, we’re using SIZ as a measure 
  of an item’s size and mass. You can carry 
  equipment up to your STR or SIZ, whichever 
  is higher, without penalty. If your total 
  carried exceeds your STR or SIZ, then any 
  rolls related to physical movement are 
  made one difficulty class worse (stuff you 
  wouldn’t normally need to roll for becomes 
  Easy, 
  Easy 
  becomes 
  Average, 
  Average 
  becomes Difficult, Difficult is impossible), 
  as you’re dragging or swaying under the 
  burden. The Gamemaster should call for 
  regular Endurance (CON x 5) rolls to keep 
  going under the strain.
  Clothing doesn’t normally count towards 
  encumbrance, unless it’s really awkward or 
  binding – like a protective suit, in which 
  case it definitely counts. 
  Name
  Avail .
  Skill
  Base
  Damage
  Special
  HP
  SIZ
  Demo Charge
  Difficult
  Demolition
  01
  6d6/3m
  Knockback
  15
  1
  Breaching Charge
  Difficult
  Demolition
  01
  4d6/1m
  Knockback
  15
  2
  Agent Defeat Charge
  Difficult
  Demolition
  01
  8d6/3m
  Incineration
  15
  3
  
  29
  SPECIAL FORCES ORGANISATION
  Special Forces Organisation
  Special Forces have existed, in some form or another, for 
  as long as there have been military forces of any kind. 
  There have always been those who could do jobs that 
  others could not, and who were vastly more effective than 
  the typical soldier. Scouts, saboteurs or just all-round bad-
  asses, these warriors could and did turn a bad situation 
  into a glorious victory.
  The modern era of Special Forces goes back to the Second 
  World War, when various elite groups were formed to cause 
  mayhem among the enemy, and were the obvious choice for 
  missions of a more unusual nature. Many different Special 
  Forces formations exist across the world; some nations have 
  several different types with a range of specialist capabilities. 
  Not all of them are involved in occult operations, and some 
  are more general in capabilities than others.
  What Special Forces all have in common is the ability 
  to function in small teams yet to produce big results. A 
  handful of operators cannot take on a tank division head-
  on, but they could cripple it – mysterious explosions 
  in the ammunition and fuel storage areas, disabled 
  communications equipment, missing or dead key 
  personnel. Depending on the Special Forces unit, the 
  divisional commander’s dog might or might not get kicked 
  on the way out, but even assuming he was still alive then by 
  the time the operators were finished he would no longer 
  have an effective fighting force to command. 
  Special Forces units are, of course, appliers of intense 
  violence at the right place and time, but there is more to 
  them than this. A team of operators must be able to get 
  into places where they are really not wanted, and get out 
  again afterwards. They must be able to survive in difficult 
  terrain and under dangerous conditions for a long period, 
  and remain combat capable throughout the mission 
  despite whatever hardships come their way. Their ability 
  to evade and hide from enemies is often as important as 
  their fighting skills. 
  For those really, really special Special Forces units that 
  operate in the occult world of the Laundry, stealth and 
  general sneakiness is often an asset, but sometimes it 
  comes down to the key skill that all operators absolutely 
  must have – the ability to keep your head and destroy 
  everything that needs destroying in double-quick time. 
  When it comes down to it, what the Laundry needs from its 
  military backup is the ability to retain combat effectiveness 
  no matter what crazy shit is going down. 
  Fortunately, the whole recruitment, selection, training and 
  organisational model for Special Forces is all about that. 
  It’s just that the shit is not usually quite that crazy.
  United Kingdom Special Forces
  Since 1987, British Special Forces have been grouped into 
  an organisation named United Kingdom Special Forces 
  (UKSF). It is commanded by the Director Special Forces, 
  who has usually been a Special Air Service Brigadier. The 
  post has recently been upgraded to major-general level, 
  reflecting the importance of UKSF.
  The unified command structure allows specialists from 
  various units to be formed into a team for any given 
  mission without the usual difficulties associated with 
  cobbling a force together from people who may have 
  different ways of operating and even different words for 
  the same action or object.
  Within UKSF, there are several distinct formations. 
  These are commonly subdivided into ‘Tier 1’ and ‘Tier 
  2’ units. Tier 1 formations specialise in direct action – 
  i.e. kicking down doors, blowing stuff up and shooting 
  anyone who looks like they need it. Tier 2 formations 
  supposedly provide support in various other ways, such 
  as communications, transportation, close protection 
  (bodyguard) operations and the like. 
  The ‘supposedly’ above refers to the fact that special 
  operations take place in pretty dangerous places a lot of 
  the time, and just because you’re a signals or intelligence 
  expert does not mean that you won’t come face to face 
  with a bunch of insurgents or wild-eyed cultists. All special 
  operations personnel are good at fighting. Very, very good 
  at fighting.
  Within UKSF are several whole formations and elements 
  of others. The primary Tier 1 operators come from:
  • Special Air Service (SAS)
  • Special Boat Service (SBS)
  Units providing Tier 2 support include:
  • Reserve SAS (21 SAS and 23 SAS) (the Laundry’s usual 
  partners)
  Special Forces 
  Organisation
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  30
  • Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRS)
  • UKSF signals units
  • Special Forces Support Group (which includes elements of the 
  Royal Marines, RAF Regiment and the Parachute Regiment). 
  Recruitment and Selection
  The Special Forces recruitment and selection process was 
  unified in the late 1990s, with the result that standards, 
  procedures and training methods are now common across 
  all British Special Forces units. Costs were also reduced, but 
  the importance of that ‘also’ depends on whether the matter 
  is being viewed from Whitehall or some literal hell-hole. 
  Most British Special Forces personnel are volunteers who 
  are already serving in regular units, though in the case of 
  the reserve units they may have left the regular service and 
  later re-entered in the reserve units. In some cases, such as 
  L Detachment, personnel may enter directly from civilian 
  life without prior military service. However, all UK Special 
  Forces personnel go through a rigorous selection process, 
  which is held twice a year at Hereford. 
  Personnel must be under 32 years of age (or 35 in the 
  case of the reserve units) and have already shown a high 
  standard of military capability or aptitude. This goes 
  beyond merely being able to handle weapons well; special 
  operations personnel must often teach other troops in 
  the field and must have a broad range of skills as well as 
  an extremely high level of toughness and endurance. Just 
  getting through the door of the recruitment office, so to 
  speak, requires being at least potentially one of the best.
  Those that actually qualify for the selection process spend 
  a couple of days being briefed about what they’ve got 
  themselves involved in, and are subjected to a set of tests 
  that would be horrifically hard if compared to anything but 
  what comes next. Fitness is a key issue but other field skills 
  are also tested such as the ability to swim and not get lost 
  in the wilderness. Those that qualify and want to continue 
  are given a training programme to prepare themselves for 
  selection, and a few weeks later the process begins in earnest.
  Failure at any point from here on in means being ‘RTU’ – 
  Returned to Unit. Candidates are allowed a second chance 
  at selection, after which the door is permanently closed. 
  About 90% of candidates are RTU; these are outstanding 
  soldiers who may go on to do great things in the regulars, 
  but they are not outstanding enough for the Special Forces.
  The next weeks are a combination of training and 
  selection; failure to learn the requisite skills means RTU, 
  and many candidates are washed out for failing to master a 
  single skill. Others cannot meet the physical requirements 
  and some, quite literally, die.
  The first four weeks are mainly about hills. Fitness and navigation 
  training involves activities like running up and down hills with 
  a heavy pack, navigating long distances in rough terrain with a 
  heavy pack, and then finally marching 40 miles over the hills 
  with a rifle, full kit… and a heavy pack. This is a timed march of 
  course, over the Brecon Beacons. Even tough, motivated and 
  highly competent personnel with food and water supplies do 
  sometimes die or go missing on these marches. 
  For those that survive the hell of hills, the next four weeks 
  is about soldier stuff – fighting, shooting, explosives and 
  small-unit tactics. Candidates will have done this before, 
  but never to this standard. Again, failure means RTU.
  Personnel destined for the Special Reconnaissance 
  Regiment face an abbreviated version of this phase (2 
  weeks instead of 4) and then undertake specialist training 
  in undercover operations after a 2-week selection process 
  to determine their suitability.
  
  31
  SPECIAL FORCES ORGANISATION
  Special Forces Organisation
  For most operators the next phase is six weeks of jungle 
  training in Borneo, which not only teaches and assesses 
  critical skills for operating in rainforest terrain but also the 
  candidate’s ability to put up with truly god-awful conditions. 
  Operational skills put to the test include observation and 
  patrol skills in a close environment, and boat handling on 
  the distinctly hazardous jungle waterways. 
  Next is SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract), which 
  takes another four weeks. Here the candidates learn all 
  about how to evade an enemy searching for them and 
  to resist questioning if caught. Serving personnel from 
  Special Forces units act as hunters and interrogators, so 
  successful candidates may someday get to experience the 
  final test from the other side. 
  Successful completion of all the phases means that the 
  candidate has passed selection. They then enter the Special 
  Air Service with the rank of Trooper and receive a special 
  hat – a sand-coloured beret. For the first year of service 
  with the SAS, membership is probationary. 
  For those that wish to join the Special Boat Service, 
  selection is not complete at this stage. From Hereford 
  they move to Poole where specialist training is undertaken 
  in beach and shallow water reconnaissance, underwater 
  operations and the like. Passing this stage of selection 
  qualifies the candidate for a different hat - a green beret 
  like that of the Royal Marines Commandos. 
  Having completed selection, personnel are considered to 
  have the basic skills needed for any operator. They are then 
  trained in their specialist area. This may include languages 
  and linguistics, parachute operations (including high-
  altitude drops), vehicle operations, urban anti-terrorist 
  operations, communications (including control of close 
  air support), and medical skills. All special operations 
  personnel are skilled with weapons and are good marksmen, 
  but those selected to be snipers must undertake a sniper 
  course which is a whole additional skill set. 
  21 and 23 SAS have (slightly) less insanely rigorous 
  selection and training processes. Candidates can still 
  expect to spend about three months running up and down 
  Welsh hills with heavy packs, then a similar amount of time 
  doing advanced-soldier-stuff before completing selection 
  and beginning a probationary period (during which more 
  training is undertaken in things like parachuting, first aid 
  and destroying things with guns and bombs). Additional 
  training includes languages, close protection and counter-
  weirdness operations. 21 and 23 SAS do not inform 
  candidates about the existence of the supernatural at this 
  stage, but the psych profilers and testers know about it, 
  and work to prepare candidates for the unthinkable truths 
  that will be revealed if they pass.
  Those that manage to get through all of this selection and 
  training join operational units where they begin to gain 
  experience in the field. It is still a learning curve at this 
  point; one that becomes much steeper when the occult is 
  involved.
  There is as yet no formal selection process for those 
  members of the Special Forces community who become 
  involved in Laundry operations. Some are thrown in 
  because personnel with their skills are needed right here 
  and now. Some are spotted as potential counter-occult 
  operators and ‘tried out’ either by presenting them 
  with evidence of paranormal activity and observing the 
  conclusions they draw, or working them in gradually 
  through counter-cult/counter-occult terrorist operations. 
  A number of key figures within UKSF work closely 
  with the Laundry (or even in the Laundry – they’ve got 
  weekday desk jobs and spend their weekends training with 
  the territorials) and have developed a knack for spotting 
  those personnel who would make useful counter-occult 
  operatives and those who can handle anything but the sort 
  of weirdness the Laundry involves itself with. Over time, 
  certain parts of certain formations have become heavily 
  populated with occult-savvy operators, and these are the 
  go-to units when the Laundry needs backup. However, 
  every now and then it is necessary to just send in whoever 
  is available and hope for the best. 
  CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN
  When CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN kicks off 
  properly, then the Special Forces are 
  going to be the tip of the spear, or more 
  accurately the tip of the banishing sigil. 
  Senior officers within each branch have 
  signed Section III and have been briefed on 
  the threat posed by the supernatural. They 
  may not believe half of it, but at least 
  they’re familiar with basic containment 
  and countermeasures, and when the time 
  comes, they’ll be able to execute the 
  orders given to them by the Laundry.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  32
  Rank and Chain of  Command
  Service with the Special Forces is normally for a 36-month 
  tour, after which the soldier can Return To Unit or may 
  undertake a second tour. Those that complete two tours 
  are transferred to the Permanent Cadre of the SAS and 
  become eligible for promotion to senior ranks within the 
  Special Forces.
  Personnel transferring to the Special Forces retain their 
  old rank as ‘shadow rank’ and gain seniority for their time 
  in UKSF, which may result in promotion once they return 
  to their old unit. However, whilst in the UKSF personnel 
  are part of an internal rank structure. The starting rank is 
  Trooper, the equivalent of Private in the rest of the army. 
  Rank titles are much the same as the rest of the army: 
  Trooper, Lance Corporal, Corporal and Sergeant.
  Officers can come into UKSF from the army, navy or air 
  force. Army officers must hold at least the rank of captain, 
  naval officers must be lieutenants or higher, and air force 
  officers must hold the rank of flight lieutenant or higher. 
  Upon passing selection, the officer comes into UKSF with 
  their rank intact, but is permitted to serve only one term, 
  after which they are returned to their unit. 
  If an officer wishes to serve another term with the Special 
  Forces they must pass selection again, possibly coming 
  back in at a higher rank after promotion. Completion 
  of a second term allows the officer to transfer to the 
  Permanent Cadre, essentially making the Special Forces 
  their home unit.
  The chain of command is fairly loose in the case of Special 
  Forces, mainly out of necessity. Where possible, officers 
  originally from the Royal Marines command Special Boat 
  Service units, but this has not always been the case and 
  SAS officers will sometimes command SBS units. Changes 
  to the force structure in recent years have created greater 
  interoperability, meaning that an officer from one part 
  of UKSF (e.g. SBS) should be able to integrate well with 
  personnel drawn from another (e.g. SAS).
  Small units operate in the field, with a great deal of 
  initiative and consequently significant responsibility 
  placed in the unit commander. In conventional military 
  operations the Special Forces contingent often operates 
  semi-autonomously, providing specialist skills such as 
  target reconnaissance to a larger force. While supporting 
  Laundry operations, a similar model is used as when 
  undertaking 
  covert 
  surveillance 
  or 
  hostage-rescue 
  missions; the Special Forces team answers directly to the 
  operational commander, with its personnel under the 
  orders of the team commander and sub-leaders. 
  Special Forces teams do not take orders from Laundry 
  field agents, nor from regular military officers who are 
  not in their direct chain of command. They do, of course, 
  cooperate with sensible requests and take obviously 
  necessary actions. A Laundry agent cannot order his 
  Special Forces backup team to shoot a household pet, but 
  he can make a strong suggestion that it is necessary, which 
  in most cases will get the same result.
  In most cases, the same panicky stream of gibberish could 
  be taken as an order or a suggestion. A Special Forces 
  team would be quite entitled to ignore an order, but 
  equally they would be well advised to do what the expert 
  says is necessary. The formal version of this, as mandated 
  by various training manuals and all manner of procedural 
  documents, is to inform the Special Forces’ command 
  personnel that what appears to be a dog in front of them 
  is in fact possessed by an Elder Brain-Eater From Beyond 
  Physics and would he mind ordering his personnel to deal 
  with it in an appropriate manner. The details are then up 
  to the military commander.
  Most situations are rather less formal than this, however, 
  and generally speaking it is enough to point and scream 
  something like “shootthatshootthatshootthatnow!” for the 
  backup team to get the general idea. In short, while Laundry 
  field operatives cannot give direct orders to their military 
  backup team (not ones that will be obeyed, anyway), the 
  team are not idiots and will act upon pertinent information 
  whether it is phrased as an order or not. It is considered 
  polite and will reduce friction for Laundry operators to 
  simply point out the existence, location and nature of 
  threats and let the military make the tactical decisions like 
  how-many-more-bullets… but getting the job done without 
  having your cortex devoured is the first priority. 
  Special Forces personnel assigned to assist a Laundry 
  operation will typically be a small unit comprising a 
  commander, second in command and several others who 
  may or may not be grouped into smaller units with their 
  own leaders. Any specialists present (including Laundry 
  agents, communications officers, liaison personnel from 
  foreign agencies or insurance adjusters) are not in the chain 
  of command, i.e. they cannot give orders to the main body 
  of personnel. In practice, an experienced support officer 
  might take command if the unit’s commanding officer is 
  downed or if asked to lead a detachment. The chain of 
  command can be considered to be just slightly less fluid 
  than reality in any given situation.
   
  
  33
  SPECIAL FORCES ORGANISATION
  Special Forces Organisation
  “Bob, you can come along on this trip on 
  one condition. The condition is that if 
  you get any of my men killed by arsing 
  about, I will personally shoot you. Do you 
  understand and agree?”
  – The Atrocity Archive
  Primary UK Special Forces 
  There are many government agencies and odd sections 
  of the police, military and intelligence services that might 
  have come into contact with the sort of weirdness dealt 
  with by the Laundry. These groups have a few people 
  who ‘know things’ and try to handle whatever comes up. 
  Secrecy being what it is, these people often believe that 
  they are the only ones in the know; once they encounter a 
  Laundry operation then the Laundry tends to co-opt them. 
  The following groups have an ‘official’ involvement with the 
  occult and such like, i.e. it is part of their remit and in a few 
  rare instances they are actually quite well prepared to deal with 
  whatever occurs. These are the agencies that will be called 
  upon to assist a Laundry operation that needs armed backup. 
  Most of them thoroughly disapprove of the idea that Laundry 
  agents should be turned loose with firearms. Occult weapons 
  are unavoidable perhaps, but giving those people guns is not 
  much better than letting the Elder Nasties run wild. 
  There is usually a degree of mutual respect between the 
  personnel of these agencies and the Laundry, especially 
  where an agent has proven effective in the field. Providing 
  Laundry personnel do not allow their assorted quirks and 
  personality disorders to interfere with the mission, the 
  military professionals tend to be tolerant – in the same way 
  that they will tolerate a top-end weapon system that gives 
  great results providing it receives constant maintenance.
  Indeed, it has been suggested that the deciding factor in whether 
  or not personnel from these agencies are deemed suitable for 
  Laundry-associated missions is not their ability to cope with 
  reality-rending monsters from the beyond… it’s the ability to 
  tolerate the people the Laundry sends to deal with them.
  Special Air Service (SAS)
  The Laundry is most closely associated with 21 SAS (The 
  Artists’ Rifles) but also has links with 22 SAS and 23 SAS. 
  The three units are collectively known as ‘The Regiment’. 
  21 SAS and 23 SAS are reserve formations, whilst 22 SAS 
  is the main, full-time force. All SAS units use the motto 
  ‘Who Dares Wins’ and the ‘winged-dagger’ emblem (which 
  actually depicts King Arthur’s sword Excalibur). Although 
  22 SAS can carry out a wider range of missions than its 
  reserve counterparts, all three units are similar in many ways. 
  Whilst operational forces can be created to fit any 
  requirement, the SAS requires a formal organisation for 
  training and logistical purposes. This consists of sub-
  units termed squadrons, each of which is subdivided into 
  four troops of sixteen personnel apiece. In 22 SAS each 
  troop has a different specialist role, though the reserve 
  formations do not specialise to such a degree. 
  The SAS has a fairly informal way of doing things. Most 
  personnel are referred to by name or nickname, and saluting is 
  uncommon. Officers are sometimes called ‘boss’ but nicknames 
  are often used when addressing a superior. This can upset 
  regular army personnel but does not in any way detract from 
  the professionalism of the force. Indeed, the SAS is beyond the 
  need for a formal military structure; its personnel are a team 
  who work together and respect one another because to do 
  anything else means failure and probably an unpleasant end. 
  This actually makes the SAS more accepting of the 
  collection of oddballs that make up a typical Laundry 
  operations team. There is one exception – you can be as 
  eccentric as you like and still win the respect and trust of 
  the SAS, but you must not be incompetent. Stupidity costs 
  lives and will not be forgiven. 
  21 SAS (The Artists Rifles)
  21 SAS is a Territorial Army formation, recruited from 
  former military personnel and extremely capable civilians. 
  Its official role is to ‘add depth’ to UK Special Forces 
  capabilities, which implies that it is a backup force for 
  the full-time SAS. This is only partially true. 21 SAS is 
  descended from a volunteer light infantry regiment (the 
  Artists Rifles) formed in 1859. It attracted many highly 
  educated recruits including university students and 
  gentlemen, and many of its enlisted men were transferred 
  to other regiments to become officers. 
  The regiment served in the Boer War and in the First World 
  War, but did not go on active service during the Second 
  World War. Instead it officially served as an officer training 
  formation, though there are suggestions that perhaps 
  the regiment undertook other activities during this time, 
  perhaps providing intelligent, combat-capable personnel for 
  distinctly more-than-special operations at home and possibly 
  abroad. The regiment was disbanded in 1945 but reformed 
  two years later. Initially part of the Rifle Brigade it was 
  quickly transferred to the Army Air Corps, becoming the 
  21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve). The 
  regiment served through the Malayan Emergency, producing 
  veterans who then became the basis of the regular 22 SAS. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  34
  21 SAS continued to serve in a supporting role to 22 
  SAS, undertaking long-range patrol and reconnaissance 
  operations. The intention was that this would free 
  22 SAS for a more ‘direct’ role against the enemy. The 
  unit has served in the long-range reconnaissance role in 
  Afghanistan, and also alongside 23 SAS during the Balkan 
  wars of the 1990s. 
  Working as a composite ‘V squadron’ with 23 SAS, 21 SAS 
  undertook ‘operations in support of peace’ – a catch-all 
  term for patrolling, protecting refugees and supply routes, 
  gathering intelligence and generally working towards local 
  stability. This role was reprised in Afghanistan, along 
  with close protection for important figures in the Afghan 
  administration and mentoring of local forces including the 
  Afghan National Police. 
  The Artists Rifles continues to attract highly educated 
  recruits, and also former military personnel who for some 
  reason decided to end their regular career then re-enlist in 
  a territorial formation. At least some of these personnel 
  have had contact with occult entities or other special 
  circumstances, and have been directed into the Artists 
  Rifles as a way of making their skills and knowledge 
  available in the fight against Bad Stuff From Beyond.
  21 SAS is commanded by full-time senior officers drawn from 
  22 SAS, and staffed by officers and enlisted personnel from 
  the Territorial Army. It comprises a headquarters squadron 
  based at Regent’s Park in London and three operational 
  squadrons designated A (based in London), C (East Anglia) 
  and E (Wales). Communications specialists are drawn from 
  63 (SAS) Signals Squadron, another Territorial Army unit.
  21 SAS contains the largest proportion of occult-savvy 
  military personnel in the British forces, and there are 
  probably few members who do not at least suspect that 
  there is more going on in the world than a quick look at 
  the Discovery Channel schedule would suggest. Many of 
  its members are a lot older and more experienced than 
  would be expected, and many are ‘unofficials’.
  Unofficials are personnel who officially cannot be 
  members of the Special Forces due to age or other 
  considerations like being too female or too foreign to 
  pass the basic entry requirements (UKSF only allows male 
  recruits… officially). These personnel are sort of attached 
  to 21 SAS in a vaguely documented manner as consultants, 
  training agents and occasionally job titles so Byzantine 
  than nobody can figure out what they are supposed to be. 
  Unofficials are in the 21 SAS command structure and on the 
  books in the places where it matters. Most of the time they 
  are ignored by those not in the know, assumed to be civilian 
  contractors, government nobodies or former special operations 
  personnel retained as a repository of operational experience 
  and otherwise-long-forgotten rude words. When needed, they 
  are wheeled out (sometimes, but rarely, literally) and sent into 
  the field as part of a backup team from the Artists Rifles. 
  The words ‘I’m a (whatever), attached to 21 SAS as an 
  advisor’ usually indicate that the speaker is an Unofficial, 
  fully part of the Artists Rifles despite being barred from 
  membership by some accident of birth such as being 
  unforgivably foreign. It can, however, mean that the 
  speaker is trying to sell their elite Special Forces martial arts 
  system to the uninformed masses by posing as a combat 
  instructor to the military. That particular misunderstanding 
  has had interesting consequences on a couple of occasions. 
  22 SAS 
  22 SAS is the regular component of the Regiment, and 
  undertakes the widest range of missions that are not connected 
  with matters the Laundry has an interest in. The British 
  government has a policy of not discussing SAS missions, and 
  if something an SAS soldier does makes the news, it will be 
  reported using the name of their parent regiment.
  22 SAS was formed from veterans of the Malayan Emergency 
  in the late 1940s, but can trace its spiritual origins back to the 
  special operations units of the Second World War, including 
  the Long Range Desert Group and Small Scale Raiding 
  Force as well as the original Special Air Service Brigade.
  Each of the four ‘sabre’ (operational) squadrons (designated 
  A, B, D and G) is commanded by a major and contains four 
  specialist troops of sixteen men, commanded by a captain. 
  Each troop has a specialist area: boats (and underwater 
  operations), air (i.e. parachuting), mobility (vehicles and desert 
  operations) and mountain (which includes arctic operations). 
  Within each troop there are four four-man patrols.
  Casualty replacement and the occasional need for 
  specialists is handled by L detachment, which is a reserve 
  formation largely recruited from former SAS personnel. 
  Each sabre squadron can deploy a range of specialists, 
  and each cycles through the Special Projects Team on a 
  regular basis. This is not an occult-related group but is 
  the SAS counter-terrorism/counter revolutionary warfare 
  formation. Whilst on Special Projects the squadron trains 
  even more intensively than normal, and is available to deal 
  with any crisis. That might include terrorist threats with an 
  occult slant or other out-of-the-ordinary situations.
  23 SAS
  23 SAS is a reserve formation, much like 21 SAS. Its three 
  operational squadrons (B, D and G) are based in Leeds, 
  Scotland and Manchester respectively, and tend to recruit 
  in those areas. Its headquarters is in the West Midlands. 
  
  35
  SPECIAL FORCES ORGANISATION
  Special Forces Organisation
  23 SAS is less closely associated with the Laundry than 21 SAS, 
  but does deal with the occult at times. Its personnel are often 
  trained for close protection work, and some receive ‘special 
  assignment’ training that supposedly prepares them to deal 
  with non-conventional threats. A government minister or 
  other high-value target that was threatened by occult means 
  might receive protection from one or more of these ‘special 
  capability’ operators. Laundry agents are less likely to encounter 
  personnel from 23 SAS under normal conditions, but might 
  work with them to deal with a threat to government officials.
  Special Boat Service (SBS)
  The Special Boat Service got its present name in the 1980s, 
  having previously been known as the Special Boat Section, 
  Special Boat Squadron and Folboat Troop. The formation 
  has been in existence since the Second World War and has 
  generally had the same remit since then – carrying out 
  unconventional operations in and around water.
  The motto of the SBS is ‘not by strength, by guile’, and its 
  operations have historically tended to be more subtle than 
  those of the SAS. As one analyst put it: If the SAS decided 
  to steal your wallet they might well kick your door in, beat 
  you senseless and set fire to your dog along the way. If the 
  SBS wanted your wallet then one day you’d realise it was 
  gone and you’d have no idea how.
  There has traditionally been a fairly intense rivalry between 
  SAS and SBS, though in recent years this has been somewhat 
  reduced by common training and selection. Although 
  some SAS formations do train in water operations, it is 
  the SBS who are the masters of maritime mayhem, and it 
  is to them that the Laundry turns when operations are to 
  be carried out at sea.
  The SBS has its headquarters at Poole, Dorset. It has four 
  operational squadrons, each with a specialist role. C and 
  X squadrons specialise in small boat and diver operations, 
  which can include coming ashore from small boats and 
  proceeding inland. C and X squadrons have served in 
  Afghanistan, operating quite far inland.
  M squadron trains for maritime counter-terrorism 
  operations, such as rescuing hostages from a vessel that 
  has been taken over by bad guys of some description. 
  They train for specialist tasks like boarding oil rigs and 
  have been known to assist the Laundry in operations 
  dealing with maritime transport or environments. 
  Z squadron specialises in underwater operations using 
  swimmer delivery vehicles and other specialist equipment. 
  Its personnel include some who have had contact with 
  BLUE HADES. This, and the squadron’s specialist 
  skills make it the go-to unit for any operation that might 
  encounter BLUE HADES.
  The SBS is organised much like the SAS, with a squadron 
  broken down into 16-man troops. However, the number 
  of men that can fit in a boat has traditionally dictated its 
  organisational structure, and the 2-man canoe team remains 
  an integral part of SBS operations. In addition to its regular 
  personnel, the SBS is supported by the Royal Marines, which 
  provides boat crews on some occasions. Replacements and 
  reinforcements come from the SBS Reserve.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  36
  Special Reconnaissance Regiment
  The Special Reconnaissance Regiment, or SRR, is one of 
  the most secretive parts of the UKSF community. It may 
  have had its origins in intelligence-gathering operations 
  conducted in Northern Ireland. Unlike the other Special 
  Forces units in British service, SRR recruits women. Its 
  remit is, as the name suggests, reconnaissance, surveillance 
  and intelligence gathering rather than direct action. 
  It is likely that the SRR includes personnel who have occult 
  experience and may deploy specialist teams to infiltrate 
  or at least observe unconventional terrorist or similar 
  organisations. Laundry operations are unlikely to directly 
  involve the SRR although an operation may be based upon 
  information provided by its personnel. 
  It is possible that an SRR operator or team may be the only 
  available backup, or that an operation might be necessary to 
  rescue SRR personnel from a cult or other bad people. As 
  a rule, the only interaction most Laundry agents will have 
  with the SRR is in the exchange of classified information.  
  Special Forces Support Group
  As its name suggests, the Special Forces Support Group 
  (SFSG) exists to support special operations. Its personnel 
  come mainly from the Parachute Regiment, Royal Marines 
  or RAF Regiment and must have passed either Marine 
  Commando training or the Parachute Regiment selection. 
  SFSG provides security to Special Forces operations and 
  supports them with additional manpower and firepower. Its 
  personnel are trained to operate alongside Special Forces 
  operators, eliminating the usual learning curve when regular 
  infantry are called upon to operate in this manner. SFSG also 
  undertakes training and mentoring tasks related to foreign 
  militaries. These were traditionally allotted to the Special 
  Forces, so SFSG frees up specialists for more direct roles.  
  The SFSG consists of a headquarters company and four 
  strike companies. A, B and C companies come mainly from 
  the Parachute Regiment, with some gunners from the RAF 
  Regiment assigned to B company. F company is formed of 
  Royal Marines personnel. There is also a support company 
  which includes combat engineers, mortar crews and anti-
  tank weapons.  SFSG has a number of attached personnel 
  including forward air controllers, detachments of signals, 
  medical and engineering personnel, and a specialist force 
  trained to find and make safe chemical, biological and 
  nuclear weapons. 
  Laundry sorcerers and computational demonologists 
  cross-train with elements of the SFSG, and there’s a long-
  term plan to add magic and counter-occult capabilities 
  to the SFSG’s roster. To date, no goats have been 
  independently stared at. 
  Support Requests
  Section
  Service
  Difficulty
  21 SAS
  Armed backup (4-man squad)
  Average
  Armed backup (16-man squad)
  Difficult
  23 SAS
  Close protection 
  team (4-man)
  Average
  SBS
  Covert insertion by sea
  Average
  Divers to recover 
  alien artefact
  Average, 
  or 
  Difficult 
  below 100 
  metres
  Rescue at sea 
  Average
  SRR
  Infiltration of cult 
  (1 SRR operative)
  Average
  Surveillance of cult 
  (4-man team)
  Average
  Access to SRR reports
  Average
  SFSG
  Cool gadget tech support
  Average
  
  37
  OCCULT ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOLS
  Occult Engagement Protocols
  Although more or less every contact with the occult is 
  new and exciting (and not in a good way), the Laundry has 
  evolved a number of protocols for dealing with whatever 
  weirdness may occur. In cases where the contact takes 
  place on foreign soil, standard procedure is usually to leave 
  quietly and make sure all the trip expense claims are in 
  order. Where otherworldly threats have to be dealt with, 
  officers and Special Forces personnel are well-advised to 
  follow standard procedures. Any deviation from these 
  requires a full and formal explanation of what was done 
  and why rather than the use of a pro-forma contact report. 
  And the pro-forma is brain-twisting enough.
  Officers would also do well to remember that mundane threats 
  are still threats. Falling off a cliff or being bitten by a snake are 
  pretty mundane misadventures compared to having your brain 
  eaten, but that does not make them desirable, except maybe 
  by comparison. Agents must be on the watch for mundane 
  threats as well as occult ones. Most such mundane threats can 
  be dealt with using common-sense precautions and do not 
  require a Laundry-approved guide. Nevertheless, there is one. 
  Large chunks of the Field Operations Manual deal with 
  issues such as how to use a ladder safely and avoiding 
  stomach upsets in countries with inadequately clean 
  drinking water. Clueless as many Laundry staff can be 
  about the real world at times, most do manage to avoid 
  mishaps without referring to the manual section on anti-
  slip precautions in the shower and similar environments. 
  Of course, when you’re being chased by Deep Ones, it is 
  possible to forget these elementary real-world precautions 
  and come a cropper, as the manual charmingly describes it.
  However, the main mundane threat to Laundry officers 
  is, ironically perhaps, the fabric of civilised society and its 
  many agencies that try to be helpful and protective. 
  Clueless Responses to Incidents 
  (AKA: How Not To Get Killed By A Police Sniper Just 
  Before You Confront Lurking Evil)
  It is quite startling to discover what people can fail to notice 
  going on in front of them, but once someone does actually 
  spot the zombie horde or gateway to crappinessville, there 
  will be a response of some kind. Fire and ambulance 
  crews, lifeboatmen and other helpful people will attend 
  the scene to try to save lives. Normally that’s a good thing 
  but it can lead to all kind of complications. 
  The police are a more active threat in this sense, in that 
  they have a remit to protect the public from strange 
  people who brandish weapons, and will feel duty-bound 
  to try to deal with whatever is happening no matter how 
  outmatched they are. That usually equates to evacuating 
  an area, setting up a cordon and calling in anyone and 
  everyone who might be some help. Thus a single police 
  officer can bring down massive complications with a 
  well-intentioned radio call. Pretty soon the area will be 
  flooded with uniforms and people whose job it is to find 
  out what is happening. Operating on the quiet can become 
  problematic at this point.
  It must also be stressed that cops have no sense of 
  humour about people waving guns or things that look like 
  guns, especially if bodies have been turning up or stuff 
  has recently exploded in the area. Most patrol officers in 
  Britain are not armed, in the sense that they do not have a 
  gun, but they do have incapacitating sprays, batons and a 
  radio to yell for help from the armed response team – and 
  they do have guns. A Laundry officer who rushes around 
  with a gun in an area covered by police marksmen might 
  meet an untimely and rather ironic end. 
  The key to dealing with police and emergency-service 
  response is cooperation and containment. That is, you 
  need to contain the police response before they get too 
  enthusiastic and call in the anti-terrorist unit, and you need 
  to get their cooperation. Your warrant card is the primary 
  tool in this case, and should be applied vigorously and 
  early. If you can get to the first cops on the scene and co-
  opt them with your warrant card then you should be able 
  to take control of the police response or stop it happening 
  at all. If not, you need to get to the on-site commander 
  and use your warrant card at that level.
  Once you have gained control of the emergency-service 
  response you should be able to use rather than work 
  around the official response. Cops can be useful for 
  keeping anyone else from wandering into the area, and to 
  keep reporters out. If you’re lucky and there are officers 
  with appropriate experience present they may be able to 
  actively help, but if not then the rule is to use the cops to 
  keep everyone, including the cops, out of your way while 
  you deal with the problem.
  Occult Engagement 
  Protocols
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  38
  Conventional (ish) Operations
  Some Laundry operations are not much different to other 
  national security situations. Most of these are termed 
  ‘Counter-Terrorism and Rescue-Like Operations’ in 
  the field manuals, raising the question of exactly what a 
  ‘rescue-like’ mission might achieve. 
  These operations are conducted much like conventional 
  counter-terrorism missions, and might involve an element 
  of interaction (of a non-violent sort) with the opposition. 
  Many cults, occult organisations and even terrorist groups 
  have a public face and do not want to be exposed for what 
  they are before their plans are ready. It may be possible to 
  negotiate meaningfully with such groups, so long as the 
  Laundry officer does not forget that their long-term agenda 
  is probably not something that should be encouraged. 
  Dealing with such groups can be a lot like international 
  relations during the Cold War. Both sides know what 
  the other is up to but maintain a polite façade to avoid 
  escalation until they are ready or it becomes inevitable. 
  Infiltration of a cult or other occult group is conducted 
  much like infiltration of any other suspect organisation, 
  though with the added complication of geases, magical 
  wards and other sorcerous means of exposing a snitch. 
  Overt operations against a cult can be carried out much 
  like any other operation. If it becomes necessary to smash 
  in the door and rescue the hostages, it does not matter 
  very much whether the hostiles worship Nyarlathothep or 
  Osama Bin Laden; the details of the threat may vary but an 
  arrest or hostage rescue op is much the same in either case. 
  Some groups are utterly crazed and unpredictable, but 
  most follow some kind of logic and many are frighteningly 
  rational when it comes to operating in the real world. These 
  are the most insidious, as they tend to know how to ‘play 
  the game’ and will use legal means, bureaucratic stalling 
  and misinformation to protect themselves… backed up of 
  course by less conventional defences. Once the façade is 
  cracked, these groups are as ruthless as any international 
  crime syndicate or intelligence agency, but not necessarily 
  more so. They do tend to have more inventive ways of 
  disposing of bodies, however.
  Conventional (ish) operations include typical ‘black 
  bag’ covert entry missions to plant evidence or obtain 
  information as well as observation, surveillance and 
  infiltration. Deliberate cage-rattling of a suspected cult is 
  about as far as ‘conventional’ can go; once the weirdness 
  is out in the open then it’s time to move on to less 
  conventional means.
  Containment and Suppression
  Containment and Suppression (or C&S, as it is sometimes 
  known) is the Laundry’s primary and preferred mission. In 
  short, the threat is identified and contained, then quietly 
  disposed of. Where possible, the Laundry prefers to co-opt 
  anyone it can and to obtain artefacts for study – a former threat 
  who now works in Cubicle 17a in the Indexing and Cross-
  Referencing Team is suppressed just as efficiently as one who 
  has been vaporised or banished back to the outer realms.
  Co-opting works best on humans who have stumbled 
  upon something by accident or through being a bit too 
  clever for their own good, but can be applied to some 
  other entities too. The knowledge and abilities of the 
  individual might be useful to the Laundry at some later 
  date, and elimination always remains an option. Indeed, 
  it is easier to achieve and to clean up afterwards if the 
  individual is within the Laundry – the appropriate quote 
  here is “keep your friends close, and give your enemies a 
  job with a decent benefits package”.
  If the threat cannot be co-opted or negotiated with to a 
  satisfactory outcome, then suppression is the only answer. 
  ‘Suppression’ in this case means making the threat go away. 
  The means used should be as cost-effective as possible 
  and ideally will not involve any requirement for a cover 
  story to sell to the masses. Low-key is good, but the need 
  to succeed sometimes takes precedence.
  
  39
  OCCULT ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOLS
  Occult Engagement Protocols
  In the case of a possessor entity threat, or any other threat 
  that can spread, containment and suppression go hand 
  in hand. The usual precautions must be taken against 
  possessor entities – avoiding physical and electrical contact, 
  treating encountered persons as suspect until proven ‘clean’ 
  and so forth – and care must also be taken to ensure that 
  innocents do not blunder into contact with entities. 
  Laundry agents may be aware that what appears to be Fred 
  the Delivery Driver is not him any more, but this is not a 
  conclusion that will leap readily to the mind of ordinary 
  people encountering the entity currently wearing Fred’s 
  uniform… and skin. A thin attempt to deceive, which 
  will not convince the most distracted of Laundry agents, 
  will work on an ordinary person who considers demonic 
  possession to be the stuff of fiction.
  Military personnel backing up a Laundry operation may 
  have ways to deal with possessed entities, such as using 
  less-lethal weapons to incapacitate the host body, while 
  attempts are made to contain or drive out the entity. They 
  also have guns and explosives, and those work pretty well, 
  too. Shooting every possessed entity in an area will provide 
  effective suppression of the outbreak, and extreme as it 
  may sound it may be the only option.
  Containment can sometimes be achieved by indirect means. 
  Explosives will disable most possessed entities, but they can 
  also be used to create obstacles that will contain or channel 
  a group of enemies. Hostiles can be channelled into kill-
  zones in this way, or contained for a single response such 
  as a large explosive device or mass exorcism.
  Checkpoints and obstructions are also a useful way to control 
  the movement of personnel and hostiles. A simple cordon-
  and-search operation can be used to ensure that an area is 
  cleared, and afterwards access may be restricted to a few key 
  points. These can be controlled by the creation of cleared ‘kill 
  zones’ that deprive hostiles of cover, and movement through 
  the kill zone can be further curtailed by using razor wire and 
  similar obstacles that will impede movement but not bullets.
  Note that many possessed entities will disregard threats 
  that would cause a normal person to find another route. A 
  possessor might try to push through thick thorny hedges 
  or even razor wire, accepting damage to its host body that 
  the host might not. Thus it is necessary to think in terms of 
  what is physically possible when setting up obstructions, 
  rather than what would deter most people.
  Thick hedges or weak wire entanglements will slow down 
  anything trying to push through them, and are thus useful as 
  a delaying tactic. They must, however, be watched and use 
  made of the delay. As combat engineers say ‘an obstacle not 
  covered by fire is not an obstacle’, and a team that neglects 
  to watch an approach because none of its members would 
  fancy climbing through that hedge might get an unpleasant 
  and surprise. On the other hand, somebody trying to climb 
  through a razor wire fence is pretty good confirmation of 
  possession or mind-wrenching stupidity, both of which 
  might merit opening fire.
  As far as minor possessor entities go, it is usually possible 
  for a team to maintain its security through the use of kill 
  zones, obstructions and access control, at least for long 
  enough to complete a primary mission. Those entities 
  that get too close may have to be dealt with in the old 
  fashioned manner (shooting them), and in this case 
  suppressed weapons are preferred if the team is to remain 
  fairly covert.
  In a possessor-rich environment, a team may have to 
  operate as a ‘roving pocket’, with team members covering 
  all approaches on the move and shooting anything that 
  comes too close. This works well enough in the short 
  term, but is best used only when making a brute-force 
  movement through hostile territory. 
  In many ways diseases and other forms of contamination 
  such as radioactive fallout or hazardous chemicals can 
  be harder to deal with than possessor entities. Similar 
  principles are used, however, with barrier protection in the 
  form of protective suits and breathing equipment, and a 
  general policy of keeping your distance and not touching 
  anything you aren’t sure of. Barrier protection such as 
  a protective suit will only be useful so long as it is not 
  compromised by holes or taking the helmet off. 
  Contaminants can remain on the outside of the suit, so 
  decontamination is important after a mission. This takes the 
  form of washing off the contaminants with neutralising agents 
  or, if nothing better is available, lots of water and detergent. 
  Decontamination is mandatory before removing protective 
  equipment where there has been contact with… pretty much 
  anything. Ideally it is performed in a sealed environment such 
  as aboard a mobile decontamination suite, with the fluids then 
  disposed of according to current Health & Safety legislation. 
  Allowing contaminated liquids to enter the local drainage 
  system can cause a new set of problems, after all.
  One other form of contagion is to be avoided wherever 
  possible, and that is civilian panic and stupidity. Both 
  seem to be infectious and can be extremely dangerous. 
  Establishing a secure area from which the public are 
  excluded is of paramount importance, as is the creation 
  of a suitable cover story. Explanations about E. coli 
  outbreaks, termite infestations, gas leaks and such like 
  can be used to keep the public away from an area without 
  much effort from the security team, though it is necessary 
  to watch for journalists, conspiracy theorists and perhaps 
  a group of meddling kids with a large dog trying to see 
  what’s really going on.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  40
  Use of the warrant card and a security detachment (which 
  can be co-opted from local police if necessary) to secure 
  an area will go a long way towards reducing panic. What the 
  public can’t see can still hurt them, but at least you’ll be able 
  to deal with it without tripping over rubbernecking yokels. 
  If the area cannot be properly secured, then a cover story 
  can be effective at keeping people away. An announcement 
  that anyone who has been exposed to – whatever – will need 
  to report to a local hospital to be checked out and perhaps 
  quarantined can prove surprisingly effective in clearing 
  the vicinity. Which is why if it is necessary to get people 
  checked for contamination, you should use a different story. 
  Suppression of a disease or contaminant can require anything 
  from a good scrubbing down with bleach to the use of 
  fuel-air munitions or thermobaric warheads. More physical 
  threats can be more easily found and eliminated – though 
  incendiaries and explosives work well there too. Other related 
  threats will normally suggest an appropriate suppression 
  response. Which translates as: “you weren’t just going to leave 
  that gate to another universe open, now were you?”
  Paranormal Reconnaissance 
  and Exploration
  Sometimes the nature of a threat is not immediately 
  apparent. A gate opening in time and space is rarely a 
  good thing, but sometimes nothing immediately inimical 
  leaps out and starts devouring. Alternatively, sometimes 
  something does but rather than just slam the gate closed it 
  may be necessary to investigate where it leads. 
  ‘Paranormal Reconnaissance and Exploration’ missions 
  also include entry into physical areas such as a suspect 
  building or a mysterious tunnel under the arctic ice. 
  Searching a lost city in the South American rainforest may 
  also fall in this category, depending on what you find. It 
  is wise to assume that there is a paranormal element – 
  or at least a paranormal threat – involved with any new 
  place your team is sent into. While the officers’ mess may 
  be a strange place indeed, it is probably not necessary 
  to observe paranormal reconnaissance protocols when 
  visiting (depends on your unit, though), but in most cases 
  even a routine visit to the offices of a suspect company 
  could result in contact with something even odder than 
  the average database engineer.
  Paranormal Reconnaissance missions are much like any 
  other recon operations. The team will try to operate 
  covertly, avoiding contact and observing where possible. 
  Wards, protective equipment and a healthy degree of 
  paranoia should be in place, and even apparently mundane 
  objects must be treated with suspicion.
  The goal of a recon op is to gather information,  although 
  sometimes this can lead to the realisation that something 
  needs to be dealt with immediately. Wherever possible the 
  team will go in, get the info and slip back out again. A 
  properly planned response can then be set up using the 
  Intel gathered by the reconnaissance mission. 
  One simple rule for paranormal exploration missions is: 
  “don’t touch nuthin”. Once the experts from the Laundry 
  have examined an area or object and proclaimed it safe… 
  you probably still shouldn’t touch it if you can avoid it. An 
  exploration mission takes the team into someone else’s 
  backyard, and there is no telling what horribleness might be just 
  lying around waiting for someone to step on/fall into/invoke.
  The team should move through the area to be explored 
  cautiously, but not too slowly. The typical 4-man Special 
  Forces patrol formation works as well here as anywhere 
  else, with larger expeditions using the 4-man team as a 
  building block. Typically the ‘tail end Charlie’ of any given 
  4-man patrol will be armed with a high-firepower automatic 
  weapon such as a light machine gun, and will respond to a 
  threat with intense fire while everyone seeks cover.
  A team may send out scouts or detach personnel to investigate 
  points of interest along the way, but the horror-movie rule of 
  ‘don’t go out of camera shot’ applies. ‘Nobody goes anywhere 
  alone’ is another basic rule. Pairs cover one another as they 
  explore or protect the Laundry boffins as they investigate 
  things man was not intended to fiddle about with. A team 
  may move through an area in bounds, with some elements 
  static while others are on the move. Guard posts may be 
  set up at key points, such as the entry to an area, and often 
  snipers are used to provide security as others operate. Snipers 
  do not operate alone; usually a sniper and his observer will 
  suffice to provide mutual security, but a couple of additional 
  personnel may be sent to protect them if necessary.
  The sniper team will establish itself in a secure elevated 
  spot, where it can observe the area. Fire support is a 
  secondary role; the sniper’s observation skills are the 
  team’s first line of defence. The sniper element’s first task 
  is to sanitise its location, making sure it is not sitting on 
  top of something nasty, and while one soldier is using a 
  rifle scope or specialist spotting scope to make a minute 
  examination of an area, the other will be watching all 
  around for threats. The sniper team must also make sure it 
  has a clear avenue of escape in case things go badly wrong.
  It is rarely possible to put so many personnel into an area 
  to make it safe for Laundry agents to skip about from one 
  interesting site to another, so movement must be carefully 
  coordinated. With armed personnel at their backs and a 
  sniper team up somewhere high, the specialists should be 
  safe enough to do their thing… but ‘should’ is a dangerous 
  word, and things can get hazardous fast when poking 
  
  41
  OCCULT ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOLS
  Occult Engagement Protocols
  around ancient ruins on the far side of a gate. Personnel 
  who become complacent may not live long enough to 
  learn from their mistake.
  A variant on the recon mission is a live specimen snatch. 
  Under some circumstances, a damaged specimen will do, 
  so expedients like shooting it in a non-lethal area a few 
  times can be used to assist the capture. More commonly, 
  it is necessary to bring in a specimen undamaged, and that 
  can pose a challenge. 
  Less-lethal weapons, either of a general sort or something 
  specific to the creature to be snatched, can be used in a 
  capture, or perhaps a sorcerer might be able to use a geas 
  or similar spell to gain compliance. Unless occult means 
  make it simple, ‘bagging’ a specimen is normally done 
  the same way as snatching a terror suspect; the target is 
  attacked by surprise, bashed, drugged or otherwise made 
  less able to resist, and then secured for transport. That 
  tends to be much easier with human-sized creatures, but a 
  team may have to snatch something big. If so, mechanical 
  assistance is useful.
  It is vital that the whole team does not fixate on the snatch 
  operation. Some personnel need to protect the rest of 
  the team from incoming threats, and even if less-lethal 
  weapons are to be used, some team members should have 
  lethal weapons ready in case things go south and a fast 
  put-down it required.
  Recovery of  Personnel and Artefacts
  Sometimes it is necessary to retrieve people and things that 
  have been… misplaced. There are all manner of reasons 
  why an object might end up in potentially hostile hands, 
  and if that object happens to be the owner of a warrant 
  card then utter stupidity cannot be ruled out.
  Options vary depending on the circumstances. If the 
  object or person is in the hands of a neutral or potentially 
  friendly group, or a group so powerful that a direct 
  challenge is a bad idea, then bargaining or purchase is one 
  of the few viable options. If the opposition can be kept in 
  the dark about the value of what they have, so much the 
  better. Occasionally a potent artefact is stolen by someone 
  who knows nothing about its powers but thinks it might 
  fetch a few quid on the Internet. A bag of notes is a small 
  price to pay for its return in most cases.
  Where the new owner is unwilling to hand over the item, 
  coercion can be used. Threats to kill loved ones are officially 
  frowned upon but as an alternative to leaving something 
  dangerous in unpleasant hands, such measures might be 
  acceptable. Deals to perform a service in return for the 
  object, although the stuff of most console adventure 
  games, are not normally considered an option; the British 
  government does not want its Special Forces operators 
  rushing around the countryside doing the bidding of some 
  crook with a hostage. There have been occasions where 
  there was no alternative, however.
  A stealthy snatch operation is always a viable option, using 
  covert means to grab the item and then depart swiftly. In 
  the event that a covert snatch is discovered, or if it is not an 
  option, then a direct assault may be the only option. This 
  does risk accidental damage to the artefact or hostage, but 
  if the need is great enough then deliberate elimination may 
  be acceptable to avoid hostiles getting access to the item 
  or whatever the hostage knows.
  The general rule is that stealth and surprise are the best 
  options, and once a recovery operation goes ‘loud’ then 
  it needs to be fast and violent. Flashbangs and similar 
  distraction devices are only useful if they are followed 
  into the room by armed people intent on violence. The 
  aim, as with most rescue operations, will be to prevent 
  the opposition making any coherent response and 
  to overwhelm what opposition does materialise by a 
  combination of speed and firepower.
  A recovery operation can be broken into three main 
  phases: approach, snatch and escape. The approach should 
  be stealthy if possible, sudden and fast if not. The team 
  may have to wait for a long period until the circumstances 
  are right, and must be ready to go at a moment’s notice. 
  Once the prize has been secured then the goal is to get it 
  to safety, not necessarily to eliminate all of the opposition. 
  Depending on what is at stake a military team may have to 
  forgo a golden opportunity to take out a whole lot of bad 
  guys in order to save some geek from the Laundry, but 
  if those are the orders then they must be followed. The 
  geek may be more important to the big picture than the 
  opposition; though occasionally a rescue or recovery does 
  suffer ‘mission creep’ or the team realises that they have to 
  deal with something else important right now. 
  Escape is always part of the plan; possibly the most 
  important part. Some elements of the recovery team may 
  be assigned to cover the extraction route or to protect a safe 
  house. Escape can be slow and covert or might be a crazy 
  dash through enemy territory; the team will have to decide 
  whether to make a break for it or to hold up and wait for 
  the search to die down. Sometimes the extraction actually 
  goes according to plan, which is always a nice surprise.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  42
  Non-Conventional Threat Responses
  The British Special Forces have a set of doctrines for 
  dealing with various circumstances, although much of the 
  time the solution to a given problem will be obvious from 
  its nature. Basic soldiering skills and small-unit tactics can 
  be applied to a vast range of very unusual challenges.
  Bug Hunt
  A ‘bug hunt’ is a situation where there is very little 
  information on the opposition, or even if there is any 
  opposition. The nature of the threat may be vague, or 
  some of its capabilities may be unknown. Many bug hunts 
  end with no contact with the enemy, who may or may not 
  ever have been there in the first place, and of those that 
  do result in conflict the majority involve a fairly minor 
  threat. However, occasionally a team finds itself hunting 
  something that would be better not found. 
  The main problem with a bug hunt situation is uncertainty. 
  Those personnel who are convinced there is a real threat 
  but cannot find it can become fatigued and stressed, while 
  those that are complacent risk becoming easy victims. 
  The procedure for a bug hunt is simple enough… in 
  theory. Key areas are secured and the team undertakes a 
  methodical cordon and search operation until something is 
  found. Cordon and search is pretty what the name implies; 
  some personnel block off all access to an area while others 
  search it. The cordon provides security for the searchers as 
  well as ensuring that any threat trying to evade the search 
  is spotted as it moves off. 
  A bug hunt usually morphs into some other kind of 
  operation if something is found, though occasionally the 
  team finds itself drawn into a lengthy search and pursuit 
  operation with an elusive target. Even if the opposition 
  turns out to be something whose capabilities are well 
  known, an operation requiring chasing something though 
  air ducts or cluttered warehouses, woods and the like is 
  still  referred to as a bug hunt. 
  A variant on the bug hunt scenario is the ‘dumbass hunt’. 
  The phrase occasionally refers to trying to figure out where 
  the Laundry guy has got himself to, but more properly 
  applies to searching for an unintelligent but cunning 
  opponent. A dumbass is thus any non-tool-using threat 
  that is nevertheless smart enough to hide and perhaps 
  ambush the team. Most of the bug hunt principles apply 
  just as well to a dumbass as well.
  Cocktail Party
  The term ‘cocktail party’ is a convoluted reference to 
  Rudyard Kipling’s poem The Sudan, which is about battles 
  between well-organised British troops armed with Martini 
  rifles and desperately brave but outmatched tribesmen 
  with hand weapons. As the poem goes: “we sloshed you 
  with Martinis, and it wasn’t ’ardly fair….”
  The best kind of cocktail party is one where the team have 
  clear fields of fire and the opposition are slowed by rough 
  ground or obstacles. Any team engaging fairly mindless 
  creatures with only hand-to-hand capabilities (e.g. zombies) 
  will try to set up a cocktail party, enabling the opposition 
  to be methodically shot down as they approach. 
  A good position for a cocktail party is not necessarily 
  the same as one that would be chosen if the enemy had 
  firearms. A team engaged in a firefight might use a ditch 
  for cover, but for a cocktail party the ideal position might 
  be behind the ditch, using it as an obstacle instead. 
  The key to a successful cocktail party is sustained, 
  coordinated firepower. Suppressive fire is of little use 
  against mindless creatures – something that does not 
  understand or fear bullets will not be driven into cover 
  by any number of them – so steady, well-aimed shooting 
  is more effective as well as less wasteful of ammunition. 
  That is not to say that rapid-fire weapons are not effective, 
  but they tend to be used to drop concentrations of the 
  enemy or to put a target down fast rather than to suppress 
  incoming fire. 
  Magazine and belt-fed weapons have a big advantage in 
  terms of firepower, in that they can put a lot of rounds 
  out fast, but when all your magazines are empty you have 
  a problem. With many firearms it is possible to chamber 
  and fire a single round, but this is not a great solution. 
  Using short, controlled bursts or aimed semi-automatic 
  fire ensures that ammunition lasts as long as possible, 
  and many teams will bring along weapons like revolvers 
  and pump-action shotguns if they are expecting this 
  sort of engagement; these weapons are less efficient in a 
  flat-out bulletfest, but are excellent for providing steady 
  sustained fire as they can be quickly reloaded using loose 
  ammunition.
  The other key to a successful cocktail party is using 
  teamwork to create layered defences. There is a temptation 
  to fixate on a sector in front of you, or to shoot at all the 
  baddies (i.e. hand-to-hand-only threats) in front of you, 
  but a well-planned defence is based on range, not sector. 
  Distant threats are picked off with long-range weapons like 
  sniper rifles or assault rifles with a good optical sight. Mid-
  range threats are engaged with assault rifles and perhaps 
  submachine guns, while close-in threats are dealt with 
  
  43
  OCCULT ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOLS
  Occult Engagement Protocols
  using shotguns, handguns, submachine guns and even hand 
  weapons. Concentrations can be dealt with using area-
  effect weapons. A grenade will not usually stop a bunch of 
  zombies but it will spread them out and damage some so 
  that they slow down, gaining time for the defenders.
  In a well-coordinated defence, personnel will watch all 
  around or be directed by a leader to engage threats in the 
  correct distance zone. A rifleman might thin out a group 
  passing through his range zone then switch to a group 
  coming from a different direction rather than tracking the 
  first group all the way in and trying to get them all. (This 
  would be fine if that group was the only threat, but while 
  the rifleman can shoot down zombies at point-blank range, 
  his buddy with the shotgun could be handling them while 
  the rifleman engaged targets that the shotgun cannot reach.)
  A well-coordinated team using kill zones and a good 
  layered defence can knock down a huge number of 
  baddies, especially if unengaged team members are 
  reloading magazines while they wait for something to 
  come into their range zone. A team that just blazes away 
  at what is in front of it risks the fate implied by the next 
  line of Kipling’s poem: “But for all the odds against you, 
  fuzzy-wuz, you broke the square.”
  Goalpost Job
  A ‘goalpost job’ is any situation where the goalposts have 
  been moved – i.e. the normal rules may not apply. Most 
  commonly this means that ‘animal’ (magic) is involved. 
  The commonest goalpost job is one that looks like a 
  typical hostage rescue or surveillance task, where the 
  opposition suddenly turns out to be a cult with access to 
  magical capabilities. 
  One of the big problems with a goalpost job is that many 
  common techniques may not work. Killing the lights and 
  going to night vision is an excellent tactic against the 
  Inadequately Equipped But Zealous Revolutionary Front 
  of Northern Whatsitstan, but if the opposition can use 
  magic to find the team, or does not show up on imaging 
  equipment, then it can make a bad situation much worse. 
  The key to a goalpost job is to try to figure out where the 
  posts have been moved to, which is often easier said than 
  done. A Laundry officer can usually advise (by which we 
  mean: take a wild guess and stake everyone’s survival on 
  it) but in some cases there is literally no way to know what 
  might happen next.
  Fortunately, things are not usually that bad. Laundry personnel 
  often have access to magic of their own and can at least guess 
  at what the bad guys might field. Counter-magic tools can 
  block magical scrying and prevent the team being detected, 
  wards can be disabled and precognitive magic will probably 
  just confuse the bad guys if they try to use it. The commonest 
  threats are the use of geases to turn team members against 
  one another, summoning of otherworldly assistance, use of 
  possessor entities or plain old entropy-flinging – i.e. using 
  magic to do damage in a fight, complete with special effects.
  There are few good solutions to a goalpost job, beyond 
  the standard precautions that everyone should take – don’t 
  touch nuthin’, get the Laundry spod to deal with weirdness 
  and make a point of shooting anyone who starts flinging 
  unfriendly animal around. 
  Lookup Job
  A lookup job is any task that involves flying creatures, 
  or possibly anything that can scuttle along the ceiling. 
  Small flying creatures are extremely hard to shoot, though 
  a team member with shotgun and a fondness for clay 
  pigeon shooting can be a huge asset. Most smaller flying 
  or ceiling-scuttling creatures are minor threats; good body 
  armour and a full-face helmet (or helmet and gas mask at 
  a pinch) should provide reasonable protection. 
  Confined spaces where flight is limited can be used as a 
  refuge or a kill zone, and many flyers can be frightened 
  off by something as simple as an illuminating flare. Few 
  creatures will voluntarily fly into what looks like a big fire. 
  Smoke (from grenades or, you know, burning stuff) can 
  also be used to defeat flyers; not only does it hide the team, 
  but ask yourself – would you fly headlong into a cloud of 
  smoke that might or might not contain a brick wall? Tear 
  gas grenades can be used to similar effect.
  Larger flying creatures, of the sort that can swoop down 
  and mangle someone, are a real problem for two main 
  reasons. One is that they are hard to hit before they 
  strike, and indiscriminate full-automatic gunfire can cause 
  additional casualties to the team. Just as importantly, a 
  creature that can fly can cover a lot of distance quickly and 
  often silently. It can perch somewhere it will not likely be 
  spotted and watch the team, picking its moment to strike. 
  Ground clutter is useful in avoiding swooping attacks; staying 
  below the level of ruins, walls, bushes or any other obstruction 
  will reduce the chances of a successful attack unless the creature 
  is so big that it prefers to fly up, land and start munching.
  Flying creatures are best engaged when on the ground or 
  perched somewhere, as this makes them much easier to 
  hit. A sniper with a suppressed weapon can sometimes 
  pick off a flyer at a distance without disturbing others 
  nearby – this is the preferred method where possible. Even 
  potentially harmless flyers may be cleared in this way; any 
  concerns about habitat destruction and over-hunting take 
  second place to what might happen if the creatures decide 
  to attack.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  44
  Techniques for engaging flyers with small arms are the 
  same as for aircraft and helicopters; the team should use 
  automatic weapons to put a hail of fire just ahead of the 
  flying creature, so that it flies into the fire zone. Aiming 
  directly at a fast-moving object is an exercise in futility; 
  creating a beaten zone that the creature will hopefully fly 
  into should produce at least some hits.
  Some creatures are large enough to be worth engaging 
  with guided weapons, but this is a problem in most cases. 
  The majority of guided weapons use infra-red tracking, 
  and few creatures produce enough heat for this to be 
  effective. Laser-guided munitions may work if the laser can 
  be kept on the target, but a flying creature presents quite 
  a challenge in this manner. Command-guided weapons 
  which are flown by the operator are another possibility, 
  but require a big and fairly slow-moving target.
  BLUE HADES
  Although somewhat tougher than a human, BLUE HADES, 
  or the Deep Ones, are composed of terrestrial matter. If 
  riddled with bullets to a suitable degree (or stabbed, blown 
  up or dropped from a great height) they will die. However, 
  they are also the easiest (that’s a relative term of course) to 
  negotiate with. The Benthic Treaty acknowledges that both 
  humans and Deep Ones are entitled to life, which is more 
  than most other non-human creatures are willing to give us.
  The Deep Ones are extremely powerful, to the point that 
  they could wipe out humanity with bioweapons or targeted 
  climate change. Their power is more subtle and precise than 
  that, however. Their ability to sink a ship would permit the 
  curtailment of international trade, and for an island like 
  Great Britain that would be a disaster. Britain has twice 
  almost been starved into submission by submarine warfare; 
  imagine what the Deep Ones might do!
  Thus wherever possible, British policy is NOT to engage 
  Deep Ones. Personnel are permitted to act in self-defence 
  or to protect coastal communities from encroachment, and 
  there may be other circumstances where negotiation is not 
  possible and a Deep One expedition must be confronted. 
  In this case, threats of force and demonstrations of 
  capability may be sufficient to force a withdrawal, but if 
  lethal force must be used then Deep Ones can be engaged 
  in the same manner as human troops.
  The primary differences between engaging human troops 
  and Deep Ones is that the Deep Ones do not commonly 
  use ranged weapons, which can allow for a cocktail party 
  situation. However, Deep Ones are highly intelligent 
  and will not behave like a zombie horde. They can be 
  expected to use distractions and/or a stealthy approach, 
  and generally prefer to bushwhack a team on the move or 
  during a rest stop rather than engaging in a stand-up fight. 
  Deep Ones prefer hit-and-run tactics, and will sometimes 
  get in among a force, cause some casualties and then 
  pull back. Various reasons have been postulated for this; 
  the most likely of which is psychological. Deep Ones 
  may prefer to frighten a force into withdrawing (and 
  spreading the word of terrifying attacks) rather than 
  slaughter everyone. They may have some entirely different 
  motivation; only they know, and they aren’t telling. 
  Individual Deep Ones rarely throw around major-league 
  sorcery; their elders don’t come to the surface.
  It should go without saying that Deep Ones are vastly 
  more capable in wet areas such as swamps or rivers, and 
  are surprisingly fast at lunging out of water to grab a target. 
  Against a human, a Deep One does not need to fight in this 
  environment; it can simply pull him underwater and wait for 
  the bubbles to stop. For this reason, personnel are advised to 
  take special note of water-assisted approaches to their position, 
  and to stay well away from any body of water more than a few 
  centimetres deep if Deep One involvement is suspected.
  Deep Ones are known to use other creatures as servitors, 
  including shoggoths. It is possible that these creatures may 
  be available as heavy support if a Deep One force encounters 
  serious opposition. If combat with BLUE HADES does 
  occur, it is thus policy to offer an apology to the retreating 
  Deep Ones, or yell one over your shoulder as you flee (who 
  knows, it might even work!) and to immediately relocate in 
  case the Deep Ones send in their shoggoths to get some 
  payback. Hanging around after a fight is rarely advisable, but 
  in this case it may be terminal – and distinctly squamous. 
  DEEP SEVEN
  Official doctrine on engaging DEEP SEVEN entities 
  comes down to ‘you’re kidding, right?’ There are a lot 
  more words, but that’s about the gist of it. Much of 
  the document’s page count is filled out with academic 
  discourse on the ‘extreme unlikelihood’ of a team coming 
  into contact with a DEEP SEVEN entity with both parties 
  able to act. Still, best to be prepared.
  There will usually be plenty of evidence that a Cthonian 
  is in the vicinity. A 10 metre-long, tentacled worm-thing 
  burrowing through rock is hard to miss, and as the policy 
  document innocently states: thermal imaging equipment 
  may be useful in detecting an incursion. Tentacles capable 
  of melting rock like butter do tend to have a significant 
  thermal signature.
  Most of the rest of the document deals with telepathic 
  contact, which boils down to ‘just don’t’. Anyone making 
  telepathic contact with a Cthonian is likely to go mad and/
  or die, possibly not in that order. Even their artefacts are 
  covered by the don’t-touch-nuthin’ rule.
  
  45
  OCCULT ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOLS
  Occult Engagement Protocols
  A military team forced to confront one or more DEEP 
  SEVEN entities may be severely threatened by heat, and can 
  be lashed with a hot tentacle or crushed as the Cthonian simply 
  trundles over them. There are some fanciful suggestions that 
  they may melt gobbets of rock and flick them at personnel 
  as projectiles, but this is highly unlikely. A Cthonian is more 
  likely to burrow away from a threat… assuming it notices that 
  there is one. Most weapons that can be handled by humans 
  are too insignificant to attract attention.
  Small arms and light support weapons –  i.e. the handguns, 
  shotguns, rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns 
  that arm most teams – are almost wholly useless against 
  DEEP SEVEN entities. Rifle bullets will penetrate the 
  outer skin of a Cthonian, but they are unlikely to find 
  anything underneath to do any harm to – DEEP SEVEN 
  organs are a mystery to humans, making the equivalent of 
  a head or heart shot impossible. Thus while intense small-
  arms fire might hurt a Cthonian, chances are that all it will 
  achieve is mangling some of its tissues near the surface 
  of its body, and these are repaired or regenerated at an 
  astonishing rate.
  Heavier weapons might be an option. Fragmentation-
  type grenades will not penetrate deeply enough to cause 
  much harm, but large explosive devices such as a satchel 
  charge or shaped-charge anti-armour weapons may inflict 
  sufficient damage to wound a DEEP SEVEN entity. The 
  only useful response seems to be to lure the entity into 
  a kill zone and hit it simultaneously with several shaped 
  charges, anti-tank weapons or a really, really big bomb. 
  Giant Monsters
  Giant monsters present a significant and unique challenge 
  to a military team. In most cases, there should be sufficient 
  warning of the presence of a truly major threat that heavy 
  weapons can be deployed. A team confronted with such 
  a massive threat should fall back to a defensive location 
  and call for support. Missiles, artillery and airstrikes might 
  be effectively deployed, and there are clearly defined 
  circumstances under which nuclear release might be granted.
  There are no weapons carried by a typical back-up team 
  that can usefully engage Great Cthulhu or a similar god-like 
  being, but portions of such a being (e.g. tentacles) may be 
  successfully engaged with explosives and heavy firepower. 
  The same approach applies to ‘mid-level threats’, a catch-
  all term for large monstrous creatures including shoggoths 
  and similar servitor races. 
  If contact can be broken and the threat eliminated by use 
  of heavy weapons, or it can be induced to withdraw, then 
  this option is preferable. It may be that a shoggoth can be 
  ‘defeated’ by bargaining with its BLUE HADES masters 
  for its withdrawal. It is not always necessary to eliminate 
  the threat; getting rid of it is a win in this case. 
  If forced to fight, the team should attempt to draw the 
  monster into a kill-zone, ideally one primed with explosives 
  or targeted for support weapon strikes. A coordinated 
  application of all available firepower may suffice to kill or 
  drive off the creature, or may disorient it while a banishing 
  ritual is conducted. If this is not possible, then the team 
  should choose a defensive location that limits the avenues 
  of approach available to the threat and seek to harm it as 
  much as possible as it enters. 
  Large threats can be entombed or trapped in a variety 
  of ways. If occult means are available then these may 
  offer the best option, but collapsing a building or cave 
  may temporarily trap an entity that can otherwise not be 
  stopped. Personnel must immediately file a ‘containment 
  of major otherworldly threat’ report to the relevant 
  authorities, taking care to complete the Health & Safety 
  appendix to avoid unnecessary risk to follow-up missions.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  46
  Often, military characters will be backup characters for 
  Laundry agents, and the focus will be on what might be 
  termed ‘Laundry stuff’ rather than special operations as 
  such. However, some missions are more military in nature. 
  These operations may or may not be backed up by one 
  or more Laundry operatives. In many cases a spec ops 
  team won’t like being saddled with an amateur (and a 
  weird one at that) who lacks the proper training for the 
  mission at hand; some matters are best dealt with by the 
  professionals. If the boffins are lucky the operations team 
  will bring them some bits back to look over.
  Whether the Special Forces guys are the focus of the game 
  or are simply there in the background, they will tend to act 
  the same way. Special Forces units tend to be very relaxed 
  in terms of military etiquette (which can cause friction 
  with the regulars), but they are also very committed and 
  take their tasks rather seriously (which can sometimes 
  cause friction with Laundry agents).
  For a military game to work, the players have to understand 
  the mindset of the people involved. They are professional 
  fighting men who are at peace with the idea of brutally 
  killing anyone they need to, but they are in no way 
  psychopaths. Their violence is done vigorously enough, 
  but clinically. They weigh the odds and balance what is 
  needed against what is possible. They may be idealists who 
  will go to extreme lengths to get the job done, but they are 
  also realists who know what is not possible. 
  Playing Special Ops 
  A special-operations military game is more suited to 
  a roleplaying game than a formal military set-up, as the 
  team tends to be informal and will deal with all kinds of 
  circumstances and people. However, the guy in charge is 
  still in charge and orders need to be obeyed. Players that 
  want to be a maverick or loose cannon should play an 
  attached expert (like a Laundry guy, a civilian intelligence 
  operative or something similar) rather than an operator. 
  Anyone who just does as he likes regardless of orders will 
  be leaving the Special Forces pretty sharpish.
  Special Forces personnel are trained to work well together 
  as a team. A new guy might not be fully trusted until he’s 
  proven himself, but the team will respect the hell out of 
  an operator who has earned their trust. This respect is 
  given quietly and quite possibly alongside a great deal of 
  personal abuse, but it is there for those who know to look 
  for it. A team will not engage in petty internal conflicts, 
  and if someone doesn’t work well with the others then he’ll 
  be assigned to another team. Rivalry and some tension is 
  good for roleplaying fun, but at the end of the day a team 
  rely on one another completely, so backstabbing and petty 
  politics won’t work in this sort of game.
  Operators are ‘quiet professionals’ rather than flamboyant 
  heroes. They may grouse, wisecrack and bitch all day long 
  but they will bust a gut to complete a task that needs doing. 
  They do not brag about their exploits, on the whole, and 
  will often say something bland and non-committal rather 
  than give the slightest hint that they are involved in special 
  operations. Indeed, anyone who says they are or were in 
  the SAS, or talks about their experiences in the black ops 
  community, is probably making it up. Real operators have 
  a habit of secrecy about what they do.
  Running Military Games
  An OCCULUS extraction in Docklands would be visible all the way from six different TV stations 
  and a couple of newspaper newsrooms. No-one wants to be the subject matter of a COBRA briefing 
  to the Prime Minister and cabinet, due to a tower of smoke rising east of Downing Street; that kind of 
  thing can be a career-limiting move, especially if the existence of the organisation you work for is a 
  state secret the PM hasn’t been cleared for.  So the availabilty of a full OCCULUS team outside the 
  bank HQ isn’t about rescuing my sorry ass if I run into something I can’t handle; it’s about saving 
  London if it turns out there’s the thaumaturgical equivalent of a nuke in the basement,
   
  – The Rhesus Chart 
  
  47
  RUNNING MILITARY GAMES
  Running Military Games
  Special Ops Missions
  A military game might revolve around the missions of a 
  specialist counter-occult team, or a group of operators 
  supporting Laundry agents as they do… whatever it is they 
  do. Alternatively, the characters may have to deal with a mix 
  of conventional and decidedly unconventional problems.
  A military game may involve the team doing exciting 
  things like penetrating a foreign harbour in minisubs or 
  exploring a lost city in the jungle (or on the other side of a 
  gate), but there will also be a fair amount of lying in a bush 
  observing a cult compound and occasionally reporting 
  back. Action, when it happens, is swift and brutal, but it 
  is not constant. 
  Most of what a special operations team does will be 
  problem-solving. Some problems can be solved with 
  violence, but where possible the team will have to find 
  another way in, or round, or past. Putting off the moment 
  when a mission ‘goes loud’ as long as possible can require 
  some inventive thinking. Sure, you could blast through 
  the checkpoint, but that would alert the cult and maybe 
  start the ritual early. So you have to find another way in, 
  something a bit less direct maybe....
  This is where special operations work gets interesting. The 
  end result might be explosions and mayhem, but getting 
  to the point where that happens may require talking to 
  people, following suspect individuals, sneaking around and 
  bypassing security. Special Ops teams are good at fighting, 
  but they will almost always be heavily outnumbered and 
  far from assistance if someone gets badly hurt. So the 
  players will have to think creatively in order to get the job 
  done – especially since the sort of jobs that operators get 
  sent to do tend to be… somewhat tricky.
  A massive outbreak of violence is a satisfying end to a 
  tale of deceit and creeping horror, but constant gunfights 
  will become boring sooner or later. Indeed, a properly 
  conducted combat is more of a problem-solving exercise 
  than a fight. In other words, a lot of the time when a team 
  needs to fight, it will be a matter of a few quick shots, 
  ideally from a concealed sniper with a suppressed weapon. 
  It is entirely possible that the opposition will be taken out 
  without a fight.
  Things go wrong often enough that fighting fools will get 
  their fill of carnage. Running gunfights, vehicle chases 
  through Eastern bazaars (or Harrogate Farmers’ Market), 
  races across the rooftops to get to the chopper before the 
  wild-eyed hordes close in… and the occasional Rourke’s 
  Drift-like stand against appalling odds… all these can and 
  will happen in a military game. But for that stuff to remain 
  interesting, it has to be counterpointed by other activity.
  Just Following Orders
  Orders are a great way to put a bunch of players somewhere 
  they do not want to be and to limit their options. A team 
  might be sent to investigate a suspect set of ancient ruins, or 
  to provide security for a diplomatic mission trying to make 
  contact with a BLUE HADES outpost. Rules of engagement 
  can cause additional complications. A team might be 
  ordered only to engage under certain circumstances, and 
  have to interpret their orders carefully as things spiral out 
  of control. Just blasting away might solve the immediate 
  problem but cause the mission to fail, but not shooting at 
  the right time might be equally damaging.
  Military games can be made more convoluted by inter-
  service rivalries, and by disputes between groups ostensibly 
  on the same side. The police might resent a military 
  takeover of something that is their responsibility and fail 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  48
  to share key info, or a government department might be 
  trying to get control of a segment of special-operations 
  budget. You need air support right now, but it’s being 
  blocked by bureaucrats who are not willing to sign off on 
  dropping bombs on a Scottish island or a foreign town….
  Military personnel might also get involved in mundane 
  operations. Ordinary terrorists are still a threat to national 
  security; the only team that can deal with a possessor 
  outbreak might be retasked to try to catch a car-bomber 
  cell in London. The team will have to figure out how to 
  cover all the bases and get both jobs done. Well, they do 
  say that the only easy day was yesterday.
  It should be noted, however, that Special Forces teams are 
  trusted by those that send them out, and those that can 
  deploy Special Forces teams are powerful people. That 
  means that a team carrying out an operation, even an off-
  the-books ‘black op’, has the backing of a powerful patron 
  who has a good reason for wanting them to succeed. 
  Thus a Special Forces team might be the victim of some 
  interference but they do have a powerful patron who can 
  bring a lot of assets to bear to smooth the way or to make 
  the mission succeed.
  For example, if a regular army captain calls for an airstrike 
  on the radio, his request may or may not be granted 
  depending on what assets are available. In the case of 
  Special Operations units, support assets may well be on 
  standby exclusively for their use (which may be why many 
  regular units can’t get support when it is wanted!) and will 
  probably be immediately available.
  That said, operators do not have a blank cheque under 
  most circumstances. If a team asks for an artillery strike 
  they will probably get it if the target is somewhere foreign 
  and hostile, but the request may not be granted if the target 
  is the village of Nether Poppleton in North Yorkshire… 
  unless of course something really dire is going down and 
  the situation merits such extreme measures. 
  Most of the time, this sort of thing simply will not happen, 
  however. Special Operations are supposed to be low-key 
  and localised, meaning that violence and destruction is 
  limited to the immediate target area. A few sniper shots, 
  a stabbing or two and a retrieved artefact is the ideal. 
  Levelling a section of countryside is a bit more noticeable, 
  and the military, just like the Laundry would prefer not to 
  have to explain itself to an external commission.
  The Essence of  a Military Game
  Thus the essence of a military game is this:
  • A team of experts has been assembled and given a 
  difficult mission
  • The mission is important can probably not simple or 
  easy to complete
  • Significant assets are available to assist the team at need
  • The mission needs to be kept as low-key as possible
  • Everything is more complex than it seems, intel is never 
  completely correct, and the team must use its not-
  inconsiderable skills to find a solution to a fluid and 
  dangerous situation
  A military game can be every bit as varied as any other 
  Laundry game, just with more firepower available. Of 
  course, the bad guys might bring a bit more to the fight 
  too. After all, you wouldn’t send in the best of the best if 
  some bloke with a clipboard could deal with the problem, 
  now would you?
  
  49
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  This mission is intended for a group of military characters 
  in a special SAS squad that responds to occult threats 
  when the situation gets so bad that extreme force is 
  necessary. They should be aware of the supernatural, and 
  may have dealt with it before. The squad might contain a 
  magic user more appropriate to the Laundry, but most of 
  the group should be soldiers, engineers, and the like. As 
  the adventure begins, they have been called into service 
  and flown to Brunei.
  Gone Today, Here Tomorrow
  Aeons from now, long after the entities of CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN have devoured the last scrap of 
  humanity and drifted back into the lightless depths behind 
  space, a new race of beings will arise on this planet. Like 
  our own civilisation, they will eventually create their own 
  advanced technology, including a form of time travel. 
  Leapfrogging their way back through the centuries, they 
  established several way stations throughout our own history. 
  These stations contain incredible machinery that harnesses 
  temporal energy and are guarded by creatures that exist 
  outside of linear time. They are also hidden from sight due 
  to them being slightly out of phase with our own time. 
  But things are changing. Due to a combination of factors 
  – the proximity of our own end times, global warming, 
  the moral turpitude of today’s youth, and what have you 
  – the cloaking effect on one of these way stations has lost 
  power. In short, it has winked back into existence.
  The Laundry on the Case
  This particular way station is located in the jungles of 
  Brunei right in the middle of the British Army’s Jungle 
  Warfare training course. Because these courses are run 
  fairly regularly, it wasn’t long before the way station was 
  discovered. The squad that found it reported back to their 
  superiors, who reported to their superiors, and so on, 
  until it came to the attention to some ears and eyes within 
  the Laundry (speculation on whether these ears and eyes 
  were actually attached to a human person is still extant). 
  Description of the way station as being some kind of 
  ancient crypt covered in strange carvings prompted the 
  dispatch of a pair of Laundry field agents: Professor Chris 
  Tallman and Maisie Bloom.
  Upon arriving in Brunei, the two officers were given an 
  Army escort to the site in question. Immediately upon 
  seeing the crypt, the Professor called in a request to create 
  a temporary camp in the area for further study. After only 
  a few days, Professor Tallman and Ms. Bloom cracked the 
  wards on the way station’s inner sanctum and discovered 
  the machinery within. There was a brief skirmish with the 
  station’s guardians, but the army escort drove them back 
  into the angles of time. Unfortunately, this was to be their 
  final triumph.
  Fit for a King
  Since its inception, the American OCCINTEL agency, the 
  Black Chamber, has standing orders to retrieve any strange 
  and unusual technologies that might help them further 
  their opaque goals. Time travel certainly fits that criterion. 
  Thanks to satellites beefed up with PLUTO KOBOLD 
  expertise, when the Laundry agents breached the way 
  station’s inner chamber, several monitors began flashing 
  deep within the Black Chamber’s HQ. This information 
  was relayed to a certain general, whose response was 
  simply, “Dispatch King’s squad.”
  Agent King and his men are a first-strike squad that 
  have been conditioned, both mentally and physically, to 
  withstand a particular brand of gate travel developed by 
  the Black Chamber. They are peak specimens of humanity. 
  At the General’s orders, the team was quickly teleported to 
  Brunei. They gunned down the British soldiers with cold 
  professionalism and took over the camp. Maisie Bloom 
  was able to activate a protection charm and temporarily 
  hide herself within the mess hall. Agent King himself then 
  confronted Tallman within the central chamber. 
  The Professor tried to shoot the American. His 
  marksmanship was… lacking.
  He did shoot the crystal at the heart of the machinery, 
  though, causing it to crack in several places. The temporal 
  energy stored within the crystal spilled out, fracturing the 
  time stream in a localised area. The way station guardians 
  were able to take advantage of the situation by possessing 
  the Black Chamber killers. Agent King and Professor 
  Tallman, at ground zero of the temporal explosion, began 
  to mutate. Maisie managed to send a distress call to the 
  local British Army base. The transmission came across 
  garbled, but when cryptographers unscrambled it, they 
  sent for the PCs to clean up this mess.
  On Borrowed Time
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  50
  Assembling the Team
  You can run this mission with regular Laundry characters, 
  but they’ll be at a disadvantage in a firefight. A team of 
  Special Forces types can succeed, but they’ll likely have 
  to rely on Maisie Bloom for help with the tech stuff. The 
  ideal compromise is to send one or two of your regular 
  PCs along with Special Forces support. So, who gets to be 
  the unfortunate Bob-like baggage on the mission?
   
  The Shadow of the Future
  Later in the mission, the PCs are going 
  to run into future versions of themselves 
  who’ve fallen into the thrall of the Black 
  Chamber. To represent these guys, make 
  copies of the PCs’ character sheets. Feel 
  free to spread around a couple of extra 
  skill points here and there to represent 
  their experience. Don’t forget to use the 
  PCs’ equipment, like ballistic vests, and 
  other assets too, like wards. While they 
  are fairly identical, in strengths and 
  weaknesses alike, play up some physical 
  differences between the current characters 
  and their doppelgangers. Maybe one is 
  missing an eye or even a limb. Maybe one’s 
  started to transform into a BLUE HADES, or 
  is hideously scarred. Little differences 
  work too; the presence (or absence) of a 
  wedding ring, for example.
   
  1 . Welcome to the Jungle
  The small nation of Brunei is located on the island of 
  Borneo in the South China Sea. It has a tropical climate 
  with plenty of humidity and rainfall. Large portions of the 
  land are engulfed in jungle foliage. Though it gained its 
  independence from the UK 30 years ago, the government 
  of Brunei is still on friendly terms with the British. In 
  fact, the British Army maintains a Jungle Warfare Training 
  School in Brunei to instruct the Royal Marines on the finer 
  points of finding and killing people in a tropical rainforest. 
  This is where all the temporal faeces have hit the fan.
  You have spent nearly a full day in transport and seen the inside of  
  many a plane since getting the call to action. The details were scarce 
  – you were told that you were needed in Southeast Asia for a very 
  hush-hush mission. You have dozed when you could and endured the 
  slop that passes as food. Most of  all, you have been patient.
  If this is a new squad, give the players the opportunity here 
  to introduce their characters, their appearances, their skills 
  and so forth. If the characters are an established group, 
  they might spend this time speculating on their mission.
  Upon landing at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Kuala 
  Lumpur, you are greeted by Captain Grant and Wilkins, his aide. 
  Captain Grant is a stocky, white-haired fellow in his 50s, who looks 
  like he has spent most of  the past decade behind a desk. Wilkins, 
  in his 20s, is taller than the captain by more than a foot, and his 
  brown hair is growing a bit shaggy. The Captain waves you aboard 
  a mid-sized passenger jet further down the tarmac and doesn’t speak 
  until the plane has taken off.
  “Good morning, soldiers. You are no doubt tired from your long 
  trip, so I’m sure you will appreciate if  I get down to brass tacks. In 
  a short while, we will be over Brunei airspace, where an incident has 
  occurred at the British Army’s Jungle Warfare Training School.”
  Captain Grant
  Wilkins
  
  51
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  Grant looks at his watch. “13 days ago, a squad undergoing one 
  of  our Jungle Warfare courses came across something unusual: a 
  temple-like structure carved into the face of  a hillside. It wasn’t there 
  the day before. As is protocol for such occurrences, we kicked it over 
  to the specialists at the Laundry, and they sent a couple of  agents to 
  investigate: Professor Chris Tallman and technician Maisie Bloom. 
  “We sent a handful troops to accompany them, and to assist with the 
  construction of  a temporary base there. The usual stuff: a couple of  
  prefabs to serve as barracks, mess hall, lab, whatever was necessary. 
  “2 days ago, we received this transmission from the site.”
  Captain Grant nods to Wilkins, who taps a button on his tablet. There 
  is a shriek of  cacophonous noise, interspersed with crackles of  static 
  and snippets of  what might be voices, though they are unintelligible.
  “The boffins managed to work out that the broadcast contained 
  more human speech than it sounds like. Parts of  it were sped up, 
  parts slowed down, and still others completely backward. Here’s the 
  message as best as they could recreate it.”
  Wilkins taps another button, and plays another recording. A 
  terrified female voice barely penetrates a wall of  static. 
  “Hello? This is…<STATIC>…at the…<CRACKLE>…site. 
  We’ve just been attacked by…<HIGH-PITCHED SQUEAL>…
  dark suits…<STATIC>…out of  nowhere…<LOUD POP>…
  might be agents of  the Black Cham—<STATIC>—man still inside 
  the…<CRACKLE>…here in the mess…<FEEDBACK>…
  what the hell? I think there’s someone outside…”
  “We believe that the sender was Maisie Bloom. We are hoping that 
  she is still alive.” The aide hands Grant a folder. He opens it to 
  reveal a number of  photos. “Satellite images show that at the same 
  time we intercepted this message, the area was suddenly covered by…
  well, see for yourselves.” He hands the photos around. In them, you 
  can see that a small area of  the thick Borneo jungle has been covered 
  by a dome of  shimmering, but completely opaque, light.
  The captain collects up the photos. “We’re going to airdrop you into 
  the camp, where we need you to dispose of  any threats and extract 
  any survivors.” Captain Grant rubs his eyes. “Expect animal and 
  be ready for anything. Any questions?”
  Here are some typical questions players might ask, and 
  Captain Grant’s answers.
  What is this strange shimmering dome?
  “Unfortunately, we don’t know, and we haven’t had much time to 
  research it. It’s not natural, that’s all we can tell. We don’t think it’s 
  a weapon, but we can’t say for sure.”
  Agents of  the Black what now?
  “Ah, yes. It is possible that Ms. Bloom was referring to the Black Chamber. 
  They’ve declined to comment on the matter, which in and of  itself  is a bit 
  damning. They tend to have their sticky fingers in all sorts of  strange pots, 
  so it is entirely possible that this site is of  interest to them too.”
  How lethal should we be?
  “If  anyone or anything has attacked our soldiers and the Laundry 
  agents, you are authorised to use the full extent of  your force upon 
  them. Use your best judgement on the scene, of  course.”
  Where do we go when we are done?
  “Team Training Brunei HQ is only a few klicks away in the town of  
  Seria. There are paths and roads leading back to civilisation, but it might 
  be a bit of  slog on foot. If  you can establish radio contact once any and all 
  tangoes have been eliminated, we can send a jeep to your location.”
  After their briefing, the PCs are given parachutes and told 
  to suit up. They also have whatever gear is listed on their 
  character sheets, if that issue is in question. Due to the 
  small size of the plane, it doesn’t hold any extra gear.
  The Jump
  Shortly after the briefing is concluded that the plane reaches the 
  designated airdrop spot. The passenger jet, a British Aerospace 
  125 (or BAe 125), isn’t normally equipped to deploy paratroopers, 
  but the Army has modified it slightly for special occasions such 
  as this one. These alterations, in addition to the low altitude at 
  which the jet is currently flying, mean that Captain Grant and his 
  aide don’t need to worry about being sucked out of the door. 
  However, they do strap into their seats before the hatch is opened 
  remotely by the cockpit crew. The squad is still encouraged to 
  jump as quickly as possible: this is no time for dilly-dallying!
  The plane is flying at about 200 metres, which is a fairly low 
  altitude for parachuting, but it does offer a spectacular view 
  of the jungle canopy, as well as the flickering dome that 
  apparently encircles their final destination. Wary PCs will 
  probably not want to jump directly into that unknown energy. 
  With an Average Navigate or Spot check, they can soon a 
  small clearing a few dozen metres away from the camp. 
  After everyone has jumped, they notice another, albeit smaller, 
  low-flying aircraft. From its shape and size, it appears to be some 
  kind of unmanned drone. As they watch, it launches a number of 
  air-to-ground missiles toward the dome. The PCs will probably 
  try to manoeuvre their parachutes to avoid any blast radius or 
  attempt to radio HQ. Before they can accomplish anything 
  significant, however, the missiles impact the shimmering energy. 
  Beyond the normal explosion they might expect from a Hellfire 
  missile, there is also a bright flash of sickly green light and a 
  massive blast of wind that threatens to blow them all the way 
  into Malaysia. As they are whisked away from the camp site, they 
  can see that the dome is growing in size.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  52
  At this point, have each PC make a Difficult Jump check. If 
  they were already heading towards the smaller clearing, this is 
  an Average check instead. Failure means getting banged up 
  for 1d6+1 points of damage from a poor landing. Either way, 
  the squad can gather themselves up and get their bearings. 
  Luckily, there is a trail leading towards the camp site, even 
  though it is not exactly maintained. Attempting to use their 
  radios results in a squelch of static and no response. The only 
  way that they’ll find answers is if they complete their mission.
  Hitting the Wall
  The squad begins the march through the jungle to the 
  camp. The weather is warm but pleasant and humidity is 
  fairly low. If one PC is scouting ahead, have them make an 
  Easy Navigate or an Average Spot check. Otherwise, have 
  whichever PC is in the lead make this check. Success means 
  that they arrive at the following scene relatively quietly, 
  failure means that they blunder in, making a lot of noise.
  The group comes across a wooden wall erected in the middle 
  of the trail. This is one of those obstacle-course walls with 
  a rope dangling from the top, meant to be surmounted by 
  eager grunts while drill sergeants question their parentage. 
  The PCs see two human figures standing next to the wall. 
  They appear to be wearing black suits and sunglasses, but 
  looking directly at them is a recipe for a headache. These 
  two figures are hybrid agents (see sidebar) sent out to guard 
  the trail. Getting closer to the two agents requires a Difficult 
  Stealth check. If they’ve made a lot of noise, they cannot 
  make this check, and the agents automatically spot them. 
  Once they notice the PCs, they both move quickly behind 
  the wall and use their ability to travel through angles to 
  return to the camp and warn the others. They leave no trace.
  It is only a short while before the PCs reach the camp proper.
  The Hybrid Agents
  While 
  the 
  Black 
  Chamber 
  agents’ 
  modifications 
  allowed 
  them 
  to 
  survive 
  the instantaneous transport from America 
  to Brunei, it left them vulnerable to a 
  twisted kind of possession. Directly after 
  the accident, the way station’s guardians 
  took advantage of this weakness, creating 
  a twisted hybrid of man and monster. From 
  a distance, they appear to be tall human 
  men wearing dark suits and sunglasses, but 
  up close it is clear that something is 
  odd about them. Their forms are angular, 
  looking almost like Cubist paintings come 
  to life. Their faces have a lupine quality, 
  and those sunglasses seem to physically be 
  a part of their heads, growing out of (or 
  into) the skin. They possess the uncanny 
  marksmanship of the original agents and 
  the guardians’ ability to fold space by 
  moving magically through sharp corners in 
  the environment. 
  When a hybrid agent is killed, he leaves 
  behind a small cloud of thick greasy smoke 
  that quickly dissipates and his black 
  suit. The fabric of the suit feels more 
  like a discarded snakeskin than any kind 
  of cloth. They aren’t carrying any forms 
  of identification, only their guns. While, 
  they are unsettling to look upon, they do 
  not inflict any Sanity Loss until one sees 
  their space-folding magic first hand.
  Hybrid Agents (5)
  STR 20 CON 18 SIZ 13 INT 16 POW 18 
  DEX 17 APP 10 EDU 13 SAN N/A HP 15
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Weapons: Pistol 75%, damage 1d10
  Armour: 1-point skin. Regenerates 3 hit 
  points per round, unless reduced to 0 hit 
  points.
  Skills: Athletics 70%, Grapple 30%, Listen 
  60%, Spot 60%, Track 50%.
  
  53
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  2 . The Camp Site
  The jungle foliage parts. Three prefab buildings have been built at 
  the base of  a large hill, around an area free from trees and bushes. 
  A triangular doorway perhaps the size of  a truck opens into the hill. 
  A number of  bodies dressed in British Army fatigues lay scattered 
  about the camp. The whole place is eerily quiet. There is no sign of  
  the explosion that you saw when parachuting in.
  Before you can plan your next move, you see yourselves running 
  out from the hillside opening. A young woman in a black dress 
  trails after you tapping furiously on her smartphone. One of  you 
  is shouting into a radio, “Base, you have to intercept that drone! I 
  don’t care if  it’ll cause an international incident, an explosion will 
  just cause the crazy nonsense that’s been happening here to spread. It 
  could eventually engulf  the whole…” You watch yourselves stagger to 
  a halt as they notice you standing just outside the camp.
  That’s when the missiles hit. Again.
  Metres above you, an explosion blooms forth in slow motion. The 
  shockwave, completely visible at this speed, rolls inexorably toward 
  you. The ground beneath your feet begins to shake and buck. The air 
  around you becomes superheated.
  Your hair catches fire. Your skin begins to bubble. The pressure of  
  the explosion turns your bones to jelly. It is intense, agonising pain 
  and you begin to tell yourself  that it will at least be over quick. But 
  it’s not. It takes minutes for you to die. More than a few.
  And then it is over. However, you aren’t dead. You aren’t even 
  wounded. The camp is still intact.
  Experiencing one’s own violent death incurs 1d6/2d6 
  Sanity Loss.
  Once the PCs take stock of what just happened, they can 
  see that the camp is empty once again. Even the bodies they 
  saw have disappeared. In fact, the whole area gives off a 
  neglected air, as if it has been abandoned for years. There 
  are no sounds, and no movement can be seen through 
  the windows of the buildings. In many places, plant life 
  has begun to encroach on the clearing. The oddest things 
  about the camp are the curtains of shimmering light that 
  divide up the area. They reach far into the sky.
  These curtains are a result of the temporal energy splashed 
  about when the crystal in the way station was cracked. They 
  separate the camp into discrete pockets of time. When a 
  PC touches or walks through one of these curtains, it flares 
  up with a sickly greenish light, inciting a wave of nausea 
  in the entire squad. They are effectively transported to 
  the associated time pocket (see descriptions below), while 
  that curtain temporarily disappears. Leaving the camp 
  altogether resets all of the curtains (though changes, such 
  as dead enemies, in that time pocket are not reset).
  Another side effect of the explosion of temporal energy is 
  that there is only one way into the camp: the path on which 
  the PCs arrived. Attempting to hack one’s way through the 
  jungle to arrive, say, closer to the hillside results in getting 
  turned around and lost for a brief time. Climbing up the 
  back of the hillside reveals no camp at all, just the head of 
  the trail that leads back to the clearing where they landed. 
  Once back on that trail, one can turn around and the see 
  the camp once again.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  54
  Talking to Yourself
  At some point, your players might want 
  to radio HQ for advice or information. 
  Unfortunately, the temporal energy leaking 
  into the area makes contact next to 
  impossible. HQ only hears a random string 
  of nonsense from their end (like Maisie’s 
  message from the briefing), and if they 
  respond, the PCs hear the same. However, 
  too much of that can get a little dull. 
  If your players keep trying to contact 
  HQ (maybe after some clever Technology 
  Use rolls to boost their radio signal 
  or something similar), then have their 
  messages answered by time-shifted versions 
  of themselves!
  If they talk to their past selves, and 
  perhaps try to warn them of dangers to come, 
  have the gruffest member of the group grab 
  the radio and tell them to “stop fucking 
  around and get off this frequency before 
  I find you and cram my boot up your ass.” 
  Better yet, the warnings are too late. 
  “Yeah, we already did that and Peterson 
  got his throat torn out. Where were you 15 
  minutes ago?!”
  Having them talk to future versions of 
  themselves is a good way to get a confused 
  party back on track. “You haven’t been 
  inside the crypt yet? What are you waiting 
  for? Christ, were we really such tossers 
  an hour ago?” Or simply mess with their 
  heads. 
  *sounds 
  of 
  screams* 
  “Dead…all 
  dead…Whatever you do, don’t—” *sounds of 
  snapping bones*
  Talking to yourself through time incurs 
  0/1d3 points of Sanity Loss.
  1 . The Barracks
  As you pass through this shimmering curtain of  energy, it is 
  suddenly night. A large, full moon peaks through the jungle cover, 
  dappling the camp in soft light. Faint animal noises whisper from 
  the foliage. The windows of  all the buildings are lit, as portable 
  generators chug along. The relative quiet is broken by the sound of  a 
  gunshot. Someone is shooting at you from inside the largest building!
  There are three hybrid agents are inside the barracks. (If 
  any of the hybrid agents were killed at the obstacle-course 
  wall, reduce the number here accordingly) They have 
  standard-issue pistols and fire from the windows at the 
  PCs. They are fairly competent shots and have cover, so 
  this could prove a challenge for the squad. Let this be a 
  test of their strategic thinking and ability to work together. 
  Once the agents have been finished off, the PCs have 
  the opportunity to investigate the barracks and their new 
  surroundings. An Easy Knowledge roll reveals that the 
  last full moon was the night before the PCs were called in 
  for this mission. The next full moon won’t be for another 
  month, obviously. 
  The largest building of  the three, the barracks has a single door and a 
  couple of  windows on the front and back walls. Inside, there are eight 
  uncomfortable-looking cots and a privacy screen hastily tossed up in the 
  one corner for modesty’s sake. A duffel bag sits at the foot of  all but 
  one cot. The room is very austere and there is the faint sweaty odour 
  that comes from seven people sleeping in close proximity for a fortnight. 
  Some crumpled black suits lay on the floor near the windows.
  The squad can search through the personal effects of the 
  British Army soldiers and the two Laundry agents if they 
  so choose, but there’s not much of interest to be found. 
  Just clothes. The players will probably be more interested 
  in the remains of the hybrid agents (see sidebar on page 
  52). Touching an agent’s crumpled suit triggers a wave a 
  nausea as the PCs are transported elsewhen.
  The room now contains a single man in a dark suit, who 
  is looking out one of the windows. He doesn’t notice the 
  squad, as he takes a smartphone from inside his jacket 
  and dials a three-digit number. He says, “Jackson here. This 
  mission has gone off  the rails. Agent King was inside the cave when 
  some sort of  explosion happened, and the rest of  my teammates have 
  literally disappeared. Though it’s far beyond acceptable parameters 
  for occult activity, I’m heading into the cave to see if  something can 
  be salvaged from this mess. If  further contact is not initiated within 
  6 hours, initiate failsafe drone strike. Over and out.” As he turns 
  to leave, he notices the PCs. He quickly draws his pistol, 
  but there is another wave of nausea and the PCs are inside 
  the barracks by themselves once again.
  
  55
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  2 . The Mess Hall
  As you pass through this curtain, it is suddenly dawn. Warm, 
  red sunlight spills into the camp, and a thin layer of  condensation 
  glistens on the jungle foliage. The mess hall is the smallest of  the 
  three buildings, but it is the only one with two doors, one facing the 
  centre of  the camp, and one close to a generator and a dustbin in the 
  back. Approaching the mess hall, you hear a woman’s scream from 
  inside and a few gunshots.
  Rushing inside, the PCs experience a momentary feeling 
  of nausea and find themselves standing among four 
  British Army soldiers in the middle of a meal. There is no 
  sign of either a screaming woman or a discharged firearm. 
  The soldiers are, of course, surprised to see them and 
  demand to know the reason for their presence. The players 
  can decide whether or not to tell the soldiers the truth or 
  simply ask their own questions.
  The interior of the mess hall holds four tables and a 
  number of folding chairs. There is a kitchen area in the 
  back, separated from the rest of the building by a thin 
  wall. In the kitchen is an industrial refrigerator unit and a 
  large microwave. A back door leads out from here.
  The four soldiers are members of the Royal Gurkha Rifles 
  regiment, who have been given the task of watching over 
  a couple of Laundry agents. They are Jeevan Himanshu, 
  Rupal Lohani, Dhara Chalise and Vikram Pande. The fifth 
  member of their squad, Chandresh Dhakwa, is with the 
  Laundry agents inside the crypt. They set up camp 10 
  days ago. They don’t know much about the nature of the 
  crypt, though just a few hours ago, they were present as 
  Professor Tallman discovered a previously hidden room 
  inside. There was a cloud of billowing smoke and they 
  saw a pair of creatures that looked like weird, angular 
  wolves. The soldiers fired at these things, causing them to 
  disappear. Tallman has told them that the smoke must have 
  contained some kind of hallucinogen, an ancient trap left 
  behind to scare of superstitious grave robbers. Since then, 
  they’ve been discussing the incident over lunch. Jeevan 
  Himanshu doesn’t believe that they were hallucinations.
  After a few moments of discussion, Vikram Pande 
  spots something through a window. Outside, a low hum 
  emanates throughout the area. In a small circle in the 
  middle of the camp, clumps of dirt begin to float upward. 
  Frost forms on the nearby grass. A jagged rip forms, free-
  floating in the air, leading into what appears to be deepest, 
  darkest space. Vague shapes can be seen within the fissure, 
  though the mind rebels upon trying to see more detail. 
  Then, seconds later, it disappears, leaving behind Agent 
  King and his team (Black Chamber agents in dark suits, 
  buzz cuts and sunglasses). They draw their sidearms and 
  begin scouring the area.
  The soldiers’ first instincts are to grab their rifles and begin 
  shooting, and if not stopped, that’s exactly what they do. 
  The players can attempt to rally the troops and influence 
  their strategy with a Command roll. Soon after the first 
  shots are fired, however, the PCs are snapped back to the 
  ‘present’, wherever they might be standing at the moment. 
  The mess hall is empty. In fact, it looks pristine, like it has 
  just been constructed. There is no sign of the soldiers. 
  Someone is inside the mess hall, though. A woman’s voice 
  rings out from every corner of the building, “Don’t be 
  alarmed. And by that, I mean ‘don’t shoot me.’” This is Maisie 
  Bloom, and she has just finished sending out her emergency 
  message. She drops the invisibility charm that has kept her 
  safe thus far, appearing in the kitchen doorway. She is still 
  a bit shaken up from her experiences, but she is relieved to 
  see what she hopes are friendly faces.
  Maisie Bloom
  Agent Jackson
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  56
  Maisie Bloom is a potential source of information for 
  the PCs, a victim to protect, and a GM mouthpiece if 
  the players get stuck. She is very smart, but she doesn’t 
  have much combat training. If given a sidearm, she will 
  take it for the comforting weight, but she never takes off 
  the safety and she never fires it. Maisie has a lot of IT 
  know-how, and can rig up electronic systems if none of 
  the squad has the appropriate skill. If they do, then she 
  merely offers helpful suggestions. She also knows a thing 
  or two about the occult, and can offer useful explanations.
  She knows of the machine within the crypt’s inner sanctum, 
  but she doesn’t quite know what it does. She knows that 
  the camp has just been attacked by men who she thinks 
  are agents of the Black Chamber, but she doesn’t know 
  why. She was catching a few winks in the barracks when 
  it happened, and she managed to toss up an invisibility 
  charm before she was spotted. She attempted to leg it to 
  the lab, but was forced to come here instead. She sent out 
  a distress call with her smartphone, and that’s when the 
  PCs arrived. She is unaware of what has been happening 
  to the camp since.
  After a few minutes of talking to Maisie, right as the PCs 
  are ready to leave the mess hall, smoke begins to emanate 
  from the far corners of the room. The characters can 
  see canine shapes within the clouds, starting small and 
  gradually getting bigger as though traveling from very far 
  away. As the smoke dissipates, the shapes twist into human 
  forms. Witnessing the arrival of this pair of hybrid agents 
  inflicts 1d2/1d6 points of Sanity Loss. Maisie screams. 
  The players can stand and fight the agents or run, though 
  the agents will pursue them outside.
  3 . The Lab
  As you step through this curtain, a hard rain is falling. It seems 
  as though it has been falling for hours, as puddles are now scattered 
  throughout the camp. The smell of  wet earth permeates your nostrils. 
  Two generators squat next to the building ahead of  you, and a 
  number of  antennae are perched on the roof. You can see a couple 
  of  people inside.
  Inside, there are two sophisticated desktop computers and 
  one laptop hooked into a LAN. One desktop is running 
  a complex mathematical simulation, while the other has 
  the latest iteration of a popular real-time strategy game 
  installed. Only Laundry-approved occult protection 
  software is installed on the laptop. A couple of notebooks 
  are scattered on the desk next to one desktop’s keyboard. 
  The two people in the building look up in surprise as the 
  PCs enter. They are Professor Chris Tallman and Maisie 
  Bloom. If Maisie is with the squad, she gets a bit woozy and 
  mutters, “Wait…I remember this…” The Professor takes off 
  his glasses and says, “Fascinating! I thought the instruments were 
  picking up traces of  temporal energy.” He turns to the other Maisie. 
  “And you wanted to pack up and leave. We must redouble our efforts! 
  Unless these fine people would be so kind as to give us a clue…”
  Before they can respond, the PCs are hit with a wave of 
  nausea and the scene shifts. The room is empty of people. 
  The whiteboard and the laptop are gone. The rest of the 
  computer equipment looks old and rusted. Part of the 
  ceiling is missing and a few vines are growing in through 
  the hole. The notebooks in the room are too badly water-
  damaged  to read.
  If she is with the group and asked about what just 
  happened, Maisie explains that the day before she and 
  Tallman discovered the inner chamber within the crypt, 
  this exact scene occurred. A number of people stepped 
  into their computer lab out of the rain, and one of them 
  was her. They simply disappeared after a few moments. 
  The professor was quite excited about it and stayed up all 
  night taking readings. If asked why she didn’t mention this 
  before, she looks confused and says, “I’m not…sure. I guess 
  it never came up?” She then admits to having a bad headache 
  and doesn’t want to talk about it any more – she’s just 
  suffered a big chunk of SAN damage from having her 
  own history rewritten right in front of her.
  4 . Approaching the Crypt
  As you pass through the curtain nearest to the hillside, the landscape 
  changes dramatically. The camp disappears, replaced by thick foliage 
  that towers over you. A large bee buzzes next to a brightly coloured 
  bloom, unlike any you have seen before. The hillside is now more of  
  a mountain, and atop that mountain are huge metallic towers that 
  stretch into the sky. These structures are capped with what appear 
  to be antennae of  unusual design. Some of  them spin gently, while 
  others retract and expand.
  The wind suddenly picks up, causing the nearby trees to sway and 
  dirt to fly up into your faces. Strange piping whistles echo above you, 
  and a number of  hazy shapes pass in front of  the sun. The gusts 
  continue to grow in intensity. The opening into the hillside is about 
  30 metres ahead of  you, offering obvious shelter from the winds.
  Unfortunately for the PCs, they have been transported 
  back to the Late Cretaceous Period, right to the moment 
  when half a dozen flying polyps staged an attack on the 
  alien city on the mountain. Fortunately for the PCs’ minds, 
  the polyps are phasing in and out of visibility, so they can’t 
  get a good look at them. However, the polyps are brewing 
  up a hurricane-force windstorm. All of the other time 
  curtains have vanished.
  To cross the distance between their current position and 
  the entrance to the way station, each PC needs to succeed 
  at 3 Effort rolls. The first check is at Easy difficulty, the 
  next two checks are at Average difficulty, and after that the 
  
  57
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  checks are at Difficult difficulty. At that point, failed checks 
  result in 1d4 points of damage as a character’s flesh is 
  scoured by dust blown by the hot winds. A character may 
  make a check at -10 to move themselves and one other PC 
  or NPC. If Maisie Bloom is with the squad, assume that 
  she succeeds at the first check, but make it clear that she 
  requires help to traverse the remaining distance.
  Once through the doorway, a character is safe from the 
  winds. Inside, a slanting corridor leads deeper underground. 
  Another shimmering curtain of light is situated 10 metres 
  down this hallway.
  The Late Agent Jackson
  As you pass through yet another gauzy wall of energy, 
  the corridor doesn’t change much physically, though the 
  sound of howling winds behind you immediately ceases. 
  The stone walls look a bit more touched by age, and a few 
  dusty cobwebs hang from the ceiling. A few metres ahead, 
  the hall opens up into a small chamber. The walls here are 
  carved with frescoes, mostly obliterated by the passage of 
  time. The room is otherwise empty, except for the corpse 
  of a man in a black suit leaning against a wall in a pool of 
  drying blood. 
  After contacting HQ, Agent Jackson came to the crypt to 
  investigate the explosion he heard within, and to see if his 
  superior, Agent King, was still alive. When Jackson found 
  King, he was still undergoing the throes of mutation and 
  lashed out at his former comrade-in-arms with a giant 
  claw. Jackson was mortally wounded, but did not die right 
  away. King, vaguely aware that someone (the PCs) was 
  altering the time stream, probed the dying man’s mind to 
  learn of his encounter with the squad in the barracks (see 
  above). King then tossed Jackson into the antechamber 
  here to die.
  With an Average Medicine check, a character can determine 
  the wounds to Jackson chest and neck came from a jagged, 
  but not sharp, weapon. They can also tell that Jackson’s 
  spine was broken, probably from impact with the wall 
  against which his body is leaning. His death occurred no 
  more than an hour ago. The PCs will probably recognise 
  him as the man they saw in the barracks.
  Rummaging through Jackson’s pockets reveals no ID and 
  a smartphone with a cracked screen. His firearm lies a few 
  feet away on the ground. The phone is currently unusable, 
  but British OCCINTEL might want to take a look at the 
  SIM card later, in order to learn something about the Black 
  Chamber’s encryption protocols.
  Inside the Crypt
  On the far side of  the antechamber is another corridor that opens 
  up onto a much larger area. Fluorescent light spills in from that 
  room, blocked partially by a number a figures, their shadows 
  stretching almost completely into the antechamber. With the light 
  directly behind them, it is difficult to make out any more details, but 
  something about the faint traces of  their voices seems familiar. One 
  of  the shadows isn’t entirely human.
  The PCs have the element of surprise here, but not a lot 
  of intel. An Average Stealth check provides an opportunity 
  for reconnaissance, by sneaking further into the crypt and 
  crouching behind a dusty sarcophagus. 
  The inhuman figure is the mutated Agent King. He still 
  wears a black suit, like those of the other Black Chamber 
  agents, but all similarity ends there. One of his hands has 
  been replaced with a large lobster-like claw, and the other 
  tapers into a red horn shape. His neck is elongated, and 
  his head lacks hair, with slender gray stalks in its place. 
  His eyes are great black saucers. When he speaks, there is 
  a faint buzzing, like electronic feedback, behind his voice.
  The other figures are the PCs, albeit somewhat older and 
  more grizzled. Their faces are lined with scars, and their 
  eyes are haunted by madness. They have just finished 
  setting up for a siege, moving tipped-over stone coffins 
  into defensible cover positions. They don’t seem interested 
  in small talk with one another, speaking only enough to 
  make sure they are prepared for a fight.
  Behind all of them is a large doorway, through which can 
  be seen a vast machine, all brass and crystal. Occasionally, 
  a crackle of purple electricity arcs from the device. 
  Agent King and the Time-Snatched PCs
  Agent King was at ground zero of the temporal explosion 
  that rocked the way station. His body was mutated by 
  the temporal energy released, which explains his horrific 
  appearance. Since the accident, King has been attempting 
  to repair the crystal, in the hopes of bringing it back to 
  Black Chamber HQ. He’s been distracted by the also-
  transformed Professor Tallman (see below), cowing and 
  frightening him to keep in the secret chamber.
  When he became aware of the PCs’ presence in the camp, 
  King knew that he had to take some precautions. Thanks 
  to his altered DNA, he was able to reach out through the 
  time stream and bring in reinforcements. This assistance 
  has come in the form of versions of the squad from a 
  future in which King succeeded in his mission. In this 
  future, war rages across the globe as the Black Chamber 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  58
  attempts to prepare the rest of humanity for the coming 
  of the Elder Gods. These future PCs have been convinced 
  that by killing themselves in the past, they can avoid this 
  fate for themselves. The players aren’t likely to learn 
  much about this desperate temporal suicide, as their 
  doppelgangers are only interested in fighting.
  Seeing the altered Agent King and future versions of 
  themselves incurs 0/1d6 Sanity Loss.
  Take the copies of your player’s character sheets and use 
  their own stats against them in this fight. They growl and 
  spit angry phrases at their past selves. When a doppelganger 
  is defeated, there is a sound like the twang of an out-
  of-tune guitar and the body disappears, returning to the 
  timeline from where it came. A doppelganger disappears 
  in the same way if the corresponding PC is killed in battle, 
  but this time the doppelganger grimaces with relief.
   Mutated Agent King
  STR 24 CON 14 SIZ 18 INT 20 POW 13 
  DEX 10 APP 11 EDU 15 SAN 30 HP 16
  Damage Bonus: +2d6
  Weapons: Pincer 40%, damage 1d6
  Armour: 2-points of scaly skin. When the mutated Agent 
  King is defeated, his body turns into a puddle of disgusting 
  goo. His suit remains. 
  Spells: With a successful Sorcery roll, the mutated Agent 
  King can cause a single individual to age rapidly, inflicting 
  1d10 points of damage as bones grow brittle and organs fail.
  Skills: Insight 35%, Knowledge (Occult) 70%, Listen 
  50%, Sorcery 65%, Spot 50%
  Taking down the Doppelgangers
  The PCs are at a bit of a disadvantage in this situation. 
  Tactically, they are in a poor position, with only one avenue 
  of attack and bright lights shining directly into their eyes 
  (-20% to attack rolls). Their opponents have cover and a 
  slight advantage in numbers.
  However, all is not lost. Firstly, as long as their scout didn’t 
  fail their Stealth roll to reconnoitre the scene, they still have 
  the advantage of surprise. Secondly, they have a few avenues 
  of attack that could provide cover for them. The crypt has 
  two rows of three sarcophagi each, one row fairly close to 
  the corridor to the antechamber, the other in the middle 
  of the room. Each stone sarcophagus provides plenty of 
  protection from flying bullets for one PC, and they are close 
  enough together that soldiers can move between them and 
  still act again at half of their normal DEX rank. PCs can 
  also attempt to sneak up to these positions with an Average 
  Stealth check before combat begins. Failing this roll means 
  that a fight starts right then and there.
  Finally, the PCs’ doppelgangers are determined to die, one 
  way or the other. When combat starts, if a doppelganger 
  can spot their PC, that doppelganger will focus all attacks 
  on them. A doppelganger or two might act completely 
  reckless, running out of cover and attempting to kill the 
  PC with a melee weapon (or even their bare hands). 
  One way to help even the odds would be to try to sow 
  confusion among the doppelgangers. A smoke grenade 
  (or similar) would be a good opening gambit. The lights 
  can be shot out with an aimed attack (at a -10% penalty). 
  Just remember that if the PCs have means to negate these 
  hindrances (gas masks or IR goggles), that the doppelgangers 
  also have that equipment. However, it will take at least a 
  round for the doppelgangers to retrieve and put on that gear, 
  which are precious seconds for the PCs to exploit.
  The Machine
  The far room is much smaller than the crypt itself, 
  although it is still fairly large. The majority of the chamber 
  is occupied by a tall, slender machine made of brass and 
  crystal. It hums and sputters, most likely because of the long 
  crack running down the device’s central crystal. Crackles 
  of arcane energy writhe about the machine, occasionally 
  throwing off a spark that smells like maple syrup. 
  
  59
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  A number of more modern electronic devices, such as 
  an oscilloscope and a laptop, can also be found here, on 
  a couple of wobbly-looking folding tables. Two folding 
  chairs are pulled up to the tables. Another table is 
  covered with notebooks, their pages filled with a mix of 
  mathematical equations, electrical diagrams and mystical 
  formulae. It appears that the author got frustrated with the 
  work, as some pages are smudged with angry scribbling.
  When the PCs enter this room, it is obvious that someone 
  or something is attempting to hide under one of the 
  folding tables. As soon as one of PCs makes any kind 
  of noise, the someone or something explodes from its 
  cowering place and begins throwing pens at the squad. It 
  is a man, or something like a man. It has the requisite two 
  legs, two arms and one head like a man, and it is wearing 
  clothes like a man. In fact, there is a striking resemblance 
  to Professor Chris Tallman, we the squad saw in the 
  lab. However, this figure stands with a stoop and has a 
  noticeably more pronounced brow. There is something 
  altogether prehistoric about this Chris Tallman.
  If she is with the group, Maisie gasps as she recognises 
  Professor Tallman. She moves forward to attempt to 
  calm the Professor, but his recent experiences have left 
  his mind more than a little scarred. With an animalistic 
  screech, Tallman tackles Maisie to the ground and begins 
  pounding on her head and neck with his fists.
  The PCs should react quickly to this threat. Hopefully, 
  they will avoid bloodshed and find a nonlethal way to 
  immobilise Tallman. However, there is nothing stopping 
  them from blowing his brains out. The prehistoric Tallman 
  isn’t much of a challenge, even if the characters resort to 
  hand-to-hand combat. Maisie is grateful for the assistance 
  once again, but is rather despondent if Tallman is killed. 
  It should be obvious to anyone with eyes that the strange 
  machine in the centre of the room is the cause of all of 
  the recent troubles. The best way to truly fix the device 
  would be to replace the broken crystal, but such a 
  component won’t exist on this planet for many thousands 
  of millennia. The scattered notebooks provide another 
  possible solution. A character with Knowledge (Occult) or 
  Science (Mathematics) can begin to decipher the cryptic 
  formulae. Maisie will gladly assist, unless the PCs’ killed 
  Tallman. Convincing her to help in that case requires an 
  Average Command or Persuade roll.
  The notebooks describe a way in which one can harness 
  the temporal energy of the mechanism to make a brief trip 
  through time. However, Tallman didn’t have time to finish his 
  calculations before the Black Chamber agents struck. It appears 
  as though he attempted to return to his work at some point, 
  but his now prehistoric brain was not up to the task. A Science 
  (Mathematics) or Technology Use check allows the players to 
  furnish the missing pieces of this scientific puzzle. With the 
  equipment in this room, and any electronics they may have 
  brought with them, the PCs can build a working time machine!
  PCs without the Proper Skills
  If no one in the squad is well-versed in 
  the mechanics of space-time manipulation, 
  they fortunately have an ace in the hole. 
  As long as Maisie is alive and still 
  cooperating with the PCs, she will be able 
  to direct them in the building of the time 
  machine. However, don’t rob characters 
  with the appropriate skill of the chance 
  to shine in this critical moment!
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  60
  What to do with a 
  Working Time Machine?
  The crude manner in which the temporal energies are 
  being harnessed from the device lead to three minor faults 
  with the time machine: 
  • First, it can only transport the PCs backwards in time, not 
  forward, as far back as the device’s creation and no further. 
  • And second, they cannot leave the inner chamber. Any 
  time to which they travel must be within this room, and 
  once there, they will be unable to exit. 
  • Finally, they only get 5 minutes in the past to do 
  whatever it is they want to do. However, even with those 
  restrictions it should be possible for them to save the day.
  Before they make their decision as to when to travel, the PCs 
  can get a glimpse of the area’s past using the laptop. A small 
  window shows grainy black-and-white footage of the room 
  from the vantage point of the machine. They can pan the 
  “camera” around 360º to see the entire chamber, and rewind 
  and fast forward through the “feed” just like a typical video 
  playback program. There is no sound, however. The video 
  appears to be thousands of years long, though from the 
  beginning of the video to about three days ago, not much 
  happens in the dark, empty chamber. These are the highlights:
  • Three days ago, the feed shows a crack of light as the 
  chamber’s door is opened from the other side. Tallman 
  and Maisie enter the chamber with torches, marvel at 
  the machine. They spend a few minutes examining 
  the device and in excited discussion with one another. 
  The silhouette of a British soldier can be seen in the 
  doorway, his pistol at the ready. Maisie leaves and 
  comes back several times, with loads of equipment, 
  while the Professor scribbles furiously in a notebook. 
  This continues for several hours, until one point when 
  Maisie stretches tiredly and exits. Tallman stays there for 
  a while longer, until he nods off where he is sitting.
  • Several hours later, Tallman awakes with a start. He 
  looks around with a confused look on his face. One 
  of the soldiers enters the chamber, says a few words to 
  him, and presses a pistol into his hand. Tallman tries to 
  give it back, but the soldier is adamant. The soldier then 
  leaves the room, and Tallman crouches in the far corner.
  • Not long after, another figure enters the room. It is 
  Agent King, his black suit only slightly dusty from his 
  trip through the crypt. He calls out to Tallman, pointing 
  a gun in his direction. The Professor reacts out of panic 
  and fires his pistol. He shoots wide and hits the largest 
  crystal on the device. The feed ends.
  Here are some ideas of what the PCs might do with the 
  time machine:
  Stop Tallman from Shooting the Crystal
  The PCs can appear in the room at any point before 
  Tallman shoots the crystal after he cowers in the room 
  when the Black Chamber agents attack. It should be a 
  simple matter to subdue Tallman and wrest the gun away 
  from him. Depending on how well they time their entrance, 
  they might have to face Agent King. He is a formidable 
  opponent, but the PCs outnumber him.
  Diverting Tallman from the Device
  Another solution is to travel to the moment Tallman first 
  enters the room, and warn him of the consequences of 
  his find. Whether they try to reason with him or simply 
  order him to forget what he has seen, it should require a 
  successful check of an appropriate skill.
  Destroying the Device or the Room .
  They might travel to long before the way station reappears 
  in Borneo and either attempt to destroy the device or 
  the room it is in. It should occur to most players that 
  breaking the device is what caused this mess in the first 
  place (otherwise give them an Easy Idea roll), but burying 
  the device in rubble could avert the catastrophe. Some 
  carefully placed explosive charges will destroy the room 
  without harming the device, making sure that all Tallman 
  finds in the future is a pile of rubble. 
  This solution has a major consequence, however. If the 
  room is collapsed, the PCs will return to be trapped within 
  the rubble. They will have only minutes of breathable 
  air and the pressure of thousands of kilograms of rock 
  crushing them. Such a tragic fate could be averted by only 
  sending one PC back in time to collapse the room, while 
  the others wait outside to rescue their trapped colleague. 
  Or perhaps that PC makes a noble sacrifice.
  Some other Ingenious Plan
  Players have a tendency to implement confusing and 
  convoluted plans for which no GM could possibly 
  plan. Give them a time machine and that problem is 
  compounded exponentially. But this gives you smart (and 
  good-looking!) GMs a chance to shine. Give them a chance 
  to enact their plan, assigning checks from the appropriate 
  skills. If the checks succeed and the plan somehow stops 
  the crystal in the device from being damaged in any way, 
  then they have successfully saved the day!
  
  61
  ON BORROWED TIME
  On Borrowed Time
  Returning to the Present
  Once their 5 minutes are up, the PCs are yanked back to 
  the present. Any changes they made in the past should 
  be noticeable in the present. Most importantly, the device 
  is undamaged, and the wild temporal energy that did a 
  number on the area has dissipated. The device’s many 
  moving parts slowly grind to a halt. The squad’s time travel 
  escapades have completely drained the device of all its 
  strange power. It is now no more than a fancy decoration, 
  fit only for study. 
  At this point, radio signals return to normal, and the PCs 
  can report back to HQ. Depending on how they changed 
  the timeline, there might not even be a record of their 
  mission!
  Tying Up Loose Ends
  The complexities of time travel make linear storytelling 
  different, especially when it comes to scenarios like this 
  one. But there are a couple of areas that are sure to be of 
  interest to your players, no matter how they changed the 
  past. Anything else you should be able to extrapolate from 
  the information given. 
  The Laundry Team and the British Soldiers
  If the PCs travelled to a time after the Black Chamber 
  agents launched their attack, not much changes in the camp 
  from what they have already seen. The British soldiers still 
  perish in the fight and Maisie is still hiding in the mess 
  hall. Tallman can be found wandering dazedly through the 
  crypt, whereupon he recognises the PCs and quietly asks 
  for an explanation. He and Maisie return to the local HQ 
  with the squad and undergo a debriefing.
  If the PCs travelled to a time before the Black Chamber 
  agents launched their attack, then the squad finds the 
  camp gone. When Tallman and Maisie were warned away 
  (or failed to discover anything), they called an end to the 
  mission and headed back to London. All of the British 
  soldiers are alive and well!
  The American Agents
  If the PCs stopped Tallman from shooting the crystal and 
  defeated Agent King, the other agents realise that they 
  might be outmatched and, using an emergency extraction 
  beacon, depart as quickly as they arrived. This does leave 
  the PCs with the task of cleaning up the aftermath of 
  their initial strike. The American government denies any 
  connection to these attackers.
  If the PCs prevented Tallman from finding the device or 
  warned him away from it, the Black Chamber doesn’t learn 
  of its presence right away. Since it has been depleted of 
  power, the device now offers nothing of interest to the 
  American agency. In effect, the Black Chamber agents 
  never arrived at the site. 
  In either case, Agent Jackson never got the opportunity to 
  call in the drone strike.
  Debriefing
  If the PCs return to Brunei HQ with Maisie and the 
  Professor, they are given a fairly normal debriefing. Captain 
  Grant wants to know who attacked the camp and why. 
  The two Laundry agents give their accounts of the events 
  (though altered from how the PCs might have experienced 
  them), describe the men in dark suits who arrived and then 
  just as quickly left after sowing destruction. Assuming 
  the PCs tell Captain Grant about the device, he calls for 
  another Laundry team to study it, though that is fuel for 
  possible further missions.
  If Brunei HQ has no record of sending the squad to the 
  crypt site (for example, if they altered the timeline before 
  the Black Chamber agents arrived), then Captain Grant 
  demands a full explanation of the PCs’ presence on his turf. 
  The PCs can concoct whatever story they like, lying or citing 
  high clearance levels. They can even tell the truth, and, as 
  strange as it sounds, Captain Grant is likely to believe it, 
  considering that the area from which they came miraculously 
  appeared overnight. The squad’s superiors back in the UK 
  are most interested in the strange device, information about 
  which is classified BROKEN CLOCK. Once again, though, 
  that may be a matter for further missions.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  62
  The Shadow Of 
  Mahogany Row
  You can’t stay in the cubicle forever. Those who survive field 
  missions, who demonstrate competence under stress – or 
  those who have the ambition and callousness to navigate the 
  cut-throat bureaucracy of the Laundry – get promoted. Some 
  cthonic horror that feeds on middle management dwells in 
  the bowels of Dansey House, and its appetite is insatiable.
  (Actually, any cthonic horrors in the bowels of Dansey 
  House probably died years ago from thaumic poisoning 
  and/or asbestos. The place is a deathtrap, which is why 
  the rebuild of the Laundry’s HQ is several years behind 
  schedule and not likely to be finished any time soon.)
  Some player characters may seek out power and influence. 
  They might have their eyes fixed on the upper ranks, either 
  out of ambition or because they know that when CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN kicks off, they want someone 
  sane and competent calling the shots. Others, like Bob, get 
  promoted because they’re good at what they do; they may 
  not want power, but power’s going to be thrust on them. 
  In game terms, it’s all about Status. A character’s Status skill 
  score measures their influence and standing in the Laundry. 
  Status & Promotions
  “You’ve been fast-tracked for senior management for the past eight 
  years. You knew that, didn’t you? But you’re only graded as an 
  SSO3. That’s a bit low for someone who’s reporting directly to a 
  DSS, so I did some digging. You’re not being held back; it’s just that 
  the Laundry operates a Y-shaped promotion path – administration 
  and line ranks diverge above a very low level. You’re due for regrading 
  later this year, Bob. If  you pass the board, they’ll make you an 
  SSO4(L). Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s the first step up from 
  the fork into the line hierarchy…”
   
  – The Fuller Memorandum
  The relationship between Status and actual rank in the 
  Laundry is a curious, possibly even non-Euclidean one. 
  Status measures not only a character’s informal reputation 
  in the Laundry, but also their official rank and ambition. A 
  character with a Status of 40% might be a middle manager 
  in a moderately important department, or a senior 
  supervisor in some obscure section. Matrix management 
  muddles the whole issue further. Angleton, for example, 
  is the head of the Counter-Possession Unit, which is a 
  small but vital element of the Laundry’s internal security 
  division. One might expect the head of that unit to have a 
  Status in the 60s, but Angleton’s got a whopping 90% for 
  Status without calling in any favours. Why? Because there’s 
  a little dotted line on the org chart between Angleton and 
  the Director’s office – he’s not only head of CPU, but he’s 
  the Private Secretary to the Board. (That, and he’s the 
  Hungry Ghost bound into human flesh, but that doesn’t 
  affect his standing, just his pension). 
  The Promotion Table (see overleaf) gives a rough measure 
  of the relationship between Status and rank, and should be 
  used to determine the level of responsibility and influence 
  given to a player character. Some things to note:
  • The levels of Status overlap considerably. A character 
  with a Status of 40% might be a senior manager in one 
  department, or a junior manager in another, or might 
  have avoided management entirely. Maybe this high-
  Status, low-rank officer is waiting for the right position 
  to open up, or maybe she wants to dodge being stuck 
  behind a desk. 
  • The table makes no distinction between a character’s 
  normal Status, accumulated over the course of time and 
  many missions, and a Status boosted using any of the 
  means in the next section, like Departmental Status or 
  having a Mentor. An ambitious character can race up 
  the promotion ziggurat by making deals and alliances, 
  but they’re building a house of cards – if they lose the 
  support of some element of their artificially boosted 
  Status, they’re also in danger of losing their rank.
  This is the Laundry. We are part of the secret side of the civil service, so naturally we do committees. 
  Did I say we do committees? We probably invented the damned idea, sometime between the Roman 
  invasion and Canute’s unfortunate intertidal dilemma. We’re good at them, with the kind of polish 
  and proficiency that only arrives after four hundred years of diligent practice. We use committees for 
  all the ulterior purposes for which they might have been designed: diffusion of executive responsibility, 
  plausible deniability, misdirection, providing the appearance of action without the substance, and 
  protecting the guilty.
   
  – The Rhesus Chart
  
  63
  SHADOW OF MAHOGANY ROW
  Shadow of Mahogany Row
  The table has four categories of Department: Key 
  Line Departments, Key Administration Departments, 
  Peripheral and Deliberately Obscure. On each row, 
  cross-reference the character’s Status score to determine 
  approximate rank and responsibilities in the department.
  A Key Line Department is an important section of 
  Operations Division (as well as a few stragglers from 
  Administration) that has been designated as being of part 
  of the Laundry’s Line divisions. That’s line as in ‘ships of 
  the line’; these are the departments that will be fighting the 
  war and running the country when CASE NIGHTMARE 
  GREEN gets hot. Following a promotion track through 
  Key Line means a lot of danger for not very much reward. 
  Examples: Operational Oversight, Security Management, 
  Interdepartmental Liaison Group, Armoury, Field 
  Support, Computational Demonology, Q Division.
  A Key Administration department is a department that 
  is absolutely vital to the Laundry’s bureaucratic functions 
  (or has a firm grip on the budget), but is not part of 
  front-line services. Following a promotion track through 
  Key Administration is a great way to build a career in the 
  government; assuming there’s a government, and indeed a 
  species, left when it all kicks off.
  Examples: Auditing, Financial Control, QA, Health 
  and Safety, Personnel, Training, Purchasing, Transport, 
  Black Assizes, Legal Affairs, Internal Affairs, Counter-
  Subversion, Media Relations.
  Peripheral departments may consider themselves vital 
  to the Laundry’s operations, but don’t have the clout of 
  the more prestigious administration sections. A career 
  here is functionally equivalent to being entombed alive in 
  paperwork. 
  Examples: Housing, Residual Human Resources, Medical 
  & 
  Psychological, 
  Catering, 
  Facilities, 
  Information 
  Technology, Maintenance & Janitorial, Archives, DRM, 
  Monitoring, Translation & Analysis, Mathematical 
  Modelling, Occult Forensics, Predictive Branch.
  Finally, Deliberately Obscure departments don’t have 
  much official sway – at least, on a day-to-day level. Among 
  Those Who Know, though, working for one of these 
  department carries a great deal of prestige. A career in 
  one of these sections… well, they also serve those who 
  only sleep and dream…
  Examples: 
  Black 
  Assizes, 
  Inhuman 
  Resources, 
  Enchantment & Production, Switchboard, Contracts 
  & Bindings, Acquisitions, Special Projects, Counter-
  Possession, Diplomatic Office (Unconventional), External 
  Assets.
  Status
  Line
  Admin
  Peripheral
  Deliberately 
  Obscure
  0-10
  Grade 1 Grade 1
  Grade 1
  Grade 1
  11-20
  Grade 2
  Grade 2
  Grade 2
  Grade 2
  21-30
  Grade 2
  Grade 2
  Grade 2
  Grade 2
  31-40
  Grade 2
  Grade 3 (M) Grade 2
  Grade 3
  41-50
  Grade 3 Grade 4 (M) Grade 2
  Grade 3
  51-60
  Grade 3 Grade 5 
  (M)
  Grade 3 
  (M)
  Grade 4 
  (M)
  61-70
  Grade 3 Grade 6 
  (M)
  Grade 3 
  (M)
  Grade 4 
  (M)
  71-80
  Grade 4 
  (M)
  Grade 6 
  (M)
  Grade 3 
  (M)
  Grade 5 
  (M)
  81-90
  Grade 4 
  (M)
  Grade 7 
  (SM)
  Grade 4 
  (M)
  Grade 5 
  (M)
  91-100
  Grade 5 
  (SM)
  Grade 7 
  (SM)
  Grade 4 
  (M)
  Grade 6 
  (SM)
  101-
  110
  Grade 5 
  (SM)
  Grade 8 
  (SM)
  Grade 5 
  (SM)
  Grade 6 
  (SM)
  111-
  120
  Grade 6 
  (SM)
  Grade 8 
  (SM)
  Grade 5 
  (SM)
  Grade 7 
  (SM)
  121-
  130
  Grade 7 
  (SM)
  Grade 9 
  (SM)
  Grade 6 
  (SM)
  Grade 8 
  (SM)
  131-
  140
  Grade 8 
  (SM)
  Grade 9 
  (SM)
  Grade 7 
  (SM)
  Grade 9 
  (SM)
  141-
  150
  Grade 9 
  (SM)
  Grade 10 
  (SM)
  Grade 8 
  (SM)
  Grade 10 
  (SM)
  M on the table means Management. When a character 
  obtains a M-rated Grade, he’s considered qualified for a 
  management role. He may be able to fend off this fate for 
  another grade or two by bureaucratic wrangling, but they’ll 
  get him in the end. Moving into a management position 
  doesn’t necessarily end a character’s time in the field, but it 
  does severely restrict it. 
  SM means Senior Management qualified. A character at 
  this grade is definitely managing something, and may be 
  a contender for department head. It also implies that this 
  character has become one of the players in the Laundry. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  64
  Station Heads and Square Pegs
  Not every role in the Laundry falls neatly 
  onto the org chart. Someone like Jack 
  Griffin, for example, isn’t part of any 
  one department (there isn’t much call for 
  bureaucracy in a one-man station in the 
  Caribbean), but would follow the promotion 
  track for Admin or Peripheral depending 
  on the size and importance of the station 
  (Jack’s definitely Peripheral). 
  Grade Titles
  Different 
  departments 
  use 
  radically 
  different job titles, sometimes even for 
  the exact same role. Parts of the Laundry 
  cling to the old SOE titles; others use 
  standardised civil service codes, or their 
  own esoteric or even ceremonial titles. 
  What matters is the Grade. 
  Grade 1 examples: Administrative Assistant, 
  Research Assistant, Operations Assistant, 
  Sorcerer’s Assistant
  Grade 2 examples: Administration Officer, 
  Scientific Officer, Experimental Officer, 
  Field Officer
  Grade 3 examples: Executive Officer, Senior 
  Scientific 
  Officer, 
  Senior 
  Experimental 
  Officer, Senior Field Officer
  Grade 4 examples: Higher Executive Officer, 
  Principal 
  Scientific 
  Officer, 
  Principal 
  Experimental 
  Officer, 
  Deputy 
  Field 
  Supervisor
  Grade 5 examples: Senior Executive Officer, 
  Senior Principal Scientific Officer, Senior 
  Principal 
  Experimental 
  Officer, 
  Field 
  Supervisor
  Example: A Tale of  Three Careers
  Let’s compare three Laundry characters and see how their 
  career paths developed.
  Bob, first. He’s first recruited into IT, a Peripheral 
  department. He struggles up through the low grades 
  (there’s not much scope for promotion or building Status 
  in the dungeon), and applies for field duty out of boredom. 
  His early missions prove he’s not as useless as he looks, and 
  Angleton takes an interest in his career. By the end of The 
  Atrocity Archive, he’s got Status 20%, but has unwittingly 
  moved from Peripheral to Deliberately Obscure (thanks 
  to that matrix management link into Counter-possession). 
  With Angleton as his Mentor, Bob can also add 1/5th of 
  Angleton’s Status to his own when he invokes his boss’s 
  name, giving him a +18% bonus when he needs it. 
  The events of The Concrete Jungle and The Jennifer Morgue 
  build Bob’s reputation, so by the time of The Fuller 
  Memorandum he’s up to Grade 3 (Senior Scientific Officer 
  3, to be precise) and on the cusp of getting onto the fast-
  track to Senior Management. His transfer to External 
  Assets bumps his Status up to 60%. There’s no escape 
  from Management now…
  Iris Carpenter joins the Laundry late in her career, but 
  has the civil service qualifications to jump straight into 
  administration as an SSO5(A), which is a Management-
  level grade. She’s put in charge of Bob – but she points out, 
  once Bob gets promoted to SSO4(L), he’ll outrank her. Iris’ 
  rise is helped by her connection to the Black Brotherhood: 
  other cultists in the government count as Allies for her, so 
  she has secret connections that benefit her career.
  Finally, Mo joins the Laundry in a temporary role in the 
  Archives at Grade 1. After the traumatic events of The 
  Atrocity Archives, she changes department to Acquisitions, 
  where she proves to be a suitable… partner for the Erich 
  Zann violin. That moves her to Special Projects. As Agent 
  CANDID, she logs a lot more field time than Bob, so she 
  gets promoted even more quickly. Membership of key 
  committees like CLUB ZERO gives her extra Status.
  Getting Promoted
  Once a character accrues the necessary Status to qualify 
  for the next grade, the next step is applying for a 
  promotion. Normally, this happens automatically, but a 
  cruel Gamemaster could make a character jump through 
  some hoops – maybe there’s only one opening in the 
  department, so they have to compete against some other 
  employee, or there are no openings so the character has to 
  transfer, or only one who has undergone the Blasphemous 
  Rite of Al-Azar can enter the Corner Office Perilous. 
  
  65
  SHADOW OF MAHOGANY ROW
  Shadow of Mahogany Row
  A character can use boosted Status (see below) when trying 
  to qualify for a new grade, representing the character calling 
  in favours and relying on the support of external forces. 
  This is the quickest route to high office; the downside is 
  that if your allies turn on you, you’ll go crashing down 
  swiftly if your artificially inflated Status can’t sustain your 
  present grade.
  Getting Demoted
  Losing a few points of Status doesn’t affect a character’s 
  Grade – Status also measures ‘pull’ and reputation, so a 
  small blow to Status reflects a decline in the character’s 
  influence, not their take-home pay or official rank. 
  However, losing 10 or more Status in a single incident 
  (an Audit, being placed on suspension, a bureaucratic 
  omnishambles, losing Cornwall to DEEP SEVEN, 
  accidentally handing your work email password to that 
  nice girl from the Black Chamber you met in the pub) can 
  result in the loss of one or more Grades. 
  Pay Grade & Wealth Level
  A character’s Grade determines their income, and income 
  determines their Wealth Level. Obviously, a character’s 
  exact cash-on-hand isn’t going to be a major factor in most 
  games, and cultists don’t carry 2d6 x 10 gold pieces with a 
  10% chance of gems, but money can still be a motivation 
  – and if you’re going to play office politics, it’s nice to have 
  a concrete value for your soul.
  See page 28 of The Laundry Core Rulebook for a description 
  of each Wealth Level. 
  Grade 1: Poor
  Grade 2-5: Average
  Grade 6-10: Affluent
  Grade 11-12: Wealthy
  Bureaucratic Games
  If your campaign involves a lot of 
  bureaucratic entanglement, as opposed to 
  using the bureaucratic elements of the 
  Laundry for comic relief or – as described 
  here – as a battleground for politicking 
  and conspiracy, then you should check out 
  The Agent’s Handbook, which goes into 
  more detail on the uses and pitfalls of 
  Bureaucracy.
  Military Equivalents
  Line Rank
  Military Rank
  Grade 1
  None
  Grade 2
  Staff Sergeant
  Grade 3
  Captain
  Grade 4
  Major
  Grade 5
  Lieutenant Colonel
  Grade 6
  Colonel
  Grade 7
  Brigadier
  Grade 8
  Major General
  Grade 9
  Lieutenant General
  Grade 10
  Field Marshal
  Boosting Status
  For lower-ranking officers, the only ways to gain Status are 
  those outlined in The Laundry Core Rulebook: successfully 
  completing missions (especially under-budget), and going 
  on certain training courses that emphasise management 
  skills. There’s also the option of just working away, which 
  nets on average of 1 Status per year, at most. At that rate, 
  the Residual Human Resources will outrank you by the 
  end of your career.
  Player characters gain Status for completing missions, 
  usually between 1d3 and 1d6%. For the average character, 
  that means 5-10% per year, although going over-budget 
  on a mission or running into bureaucratic difficulties 
  can severely reduce Status. Once a character reaches 
  Management rank, though, their duties keep them out 
  of the field except in dire emergencies. Therefore, most 
  people in the Laundry have a Status of around 20-30% 
  (average employee), or else stall out around 65% (middle 
  management). 
  Those on the promotion ladder, though, have other ways 
  of increasing their influence in the Laundry. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  66
  Departmental Status
  Power begets power; a character with enough internal 
  influence to affect the decisions made by a department 
  can use that influence externally. If you’re a high flyer 
  in, say, Budgeting, then you can get favours and special 
  consideration from any other department by hinting 
  that their budget allocation for the coming fiscal year 
  hangs on your goodwill, and that if they don’t make you 
  happy, they’ll all be outsourced to the living dead. Other 
  departments have less obvious sway, but even some lowly 
  section like Sanitation or IT can throw its weight around. 
  Benefits: A character who has a Management rank in a 
  department can claim Departmental Status. This lets the 
  character add 1/5th of one skill associated with their 
  department to their Status total, but only in situations 
  where their department has sway. The skills associated 
  with each department are those listed in The Laundry Core 
  Rulebook (Chapter Nine, mostly). 
  For example, Bob (circa The Fuller Memorandum) has Status 55% 
  and Computer Use (Magic) 70%; when he’s speaking for IT support, 
  he can add 1/5th of  his Computer Use score to his Status. Later, 
  if  Bob got moved to Counter-Possession, he’d be adding 1/5th of  
  his highest skill from the following list instead: Bureaucracy, Insight, 
  Knowledge (Occult), Sorcery or Stealth.
  The other benefit of being strongly associated with a 
  department is that it’s easier to get support from that 
  department. When making a Support Requisition, the 
  availability is reduced by one category (Difficult to 
  Average, Average to Easy) if you’re drawing on your own 
  department. So, a character in the Armoury can requisition 
  any weapons more easily; a character who works with the 
  Plumbers can call in Plumbing support more cheaply.
  Responsibilities: The main downside of being strongly 
  bound to a department is that you’re expected to be a good 
  little footsoldier in that department’s bureaucratic turf 
  wars. He who lives by the Department of Sanitation dies 
  by the Department of Sanitation. You must protect your 
  department first, and the other members of your department 
  second – getting the mission done comes in a distant third. 
  Rumours that some Laundry departments have mutated 
  into insular cults are, of course, wholly accurate. 
  Mentors and Allies
  The avuncular mentor is as big a spy trope as trench coats, 
  coded messages, eccentric behaviour and getting shot in 
  the back by your former comrades. Having a senior spy 
  take you under his wing or forging an alliance with a 
  powerful politician can pay dividends for one’s career. 
  Cultivating a Mentor or Ally
  A Mentor takes an interest in you, not the other way 
  around. A character might acquire a Mentor through 
  family connections, through excellent performance or 
  by displaying potential. In the Laundry, having a Deeply 
  Scary Sorcerer or equivalent take an interest in you is not 
  necessarily a reassuring experience; Bob’s career might 
  have benefited from Angleton’s patronage, but the same 
  cannot be said for his marriage, his sanity or his soul. 
  Allies, though, can be cultivated by offering them information or 
  favours. Hinting at the truth behind a D-Notice to a journalist, 
  going to the same club as a politician or taking a troublesome 
  case out of the hands of the Metropolitan police could be the 
  start of a beautiful – or at least mutually beneficial – friendship.
  Inside the Laundry
  All the ISO9001-compliant documentation cannot capture 
  the institutional memory of an organisation like the 
  Laundry. Some things cannot be written down; they are 
  instincts, honed by long years of experience, or secrets 
  passed on only in whispers1. A Laundry mentor can teach 
  an up-and-coming young officer all the tricks of the trade 
  and spycraft developed over the last 50 years – and all the 
  occult lore accumulated over a considerably longer period.
  Or, to put it another way, the only way to become a real 
  wizard is by apprenticeship. 
  Even in the non-occult departments of the Laundry, 
  having the backing of a senior figure does wonders for 
  your career – and the investment pays off for the mentor 
  in the long run, through having a protégé in some position 
  of influence who owes a huge debt. 
  Benefits: The biggest benefit is an intangible one – 
  having the Mentor’s guidance and advice is invaluable 
  when dealing with their areas of expertise. Bridget helped 
  Harriet make a play for control of Counter-Possession; 
  Angleton helped Bob deal with all sorts of crises, notably 
  the Fuller Memorandum situation. 
  A character can draw on the Mentor’s reputation, adding 
  1/5th of the Mentor’s Status score to their own by invoking 
  the Mentor’s name. This is not without its risks – you’re 
  putting your Mentor’s good name in jeopardy. If you phone 
  up the Metropolitan Police and demand they send a police 
  helicopter now, or they’ll answer to Angleton, then you 
  had better have a very good reason for needing a police 
  helicopter, or Angleton will take his discomfort out on you2.
  1: Other things cannot be written down because they’d crawl off the page 
  and infect other printed matter, and then you’ve got to burn the place 
  down to contain the outbreak.
  2: Through comfort soul-eating.
  
  67
  SHADOW OF MAHOGANY ROW
  Shadow of Mahogany Row
  Some Mentors may also offer off-the-books tuition in 
  particular skills, allowing a character to take certain training 
  courses without requiring a training budget.
  Downsides: A relationship like this is a two-way street, 
  only you’re on a space hopper and the mentor’s in a limo. 
  If your Mentor asks you to do something, you jump to it 
  or risk losing their support entirely.
   
  Mahogany Row
  A character doesn’t have to meet their Mentor 
  in the flesh to cultivate a relationship. For 
  that matter, the Mentor doesn’t necessarily 
  have to have flesh. The invisible powers of 
  Mahogany Row sometimes pluck some lowly 
  mortal from the Laundry’s cubicles and groom 
  them for greatness (or sacrifice). In such a 
  case, the pupil never sees their patron, but 
  receives memos, typed letters, cryptic phone 
  calls and other indirect communications. The 
  Board work in mysterious and infuriatingly 
  obtuse ways, so their chosen one will likely 
  spend a lot of time fumbling through old 
  case reports and news clippings, trying to 
  work out exactly what their Mentor is trying 
  to tell them. 
  The Security Services
  Going across the river to the Dustbin – Thames House, 
  the headquarters of the Secret Service, aka MI5 – is a brave 
  move for any Laundry officer. The two agencies are both 
  responsible for domestic security and intelligence gathering 
  in the United Kingdom, and so have effectively been 
  engaged in a nasty turf war for most of the 20th Century. 
  Also across the river is Legoland; that grand architectural 
  monstrosity, that wedding cake in concrete and steel 
  that houses the third sibling organisation, the Security 
  Intelligence Service, aka MI6. The Laundry’s still officially 
  on the books as SOE Station X, the last bastion of the 
  Special Operations Executive, even though the rest of that 
  wartime organisation was absorbed into MI6. That was 
  strike one. Strike two is the fact that the Laundry regularly 
  operates overseas, which means trespassing onto SIS affairs. 
  The two organisations liaise and coordinate their efforts 
  as much as either can stomach, which leads to endless 
  committee meetings where no one says anything, but you 
  could cut the loathing with a knife, if you could find any 
  knives that weren’t already deep in someone’s back. Strike 
  three is that the Laundry’s just plain strange. Espionage 
  attracts eccentrics, but you only get to be eccentric if you 
  went to Oxbridge. The Laundry’s ilk are just weirdoes. 
  There’s also the Metropolitan Police, who have to deal with 
  the occasional ritual murder, ghoul sighting or outbreak of 
  demonic possession3. 
  All three organisations dislike any interference from the 
  Laundry. All three organisations really like it when the 
  Laundry takes ownership of problems that they’re not set 
  up to deal with. MI5, for example, might want the credit 
  for identifying and arresting an Islamic extremist with 
  possible ties to Al Qaeda, but don’t want to deal with the 
  possibility that he’s using an information-transfer gate to 
  encode Namtar, the Mesopotamian deity of plague, into 
  a common virus to create a biological weapon. Foiling a 
  bioterror plot – excellent! Plays very well with the media. 
  Foiling Namtar – that’s harder to claim as a success.
  The Joint Intelligence Committee and various subordinate 
  liaison committees and meetings are supposed to oil the 
  gears and ensure that all the machinery of the security 
  services works together smoothly, but that rarely works. 
  However, an unofficial working relationship with one’s 
  counterpart in another agency can sort things out quickly 
  and efficiently.
  Benefits: After any mission in which the Laundry called on 
  the resources of that other agency, or in which that other 
  agency needed the Laundry’s help, the character with the 
  3: Getting more common as the Stars Amble Towards Rightness. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  68
  Ally in another agency gains +1% Status. Furthermore, 
  when calling on the resources of that organisation (see 
  Support Requisitions on page 106 of The Laundry Core 
  Rulebook), the Difficulty of any rolls is reduced by one step. 
  Downsides: Going outside normal channels means you 
  don’t have the ablative armour of collective responsibility. 
  The relevant committee didn’t approve your use of DI5 
  resources in this case, therefore all the fallout from, say, 
  getting the Security Service to arrest a cultist on anti-terror 
  charges, only to find out he’s totally innocent will fall on you.
  The other downside is that your ally may ask for your 
  assistance in ways that compromise your status in the 
  Laundry. They might ask for access to Laundry records or 
  for magical assistance with a mundane case. That prickly 
  feeling in your skull is your Oath of Office warming up… 
  The Civil Service
  Having an ally in some more mundane organ of government 
  – the Treasury, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and 
  so on – isn’t much help in the field, but is of huge help 
  in furthering one’s career beyond the Laundry. This sort 
  of relationship is conducted over drinks at clubs and 
  meetings in swanky hotel restaurants; players at this level 
  of government dictate the terms to the Laundry officer.
  Benefits: The patronage of a civil service mandarin acts 
  as a career booster; all Status gains are increased by +1%. 
  In situations where the Laundry must accommodate the 
  interests of the other department – domestic threats with 
  the Home Office, international problems with the Foreign 
  Office and so on – you may add 1/5th of your patron’s 
  Bureaucracy score to your Status.
  Downsides: You just became a mole. Oh, don’t worry – 
  your Oath of Office is unlikely to fry your brain when 
  you’re reporting to someone in the Treasury or the Home 
  Office – but you’ll be… encouraged to take action to keep 
  the Laundry in line. It’s like being the Head Boy in your 
  year in a private school – you’ve got the principal’s ear, but 
  your classmates all think you’re a toffee-nosed lickspittle.
  Westminster
  Obviously, you don’t want to shackle yourself to some 
  one-term backbencher who rides the swingometer4 into 
  government, and will be back in Woking in a few years’ time. 
  If you’re going to ally yourself with a Member of Parliament, 
  then go for some ambitious high-flyer or someone who’s 
  been around forever and is already on the inside.
  The Cthulhu Mythos and CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN 
  and all that are an Outside Context Problem for most 
  politicians. They’re short-term thinkers, mostly, focused 
  on the next election at best or the next news cycle in 
  most cases. They don’t deal well with tales of alien-super-
  civilisations or billion-year cosmic cycles. Still, the people 
  have spoken, and who are we to disagree with them? 
  Benefits: If you’ve got the ear of a politician in 
  government, then all Status gains are increased by +1%. 
  Better yet, if they’re a minister or on an appropriate Select 
  Committee, all Status gains increase by +2%.
  Also, it never hurts to have a friendly voices asking the 
  questions if you are called to account for yourself before 
  Parliament…
  Downsides: There’s an election coming. Or a reshuffle. It’s 
  always something. Political allies are fickle, more concerned 
  about their own image and the electoral implications than 
  anything else, and Laundry missions have a strange habit 
  of intersecting with politics in unexpected ways. You take 
  down a cult of Dagon worshippers, and suddenly your 
  formerly friendly politician is on the phone demanding to 
  know why fish stocks in the North Sea just collapsed… 
  The Fourth Estate
  The Laundry has a whole department – Media Relations – 
  to deal with what is inaccurately but charmingly archaically 
  referred to as ‘the Press’, but having a tame journalist (or 
  blogger) can still be very handy. Just keep a bucket of 
  ice water handy to drown your head when your Oath of 
  Office goes nuclear.
  Benefits: There’s no direct impact on Status to having 
  an ally in Fleet Street, but nothing builds one’s reputation 
  in the Laundry faster than making problems go away, 
  and embarrassing leaks and journalistic exposes are 
  big problems. The Laundry is supposed to be a covert 
  organisation, for pity’s sake, protecting humanity from 
  Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. Keeping those 
  Things off the front page of the Grauniad is everyone’s 
  responsibility.
  Journalists can also provide leads and access to sources.
  Downsides: Everyone leaks. It’s embarrassing, but it 
  happens sometimes. 
  If you’re going to enter into a semi-illegal arrangement 
  with a muckraking journalist, though, you’ll need to leak 
  very juicy material on occasion. It’ll all be quid pro quo, of 
  course – they’ll help you cover up that little accident if you 
  give them something equally valuable in the future. 
  4: A potent tool of divination in the right hands.
  
  69
  SHADOW OF MAHOGANY ROW
  Shadow of Mahogany Row
  Supernatural Patrons
  There are powers and dominions out there that take an interest 
  in the affairs of the Laundry. Some were once human. Others 
  masquerade as humans. Others we can glimpse only dimly, their 
  forms and commands tumbling out as the only possible solutions 
  to abstruse equations that map the folds of alien space-time. 
  Having, say, the Ghost of Dr John Dee or Quachil Uttaus, 
  Treader of the Dust in your corner isn’t much good during 
  your annual Competence Framework Utilisation review, 
  but it can be of use in more esoteric circles. 
  Benefits: The right supernatural Patron can open doors for you. 
  True, some of these doors open to nameless netherworlds where 
  dying gods scream eternally, but you still get to add 1/10th of your 
  Sorcery score to your Status as long as your Patron favours you.
  Drawbacks: These vary by Patron, but expect regular 
  sacrifices (blood/a white calf/permanent POW/a year of your 
  life), ritual supplications and the occasional bizarre request.
  Committees
  ‘Welcome to BLOODY BARON,’ says Iris, offering me a recycled 
  cardboard folder with MOST SECRET stamped on the cover: ‘you 
  have two hours to familiarise yourself  with the contents before the 
  Monday afternoon team meeting’.
   
  – The Fuller Memorandum
  Most internal committees and working groups in the Laundry 
  are the sort of thing you find in any other grotesquely swollen 
  bureaucracy. Bob spends his days5 arguing about cabling 
  and network usage policies; others have their own hells to 
  contend with in Accounting or Sanitation Management or 
  Assessment Metrics. Sisyphus wouldn’t trade an eternity of 
  his boulder-pushing for five minutes in a Laundry health and 
  safety policy revision working group subcommittee.
  Other committees, though, are where the action is. 
  BLOODY BARON, for instance, oversees matters related 
  to Baron Ungern Sternberg and his necromantic activities 
  – a fairly wide brief, considering it encompasses TEAPOT, 
  CODICIL BLACK SKULL and a whole host of other 
  potential nightmare scenarios. COBWEB MAZE’s bunch 
  of busy spycatchers search for moles in the Laundry; 
  GOD GAME games out the end of the world in different 
  forms. Membership of certain committees is a signal that 
  you’re a player, someone to be reckoned with. Dropping 
  the right codeword into a conversation is like moving your 
  jacket just so, so the person you’re talking to can make out 
  the outline of a gun in a shoulder holster. 
  Membership of a committee and knowledge of its 
  associated codewords is worth +2% or +5% Status, 
  depending on the importance of the committee. Those 
  worth +5% are extremely sensitive; just reading the briefing 
  documents needed to get up to speed means a hefty SAN 
  check, and that’s before you make any decisions. 
  There are three restrictions on committee membership. 
  Firstly, all major committees are on a need-to-know basis. 
  You can’t volunteer for COBWEB MAZE; they bring you 
  in when you’re ready, or when you’re needed, and those 
  two conditions aren’t necessarily congruent. 
  Secondly, each committee has requirements – minimum 
  skill levels needed to contribute effectively. You can be on 
  a committee without having the required skills, but you’re 
  expected to get up to speed as soon as possible. 
  Thirdly, there are only so many hours in the day (or night, 
  for certain committees). You can only have a number 
  of active codeword committees equal to half your INT. 
  Beyond that, it’s too hard to keep track of vital information.
  5: Or used to, anyway, before External Assets.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  70
  International Meetings
  I’m here to take part in the monthly joint-
  liaison meeting with our EU partner agencies. 
  It’s held under the auspices of the EU Joint 
  Intergovernmental Framework on Cosmological 
  Incursions, which is governed by the Common 
  Defence provisions of the Second Treaty of 
  Nice. (You haven’t heard of this particular 
  EU treaty because it’s secret by mutual 
  agreement, none of the signatories wanting to 
  start a mass panic.)
   
  – The Jennifer Morgue
  International committee meetings are even more 
  bureaucratic and time consuming than regular 
  ones, but at least they have the frisson 
  of international travel6. An international 
  committee has a Status bonus +2% higher than 
  (so, +4% or +7% Status), but counts as two 
  committees for the purposes of the INT/2 limit.
  Example Committees
  Committee
  Remit
  Requirements
  Status 
  Bonus
  BLOODY BARON
  Matters relating to the Bloody 
  White Baron, TEAPOT, and the 
  Fuller Memorandum
  Status 50%, Cthulthu Mythos 20%, Knowledge (Occult) 
  50%, Knowledge (Espionage) 40%, Knowledge (History) 
  50%, Knowledge (Politics) 35%
  +5%
  COBWEB MAZE
  Internal security and containment in 
  the wake of the Black Brotherhood 
  incident
  Bureaucracy 40%, Knowledge (Politics) 40%, Knowledge 
  (Law) 50%, Knowledge (Espionage) 60%, Science 
  (Forensics) 40%
  +5%
  LUCKY GOLD 
  External Asset oversight
  Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Knowledge (Occult) 40%, Knowledge 
  (Politics) 50%, Knowledge (Law) 30%, Strategy 60%
  +2%
  DANUBE BRIDGE
  Non-human entities who have 
  been granted asylum and civilian 
  identities in the UK
  Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Bureaucracy 50%, Etiquette 50%, 
  Knowledge (Archaeology) 40%, Knowledge (Politics) 40%, 
  Knowledge (Occult) 40%
  +5%
  WEDDING GUEST
  Liaison and relations with BLUE 
  HADES
  Bureaucracy 25%, Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Etiquette 40%, 
  Knowledge (Politics) 40%, Swim 25%
  +2%
  BLACK SKULL
  Oversight and control of Concorde 
  flights over the Dead Plateau
  Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Knowledge (History) 40%, Science 
  (Thaumaturgy) 40%
  +2%
  STATELY HOME
  Control of the Laundry’s secret 
  facilities in the English countryside
  Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Etiquette 40%, Knowledge (Art 
  History) 40%, Sorcery 40%
  +2%
  BLAZING FOLLY
  Development of tactical weapons 
  against Class 3+ entities
  Bureaucracy 40%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Demolition 40%, 
  Knowledge (Accounting) 40%, Knowledge (Politics) 40%, 
  Science (Thaumaturgy) 60%, Strategy 40%
  +5%
  OVERSHOOT
  Oversight of all matters related 
  to the British Lunar Expedition, 
  including the survivors
  Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Knowledge (History) 40%, 
  Knowledge (Politics) 40%, Medicine 40%, Science 
  (Astronomy) 20%, Science (Thaumaturgy) 40%
  +2%
  1955
  Formed in the wake of Turing’s 
  death to oversee the science of 
  Computational Demonology 
  Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Computer Use (Magic) 60%, 
  Knowledge (Occult) 40%, Science (Mathematics) 60%, 
  Science (Thaumaturgy) 60% 
  +5%
  SILVER TWILIGHT
  Drafts legislation relating to the 
  Black Assizes
  Knowledge (Law) 70%, Knowledge (Occult) 50%, 
  Knowledge (Politics) 50%.
  +2%
  EMBANKMENT 
  Liaison with ghoul colonies beneath 
  London
  Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Etiquette 40%, Knowledge (Occult) 
  40%, Knowledge (Group: Ghouls) 50%
  +2%
  OPERA CAPE
  Integration of PHANGS
  Medicine 20%, Science (Thaumaturgy) 20%, Knowledge 
  (Occult) 20%, Law 20%
  +2%
  6. Financial control strips away any frissons long before you get your hands on them. Prepare to travel cattle-class on budget airlines that deposit you 
  at some obscure regional airfield in the dead of night, if they get you there at all. 
  
  71
  RUNNING POLITICAL GAMES
  Running Political Games
  Politics isn’t to everyone’s taste. Some players prefer to keep 
  the office job aspects of the Laundry to a minimum, and keep 
  the game focused on investigating mysteries, thwarting things 
  that need to be thwarted and generally stumbling towards 
  apocalypse. Every few weeks, the Gamemaster presents some 
  juicy plot hook or mission briefing, the characters investigate, 
  uncover the horrible truth, and then either save the day or get 
  eaten. Events may be flavoured by the Laundry’s themes of 
  bureaucracy, espionage and geekiness, but that’s all – they’re 
  background elements, not the main event. 
  Other players, especially those raised on a diet of The 
  Sandbaggers and John le Carre novels, want the circles 
  within circles, the tradecraft and the backstabbing. 
  Emphasising the politics – both internal and external – of 
  the Laundry lets you run games where the Mythos takes 
  a back seat to parliamentary double-dealing and nights of 
  long knives on Mahogany Row. Either check with your 
  players before delving into this sort of play, or run a ‘taster’ 
  game first (scenarios like Secret Agendas in the Black Bag 
  Jobs supplement, or Hot Potato on page 85 are ideal).
  Low-ranking player characters usually don’t have the 
  influence to be involved in political intrigues, but they may 
  still be dragged into them by accident, or be used as pawns by 
  their superiors in some ineffable struggle whose dimensions 
  they glimpse only dimly. Take The Concrete Jungle or Pimpf; both 
  stories are about internal turf wars in the Laundry, but Bob 
  (our proxy player character) isn’t involved in the intrigue and 
  political power plays. The machinations dump problems on 
  his head, like mysterious concrete cows or haunted Neverwinter 
  Nights dungeons. Similarly, consider the plight of the poor 
  player character who thinks she saw an MP’s advisor at a cult 
  gathering. She has no proof that the cult has dug its tendrils 
  into the MP, but he’s got friends within the Laundry who will 
  protect him from any ‘baseless accusations’. Does she drop 
  the matter and try to forget what she saw, or risk her career 
  by running an off-the-books investigation, or does she try to 
  build support for an official surveillance operation?
  In a longer campaign, bringing the politics to the fore can 
  keep the office-side parts of the game fresh and interesting. 
  There are only so many jokes you can make about boring 
  committee meetings and pointless bureaucracy – but 
  once the players find their feet within the setting, and the 
  Gamemaster establishes a supporting cast, then the office 
  intrigue and politics can grow with each adventure, and 
  those meetings stop being about boring trivialities and 
  become knife-edge negotiations for the fate of world. (In The 
  Apocalypse Codex, Bob goes to amusing ghastly civil service 
  training courses; Angleton struggles with the Black Chamber 
  even as Reverend Schiller tries to wake the Sleeper). 
  The key to a successful transition is to give the players an 
  antagonist within the Laundry. Give them an ambitious, 
  backstabbing Human Resources officer, or a manager who 
  intends to use their corpses as stepping stones on his way 
  up the promotion ladder. Give them a foe that they can’t 
  zap with a warrant card or shoot with the Basilisk Gun, and 
  force them to connive and conspire in self-defence. Once 
  they get involved in Laundry politics, they’ll be trapped in 
  a sticky web of favours, debts and grudges that will keep 
  getting bigger and deeper throughout the campaign.
  High Status Characters
  The danger of politics, though, is that winning often 
  involves promotion (usually into the office of some 
  vanquished rival), and after a few promotions, the scope 
  for regular Laundry-style missions gets narrower and 
  narrower. It’s entirely plausible that a bunch of office 
  drones get sent to investigate the weirdness-of-the-week, 
  whatever that is – ghouls on the District and Circle Line, 
  or a mad sorcerer who tries crowdfunding his attempt 
  to build a Raspberry PI-powered Tillinghast Resonator. 
  Running Political Games
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  72
  It’s less likely that a group of experienced agents and 
  managers would drop everything to run off on a mission, 
  unless the fate of the world was at stake. Getting a desk 
  job may mean the end of a character’s investigative career. 
  There are several ways to deal with this problem (assuming 
  you don’t want to shunt the characters over to External 
  Assets or Special Projects or Ways and Means, where Status 
  matters less than your Firearms (Esoteric Weapons) skill):
  • Phase out missions: You can drop the whole mission 
  of the week structure entirely. Middle managers don’t go 
  on most missions. You then either ‘go loud’ or ‘go deep’
  Going loud means sticking to really high-stakes missions. 
  As Agent CANDID, for instance, Mo doesn’t get sent 
  to degauss haunted planes or investigate weird goings-
  on at St Hilda’s; she’s sent off to take down major 
  cults, or to nuke Billington’s super-yacht before DEEP 
  SEVEN rises, or to fiddle while the world burns. Write 
  missions where the stakes are very high and the political 
  fallout is extremely toxic. (The approach of CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN makes this sort of mission 
  more and more common as time goes on).
  Going deep means writing longer, more complex, more 
  intricate missions. For example, the COBWEB MAZE 
  committee’s brief is to investigate penetration of the 
  Laundry by the Brotherhood of the Black Pharoah and 
  other hostile cults. An adventure revolving around a 
  single strand of that investigation could take many, many 
  sessions to complete (see Mole Hunts on page 73). 
  • You have to log field hours: Just because you’re the 
  newly minted head of Special Projects doesn’t mean you 
  can neglect the basics. In this set-up, every Laundry officer, 
  even mid- and high-ranking ones, have to take a certain 
  number of field cases every year. This lets you send veteran 
  agents off on seemingly irrelevant or farcical assignments 
  just as easily as you sent them when they were fresh meat. 
  • Multiple Player Characters: Another option is to let 
  the players run two or more player characters each. If 
  your first cadre of player characters have risen to the 
  top, or at least middle, and are stuck in managerial roles 
  that leaves little time for field duty, then have the players 
  create a new gang of fresh-faced, innocent, unscarred 
  recruits. You could even assign each new player 
  character to the department run by a haggard ancient, 
  so the players get to boss each other around and devise 
  amusing torments for the n00bs. 
  Alternatively, you can have the players create old and 
  experienced senior management characters to go with 
  their regular field officers. Most weeks, they play Bob-level 
  dogsbodies, but once in a while, you cut to a committee 
  meeting involving Great Old Ones on a par with Angleton 
  or the Auditors. For example, say that the player characters 
  are off on a mission, and have just discovered that the 
  Black Chamber are about to launch a pre-emptive attack 
  on the BLUE HADES colony off Innsmouth. The player 
  characters call their supervisors at the Laundry and ask for 
  a steer – do they warn BLUE HADES, or try to stop the 
  Chamber without the Deep Ones finding out, or do they 
  just get the hell out of there? You then run a scene where 
  the players play those supervisor-level characters, and let 
  them hash out the Laundry’s official response.
  See High-level Meetings on page 76 for one way to 
  handle such an angle.
  Committee Scenes
  Hmm, a scene where all the participants are seated around 
  a table, talking – how could one possibly model that in 
  a roleplaying game? Committee scenes are the purest 
  form of roleplaying, as it’s all about arguing and plotting 
  in character. There’s no need to roll dice, no need to ask 
  the Gamemaster to resolve an action. The line between 
  ‘player’ and ‘character’ is very thin, here.
  Like a real meeting, though, committee meetings need 
  to be kept on track. Introduce new information or new 
  problems whenever the action droops, so the players don’t 
  end up arguing the same points over and over. This new 
  information might come from a telephone call or report, or 
  from a non-player character (and, depending on your level 
  of player input, you might also let players make references 
  to past events that they invent on the spot – “this is the 
  Ingolstadt incident all over again – can we use the same solution as we 
  did there?”) Demand that the players conclude the scene once 
  the argument has run its course – the committee has to come 
  to a decision, even if not all the members agree with it.
  Intrigues
  Political intrigue conjures up images of one-on-one meetings 
  in dark alleys and smoky back rooms. Player characters, 
  however, tend to travel in gangs of four to six. You can split 
  the players up and run different scenes for each player, but that 
  can get unwieldy, especially when the player characters don’t 
  trust each other and start demanding sidebar conferences with 
  the GM1. One option is to shunt as much of the intrigue and 
  secret meetings off into email conversations2 between game 
  sessions. Leave game night free for action and investigation, 
  1: Your humble author once ran a campaign where more than half of every 
  game session got taken up in one-on-one conferences with conspiring players. 
  2: Also known as ‘bluebooking’, if you’re a very old-school gamer. 
  Admittedly, by using something as gauche as email, I suspect I have marked 
  myself as belonging to a particular generation, and the kids these days 
  probably use Facebook messages or twizzle or something. Sufficiently 
  advanced Eternal September becomes indistinguishable from future shock. 
  
  73
  RUNNING POLITICAL GAMES
  Running Political Games
  and then during the week have all the intrigue and plotting. 
  One great virtue of using a written medium is that it allows for 
  more intricate political plotting and more complex backstories 
  – it’s hard to extemporise a subtle political mystery and keep 
  all the clues straight. Using email helps both players and 
  Gamemasters keep track of their web of lies. 
  Political Adventures
  When designing a political adventure, you’ll need a larger 
  cast of supporting characters than the average field op, and 
  the clues will perforce be subtler and more obfuscated. In 
  a field operation, the PCs discover what the cultists are up 
  to by reading their rambling blogs or interrogating their 
  corpses with Gravedust rigs; in a political game, much as 
  they might like to, the PCs can’t shoot their way to the 
  end. Always have a fallback in case the investigation part 
  of the scenario doesn’t go as planned – if the players don’t 
  work out that a particular NPC is the cultist through the 
  subtle clues dropped in the first part of the game, then 
  they can still thwart her plans later on, but they’ll be at 
  some disadvantage or penalty for not catching her early.
  The Mole
  There’s a spy in the Laundry, a double agent who’s working 
  for the Enemy. The characters must identify this mole and 
  obtain incontrovertible proof of his treachery.
  • Who is the Mole? Are they just some minor clerk in a position 
  where they can steal the occasional sensitive document, or 
  is someone in the Laundry’s upper echelons a traitor? The 
  characters meet the Mole early in the investigation (a plot 
  in which the characters identify some office drone they’ve 
  never met or heard of before as the spy would be extremely 
  unsatisfying), so you’ll need a large cast of potential traitors 
  for them to investigate until they work out that the kindly tea 
  lady or the oddly aware zombie is the Mole.
  • Who’s he spying for? There are lots of potential 
  adversaries – the Black Chamber or another OCCINTEL 
  group, a powerful cult like the Black Brotherhood, 
  another security agency or organ of government, or 
  even another part of the Laundry. 
  • How does he get away with it? Magic offers a level of 
  security and forced loyalty that real-world spy agencies 
  can only achieve by seizing control of the interest and 
  suborning the whole population with tales of terrorism and 
  paranoia. The Mole must somehow deal with both his Oath 
  of Office and any other codeword-clearance geases and 
  security checks. Sufficiently powerful magical protection can 
  block the Oath; alternatively, the Mole might have finagled a 
  special exemption from the Oath – maybe he’s blackmailing 
  an Auditor, or was released from the Oath to carry out an 
  infiltration mission into yet another organisation. He could 
  even be a triple agent – a cultist pretending to be a Laundry 
  officer pretending to be a cultist…
  • Who are his allies and supporters? The Mole’s allies and 
  supporters are obstacles the player characters must overcome. 
  Some may be friends and comrades of the Mole, who remain 
  convinced of his innocence until presented with proof they 
  cannot deny. Others might be compromised themselves, or 
  complicit in the Mole’s treachery. Others might be opposed 
  to the player characters on other grounds – maybe they fear 
  the disruption a mole hunt will bring, or have staked their 
  own reputations on existing security measures.
  • Who are the red herrings? The characters may know there 
  is a Mole in a particular department or section, but that just 
  narrows the list of suspects down to a few names. To catch 
  the traitor, they need to winnow the suspects down further, 
  and that may prove tricky. Everyone’s got something to hide 
  if you dig deep enough. No one’s above suspicion. This 
  cast of suspects will be the focus of the game for some 
  time, so the Gamemaster should invest time and energy 
  in developing them, and giving them personalities and 
  backstories that will spark off those of the player characters. 
  Optionally, the Gamemaster can keep the true identity of 
  the Mole undecided for most of the campaign. At the start 
  of the game, any of the suspects could be the Mole. As 
  the players mark them off, one by one, the Gamemaster 
  adds more and more evidence incriminating the remaining 
  herrings, until finally he picks one real traitor who has 
  retroactively been the Mole all along. Keeping the answer 
  indeterminate in a long investigation helps ensure that the 
  Gamemaster does not give the solution away accidentally.
  • How do the characters know there’s a Mole? What 
  tipped off the Laundry? What information did the Mole leak 
  that alerted the Laundry to the danger? Or did someone else 
  learn of the Mole’s existence at the cost of their own life?
  • What’s the Mole’s exit strategy? What does the Mole 
  do in response to the player characters’ investigation? Can 
  he throw obstacles in front of them? Hide his own trail? 
  Frame someone else? What about the Mole’s secret masters 
  – how do they protect their asset? Will the player characters 
  come under attack, or be framed themselves? Finally, when 
  the heat gets too great and the Mole realises that arrest is 
  inevitable, what does he do? What escape route or final 
  grand gesture has he been planning all these years?
  Example: Ten years ago, seven people made it back through the 
  Sultan’s Gate after the botched operation codenamed TITAN BLUE 
  HAMMER. Of  those seven, one is dead, one has left the Laundry, 
  and one is in a padded cell in St. Hilda’s. Four remain active, scattered 
  among different departments in the Laundry. Some are in positions of  
  power; others got buried in the stacks after the disaster. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  74
  Now, a routine investigation into another cult turned up 
  something disturbing. The cult had access to internal Laundry 
  documents and thaumaturgical technology, including schematics 
  of the Trawsfynydd Very Large Containment Grid. They’re 
  TITAN BLUE worshippers, plotting to use the Laundry’s own 
  summoning grid to return their alien god to Earth. One of the 
  survivors of TITAN BLUE HAMMER beheld the majesty of 
  that god and became a secret worshipper of its inhuman glory. 
  The characters must find the Mole before the cult makes 
  its move on Trawsfynydd.
  The Scandal
  In this plot, a political catastrophe strikes the Laundry. Senior 
  management types scurry for cover; others fall on their 
  swords. The balance of power shifts suddenly, and those in a 
  position to take advantage of this scandal can profit greatly 
  from it. The characters, however, are caught by surprise, and 
  have to learn to swim very quickly in order to survive.
  • What was the scandal? The Laundry’s a super-black secret 
  agency, but its screw-ups still make headlines. Oh, you 
  won’t see CLANDESTINE SECRET AGENCY DROPS 
  BALL, MANCHESTER EATEN BY SHOGGOTHS on 
  the front cover anytime soon3, but Laundry officers can 
  still be identified as ‘senior civil servants’ or ‘intelligence 
  analysts’ after they embezzle millions/are caught with 
  drugs and a prostitute or three/end up dead in a duffle bag 
  because of a ‘botched auto-erotic asphyxiation sex act’.
  Scandals can also be internal: a leaked memo, a laptop left behind 
  in a black cab, a failed project, a screwed-up operation or a very 
  bad decision. You can also substitute any other catastrophic event 
  for a scandal. The death or retirement of a senior figure like one 
  of the Auditors, or a general election and the resulting shift in 
  power in the Civil Service can cause the same sort of upheaval.
  • Who loses? Putting one of the character’s allies or 
  mentors at the heart of the scandal is ideal, especially if 
  the characters have come to rely on their avuncular mentor 
  a bit too much. The characters also lose influence and 
  position inside the Laundry if their enemies rise in stature.
  • Who wins? Who do the characters really hate? Better yet, 
  who do the players really hate? Their enemies and rivals 
  within the Laundry turn out to be in the best position 
  to take advantage of the upheaval, and suddenly the 
  characters are outranked and on the defensive. Did their 
  enemies engineer the scandal or did they just get lucky?
  • What’s the real truth? What really happened? Was the 
  scandal real, or faked? If it was faked, who was responsible? 
  If real, how did it come to pass? Did someone help the 
  disaster along, or prevent the character’s former mentor 
  from learning of the problem until it was too late? This 
  plot shares many features with The Cover-Up (see below), 
  although in general, scandals are fresh and new, whereas 
  cover-ups are hoary, dusty crimes believed long-buried.
  • How can the characters use this? With their new 
  knowledge of the scandal, can the characters turn it to their 
  advantage? Can they restore their allies to their former 
  status by clearing them of responsibility, or can they at least 
  ensure that their enemies do not profit from the scandal?
  Example: A senior researcher in Computational Demonology left the 
  Laundry six months ago4, and instead of  taking the nice quiet sinecure 
  lecturing in maths, he’s joined a cutting-edge tech company, and now they’re 
  meddling with Riemann-Gilman functions. Either someone screwed up 
  the geas, or someone deliberately sold Laundry secrets to the private sector.
  Oh, and that researcher – his corpse was just found by a man 
  walking his dog.
  While half  the Laundry’s caught up in a circle of  blame and recrimination, 
  the characters must investigate the researcher’s death, find out exactly what 
  the corporation intends to do with the secrets, and find out who’s behind the 
  scandal. Is someone trying to discredit a rival, are they getting a pay-off  
  from the corporation, or is there an even more sinister scheme at work?
  The Cover-Up
  The characters asked the wrong questions, and now they’re on the 
  trail of some long-buried secrets. Something terrible happened 
  many years ago; those involved tried to hide it, but there are still 
  clues hidden in the Archives, and in the testimonies of other 
  survivors. This plot-line can lead to The Scandal, and vice versa. 
  • What’s the first hint? How do the characters find out that 
  something was covered up? Does their mentor confide 
  in them? Do they come across a cryptic reference in an 
  old file from the Archives, or find the evidence during 
  an unrelated investigation? This hook must be tantalising 
  enough that the players cannot resist it, but also so vague 
  that the nature of the cover-up is not immediately obvious. 
  • Who covered it up? Those involved in the cover-up will be the 
  focus of the adventure, so again the Gamemaster should ensure 
  that these non-player characters have personalities and personal 
  histories that will work well with those of the player characters. 
  Go for either ironic echoes (you could have been him 30 years 
  ago) or conflicting traits (you argue with authority/she demands 
  respect and unquestioning compliance from underlings).
  • What do they have to lose? Why the cover-up? Cosmic horrors 
  that corrode the human soul are the topic of idle conversation 
  in the Laundry’s cafeteria, so it must have been something 
  3: Not for a few years, anyway. 
  4: You can’t ever leave the Laundry, but you can be put on inactive status. 
  They put a blocker geas on you, so you can’t discuss the Laundry with 
  outsiders, and you’re restricted in the sort of work you’re allowed do as a 
  civilian. Also, they can activate you again if they ever want you back. 
  
  75
  RUNNING POLITICAL GAMES
  Running Political Games
  worse, or else something more personal. Is this an official or 
  unofficial cover-up – in other words, does the Laundry know 
  what really happened? Did the conspirators betray the Laundry 
  somehow? Did something go so wrong that it would cost them 
  all their careers if it was revealed? Maybe the cover-up has more 
  to do with mundane politics than the supernatural.
  • What happens if it’s revealed? What happens if it stays hidden? 
  Work out the consequences for either event. Avoid maintaining 
  the status quo; the decision to reveal or conceal the uncovered 
  information always results in big consequences for the campaign. 
  • What got covered up? Over the course of the adventure, 
  the characters will undoubtedly work out something about 
  what got covered up. The final revelation, though, adds a new 
  layer of horror. The secret has something even more alarming 
  associated with it. For example, the characters discover that, 
  say, they were involved in a Laundry operation several years 
  ago, but it went so wrong that the whole operation was buried 
  and their memories were erased. They investigate, learn more 
  about the mission, and finally get hold of the final report 
  – where they learn that there were no survivors. The player 
  characters are actually magical duplicates of the original team, 
  raised up from their essential salts for some cryptic purpose.
  Example: The characters find a misfiled folder while searching the stacks. 
  Inside is a partial report on a Laundry experiment in the 1970s, including a 
  photograph of  the research team involved. Some of  the faces on that photograph 
  are known to the player characters – but they refuse to discuss it, and there’s no 
  other official record of  the experiment. Then the deaths begin…
  The Grand Design
  In this plot, the characters or one of their mentors has a 
  plan for the Laundry’s future, a great work to safeguard the 
  institution into the future. The characters must overcome 
  entrenched opposition to complete this grand design. 
  • What’s the big idea? Is this an internal goal – say, the 
  creation of a new department, or the overthrow of some 
  mummified5 bureaucrat? Or is it an external goal, like 
  establishing an alliance with BLUE HADES or pushing 
  for the existence of the supernatural to be revealed to 
  the public? Is it an attempt to get support for some 
  grand operation, like an assault on the Dread Plateau?
  • Who supports it? In addition to the characters’ mentors and allies, a 
  few other members of the Laundry’s upper management who look 
  favourable on the scheme. These allies can suggest possible tactics 
  and opportunities for the characters to further the Grand Design.
  • Who opposes it? Why? Who are these deluded fools that 
  oppose the Grand Design? Can they not see its brilliance?
  The opposition provides a range of challenges for the players, 
  and so require them to take a different approach in each case. 
  One session might involve bluffing their way through a budget 
  meeting; next week, it’s off to dig up blackmail material on a 
  stubborn manager who keeps blocking the Grand Design. 
  Some opponents can be turned into supporters or at least 
  neutralised with the right approach; others are uncompromising 
  foes who must be destroyed, politically or otherwise. 
  • What’s the opportunity? The Grand Design hinges on something 
  – the support of a government minister or a member of the Board, 
  a celestial conjunction, a temporary weakness in some enemy, the 
  successful completion of a field mission against a cult, the successful 
  translation of the coded segments of De Vermiis Mysteriis. The 
  characters must be ready to seize this opportunity when it arises.
  • What gets in the way? What might stop them from seizing 
  the opportunity? Who’s pouring poison in the Minister’s 
  ear/filing false reports with the board/conducting their 
  own counter-ritual/sabotaging the field mission/stealing 
  the one intact copy of De Vermiis Mysteriis? 
  • What’s the twist? Nothing ever goes smoothly, even 
  when the characters win. They get the Grand Design 
  off the ground, only to find out that something else has 
  gone wrong. Perhaps one of their erstwhile allies intends 
  to use the Grand Design to do something horrific (“OK, 
  you’ve convinced the government to build protective wards around 
  the whole of  the UK – only now you’ve got to stop your former ally 
  from unleashing a magical plague intended to wipe out the rest of  
  humanity, thus averting CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN.”)6
  Example: The proposal for Operation REVELATION has 
  knocked around the Laundry since the 80s – do a massive exercise 
  involving the Laundry, the army and the emergency services to simulate 
  a mass outbreak. It would test the nation’s disaster-readiness capability, 
  prepare the civilians for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, and 
  provide valuable training for all participants. It would, of  course, mean 
  bringing parts of  the Laundry out of  the shadows. 
  Now, one of  the characters’ allies is pushing for a stripped-down 
  REVELATION. Instead of  making it nation-wide, he wants to 
  take a medium-sized town and subject it to a simulated apocalypse. By 
  bringing the number of  civilians and non-Laundry personnel involved 
  down to only a few hundred thousand, it would be possible to wipe the 
  memories of  everyone concerned. The after-effects of  the simulation 
  could be attributed to a natural disaster, like a flood or a chemical spill. 
  He wants the characters to sell the Laundry – and the government – on 
  this taster course of  Armageddon, and if  it goes ahead, he wants them to 
  run it. With CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN looming, an exercise 
  like this is vital if  the Laundry is going to handle the real thing – but 
  can the characters’ careers survive the lead-up to REVELATION?
  5: Take this as literally as you wish. 
  6: Avoid making the Grand Design itself a trick, though, unless you give 
  the players plenty of opportunity to uncover the truth in advance. Nothing 
  sucks more than the players working hard to accomplish a goal, only for 
  the Gamemaster to yell “surprise! You were fooled all along, even though 
  there was no way for you to discover this 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  76
  Let’s draw a line. 
  It could be a line on an org chart. After all, it connects 
  you to the upper echelons, to the exalted aethers of 
  management and Mahogany Row.
  It could be part of a circuit diagram. Think transistors 
  – a small change on one side of the line is mirrored by 
  huge changes on the other. A brief conversation at some 
  high-level meeting can make or break a career, kick off a 
  decade-long operation, or institute a new policy that will 
  one day affect the lives of millions. A silence can contain 
  and condone a murder or a sacrifice in some conferences. 
  It could be a line on a warding pentacle, an occult 
  representation of a curve burning brightly through the 
  virtual space of the platonic realm, a line in the numbers 
  that says this far and no further shalt thou come – the stars are 
  not yet right for your kind to cross into our realm. The decisions 
  in those meetings are made under the shadow of the 
  apocalypse. The wrong decision, the wrong call, and the 
  consequences are incalculable. Worse, those who make 
  those decisions are not always the people who must 
  implement them. They must decide not only what is to be 
  done, but who is to do it. They must decide who to send 
  into danger, and how much to tell them. They must decide 
  who will live and who will die.
  So, that’s the line. Keep it in mind. We’ll cross it in time.
  First, though, let’s talk practicalities.
  Hardcore Nerdery
  Roleplaying games are only fun if you’re in charge of 
  your own decisions. Oh, the GM can kick off the game 
  with a mission handed down from on high (“this week, 
  you’re chasing abominable snowmen who’ve had their brains stolen 
  by PLUTO KOBOLD”) and can pressure the characters 
  in various ways that push for one decision or another 
  (“the Russian goon says he’ll blow your brains out if you 
  don’t give him the binding codes”) but, in general, you 
  expect to have control over your choices. That’s why strict 
  chains-of-command and long-term mind control or totally 
  railroaded, 
  sit-down-and-endure-my-unpublished-novel 
  scenarios don’t work well in most conventional RPGs – 
  they rob the players of one of the things that makes the 
  experience enjoyable. 
  Another, even more inarguable fact about roleplaying 
  games: your GM only has one mouth1, which means 
  there can only be one NPC speaking a time. And, unless 
  your GM is really good at portraying different voices and 
  mannerisms, there can only be two or three talking NPCs 
  present in a scene before things get confusing. On top 
  of that, the average party of player characters wanders 
  around in a tight huddle, so you’ve got three to six player 
  characters all talking to one NPC. 
  In most situations, those restrictions can be worked 
  around. We give our player characters a little more leeway 
  for independent action than people in a real intelligence 
  agency might have. We avoid pointing out the absurdity 
  when six trenchcoated spies meet the same contact in a 
  dark alleyway. One place we run hard up against these 
  restrictions is in high-stakes Laundry Files operations.
  Take the sort of missions that Agent CANDID goes on 
  with her wonderful violin, or the high-level game played 
  against Billington in The Jennifer Morgue. These are carefully 
  planned affairs, blessed and sanctified in Mahogany Row. 
  They’re light-years away from Bob’s trademark brand of 
  bumbling around (except when they incorporate said 
  bumbling into the mission plan – again, The Jennifer Morgue). 
  There, a lot of the fun2 decisions get taken at a level far 
  above the ones the player characters operate at. Agent 
  CANDID didn’t get to come up with the clever method 
  of exploiting a hole in Billington’s hero trap; that was all 
  decided on in committee by Angleton and his cronies.
  To replicate that sort of mission in a roleplaying game 
  while still keeping it fun, we need to change things up. It’s 
  time for a minigame!
  The five stages of bureaucratic grieving are: denial, anger, committee meetings, scapegoating and 
  cover-up. And now we are entering stage three.
   
  – The Rhesus Chart
  High-Level Meetings
  1. #insert obvious_shoggoth_joke
  2. For values of “fun” congruent to a roleplaying game. We’re not 
  suggesting that tense, high-level strategic planning sessions in buried war 
  rooms with the fate of the world at stake are in any way fun. Unless you’re 
  a sociopath.
  
  77
  HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS
  High-Level Meetings
  Cards on the Table
  This minigame is designed for running scenes involving 
  high-ranking NPCs in the Laundry or a similar organisation. 
  It doesn’t use the normal rules – it doesn’t matter what 
  Angleton’s CON or Firearms (shotgun) or Perform3 are, 
  so there’s no point in doing full sheets for such exalted 
  personages. Management at that level don’t go into the field. 
  Instead, it uses a normal deck of playing cards, which get 
  used as both Influence cards and Issue cards.
  Influence Cards
  Influence cards represent political sway and power in the 
  committee. The value of the card determines how much 
  influence it carries, higher values being better. The suit of 
  the card determines the sort of influence it represents.
  HEARTS are personal status – your own standing in the 
  Laundry. It converts roughly to the Status skill in the game, 
  so the 2 of Hearts represents a Status skill of 20% or so. 
  SPADES are departmental status – how important your 
  department is in the Laundry, how much of that influence 
  is relevant and how much of that you influence you can 
  bring into play.
  CLUBS represent allies, political patrons, mentors, sway 
  from outside the Laundry. 
  DIAMONDS are occult power – either your own 
  sorcerous abilities, your supernatural allies, the after-
  effects of certain unusual training courses or just your 
  reputation as a Deeply Scary Sorcerer. 
  Aces count as a 1 when used for Influence.
  Face cards (Jacks, Queens and Kings) aren’t used as 
  Influence cards except when trumping (see below). 
  Issue Cards
  Cards can also represent challenges or problems for the 
  committee to tackle, in which case the value of the card 
  measures how difficult the problem is. Cards used in this way 
  are called Issues. Combined, they’re referred to as the Agenda. 
  HEARTS represent troublesome individuals. 
  SPADES are organisations – cults, rival OCCINTEL 
  groups, suspicious societies, or even whole species like 
  BLUE HADES or DEEP SEVEN.
  CLUBS are internal problems within the Laundry or 
  the British establishment, or twists or complications like 
  an unforeseen delay in the production of EMERALD 
  JAVELIN anti-giant-alien-space-monster missiles.
  DIAMONDS are occult problems – exonomes, lost relics, 
  the Necronomicon, CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN. 
  Aces count as 11 when used for Issues.
  3. Con 9, Firearms (Shotgun) 40%, and it’s Perform (Ritual Strangulation) 70%, Perform (Make the non-Newtonian cradle on his desk tap back and forth 
  in a manner designed to drive you insane) 90%. You did ask.
  Tracking
  While the general meaning of a card doesn’t 
  change – the 7 of Diamonds is always 
  something occult and moderately powerful 
  – what it specifically represents varies 
  from game to game. In one meeting, the 7 of 
  Diamonds might be an alien relic recovered 
  from an expedition offworld. In another, 
  it’s the Rite of Naar. If you’ve got a lot 
  of cards on the table, use post-it notes 
  or clip them to index cards with their 
  current meaning written on them. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  78
  When used as an Issue, a Jack, Queen or King has a value 
  of 12, and indicates the involvement of, respectively, a 
  supernatural entity (Jack), a woman (Queen) or man (King).
  For example, the agenda for The Apocalypse Codex might look 
  something like this:
  King of  Spades – the New Life Church and Reverend Schiller
  5 of  Clubs – Schiller’s connections to Downing Street.
  4 of  Clubs – Schiller’s based in the United States, so the Laundry 
  has to dodge the Black Chamber
  Ace of  Hearts – the Sleeper in the Pyramid.
  The Aim of  the Game
  This being the Laundry, there are three orthogonal aims.
  The goal of the committee is to solve any Issues presented 
  to them. You’ve got a problem – come up with a solution 
  that addresses all the issues raised. You do this by playing 
  Influence cards from your hand.
  The goal of individual players is to score cards. You score 
  cards by being the one whose solutions are adopted by the 
  committee, or by undermining or overruling (trumping) 
  other people’s solutions. The more cards you score, the 
  better it is for your own PC when you go back to regular play.
  The third goal is play as few cards as possible, as any 
  cards left in players’ hands at the end of the meeting go to 
  determining the mission budget. 
  Ways to Play
  There are three variants of this minigame – pick the one 
  that suits the current situation in game.
  Existing Crisis: If you’re dropping a committee scene 
  into an on-going scenario, then you’ve already got a crisis in 
  mind. The Cult of the Black Pharaoh are behind a coup in 
  Iraq; the MOD’s lost a submarine in the Antarctic; there’s a 
  mass possession outbreak at the Chelsea Flower Show; the 
  Teapot’s missing, and someone’s going to make tea… in 
  this case, you know why the committee’s been assembled. 
  In this variant, you pick the cards used for Issues. 
  Random Plot Generator: If you’re comfortable with winging 
  it, you can kick off a game with a committee scene. Randomly 
  dealt Issue cards determine the sort of problem that the 
  Laundry has to sort out; the players fill in the details. Especially 
  suitable for masochistic GMs or those who like chaos. 
  You can combine either of these with Bob, You’re in 
  the Meeting. Instead of all the players playing senior 
  management, one of them gets to play their normal 
  character, who’s been called into the meeting or temporarily 
  deputised by their line manager to attend in their stead. 
  Here, instead of randomly dealing Influence cards, you 
  assemble the player’s hand based on their character sheet 
  and backgrounds. 
   
  Bob, You’re in the Meeting
  Using one of your regular player characters 
  in this mini-game? Go through the deck and 
  pick cards as follows. If a card isn’t 
  available (because another player has it), 
  they get the next lower card of the same 
  suit.
  Pick the Hearts card corresponding to the 
  character’s Status skill divided by 10. If 
  it’s more than 10, take the 10s card. 
  Pick the Spades card corresponding to 
  the 
  character’s 
  highest 
  departmental 
  skill divided by 10. (See page 66 for 
  departmental 
  status 
  and 
  departmental 
  skills). 
  Pick the Diamonds card corresponding to the 
  character’s Sorcery divided by 10 (Aces 
  are low, so a character with no Sorcery 
  gets an Ace.)
  Give the character a Clubs card based on 
  their mentor, if any (see page 66 for 
  more on mentors).
  • Internal mentor – that mentor’s Status 
  divided by 10.
  • Media – 6 of Clubs
  • Security Service mentor – 7 of Clubs
  • Civil Service – 8 of Clubs
  • Westminster – 9 of Clubs
  • Supernatural – 10 of Clubs
  
  79
  HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS
  High-Level Meetings
  Set-up 
  1. Split the deck into the four suits. If you’re playing the 
  Existing Crisis variant, assemble the Issue cards now 
  (see below). 
  2. Deal one card from each suit to each player. The players 
  keep their cards hidden from one another. If you’re 
  playing Bob, You’re In the Meeting, assemble that 
  PC’s hand now (see the boxout nearby). 
  3. Now, shuffle the decks together. Deal one card to each 
  player. Each player should now have five cards in hand. 
  These are Influence cards. 
  4. If you’re playing Random Plot Generator, deal out six or 
  so cards, face down, and put them in the middle of the table. 
  (If you’re playing Existing Crisis, you’ve already assembled 
  the Issues.) They’re the Issues that have to be overcome. For 
  a more difficult problem, deal out more cards. 
  Building the Agenda
  Random Plot Generator: Flip over the cards dealt in Set-
  up Step 4, one by one. For each card, have a player describe 
  what specific challenge that card represents based on that 
  card’s suit and value. Encourage the players to build on each 
  other’s ideas. Cards of the same suit can represent a single 
  developing situation. As a guideline, a good Issue can be 
  phrased in the form of the question “what the hell are we going 
  to do about <insert Issue here> before all hell breaks lose upstairs?”
  For example, in a three-player meeting, the following cards are 
  turned over. 
  Jack of  Clubs (Supernatural Entity within the Laundry): It’s the 
  Switchboard. It’s not working properly.
  7 of  Clubs (middling problem within the Laundry): Internal 
  communications within the Laundry are therefore disabled.
  7 of  Hearts (mid-ranking troublesome individual): One of the 
  Switchboard engineers has gone missing.
  Ace of  Clubs (major problem within the Laundry): The 
  Switchboard is one of the pillars of the organisation. 
  If Switchboard can be compromised, then anything and 
  everything in the Laundry is potentially vulnerable.
  King of  Hearts (high-ranking troublesome individual): A notorious 
  freelance computational demonologist and black hood4 
  hacker, the Rabbit, is believed to be in London.
  King of  Clubs (high-ranking male within the Laundry): Dr Brown, 
  one of the Auditors, picked up his office phone this morning, 
  and got his soul sucked out through the receiver. Recovering 
  what remains of Dr Brown’s consciousness before it can be 
  dissected and sold on the black market is a priority.
  Existing Crisis: The GM picks Issue cards that reflect 
  the existing situation in the game. The total value of the 
  agenda should be roughly 10 x the number of players. 
  Let’s take the scenario A Footnote from The Laundry Core 
  Rulebook, page 251. To refresh your memory, that’s the one about 
  air-deployed canisters of  the powder of  Ibn-Gazi and invisible 
  monsters left over from an old Laundry experiment in breeding 
  half-demon cows – the one with Yog-Snuffles and the railgun. If  
  we hypothesise there was a committee scene before the regular player 
  characters got sent to Scotland to clean up the mess, then the GM 
  might build a six-card Agenda as follows:
  9 of  Clubs – the GABLE WINDOW test firings, which are 
  being conducted jointly with the RAF.
  4 of  Clubs – the Kilcudbright testing range – any Laundry 
  investigation has to be low-key.
  8 of  Diamonds – the supernatural entity spotted in the testing.
  3 of  Diamonds – the abandoned BLUE LILY experiments 
  which probably don’t have anything to do with the current 
  situation.
  8 of  Spades – Mahogany Row needs this situation resolved 
  quickly so they can proceed with the high-priority GABLE 
  WINDOW project.
  4 of  Hearts – there might be civilians nearby. Keep the 
  situation contained. 
  You don’t even need to use cards if you don’t wish to – just 
  write down two to five Issues that have to be overcome, 
  and assign them numerical values that total up to roughly 
  10 x the number of players. 
  Playing the Game
  At the start of the meeting, each player introduces 
  themselves (or, more accurately, their temporary high-
  ranking manager-type). As part of this introduction, each 
  player reveals one Influence card that reflects their standing 
  in the Committee. So, if you’re here as a representative of 
  the Department of Acquisitions, flash a Spade. If you’re 
  here in your own right as an experienced field agent, show 
  a Heart. It doesn’t have to be your highest card, but it 
  should be how the other players know you. The player 
  who reveals the highest-value card chairs the meeting.
  4. Criminal hackers are black hat hackers. Ones who summon demons and 
  0wnz0r your brainz wear pointy black hoods and robes.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  80
  The chair gets to decide on the order of events if two or 
  more players try to do something simultaneously. At the 
  end of the meeting, the chair must also compile a list of 
  action items for the regular player characters based on the 
  committee’s decisions. 
  Proposing Solutions
  The players then propose solutions to the various 
  problems. They may address the Agenda as a whole, or 
  tackle individual Issues one at a time as they prefer. When 
  proposing a solution, the player takes an Influence card 
  from his or her hand and puts it next to one of the Issues, 
  while describing how that Influence can be employed to 
  tackle that problem.
  For example, let’s say the Issue is Internal Communications in 
  the Laundry are disabled. 
  • (Plays 7 of  Spades) “The Department of Acquisitions has 
  an old pneumatic tube system for transferring physical 
  documents – we can bring that into service for the rest 
  of the Laundry.
  • (Plays 6 of  Hearts) “I’ll talk to the IT kobolds about the 
  security implications of implementing Voice over IP on 
  our bound server daemons”
  • (Plays 9 of  Clubs) “Let’s use this crisis as an opportunity, 
  and bring in a modern internal communications system 
  instead of a Switchboard that’s still running on hardware 
  we inherited from Churchill’s War Department in 1946”
  • (Plays 4 of  Diamonds) “Why can’t we just use telepathic 
  magic like the Yanks do in the Black Chamber?”
  A good solution includes a proposal for the regular 
  player characters to take some action. Of course, doing 
  so offloads more problems and dangers onto the regular 
  player characters – but that’s all part of the fun...
  • (Plays 7 of  Spades) “The Department of Acquisitions has 
  an old pneumatic tube system for transferring physical 
  documents – we can bring that into service for the rest 
  of the Laundry. Of course, someone will have to go 
  down into the basement and clear out the tubes. There 
  could be anything down there…”
  • (Plays 9 of  Clubs) “Let’s use this crisis as an opportunity, 
  and bring in a modern internal communications system 
  instead of a Switchboard that’s still running on hardware 
  we inherited from Churchill’s War Department in 
  1946. Someone will have to vet any potential private 
  contractors for security.”
  • (Plays 4 of  Diamonds) “Why can’t we just use telepathic 
  magic like the Yanks do in the Black Chamber? I’ve got 
  an experimental enchantment that might do the trick – 
  all I need is a couple of sacrifices. I mean, test subjects.”
  For the solution to work, the total Influence applied to 
  that issue needs to equal or exceed the value of the Issue. 
  When that happens, see Resolutions, below. 
  Other players may support that solution by playing their 
  own Influence cards. Again, the player must describe how 
  that Influence card is being applied to the Issue.
  For example, Bob’s played the 4 of Diamonds in an 
  attempt to solve the problem of the Laundry’s internal 
  communications problems with magic. That’s a 7-point 
  Issue, so that solution isn’t enough on its own. Another 
  player must support him by playing a card with 3 or more 
  to “top up” the solution.
  • (Plays 3 of  Hearts) “I agree – while some may see soul 
  binding as an extreme solution to having no internal 
  telephones, I think it’s an idea whose time has come.”
  • (Plays 3 of  Spades) “It would improve internal security. 
  No one can bug our souls, right?”
  • (Plays 3 of  Clubs) “I think the cost savings would go 
  down well at our next budget review with the Minister.”
  • (Plays 3 of  Diamonds) “I think the soul binding would go 
  down well with the Emissaries of Y’ghonzzh N’hai, as 
  long as we get preliminary functionality specifications 
  done before the solstice.”
  If the initial solution didn’t include something for the 
  regular player characters to do, then a later play of a status 
  card can bring them in. 
  The GM can interject at any time to modify or veto a 
  proposed solution – especially one that won’t translate 
  smoothly into regular play. If a solution exceeds the 
  Laundry’s abilities, scope or most importantly, budget 
  (“I know! We’ll issue everyone in the UK a Class Four ward!”), 
  then the GM should either suggest an alternative (“you 
  might be able to afford a one-shot of  iodine tablets engraved with 
  the Rune of  Ptah for everyone in Luton”) or have it go wrong 
  in a way that leads to an adventure for the regular player 
  characters (“OK, this week, you’re all flying off  to China to do 
  quality-assurance testing on the warding talismans – you didn’t 
  think they were going to be manufactured in the UK, did you? They 
  got outsourced to cheap Chinese factories.”) 
  
  81
  HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS
  High-Level Meetings
  Face Card Quick Reference
  As Influence: Aces count as 1, Jacks/Queens/
  Kings count as 0
  As Issues: Aces count as 11, Jacks/Queens/
  Kings count as 12
  As Trumps: Aces count as 11, Jacks/Queens/
  Kings count as 12
  Trumping
  When a player plays an Influence card to address an Issue, 
  or to support a solution, then another player may trump 
  by playing a card of equal or higher value, or by playing an 
  Ace, King, Queen or Jack. The trumping player describes 
  why that solution or offer of support isn’t going to work. 
  The player getting trumped may fight back by playing 
  another Influence card to add to their initial card; the 
  trumper may respond by doing likewise.
  The player with the highest final total scores the highest 
  card played in the trump attempt. 
  Aces have a value of 11 for trumping; Kings, Queens and 
  Jacks have a value of 12 for trumping.
  A player may trump someone else’s status card, then play 
  one of his or her own on the same solution. 
  Bob plays the 4 of  Diamonds to propose his “solve the communications 
  breakdown with a sympathetic magic hack” solution. 
  Pinky backs up him up with the 3 of  Diamonds.
  Angleton, seeing a chance to score a card, plays his 4 of  Spades to 
  trump. “I’m afraid the Board wouldn’t go for that, my boy. They 
  exist on a… rarefied plane, and require, shall we say, intermediaries 
  when interacting with the lower echelons. Direct communication 
  would be regrettable for both parties.”
  Pinky now has a choice. He can let Angleton’s trump go through, or 
  he can fight back by playing another of  his influence cards. He plays 
  the 6 of  Clubs to fight back.. “Look, without the Switchboard, 
  how can we order pizza? No pizza, no late night hackathons in the 
  necromancy lab. No late night hackathons, no brilliant solutions to 
  world-threatening problems”. 
  Pinky’s total is now 9 (3 + 6) vs. Angleton’s 4.
  Angleton responds by sighing and playing the Queen of  Hearts. Face 
  cards don’t count for Influence except when trumping. “You have 
  been ordering takeout to a restricted-access, top-secret government 
  laboratory? Dare I ask how the delivery drive got past the wards?” 
  “We sent a dimensional shambler to pick it up,” mutters Pinky. 
  “We glamoured it first, though. Usually. When we remembered.”
  Angleton’s Queen is worth 12 when trumping. His total is now an 
  insurmountable 16 (4 +12) to Pinky’s 9. Pinky concedes defeat.
  As Bob’s 4 of  Diamonds isn’t enough to sustain the proposed 
  solution, and no one else in the meeting is willing to jump in, then 
  that solution fails. Angleton gets to score the Queen of  Hearts.
  Scoring Cards
  There are three ways to score a card:
  1 By proposing a solution that defeats an 
  issue (score the Issue card)
  2 By trumping a solution (score the highest 
  card played in the trumping attempt)
  3 By defeating another player’s trumping 
  attempt (score the highest card played 
  in the trumping attempt)
  When you score a card, place it face down 
  in front of you. That card is out of play 
  until after the end of the meeting.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  82
  Resolution
  If the total Influence applied to an Issue is equal to or 
  higher than the value of that issue, then that Issue is 
  considered to be resolved. The player who proposed the 
  solution gets to score that Issue. 
  If the total Influence applied to an Issue isn’t enough to 
  solve it, discard all the Influence cards played on that Issue.
  Depending on the situation, the Gamemaster may give 
  certain benefits or extra information if an Issue is successfully 
  resolved. For example, say the committee are meeting to plan 
  a mission that impinges on BLUE HADES territory. If the 
  BLUE HADES Issue is fully resolved, then the Committee has 
  obviously found some way to mollify the fish-men and there 
  won’t be any problems with Deep Ones when the game switches 
  back to regular play. If the players didn’t manage to resolve it, 
  then they may run into trouble or added complications. Check 
  out Fire Drill, page 105, for an example of this in play. 
  Ending the Meeting
  The meeting ends when either
  1) All the Issues have been dealt with – a very successful 
  meeting.
  2) Some Issues remain on the Agenda, but the players 
  don’t have sufficient Influence cards or willingness left 
  to tackle them. Each player must then discard one card 
  from their hands, if any are left.
  Each player may then choose to score one of the cards 
  left in their hands. Any remaining cards are totalled 
  to determine the mission budget assigned to the player 
  characters. A kind GM might top up this mission budget 
  (page 108 of The Laundry Core Rulebook) in proportion to 
  the Issues faced by the committee. Face cards count as 12s 
  for the purpose of determining mission budget.
  Players keep any scored cards when the game returns to 
  regular play.
  Finally, the chair of the meeting records any action items 
  for the regular player characters – what’s been decided, 
  who’s promised to give what support, and which issues are 
  going to be delegated down to those poor schlubs. 
  For example, at the end of  a meeting, the players’ hands are as follows:
  Bob – 7 of  Spades, Jack of  Diamonds
  Pinky – 5 of  Hearts
  Angleton – 10 of  Diamonds, 5 of  Spades, 5 of  Clubs
  The meeting was a success, so no one has to discard any cards. Each 
  player may then score one card. Bob scores his Jack, Angleton his 
  10. Pinky, being a generous fellow, doesn’t bother to score his 5 
  of  Hearts. So, the remaining cards are the 7 of  Spades, the 5 of  
  Hearts, the 5 of  Spades and the 5 of  Clubs.
  The mission budget for the regular player characters is 
  7+5+5+5=22.
  Using Scored Cards
  In the course of regular, oh-god-we’re-
  going-get-eaten-by-a-shoggoth 
  play, 
  a 
  player may use a scored card to gain a 
  bonus equal to 5 x that card’s value when 
  making a roll. So, play a scored 7, and get 
  a 35% bonus to your next Dodge roll. Face 
  cards and Aces are worth a 50% bonus. 
  
  83
  HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS
  High-Level Meetings
  Sample Interpretations
  If you’re stuck for inspiration, here are some possible interpretations of the cards.
  Influence
  Hearts 
  Personal Status
  Spades 
  Departmental Status
  Clubs 
  Allies & Patrons
  Diamonds 
  Occult Power
  Ace
  New recruit
  IT
  University roommate 
  working in the City
  What’s a shoggythoth?
  2
  Junior assistant
  Catering
  Occasionally useful 
  journalist
  No real occult power
  3
  Average cubicle drone
  Monitoring
  Metropolitan police 
  inspector
  Knows about CASE 
  NIGHTMARE 
  GREEN
  4
  Lower management 
  Retired but respected 
  Laundry officer
  Can throw a spell 
  around
  5
  Senior boffin
  Arcana Analysis
  Backbench opposition 
  MP
  Signed their name in 
  the Black Book
  6
  Middle Management
  Legal
  Senior SIS spook
  Possibly not quite 
  human
  7
  Respected veteran
  Ways & Means
  Senior military officer
  Has a holiday home in 
  the Dreamlands
  8
  Deeply Scary Sorcerer
  Media magnate
  Deeply Scary Sorcerer
  9
  Head of Department
  Whitehall Mandarin
  Definitely not entirely 
  human
  10
  Speaks to the Board
  Auditors
  “I was having dinner 
  with the Minister last 
  night...”
  Ia! Ia!
  Jack 
  (trumping 
  only)
  -
  -
  -
  -
  Queen 
  (trumping 
  only)
  -
  -
  -
  -
  King 
  (trumping 
  only)
  -
  -
  -
  -
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  84
  Issues
  Hearts 
  Troublesome 
  Individuals
  Spades 
  Troublesome Groups
  Clubs 
  Internal Problems
  Diamonds 
  Supernatural 
  Weirdness
  Ace
  Plucky civilian 
  investigator
  Petty crooks
  Cafeteria out of biscuits
  Haunted public building
  2
  Member of the public
  Club 
  Report due but not 
  complete
  Mythos tome on the 
  loose
  3
  Meddling journalist
  Corporation 
  Project behind schedule
  Weirdness in the 
  Dreamlands
  4
  Clueless graduate 
  student or researcher
  Government 
  interference
  Missing memo
  Ghouls causing trouble
  5
  Lone madman
  Organised crime
  Internal leak
  Archaeologists uncover 
  cursed tomb again
  6
  Suspected cultist
  Major religion
  Horrible supernatural 
  incident
  Things stirring in the 
  ocean 
  7
  Rogue spy
  Major Mythos cult
  Internal power struggle
  Major reality breach
  8
  Deranged CEO
  Other European 
  Agencies
  RHRs clawing at office 
  doors
  Alien god demands 
  worshippers
  9
  Renegade sorcerer
  Thirteenth Directorate, 
  Nameless Bureau
  Budget cuts
  Mysterious activity at 
  Pyramid of the Sleeper
  10
  Minister with an idea
  The Black Chamber
  Audit
  CASE NIGHTMARE 
  GREEN
  Jack 
  Possessed victim
  BLUE HADES
  The Teapot
  Nyarlathotep
  Queen Cult High Priestess
  Shub-Niggurath Cultists
  Persephone Hazard
  Nameless Thing
  King
  Vampire King
  DEEP SEVEN
  Member of the Board
  Yog-Sothoth
  
  85
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  “You mean the Laundry has a public information campaign stored up and ready to roll in event of 
  CASE – sorry, in event of us being invaded by tentacle monsters from another dimension?”
  “Yes, that’s exactly it… The books and posters are MAGIC CIRCLE OF SAFETY, but she said I’d find 
  it in the stacks under a very strange reference – KGB.2.YA – what’s so funny, Bob? Are you choking?”
  Kiss Good-Bye 2 Your Ass: I love the Laundry sense of humour.
   
  – The Rhesus Chart
  Hot Potato
  The Laundry’s ultra-black. Beyond top secret, no official 
  acknowledgement. In many parts of the intelligence 
  community, it’s a rumour, a joke, a ghost story for spooks. 
  Its relationship with the government is equally tangential 
  – only senior ministers are briefed on the continued 
  existence of SOE Station X, and then only on a need-
  to-know basis. Even Prime Ministers don’t always need to 
  know. Let them get on with running the country, and the 
  Laundry will keep trying to save it.
  The Laundry, therefore, doesn’t leak visibly. Even if the 
  press got hold of an internal Laundry document – assuming 
  that the document didn’t eat their souls1 as soon as they 
  read past the bit that says “DO NOT READ PAST THIS 
  POINT WITHOUT CLEARANCE” – it would be entirely 
  outside their frame of reference. They’d assume it was a joke, 
  a Photoshop job by the comedians down in the photography 
  department. You could reveal the whole thing to them, talk 
  about how the gods are coming back and they’re going to 
  consume all of us, and they wouldn’t pay it any attention.
  But redact it, edit out the things that are too big or too 
  terrifying for them to comprehend. Refine it. Make it 
  digestible and, suddenly, the Laundry has a problem. 
  Ultra-black institutions aren’t supposed to end up on page 1.
  The Screwtape Committee
  SCREWTAPE’s part of the Laundry’s machinery for 
  preparing for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN. Specifically, 
  its role is to prepare the civilian population and 
  infrastructure for the approaching apocalypse. Given the 
  government attaches about one percent of the resources 
  and political capital to this threat as they did to the London 
  2012 Olympic Games, a lot of SCREWTAPE meetings 
  are taken up with complaints about their inability to make 
  any real progress. It’s hard to, say, draw up plans to build a 
  thaumically warded TEMPEST-shielded shelter for 10,000 
  key civil servants slap bang in the middle of London when 
  the people from the London planning authority aren’t 
  cleared to meet with you. 
  The membership of SCREWTAPE changes regularly. 
  New members get brought in to advise on whatever their 
  topic of expertise is, or because their manager’s trying to 
  keep them busy; others rotate out as soon as they can claw 
  their way up the ladder. While SCREWTAPE’s brief grows 
  in importance the closer we get to CASE NIGHTMARE 
  GREEN, so too does the risk of being on the committee. 
  It’s a hot potato; no one wants to be holding it when the 
  day finally dawns, or doesn’t dawn because some cosmic 
  horror has eaten the sun. The only long-term members 
  of SCREWTAPE are those who can’t wriggle out of it, 
  or whose particular mix of skills and experience means 
  there’s no escape.
  Albert Kendal’s the longest serving member of 
  SCREWTAPE. 
  Mission Overview
  This adventure takes place almost entirely within the 
  Laundry. The player characters get temporarily assigned 
  to SCREWTAPE, where they acquire Albert Kendal as a 
  mentor. A redacted Laundry document then mysteriously 
  ends up in the hands of a journalist, and Kendal’s accused 
  of being the leak. He’s placed on administrative leave, and 
  dies under questionable circumstances shortly afterwards. 
  1: Assuming they have souls. At least one national newspaper is staffed by 
  things wearing flesh-masks that thrive on human misery.
  Albert Kendal
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  86
  When the characters investigate Kendal’s death, they find 
  that the leaked document was not the first suspicious aspect 
  to SCREWTAPE, and that one of their fellow committee 
  members is in thrall to a sinister supernatural threat that has its 
  own intentions for humanity in CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN. 
  You can interweave the first four scenes of Hot Potato into 
  other scenarios. Make SCREWTAPE feel like an unusually 
  detailed example of the seemingly-pointless bureaucratic 
  busywork that occupies 85% of one’s time in the Laundry 
  (the other 15% being split between 10% breaks and 5% 
  mind-numbing terror). The real investigation kicks off when 
  Kendal dies, although the players may start poking around on 
  their own initiative before that – see Internal Investigations 
  on page 92 for all manner of things to be poked. 
  Prying into the secrets of the other committee members point 
  towards two interwoven avenues (if avenues can interweave) 
  of investigation: a scam by Lucien Kelly and Scott Burley to 
  profit from the delay in implementing SCREWTAPE, and 
  Laurie Adams’ connection to the ghouls. 
  1 .SCREWed
  It is, the characters are told, like being in charge of 
  deckchair supply and maintenance on the Titanic, or like 
  planning the parking arrangements and catering for your 
  own funeral. SCREWTAPE combines the dull with the 
  disturbing, as meetings discuss topics like corpse disposal 
  or regional seat of government devolution in the event of 
  SCREWTAPE Members
  Albert Kendal: Kindly worn-out old necromancer; 
  he’s been bumping around the Laundry since the 
  ’60s, and is well past retirement. Completing 
  SCREWTAPE is supposed to be his legacy. He’s 
  a mentor not only to the player characters, 
  but also to Laurie Adams. 
  Major Eric Phillips: Not a member of the 
  Laundry, although he has clearance to be there 
  and has signed the Official Secrets Act in blood. 
  Phillips may be a target for the characters’ 
  investigations as the redacted documents are 
  for consumption by those outside the Laundry, 
  and he’s a window to the wide world outside. 
  Lucien Kelly: One of the Laundry’s more annoying 
  sorcerers, sent to SCREWTAPE to shut him up. 
  Kelly plays at being the Brooding and Mysterious 
  Occult Master, which might have flown in the 
  1920s if he was hanging around with Aleister 
  Crowley, but he works in an office where Cosmic 
  Horrors run on every desktop. He’d be a joke if 
  he wasn’t an excellent intuitive sorcerer.
  Scott Burley: A former construction engineer 
  who dug in the wrong place; now a manager in 
  Buildings & Works. He’s secretly involved in a 
  scheme to profit from the Laundry’s construction 
  projects; he has his friends on the outside 
  buy up key plots of land that will then be 
  bought by the government. He convinced Lucien 
  Kelly to weaken Burley’s oath-of-office geas 
  just enough so he doesn’t get fried by it.
  Dr Ann Taylor: She comes out of Human Resources’ 
  nastier, 
  weirder 
  older 
  sibling, 
  Quality 
  Assurance. She’s allegedly here to ensure that 
  the British taxpayer gets value for money. 
  In practise, she’s Kendal’s loudest critic 
  and the heir-apparent to SCREWTAPE. She’s the 
  main obstacle to any official investigation 
  of the leak; as far as she’s concerned, it 
  eliminates her main rival and she’s not one to 
  look a gift scandal in the mouth.
  Laurie Adams: A new recruit to the Laundry, 
  she got drafted when she found her way into 
  the Archives as part of an urban-exploration 
  expedition 
  into 
  officially 
  abandoned 
  tube 
  tunnels. Secretly, Laurie’s a proto-ghoul, on 
  the verge of transforming into something inhuman. 
  Kendal had experiences with ghouls earlier in 
  his career (see COFFIN DODGER on page 96) 
  and was helping her resist the transformation. 
  Unfortunately, Adams fell prey to the real 
  villain of the adventure, the Elder Ghoul.
  Outside SCREWTAPE
  Auditor Curtis: Comes in to investigate the 
  alleged leak, and to scare the crap out of the 
  remaining committee members.
  The Elder Ghoul: An ancient and powerful 
  post-human entity that lives beneath London. 
  Ghouls feed on the flesh of dead humans, and the 
  Elder Ghoul intends to provide for his people 
  through the long winter of CASE NIGHTMARE 
  GREEN. He psychically dominated Laurie Adams 
  into leaking the document, knowing that it 
  would disrupt SCREWTAPE long enough for him 
  to complete his own preparations. 
  
  87
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  apocalypse. There isn’t even the thrill of planning ways to 
  defend humanity against the scum of the multiverse – all 
  the tactical planning gets done at a higher level. Most of 
  SCREWTAPE’s work involves taking existing mundane 
  disaster-preparedness plans, mostly exhumed from the ’70s 
  and replacing all references to ‘fallout’ with ‘catastrophic 
  permeability of the reality membrane’. Oh, and swapping 
  ‘warhead’ with ‘pretty much any computational device 
  more complex than an abacus, and that includes the 
  contents of your skull.’
  All the characters are assigned to SCREWTAPE for the 
  foreseeable future – in other words, until they can wrangle 
  some other poor sod into taking their place.
  Joining SCREWTAPE isn’t entirety without its perks – the 
  characters each get a temporary +2% bump in Status, and 
  get to put SCREWTAPE down on the Security Clearances 
  section of their character sheets. They also get to meet the 
  other regular attendees at the meetings. First impressions:
  • Albert Kendal (Chair) looks like he should be on 
  Gardener’s Question Time, leaning on a spade and 
  answering questions about his prize roses. He shows up 
  pleasantly drunk to the meetings if they’re scheduled on 
  Friday afternoons, having had a liquid lunch in the Squid 
  and Crown; those meetings normally get sidetracked with 
  lengthy anecdotes about his long career in the Laundry. 
  Insightful characters get the impression that Kendal’s 
  not quite as senile and harmless as he pretends to be, 
  but he’s certainly well past his prime; Residual Human 
  Resources probably have a suit already laid out for him. 
  He sometimes forgets to speak English, and drops into 
  Enochian – it’s an open secret that the old man’s in the 
  early stages of K-Syndrome. 
  • Ann Taylor (Quality Assurance) actually runs the 
  meetings. She’s efficiently ruthless, as opposed to being 
  ruthlessly efficient. Every mistake the characters make 
  gets noted down on her tablet. Turn up late, speak out 
  of turn, fail to have the requested information at your 
  fingertips, take two biscuits when the tea trolley comes 
  around; it all goes on your assessment, you know. 
  • Lucien Kelly (Arcana Analysis) is supposed to be the 
  resident thaumaturgical expert. He has the sort of 
  demeanour that suggests he’d be most comfortable in a 
  wizard’s robe, which is good as he’s got the sort of pale, 
  weaselly face that would be best concealed in a wizard’s 
  hood. He mutters about dire portents and sinister occult 
  secrets when he forgets to bring the actual reports 
  from A.A. Oh, and he claims to be a direct male-line 
  descendant of Ed Kelley, the forger and medium who 
  worked with Dr John Dee. He tells everyone this as 
  soon as he can possibly jam it into the conversation.
  • Scott Burley (Buildings and Works) has the slightly bemused 
  look of an ex-civilian who has been told about demons and 
  extradimensional horrors and magic and all the rest, but 
  doesn’t quite believe it, and half-suspects it might be some 
  elaborate in-joke or metaphor he’s not in on. People like that 
  wander around the Laundry in search of someone sensible 
  who’ll confirm that it’s all just a bit of harmless office fun, 
  and that none of it is real. Scott, therefore, sits through most 
  meetings looking bewildered unless asked a direct question.
  • Laurie Adams (Internal Logistics, but hoping for a 
  transfer to Field Ops) is a new recruit to the Laundry. 
  She was an avid urban explorer, and used to spend her 
  weekends poking around decaying ruins and abandoned 
  tunnels under London. She was one of the children 
  rescued during COFFIN DODGER. 
  Scott Burley
  Laurie Adams
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  88
  SCREWTAPE Meetings
  Play through a few brief section of typical SCREWTAPE 
  meetings. Have Ann Taylor ask the characters a question 
  related to their field of expertise and to the post-
  apocalyptic wasteland anticipated by the Laundry’s most 
  optimistic projections. A character from IT might be asked 
  about the best way to mass-delete user profiles on a secure 
  Windows NT network, in the event that, say, 90% of all 
  users suddenly died. Someone from Media Relations gets 
  tasked with writing up a style guide for announcements 
  relating to the return of the Elder Gods in a way that 
  doesn’t damage morale among the remaining civilian 
  population. Play the meetings for laughs; they’re the dull 
  slice-of-life bits before the real mission starts.
  Play up Kendal’s growing infirmity and eccentric behaviour 
  as his K-Syndrome gets worse.
  Kendal as a Mentor
  Over the weeks, Kendal takes more and more of an 
  interest in the characters’ affairs. He’s a former field agent, 
  too old to do much more than a desk job these days of 
  course, and anyway, everything’s computerised these days. 
  He’s not up to speed on these modern computer jobbies; 
  when he was in the field, a Rune of Destruction came 
  inscribed on a metal amulet, and you to had wear lead-
  lined gloves when handling it after more than six shots. 
  Now, there’s an app for that.
  Make Kendal useful to the player characters. Have him 
  provide a hint or clue in some troublesome mystery; 
  maybe he shows them one weird trick for dealing with 
  fire vampires, or lets them borrow his old class four ward 
  when they’re heading into a dangerous situation. Play him 
  as your lovable-but-slightly-creepy uncle.
  Meeting Adams
  Hint to the player characters that they’re not the only junior 
  Laundry officers that Kendal has taken under his wing. 
  They might spot Laurie Adams leaving Kendal’s office, 
  or the two might show up at a SCREWTAPE meeting 
  together. A successful Insight roll confirms there’s some 
  sort of relationship between the two, but both refuse to 
  discuss it. Adams looks alarmed if questioned; Kendal just 
  smiles in a tired way and suggests that it’s none of the PCs’ 
  damned business.
  (Laurie Adams is a proto-ghoul, a human who’s on the 
  verge of transforming into a full ghoul. Kendal’s helping 
  her conceal this condition from the Laundry, as it would 
  severely impact on her chances of promotion, not to 
  mention her humanity and sanity. He’s using magic to 
  delay her metamorphosis.)
  2 . The Last Meeting
  A special SCREWTAPE meeting materialises on the 
  characters’ Outlook calendars one morning, for 10AM 
  sharp. The usual committee members are all mentioned, 
  along with a special external guest – Major Eric Philips, a 
  clerk of works from the Royal Engineers. The Major shows 
  up in uniform, with his visitor’s badge and ward pinned 
  to the front. One of his arms is missing, with the empty 
  sleeve neatly pinned to his shoulder. He’s clearly been in 
  the Laundry before, and doesn’t even twitch when an RHR 
  shambles past. He’s even more clearly in a foul mood. 
  10AM rolls around, and there’s no sign of Albert Kendal 
  or Laurie Adams. The Major’s moustache twitches with 
  suppressed anger; Ann Taylor tut-tuts softly and makes 
  a note about Kendal’s tardiness. She asks the player 
  characters if they object to her starting the meeting 
  without Kendal. If the players agree, then Kendal 
  never shows up; if they argue that they should wait for 
  Kendal, then he finally shows up 45 minutes late, looking 
  exhausted. (He was using his sorcerous powers to stop 
  Adams’ transformation.)
  Whether or not the meeting’s delayed, the Major raises 
  the issue of ‘Building 4’, a topic that none of the player 
  characters have a clue about; it’s from before they joined 
  the committee. Remember, SCREWTAPE’s a high-
  velocity revolving door that’s been running for decades. 
  The minutes are buried so deep in the Stacks that even the 
  zombies have trouble finding them. The Major’s rant can 
  be summarised as:
  • Building 4 construction was due to start in 2009. 
  Major Eric Philips
  
  89
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  • Building 4, to be clear, is part of a giant underground 
  bunker capable of holding 10,000 people that’s designed 
  to be proof against rampaging elder gods. This isn’t a 
  bloody portable toilet they’re talking about – it’s a major 
  engineering project. Rushing construction might be 
  disastrous – one gap in the wards, and things might get in.
  • They still haven’t even secured all the needed property. 
  The Compulsory Purchase Orders2 need to be signed 
  off by the SCREWTAPE committee. 
  • A company, CGH Holdings, just put in an offer for 
  part of the site for Building 4. While the CPO can 
  still go through, the CPO has to reflect current market 
  value, which just went up by several million pounds. 
  SCREWTAPE’s delay has cost the British taxpayer a 
  great deal of money.
  • This is not Major Philips’ fault, and he will make that 
  damn clear to Whitehall. 
  If Kendal’s present, then he seems too exhausted to argue, 
  and merely mutters that he’ll look into the matter and see 
  what can be done. If he’s not present, then Philip’s wrath 
  falls on the player characters, mainly because they’re sitting 
  across the table from him. The other committee members – 
  Taylor, Kelly and Burley – stay quiet while the storm rages.
  There isn’t much for the player characters to do while 
  the storm rages. They might fast-forward to Internal 
  Investigations (page 92) even before the leak becomes 
  public. 
  3 . The Leak
  A few days after Philips raises a stink about CGH Holdings 
  jacking up the price of the Building 4 site, one of the 
  player characters gets woken up by someone knocking 
  on their door at 6am. The thing on the doorstep isn’t an 
  eldritch horror, it’s just a horror – she’s Gail Pilchard, a 
  freelance journalist. She wants a comment about Building 
  4. You know, the government project that’s going to cost 
  the taxpayer an estimated £70 million extra because of 
  bureaucratic delays? Any comment, Mr Player Character?
  While the PC tries to find synonyms for ‘no comment’, the 
  Laundry’s Media Relations department phones, warning (a 
  little late) that there’s been a leak. The press have gotten 
  hold of an internal memo that talks about Building 4. The 
  memo’s so heavily redacted that it doesn’t actually mention 
  the Laundry or the purpose of Building 4, but it does 
  mention several people by name, including the members 
  of SCREWTAPE.
  As soon as Media Relations hang up, the phone rings 
  again. It’s Internal Security. The Auditors want a word 
  with all SCREWTAPE members. A car’s on its way.
  Pilchard continues to bombard the unlucky PC with questions 
  – what is the purpose of Building 4? Who’s responsible 
  for the delays? Does the Home Secretary have any direct 
  involvement in this project? If so, is he going to resign? – 
  until the car arrives to whisk the PCs to the Laundry. 
  Internal Audit
  The player characters are brought before Auditor Curtis as 
  soon as they arrive. One by one, they troop into a nicely 
  appointed conference room and stand on the golden sigil 
  sewn on the carpet. There’s a three-person board of inquiry, 
  led by Auditor Curtis. (Any player characters who played 
  through Secret Agendas in Black Bag Jobs may have already 
  met and/or been inside the consciousness of Auditor Curtis, 
  but she’s not going to let that prejudice her findings.)
  She asks the player characters if they leaked the document, 
  as well as any awkward questions that you’ve been storing up 
  from previous missions. She also asks if they’ve seen any lapses 
  of judgement or signs of ill health on the part of Kendal.
  • A successful Sorcery/Computer Use (Magic) or Science 
  (Thaumaturgy) roll (or even Idea in a pinch) suggests that 
  Curtis is double-checking the characters’ loyalty geases. 
  That’s not part of the standard operating procedure for 
  a Board of Inquiry – it takes serious magic to tamper 
  with an Oath of Office. 
  2: A legal instrument by which the UK government can force a private 
  individual or entity to sell a property to the state. The US equivalent is 
  eminent domain.
  Auditor Curtis
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  90
  SCREWTAPE 2
  Later that day, the characters are summoned to another 
  session of the SCREWTAPE committee. Kendal’s not there, 
  so it’s chaired by Ann Taylor. She announces that Albert 
  Kendal’s on ‘gardening leave’, which is a euphemism for 
  ‘suspending pending an investigation’. She’ll be taking over 
  as chair of SCREWTAPE, and is looking forward to putting 
  the current media problem behind them and getting those 
  CPOs moving through the pipeline as soon as possible. 
  • Taylor’s obviously pleased as punch to be the 
  SCREWTAPE chair: she gets a bump in status, and 
  can claim the credit for salvaging a damaged project if 
  she succeeds, or blame everything on Kendal if it falls 
  apart. It’s win/win, or at least win/no-lose for her. That 
  leak positions her perfectly to make the jump to upper 
  management.
  • With Kendal gone, Kelly considers himself the master 
  sorcerer on the committee. He looks like he might leap 
  on the table and start proclaiming the return of the 
  Great Old Ones at any moment.
  • Burley’s looking pleased too. A successful Spot check, er, 
  spots a brand-new JesusPhone in his pocket, which is a 
  bit of a no-no inside the Laundry. You’re not supposed to 
  bring a network-enabled device in without IT vetting it first. 
  • Laurie Adams looks heart-broken and wretched, and 
  utterly exhausted. She’s got dirt under her fingernails, 
  and her breath is rank. 
  At the meeting, Taylor asks the player characters to go to 
  Kendal’s home and make sure that he doesn’t have any 
  documents related to SCREWTAPE, so she can ‘alpha 
  progress the CPOs’, whatever that means. 
  4 . Long Service
  Here’s what happens on the last day of Albert Kendal’s life. 
  He has a bad, sleepless night. Exhausted, he goes to work, 
  and reads the newspaper on the train into the office. Right 
  there on the front page is a memo about his secret committee 
  in a top-secret government agency, and that shakes him to 
  his core. He’s so discombobulated that the Auditors grow 
  suspicious, and suspend him. He’s sent home.
  He takes a walk to a nearby graveyard. He goes to the post 
  office and sends a parcel. 
  Then he explodes. 
  What’s Really Going On: Kendal was up all night, 
  engaged in a sorcerous struggle with the Elder Ghoul for 
  the soul of Laurie Adams. In other circumstances, Kendal 
  might get help from the Laundry, but he knows that if 
  Laurie’s ghoulish tendencies become a matter of official 
  record, she’ll be condemned to – literally – the lower 
  levels of the organisation forever. The poor girl deserves 
  something of a normal life, even in the Laundry. So, he 
  fights his sorcerous battle alone.
  He’s blindsided by the leak of the SCREWTAPE memo 
  by the Elder Ghoul, who obtained it from Adams. 
  When he returns home, he visits the graveyard and speaks 
  to some of the local, friendlier ghouls, who warn him 
  that the Elder Ghoul is coming to get him. Cut off from 
  Laundry support because of his suspension, facing the 
  end of his career over the leak, and just so very, very tired, 
  Kendal realises that he’s going to die soon. Rather than 
  allow the Elder Ghoul to consume his flesh and, through 
  it, his memories, he casts a spell of self-combustion to 
  annihilate himself.
  Before he does that, though, he sends his pocket-watch to 
  one of the player characters via the post office.
  Visiting Kendal
  Kendal’s mobile phone is switched off. His house has a 
  landline, but it seems to be out of service if they try it.
  If the player characters head to Kendal’s home right after 
  the SCREWTAPE meeting, then they get there just before 
  he explodes. 
  
  91
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  Kendal lives alone in a little cottage in Crowhurst, in East Sussex. 
  It would be a charming place, with ivy-covered walls and quirky 
  little mismatched windows and a prize-winning collection of 
  garden gnomes, if it wasn’t exploding outwards in a titanic 
  fireball. Chunks of roof and rafter and Kendal rain down on 
  said garden gnomes, who scurry for cover. Call for Luck checks; 
  anyone who fails takes 1d4 damage from flying glass. 
  A successful Idea roll suggests that it wasn’t a conventional 
  explosion – the cottage is thaumically hot, implying it was 
  a spell or magical discharge of some sort. 
  In the Rubble
  The PCs can either pick their way through the debris 
  hastily before the emergency services arrive, or wait until 
  after the Laundry baggers and cleaners have shown up 
  and taken charge of the situation. As soon as it becomes 
  clear that the sole victim of the gas leak was also the 
  civil servant at the centre of the morning’s memo leak 
  fiasco, the press also descend on the sleepy little village of 
  Crowhurst. (“Embattled Civil Servant Dies In Accident” 
  says the following day’s Times. “Crowhurst Inferno Linked 
  To Building 4 Scandal” trumpets the Grauniad. “OUR 
  Money to Burn”, tries The Sun. The Daily Mail, with 
  unwitting accuracy if not immediate relevance, goes with 
  “Nazi Demon Maths Causes Brain Cancer”.)
  Examining the remains and asking around the village, the 
  PCs can learn the following:
  • This was definitely a suicide – or a magical accident. The 
  blast is precisely focused on where Kendal was standing. 
  His body was almost completely incinerated. It might have 
  been his Oath of Office going nova, but the only way to get 
  a reaction that big would be to sell out to the Space Nazis 
  from Dimension X while casting a death spell at the Queen. 
  More likely, he cast an old-school blast spell – was he aiming 
  it at someone else, or did he mean to kill himself?
  • The garden gnomes are actually golems – low-powered 
  sentinels, animated by magic. They’re divided into teams 
  of three, composed of one gnome with a shovel, one 
  gnome with a wheelbarrow and one gnome with a rune 
  of death. It seems to be overkill for dealing with moles.
  • Most of the papers in the house – most of the everything 
  in the house – was destroyed in the blast. However, the 
  characters find one folder that survived because of its 
  magical wards. The folder came from the Laundry’s 
  stacks, and is classified under COFFIN DODGER. 
  • Asking around the village, the characters can 
  reconstruct Kendal’s last movements: his visit to the 
  nearby graveyard, and his trip to the post office to send 
  a package.
  o A successful Track or Knowledge (Occult) roll 
  finds traces of ghouls in the graveyard. There’s one 
  particular crypt that the tracks congregate around, but 
  there aren’t any ghouls there now. The characters could 
  call in a favour from the Subterranean Operations 
  Liaison section in Inhuman Resources (the ghoul 
  wranglers), but even a specialised ghoul liaison is 
  unable to rouse the locals. They’ve fled deep beneath 
  the earth, possibly terrified by the magical explosion.
  o The little old lady in the post office knew that poor 
  Mr Kendal quite well. He was always so worried, 
  poor dear, as if the weight of the world was on his 
  shoulders. She knew he worked for the government, 
  but had no idea he was so important. He posted a 
  parcel just before the gas explosion. A successful 
  Persuade or the flash of a warrant card gets the parcel; 
  otherwise, the characters receive it the next morning.
  The Parcel
  Kendal’s parcel drops through the letterbox of one of 
  the PCs the next day (pick whichever PC had the closest 
  relationship with Kendal). Inside is a silver pocket watch, 
  awarded to Albert Kendal for 50 years long service in the 
  Laundry. It still ticks away perfectly, although its dial bears 
  baffling hieroglyphs and its four hands do not move in 
  consonance with any time system known on this planet. 
  Carrying the pocket watch gives a +5 bonus to Sorcery 
  checks and increases the POW of any spells cast by +2. 
  The pocketwatch is entangled with Kendal’s consciousness, 
  and something of this entanglement persists after death. 
  Using a Gravedust rig (page 94 of The Laundry Core 
  Rulebook) on the watch unlocks a posthumous – or post-
  combustion – message from Albert Kendal. It’s a jumble 
  of images and thoughts:
  • A strong desire to protect Laurie Adams, coupled with 
  an underlying fear of her; image of Laurie ripping out 
  Kendal’s throat with her teeth.
  • Image of a letter from CGH Holdings; anger and frustration.
  • Image of a trove of gold coins, buried deep underground; fear.
  • The image of a completed CPO form for the Building 4 
  site on the desk in Kendal’s office; anger and mistrust.
  • Kendal, many years ago, in a dark tunnel. His hands 
  glow with magic. All around him is blood and gore; he 
  slips and slides on viscera torn from the bloody corpses 
  of his men. A dozen dead in this tunnel alone; the smell 
  of blood, the staccato echo of distant machine gun fire. 
  Short, controlled bursts. COFFIN DODGER. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  92
  Give the players an Idea roll, or have the bearer of the watch 
  have a few dreams about Kendal3 if the players don’t think 
  of using Gravedust (or another thaumaturgical widget). 
  The Funeral
  Albert Kendal had no surviving family, and no close friends 
  outside of work. No one else from SCREWTAPE, not even 
  Laurie Adams, attends the funeral, although several relatively 
  senior Laundry officers do show up, in spirit if not in body.
  After that, the matter rests. The evidence suggests that 
  Kendal leaked the memo himself – possibly due to his 
  advancing K-syndrome. No one else on the committee 
  had the power to resist their Oath of Office, and the 
  old necromancer’s behaviour had certainly been erratic 
  of late. With pressure from Whitehall to get moving on 
  SCREWTAPE as quickly as possible, everyone just wants 
  to put the whole regrettable incident behind them. 
  If anything more is to be done, it’s up to the player characters. 
  5 . Internal Investigations
  This section covers multiple possible lines of inquiry for 
  the player characters in the wake of Kendal’s death. It’s 
  organised by subject: secret projects, members of the 
  SCREWTAPE committee, other key Laundry personnel, 
  hints from Kendal’s watch; and then by the degree of 
  ingenuity and investigation needed to uncover that 
  information. Some things are common knowledge, others 
  require a little digging, and still others are utterly secret. 
  The PCs likely know any Common Knowledge already; 
  asking the right questions of the right people or conducting 
  a spot of research uncovers the information listed in the 
  Digging Deeper section; the Top Secret material requires 
  risky action to obtain (forcing people to talk, breaking into 
  the archives, surveilling targets, sorcery or necromancy). 
  While we’ve provided some ways that the players might 
  investigate these clues, this part of the scenario is likely to 
  be relatively freeform. 
  As it’s not an ‘official’ Laundry mission – at least, not at 
  the start (see the Proofs of  a Conspiracy sidebar) – you 
  can again interweave this section with other missions. 
  There are two key mysteries to be disentangled. Firstly, 
  there’s Laurie Adams’ secret that she’s on the verge of 
  transforming into a ghoul and is being manipulated by 
  the Elder Ghoul. Secondly, there’s Kelly and Burley’s 
  scheme to profit from the Compulsory Purchase Order 
  for Building 4 in partnership with CGH holdings – and 
  the Elder Ghoul’s behind that too. Everything leads 
  to a confrontation with the Elder Ghoul (see London 
  Underground, page 98).
  Albert Kendal
  Recently Deceased Chair of SCREWTAPE
  Playing Kendal: Well, he’s dead and incinerated. I guess you could 
  set yourself on fire, but that’s a greater devotion to verisimilitude 
  than we’d normally ask of a GM. Oh, you mean playing him before 
  he’s killed off? Weird creepy uncle, like we said earlier.
  Common Knowledge: Kendal suffered from K-Syndrome, 
  which likely affected his judgement. K-Syndrome’s an illness 
  that only afflicts sorcerers – at least, usually. It’s a side effect 
  of doing mental magic. If you let alien mental processes run 
  on your brain’s hardware, which is basically what spellcasting 
  is, you don’t always get that hardware back in one piece.
  He was a great field operative in his day; he wasn’t always 
  mummified in an office. That’s why he takes such an 
  interest in younger officers like the PCs. He still craves the 
  thrill of field operations. 
  Kendal was somehow involved with young Laurie Adams. 
  He was more than her mentor; he seemed to take an 
  almost paternal interest in her. 
  Digging Deeper: Kendal was involved in a classified 
  operation called COFFIN DODGER (see page 96). 
  Whatever COFFIN DODGER was, it went horribly 
  wrong. There are some stories that it was a military 
  operation on British soil, but that’s just a rumour. The 
  only people who know for sure are those with COFFIN 
  DODGER clearance, and they’re not talking. Laundry 
  gossip, digging into Kendal’s background with Research. 
  Top Secret: Kendal was engaged in a sorcerous battle 
  with the Elder Ghoul for Laurie Adams’ soul, or at least 
  her humanity. He lost.
  Proofs of a Conspiracy
  Once the PCs have some solid evidence 
  that Kendal’s death was more than an old 
  man’s suicide, they can approach Auditor 
  Curtis and get official backing for their 
  inquiries. As the whole SCREWTAPE affair 
  brought the Laundry uncomfortably close to 
  the public eye, she’s willing to deputise 
  the player characters to carry out an 
  initial investigation before a second 
  round of audits begin.
  3: First person to make a Doctor Who pocket-watch reference automatically 
  fails their next Luck roll.
  
  93
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  Ann Taylor
  Quality Assurance, New Chair of SCREWTAPE
  Playing Taylor: Brusquely efficient, stopping a planck 
  length before actual rudeness. Time every conversation 
  you have with the player characters – don’t draw attention 
  to it, but get out your phone or watch and track exactly 
  how much of her valuable time is being wasted with 
  irrelevant matters.
  In Conversation: “The whole matter with Albert Kendal was 
  regrettable in the extreme, but let’s face facts – the old man was 
  dying anyway. It’s time to move on.” Taylor has no interest in 
  going over old ground. She believes that Kendal leaked the 
  memo himself.
  Common Knowledge: Since becoming SCREWTAPE 
  chair, Taylor’s put herself on the fast track to promotion. 
  She leaves the everyday details of running the committee 
  to Kelly and Burley; her career goal is clearly to get free 
  of SCREWTAPE as soon as she can and move onto 
  something more high-profile.
  Digging Deeper: Taylor wrote the memo that got leaked 
  to the press. She sent copies to Kendal, Major Philips and 
  the Board after Philips raised a fuss. She was covering 
  her own ass; she assumed that Kendal had signed off on 
  the CPOs, and that lapse in double-checking could have 
  ruined her own career too. Checking internal Laundry records, 
  or questioning Taylor. 
  Top Secret: Zilch. Ann’s exactly what she seems to be.
  Lucien Kelly
  Resident Dark Sorcerer
  Playing Kelly: Kelly attempts to rebuff any inquiries 
  by hinting about the vast cosmic battles that he must 
  undertake on a daily basis to safeguard our reality. He hints 
  that with Albert Kendal’s passing, he alone must shoulder 
  the dread burden of ensuring that the SCREWTAPE 
  shelter is kept safe from extradimensional horrors. 
  In Conversation: 
  “Even now, in the labyrinthine recesses of  my mind, I am drawing 
  wards and pentacles of  vast effulgence. Do not bother me with your 
  petty concerns!” 
  Common Knowledge: Kelly might come across as 
  a poseur, but underneath all the black fingernails and 
  Crowley cosplay, he does know his stuff. He was a Plumber 
  for a few years, and they don’t tolerate mistakes. Laundry 
  gossip, Science (Thaumaturgy).
  Digging Deeper: Kelly recently acquired several expensive 
  occult relics and curios: obscure tomes, items belonging to 
  great sorcerers of the past, a painting by Osman Austin 
  Spare. Where’d he get the cash? Appraise or Art when visiting 
  his home; Knowledge (Accounting) of  Kelly’s pay grade.
  He’s also acquired (or reacquired, to be accurate) a 
  cocaine habit. If the Laundry discovers this, he’ll be given 
  addiction treatment and counselling. Investigating Kelly’s off-
  duty activities; getting access to his medical records. 
  Kelly recently wrote a paper, Mathematical Modelling & 
  Evocation of  Jungian Archetypes with Regards to Compulsion Geas 
  Enforcement in Human & Post-Human Subjects that has the 
  boffins down in Arcana Analysis very excited. Without 
  getting too technical, it’s about drawing on deep-seated 
  archetypes in human consciousness and using them as a 
  short-cut when designing geas spells, especially geas spells 
  aimed at human subjects. It’s a brilliant piece of work – 
  far better than anything Kelly’s produced before. Laundry 
  gossip, Science (Thaumaturgy) or Research.
  Top Secret: Kelly obtained the idea for his paper from the 
  Elder Ghoul. He used it to tweak his and Burley’s Oath 
  of Office so they could make a deal with CGH Holdings. 
  Confronting Kelly about his cocaine use, his sudden wealth or breaking 
  into his (warded) home and finding the original notes from the Elder 
  Ghoul, written on yellowed paper and stained with grave dirt. Kelly 
  was too egotistical to question where the notes came from – he assumed 
  that he’d caused them to manifest through sheer sorcerous power.
  Kelly deliberately lost the CPO filed by Kendal. He 
  changed the labels on it, so the Residual Human Resources 
  took it away and filed it in the depths of the stacks. Research 
  and a lot of  digging, or using sympathetic magic and a paperclip 
  from Kendal’s desk to track it down.
  See Confrontations, page 99, if the PCs confront Kelly 
  about his meddling with the geas spells.
  Lucien Kelly
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  94
  Scott Burley
  Construction Engineer, Department of Buildings & Works
  Playing Burley: Use cluelessness as your shield. Pretend 
  to be utterly ignorant of the workings of the Laundry and 
  the occult. Mispronounce and misinterpret every occult 
  reference. (“A Cluu-loo? Is that some sort of French 
  lavatory?”) 
  In Conversation: “It’s a shame about Mr. Kendal, isn’t it? Still, 
  work to be done, and we’d best get on with it. Sooner we get the 
  diggers rolling, the sooner it’ll all get finished.” 
  Common Knowledge: Burley got drafted into the 
  Laundry when he accidentally dug into a buried 18th 
  Century ornamental garden that doubled as a binding 
  pentacle. One backhoe in the wrong place, and suddenly 
  there was a pissed-off and confused ELMO TWO (aka 
  Fire Vampire) trying desperately to cram its brain into the 
  digger’s wiring. Some draftees adapt better than others 
  to their new life in the secret services; Burley’s towards 
  the bottom of the pack, and seems to deliberately avoid 
  anything that smacks of the supernatural. It’s a bit odd 
  that he hangs around with Lucien Kelly so much. 
  Digging Deeper: Burley’s amiable attitude is a false cover 
  over a deep well of bitterness; get him talking, or drunk (or 
  both) and it all comes pouring out. How he lost his well-paid 
  job; how his wife left him because she couldn’t handle the 
  secrecy; how he hates having to swear magically potent oaths, 
  and how forgetting his wallet one morning could get him eaten 
  by fucking zombies. He really, really hates the Laundry. Influence, 
  Fast Talk, an evening’s drinking down the Squid and Crown pub.
  Like Kelly, Burley recently came into some money, 
  although he’s a lot more circumspect about it. Getting 
  access to his bank records (Computer Use (Hacking) or 
  a use of Status to get the Laundry to get MI5 to do it) or 
  spying on him reveals that he’s getting regular payments of 
  £10,000 per month. 
  Top Secret: Burley was approached by CGH Holdings, 
  who suggested that if he could delay the Compulsory 
  Purchase Order for the Building 4 site, they could buy it 
  before the CPO went through. The government would 
  have to pay more, and CGH would pay Burley for his 
  efforts. When Burley pointed out that his Oath of Office 
  precluded him to conspiring to defraud the British 
  Government, CGH suggested he recruit his friend Kelly 
  to tweak the Oath (and when Kelly was unable to get the 
  spell right, the Elder Ghoul stepped in to provide the 
  necessary magical guidance.)
  See Confrontations, page 99, if the players tackle 
  Burley directly.
  Burley doesn’t think he did anything wrong – the Laundry 
  stole his life, so this is justified compensation. It’s not like 
  it hurts anyone, anyway – other than the government, and 
  they waste far more money every day anyway. 
  Laurie Adams
  Internal Logistics
  Playing Adams: You’re under a lot of stress – you’re 
  turning into a ghoul, for one thing. Even worse than 
  becoming a corpse-eating post-human monster, though, 
  is the prospect of becoming subservient to the thing that 
  haunts your dreams – the Elder Ghoul. Hide this stress 
  by being a little too nice and superficial. Smile. Be perky. 
  Follow the PCs around like a puppy, hoping to pick up 
  some tips that might help your application for field 
  service. Field service just might get you killed before the 
  transformation consumes you.
  Every time she thinks about the Elder Ghoul, she can 
  feel her ghoulish side growing more powerful. Her only 
  solution is to not think about him. She doesn’t know if that 
  will help, but it’s all she’s got right now.
  In Conversation: “I don’t want to talk about it.” Laurie’s 
  terrified of thinking too much about Albert Kendal. He 
  was trying to protect her from the Elder Ghoul, so if she 
  thinks about Kendal, she’ll think about the Elder Ghoul. Her 
  transformation seems to have stopped since Kendal’s death.
  Common Knowledge: Adams wants a transfer to field 
  operations – presumably in a vain attempt to escape 
  bureaucratic entanglements like SCREWTAPE. There’s all 
  sorts of salacious speculation in the cafeteria about her 
  relationship with Albert Kendal. Laundry gossip.
  She recently became a strict vegan, which is surprising – a 
  month ago, she was taking about how she’s really into BBQ. 
  Digging Deeper: Laurie Adams was recruited when she 
  accidentally broke into a Laundry storage depot as part of 
  an urban exploration expedition. She was nearly eaten by 
  the RHR guardians; she escaped, and was inducted into 
  the Laundry as a security precaution. Getting hold of  her file, 
  or gaining her trust.
  That wasn’t her first brush with the Laundry: she was one 
  of a dozen children rescued as part of operation COFFIN 
  DODGER, a classified military incursion into the tunnels 
  under London. Getting access to COFFIN DODGER, 
  weakening Adams’ loyalty geas so she can talk about it. 
  She leaked the memo to Anthony Black; she claims that it 
  was to embarrass the rest of the committee into actually 
  getting the project started. This is a lie, she was forced to leak 
  
  95
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  it by the Elder Ghoul. The characters can convince her to reveal 
  her involvement in leaking the memo by interrogating her, but she 
  continues to conceal her ghoul nature for as long as possible.
  Top Secret: Laurie is in danger of turning into a ghoul. She’s 
  avoiding the usual triggers – thaumic fields, eating dead flesh 
  – but the Elder Ghoul can force her transformation through 
  sorcery. The Ghoul can also read her mind when she sleeps. 
  Inferred from COFFIN DODGER notes or Albert Kendal’s work.
  The Elder Ghoul forced her to leak the memo to Anthony 
  Black. 
  Optionally, Laurie can use her link with the ghoul to find 
  the lair of the Elder Ghoul. See Confrontations, page 
  99, for what happens if the PCs confront Laurie.
  Major Eric Philips
  Military Liaison
  Playing Philips: Maintain a ramrod-straight posture. Be icily 
  polite or else erupt with anger. Pull one arm inside your sleeve 
  or make sure not to move it, to emphasise his missing arm.
  In Conversation: “You will forgive me if  I don’t shed a bloody 
  tear for Kendal. I’ve known him a damn sight longer than you have, 
  and I’ve seen sides to him that you haven’t.” Philips just wants 
  to get SCREWTAPE moving again. He doesn’t know 
  who leaked the memo, but wishes he did; it shook up the 
  committee and got rid of Kendal. The leaker deserves 
  to be bought a drink. Then court-martialed for leaking 
  classified documents. Then another round of drinks.
  Common Knowledge: Philips is ex-SAS. Wounded in 
  action and offered an honourable discharge, but he stayed 
  on instead in a desk job. As he’d worked with the Laundry 
  before and was cleared for occult weirdness, he’s the go-to 
  liaison for military operations that don’t involve shooting 
  shoggoths with LAW rockets. 
  Digging Deeper: Philips was wounded on a Laundry 
  mission called COFFIN DODGER. Research, questioning 
  Philips, digging into the archives. 
  He blames Kendal for his injury. Insight tests.
  Top Secret: There’s more to COFFIN DODGER than is 
  in the original reports. There was something else down in 
  the tunnels, a force behind the ordinary ghouls. He blames 
  Kendal for not preparing the team better. Gaining Philips’ 
  trust, reading between the lines of  the COFFIN DODGER report.
  Building 4
  The proposed site of a civil service shelter for CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN. Building 4 (as well as Buildings 
  1, 2 and 3, the already-completed parts of the shelter) is in 
  Wapping, in East London.
  Common Knowledge: None. Building 4 is classified 
  SCREWTAPE GREEN. If you do not have SCREWTAPE 
  GREEN clearance, do not read this document.
  Digging Deeper: Building 4’s site is currently owned by 
  CGH Holdings, who managed to rush the purchase through 
  a few weeks ago. The Laundry can still use a Compulsory 
  Purchase Order to obtain the site, but it’ll be tied up in 
  legal disputes for months and cost the government millions 
  extra. Research into SCREWTAPE minutes. 
  Top Secret: Visiting the Building 4 site brings the 
  characters into the lair of the Elder Ghoul (see page 102).
  The Compulsory Purchase Orders
  A legal tool enabling the government to take ownership of 
  sites of national importance.
  Common Knowledge: SCREWTAPE is authorised 
  to request CPOs for sites that are especially suitable for 
  shelters against CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN (deep 
  caves, promising ley lines). 
  Digging Deeper: Searching through the records, a CPO 
  for the site was indeed signed off on by Kendal weeks 
  before his death. That CPO should then have gone to the 
  Home Office, but never arrived there. It vanished into the 
  Laundry’s bureaucracy. Research into the files.
  Top Secret: The CPO was deliberately destroyed by Lucien 
  Kelly. The CPO was kept in a warded folder, so destroying it without 
  triggering magical retribution required considerable sorcerous talent. 
  Ghouls in the Laundry
  Ghouls (Homo sapiens necrosis) are humans 
  suffering from a genetic mutation triggered 
  by consumption of dead flesh. In rare cases 
  – like Laurie Adams – the transformation 
  can be triggered prematurely by exposure 
  to thaumic fields.
  Most ghouls retain little interest in 
  their former lives. They retain their 
  intelligence, 
  but 
  changes 
  in 
  brain 
  chemistry mean their instincts and hungers 
  are heightened and their desire (but not 
  capacity) for abstract thought diminished. 
  A few ghouls do work for the Laundry 
  directly, in various low-level roles. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  96
  COFFIN DODGER
  A classified Laundry operation.
  Common Knowledge: COFFIN DODGER’s an old 
  mission – it goes back 20 or 30 years. It was, by all accounts, 
  a clusterfuck. Multiple casualties, multiple careers ended. 
  Digging Deeper: In 1988, a renegade band of ghouls 
  broke their treaty with the Laundry and broke through to 
  the surface of London. They abducted a dozen children 
  from a crèche and carried them down into the tunnels 
  beneath the graveyards. The Laundry investigated the 
  kidnappings, located the ghoul lair and deployed an SAS 
  hostage rescue team to recover the stolen children. They 
  encountered unexpectedly heavy resistance in the tunnels, 
  and were forced to respond with lethal force. Casualties 
  were considerable on both sides, and several of the 
  hostages were killed by ghouls before the SAS team could 
  extract them. Questions were asked at a secret session of 
  the Home Affairs Select Committee. Access to the official 
  COFFIN DODGER report.
  Albert Kendal and Eric Philips were both part of the 
  COFFIN DODGER team. Cross-referencing service records 
  with the dates of  COFFIN DODGER; questioning Philips. 
  Top Secret: There are hints that there was something else 
  behind the ghouls. Close analysis of  the COFFIN DODGER 
  report with Strategy.
  Follow-ups on COFFIN DODGER were quietly 
  suppressed to avoid a war with the ghouls, the effective 
  nullification of the safeguards in the Monster Control Act, 
  and the inevitable revelation of the existence of a tribe of 
  cannibal post-human immortal monsters. Speaking with a 
  political ally or mentor.
  Laurie Adams was one of the children abducted by the 
  ghouls. Cross-referencing the redacted details on the hostages with 
  Adams’ personal records.
  The purpose of COFFIN DODGER, from the ghoul’s 
  perspective, was to assimilate knowledge of the surface. 
  The Elder Ghoul is immensely powerful, but clueless 
  about the modern world, and he decided he couldn’t wait 
  for a Pickman-esque intermediary to show up naturally. 
  He needed information, and decided that planting the 
  seeds of ghoulism in some mortal children was the way 
  to go – these children would grow up on the surface, then 
  come down to him. Speaking to the ghouls, Cthulhu Mythos test. 
  CGH Holdings
  The property company that sniped the Building 4 site from 
  under the Laundry’s nose. They purchase sites in London 
  for later sale to other companies (or, if the CPO order goes 
  through, the government). The manager of CGH Holdings 
  swanky ultramodern London office is Julie Zhao. 
  Common Knowledge: CGH Holdings has been around 
  for a while; you can see their fingerprints on many 
  transactions and property deals in London over the last 
  few years. 
  There were rumours in the financial papers a few years ago 
  that CGH had overextended itself, and was on the verge 
  of bankruptcy. 
  Digging Deeper: CGH obtained a new source of funding 
  from a mysterious, anonymous investor. This same investor 
  suggested buying the Building 4 site. Hacking or otherwise 
  obtaining CGH Records; zapping Julie Zhao with a warrant card. 
  Julie Zhao regularly visits antique dealers and auction houses; 
  she’s selling a cache of gold coins and other treasures. 
  Checking these suggests that she’s falsified purchase 
  records, suggesting that these coins are buried treasure that 
  should have been reported to the local Coroner and offered 
  to museums for purchase instead. Following Zhao.
  Top Secret: Zhao obtained the coins from her new 
  investor. She doesn’t know who or what he is, but knows 
  where he can be found. Following her directions brings 
  the characters to the ghoul warren near Building 4 (The 
  Lair of  the Elder Ghoul, page 102). 
  CGH are paying Scott Burley and Lucien Kelly. Tracing 
  payments in their accounts, or confronting them directly.
  The Leaked Memo
  A report on the slowness of the SCREWTAPE process, 
  Common Knowledge: A heavily redacted version of this 
  memo was leaked to the press. The Laundry’s never, ever 
  supposed to come that close to the public eye. Heads will 
  roll – literally, if the Black Assizes gets in on the action. 
  They’ve got a magic guillotine that was smuggled out of 
  Paris in 1940 that they really want to play with.
  Digging Deeper: The memo was written by Ann Taylor, 
  and CC’ed to the chair of SCREWTAPE (at the time, 
  Kendal) and Major Eric Philips, as well as their superiors 
  and the Laundry’s Board. The memo mentions, but was 
  not sent, to Lucien Kelly, Scott Burley, Laurie Adams and 
  the player characters. Bureaucracy to find the original memo with.
  
  97
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  The copy of the memo leaked was the one that was sent to 
  Albert Kendal. Bureaucracy; or failing to find a copy of  the memo 
  in the ruins of  Kendal’s home. 
  The redactions were carried out hastily. Someone got a copy of 
  the memo and a big fat black felt-tip pen, then drew thick black 
  bars across certain lines, erasing all mention of the supernatural, 
  CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN and the ultimate purpose of 
  Building 4. This copy was then copied again and leaked to 
  Anthony Black. Computer analysis of  the leaked memo. 
  The memo carried a basic Laundry ‘read this without 
  permission and your brain fries, oh and it’ll also void your 
  photocopier’s warranty’ security geas, but it was removed. 
  That takes a modicum of sorcerous skill.
  Top Secret: The memo was leaked by Laurie Adams at the 
  instigation of the Elder Ghoul. She did it while in a ghoulish 
  trance, and has only fragmented memories of the incident.
  Anthony Black
  Freelance Journalist
  In Conversation: Black’s immensely pleased with himself 
  when encountered by the player characters – the Building 
  4 scoop acquired legs when Kendal incinerated himself in 
  Crowhurst, so he’s got plenty of material to write about. If 
  contacted by the player characters, he assumes they’re low-
  level government drones trying to save their own careers.
  Black won’t reveal his sources unless the characters 
  threaten him or pull a warrant card, either of which would 
  endanger their Status in the Laundry.
  Common Knowledge: His particular speciality is government 
  gossip and scandals; he can write intelligently on spending 
  cuts for the broadsheets, or turn his hand to three-in-a-bed 
  cocaine sex romps for the tabloids. In his younger days, he 
  also did some writing for conspiracy/weirdness magazines 
  and websites like the Fortean Times and Bizarre, but he’s tried 
  to cover that up as his career trended towards the respectable.
  Digging Deeper: Black met with Laurie Adams at a cheap 
  restaurant near his flat in Clapham, and she gave him the 
  memo. He assumed she was having a nervous breakdown 
  – she was acting very strangely – but he suppressed his 
  conscience with a bottle of the house Merlot and took 
  the memo anyway. After checking it out to confirm it was 
  genuine, he wrote the article that killed Albert Kendal’s 
  career, and soon afterwards also killed Albert Kendal. 
  Threatening or geasing Black, checking security cameras; asking 
  around; dumpster diving for the restaurant receipt. 
  Adams ordered a rare steak, and seemed to be acting 
  strangely. Interviewing Black; talking to restaurant staff. 
  Top Secret: If Black is given any reason to suspect that 
  the player characters are part of a top-secret branch of 
  the British government dedicated to protecting humanity 
  from eldritch alien brain-eaters from beyond space and 
  time, he’ll start investigating them. He might trail the 
  investigators home, or to the Laundry, or show up when 
  they visit Building 4. The PCs may need to arrange for 
  Black to be visited by a Plumber, or even recruited into 
  the Laundry.
  Ghoul Attack!
  If you ever need to raise the stakes 
  by throwing in an action scene, have a 
  bunch of ghouls stalk the PCs, and attack 
  when the opportunity arises. The ghouls 
  disguise themselves in stolen clothes and 
  only come above-ground during the night. 
  They’re armed with teeth and claw, although 
  the smarter ones carry cricket bats, tire-
  irons and other bludgeons to disguise the 
  injuries.
  Ghouls with an INT of 12+ may know a few 
  spells like Defensive Bindings, Wards, 
  Exorcism or Entropy Manipulation. 
  STR
  CON
  SIZ
  DEX
  INT
  POW
  HP
  #1
  18
  14
  16
  8
  10
  11
  15
  #2
  17
  13
  15
  10
  14
  12
  14
  #3
  16
  11
  12
  11
  12
  14
  12
  #4
  15
  15
  13
  12
  10
  12
  14
  #5
  15
  12
  8
  15
  13
  10
  10
  #6
  17
  12
  11
  14
  16
  17
  12
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Weapons: Claws x2 30%, damage 1d6+1d4
  Bite 30%, damage 1d6+automatic worry next 
  round if it hits with bite and two claws
  Club 40%, damage 1d6+1d4+1
  Armour: Firearms do half damage, rounded up.
  Skills: Disguise 40%, Stealth 70%, Sorcery 
  INT X5%
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  98
  6. London Underground
  COFFIN DODGER and other references to ghouls 
  may warrant a trip downstairs. The Laundry maintains 
  cordial relations with the ghoul tribes under London. 
  The Monster Control Act of 1864 recognises ghouls as 
  something almost human, and so almost deserving of the 
  protection of the law. The Laundry permits the ghouls 
  to dwell safely in a tunnel network deep below London, 
  provides them with trinkets and a supply of food, and 
  ensures they don’t bother the neighbours on the surface. 
  Try to stay away from terms like ‘reservation’ or ‘enclave’; 
  the preferred phrase is ‘ghouldom’. The Laundry permits 
  the occasional trip to the surface – your modern ghoul is 
  as fascinated by ShinyPhones and Heat magazine as they 
  are by delicious rotting corpses and yummy brains – as 
  long as the ghouldom residents don’t scare the humans. In 
  exchange, the ghouls assist the Laundry from time to time, 
  passing on ancient lore or guiding Laundry expeditions 
  underground. 
  Should the characters wish to question the ghouls, the 
  first thing to do is call in a favour from the Subterranean 
  Operations Liaison of Inhuman Resources (if they 
  mention such a plan in front of Laurie Adams, then she 
  points out that she knows the guys over in ‘SubHumans’, 
  and that she can arrange a visit to ghouldom – allowing 
  you to have the Elder Ghoul ambush the PCs while they’re 
  underground). A trip underground means putting on 
  heavy orange overalls, safety helmets and breathing masks, 
  and carrying a backpack full of carefully wrapped hunks 
  of mystery meat, as well as a handgun. The Liaison offers 
  warn that discharging the handgun isn’t permitted, except 
  in dire emergency. It’s there as a show of force, to remind 
  the ghouls to suppress their natural hunger for human 
  flesh. The ghouls are doing the PCs a favour by not eating 
  them, and the PCs should respect that courtesy. 
  Then it’s off and down, through London’s tunnel strata. 
  Down to City Road tube station (officially shut down in 
  1922, but the elevator still works…), and then down a 
  spiral of cable tunnels, into the city’s intestines. Victorian 
  brickwork gives way to concrete, and then to natural 
  tunnels carved by water (or inhuman hands) in the soft 
  chalky soil. 
  Meeting the Ghouls
  The ghouls – loathsome and meeping, rangy grey-green 
  shapes slipping out of the darkness of the deeper passageways 
  – cluster thickly around the PCs and the SubHuman liaisons. 
  They laugh and whisper to one another, and take joy in 
  reaching out from the darkness to fondle or pinch the visitors. 
  After a few minutes, they lead the PCs to a huge cavern deep 
  under London, a cave so large that you could fit St Paul’s 
  Cathedral in here and still have room to spare. An older ghoul 
  wearing a tattered judge’s wig waits there. She calls herself 
  Mother Hubbard, and speaks for the ghouls. 
  Playing Mother Hubbard:
  • Imagine your grandmother perching on a 
  tombstone while gnawing on a shinbone, 
  but don’t change anything else. 
  • She was around in the 1860s, when there 
  was a secret war between the surface folk 
  and the ghouls, and she has a healthy 
  respect for guns. 
  To get anything useful out of the ghouls, the characters 
  need to either persuade them to talk through intimidation, 
  or offer them something they want (more access to 
  the surface, more food or a place to hide from CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN). 
  Questioning the old ghoul reveals the following:
  • Her tribe takes no responsibility for the events of the 
  COFFIN DODGER incident. All the blame for that 
  can be laid at the hooves of the Elder Ghoul.
  • The Elder Ghoul is a newcomer to London, but he’s ancient 
  even by ghoul standards – he ate the bitumen-infused flesh 
  of mummified corpses buried in Memphis and Tyre), and has 
  hidden from the sun for more than three thousand years. He 
  doesn’t care about the Monster Control Act, or the strength 
  of the surface people. He’s a great and terrible sorcerer.
  o Any PC with knowledge of Sorcery knows that there 
  are some inhuman spellcasters whose thaumaturgical 
  powers rival those of the Laundry. If the Elder Ghoul 
  is that old and powerful, then a direct confrontation 
  may be extremely dangerous. 
  
  99
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  • Some of her people went to follow the Elder Ghoul, 
  but returned to Mother Hubbard after the COFFIN 
  DODGER debacle.
  o If Laurie Adams is present, or if one of the PCs 
  shows Hubbard a picture of her, then the ghoul 
  crows and says that she’s ‘gravebound’ and will soon 
  join them under the earth. 
  • The Elder Ghoul made a prophecy – there will be seven 
  fat years, followed by seventy lean years, as the stars 
  come right. He warned that there would be no corpses 
  for the ghouls to eat in those lean years, because ‘them 
  from beyond’ would ride the corpses and make them 
  walk out of the grave. 
  o It’s clear to the PCs that he’s talking about CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN; if exonomes animate any 
  available human corpses as zombies, then there’ll be 
  nothing for the ghouls to eat.
  • She’s heard that the Elder Ghoul makes his lair near 
  Wapping, but she also knows that some of his followers 
  took a perilous trip to the surface a few days ago, 
  disguising themselves as surface folk and riding the 
  trains to the village of Crowhurst.
  o The ghouls will guide the player characters there in 
  exchange for a really big favour – bringing them to the 
  Lair of  the Elder Ghoul (page 102). 
  7 . Confrontations
  Three individuals on the SCREWTAPE committee are 
  guilty of breaking their oaths. Kelly and Burley both 
  conspired with CGH Holdings to defraud the Laundry out 
  of millions; Laurie Adams is under the influence of the 
  Elder Ghoul. Once the players discover the clues pointing 
  at these three, they must choose how to confront them. 
  Do they speak to the implicated individuals directly, or 
  follow the dictates of the civil service handbook dictates 
  and hand the matter over to Internal Affairs? 
  Internal Affairs
  If the PCs call in a favour from Internal Affairs using 
  Status, then they can get access to whatever IA uncovers 
  in the course of the investigation. If they just let IA know 
  about the security breach without pulling some strings, then 
  the suspects vanish, never to be seen again – which may 
  mean that the PCs lose a lead pointing at the Elder Ghoul.
  Laurie Adams: Bringing the hammer of Internal Affairs 
  down on Laurie is a bad idea. The stress triggers her 
  transformation into a ghoul, and she goes berserk inside 
  the interview room. She kills three Internal Affairs officers 
  and a junior clerk who happens to get in the way before 
  security terminate her. The player characters get called 
  before the Auditors for their part in this debacle.
  • Internal Affairs do discover (in a post-mortem) that 
  Laurie had already begun her transformation into a 
  ghoul, and that it was being delayed by some external 
  force, presumably Kendal’s magic. 
  • Surveillance recordings of her rampage show she was 
  ranting about the “Elder Ghoul” as she murdered her 
  fellow officers.
  Lucien Kelly: Kelly suspected that Internal Affairs 
  might stick their noses in as soon as he started meddling 
  with the loyalty geases, so he’s ready for them. He’s got 
  a Prognostication spell running on his home computer, 
  focused on answering the question “what’s the best time 
  to flee to Kenya before Internal Affairs arrest me and 
  drag me before the Black Assizes?” Prognostication’s 
  usually unreliable, but Kelly gets lucky. He shows up at 
  a player character’s home to take revenge before heading 
  for Heathrow. If the character survives Kelly’s sorcerous 
  attack (see below) then they may be sent overseas to Kenya 
  to hunt Kelly down; if they manage to take Kelly down 
  before he can escape, then Internal Affairs show up with 
  an Auditor.
  • The Auditor dissects Kelly’s mind. A sliver of it shows 
  up on a PC’s desk in a brown envelope – the memory of 
  him finding the scroll that inspired his recent paper. 
  Scott Burley: Dropping Internal Affairs on Burley works. 
  He doesn’t have the sorcerous talent or strength of will 
  to prevaricate or hide anything, so they go through him 
  like DEEP SEVEN through butter. He admits that he 
  was offered a bribe from CGH Holdings, that he brought 
  Lucien Kelly in to weaken his loyalty geas so he could 
  both earn and take the bribe, that he has no loyalty to the 
  Laundry that wasn’t forced on him by magic, and that given 
  half a chance he’d sell the lot of you bastards to the private 
  sector, or the Great Old Ones, whichever comes first.
  • Internal Affairs passes on everything they find out – 
  the link to CGH Holdings, Kelly’s involvement, the 
  meddling with the memo. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  100
   
  Laurie Adams the Ghoul
  STR 18 
  CON 12 
  SIZ 10 
  INT 16 
  POW 12
  DEX 16 
  CHA 13 
  EDU 17 
  SAN 30 
  HP 12
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Weapons: Claw x2 50%, damage 1d6+1d4
  Bite 50%, damage 1d6+automatic worry
  Items: Warrant Card, Class II Ward.
  Armour: 
  Firearms 
  do 
  half 
  damage. 
  Direct Intervention
  Laurie Adams: Confronting Adams starts to trigger her 
  transformation into a ghoul. The PCs can avert this with a hasty 
  geas (Level Three at least) or with a successful Persuade test. If 
  she does transform, use her ghoul stats (see sidebar). If the PCs 
  stay the grotesque mutation, then she warns them that HE (the 
  Elder Ghoul) can sense her, and HE’s stopping her from talking. 
  The PCs must find a way to block the Elder Ghoul’s influence; 
  Entropy Manipulation, putting her inside a ward, finding a 
  strong thaumic field, or just getting high off the ground all work. 
  Throw in a ghoul attack to add action if you wish.
  Given temporary relief from the influence of the Elder 
  Ghoul, Adams reveals everything she knows – her 
  impending transformation, Kendal’s attempts to help 
  her and the threat of the Elder Ghoul. She doesn’t know 
  about the connection between the Elder Ghoul and CGH 
  Holdings; she assumed that he made her leak the memo to 
  destroy Kendal, and that she’s what the ghoul is after. She 
  hasn’t realised that Building 4 is the real target.
  Lucien Kelly: The best place to confront Kelly in private 
  is at his home; he’ll dodge any attempts at interrogation 
  inside the Laundry. And when the PCs finally do track him 
  down, they’ve got a problem.
  What do you do if you’re an ambitious sorcerer who’s 
  suddenly got access to a lot of money and the Laundry’s 
  archives? Ebay! Kelly’s picked up several tomes and relics 
  that have boosted his sorcerous ability (see sidebar). When 
  challenged, Kelly attempts to get one of the PCs alone, then 
  opens up with magical attacks and summonings. He’ll then 
  flee to Heathrow airport and escape to Kenya, cackling like 
  the evil necromancer he desperately wants to be. 
  Alternatively, if you wish to raise the tension, then Kelly 
  might work out that the player characters are about to 
  uncover his treachery, and ambush them before they can 
  bring his malfeasance to the attention of the Laundry.
  Lucien Kelly, Wannabe Dark Lord
  STR 8 
  CON 8 
  SIZ 16 
  INT 16 
  POW 15
  DEX 11 
  CHA 9 
  EDU 18 
  SAN 25 
  HP 12
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Weapons: Black-market Hand of Glory Class 
  III 60%, damage 3d6+4
  Items: Warrant Card, Class II Ward, 
  Talisman of Gnash-Teth (Defensive Bindings 
  vs Bullets & Spells, Level 2), Curse-Ring 
  of Blindness (Level 4 Curse, blinds first 
  character to attack him, blindness removed 
  with Exorcism).
  Skills: Appraise 40%, Fast Talk 40%, 
  Knowledge (Occult) 70%, Sorcery 70%.
  Scott Burley: Burley denies taking bribes, even as he 
  hurries to get into his brand-new car to drive to his 
  brand-new house with his brand-new girlfriend; if the 
  PCs push him, he panics and runs into his own loyalty 
  geas. Kelly’s modifications to the geas means that Burley 
  doesn’t spontaneously combust, but he does topple over 
  with steam curling from his ears. It’s clear that Burley’s 
  involved in wrong-doing, but it’s even more clear that he’s 
  not the mastermind.
  His phone has several calls from Julie Zhao at CGH 
  Holdings, some of which predate the purchase of the 
  Building 4 site. 
  8 . Building 4
  Soon, very soon, the stars will come right. The walls of 
  reality will melt, unable to bear the cosmological pressure 
  exerted on them from beyond, and things will seep 
  through into our dimension. Our Earth will intersect with 
  alien worlds and conditions that are literally unimaginable 
  by human minds. It’s going to be hellish. The lucky ones 
  will be those who perish in the initial upheavals and chaos, 
  because if you’re still alive when the Great Old Ones show 
  up, there’s every chance… well, there are fates much worse 
  than death, and all are one in Yog-Sothoth. 
  Or, maybe you’ll ride out the storm in one of the 
  government shelters. Her Majesty’s Government isn’t 
  going to let a piddling little apocalypse get in the way of 
  the business of government. Buildings 1-3 are already half-
  
  101
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  built (they will be, respectively, a deeply buried command 
  centre, infrastructure for power generation and waste 
  recycling, and a giant ward generator, although right now 
  they’re just mazes of bare concrete and rebar). Building 4 
  will be the big housing centre, where thousands of vitally 
  important civil servants will attend to the running of 
  whatever’s left of the nation. 
  Building 4 – or, rather, the present site of what will be Building 
  4 – is a series of dilapidated warehouses and old factories, 
  built before the UK economy decided that producing things 
  was passé. It’s mostly abandoned; investigating it, the PCs 
  pick their way through the ruins and find…
  Well, how far are you in this adventure? Do the players 
  know about the Elder Ghoul and what’s really going on, or 
  are they just checking out Building 4 early in the adventure? 
  Timing dictates the sort of clues they find.
  Early
  Give the characters a clue that hints at the involvement of 
  CGH Holdings and the Elder Ghoul, like:
  • A discarded, dirty sports bag that contains several 
  hundred gold coins dating back to the 11th Century – a 
  fortune worth at least half a million pounds in today’s 
  money. A crumpled credit card receipt in a pocket of 
  the bag identifies its original owner as Billy Conroy, who 
  vanished six years ago. The Elder Ghoul left this money 
  here for Julie Zhao from CGH Holdings to collect.
  • Julie Zhao and a survey team from CGH Holdings, 
  looking around their new purchase. An Insight test 
  suggests that the survey team are confused as to why 
  CGH would want to own a pile of overpriced ruined 
  warehouses; Zhao looks wary but excited.
  • A pile of well-chewed bones; a Medicine test confirms 
  they’re human remains.
  •  The sound of scratching, or maybe digging, from 
  somewhere far far below.
  Late
  Everything looks pretty much the same as before – but 
  there’s something wrong. Something just beyond the edge 
  of perception. With a suitable spell (Exorcism, Scrying), 
  the characters discover a hole in the floor that’s been 
  glamoured against detection. Normal people can’t see that 
  hole, and the characters were only able to detect it because 
  of their experience with sorcery in the Laundry. 
  Examining the glamour runes scratched into the concrete 
  with Science (Thaumaturgy), Sorcery or Knowledge (Occult) 
  confirms that the glamour isn’t finished yet – it’s already up 
  to Level 3, but by the time it’s finished, it’ll be a strong and 
  permanent Level 4. No one will be able to see that hole, 
  not even a Deeply Scary Sorcerer or other high-ranking 
  Laundry officer. They’ll build Building 4 around that tunnel 
  entrance without noticing it – everyone will just ignore it, 
  even as they dig around it and unconsciously change the 
  plans of the shelter to avoid that concrete tapeworm.
  What do the characters do? 
  • Investigate the tunnel entrance: Brave souls! Draw them 
  in by hinting that there are more runes of concealment 
  and glamour drawn deeper inside the tunnel. The tunnel 
  leads to Scene 8, the Lair of the Elder Ghoul.
  • Destroy the Glamour: Tampering with the glamour 
  draws the attention of the Elder Ghoul. Run Scene 8, 
  but instead of the PCs running around the ghoul lair, 
  they’re running around the ruined warehouses, trying to 
  find their way back to the safe streets of London.
  • Call it in: Call for a Status test on the part of the character taking 
  the lead on this. If successful, the warning is taken seriously, and 
  the Laundry dispatch an OCCULUS control team to investigate 
  this potential threat to their ultimate bolthole. You can run with 
  the Call Them In option, below, but the ultimate responsibility 
  is out of the player characters’ hands.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  102
  • Call Them In: Having learned the lesson of COFFIN 
  DODGER, the PCs call in a bunch of SAS Toshers to 
  go into the noisome hole on their behalf. Break out the 
  military PCs. Then take the gloves off the ghouls and go 
  nuts when they’re actually in the tunnels.
  • Fill the hole with concrete: Well, there is construction 
  equipment down the street. You can thwart this by having 
  the Elder Ghoul pop out half-way through, or let it go ahead 
  – only the player characters can’t find the hole when they 
  return after concreting it over. Is Building 4 safe, or are there 
  invisible ghouls scraping their way towards the meat…? 
  • Cancel SCREWTAPE: This is what a Sir Humphrey would 
  call a very courageous decision. “Cancelling the British 
  government’s refuge from cosmic horrors on the grounds 
  that its security cannot be guaranteed? Trusting to the pluck 
  and ingenuity of the Laundry to save the world when the 
  stars come right instead? Very courageous, sir. A morally 
  upstanding decision.” Tell the players that they just saved 
  thousands of people from a horrible fate. Describe how the 
  ghouls intended to treat SCREWTAPE like a giant larder, 
  creeping in to devour unfortunate victims every night over 
  the long years of CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN. Describe 
  how awful it would be to be trapped in the dormitories of 
  Building 4, listening to the ghouls padding past your door, 
  wondering if this is the time that they’ll burst in and eat you, 
  or if it’ll be your neighbour who gets gobbled up instead. 
  Then hit them with a d10% drop in Status, because 
  doing the right thing doesn’t always get rewarded.
  • Something else, probably involving plastic explosive 
  or basilisk guns: Like “I wire two GoPro cameras 
  together, upload SCORPION STATE firmware, and 
  then strap them to my Parrot drone and fly it into the 
  tunnel mouth.” Ten points for creativity, five bonus 
  points for brand awareness, but minus several million 
  for deploying a WMD in the middle of London. 
  Second Time Around
  Players are often loathe to retread over 
  old ground; once they’ve visited a location 
  or talked to an NPC, they rarely return. 
  Draw their attention back to Building 4 if 
  necessary with some event – the mysterious 
  death of some vagrant at the hands of the 
  ghouls, Laurie Adams having a breakdown and 
  being summoned by the Elder Ghoul, dreams from 
  Kendal’s pocket watch, or just an Idea roll to 
  check out the building site again now that CGH 
  Holdings have had access to it for a while.
  8 . Lair of  the Elder Ghoul
  Down. Down and down and down and down. The 
  tunnel from Building 4 drops like a disembowelled 
  intestine, twisting and slipping down through all of the 
  city’s previous incarnations, through the graves of older 
  Londons and older civilisations, past the tunnels and tubes 
  and sewers, burrowing down into the chalky stone below. 
  It ends in another, older tunnel network, one that predates 
  human habitation of these islands. Carvings and images 
  on the walls resemble cave paintings, but show modern-
  day objects like cars and buildings. There’s no light other 
  than any sources the characters bring with them, and the 
  stench is enough to force everyone to make CON rolls or 
  start gagging.
  There are ghouls here. Lots of ghouls. Initially, they 
  scurry away when the player characters approach – all 
  the characters hear is scuttling and scraping and the 
  occasionally eerie gurgling laughter from somewhere 
  nearby – but as the intruders get into the deeper tunnels, 
  the ghouls grow bolder. They’re not hostile, at least not 
  yet. They just stare at the intruders with yellow-glowing 
  eyes, peer at them through broken spectacles or Victorian 
  opera-glasses or shattered night-vision goggles looted 
  from some previous incursion into their kingdom. They 
  paw and poke at the player characters, as if checking to see 
  how fat they are. (It’s a Difficult Stealth test to get in here 
  without being seen – the agents are on the ghoul’s home 
  turf here. Magic, like an invisibility spell or Hand of Glory, 
  will put the test difficulty back to Average).
  Then the tunnel opens into a larger chamber. There’s 
  a building here, of sorts, made of thousands of stolen 
  gravestones piled on one another. The door into the 
  building is nine feet tall, and cloaked by a leathery curtain 
  that jangles with piercings – it’s made from flayed human 
  flesh. SAN Loss for the entire experience is 1/1d8. 
  The curtain’s drawn back, and the Elder Ghoul emerges, 
  ducking to fit under its door.
  ‘Normal’ ghouls could pass for human in a dingy nightclub 
  or at a distance. Sharper teeth, more canine features, rubbery 
  skin, but something of their former humanity remains. The 
  Elder Ghoul has left all that behind. He stands more than 
  ten feet tall, his scales are grey-black and swallow all the 
  light that falls on them. His head reminds the PCs instantly 
  of images of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, and 
  they know instinctively that those long-dead sculptors and 
  painters used this very creature as their model. 
  Black eyes glitter with intelligence older than the cities. 
  What do the player characters do?
  
  103
  HOT POTATO
  Hot Potato
  The Elder Ghoul
  Playing the Elder Ghoul
  • You’re older than civilisation. Demand 
  respect. Be a king.
  • You can smell sorcery, and you know that 
  none of these mortals before you have 
  any real power – but you’ve learned, 
  through bitter experience, that their 
  toys and trinkets can be surprisingly 
  efficacious. Be wary of technology you 
  don’t understand.
  • Search for words. Mutter to yourself in 
  unknown languages every so often, and 
  drop thees and thous into your speech. 
  Negotiation
  The players might not realise it, but they’re actually in a 
  good position here. For all his power, the Elder Ghoul 
  can’t take on the whole Laundry; he can do damage to 
  the organisation, but it’ll cost him his immortal life. The 
  PCs have blown his scheme to burrow into the Building 
  4 shelter and eat the CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN 
  refugees when they’re vulnerable, and he doesn’t have the 
  strength for a direct confrontation. 
  He can probably kill the player characters, but he has to 
  suspect that the rest of the Laundry knows about his 
  plan. So, the Elder Ghoul’s looking for two things in any 
  negotiation, and the second thing’s predicated on the first:
  1) Confirmation that the player characters have informed 
  the rest of the Laundry about their discovery of his 
  plan. This proof is right in front of him if the PCs have 
  already called in the SAS, or if they were able to report 
  home between finding the tunnel entrance at Building 4 
  and entering his lair. Otherwise, he asks them obliquely:
  • Hast thou come alone to my palace? Do thy masters know you 
  have strayed?
  • Do the Unseen Masters speak through you, or are you here on 
  your own recognisance? 
  2a) Once he has this confirmation, he looks for a way 
  out that allows him to save face, anything that lets 
  him maintain his authority over the ghouls and claim 
  some sort of victory. An Insight roll suggests what he’s 
  looking for. The characters could offer:
  • A partnership between the ghouls and the Laundry in 
  the run-up to CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN. Ghouls 
  are instinctively short-sighted; they see the upcoming 
  apocalypse as an all-you-can-eat buffet of carrion, 
  which is only true in the short term. Yes, billions will 
  die, but that’s only for starters. When the Great Old 
  Ones come back, they’ll wreak as much horror on 
  humanity’s cousins as they will on base humanity. The 
  ghouls are just as screwed. Maybe by working together, 
  the combination of the Elder Ghoul’s ancient sorcery 
  and the Laundry’s computational demonology can 
  cobble together a better solution. As for the ghouls’ 
  hungers, that’s an issue for Catering.
  • COFFIN DODGER’s purpose was to give the Elder 
  Ghoul a bridge to understanding the modern world. 
  The PCs could convince Laurie Adams to embrace 
  her ghoul nature and be that bridge. She’d be giving 
  up her humanity, but not her place in the Laundry (at 
  least, not if the PCs fight for her.)
  • Recognition – right now, the Laundry deals primarily 
  with Mother Hubbard’s ghoul kingdom, and the Elder 
  Ghoul got the business end of an L85 in his face last 
  time he poked his snout above ground. If the Laundry 
  were to stop taking sides in ghouldom, he could make 
  his play to rule the underworld under London.
  Running Away
  A very, very good idea. The Elder Ghoul’s too big to fit 
  through most tunnels, although he is terrifyingly agile and 
  lithe for such an ancient thing. To escape, the PCs need 
  to survive two rounds of attacks from the Elder Ghoul, 
  make their way back up through the tunnels (they do have 
  a way of finding the route back, right? They’re not relying 
  on Navigation tests, made Difficult by the darkness and the 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  104
  hordes of angry ghouls?) and then dodge the Elder Ghoul 
  again when he bursts out of the tunnel just behind them, 
  having taken a different route to the surface. 
  On the bright side, on the surface the PCs can get phone 
  reception, so they can have conversations like this:
  PC: HELP I’M BEING CHASED BY GHOULS AND-
  Laundry: You’ve reached Capital Laundry Services 
  automated switchboard. To order a cleaner-
  PC: Need extraction, tactical support, sodding big lads 
  with machine guns -
  Laundry: Press one. To report a horrible mess, press two. 
  For billing services, press three.
  PC: And they’re going to eat us all! SCREWTAPE! They 
  got Kendal, and- 
  Laundry: To invoke the Pentacle of Naash-Taar, press 
  four. For dry cleaning, press five. If you are trying to reach 
  a particular department and know their extension code, 
  PC: Yes! Get me Bob Howard! Or Andy-
  Laundry: Press six followed by that four-digit code. To 
  speak to a *snigger* live person, or if you’re calling from 
  another dimension or using a rotary phone, please stay on 
  the line.
  PC: Glargh my liver is being eaten. Am being dragged 
  away towards the tunnel…
  Adams & the Ghoul
  If the players brought Laurie Adams with them, then 
  the Elder Ghoul can trigger her transformation with a 
  touch. Use this to either raise the stakes (the Elder Ghoul 
  transforms Laurie to put pressure on the PCs) or to give 
  the characters a way out (Laurie goes berserk and attacks 
  the Elder Ghoul, giving the PCs a chance to flee).
  Fighting the Elder Ghoul
  The Elder Ghoul is immensely tough and powerful – 
  would you like your tank ripped to scrap by its claws, or 
  fried by its sorcery? Unless the player characters have some 
  big-damage weapons like a Basilisk Gun to hand, fighting 
  the Elder Ghoul is a very risky proposition. There’s also 
  the issue of hundreds of ordinary ghouls who’ll join in the 
  scrap. The best approach is to take out the Elder Ghoul 
  and run like hell – killing the boss monster means most of 
  the other ghouls flee in terror. 
  If the players have switched out their regular characters 
  for a spec ops team, then it’s time to break out the heavy 
  weapons and Aliens quotes. 
  The Elder Ghoul
  STR 30 
  CON 20 SIZ 24 
  INT 20 
  POW 24
  DEX 16 
  CHA 18 
  EDU 20 SAN 0 
  HP 22
  Damage Bonus: +2d6
  Weapons: Claw x2 70%, damage 2d6+db
  Bite 80%, damage 2d6+automatic worry
  Armour: Firearms do half damage
  Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 50%, Grapple 80%, Knowledge 
  (History) 90%, Knowledge (Occult) 90%, Sorcery 90%.
  9 . Aftermath
  So, once the dust settles on Building 4, what’s going to 
  happen at the next SCREWTAPE meeting? What have the 
  PCs discovered and achieved? What compromises have 
  been made? Specific questions to be answered:
  • Is the Building 4 project going ahead? If so, have the 
  PCs ensured that everyone in the shelter won’t be eaten 
  by ghouls at some point in the future?
  • Are Lucien Kelly and Scott Burley still in good standing 
  with the Laundry, or has their treachery been exposed?
  • Is Laurie Adams still human? If so, for how long?
  • What’s the state of ghouldom in London? Is the Elder 
  Ghoul running things, or Mother Hubbard, or is there 
  a ghoul war that’s threatening to spill over onto the 
  surface? Is the Laundry involved?
  • Most importantly of all, have the players managed to 
  protect their own Status scores?
  
  105
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  This is an unusual Laundry Files adventure. Instead of presenting 
  a series of unfortunate and squamous events for Laundry agents 
  to enjoy and perhaps survive (or vice versa), you’ll find a series 
  of unfortunate and occasionally fiery NPCs, locations, and 
  organisations all tied together in one of several plots.
  Several? Yes. These people and groups come in three flavours, 
  and both the GM and players decide which flavours to use 
  while running through the adventure. Remember those old 
  “Choose Your Own Adventure” books where your decisions 
  affected the story, and you could read it several times with 
  different results? That’s what this adventure does. You’ll make 
  decisions on which version of the NPCs and organisations to 
  use, which can take the adventure in very different directions. 
  There’s even three different climaxes, from preventing the 
  deaths of several thousand people to saving the Earth. 
  Mission Overview
  About two years ago, the Laundry investigated a rash of 
  spontaneous human combustions (SHCs) in Pavlodar, 
  Kazakhstan. After discovering a possible connection to a 
  spaceflight firm, DKX Systems, the Laundry sent one of their 
  agents, Steven Barrow, to infiltrate the company and investigate. 
  Four months ago, the Laundry lost all contact with Barrow. He 
  missed two scheduled check-ins – was he under surveillance? 
  Dead? Turned? Then, a week ago, he showed up on the 
  dashboard camera of a vehicle carrying a British civil servant 
  on a trade delegation. In the video, he appears homeless and 
  deranged, but the Laundry speculated that Barrow wanted to 
  be caught on a camera in hopes of getting a message home.
  Between not leaving an agent behind and worrying 
  if Barrow had joined the Thirteenth Directorate (or 
  something worse), the Laundry is sending a team into 
  Pavlodar to find out what’s going on with Barrow and 
  those suspicious spontaneous human combustions. 
  The rest of the overview depends on decisions made by 
  players in the committee meeting scenes, but the agents 
  will travel to Pavlodar, Kazakhstan and investigate the old 
  sect (Daniiltsy), the spaceflight firm (DKX Systems), and 
  Agent Barrow, who wants a Laundry-held relic to save his 
  soul. They will also discover a plan that, with the best-case 
  scenario, involves killing hundreds of thousands of people. 
  Worst-case scenario? All life on Earth dies in a fiery 
  apocalypse. No pressure or anything. 
  1 . Case SOMETHING COLOUR
  The adventure begins, as all good Laundry adventures do, 
  with a committee meeting. This first part of the scenario 
  uses the rules from High-level Meetings – see page 76.
  Brief the players on the following background information:
  • Over the last two years, there has been an outbreak 
  of spontaneous human combustion in the vicinity of 
  Pavlodar, in the former Soviet state of Kazakhstan. 
  The Laundry recently thwarted an apocalyptic cult that 
  used PYRETIC PHANTASMS, aka fire vampires, so an 
  investigation was launched. 
  • Four of the victims were employees of DKX Systems, a 
  rocketry and aeronautics research firm in Pavlodar.
  • Relations with the Thirteenth Directorate were chilly 
  at the time, so an undercover Laundry officer was 
  dispatched to investigate. Steven Barrow went out six 
  months ago, under the cover of an engineer hired by 
  DKX; he filed one report, then went silent (give the 
  players Handout #1, found on page 123). 
  Fire Drill
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  106
  • A week ago, a British civil servant caught Barrow on 
  dashboard camera video. Barrow appeared to be living on the 
  streets and was dressed in rags. He clearly wanted to be seen 
  – he runs up to the car, shouting and waving his arms, then 
  runs off before the police arrive. Analysis of the video shows 
  that he was shouting something like “Daniel” or “Daneel”.
  Now, set up the Issues that the players need to sort out in 
  committee. You’ll need to decide whether the players are 
  playing their own PCs (if suitably high-ranking enough) or 
  new committee members, as per the rules on page 78. 
  The scenario assumes they’re new committee members.
  1 . Finding & Extracting Steven Barrow (9 of  Hearts): 
  How will the team locate the missing Laundry officer? 
  He’s supposed to be working at DKX systems, but the 
  video showed him living on the streets.
  2 . Investigating the Spontaneous Combustions (7 of  
  Diamonds): The spontaneous combustions are still 
  happening. Barrow may have found a solution; if not, 
  the new team will have to take over.
  3 . Added Background Research (5 of  Clubs): If the 
  committee wants to put more work into researching the 
  situation, that’ll take resources.
  4 . The Thirteenth Directorate (10 of  Spades): While 
  Kazakhstan isn’t part of Russia, the Thirteenth 
  Directorate still operates there. Do the committee want 
  to open a dialogue with the Thirteenth Directorate, or 
  come up with a way to hide the team from their scrying 
  and surveillance?
  5 . Logistics (5 of  Clubs): Putting resources into this 
  Issue ensures the team get their smoothly, safely, and 
  with any gear they need intact. 
  The players also need to decide on a code name for 
  this operation. Barrow’s investigation was filed under 
  RUMPLED OCHRE.
  Resolution
  Finding & Extracting Steven Barrow (9 of  Hearts)
  If the players resolve this Issue in committee, then give their 
  regular PCs whatever resources and assistance decided in the 
  meeting. Maybe the PCs are given a magical way of tracking 
  Barrow, or there’s a specialist extraction team ready to pull 
  him and his rescuers out once he’s found. Extraction from 
  Kazakhstan, by the way, is very, very tricky – you’re thousands 
  of miles from anywhere that might be considered faintly 
  friendly. The best option is likely dropping an SAS team in from 
  a glamoured plane and having them wait out in the countryside 
  until they make pick-up, then heading into China by road.
  If they don’t resolve this one, they’ll need to do more 
  investigation to find Barrow when they get there, and 
  you should throw extra complications and road-blocks at 
  them, as suggested on page 118. 
  Investigating the Spontaneous Human Combustions 
  (7 of  Diamonds)
  If resolved successfully, give the players whatever they 
  decided in committee, along with Handout 2 – the police 
  report from Pavlodar.
  If the Issue isn’t resolved, then they don’t get the report, 
  and they’re going in blind. What fun it shall be for them!
  Added Background Research (5 of  Clubs) 
  If the players resolve this Issue, then give them a fuller 
  background on the Daniiltsy sect, as cross-referencing 
  Barrow’s cryptic message with Pavlodar and spontaneous 
  human combustion turns up an obscure reference deep in 
  the Stacks. 
  If they don’t, they’ll have to uncover the Daniiltsy 
  connection on the ground in Pavlodar.
  The Thirteenth Directorate (10 of  Spades)
  Resolve this Issue, and the players don’t need to worry 
  about interference from the Thirteenth Directorate until 
  the mid-point of the mission (Shipping & Handling, page 
  119). That also means that the Thirteenth Directorate are 
  probably Clueless or Compromised (see page 112).
  If this Issue isn’t resolved, then the player characters will 
  need to keep a low profile in Pavlodar. 
  Logistics (5 of  Clubs)
  Resolving this Issue means they get to Pavlodar safely (see 
  Getting There, page 114).
  Not resolving this Issue might mean trouble at customs, 
  baggage searches, laptops being impounded, weapons 
  confiscated (“what are you intending to do with drawing of  
  pentagram in silver ink, iPhone and human heart in jar, sir?”)
  What’s Going On?
  The following facts are true no matter what the committee 
  decides:
  • Back in the 18th Century, there was an obscure Old Believer 
  sect, the Daniiltsy, in a monastery near Pavlodar. They practised 
  self-immolation as a way of transcending the sinful nature of 
  the flesh – and knew a ritual to summon fire vampires.
  
  107
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  • Some of DKX’s rocket engineers are veterans of Soviet-
  era experimentation in using supernatural methods of 
  propulsion derived from Daniiltsy rituals. 
  • Steven Barrow’s investigation got him entangled with a 
  fire vampire. The alien horror has its hooks in his soul, 
  and he needs a magical artefact, the Robe of Koth, to 
  disentangle it. The Robe is in the Laundry’s vaults.
  • The spontaneous human combustions are the result of 
  fire vampire possession.
  The following aspects, though, are variable. Based on the 
  decisions and speculations made in the meeting, on the actions 
  of the regular player characters, and on your own whim, you’ll 
  need to decide what’s really going on. There are four groups 
  potentially involved in this case – some may be wholly innocent, 
  only tangentially involved, or entirely mixed up in the Mythos.
  • Is Steven Barrow still loyal to the Laundry? Is he being 
  played by whoever’s behind the situation, in which case 
  they’re using him to get hold of the Robe of Koth? Or 
  has he turned traitor, and is now in league with the bad 
  guys? For more detail, see Steven Barrow on page 108.
  • Is the Daniiltsy Sect still around? Are they clueless, or 
  wholly corrupted by entities from beyond? Are they an 
  obscure fringe sect, or are they secretly running DKX 
  Systems? For more, see Daniiltsy & Nazer Nabiev on 
  page 109.
  • Is DKX Systems just an innocent company? Are 
  they trying to use fire vampires as a form of rocket 
  propulsion? Are they a front for a reborn Daniiltsy cult, 
  or have they seen through the Daniiltsy rituals to the 
  true horror beyond? For more detail, see DKX Systems 
  & Alexei Orlov on page 110.
  • How are the Thirteenth Directorate involved? Are 
  they unaware of the threat? Has their agent in DKX 
  systems switched sides? Are they planning their own 
  violent suppression of the cult? Or are they actually 
  behind the whole affair? For more, see The Thirteenth 
  Directorate & Malika Fomenko on page 112.
  You don’t need to decide what’s really going on immediately 
  – you can let the players eliminate some possibilities 
  through investigation first before you choose which 
  combination you’re going for. You need to pick at least one 
  of options marked with an exclamation mark in the chart 
  below, though, to ensure you’ve got a big explosive climax 
  at the end. 
  Steven Barrow: 
  [ ] Loyal 
  [ ] Being Played 
  [ ] Turned 
  [!] Corrupt
  The Daniiltsy Cult: 
  [ ] Extinct 
  [ ] Clueless 
  [ ] Malignant 
  [!] Active & Malignant
  DKX Systems: 
  [ ] Innocent 
  [ ] Clueless 
  [ ] A Front For The Cult 
  [!] Completely Corrupt
  The Thirteenth Directorate: 
  [ ] Investigating 
  [ ] Compromised 
  [ ] Conspiring 
  [!] Hostile 
  Robe of Koth
  This old garment dates back to at least 
  3000 BC and is attributed to either the 
  Egyptians, 
  Minoans 
  or 
  Sumerians. 
  It 
  is a flax robe covered with images of 
  lions, birds, and warriors, but a closer 
  examination shows Enochian written into 
  the pictures. The Robe gives a +4 POW bonus 
  to any attempts at summoning, banishing or 
  exorcising fire vampires; if set alight, it 
  gives a whopping +8 bonus while it’s on 
  fire. The catch is, you have to wear the 
  robe while it’s on fire – have 1d6 damage 
  per round as you burn. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  108
  Steven Barrow / Kliment Marchuk
  Laundry field agent who disappeared four months ago and 
  now may have purposefully made contact via dashboard 
  camera. His average looks and manner made him perfect 
  for field work. Undercover as Marchuk, he has longer hair 
  and a goatee like a young Richard Branson. 
  STR 11 
  CON 13 SIZ 10 
  INT 15 
  POW 13 
  DEX 14 
  CHA 10 
  EDU 15 SAN 45 
  HP 12
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Weapons: None.
  Skills: Bureaucracy 15%, Computer Use (Hacking) 75%, 
  Computer Use (Magic) 55%, Disguise 55%,  Drive 30%, 
  Etiquette 30%, Fast Talk 45%, Firearm (Pistol) 40%, 
  Knowledge (Espionage) 35%, Knowledge (Rocketry) 
  45%, Knowledge (Russian) 80%, Spot 45, Stealth 30.
  Artefacts: Class two personal ward, home-made Hand of 
  Glory with two fingers remaining. 
  After the Laundry connected the spontaneous human 
  combustions and DKX Systems, it sent Agent Barrow 
  undercover to investigate. He may have discovered someone 
  (another engineer at DKX? The whole engineering 
  department? A lone cultist out near the monastery ruins?) 
  attempting a summoning spell, or he may have found the 
  Daniiltsy summoning rite (perhaps in an encrypted server 
  on the company network or by digging around in papers 
  belonging to a cultist) and experimented with it himself. 
  Either way, he’s got a fire vampire clinging to his soul.
  Why hide on the streets? At first, he feared Alexei knew 
  of his usual drops and would be watching should Barrow 
  try to contact his handler. As weeks turned into months, 
  he noticed Thirteenth Directorate agents in Pavlodar and 
  decided to play it cool. But now his dreams and blisters are 
  getting the best of him. 
  That’s because the ritual was partially successful. Although 
  a Level Two Exonome like PYRETIC PHANTASM 
  cannot get past Barrow’s class three ward, the ritual 
  specifically invites the entity to be entangled to a human’s 
  soul. This caused a fire vampire to have a tiny foothold on 
  Barrow’s soul. The nightmares have started, and now he’s 
  getting the occasional burns and heat blisters on his skin. 
  He suspects that the fire vampire will burn him alive soon. 
  That would be fine (well, not for Barrow) if there was just 
  one fire vampire in the mix. The ward technically caused 
  the ritual to never end. Every few days, the gate reactivates 
  and another fire vampire is entangled to his soul. The 
  nightmares and injuries aren’t because one fire vampire 
  is getting closer. It’s because there are currently 127 fire 
  vampires putting huge pressure on the wall between our 
  world and theirs. That wall is going to collapse soon, 
  suddenly releasing 127 fire vampires in one body. The 
  ensuing explosion will be messy, for Barrow and any cities 
  nearby. He can’t leave Pavlodar, either – he’s bound to 
  the original location of the micro-gate that let the Fire 
  Vampire through into our dimension. Going even a short 
  distance outside town is agonising, and he suspects he’d 
  explode if he tried returning to England. (The original 
  gate may be at the Daniiltsy ruins, or at DKX systems, or 
  at Barrow’s old flat depending on how he got entangled.)
  That’s why he contacted the Laundry in the safest way he 
  knew how. He knows the Laundry has the Robe of Koth, 
  an artefact that can sever the connection between his soul 
  and his fire vampire buddy. 
  If he’s Loyal, then things are as simple as that. He screwed up 
  his undercover mission and is now in danger of exploding. 
  If he’s Being Played, then it wasn’t an accident that Barrow 
  got entangled with a fire vampire. Whoever the bad guys 
  are discovered that he was a Laundry officer, and they’re 
  planning on grabbing the Robe of Koth when the player 
  characters bring it to him.
  If he’s Turned, then he’s working with the Thirteenth 
  Directorate. He may want the Robe of Koth in order to 
  give it to the 
  If he’s Corrupt, then he’s in league with the Bad Guys. If he 
  burns himself alive while wearing the Robe, it’ll complete 
  the summoning ritual and let PHLISTOGON LOCK into 
  the world. 
  Steven Barrow
  
  109
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  The Daniiltsy Sect & Nazer Nabiev
  The cult known as Daniiltsy began as a Russian Orthodox 
  Church heresy. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many Russians 
  turned away from Christianity and embraced mysticism and 
  spirituality. One of these was Vladimir Leontyev, an Orthodox 
  monk who discovered Gnosticism. This old Christian sect 
  believed everything physical is flawed and gets in the way of 
  the soul reaching Heaven. Inspired by this, Leontyev began to 
  preach that the body endangers the soul, and that cremation 
  after death is required to allow the soul to leave.
  Leontyev established a monastery outside the small village of 
  Pavlodar where he and his followers could practice in peace. Over 
  time, Leontyev looked deeper into the Gnostics and eventually 
  came across an old book called the Letters of  St Polycarp. This was 
  actually a Mythos grimoire written under the guise of Christian 
  literature. Leontyev found one entry particularly interesting: the 
  Ritual of the Holy Spirit of the Pentecost. They tried it, and it 
  worked. By “worked”, we mean a fire vampire became entangled 
  with a human’s soul, burning the poor human alive before itself 
  dying in our cold, cold universe. But to the Daniiltsy faithful, the 
  Holy Spirit came and removed that wicked body, freeing the soul 
  to get on up to Heaven. This ritual of self-immolation became 
  the cornerstone of their monastic life, with only the most pure 
  and holy being allowed to partake. 
  Daniiltsy was never a threat to anyone but its members. 
  But when the Communists came to power, they put an 
  end to religion’s role in society. For a small, weird cult like 
  Daniiltsy, this meant eradication. The Soviet Army hunted 
  down and eliminated the cult and Leontyev. 
  The ruins of the sect’s monastery still stand outside Pavlodar.
  Nazer Nabiev is a direct descendant of Vladimir Leontyev. 
  He’s a janitor at DKX systems – and may also be the last 
  remaining member of the sect, or the leader of a resurgent 
  cult. Physically, he’s a short, stocky man with a strange 
  mix of fat and muscle. Mostly bald, he tends to wear hats 
  everywhere. He chain-smokes cheap Chinese cigarettes 
  and loves classical Baroque music. 
  Nazer Nabiev
  STR 13 
  CON 9 
  SIZ 9 
  INT 14 
  POW 10 
  DEX 12 
  CHA 16 
  EDU 11 SAN 50 
  HP 11
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Weapons: None.
  Skills: Drive 45%, Fine Manipulation 50%, Heavy 
  Machinery 60%, Knowledge (Islam) 40%, Repair 65%. 
  PYRETIC PHANTASM (Fire Vampires)
  Fire vampires can be found in The Laundry 
  Core Rulebook on page 201. They are 
  beings of superheated plasma, radiation 
  and gravity from another dimension where 
  thermodynamics are different enough to 
  permit such a life form. Like many exonomes, 
  they can map onto a human’s nervous system. 
  This tends to quickly immolate the human, 
  but possession is never a happy thing. Fire 
  vampires quickly die in our universe, as 
  it’s just too cold for them to exist here.
  PHLOGISTON LOCK
  This Level Five+ Exonome has many names, 
  including the Elemental Lord of Fomalhaut 
  and, in some literature, Cthugha and/
  or Fthaggua. It resides in the same hot 
  dimension as PYRETIC PHANTASM. Ancient 
  texts suggest it is either the leader or 
  the mother of fire vampires. Unlike fire 
  vampires, though, it can easily exist in our 
  universe. It’s not necessarily happy about 
  it, mind you, as our cold universe causes 
  it a lot of pain. That means PHLOGISTON 
  LOCK will likely turn the surrounding 
  area (say, an Astronomical Unit) into a 
  miniature version of its dimension full of 
  superheated plasma. Anything in that area 
  (i.e. planets or the living creatures on 
  them) is mere fuel. 
  Several versions of things in this adventure 
  reference a deal made by PHLOGISTON LOCK to 
  give humans unimaginable power, transform 
  them into fire vampires, or something 
  similar in exchange for being summoned to 
  Earth. Will the Elemental Lord do this? 
  Maybe. You cannot predict what Elder Gods 
  will do. 
  There are no stats for PHLOGISTON LOCK, 
  because if it appears in the game, said 
  game is over. So’s the Earth. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  110
  If the cult is Extinct, then Nabiev knows about great-
  grandfather Konstantin but thinks Daniiltsy was a Russian 
  Orthodox sect with some weird ideas. PHLOGISTON 
  LOCK occasionally sends weird dreams to Nabiev, who 
  is on prescription sleep drugs to help get through the 
  night. He’s still a faithful Muslim but lately has developed 
  a fascination with fire. 
  If the cult is Clueless, then Nabiev holds ceremonies for 
  the last few old faithful in his flat in Pavlodar. Once every 
  few years, when a member is too old or sick and wishes 
  to leave the physical world behind, Nabiev drives them 
  out to the ruins of the monastery and helps perform the 
  ritual self-immolation. The fire vampires may be the result 
  of these rites. 
  If the cult is Malignant, then Nabiev holds ceremonies in 
  DKX for a few of the engineers he’s converted to fire 
  worship. Some of these engineers may be part of the 
  Vulkan-LEX team; their rites may have allowed a few fire 
  vampires to escape. 
  If the cult is Active & Malignant, then Nabiev is the cult’s 
  high priest, and plans on summoning PHLISTOGON 
  LOCK to Earth. The Robe of Koth might be the key to 
  this, or he might be planning on using the Vulkan-LEX 
  engine. Either way, the high priest deserves better stats – 
  how about:
  Nazer Nabiev, as High Priest
  STR 13 
  CON 9 
  SIZ 9 
  INT 17 
  POW 16 
  DEX 12 
  CHA 16 
  EDU 11 SAN 0 
  HP 11
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Skills: Drive 45%, Fine Manipulation 50%, Heavy 
  Machinery 60%, Knowledge (Occult) 75%, Repair 65%, 
  Sorcery 65%. 
  Spells: Defensive Bindings (Level 4 Heat, Level 3 Kinetic), 
  Entropy Manipulation (Level 4 spontaneous combustion), 
  Gate (Level 3), Scrying (Level 2), Summoning (Level 3, 
  Fire Vampires).
  Nabiev can call on PHLISTOGON LOCK for backup, 
  boosting the effective POW of his spells by +8.
  DKX Systems & Alexei Orlov
  The Soviets approached the Space Race differently to the 
  Americans. NASA was one giant organisation, with a single leader 
  to direct everyone’s efforts. The Soviet Space Program, however, 
  had separate design groups that would work on different and 
  even competing ideas. In the early days of the Program, this 
  worked wonderfully. The competition brought out the best in 
  the engineers and scientists, pushing people to achieve.
  The unnamed design group that would become DKX 
  Systems began with a string of successes from this 
  competition. Their rockets and fuel designs literally helped 
  propel the Soviets past the decadent West and initiate 
  many world firsts, including the first man in space and the 
  first probes sent to the Moon and Mars. Moscow declared 
  them heroes of the people and showered the team with 
  alcohol, women, and similar perks.
  Then came the disaster that was the N1-L3 rocket program.
  While the Soviets (and their American counterparts) had 
  figured out how to send small things to the Moon, sending a 
  team of cosmonauts required a more powerful rocket – but 
  one that was safe. The Americans poured their efforts into a 
  new design called the Saturn rocket, which worked wonderfully; 
  strong enough to reach the Moon, but safe enough to not kill 
  the poor people trying to get there. The Soviets countered with 
  an even bigger, stronger rocket called the N1-L3. 
  At the first test firing of the new rocket, it blew up. So 
  did the second version. And the third. And the fourth, by 
  which time Neil Armstrong had already strolled around 
  the Moon. It seemed that, no matter what this design 
  group tried, the N1-L3 kept blowing up. This wasn’t due 
  to sabotage or anything; it was simply a bad design with 
  too much power for the materials available in the 1960s.
  Nazer Nabiev
  
  111
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  Moscow was not at all pleased. Not only did the perks end, 
  but so did the lives of several engineers and managers. The 
  competition between design groups intensified as others 
  smelled blood. More and more of the team took a one-
  way trip to the gulags, and the surviving members began 
  to panic. They decided upon a week-long retreat in the 
  small town of Pavlodar, hoping to brainstorm a new idea 
  that would save their jobs and lives. What happened next 
  depends on which version of Daniiltsy you are using:
  • If Daniiltsy was Clueless, the engineers discovered the 
  ruins of the Daniiltsy cult and got inspired by the 
  cult’s “purifying fire” blasphemy in some old books 
  left there. That’s when PHLOGISTON LOCK began 
  sending dreams to the engineers, subtly pushing them to 
  rediscover the math behind the Ritual of the Holy Spirit 
  of the Pentecost.
  • If Daniiltsy was Malignant, Nazer Nabiev’s father (then 
  high priest of the cult) taught the engineers the summoning 
  ritual to lure them into worship of his fiery god.
  The design group was fascinated by the maths used 
  in the ritual, and after some trial and error (and at least 
  one accidental PYRETIC PHANTASM possession/
  immolation), they realised the energy released by 
  summoning a fire vampire was impressive – and the 
  necessary gear carried almost no weight. The team began 
  work on Project Vulkan-LEX: a rocket that would carry 
  Soviets to the Moon and beyond by using computers to 
  repeatedly summon PYRETIC PHANTASMs and use it 
  as thrust. 
  Let’s say that again so it sinks in: Vulkan-LEX rockets fly by 
  shooting fire vampires at the ground. Most of these vampires 
  freeze to death soon after being summoned, but a sizeable 
  minority survive long enough to find hosts – who then 
  spontaneously combust. The rocket’s exhaust is effectively a 
  giant death cloud of desperate, starving fire vampires.
  Thankfully, this rocket design never saw the light of day. 
  Before a prototype could be constructed, the Soviet space 
  program was re-organised and the various competing 
  projects cancelled in favour of a single design team. 
  Vulkan-LEX was forgotten and filed away.
  When the Soviet Union broke up, many government groups 
  turned into private businesses. The design team moved back 
  to their old haunt in Pavlodar and became DKX Systems. 
  There, they began designing rockets again, earning a decent 
  profit from Moscow’s launches from Baikonur. The team’s 
  manager, Alexei Orlov, became the company’s president. 
  Concerned with both keeping the company alive and 
  maintaining his lavish lifestyle, Alexei dug through DKX 
  System’s old Soviet-era files for something that would give 
  him a competitive edge despite the bribes. That’s when 
  he discovered the plans for the Vulkan-LEX. Alexei is a 
  manager, not an engineer, so all he knows is this rocket 
  would let him undercut his competitor’s prices by more 
  rubels than bribes would make worth.
  If DKX is Innocent, then they haven’t done anything with 
  the Vulkan-LEX plans yet. Alexei’s engineers can’t see 
  how it would work – as far as they’re concerned, it’s the 
  boss’s crazy side project that’ll (literally) never fly. The 
  Daniiltsy vampire-summoning rite, translated into ’60s 
  Soviet engineering schematics, sits on the DKX intranet, 
  gathering digital dust. In this scenario, Alexei’s a buffoon 
  (so you’ll want to make the Daniiltsy sect the major villains).
  If DKX is Tainted, then they’ve started work on Vulkan-
  LEX. They don’t really know what they’re dealing with, 
  and haven’t connected the mysterious spontaneous human 
  combustions with their experiments. 
  If DKX is A Front for the Cult, then some of the engineers 
  are worshippers of PHLISTOGON LOCK, led by Nazier 
  Nabiev. In this scenario, Orlov thinks those engineers are 
  working on his rocket engine, but they’re actually working 
  on a giant summoning grid to bring their god through. 
  Another option is that DKX is Completely Corrupt – the 
  whole company is a cult worshipping PHLISTOGON 
  LOCK, and Alexei Orlov is their high priest. 
  Vulkan-LEX
  Let’s take a moment and describe the worst 
  rocket idea ever. In theory, the Vulkan-
  LEX could put up to 210 metric tons into 
  orbit (or over two Space Shuttles) at about 
  one-quarter of the price. That’s a very big 
  upside. The downside? The engine is actually 
  a collection of nine electric grids based on 
  the Ritual of the Holy Spirit of the Pentecost 
  and controlled by several computers (several 
  because this is the 1960s. Tape drives were 
  still used). The computers activate the grids 
  about once per half-second, and with no human 
  soul to bond to, the ritual functions like 
  a repeating fire vampire summoning spell. The 
  engine also includes a system to push the fire 
  vampire downwards. This means 18 fire vampires 
  are shot out the nozzles per second. 
  There’s absolutely nothing that could go 
  wrong with that. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  112
  Alexei Orlov
  Owner of DKX systems. Orlov is in his early 60s with short 
  white hair, thick gold-rimmed glasses, and a big belly but 
  otherwise is in average shape. He tends to wear grey suits 
  at work and loud, ugly shirts at home. He never touches 
  alcohol but drinks thick, sweet coffee all hours of the day. 
  STR 9 
  CON 11 SIZ 12 
  INT 11 
  POW 12
  DEX 8 
  CHA 16 
  EDU 13 SAN 60 
  HP 12
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Weapons: None.
  Skills: Bargain 45%, Bureaucracy 65%, Command 45%, 
  Etiquette 45%, Fast Talk 70%, Know (Politics) 50%, 
  Persuade 55%, Science (Engineering) 15%. (If he’s the cult 
  leader, give him Sorcery 60%, Computer Use (Magic) 75%).
  Equipment: Vulkan-LEX design files (paper and digital). 
  The Thirteenth Directorate 
  & Malika Fomenko 
  The Laundry’s counterpart in the Soviet Union – and now, 
  in the Russian Federation – was the Thirteenth Directorate. 
  The Directorate has one agent in place in DKX Systems, 
  a spy named Malika Fomenko. What’s the Directorate’s 
  involvement in this situation?
  • Investigating: They’re basically doing what the Laundry’s 
  doing, only more slowly; Kazakhstan is the Directorate 
  equivalent of the Laundry sending an officer to some 
  desolate hillside in Wales. Anyway, Fomenko’s fixated on 
  the mysterious Kliment Marchuk (Barrow) who showed 
  up, asked some strange questions, then vanished. She 
  suspects he’s a foreign agent.
  • Compromised: Fomenko’s been turned by the bad guys – she’s 
  now working for the Daniiltsy Cult, or the fire worshippers 
  in DKX systems. She’s sending false reports back to her 
  superiors to keep the Thirteenth Directorate off their backs.
  • Conspiring: The Thirteenth Directorate is behind the 
  whole thing. They’re secretly supporting the engineers’ 
  development of the Vulkan-LEX engines; maybe they’re 
  running the whole company through Alexei Orlov, 
  or maybe they’re just sponsoring the secret cabal of 
  engineers through Nazer Nabiev. Maybe they let Barrow 
  escape so he can beg the Laundry for the Robe of Koth 
  which they need to get the Vulkan-LEX up and running. 
  Why? Because the old Soviet-era Energia rockets still 
  aren’t back in production, and the Directorate needs to 
  get its Polyus Orbital Battle Stations flying before CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN kicks off. 
  • Hostile: In this scenario, the Thirteenth Directorate is 
  planning its own operation against the bad guys (the cult 
  or DKX systems), and the Laundry are about to get in 
  the way. Kazakhstan is the Directorate’s turf, and they 
  don’t appreciate the British butting in. Barrow – and the 
  PCs – are about to become collateral damage.
  STR 10 
  CON 17 SIZ 13 
  INT 14 
  POW 15 
  DEX 11 
  CHA 12 
  EDU 16 SAN 65 
  HP 15
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Weapons: Pistol (d10+2 damage).
  Skills: Appraise 50%, Brawl 60% Cthulhu Mythos 10%, 
  Computer Use (Magic) 60%, Firearms (Pistol) 75%, 
  Hide 80%, Insight 55%, Knowledge (Espionage) 75%, 
  Language (Kazakh) 55%, Research 65%, Sense 60%, 
  Search 50%, Track 40%. 
  Artefacts: Class three ward, Amulet of Protection 
  (10-point defensive binding), Ring of Invisibility (Casts 
  level three entropy manipulation, costs 1 HP/minute).
  In addition to Fomenko, the Directorate also has a bunch 
  of lower-ranking street teams and armed goons in place 
  in Pavlodar. 
  Alexi Orlov
  Malika Fomenko
  
  113
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  2 . Killing Time in Kazakhstan
  How this section plays out depends mostly on the players; 
  they should switch back to their regular PCs once the 
  committee meeting is wrapped up. Once the agents arrive 
  in Pavlodar, they can start by trying to contact Barrow, 
  investigating DKX Systems, following up on local police, 
  and more. Therefore, this section gives GMs locations and 
  NPCs most likely to be investigated by the agents. 
  Since a good portion of this adventure is decided on the 
  fly, we thought it prudent to start with some background 
  information on Kazakhstan and Pavlodar. For example, 
  some players might want to know the currency (the tenge), 
  what religion is prominent (Sunni Muslim), and how many 
  cheesy nightclubs there are (too many). 
  Republic of  Kazakhstan
  The area now called Kazakhstan has almost always been 
  inhabited. In fact, the horse was likely domesticated there, 
  and a pastoral, nomadic lifestyle dominated the region for 
  a long time. It fell under the Mongol Empire in the early 
  13th Century, but the Kazakhs as a people (with their own 
  language and culture) really didn’t emerge until the 1500s. 
  By the 19th Century, Imperial Russia had taken over the 
  area, and ethnic Russians began to “settle” the region in a 
  similar way to how Europeans “settled” North America. 
  Local Kazakhs tended to resent the Russian immigrants, 
  and brutal fighting flared. 
  When Moscow fell to the Communists in 1917, Kazakhstan 
  was independent – for about two years. Then the Soviet 
  Army swept in and showed everyone the benefits of 
  joining the Soviet Union, such as not dying from gunfire. 
  Stalin, showing his usual calm demeanour, killed millions 
  with purges and bad agricultural planning. The traditional 
  horselands of the region were turned into factories and 
  grain farms, with even more Russians coming to live there. 
  The Soviets tested a nuclear device in Kazakhstan in 1949, 
  ruining a good piece of the Kazakh countryside and 
  cementing a hatred of Communists and Russians in the 
  minds of many locals.
  Protests by the people, and counter-attacks by the army, 
  continued through the 1980s until the Soviet Union fell 
  apart and the country won independence in 1991. It 
  inherited over 1400 nuclear warheads but promised it 
  would return every one to Russia, declaring itself free of 
  nuclear weapons.  
  Today, Kazakhstan is mostly home to ethnic Kazakhs, but 
  Russians are still a sizeable minority. The Soviets used the 
  Kazakh city of Baikonur as their main launch site during 
  the Space Race, and the city continues to see regular 
  space traffic (well, as regular as that can be in this day 
  and age). Kazakhstan is more modern and Western than 
  some might suspect. Its infrastructure is solid, its utilities 
  reasonable and constant, and unemployment at 5%. While 
  corruption is a serious problem, this isn’t some backwards 
  Third World nation. 
  The country is decidedly Muslim but has a strong history 
  of Russian Orthodox Christianity and some Judaism. 
  Food is as varied as any modern country, but traditional 
  fare includes lamb, breads, rice and black tea. Football is 
  the most popular sport, but hockey, cycling and boxing 
  are important. Given the horse’s impact on the region, 
  equestrian sports is a valued piece of the culture. 
  Pavlodar 
  The city of Pavlodar is in north-east Kazakhstan along the 
  eastern side of the Irtysh River. It’s roughly 200km from the 
  Russian border, and although the country is primarily Kazakh, 
  Pavlodar has more Russians than Kazakhs these days. 
  While locals have always lived in this region, Pavlodar as 
  a town didn’t begin until 1720 when it was founded as an 
  Imperial Russian outpost to protect salt mining interests. 
  In 1900, the city had only 8000 inhabitants. That changed 
  dramatically under the Soviet Union, who invited large 
  Population: 18 million (most Kazakhs, then 
  Russian and other ethnicities)
  Government: Democratic republic
  Capital: Astana (UTC +6)
  Important 
  cities: 
  Almaty, 
  Baikonur, 
  Pavlodar.
  Corruption level: Moderate to severe.
  Currency: Kazakhstani tenge (KZT), 1 tenge 
  = 0.0045 Euros (or 1 Euro = 225 tenge). 
  Languages: Most people speak Russian, 
  especially in business, but Kazakh is the 
  state language.
  Religion: Sunni Muslim, but the region has 
  a strong Russian Orthodox tradition. 
  Urbanisation: Roughly half the population 
  lives in urban areas.
  Important neighbours: Russia, China
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  114
  numbers of Russians to settle the area. Factories were 
  built, and Pavlodar was closed to foreigners until 1992 due 
  to the amount of arms and armour manufacturing there. 
  Today, the city is home to over 330,000 people. 
  As with the rest of Kazakhstan, Pavlodar is very Muslim. 
  Russian is the most popular language, but Kazakh is the 
  state language. Both appear on road signs, adverts and the 
  like. An extensive tram network keeps traffic relatively low. 
  Guns are available but heavily regulated; foreigners, like 
  the agents, will have trouble buying them legally. However, 
  there’s a vibrant black market in town, and guns can be 
  bought illegally. 
  Getting There
  Pavlodar has its own airport (imaginatively named 
  Pavlodar International Airport), but major airlines do not 
  fly there and, alarmingly, local airlines are not authorised 
  to fly in or out of the EU because they do not meet 
  safety requirements. Agents will likely have to connect 
  in Moscow or Almaty. Trains and buses connect Almaty, 
  the capital Astana and Pavlodar, and while the timetables 
  aren’t extensive, they do tend to run regularly and safely. 
  Entering Kazakhstan as a foreign national requires an 
  entry/exit visa applied for before travelling. Transport 
  section supply one for each agent good for two weeks. 
  Passports and visas must be carried at all times. It’s up to 
  the GM to decide what cover identities, if any are Issued 
  to the agents. 
  Getting Around and Accommodation
  Again, trains and buses are as extensive and regular as one 
  would expect in a modern nation. Pavlodar has many city 
  buses, trams and taxis but no underground. Car rental is 
  possible from the airport. There’s the usual number and 
  range of hotels you’d expect from a major city, and there’s 
  no big event in town, so agents will easily find rooms for 
  their stay. 
  Investigations in Pavlodar
  The two primary tasks for the player characters are finding 
  the source of the combustions, and locating Steve Barrow. 
  Either the initial committee scene or clues discovered in 
  the course of their investigations will put them on the trail 
  of the Daniiltsy cult. 
  Spontaneous Human Combustion
  The rash of exploding people is, of course, due to fire 
  vampire leakage. These fire vampires might be coming 
  from any of the following sources (and you can, of course, 
  have multiple sources or red herrings). 
  The Daniiltsy Cult
  • (Clueless) Nazer Nabiev’s infrequent immolation rituals 
  for elderly or dying members of the Daniiltsy cult. In 
  this case, potential clues are found at Nazer’s house, the 
  Daniiltsy ruins and at the government offices.
  • (Malignant) Nazer’s ceremonies in the bowels of DKX 
  Systems and at the ruins. Again, clues are in Nazer’s 
  house, the ruins and DKX Systems.
  DKX Systems
  • (Clueless): The engineers experimenting with getting 
  Vulkan-LEX up and running are inadvertently leaking 
  fire vampires. Clues can be found in DKX systems, at 
  the Mojo Karaoke bar and in Orlov’s house.
  • (Tainted or Corrupt): As above, but they’re doing it very 
  much advertently with malice aforethought. 
  Barrow
  • (Any): Barrow’s accidental entanglement means he’s 
  contagious – people near him run the risk of getting fire 
  vampires glomming onto their brains. Clues come from 
  finding Barrow. 
  
  115
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  The Homeless Agent
  Contacting him is going to be hard, not because Barrow 
  doesn’t want to be found, but because he doesn’t want 
  to clue in the Thirteenth Directorate agents (like Mileka 
  Fomenko) moving around town. Use Thirteenth 
  Directorate Interference to slow things down if the PCs 
  rush to locate Barrow.
  According to Barrow’s handler, there were two dead drops 
  created but never used. One is at the Pavlodar Library in 
  a book called, Abai Kunanbaev: A Biography. The second is 
  underneath the metal bench in Riverside Park nearest the 
  central fountain. Barrow checks the bench regularly (easy 
  for a supposed homeless person to do), but only checks 
  the library once per week. 
  Occult means of contacting Barrow might work. Barrow 
  doesn’t have his laptop or Necrononiphone anymore, so he 
  cannot initiate any magic, but a scrying or prognostication 
  spell might work. 
  The best recommendation is to use these as backups but 
  allow the players full freedom to come up with an idea. If 
  they get stuck, remind them of how spies sometimes use 
  dead drops. A quick call to the Laundry will reveal the two 
  drops, and Bob’s your uncle. 
  Meeting Steven Barrow
  • If Barrow’s Loyal or Being Played, he is nervous and 
  malnourished. 
  He 
  explains 
  everything 
  truthfully, 
  including the botched ritual and subsequent fire vampire 
  entanglement. All he wants is the Robe of Koth, stuck in a 
  Laundry vault back in London. Barrow is scared, and if the 
  agents refuse to help, or the Laundry sounds unwilling to 
  part with the artefact, Barrow will threaten to turn double 
  agent for the Thirteenth Directorate. He doesn’t want to 
  do that, but desperate times and all that. Any readings of 
  Barrow (such as with a thaumometer) reveals much more 
  magic than one Level Two Exonome should cause. 
  • If Barrow is Turned, then while he’s dressed as a homeless 
  person, he’s actually been staying in Mileka Fomenko’s 
  flat while being debriefed by the Thirteenth Directorate. 
  A successful Sense or Disguise roll notices flaws in his 
  ‘costume’. There’s a Directorate team watching any 
  meet, ready to intervene if things go awry. 
  • If Barrow is Corrupt, he just wants the Robe of Koth. He’ll 
  explain that he’s got this fire vampire thing turning him 
  into a living nuclear weapon, and the Robe is his only hope 
  of saving both himself and whatever region he’s in. He 
  acts in an almost eerily calm demeanour. In reality, Barrow 
  wants the Robe so he can destroy it, allowing him to open 
  a gate and bring PHLISTOGON LOCK through.
  Either way, he will tell the agents to check the Riverside 
  Park bench drop in three days for where to meet him next. 
  It’s important (but not vital) that Barrow escape. To facilitate 
  this, Barrow suggests any damage to his body will cause it 
  to detonate. So what are the agents doing to do, tackle him? 
  If the agents use force on him, he stresses out and starts to 
  show signs imminent fire vampire possession: his skin is red 
  hot, his hair starts to smoulder, that sort of thing. 
  It’s possible at this point for an agent to panic and kill 
  Barrow. That would be a (nuclear) bad idea. At least allow 
  an Insight roll before ending the game. 
  Obtaining the Robe
  To get the Robe, the officers need approval from on high. 
  Run the scene Shipping & Handling when this happens.
  Pavlodar Locations
  Here are some important locations in and around Pavlodar 
  that the agents will most likely want to visit, and the clues 
  that may be found there. If the agents ask to visit places 
  not listed below, let them. Repurpose something below for 
  the unplanned for location. 
  Mojo Karaoke Bar
  Located in downtown Pavlodar, this two-level bar is 
  popular with both a young singles crowd and an older 
  singles crowd desperate to meet the younger ones. 
  Karaoke goes on every night on the ground floor, while 
  the second floor is a traditional nightclub. Watered-down 
  drinks are at least cheap, and the lighting is both colourful 
  and awful. Most people here know nothing about anything 
  important to the agents, but the bartender (Inkar Serik) 
  and the bouncer (Rustam Popov) can reveal the following 
  with some good roleplaying: 
  • Two of the non-DKX victims (Sezim Amangeldy and 
  Anara Bolat) were regulars on the karaoke machine. 
  • Several DKX employees are regulars too, including 
  some of the engineers, owner Alexei Orlov and one of 
  the victims, Nurlan Ibrayev.
  • None of the above ever got into fights or did anything 
  suspicious. Creepy, yes, but not suspicious. 
  • Nazer Nabiev is not a regular – he never comes here.
  Alexei Orlov’s House
  Alexei Orlov lives in a large manor house originally built 
  for Imperial Russian aristocrats in the late 1800s. It has 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  116
  that vaguely Versailles look popular among people with 
  too much money and not enough class. Alexei owns it and 
  has decorated it in fake gold, fake marble statues, and other 
  ostentatious but cheap items. It has two stories, with Alexei’s 
  bedroom on the second floor. There is a basement as well. 
  • If Alexei is Innocent, plans for Vulkan-LEX can be found 
  in a safe in his bedroom closet. The safe’s lock is digital 
  but not guarded against occult measures. 
  • If DKX’s been taken over by the cult, the plans are 
  still in his safe as with the Foolish version but the lock 
  includes magical trap: unless it is found and disabled with 
  a successful Science (Thaumaturgy) or Sorcery roll, it 
  opens a level one gate to a high energy universe for half 
  a second, causing 3d6+3 heat damage to everyone within 
  one metre of the safe. Also, a successful Search roll finds 
  evidence of a magic circle drawn on the basement’s floor, 
  and a successful Sorcery or Science (Thaumaturgy) roll 
  reveals it’s a contact spell of some sort (Alexei uses it to 
  get orders from PHLOGISTON LOCK).
  Either way, there’s a passcard to the secure section of 
  DKX (see page 117) in the safe.
  Victim’s Flats
  All seven victims died in their flats. Two of these flats 
  (Zherdov and Amangeldy’s) burned down, but the others 
  can be investigated. They are not watched by police, but 
  the Thirteenth Directorate is still investigating and two 
  agents are watching the flat of the latest victims, Anara 
  and Yuri Bolat, from an old black sedan across the street. 
  Remember that all seven victims were killed over the 
  course of several months, and some flats will be rented by 
  other tenants now. 
  Malika Fomenko’s Flat
  Luka lives on the 8th floor of a Soviet-era building in a 
  small one-bedroom flat with shabby furniture. The flat is 
  rented by the Thirteenth Directorate and warding runes 
  are inscribed in blood around the inside of windows and 
  doors, creating a level two area ward around the whole 
  flat. The bedroom also has a level two offensive ward to 
  alert Malika if anyone enters that room. See The Laundry 
  Core Rulebook, pages 145-146 for details. There is a pile of 
  occult reference books on the nightstand. 
  There’s an old laptop charging in the dining/living room. 
  The laptop is protected by strong but mundane security, 
  requiring a Computer Use (Hacking) to break in. On the 
  laptop are several magical apps and enough evidence to 
  clearly identify Malika as a Thirteenth Directorate officer. 
  Use the stats for the Necronomiphone for specific apps. 
  In the bathroom are cosmetics that provide a level two 
  glamour to anyone who uses them. 
  If agents enter the bedroom without disabling the offensive 
  ward, Malika instantly knows the faces of anyone entering 
  that room. She quickly informs the Thirteenth Directorate, 
  who dispatch one sobirat agent per player to arrest the 
  intruders. Malika then goes into hiding at another safe house 
  in the city, meaning she’s absent from her DKX Systems job. 
  She spends most nights in the flat but goes to DKX 
  Systems during the day. She still frequents Mojo Karaoke 
  Bar at the weekends. 
  If Steve Barrow was staying here while being debriefed, 
  then a Spot roll spots (as Spot rolls tend to do) men’s 
  clothing in the spare room.
  Steve Barrow/Kliment Marchuk’s flat
  Barrow lived in this flat when undercover in DKX Systems 
  as Kliment Marchuk. It was thoroughly ransacked by 
  either Daniiltsy and/or the Thirteenth Directorate. As 
  such, there’s nothing here. In fact, a young Kazakh couple 
  lives there now. 
  • The exception is if Barrow accidentally entangled 
  himself with a fire vampire, in which case there’s a 
  microscopic gate in the room where he conducted the 
  ritual. The gate spits out another fire vampire every 
  few hours. Most of these join the host entangled with 
  Barrow (and the PCs could follow these sparks of 
  exonomic consciousness to find the missing spy); others 
  fly off and incinerate innocents along the way. 
  The gate can’t be closed while Barrow lives.
  Checking nearby alleyways, though, with a Tradecraft or 
  Search roll (or a Scrying app) lets the characters find a 
  cache left by Barrow, hidden in a heating oil tank at the 
  back of a house. The cache is wrapped in a watertight 
  sheet of plastic, and contains:
  • A stolen photocopied copy of the Letters of St Polycarp, 
  with the name Nabiev scrawled across the title page. 
  • More hand-written notes, clearly written by Barrow, 
  translating the immolation/purification ritual of the 
  Daniiltsy into Dho-Na notation. 
  • A handful of burnt-oil electronics that were clearly part of 
  a summoning grid. A successful Science (Thaumaturgy) 
  roll connects the electronics to the rite in the book.
  If Barrow’s Turned, then the cache is under observation 
  by the Directorate.
  
  117
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  Nabiev’s House
  Nazer Nabiev lives alone in a tumbledown farmhouse 
  outside of town, near the ruins of the monastery. It’s 
  a much bigger place than a mere janitor could afford – 
  he inherited the property from his father. One of the 
  outbuildings has been converted into a chapel for the 
  Daniiltsy sect.
  Searching the house reveals that Nabiev works as a janitor 
  at DKX (if the company’s Corrupt, he’s got a passcard for 
  access to the secure basement, which an ordinary janitor 
  shouldn’t have). There’s also a copy of the Letters of  St 
  Polycarp. 
  If the cult is Malignant, then there may be supernatural 
  defences like wards or guardian monsters here too.
  Daniiltsy Ruins
  These ruins lie about 20 minutes north-west of Pavlodar. 
  A dirty plaque in Russian and Kazakh explains this was a 
  Russian Orthodox monastery in the 19th Century before 
  being destroyed by Soviet forces in the 1920s. All that 
  remains is one half-crumbled round tower and some walls. 
  Thaumometers show significant but old magical residue all 
  over the ruins. Examination of runes and glyphs carved 
  on the walls remind the PCs (with an Idea roll) of the 
  Robe of Koth.
  • If the Cult is Clueless, then searching around discovers 
  several piles of greasy ash – the remains of someone 
  who spontaneously combusted. Keeping the site under 
  observation lets the PCs discover Nazer Nabiev and the 
  other elderly adherents of the sect. 
  • If the Cult is Malignant, then Nazer may hold rituals here 
  for the DKX engineers.
  Pavlodar Library
  All good agents know to research in the library, and this 
  one is pretty good thanks to all the oil money making 
  Kazakhstan rich. Agents can discover whatever information 
  about the chosen versions of Daniiltsy that the GM feels 
  as appropriate and/or likely. There’s not much to dig up 
  on DKX Systems other than they were part of the Soviet 
  Space Program, had some great successes, screwed up the 
  N1-L3 program and now make rockets for Moscow and 
  private companies. 
  This is also home to one of two dead drops between the 
  Laundry and Barrow (see The Homeless Agent, page 
  115). 
  Government Offices
  Successful Bureaucracy rolls reveal DKX Systems 
  has lost a lot of bids over the past few years and is in 
  deep financial trouble. If the Daniiltsy cult is Clueless, 
  then cross-checking death notices with the dates of the 
  spontaneous combustions notes that there’s a correlation 
  between a death occurring in a certain set of families (the 
  few families that still adhere to the dying cult), and the 
  combustions. Some discreet enquiries lead the officers to 
  Nabiev’s door.
  Pavlodar Police Department
  The local police are competent and untainted by magic or 
  Mythos. With the spontaneous human combustion cases, 
  they are completely baffled and embarrassed. As said in 
  Handout #2 (see page 124), the officers are hoping it 
  stops and goes away on its own. 
  Pavlodar State University
  The only connection with this university is that two 
  victims (Sezim Amangeldy and Anara Bolat) worked at the 
  registrar’s office and were good friends. They frequently 
  went to Mojo Karaoke Bar. A successful roll interviewing 
  co-workers will reveal both complained about guys from 
  DKX Systems hitting on them. 
  DKX Systems Building
  Built on the outskirts of town in an office park, this four-
  storey building looks more at home in London than an old 
  Soviet republic. Full of glass and with a big “DKX” written 
  in Cyrillic and English letters over the double doors, this 
  is a modern building with modern security: several guards 
  (use the stats for Pavlodar police officers if necessary) and 
  a networked alarm system. There are roughly 90 people 
  working here if you include janitors and secretaries. 
  Inside, the building is divided into three sections. Section 
  A is the bottom two floors and is home to bureaucrats, 
  lawyers, human resources and other necessities of modern 
  corporations. Section B occupies the fourth floor and is 
  where management has their offices; Alexei Orlov has the 
  large corner office. Section C is home to the engineers and 
  scientists – it encompasses the third floor and the high-
  security labs at the back of the building. The basement is 
  also used for research.
  Keycards are required to access the elevators and stairwells.
  Getting Inside
  DKX has moderately tight security: surveillance cameras, 
  burglar alarms, regular (unarmed) security patrols and 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  118
  electronic locks on all external doors. Section A is easily 
  accessible by the PCs, either by sneaking in or by some 
  ruse. Getting access to Section B – the management floor 
  – is harder, although a Fast Talk roll or a suitable cover 
  story (“we’re here on behalf  of  the European Space Agency”) 
  could get them a meeting with Alexei Orlov. 
  Section C is kept more secure; the doors have tougher 
  electronic locks that can only be opened with a passcard 
  (or a Difficult Technology Use (Electronic Security) 
  roll. The basement – where any occult experiments or 
  ceremonies are held – is more secure again, with electronic 
  locks, physical locks and wards (class three offensives that 
  alert Orlov or Nabiev about the intruders, plus 2d6 fire 
  damage). If DKX is Completely Corrupt, then add a swarm 
  of fire vampires.
  Investigations
  Barrow was employed as Kliment Marchuk but suddenly 
  stopped coming in months ago. His cubicle was reassigned 
  to another employee. The cubicle of Mileka Fomenko 
  shows some evidence of blood magic (i.e. minute traces 
  of dried blood) but otherwise is free of evidence. 
  • If DKX Systems is Innocent, then the plans to Vulkan-
  LEX are in Alexei’s office and on the computer network.
  • If they’re Tainted, the plans to Vulkan-LEX are in 
  Alexei’s office. A small, experimental version of the 
  thrust system is in the basement. If turned on, it will 
  summon five fire vampires out before shutting off. 
  • If DKX Systems is a Front for the Cult, then Alexei’s 
  office also has a safe with a contact spell (to speak with 
  PHLOGISTON LOCK), and Nazer Nabiev is on the 
  payroll as a ‘senior adviser’ despite being a janitor. 
  • If DKX Systems is Completely Corrupt, then not only 
  is there a prototype of the Vulkan-LEX engine in the 
  basement lab, but there’s also an experimental full-scale 
  version in the manufacturing facility at the rear of the 
  building. This giant summoning engine is watched day 
  and night by cultists.
  Pavlodar Events & Complications
  Drop any of the following events in to liven things up:
  General Screw-Jobs
  • The PCs are stopped at passport control and asked to 
  explain their business in Pavlodar. What’s their cover story? 
  • A snowstorm makes exploring the city streets difficult 
  and hazardous.
  • One of the management-level characters created as part 
  of the first committee meeting calls up the PCs and 
  demands an immediate status report.
  • The PCs are alerted they can’t use the Laundry-Issued 
  credit card, as there’s a chance that the Directorate will 
  spot it. They need to survive in Pavlodar on cash alone.
  • Someone close to the PCs – a receptionist at a hotel, an 
  informant on the streets, the driver of the tram they’re 
  riding – spontaneously combusts.
  Cult Interference
  • The cult sends a fire vampire after the player characters.
  • Cult members keep the PCs under surveillance.
  • One of the PCs dreams of burning alive in a strange 
  monastery.
  DKX Interference
  • Alexei Orlov hears about the Westerners in town, and 
  invites them to dinner and drinks at the Mojo club. 
  There, he pumps them for information – what are 
  they doing in town, and can he somehow leverage this 
  information to make himself richer? (Selling the PCs 
  out to the Thirteenth Directorate is one option...)
  • DKX hackers tap the PCs’ local phones.
  • Orlov bribes the local police to harass or spy on the PCs.
  Thirteenth Directorate Interference
  • Mileka Fomenko or one of her agents breaks into the 
  PCs’ hotel room and ransacks it.
  • The Directorate threaten the PCs, hinting that they know 
  who they are and warning them to leave Kazakhstan 
  immediately.
  • The Directorate abducts one of the PCs in a snowstorm 
  and carries him or her off to the extradimensional gulag 
  described on page 120.
  
  119
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  3 . Committee Scene: 
  Shipping and handling
  So, by this point in the scenario, the regular player 
  characters should have a rough idea of what’s going on 
  in Pavlodar, and they should have met with Barrow and 
  learned that he needs the Robe of Koth – and that if he 
  doesn’t get it, he’s going to burst with fire vampires before 
  too long. Time for another committee meeting!
  Deal out Issues as follows:
  • Barrow’s immobility and unreliability, plus the expense 
  and difficulty of getting the Robe of Koth to him makes 
  him a solid King of Clubs
  • Deal out Spades for DKX Systems and the Thirteenth 
  Directorate, and Diamonds for the Daniiltsy cult – 
  choose the value of the cards based on the perceived 
  threat posed by these factions to the mission. If the 
  regular PCs have determined that the cult is defunct, 
  but they’ve angered the Thirteenth Directorate, then put 
  down, say, the 2 of Diamonds and the 10 of Spades. 
  • Optionally, deal one or two more cards and interpret 
  them on the fly as added Issues that only the committee 
  knows about – problems that the officers on the ground 
  haven’t yet encountered.
  Suggest to the players that they’ll want to have enough 
  Budget left at the end of the meeting to call in Special 
  Forces support – and remind them that bringing in a 16-
  man SAS squad is a Difficult Status check, and that there’ll 
  be a -20% penalty for sending them to Kazakhstan (and 
  possibly up to another -20% penalty if they don’t give 
  sufficient advance notice). 
  4 . Investigation Scene: 
  Pick Your Apocalypse
  In this scene, the agents have to implement the new plans 
  made in the second committee scene. This probably 
  includes getting the Robe of Koth from London, but the 
  committee might have decided not to hand it over. Either 
  way, the agents will have to meet and deal with Barrow. 
  That deal’s going to be interrupted by the big bad of the 
  adventure – maybe the Thirteenth Directorate will swoop 
  in, or DKX Systems will try to steal the robe, or Barrow 
  will betray the player characters and screw them over. 
  Delivering the Goods
  Barrow will send a fellow homeless Kazakh to deliver a 
  handwritten message to the bench drop. The message says 
  to take a table at a trendy and crowded cafe called Krendel 
  at noon. Barrow has cleaned himself up and stolen some 
  new clothes, so he looks completely different. He’s waiting 
  in a car park across from the cafe, and won’t arrive until 30 
  minutes after the agents get there. 
  • If Barrow is Loyal, he comes in and sits at a table next 
  to the agents, then he asks for the Robe of Koth. To use 
  it, he needs to put it on at the site of the original gate 
  (his apartment/DKX Systems/the Daniiltsy ruins). The 
  PCs need to help him get there. 
  • If he’s Being Played, then the bad guys swoop in – see 
  below. Barow tries to flee, and stresses out (see below). 
  This may give the PCs time to escape. 
  • If he’s Turned, then he sneers before the bad guys swoop 
  in. The cafe’s a trap – the other customers and staff are 
  all agents of the bad guys in disguise. 
  • If he’s Corrupt, then he opens his mouth and hosts of fire 
  vampires swarm out of him. The PCs are (presumably) 
  warded; the other customers aren’t so lucky. The cafe 
  explodes, and Barrow uses the opportunity to grab the 
  rope. To summon PHLISTOGON LOCK, Barrow 
  needs to get the robe to the site of the original gate.
  If the agents don’t have the Robe of Koth, Barrow stresses 
  out – see below. 
  Stressing Out
  Whether the agents fail to give up the Robe of Koth, if the 
  Thirteenth Directorate arrives to make a mess of things, or if the 
  agents try forcing the Robe on Barrow, the stress of this event 
  taxes Barrow tremendously. He falls to his knees screaming, the 
  air around him shimmering with heat. As his clothes start to 
  smoulder and catch fire, PYRETIC PHANTASMS manifest; 
  some attack the agents while the other starts burning the cafe. 
  The PCs may be able to talk Barrow down or stun him 
  with something clever (an exorcism spell, a taser). Other 
  options:
  • Nazer Nabiev (if the cult’s Active) has enough authority 
  to temporarily restrain the fire vampires. Barrow 
  collapses in a heap at Nabiev’s feat; Nabiev takes the 
  robe, if he can.
  • Alexei Orlov has his engineers show up with a truck. 
  On the back is a tank of chemicals and a hose – he 
  sprays Barrow with an enchanted vampire-retardant 
  foam to temporarily delay the explosion. The Robe of 
  Koth might have a few white stains, but he only needs 
  it to last until he summons PHLISTIGON LOCK 
  through.
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  120
  • The Thirteenth Directorate have a sniper across the 
  street with a rune-engraved bullet. It’s a slow death. When 
  the bullet hits you, it vanishes. The wave pattern of your 
  death – the wave pattern of your skull exploding as the 
  bullet punches through your head – remains virtual until 
  the Directorate Issue a kill order, at which point you 
  take the death and die. Interference patterns between 
  the two quantum patterns of you-dead and you-alive 
  create all sorts of disturbing weirdnesses, like insomnia, 
  spontaneous bleeding, people believing you to be dead, 
  social media accounts shutting down of their own accord 
  – and, in the case of Steven Barrow, it traps his fire 
  vampire passengers in a loop between the two states. He 
  won’t explode until his occult quantum state is resolved. 
  Alternatively, Barrow can use his Hand of Glory to escape 
  the scene. 
  The Opposition
  The handover to Barrow never goes smoothly. Even if 
  you’re aiming for a finale that doesn’t necessarily involve the 
  Robe of Koth, you should add another obstacle by having 
  some faction of bad guys make a play for the Robe. Even an 
  extinct and clueless Daniiltsy sect might be spurred into new 
  life by dreams send from PHLISTIGON LOCK, prompting 
  Nabiev and his followers to make a grab for the prize.
  If the bad guys are a resurgent Daniiltsy cult or DKX 
  Systems, then the PCs are up against enthusiastic amateurs 
  – throw one armed goon up against the PCs per player 
  character, plus another 1d6+2 bad guys with nothing 
  more than fists and vigour, and maybe some hand-held 
  runes of destruction (add another 1d8 damage to melee 
  attacks). And fire vampires, of course. Innocent passers-
  by exploding into flames should also add to the confusion. 
  Thugs
  STR 14 
  CON 10 SIZ 11 
  INT 15 
  POW 8 
  DEX 10 
  CHA 10 
  EDU 16 SAN 35 
  HP 11
  Damage Bonus: +0
  Weapons: Handgun 45%, damage 1d10 or Rune of 
  Destruction 60%, damage 1d3+1d8.
  Skills: Brawl 40%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Dodge 30%, 
  Disguise 20%, Knowledge (Occult) 30%, Research 35%, 
  Science (Thaumaturgy) 30%, Sorcery 10%.
  Artefacts: Class one personal ward.
  If the Directorate is the opposition, then the PCs are in 
  more trouble. There are two Directorate agents for every 
  PC, with more available as backup.
  Directorate Heavy
  STR 14 
  CON 14 SIZ 16 
  INT 14 
  POW 13 
  DEX 11 
  CHA 13 
  EDU 14 SAN 45 
  HP 15
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Weapons: Pistol with Banishment Rounds (1d10)
  Skills: Brawl 60%, Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Computer 
  Use (Magic) 50%, Dodge 40%, Firearms (Pistol) 50%, 
  Hide 35%, Insight 55%, Knowledge (Espionage) 50%, 
  Language (Various) 50%, Research 65%, Sense 30%, 
  Search 50%, Track 40%. 
  Artefacts:Class two personal ward, plus the following 
  items among the group: class three Hand of Glory, Egg 
  of Life Hiding (keeps one human alive despite any injury 
  as long as the egg is intact), Banishing Grenade (one-shot 
  level 3 exorcism spell), Winter Skull (if unveiled, drops 
  temperature in surrounding area to -30° C). 
  Captured by the Directorate
  If the PCs get captured by the Directorate, 
  then they wake up in a holding facility... 
  somewhere. It’s a desolate gulag of concrete 
  bunkers and cells on a snowy tundra that 
  stretches off infinitely in every direction. 
  The skies are forever cloudy and grey. 
  There are no roads leading up to the place, 
  no walls or fences surrounding it – it’s 
  in its own pocket dimension of eternal 
  winter. 
  The 
  Directorate 
  interrogators 
  simply appear out of the swirling snow, 
  like cold war phantoms. 
  The PCs may be able to talk their way 
  out if they can convince the Directorate 
  that they know how to avert an impending 
  catastrophe (of course, that assumes that 
  the Directorate aren’t the ones behind said 
  impending 
  catastrophe). 
  Alternatively, 
  switch to the special force characters 
  for the rest of the mission, and have the 
  regular PCs wake up three months later 
  as their Moscow-London flight lands at 
  Heathrow. 
  
  121
  FIRE DRILL
  Fire Drill
  5 . Flashpoints
  So, you’ve got (at least) four potential ways that everything 
  can go horribly wrong. If your regular PCs are up to the 
  challenge of saving the world, then they can make the 
  attempt. Otherwise, it may be time to switch to Special 
  Forces, and have your regular PCs brief the SAS strike 
  team that flies in under the radar from Turkey on a 
  glamoured Boeing Globemaster III. 
  Burning Barrow
  (Barrow is Corrupt)
  Steven Barrow was sent to investigate a rash of spontaneous 
  combustions, but in the course of his investigations, he was 
  seduced by the fiery worship of PHLISTIGON LOCK. 
  He needs the Robe of Koth to open the gate – but if 
  the PCs didn’t obligingly bring the relic to Pavlodar, then 
  he can improvise using the Vulkan-LEX prototype in the 
  basement of DKX Systems. So, Barrow’s either heading 
  for DKX, his old apartment or the monastery ruins. 
  With the Robe, and the impending arrival of PHLISTIGON 
  LOCK, he’s vastly more powerful than before, and keeps 
  emitting more fire vampires. To stop him without nuking 
  Pavlodar, the player characters need to recover the robe, 
  put it on him and run a banishing spell, while dodging 
  fire vampires and spontaneous combustions. The other 
  big complication is that the Thirteenth Directorate aren’t 
  going stand by while a British spy tries to summon up 
  an alien god right in their backyard, which means this 
  situation is going to turn into a hastily organised and 
  probably botched version of Purge Sequence, below.
  The Cult Ritual
  In this setup, Nazer Nabiev intends to bring forth the alien 
  god. He might be planning on using the Robe of Koth to 
  do so, or maybe he’s planning to overclock the Vulkan-LEX 
  prototype at DKX Systems so it spits out PHLISTIGON 
  LOCK. In either case, he gathers his loyal cultists around him. 
  They’ll bring suicide vests and cans of petrol to wherever 
  the ritual is going to take place – after all, fire purifies. They 
  intend to burn to death and leave the corrupt flesh behind, 
  one way or another. They’d prefer to die in the all-consuming 
  embrace of their god, of course, but martyrdom will suffice.
  In this set-up, the PCs need to stop Nazer Nabiev from 
  summoning PHLISTIGON LOCK, dodging fire vampires 
  and suicidal cultists. One possible option is to use Stephen 
  Barrow as a connection to Nabiev – maybe Barrow can 
  psychically sense Nabiev’s ritual, so the PCs must choose 
  between finding Nabiev and using the Robe of Koth to 
  ‘disarm’ the Barrow-shaped nuke. 
  Vulkan-LEX
  The Vulkan-LEX engine, if fired, releases a plume of fire 
  vampire exhaust. It could also, if configured just right, be 
  used as a bigger summoning grid to bring PHLOGISTON 
  LOCK through.
  If you’re going with DKX Systems is Completely Corrupt, then 
  their end-game might be to ‘test-fire’ the rocket engine over 
  a highly populated area. Say, send it flying on an arc over 
  China, freeing millions of people from the sinful, corrupt 
  bonds of matter by igniting their souls. Alternatively, maybe 
  they want to bring the god through, in which case the test-
  firing would look a lot more like an implosion. Either way, 
  the action’s going down at DKX Systems. 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  122
  If the Thirteenth Directorate’s behind the scheme, 
  though, then they want a working Vulkan-LEX to launch 
  their battle stations in advance of CASE NIGHTMARE 
  GREEN. The trouble is, in its current form, Vulkan-LEX 
  is effectively a weapon of mass destruction, with each 
  launch causing millions of spontaneous combustions. 
  That would put the Directorate in a hideous catch-22: 
  they need to launch their Polyus stations before CASE 
  NIGHTMARE GREEN, but the act of launching them 
  might cause enough deaths to trigger the phase state 
  transition of reality and urge the stars to rightness. Waiting 
  to work out the kinks in the system might mean that 
  they’ve got no defence against the Great Old Ones – their 
  choice would be to get eaten or trigger CNG prematurely 
  and have a shot at survival while everyone else gets eaten. 
  Guess which option they’re most likely to pick? In this 
  case, then, the goal for the PCs is to destroy the Vulkan-
  LEX prototype before it can be successfully tested.
  Purge Sequence
  The Thirteenth Directorate is going to take out the 
  Daniiltsy Cult or DKX Systems, and the Laundry’s caught 
  in the crossfire. In this setup, the Directorate drop an 
  Occlusion Field on Pavlodar – think a Almaz-X satellite-
  projected combination of entropic manipulation and 
  memory geas, ensuring that no-one in the afflicted area 
  can remember or interfere with their operations. (No-one, 
  that is, who isn’t protected by a ward.) 
  After that, the spetznaz move in. A sixteen-man GRU team 
  is more than enough to take out the expected opposition 
  at either target site (the monastery or DKX Systems). 
  If they suspect there’s a strong Laundry presence there, 
  they’ll add in another 16 spetznaz and back them up with 
  a bound drekevac.
  Spetznaz
  STR 15 
  CON 16 SIZ 13 
  INT 13 
  POW 12
  DEX 14 
  CHA 10 
  EDU 16 SAN 60 
  HP 15
  Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Weapons: Kalashnikov AK-47M (2d6+4, Banishment 
  Rounds), explosive grenades (4d6/4 metres).
  Armour: Body armour (4/8 vs firearms)
  Skills: Athletics 50%, Brawl 65%, Climb 60%, Command 
  55%, Computer Use (Magic) 50%, Demolition 50%, Firearms 
  (Assault Rifle) 90%, Firearms (Esoteric) 40%, Knowledge 
  (Occult) 40%, Listen 35%, Spot 45%, Strategy 65%. 
  Artefacts: Class two defensive binding (kinetic and cold).
  Drekavac
  Drekavacs are a side effect of possession. 
  When an exonome possesses a human host, 
  the human consciousness gets entwined with 
  the alien entity. If the host dies and the 
  possessor jumps to a new host, elements of 
  the human personality sometimes survive. 
  Drekavacs occur when the second host has 
  less processing power (for example, an 
  animal), and you end up with the simplest, 
  most primitive human instincts overlaid 
  onto a supernatural beast. 
  Drekavacs usually resemble animals warped 
  into roughly humanoid forms, their flesh 
  torn and remoulded to fit the after-image of 
  the entity’s previous host. Their screams 
  carry an echo of the death of the human 
  host, and so are damaging to those who hear 
  them without proper protection (a class 
  two ward or enchanted noise-cancelling 
  headphones.)
  Characteristics 
  Rolls 
  Average
  STR 
   
  2d6+6 
  13
  CON 
   
  3d6+3 
  13-14
  SIZ 
   
  2d6+3 
  10  
  INT  
   
  2d6 
  7
  POW 
   
  3d6 
  10-11
  DEX 
   
  3d6+3 
  13-14
  Move: 12  
   
  HP: 12
  Average Damage Bonus: +1d4
  Weapons: Claws 40%, damage 1d8+db
   
  Scream 70%, damage 1d6 + 2d6 SAN Loss
  Armour: None, but impaling weapons do one 
  point of damage and all others do half 
  damage.
  Sanity Loss: 1/1d3
  
  123
  As Above, So Below
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  Issued by the Department of Field Support 
  Serial No.: 1415-RKO-1194731
  References: RUMPLED OCHRE
  From: Field agent Steven Barrow
  Subject: DKX Systems report #1
  I infiltrated DKX Systems one month ago. This involved creating a cover identity as Kliment 
  Marchuk, a Ukrainian engineer who worked for the State Space Agency of Ukraine and let go due 
  to alcoholism. After a brief interview process, I was hired and “moved” to Pavlodar. 
  I began working with a team tasked with improving the thrust and stability of the Proton-M 
  rocket. During this time, I discretely collected data from colleagues through conversations, 
  reading memos, and similar low-impact methods. I focused on background information to get a 
  feel for DKX Systems and their corporate culture. No one has identified me as a foreigner nor 
  seemed unduly interested in my background. They view me as a talented drunk.
  DKX Systems was originally part of the Soviet Space Program. They worked on the N1-L3 rocket, 
  then moved to another project called Vulkan-LEX before being shut down and metamorphosing 
  into a private company owned by by Alexei Orlov. They have several contracts from Moscow 
  to improve upon aspects of the Proton-M rocket. However, the company is worried that Moscow 
  will abandon the Proton-M in favour of the Angara rocket designed by rival company Khrunichev 
  State Research and Production Space Centre. 
  There is a notable air of panic when this is brought up. Rumours suggest a project led by 
  Orlov will save the company, but these appear to have been started by middle management. At 
  least one version of this rumour suggests Orlov is repurposing the Vulkan-LEX design, and 
  this is somehow connected to an “Old Group”. 
  I have not been able to source the spontaneous human combustions in Pavlodar. Although four of 
  the seven victims worked for DKX Systems, this could be a coincidence. I can hear my old Advanced 
  Occultism instructor saying, “There is no such thing as coincidences in magic,” so I will 
  continue to investigate. The only connection between the four DKX engineers that I’ve uncovered 
  is a passion for the local football club (FC Irtysh Pavlodar), but everyone here has that.
  One last note: the Thirteenth Directorate appears interested in DKX Systems as well. Last 
  week, I spotted what appeared to be a scrying app running on a laptop. The owner, an engineer 
  who I had not been introduced to yet, quickly shut it and started talking to me about a local 
  nightclub in a clumsy attempt to change the subject. I played along, but later found tiny 
  traces of blood on his desk. Given the Thirteenth Directorate’s fondness of blood magic, it’s 
  reasonable to assume they are looking into the SHC incidents as well. 
  Handout #1: 
  Barrow report
  Intelligence Report
  Secret / UK Eyes Only
  Intelligence Report
  Secret / UK Eyes Only
  Where does Barrow’s loyalty lie?  
  How can field agents find him and determine that? 
  How do we operate in Kazakhstan without 
  alerting the Thirteenth Directorate?
  What is the code name 
  for this operation? 
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  124
  Handout #2: Pavlodar 
  Police Report Summary
  • There are five (5) or seven (7) victims of spontaneous human combustion in 
  Pavlodar over the past year. 
  • Four (4) of them work for a company called DKX Systems: Nurlan Ibrayev, 
  Boris Ahkmetov, Artyom Marat, and Dina Zherdov. 
  • Two (2) others work for Pavlodar State University: Sezim Amangeldy and 
  Anara Bolat. The last victim is Anara’s brother, Yuri Bolat, a tram driver. 
  • Order of deaths: Ibrayev, Amangeldy, Akhmetov, Marat, Zherdov, and the two 
  (2) Bolats. 
  • All of them burned up in their flats, two (2) of which burned to the ground 
  (Dina Zherdov and Sezim Amangeldy). With the others, the fire either was 
  contained by locals or burned itself out. That’s why the number of victims 
  is either five (5) or seven (7). Dina Zherdov and Sezim Amangeldy might have 
  been burned by a fire, not spontaneous human combustion.
  • Evidence is always the same: ashes and a random body part blistered but not 
  burned. Bodies were identified by DNA. No accelerants were detected, but 
  Yuri Bolat and Dina Zherdov were both alcoholics with bad smoking habits 
  and may have burned themselves up. 
  • Nothing was stolen or damaged apart from by fires. One (1) flat (Anara Bolat) 
  had evidence that someone else was there, such as two (2) glasses of wine, 
  but no one (1) has been identified. 
  • Police interviewed several people from DKX Systems and Pavlodar State 
  University, but no connection was made to the victims. The four (4) DKX 
  Systems employees were well-liked and respected but not overly so. 
  • The police seem at a loss to explain what’s going on. Neighbours of the 
  victims sometimes reported a stranger in the building prior to the event, 
  but everyone (1) describes a different person, and some report no one 
  visiting at all. Police are blaming a serial arsonist, maybe a terrorist 
  cell, and unofficially are hoping this goes away. 
  
  125
  As Above, So Below
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  21 SAS (The Artists Rifles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  22 SAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  23 SAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  A
  Accuracy international AS50  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Age  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Agent Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
  Agent King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
  AK-103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Albert Kendal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 92
  Alexei Orlov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110, 112
  Alexei Orlov’s House  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
  Allies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
  Amsel Protecta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  AN-94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Ann Taylor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
  Anthony Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
  ARWEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Auditor Curtis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  B
  The Barracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
  Barrett M82A1 ‘Light Fifty’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Benelli M1014/M4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Beretta RS200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  BLUE HADES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
  Boosting Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
  Browning Cynergy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  Brunswick RAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Bug Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  Building 4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88, 95, 100
  Building the Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  BXP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  C
  C8 SFW Carbine (L119A1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  Calico M-950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Captain Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
  Carbines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Cards on the Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
  Case SOMETHING COLOUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
  CBRN Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  CGH Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
  Character Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 6
  Charge, Agent Defeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Charge, Breaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  The Civil Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
  Close Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Cobray M11/9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Cocktail Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  COFFIN DODGER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
  Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
  Committee Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
  Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Containment and Suppression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
  Counter-Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  The Cover-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
  The Crypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
  D
  The Daniiltsy Cult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
  Daniiltsy Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  The Daniiltsy Sect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
  DEEP SEVEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
  Deliberately Obscure Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
  Demo Charge, Conventional  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Departmental Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
  Desert Eagle .50 Calibre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Discretionary Skill Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  DKX Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107, 110
  DKX Systems Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Dr Ann Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  Drekavac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
  E
  The Elder Ghoul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 103, 104
  Elephant Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Encumbrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Ending the Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
  EPDE Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Existing Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  Explosives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Extra Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  F
  Face Card Quick Reference  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
  Field Coveralls, Urban Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Field Kit  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Field Medical Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Field Protective Equipment, Urban Operations  . . . 26
  Flashbang  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  FN303 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  FN2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  FN Five-Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  FN Minimi/M249/Mk46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  FN P90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  The Fourth Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
  Franchi SPAS-12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  Index
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  126
  G
  Gepard M6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Getting Promoted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
  Ghillie Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Ghoul Attack! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
  Giant Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
  Glock 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Goalpost Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  The Grand Design  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
  Grenade, Launched, Burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Grenade, Launched, HEDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Grenade, Launched, Multiple Projectile . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Grenade, Launched, Stunbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Grenade Machine Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Grenade, Thrown, Fragmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  H
  Handguns  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  Hardcore Nerdery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
  Heavy Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Heckler & Koch 416 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  Heckler & Koch G36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  Heckler & Koch MG4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Heckler & Koch MG36  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Heckler & Koch MP5K-PDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Heckler & Koch MP7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  High Status Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
  Hostile Environment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  Human Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  The Hybrid Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
  I
  Identity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Infiltration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  Influence Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
  Intelligence Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  International Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
  Intrigues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
  Israel Weapon Industries Uzi-Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Issue Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
  Ithaca Stakeout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  J
  Jericho 941 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Just Following Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  K
  Republic of Kazakhstan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
  Key Administration Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
  Key Line Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
  Kliment Marchuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
  Korth Combat Magnum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  L
  L85A2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  L96A1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  L115A3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  The Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
  Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  Laser Designator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Laurie Adams  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 94, 100
  The Leaked Memo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
  Light Support Weapons  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
  Lone Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  Lookup Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  Lucien Kelly  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 93, 100
  M
  M2HB Heavy Machine Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System  . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Mahogany Row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
  Major Eric Philips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
  Major Eric Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  Malika Fomenko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
  Malika Fomenko’s Flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
  Medical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  Mentor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
  The Mess Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
  Milan-SPW  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Milcor MGL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Military Comms Kit, Compact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Mojo Karaoke Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
  The Mole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
  Mother Hubbard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
  Mountaineering Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  N
  Nabiev’s House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Nazer Nabiev  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
  Negev  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Non-Conventional Threat Responses  . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  O
  Occult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Officer Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  
  127
  As Above, So Below
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  P
  Pancor Jackhammer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  Panzerfaust 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Paranormal Reconnaissance and Exploration . . . . . 40
  Pavlodar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
  Pavlodar Government Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Pavlodar Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Pavlodar Police Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Pavlodar State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Pay Grade & Wealth Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
  Peripheral Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
  Personal Defence Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  PHLOGISTON LOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
  PKM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Playing Special Ops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
  Political Adventures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
  Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
  PYRETIC PHANTASM (Fire Vampires)  . . . . . . . 109
  Q
  QBZ-03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  R
  Random Plot Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  Rank and Chain of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Recovery of Personnel and Artefacts . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
  Recruitment and Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Remington M870 MCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  Retroactive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Rifle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Rifle Grenade, HEAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Rifle Grenade, HEDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Rifle Grenade, SMD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Robe of Koth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
  RPG-7D  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  S
  Sawn-off 12-gauge, Generic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  The Scandal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
  Scoring Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
  Scott Burley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 94
  The Screwtape Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
  Scuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Search and Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  The Security Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
  Sensitive Soul  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  Shotguns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  SIG 550 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Sig-Sauer P226 Tactical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Silencers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  SMAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Sniping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  SOCOM MK23 Mod 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Special Air Service (SAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Special Boat Service (SBS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Special Forces Support Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Specialisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Specialities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Special Ops Missions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  Special Reconnaissance Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Spetznaz  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
  Spontaneous Human Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
  Spook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
  Standard Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
  Steve Barrow/Kliment Marchuk’s flat . . . . . . . . . . 116
  Steven Barrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107, 108, 115
  Steyr TMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Stoner SR-25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Submachine Guns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  Supernatural Patrons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
  Survival and Evasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Survivor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  T
  Tactical Vest  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Taurus Raging Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Taurus Slim 708  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Team Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Technically Minded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
  The Thirteenth Directorate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107, 112
  Time Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
  Tough as Nails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Trumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
  U
  Underwater Operations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  United Kingdom Special Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  V
  Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Vulkan-LEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111, 121
  W
  Walther P99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Weapon Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Westminster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
  Wilkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
  
  AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
  128
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/The Laundry/CB71209 As Above, So Below.pdf