The Skoptsi: an Expansion

The Skoptsi are one of my favorite factions in Delta Green, and in my home game, I featured them as the primary villain for a brief storyline featuring one of my cells. The reports on their investigations can be found in previous posts. In the interest of sharing my opinions, and perhaps encouraging other handlers to feature them in their 90s / 2000s Delta Green game, I decided it would be worth it to share my experiences with the Skoptsi, how I flavor them, how I roleplay them, and some missions / setpieces I've featured in my home game's efforts against the vile Cult of the Magna Mater.

Roleplaying the Skoptsi

• A HAND AT ANYTHING: As described in Countdown, many of the Skoptsi have gotten themselves into skilled trades, and use these skills to make revenue and to shore up the Skoptsi's operations and defenses. The primary example given is that many of them are carpenters and contractors, and use this to expertly build the winding network of escape hatches and tunnels beneath their hideouts. Consider other trades as well: Heavy equipment operators, mechanics, welders, gunsmiths, metalworkers. Have a few of them even be nurses, veterinarians, or pharmacy technicians. The Skoptsi community possesses a diverse skillset that will be used to make Delta Green's attempts to destroy the cult's final stronghold a living hell. Mechanics could create car bombs or be used to assemble heavy weapons, professional movers are physically powerful and have access to boxtrucks, a tow-truck can be used to confiscate an agent's car, or take it away after they've been run off the road and kidnapped, and a nurse would know how to estimate a persons' bodyweight and how much ketamine would take to incapacitate them without killing them. 
• PIETY: Although most handlers would find it tempting to describe the Skoptsi as a cult that only uses christianity as a smoke-screen, and behind the scenes are anything but Christian, this makes them quite shallow. It is more interesting to depict the rank-and-file Skoptsi as a community of deeply pious Christians. Christians who believe that the horrific thing that their high priest fed their severed genitals to is the divine feminine God itself. They've seen God and its terrifying, tree-like angels, and they are prepared to kill and be killed for her sake. They wear their devotion on their sleeve and lead what many would dub "pious" lives. They are not materialistic. They do not wear jewellery, they dress practically, and although many of them are woodworkers, metalworkers, cabinet-makers, and carpenters. Their homes are austere and practical, while all of their creative potential goes to the refinement and upkeep of the Basilica, the house of their God. This doesn't mean they're impervious to mundane christian moral failings, they're only human, after all, but depicting this devotion to god in their normal life adds depth to their character. It contextualizes the devotion they will show when confronted by Delta Green: in that it is almost absolute. There is very nearly no line they won't cross, no act they will not commit to protect their faith and serve their god.
• BROKEN PEOPLE: All but the eldest Skoptsi were recruited in their childhood, brought to America through Families Without Frontiers, a sorcerously protected front for international human trafficking, and then viciously abused and groomed into the cultists they are today. Although their devotion to God is strong and their devotion is true, their minds are another story. Many of them are burdened with a lifetime of trauma which none of them are equipped to deal with. They bottle it in and don't raise a stink. But it all comes out under pressure. The Skoptsi might start breaking into hysterics in the heat of combat, they might have very public, very messy meltdowns in public after learning of the death of a cultist they were raised with. The community will show every color of human emotion if and when they learn the agents have destroyed Cornucopia House.
• MARTYRS: Although the Skoptsi are steadfast and unwavering in their devotion to the Magna Mater, it should be noted that this doesn't necessarily mean that when the agents confront the Skoptsi in armed combat, that they fight to the last man and to the death. They're possessed by all the same fears as normal men, and as stated above, many of them are actually quite fragile psychologically, and might lose their composure in the heat of combat. They know when they're outmatched and will withdraw if they feel they've been beat to regroup, recuperate, and plan their next move. Strikingly, however, some Skoptsi cultists will see the federal agents of Delta Green as the Romans to their new order, and will actually turn themselves in or surrender for questioning, taking the opportuntity to try to aggrandize and appease Christ and the Magna Mater by withstanding the barbs and tortures of United States Law Enforcement. This of course will infuriate the Skoptsi's leaders, and they'll work to either have the "martyr" released or killed before anything important can be leaked. Agents who catch onto this martyrdom complex can use this to trick Skoptsi cultists into giving away important details in a gleeful rush of gloating how much holier they art than thou.

Hooks, Investigations, Reactions

Hooks

• THIEVES: The thefts of the Black Icons by Natalia Chermeninko's Spetsnaz gangsters could attract Delta Green's attention and lead to an investigation of the Russian Mafia and their patrons from Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake. It's possible that in doing so, they burglarize and maybe even kill an occultist under Delta Green's surveillance. leaving the agents to not only try to find the culprit and identify their patrons, but also obfuscate and hide the NSA-quality surveillance gear in their home. 
• THE TIP: A pair of recently re-activated GRU SV-8 agents operating in the United States, Neil and Francis Cooper, have been following the trail of the Skoptsi. They may cross paths with the agents (alternatively, the agents may cross paths with other operatives of GRU SV-8 and get connected that way. Being two elderly intelligence operatives whose years of unactivity have dulled their skills, they may defer to the agents to handle the Skoptsi, passively gathering intelligence on the cult and tipping the cell off to major developments and persons-of-interest.
• THE HAND-OFF: If they believe they stand to conserve resources, time, and manpower, the Skoptsi may be willing to acquire the Black Icons through alternative means. This could bring them into business with any number of cults and groups in the occult undergroud outside their mundane Russian Mafia connections. Tiger Transit operates an international shipping operation whose bread and butter is smuggling and black-market dealings, and could be a valuable asset in acquiring the Black Icons. The Tadjbegskaya Bratva are equally likely allies, as they're members of the Mafia that the Skoptsi already pay to steal the Black Icons. Agents investigating one group may very well happen upon a meeting being held with members of the other. Interrogations, or governemnt records on dead Skoptsi, will point agents to Maryland and eventually to Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake.

Investigations

• FINANCES: The Skoptsi cultivate most of their finances by pooling together the proceeds of their legitimate businesses: carpentry, contracting, taxi-driving, automobile mechanic shops, etc., deals struck with other organizations might also provide significant funding too, but aren't their main source by any means. The money is likely pooled through sizeable charitable donations to the Basilica, who then mismanage it so it disappears and is given, in cash, to the Mafia to cover the expense of Chermeninko's thieves and security payments.
• FACILITIES: A brief list of some facilities operated by the Skoptsi.
• Smyrna Airport: operated in Smyrna, Delaware. The Skoptsi have made moves to more or less gain control of the small airport. Most of its staff are civilians, unaffiliated with the cult. Its security is a small, private contractor from Baltimore with a clean record, supervised by a retired Coast Guard pilot. A private hangar receives flights from the Skoptsi's mafia connections (and perhaps Tiger Transit) and is used to hold meetings with mafia delegations, as well as store artifacts and weapons for transportation. 
• Apollo Taxi: A taxi company run out of Chesapeake City, Maryland, Northwest of Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake. Apollo has severl cab-stands that service Chesapeake City, Zion, and some communities North of Baltimore. The drivers all intently listen to the conversations of their passengers, and report unusual passengers to Berezhkov.
• Anvil Autobody: An autobody mechanic shop. It runs one store in Zion, Maryland, and another in Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake. The shop's mechanics are all cultists, who use the shop's facilities for illegal gunsmithing, bomb-making, and other tasks that require a degree of mechanical know-how.
• Everyman: A hardware store in Smyrna, Delaware. A good source of various outdoors tools, hunting equipment (including guns), and fertilizer.
• The Basilica of our Holy Virgin Mother: described in Countdown.
• Cornucopia House: An orphanage in the woods Southwest of Zion, Maryland. The centre of Families Without Frontiers. A Dark Young may or not may not stalk the woods surrounding it.
• Berezhkov's House: The home of the Skoptsi's fixer / chief of security, Fedor Berezhkov, is used as the nerve centre for coordinating their security operations and crisis meetings. It is secretly connected to a number of other neighbouring houses through a winding system of tunnels underneath the house that Berezhkov has memorized. A handful of the Skoptsi's most fearsome cultists are present at all hours, acting as Berezhkov's bodyguards.

Reactions

The Skoptsi know that the authorities will work to destroy their community should their crimes come to light, and work diligently to insulate themselves. 

First Encounters

• Agents surveilling Skoptsi infrastructure must succeed stealth checks to avoid being spotted by the Skoptsi. Once they've been spotted, Russian mafiosos on Chermeninko's payroll begin counter-surveillance. They are Russian ex-military and police and remember all their old tricks. Agents will need to beat Alertness checks, contested by their stealth checks, in order to detect they're being watched.
• The Skoptsi will do what they can to surveil them and deduce who they are and who they work for. They will try to tail them and will try to find where their lodgings are. 
• If possible, Berezhkov will try to devise ways of misdirecting the investigation, attempting to convince the agents that the crimes of Skoptsi cultists are freak incidents that have shocked the community and are not the machinations of an organized conspiracy. 
• Eventually, the Skoptsi will attempt a kidnapping. They will try to kidnap one or two agents, sending cultists & mafiosos to do the deed. If they know where the agent's lodgings are, and are confident they can attack it without immediate reprisal from police, they will do so, otherwise, they identify a lonesome strip of highway between Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake, and chose a dark night to attempt the grab. In both cases, the grab team consists of three-to-four men, armed with pistols and perhaps a shotgun or bolt-action rifle. One of them will be carrying a bag of hypodermic needles pre-loaded with ketamine, and a list of the agents' identities / physical descriptions, and which quantities of tranquilizer is to be given to who, as well as a small bottle of the tranquilizer. 
• If kidnapping is at their lodgings, they attempt to approach, posing either as travellers whose vehicle broke down, or as utility workers coming to check the power or gas. If it is at night time, they try to run them off the road. Two of them driving a box truck to keep the agents in, and two in a tow-truck, so that they can claim the agent's vehicle. A fifth man operates a homemade spike-strip made from a garden hose and nails to try to incapacitate the agent's vehicle.
• If neither is deemed a suitable course of action, they will attempt to arrange a hit meant to seem like a random shooting while the agents are surveilling Skoptsi personnel and infrastructure. This is done by a hit team of two mafiosos who are armed with carbines or submachine guns concealed under heavy work clothes or in bags.

Second Encounters

Fearing Delta Green will attempt to stage some sort of Waco-esque massacre of their clergy, they arrange for their mafia connections to supply them with heavier weaponry. Through whatever means available to them, they smuggle in components of a PKP Pecheneg light machine gun, and an SPG-9 Kopye Recoilless Rifle, using it on its tripod or perhaps even bolting it to the roof of a pickup truck as a mobile artillery unit.

• After their first brush, the Skoptsi will be more paranoid. They petition their mafia connections to begin training more of their cultists in combat. An unused field or glen near Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake is turned into an obstacle course for the cultists to begin training. They are drilled by Chermeninko's spetsnaz, and given counterintelligence training by Berezhkov.
• Assets of the Skoptsi will be monitored more closely, and Berezhkov will start paying Chermeninko extra to hire extra muscle to protect her crews when they go out on missions.
• If conventional means seem to prove ineffective, the Skoptsi may turn to alternative means of dispatching the agents. Turning to occult allies, or perhaps using their own supernatural methods, summoning a Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath to destroy the agents in their sleep and feast on their remains. 
  
  
  

Connections

The Skoptsi's dealings with other groups may change the way they play. 

• Tiger Transit, Tong Shukoran may find them as potentially useful catspaws in eliminating their rivals on the East Coast and in G.A.P. Additionally, Tong Shukoran would want to start storing drugs at Smyrna Airport and Moscow-on-the-Chesapeake. They might even push for some of the cultists to become pushers.
• Tadjbegskaya Bratva: The Bratva would augment the Skoptsi's capabilities immensely - the Bratva's ability to transport people and objects through the Dreamlands would be a huge advantage in their quest for the Skoptsi - compliment that with the Bratva's powers to summon & bind the horrors of the Dreamlands and powers of psychically harassing enemies in their dreams. If the Skoptsi suddenly become too paranoid about sending Spetsnaz thieves to steal the Icons, they may turn to the Bratva.
• The Brotherhood of the Worm would be an asset for all the same reasons, whether the Skoptsi would be willing to look past the secret of the Brotherhood's immortality is a question of how seriously they consider the sin of sodomy
• GRU SV-8: Described in Countdown. Two American SV-8 agent pursue the Skoptsi.
• The Propavsheye: A small group of Ukrainian criminals with close connections to GRU SV-8. The Propavsheye may be intersted in acting as double-agents to SV-8 and Delta Green with the Skoptsi, feeding both sides information to rake in the spoils. A dangerous game to play with two opposed factions of less-than-sane trained killers. 

Skoptsi Statblocks

Use these for statblocks for the different sorts of enemies that the Skoptsi can send at your agents. Use your discretion and bear the context of any encounter your players have with these NPCs in mind, although some of them are listed with long rifles and the like, they won't always have their full armament with them if they're sleeping or at the bar. 

Organyzatzya Mafiosos

These are mob enforcers that work for Natalia Chermeninko. Many of them are former Russian army or police. When your agents begin investigating the Skoptsi, the Skoptsi will send Chermeninko's enforcers to conduct counter-surveillance as soon as the realize what has happened. If prior encounters with the Skoptsi have them on edge, and they're anticipating an investigation. Then these mafiosos will already be on the prowl. They won't try to kil the agents on sight, but rather will try to ascertain what they're looking for, why, who they are, how many of them are there, where are their normal routes and where their lodgings are. 

ORGANYZATZYA MAFIOSO

Bratva Bruiser

STR 12 CON 11 DEX 10 INT 11 POW 12 CHA 8 
HP 12 WP 12 SAN 54 BREAKING POINT 48

DISORDERS Adapted to Violence

SKILLS Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Criminlogy 55%, Demolitions 30%, Disguise 40%, Drive 40%, Firearms 45%, First Aid 30%, HUMINT 30%, Melee Weapons 55%, Navigate 55%, Persuade 30%, Search 50%, Stealth 45%, Unnarmed 50% 

ARMOR None. 

ATTACKS Suppressed Medium Pistols 45% 1d10 damage.

Cossack Whip 55% 1d6 damage.

Knife 55% 1d4 damage, Armor piercing 3.

SPECIAL TRAINING As stated, Chermeninko's mob enforcers are former Russian military and police. In any group of them, at least one has special training in Grenades (athletics), though access to grenades is another thing entirely. 

Organyzatzya Thieves

These are a crew of eight thieves hired by Natalia Chermeninko. All of them are ex-Spetsnaz. all of a mix of Ossetian, Cossacks, Circassians, but no Georgians or Chechens. 

ORGANZYZATZYA THIEVES

Ex-Spetsnaz Crooks

STR 13 CON 13 DEX 14 INT 11 POW 11 CHA 7
HP 13 WP 12 SAN 40 BREAKING POINT 33

DISORDERS Pick one: Addiction (opiates), PTSD, Paranoia. Adapted to Violence 
SKILLS Alertness 60%, Artilley 50%, Craft (Electrician) 45%, Criminology 50%, Dodge 50%, Drive 60%, Firearms 70%, First Aid 30%, Heavy Weapons 60%, HUMINT 50%, Search 60%, SIGINT 40%, Stealth 55%, Survival 50%, Unarmed Combat 65%

ARMOR Kevlar Vest (armor rating 3)

ATTACKS Suppressed Makarov 70% 1d8 damage. 

Suppressed VZ-26 Submachine Gun with laser sight 70% 1d10 damage or 10% Lethality.

SPECIAL TRAINING Wilderness Survival, Covert Infiltratrion / Robbery, Grenades

Skoptsi Oprichniks

The Oprichniks, named for the feared enforcers of Ivan the Terrible, should appear only once the Skoptsi learn they're being opposed by the agents / Delta Green. They are Skopsti cultists who've been given months of military training from when the agents wrapped up their first encounter with the Skoptsi. 

They are not career soldiers, and lack the marksmanship and skill of the Organyzatzya Spetsnaz, but they are more numerous, and bitterly devoted to the cause. They often fight with weapons bought at gunshows or smuggled in by their mafia connections, though they do not flaunt illegal weapons for fear of further persecution until the time is right. They'll primarily be used as assassins by the Skoptsi to execute kidnappings / assassinations and to escort important cult members. They will favor hit-and-run tactics. 

SKOPTSI OPRICHNIKS

Defenders of the Faith

STR 9 CON 11 DEX 13 INT 11 POW 16 CHA 8
HP 10 WP 16 SAN 40 BREAKING POINT 32

MOTIVATIONS / DISORDERS PTSD, Depression, Lead a holy life, serve the Goddess.

SKILLS Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Craft (Mechanic) 50%, Craft (Carpentry) 50%, Criminology 30%, Drive 45%, Firearms 45%, First Aid 30%, Heavy Machinery 60%, Melee Weapons 40%, Occult 35%, Search 30%, Stealth 35%, Survival 45%, Unarmed 60%

ARMOR None.

ATTACKS Mosin Nagant Revolver 45% 1d10 Damage

Double-Barreled Shotgun 65% 2d8 Damage

Bolt-Action Hunting Rifle 45% 1d12+2 Damage, Armor Piercing 5

Škorpion vz. 61 45% 1d10 Damage, or 10% Lethality

AMD-65 Assault Rifle 45%, 1d12 Damage or 10% Lethality, Armor Piercing 3

RITUALS Salve of the Great Mother (Healing Balm variant). 

OPRICHNIK RECOILLESS RIFLE TEAM

As above, though they are are wearing reinforced kevlar vests (armor rating 4), have Artillery 50%, and are operating an SPG-9 Kopye Recoilless Rifle. 

SPG-9 Kopye Recoilless Rifle, 4 km Range, Lethality 35%, 50m Kill Radius, Ammo Capacity 1. 

Skoptsi Cromeshnina

The Cromeshnina, "the Selected", are a permanent staple of the Skoptsi, and may be spied by agents as early as their first encounter, should they surveil the Basilica of the Holy Virgin Mother on nights that the Skoptsi gather for rituals / prayers to the Magna Mater. These are Skoptsi women who have received the greater seal and have their devoted their entire being to the Magna Mater; in essence, they are nuns. 

They have been taught some of the higher mysteries of the Magna Mater, and accompany Bogdashkavich and Kalamatiano when they perform rituals to the Magna Mater. Specifically, the Cromeshnina perform the surgical procedures for the Lesser and Greater Seals, they also accompany Bogdashkavich and Kalamatiano when either of them summon one of the Haedi Nigritiae for religious (or other) purposes. Mechnically, the Cromeshnina also lend a significant portion of their WP away for the casting of these spells. 

As the agent's battles with the Skoptsi go on, the Cromeshnina may take on a new role, particularly once the agents successfully assassinate one of the group's sorcerous leaders. They will be ordered to learn to cast the rituals they've performed at Bogashkavich and Kalamatiano's sides' a hundred times before. Their use will primarily be to obfuscate and sabotage the agents' efforts, primarily through use of exchange personalities (swapping personalities with the agents and destroying / misplacing evidence or equipment, swapping with a random citizen to do the same thing, then revert to their original body once they're done or they're caught) and Obscure Memory (wiping the minds of the agents and their allies) (mostly their allies, to avoid the weird bullshit with RPing memory loss). The Skoptsi may also devise a plan to use a group of Cromeshnina, escorted by Oprichniks, to summon an "Archangel of the Magna Mater" to kill the agents. This won't be done hastily, and will involve a great deal of planning ahead of time, as they'll intend for the Archangel to destroy the agents in their abode during an adequately stormy night. They may attempt this plan in an emergency, though the summoning ritual is challenging to perform hastily. 

CROMESHNINA

The Chosen

STR 9 CON 9 DEX 12 INT 13 POW 16 CHA 9
HP 9 WP 16 SAN 30 BREAKING POINT 16

MOTIVATIONS / DISORDERS PTSD, Depression, Lead a holy life, serve the Goddess.
SKILLS Alertness 50%, Athletics 40%, Craft (Carpentry) 50%, Firearms 25%, First Aid 50%, Medicine 30%, Melee Weapons 40%, Pharmacy 30% Occult 50%, Search 30%, Stealth 35%, Surgery 60%, Unarmed 60%

ARMOR None.

ATTACKS Ritual Dagger 50% 1d6

RITUALS BECKON THE ARCHANGEL OF THE MAGNA MATER (Call Haedi Nigritiae), PETITION THE ARCHANGEL TO RETURN UNTO THE KINGDOM OF THE MAGNA MATER (Dismiss Haedi Nigritiae), SOLONITSYN'S TRICK (Obscure Memory), SUBJUGATION (Exchange Personalities)

ARCHANGEL OF THE MAGNA MATER

These horrors are known to occultists and sorcerers as the Haedi Nigritiae or the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, but to the Skoptsi they are the Archangels of the Magna Mater. Mechanically, they are not any different than what is presented in the Handler's Guide. 

Rituals

BECKON THE ARCHANGEL OF THE MAGNA MATER

Elaborate Ritual. Study Time, WEEKS; 1d10 SAN, +1 Unnatural, Casting Time: HOURS, 1D6 SAN, 12 WP

This ritual beckons for an “Archangel of the Magna Mater”, an enormous and horrific creature resembling a tree, an alligator, and what remains of a human being after a car accident. The Skoptsi believe it to be an angel of God. 

The ritual begins with an area of ground of the Operator’s choosing being soaked in the blood of bovine. Kalamatiano believed that one cow’s supply sufficed, but often bled two or even three for good measure. This can be anywhere from weeks or months before the summoning, or right before the next steps begin. Next, a chunk of stone or volcanic glass carved in a specific shape resembling an oblong pentagonal prism that has been coated in blood across its entire surface is placed in the center of bloodied earth (like the soaking of the earth, the coating of the prism can be done ahead of time). 

A prayer then begins led by the operator, with odd verses taken up by assistants, though this ritual does not require assistants to perform. The prayer is 9 verses that take roughly 11 minutes, some verses are to be “sung like a folk tune” while others are to be “shouted as if in a blinding rage”. The prayer is to be repeated until the archangel appears and is normally performed while dancing, which normally takes about 30 minutes, but can take as little as 5.

Once the archangel appears an offering is to be presented to it, this can be a “sinner” or any mammal. In the past, Yelena has offered the archangel live humans, sheep, and cows. There is no discernible difference whether or not the offerings have been castrated before the ritual. Yelena has never casted the ritual and not given the offering, but was warned by cult elders long ago that doing so is likely to anger them.

Once the Archangel has been given its offering, the operator has its audience, and it will perform certain duties asked of it, such as destroying enemies of the faith, and simply “offering its wisdom in the ways of God's immaculate creation”. Yelena never gives specifics on how it “communicates” with her. 

PETITION THE ARCHANGEL TO RETURN UNTO THE KINGDOM OF THE MAGNA MATER

Complex Ritual. Study Time, DAYS, 1d8 SAN. Activation: ONE HOUR, 3 WP for creation of the amulet, 3 WP on activation, 1 SAN

Described by Yelena as a countermeasure should the Archangel become wroth, this ritual involves a stone similar to the one used in the summoning of the Archangel. It is to be soaked in an alchemical mixture, consisting primarily of fresh blood of men, holy wine and bread, and holy water, which is to be prayed upon at the sun’s rising and setting for at least one day. After a day or two of this, the stone is taken out and is allowed to dry, but cannot be exposed directly to the light of the sun. When the spell is to be activated, the stone must be presented in clear line of sight to the Archangel and the 3-verse spell is to be recited once. After which, the operator is to remain completely silent. The Archangel returns to the kingdom of heaven “through the stone”, which the Skoptsi mandate must be cast into fire or into the earth. 

Yelena’s experiments have yielded small ways to improve the ritual: such as using the actual stone used in the summoning ritual and using the placenta of one of the bovine slaughtered in the summoning in the jar of fluids that the stone soaks in. She claims these small alterations have made it more “reliable” and “potent”. 

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