Shotgun Scenario Review: Operation Minoan Augur

In this post I'm reviewing the scenario Operation Minoan Augur, written by Agent Obtuse and submitted to the 2020 Shotgun Scenario Contest. I ran this a while ago and am only now getting around to reviewing it. Caution, there will be spoilers!

In this scenario the Agents are investigating the murder of an ex-astronaut by someone wearing a spacesuit.

Created with Stable Diffusion

The hook of this scenario is very intriguing. Someone is running around in a spacesuit and hacks people to death with an axe? Awesome! The connection to the Unnatural is not immediately obvious, it is just some Friendly in the local police that thinks something strange might be going on. If I were to run this again I might add a better reason for Delta Green to be there. The black organic pellets that are embedded in the victims body are one possibility to increase the unnatural weirdness right from the start.

The investigative part of the scenario is very solid and when I ran this I didn't have to add any additional clues to what was already written. The Agents soon found out that the victim and some of his colleagues were part of an incident on the ISS and have been hosts to alien parasites ever since. Now they have to stop the others from congregating in Las Vegas, where the parasites are about to hatch.

The alien creatures are quite creepy, since they riddle their victim with holes from which they peak out from time to time. A true nightmare for anyone suffering from Trypophobia.

The parasites seem to be an original creation and are not connected to any Mythos entity, which is something that I always appreciate. I guess you could make them related to the Brood of Eihort, if you wanted.

There are no stats for the parasites, since they do not fight the Agents directly, but use their hosts body instead. However, I think it would be cool if there was a chance of an Agent becoming infected themselves, if they go into hand-to-hand combat with one of the victims. I would definitely add such a mechanic, when I run this again.

In conclusion: this is a cool scenario with an original, space-based threat that can run this with not much prep.