THE BUREAU

The Bureau is a clandestine United States government agency that is tasked with controlling paranatural phenomena. The agency as it is known today was created in 1905 by the Roosevelt Administration due to pressure from several key government figures after the truth behind the assassination of President McKinley was leaked to them.

Due to the nature of their work, the Bureau operates outside of official oversight. While federal and state agencies are aware of the Bureau as an agency and the subsequent chain of command, their existence and operations are kept secret from the public and there are very few outside of the agency that are truly aware of their operations.

GOALS

The official directive of the Bureau is to “protect mankind from the threats of the Unknown”. In practice, this means safeguarding, controlling access too, and protecting all information related to the paranatural. This includes dimensional bleeds, planar anomalies, non-euclidean mathematical incursions, monsters, and “magic”. They also conduct extensive research in an attempt to better understand these phenomena and learn to utilize them to aid in the fight against the horrors.

The Bureau maintains jurisdiction on all matters paranatural or unknown, superseding all other federal, state, or local agencies. They can apply whatever scope and scale the current Director deems necessary to combat these threats, including the complete suspension of the civil liberties of normal citizens in service to “the greater good of humanity”.

KEY PERSONNEL

• ​John Harrison: Bureau Director
  • Janet Garcia: Personal Aide to the Director.
• Dr. Stephen Gal: Executive Assistant Director of the Research & Development Branch.
  • Dr. Cassandra Meadows: Head of Extraplanar Research.
• Harlan Fowler: Executive Assistant Director of the Security Branch.
  • Emma Roan: Head of Investigations.
  • Anna Reyes: Head of the Operations & Acquisitions.
  • ​Lance Rogers: Head of Containment.
• Elias Hullux: Executive Assistant Director of the Administration Department.
• Hanna Yu: Executive Assistant Director of the Human Resources Branch.
• Amos Mortimer: Maintenance Director of the Monolith.

HEADQUARTERS

While the Bureau was originally based in Washington, D.C. upon their founding, their headquarters was officially moved to the Monolith in Seattle, WA in 1967 under the tenure of Director Greymoor.

The Bureau also operates field offices in a number of major cities throughout the country and maintains covert permanent and temporary monitoring stations in regions of frequent paranatural activity. Investigation teams may also set up within the offices of local law enforcement during coordinated operations.

RESOURCES & METHODS

As a government agency, the Bureau has been granted extensive federal funding. While other agencies and officials are vaguely aware of the Bureau’s existence and authority, few know of their true scope and operation, which allows for their funding to be tucked in as forgotten line items among national defense bills.

An extensive budget, scope, and access to paranatural resources allows for a wide range of methodology. Common operations include containment, field testing, extraction, extermination, counter-intelligence, psyops, and the application of paranatural abilities. The Bureau is also authorized to commandeer any local police resources deemed necessary for an operation.

Objects and entities that are deemed a significant threat are either terminated or captured and held in containment in the Monolith for further study. This includes an extensive collection of Resonant Artifacts, which are occasionally wielded by agents during investigations.

While the Bureau is a U.S. agency, their reach extends into a number of other nations, often without official approval.

ALLIES

Due to the chain of command, the Bureau often works directly with federal and state agencies. There have also been rare occasions when they contract with para-military private organizations for particularly dangerous jobs.

ADVERSARIES

As an official government agency, the Bureau naturally stands opposed to those that meddle with the paranatural.

CONTRACTS

While the Bureau is well equipped and well staffed, their reach and resources are not unlimited. They will often employ contractors to manage “low risk” investigative work that would otherwise pull agents from more important tasks. These contracts rarely offer more than cursory details and threat assessments, but the pay is moderate and per diem is offered if the appropriate paperwork is submitted.

The Bureau prefers to give cases to reliable individuals, so there’s always more work for those who succeed, and they will often use the promise of potential future full time employment as incentive. However, the Bureau keeps a close eye on contractors, even well after the terms of their contracts are up.

Below are some common contract types:

• Resonant Artifact containment.
• Destruction of threats to humanity.
• Seizing or capturing assets that may be useful to the Bureau.
• Gathering intelligence for potential Bureau intervention.

THE BUREAU NPC STATS

AGENT
STR: 10 DEX: 12 CTRL: 14
HP: 4 Armor: 1
Service Pistol (d6) or Taser (d6, non-lethal)

• Requisition: While in the field, an Agent can request the necessary supplies to complete their objective. Requires access to cell service, the internet, or a field office and an hour to complete the paperwork. Basic goods arrive within 1d6 hours. More complex or specialized goods arrive within 1d12 hours or more.
• Reinforce: With a radio call, an Agent can summon 1d4 Operators if any are in the vicinity. They arrive in 1d10 minutes.

Black suits, black ties, and dark sunglasses, Agents are the Bureau’s backbone. Field investigators, desk workers, scientists, intelligence, and counter-intelligence Agents perform all the necessary investigative work to achieve the Bureau’s prime objectives.

OPERATOR
STR: 14 DEX: 12 CTRL: 9
HP: 6 Armor: 2
Variable Weapons

• Squad Tactics: When 3 or more Operators attack a single target, their damage die is Enhanced.

Armed and armored, Operators are the Bureau’s muscle. Special forces, security guards, and medics, Operators are charged with keeping Agents and Sonorous safe, both in the field and in the offices.

OPERATOR LOADOUTS

1. Assault Rifle (d8, bulky), Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher (d6, blast), Tactical Knife (d6, quick).
2. Shotgun (d8, bulky), Grenade (d8, blast), Retractable Baton (d6).
3. Stun Baton (d6, non-lethal), Tear Gas (d6, blast, non-lethal), Gas Mask, Riot Shield (+1 Armor).
4. Trauma Kit, Field Diagnostic Equipment, Battlefield Medicine, Service Pistol (d6).
5. Drone, Cell Service Jammer, Bluetooth Signal Hijacker, Mobile 3-D Printer, Service Pistol (d6).
6. Rocket Launcher (b8, blast, bulky), Service Pistol (d6), C-4 (d8, blast).

SONOROUS
STR: 8 DEX: 10 CTRL: 16
HP: 3 Stability: 1
Service Pistol (d6) or Resonant Artifact

• Pallesthesia: Sonorous can sense when a Resonant Artifact or dimensional anomaly is near.

The Sonorous are the Bureau’s bloodhounds, able to sense the resonant frequencies associated with Resonant Artifacts and dimensional anomalies. This ability is very rare, so only a handful are deployed into the field at one time and not all of them are employed by choice.

ASSETS
There are some horrors that the Bureau has deemed to be “too useful to destroy”. These horrors are captured and bound into service, often against their will for those that maintain some semblance of sentience, and are deployed alongside Bureau agents to fight the most dangerous threats to humanity.

While Assets can be anything from humans with strange abilities to warped and twisted creatures, common types are listed in the table below.

TRACKED
By default, Assets are implanted with a tiny device that monitors their location and biological activities. More dangerous Assets may also be fitted with a “behavior modification” collar to make them easier to control.