GURPS Black Ops to 4th edition

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

*blank*

Something to do with Charles Stross?

Yes, specifically to The Jennifer Morgue. The Benthic treaty is the agreement between humanity and the Deep Ones, violating it can trigger CODE (something I can't recall off the top of my head) BLUE; where the the Deep Ones trigger global Tsunamis and destroy human civilization utterly.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Yes, specifically to The Jennifer Morgue. The Benthic treaty is the agreement between humanity and the Deep Ones, violating it can trigger CODE (something I can't recall off the top of my head) BLUE; where the the Deep Ones trigger global Tsunamis and destroy human civilization utterly.

Dunno much about that series except what I've picked up here... it sounds like there might be thematic dissonance between the settings. If Argus knew of a threat like that, I'd suppose they would work towards eliminating the enemies WMD capability, assuming that could be accomplished.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Dunno much about that series except what I've picked up here... it sounds like there might be thematic dissonance between the settings. If Argus knew of a threat like that, I'd suppose they would work towards eliminating the enemies WMD capability, assuming that could be accomplished.

The Laundry books aren't really a unified setting; different volumes are entertaining in their own right but are also pastiches of other spy novel franchises as well. Bond's MI6 wouldn't handle things the same way as Modesty Blaise's Network, for example. I'm sure the Company's "overkill" strategy could be worked in somewhere.

One solution would be to send the werewolf in after the nascent gillman, though Neil Gaiman already did something like that.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

If Argus knew of a threat like that, I'd suppose they would work towards eliminating the enemies WMD capability, assuming that could be accomplished.

Sort of difficult, given that everything involved is likely to be under several miles of water. The Deep Ones would set off their tsunamis by triggering large landslides on seafloor mountain ranges, a la Storegga.

There is indeed "thematic dissonance between the settings." The Laundry universe has lots of stuff in it that individual heroism can't kill. There is a point in The Jennifer Morgue where nuclear-tipped SLBMs are on-call, but aren't necessarily expected to be effective.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Sort of difficult, given that everything involved is likely to be under several miles of water. The Deep Ones would set off their tsunamis by triggering large landslides on seafloor mountain ranges, a la Storegga.

There is indeed "thematic dissonance between the settings." The Laundry universe has lots of stuff in it that individual heroism can't kill. There is a point in The Jennifer Morgue where nuclear-tipped SLBMs are on-call, but aren't necessarily expected to be effective.

The Black Ops universe also has Very Big Bads Indeed (the Grey's rescue force and the Prima are mentioned ), but the Company would not be Argus' tool of choice for dealing with them. The Intel department however, through a mostly canonical combination of infiltration and engagement might leverage certain assets of the global powers for that purpose.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Sort of difficult, given that everything involved is likely to be under several miles of water. The Deep Ones would set off their tsunamis by triggering large landslides on seafloor mountain ranges, a la Storegga.

And bear in mind that that is merely assumed to be the kind of thing they might do. As someone says in the books, fixating on that may be like a TL0 islander fixating on the pointy bayonet on the TL5 soldier's rifle. It tells you that there are weapons present, but the real threat is way out of your paradigm.

"Thematic dissonance" is the word. The Company represents the quintessence of a mind-set that the Laundry knows will not work in the Laundry setting. Though they might stand well for the sort of useful idiots that the Black Chamber would deploy on occasion, mostly as an act of desperation. (Remember the Black Chamber's unofficial motto; "Taking the HUM out of HUMINT".)

Running a Black Ops game in which the PCs discover that Argus regards them as frankly amusing psychos for taking down low-grade problems might be an interesting, if rather bleak, exercise.