SOME INFO ON DNA by Dee McKinney First of all, there's not a ton of info on DNA anywhere. The main rulebook gives a small hunk of text to the topic, but that's about it. However, it's certainly enough to extrapolate from. When I ran one of the first adventures (probably the 3rd or 4th one in the game), I was looking for something a bit different than bug of the week (actually, the game has focused more on Fianna angst than ripping guts, though there's a fair amount of fighting too). And I read the DNA thing and thought, "Hey! This could be neat! Now, let's get Ian captured...." Captures I have found work poorly with a group, but here was a chance for an individual one. And to make it interesting, I had a potential girlfriend be with him when he was taken in AND had a young Bone Gnawer already in the DNA slammer... Now came my next problem. I needed to work on defining more who these DNA people are. After careful reading, I ditched them being Wyrm tainted. Oh sure, somewhere in their ranks might be a Fomori or BSD kinfolk or something, but I decided to make them an entity unto themselves, not *necessarily* supernatural, and with a driving goal: to cure unfortunate men and women who had contracted this terrible "lycanthropic" disease. And since *they* (DNA powers that be) saw it as devastating and potentially epidemic, they decided that drastic measures (i.e. capture of victims) was necessary. ANYTHING to cure this horrid disease. Shortly after Project Twilight came out, I also added a liason between the SAD and DNA where the SAD turns a blind eye to occasional "disappearances" if the DNA call a certain phone number. They also share *some* but not much gathered intelligence. With me so far? I *also* decided that the other supernatural element I wanted to introduce into DNA was that of the Progenitors. I carefully seeded a couple (very few) Awakened Progenitors into the system. And here was my first game: Dr. Karen Pendergrast is a young and brilliant Progenitor, holding degrees in medicine and genetics. She came to work on "Project Wolf" based out of New Orleans to try and find a cure for ILS (idiopathic lyncanthropic syndrome). But Karen is a torn woman. She has seen how the Technocracy operates and though she is a dedicated scientist, she doesn't always approve of the Technocracy's driving goals and methodology. When Ian and company are brought into her, she does all her basic stuff, but then (After some looong and extensive role-playing) she lets the werewolf, his companion, and the young Bone Gnawer go free, eventually leaving DNA as well. This one game provided a number of other story arcs in my game: repaying the favor a few times to Pendergrast; stopping the "Silver Fang Plague" engineered by DNA' raiding and destroying their lab where all Ian's original samples were, and so on. Karen is still a recurring NPC as well. OK. So there's one way you can run DNA. I'm sure others will have many different takes, but that might give you some ideas. I suggest reading the Progenitors convention book (very fun to read), or watching some movies such as Outbreak, The Andromeda Strain, or something of that ilk. MORE THOUGHTS ON DNA by Dee McKinney 1. As I mentioned earlier, a big hunk of what DNA does in my game is pure research. Yes, they do have a few "strike teams" armed with nasssty equipment designed to capture victims of lycanthrope, but most of the time, DNA staff are online gathering data, intensely studying materials, conferencing, and visiting "sites" where lyncanthrope victims have been seen, gathering *more* data. Hence why I built the link between DNA and the SAD (albeit a small one). 2. Research is very time consuming. Ask any hard core scientist! Forrest has a take on this, I'm sure, from sitting down in Louisiana pastures waiting for bears to wander by, day and night. Even though I'm a social scientist, I can't tell you how many hours and hours I spend analyzing my data. Only after looooong hours do I cough up "usable" results. And I imagine a good many of you are students and know what I'm talking about. ANYWAY, I apply this to my overall concept of DNA as well. They are a slow moving, very deliberate organization; they proceed in all things methodically and carefully. 3. Don't underestimate the value of Kinfolk to DNA either. They make GREAT study for the scientists; it's just as valuable to find out why lycanthrope *doesn't* manifest in certain people as to find out why it *does.* 4. Some random and stray story ideas: a. Have someone poking around asking questions near where you've located your game. They ask locals about sightings; they ask the local wildlife people about dead animals. They could check for wolf scat where no wolves live. They might go into schools and ask about extraordinarily introverted children, or children with "unusual" physical aptitudes. And so on. This investigator might not even *know* that werewolves exist, but you could have a field day making your players paranoid ("Mommy, I got pulled from recess today by the counselor. There was this funny man asking all sorts of questions...") b. Have an "outbreak." In my game, one of the DNA folks invented a "cure" for idiopathic lycanthropic syndrome that only attacked people with the strongest predisposition for having garou genes (though they didn't call it that). Read: this bug attacked people with a high rating in Pure Breed. RUTROW!! Guess which tribe was in big trouble... One gungho (and unethical) DNA scientist did a field test, and Silver Fangs started dropping like flies. Another DNA person helped stop the menace (see below about gray issues). c. Diddle with your players' minds by not making DNA evil/bad/cruel, but instead making them highly ethical, truly concerned, and dedicated individuals ("We want to help you; this is a serious and potentially fatal disease you have"). Make the issue gray, not black and white. Have fun. I've loved using DNA in my campaign; it's a nice switch from scrag of the week....