 Delta Green sourcebook cover | |
| Designers | |
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| Publication |
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| Genres | Horror,Conspiracy fiction |
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| Parent games | Call of Cthulhu (original sourcebooks) |
| Website | www |
Delta Green is a role-playing game fromArc Dream Publishing about a secretive organization tasked with protecting the United States from paranormal and alien threats. The setting combines the 1920sCthulhu Mythos ofH.P. Lovecraft with modernconspiracy fiction. It originated in 1992[1] as a setting for theCall of Cthulhurole-playing game, created byAdam Scott Glancy,Dennis Detwiller, andJohn Scott Tynes, a.k.a. the Delta Green Partnership, of theSeattle gaming housePagan Publishing.
In 2016 theAgent's Handbook was released followed by theHandler's Guide in 2018. In 2018 Arc Dream also partnered withPelgrane Press on a prequel game set in the 1960s. It is namedThe Fall of DELTA GREEN and uses theGumshoe System.[2]
Delta Green is a contemporary setting, starting in the mid-1990s, with intermittent updates thereafter. The game revolves around a fictitious secret organization, created by theU.S. Government following the covert raid on the town ofInnsmouth,Massachusetts mentioned inH. P. Lovecraft'sThe Shadow over Innsmouth. The organization takes its name from itsWorld War II-era codename.
Delta Green agents work undercover through other U.S. government agencies, recruiting across a wide range including theFBI,ATF,CIA,CDC,DEA and theU.S. Military. It appears to have "gone rogue" somewhere between the 1960s and the 1980s, following a disastrous operation in Cambodia and a "deal" struck byReagan-era rivals inMajestic-12, ostensibly with "Greys". Delta Green must not only contain incursions from creatures from theCthulhu Mythos, but also secret conspiracies and rogue organizations that seek to weaponize its powers.
The 2016 edition advances the history to the 2010s. In 2001, theSeptember 11 attacks greatly affect theIntelligence Community, including Delta Green and MAJESTIC-12. Majestic was weakened and destroyed, while Delta Green has been brought back into the government fold, given a budget and official standing, using theWar on Terror as a cover to their operation. There's also a group of old guard agents that were opposed to the restructure of Delta Green, preferring to maintain the old conspiracy running, forming their own splinter group known as "The Outlaws", as opposed to the official "Program".
The Fall of Delta Green, on the other hand, is a spin-off set during the 1960s, focusing on Delta Green's operations during theCold War, in particular inIndochina and theVietnam War, before the fateful operation that led to the original disbandment of the organization.
The group was introduced in the seventh issue ofThe Unspeakable Oath, aCall of Cthulhufanzine created by Pagan Publishing, in early 1993. Four years later, theDelta Green supplement appeared and spawned a number of its ownsupplements and novels. The premise is similar toThe X-Files (although the original incarnation of Delta Green precededThe X-Files by almost a year[3]). Both draw on federalalphabet soup folklore,UFO conspiracy theories and other modern legends.
TheDelta Green supplement lays the groundwork for organized investigations into paranormal crime and horror, setting up the initial plot and providing players with their motivations and the resources they need to carry out their tasks. It also provides a source of replacements for characters who go mad or are killed. Canonical materials revolve around threats from theCthulhu Mythos, but the framework is very flexible. Delta Green agents typically know little about the Mythos. While the scenarios and written material is centered around the United States, there are possibilities for international games too.Delta Green: Countdown introduced counterparts in the United Kingdom and Russia, called PISCES andGRU SV-8 respectively, as well as real-life international law enforcement and intelligence agencies, whileTargets of Opportunity introduced the Canadian M-EPIC.
The original 1997 edition ofDelta Green was a sourcebook forCall of Cthulhu; as such, it used theBasic Role-Playing system thatCall of Cthulhu had.
The 2016 standalone edition takes the percentile dice ofBasic Role-Playing andCall of Cthulhu mechanics, and introduces modifications adapted for the setting.Player Characters are calledAgents and theGame MastersHandlers.
Sanity is rolled when characters meet unnatural horrors, as well as in violent situations and moments when the Agents feel helpless. Agents can "adapt" to violence and helplessness after failed Sanity checks, but excessive loss of Sanity can result in agents developingmental disorders.Delta Green introduces the concept ofBonds, which are the friends and family of the Agents, andMotivations, the reasons why the Agents fight. The latter serves as a character-expanding tool for players and a sanity-regulation mechanic, as they can be used to halve the SAN loss. At the point of their relationship with bonds, if the relationship points fall, the connection with the bond will be crossed out. With the bond mechanics, theHome scenes are also introduced. These are between-mission vignettes of the Agents' everyday lives. They can be about building relationships with bonds, investigating the unnatural, or going to the therapists, among others.
Gear and equipment can be requisitioned from the government organizations under which the Agent works, through the use of theBureaucracy skill, with more expensive and advanced equipment increasing the difficulty of the roll. A failure might result in the Agent getting fired, blacklisted, or even arrested. Items can also be purchased using the Agent's personal wealth, though this can risk the Agent's relationship with their bonds.
Combat was also streamlined to be quicker, more tactical, and deadly. The main combat mechanic introduced isLethality, weapons that deal damage above 2d10 have a "lethality rating" from 10% to 90%, if the percentile roll is below the rating the targeted enemy dies instantly; otherwise, the damage dealt is the sum of the percentile dice.[4]
The Fall of Delta Green uses Pelgrane Press' ownGumshoe System that is also used in their other games such asThe Esoterrorists,Fear Itself andTrail of Cthulhu.[2] Unlike the standard D100/BRP system that bothCall of Cthulhu andDelta Green use, in which many actions are subject to D100 rolls to determine outcome, the Gumshoe system emphasizes getting characters from scene to scene quickly, gathering clues and interpreting them using minimal rolls of a 6-sided die.[5]
Fall of Delta Green also introduces new mechanics for the Gumshoe formula, adapting the new rules introduced by the standalone edition ofDelta Green: Bonds and Motivations complement the sanity system (Itself based on the one used inTrail of Cthulhu), adaptation to SAN loss was included,Revelation works similarly to the "traumatic background" in Delta Green's character creation and a few new abilities were added, most prominently was the ability of "Agency" to represent the capability of thePlayer Character to manipulate their employing agency's (Such as theCIA,MACV-SOG or theFederal Bureau of Narcotics) resources in their investigations.[6]
The setting was first introduced in 1992 in the seventh issue ofThe Unspeakable Oath, Pagan Publishing'sCall of Cthulhufanzine, in the scenarioConvergence, which would be later republished in the firstDelta Green sourcebook. The scenario introduced Delta Green as a loose organization within the U.S. government dedicated to secretly fight the creatures from theCthulhu Mythos.[7]Convergence was also followed by a sequel namedTransference published in Volume 2 Issue 2 of theCyberpunk 2020fanzineThe Interface, although later published material disregards this scenario.
Pagan Publishing would then expand the setting resulting in the publishing of theDelta Green sourcebook in 1997. This was followed an additional sourcebook in 1999 titledDelta Green: Countdown.[8]
On May 1, 2006, the Pagan Publishing homepage was updated with an announcement describing the reasons for the delay of the new release ofDelta Green, and stating that thed20 edition of the game should be available in time forGen Con Indy. While there were a few show copies available there were no copies available for sale to the public as most of them were "still being shipped from China".[9] As of May 2007 the book, which is a reprint of the 1997 book with the addition of D20 stats, was finally reprinted and was available in stores.[9]
A hardback compilation of the threeDelta Green Eyes Only chapbooks, along with additional material, was released in November 2007. The book was published in cooperation withArc Dream Publishing. The entire 1,000 copy print run was sold out by February 2008.[10] The hardback edition ofDelta Green: Eyes Only was a finalist for the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Supplement of 2007. A softback version of the compilation followed in September 2008 and is available to retail distribution.
Pagan Publishing and Arc Dream Publishing began work in mid-2008 on a new sourcebook,Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity, which was released as a limited-edition hardback in June 2010, to be followed by a softcover retail edition.[11][12] As of August 2011 the entire 1,000-copy print run of the hardback limited edition was sold out. In August 2011,Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity won silver (2nd place) Ennie Awards for Best Writing and Best Adventure.[13]
Arc Dream Publishing released an ebook edition of the novelDelta Green: Denied to the Enemy in January 2011.[14]
As of October 29, 2015, aKickstarter Campaign by Arc Dream Publishing funded a series of newDelta Green products, converting the setting into a standalone role-playing game.[15] On February 26, 2016, a quick-start rulebookDelta Green: Need to Know was released for free download with theAgent's Handbook following soon after on April 27, 2016. TheHandler's Guide was released October 31, 2017, in PDF and on March 8, 2018, a compilation of several otherDelta Green adventures released by Arc Dream was released in only one bookDelta Green: A Night at the Opera, containing the adventuresReverberations,Viscid,Music from a Darkened Room,Extremophilia,Star Chamber andObserver Effect.
In February 2018, Pelgrane Press releasedThe Fall of Delta Green, theVietnam War game financed on the 2015 Kickstarter as aGUMSHOE counterpart to Delta Green'sBasic Role-Playing.[16][15][2]
On July 9, 2018, returning co-creator John Scott Tynes started a Kickstarter campaign to fundDelta Green: The Labyrinth, a new sourcebook containing "new threats, allies, and mysteries to deepen the terrors of your campaign."[17] It was released on November 12, 2019, in PDF and July 29, 2020, in physical format.
In 2018,Delta Green won sixENnies awards. Gold inBest Rules,Best Production Values forDelta Green: The Roleplaying Game andBest E-Book forDelta Green: A Night at The Opera categories; while Silver inProduct of the Year andBest Game forDelta Green: The Roleplaying Game andBest Adventure forDelta Green: A Night at The Opera.
On April 18, 2019, the sourcebookDelta Green: The Complex was released, containing information on federal agencies and related professions that didn't appear in theAgent's Handbook, such as theATF,NSA,Booz Allen Hamilton,United States Coast Guard among other federal law enforcement, intelligence, military andprivate contractors agencies that work for the US government.[18] Later on April 24, the collection of scenariosDelta Green: Control Group was released in PDF format,[19] the scenarios inControl Group are meant to be introductory for both players and their characters, the scenarios use pre-made characters that are not in the Delta Green conspiracy. 2020 saw the release ofBlack Sites, similar toA Night at The Opera, it's a hardback collection of scenarios previously available only in PDF or paperback.[20]
On January 25, 2021Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes was released. It isDelta Green's first full-length campaign, centered aroundHastur,The King in Yellow andCarcosa, with a bigger focus insurreal horror.[21]
On August 10, 2021, Arc Dream started yet another Kickstarter campaign calledDelta Green: The Conspiracy. The project is an updated re-release of the originalDelta Green sourcebook (now retitledDelta Green: The Conspiracy) with new art, layout and aligned with the new edition's rules. The campaign was a success and it raised $513,158, more than any previous campaign.[22][23] Beside the original sourcebook, the campaign also funded the rest of the original line of Pagan Publishing sourcebooks:Delta Green: Countdown (asDelta Green: The Millennium) andDelta Green: Eyes Only (asDelta Green: Machinations).Targets of Opportunity was divided in two books:Legacies, with the chapters of the Black Cod Island, M-EPIC, the Disciples of the Worm, and the DeMonte Clan, andTranscendence with the chapters of Cult of Trascendence. The scenarios in the original sourcebooks won't be released with the new ones; instead they will be released separately as paperback and then in one hardcover book calledDelta Green: Incursions.Delta Green: Agencies will contain the U.S. and international agencies profiled in the annex ofDelta Green andCountdown. The only new material will beDelta Green: Shotgun Scenarios. A "shotgun scenario" is a short standalone scenario that can fit into other, larger campaigns or scenarios. Many of them will be fan-made, coming from the community-run Shotgun Scenarios fan contest.[24]
April 2022 saw the release ofIconoclasts, Delta Green's second campaign. It is set in 2016 duringwar against the Islamic State in Iraq, tasking players to infiltrate and investigate mysterious events going on inside the territory of theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria.[25][26]
On October 13, 2023 Delta Green's third campaignGod's Teeth was released. The campaign is set in 2001 and plays out over a 19 year timespan.[27][28]
In 2024, Brazilian publisher RetroPunk started a crowdfunding campaign for theBrazilian Portuguese edition of Delta Green.[29]
Scenarios byDennis Detwiller, published online and (since Sep 2014) throughPatreon:
Adam Scott Glancy wrote a regular column titled "Directives from A-Cell" in the first six issues ofWorlds of Cthulhu magazine. The column was then transferred toThe Unspeakable Oath fromArc Dream Publishing, starting with issue 20. The latter magazine has featured a lot of Delta Green-related articles since 1993.
Fantasy Flight GamesLive Action RPG supplements:
In the March 1997 edition of the British game magazineArcane (Issue 17), Andy Butcher said "Right from the first page of the book, it's obvious thatDelta Green is something really special." Butcher complimented the book for "a wealth of rich detail, intricate plotting, and great imagination. The result is truly inspiring." He concluded by giving the book at excellent rating of 9 out of 10, saying, "One of the biggest, most detailed, best conceived and inspiring sourcebooks ever released for any game system. An absolute must for anyCall of Cthulhu referee considering a modern-day campaign, and highly recommended even if you're not."[30]
In the July 1998 edition ofDragon (Issue 249),Ray Winninger calledDelta Green "one of the richest, most detailed, and most complete sourcebooks ever published." Winninger found that this book "successfully melds Lovecraft's eerie mythos with modern UFO and conspiracy folklore to produce a compelling hybrid setting all its own." Winninger gave the book a perfect rating of 6 out of 6, concluding, "The book contains all the material any Keeper could possibly expect, all of it first rate: the illustrations are excellent and helpful, the included adventures are top-notch, and the price is remarkably reasonable [...] Products like this come along only very rarely. ForCall of Cthulhu fans,Delta Green is a must buy. For everybody else, it's still probably worth a look."[31]
In Issue 3 of the French game magazineBackstab [fr], Stéphane Bura wrote, "Seldom has a role-playing product inspired in me such a sense of despair and helplessness in the face of the threat it offered." He concluded by giving the book a perfect rating of 10 out of 10, saying, "Even if you wouldn't normally play a contemporary role-playing game, buy this supplement anyway. This is the must-see product that will set the bar for excellence for a few years to come."[32]
In his 2023 bookMonsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "A rich narrative web increases the horror for the players, even if the players don't experience the full story. There is a thrill to combing through the histories and timelines, making connections, and developing theories." Horvath concluded, "Delta Green more often pits players against other humans, rather than monsters, which, in turn, places an increased value on examining the human toll of the missions ... It doesn't always ring true, but it represents a vast improvement over sanity systems that feature pulp-inspired caricatures of mental health."[33]
The following novels and short stories share similar backgrounds to Delta Green:
Other role-playing games with similar premise: