The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Pagan Publishing's DELTA GREEN Eyes Only Volume Three: Project RAINBOW (DGEOv3) incorporates the Philadelphia Experiment and the Cthulhu Mythos by way of Lovecraft's short story From Beyond. While designed for use with modern-day Call of Cthulhu, any conspiratorial, horror, or time travel game can use this book's contents with only minor system and setting changes. This review will first outline the book; then consider each piece; examine overall pros, cons, and interesting features; and close with my recommendation.

Excepting a useful table of contents, the first fifty-eight pages cover World War Two era research on electromagnetic stealth, an "illuminated history" of USS ELDRIDGE, case histories of survivors and other participants, intrigue between MAJESTIC-12 and Office of Naval Investigation (ONI), and US government time travel research. The next seven pages present Call of Cthulhu mechanics for the sanity-blasting version of time travel previously presented. Eleven more pages present MAJESTIC contractors and facilities, and an independent time traveler. An adventure using the new systems and information, Artifact Zero, comprises most of the remainder. A two-page bibliography closes the text. There is no index. Aside from its cover and a single map, DGEOv3 has no art.

The table of contents accurately and completely refers to DGEOv3's insides, and GMs should dog-ear these pages. Without an index no other way to find material exists. Pagan Publishing's books, especially the Delta Green line, usually have good indices, and its omission seems a gross oversight on their part.

The secret history section generally enjoys good writing and wide applicability. Pulp and WW2-era games can graft the early part directly into their setting's history. Later and more conspiratorial play can take advantage of ONI-MAJESTIC conflict, or game out MAJESTIC's research as it slowly discovers time travel. This part of the book suffers from too much detail. Events aboard USS ELDRIDGE during the Philadelphia Experiment get four pages, and an interesting aside on anti-gravity research consumes three pages. Most gaming groups will never directly interact with USS ELDRIDGE or pursue pseudo-science claims. The space they occupy would have been better devoted to art.

Game mechanics receive their just due in the following portion. Their utility is a matter of taste. If you think setting drives system, then you'll probably find them valuable. If you prefer for a system to help define a setting, the rules will probably strike you as arbitrary and deadly. Regardless, they provide mechanics and opponents needed by play for conflict and drama. They are also clear and easy to convert.

March Technologies, the MAJESTIC contractor mentioned above, and Naval Security Group Activity, guards of USS ELDRIDGE's tomb, have about the same level of detail as above. Because they are contemporary to most games, they deserve the space they have. The independent time traveler merits his word count for the same reason.

Strongly-titled Artifact Zero brings DG agents face-to-face with the side effects of MAJESTIC's time travel experiments. A long and elaborate back-story involving a series of contagious disappearances clashes with a poor sense of direction once play begins. Consequently, groups playing Artifact Zero will probably suffer an ambiguous conclusion, and leave the table without a sense of resolution. Further, PCs can easily suffer the same disappearance as NPCs. Vanished characters effectively die. This high lethality weakens the scenario. Though it presents useful background on Delta Green techniques, Artifact Zero is guilty of many charges leveled at CoC: it is arbitrary, fatal, and offers little opportunity for heroism.

DGEOv3 has five great virtues. It breaks new ground by joining new folklore into the canon. Delta Green now fuses Lovecraft's fantasies with UFOs, government conspiracies, and weird science. It also presents MAJESTIC in a surprisingly sympathetic manner. Research, king of CoC skills, receives its just due. New game mechanics extend play without obstructing it. Finally, the material is sufficiently general for use in many games.

DGEOv3 has three significant flaws. First, it often explains what should remain mysterious. This destroys fear of the unknown, reduces opportunity for GM creativity, and requires careful information control so players don't ruin their own fun merely by reading the book. A good GM or player can surmount any of these, but a good product doesn't require that effort. Second, it lacks art. The strange visual effects described in the text could have and should have been shown. Since Pagan Publishing's strong artist is also the author; it is obvious why there weren't. Third, this text needs better editing. Some words are misused. For example, "crescendo" is a verb or can only be used as a noun in limited context. Watts measure power; volts measure electric potential. Better editing might have caught the use of "T-Radiation" as contradicting real-life terahertz (AKA far-infrared) spectroscopy. Though mentioned in the text, the bibliography contains no URLs for fringe science web sites. Both of these show the editor missed the book's need for better research.

DGEOv3 has two intriguing things. It has the longest discussion of pseudo-science in Delta Green. Can we expect future chap-books to cover free energy, radionics, psychotronic weapons, and the like? It also discusses a long-term MAJESTIC project with an altruistic goal. Perhaps a new chap-book will cover MAJESTIC with the same detail as The Fate. Anyone care to play a Man In Black? Finally, the strong visual content of the topic would have lent itself to the graphic novel format. I don't necessarily mean White Wolf's style in Aberrant. Something like Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics might have better presented the material than 152 pages of unending text.

DELTA GREEN Eyes Only Volume Three: Project RAINBOW does good work, but it has big problems. Its wide usefulness is its saving grace. Even a comparatively weak product from Pagan Publishing deserves your serious consideration.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

DELTA GREEN Eyes Only Vol. 3: Project RAINBOW
Author: Dennis Detwiller Category: game Company/Publisher: Pagan Publishing Line: Delta Green Cost: $17.00 Page count: 152 ISBN: 1-887797-21-1 SKU: PAG2106 Capsule Review by Til Eulenspiegel on 05/06/00. Genre tags: Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Espionage Conspiracy	Pagan Publishing's DELTA GREEN Eyes Only Volume Three: Project RAINBOW (DGEOv3) incorporates the Philadelphia Experiment and the Cthulhu Mythos by way of Lovecraft's short story From Beyond. While designed for use with modern-day Call of Cthulhu, any conspiratorial, horror, or time travel game can use this book's contents with only minor system and setting changes. This review will first outline the book; then consider each piece; examine overall pros, cons, and interesting features; and close with my recommendation. Excepting a useful table of contents, the first fifty-eight pages cover World War Two era research on electromagnetic stealth, an "illuminated history" of USS ELDRIDGE, case histories of survivors and other participants, intrigue between MAJESTIC-12 and Office of Naval Investigation (ONI), and US government time travel research. The next seven pages present Call of Cthulhu mechanics for the sanity-blasting version of time travel previously presented. Eleven more pages present MAJESTIC contractors and facilities, and an independent time traveler. An adventure using the new systems and information, Artifact Zero, comprises most of the remainder. A two-page bibliography closes the text. There is no index. Aside from its cover and a single map, DGEOv3 has no art. The table of contents accurately and completely refers to DGEOv3's insides, and GMs should dog-ear these pages. Without an index no other way to find material exists. Pagan Publishing's books, especially the Delta Green line, usually have good indices, and its omission seems a gross oversight on their part. The secret history section generally enjoys good writing and wide applicability. Pulp and WW2-era games can graft the early part directly into their setting's history. Later and more conspiratorial play can take advantage of ONI-MAJESTIC conflict, or game out MAJESTIC's research as it slowly discovers time travel. This part of the book suffers from too much detail. Events aboard USS ELDRIDGE during the Philadelphia Experiment get four pages, and an interesting aside on anti-gravity research consumes three pages. Most gaming groups will never directly interact with USS ELDRIDGE or pursue pseudo-science claims. The space they occupy would have been better devoted to art. Game mechanics receive their just due in the following portion. Their utility is a matter of taste. If you think setting drives system, then you'll probably find them valuable. If you prefer for a system to help define a setting, the rules will probably strike you as arbitrary and deadly. Regardless, they provide mechanics and opponents needed by play for conflict and drama. They are also clear and easy to convert. March Technologies, the MAJESTIC contractor mentioned above, and Naval Security Group Activity, guards of USS ELDRIDGE's tomb, have about the same level of detail as above. Because they are contemporary to most games, they deserve the space they have. The independent time traveler merits his word count for the same reason. Strongly-titled Artifact Zero brings DG agents face-to-face with the side effects of MAJESTIC's time travel experiments. A long and elaborate back-story involving a series of contagious disappearances clashes with a poor sense of direction once play begins. Consequently, groups playing Artifact Zero will probably suffer an ambiguous conclusion, and leave the table without a sense of resolution. Further, PCs can easily suffer the same disappearance as NPCs. Vanished characters effectively die. This high lethality weakens the scenario. Though it presents useful background on Delta Green techniques, Artifact Zero is guilty of many charges leveled at CoC: it is arbitrary, fatal, and offers little opportunity for heroism. DGEOv3 has five great virtues. It breaks new ground by joining new folklore into the canon. Delta Green now fuses Lovecraft's fantasies with UFOs, government conspiracies, and weird science. It also presents MAJESTIC in a surprisingly sympathetic manner. Research, king of CoC skills, receives its just due. New game mechanics extend play without obstructing it. Finally, the material is sufficiently general for use in many games. DGEOv3 has three significant flaws. First, it often explains what should remain mysterious. This destroys fear of the unknown, reduces opportunity for GM creativity, and requires careful information control so players don't ruin their own fun merely by reading the book. A good GM or player can surmount any of these, but a good product doesn't require that effort. Second, it lacks art. The strange visual effects described in the text could have and should have been shown. Since Pagan Publishing's strong artist is also the author; it is obvious why there weren't. Third, this text needs better editing. Some words are misused. For example, "crescendo" is a verb or can only be used as a noun in limited context. Watts measure power; volts measure electric potential. Better editing might have caught the use of "T-Radiation" as contradicting real-life terahertz (AKA far-infrared) spectroscopy. Though mentioned in the text, the bibliography contains no URLs for fringe science web sites. Both of these show the editor missed the book's need for better research. DGEOv3 has two intriguing things. It has the longest discussion of pseudo-science in Delta Green. Can we expect future chap-books to cover free energy, radionics, psychotronic weapons, and the like? It also discusses a long-term MAJESTIC project with an altruistic goal. Perhaps a new chap-book will cover MAJESTIC with the same detail as The Fate. Anyone care to play a Man In Black? Finally, the strong visual content of the topic would have lent itself to the graphic novel format. I don't necessarily mean White Wolf's style in Aberrant. Something like Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics might have better presented the material than 152 pages of unending text. DELTA GREEN Eyes Only Volume Three: Project RAINBOW does good work, but it has big problems. Its wide usefulness is its saving grace. Even a comparatively weak product from Pagan Publishing deserves your serious consideration. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

DELTA GREEN Eyes Only Vol. 3: Project RAINBOW