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The Good: The fiction is extremely engaging, even for some non-Mythos fans. The default scenario is perfect for fully exploring the Mythos and government conspiracy. Many wonderful adventures, detailed major NPCs, and other sources of support make the book very GM friendly.
The Bad: While this reissue does include d20 rules it does not update the timeline in any way, so the game is still locked into the mid 90s. While most of it updates easily, some information on government organizations is out of date.
The Physical Thing
This 338 page black and white hardcover showcases high production values for its $39.95 price tag. The artwork is spot on, reinforces the mood of the product, and corresponds perfectly to the text. Good editing, a detailed index, and easy to read formatting are just a few examples of what I consider to be an ideal product. I never had trouble finding anything and the book never irritated me.The Ideas
The Call of Cthulhu RPG presents the Mythos setting, a horror setting derived from the works of H. P. Lovecraft. This setting features many dark and unknowable gods, bizarre creatures, and all the trappings of horror fiction. The core RPG doesn’t mandate a specific time for setting the game, but 1920s tends to be the default. Delta Green is a supplement to Call of Cthulhu that updates the core game to the modern day.Under the Cover
The Setting - 144 pages.From the very beginning Delta Green draws the reader in with excellent writing and an extremely entertaining discussion of what has happened to the creatures lurking in the Mythos from the 1920s to the 1990s. The updated history of the Mythos is reasonable and fascinating, focusing on what increased numbers of people, increased organization and information sharing, and advanced weapons technology have done to change interactions between humans and the things that go bump in the night.
Take, for instance, the Deep Ones. Deep Ones are an undersea dwelling servitor race that often carry out dark pacts in the name of the great horrors of the Mythos. The United States government became aware of them over time, and they were most clearly seen as a threat during World War II when the Nazis attempted to bargain with these creatures – exchanging many human sacrifices in return for power. While a Delta Green operation ended that brief alliance, the United States took the Deep Ones as a serious threat and sought means to discourage them.
To that end the government started doing two things. First, there existed spells that could call Deep Ones (presumably for dark bargaining). Military teams executed these spells and then executed whatever showed up. After enough Deep Ones were slain this way the creatures got the hint and stopped responding to these spells. Second, navy vessels used depth charges and torpedoes to destroy all suspected Deep One colonies. The end result is that the creatures are far, far less active in the modern day and tend to leave humanity alone.
All of the major creatures of the Mythos receive at least a paragraph or two, and some are given pages of detail as to their role in the world today. It was at this early stage that I knew I was hooked on Delta Green, and I was pleasantly surprised that the book maintained this level of entertainment all the way through.
So, what is Delta Green? It’s a sticker, or at least it used to be. A small green triangle attached to the files of United States personnel that indicated they could be trusted with handling assignments dealing with the supernatural. Many personnel were drawn from the F.B.I. and C.I.A., but people from just about every government department could be involved. Delta Green teams were formed out of whatever personnel were needed for a mission, and these teams were sent out to do whatever it took to protect the citizens of the United States from the monsters in the night.
Delta Green was a success, at least in so far as meeting its goals was concerned. Suicide missions were common and agents did not have a long life expectancy. However, many horrors were destroyed and humanity was defended again and again from Mythos entities and end of the world plots. Things went along well until two events ultimately led to the downfall of Delta Green. One was a disastrous operation that resulted in substantial loss of life. The other was the arrival of the Greys.
After Delta Green had already lost face due to an operational disaster the Greys made contact with Earth, first at Roswell and then later in the 1970s. To deal with these aliens the United States government created a new organization, Majestic 12, which existed solely to deal with these extraterrestrial visitors. With all eyes focused on the Greys and away from the traditional supernatural threats to national security Delta Green was disbanded. Majestic 12 was the group in charge now, and they cared far less about protecting Americans than they did about acquiring advanced technology.
In Delta Green you play a group of rogue operatives continuing the shadow war to protect humanity. Organized into a cell structure for their own protection, Delta Green has no authority, no backup, and no support whatsoever. If discovered, a member faces torture and quiet execution. They give their lives fighting battles no one will ever hear about, and they will never receive thanks.
But discussion of Delta Green itself is brief. It’s all the other organizations that receive attention. After all, what’s an investigative unit like without some really interesting conspiracies to uncover? Majestic 12, the Greys, an occult nightclub, a UFO hunting organization, and still other groups are all presented in beautiful detail. They fit perfectly into the setting, offer an incredible host of interesting possibilities, and maintain the same level of creative writing found throughout the book.
Full stat blocks for major NPCs belonging to all of these organizations are presented in both d20 and classic BRP form, and they make perfect sense. Allies and adversaries take up a variety of power levels, but none are so far out of range that the PCs couldn’t fight against their portion of a given conspiracy.
Appendices - 194 pages.
If the first half the book is setting with (very) sparse stat blocks, the second half is what makes Delta Green easy for a GM to run. Four detailed adventures are provided, one of which is about 40 pages long. The adventures come with complete stat blocks for all adversaries, useful illustrations, and photocopyable player handouts to make the discovered documents that much more real and interesting. I enjoyed reading the adventures and suspect I would enjoy playing them, but they do have some downsides. For me, good adventures take into account the unpredictability of players and offer multiple ways to go through the adventure. These are somewhat more linear, though a GM who has thoroughly read them is likely to be able to improvise through whatever may happen.
The other potential downside is that some of these adventures are pretty lethal. A team that must enter a portal to a biological space station filled with monsters, for example, is likely not long for this world (hah). However, despite the at times high levels of lethality these adventures encompass exactly the sorts of exciting and interesting things I want to be doing in a Delta Green game. It doesn’t get any better than chasing after extraterrestrials and uncovering sinister conspiracies!
Detailed presentations of all the applicable United States government organizations are included as part of the extensive player and GM support. Entries include dates of creation, the organization’s mandate, jurisdiction, history, and even more interesting information. An example NPC for each organization serves as an excellent resource for GMs who just need quick stats for average members of that group. While these entries are a little out of date now, the vast majority of the information remains perfectly usable.
New skills, spells, weapons, and manuscripts are all included as well. They’re all well done, though the skills and spells additions are very brief. The weapons are particularly welcome and encompass a large variety of mid-90s firearms. The manuscripts are just plain interesting and can easily serve to kick off several sessions of play. They’re prepared in character and ready to photocopy and hand out to your group. This makes them particularly awesome for me as I love having handouts for my players but rarely want to put the time into creating my own.
My Take
Delta Green is a variety of things. At its core it’s a supplement for Call of Cthulhu, but it’s also an adventure book and conspiracy gaming resource. By being all of these things at once Delta Green does a perfect job of providing all the resources a gamemaster needs. Some of the information is out of date at this point, but it’s very easy to supplement the existing organizations where needed.This is one of my very favorite RPG books and I’m very glad to have it. If you enjoy conspiracy gaming, the Mythos, or playing bands of heroic semi-governmental operatives then pick this one up.
