Sunday, June 19, 2022

Delta Green - Pagan Press d20 Edition

Delta Green is a role playing game utilizing the Cthulhu mythos, as used in Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu line of games, but set in the 1990's to the present day. The original edition of this game, the one I talk about here, was made by Pagan Publishing and made from 1997 to 2010. A newer edition made by Arc Dream Publishing, although Pagan and Arc Dream collaborated on some products before Arc Dream took over, has been in existence since 2016 and continues to this day. This edition is the 2007 edition of the original rulebook with added stats for utilizing the book for the d20 system, but still has the stats for the original Call of Cthulhu edition made in 1997.

This role playing game deservedly won many awards. It takes the conspiracy laden setting of the 1990's with an overlay of creepy aliens with players fighting a secret conflict against beings from other worlds and a self-serving USA government agency. Think of X-Files and the Cthulhu mythos mixed together. The history is very well written and suitably creepy with many layers of possibilities for great storytelling and roleplaying. The multitude of possible antagonists, both beatable and not, are given multiple ways to use in a campaign.


One of the main antagonists is Majestic-12, a secret USA government agency that are self-regulating and in charge of dealing with the alien "greys" while making sure the public is unaware of their existence. They even go so far as to use any means to cover up "grey" or MJ-12 activities. In return the organization gains access to "greys" technology and knowledge, sometimes for personal use and profit. The "greys" are also a main antagonist with their own agendas.

One of the other minor antagonists are the Karotechia. They are mythos magic wielding remnants of the WW2 German Nazi regime and each of the three leaders have very different utilizations of that magic. They are a perfect use of an enemy of the players that is obviously evil and bad as a counterpoint to the initially ambiguousness of the two main antagonists.


The handouts are very well done for the adventures provided in the book. There is also advice on how to make your own including keyword usage to make them more authentic. The adventures themselves are impressive in how they reveal the under arching presence of the Cthuluhu mythos, as secret operatives of Delta Green.


There is a robust section on all of the government agencies of the USA that can help the game master use them in game sessions.


The original Call of Cthulhu game is set in the 1920's. The table of weapons is important for combat in the modern day, not that they would work against the big bads of the mythos.


Overall a great setting and lots of information can be used for any modern game day with a touch of the otherworldly and creepy.

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