[DELTA GREEN] - Making Bonds Work For You

 

Perhaps the biggest thing to set Delta Green apart from Call of Cthulhu as a ruleset is the introduction of Bonds. Instead of some nebulous 'associates' the Keeper might deign to let you call upon and use in some undefined manner*, Delta Green gives you the ability to push all your post-traumatic stress and psychological damage on your friends and family, ensuring you become an increasingly broken and lonely sack of human waste, whose only reason for existing is to protect people you can never relate to, from entities you have begun to understand more intimately than your own hopes and dreams.

Yay.

My only real issue with the Bond system as written is that the rules provide for calling upon Bonds as assets you can pump for material (truth) but don't specifically set them out as living NPCs with their own skillsets. In a campaign I ran a few years ago, instead of going through their 'official' channels, they phoned friendly Bonds to dig up dirt on baddies, got their associates to leave much needed goods at dead drops (no questions asked... or at least, few questions asked), and - in theory - provide overwatch with a sniper rifle at meets. That last one didn't happen, but boy it could've been fun.

So here's my homebrew on making Bonds more useable in Delta Green.

 

(* that's not an attack on CoC, mind you - I love Call of Cthulhu)

[GODLIKE] - Thirty-Three Starter Talent Packages

Godlike is a game of "gritty" superpowers in World War 2.

The following superpowers - called Talents in game - are designed to be bolted on to starting characters built on 25-points (the "baseline" default).

You can randomly roll a power from the list using a D33.

1) HEAVY LIFTER (20 points)

Add 5 dice and 1 Wiggle Dice (+5d+1wd) to your PC's base BODY stat. That is, if your PC has Body 2, you now roll 7d and can set your wiggle-dice to create a match or expand a successful roll's width.

How much you can lift, throw etc. depends on your base stat (ask your GM), but from these 6d alone you can:

• lift up to 1 ton with a successful roll, 
• add +1 wound boxes to your torso and all limbs, 
• inflict an extra +2 width in shock damage from melee attacks
  

If your willpower ever hits 0, these extra dice vanish until you regain at least 1 willpower.

Add 5 Will to your Base Will.

[DELTA GREEN] - Four More PISCES Pre-gens

 

 

> Tonya Hackett, 29YOA, Ex-RAF Search & Rescue Force
STR 11, CON 11, DEX 14, INT 12, POW 13, CHA 11
HP 11, WP 13, SAN 60, BP 54
Bonds: Ex-RAF colleagues 11
Michael Mulwray, BFF accountant in Birmingham 11
Mum and Dad 11
Motivations: Save people's lives
Get back in the air as much as possible
Do your duty
Find out why you were recruited
Skills: Alertness 60%, Bureaucracy 40%, Craft (Mechanic) 40%, Firearms 60%, First Aid 60%, Heavy Machinery 40%, HUMINT 40%, Medicine 40%, Navigate 50%, Occult 20%, Persuade 50%, Pilot (Helicopter) 60%, Psychotherapy 40%, Military Science (Air) 30%, Search 60%, Survival 40%
Attacks: Unarmed 50%, 1D4-1
ASP baton 30%, 1D4
PAVA spray 70%, special
Glock Pistol 60%, 1D10
Description: Of British-Trinidadian descent, you grew up in a middle-class family outside London and, after school, sought the excitement of the Royal Air Force. Standing 5'10", with a penchant for t-shirts and combat pants, you carry yourself well. Your voice is soft and calm even in the most terrifying situations.
Background: Until closed down in 2016, the Royal Air Force's yellow-painted Westland Sea King helicopters served as the main search-and-rescue organization in the UK, rescuing mountain-climbers, sailors and even acting as a rapid reaction to major accidents or other situations. Tonya was both an RAF pilot and a paramedic, working diligently in the role until suddenly transferred into PISCES.

The reason for your recruitment into the intelligence services is as mysterious as it is sudden. Sat in a briefing room in London, you were shown shocking photographs, asked questions about your psychology and past. It's almost like there's something in your past - something that you've seen and forgotten, or maybe didn't even realize you've seen - that made PISCES take interest.
Playing Hackett: You're ex-military but not a soldier - and your life has been spent helping people, often in some of the UK's the most desolate mountains or raging oceans. You are moral but pragmatic, ready to make life-or-death decisions based on a "triage" of possibilities. When things look bleak, it's better to fall back and regroup than go in guns blazing.

If the mission calls for it, like requiring rapid travel outside London, on a successful Bureaucracy roll you can requisition one of PISCES' Bell 230 helicopters (Pilot+one in front, six in the rear). These are civilian helicopters, officially owned by Severn Aerospace. If they crash or explode or are seen doing illegal things, don't expect to be given another.

[GODLIKE] - Seven Pre-Generated Talents

Here are seven pre-generated "super-powered" Talents for the game Godlike. They're designed for late-1944 (the Battle of the Bulge), but can be readily changed for alternate campaigns.

All are built on the standard 25 points for super-powers expected of starter characters.

CPL. ERNIE "TRASH-CAN" LAUGHLIN
Nationality: American
DoB: 03-SEP-1920
Rank: Corporal (38th Armored Inf. Batt.)
Dependents: Parents, Older Sister

Body 1+5 (6d)
Brains 2
Coordination 3+2 (5d)
Cool 2
Command 2
Sense 2

Base Will: 7

Starting Will: 7

Skills:
Athletics 1, Brawling 1, Climb 1, Cryptography 1, Dodge 3, Drive (Tank) 2, Endurance 1, Explosives 1, First Aid 2, Grenade 1, Knife-Fighting 1, Language (English) 2, Language (French) 1, Language (German) 1, Machine Gun 1, Map Reading 1, Mechanics 2, Mental Stability 2, Mortar 1, Navigation (Land) 1, Pistol 2, Radio Operation 1, Rifle 3, Stealth 1, Submachine Gun 2, Stealth 1, Sight 2, Survival 1, Tactics 1

Talents:

• Hyperbody - 5d
   
• Block (using Trash-Can lid) - 6d
  Flaw: Must use trash-can lid “shield” strapped to your arm to “deflect” attacks

Equipment:

• Helmet (reduces all Shock damage to the head to a single point, then turns a further 2 Killing damage to shock)
• M1 Garand rifle (Capacity 8, Damage: Width+2 Killing and Shock)
• 50 rounds of M1 rifle ammunition
• (5) M2A1 "pineapple" hand grenades (Penetration 2, Area 3, Damage: Width+1 Killing and Shock)
• Bayonet (Width in Killing; fixed to rifle, Width+1 Killing)
• K-Ration (two day's worth)
• Personal gear (Zippo, toothbrush, safety razor, dog-tags, candy bar etc.)
• Trash-can lid tied around right arm like a medieval shield. Seems impervious to damage, so long as you are alive, but does not block everything fired at it.
  

Background: Born in Manhattan, New York City, to poor Irish immigrants, you went to art school and were working for a comic book company when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Due to your lacklustre physical prowess and 5'1" height, you were unable to enlist. Your anger grew - until one day in 1943, when jumped by muggers, you beat them off with inhuman strength, even deflecting bullets they fired at you using a nearby trash-can lid. Since becoming a Talent you've been attached to the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, helping protect American tanks against enemy talents. You've learned a little about how to drive and fix them too.

Personality: Your short stature and apparent frailty make people underestimate you until your Talent manifests. Personality-wise you are friendly, honest and decent, always trying to do the right thing. You blush obviously and profusely when forced to lie or cheat, or when the topic of sex is raised.

Talent Power: You are stronger than any normal man (add 1 extra wound to your torso and inflict +2 Damage in hand-to-hand combat), able to lift a 1-ton jeep above your head and toss an average man 10-yards/meters.

Your most obvious power, however, is the trash-can lid you carry around on your arm like a shield. This simple galvanized metal disc can deflect bullets (as long as you know someone is shooting at you) and stop physical attacks - but not the effect of fire or explosions etc.

Roll 6D when you know you're under attack and use matches to "gobble" successes from an opponent's roll. You can only use this on a single target, so choose widely.

You haven't used it block heavier weaponry like artillery, however, and you're not sure it would stand up to a hit from a tank's cannon.

* * * * *

[GODLIKE] - Basic Rules and Making Characters

 

Godlike: probably the best RPG about super-powered soldiers fighting in WWII.

Also my favorite RPG about super-powered soldiers fighting in WWII.

I bought the first edition in hardback back when it came out in 2001 when it first came out and haven't looked back. Best bit of a bad year, methinks.

Anyway, Godlike: it's an easy game to learn, and not exceptionally difficult to master, and because I have a habit of running it for people who've never played it, I've written up a simple guide for players.

If you want a far better summary of character creation than I could ever provide, you can find a more cogent, complete and professionally written piece (from the actual creators) free HERE at DrivethruRPG!

You'll also probably want a CHARACTER SHEET.

Very handy.

You can buy the full game HERE. 

And you should. It's good.

[DELTA GREEN] - Shotgun Scenarios 2021 Contest, Part One

 

Every year since dinosaurs ruled the Earth (c.2005) Delta Green fans have provided (sometimes) brief scenarios for the community's annual end of year contest. In 2021, some 52 scenarios were entered, each needing to be under 1,500 words.

Here is part one of my spicy hot-takes on how the 2021 contest went down.


DEEP FICTION
Synopsis: Agents go undercover and must dismantle a mythos conspiracy from the inside

Opinion: A neat campaign thread based around a very different kind-of premise just too huge for a 1,500 word shotgun. As a campaign it's interesting; as a scenario it falls flat.

The crux of the “core scenario” seems to be infiltrating the Unnatural equivalent of the Witness Protection Program (which is a cool idea), but the rest is basically set-up which isn’t explained. Some of the NPCs are nice, but the lack of stats means there’s no pick-up-and-play potential for them either.

I'd be interested seeing this converted into a proper scenario - dealing with the WitSec occultists sounds like a blast.

As a jump-off point for an experienced Handler this is fine, but could do with a pruning to bring out the scenario itself. As a campaign, it’s a solid idea.

* * * *  

LOCUS OF CONTROL
Synopsis: Players are abducted by Greys! They must escape!

Opinion: More a campaign opener than a scenario. The setup is neat, but is a bit of a railroad, requiring players do what’s expected (like beating to death the greys) or following whispering words in their ears – and knowing players, they’ll probably do anything but.

While its design leaves a strong likelihood of descending into a dungeon-crawl, I do like the way it uses 1990s Delta Green and Majestic-12 tropes to introduce lore. My jury’s out on the (unspecified and unstatted) “augmentations.” It’d have been nice to have these described – even in simple terms like “Augmented Arm, +20% to STR rolls, +1D4 damage to Unarmed” or “X-Ray eyes, can see through walls.”

The ending offers a few possibilities for future play, but leaves a bit too much up to the Handler to work out where to go next. 

* * * *

[DELTA GREEN] - Eight PISCES Pre-gens

 

 

> BRUNO DVORACK, 29YOA, ex-Immigration Enforcement Officer
STR 13, CON 13, DEX 12, INT 12, POW 11, CHA 11
HP 13, WP 11, SAN 55, BP 44
Bonds: Parents 11
Football buddies 11
Arsenal Football Club 11
Ex-Wife 11
Motivations: Help people, particularly the underdog
Protect Britain
Be English
Don't be foreign
"No, I'm not bloody Polish!"
Skills: Anthropology 40%, Alertness 60%, Bureaucracy 40%, Criminology 40%, Drive 50%, First Aid 30%, Foreign Language (Czech) 40%, Foreign Language 40% (Player’s Choice) 40%, History 30%, HUMINT 50%, Law 30%, Melee Weapons 50%, Navigate 40%, Occult 30%, Persuade 40%, Search 60%, Unarmed 60%
Attacks: Unarmed 60%, 1D4
ASP baton 50%, 1D6+1
PAVA spray 55%, special
Firearms 20%, varies
Description: You’re big and bulky and have a beard that doesn’t suit you. Out in the field you wear leather jackets and baseball caps. You used to work out, lift weights. Now you just drink beer and play five-a-side football with the lads. You are truly English.
Background: Your parents escaped Czechoslovakia, got to England as refugees. Yet they wanted to keep their old culture, their own traditions. You grew up despising it. They thought you were Czech. You knew you were English. You did a few wage-slave jobs before joining Border Force, got a job as an Immigration Enforcement officer, tracking down and arresting illegals.
It wasn’t a nice job. Made you sad. The day you were going to hand in your notice one of the Central Asian guys you picked up at an illegal sweatshop in Surrey suddenly coughed up a worm – a 6’ worm with teeth. You beat it to death with a nearby fire extinguisher. PISCES were impressed.