Delta Green d20 - really good, but dated...

[trancejeremy]

I think this is actually the only RPG product I've bought this year, since money is a little tight, and even though it was a little expensive, I definitely feel I got more than my money's worth with it.

But, at the same time, it seems somewhat dated. Obviously, it should be, since it's a 10 year old book that was just reprinted, but still, some stuff is timeless, other products are products of its time, and this seems to me like one of the latter.

For one, the focus on the "End Times" stuff, which really played well on the end of the millenium angst, but honestly, seems kinda quaint now. Also while this does seem a popular theme in modern day CoC scenarios, I'm not sure it fits HPL's timeline, since the world (as we know it) seems to exist until at least A.D. 2500, and humans seem to stay around until much much longer (but with different cultures taking over), based on "Shadows out of Time" (the narrator speaks with an Australian Physicist from the 26th century, and then assorted other future humans). I always thought the beetles took over after CAS's "Zothique" stuff, which is like what, 20,000 years into the future?

For another, that whole occult Nightclub stuff with the goth house band seems just borrowed from the World of Darkness. Maybe it was cool then, but seems kind of hokey today.

A few other things, like all the stuff about "militias", which I guess were big back then, but not so much now.

I expected the Roswell/MJ-12 stuff to be cliched by now, but that actually holds up pretty well.

Anyway, this is not a complaint (since obviously they couldn't update it, that would be its own upcoming sourcebook, which is alluded to), more an observation. I'm not sure how playable it is these days (obviously you could set your game in the 90s, but I'm not sure how appealing that would be), but it's an interesting look at history from an RPG perspective.

Anyone else feel this way?

 

[EditorBFG]

I have not yet had the good fortune of seeing the new Delta Green, but my understanding was that the book stated clearly that the game was still set in the 90's.

That said, I would love to see an "update" book for DG in the 21st Century. I would say, hey everybody, let's tell the designers we would buy such a book, but it seems like by the time a book detailing the early 2000's actually came out, we would be well into the 2010's.

It's funny, because DG products have always pretty much been automatic purchases for me, but I have no idea if there will be any more support for it.

 

[Committed Hero]

That said, I would love to see an "update" book for DG in the 21st Century. I would say, hey everybody, let's tell the designers we would buy such a book, but it seems like by the time a book detailing the early 2000's actually came out, we would be well into the 2010's.

It's funny, because DG products have always pretty much been automatic purchases for me, but I have no idea if there will be any more support for it.

Scott Glancy has mentioned working on a new milennium book. DG comes with a metaplot, as depicted in two novels and collections of stories.

As far as future support, there is currently a preorder for the three chapbooks which includes two new scenarios; Dennis Detwiller has released 2 parts of an 8-part campaign; Kenneth Hite has a DG scenario in Dubious Shards (albeit dated as well); and "Agents, Friendlies and Bronsons" - a book of over 40 NPC - is planned for release by Spring 2008.

If one is interested, the latest podcast at yog-sothoth.com contains an interview with Scott Glancy that mentions this and more.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Just reset the Endtimes date to December 21, 2012. The Y2K bug is a little slow or blame it on the Mayans or a variety of others in a History Channel show.

"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine..."

 

[Wraith Form]

Face it--this book was perfect for the (nihilistic) time it represented, when The X Files and Millennium and Chris Carter were the hottest stuff around.

10 years later, the most significant (read: topical) part of DG is in Countdown, and that's the section on Hastur and his corruptive influence. "Social entropy" and all that. If you don't see the Yellow Sign in everything from George Dubbleyuh to the latest college shooting...well, you're not looking closely enough.

Let's don't try to circumvent the profanity filter. M'kay? - Rel

 

[Hrothgar]

Since I've been reading Countdown now for the past month, the difficulty I see with this older material is that the older personel in most of Delta Green's factions, or even the factions themselves, have probably passed on. Phenomen X probably had its greatest popularity during the reign of the X-Files, but how does it operate now? Maybe more like the Lone Gunmen of the X-Files, without airtime and a smaller audience. What about the OUTLOOK group? Aging Dr. Yrjo has probably passed away, giving the reigns to ambitious subordinates. With the Patriot Act, and the supposed loss of personal freedom in these times, what role does OUTLOOK play inhibiting (or initiating) stress cascades in the general populace. Did the dead doctor leave any clues to OUTLOOK when he was alive?

Yes, the material is outdated, but it is fun to extrapolate to today's times. The seeds are all there, I just have to have the imagination to make use of them today.

I still have to read through my Delta Green d20 I received, but the fact it was not updated should not diminish (I hope) its continued appeal to me.

 

[Committed Hero]

I still have to read through my Delta Green d20 I received, but the fact it was not updated should not diminish (I hope) its continued appeal to me.

The scenarios are still playable, I think. The trick played on PCs in Convergence is one of the most devious I've ever seen in an rpg (closely followed by something in Project Rainbow).

 

[ruleslawyer]

I'd have to agree it's dated.

I *hope* that DG:Millennium will resolve a lot of the problems that I have with the setting material, but honestly, most of the elements presented in the core book (MJ-12, the karotechia, the Fate, etc.) are SO ten years ago, especially the seriously occult elements (the Fate and the Cult of Transcendence), which really do come off as something out of a bad Hellblazer (Ennis-era) knockoff or some sort of crappy WoD variant.

I think that a little fan reinvention of DG might be in the works. IMHO, the secret-agent conspiracy theory stuff actually does (surprisingly enough) hold together, as trancejeremy noted. The rest of it? Maybe some reworking.

Personally, I'd like to see a reimagination of DG centering around stuff like fears over personal security and privacy, private defense contractors, extremist religious movements, opportunistic entertainment moguls, and environmental devastation, all of which are briefly referenced in the core book. A game in this vein could emphasize the hand of the Great Old Ones in runaway profiteering, the rise of rogue nations and terrorist groups, and the corruption and suborning of religious movements to further nihilistic/chaotic/purely destructive goals. In a typically Lovecraftian twist, both the growth of secularism (the erosion of religious/culture-specific moral codes) and the twisting of religious movements to political ends through various destructive fundamentalisms, extremisms, and heresies could be branches of the chaos naturally fostered in mankind by the forces of the Mythos.

 

[Graf]

Interesting to hear. I'm looking forward to my copy arriving.

In some ways the new "department of Homeland Security" seems like it would be right up DG's alley. Lots of new units and groups appearing and disappearing, and increased emphasis on "getting the bad guys" with less red tape (or people willing to overlook the red tape).