Really Late thoughts on the Delta Green Playtest

[KPhan2121]

Got into the Delta Green Playtest past it's deadline. 

 

I have to say, overall I really like it. The rules are simple and easy to read and understand. I like the fact that the weapon stats section is just a bunch of generic guidelines. The simpler combat rules are fast and don't get bogged down on dice rolls (auto-fire, anyone?). There isn't that weirdness when a character maxes out a skill since the highest it can go is capped by x5 it's correlating stat. It certainly maintains that BRP-style combat and straight forward dice rolls. I like how the sanity rules are given better guide lines to how it affects a character. Now onto the stuff that bothers me.

 

I feel that the mechanics of the RPG does not fully support the illegal conspiratorial nature of Delta Green. I think that bonds were a step in the right direction, but feels half-assed. Like it was added as a cool thing but never developed beyond that. There needs to be a mechanic that measures the amount of suspicion that surrounds your character/group. This "Suspicion Rating" should be a number between 5-95. Whenever a group does an unwarranted search on private property, their suspicion rating goes up. Whenever a group requisitions a gunship or calls the local forces for help, their suspicion rating goes up. In between missions, the GM rolls against the Players' suspicion rating and if it succeeds, one or more of the character's actions have gained the attention of the government and is under some internal investigation. The result would probably be lost in sanity points and/or losing bond points. After that the suspicion rating will reduce itself somehow to a minimum of 5. The point is to provide the players the ability to use their governmental powers, but at a cost. Most importantly to provide mechanical support for the professional and mental deterioration of the agents as they work for the group.

 

The mechanics of an RPG need to support the experience that it's trying to give to the players. If crucial elements of it are left vague and without structure, it will leave newer players and GMs confused and discouraged.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

[Mankcam]

^{I have not really got into Delta Green (so many games, so little time...), but I do like what you are describing with a Suspicion score. It's a very solid BRP mechanic to express a trait as a %, and by the sounds of it this could work a little along the lines of Status or Allegiance, with its own trappings. You are basically describing a Renown mechanic of sorts.} 

 

^{I have not read too much of the Delta Green rules (and none of the new playtest), so I don't know how it compares to Suspicion in those rules. Someone familiar with it will be able to comment, but I just thought that the mechanics you describe above are pretty sound}