- Delta Green
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Delta Green 
Delta Green coverDesigner(s) Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, John Tynes Publisher(s) Pagan Publishing Publication date 1997 Genre(s) Horror System(s) Call of Cthulhu Delta Green is a setting for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John Tynes, aka the Delta Green Partnership, of the Seattle gaming house Pagan Publishing. In August 2011, Arc Dream Publishing and the Delta Green Partnership announced development of a standalone Delta Green role-playing game.[1]
Contents
Premise
Delta Green takes place in the mid-to-late 1990s. The game revolves around a fictitious secret organization called Delta Green (created by the U.S. Government following the covert raid on the town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts as alluded to in H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth) spearheaded by elements of the United States government. Its members are dedicated to combating the mind-rending horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. The organization works undercover by contacting and gathering members across the wide range of U.S. government agencies like the FBI, ATF, CDC, and DEA. It appears to have "gone rogue" somewhere between the 1960s and the 1980s following a disastrous operation in Cambodia and the "deal" struck by the Reagan administration with the "Greys" (actually a facade for Mi-go) via the offices of the Majestic-12 governmental UFO conspiracy group. The group was introduced in the seventh issue of The Unspeakable Oath, a Call of Cthulhu fanzine created by Pagan Publishing, in early 1993. Four years later, the Delta Green supplement appeared and spawned a number of its own supplements and novels.
The premise is frequently[who?] compared to The X-Files (although the original incarnation of Delta Green preceded The X-Files by almost a year[2]), as both draw on federal alphabet soup folklore, UFO conspiracy theories and other modern legends.
The Delta Green supplement lays the groundwork for the scenario, setting up the initial plot and providing players with their motivations and the resources they need to carry out their tasks. It also provides a source of replacements for characters who go mad or are killed.
History
In 1998, Delta Green won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Supplement of 1997. The setting also won two awards in 2000: Best Game-Related Novel of 1999 for Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement and Best Roleplaying Supplement of 1999 for Delta Green: Countdown.
On May 1, 2006, the Pagan Publishing homepage was updated with an announcement describing the reasons for the delay of the new release of Delta Green, and stating that the d20 edition of the game should be available in time for Gen Con Indy. While there were a few show copies available there were no copies available for sale to the public as most of them were "still being shipped from China".[3] As of May 2007 the book, which is a reprint of the 1997 book with the addition of D20 stats, was finally reprinted and was available in stores.[3]
A hardback compilation of the three Delta Green Eyes Only chapbooks, along with additional material, was released in November 2007. The book was published in cooperation with Arc Dream Publishing. The entire 1,000 copy print run was sold out by February 2008.[4] The hardback edition of "Delta Green: Eyes Only" was a finalist for the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Supplement of 2007. A softback version of the compilation followed in September 2008 and is available to retail distribution.
Pagan Publishing and Arc Dream Publishing began work in mid-2008[5] on a new sourcebook, "Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity," which was released as a limited-edition hardback in June 2010, to be followed by a softcover retail edition.[6][7] As of August 2011 the entire 1,000-copy print run of the hardback limited edition was sold out. In August 2011, Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity won silver (2nd place) Ennie Awards for Best Writing and Best Adventure.[8]
Arc Dream Publishing released an ebook edition of the novel "Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy" in January 2011.[9]
Publications
As of April 2011, the following Delta Green books have been published:
Pagan Publishing game books
- Delta Green (February 1, 1997), the basic sourcebook; ISBN 1-887797-08-4.
- Delta Green: Countdown (1999), the 2000s sourcebook, by John Tynes, Dennis Detwiller and Adam Scott Glancy, ISBN 1-887797-12-2.
- Delta Green Eyes Only Volume 1: Machinations of the Mi-go ISBN 1-887797-13-0.
- Delta Green Eyes Only Volume 2: The Fate.
- Delta Green Eyes Only Volume 3: Project Rainbow ISBN 1-887797-21-1.
- Delta Green (May 2007), the basic sourcebook with dual BRP/D20 stats; ISBN 1-887797-23-8.
- Delta Green: Eyes Only (November 2007), a compilation of the Eyes Only chapbooks with additional material; ISBN 1887797-27-0.
- Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity (2010), a sourcebook detailing five new evils, by Warren Banks, Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, Kenneth Hite, Shane Ivey, and Greg Stolze, illustrated by Todd Shearer; ISBN 1887797-31-9.
Fantasy Flight Games game books
- Cthulhu Live: Shades of Gray (2000) ISBN 1-887911-92-8.
- Cthulhu Live: Delta Green Live Action RPG supplement, ISBN 1-887911-43-X.
Ronin Arts
- Dubious Shards by Kenneth Hite (2006).
Dennis Detwiller
- Music From a Darkened Room
- Delta Green Scenario: Future Perfect (Parts 1 through 4)
- The Last Equation
Pyramid Magazine
- Green Box (8/21/02 & 10/9/02, with d20 stats)
- Jack Frost (12/24/99 & 12/31/99)
Dungeon Magazine
- PX Poker Night (with d20 stats), issue 96
Shadis
- Dia de Los Muertos, issue 52
Worlds of Cthulhu
- Adam Scott Glancy writes a regular column titled "Directives from A-Cell."
Unspeakable Oath
- Arc Dream Publishing has resumed production of this magazine, in which Delta Green was first mentioned. New installments of Adam Scott Glancy's "Directives From A-Cell" appear in The Unspeakable Oath starting with issue 20.
Unofficial Material
- Delta Green: Across the Fence
- Delta Green: Our Finest Hour
- A Handful of Dust by David Conyers
- The yahoo.com Delta Green mailing list includes several short vignettes known as "Shotgun Scenarios"
Fiction
- Delta Green: Alien Intelligence (Tynes Cowan Corp, March 1998), short stories collection, ISBN 1-887797-09-2.
- Delta Green: Dark Theatres (Armitage House, 1999), short stories collection, ISBN 1-887797-17-3.
- Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement (Tynes Cowan Corp, 2000), novel by John Tynes, ISBN 1-887797-16-5.
- Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy (Tynes Cowan Corp., distributed by Impressions, 2003), novel by Dennis Detwiller, ISBN 1-887797-24-6.
- Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy ebook edition (Arc Dream Publishing, 2011), novel by Dennis Detwiller, ISBN 978-098323130-1.
- Delta Green: Through a Glass, Darkly ebook edition (Arc Dream Publishing, 2011), novel by Dennis Detwiller, ISBN 978-098323136-3.
See also
The following novels and short stories share similar backgrounds to Delta Green:
- The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue and A Colder War by Charles Stross
- The Spiraling Worm by David Conyers and John Sunseri
References
- ^ "Unspeakable! Special Presentation: The Unspeakable Oath and the Delta Green RPG". Unspeakable! Special Presentation: The Unspeakable Oath and the Delta Green RPG. http://arcdream.com/home/?p=847.
- ^ Delta Green/Frequently Asked Questions
- ^ a b Pagan Publishing
- ^ Delta Green Eyes Only
- ^ http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2008-05-03.1184433215 Fundable Ransom for Targets of Opportunity
- ^ http://www.arcdream.com/upcoming.php ArcDream's Upcoming Page
- ^ http://www.arcdream.com/store/product.php?id=9999 Arc Dream Publishing Online Store
- ^ "2011 Ennie Awards". 2011 Ennie Awards. http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011_Winners.pdf.
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Green-Denied-Enemy-ebook/dp/B004JKNQD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1295454769&sr=8-2 Amazon.com
External links
- Delta Green Official site
- Delta Green Wiki
- Blog of Dennis Detwiller. He has written two scenarios and a campaign for Delta Green, available as free downloads on the site.
- Pagan Publishing
- Arc Dream Publishing
- Hunting Cthulhu, a similar, conspiratorial take on the Cthulhu Mythos
Categories:- Campaign settings
- Cthulhu Mythos games
- Cthulhu Mythos organizations
- Fictional intelligence agencies
- Horror role-playing games
- Origins Award winners
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