Well it is deadly for sure. That investigation part of the adventure is quite well done with nice creepy build up. The action part is maybe the deadliest so far in DG adventures. A great adventure but donät expect any of the characters to survive.

While I am hesitant to criticize Mr. Detwiler's latest work, as I'm a big fan of his writing and Delta Green and the modern Cthulhu Mythos (cosmic horror is very frightening to me, on a personal level, which makes it a fun topic for horror), and I've very much enjoyed the DG line up until this point, I have one big problem with this product: it focused a little too much on "right-wing" conspiracies and stereotypes for me. After reading the scenarios, I felt like only my political viewpoint was being mined for "cosmic evil" ideas, while the other mainstream platform was "left" unscathed. Even if the author is opinionated on such topics (and he has every right to be), he should consider in future works that probably half of his fans might get annoyed by this.

My advice to the author is that, going forward, he should tap into both right-wing and left-wing conspiracies, basically in an effort to undercut both sides, which would show the meaninglessness of it all: an obvious theme in Lovecraft's original work. By focusing only on one side, the author is implying that the other side is not horrific. But this doesn't really jive with the Cthulhu Mythos at all, given its nature that Great Cthulhu and the Outer Gods could care less about our little political viewpoints. I felt that the old DG sourcebook seemed far more neutral on these matters...it just used anything and everything, regardless of source or viewpoint, and attacked it all (like South Park, lol).

Anyways, I'm not mad or bent out of shape about this. And I'll still buy more of the products. (They're really very good! The art is great, the writing superb, and the ideas are just mind-blowingly evil...fun for all ages, lol!) Just wanted to give the author a chance to hear a fan out about something he might not have personally considered.

I give it a 4 for production value and writing and content, but take 1 star off because of the obvious political slant.

One of the best CoC/DG scenarios I've ever run. I've run this scenario twice using "Need to Know" only (though I own the full rules.) Each ended differently, entirely driven by player decisisons. In both cases the players had a blast, as did I. As has been noted, this scenario contains mature themes. None of my players, a mix of genders and orientations, had any issues with them besides "eew, gross."

The scenario is well written, readable and playable. It has a specific timeline but it is well documented and can be rearranged on the fly if needed. As with all good CoC and DG scenarios, it has one excellent NPC (the deputy) who can be converted to a PC when one of the original PCs meets their end or otherwise departs this plane. There are a number of other less fleshed out NPCs who can also be converted. In one game we lost two of the original PCs, but the players made great use of the converted NPCs.

The setting is plausible and modern, which allows new players to drop right in without knowing the mythos. Cell phones are handled well (always a challenge in modern horror.) The players have many interesting decisions to make, ranging use-of-force to resource allocation. They have many opportunites to 'RP' interactions if they wish.

A must buy if you are a looking for a great DG scenario.

Potentially mild spoilers ahead

I reposted this under the review section instead of discussion, which is what I meant to do initially...

I ran this scenario for my home group. It's very good! Lot's of small town horror to be had, as well as dealing with cults and local law enforcement. The premise was both terrifying and compelling, and the dread builds up nicely. While there are some good red herrings, the throughline was clear enough that the story never lingered overly long.

Overall, a super good scenario with plenty of built-in dread. Would work equally well as both a one-shot scenario or as part of an ongoing campaign.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories, touching on different points of view and different lives for those in Delta Green or those affected by the beings and artifacts DG seeks to combat. Dark tales, with sprinklings of hope amidst the endless battle really set the mood and get me wanting to throw my players into the thick of it next time we sit down for an investigation. The way some of the stories loop back on each other and you follow how many lives it takes to keep just one incident under wraps is captivating and illustrated the sacrifices made by the agents and others. Night and Water (1944) and Coming Home (1968) are probably my favorites, though I enjoyed every story contained in Tales from Failed Anatomies. Defintiely recommended.

Delta Green: Agent's Handbook is the "Players Guide" for the standalone version of Delta Green, and must have if you want to set a Delta Green game. This book contains the rules for the game, the complete character creation, a chapter with profession options from various American government agencies (extremely well-researched by the way), and "Tradecraft", more or less a guide for how to players act like spies.

The standalone Delta Green is a fantastic system, the themes and setting of the game work very well. I'd say it can be darker then standard Call of Cthulhu, it spices up that formula with paranoia, the dissolution of daily life, the apocalyptic dangers that are ever more present and just the general dickness of mankind. It's the great irony of DG: You might have big guns, but that isn't enough to defeat them, it will never be. As a side note, I like how the Agent's Handbook doesn't contain actual Delta Green lore, this serves well for two purposes: That the players not knowing the actual threats and history of the organization can make the general sense of paranoia and mystery better ("who are those guys", "who we really work for", etc) and fixes the problem from the old DG books where players and Keeper stuff were in the same book (after the keeper-only chapter), so no more "oops, accidetaly read the whole chapter on the bad guys"), the other is that the amazing rules (covered below) can be used for more than playing as creepy Man in Black agents.

On rules: It's Call of Cthulhu, but better. The DC is the skills in your sheet: roll below them, they have been reorganized for the more modern setting. Combat is made more tactical, fast-paced and chaotic, almost as an actual firefight in real life, initiative is now whoever has more dexterity goes first, and the new "lethality" rule makes stuff faster and deadlier:. If you roll the "lethality" in that range, the weapon just kills the target instantly. The new Sanity system is a bit inspired in Unknown Armies: You roll if you character experiences "violence", "helplessness" and "the unnatural", and you can "adapt" for the first two by rolling bad three times (but never the unnatural). You can gain mental ilnesses (PTSD, Alchoolism, etc) from those encoutners. The real meat is the new "bond" system, your character has a few bonds which are family, friends, coworkers, and each one has a score, you can make SAN loss less worse in exchange for your relationship with the bonds, so your PCs relationship with friends, family and will get worse and worse as you become more alienated and your life desintegrates. There's also new requisition rules, for getting stuff, more more simplified in relation to CoC.

If you want to play a horror game, this game is for you. If you are a season (hell, or new) CoC player, this game is for you. Absolute recommend for anyone trying a new and spooky game.

Excellent investigation scenario for 1 or 2 session, there's several ways for the player to investigate, and advices for the handler to guide the player if they're lost. Thei're also alternative ending that can be followed by a campaign, which is always nice.

Excellent wait to dive into Delta Green, the pre-generated character are very cool and easy to play, either for beginner or expert. I like to keep it to have a summary of the rule to look at if needed at any time.

Great contemporary scenario surrounding one of the best questions in a Delta Green that takes place in an age with cell phones and live streaming. It's a great start that leads to a classic type villain with some truly nefarious and horrible motivations. Would I call it a TPK scenario? No...but there should be at least two casualties. Good little twists throughout and perfect to run over a few sessions.

This book is nuts. Possibly the best ruleset and telling of the Mythos I have come across. Combat is raw and makes sense, skill checks vs automatic gained knowledge is fantastic, and dealing with the slow descent into sanity.... gorgeous. This is a masterclass example of what RPG's should be. Even as the Handler in my games I am sucked into the setting that is filled with despair and shocked by brief moments of hope that filter through. Everything has a price, each victory is more meaningful, everyone knows they are going to die or go insane but this game has a way of convincing you to fight on and cherish every moment. My group has had to house rule only a few things and we havent played with every single rule for the sake of streamiling 'Home Scenes'. But the beauty of this game is nothing feels left out even when we do that. Its much like dining at a sickening buffet set out for us by the King in Yellow Himself.....

Excellent introductory adventure for Delta Green. For around 16 pages of content, they sure do stretch a long way. My group, which is very RP heavy, took three sessions to complete this. This was at 2-3 hours each. We could have probably gotten an additional sessions out of it.

I will say that the premise is wholely unique to anything I've ever seen in an RPG or fiction at large. Big fan of this adventure.

A marvelous sourcebook for anyone running a modern-day(ish) Delta Green campaign. Tynes does a brilliant job of taking many of today's recurring fears - fundamentalist cults, biotechnology without ethical controls, mass shooters, obscure message boards that stoke fear and hatred and paranoia - and tying them to the unnatural threats that Delta Green exists to fight. There are eight organizations in this book - four groups of "good guys" whose contacts with Delta Green may lead them to madness and disaster, and four groups of "bad guys" who will invoke that madness and disaster unless Delta Green can find and stop them. None of it's that simple, of course; the book does a great job of showing the various organizations as sets of individuals rather than faceless monoliths, and those individuals are complicated and compelling and rich with storytelling potential. Any one of the groups could generate a campaign of its own, but there are also great suggestions for how to link them together as friends or enemies (or enemies of my enemies). And, as usual for Delta Green, the book weaves in just enough real history to make one plausibly wonder how much of it is really made up. Of course, none of these organizations exist as written here, and none of the ills that plague our world are the workings of Nyarlathotep or the Lloigor or Shub-Niggurath. On some level, it might actually be more comforting if they were.

The book spins off ideas like sparks, and I can't wait to make use of those ideas in my own games - the only problem is that they are collectively too much for any one campaign.

I made a video review of the Agent's Handbook here: https://youtu.be/57CUWVQa4_I

Another excellent book from Arc Dream. Ivey and Stolze team up with the help of Detwiller's art, to throw players into different immersive environments. There are 3 initial scenarios starting with the infamous BLACKSAT. Surviving PCs then can be initiated into DG for scenario 4. Gripping, intense horror. Highly recommended! 5*

Judging this book by it's cover, which is sweet by the way, this leather back book has a gold embossed scarab on the front. Nothing fancy, just sleek and elegant. Opening this tome (or in my case the PDF) you'll be greeted with stunning piece of artwork by Samuel Araya. The book has several captivating pieces of art scattered amongst it's pages, all of which are beautiful and help to bring the stories to life. From there it moves on to the title page, publishing information and table to contents. I appreciate that Arc Dream put in a table of illustrations as well. Makes showing off the books great artwork that much easier. The PDF version is fully bookmarked. This undoubtedly time consuming effort by the editor is a massive boon for the reader. When I say fully bookmarked, I mean fully. Each of Ken Hite's annotations are bookmarked as well, and there is a TON of them. Ken's insight into Chambers' writing shows. Ken brings you into the strange, nightmarish world Chambers first created. Each nuance is dissected and historical context within the writing is brought into the light. These notes are what makes this version of the book truly shine (that, and the gold feathering). It's clear from the production value, to the lengthy amount of research, that this was a labor of love for those involved. Speaking of the production value, I want to quickly say that the text of the actual stories themselves is really nicely laid out, and easy to read. This in tandem with the bookmarks makes this version of the King in Yellow an unique experience.

The foreword by John Scott Tynes is a good read. Sharing his experiences with the King in Yellow and how the text affected his life, John sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the book. The stories of the King in Yellow are a must read for Cthulhu Mythos fans and a great read if you enjoy reading as a hobby. The main stories Mythos fans will want to check out are “The Repairer of Reputations”, The Mask, In the court of the Dragon, The Yellow Sign, and Cassilda's Song. Fun fact: Chambers actually borrowed the Carcosa setting from the short story “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” written by Ambrose Bierce in 1886. seems Lovecraft wasn't the only one to borrow concepts and terminology! Lovecraft actually makes mention of Chambers in a letter to Clark Ashton Smith saying quote

“Chambers is like Rupert Hughes and a few other fallen Titans—equipped with the right brains & education, but wholly out of the habit of using them.”

The only thing I don't like about this book is that I don't own a physical copy! There is a small limited print run of these (only 2,000 total produced) so if you're lucky enough to get one of these, definitely pick it up! And if you're unable to get a physical copy, do yourself a favor and get the PDF. To quote John here:

“ If this is your first encounter with The King in Yellow then you are in for quite an experience. If you know it well then you are in for a revelation. And while it may be a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living god, it is a wonderful thing for The King in Yellow to fall into the hands of Ken and Sam—and now into yours. Hold it tight and it will never let you go.”