I got my copy this morning. It is an easy read, being one of the few books I've read from cover to cover. And the safehouse rules, the nationalities, and new skills could be used in a "The Spy Game" or a GI Joe game. It is not overly complex and for the most part simple to run, but...

Though the standard editing on this book was okay (with one glaring spelling error Linguitics on page 40) the rules editing leaves something to be desired. The experience table on page 13 shows that the Proficiency bonus increases by +1 per three levels but the tables on pages 34 and 37 show the proficiency bonus as +2 at levels 1-4, +3 at levels 5-7, and +4 at levels 8-10. Page 13 mentions that a character "to choosing their operators Class and Subclass" is missing an aposthrope and mentions Subclass even though that mechanic is not used in the game. Though it is nice that skills are in front of character creation it still takes page flipping to go from there to page 63. Strangely due to redundancy of class features ICO are maximized as Agents because they have one feature from Tactical Police (Breeching gained at 1st level) and one from Special Forces (CQB at 5th level) whereas PMC and ICI do not have such restrictions (though the Driving abilities of PMC and Agents has overlap). The experience rules on pages 13 and 94 contradict each other with page 13 shows a standard experience table but on page 94 it says that "Each Operator needs 50 xp in order to reach the next level" (Possible Fix: change the xp awards from 2 to 15, 3 to 20, 4 to 25, and 8 to 50 xps). The encumbrance rules on pages 45 and 64 also contradict each other (is it 200 lb or 15 lb per point of strength?). The separation of range, caliber, and weapon type is justified before the section on guns, this also produces more annoying page flipping to determine which weapon does what damage at what range. And 80 feet per round is 6 mph so a Very Fast vehicle is errr...not so fast. And just as a nitpick conditions are something that occurs to the character so I just think that "irradiated" should be used instead radiation. Any why is it that on pg 52 AoE is in meters?

I know these can be easily fixed in the .pdf form, but it is annoying when I also ordered a print copy.

What is promised here is not what is delivered. You do not get 100 maps, and what you get are mostly unusable junk. VERY disappointed.

Great looking book. Simplustic and easy to follow layout. Enoutgh new Edges and Hindrances. A good amount of info for playing special forces, teams,law enforcement personnel and enough difference between the various units that are practically the same in real life.

The only thing I would have changed is instead of making a handful of new skills is

• A: Used SW Skill Specialization and had some of the new skills be speclizations of existing skills.
• B. Turned some of the new skills into Edges - esppecially new skills that "could" fall under 2 or more skills.

Othe than those two changes, I love the book

First of all, I do not usually leave reviews, much less bad ones. But this products is severely lacking in usability. What we are essentially presented with, is a set of homebrew rules, resulting in a game that is hacked from 5e SRD, but closer to OSR products. What we don't get (what I thought I would get) is a way for players who love OSR principles of quick fights and harder survivability, but have groups who like to play 5e for crunchy character building or its modules to have that happen. It is something entirely else, there is no way to use the rules without using the custom classes presented, there are rules for nerfing HP and damage for players and monsters, but MM monster abilities, high damaging player spells are not accounted for, neither the original class system, if you want to stick with that. Who is it good for, let me ask? Those who are okay with playing an OSR system are going to just play one of those, like BFRPG for about the same price. And those who would have wanted to stick with 5e for its merits cannot plug these rules in, because it doesn't account for much of its contents. What would have been useful, is to make these changes completely modular and compatible to 5e, so if I would like to use 5e monsters, class system and modules, I can do so with a quicker grittier fighting system. What else do we get? We get a lot of rules which are introduced just for the author to tell us that it is up to the GM to handle however he wants. Well... no shit! My favourite of these is the part about hexcrawls. We get told that BFA is played on hexcrawls. No rules for that, no suggestions, no nothing, just that. Play hexcrawls, because the author likes hexcrawls. Also, a bunch of random tables, with "imaginative" content like a bunch of goblins running at you, orcs blocking the road, and kobolds in caves. And if I wanted to buy this in print, then because for every 50 purchase they add new content, by the time it arrives my copy would be out of date already. All in all, what I would recommend the author to do for the next milestone, is to spend less time doing art (which is very good, to say something positive), and less time apologising for the word fuckin' (LotFP RPG has child rape magic, no one cares about your fuckin' word), and spend more time on designing the content to be more modular and usable with published 5e content without using the custom classes. Otherwise the product description is completely misleading. It is basically a new game with its own class system, and has not much to do with 5e in itself. Sorry, if I sounded too harsh, I hope that this product is going to evolve, the idea is good, just the implementation is lacking. I would be happy to hear the author's opinion on the subject, other than what is written in the product that it works for their group (happy to hear that, but if it is sold commercially it should present real usable value).

My video review on YouTube says it all.... https://youtu.be/leti03g2yGk

First of all, I backed the Kickstarter, I was sent a free copy but I backed the KS and got the D6 version of the game! So ya I own 2 copies so thats a pretty positive thing!

So I have a video review on my YouTube Channel which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/MKhU3B22tAM

FeralGAmesInc knocked it out of the park! This is a DARK setting, there are VERY mature themes in this game so parents beware!

The physical layout: AWESOME I like the dark them and aged looking pages the book is hardback and will hold up to much use.

The Art: Amazing! there is a oil paint esque look to the art and it imparts a very dark tone! It is consistant throught the book.

The Story: Wow this is where this setting really shines! You will have hours and hours of adventures in this setting wether you go with the D6 or D20 setting.

The MechanicsL I have both the D20 (5e) and the D6 system, I prefer the D6 mechanics, but the 5e one is very well done. If you go with the D6 rules there is a minor learning curve but I feel it adds more to dark setting but either rules setting will work for you depending on your rules preference.

Overall this is a buy in Mr Means world. and I am glad that it is in my library!

As always your milage may vary and this may not be your taste or the setting may be too dark, but either way this is a great addition to your gaming library!

Angel's Citadel just reviewed this title. You can check it out here: https://angelscitadel.com/2021/02/05/review-stranded/

I paid big money for this KS. What I received wasn't a bad product, though the paper was a little low quality, the RPG itself was fairly decent.

What I am disappointed by is the book. The limited edition, KS exclusive cover was a sleek affair, what we received was a poor image on stark white hardback with red text, it looks shoddy and disappointing for the money paid.

So try the RPG, avoid the books.

You awaken on a beach surrounded by the debris from a wrecked ship, exhausted and with little more than the shirts on your back. Welcome to the island of Cragbarren. Welcome to Delve 2e.

As the game’s title suggests, dungeon-crawling plays a prominent part in the game. But there’s a very real reason for it in Delve: the players are on a resource-poor island, and indeed start with nothing save that which they were washed ashore with, so dungeon-crawling is about acquiring means of survival and betterment. The theme of the game is survival and exploration, so the setting leans toward a gritty and dark tone.

Mechanically, Delve2e is more sophisticated that AD&D but less complex than 3e, with a system that’s almost a love child between AD&D and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I like both games, so I found the system appealing.

Character generation is somewhat narrative in that part of it unfolds during initial gameplay. After selecting race and class, followed by determining ability scores and skills through a point-buy system, characters find themselves in media res on a ship breaking apart in the surf off a dangerous island. Why where they aboard ship? Decide now. As for trappings, they only have a few randomly items in their pockets upon washing ashore and that which can be salvaged from a shipwreck. It’s a fun way to begin.

Delve 2e boasts a number of refreshing and noteworthy mechanics. Armour, for example, not only grants an AC bonus but also has its own hit points that can soak the damage. Eventually, armour will be degraded and eventually become useless. Ominously, with the lack of smiths on Cragbarren, armour is hard to come by.

Also adding to the gritty feel is a random timer mechanic used to determine when a light source – candle, torch, or lantern - goes out, and as a result PCs will never know exactly when they will be left in the dark. That adds to the drama and challenge of dungeon-crawling. Nice!

Bartering plays an important role in the game. As there is no civilzation to speak of, coins have little value on Cragbarren, save as a source of metal. Instead, objects have a barter index score based on how useful it is for survivors. Fuel and food, for example, are far more valuable than even the rarest gemstone. For the same reason, crafting and tinkering is more important in Delve 2e than in most FRPGs.

Cragbarren is a compelling setting: a rugged island at the edge of a sea lane used by sailors to avoid a frightening Eldritch Mist. Save for a village of shipwreck survivors, Wreck Haven, the island has no civilization to speak of. What it does have is lots of monsters, ruins, and a compelling backstory that can be uncovered through exploration.

Delve 2e clearly emphasizes low-level play focused on survival, and yet Delve 2e’s greatest weakness is the lack of fully fleshed-out introductory adventure to get one started and assist gamemasters in evoking the theme of the game and its rules. And there was a perfect opportunity to do just that, as shipwrecked characters have to find their way off the beach through a series of caves. Instead, the game presents the journey through the cave complex as a prose tutorial for gamemasters. Its a missed opportunity. Curiously, there is a short adventure in the tome, The City of Stench, but it’s a high-level, campaign capping piece. The lack of introductory scenario is not a gamebreaker by any stretch, and resources are available from the publisher to overcome this challenge, but it is something of an oversight.

In a similar vein, while the bestiary is pretty complete with several dozen monsters, you’ll note that monsters suitable for low-level characters are under-represented. You can make do with what’s there, and certainly the system is easy enough to allow a gamemaster to whip up his own challenges, but again it appears as something of an oversight.

Formatting and layout are well done, and the artwork employed is consistently nice. Delve 2e is a professional-appearing, visually appealing product. Unfortunately, editing is lacking in some areas, and some rule subsets – notably armour degradation through combat – needs to be clearer.

All in all, FeralGamersInc. delivers with Delve2e an enjoyable game that’s full of imaginative ideas and gaming potential. There’s much about the game that I genuinely enjoyed. It feels fresh, with a rule system boasting pared down magic and mechanics to make a survival story practical and a setting that begs for adventure.

If you want to play a fantasy game where survival comes before the heroics, Delve 2e may well be for you.

Ruins of Windtorn Manor is a solid adventure that doesn't disappoint. A few important notes to take into account: Our group is made up of 3 players and 1 GM.
The PC's were all level 3 at the begining of the adventure. The plot hook I used was that the group was assisting a devout follower make a pilgramage, but many plot hooks can be used/created to get the group to the manor. The module was completed in 2 sessions.

This is an edit of a longer review of this product on my website here: https://deathtrap-games.blogspot.com/2020/04/game-review-delve-2e.html

I have updated this review to reflect changes to the product .

Overview

Delve 2e appeared in my "recommended for you" section of DrivethruRPG back in in the middle 2019 and caught my interest thanks to its sales pitch:

You awaken on a beach surrounded by the debris from a wrecked ship, you are not alone as others seem to be also awakening from their ordeal. You had no time to pack and all you have is what is in your pockets or what you can find amongst the wreckage. This begins your adventures on the island of Cragbarren.

It advertised itself as being quick and easy to learn: both high priorities for me.

The Delve 2e is a fantasy game that is a hybrid system between Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer Fantasy. I would say that mechanically it is pretty solid in design, more importantly it has a lot of hackable mechanics that can be hacked into other games.

The theme of the game is survival end exploration, and the setting has a dark tone with a bit of a British Punk aesthetic subtly woven in. Characters start with nothing but a few randomly chosen items in their pockets and salvaged from a shipwreck, and must build or salvage what they need, or barter with NPCs using a system that focuses on the value of an object for survival.

The game reminds me a lot in aesthetic, theme, setting, and art of the video game Path of Exile. Fans of POE will likely find a lot to love about Delve 2e.

Good Points

There are three mechanics in particular in Delve 2e that I found really praiseworthy: Light, Armour and Barter. I am also impressed with the setting.

Light Delve uses a semi-random timer mechanic to detetmine when the lights go out. Lanterns can last anywhere from 40-200 minutes and candles and torches 40-120, and PCs never know exactly when they will be left in the dark. Magical light sources are resource intensive, and no one starts with the ability to see in the dark. The game has a detailed discussion about the problems of using candles as a light source in a way I had not considered before.

I use this tool in almost every game I currently run.

Armour Armour not only grants an AC bonus, but has its own hit points. When characters take damage, they can offload it to their armour, causing the armour to degrade and eventually become useless. This allows characters to make a devil's bargain: "I can avoid getting hurt now, but it will be easier to hurt me later, and repairs will be costly."

I have used this as an inspiration for a houserule in my DCC RPG game.

Barter The survival theme carries over into the game's economics. In the Delve's setting, most of the population are focused on survival in a harsh environment. They don't care about coins, save as a source of metal. Instead of a coin value, most objects have a barter index based on how useful it is for survivors. Oil, fuel, cloth, and rope are far more valuable than a gemstone or jewelled object. The barter system is tied to the crafting and tinkering system in the game. Resources such as wood, bone, stone, hide, cloth, and metal also have a raw value in trade as well as being used in the crafting system.

Setting Cragbarren is a compelling setting: a rugged island at the edge of a sea lane used by sailors to avoid a frightening Eldritch Mist. Having little in valuable resources, surrounded in perilous shoals, and infested by monsters, no larger civilisation has colonized Cragbarren in centuries. Shipwrecks are common enough that a village, Wreck Haven has formed near the island's most perilous beach, but does not signal its presence for fear that orcs or pirates might find it. Survivors have to make their way through a dangerous cave complex to reach the village's lookout.

Once in Wreck Haven, PCs must struggle to make a place for themselves. Dangerous monsters prowl the island, even making it to the last surviving town of the island's native population is a heroic feat. Earning the resources to have the gear necessary for such a trip can last several adventures.

Previously, Delve was bundled with a document entitled The Castaway's Guide to Cragbarren. This book also appears in game as a gift to the PCs, and is meant to be most of the lore available to the inhabitants of Wreck Haven. I am hoping to be able to review it seperately later. Material in the 'Guide is referenced in the Delve 2e Corebook, leaving the reader of the Corebook only feeling like they haven't got the full picture.

Growth Points

Delve is stuffed full to the gills with creativity. From acronymous stat names, to cool art, to a narrative intro to the system unlike anything I've seen elsewhere, to a setting that, even in the small glimpses you get in the core book seems like a fun, punk-rock take on D&D. Unfortunately, Delve 2e's virtues are also its vices. The places where it is most inventive and original are often inconsistently executed, poorly edited, or difficult to use.

File Quality Delve 2e's art is colour and fairly high quality (if sparse) in a style reminiscent of Pathfinder or a video game like Path of Exile. It uses an attractive page template as well. Unfortunately, the file is not well compressed, which makes the otherwise attractive layout a liability. It does not load quickly and often takes a minute or two to load new pages in Adobe Reader for Android. This means turning over more than a few pages at a time leads to long waits. Without a detailed file bookmark system, finding specific material in the book can take ages.

UPDATE Delve 2e has been updated with a printer-friendly version that addresses this complaint. It comes bundled with the purchase

Inconsistent Introductory Experience The book opens strong with compelling fiction that leads into character generation. You read about washing up on the shores of Cragbarren, then use random tables embedded in the narrative to search your pockets for possessions, and salvage goods on the beach.

From there we enter into character generation. The game offers two character creation methods, but walks you partway through one generation method using a point buy system before offering you the option to use a quick creation system that uses rolled attributes instead. The character generation section also has conflicting information about the percentage number for each attribute. Given that the two methods could create radically different power levels of PC, that makes a certain sense, but whether that was intended, rather than a typo, it is unclear.

Once through character generation, the narrative continues, with the PCs as a band of castaways trying to leave the beach and the wreck behind by exploring some caves. This would be a perfect opportunity to teach players the rules of the game by doing. As a built-in tutorial adventure like in the Mentzer boxed set I started playing D&D with, or as an introductory module for new players and GMs alike. Instead, the journey through the cave complex is an example of play with PCs completely unrelated to the PC who was just generated as part of the narrative.

Once the sample characters escape the caves, the narrative returns to the viewpoint of the PC, as if they had just completed the same cave adventure. This is both a confusing shift of perspective and player engagement - and an opportunity lost.

I think that combining a tutorial, character generation, and the introduction of new rules into the game in this narrative fashion has great potential. It could be an exciting and immersive experience. Changing perspectives, switching to passive reading during the first possible action, and switching between PCs and sample characters makes it into a confusing jumble that instead makes for a frustrating read.

Equipment Degradation Because Delve is focused entirely on survival in a place with few resources, it makes sense to have clear rules about equipment being worn, damaged, and degraded over time. However these rules are a mish-mash of mechanics from armour having hit points to weapons having a modifier based on repair, to gear having quality tags. All of which means there are a lot of different moving parts to keep track of, many of which only show up when the player elects for them to, or critical hits or fumbles appear. This needs unification.

Lack of Sample Adventure Delve 2e clearly emphasizes low-level play focused on survival. However, the only fleshed-out adventure location is The City of Stench, which is intended for high-level characters. The manual even suggests that low-level parties will likely experience a TPK while trying to enter the city. The City appears to be a sort of endgame scenario presented as the place PCs will go to find piles of gold and jewels once based in a city that values such things.

Conclusion

Delve 2e is a work of incredible creativity, and does a great job at paring down D&D's magic and mechanics to make a survival story possible, while adding enough to make that survival story viable, and presenting itself with a setting that makes that style of play engaging.

If you want to run a game where the PCs start with nothing, build, salvage and steal everything they have, and where starvation and getting lost in the dark are as lethal enemies as monsters, there are some incredible resources here.

The problem is that this book was an army of one project from a passionate creative mind. Where the ideas are coolest and most original, the game desperately needed some extra eyes and helpful feedback to live up to its full potential. We are rarely critical enough of our own most exciting ideas.

With a little work, I believe Delve could step out from the crowd and shine, especially with sone retooling of the way the game is introduced.

A military game written by authors who don't know the difference betwee a clip and a magazine, as can be noted in the response below!

OK, rant over. A very decent set of rules with terrible editting and a worse layout. Information is scattered around, repeated several times for no good reason, and stats are scattered between multiple charts.

The rules, while good, have an odd video game feel because operators are limited to a certain number of magazines without exception; there's no tracked encumrance worth mentiioning, either in the core rules or in the optional rules, ammunition consumption is abstrated, and your load-out is very limited. If you're looking to play out larger or longer fights, prepare to house rule, because you're limited to three magazines.

Apparently to compensate for the low ammo cap, there is a lot of attention paid to unarmed combat. Because apparently after spending 1.5 million dollars to train a sniper for long-range, you want him to be able to katate-chop the enemy as well. Again, a very superfical first-person-shooter feel to this effort.

Ignore the page count, because while the format is very easy on the eyes, it has very few words per page, lots of blank pages, and quite a few pages of art by people who apparently have only a vague idea of what a firearm looks like.

The setting concept is pretty thin (First World governments are OK with outside military forces killing their citizens within their borders? Silly), but the setting has zero impact on the rules.

If you're not afraid of doing some cutting and pasting, and filling in the rules gap with house rules, this will be a handy book for any setting from WW1 to near-future.

This game has an incredibly cool conceptual idea: the plagues of the 17th and 18th centuries were brought about and documented by the development of Necronomicon and the release of a horrible series of events in Europe and the Middle East. The rich created walled cities and residences to protect themselves while the commoners died. Awesome idea, which is why my rating is two bullets and not one. Then things go really, really bad.

This is one of the most poorly edited and organized games I've had the unfortunate experience to read.

The game begins with a description as a "percentile-dice" driven game and then jumps immediately into using d4, d6, and d8s, with no explanation as to why.

Character development is based on three archetypes, where you have a 80% chance of rolling a Peasant (updated), which makes it very, very unlikely you'll be playing anything but. There are values to be assigned to certain attributes and skills, but nowhere does it explain how or why you'd do this. Ever. (12/31/19 update: There are methods for assignment for each class but they're not easily understood as to how this is done. I stand corrected. The technique to do so still makes little sense.)

There is no example of play included, so understanding how to develop a character, build a story, run an adventure, or understand which dice to use when are completely missing. The game feels as though the developer wrote it for themselves, and most of how to play needs to be put on paper. Simply horrible.

I bought the PDF + softcover copy. I wish there was a way to get my money back. I've returned to Dead of Night, which has a very nicely organized character development system as well as a simple action mechanic that makes Tension an integral part of the game.

Truly unfortunate.

12/31/19 update: I received a reply to my review, appreciate the speediness, but this particularly struck me: "I'm sorry you did not like the game but you can't expect to like everything and this is the nature of small Indie press titles we often don't have the money or resources of big companies like Paizo and WoTC."

No, I certainly cannot expect to enjoy "everything" or every game or game system. I can, though, expect a Preview on DTRPG that gives me more than a timeline (which it does not as of this writing), expect an example of character creation, and expect a simple and/or rough game play example to tie the overall game mechanics together. Shame on me for blowing $30 on a timeline.

As for the excuse that "this is the nature of small Indie press titles we often don't have the money or resources of big companies like Paizo and WoTC"...just stop. Outside of the grammar in that sentence fragment, which is similar to the numerous inconsistencies, misspellings and grammar issues that litter the game text, you DO and SHOULD have or make time for a copy editor and/or series of people to make your text understandable. For example, the timeline has so many interesting events but they're marred by errors that reduce interest and/or comprehensibility.

If your answer to these previous statements is "we don't have the money" or "nobody cares that much about grammar and spelling" then you've lost at least one customer, and I will guess many others. The text on which your system is described is all anyone has to decipher your game. When it's riddled with spelling and grammar errors some will believe the system itself is as sloppy as the language.

As an example of the types of issues that pervade the game text, which is it? FeralGames or FeralGamersInc? Your logo to the left of my review says one thing but your Publishers reference says another. Enthusiasm isn't a substitute for consistency.

I'm not really a fan of the mixing of mechanics and meta-concept (playing as lost souls) here. I think each element would be stronger if it were stand-alone. But each element does still have merits. For someone really willing to commit to both this could be an excellent product.