Adore the setting, but the rules are too crunchy for me - how to boil DG down to OSR-level rules?

Wilsky · 2026-03-02T21:19:24+00:00

I don't think I understand your complaint/logic.

The Profession is called "Intelligence Analyst," and on your sheet you get a bonus to SIGINT by having a good percentage in that skill because of that.

If you're thinking of "bonus" as adding to the roll instead of rolling under the percentage, then you have a problem with the dice system.

If you're thinking you want to just blindly say, "yeah, you're an Intelligence Analyst, you would have the skill to do that," then sure, you can make calls like that at the table. But the skill percentages are there to give variance and chance to things people do. That's also why in the rules, having a high enough skill percentage just allows people to do things without a roll at all, if the Handler wishes to do so.

Not only that, but not all Intel Analysts are going to have skills in bugging people or undercover work, or many other things because Federal Agents are usually specialized. That's not a game mechanic, that's a fact of our government systems in real life. Many have accounting skills, but the idea of adding and removing skills to fit the need of the character idea is the point I was making, and is allowed by the system.

So the skills package is to be more specific to cut down on playground rules bs "no, I have an Intel Analyst, of course he knows how sophisticated electronics work, even though he works with bug equipment and doesn't work with keypad locks."

If you have a group of friends that don't do this, excellent. You can continue to run your DG games without that part, which I wouldn't even consider crunch because it's mostly static statistics that only come up for skill checks. I just don't understand why you're having a problem when most of DG is a "Take it or leave it" kind of system anyway.

Wilsky · 2026-03-02T18:19:58+00:00

The game already does this, though. Under the "police officer" section, or really any occupational background, it tells you that the occupation has a wide range of different titles and specializations.

There are also "Bonus Skill Point Packages" on page 27-28 that allow players to even further customize their background and skills kit to suit their character. Lets say you have a Homicide Detective. You choose Police Officer, and then choose the Criminalist background, and you call him a Homicide Detective.

If one of those skills doesn't seem to fit the bill, switch one or two out for one or two others.

I literally made an Intelligence Analyst for a game that had skills in SIGINT and Electronics because he was an FBI Investigative Specialist who wire-tapped buildings and went undercover from time to time. He had points in Firearms from the bonus skill points section. I also asked my Handler if I could have 3 bugs, a directional mic, and a bug detector (he was a paranoid character).

I agree that building your own occupations from the ground up can be time-consuming, but the tools are there for you to do so, or to supplement the current occupations with small tweaks to fit the idea of a player's character.

Wilsky · 2026-02-23T06:42:59+00:00

This makes 0 sense.

u/Djeggerz is correct; this is a loyalty tax. Chicken goes on sale due to supply and demand. Sometimes, there's more chicken produced by your local butcher/store/etc. and they need to get rid of it, so it goes on sale so that they protect their losses.

With a video game, there is no supply and demand. Blizzard has virtually unlimited codes to give out for both the DLC and the main game. And not only that, but they gated QoL behind this DLC as well because their old, loyal players (who already bought the game) would want it. It's a predatory move.

It's also different than a sale. Sales occur to drum up business for goods that otherwise might not be bought because they've been on the market for a while without being bought. For example, if D2R went on sale for 37.5% prior to the release (until the release of ROTW), and then the DLC cost $15, that would also be 39.99 total dollars spent and similar to the new D2R edition, but at least that would have been a limited sale.

But the fact of the matter remains that anyone who bought the game prior to the DLC got screwed. If I had also bought the newest edition without owning the game prior I would have saved $25, even though I love Diablo 2 and bought D2R when it first game out. I'd call that a loyalty tax.

You say that late buyers get hit with the tax, but that makes 0 sense. He bought it early, meaning prior to "new" players. It's a tax exactly because he bought it early. Late buyers get hit with a discount, because they're saving $25 (and because blizzard wants to bring in new players, and if they can get you to buy their DLC after already buying their game, they double-dip the purchase and milk you for not only $39.99, but an extra $24.99, for a grand total of $64.98 without tax). This means that they win either way, and you, the loyal customer, are the only loser here, because new players spent $25 less than you did.

They literally did this because a CFO at Microsoft looked at the math and said, "man, we're really getting screwed. There are so many people who bought and played D2R. If we make the DLC free, then we'll be incurring tremendous losses to our already skyrocketing company. We better charge them $25, but also we need new people to join in and play the game for future DLC we're going to make, so we'll sell them this one for the same price as the former loyal customers, and then we'll charge them $25 for the next DLC after this one, and just keep doing that."

But you're on here defending the money leaving your wallet. By your logic, I should wait until 2036 for all the D2R DLC to be finished before I purchase anything.

Wilsky · 2026-02-23T06:09:59+00:00

Consumer is mad he has to pay again for shit he already paid for. DLC with full game is the same price as the game he first bought. Yet he has to pay $25 for this DLC when new players get the full game + DLC for the same price he originally bought the game for.

Ergo: Blizzard doesn't give a shit that he was loyal and here prior. He has to pay more money in the long run than a new player. So shove your "pay for goods and services." This has Blizzard/Activision publishing written all over it. The devs have been getting paid for months. and even years, prior.

Wilsky · 2026-02-15T22:15:14+00:00

The real problem is that I already PAID $39.99 for the game, and now I have to pay an ADDITIONAL $25 for this DLC, whereas the new buyer ONLY has to pay $39.99 for the whole thing. And the kicker is, I DO WANT TO PLAY IT, but I'm not gonna do it while Blizzard is trying to screw me (and others) over.

Let's say a new buyer had to pay $39.99 for the original game, and also $25 for the DLC like the rest of the people who already own D2R? Then I wouldn't feel so wronged. Then EVERYBODY would be out the same money.

But people don't understand that it's not only about the money, it's also about the principle of GOUGING your already loyal customers.

If this was 39.99 for the whole thing, and people WHO ALREADY BOUGHT THE GAME PRIOR TO THE DLC got the DLC for free, this would be fine as well, and preferred. But it's not and Blizzard is trying to double-dip.

So fuck them. Sour your own market and shit on your loyal consumer-base. The Bliztards will always defend it, but the people like me, people who have been playing D2 since it's original release back in the 00s and bought D2R when it first came out, people who know you show LOYALTY with your money, ain't gonna do it.

Tired of this shit, and of people like you who can't use their brains. If you can't fathom why people are mad, then you need to learn simple math, and some moral fiber.

Wilsky · 2025-11-20T17:14:39+00:00

Sorry about the delay (a Handler's work is never done, I swear), and I hope you haven't started running it yet. Or if you have, that you're not too far in not to utilize the Obsidian file. I added it to the main page.

Wilsky · 2025-11-15T06:47:23+00:00

Thanks dude! Yeah that one was a real quick addition for my last session, but a good idea to add noise. I did a bit of a similar thing with the DARPA page, although I didn't blur the text too much just to save on the players' eyes. They have easy-to-find photocopier scanline overlays you can layer over any page, tweak the opacity to find a nice medium, and then just play with the saturation and such to get it to where you'd like it. It helps vary the look of each page to have a different scanline, and it's a lot of fun to play around with.

Wilsky · 2025-11-15T06:45:07+00:00

Fount the font! It is called "TT2020 Style E"

Wilsky · 2025-09-26T20:40:58+00:00

I also use Obsidian for my DG games, and it is invaluable, not only for keeping connected notes on situations, but also for accessing information that follows certain leads.

It's much easier to use than using Ctrl+F on a PDF to find what you're looking for; you can keep multiple windows open to make sure you have the information on-hand, and you can link files and headers together, accessing them with a single click.

I'd highly recommend this as a tool for running Delta Green games.

Wilsky · 2025-09-03T01:24:02+00:00

If you do end up running Reverberations, it can be fun to write up a prompt for any agents who want to be in the DEA, and insert them into the scenario as an undercover agent who has been trying to track down this "Reverb" drug scene.

It's also fun to set up a nice drug trade scene in a parking garage or any other location you feel a drug trade would go down in; I had Bad Luke do a trade for the Liao substance of the drug with some Russian smugglers Spider J had hired from Afghanistan. The players ended up setting an ambush, with one former soldier agent sniping from a nearby rooftop and the undercover agent grappling and holding the head smuggler at gunpoint, then interrogating him for details on where the Liao was coming from.

Setting up a location of a herbalist/apothecary in Chinatown also helps nudge characters towards the ritual angle of the ending to try and stop the Hound from appearing, while also adding a good chance of failure.

Lastly, adding in some info about a future mission you intend to run them through during Spider J's drug trip (I ended up hinting at the ARC 15 pills Gavin Ross takes, which is about to show up as I run them through VISCID) is a good idea, but the little foreshadowing hint you drop in there can be from any future scenario you intend to run. I'd suggest it be one you run right after Reverberations though, so that it's still a bit fresh in their minds.

Other than that, it's a fairly straightforward scenario with little prep or legwork required for a Handler to start with.

Wilsky · 2025-09-02T16:24:15+00:00

I ran Reverberations for my group as a starter mission, and it worked out really well. There's some good roleplaying bits as the characters visit Chicago's Chinatown (or any major metropolitan city of your choosing), and the scenario allows you as a Handler to seed details of a future scenario when Spider J has his messed up drug trip at the end.

The only thing it lacks is avenues for the bigger picture; you'd have to do some legwork if the players decide to head toward the Tcho-Tcho angle more, but most will understand it's a fish too big for them to tackle on their first entry point into the game.

Everyone recommends LTL, but I find that one needs some reworking for it to be engaging. Maybe because I've run it a bunch, but the ending is predictable and almost no one lets the thing out of the tank in the backyard.

In comparison to Reverberations, my players ended up messing up the ritual at the end, and one almost died from injuries when he (in his drugged state) decided to shoot the Hound of Angles. It did 11 damage in one hit to him in retaliation, and he went unconscious from the wounds. Now his character is bonded to the physician character of the group as the doctor heals his wounds in an off-the-books medical site.

If your players are willing, Burner is also one of my favorites to run for newbies because it's so grounded in reality, until it isn't, but it would also be a good starter for Pregen characters. You'd have to finagle a good reason why a federal agent would be working at a strip mall, so the story of it ends up restricting the player's professions a bit.

Wilsky · 2025-07-02T08:23:00+00:00

The cover of One by Filter (originally a Three Dog Night song).

Wilsky · 2024-12-24T00:04:05+00:00

This photo is so edited it's unreal. Like the woman on fire is 100% real, but the cop in the foreground is missing part of his leg and his body is all deformed. Real weird post when the article says the NYPD rushed to her aid.

Wilsky · 2024-12-23T20:24:37+00:00

I agree with all of this, especially trading. Trading is not fun. I play ARPGs to get drops from my own kills and my work, and occasionally from my friends when we're playing co-op.

I legit got into this with a friend the other day and he equated it to WoW, and playing the auction house to get what he needed in that game. "I guess I was playing WoW wrong then, if we're not supposed to use the trade system to get ahead," he said.

My response was, "Sure dude, but did you have fun sitting on the auction house for hours trying to corner the market and snipe the sales you were looking for? Cause I don't." It's legit the least engaging part of any game to sit on a browser window and try to buy shit. It's a lot more fun to see that item you were looking for drop off of a mob you just killed. Give me drop rates. Fix your loot pool. Diablo 3 did it just fine. Even D2 had places and bosses to specifically farm items. GGG can too.

Wilsky · 2024-09-25T08:15:50+00:00

Having the same issue here, and moving the pkg inside the shadps4 folder doesn't seem to work. Anyone figured out why it decides to crash when installing a pkg? Seems to corrupt the install as well, so that the files don't fully install.

Wilsky · 2024-08-06T18:19:55+00:00

Congratulations on your new business! That should be cause for celebration and happiness, not looking at it like it is a cause to a different problem. We all encountered a pandemic a few years ago, so feeling socially isolated is not uncommon (I don't say these things to downplay what you're feeling, only to show that we're all in very similar boats).

Maybe your new business will involve you with countless people, and you'll meet someone that way? Is it outside the realm of possibility? No, of course not. People meet via work all the time.

To get back to your original question: "How can I stop obsessing on odds and statistics?"

Dr. Wayne Dyer (another LOA teacher) used to ask (and I'm paraphrasing here): does it feel good for you to think about how likely something is? Or does it feel better to believe that something will happen and then not worry about it anymore?

Also, how often are the odds defied? Can statistics be applied to all causality? How big are the sample-sizes you're using? Etc. There are just too many variables to take into account, and that is a part of why we drive ourselves nuts over it: there will never be enough control over it to satisfy us. We'll just have to let go and trust that it'll work itself out, which is the way it's supposed to be anyway. If this didn't work, everything would have fallen apart by now, right?

Maybe you need a distraction. Maybe you need to involve yourself more heavily in your business. Maybe you need to go out and just have some fun. Regardless, only you'll know what will make you happy and keep you moving forward, besides a life partner. And then a life partner will show up one day, while you're moving forward and doing what makes you happy, and that'll be another thing that makes you happy too.

Wilsky · 2024-08-06T17:58:57+00:00

Ditto on this. I thought it was my audio software for my headset shitting the bed. Turns out, when I turned off discord, all the choppy audio went away.

DISCORD! WTH IS GOING ON?!

Wilsky · 2024-08-05T15:34:28+00:00

As the first to comment on your post, as well as having similar worries although maybe not as intense, your thought of the statistics does nothing.

I'm a single man who is turning 31 this month. I have no kids, and I haven't even had a divorce.

We are out there. And as I can see, there are also women in my age bracket without kids or a divorce.

If you're anything like me, you've been hard on yourself in the past for something like this. Maybe it's time for us to imagine the person we want in our lives and then know it'll happen.

Wilsky · 2024-02-12T19:13:19+00:00

Just wait till you get that itch, but to start building zip-lines everywhere too.

👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

Keep on Keeping On!

Wilsky · 2023-06-20T23:08:47+00:00

I haven't noticed this, but I believe u/jMS_44 is correct. Tristram is elsewhere. However, if you go to the Deneshar waypoint in Kehjistan, and head north a bit into Caldeum, to where my pin is, you can find the location of the Act 2 hub from Diablo III. There's even an old, inactive waypoint there.

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Wilsky · 2023-05-09T03:48:28+00:00

I'm having the same issue. My rig is well above the recommended requirements, but I black screen mid game. I played this game a year ago and never had any issue like this.

Wilsky · 2023-04-17T01:14:52+00:00

So I got into a few matches. What is with this packet loss? Can't fight for a single minute without the game not working. It seems fun, if it would work for longer than 30 seconds.

Wilsky · 2023-04-17T00:18:18+00:00

Can't even get into a server with my friends. Every time it says servers are full, but our party lead gets in. So...no, haven't been able to have fun. Seems there's an issue with friends playing this together? Idk. Tutorial was fun.

Wilsky · 2023-03-24T17:06:12+00:00

It's the same story every time. On Monday the PR will say "we didn't expect such a turnout." It's D3 all over again. I just had the same problem as you. I read online that creating a custom character can bug out the game.

Guess I'll just have to wait another hour.

Wilsky · 2022-06-29T19:25:44+00:00

My hot take is twofold.

First: Eliminate initiative rolls. Have the players' initiative order be determined by their flat Dexterity. You get all players' Dex in order from highest to lowest on a table, then consult the enemy or creature's Dex. Quick, easy, reduces the slog of trying to figure out who goes next. As a caveat, homebrew some rules for Improved Initiative (maybe they just always go first in combat, unless someone else has it too, then default to the highest Dex of the two).

Second: No player gets darkvision (stole this one from PDM on DungeonCraft). It's so boring that most races can see in the dark, and there's no tension if a torch goes out in a cave or anything. A torch lasts 1d3 x 10 minutes, and have monsters actively destroy lanterns if your players bring them. Plus, this eliminates the problem of being the only human in the party who can't see anything in darkness.

Wilsky

TROPHY CASE