Alternative Rules for Psychics in The Fall of Delta Green, Part II

By Jason Kraus

Manipulating an opponent’s mind from within is much more difficult than lashing out with a telekinetic punch or willing the evidence in an interrogator’s hands to burst into flame. It is the dream of every special agent, spy, and clandestine operator to control the way an opponent thinks and feels, experiences reality, or even what action they “choose” to take.

Luckily, a select few Delta Green agents in the era of The Fall can learn Paranormal Abilities they can use on their adversaries, be they human or otherwise.

Developing these skills can be costly. The process of rooting around inside another being’s mind, of fishing through their darkest secrets and secret motivations, can lead to useful insights under ideal circumstances… but these insights into the true nature of the species are ones that most people would be perfectly happy not knowing. After all, it’s one thing to think people are a certain way, another thing entirely to know it as fact.

Even more disturbing is the experience of plumbing the psychological depths of entities not entirely human. Deep Ones, Tcho-Tcho, Xin sorcerers, cultists – the minds of such as these are a perilous wasteland of cruelty and depravity, and that experience does not leave a rational person unaffected.

Nevertheless, the agents of Delta Green do the hard things in part so that others never have to. They know the risks (rarely), they accept the danger (unknowingly), and they are fully prepared (hardly). Below are a few more tools for the intrepid paranormal agent’s toolbox.

Power Use

As described in the previous article, each use of a Paranormal Power requires a Diff 4 Health Test + Power Cost + Level of Power + Any Additional Modifiers (below). The psychic can spend any number of Paranormal Ability Points and/or Stability Points to improve their roll. If the roll is less than the Difficulty, the psychic takes that much Health damage. If the roll is more than the Difficulty, the psychic takes no damage. Either way, the power takes effect per its description.

The rules for “Unlocking a New Psychic Ability,” “Stability Spends,” and “Psychic Duel” remain the same as described in the previous article.

Telepathic Paranormal Powers

Telepathy (two-point power) – The ability to read a target’s mind, from surface thoughts to darkest secrets. The target can resist if they are psychic or otherwise aware that their mind is being penetrated. Must have eye contact with the target to use Telepathy.

Hallucinate (three-point power) – The ability to implant a completely lifelike sensual hallucination (typically, visual or auditory) in the target’s mind. Line-of-sight to the target is necessary.

Emotion Control (three-point power) – The ability to directly manipulate a target’s emotional state. Unless the target is already aware a psychic is manipulating them, they remain unaware as this power takes effect. Line-of-sight to the target is necessary.

Puppet* (three-point power) – The ability to directly control a target’s physical actions. Line-of-sight to the target is necessary.

*The target is aware that their body is being puppeted by an outside force, unless the psychic is particularly savvy or dominating. As such, using this power against a target without their knowledge or memory costs an additional +1 point at every level.

Using Telepathic Powers Against Nonhuman Minds

Using telepathic powers against a nonhuman mind is fraught and the results are likely to be painful, even deadly. Increase the Difficulty roll by +2.

Paranormal Power (Cost)	Cost Level One (1)	Cost Level Two (2)	Cost Level Three (3)
Telepathy (2)	Surface thoughts, feelings, or intentions	Deep schemes or secret intelligence	Darkest secrets
Hallucinate (3)	Minor, momentary sensual distraction	Major 20-second sensual hallucination	Terrifying or awe-inspiring life-changing event
Emotion Control (3)	Small amplification. Happiness to Glee, Sadness to Sorrow	Minor shift. Joy to Sadness, Depression to Motivation	Complete opposite. Hate to Love, Loyalty to Treason
Puppet* (3)	Nudge a target to take a forgettable action that causes them no harm	Force target to take action it is opposed to but does not cause target harm	Dominate target’s will over even self-preservation

Examples of use in play

Example 1: Separated from his team during an ambush, MACV-SOG psychic Miles sees an NVA platoon approach his hiding place in the tall grass. Waiting for the right moment, he locks eyes with the capped officer in charge and shifts the man’s emotional state from eagerness to terror. The Difficulty is 10 (Diff 4 + Emotion Control which is a 3-point power, used at level 3). Miles uses 3 Paranormal Ability Points and rolls a 4 for a total of 7. He coughs up blood from the loss of 3 Health but the officer screams. Simultaneously, Miles sees a snarling fifty-foot-tall ape crash through the jungle toward the NVA men, sending them running for their lives. A moment later, Miles feels Lam’s strong arms help him to his feet. “Even NVA have seen Kong,” the psychic ARVN Lieutenant smiles, despite his bloody nose.

Example 2: Mina glares at the heavy iron door of her prison in Lubyanka’s basement. It won’t take long for KGB apparatchiks to determine who she really is and then her only exit out of here is via the morgue. She calls for the guard and the scowling woman is foolish enough to open the narrow hatch that lets her see in. Mina locks eyes with her and uses 4 Paranormal Points and 2 Stability to Puppet the guard. The Difficulty is 10 (Diff 4 + Puppet which is a 3-point power, used at level 2, and leaving no memory of the event +1) and Mina rolls a 5 for a total of 11. Mina pilots the guard to open the door, enter, and exchange clothes with her. Thirty seconds later and with a locked prison door behind her, Mina is grateful the KGB didn’t blindfold her when they walked her in.

Example 3: Delta Green psychic Trey and SV-8 sorcerer-psychic Gromolko spy one another in the neon glow across crowded Patpong Road. Not one to wait, Trey launches a telepathic attack against his archenemy. Gromolko counters and they lock minds in a Psychic Duel. Trey spends 3 Paranormal Points plus 1 Stability and rolls a 3 for a total of 7. Gromolko also reveals a 7. It’s a draw and the second round begins. Trey uses 3 more Paranormal Points and 1 Stability and rolls a 2 for a total of 6. Gromolko reveals an 8 and Trey feels a terrible ringing in his ears as he suffers 2 points of Health damage. For the duel’s final round, Trey uses his last Paranormal Point, 4 Stability, and rolls a 3 for a total of 8. Powered by the +1 bonus for winning the last round, Gromolko reveals a 9, causing Trey 1 more point of damage and winning the duel. As if trying to catch smoke in his hand, the Delta Green psychic realizes what just happened. Instead of learning the location of the SV-8 safehouse in Bangkok from Gromolko, the SV-8 colonel has instead stolen the location of the Delta Green safehouse from Trey’s mind. Not one to wait, Trey draws his Colt M1911A1 and charges.

Example 4: Exhausted and trapped on a Paris roof by a Bone Lotus Society assassin, Delta Green telepath Felix knew his time was up. Desperate to discover the identity of the Xin order’s Master, Felix tries to rip the name from the assassin’s mind. The difficulty number is a massive 11 (Diff 4 + Telepathy which is a 2-point power, used at level 3, against a nonhuman mind +2). Felix puts everything into it and spends his last Paranormal Ability point, his last 4 Stability, and rolls a 2, for a total of 7. The effort causes 4 Health damage but the kick off the roof’s edge by the assassin makes all that moot as gravity seals Felix’s fate. Witnesses on the ground will later report to Delta Green investigators that as he fell, Felix roared “It’s Ambassador Bradley!”