CAIN vs Delta Green
Compare CAIN and Delta Green side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| CAIN | Delta Green | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Tags | Anime, Character-Driven, Corruption, Deadly, Fiction-First, Investigation, Mission-Based, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Theater of the Mind | Investigation, Mission-Based, Character-Driven, Deadly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Skill-Based, Espionage, Gritty, Weird, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6s from a skill rated 0–3 plus up to +3D of ordinary advantages; each 4+ is a success, and one success achieves the goal. The Admin judges difficulty and risk separately, so a roll can be both hard and risky. A hard roll scores successes only on 6s. A risky roll adds the Admin's risk die, which sets how much better or worse the outcome goes. A straight roll omits that die. Complex tasks use talismans, segmented trackers that take one slash per success. | Roll d100 at or below a skill percentage or a statistic multiplied by five. Successful doubles and 01 are critical successes; failed doubles and 100 are fumbles. In opposed tests, a critical beats an ordinary success, then the higher successful roll wins. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d100 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creator-published permission for original supplementary content | Noncommercial only — Publisher fan-content guidelines |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | CHASM | Arc Dream Publishing |
| Year | 2024 | 2016 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Polish, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want short monster-of-the-week campaigns where uncovering a sin's traumas makes the final confrontation easier. It suits tables ready to handle abuse, self-harm, and trauma themes with characters treated as expendable weapons. | Groups who want modern investigative horror built around dangerous assignments and the relationships agents sacrifice to keep their work secret. |
| Highlights | Each trauma question answered during investigation can be invoked once in the final fight to reduce stress and slash the sin's execution talisman. Exorcists can pay for powers with 1d3 sin instead of scarce psyche bursts, a shortcut that builds toward overflow, mutation, or becoming an enemy Imago. Every rest raises pressure, and each pressure tick lengthens the sin's execution talisman, making recovery a direct trade against the final fight. | Expertise can reveal clues without a roll when agents have time to investigate. Bonds let agents reduce sanity loss by damaging relationships they depend on. The core pair provides threat-building procedures and a complete operation with pacing tools and several possible outcomes. |
| Considerations | Investigations engage with abuse, self-harm, trauma, and mental health crises, so the book directs the Admin to discuss intentions and boundaries with players beforehand. Harm taken with three injuries, or 7 or more stress from one event after reductions, causes instant death unless the exorcist defies fate and suffers sin overflow instead. The author expects campaigns of about ten sessions or fewer, and Category advancement reaches its normal cap after seven missions survived. | Combat can kill an agent abruptly or leave permanent injuries. Sanity loss can force behavior outside the player’s control. Handlers must prepare the mystery and judge what evidence the agents can uncover. |