Delta Green vs Shadow of the Demon Lord
Compare Delta Green and Shadow of the Demon Lord side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Delta Green | Shadow of the Demon Lord | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Fantasy, Horror |
| Play Style | Investigation, Deadly, Roleplay-Heavy, Character-Driven, Gritty | Dark Fantasy, Grimdark, Fast Sessions, Beginner-Friendly, GM-Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 under your skill percentage to succeed. Matched doubles (11, 22, etc.) are critical successes or failures. Six stats (STR, CON, DEX, INT, POW, CHA) derived from percentile rolls. Bonds represent personal relationships and can be damaged as agents lose SAN. Sanity tracks Breaking Points — cross enough and you develop disorders. | Roll d20 + modifier vs. target number 10. Boons and banes (d6s) add or subtract from the roll, canceling each other out. |
| Dice | d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Community | Medium | Medium |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Forbidden Rules SRD |
| Cost | Free (Need to Know) / $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Arc Dream Publishing | Schwalb Entertainment |
| Year | 2016 | 2015 |
| Best For | Groups who want modern-day investigative horror where federal agents sacrifice everything — careers, relationships, sanity — to protect humanity from threats that should not exist. | Groups who want fast, dark fantasy with streamlined d20 mechanics and a sense of impending doom. |
| Highlights | Bonds and sanity mechanics create personal drama, Need to Know quickstart is free and complete, strong atmospheric design, profession-based characters feel grounded, well-regarded published scenarios | Fast character creation, quick sessions, single boon/bane mechanic replaces most modifiers, 11 levels keep campaigns short |
| Considerations | Dense investigative scenarios require significant GM prep, limited character advancement between operations, bond deterioration can feel mechanically punishing, SAN loss mechanics can remove player agency | Dark horror tone limits genre range, setting tightly coupled to core rules |