Delta Green and Drones

    

This blog post is a companion piece to the article “Military grade AI, the Mythos and Delta Green.” 

Statistics and rules for robots/drones/slaughterbots for use in the TTRPG Delta Green will follow. Please note, these stat blocks are somewhat bare so that Handlers can use them as templates for their own creations.  Special thanks to magnificentophat, Duke Spookum, Splizwarf and Anonymous on the Night at the Opera discord for discussions and ideas.

How to Handle Robots in Delta Green

Using the vehicle rules in the Agents Handbook on page 95 as a basis, we suggest the following rules for robots, drones or slaughterbots.    

A robot takes damage from unarmed attacks and small weapons only when the Game Master thinks it makes sense. For example, an unarmed attack on a robot may do no damage (punching the metal chassis) or some damage (slamming the robot into a brick wall).  

A robot that loses half of it Hit Points is badly damaged and suffers a -20% to all rolls.  If a robot loses all its HP, it is demolished.

An Agent or NPC may substitute their Pilot (Drone) skill for the skills that a robot is programmed with. 

Optional Lethality rules for Robots: Robots can be very lethal in combat if equipped with the firearms or heavy weapons found in the Agents Handbook on page 97. One way to moderate constant lethality attacks against players is to give robots a fixed number of lethality bursts that can be spent in combat. Try giving the robots described below three lethality bursts each. 

Optional ideas for limiting Robot capability: It is possible that the robots are programmed to respond to a specific visual symbol or QR code.  Contact with the symbol may make the robot stop, avoid an area or lower its defenses.  Alternatively having a lanyard ID (for example one from March Tech) may instruct the robot to ignore, escort or cease offensive action against a target.

Quadcopter: Quadcopters come in two flavors: civilian and military

Civilian Quadcopter:  

HP: 1

Armor: 0

Flying Speed: Fast

Weapon Systems: (Optional) Improvised explosive device (IED)

Skills: Demolitions (Deliver IED): 70%, Dodge: 50%, Athletics (Fly): 50% 

Base Range: N/A

Damage: N/A

Lethality: 15%

Kill Radius: 10m

Ammo Capacity: 1

Armor Piercing: N/A

Special Rules: Successful delivery of the IED destroy the civilian quadcopter.  Quadcopter is -20% to hit because it is small.  If the quadcopter only moves during a turn or spends a turn juking in an area, all attacks on it are -40% to hit.  

Military Quadcopter: 

As above, with the following changes.

HP: 5

Armor: 3

Flying Speed: Average

Weapon Systems: Hand Grenade

Skills: Athletics (Throw Grenade): 70%, 

Base Range: 20 m

Damage: N/A

Lethality: 15%

Kill Radius: 10m

Ammo Capacity: 1

Armor Piercing: N/A

Special Rules: The military quadcopter throws the hand grenade. It doesn’t just crash into the target as a suicide drone.  The military quadcopter may be reloaded with an explosive device by a technician.

Spot: These drones appear dog-like and come in civilian and military versions.

Civilian Spot:

HP: 10

Armor: 0

Land Speed: Average, can climb stairs

Weapon Systems: none

Skill: Dodge: 50%, Athletics: 50% 

Military Spot: 

As above, with the following changes.

HP: 15

Armor: 5

Land Speed: Slow, can climb stairs

Weapon Systems: Light Rifle 

Skills: Firearms: 50%, Dodge: 50%, Athletics: 50%   

Base Range: 100m

Damage: 1d12

Lethality: 10%

Ammo Capacity: 30

Armor Piercing: 3

Special Rules: Military Spot can carry out Suppression (p.57 of Agents Handbook) using the option rule: Suppression Without a Kill Radius (p.58 of AH). However, Military Spot must spend one turn to hunker down and brace itself by not moving before it can attempt Suppression with its Light Rifle. 

Note: An example of a rifle firing remotely from the back of a drone dog can be viewed here.

Slaughterbot: I imagine one iteration of slaughterbots would likely look like Boston Dynamics’ BigDog, but quieter and with ports that could accept a variety of military firearms for ease of deployment. These drones are about the size of a large horse.

Slaughterbot ‘Trident’: Armed with three light rifles able to be rotated in complete 360-degree arcs. 

HP: 20

Armor: 6

Surface Speed: Slow, can climb stairs

Weapon Systems: 3 Light Rifles. 

Skills: Firearms: 50%, Dodge: 20%, Athletics: 50% 

Base Range: 100m.

Damage: 1d12

Lethality: 10%

Ammo Capacity: 30 per Light Rifle

Armor Piercing: 3

Special Rules: Light Rifles can be removed from Trident for a human’s use or replaced on the Trident by spending one turn on the action.

The Trident can carry out Suppression (p.57 of Agents Handbook) using the option rule: Suppression Without a Kill Radius (p.58 of AH). However, the Trident must spend one turn to hunker down and brace itself by not moving before it can attempt Suppression with any of its Light Rifles.

Slaughterbot ‘Groundclearer’: An assault weapons platform with a minigun affixed to a single rotating turret.  

As above, with the following changes.

Weapon Systems: Minigun

Skills: Heavy Weapons: 50%, Dodge: 20%, Athletics: 50%

Base Range: 300m.

Lethality: 20%

Kill Radius: Long Spray

Ammo Capacity: 4,000

Armor Piercing: 5

Special Rules: Minigun may not be removed from the Groundclearer without tools and about 15 minutes of work.

The Groundclearer can carry out Suppression (p.57 of Agents Handbook), however, the Groundclearer must spend one turn to hunker down and brace itself by not moving before it can attempt Suppression with its Minigun.

Mini Tank: This drone is modeled after the Russian Uran-9 unmanned combat ground vehicle.

HP: 80

Armor: 15

Surface Speed: Slow

Weapon Systems: Autocannon, Artillery

Autocannon

Skills: Heavy Weapons: 70%

Base Range: 400m

Lethality: 30%

Kill Radius: 3m

Ammo Capacity: 100 

Armor Piercing: 5

Artillery

Skills: Artillery: 70%

Base Range: 5 km

Lethality: 50%

Kill Radius: 100m

Ammo Capacity: 4 – 10 (there are 10 in the picture) 

Armor Piercing: 10

Special Rules: The Mini Tank is considered to have military-grade night vision goggles. This allows operating in reduced light conditions. Unlike human wearers of military-grade night vision goggles, the Mini Tank does not suffer a -20% penalty to alertness when finely detailed perception is required.  

Further Reading

For an interesting discussion on Russian unmanned military systems and AI, try this episode of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast. 

For an example of air and ground drones working in sync for security, visit the Asylon Robotics website.