Kult

[Silva]

Anyone here playing this? Just finished reading the new edition and oh boy, shit is fucking awesome. Where was I all this time that didn't know it?

A god that vanishes giving a big FUCK YOU to the universe, leaving behind 10 badass angels and their 10 dark counterparts to an all-out war for reality. Each with their own army/followers/cults and machinations for players to get entangled with as they wish, even becoming embodiments of those angels if they want (maybe even unwittingly).

- Crazy cosmology that taps into real Gnostic myth ? Check.
- Badass opponents to be shot in the face in bloodbaths to the tune of heavy metal in the background? Check.
- Fucked up protagonists with dark secrets and evocative abilities (sometimes supernatural!*) ? Check.
- A Constantine movie -like underground of intrigue full of supernatural movers & shakers? Check.

I'm in love.

*my favorite ability so far is the crazy chick archetype madness which allows her to arrive at any place in a couple minutes, even blindfolded or if the destination is kilometers away (which is countered by her Stability being handicapped so she is always on the brink of mental breakdown).

(Lithium Flower my nigga, check this out, it's a PbtA tweak)

 

[Lithium Flower]

That sounds like it should be right up my gastrointestinal tract on paper, but wow are all the typos on the official site off-putting. How is the actual book?

 

[Silva]

That sounds like it should be right up my gastrointestinal tract on paper, but wow are all the typos on the official site off-putting. How is the actual book?

The book is one of the most beautiful I've hold in my hands. I was at a friend's place when he produced this in the interval of our monthly Mansions of Madness, and proceeded to explain the setting while we eat pizza. I was instantly in love, and I'm not even a big fan of horror.

The game central theme is tearing down the illusion made by the "Demiurge" and it's angels imprisoning us, to see the world in it's true form and unshackle our divine self. It's Matrix + Constantine + Hellraiser, the game.

I've just started brewing some playbooks for the 20 existing archetypes (weirdly the authors decided to go with standard charsheets). Check those moves out - I liked the Elite Sport, Fencing myself :

Front

Spoiler

Back

Spoiler

 

[Azalin]

Take note that Kult is adult oriented(unless they really changed it compared to the older editions that I read in the past),more than most rpgs you will find out there.I doubt it though because that would remove one of the main characteristics of the game/setting


I remember I found a quickstart for the new edition somewhere,I should give a read some time

 

[True Ukrainian]

Is this linked to the Kult Heretic Kingdoms CRPG that come out some years ago?

 

[spectre]

Is this linked to the Kult Heretic Kingdoms CRPG that come out some years ago?

Not really. Kult a contemporary urban horror setting from the early 1990s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kult_(role-playing_game)

 

[hexer]

I haven't played it yet but I just recently started reading it too.
We need more RPGs like that, I'm putting elves and dwarves on hold for some time

 

[FritzedProcess]

Anyone here playing this? Just finished reading the new edition and oh boy, shit is fucking awesome. Where was I all this time that didn't know it?(Lithium Flower my nigga, check this out, it's a PbtA tweak)

I'm glad that you liked it. In hindsight, and after reviewing the 1st and 2nd editions, this is the one where they have their shit together the most (1st edition especially was all over the place with the setting, which was very inconsistent, and the gun porn, which clashes with the theme, but the 90s were THE time for edgy games). There are some illustrations that were recycled from the 1st edition (1st edition had some full color sections with really good illustrations, 2nd edition was full b/w, so you won't find any of that in 4th ed), and the aesthetics are really good.

The same original dudes (Target Games, not involved in the latest Kult edition) also made another game in the early 90s, "Mutant Chronicles", which also had a 3rd edition made by Modiphius two or three years ago. It is an action oriented horror game, but it's more of a "Waking the Balrog, Postapocalyptic edition" than the Gnostic scenario from Kult. It's also a very crunchy game in all of its editions (latest ones uses the 2d20 system).

Aaaand if you liked this game, you might want to take a look at Unknown Armies, which got its third edition a couple of years ago also. The system is not rules-heavy, and it's about characters who are involved in the dealings of secret societies vying to put one of their numbers amongst the Archetypes before the world is remade anew. The premise is that there are 333 archetypes that define the world as it is, and when someone becomes the epitome of an archetype, he or she "ascends", as in vanishes out of physical existence (there was a metaplot in 1st edition about a porn actress ascending ON TAPE, and copies of that tape were very sought items). Once all of the seats are filled, the world is remade according to those archetypes, so if the archetypes are evil, the next world will be worse, for example. There are schools of magic in the game, but all of them require sacrifice, whether becoming drunk with rare liquors, self-inflicting injuries or partaking in strange rituals, to name a few, and all mages are invariably fucked in the head.

 

[hello friend]

Sheeeit didn't realise this was made by the Mutant Chronicles guys. I was intrigued before, but now I am - also intrigued, yet more so.

 

[Silva]

Finished adapting all archetypes to playbook format. Get them here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gTN8C2ENcJKNF57d8Hjxa9EePoT6tUPX

Preview:

The Artist

Spoiler

Front

Back

I particularly loved those evocative Gear items. Big thanks to the folks at the KULT Discord channel for them.

 

[v1rus]

Does the system have any good campaigns or modules?

 

[Silva]

Does the system have any good campaigns or modules?

Not sure as I've just stumbled with the game, but there's a bunch of adventures in the official page.

"Black Madonna" is an old 1st edition campaign they brought back to the new edition. It was never translated to english before and is louded as epic by the game's swedish community.
"Tarocticum and Other Tales" is an anthology of smaller adventures.

 

[Snorkack]

Ordered. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

 

[Silva]

Ordered. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

Did you get it from Modiphius store? The corebook (print + pdf) is 50% off from it today.

 

[Snorkack]

No, but I guess I just refund it. Thanks for the hint! Although the hefty shipping fees eat up a lot of the 50% off deal.

 

[Snorkack]

Book arrived today and after flipping through a bit, I gotta say, you weren't lying. This is one of the most beautiful rpg books I've seen. I'd normally call it a coffee table book, but only if you never invite friends with their underage children.
After the recent years' glut of Ancient Ones here, Shoggoths there and whatnot, it's refreshing to have some good old religious-philosophical horror themes to explore.
Also thanks for the playbook compilation, Silva

 

[Silva]

Snorkack you lucky bastard. I live in Brazil and it will take 1-2 months for my order to arrive.

Aaaand if you liked this game, you might want to take a look at Unknown Armies,

Oh I know Unknown Armies. It's awesome indeed. A pity I could never find a group to try it.

 

[Silva]

Looking through the specific abilities, it occurred to me that this babe here...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HfX98wLDvGHCSZ3waidFS8KDXoaEQ_kk

...is basically Planescape's Nameless One.

 

[spectre]

I'm skimming through the GM section. I'm not entirely sold on the mechanics, they feel stilted at times, but they could mesh well with a narrative-oriented game with some work and practice practice.
The book gives you some examples to get the feel of what the final result should look like.

Though when it comes to actual advice on running the game, I think it's a very decent read overall. There's a good bunch of tips I wish somebody has told me when I was starting out. For example this one:

Be a Fan of the Player Characters

Being a fan of the characters means the GM offers the PCs opportunities to be cool, as well as vulnerable, and not to thwart the progress and successes they’ve earned through hard work.
The worst thing a GM can do is remove or inhibit what makes a character cool. If a player has put in time into describing their character’s faithful German Shepherd and pointed out how the dog is their character’s entire life, it’s not okay to have the
dog get run over and killed during the first game session for no reason. It’s a different story if some of the character’s enemies kidnaps the dog, giving the character an opportunity to fight to get it back. In the latter case, the GM is validating the player’s
character concept regarding their relation to the dog, while in the former case she’s just destroying it.

Another thing to avoid is denying the PCs successes they’ve fought for and won. It’s more interesting to let consequences arise from the characters’ successes. Have NPCs react to the character achieving one of their goals. What threats might now view the
PC as a possible ally? What threats now perceive her as a dangerous enemy? Allow the PCs to affect the world. Let their choices matter. If the characters depose a lictor from its position of power in the city, it would be pretty strange if there were no consequences. And what player enjoys playing a story where their actions don’t matter?

I like this bit because it establishes a good practice straight from the start - the GM is there to scare and discomfort the players (this being the horror genre after all), but it's good to keep this one in the back of your mind.
This also aligns nicely with the rest of the book, which encourages to read and use the shit that's written on the player's character sheets. There's a bit of pampering (the GM is encouraged to ask the group to make a list of taboo subjects)
but I accept this as a necessary evil if needless drama is to be avoided and the GM is instructed to pull no punches otherwise.
The chapters about constructing a scenario look a bit formulaic at the first glance, but all in all it looks like a solid piece of work that may genuinely help someone take their first steps in the genre.

I've yet to read the lore section, but so far the book gives a much better impression than the older edition, or at least what I remember from it. Feels like somebody spent time to plan it out and put some structure to it.

 

[Silva]

spectre , that stuff actually comes from the game Apocalypse World - "Be a fan of the PCs" is one of it's principles, and the structure you cite is how you organize play in it. Kult is what we call a "hack" of that game. What the Kult devs apparently did (really well) was adapting it to the horror genre and making the rules more "traditional", in a way, than AW (which is more narrative).

And I've found this "group consent form" made by a fan. Could be useful depending on the group: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18IGS5Ik4S57EK1RD6u3mg_ByU45lUZfz

Spoiler

 

[spectre]

Thanks, that system looks interesting, I'll look into that.

On the other hand, that consent form looks overcomplicated. I can get behind having just a "solid no+never" row. Though maybe you need all those maybe yeses and maybe noes when playing with a higher proportion of womyn.
When it comes to "themes we want to explore", just look at the people's character sheets. It'll be under all those dark secrets thingies.

 

[Lithium Flower]

So, does anyone want to run this? UwU

I've just ended my 4th consecutive year-long campaign and feeling pretty burned out on the whole GMing thing. But I have a ton of enthusiasm for gnostic/erotic/religious horror and all that gooooood shit. (Might be able to rope in a player or two with similar interests as well)

 

[Lithium Flower]

Ah, fuck, the more I read into this motherfucker the more I want to run it myself. Cockfuck! I just got out of the game, man, and you pull me back in!!

Silva you CUNT

 

[Silva]

Lithium Flower , wanna try an online game? My spoken English is kinda shit, but I could play a poor Latino character to fit anyway.

Who else wanna try it?
hexer
FritzedProcess
hello friend
Snorkack
spectre

 

[Lithium Flower]

I would be in to run a oneshot if no one else wants a GM, otherwise would be happy enough to play. I've a pretty extensive experience with apocalypse world systems. I'm available thur, fri, and sun