Oh man, such mixed feelings.
This just arrived. The book is huge. Like Coriolis huge. Of course it’s gorgeous. I’ve read the PDF and I shrug a lot. But the at heart of it, if I’m being honest, I have such strong positive feelings about this thing.
If I had unlimited funds, I’d have sought out the Kult license a long time ago. And it probably would’ve been a PbtA design, like this is. Aaaand I probably would not have done it how they’ve done it, which I’ll go into at some length when I’ve had time to digest it.
I also feel like I’d really like to run a campaign of it, but not with my regulars because their appetite for this kind of horror is not up to the task.
Younger me loved Kult, Current me still loves the idea of Kult but no longer have the desire to run it. I think I lost the angst to run the dark it requires. I have no problem running in that world, but I’d want to give my players weapons and the tools to shred it and that’s not really what Kult is about.
Mine is supposed to arrive today, too! This will be the third edition of Kult I’ve purchased, and… well, probably the third version I leave unplayed. I think my group would be into the kind of horror, but I think it would be a huge challenge to convey the very important tonal stuff without being brutally depressing.
Though, also, yeah… the “1990s Cronenberg directs films based on the ramblings of Clive Barker on a heroin binge” horror might not be sustainable long-term.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! This is one of those games I always heard about but never read or played.
I’ve never really delved into Kult, but it’s connected to a lot of games I care about (In Nomine, Nobilis, etc.), so I’m also interested to see how this is.
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Very interested in your thoughts when you get the chance to digest it.
Come over and we can play. 😉
Yes! Means mine is on the way too! I haven’t read much of it but the art in the pdf was pretty wow. Looking forward to holding it in my hands!
Yeah 3rd version and yet to get it to the table.
I know I’ll buy it once it’s on the post-KS distro market. I never liked the mechanics or the splatter but the underlying world-structure, man, we used that in so many different games and campaigns.
I love the setting. I love the system. But… there seem to be a glitch in there somewhere that makes me wonder if they even understood what PbtA is “supposed to do”.
The most glaring example of this is the massive disjoint between the rulebook and the adventures and campaign that arrived in the same KS. I have no idea if it’s even possible to run those things using these rules… Text heavy, railroaded almost novel-like stories with zero player agency into the narrative… They basically just translated the 90’s stuff and swapped some stats… and that’s NOT how you should run a PbtA game. I was hoping for rework and adaption of those titles. Now I’m left scratching my head thinking “I can always read them for inspiration, I guess.”
I backed this largely based on your enthusiasm. If you want to run it via the Interwebs, I’m in.