Cult (role play)
| Kult Dark Fantasy Splatterpunk (Kult - Döden är bara början) |
|
|---|---|
| publication | |
| Author (s) | Gunilla Jonsson, Michael Petersén |
| Original publisher | Target Games / Paradox Entertainment, 7th Circle |
| Original publication | 1991 (1st edition) / 2001 & 2004 (3rd edition) |
| original language | Swedish |
| German publisher | Mario Truant Verlag (1st Edition) / Ulisses Games Verlag |
| German publication | 1992/2009 |
| World and system | |
| genre | Horror / splatter punk |
| Game world | The illusion / that here and now |
| Ascent | EP |
| cube | W20 |
The pen & paper role-playing game Kult , developed in Sweden, is about dark forces, cults and horror. Conceptually it feeds on Gnostics and Kabbalah , aesthetically and in terms of content it is close to films like Clive Barker's Hellraiser - The Gate to Hell or Jacob's Ladder - In the Violence of the Beyond by Adrian Lyne . The developers of the game assigned cult to splatter punk .
Game world
Cult takes place in today's world, in the world we know, which, however, appears as dystopia . It is assumed that the world as we know it is just an illusion , a dream to keep people lulled captive so that they cannot recognize their spark of divinity, the nature of their immortal soul. This illusion was created by the demiurge , as a manifestation of God is called in Gnostics , but who has disappeared and, like the worlds, slowly the illusion crumbles. His former servants, the archons , fight in diadoch battles by means of other creatures and also human secret organizations and cults with each other and with the angels of death for rule over humanity, and Astaroth , the ruler of the inferno , roams the worlds to find his lost counterpart .
The “real world” behind the illusions in cult consists in the basic version of the game from an endless city of all conceivable past (and future) architectural styles, the literal “mother of all cities”, Metropolis . Most of it has fallen into disrepair and is inhabited by countless monstrous figures. In later versions, Gaia , who permanently devours and transforms everything and herself and who is the “true” face of non-human creation, is placed alongside her as the representative of the original nature. The concepts of “dream realms” woven into the illusion and “true reality”, which are dreamed up by magically gifted dreamers, and of purgatories : “private hells”, which are created by people with a strongly negative mental balance, offer additional freedom for play settings existential crises are created more or less consciously, be equipped with appropriate symbols reminiscent of psychoanalysis and can in principle be connected to all other worlds.
Magic by player characters mainly acts as a manipulation of elements of "illusion" such as space-time, death or dreams.
The role-playing game Kult revolves to a not inconsiderable extent about the psyche of the characters and the advantages and disadvantages associated with them. The higher the imbalance (the “mental balance”) in a character's psyche, the greater his chance of seeing a part of the “real world” or even waking up from the “dream prison”.
In addition to the somewhat different role-playing background, Kult offers a comparatively simple system for character creation and an uncomplicated combat system.
editor
- first edition: Mario Truant Verlag (German) / Target Games (Swedish, other languages)
- first reprint: Ulisses Spiele Verlag (German)
- second edition: Metropolis / Target Games
- third edition: Seventh Circle Publishing (English & French) / Raven Distribution (Italian)
Published material
Truant Verlag (1st edition, German)
- Kult - the basic set of rules.
- Ok-Kult - The set of rules for magic and the dream world including an adventure.
- Kult-Ur - A game master's umbrella.
- Kult-ES (Elizabeth Seymour) - A campaign made up of three adventures.
- Cult Gamer's Guide - Supplement with new rules, archetypes, non-human beings and an adventure.
Metropolis Ltd. (English)
- Kult, Death is only the beginning - 1st English edition, basic rules
- Legions of Darkness - Supplementary Volume
- Fallen Angels - Adventure
- Taroticum - adventure
- Metropolis - supplementary volume, campaign material
- Heart, Mind and Soul - magic rules
- Beyond the Boundaries - Magic Rules
- Purgatory campaign
- The Judas Grail - Adventure
- Kult - Reality is a lie - 2nd English edition, basic rules
- Player's companion - player's guide
7th Circle
- Cult: Beyond the Veil - 3rd English edition, basic rules
- Kult Rumors - Player's Guide
Ulisses Games Verlag (facsimile 1st edition)
- Kult / Ok-Kult - Limited re-edition of the 1st edition of the basic and magic rules
Offshoot
A cult-based collectible card game (CCG) by Bryan Winter was published by Excelsior Games .