What do you think?
Rate this book
Kult
Kult: Death is Only the Beginning...
A contemporary horror role-playing game which explores the dark side of the human soul. Reality is not what we think. Around us the world is dark and dangerous and nothing is what it seems to be. Our reality is an illusion, created to keep us captive. We are imprisoned since ages past by a dictatorial creator. The true world, invisible to us, is ruled by creatures who dominate behind the false facades, our prison wardens and torturers. The characters in 'Kult' are dark heroes, governed by Destiny. When the illusions shatter, they face the true reality.
270 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 15, 2010
Love the setting but the system is fairly lackluster. Luckily, this game could be easily run with any number of other RPG rules sets. I have a homebrew system of my own in mind as well...
October 24, 2015
I played in a Kult game for several months, back when, and the GM opted to tell us basically nothing about the setting so that he could surprise us with revelations. And he did, because holy crap, this game is weird. I get a kick out of the fact that it's weird enough to have the equivalent of the "D&D stigma" in Sweden, which is why warnings are sprinkled liberally throughout the book that no really it's just a game.
I know the system doesn't look like much on paper (as it were), but I do want to note that based on the time I spent playing it, the system is downright elegant. We started using it for other games, and we didn't regret it. It takes a little getting used to, but it's solid.
I know the system doesn't look like much on paper (as it were), but I do want to note that based on the time I spent playing it, the system is downright elegant. We started using it for other games, and we didn't regret it. It takes a little getting used to, but it's solid.
August 21, 2021
This is the first English language edition of a roleplaying game that was originally in Swedish, if I recall correctly. I stumbled across it in a game store aeons ago and immediately felt this was up my alley. I picked it up, read through it, and loved every bit of it.
It has a Lovecraftian feel in some ways, but it's much more modern (and post-modern, in a good way) than that, and at the same time it has a feel of ancient, timeless things shifting restlessly in the dark from before the advent of humanity. It presents a largely Gnostic heretical cosmology taken to horrific extremes, reconstructed for modern purposes, with some Kabbalistic and other esoterica sprinkled about, and is probably among the very first (well-executed) RPGs that could be called both cosmic horror and psychological horror.
The game has evidently been made available in three other editions since then, the most recent being a PBTA port of the game rules, so things have changed since then. Despite that, this edition is still eminently playable as originally written. I'm reading the newest edition at the time I wrote this review, and it is also excellent; I look forward to revisiting the world of Kult soon, this time with a PBTA inspired game system.
It has a Lovecraftian feel in some ways, but it's much more modern (and post-modern, in a good way) than that, and at the same time it has a feel of ancient, timeless things shifting restlessly in the dark from before the advent of humanity. It presents a largely Gnostic heretical cosmology taken to horrific extremes, reconstructed for modern purposes, with some Kabbalistic and other esoterica sprinkled about, and is probably among the very first (well-executed) RPGs that could be called both cosmic horror and psychological horror.
The game has evidently been made available in three other editions since then, the most recent being a PBTA port of the game rules, so things have changed since then. Despite that, this edition is still eminently playable as originally written. I'm reading the newest edition at the time I wrote this review, and it is also excellent; I look forward to revisiting the world of Kult soon, this time with a PBTA inspired game system.
August 31, 2009
This kind of dystopian, no-hope-left kind of roleplaying game is right smack dab in the middle of my comfort zone. Problem is, no one wants to play it with me.
Kult is set in the modern world, but as the tagline says, reality is a lie. Beneath the sometimes grungy world that we all see, feel, and live in is a darker, sinister reality that reflects the true nature of humankind.
I won't give away any spoilers by explaining the premise of the game (there are a lot of interesting ideas on the nature of god, ascension, mankind's role in the fabric of magic and reality, and even how cities reflect the kind of paradigm that we once lived in, thousands of lifetimes ago), but suffice to say that if you're looking for a game that can combine dark-edged philosophy with gritty, gore-noir battles against creatures of darkness, then this is the game for you. Not as oppressive as Call of Cthulhu, and far more highbrow than games like City of Violence, Kult has remained on my list of "Top Ten Unplayed Roleplaying Games" for a long time, and will probably remain there for quite a while longer, but not because of any lack of trying on my part.
Kult is set in the modern world, but as the tagline says, reality is a lie. Beneath the sometimes grungy world that we all see, feel, and live in is a darker, sinister reality that reflects the true nature of humankind.
I won't give away any spoilers by explaining the premise of the game (there are a lot of interesting ideas on the nature of god, ascension, mankind's role in the fabric of magic and reality, and even how cities reflect the kind of paradigm that we once lived in, thousands of lifetimes ago), but suffice to say that if you're looking for a game that can combine dark-edged philosophy with gritty, gore-noir battles against creatures of darkness, then this is the game for you. Not as oppressive as Call of Cthulhu, and far more highbrow than games like City of Violence, Kult has remained on my list of "Top Ten Unplayed Roleplaying Games" for a long time, and will probably remain there for quite a while longer, but not because of any lack of trying on my part.
January 2, 2021
En av de mer attraktiva aspekterna av rollspel är möjligheten att skapa sina egna berättelser i ett universum som är lite eljest, jämfört med vårt eget. Det kan utspela sig i en fantasy-setting (Drakar och Demoner), science fiction (Mutant), eller varför inte en slags cross-over (o)realism som i Väsen? Ja, och så kan det förstås utspela sig i en skräckmiljö, som i Kult.
Här befinner vi oss i en Hellraiser-fanboys våta dröm (även om Pinhead och hans kollegium har utelämnats, sannolikt av copyright-skäl). Och så långt, så bra. Men det är papperstunt. Jag menar regelverket är rätt komplext. Man skulle rentav kunna kalla det gediget, om det inte vore för att det framförallt tycks tjäna för att upprätthålla illusionen - som i det här fallet avser rollspelet självt, inte dess världsbygge - av ett skräckrollspel som liksom tänjer och överskrider gränserna på det där sättet som på engelska skulle kallas "profound". Men det är blaj. Yta. Lite blod här, lite naket där. Och mord, sadism, galenskap och andra plågsamheter har strösslats ut hämningslöst genom regelböckerna. Men det är totalt effektlöst. En jävla smörja är vad det är.
Som Hellraiser, alltså. Men utan djup.
Här befinner vi oss i en Hellraiser-fanboys våta dröm (även om Pinhead och hans kollegium har utelämnats, sannolikt av copyright-skäl). Och så långt, så bra. Men det är papperstunt. Jag menar regelverket är rätt komplext. Man skulle rentav kunna kalla det gediget, om det inte vore för att det framförallt tycks tjäna för att upprätthålla illusionen - som i det här fallet avser rollspelet självt, inte dess världsbygge - av ett skräckrollspel som liksom tänjer och överskrider gränserna på det där sättet som på engelska skulle kallas "profound". Men det är blaj. Yta. Lite blod här, lite naket där. Och mord, sadism, galenskap och andra plågsamheter har strösslats ut hämningslöst genom regelböckerna. Men det är totalt effektlöst. En jävla smörja är vad det är.
Som Hellraiser, alltså. Men utan djup.
November 3, 2022
System is mediocre, but close enough to BRP (as with many Swedish RPGs of the time) that it is at least easy to tweak, the main draw of the original Kult is its highly original setting ideas. Full review here: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
October 11, 2018
Loved this RPG as a teenager, think I will need to pic up the new edition when it hits the stores.
October 12, 2021
This game has an incredible setting.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews