I've just started working on a side project to deal with something that's been gnawing away at me for some time. There are two games that I'd love to run but I have reservations about each : "Unknown Armies" and "Kult".
In the case of "Unknown Armies", I truly love the system. It's simple, makes sense and lends itself to the kind of games I like to run. The madness system is excellent. What I'm not fond of is the setting, which focuses on the weird rather than the horrific. It makes good reading but doesn't inspire me to devise a campaign...my style simply isn't "gonzo" enough to do it justice.
"Kult",on the other hand, is a game that presents a setting that really gets me. Gnosticism, fallen angels, madness, dreams and cults. This one really does inspire me to write. The problem is the game system..very old-fashioned,clunky and unbalanced. It's a flawed masterpiece.
So that got me thinking.Why choose? I know what I like and dislike in each, why not combine them? Run a "Kult" game that is built on the "Unknown Armies" system. I've already hit various forums to see if others have done it, and of course they have. I'm going to do it my way though and I'm genuinely excited about this one.
The most significant alteration is obsessions and dark secrets. Obsessions are the main character aspect in "Unknown Armies". The obsession determines the school of magick that a character follows, and also has a direct relationship with a particular skill. The game mechanics are designed in such a way that you're rewarded for playing to your obsessions,fears and other passions. "Kult" has some of this too though places great importance on a "dark secret" that each character has. My plan is to rework the system so that the "dark secret" replaces the "obsession"...so the players will be rewarded for leveraging this.
The approach I have in mind will make for some very dark game themes and will appeal only to a certain type of player. Fortunately, they're typically playing my games! There's more work to be done on this before I roll it out, but expect it to be covered in blog when it comes.
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