Here are a number of other opinions on the various Kult products:

2^nd Edition

In my opinion the main change in the 2nd edition -- and a negative change, to my tastes -- is some changes they made to the KULT universe, involving the nature of Metropolis, Heaven and Hell (Heaven no longer exists), and the Demiurge/God (in the 2^nd edition, he's officially still alive but just being a sneaky bastard, which makes him just as annoyingly self-serving as all the other evil entities inhabiting the KULT world). In general, they adjusted the tone of the game to be slightly bloodier and more explicit as opposed to mysterious -- at least this is my impression, I haven't fully read the 2nd edition rulebook, so let that be a disclaimer to my wild assertions. Personally, I was mostly annoyed at the 2nd Edition because its changes to the world contradicted my long-running campaign (which involved the Demiurge's Citadel being somewhere at the bottom of an infinite pit, as in 1st edition, instead of submerged in a revolting sea, as in 2nd edition). So take my comments with a grain of salt!...

Changes in the 2nd Edition (that I know of):

* Different art, using many images from the KULT CCG (Good, I guess)

* No Hit Location system in Combat (Bad -- no stabbing vampires in the heart? No blowing off peoples' limbs? What kind of horror game is this?)

* No Magical Lores (Bad -- lets them sell the Conjurers' Handbook, ruins the Magic System)

* The 'Dark Art', basically a telekinesis/reality alteration ability (Not bad, but no replacement for the magic system)

* Changes to the worldview (Bad, in my opinion, but that's completely subjective on my part)

* Sample adventure now included (Good)

* Totally unappealing cover artwork of B&W photographs of a drooling lunatic (Very bad, in my opinion)

...and probably plenty of other things I can't think of. That's my take on it, anyway!...

Well I bought both edition of the rules and think that both have good and bad parts to them, take the combat system, there is no way I am ever going to use the one in the 2nd Ed. It just doesn't seem to fit in with the idea you get shot you die, and it takes to much longer to play out. The magic system in the 2nd Ed. is better than the 1st Ed. So I'm going to use that, I don't have any of the magic sorucebooks and have no trouble without them, I may buy them when I have a little more money!

Okay, here goes my first post. I have 2nd Ed and I've read most of 1st Ed. In my opinion, 2nd Ed has much more sophisticated artwork (I love_the cover!) and a darker, more intellectual feel. I was upset that they left out almost all of the magic rules, as well as bits and pieces like the sample Incarnates and Lictors, and the other Dream Princes. They also seem to have left out vital pieces of information which make the game slightly incoherent. For example, The Hitchhiker is supposed to be an incarnate of Gamaliel, who represents perverted sexuality. I had to assume that the writers left out the fact that he was a sex murderer rather than just a random psychopath. Sure enough, my suspicion was confirmed when I leafed through 1st ed. All in all, though, I think that I prefer the aesthetic of 2nd ed.

I personally prefer the first editions look and artwork (although most of the artwork in 2nd. ed seems to be from the Kult CCG which I also collect). The first ed. graphics look a lot cleaner and more atmospheric to my eye and mind.

Content, of course, is the more important thing in any RPG. There are a few differences between the editions. The character generation systems are pretty much identical if memory serves. The magic system in 2nd ed. is a skeleton with brief descriptions of the five main lores and what they and their spells can do for you. No actual spells to speak of. (The conjurer's guides gave a much more detailed description of the lores, but they have their own pros and cons that I won't go into unless you so desire.) The 2^nd edition does contain a article called the dark art, which is a reality warping ability many creatures that imprison us possess. I liked the idea, and modified it to suit me. It is some thing you often see in horror stories, but was not really reflected in the 1st. ed. Kult. The combat systems are very different, and suffice it to say, I was not impressed with the 2nd. ed system at all, and for reasons beyond the removal of hit locations. I found the 1st ed. combat system much preferable.

As for background, there are significant changes from 1st to 2nd ed. I liked the 1st ed background, so that is what I use (with my own mods of course). In 1st ed, the Demiurge's palace vanished when he did, leaving a bottomless pit. Inferno and even the dream realms may predate the illusion, and Gaia is still a strong influence. In the 2nd ed. Inferno and the Dream realms are just part of the illusion and Gaia was nearly used up in making the illusion.

Player's Companion

Here is a rather longish rant from a lurker. Skip it if you think reading biased reviews is a waste of time.

The quality of Metropolis products has never troubled me. I always thought that everything that good deserved to be paid for with (sometimes outrageous) amounts of that quasi-liquid stuff called money. So, I haven't got any problems with getting really high on Kult ... until now (I realize it could be distant past for some of you ... ).

To start with, let me give you some facts: - I need about 2 hours of undisturbed reading to savour my favorite monthly SF magazine ... Player's Companion held my attention for about 20 minutes. The price of the magazine is twelve times cheaper than the Companion. - the supplement has 10 pages more than said magazine.

The meat of the problems is: - The work is derivative. Any fantasy game has a better info on melee weapons. Wolvens are a copy of White Wolf concept ... and a very two dimensional one at that. - The work suffers from severe lack of imagination. Anything would be better than step by step creation of character ... a FBI serial killer profile questionnaire would be ideal. This is the advice to anyone who considers buying it: DON'T.

I have to agree that the Player's Companion is not graciously packed with information. I was waiting expectantly for it to come out, because I have requested my players not purchase the main sourcebooks for Kult (It's fun when you're players have absolutely no idea what to expect from a game). I was hoping the Player's Companion would allow them to get the character creation process in writing, with some background development material and equipment lists without too much core information. Unfortunately, the book is mostly filled with references to other books, defeating my purpose for it. A bit of a disappointment, I'm afraid.

I'm sorry to say so, but KULT has been supported by crap, gore and violence that amounts to nothing of playability. Severe lack of imagination is just about everything I've seen published for the game. I once spoke to the original writers of the rules and they said they were quite happy to be no longer be working on it...

Don't buy the crap they publish. I've realized a long time ago that the people at Target and Metropolis must be quite mad and without any sense of the gaming market of today. Ask any other company like SJGames or WW if they publish a RPG and then not publish more that 1 supplement a year. If you have a product to sell, you're supposed to have a timeplan for PR and releases. KULT hasn't, or if it has, it isn't showing!

Support your favourite game by posting your adventures and ideas. That way the game might survive until someone who cares for it buys it from Target.

Alas, the Player's Companion was fairly disappointing. I haven't looked at it since my campaign ended, but I don't remember being too impressed. The new species, such as the Wolven, were mostly bland, and though some of the new player archetypes were good (the Housewife... right on! A 'black humor' campaign wouldn't be that bad), others were just silly (the 'Child Prodigy'?). I have to admit that the new Martial Arts information and the new Advantages/Disadvantages were useful, though. It at least seemed more useful than the Conjurers' Guides, though I shouldn't comment on those as I haven't bought 'em.

Taroticum

Taroticum like most of the adventures has some very interesting stuff. However, one of its major problems. Is that the action jumps around a bit. The evil villain captures and kills the mother just like that... The other problem is that I feel, personally, that too much of the REAL WORLD is revealed. How do the characters go back to accounting and their normal jobs after a day trip to hell.

A quick glance at the Taroticum scenario shows that too much of the *real world* is revealed.

This sucks, because this doesn't cause the fear itself. I'd more like my players to get the feeling that "something" is wrong, so the fear comes crawling in from everywhere around them (the example in the rules with the clawing on the front door is an excellent example on this) I don't know, but I think I'd rather prefer my players to be some kind of "detectives", but with all these mysterious things around. (But trips to hell are not necessary...)

"Does anybody out there have any ideas on how to possibly change the Taroticum, so the truth isn't revealed that much???" This is a task I am working on myself as I am about to use it. I guess the only way to run taroticium is to pad it out over most of the campaign. This is the major problem once the truth is revealed then what next for our merry band entering Camarilla-esq politics (WOD reference) with the Archons. Going on a fact finding mission to the abyss in search of the Demiurge???

The best thing to do is reveal everything at once!!! Let them experience the manipulations of Archons and Death Angels haunt their sleep with Dream Princes. If they have too much going on they will hit information overload. Play with time and space jump them into the future and let them read articles by them revealing the Whitechapel road murderer see if they write down their name or not then send then back into the present.

Judas Grail

If you think that Taroticum shows too much Reality, have a look at The Judas Grail: I think (short of completely re-writing it) it's only use is as a one-shot adventure. If anyone has any ideas to make it more useable I'd be glad to listen...

Conjurer's Guides

I really liked the Conjurer's Guides. about 80% of the people don't agree with me, but I think they are probably the most interesting for the player's to look at in terms of graphic design and content. I basically just had the Player look at one particular page and they really like it.

The problem is that they cost too much for what you get. It's not such a big deal for me because I have some extra cash but if you're on a budget it might not work out.

I think most people like what content there is, and the page graphics have received mixed reviews.

I personally liked the content, and it is in a visually pleasing format. I thought the art was pretty good, but as far as the layout was concerned, I had a couple of problems. First, they could have combined both books into one volume, making more of a sourcebook as opposed to pamphlets. I found the text a little difficult to read, especially under my group's standard roleplaying conditions (i.e. candlelight), and there was no form of reference, no page #s, no contents and no index. I found them to be quite pleasing to read under good light for pleasure, but the layout was miserable for reference material, a task most roleplaying material must serve at one time or another. I think they did serve to flesh out the magic system considerably, however, although

I cannot vouch for whether this grace saves what I consider are their other downfalls.

Metropolis

Metropolis is really a better looking book, but it has a major flaw, it clashes with the Kult feeling one gets in the Basic book. As well, most ideas (some, very few, could be interesting) throw the player in Only-Death-No-Escape-Situations...

Actually, I did enjoy some of the Metropolis Sourcebook, if only it weren't all gloom and doom and violence and scatology. I particularly wish they'd cared to present the different Archons as at least slightly interesting and mystical and REPRESENTATIVE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE BELIEFS -- i.e., capable of actual goodness -- rather than just being a bunch of drooling freaks who are scarcely distinguishable from the Death Angels. I think that a few spots of light just make the dark places of the game that much darker, and sheesh! Metropolis is the City of God!... They'd have their hands full making Inferno seem any worse in the Inferno Sourcebook...

Legions of Darkness

Legions of Darkness allows you to really understand how the Kult world works, the forces that are struggling for illusion control, and a lot of other interesting ideas. The book art, is just regular, like the Kult 1st Ed, but it avoids some complains like: "I can't read this crap because the typeset don't mix well with the fuck'n background!".

Fallen Angels

Fallen angels is interesting but the enemies are really strong, and it throws Nosferatu at the players like crazy. So if you still want them guessing as to the mysteries of Kult leave it for later. But it does give some background on New York which could lead to interesting

stories. I'm still waiting for the Orphanage adventures, they seemed really twisted but haven't received anything here in Canada yet.

Purgatory

So far the best supplement I've seen that gives GREAT story plot lines since the 2nd edition Kult rulebook is the sourcebook named 'Purgatory'. That is a must! It doesn't have adventures but reading it can get you in the frame of mind to make good stories for the game.


Reviews
Kult Page