thread: 2006-01-17 : Hurt and Abandonment
On 2006-01-18, xenopulse wrote:
When you say,
Games systematically incapable of hurting,
then it seems to me that's definitely the designer's responsibility; however, it's only a bad move insofar as the game does not make its purpose explicit. If it sells itself as a game of powerful stories, but it can't hurt, it's false advertising. If it sells itself as a game of solving challenges, and it can't hurt, that's perfectly fine.
This makes LP go "Hm."
Maybe that's part of why WoD seemed like kiddies snickering in the locker room compared to Kult. Both reasonably crunchy systems, but the feel of Kult was definitely one of gloves off.
This makes XP go "Lines"
That's an intriguing thought. From the outset, KULT has built-in lines far out there that players agree to just by agreeing to play the game. Having a "Not for players under 16" warning on the actual game book means that, when your group plays it, you've already set the rating to R or even NC-17. Add to that the lethality of the system and that it has rules for shock and terror, and off you go (especially since you play the prey, not the predators). However, I thought that some of the kewl powerz issues that plague WoD also entered into KULT (see the martial arts rules). That's a prime example of rules getting in the way; I had a player who worried all about making his character a kickass martial artist, but then that takes away from focusing on the shock and horror of the actual play events.
This makes LP go "Yah."
The thing that won me to Kult was the example of play in the first edition, where one of the players' PC has been taken over by something Horrific, and the player plays it to the hilt. All he actually does in the example is lift his head, open his eyes, and say something corny like, "Too late." But the frisson that example generated! That's what hooked me. (Unfortunately, the description of the reality behind the scenes made me want my Illusion back, but that's a setting issue, and only tangentially a play style issue.)
