Making a character in Kult: Divinity Lost
content warning: addiction, depression
KULT was, back in the day, a major part of the roster of games we regularly played. I have only played Kult: Divinity Lost once, and for some reason the PbtA rules don't really click with me so I had a hard time running it (I probably overthought it) but I'm a fan of the setting and the game in general, so let's make a character for it.
Kult: Divinity Lost is the latest edition of the classic Swedish horror game Kult and is now designed and published by Helmgast. The rulebook is one of the few published titles with the old Stockholm Kartell logo, printed very small on the copyright page. As a very small sidenote. But enough of that:
Making a character
The core rulebook includes 25 Archetypes, twenty of which are Aware, meaning they know that something is wrong with the world, having been awakened from their dream state by some horrific event in their past (now a Dark Secret). Four archetypes are Enlightened and have unlocked powers (and curses) and a deeper understanding of the True Reality. Lastly, there's the Sleeper archetype who is just an everyday person with zero understanding or even the slightest idea or worry that something is off. I think of Kult: Divinity Lost as a game of pre-gens. At least of the scenarios I've read, I think a majority have had pretty specifically designed characters tied to the backstory and setup. Kult is very much a game about personal horror and revealing of dark truths so it makes sense that the scenario ties into the characters and their deepest secrets. I could be wrong, but that's my impression at least. But I think making new characters provides the group with ideas for new stories and is the perfect starting point for a more custom-made campaign.
Archetype
I will go the classic route and make an Aware character, so I should pick one of the 22 Aware archetypes. I roll a d20 and get 3: Artist. Ok, let's make it real personal, I guess.
Occupation
The book lists a number of possible occupations for this archetype and when randomizing, I get 11: Personal Trainer. Anyone who considers personal training art is probably quite pretentious about it, so that's my first clue about this character. They take themselves way too seriously.
Dark Secret
This is where we're getting into the good stuff. Dark Secrets are horrible events from the characters' pasts that woke them up from the slumber keeping humanity shielded from the true nature of the world (that reality is an illusion etc). The Dark Secret is character-defining and always present, haunting and threatening the characters. The archetype lists five suggestions for Dark Secrets but it's totally fine to pick any of the ones in the book. I roll a digital d5 and get Pact with Dark Forces. "You have sealed a pact with a powerful entity. You may have made the pact willingly or been tricked into it. Regardless, you are now under the being's spell. You may have benefited greatly from this pact, but the cost could be your literal soul. Deep inside you understand you must find a way to trick the being into breaking the pact. The question is how? The Kult lore has a ton of possible entities this could be, and I think I'll figure that out later. The interactions with this being is probably why I consider what I do art, and I might see a deeper meaning or form of artistic expression in sculpting and refining a human body. I'm probably successful and influential. A social media giant with a rigorous morning routine. The Dark Secret also has a personal drive, and randomizing from the book's suggested ones, I get Slay the being. I probably know full well how difficult (possibly impossible) this is, but my character sees no other way out of the pact. Depending on the being, this escape plan can also be suggested by it, because of its mocking impossibility.
Disadvantages
Characters begin with two Disadvantages, and similar to Dark Secrets, the archetype features a list of suggestions that I will roll on twice. I get 3 and 2: Depression and Drug Addict. Disadvantages are Moves representing destructive character traits, psychological damage or external threats. Characters can get additional Disadvantages during play, but can also overcome them (removing them and instead adding another one that makes narrative sense). They also have triggers explaining when they activate. Depression means my character is constantly struggling, but it's worsened by dejection and discouragement. It has the trigger Whenever facing personal setbacks and a table of the move's die roll effects. Drug Addict triggers in the first game session and whenever you have been using, or have the opportunity to. If I succeed with the roll, I remain in control but on failure, the GM takes 1-3 Hold which they can spend to put my character in a crappy position. For example, I cannot resist taking it, I run out of it, become indebted to someone dangerous or ruin something important to me (like a relationship) while under the influence.
Advantages
It's not all doom and gloom, we also get Advantages, three of them! The book has a list for Artist Advantages and I roll to get Notorious (Charisma), Observant (Intuition) and Enhanced Awareness (Soul). Notorious means I'm famous in my trade (aligns with my ideas of a social media giant) and I get to use this move whenever I encounter someone who has likely heard about me. This could come in handy. Observant means whenever I Read a Person, I may choose from these questions in addition to the usual ones: What sort of person are you? Is there anything odd about you?. So I'm just very good at reading people and getting to the core of their being. Enhanced Awareness is when I focus my senses at a location where the Illusion is weak, roll +Soul. On a success, I have visions about the place and may be able to speak to entities tied to it. This move has a chance of tearing the Illusion entirely at this location, possibly sucking me into an alternate dimension, or something could cross into my reality. This is quite a powerful scrying ability and could either be a gift given to me by the being I have a pact with, or the reason I ended up with the pact. It also feels connected to my heightened senses with reading other people. Maybe we can connect them somehow later. I can also totally see how tearing the Illusion, revealing humanity's prison, and interacting with beings from the Other can develop depression that, in turn, leads to drug addiction.
Attributes
The least fun part, but maybe we can define our character a bit more this way. I get a fixed statline to assign to the various attributes and I end up with the following passives: Fortitude +2, Willpower +0 and Reflexes +1. I'm physically strong and quick (personal trainer) but not as mentally resiliant or composed (having teared Reality etc). For my active attributes, I do Charisma +3 (Internet personality), Soul +2, Intuition +1, Violence +1, Coolness +0, Perseption -1 and Reason -2.
Looks
The archetypes have a few suggestions here so I will grab my trusted dice and see what I get. This is us: Clothes: Designer. Face: Expressive. Eyes: Profound. Body: Robust. This all falls perfectly into place.
Name
Always the hardest part. I found an online name randomizer and got Gabriel Davis. Gabriel is a biblical name meaning God is my Strength or Hero of God and I think this is my character's online brand, somehow. Alluding to the archangel Gabriel. Christian superiority, sculpting the perfect hero of God, right-leaning as hell, etc. And in cahoots with some kind of evil being. Speaking of that, let's find out who we're in a pact with.
The Entity
Looking at chapter 8: Influences, there's a list of the setting's different Higher Powers and the things they influence and have control over. Quickly scanning the chapter, I notice "Primary Principle - Allure" and the Archon Tiphareth. "Tiphareth's influence incites a manic craving for beauty and affirmation, which must be fulfilled by any means necessary. Celebrities are worshipped as prophets, the mediocre waste their days imbibing the internet and television shows, and anyone who doesn't meet the social 'norms' is despised and ignored. Sounds like someone who'd give power to a social media personal trainer influencer in exchange for the promise of his eternal soul? "(Tiphareth) paints magical daydreams, unattainable goals, and perfect ideals, only to make us struggle to reach them while forgetting all else. Previously, artists, poets, and writers were her core servants, but now her influence extends to advertising, blogs, celebrities, movies, TV shows, and the Internet's current talking heads. It is here she moulds the Illusion around us, feeding our cravings for new things and our desires to be slim, fit, and perfect, making us embrace her unreservedly.
Having this guy's personal drive be to slay one of the Archons is beautifully futile and a guarantee for spectacular failure. And he probably knows it, too. But, he has bought his own lies of reaching unattainable goals and taking on unbeatable challenges. So that is how he'll finally fall, I suppose. We'll see, as the Illusion tears further.