The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The only sourcebook for Kult covering one of the realms beyond the Illusion (at least that I know of), Metropolis takes a look at… well… Metropolis – the ancient city of Mankind they we rules as Gods and Kings before the Demiurge lured use into the Prison and trapped us. Now it’s largely abandoned and the machinery that maintains the Illusion are scattered about, haltingly churning away as they decay to dust. Throughout this expanse, under the shadows of the Palaces of the Archons, run monsters who used to be our servants, or who were vermin to begin with. Either way they aren’t about to welcome mankind back, especially when we are so weak from our confinement. Metropolis is the city, it’s the city that every settlement in the Illusion unconsciously apes but it follows no rules we understand and filled with sharp-fanged creatures that hunger for our blood. Not a pleasant place to visit.

And yet with the disappearance of the Demiurge, more and more people find they’re way into this City of Cities, tumbling through cracks in the Illusion. The lucky ones fall right back into the Illusion scared out of their minds, but how often is someone actually lucky in Kult?

The supplement Metropolis serves to provide the information necessary to run through the city and as such it is indispensable to anyone intending to use the City in their game. The book is filled to the brim with encountered, locations and appropriately monstrous beasties. The only real problem is that while there are plenty of isolated incidents and deadly creatures, there is very little information on how to make Metropolis a big part of your game. The book provides a wealth of tools to use it as isolated, surreal horror or perhaps as a brief race of terror, but there’s not much about extended exploration of the City or having it be a major presence in a campaign. Intermittent fright-fests are the most common (and easy) uses for Metropolis, but they are far from the only. I’ve always wanted to run a Kult game focused more on learning the cosmology and history of the setting over simply killing or maiming characters left and right, and Metropolis does not provide a lot of tools for that. The locations are indeed very useful to that end, but the idea of an extended stay in the city isn’t even really addressed. In fact, I would imagine that most GMs would be hard-pressed to keep their groups alive long enough to do anything more than vaguely glimpse the skyline of the city and escape back into their Prison again, having understood nothing of what happened.

Again, that is a lot of what the game is about and what the book intentionally tried to engender, but I don’t think it’s all the game is about.

Most people will likely thing I’m over-reacting and making a big deal out of something that doesn’t matter anyway (“Metropolis isn’t supposed to be a setting for a long-term stay, and it’s not supposed to make any sense!”) but it did bother me while reading it. As the City is outside of the Illusion, I was expecting some detailed examination of how things operate when you’ve left behind both space and time as we know it. How do you run a game without time? How do you describe a scene without space? The answer the books provides was simply that the time and space of the Illusion is separate from Metropolis, not necessarily unique in that it’s doesn’t exist outside of it. Perhaps I was looking for too much, but I expected a timeline or topology built on metaphor and similarity (think of the magical laws of Similarity, Contagion and Identity) instead of linear progress. Yes, I can create that easily enough, but still.

Anyway, what does the book provide? As I mentioned, quite a bit of information, actually.

style

The first thing those familiar with first edition Kult will realize is that the book has a much different layout from previous books, as well as slightly different art. The book uses a two-column format, but each page also has a wide outside border often used for sidebars, comments, pictures or further game statistics. This is not unlike the old standard design for GURPS books, but more space is left blank. Strangely, this doesn’t feel as “wasted” as I thought a lot of GURPS books were, probably because of the background image filling the space on each page. On the whole, the layout is nice. Pictures and props are used to good effect to liven up each page, not unlike a number of White Wolf products, but in a more restrained and generally successful manner, I’d say.

Additionally, by this book the long-standing Kult artist Peter Bergting had truly come into the style that I so love. Those familiar with some of the later second edition ShadowRun (Cybertechnology, Awakenings and Virtual Realities 2.0) maybe remember his work. His straight-lined work is rather reminiscent of Mike Mignola’s, with more horrific subject matter – especially in his Kult pieces. Easily one of my favorite gaming artists (or, actually, illustrators in general), this book was worth Bergting’s pictures alone.

substance

Metropolis is divided into five general chapters: how to get into the city, the general sections of the city, the Palaces of the Archons, the vast machines of the Illusion and finally creatures inhabiting the ruins. Each section, especially the first and that covering the Palaces, includes a number of incidents and encounters to toss at a group of players.

The first section is also likely the most broadly useful as it provides convenient ways into Metropolis or incidents that demonstrate its influence upon the Illusion. Cab rides gone bad, subway tunnels that lead to places Man Was Not Meant To Take Public Transportation, and even computer viruses unlike any you’ve seen – this is what the “Cracks in the Lie” chapter is composed of. GMs looking for a quick, convenient and easily controlled way to drop the players in the City will find this essential, especially once they read further and decide that their group just has to visit some hellish location or other.

Most of the book (about a full 90 pages) is taken up with locales. Of that big chunk, the Palaces take up the lion’s share, but I actually found the Machinery of the Illusion itself to be the most interesting. The Palaces were cool but not as much as the Memory Banks that serve to wipe the slate of the soul clean for the next suffering life or the Clockworks of time itself. The five general “neighborhoods” of Metropolis are also described in broad terms to give inspiration for other hell-holes to drop into the city.

All of the creatures of Metropolis, no matter their natural “habitat,” are given their own chapter. There are some great monsters in here: horrific, dangerous and not always actively malevolent towards humanity – which is a nice change. I like to have a few creatures that are more like animals that could care less about mankind then active hunters. Readers be warned, however. Metropolis was a supplement for the second edition of Kult in Sweden (I assume) but was published in English before the second edition. As a result, it looks like a first edition book but has the rules (and minor setting changes) from the second edition. This is only really apparent in the rules for creatures and NPCs, as they all have the Dark Art – introduced in the second edition.

Finally, the book closes out with a section on the Tarotica, a version of the Tarot in the Kult universe warped and tailored to it’s needs. Presented as a tool to randomize adventures in Metropolis and keep things unpredictable, it should also be of some interest to people who like Tarotic imagery and symbolism (like myself).

Thinking about it, there are enough ideas (and enough good ideas) here to make this useful to any game that departs from the “real world.” Storytellers looking for some more dangerous and frightening locations to dot their Umbra with in a World of Darkness game could do worse than to loot this book wholesale. The same goes for other spirit worlds from games like WithCraft to Earthdaw to Nobilis.

one of the essential books for the game

I’d definitely call Metropolis one of the essential books for the game (along with the core book and Legions of Darkness), or at least any campaign intending to deal with the Truth to any large extent. If you’re planning a trip to Metropolis, this book provides you virtually everything you need. Those intending to make the City a large or central part of the game have more work cut out for them, as that is not what the book is geared towards, but they should find enough material here to mold what they want from the ideas.

Metropolis
Metropolis Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 05/12/01 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) If you intend to take your Kult* game into the One City, this book is indispensable. Good for any general surreal or spiritual horror game as well.* Product: Metropolis Author: d6 Speldesign, Andre Gottfridsson, Torgil Hellman, Henrik Nilsson, Henrik Persson and Jerker Sojdelius Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Metropolis Ltd Line: Kult Cost: Page count: 176 Year published: 1995 ISBN: 1-883716-07-1 SKU: #5007 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 05/12/01 Genre tags: Modern day Horror Gothic	The only sourcebook for *Kult* covering one of the realms beyond the Illusion (at least that I know of), Metropolis takes a look at… well… Metropolis – the ancient city of Mankind they we rules as Gods and Kings before the Demiurge lured use into the Prison and trapped us. Now it’s largely abandoned and the machinery that maintains the Illusion are scattered about, haltingly churning away as they decay to dust. Throughout this expanse, under the shadows of the Palaces of the Archons, run monsters who used to be our servants, or who were vermin to begin with. Either way they aren’t about to welcome mankind back, especially when we are so weak from our confinement. Metropolis is the city, it’s the city that every settlement in the Illusion unconsciously apes but it follows no rules we understand and filled with sharp-fanged creatures that hunger for our blood. Not a pleasant place to visit. And yet with the disappearance of the Demiurge, more and more people find they’re way into this City of Cities, tumbling through cracks in the Illusion. The lucky ones fall right back into the Illusion scared out of their minds, but how often is someone actually lucky in *Kult? The supplement Metropolis* serves to provide the information necessary to run through the city and as such it is indispensable to anyone intending to use the City in their game. The book is filled to the brim with encountered, locations and appropriately monstrous beasties. The only real problem is that while there are plenty of isolated incidents and deadly creatures, there is very little information on how to make Metropolis a big part of your game. The book provides a wealth of tools to use it as isolated, surreal horror or perhaps as a brief race of terror, but there’s not much about extended exploration of the City or having it be a major presence in a campaign. Intermittent fright-fests are the most common (and easy) uses for Metropolis, but they are far from the only. I’ve always wanted to run a *Kult* game focused more on learning the cosmology and history of the setting over simply killing or maiming characters left and right, and Metropolis does not provide a lot of tools for that. The locations are indeed very useful to that end, but the idea of an extended stay in the city isn’t even really addressed. In fact, I would imagine that most GMs would be hard-pressed to keep their groups alive long enough to do anything more than vaguely glimpse the skyline of the city and escape back into their Prison again, having understood nothing of what happened. Again, that is a lot of what the game is about and what the book intentionally tried to engender, but I don’t think it’s all the game is about. Most people will likely thing I’m over-reacting and making a big deal out of something that doesn’t matter anyway (“Metropolis isn’t supposed to be a setting for a long-term stay, and it’s not supposed to make any sense!”) but it did bother me while reading it. As the City is outside of the Illusion, I was expecting some detailed examination of how things operate when you’ve left behind both space and time as we know it. How do you run a game without time? How do you describe a scene without space? The answer the books provides was simply that the time and space of the Illusion is separate from Metropolis, not necessarily unique in that it’s doesn’t exist outside of it. Perhaps I was looking for too much, but I expected a timeline or topology built on metaphor and similarity (think of the magical laws of Similarity, Contagion and Identity) instead of linear progress. Yes, I can create that easily enough, but still. Anyway, what does the book provide? As I mentioned, quite a bit of information, actually. style The first thing those familiar with first edition *Kult* will realize is that the book has a much different layout from previous books, as well as slightly different art. The book uses a two-column format, but each page also has a wide outside border often used for sidebars, comments, pictures or further game statistics. This is not unlike the old standard design for *GURPS* books, but more space is left blank. Strangely, this doesn’t feel as “wasted” as I thought a lot of *GURPS* books were, probably because of the background image filling the space on each page. On the whole, the layout is nice. Pictures and props are used to good effect to liven up each page, not unlike a number of White Wolf products, but in a more restrained and generally successful manner, I’d say. Additionally, by this book the long-standing *Kult* artist Peter Bergting had truly come into the style that I so love. Those familiar with some of the later second edition *ShadowRun* (Cybertechnology, Awakenings and Virtual Realities 2.0) maybe remember his work. His straight-lined work is rather reminiscent of Mike Mignola’s, with more horrific subject matter – especially in his *Kult* pieces. Easily one of my favorite gaming artists (or, actually, illustrators in general), this book was worth Bergting’s pictures alone. substance Metropolis is divided into five general chapters: how to get into the city, the general sections of the city, the Palaces of the Archons, the vast machines of the Illusion and finally creatures inhabiting the ruins. Each section, especially the first and that covering the Palaces, includes a number of incidents and encounters to toss at a group of players. The first section is also likely the most broadly useful as it provides convenient ways into Metropolis or incidents that demonstrate its influence upon the Illusion. Cab rides gone bad, subway tunnels that lead to places Man Was Not Meant To Take Public Transportation, and even computer viruses unlike any you’ve seen – this is what the “Cracks in the Lie” chapter is composed of. GMs looking for a quick, convenient and easily controlled way to drop the players in the City will find this essential, especially once they read further and decide that their group just has to visit some hellish location or other. Most of the book (about a full 90 pages) is taken up with locales. Of that big chunk, the Palaces take up the lion’s share, but I actually found the Machinery of the Illusion itself to be the most interesting. The Palaces were cool but not as much as the Memory Banks that serve to wipe the slate of the soul clean for the next suffering life or the Clockworks of time itself. The five general “neighborhoods” of Metropolis are also described in broad terms to give inspiration for other hell-holes to drop into the city. All of the creatures of Metropolis, no matter their natural “habitat,” are given their own chapter. There are some great monsters in here: horrific, dangerous and not always actively malevolent towards humanity – which is a nice change. I like to have a few creatures that are more like animals that could care less about mankind then active hunters. Readers be warned, however. Metropolis was a supplement for the second edition of *Kult* in Sweden (I assume) but was published in English before the second edition. As a result, it looks like a first edition book but has the rules (and minor setting changes) from the second edition. This is only really apparent in the rules for creatures and NPCs, as they all have the Dark Art – introduced in the second edition. Finally, the book closes out with a section on the Tarotica, a version of the Tarot in the *Kult* universe warped and tailored to it’s needs. Presented as a tool to randomize adventures in Metropolis and keep things unpredictable, it should also be of some interest to people who like Tarotic imagery and symbolism (like myself). Thinking about it, there are enough ideas (and enough good ideas) here to make this useful to any game that departs from the “real world.” Storytellers looking for some more dangerous and frightening locations to dot their Umbra with in a World of Darkness game could do worse than to loot this book wholesale. The same goes for other spirit worlds from games like *WithCraft* to *Earthdaw* to *Nobilis. one of the essential books for the game I’d definitely call Metropolis* one of the essential books for the game (along with the core book and Legions of Darkness), or at least any campaign intending to deal with the Truth to any large extent. If you’re planning a trip to Metropolis, this book provides you virtually everything you need. Those intending to make the City a large or central part of the game have more work cut out for them, as that is not what the book is geared towards, but they should find enough material here to mold what they want from the ideas.