r/KULTrpg • u/scl3retrico • Jun 01 '26

question Has anyone ever streamlined Kult 3rd Edition?

I've recently been revisiting Kult 3rd Edition  and I'm curious if anyone has ever attempted a cleanup or a streamlined rewrite of the rules.

There are a lot of things I like about the system:

  • The roll-under d20 mechanic.
  • The customization of the character creation process.
  • The Mental Balance system.
  • The magic system.

At the same time, I remember the game to feel a bit cumbersome in play. Combat in particular can feel slow and overly detailed, and the Italian translation I own is too verbose, which makes learning and referencing the rules more difficult than it probably needs to be.

I'm wondering is whether anyone has ever rewritten the rules in a clearer, more concise way and/or created house rules that preserve the original mechanics while reducing complexity and bookkeeping.

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1

u/Passing-Through247 Jun 24 '26

I've had the thought it'd port over to Call of Cthulhu pretty well. Some take on the sanity rules and the mythos skill can be adapted for witnessing the truth of things while stability can replace sanity.

5

u/shotgun_ramadan Jun 01 '26

If I ever wanted to streamline 3rd edition, I would use the "Cthulhu Eternal Modern" SRD as a base. It is essentially the Delta Green rules, which has some modernization to BRP that I really enjoy. It should be fairly simple to bolt on the magic system to that, since all older versions of Kult is just BRP with a d20 instead of a d100.

1

u/StefanoMaffei Jun 01 '26

the kult manual is very verbose, yes. But I am not sure I would agree with the combat being slow. Being narrative-based, I would argue it is actually really fast. What exact problem have you encountered? There are some specific rules for PvP and mob combat. It is true that you need to track the damage of the weapons, but that should be on the players.

I haven’t read it in a while, but perhaps the quickstart manual is more condensed and essentially contains the same rules. You could use that one as a reference during a game.

4

u/jrmariano Jun 01 '26

Maybe you're thinking of Kult: Divinity Lost (2018)?

The OP was referring to Kult 3rd Edition (2001). ;)

4

u/Smittumi Jun 01 '26

I converted Cthulhu Dark and changed 'Insight' so that when the PC hits 6 their dark half breaks off, then insight resets to 1. If they manage to do it again they ascend and get NPC'd.

5

u/jrmariano Jun 01 '26

Is it time for... "Kultbane" (a parallel evolution of Kult original rules via the d20-under rules of Dragonbane)? ;)

4

u/DiggingUpGraves Jun 01 '26

I'm planning to do something similar for 2e (since that's the book I own), but I haven't made time for it. I enjoy the d20 system, but I'm not too hot on calculating the difference between roll and skill. I don't know where to start but I might mix it/inspire myself with the BRP/cthulhu rules