Dream Thought - A Cultist Simulator TTRPG
I have been playing the second game in the Secret Histories world, Book of Hours and had this idea in a dream (fitting, I know!). So this technically isn’t a TTRPG based on Cultist Simulator, but I titled it that because I think the first game is more well known.
Background
I would classify the Secret Histories world as eldritch mythos setting but without the overt “devour everything” vibes, but not without plenty of malice and danger. In the first game, you play as an aspiring cult leader, learning progressively more esoteric knowledge. This translates to anxiety-inducing gameplay where you trial and error your way through. The second game, Book of Hours, covers the same lore but is much more at your own pace. You have temporary windows of opportunity but if you want to spend the day reorganizing your collection of books pertaining to the Aspect of Winter, you aren’t penalized for it.
A brief search after my midday nap resulted in two previously existing TTRPGs in this world. The official release by the makers of the game, The Lady Afterward, and a 3rd party game, the Walled and the Wood, made under the community license. The first, seems to be a beautifully developed self-contained story in the setting and not really equipped for creating new stories. The second game seems to have put an emphasis on pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, at all costs. This was the result of the quick search so if I have mischaracterized either games, I apologize (and let me know via email!).
A last minute search of Brindlewood Bay reveals a similar feel so maybe this game should be a hack of that (which is itself a hack of Powered by the Apocalype).
Premise for my game
Instead of a Call of Cthulhu style cosmic horror game, I want a cosmic discovery game. Danger lurks only at the very peripheries of the game’s space. The focus is on discovery, but without the sanity loss. It is very much a story telling game without health, armor, attack bonuses; you encounter problems and then solve them with minimal violence (although let’s not rule out crime altogether yet).
It still needs some refining and scoping but it should have a cozier(?) feel. Fae Errant’s article on Cozy RPGs comes to mind.
System
A hack of Powered by the Apocalypse seems like the best fit for my idea. Each character has some attributes that it’s good at and the challenges the PCs have to contend with come from each of the Aspects within the game.
In lieu of health/damage, costs are extracted from your attributes. Exerting yourself in one of these ways, prevents its use until it can be recovered; your resources dwindle as you push on, until you run out and have to return home. Sometimes it’s a known cost but other times it is an unforeseen consequence to a challenge. I think for this system to work, the resource draining rolls need to be limited, at least at first. Also, I’m not sure on the best of mechanically representing this. A box that you constantly check off and erase will get worn quickly but maybe the card based system the video game uses would work here too (face up for available, face down for exhausted). Maybe there is no character sheet, just a deck of cards that represents your attributes and skills.
Conclusion
I have some lingering questions on the premise:
- what is the “gameplay loop”? Is it just find old books, read them and learn new esoteric knowledge?
- How much mystery and puzzle are baked into?
- What is the timescale of a typical story? Days, months or even years?
- Is there character advancement? Is it all handled diagetically via the esoteric knowledge?
- Are there multiple playbooks or is the equivalent to a class-less game?
This is just a memory of a game I played in my dream and may never progress past that little fragment but I found it interesting. If you have any thoughts on this or a similar game that already exists, shoot me an email at TonightsSession@gmail.com.