Since Game Chef 2013, I’ve been working on a diceless AW hack to create noirs. I’m happy to say it’s now finished and available. Soth is my game about small-town cultists trying to summon a dark god. I’d call it a cousin of Apocalypse World.
I wanted to create a game with the tension of a noir or thriller: stories like Breaking Bad or Psycho, where we follow someone trying to deceive and murder their way out of trouble.
So, Soth uses a diceless process to evaluate how suspicious the cultists are being. The GM then spends that Suspicion to put the cultists under pressure (I think of it as an economy for Hard Moves).
To celebrate the start of this year’s Game Chef contest, you can get it for $6 from https://payhip.com/b/Ux9O (until Monday).
#SummonSoth
I bought this today. It took three minutes to make the decision. It’s brilliant, and I can’t wait to play.
I’m intrigued. Just picked it up, any advice for running the first game?
For a first game, I’d say it’s useful to think about your players. People I’d suggest playing with in the first game (so you get a sense of how it all works) would be:
– creatively enthusiastic about noirs and villains
– familiar with the time period and the tropes of Lovecraftian fiction, and/or
– willing to mine the subtext of trying to pretend to be normal, functional members of the community while plotting murders.
I’d also focus on applying the ‘Mask of Sanity’ rules and the ‘Table Talk’ rules. Table Talk means that people can make suggestions out of character about what to do, but the Keeper (the GM role) gains Suspicion every time they do it.
The Mask of Sanity rules are my attempt to provide a structure where players don’t need to portray full-blown, totally overtly insane cultists. They are rules for one thing you have to say in any lengthy or intimate conversation with a non-cultist, like ‘Hint at your crimes’ or ‘Praise Soth’.
Aside from that, I’d focus on portraying the NPCs in ways that make them sympathetic, nosey, hateful, and just generally human. If you’re not playing a one-shot, keep the pace slow and focus on the details.
Looks great. Excited to play. Thanks for the first game pointers, Steve.
Sold! What a wonderful idea.