Tips for Beginner Kult GMs
Hello! I've been running Kult for a year and some change, and after much trial and error I feel like I'm finally reaching my stride with it. PbtA systems can be really challenging to run and they definitely do Not hold your hand when it comes to rules and guidelines/best practices for playing, so I thought I would share some of what I've learned.
(This is not me claiming to be an expert GM -- mostly my opinions on what has worked really well for me and what my players like. Feel free to add your own tips.)
- For the love of god, use safety tools. Kult REALLY needs them. If you think they're lame and don't care about your players' enjoyment, then that's your perogative. I personally don't want to traumatize or severely upset my players, so I always use them.
Some examples I love:
- Content warnings, and being honest about what you can or cannot remove based on the scenario you're running. For example, with the Laraine estate, I let my player's know that I could not omit the pretty explicit sexual content entirely. They deserve to know what they're getting into.
- Lines and Veils. I used an anonymous google form before the game for this. I'd recommend asking your players to specify regarding veils (i.e. what about this topic do you want me to avoid/tone down) and generally checking in if a veiled topic is being broached.
- X Card. I personally have never had a player who used the X-card but I still have it always available to them. In addition to triggering topics, I make sure they know it can be used for any reason (i.e. If another player is bulldozing or interrupting, you Need the game to end or take a break and we're not listening etc). I actually prefer that player's cross their arms in an X shape so I can see it better.
- Start with a pre-written, short scenario. I surprisingly had the most success with The Laraine Estate, which I didn't expect because it's quite open ended. It ended up giving us a lot of room to play around and build onto the characters!
Important tips for this would be:
- Since the scenario is so focused on sexuality and I run for a primarily queer group, I had the players decide the sexual orientations and gender identities for their pregens (including whether they're cis or trans, their relationship with/how repressed their identities are, etc). I also had them choose their appearances, ages, and other details.
- Write your own notes for what is inside of each room. I stole the OSR style of area descriptions where you start with the first things people notice, then add specific details onto the end if players explore. Leave the history and extra features for the end so you don't have to constantly go back and forth through the paragraph.
- Expanding off of that, make comprehensive biographical notes for your NPCs. This information is scattered throughout the scenario which can be really annoying! So it's super helpful to have their appearance, background, and personalities all in one place.
- Keep copies of your PCs advantages and disadvantages handy. You want these to be easy to reference so you can easily incorporate them into the story in a natural way. This also keeps the players from knowing exactly what disadvantage you're spending Hold on.
- This is mentioned briefly in the rules, but don't make the players roll for disadvantages that you already have Hold on. Just spend the Hold!
- Have your players keep their character's Dark Secrets, well, secret. For the pregens in the Laraine Estate, I covered the Dark Secrets with washy tape and told the players not to look at them until they chose their characters. When we continued into a full campaign and they came up with their own, I had them send me a private DM with their Dark Secret. This makes the players really engaged with the mystery and with figuring out each other's backstories, which has been really fun.
Overall, be a fan of your player characters. I ask my players a ton of questions about their PCs in between games during my prep. Kult is a very character-focused game that I believe works best when a scenario is built around the PCs pasts and traumas, so I recommend really getting to know those characters and having your players contribute as much as possible.
NPCs with relations are also a really good tool for this that I made the mistake of neglecting when I first started running Kult. Even if PCs have contacts in the form of +0 relation NPCs, these are amazing pawns for you to use. I highly encourage having the players look at the prompts for their Archetypes and coming up with at least two.