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| The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not dominates the front cover of the book. |
The artwork is lovely. Extensive cross referencing is used in the book (something common in other MCG books, effectively hyperlinking for paper books) - if that wasn’t in I suspect that they’d save 40-50 pages as there’s a half-width column on every page that carries this.
Old Gods of Appalachia uses the Cypher System, which I've never played but seems pretty straight forward. You roll a D20 trying to beat a target number based upon on the level of the opposition (challenge, creature, or NPC) multiplied by 3. You don't get dice modifiers; rather the level used can be shifted based on skill, equipment (assets) and by spending 'effort' from the appropriate attribute pool. This means the game falls into the same kind of narrative space that lighter engines such as Tripod do.
However, character design is more involved and nearly put me off the book. There's a lot of reference material; my advice for the first time reader is not to bother; most of this only needs to be read if you want to create a character and are choosing what kind of long term path you want to take. It's detail the GM doesn't need to know and is for the player to bring to the table. Having skimmed Numenera and the Cypher System core book elsewhere, in the future I'll feel free to read a couple of examples and move on until I need to use the character generation in anger.
The setting is mapped over wonderfully; different parts of the dark and twisted Appalachia are explored with references back to the series episodes when appropriate, and the players can have their characters drawn into the ongoing conflict between the Inner Dark and the Green. The creatures are truly horrific and different too. The game concludes with two scenarios; one is very much built for a starter GM, whereas the second is a more involved open-ended scenario which could kick off a game.
Old Gods of Appalachia is a long book, and perhaps could have been expressed a little more succinctly, but it’s worth noting that this is the entire setting. I don’t think that you’d need to get another book for this ever. The scenarios and the section on consent in gaming (which I think is a good thing to have in a horror RPG to you at least know what may make people uncomfortable) do add to the book length.
I had been wondering whether I'd keep this or not, but the creatures and scenarios tipped the balance for for me to make it a keeper. I may well run a session to see how it feels in play. It's a nicely different creeping occult horror sitting, with some really evocative source material. Some of the illustrations had me remembering Carnivale, which can only be a good thing.
Best source for the background is https://www.oldgodsofappalachia.com/ which links to the podcast and other materials. It's done very well and I find the performances creepy. Definitely worth a look if you want a feel for the setting.
Old Gods of Appalachia uses the Cypher System, which I've never played but seems pretty straight forward. You roll a D20 trying to beat a target number based upon on the level of the opposition (challenge, creature, or NPC) multiplied by 3. You don't get dice modifiers; rather the level used can be shifted based on skill, equipment (assets) and by spending 'effort' from the appropriate attribute pool. This means the game falls into the same kind of narrative space that lighter engines such as Tripod do.
However, character design is more involved and nearly put me off the book. There's a lot of reference material; my advice for the first time reader is not to bother; most of this only needs to be read if you want to create a character and are choosing what kind of long term path you want to take. It's detail the GM doesn't need to know and is for the player to bring to the table. Having skimmed Numenera and the Cypher System core book elsewhere, in the future I'll feel free to read a couple of examples and move on until I need to use the character generation in anger.
Character creation feels an evolution of the D&D3e Feats and abilities growth model, linked to your initial character concept. Characters are defined with three different stats: Might, Intellect and Speed. These primarily act as pools for you to modify rolls.
Each character can be one of four character types; think classes here. This the 'noun' that describes what your character is. They are:
1) Protector (physically action and combat orientated)
2) Sage (has some form of magic ability)
3) Explorer (fits in the space between the Sage and protector - action orientated but can have magic)
4) Speaker (the face - someone who has the charisma and influencing skills)
All of these have plenty of examples of the kind of characters which fall into each type. This is effectively a life path and sets your ongoing character development - you will get abilities in these related to your character type as you gain experience.
The character type you choose sets your intial stat pool (although you get some points to tailor it) and it also gives you an edge in one of these (which means that spending pool points for effort is less costly). Effort spend either makes tasks easier or means you can boost damage.
You also get initial equipment, areas of knowledge (effectively a skill set), weapons, magic abilities (or not) and some character type abilities. These may involve a pool point spend to use. As you increase the tier (level) of the character, you can change the abilities a little. There are six tiers, and you have to make 4 sets of XP spends to climb a tier.
You then have to select a character descriptor - this is the flavour for the character - the 'adjective' if you will - and can be positive or negative. These give you a stat pool mod, for example if I am Beholden, I may be Wary (+2 Speed) or if I am Curious I will be Smart (+4 Intellect). You also get some skills, and something more negative. You will get some equipment as well, along with a link to the starting adventure (think of this as a bond in a Powered-by-the-Apocalypse game). It does nothing mechanically but is a hook. There is no progression of the descriptor.
The final part of building your character is to select your focus. This describes what your character does. This is the 'verb' that describes your character concept. Whereas the game lets you have overlaps with character type and descriptor, it recommends that every character's focus is unique. Foci include 'Applies themselves' (good at skills and solving problems), Becomes the Beast (can take a beast shape or talk to beasts etc), Cannot Escape the Darkness (haunted by dark forces), Defends what matters (good at protecting community and friends) or Fears no Haints (can talk to spirits). Your focus gives you a link to another PC and the GM some ideas for intrusions (where they can do bad things to you in return for XP for you and another player). The abilities for your character focus do grow with tier, but usually there are at most two options at each tier to choose from. There's no formal scope to change these.
You can also use character arcs, which are structured ways to grant XP (however these are optional).
Fundamentally, you have a character concept in the form
Each character can be one of four character types; think classes here. This the 'noun' that describes what your character is. They are:
1) Protector (physically action and combat orientated)
2) Sage (has some form of magic ability)
3) Explorer (fits in the space between the Sage and protector - action orientated but can have magic)
4) Speaker (the face - someone who has the charisma and influencing skills)
All of these have plenty of examples of the kind of characters which fall into each type. This is effectively a life path and sets your ongoing character development - you will get abilities in these related to your character type as you gain experience.
The character type you choose sets your intial stat pool (although you get some points to tailor it) and it also gives you an edge in one of these (which means that spending pool points for effort is less costly). Effort spend either makes tasks easier or means you can boost damage.
You also get initial equipment, areas of knowledge (effectively a skill set), weapons, magic abilities (or not) and some character type abilities. These may involve a pool point spend to use. As you increase the tier (level) of the character, you can change the abilities a little. There are six tiers, and you have to make 4 sets of XP spends to climb a tier.
You then have to select a character descriptor - this is the flavour for the character - the 'adjective' if you will - and can be positive or negative. These give you a stat pool mod, for example if I am Beholden, I may be Wary (+2 Speed) or if I am Curious I will be Smart (+4 Intellect). You also get some skills, and something more negative. You will get some equipment as well, along with a link to the starting adventure (think of this as a bond in a Powered-by-the-Apocalypse game). It does nothing mechanically but is a hook. There is no progression of the descriptor.
The final part of building your character is to select your focus. This describes what your character does. This is the 'verb' that describes your character concept. Whereas the game lets you have overlaps with character type and descriptor, it recommends that every character's focus is unique. Foci include 'Applies themselves' (good at skills and solving problems), Becomes the Beast (can take a beast shape or talk to beasts etc), Cannot Escape the Darkness (haunted by dark forces), Defends what matters (good at protecting community and friends) or Fears no Haints (can talk to spirits). Your focus gives you a link to another PC and the GM some ideas for intrusions (where they can do bad things to you in return for XP for you and another player). The abilities for your character focus do grow with tier, but usually there are at most two options at each tier to choose from. There's no formal scope to change these.
You can also use character arcs, which are structured ways to grant XP (however these are optional).
Fundamentally, you have a character concept in the form
[Name] is an [Adjective] [Noun] that [Verbs]
or more clearly:
[Name] is a [Descriptor] [Type] that [Focus].
The game is asking you to chose a character concept from the start and develop it, so although there is some wriggle-room on development, there's not a lot. You aren't going to grow as organically as some other games (for example Trail of Cthulhu or Liminal).
The setting is mapped over wonderfully; different parts of the dark and twisted Appalachia are explored with references back to the series episodes when appropriate, and the players can have their characters drawn into the ongoing conflict between the Inner Dark and the Green. The creatures are truly horrific and different too. The game concludes with two scenarios; one is very much built for a starter GM, whereas the second is a more involved open-ended scenario which could kick off a game.
Old Gods of Appalachia is a long book, and perhaps could have been expressed a little more succinctly, but it’s worth noting that this is the entire setting. I don’t think that you’d need to get another book for this ever. The scenarios and the section on consent in gaming (which I think is a good thing to have in a horror RPG to you at least know what may make people uncomfortable) do add to the book length.
I had been wondering whether I'd keep this or not, but the creatures and scenarios tipped the balance for for me to make it a keeper. I may well run a session to see how it feels in play. It's a nicely different creeping occult horror sitting, with some really evocative source material. Some of the illustrations had me remembering Carnivale, which can only be a good thing.
Best source for the background is https://www.oldgodsofappalachia.com/ which links to the podcast and other materials. It's done very well and I find the performances creepy. Definitely worth a look if you want a feel for the setting.
Recommended.
10 March 2024 (but posted later as it was originally a set of three separate posts discussing the game of a forum).
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