Chronicles of Darkness vs KULT: Divinity Lost
Compare Chronicles of Darkness and KULT: Divinity Lost side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Chronicles of Darkness | KULT: Divinity Lost | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Tags | Atmospheric, Character Building, Character-Driven, Classless, Corruption, Drama, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Improvisation, Investigation, Strong GM Support | Atmospheric, Character-Driven, Dark Fantasy, Deadly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Fiction-First, Investigation, Lore-Heavy, Playbook-Driven, Player-Only Rolls |
| Core Mechanic | Build a d10 pool from an Attribute plus a Skill and count each 8, 9, or 10 as a success. Tens reroll, five successes are exceptional, and a pool reduced below one die becomes a chance die that succeeds only on a 10. | When a Move triggers, roll 2d10 plus the named Attribute. A total of 15 or more is a complete success, 10–14 succeeds with complications, and 9 or less lets the GM make a Move. The GM never rolls dice. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | 2d10 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | Noncommercial only — Helmgast Fan Content Policy |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $ | $$ |
| Publisher | Onyx Path Publishing | Helmgast AB |
| Year | 2015 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want modern supernatural horror built around investigating mysteries, navigating personal consequences, and confronting threats before they overwhelm an ordinary life. | Groups seeking adult modern occult horror where personal secrets drive investigation and dangerous confrontations. It suits a GM ready to build evolving threats and a table committed to explicit boundaries. |
| Highlights | The investigation system can reveal an Incomplete clue on a failed roll, preventing a mystery from stopping at one check. Conditions, Aspirations, and Beats link consequences and personal goals to character advancement. Horror Anchors create investigative inroads for supernatural threats. | Dark Secrets link each character's traumatic or occult past to the GM's Intrigue Map, turning backstory into campaign pressure. Stability turns horror exposure into persistent conditions, culminating in a powerful GM Move when a character is Broken. Threat write-ups and milestone procedures give the GM a concrete engine for escalating a conspiracy. |
| Considerations | The core contains detailed procedures for combat, chases, investigation, social maneuvering, and supernatural threats, so groups need to decide which rules to emphasize in a campaign. Damage, Integrity breaking points, and Persistent Conditions create lasting consequences. Social Maneuvering includes sexual goals and hard leverage, so players should back away from uncomfortable concepts. | The game deliberately addresses sexual violence, torture, and psychological harm, so a group should agree on boundaries before play. Campaign play asks the GM to tie each character's history into an Intrigue Map and keep it developing between sessions. The extensive cosmology and the optional rules for magic and Enlightened characters create a large reference load. |