What is Kresnik|Kudlak?

A game in alpha. Kresnik|Kudlak is an apocalyptic supernatural dramatic thriller setting. In an alternate time at the end of the Cold War where the greying phenomenon threatens to plunge the globe into winter forever. The colder it gets the more haunted the world becomes. 

The players take on the role of spirit powered Kresnik who help their communities navigate this apocalypse. They will pit themselves against the threats of change, helplessness, isolation, violence, and the unknown.  Can they eek out success in the face of a uncaring world? Will they freeze? Or will they break and fall between the cracks, becoming a monster, a Kudlak?

What is Those whose souls leave?

Those whose souls leave is a pamphlet that:

• Introduces you to the grey and how it effects the world,
• Provides a framework to tell stories in this world,
• Six character sheets of each Kresnik archetype (Driver, Idealogue, Physician, Smuggler, Watchman and Woodsman), and
• A framework to map projects, their progress and  how they impact your home.

Gameplay: Kresnik|Kudlak is powered by Don't Rest Your Head (DRYH); a weird fiction game by Fred Hicks about everyday people who come across supernatural abilities through being sleep deprived. Much like DRYH, Kresnik|Kudlak uses four sets of d6 to roll large dice pools.

• Exhaustion Dice: The concept of Exhaustion ties in perfectly with pushing yourself in the freezing cold, burning precious calories and the desperation the closer you are to dying.
• Stress and Discipline Dice: With DRYH's Pain and Discipline Dice; I took a different tact opting to represent these with Stress and Resilience Dice respectively. This two way battle of dice is the fundamental battle that the Kresnik have between the troubles they face and how they are able to deal with them.
• Bond Dice: DRYH also has Madness Dice which allows the characters to access some of their weird insomniac abilities. Alternatively I wanted my Kresnik to always have access to their Talents and alternatively I had introduced Bond Dice. They represent the Kresnik's ongoing bond they have with their fellows and how stable those relationships are.

Projects: Headspace is a cyberpunk game about runners who have been implanted with ‘Headspace’ which allows them to share thoughts, experience and skills throughout the party. It also introduces a systematic way to break down projects to effect real resistance to the opposing corporations. Together with Pathologic 2’s mind maps, they become a great illustrative tool to show where there are opportunities for change and where some may have been missed.

An integral aspect of the objective track and mind map is connecting that with the town and the Kresnik. The Quiet Year is a map game where players perform the roles of community elders and the tough decisions they have to make over the year. Red Markets is an economical horror game where players take on the role of takers eking out an existence following an outbreak. Both focus on communities following the collapse of society. They provide guidance on how to form your communities and I tried to do similar tying the community to threats to the mind maps.

Mood board

• 2014 Slovenian ice storm
• Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason (2008) - Action Forms
• Little Otik (2000) - Jan Švankmajer
• Night Watch (2004) - Timur Bekmambetov
• Day Watch (2006) - Timur Bekmambetov
• Kentucky Route Zero (2013) - Cardboard Computer
• Death Stranding (2019)- Kojima Productions
• Pathologic 2 (2019) - Ice-Pick Lodge
• Dark (2017 - 2020) - Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese
• Maniac (2018) - Patrick Somerville

You can find more mood at tumblr.