Gods of the Fall by Bruce R. Cordell is a role playing game supplement published by Monte Cook Games for use with the Cypher System. This is a setting book and, although it does contain game mechanics, the Cypher System Rulebook is also needed to play.
The supplement is available as a 193-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $17.99 and is also available as a printed book from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover, two are the front matter and one the Table of Contents.
The Introduction states that if you’ve ever wanted to play a god, this is the right book for it, as characters are more than normal. They have a dominion and are gods.
Part 1: Getting Started starts with Chapter 1: Welcome to the Afterworld. Prior to the present, gods lived in their own realm of Elanehtar. Then Elanehtar fell and shattered, obliterating one country completely and apparently killing all the gods. The PCs are now gods, though the origin of their godhood isn’t that important; what they will do with their powers is. This chapter gives an overview of magic, including artefacts and cyphers, a geographical overview, the people of the Afterworld and details on life; class, religion, language, history, animals and creatures and climate.
Chapter 2: Mourning in the Nightland is a piece of prose about an individual who is one of the gods, though they know it not.
Part 2: The Setting covers the setting of Gods of the Fall.
Chapter 3: The Nightland covers the lands under the darkness created by permanent eclipse of the new moon of Nod. It starts with weather and growing up in darkness. Cities, parts of cities, points of interest and NPCs are all given in this, along with sidebars called According to Prophecy; essentially adventure hooks based around different prophecies (prophecies are detailed later). After the major locations are described, a number of others are given about a paragraph each.
Chapter 4: The Ruinscape covers the lands outside the Nightland whose central feature is the Eye of Elanehtar, created when heaven smashed into the earth. This follows a similar format to the previous chapter, with details on important features and major locations, especially the Five Deeps, which appear to be previous civilisations buried when previous heavens fell. The Deeps are covered in quite a bit of detail; they are essentially a megadungeon. Again, after the major locations are described, a number of others are given around a paragraph each.
Chapter 5: The Verge covers the nefar-infested – nefar being goblins, orcs, trolls, ogres and similar creatures – borderlands that haven’t known civilisation in thousands of years. This is divided into the territories of two tribes with locations described in each, though a tribe does not control their whole region.
Chapter 6: Nod covers the strange moon that casts the Nightland into perpetual shadow. Details are given on the origin of Nod and the King of Nod, as well as ways of getting to it; the moon is a dream realm, though one with a physical presence. Again, various points of interest are described.
Chapter 7: Soulrest covers the realm of the dead, sometimes called Hell. There are details on how to get their whilst alive, some history of it before the Fall, what happens to souls and the lords of Hell, of different origins, who currently control parts of the realm, with details on these.
Chapter 8: Organizations gives overviews of several organisations and the benefits of being members of them.
Part 3: Characters covers characters.
Chapter 9: GMing Deities has advice on running characters whose abilities are beyond the norm. A new clause is added to character descriptions; this is the divine dominion that the character has, the god they will become. The Seven Prophecies, which have appeared in the various setting chapters as essentially adventure hooks, are covered in more detail now. Each is given a paragraph description and details of how it might become true. Fulfilling a prophecy could be a major game goal; fulfilling parts of many is another. There are tips on using the prophecies and awarding experience for them, and some example end games. There is an example story arc and how NPCs might react to PCs’ claims of divinity; they could get followers. With characters being proto-gods essentially, difficulty caps at 15, not the usual 10 of Cypher System games. Godlike beings can do godlike acts, after all.
Chapter 10: Character Type covers types, of which there are four; champion, shaper, destroyer and saviour. This is the noun part of the character description and is effectively the class. Each character type is described along with their abilities and other relevant material at all six tiers.
Chapter 11: Character Descriptor and Focus covers the other two parts of the standard character description; descriptor, the adjective, and focus, the verb. the fifty descriptors from the Cypher System Rulebook are said to be fine and there are six new descriptors as well as two racial descriptors. Foci lists all those that are most suited for Gods of the Fall from the rulebook as well as four new ones.
Chapter 12: Character Dominion covers the new part of the character descriptor, their divine domain, of which there are 48 given. How characters awaken their powers and find out about the obligations of their dominion are covered, along with the six tiers of godhood and their powers, with some example labours. Characters may also form a pantheon – in many respects, a standard adventuring party, but for gods – which has some benefits, and there are suggestions for advancing beyond sixth tier.
Chapter 13: Equipment starts with currency and continues with some unusual materials. The equipment lists and prices follow, with armour, weapons and other equipment covered.
Part 4: GM’s Toolbox starts with Chapter 14: Creatures and NPCs. There are descriptions of what fantasy creatures can be found and how some will differ before moving onto new creatures. Each is described, given its stats and loot as well as what is essentially an adventure hook for using them in the setting.
Chapter 15: Cyphers and Artifacts list new ones of each, with a listing of some of the dead gods.
Chapter 16: Adventure: Rite of Spring is an adventure intended to start a campaign; second tier or higher characters will need it modifying as they will have divine shifts which would make it much easier.
Part 5: Backmatter has a glossary, timeline, one page Index and a two-page character sheet.
Gods of the Fall in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents only covers major sections but is hyperlinked. The Index is more thorough and is also hyperlinked. Navigation is very good. The text predominately – the adventure seems to be the exception – follows the standard two columns with sidebar format and appeared to be free of errors. The sidebar is used for tips, GM Intrusions, stats and references to the core rulebook. There are many colour illustrations which appear to be custom. Presentation is excellent.
It must be stated again; this is not enough to play the game. The core rulebook is needed as well. What Gods of the Fall is, is a complete campaign sourcebook. There is a substantial amount of detail on the setting, with that taking up a substantial amount of the book, and the rest of the material is primarily new mechanics and new items and creatures. This is a rather different game for a fantasy setting, being that the characters pretty quickly become what are, effectively, demi-gods. Not that this makes them indestructible, as there are more powerful beings that want them dead, but it does mean the power levels are high even for a high fantasy setting, possibly approaching superhero game levels. Running and playing this game will therefore be a bit different. Gods of the Fall is ideal for those who want something unusual from their Cypher System game and it can be found by clicking here.
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