# Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game is a standalone Cypher System folk-horror TTRPG about protecting communities in an alternate 1920s and 1930s Appalachia haunted by old powers, hard history, and dark bargains. ## At a Glance Appalachian folk horror - Cypher System - GM-led - 418-page core book - Strong for campaigns, workable for focused one-shots ## Why It Fits Old Gods of Appalachia fits tables that want horror to grow from place, kinship, labor, faith, and old stories. It gives TTRPG Games a strong finder entry for Appalachian folk horror and a useful Cypher comparison point beyond Numenera. ## Fit Facts - Players: 2-6 players + GM - Session length: 120-240 minutes - Prep: Medium - Price: Paid ## Facets - Genres: Cosmic Horror, Dark Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Mystery, Mythology and Folklore, Supernatural - Mechanics: Campaign, Character Customization, Investigation, Narrative-Driven, Skill-based, Team-Based - Themes: Bleak, Dark, Mature, Psychological - Decision tags: Licensed, One-Shot Friendly, Rules Medium ## Scores - Complexity: 3/5 - New GM Fit: 3/5 - Roleplay Focus: 5/5 - Combat Focus: 2/5 - Tactical Depth: 1/5 - Campaign Depth: 4/5 ## Best For - Groups that want Appalachian folk horror rooted in community, family, and local history - Cypher System fans who want a darker, more regional horror campaign frame - GMs who want a substantial official core book with lore, creatures, NPCs, and starter adventures ## Avoid If - You want extremely rules-light horror where characters stay fragile and mechanically simple - Your table wants generic monster hunting rather than place-specific folk horror - Existing Cypher owners do not want a licensed setting book that restates core Cypher procedures ## Explorer Notes [Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game](https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game/) is best for groups that want folk horror to feel local, communal, and old rather than globe-trotting or pulp. The game moves the hit horror podcast into a playable alternate Appalachia of the 1920s and 1930s, where families, towns, churches, mines, railroads, hollers, and old powers all matter. It is not the lightest horror TTRPG on the shelf. The book uses Monte Cook Games' Cypher System, and the current core is a 418-page hardcover or PDF with a lot of setting, creatures, NPCs, player options, and two complete adventures. Choose it when the table wants a rich regional campaign frame; choose something leaner if you want a near-zero-prep one-shot about ordinary people against one isolated threat. ## What the game is Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game is a standalone horror TTRPG by [Shanna Germain, published by Monte Cook Games](https://www.montecookgames.com/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game/). It adapts Steve Shell and Cam Collins's Old Gods of Appalachia podcast into a story-based tabletop game about horror, hardship, and heart in an alternate version of Central Appalachia. The official store page frames the setting around dark hollers, old blood, dangerous bargains, and communities facing supernatural forces that predate the modern world. At the table, that means the characters are not generic occult adventurers. They are people with ties to place, kin, labor, faith, and local memory, trying to protect what matters when the mountain is not only scenery. ## Publication history and current edition Monte Cook Games released the current core game in 2023, with the official release page dated August 9, 2023. The live product page lists the core as a 418-page hardcover or PDF, priced at $69.99 for the hardcover and $22.99 for the PDF at the time checked. The line is more than a single book. The same official page lists the Old Gods of Appalachia Player's Guide, a 32-page player-facing softcover or PDF that summarizes the setting, character creation, basic rules, and six pregenerated characters. Monte Cook Games explicitly says the Player's Guide is not enough by itself; every group needs at least one core rulebook for play. ## Product line and what you need to play The core rulebook is the necessary starting point. It includes complete rules, concept-driven character generation, lore for the alternate Appalachia setting, creatures, NPCs, and two complete adventures to launch a campaign. The Player's Guide is useful when every player wants a cheaper table reference, but it is an add-on rather than a substitute. The MCG store also shows ongoing line support, including the Player's Guide, a scrip coin set, a railroad guide, Best Leave Them Ghosts Alone, and an XP deck. Those products are not needed for a first campaign, but they show that the game is a supported licensed line rather than a one-off adaptation. ## Core rules and play structure Old Gods uses the Cypher System, the same broad rules family behind [Numenera](/item/numenera). The GM sets task difficulty, players roll a d20, and character abilities, skills, assets, and Effort reduce the difficulty before the roll. The important table effect is that players usually roll the dice and make repeated choices about when a problem is worth spending their limited pools. For horror, that resource pressure matters. Cypher characters can become capable and distinctive, but they are still choosing when to spend themselves against something larger than one person. The best sessions should keep the focus on communities, warning signs, hard bargains, and consequences instead of letting the rules turn every darkness in the hills into a fair fight. ## Characters, roles, and advancement Character creation follows Cypher's concept-first identity: descriptor, type, and focus combine to tell the table who the character is and what they are drawn into doing. The store page emphasizes intuitive, concept-driven character generation with broad options, which fits a game where a healer, worker, preacher, sheriff, wanderer, or person marked by something strange may all belong in the same story. That flexibility is one of the line's strengths, but it also creates a tone-management job. If everyone builds toward heroic power fantasy, the folk-horror mood can soften. A strong session zero should ask what each character protects, what community they owe, what they fear in the old stories, and what they would not trade away even if the mountain offered power. ## Signature mechanics - Cypher task difficulty keeps the rules readable while letting skills, assets, and Effort matter on important rolls. - Concept-driven character creation supports a wide range of Appalachian horror protagonists without forcing a narrow class lineup. - Player-facing resource choices make characters decide when to spend from themselves to resist danger, protect others, or push a risky plan. - Creature, NPC, and lore support give the GM a large toolbox for local threats, family histories, and campaign-scale trouble. - Two complete adventures make the core book more usable as a starting product rather than only a setting encyclopedia. ## What play feels like A good Old Gods session should feel like a local tale getting worse. The characters hear a warning, notice a pattern, follow a rumor into an abandoned place, learn which family line or company town has history with the trouble, and then decide whether the answer is courage, sacrifice, bargaining, cleansing, flight, or a cost nobody wants to pay. Compared with [Vaesen](/item/vaesen), Old Gods is more Appalachian, podcast-rooted, and Cypher-based rather than Nordic folkloric mystery built on the Year Zero Engine. Compared with [Delta Green](/item/deltagreen), it is less about modern agencies and cover-ups and more about regional memory, local isolation, and the people who keep a community alive. Compared with [Liminal Horror](/item/liminal-horror), it is much fuller and more setting-heavy. ## Running the game The GM load is medium. The core rules are teachable, and the book gives adventures, creatures, NPCs, and setting material, but the GM still needs to translate a large licensed world into a specific table situation. The best prep will usually be local: one town, one family problem, one old wrong, one thing in the dark, and a clear reason the characters cannot simply walk away. The biggest GM risk is letting the Cypher chassis overpower the horror. Cypher is comfortable with competent characters, powers, and broad action. Old Gods works better when ability does not erase dread: the characters may have gifts, but the threat should still feel old, rooted, and socially costly. ## Campaign fit Old Gods looks strongest as a campaign or short season. The 418-page core has enough lore, place detail, threats, and NPC material to reward repeated play, and the podcast premise naturally supports recurring communities, family histories, and consequences that echo across sessions. It can support one-shots, especially by using one of the included adventures or pregenerated characters from the Player's Guide, but a one-shot should be tightly framed. Start with one immediate danger in one community and make the emotional stake explicit; do not ask a new table to absorb the whole line before the first scene. ## Reception and reviews Accessible review coverage is broadly positive while also clear about fit. [GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game-review/) gave the game a 3.5 out of 5 review rating, praising the way it uses Cypher for horror while noting that it reprints a lot of base Cypher rules for existing Cypher owners. [Tabletop Gaming](https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/reviews/old-gods-of-appalachia-rpg-review/) is warmer on the table promise, calling out the creeping folk-horror mood, the regional identity, and the depth of the book, while also noting that the rules weight can sometimes push against the horror vibe. The review pattern is consistent: the setting, atmosphere, art, and amount of playable material are the draw. The caveat is practical, not fatal. Groups that want light, fragile, almost helpless horror may find the Cypher System too capable; groups that want a substantial regional horror campaign can use that heft as a strength. ## Where it is strongest - Groups that want Appalachian folk horror with strong ties to place, family, and community. - Tables that already like Cypher System procedures and want them aimed at horror rather than science fantasy. - Campaigns where local history, old bargains, supernatural pressure, and protecting ordinary people all matter. - GMs who want a large official book with lore, threats, NPCs, and adventures instead of a minimal prompt engine. ## Where it can frustrate groups - Players looking for rules-light dread may find the 418-page core and Cypher character options heavier than expected. - Existing Cypher owners may feel some rules material overlaps with what they already know. - Groups that want generic monster hunting may miss what makes the setting distinctive. - Tables unfamiliar with the podcast may need a careful first session that teaches tone without relying on prior fandom. ## Content and safety notes Expect folk horror, isolation, family trauma, exploitative labor history, religious pressure, body horror, supernatural bargains, violence, death, grief, addiction or desperation themes depending on the scenario, and communities under pressure from powers they cannot fully explain. Because the game is rooted in a real region through an alternate-horror lens, tables should handle regional culture, poverty, faith, labor, and dialect with care rather than treating them as spooky decoration. Before play, align on body horror, harm to children or family, addiction, religious horror, labor exploitation, and how bleak the campaign should feel. Old Gods is often strongest when characters care deeply about the people around them, which also means harm can land harder than in a distant dungeon or anonymous city. ## Best starting path Start with the official [MCG store page](https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game/) and buy the core rulebook in hardcover, PDF, or bundle depending on how the group reads. If players want a lighter table reference, add the Player's Guide after the GM has the core. The [DriveThruRPG listing](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/447290/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game?affiliate_id=1659151) is also a useful PDF purchase path with the current affiliate link. For the first session, use one included adventure or a pregenerated-character setup. Keep the first problem local, personal, and contained enough that the group learns what Old Gods feels like before the campaign widens. ## Research notes Last checked: July 31, 2026. - [Monte Cook Games release overview](https://www.montecookgames.com/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game/) - [Monte Cook Games store page](https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game/) - [DriveThruRPG product listing](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/447290/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game?affiliate_id=1659151) - [GamesRadar+ review](https://www.gamesradar.com/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game-review/) - [Tabletop Gaming review](https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/reviews/old-gods-of-appalachia-rpg-review/) ## Links - Explorer page: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/item/old-gods-of-appalachia - Agent JSON: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/api/games/old-gods-of-appalachia.json - Publisher or official site: https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game/ - Reviews or retailer page: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/447290/old-gods-of-appalachia-roleplaying-game?affiliate_id=1659151