This preview edition of Curseborne gives a glimpse of the full game to come. What I see is pretty cool. First off, we get a preview of Storypath Ultra, the rules system that runs the game. It's pretty accessible, intiative and in depth. It pretty much anticipates almost any situation that can come up in a game.

While we get a glimpse of the game setting, I like what I see. This is mixed supernaturals game in an urban setting with lots of intrigue and horror. Each supernatural has their own approch and effect on the setting. As a long experienced World of Darkness & Chronicles of Darkness GM & player, I've long been looking for the next evolution in the genre of game. Overall, the horror genre in all of media has grown & evolved so much and it looks like this game will reflect what we see in horror today. I enjoyed this preview and look forward to the full game.

It feels as if they are trying to contain all of CoD in a single idea, but the idea itself isn't well explained or developed. You get a bit of explanation of what some character options are but there isn't enough to properly understand what you are supposed to be in the game, what the group composition is and how the world in general works, a lot of things are left too vague.

I hope the final thing is good, but this pdf is too vague to get a good idea.

This document provides no mood whatsoever regarding the world or aspired feeling of the game. As a result, it reads like a soulless kitchen sink urban fantasy setting.

The rules engine is overly complicated. Nothing we haven’t seen stems of time over the last 20 years, and for my taste actually worse than most alternatives. Again, the document reads as inspiring as a badly written engineering undergraduate textbook.

The document served one purpose for me: making sure I won’t contribute to the kickstarter.

The next evolution of StoryPath and urban horror from the stewards of the Chronicles of Darkness. Really excited to see what the finished version of the game looks like once it's been polished and integrated more into the setting rather than the deliberately bare-bones ashcan.

The mechanics presented are clean and seem well written- a fairly direct upgrade from previous games in similar genres. I have no doubt that Curseborne will be a good game and that Storypath Ultra will be a good system.

Unfortunately, this preview is really trying to sell you on Storypath Ultra when it should be selling you on Curseborne. We know enough about the Storypath system, there is oodles of material out there for it. This ashcan should have dropped a bit of that and added some basic explanation of the setting- inspirational media, intended genre, tone and themes would have really helped make this ashcan sing.

I am an old World of Darkness StoryTeller, Chronicles of Darkness and Scion StoryGuide. To see Onyx Path taking up the mantle of "creepypasta" urban horror outside of other licenses is something I've been waiting years for.

This ashcan almost raises more questions than it answers. Yes, I think I have a clearer idea of how the StoryPath Ultra engine is going to be applied to this "mythos" in a very general sense. I'm hungry for more. What this ashcan is perhaps missing, though, is the atmosphere of game it is intended to protray. The sneak peek media leading up this have done a fine job of setting tone, but I need the mystery expanded a little more.

A very good preview and teaser for an upcoming game. However, some rules in the initial version were an unclear mess, and I would have liked some more Earth lore instead of just the Outside cosmology.

An ashcan is meant to be a preview to whet your appetite, and that it does VERY WELL. It truly makes me fiend for the October Kickstarter so I can get the full manuscript and that is the purpose of this document

As a CoD fan Im curious about this.

Needs more lore to really make my mind about it.

If what you're expecting from this ashcan is urban horror you're familiar with, you can easily find that. If you want something new you won't be disappointed either. It's a cursed reality that surrounds us all but a more hopeful one at that. How much hope is there is ultimately up to you and your players, however.

As such, Curseborne shapes to be something sufficiently familiar but with many more new avenues for exploration. No straitjacket of metaplot and no dead ends, a fresh start Storypath fans deserve.

This ashcan is not free of mechanical shortcomings that you should be aware of: Curse Dice explanation isn't perfect (held = in pool, bled = spent on something; you start with 1CD at Entanglement 1 but your limit at E1 is 5 curse dice; you must substitute regular dice with CD for all skill checks) and there are some other minor warts but it's absolutely playable, early preview of a great game in the making.

Curseborne Ashcan is not perfect. I’m not saying is bad… I’m old WoD and CoD Storyteller. I was at the start ( and even few years before ) of coming of New World of Darkness in 2004 and stick to all the line of CoD for all it’s run till 2020, supporting almost all gamelines. I’m also Storypath veteran, running 3 gamelines of it to this day.

And I must say that Curseborne Ashcan is not perfect. I’m not saying is bad – only it leaves me in few places too much to wondering about game. In the end, I’m waiting for crowdfunding manuscript of whole book coming in October 2024.

Pros: Interesting and ‘dynamic’ changes to previous concepts in WoD and CoD. Interesting model and mechanics of using Curse dices. Refreshing look on genere by Linages and their newtakes on old monster archetypes. Return to Urban Horror setting after those 4-5 years.

I think the full version of this game has the potential to be a great game! This stripped-down version has me wanting more of all of it. Also, Storypath Ultra is a super fun game engine to use...for any genre.

A awesome look at Onyx Path's brand new game: CurseBorne. Which is about playing monsters such as vampires and werewolves in the modern day

This is definitely an interesting look at an upcoming game by Onyx Path. I really like the fluff fiction and how open your backstory can be in terms of how you become Accursed; it seems you largely either inherit a curse, someone else curses you, or you take an action or deal that gets you cursed. I also really enjoy the details about the Outside realms and the Liminalities. The worldbuilding seems REALLY strong here so far, which I take as a good sign that the lore will be interesting. I was not exactly thrilled at the power levels of the Lineage so far. I think certain things need tweaked. For example, the Wild Form for the Primals seems underwhelming, especially when it has a flat disadvantage whereas the Hungry can do what the Primals can, and more, without a shape that can make them attack everyone, and they only suffer from very situational banes when they do so, PLUS they have an option to Regenerate where the Primals don't. Also, I question why Primals, the ones tied to a Creature that is themed with specific animals (wolves, cats, etc.) can't innately turn into these "natural" animal forms. Instead, they have to use Spells to do that. I argue Primals should just have this built-in. This lack of power is a problem for other Lineages as well, I think. The Dead can turn intangible and leave and return to their bodies but that seems to be the bulk of what makes them special. Meanwhile the Outcasts have these cool true forms that can grant them a guaranteed hit and they can go to the Outside much easier than others, but the material itself specifically says that their true forms don't really otherwise have mechanical potency on their own without spells, which seems like an odd choice for beings that are supposed to be semi-divine. I also think the Hyde is a rather weak character archetype and my least favorite out of all the Families from all the Lineages but that is more subjective. I think Primals should be focused more on being bonded to an animal Creature, not... Mad scientists tampering with the Creature. The Hydes would make more sense in a Lineage focused on hubristic scientists. Overall, this Ashcan is useful and gives us a basic glance at what we can expect from the full game. I think this game has a lot of potential, but I hope the mechanics are tweaked between now and when the full game is released.

Just a demo, Kickstarter will be around October 2024, I appreciate seeing Onyx Path returning to Urban Horror. I really like the insight into the game's world. Comes with 4 pre-gens and a small adventure to get sense of what the game is. I can't wait to play it!

Only downside is it doesn't have the Sorcerer rules, but given they'd likely have to add a bunch of pages which would just reprint a large amount of spells.

Since it uses Storypath Ultra I image people who own other Storypath games could try to prologue the adventure a bit more by adding The World Below or At the Gates NPCs to help extend gameplay, but we will have to wait for the full release to see everything.

Minor spoilers:

• Contains antagonist rules for Drones (Mortals that have been fed on too much), Zombies, and a cursed location which isn't a lot but glad to see.