Looking for good "against the cult" adventures - preferably urban

Matrix Sorcica · Jun 14, 2019

I'm looking for good adventures that pits the party against a (preferably) hidden cult in an urban setting. If the cult is devil worshipers or similar, even better, though anything will do. An Aboleth/Far Realm cult is also great!

The party will be unravelling the machinations of the cult of Asmodeus in Neverwinter/Waterdeep, so I'm looking for great adventures to use/steal from. I know of the Living Forgotten Realms adventures for 4E that are Asmodean cult based (those taking place in Neverwinter and Waterdeep), and knoe the Monte Cook adventure "Night of Dissolution".

It doesn't have to be a devil cult, edition doesn't matter. Can also be from a paizo adventure path etc. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Oh, and a Mind Flayer plot a la 3E's "The Speaker in Dreams" is of great interest as well.

tolcreator · Jun 14, 2019

Both the Tyranny of Dragons and the Elemental Evil seasons on D&D Adventure League feature actions against against cults ( dragon and elemental respectively ) in an urban setting ( Phlan, Mulmaster )
Not sure how "culty" the dragon adventures are ( I don't have them but they provide a background to the Elemental Evil ones ) but I'm starting to run some of the Elemental Evil ones, and I'm opening with "The Yellow Breath" which is textbook cult. I plan on following it up with "Cloaks and Shadows", which again features a cult in the city. They're quite low level mind you ( 3ish 4ish ) and fairly short ( can be done in one good session with a focused group... tho my group are not focused, and our roll20 sessions are fairly short, so I expect more like three sessions per adventure )

Fanaelialae · Jun 14, 2019

The first thing that came to mind is Against the Cult of the Reptile God, in large part due to the name. The town it is set in isn't anywhere near a big city like Neverwinter though. However, it does have a cult, centered around a Naga, that is brainwashing townsfolk. With some tweaking, set in a smaller district of one of the cities, it might suit your purposes.

muppetmuppet · Jun 14, 2019

I ran core 1-4 and core 1-7 which maybe fit into your idea. They are again lfr 4e modules. They are set in Awn/islands off Awn but easily moved.

Paul Farquhar · Jun 14, 2019

The Styles from GoS fits the description.

Matrix Sorcica · Jun 14, 2019

tolcreator said:
Both the Tyranny of Dragons and the Elemental Evil seasons on D&D Adventure League feature actions against against cults ( dragon and elemental respectively ) in an urban setting ( Phlan, Mulmaster )
Not sure how "culty" the dragon adventures are ( I don't have them but they provide a background to the Elemental Evil ones ) but I'm starting to run some of the Elemental Evil ones, and I'm opening with "The Yellow Breath" which is textbook cult. I plan on following it up with "Cloaks and Shadows", which again features a cult in the city. They're quite low level mind you ( 3ish 4ish ) and fairly short ( can be done in one good session with a focused group... tho my group are not focused, and our roll20 sessions are fairly short, so I expect more like three sessions per adventure )

Thanks' I'll check them out!

Fanaelialae said:
The first thing that came to mind is Against the Cult of the Reptile God, in large part due to the name. The town it is set in isn't anywhere near a big city like Neverwinter though. However, it does have a cult, centered around a Naga, that is brainwashing townsfolk. With some tweaking, set in a smaller district of one of the cities, it might suit your purposes.

I understand it's a classic for a reason. Does the "reptile" refer to the Naga, or is the cult worshiping a scaly god?

muppetmuppet said:
I ran core 1-4 and core 1-7 which maybe fit into your idea. They are again lfr 4e modules. They are set in Awn/islands off Awn but easily moved.

Could you give some details on what these are about?

Paul Farquhar said:
The Styles from GoS fits the description.

Ah yes, The Styes. Still waiting for my copy of GoS, but remember it from Dungeon way back. Memory is hazy, though. How is the %e version?

Thanks, all. Any other suggestions?

Fanaelialae · Jun 14, 2019

Matrix Sorcica said:
I understand it's a classic for a reason. Does the "reptile" refer to the Naga, or is the cult worshiping a scaly god?

It's been some time since I last looked at that adventure, but IIRC the Naga is the Reptile "God".

collin · Jun 14, 2019

I recommend staying away from Tyranny of Dragons. Having played in the Hoard of the Dragon Queen, it is poorly written, way too long (unless you like that thing), and although it does have some urban sites during the adventure. It was written by a 3rd party, not WotC, and was released too soon - should have had more editing eyes on it. Not sure if Rise of Tiamat is any better, but it is a higher level adventure.

Are you looking for a Forgotten Realms setting or does that matter?

muppetmuppet · Jun 14, 2019

Could you give some details on what these are about?

SPOILERS for lfr 4e core 1-4, 1-7.

The Abolethic Sovereignty are trying to take over the world as usual. They have found a way to make Iomic crystals act as receptors for Abberrant energies. Mission one is people in the town are turning into mutants find the cause and eliminate it, which leads to the crystal mines in the next mission. I then ran a Cthulu type adventure and that led to Xiphu the Aboleth city and am just about to finish the series with Assault on Myth Nantar where the final battle against a demon prince will be the start of the next session. Feel free to ask for more detail not sure what you want to know.

Grumbleputty · Jun 14, 2019

I wrote a supplement to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist called Cruel Summer on the DM's Guild that takes the Summer story arc (which already has a hidden cult to Asmodeus) and blends in a demonic cult that is working against them. It's decidedly urban, and draws the party into a gumshoe-style detective story - but it does assume you own Waterdeep- Dragon Heist, so it's not written as a stand-alone adventure. Still, you could probably chop it up and use elements of it for your own plot.