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<blockquote data-quote="EricNoah" data-source="post: 2362913" data-attributes="member: 4">Anyone know of some good comprehensive rules for cults?&nbsp; Here's what I have in mind:1) The cult, as an entity, should receive benefits from acquiring more cultists.&nbsp; The more members, the more power.&nbsp; 2) The cult should have a few leaders that gain benefits from having followers.3)&nbsp; The cultists themselves should be able to carry on all sorts of &quot;normal&quot; activities; thus I'm envisioning something like prestige class with just a few levels, and almost no entry requirements.&nbsp; And tied to this, there should be different &quot;ranks&quot; within a cult, so that the underlings don't know too much and the higher-ups can order the underlings around; that again says something like a prestige class.4) The cultists themselves should gain immediate benefits (maybe social, monetary, or even magical) from joining the cult, and should gain more power over time. 5) I'm thinking that some evil cults might use the cultists to help power different kinds of magical effects: crafting magical items, creating portals, creating lingering magical effects (diseases, curses, etc. that can affect the countryside, etc.).&nbsp; So some kind of &quot;group spellcasting&quot; or &quot;group crafting&quot; rules would be needed.&nbsp; And perhaps something dealing with different kinds of sacrifices (human, animal, other) and how these ceremonies grant the cult its power.&nbsp; 6) Each cult should provide unique powers/abilities, so a cult prestige class should be generic and flexible enough to accommodate several kinds of cults.7) Cults should be somewhat distinct from generally accepted religions.&nbsp; Organized religion wants to stamp out cults.&nbsp; 8) Some explanation of where the cult's (magical) power comes from would be helpful (demons/devils, a philosophy of evil/darkness, human sacrifice, etc.). 9) Cults can also serve as a cover for other illegal activity (smuggling, assassination, drugs, etc.); or the illegal activity could be used to generate funds for the cult.&nbsp; And some legal cover might exist, too (a certain festhall has a back room where cultists meet, for example).&nbsp; Anyone have any thoughts on this?&nbsp; I've always like the idea of the unpopular commoner being lured to the darkness of a cult with promises of power to seek revenge over those who did him wrong; that kind of psychological game could be used to attract all sorts of unsavory characters who want to puff themselves up, feel powerful, seek revenge, be bullies in a gang of other bullies (moral support), etc.&nbsp; And I like the idea of several &quot;layers&quot; of the cult, where those above might be using or lying to those below; and those below don't care because they're getting something out of the deal.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EricNoah, post: 2362913, member: 4"] Anyone know of some good comprehensive rules for cults? Here's what I have in mind: 1) The cult, as an entity, should receive benefits from acquiring more cultists. The more members, the more power. 2) The cult should have a few leaders that gain benefits from having followers. 3) The cultists themselves should be able to carry on all sorts of "normal" activities; thus I'm envisioning something like prestige class with just a few levels, and almost no entry requirements. And tied to this, there should be different "ranks" within a cult, so that the underlings don't know too much and the higher-ups can order the underlings around; that again says something like a prestige class. 4) The cultists themselves should gain immediate benefits (maybe social, monetary, or even magical) from joining the cult, and should gain more power over time. 5) I'm thinking that some evil cults might use the cultists to help power different kinds of magical effects: crafting magical items, creating portals, creating lingering magical effects (diseases, curses, etc. that can affect the countryside, etc.). So some kind of "group spellcasting" or "group crafting" rules would be needed. And perhaps something dealing with different kinds of sacrifices (human, animal, other) and how these ceremonies grant the cult its power. 6) Each cult should provide unique powers/abilities, so a cult prestige class should be generic and flexible enough to accommodate several kinds of cults. 7) Cults should be somewhat distinct from generally accepted religions. Organized religion wants to stamp out cults. 8) Some explanation of where the cult's (magical) power comes from would be helpful (demons/devils, a philosophy of evil/darkness, human sacrifice, etc.). 9) Cults can also serve as a cover for other illegal activity (smuggling, assassination, drugs, etc.); or the illegal activity could be used to generate funds for the cult. And some legal cover might exist, too (a certain festhall has a back room where cultists meet, for example). Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've always like the idea of the unpopular commoner being lured to the darkness of a cult with promises of power to seek revenge over those who did him wrong; that kind of psychological game could be used to attract all sorts of unsavory characters who want to puff themselves up, feel powerful, seek revenge, be bullies in a gang of other bullies (moral support), etc. And I like the idea of several "layers" of the cult, where those above might be using or lying to those below; and those below don't care because they're getting something out of the deal. [/QUOTE]

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