Animal Cults... (the good and the bad...)

[Stormonu]

Those of you making mirth of the vegemite cult might want to back off a bit, it's a real religion in this part of the world. This board has strict rules regarding making mock of people's belief systems.

now I must go have my afternoon vegemite toast.

Huh, every time I hear vegemite, I keep thinking vegpygmie.

 

[I'm A Banana]

In the minds of a young DM, this of course immediately became 'Giant Rat Kings', and quickly thereafter I came up with the concept that the rats in such a situation shared a mental connection and from that point it was an easy jump to pooling their hit points.

Planescape's Cranium Rats took this to an awesome place. They were psionic, capable of dominating people, possibly linked to the Mind Flayers. There was a group of them in one of the books called "The Us," and they had (IIRC) taken over local rat catchers, and were working against their illithid masters for the good of themselves, in the dangerous slums of the city.

They had a hive mind and could have huge levels of intelligence, so it's sort of: "You see a few cranium rats nibbling on a corpse. They notice you, stop, and stare at you. Suddenly, you become aware of thousands of tiny pinpricks of light, eyes in the shadow, staring at you with concentrated attention, studying you, understanding you..."

...and then they cast fireball at you.

 

[DMH]

Rats and cockroaches for survival cults, rabbits and pigeons for breeding cults, wolves and falcons for hunting cults and sharks and pike for fishing cults.

As for termites, those cults that want an ordered society where males and females are equal (unlike ants and wasps) would find them perfect.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

any of you played FALLOUT 3?
one character you meet is the "Antagonizer", a women, who as a kid, saw her family killed by giant ants, now she leads/controls giant ants, wanting to wipe out human civilization and replace it with ants.

 

[Smoss]

I know I wanted some DIFFERENT cults for my game world - Avoiding the more cliche spider/snake cults where possible. Out of the classic cliches, I kept only the Dragon Cult.

I do have the Crane Cult - Though they are not "devout", they do respect the grace and have generally peaceful relations with other peoples.

The Moth Cult - They went nocturnal and practice stealth and camouflage. They are useful in that they are often seen as weak - Then they swoop in for a sneak attack when least expected. EXTREMELY aggressive. Also very creepy. They work VERY well specifically because no one takes them seriously at first.

Red Fang - They worship all predators and try to be like them. Pretty standard stuff.

Turtle Cult - They are traveling negotiators and peacemakers. In fact, in my world, green is the color of a truce for parley (Not white).

So yes, went for a few odd critters...
-------------------
Smoss
Doulairen (Doulairen)
Or go directly to the details about my RPG system:
RPG System (Doulairen)

 

[Aeolius]

Brethren of the Beheaded

This was in the news, today: Mike the Headless Chicken

And I began to contemplate a D&D cult which worships something similarly decapitated - a cockatrice beheaded after turning most of an adventuring party to stone. To the amazement of those that lived, the creature did not die. It simply walked away.

The cult, instead of being the brawn of their masters brain, is instead reversed. They provide a collective mental pool for their master's mindless rage. Their warriors have taken to "blessing" their enemies through the use of vorpal weapons. Their wizards specialize in the use of petrifying magics, to add more victims of stone to adorn temples consecrated to their master.

The cult elders have chosen to emulate their master, by preserving their unliving brains in canopic jars to command headless unliving bodies which now walk as ghouls.

 

[Henry]

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[DMH]

I do have the Crane Cult
The Moth Cult
Red Fang
Turtle Cult
So yes, went for a few odd critters...

But those have historical basis. If you want weird, there are plenty of animals, most invertebrates, that would be much stranger.

What would a cult about stoneflies, arrow worms, chitons and or house centipedes be based on?

 

[Rechan]

One good (but perhaps unlikely?) idea for a cult might a cult dedicated to flies.

Reminds me of the cartoon Mighty Max. In that, there was a vampire who, instead of being associated with bats or wolves, was a fly. As flies do drink blood (and eat carrion). So insect vampirism is one way to go. In fact, Spiders pretty much are very vampiric. They dissolve their prey's insides, then drink the soup. And then there's the mosquito...

Also, flies are very good at darting away from impending danger. They are quite the fly in the ointment.

Must be folks here who remember the old Shadowrun adventure based around bug cultists. (can't think of its name.) Eggs getting implanted in people that release weird spirits that, when they hatch, warp the hosts into monsters. I'd also recommend an old novel by Frank Herbert, 'Hellstrom's Hive' for a cult of bug worshippers. Good stuff there for the steal

Ah yes, the bug shamans and Shadowrun. Man, Chicago was a hell of a ride.

 

[Scribble]

But those have historical basis. If you want weird, there are plenty of animals, most invertebrates, that would be much stranger.

What would a cult about stoneflies, arrow worms, chitons and or house centipedes be based on?

One time back in the day a few friends of mine were at an auction, and they came upon this Centipede incased in a glass frame... It was labled only it was labled Cen Ti Pede for some reason...

At that moment the Cult of Cen Ti Pede was born.