Coolest Cult in D&D History?

[jaerdaph]

The Cult of the Dragon's leaders, The Wearers of Purple, use their secret knowledge to reanimate the corpses of dead dragons and raise them up as dracoliches because they believe undead dragons will one day rule all of Faerûn.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

The Scarlet Brotherhood.

Cross Nazis with Buddhist Monks, give them orc and Aztec slaves, and a large jungle-plateau kingdom, and you're getting there. As ruthless as they are serene. They are the original Assassins and Monks in the game. And they have nifty red robes.

 

[Lancelot]

Another vote for the cult of Zargon.

• It's truly a cult, not a religion (unlike Vecna, Tharizdun, etc), as the venerated figure is not a deity. Even if sticking strictly with the non-deity 1e version of Vecna, he was still the "greatest of all liches". Zargon is... simply Zargon.

• Zargon is unique. Vecna is a lich, with a missing eye and hand. Explicta Defilus [Cult of the Reptile God] is a typical example of her "kind" [...not specified, for those who haven't played the module]. Tharizdun doesn't have a common description [...other than the featureless black shape on the block in WG4]. The Cult of the Dragon follow dracoliches. But try describing Zargon accurately in a few words. That's some Lovecraftian stuff going on right there.

• The Cult itself is something straight out of Robert E Howard. A dying race of masked albinos, living out a dreamline existence in a secret underground civilization. Reminds me of classic Conan or Solomon Kane stories, particularly Red Nails.

• It's a cult that the players can actually fight... and destroy. This elevates it above the Cult of Tharizdun or the Cult of the Dragon for me. You can't kill Tharizdun, and you'll never wipe out every cell of the Cult of the Dragon. The Cult of the Reptile God meets this criteria, but Zargon has the added edge that "defeating" the big guy himself is only the start of your problems.

• Finally, Zargon himself lives at the bottom of a ten level dungeon. In room 100. In the first TSR module to feature an isometric map. And an entire campaign setting. With the exception of the Cult of the Elder Elemental Eye (and maybe the Cult of the Reptile God?), he's the oldest Cult in published TSR existence.

Go the Big Z!

 

[Nahat Anoj]

The Scarlet Brotherhood.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about these guys. Add them to my list.

 

[haakon1]

Tharizdun and the Scarlet Brotherhood together . . .

An interesting aspect of the Scarlet Brotherhood is that it's not entirely clear what their agenda is . . . and of course Tharizdun's cult is the most secretive and tricksy of all. So do the math. The answer is: bwahahahaha!

 

[Wepwawet]

I'd have to say the worshipsupport of Vecna. Its been a reliable source through 4 editions. She's not a god so its not a religion. etc etc.

She?! Vecna is female?!

 

[Knight Otu]

She?! Vecna is female?!

Shhh! It's a secret!


(To the best of my knowledge, though, no, he is not.)

 

[vagabundo]

LoL@ me. For most of this thread I though Zargon was Zardoz and was wondering why that cult was being mentioned as a DND cult.

Anyway I'd vote for Zardoz; it was a pretty nasty cult, but not DND, but could be easily converted. And all its members just wear Red Pants like super men...

The gun is good. The <ahem> is evil. The <ahem> shoots seeds, and makes new life to poison the Earth with a plague of men, as once it was, but the gun shoots death, and purifies the Earth of the filth of brutals. Go forth . . . and kill!