Ideas for unusual or deadly cults wanted!

[timbannock]

In RPGs, I always see cults to Elder Evil Entities, cults to [Insert some female paragon that hates God for some reason], cults to nature, cults to Totem Spirits.

Things I haven't seen much of:
- Cults based on familial spirits and ancestral heroes. Essentially, this would be a bloodline or lineage that speaks to (or believes they speak to) a ghostly relative or "ascended" immortal hero.

- Cults paying homage to a religious idea rather than a specific deity. Not sure how to state it well, but if you can look up the Factions from Planescape, that's where I'm going. They are partly about a specific belief of existence as a whole, partly religious, and partly secret society. Like one believes everything is already dead and entropy has already set in, while another believes that there are no gods, only beings that are very powerful (and if there was a god, that god has since died/left/stopped caring/etc.)

- Cults that are really just a clever ruse for someone who understands people really well. Basically, a guy who doesn't believe in much of anything, but knows how to manipulate other people. Think L. Ron Hubbard, or the Mentalist for the head of such a cult.

- Cults based on one very specific practice. A cult based around Dionysian revelry: they don't really care about anything but drinking, drugs and sex. Maybe the cultish aspect of it is really just a very weak way for them to pretend they serve a higher power, but really it's just an excuse for their actions (sounds like most cults, actually...)



A really good idea if you like moral grey areas is a cult dedicated to something that is ultimately good and benevolent, but the members are the people who can never attain that goodness because they do the dirty work of that good thing. For example, knights of the church that will assassinate people, torture captives, and even make deals with demons in order to do "what must be done" for the church. They believe the ends justify the means, so they do all sorts of nasty, brutish things. And do the ends really justify the means...? These folks may never know for sure...

 

[Nellisir]

I hadn't done much with object worshippers, either, actually. Dang! Thanks for the great ideas, folks.

In my campaign, the "divine" powers are broken into several categories, of which cults are the least. A cult, while receiving some kind of divine power, worships something that isn't really a god. The Typhos, aka titans, also front alot of cults in my game.

I never thought of the Blackgate Brotherhood as object worshippers, though I suppse technically they are. It just happens to be an insanely ancient, rather evil, and smarter than you object.

 

[Nellisir]

There really aren't many, past what is available on the S&W site. I was trying to sound enthusiastic Part of why I'm working on this (and a planned follow-up that details magical artifacts) is because there aren't a lot of S&W freebies yet.

I can understand that! I'm kind of working on the same premise, except I've got to get through 2-3 more weeks of homework first! After that, though, I'm going to work on a S&W campaign setting as a free "thingum".

 

[rounser]

On a somewhat Douglas Adams slant, how about the Church of the Return of Fnargh Moorh?

Based around the idea that one day (maybe soon, maybe tomorrow!), Fnargh Moorh will return, and involves furious debates on what time that will be, exactly what it is that will happen when he does, and how everyone should prepare for that day.

There is also some debate on exactly who or what Fnargh Moorh is, and perhaps why anyone should care if he does return, but this just serves to further enliven cult meetings, and hurried preparations for the Return.

 

[Mythmere1]

I can understand that! I'm kind of working on the same premise, except I've got to get through 2-3 more weeks of homework first! After that, though, I'm going to work on a S&W campaign setting as a free "thingum".

In addition to the ones in the Free Downloads area on the Swords & Wizardry site, Skathros's site is probably the largest collection The S&W Companion: Welcome to The Swords & Wizardry Companion and then there are others at:
“The Outlook is Grim” The Outlook is Grim
“Ubiquitous Orcs” Ubiquitous Orcs
“Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets” Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: a traditional gaming blog
“Sword +1” sword +1
"Beyond the Black Gate" Beyond the Black Gate

Also, James Malizsewski's megadungeon project is being done using the S&W Core Rules.

 

[Rechan]

Order of the Stair - A group of post-humanismists. Basically, they seek to find the next "step" for humanity. Be it the next step in human form ("Let us put our minds into golems! It lets us shed the frailty of flesh!") to seeking the next step of an Enlightened society.

Do they need to be CULTS, or do Secret Societies count?

 

[Kinneus]

Evil Buddhists. A group of monks/avengers/paladins/priests/what-have-you have deduced that life is suffering. Rather than try and correct this or remedy it with enlightenment, they've decided that the best solution is to end all life in the universe. Every plant, animal and person must die, but their primary targets are sentient beings, since they equate thought and desire with the greatest of suffering.

The creepiness factor is what appeals to me here. You get a priest passing out poisonous potions and telling people, "Drink and be free of all suffering, friends!" You get liches who accepted the 'noble sacrifice' of eternal (un)life to further the cult's goals. You get crazed zealots hacking at you with swords while shouting, "Don't run! Don't run! I'm here to save you!"

Plus, and I can't stress this point enough: Evil Buddhists.

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

How about some low-magic alternative cults of normal folk?


The Sons of the Carnahk

This loose affiliation is comprised of "normal" folk from all walks of live; freefarmers, smallfolk, merchants of lower caliber, serfs, the destitute, whores, the lame and the poor. They're a self-named group of cultists, self-named as they fancy themselves as supplicants to old, forgotten gods of the river, long-regarded as heretical by the orthodox faith of the world.

They are lead by a man called "the Arngrim", a man who reputedly rose from the muck and mud of the River Carnahk with a driftwood cudgel in his hand to lead his people. He has charged himself to bring his pilgrims en masse across the known world to the mythical First Shore, where they believe mankind rose from the tides of the sea. They believe that the Last Cataclysm (the end days) is approaching and thus reach the First Shore before ancient, forgotten gods smites the world for its transgression against nature.


How does this work for standard 4E D&D you say? Think evil druids, intermingled amongst their minion flocks. Only a handful of druids (less "naturey" and more Biblical in proportion) understand the Higher Mysteries of the divine, thus can command the elements. Their "Chosen" are ardent protectors of the faith, operating as Avengers or Paladins.

 

[jdrakeh]

On a somewhat Douglas Adams slant, how about the Church of the Return of Fnargh Moorh?

Based around the idea that one day (maybe soon, maybe tomorrow!), Fnargh Moorh will return, and involves furious debates on what time that will be, exactly what it is that will happen when he does, and how everyone should prepare for that day.

There is also some debate on exactly who or what Fnargh Moorh is, and perhaps why anyone should care if he does return, but this just serves to further enliven cult meetings, and hurried preparations for the Return.

This kind of reminds me of all the veiled references to "Fezenclop" in the various d30 books by The Armory (and later publications by the same author).

 

[ancientvaults]

Thank you for the plug, Mythmere. I have other topics planned besides spells, monsters, magic items and deities that might help, including what I would call "drag and drop" locales, which are just a room or a small building, fully plotted out, that can be added to a homebrew or commercial adventure to throw in a twist.