tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post290125937333132449..comments2024-03-25T00:18:14.319-07:00Comments on Against The Wicked City: Cults, cultists and D&DJoseph Manolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-38038565440069818832022-09-02T15:50:24.322-07:002022-09-02T15:50:24.322-07:00It's also worth remembering that the above exp...It's also worth remembering that the above explanation about tapping into power to prevent the world's doom *does not need to be true*.<br /><br />The cultists just need to BELIEVE it is. Either through deception on the part of their leaders/the entity they worship, or through delusion or misapprehension of the facts.<br /><br />Characters can be mistaken and still be motivated to act. They are allowed to be wrong.Bluechohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02639489100112616694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-81668185567235864552020-12-11T14:43:25.767-08:002020-12-11T14:43:25.767-08:00How about turning the racism inherent in the first...How about turning the racism inherent in the first incarnations of this trope on its head by making the evil cult the Fantasy KKK?Goblinisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05128414529043405261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-52535318250677072142020-11-13T08:40:47.691-08:002020-11-13T08:40:47.691-08:00Thanks for this. Not only is the article great, bu...Thanks for this. Not only is the article great, but you got me thinking about why cult trappings are the way they are. Not just thematically, but can we bring that into the world as an actual artifact of people behaving in ways that seem to them sensible?<br /><br />For example, the whole 'faceless masks and full-body robes' shibboleth of so many cults is a two-edged sword. It makes sense for security reasons: you don't want anyone in the cult to be able to finger anyone else in the cult they don't already know is in the cult when you have your monthly meetings with the clerk taking minutes. It is also, however, a security risk, because if someone is already starting to unravel your organization they're really easy to infiltrate. Of course you attempt to compensate with secret handshakes and passwords and whatnot, but all this should make itself felt in play so it's not just a trope. (For one thing, the cult should be structured in cells, else there's no point. For another, cultists should be vigilant for odd or revealing behaviour - and some of them might be trying to map relationships and identities within the cult anyway to extort for influence.)<br /><br />So much for the vanilla explanation; what if, instead, the facelessness and ease of infiltration is a feature, not a bug? Maybe that's how the cult recruits most effectively; you sneak in and then you're caught up in the thing. Or maybe there's extremely high turnover for some reason - ritual sacrifices, plague cults result in adherents dying in droves from disease, etc. - and the cult leaders want to hide that from the rank and file? Or even more eldritch concerns, like you worship The Fitfully Resting Space Squid, and he has a habit of crushing recognizable worshippers with His Ethereal Tentacles, but if you all look the same he leaves everyone alone?Nacquranihttps://necrofundia.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-19218665119075736112020-01-29T19:22:49.538-08:002020-01-29T19:22:49.538-08:00The evil cultists in my game were originally lured...The evil cultists in my game were originally lured in with the promise of sex with demons... but the cult is not a de,on cult, it is an eldergod cult, and the demons are sacrificed along with the cult's chosen members. At the same time, a pc cleric is attracting a cult following, mostly of ex-serfs looking to be free.Gwythainthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05184355400691527355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-32877651370046625992019-12-02T17:07:49.355-08:002019-12-02T17:07:49.355-08:00Cultists may actually succeed in their greater dep...Cultists may actually succeed in their greater depravity - the terrifying endgame...Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322782126113868388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-52541887227482407192019-12-01T16:18:52.736-08:002019-12-01T16:18:52.736-08:00Late to the party also, this is great stuff! Thank...Late to the party also, this is great stuff! Thanks for sharing it and for sparking my own curiosity and imagination. Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12417094386820895642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-12050930904272873222019-02-21T02:30:50.254-08:002019-02-21T02:30:50.254-08:00Thanks for your insight for your fantastic posting...Thanks for your insight for your fantastic posting. I’m glad I have taken the time to see this. <a href="www.profumeriadafne.it" rel="nofollow">culti milano</a><br />Saqib Khatrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07730556578524554655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-16146083080493850632018-12-03T10:53:48.527-08:002018-12-03T10:53:48.527-08:00New reader to this blog, and this post is as great...New reader to this blog, and this post is as great as all the other ones I've seen! You did, however, leave out /my/ personal favorite reason to use cults: they get to have fucked up ideologies.<br /><br />Part of the reason I love D&D is because it gives its players a look at a world that is fundamentally different from our own. In other words, the weird stuff. And weird ideology is so fun to me because it is basing logic around fantasy concepts. Like, when the gods get their kicks by smiting entire mortal villages at a time, of course the Cult of the Eternal Chorus has their members pluck their banjo strings until their fingers bleed. They've learned that a bored god is a dangerous god.<br /><br />It's all about immersion. So, in other words, the part of this post where you ask "why did these people become cultists, anyways" is the best part. Great work here.Judehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01262015898211079643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-56707058748510437822018-10-20T15:27:02.575-07:002018-10-20T15:27:02.575-07:00Sorry for the Necro-ing, but reading through your ...Sorry for the Necro-ing, but reading through your archives here has been tremendous fun and I wanted to add something brief: it doesn't work every time, but once in a while the cultists aren't even crazy or dangerous, just saps.<br /><br />I have been reading the manga BERSERK lately (got turned on to it by Necropraxis), and in one story the cultists are just a bunch of freaky peasants that like to have orgies and breathe hallucinogenic fumes. It's only when things go wrong and they get possessed by a horde of evil spirits that they become bloodthirsty, slavering monster-men. I think that's worth a try at least once in anyone's game!<br /><br />Also if someone doesn't use these guys in their D&D game, I'll quit the hobby forever: https://imgur.com/gallery/N9rbkHDAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13506175636615989219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-91423612477111433452018-07-23T09:39:28.849-07:002018-07-23T09:39:28.849-07:00It's an old post, but I still have a thing to ...It's an old post, but I still have a thing to add:<br /><br />I've been using a variation on Beloch Shrike's Magic Words (http://www.paperspencils.com/2015/09/08/spell-lists-stuck-here-are-some-magic-words/) for my Clerics and Paladins: They roll up 6 words, the words that their (fairly minor) deity is associated with. They can combine those words to do spontaneous magic spells. The important bit, though, is when the players start justifying why their god is associated with the random words they rolled, and they effectively begin building a cult out of the connections. <br /><br />This turned out to be accidentally ingenious. I think you said in one of your posts on Team Tsathogga that playing a cult is one of the best ways to play DnD, and you were right. I have a cleric and a paladin of the god Costco (Glaive, Fire, Scorpion, Seat, Pinch, Statue) in a campaign I just started, and it's already going really well. <br /><br />I think it's a good way to make NPC cults a bit more believable as well. If your players have a cult, then you will think about other cults in relation to theirs. Plus this is a way to generate free factions: Every time I run a game with a cleric in it, they generate an entire cult that I can just drop into another game. They're also cults that fit into the rules of the setting but don't have my fingerprints all over them (unlike original or adapted material), so in case the things I use feel samey I can break them up with a player cult from a previous game. Type 1 Ninjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12364867668752736931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-23821650893685762352018-04-16T07:36:51.709-07:002018-04-16T07:36:51.709-07:00Old post I know but when I create a cult in my gam...Old post I know but when I create a cult in my game I start with the hiearachy. I usually think of the standard offices of any social club. I start with the president, the club (cult) secretary, the treasurer , the administrative officers, the heads of the various departments (Head of Initiates, historian, custodian, magic if applicable) <br /><br />Once I have an idea of the cross section of the membership then I decide on the meeting place and clubhouse. Do they have a temple, house, church ruins castle they meet in. <br /><br />Once I have an idea of their resources I flesh out the individual officers with their motivation using a simple three part Rush(Why they joined? Their motive) , Catch(Their weakness or flaw) <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-19785813569514965962018-04-10T02:58:23.498-07:002018-04-10T02:58:23.498-07:00Well, yeah, anyone can tell a story about how Bad ...Well, yeah, anyone can tell a story about how Bad Things Are Coming and Only We Can Save You. It's the story that every religion and every political party tells all the time. But most people still don't join cults, because they find the promises of safety offered by mainstream society more persuasive than those offered by some mad-eyed loon in a cape. <br /><br />I agree that moments of real or imagined impending social breakdown make rich recruiting grounds for cults, though. Sure, the authorities might be able to protect you now - but will they be able to shield you from the horror of a world where THE DATE ENDS IN THREE ZEROES?Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-57664146431494277862018-04-09T12:45:17.923-07:002018-04-09T12:45:17.923-07:00In the real world, everytime the calendar rolls ar...In the real world, everytime the calendar rolls around to the end of another century end of the world cults spring up all over the place. I assume the followers expect they they alone will survive. If C'Thulu is going to end the world and only his minions will survive it would be best to be a minion, no? That believe alone would be easily exploitable by wanna be cult-leaders with high enough CHA.Ruprechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139664977453444000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-4043976562523537612018-02-15T12:15:48.349-08:002018-02-15T12:15:48.349-08:00I know this comment is spam, but it's so perfe...I know this comment is spam, but it's so perfectly appropriate to a post about the reasons why people join cults that I'm just gonna leave it up anyway.<br /><br />Please do not actually call or whatsapp Dr Trust, though.Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-20196782432953311582018-02-15T12:12:37.679-08:002018-02-15T12:12:37.679-08:00Sure, and I'm fine with cults as literalised m...Sure, and I'm fine with cults as literalised metaphors for human sinfulness: so a bunch of cultists who worship a greed demon communicate something about the terrible things people will do for money, and so on. It's when they're just evil because they're evil because they're evil that they get wearisome.<br /><br />The WHFRP chaos gods are good ones, because they grow out of very understandable motivations: rage, curiosity, lust, and the desire to not die of horrible pestilence for no reason. But the actual WHFRP books are rather inconsistent about whether they treat chaos cultists as people doing things for recognisably human reasons or just as brainwashed murder zombies. I think the ones that do the former are usually the better ones!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-10142719696510628022018-02-08T08:01:09.720-08:002018-02-08T08:01:09.720-08:00I like the warhammer justification for the cultist...I like the warhammer justification for the cultists though: The chais gods are obviously real and are made of human emotions (anger, curiosity, selfishness and despair). If you're already "naturally" subject to that emotion and there's a god being that directly speak to you and consistently reward narrowing your worldview to fulfilling that specific dopamine inducing emotion...<br /><br /><br />And then there's the completely mundane element of the worship contrasting to the apocalyptic results : Nurgle cults are almost always just sick people that are gonna die anyway, but offered a disease that stops the pain or make the pain feel good. The cost? None and you even get the power to give that benevolent disease to anyone else to ease their suffering! You're a struggling painter? You too can be one of the greatest artist in the world, all you need to so is paint *more* and be overall more passionate about your craft!<br /><br />Regular cultists aren't threats. It's the invisible and incidental effects of the worship that's the real danger.Sebbychouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15926245481649892523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-51690318279594160632017-12-23T15:36:59.785-08:002017-12-23T15:36:59.785-08:00The Miracle and testimony Of Love Spells- How I Go...The Miracle and testimony Of Love Spells- How I Got My Husband Back.Read more about Dr Trust now on his websit: https://utimatespellcast.wordpress.com <br /><br />My husband who departed from me 3 years ago started calling me and wanted us to get back Dr Trust love spell made my husband to reconcile with me. When he came back he was all on me kissing and rubbing on me telling me how much he missed me and loves me, Dr Trust is spectacular in repairing relationship! His work is wonderful,i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. Because i am now happy with my husband. I highly recommending this service for those experiencing difficulties trying to restore there relationship. he is the real deal. you can reach Dr. Trust his contact details seen below: <br /><br />Ultimatespellcast@yahoo.com or Ultimatespellcast@gmail.com<br /><br />WhatsApp or call him now +2348156885231Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15904013687948281315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-81051548183520472872017-11-04T04:23:54.852-07:002017-11-04T04:23:54.852-07:00A decent table - and a deal more pithy than I ever...A decent table - and a deal more pithy than I ever am!Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-54649864844122212992017-11-03T14:33:48.032-07:002017-11-03T14:33:48.032-07:00Good stuff. Let's get that table together:
Wh...Good stuff. Let's get that table together:<br /><br />Why is the cult in the dungeon? (roll 1d10)<br /><br />1: Archaeologists, tomb robbers, or dungeon inhabitants Dug Too Deep and unearthed something which took over their minds. Now they're its dungeon-dwelling cult!<br /><br />2: Cultists were unmasked in a nearby community and had to flee in a hurry. They took shelter in the dungeon to hide from their persecutors.<br /><br />3: Local villagers are all secretly cultists, the dungeon is their holy site, the most devout of them go to live their full time.<br /><br />4: Ancient cultists awakened from magical sleep in the dungeon, which is all that remains of their fallen stronghold, and are now trying to rebuild their religion while hiding from the outside world, plotting their next move.<br /><br />5: The membership of the cult is scattered across many lands, but this dungeon is a pilgrimage site for them, and at any given time a variety of cultists will be in there visiting its shrines and relics.<br /><br />6: The cultists are planning their 'big push' (probably some kind of coup or holy war), and are using the dungeon to train and prepare their warriors in secret.<br /><br />7: The Inevitable Evil Ritual can only be performed in this particular dungeon, so the cultists have come here to perform it, possibly clashing with its other inhabitants along the way.<br /><br />8: A relic of the cult was lost here centuries ago and now the cult have moved in and are ransacking the place in an attempt to find it.<br /><br />9: Cultists are keen to secure an alliance with a dungeon resident - probably a lich, vampire, or similar - and have sent an embassy to try to bribe or convert him to their cause.<br /><br />10: Cult has a sacred tradition that all new members have to prove their commitment by spending three years living in a dungeon.Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-66307427207071625092017-11-03T14:20:34.694-07:002017-11-03T14:20:34.694-07:00Yes, absolutely. The kind of cults which appear in...Yes, absolutely. The kind of cults which appear in D&D adventures are extreme cases - edge cases, really, which owe more to the Satanic Panic mythology of the 1980s than to most real-world examples. Cults which aren't just a small band of blood-crazed psychos in a temple somewhere are open to a much greater variety of narratives!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-85482542556211973012017-11-03T11:47:35.866-07:002017-11-03T11:47:35.866-07:00It's a bit of a contrived explanation - it'...It's a bit of a contrived explanation - it's a funny sort of human sacrifice which leaves the recipient *weaker* than they were beforehand - but in a setting where magic is fairly scientific and well-understood, I can see a sufficiently well-informed bunch of sorcerers figuring out a way to 'rig the system', and ensure that every ritual actual drains out more power than it puts in.<br /><br />Cultist-engineers. Careful calibrations of sacrificial blood inputted vs. magical energy harvested to ensure that dangerously high power levels are never reached. There might be something in it after all...Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-67829140411109641662017-11-03T11:44:15.418-07:002017-11-03T11:44:15.418-07:00Yeah, that's the sort of set-up I'm much m...Yeah, that's the sort of set-up I'm much more interested in, because those guys give you *options*. You can bribe them, intimidate them, convert them, whatever. You can't do any of that with the hardcore scream-and-charge robes-and-daggers I-willingly-give-my-life-for-the-Planet-Fucker guys!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-54437610437651604222017-11-03T11:41:36.059-07:002017-11-03T11:41:36.059-07:00I like the idea of grading settings by their '...I like the idea of grading settings by their 'cult-friendliness'. If you've got weak centralised religious authority (the 'Swords and Sorcery' set-up), or a world where cults grant magical powers to their followers and traditional religions don't (the 'Call of Cthulhu' set-up), then it's much easier for cults to flourish than it would be in most traditional D&D settings, where there are big, highly-organised official religions which also grant super-powers to their clerics...Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-60384052607381625112017-11-02T15:05:53.464-07:002017-11-02T15:05:53.464-07:00After reading the above I did start putting togeth...After reading the above I did start putting together some ideas for a table; not "Why is there a cult?" but "Why a cult in a dungeon?" Well, I haven't reached a nice round number, but in the interests of getting the ball rolling, here we go.<br /><br />The first few are almost straight out of horror fiction: A Well-Meaning archaeological expedition delves too deep and digs up something it should not; Villagers use conveniently cut stones from the old ruins and bring down something upon them.<br /><br />Next is something that else: during the War (just gone, or recent, or ongoing) a unit of soldiers used the dungeon as a fortified position. They were besieged there and so much blood has soaked into the soil that fell forces awoke. They do not now leave. This might be the 'Colonel Kurtz' option.<br /><br />The one I think best though is the 'hard times' option. The cult was doing the corridors-of-power, secretly-corrupting-people-in-key-offices routine when it was purged by an unusually successful and thorough inquisitor. Even if plenty of cultists got out, together with plenty of material, their faces are known and their plans thwarted. The dungeon is now a bolthole (perhaps as a planned last-ditch hideaway, or merely taken up to fit circumstances). Hence why Colin the Cultist and his merry pals are desperate and on the defensive - and willing to dig deeper into the eldritch lore than before. <br /><br />This scenario also gives the opportunity for sub-plots with the less central or less driven members of the expelled cult trying to get clear from the newly nightmarish state of affairs - how many of them signed up for this?Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-58372904163506164402017-11-01T16:22:14.705-07:002017-11-01T16:22:14.705-07:00I don't think there's really a circular ve...I don't think there's really a circular venn diagram of 'secret society' and 'cult' here, and it's worth teasing apart the differences. In quick and easy world-building they're easily ignored, but you're talking about very different groups if you're talking about, like, "Skull & Bones, but serving an actual demon and so actually kind of a mafia" versus "the Manson Family in Mystara" or everyone's new fave, "Fantasy Sientology."<br /><br />One of the things that makes the Universal Brotherhood from Shadowrun a classic piece of material, IMO, is how it effectively merges real cult manipulation tactics with a nice body+insect horror literalization of what is scary (-and- narratively convenient!) about cults.Niciashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10115101731336180358noreply@blogger.com