Editing LeviathanTempest:CultsDevelopmentPage

A Leviathan who acquires a cult must pay for the privilege in Merit dots. A Cult Merit defined by into four primary categories - Number, Zeal, Fervor and Clour. It additionally has an organisation style and a handful of variables that can be purchased to increase the capabilities of the Cult or give it a unique style. For every week in which the Leviathan does not contact the majority of his Cult in person to speak, lead ceremonies, or receive prayer, one dot worth of Cult assets (in the three core categories) degrades - generally, Zeal is lost first, then Numbers, as the less devout or ensorcelled drift away - still obsessed, but unsatisfied. Reclaiming degraded dots is an extended test of Presence or Manipulation + Persuasion, with a target pool of successes equal to (3 + lost dots). Each roll represents a day spent reinvigorating the Cult and getting stray members back into the fold.  

This category represents the size of the loyal mass attending the Leviathan. On a practical level, it limits the number of tasks that the Leviathan can direct his Cult to perform in a given chapter - one, plus one per dot of Number. "Tasks" includes dangerous work as measured by Zeal, but also instances in which the Leviathan directs the faithful to perform rituals or act publicly - the assumption being that the Cult's numbers permit members to exchange duties, cover shifts, and otherwise permit the Beloved to fulfill their everyday chores alongside those mandated by their deity. Buying a dot of Numbers grants one free Merit dot which can be applied to any other Cult Merit; at the storyteller's discretion this may also be spent on a Beloved or Lahmasu Retainer.  

* Number OOOOO - One hundred followers, twenty five task points per story

This category measures the loyalty of the Leviathan's followers - the depth to which their religion shapes their life. It provides one bonus die per dot for all attempts to convince the Cult to undertake a task (in the rare case that this necessitates a roll) and inflicts a -1 penalty per dot to the attempts of others to turn a Cult member against the Leviathan.  

 

If directed to spend a day praying and performing rituals for the Leviathan the Cult provides half (Zeal +1) Ichor per task point spent to the Leviathan. At most five task points can be spent on Ichor per day.  

This category measures how dangerous your Cult is when motivated - the degree to which it can direct its assets and achieve dangerous jobs. Fervour measures competence rather than willingness but there is some overlap between the two. Directing the Cult to do basic tasks that one would expect of an militant or criminal group - standing outside a home looking menacing, spraying graffiti, keeping a lookout, making threatening phone calls - does not require a roll. Only dangerous tasks, or ones requiring violence, require a check of Fervor.

 

A Fervor check involves rolling the Cult's Fervor minus a number of dice relevant to the difficulty of the task - in general, most major crimes (kidnapping or killing a civilian) are at -3, while truly world-shaking events (such as assassinating high-profile targets or swiping military hardware) are at -5. Minor crimes (stealing a car or disappearing the car when work is done) are rolled without penalty. Success means success, while Failure permits the player to choose - complete the task but lose a dot of Cult Number permanently, or fail and lose a dot of Cult Zeal for the duration of the story (failing with a chance die does not allow sacrificing numbers for Success). A Dramatic Failure inflicts a both penalties, and the task fails. If appropriate circumstances or equipment are ensured beforehand, bonus dice might apply to the roll. Conversely, if the Cult's gear or numbers are inadequate, penalties might be in order.  

Each style cost three merit dots, except for unorganised which is free. Every Strain has a slight proclivity for a different style of organisation which allows a one dot discount on that style (in shared cults, the strongest Wake gets the discount), this discount comes both from the Wake pushing the Leviathan's Beloved into certain patterns and the cult adapting themselves around the Strain's primordial instincts. If your many-clawed god found disagreement stressful, you'd be tempted to agree with everything he says even if he asked you not to. Because of this even when a Leviathan chooses a different style than their Strain's natural method you can normally find some of the Strain's nature shining through. A Nu running a legitimate business may find his employees debating management strategies with the devotion and esoteric logic of a Talmud scholar.  

Benefits and Drawbacks: The cult gets an additional five task points per story. However whenever the "harmony" of the community is disrupted the cult takes a penalty to all Zeal and Fervour rolls for the remainder of the story. The most common disruptions are the addition of new members (penalty equals new dots of Numbers), moving to another location (penalty equals Numbers) or a successful attack on the cult (storytellers judgement. If the attack happens off screen roll Fervour vs the attacker's equivalent, the penalty is -1 for every success the attackers score over the defenders). The penalty cannot increase beyond -5.  Additionally the Leviathan must control a suitably large territory to house a gated community and cannot have more dots in Cult Numbers than he has in Temple Size.

Benefits and Drawbacks: The cult's gets +2 on all Furvor rolls that relate to martial action. Apply this rule generously, scouting, spying and other subtle arts of warfare get the bonus. As would non-combative uses of force; like running a protection racket or enforcing religious law on people outside the cult. However the cult's martial focus leaves them deficient in other areas, all Zeal and Clout rolls get a -2 penalty.  

The cult portrays itself as a group of like minded people who enjoy each others company but who have no unified goals or beliefs. Existing publicly without needing to devote time and effort into running a smokescreen makes the Cult light and nimble. However if the cult does start demonstrating unified goals the oddity immediately makes the cult look suspicious

Benefits and Drawbacks: The cult gains an additional task point for every dot in Numbers, however every time it performs a Fervour check it apply a cumulative +1 bonus to investigating the cult, maximum of +5. This penalty also applies to clout checks that are out of charachter, buying land for a clubhouse or hosting a party can fly under the radar. Trying to influence politics is more likely to attract attention.

The cult organises itself as a business, a non profit, or some other formal non-religious entity. This gives the cultists a way to spend plenty of time on cult business as well as a nice legal framework for cult owned property, bank accounts and all the other complexities of modern life. However the cult's increased legal presence makes it harder to get away with breaking laws.  

Benefits and Drawbacks: The Cult's official identity makes it easier to interact with mortal society. The cult gains a free dot in Clout (to a maximum of four dots) and Clout rolls can be performed with four task points. However all attempts to investigate the cult get a +2 bonus due to legal requirements for enterprises.

 

 

If the cult is left unattended for too long it can go rogue in an infinite number of weird and horrific ways. Rogue cults can be a threat to The Tribe hunting down their god's enemies in service to mad theologies or seeking to rid the world of "their god's enemies", often in contrary to everything their origonal founder taught them. The most powerful cults were taught secret Eldrich Lore and can perform powerful rituals, using their god as an occult power source to scorch the land and call up horrors from the deep. The most dangerous (and far more common cults) simply preach the good word. More than a few Leviathans never realised they had created a Cult in their Wake until the police mention that their name was mentioned by the suspects in a virgin sacrifice case.

 

There are no hard and fast rules for how and when a cult goes rogue but the Storyteller should take into account the cult's morality and Zeal. A Zealous cult is more likely to remain as a cohesive organisation and more willing to perform heinous acts. A more moral cult is of course less likely to commit evil deeds. Most cults first attempt to summon their god before truly going rogue. If they lack the knowledge to create working occult rituals, well they can try and that try can be every bit as horrific as real magic. Afterwords the possibilities are limitless: Some cults remain loyal to their theology, other's modify it. Sometimes an ambitious priest seizes power, other times the cult remains loyal to their absent deity. A few became moderate and respectable religions and at the other extreme some barely got a month before drowning themselves in a suicide pact. There is a notable tendency for cults to grow around Ophions, particularly if they cannot meaningful communicate their desires, to attract self serving priests versed in Eldrich Lore. With the Wake at it's lightest they use the Tribe's power as their own.