LeviathanTempest:CultsDevelopmentPage

Cults

When brushed with the Wake of the Leviathan, certain mortals are more touched than others - becoming Beloved. These faithful can be directed into a unit, a Cult, which reveres the Leviathan and seeks to serve and honor him. Some Leviathan season their cults by bonding Lahmasu into their service, taking them in and giving them meaning. The full rules for Beloved and Lahmasu are listed later. A Cult can provide Ichor through worship or work in the world as the Leviathan's hands (or claws) at a reach.

Cults are both a blessing and a curse upon a tribe. A cult can serve as a vital buffer between the Leviathan and the world. On a purely practical level there is no shortage of uses for your own private army or labour force and a cult's worship unlocks some of the metaphysical potentual in a Leviathan's divine nature. However cults are high maintenance, a cult requires supervision and input from the Leviathan - they desire "face time" with their deity. If left unsatisfied a cult may go to extreme lengths to “regain their god's favour” and even a well attended cult may be seek out horrific offerings or latch onto bizarre interpretations of the Leviathan's will without constant, perhaps tyrannical, supervision.

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.

Players may choose to pool their cults, becoming the pantheon behind a polytheistic faith. This does require some sacrifices, if one Leviathan instructs the cult to perform a ritual they cannot simultaneously assist in the excavation of a sunken temple. The cohort has the listed Task Points to share between them, and the Storyteller can reject requests that require the cultists to be in two places at once. A Pantheon breaking up is trouble for all, everybody gets one fewer dot than they originally contributed (taken from which ever merit they wish). This is typically a violent time of religious conflict that usually ends up badly for all involved.

The Nature of your Theology

Work In Progress - currently rough notes - This section gives fluff on the different kinds of cults, but also makes it clear that these are more "the bottom of a slippery slope" than hard rules on what every cults look like.

A Bahamatuan's cult tends to look kinda like the movementarians from the Simpsons. Don't think, don't do anything, just conform and be provided for. From the Strain of Sloth's perspective they're constantly surrounded with whiny needy babies. On the plus side, they're relatively unlikely to be creating problems compared to other strains.

Meanwhile a Dagonite's cult probably looks like the actual Jonestown. Lots of backstabbing, favouritism and vicious politics all centring around the Leviathan. Who's possibly too Proud of all the flattery to see how his favourites are harming his interests; through backstabbing politics if not abusing their authority over lesser cultists.

The Lahamin probably don't resemble any real religion, but a very common fictional one. They are the secretive chessmaster gods who see all and have planned everything. Their followers are the sinister cult who's members are everywhere, hidden among rich and poor and plotting nefarious deeds. The first Robert Downey, Jr Sherlock Homes film has an example.

The Nu's cults could be said to resemble an evil modern Christianity, after everyone started asking “hang on, how do we know there even is a god?” God is a metaphor, key theological events like the resurrection are a metaphor. This leads to a lot of “interpretation” of what the Nu really means; like most strains the Nu often have to become a tyrant just to make it clear that no, it wasn't an elaborate metaphor that really means “sacrifice virgins to me”. On the other hand a Nu trying to find it's theological and practical place in the world often has a good resource, make vague complaints about what you feel unsure about and pick from the interpretations provided by your philosophical cult.

Oceaneads are religion as a mask for self promotion. An Oceaneads cultist are the sort of people who use their faith to assert moral or social superiority to others (using faith to assert that others are morally evil is more a Tanninim thing). An Oceanead is both an exemplar of this behaviour, their cult is a choir of flattery, and a living symbol of social status. An objective measure of who the religion put on top of the social pigpile this week: Who did the goddess smile at the most?

The Tanninim are the easiest to explain. They are the bronze age gods with ten plagues and an itchy trigger finger. A Tanninim's cult is often led by the kind of fundamentalists who'd call HIV god's righteous punishment against homosexuality, and a Tanninim is often the kind of god who would create HIV as a punishment. This is to say, they have that kind of moral extremism, not that they nessacarally look like right wing Americans. It is perfectly plausible to find a Tanninim Cult which accepts any kind of sexuality, but god help you if you forgot to bathe in sacred oils this morning.

The Thalassans are the kind of god you might see behind televangelists. The god who you worship for material reasons; more classically the Thalassans are probably the most common kind of religion. If you live one storm away from a bad harvest, and one bad harvest away from starvation, you bet you would pray for good whether. In short, they're the gods you worship for non-religious reasons. This means that a Thalassan has to provide to keep it's cult in any semblence of order; on the plus side they can keep their cult in order with material goods as easily as threats.

Number (O - OOOOO)

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.

A Cult must have at least one dot of Number - otherwise, who will bring the goat?

• Number O - Five followers, five task points per story
• Number OO - Ten followers, ten task points per story
• Number OOO - Twenty followers , fifteen task points per story
• Number OOOO - Fifty followers, twenty task points per story
• Number OOOOO - One hundred followers, twenty five task points per story

Zeal (O - OOOOO)

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.

A Cult doesn't have to have a dot of Zeal, but most do.

• Zeal X - Cultists are obsessed with you personally, but not particularly loyal - Sunday Cultists, basically.
• Zeal O - Cultists will break the law for you, if the risks aren't too high. Acolytes.
• Zeal OO - Cultists will risk jail time for you.
• Zeal OOO - Cultists will unflinchingly kill in your name. Textbook fanatics.
• Zeal OOOO - Cultists will risk death in your service, if the task requires it.
• Zeal OOOOO - Slavish loyalty. You and Thulsa Doom could compare notes.

Fervor (O - OOOOO)

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.

If the Leviathan wishes, he can direct the effort personally, in which case his Presence or Intelligence (whichever is most appropriate) may be added to the roll, but he will (seperate from the normal ramifications) be subject to the expected downsides of a failed effort, and will have to enact his own escape from a crime scene (a getaway is assumed for the Cult under the Fervor roll).

A Cult doesn't have to have a dot of Fervor - many don't.

• Fervor X - You'll have to perform your own crimes. What a pity.
• Fervor O - Liquor stores are your piggy bank.
• Fervor OO - You've got some talented thugs - roughly the equivalent of a local police force.
• Fervor OOO - Your Cultists are driven enough to perform some quality bad deeds in your honor.
• Fervor OOOO - Fierce civilians or experienced criminals. Mafia-level shenanigans.
• Fervor OOOOO - Your Cultists are chomping at the bit to achieve your wicked desires.

Sidebar: Putting the God in Godfather

The rules for Fervor are generally more permissive of extralegal hijinx then other similar Merits, and the tone suggests the Cult is capable of performing some pretty impressive stuff. In general, this is intentional - the goal is to replicate a city-subverting or widespread Cult conspiracy, a la Fight Club or Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The reach of a Cult, and the depths to which it will sink to serve its master, are meant to be somewhat unsettling - and to make immoral methods attractive. If letting a Cult do something would rob the players of an interesting scene, or circumvent a hardship in an automatic or undramatic fashion, feel free to bend the rules or ask the player to direct his Cult to perform some facet of the task instead of the whole thing.

Clout (O - OOOO)

Clout measures how good your Cult is at getting things done in a legal manner. Anything from buying a private lake to deterring Hunters with harassment charges and allegations of religious bigotry. The sad fact is that while the more sensible members of the tribe recognise that Clout is immensely more useful than Fervor in providing what a Leviathan actually needs, Tranquillity, fanatical cultists who worshipping primordial mind-rending horrors often have trouble holding a conversation let alone filing out an planning application in triplicate. The closer they are to the Wake the worse it gets, most Beloved are still competent at every day life but as soon as a Leviathan asks them to do something they start telling people they're on a mission from god.

When rolling Clout the basic dicepool, before any modifiers, is equal to Clout. Generally Clout checks work on the same scale as Fervour.

A Cult doesn't have to have Clout - most don't.

• Clout X - It will probably be best for everyone if you don't ask your cultists to talk to regular people.
• Clout O - Your Beloved can function normally under the Wake, lucky you.
• Clout OO - You can organise petitions with ease.
• Clout OOO - Your Cult has some real influence they can use in your name.
• Clout OOOO (Legitimate Organisations only) - Local politics dances to your tune.

Additional Traits

These additional merits for a Cult are rated in dots and cost the listed amount. They exist primarily to help define or focus a Cult. The Storyteller and players might work out other possibilities - the only limit is, in general, these bonuses should not render the core traits irrelevant.

• Conspirators (O to OOOOO) - Members of your Cult have Status equal to dots in Conspirators within an organization chosen when you purchase this Merit. This merit may be taken multiple times. When a Clout check is made you may add your Conspirator dots in one relevant organisation to the roll. If you make a Fervour check to attack an organisation infiltrated by your cult you may reduce the penalty by your dots in Conspirators to a minimum of zero. Finally you may apply Conspirators as a passive penalty for the organisation to work directly against you or for others to use the organisation against you.
• Home Turf (O or OO) - The Cult has a favoured stomping ground, around the size of a neighbourhood or a region of wilderness - along the lines of "The quarry" or "The old lumber yard." When assigned to dangerous tasks in this region, it receives a +1 bonus, but suffers a -1 penalty elsewhere. The two-dot version negates the penalty.
• Indoctrination (O) - Once per story, for three task points, the player may declare one attempt to turn members the Cult against the Leviathan as an automatic failure. The Leviathan need not be aware of the attempt - the player is declaring the Cult incorruptible as a method of narrative control.
• Lahmasu (OO) - Your Cult contains a division of, or is entirely formed of, Lahmasu or Hybrids. Lahmasu often serve as a Cult's military arm, using their unique abilities to further their lords aim. A Cult with Lahmasu gets an extra dice on all martial Fervor rolls, but a crime performed by strange half fish people is more noticeable than a regular crime. This fact is a little too complex to be expressed as a bonus to investigators, but a Leviathan is advised to think twice before sending Lahmasu where mortal authorities might start asking questions, and consider forgoing the bonus. Away from mortal eyes a legion of Lahmasu opens up the possibility of sending your cult underwater without needing bulky equipment.
• Offerings (O) - Once per story the Leviathan may use his Cult to make a purchase with a Resource cost of equal or lower to Numbers.
• Old Hands (OOO) - Pick one unpleasant task or crime (car theft, kidnapping, murder). The Fervor roll for that sort of crime is a rote action for your Cult. Remember that crime waves are suspicious and that being a zany cult isn't a barrier against criminal investigation.
• Recognition (OOO)- Unless it is! Your Cult is a legally-recognized religious organization. Attempts to legally interfere in your dealings or investigate the Cult's beliefs or business suffer a -3 penalty. This is in addition to the other intangible bonuses of this status, which can be represented by other Merits.

Resolute (OO) - The Leviathan's Cult requires his presence only once a month.

Organisation (OO or OOO)

Organisation does not measure how organised your cult is, instead organisation defines how your cult is organised. A Cult may only have one Organisation merit but it may switch between them for the full cost of the new Merit.

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.

Unorganised

This is the default style for all cults. The Leviathan's Beloved are obsessed and loyal to the Leviathan on a personal level, but have no real connection to other cultists or doctrine. The good news is that this disorganisation makes it very hard to investigate the cult, but it makes it just as hard to organise them. In many ways it is a starter cult, not particularly powerful but relatively safe until the Leviathan is ready to defend themselves.

Instinctual for: No one.

Benefits and Drawbacks: All attempts to investigate the cult have a -3 penalty due to it's amorphous nature, however all Zeal and Fervour rolls have a penalty equal to the Cult's Numbers due to a lack of organisation.

Gated Community

The Leviathan's cult form their own community, united not by religion but by a desire to live among people with shared values and a shared culture, despite this of the cult often travel beyond it's borders and maintain social connections with outsiders. While the cult's community is not explicitly religious, it is much easier to practice the Tribe's unique religions when surrounded by understanding people, however the culturally incestuous nature of a Gated Community leaves little room for verity and consequently the Cult often has trouble adapting to sudden changes.

Instinctual for: Bahamatans

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.

Inbred Hicks

The Leviathan has complete dominance of a geographical area, within his territory the entire population belong to his cult. Every aspect of the cult's lives is shaped by the cult's doctrine and the Leviathan's rule is absolute. The dominance of the cult makes it far easier to organise, there are no employers or family members who will object when a cultist is called to perform a ritual. In addition the prevalence of the cult's doctrine makes this kind of cult especially well versed in theology. However the otherness of the community is especially apparent to all visitors, most cults in this style are found in in isolated areas.

Instinctual for: Dagonites

Benefits and Drawbacks: The cult gets an additional five task points per story, and +1 to all rolls involving Zeal. However everyone gain a +3 bonus to notice how weird the community is, additionally the Leviathan must control a suitably large territory and cannot have more dots in Cult Numbers than he has in Temple Size.

Militant Fanatics

The cult is organised for the maximum efficiency in causing and withstanding violence. If it's large and prosperous it will probably have a clear chain of command, hidden caches of supplies, fortified safe houses. If it's small or poor, then it does the best it can. Depending on where it's found such a cult might resemble (or be) a criminal gang, a professional military force, an apocalyptic cult hiding in a fortress, or the private army of a third world warlord.

Instinctual for: Tannanim

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.

Religious Organisation

The cult portrays itself as a legitimate religious organisation, it may style itself as a sect within a large and well respected religion or openly admit to worshipping a primordial aquatic god. Even then natural selection means that cults generally don't mention that their god drops by every week. This openness makes it easier for the cultists to show up to rituals, they don't have to lie about it, but it also exposes the cult to far more scrutiny if not outright religious persecution.

Instinctual for: Nu

Benefits and Drawbacks: You can buy the Recognition merit for two dots. Rituals are also easier to organise, pick one day of the week plus seven or so holy days thought the year. On those days the cult can perform rituals for one fewer task points. However when performing a ritual roll the rituals dots + The Leviathan's Ripple penalty - Temple Security. A success means that the semi-public nature of the cult has let someone outside the cult witness the ritual. If the Leviathan spends task points or otherwise increases the morality rating of the ritual decrease the roll by an equal amount. If the rituals morality rating reaches seven then do not roll, the ritual is safe for public eyes. The discount on Task points can be spent to increase the morality rating of a ritual.

Social Club

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

Instinctual for: Oceaneads

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.

Secret Society

The first rule of the cult is that you do not talk about the cult. Members come from very different lives, and actively avoid being seen with each other publicly unless they have a very good reason to. The veil of secrecy makes such cults very hard to investigate, but it imposes additional organisational burdens.

Instinctual for: Lahamin

Benefits and Drawbacks: All attempts to investigate the cult have a -3 penalty due to it's focus on secrecy, however all Zeal and Fervour rolls have a -1 penalty due to the additional complexities of staying hidden.

Legitimate Organisation

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.

Instinctual for: Thalassans.

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.

Cult Morality

Like everyone else a Leviathan's Beloved have a morality rating. Rather than keep track of dozens of cultists performing all manner of strange sacrileges the cult has a single morality rating that represents the average member. Asking your cult to perform horrific rituals or sending them out to accomplish your wicked desires can risk your cult's morality using the same rules as regular morality.

Cult's can also gain derangement’s; representing unhealthy trains of thought that are common enough among a Leviathan's beloved to be part of the cult's culture. Cults have a different set of Derangement’s, there is nothing supernatural about this difference and any of the following derangements can be found among the general population if the conditions are right.

TODO

Bahamanian themed - takes time to make significant independent decisions outside the cult's comforting orthodoxy. Dagonite themed - Lahamin themed - Thinks that god is constantly watching, acts appropriately Nu themed - Tendency to interpret signs and portents (especially what their Leviathan says), acts appropriately Oceanead themed - Thalassan themed - Tannanim themed - Clearly prejudiced against anyone who dosn't follow the cult's laws. Severe version becomes violent.

Rogue Cults

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.