Factional Remaster of the Cult of the Dark One

[DreamWeaver]

Faction #16 – The Cult of the Dark One:

One of the Old Gods…Moorlock, The God of Bringer of Forbidden Knowledge.

The Cult are the Keepers of Hidden & Forbidden Knowledge and Secrets. They are part of the shadows and use the dark to help control the people with fear and unknown. They are watchers and use the darkness to control the world. It is said that they practice human sacrifice, but no one really knows for sure because they are the true keeps of secrets.

Their skills then are:

PRE – Preach
REC – Recruitment
STW – Streetwise
TRK – Tracking
SPY- Spying
ASN – Assassin
TOR – Torture

Cult Skill setup: (All 10 points would be defined on a standard setup)
LDR: PRE-1, REC-1, STW-1, SPY-1
F1: STW-1, TRK-1
F2: STW-1, ASN-1
F3: STW-1, TOR-1

Benefits:

1)The Cult can Ambush other clans. This would make them Shadows in the Dark and extremely dangerous. Fear would make people do what is asked of them, or else be killed. Remember this faction is called: The Cult of the Dark One. This faction wouldn’t be combat army types, but within a city, they would be feared to be in every shadow.

2) They would appear as an Independent clan when encountered on a scouting report.

3) Within a city they could appear hidden, thus not being located or seen on a scouting report within a city, if the clan’s size is less than 20% of what the city population actually is. Example 20,000 pop city, would mean if the Cult clan is less than 2,000 retainers they would remain hidden to anyone coming to the city and not know that they are even within the city.

Note:
The Cult Shrine would be hidden within any city it is built within. I like the note on the back of the CVR, of “Rumor is said that there is a Hidden Cult Shrine within the city”. This all words to add a sense of mystery and intrigue to the whole faction and character that fits with the faction.

Market Item(s) to be added to a market with different levels of temple:

at (11) Cult Temples:
– Opium (drug with many uses)
at (21) Cult Temples:
– Poisons
at (30) Cult Cathedral:
– <special Item, Unknown as a secret>

Roleplaying note: The Cult is set up here as the perfect EVIL faction hands down, they are IMO even darker and more sinister than the Blood & Fire. These guys are not to be played with and are a very serious Villain, and are not to be trifled with at all. These are truly Dark Souls and are Mega Evil. If you plan to play in this faction, put on your ‘Big Boy pants’ and get ready for the ride of your life!!!
It also would be a different side of the coin, and would add a lot more color to the game giving other players many more options in which to roleplay. It would add strife and chaos into the game and would make players look over their shoulders and stop taking things for granted.
Have them show up as “Independent” clans on scouting reports would I think work extremely effective in hiding them.

Cult relationships:
The Cult are allies of both the Blood & Fire, and the Serkeanar. They are enemies of the Banner, Gift, and Ring. The Cult has a truce with the Seekers of Knowledge because they worship the Old Gods and one of them is Moorlock. The OTG is another of the Old Gods as well, that is also worshiped along with the other 6 Old Gods too. The Seekers are tolerated because to them, they still worship Moorlock as the Old God of Knowledge. They are not viewed as a theat by the Cult.

[DreamWeaver]

[KarlPrie]

The Cult has a truce with the Seekers of Knowledge because they worship the Old Gods and one of them is Moorlock. The OTG is another of the Old Gods as well, that is also worshiped along with the other 6 Old Gods too. The Seekers are tolerated because to them, they still worship Moorlock as the Old God of Knowledge. They are not viewed as a theat by the Cult.

I would disagree with this. In my opinion if you don’t solely worship the Dark One, then you would be seen as an enemy. Also, a Cult keeps its followers in check by limiting the amount of knowledge/education they have access to, or at least by putting a Dark One spin on the information they have access to. A Faction thats whole purpose is to spread knowledge, especially about other Gods including The One True God, seems like a threat to me. Just my 2 cents.

Stephen

[DreamWeaver]

Remember it was the Cult of the Dark One that helped to found the Seekers of Knowledge. Remember to that the Cult worship the Dark One whom is Moorlock. Now to the Seekers Moorlock is the God of Knowledge, where to the Cult Moorlock is the Keeper of Hidden & Forbidden Knowledge and Secrets Very much similar. They both have a slightly different view point.

[KarlPrie]

Remember it was the Cult of the Dark One that helped to found the Seekers of Knowledge. Remember to that the Cult worship the Dark One whom is Moorlock. Now to the Seekers Moorlock is the God of Knowledge, where to the Cult Moorlock is the Keeper of Hidden & Forbidden Knowledge and Secrets Very much similar. They both have a slightly different view point.

That makes zero sense. Why would the Cult help create another religion, let alone one that spreads the word of seven Gods other than the Dark One?

Stephen

[DreamWeaver]

The ways of the Gods is hard for mere mortals to understand! I guess we may never know fully, but it did happen just the same.

[KarlPrie]

It sounds more like something men did for their own selfish reasons. Nevertheless, I guess some times you have to destroy the things you create.

[DreamWeaver]

Remember Men created Religion, while the God’s created Faith.

[KarlPrie]

2) They would appear as an Independent clan when encountered on a scouting report.

Would it be possible for secular clans that declare the Cult of the Dark One as their religion to keep that a secret?

Stephen

[DreamWeaver]

What are you fearful of showing whom you pledge to support in faith? LOL

[KarlPrie]

I don’t think you’re fully understanding how Cults work. 🙂

[DreamWeaver]

I am toying with your!

[KarlPrie]

Or am I toying with you? 🙂

[wordsmith]

It would be nice if all clans could keep their religion a secret should they choose to.

[windpeoples]

Agreed.

[Galan]

Since I have to modify the DECLARE action to allow religions to not override the Faction, I can add the ability to keep your religion secret in the game sense.

[Nazareth]

In reality, it seems odd that people of faith would feel compelled to keep their faith a secret. How can people of strong faith set quietly by while observing heresy and other foul acts performed in their presence when visiting cities, camps, markets, observing other religious symbols, etc. without revealing their disgust or outright horror. Could the fanatical Banner keep silent in the face of this heresy? Cults being cults could get away with this by their very nature.

Clans belonging to religious factions I can’t see. You get the benefit of the religion without the pain that sometimes follows such choices. Perhaps Exp forces could hide their religious affiliation as their very existence in some cases is to perform a special action, oftentimes covert in nature. In a sense, that is what exp forces are for. If you want to sneak and skulk around engaging in activities on the sly, then use an exp force and cloak yourself and your intentions the best you can.

Why should a religious faction gain the benefit of having member clans if those clans hide the fact they belong to the religion? Why should clans receive any benefit from a religion in which they won’t acknowledge? Incognito clans shouldn’t provide the religion with any influence or political clout with which to promote the success of their faction.

I see the proposed revisions to various factions and note that those proposals always end in buffing up those factions in some form or fashion. I fear that we will end up with some imbalance in game play if many of these proposals are implemented and all factions are not adjusted accordingly. Occasionally when a faction is given a buff, it devalues another factions ability in some cases. We could end up with some factions nobody plays as a result and a handful of factions that everyone wants to play.

Just thoughts from the amateur….

Like the castle suggestion btw!

[DreamWeaver]

All the factions are bein proposed changes here.

[Nazareth]

That’s why I said proposed revisions.

[Daniel]

One of the Old Gods…Moorlock, The God of Bringer of Forbidden Knowledge.

No, its the Dark One. Only the Dark One knows what the Dark One is.

The Cult has a truce with the Seekers of Knowledge because they worship the Old Gods and one of them is Moorlock.

Only faith to the Dark One would be acceptable, worship in anything else would mean your the enemy.

In reality, it seems odd that people of faith would feel compelled to keep their faith a secret.

Agree that only the Cult should be able to get away with this ability as it’s part of there very nature.

Also, a Cult keeps its followers in check by limiting the amount of knowledge/education they have access to, or at least by putting a Dark One spin on the information they have access to

Karl, I didn’t know that. Doesn’t matter, at least I’ll get shiny things like you promised. Forest Lords Rule!

Clans belonging to religious factions I can’t see.

This is a hard one. While it would be good for flavour I am on the fence… there should be clear definition what this means.

A entire clan declaration of a religion?
Individual characters?
Dual “citizenship” of secular and religion?

What does it mean if it was implemented. The “bonus” by being in it should be the reason to be in the religion

You get the benefit of the religion without the pain that sometimes follows such choices

I hear you, if allowed it’s important that it isn’t too much .
It’s that why skills are around to approximate the effect, just never as good.

Why should clans receive any benefit from a religion in which they won’t acknowledge? Incognito clans shouldn’t provide the religion with any influence or political clout with which to promote the success of their faction.

I think that’s a important point. Maybe it shouldn’t be on a clan level. meta-gaming is a real thing.

Maybe the GM should consider scaling the difficulty appropriately within the game with some rules around that.

How dangerous your making the game for yourself?

I think I’ll make a separate post about difficulty scaling as a possible feature,. since I’d rather keep this more about the Cult and my thoughts since I am a Cultist exclusively.

[Galan]

A Clan Leader would attract followers / retainers that share their beliefs. It would be unlikely for a clan to be split between a the Cult and the Ring for example (and a nightmare to keep straight).
I think a Clan should show their religious affiliation. An EF would not show it.

When would the Clans faction be shown to others? Its not part of a City Visitor report for a clan. The City Leader’s Faction is shown but it does not have to be. It would be on a Combat report.

[KarlPrie]

Doesn’t Factional information also show up on scouting reports when you meet other clans?

Stephen

[Daniel]

Thanks Jon appreciate the info

[Galan]

[Nazareth]

If this was daggered to a tree, perfect!

[Author]

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