Homebrew:Cultist: Difference between revisions

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{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} background from [[The Crooked Moon]]}}
{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} background from [[The Crooked Moon]]}}
__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__
Some portion of your past has been swallowed by nothingness. The missing time could be a short interval—mere days or weeks gone from your memory— or you might have only vague hints at best of who you are and where you are from. Flashes of déjà vu are common, taunting you with recollection, but they almost always slip away, as ungraspable as the mists of Druskenvald. An injury, some traumatic experience, or the magical workings of a spell or curse could be the culprit behind your amnesia.
You have been inducted into a secret society that venerates or pursues power from some otherworldly source. The cultists might serve as minions of an entity they worship, or they may seek to understand and claim its might for their own. Depending on the malevolence of the cult's patron or the malefic purposes they may serve, cultists could be a force of wickedness or a group of closely bonded and dedicated people who pursue a common, if esoteric, goal.


; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Memory Starved|Memory Starved]]
; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Cult Initiate|Cult Initiate]]
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose two (see below)
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : {{arcana}}, choose one (Cultist Affinity table skill recommended)
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose one (see below)
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : [[equipment:calligraphers-supplies|calligrapher's supplies]]
; <nowiki>Languages:</nowiki> : See below
; <nowiki>Languages:</nowiki> : Choose one (Cultist Affinity table language recommended)
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) book (personal notes), ink, ink pen, traveler's clothes, 11 gp; or (B) 50 gp
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) calligrapher's supplies, costume (cult garb), holy symbol (amulet: cult insignia), traveler's clothes, 10 gp; or (B) 50 gp
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Cultist Affinities
! Cult Patron !! Skill !! Language
|-
| Aberration || {{perception}} || Deep Speech
|-
| Celestial || {{religion}} || Celestial
|-
| Fiend (Demon) || {{religion}} || Abyssal
|-
| Fiend (Devil) || {{religion}} || Infernal
|-
| Fey || {{nature}} || Sylvan
|}
   
   
== Scattered Memories ==
== Cult Veneration ==
You don’t choose skill proficiencies or a tool proficiency when you select this background, and you don’t choose any languages other than Common during character creation—these are parts of your past that you are missing. Instead, you can pick one of those proficiencies or languages during play at any time. The knowledge might return in a spontaneous flash, even as you make a roll that relies on the proficiency, or slowly emerge as you struggle to solve a problem. Once you choose one of these features, you can’t choose another one until you gain a level.
Cults propitiate beings of otherworldly power in hopes of sharing in that potency. Choose what type of cult you joined, such as the following.


The GM might rule that you can choose a new recalled feature early if something reminds you of your past, such as finding a piece of evidence from your missing memories or experiencing an event similar to one you have forgotten. Of particular value is an event relating to one of the story threads or trinkets presented below.
;Aberration.
:Alien creatures with inscrutable mindsets and motivations. Many originate from outside the known multiverse.
;Celestial.
:Beings of the Upper Planes, and paragons of order or benevolence. Many can be overbearing and uncompromising.
;Fiend (Demon).
:Creatures of utter evil and destruction that want to see all worlds and planes burn.
;Fiend (Devil).
:Beings of cunning wickedness who prize structure and obedience. They seek to subjugate others and condemn souls.
;Fey.
:Capricious beings often associated with nature and emotional extremes. They can be beautiful, terrible, intoxicating, and horrific.


== Building an {{PAGENAME}} ==
== Building a {{PAGENAME}} ==
Any character can face misfortune or a choice that steals their memory. Consider how your character came to lose their memory. Was it lost through injury or illness, or did something more sinister steal it with a toxin or curse? You might decide to leave this choice up to the GM, letting you as a player discover the cause alongside your character.
Cultists are often lost souls—individuals severed from the fabric of society whose cult became a manipulative, surrogate family. Consider if your character agrees with the aims of the cult, if they fled the group, or if they remain for infiltration purposes.


=== Suggested Story Threads ===
=== Suggested Story Threads ===
This background presents a paradox when considering threads to weave through a campaign, since the character may not remember them. Work with the GM to create some leading events or people that can serve as constants to trace a path through the void of the character’s past, especially if the GM can insert existing nonplayer characters into the thread to strengthen these connections. The Amnesiac Story Threads table suggests events and people who can be the start of these threads.
The Cultist Story Threads table suggests events and people who can be the start of story threads for your character that weave through the campaign.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 24: Line 48:
! 1d6 !! Thread
! 1d6 !! Thread
|-
|-
| 1 || You have recurring dreams of someone you might recognize on your adventures.
| 1 || You learned that the cult that took you in manipulated you throughout your life.
|-
|-
| 2 || You absent-mindedly doodle the same design or symbol over and over.
| 2 || A member of your cult betrayed and killed your leader and mentor.
|-
|-
| 3 || A friend has been traveling the provinces of Druskenvald with a caravan, searching for any hint of your past as they do.
| 3 || Your cult's activities aroused the ire and superstition of locals, deserved or not.
|-
|-
| 4 || A rhyme or song you’ve never heard before comes to mind when your thoughts wander.
| 4 || You followed a loved one into joining the cult, trying to find out what happened to them.
|-
|-
| 5 || Rainbow colors, such as those on a soap bubble or oil slick, fill you with unexplained terror.
| 5 || You met someone who forced you to see the cult you always venerated in a different light.
|-
|-
| 6 || You have a fragmented recollection of traveling to a remote place in the mountains.
| 6 || You joined the cult to save yourself from an incurable illness or other certain doom.
|}
|}


Line 44: Line 68:
! 1d6 !! Trinket
! 1d6 !! Trinket
|-
|-
| 1 || Half of a tarnished silver ring with a partial inscription in a language you don’t understand
| 1 || A sealed scroll of esoteric knowledge
|-
|-
| 2 || A music box that plays a sad tune you recognize but can’t identify
| 2 || A steel ball bearing etched over its entire surface with your cult's sacred text
|-
|-
| 3 || A short note addressed to you signed with a name you don’t recognize
| 3 || A crystal that feels strange to the touch
|-
|-
| 4 || A thin silk scarf with a fading scent that stirs familiarity
| 4 || A ritual knife stained with blood, sap, or oils
|-
|-
| 5 || A toy horse with unfamiliar initials inked on it
| 5 || A set of copper tattoo needles
|-
|-
| 6 || A locket whose portrait is burnt and unrecognizable
| 6 || An embroidered cloth half mask
|}
|}


[[category:homebrew backgrounds]]
[[category:homebrew backgrounds]]

Latest revision as of 22:58, 27 July 2025

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Cultist background from The Crooked Moon)

You have been inducted into a secret society that venerates or pursues power from some otherworldly source. The cultists might serve as minions of an entity they worship, or they may seek to understand and claim its might for their own. Depending on the malevolence of the cult's patron or the malefic purposes they may serve, cultists could be a force of wickedness or a group of closely bonded and dedicated people who pursue a common, if esoteric, goal.

Feat:
Cult Initiate
Skill Proficiencies:
ArcanaIntelligence (Arcana)skillYour Intelligence (Arcana) check measures your ability to recall lore about spells, magic items, eldritch symbols, magical traditions, the planes of existence, and the inhabitants of those planes., choose one (Cultist Affinity table skill recommended)
Tool Proficiencies:
calligrapher's supplies
Languages:
Choose one (Cultist Affinity table language recommended)
Equipment:
Choose A or B: (A) calligrapher's supplies, costume (cult garb), holy symbol (amulet: cult insignia), traveler's clothes, 10 gp; or (B) 50 gp
Cultist Affinities
Cult Patron Skill Language
Aberration PerceptionWisdom (Perception)skillYour Wisdom (Perception) check lets you spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of something. It measures your general awareness of your surroundings and the keenness of your senses. For example, you might try to hear a conversation through a closed door, eavesdrop under an open window, or hear monsters moving stealthily in the forest. Or you might try to spot things that are obscured or easy to miss, whether they are orcs lying in ambush on a road, thugs hiding in the shadows of an alley, or candlelight under a closed secret door. Deep Speech
Celestial ReligionIntelligence (Religion)skillYour Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and the practices of secret cults. Celestial
Fiend (Demon) ReligionIntelligence (Religion)skillYour Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and the practices of secret cults. Abyssal
Fiend (Devil) ReligionIntelligence (Religion)skillYour Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and the practices of secret cults. Infernal
Fey NatureIntelligence (Nature)skillYour Intelligence (Nature) check measures your ability to recall lore about terrain, plants and animals, the weather, and natural cycles. Sylvan

Cult Veneration

Cults propitiate beings of otherworldly power in hopes of sharing in that potency. Choose what type of cult you joined, such as the following.

Aberration.
Alien creatures with inscrutable mindsets and motivations. Many originate from outside the known multiverse.
Celestial.
Beings of the Upper Planes, and paragons of order or benevolence. Many can be overbearing and uncompromising.
Fiend (Demon).
Creatures of utter evil and destruction that want to see all worlds and planes burn.
Fiend (Devil).
Beings of cunning wickedness who prize structure and obedience. They seek to subjugate others and condemn souls.
Fey.
Capricious beings often associated with nature and emotional extremes. They can be beautiful, terrible, intoxicating, and horrific.

Building a Cultist

Cultists are often lost souls—individuals severed from the fabric of society whose cult became a manipulative, surrogate family. Consider if your character agrees with the aims of the cult, if they fled the group, or if they remain for infiltration purposes.

Suggested Story Threads

The Cultist Story Threads table suggests events and people who can be the start of story threads for your character that weave through the campaign.

Cultist Story Threads
1d6 Thread
1 You learned that the cult that took you in manipulated you throughout your life.
2 A member of your cult betrayed and killed your leader and mentor.
3 Your cult's activities aroused the ire and superstition of locals, deserved or not.
4 You followed a loved one into joining the cult, trying to find out what happened to them.
5 You met someone who forced you to see the cult you always venerated in a different light.
6 You joined the cult to save yourself from an incurable illness or other certain doom.

Cultist Trinkets

When you make your character, you can roll once on the Cultist Trinkets table instead of on the normal starting Trinkets table.

Cultist Trinkets
1d6 Trinket
1 A sealed scroll of esoteric knowledge
2 A steel ball bearing etched over its entire surface with your cult's sacred text
3 A crystal that feels strange to the touch
4 A ritual knife stained with blood, sap, or oils
5 A set of copper tattoo needles
6 An embroidered cloth half mask
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