Sunday, March 27, 2011

Blank Cult Template for MRQ2

(There isn't really a blank cult template anywhere, so I put this one together to help in designing the Cults of Ehlaar, and Third Age Gloranthan cults.)


Description: Put here what everybody knows about the Cult. It’s what a successful Culture check would tell someone about the Cult.

Runes: Greater Gods or powers have three runes, lesser gods two and minor gods one.

Mythos and History: Put here the basic mythology of the cult

Central Myth: The most important myth in the cult.  It should have a resonance of 80-100% or above for a Greater God, 60-90% for a lesser god and 40-70% for a minor god.  The resonance, remember, represents the difficulty of recreating the myth in a Heroquest. It may help to describe the behavior that will be forced on a worshipper as a result of the myth, as well as any rewards for mastering it.

Minor Myth(s): Greater Gods will have 0-2 minor myths and lesser gods 0-1. Minor gods will tend not to have them.

Nature: Put here who the cult appeals to and its social role, as well as attitudes to it from inside and outside the local culture.

Organization: Describe how the cult organizes and operates, the size of it temples and so on.

Membership: Put here any special requirements for membership and/or promotion to higher ranks within the Cult, beyond the standard.

Common Magic: List the common magic spells the Cult teaches its worshippers. A good rule of thumb is that the Cult should be able to teach any worshipper 6 points of magic, so variable spells can count for more than 1 point. Describe any special spells the cult teaches.

Higher Magic: List the cult’s divine magic spells (including new or special spells), sorcerous Grimoire(s) or examples of special cult spirits.

Gifts and Compulsions: Describe any special duties the cult imposes on its worshippers and any gifts and/or secrets the cult bestows. Some cults ill bestow random gifts or demand random compulsions, so tables may be used here.

Cult Skills: List the five or more skills the cut teaches or otherwise demands its worshippers learn.

Allied Cults: List any cults with which the cult has special relations, including any spells or other boons given it.

Enemy Cults: List any cults singled out for special enmity, together with any bonuses or penalties involved in interacting with the enemy cult.

2 comments:

  1. Good stuff, I'm gonna adopt that. Funnily enough I found this through google, must have missed the original message.

    The Glorantha wiki has a useful listing of myths for Orlanth at least. I'm starting the write-up of 3rd age Orlanth cult and subcults, gonna do Ernalda, Vinga, Lhankor Mhy and Chalana Arroy next. That will cover the actual player characters. It would be nice to see other people's stuff, but I suppose that would be infringing copyright?

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