"There is a Light which never goes out."
(motto of the Paladinhood of SARAN and of the
Lightbringers of CAERULAS)
Anarea is defined by its Higher Powers, Whose Aspects represent every facet of the World. There is intense rivalry between those Higher Powers, the ultimate ambition of most of Whom being to become a God, then a Clerical God, and then the most powerful Clerical God. To these ends They need worshippers.
Although it is a matter of much speculation amongst Sages, it is generally believed that a God is made Clerical when He or She achieves sufficient Faith put in Him or Her by worshippers. Sometimes this may be achieved when an existing Clerical God is killed, and the leading challenger of that Alignment (Who may possibly have had a hand in the killing) is able to recruit the worshippers of His or Her predecessor. But sometimes additional Clerical Gods have appeared.
The non-Clerical contenders for the Faith of worshippers are often Demigods, but They may be non-Clerical Gods, or even Demons. They are often referred to as "False Gods", in that They may be held out by Their prophets as Clerical, when They are not. Some False Gods are entirely false, in that they exist only in the minds of their prophets. But often there is a real Higher Power behind the False God, maybe operating under a different name to His or Her usual one. Most Cities have a Street of False Gods, where the various contenders have Their Temples and Their prophets offer inducements to worship their Patrons.
To reward and attract followers, the non-Clerical False God needs to offer them other inducements than the granting of Clerical Requests. He or She also needs to build up an organisation for worshippers. This is how many Cults have developed. The False God gives, to those who achieve a certain status in the Cult, special non-standard Fighter Weapons, Thievish Activities, Druidic Spells, Elementalist Spells, or even Delegated Magical Powers, all related to His or Her Aspect. Such rewards are restricted to members of that Cult, who are expected in return to put their Faith in the Cult's patron God or Higher Power (its "Sponsor") and to serve the ends of the Cult.
Although the achievement of Clerical Godhead is often behind Cultism, it is not the only reason for the establishment of Cults. Some Clerical Gods offer Cultist inducements to elite sects of Their followers, the most well-known of these being the Paladinhood of SARAN. Other non-Clerical Gods or Higher Powers use Cults to promote Their Aspects, without any overt end of Clerical status, e.g. the Tree People of NORRID.
Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish Cults from Guilds or political factions, and indeed there is often no clear dividing line. The Thieves' Guilds and Brotherhoods are often considered to be HALKI Cults. The Assassins' Guilds are almost certainly Cults of GLASYALABOLAS, Demon of Assassins. The Alchemists' Guild might be considered a Cult of GUSION, Demon of Alchemy. Certain places are ruled by Cults, either openly or behind the scenes. Indeed, the Valdrean Empire might be described as ruled by the SARAN Paladinhood.
In many places in the World Cultism is rife. In isolated areas, such as the Jungle of the Overworld, the usual Clerical Gods are worshipped under different names, with Cultist aspects to Their Creeds and Spell Lists. The Free City of Tehmor is notorious for its Forty Factions, though in fact far more than 40 identifiable Cults operate in the City. The Free City of Vavistor is controlled behind the scenes by the Poison Cults, led by the Scorpion Cults. The Underworld is particularly prone to Cultism. In Hell everyone is a member of at least one, if not several Cults.
Local variations to systems, reflecting different cultures, may have aspects of Cultism, whilst not strictly-speaking amounting to Cults. These are reflected by Species Modifiers ("SMs") or by non-standard Spells, Activities or Weapons which are common to the area.
Individual Cults have their own variations to the standard systems, which constitute Restricted Information known only to members of the Cult. However, certain typical features are listed here.
Being a particular kind of Cultist is not a separate Character Class, in which Experience is earned. Typically, Cultist rewards are given to members of one or more standard Character Classes associated with the Cult. For example, the Galadhwaith is a Druidic Cult of the Sindar, and the Assassins' Guilds are Fighter / Thievish Cults.
A limited exception is Paladinhood. This is open to Clerics of certain Lawful and/or Good Gods who are also Fighters. In return for their swearing certain oaths and dedicating their lives to the combating of the Forces that oppose their Gods, they are Delegated certain Magical Powers, the effectiveness of which depends on their "Paladin Level", which is computed as the sum of their Clerical and Fighter Levels.
In place of the normal standard Spell Lists, Cultists of the appropriate Character Class often have their own custom "standard" Spell Lists. These typically include unique Spells relevant to the Aspect of the Cult's Sponsor, and omit Spells which are less consistent with it. Spells on the standard list which are within the Sponsor's Aspect may be given at lower Spell Levels (e.g. Snake Cultists get Sticks to Snakes at a lower level), or standard Spells may be modified to be more appropriate to the Aspect (e.g. Rat Cultists get Plague of Rats, which is Insect Plague, but produces rats instead of insects). Other Spells may be given at higher levels (e.g. Animal Cultists get Animal Spells at lower levels, but get Plant Spells at higher levels, whereas for Tree Cultists the reverse is true).
Druidic Cults often have custom Media, for their unique Cultist Spell Cycles and/or for the standard Cycles. This reflects local variations in flora and fauna (not much mistletoe grows in the desert!). Such Media may be harvested in different ways and on different dates for maximum bonuses.
Thievish Cultists get specialist Thievish Activities (e.g. Assassins get a Thievish Misdetect as a DIS Activity). Some common specialist Activities of this nature are shown on the Thievish Character Specification worksheet marked "$" for Restricted knowledge. Knowledge of these has spread to non-Cultists, but they may still only be considered known to and used by appropriate Thieves (e.g. most Evil Thieves will know Assassinate, but Good Thieves will not).
Fighter Cults may have specialist Weapons (e.g. Assassins get Throwing Stars, and a DEV Thievish Activity "Weapons", which is used to make them), or have specialist forms of Unarmed Combat.
The Sponsor may intervene more directly in the affairs of His or Her Cult by Delegating appropriate Magical Powers to Cultists. These may be Delegated on initiation, as with SARAN Paladins, or on achieving a certain level in the appropriate Character Class, as with Druidic Powers (e.g. Wolf Cultists of DrL 6 are Delegated "Enter the Moonlit Kingdom" instead of Druidic Shapechange - they get the ability to shapechange to wolf form by being infected with Lycanthropy).
If the Sponsor is a Demon, the Powers are usually obtained by Summoning Him or Her. If He or She is a Demigod or God, He or She will typically include the ability to sub-Delegate to other Cultists who satisfy the required conditions. The SARAN Paladinic Powers are Delegated in a Commune with SARAN.
Some Cults make their own specialist Magic Items or Potions, which are made available to loyal Cultists.
Note that the classification below is not exclusive, as many Cults combine elements of several classes.
© P.R. Wild, 24 October 1999, last updated 1 February 2025
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