Evil Cult Generator

 I've run off to join the carnival, the RPG Blog Carnival that is! Today's article is inspired by Codex Anathema's prompt, Clubs and Congregations. Below you will find a slew of tables that can be used to create interesting evil cults to menace your players with for sessions to come! Gods, tactics, treasures, and cultic conspiracies await! If you like this article, check out last week's Sargasso Sea Encounter Generator, or try the Wizard's Tower Generator instead! 

Evil Cult Generator

Some of the most dangerous foes in a campaign are those who operate in the shadows, obscuring their intent and confounding their eradication. One of the most notorious types of clandestine foes to challenge your players with is secret cult. The religious powers of most settings tend to operate out in the open, with temples, festivals, and holy-symbol-festooned priests. Their works are visible to the community at large. Cults on the other hand function by remaining hidden. Their priests and places of worship are obscured with utmost care, lest inquisitive parties learn too much. Once the threat of a cult has been revealed, the paranoia that can grip a community is powerful enough to topple dynasties and plunge kingdoms into war. Below you’ll see a variety of tables you can use to flesh out your evil cults and ways to use them against your players (for fun of course).

*Pagan sacrifice to a goddess. Engraving. Date: 1600-1699

Who do they worship?

The goal of any cult is the worship of a deity, demon, devil, or other powerful extraplanar being. Such entities are not usually powerful enough to outwardly defy the greater gods of one’s setting, and so they use their cults to enact their fell wills without drawing divine attention. Below you will find a table listing the entity the cult worships as well as their symbol, manner of dress, and sacrificial weapon. In addition, there is a spell high HD cultists may gain one or more uses of per day to add some variety to each cult and their leadership. 

D12	The Cult of:	Their symbols:	Their gifted spell:
1	Inishgaru of the Bloodshot Eye. A demon of secrets and blood. Enemy of knowledge and harmony.	An angry, bloodshot eye. Red and gray robes. A copper flensing dagger.	Vampiric Touch
2	Durgoro. A bestial devil of pain and sorrow. Devourer of souls.	A circle composed of iron chains. Ritual scars on the chest. A serrated short sword.	Cause Light Wounds
3	Felucean Cleareyes. A demon of seduction masquerading as a foreign deity of beauty. Thief of youth and beauty.	A marigold flower. Robes of saffron yellow and red. A club made out of a silver yew branch.	Hypnotism
4	Ssrazzbazzortch the Flaming Corpulence. Demon of fire, wealth, and vengeance. Glutton of other’s pain.	A flaming cat’s eye. A golden coin stamped with the flaming eye symbol. A black iron dagger.	Produce Flame
5	The Horned King. An ancient forest god. Destroyer of civilization.	A set of antlers with a crown atop it. Robes of brown and horned helms. Bronze-headed maces.	Entangle
6	Rekgall the Torturer. Devilish lord of pain and agony. Enemy of joy and life.	A bloody sickle. Blood-red robes with black sleeves. A cold iron sickle.	Protection Against Good
7	Gilimrash the Lurker. A chthonic deity of loneliness and death. Devour of light.	A broken and unlit candle. Black robes with cloth-of-silver blindfolds. An iron-shod staff.	Darkness
8	The True Void. A being from outside space and time. Bringer of peace and oblivion.	A black circle. Black robes with gray hoods. A black-bladed serpentine athame.	Silence 15’ Radius
9	Narlingthep, the Everchanging. An ancient god of illusions and madness. The deceiver and corrupter of mortal souls.	A rainbow. Multicolored robes. A garotte.	Phantasmal Force
10	The Shadow King. A devil made of smoke and ash. Enforcer of oaths and bargains.	A black crown atop a drop of blood. A brand of a crow over the heart. A silver hand axe carved like a screaming face.	Blindness
11	Lord Arimray. A devil masquerading as a minor god of protection. Enslaver of the weak.	A gauntlet clenching a gold ring. Hoodless gray robes with red trim. A single-edged cold-iron short sword.	Fascinate
12	The Lady of Absolution. A depraved demon presented as a foreign god of absolution and emotional succor. Torturer of the damned.	A white mask shedding a single tear. White robes with white masks. A silver mace.	Hold Person

 

How do they prey?

It’s not enough to have a cult lurking at large in your world. It is the depraved acts that these evil organizations carry out that attract a hero’s attention. Most cults will be committing two or more of these heinous acts in furtherance of their overall goals at any one time. Use these schemes to create threats to your campaign world so that your players can get involved in thwarting them.

D12	The Evil Acts
1	Kidnapping prominent citizens for sacrifices.
2	Kidnapping children, poor, elderly, or other marginalized groups for sacrifice.
3	Defacing local temples or shrines.
4	Stealing livestock for sacrifices.
5	Kidnapping prominent citizens and converting or corrupting them.
6	Theft, murder, or highway robbery to acquire wealth for the cult.
7	Searching for or stealing magical items.
8	Mutilating livestock to spread fear.
9	Causing the dead to rise and attack the living.
10	Calling disastrous weather down on the local area.
11	Counterfeiting coins to use to destroy the local economy.
12	Summoning swarms or plagues of insects or pests.

 

What is their end goal?

Why do cults do what they do? What are their machinations leading to? Use this table to give you a long-term goal for your cult to pursue in your world. Will your players be able to stop the evil cult before they carry out their eventual endgame?

D12	Where does this lead?
1	A ritual to bring the evil power at the center of the cult into the material world.
2	A ritual to create a far-reaching and deadly natural disaster.
3	The total exsanguination of all nonbelievers in the local region.
4	The overthrow of the local government and the implementation of cultic control over the populace.
5	A ritual to empower the cult’s leaders with extra magical power and/or knowledge.
6	Converting the entire region to worshippers.
7	A ritual to steal everyone’s soul in the local region.
8	The destruction of a particular demihuman race.
9	The destruction of the local church or religious authority.
10	A ritual to summon powerful monsters.
11	Overwhelming wealth and temporal power for the cult’s leaders.
12	A ritual to commune with the evil power the cult worships.

*Temple ruins in Sicily, Italy. Woodcut published 1846

Where do the congregate?

Not every cult meets in the same type of location. Some operate under disguise within a town or city, whilst others take advantage of the countryside to hide their activities from curious eyes. Use the table below to find out where your evil cult makes their lair and what kinds of challenges adventurers may find therein.

D10	Where can they be found?
1	In the secret rooms of a noblemen’s castle. Poison needle-trapped doors. Magical wards and alarms. Spying behind paintings.
2	Under an ancient burial mound. Undead guards. Entrapping magical roots. Winding tunnels. Zones of magical silence.
3	In a slaughterhouse on the edge of town. Flesh golems. Creaking planks. Trap doors. Blood everywhere.
4	In an abandoned roadside shrine. Collapsing floors. Animal occupants. Holy protection. Massive statuary.
5	In an ancient woodland glade amongst large standing stones. Magical wards. Spectral guardians. Trees falling in the woods. Grasping branches and vines.
6	The ruins of an evil temple. Wraiths and specters. Trap doors. Magical runes. The ghosts of failed heroes.
7	The basement of the burgomaster’s house. Locked doors. Creaking boards. Hidden staircases. Secret libraries.
8	A derelict wind mill. Loose stones. Flammable flour and wood. Collapsing floors. Trap doors. Creaking in the wind.
9	On a boat in the harbor. Tar and rope. Creaking boards. Locked chests. Guards in the crow’s nest.
10	In a cave behind a waterfall. The overwhelming sound of water. Wet floors. Mechanized traps. Narrow passages. Darkness.

(Check out the wizard's tower, roadside inn, abandoned temple, hovering island, glacier, or sargasso sea location generators for other locations to locate your cult.)

*Stone basin in Cairn L Recess. (Eugene Conwell, 1873)

What treasures or knowledge do they keep hidden?

Cultists are always on the lookout for something to give them the upper hand in the furtherance of their dark master’s goals. Sometimes they come into possession of interesting magical artifacts and dangerous information. Below you’ll find a table with a few ideas as to what the evil cultists might keep in their secret vaults.

D12	Hidden Treasures:
1	An Orcish Death Whistle: A hand-sized whistle made out of carved orc bone, depicting a screaming orc. Once a day when the whistle is blown, it lets out a loud sound like the screams of a dying orc. This forces everyone except the blower to make a Spell  save or flee in terror in a random direction for 1d4 rounds.
2	The Atlas of Pandemonium: A tome bound in demon skin which has extensive maps and articles on Pandemonium, the plane of demons. A spellcaster who takes an hour to read this tome will gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against demons until the start of the next day.
3	5d20 Fool’s Doubloons: These small hunks of dirty scrap metal are enchanted to appear as platinum coins, at least for a while. Anyone who first sees the Fool’s Doubloons must make a Spell save or believe the lumps of scrap are truly platinum coins. Any time after the first time that someone see the Fool’s Doubloons, they can make another Spell save to disbelieve the effect with a +4 bonus.
4	A Wand of Agony: This alder wood wand is carved to look like it is wound in thorns. The wand has five charges. By expending a single charge, the wielder can cause agony and pain to a visible target within 35 feet. The target must make a death save. If they fail, they suffer 1d4 hp damage and suffer a -2 penalty to attacks until the end of their next turn.
5	A Dagger +1 of Blood Drinking: This curved dagger with a blackened metal hilt appears to be stained with blood. After a successful attack, the wielder of the dagger heals an amount of hit points equal to the amount of damage they just inflicted. The dagger wielder can only gain hit points this way up to their hit point maximum.
6	A Map of the Local Underdark: This crumpled and partially burned map shows the major tunnel systems and hazards of the local underdark region. A party that studies the map in detail prior to planning an expedition to the underdark will gain a +1 bonus on saving throws to avoid danger whilst down there.

*Witches feasting, featured in The History of Witches and Wizards (1720)

What powerful person is among them?

Cults often attract the powerful and important. Secret knowledge and hidden power are strong incentives for unscrupulous lords to join a cult. Such powerful patrons and members makes attacking cults head-on hazardous. It may be of little consequence for a party of adventurers to slay a few cultists, but what happens when a powerful political leader is found among them? What are the repercussions for parties if they end up slaying first and asking questions after? Not good, one would imagine. Use the table below to generate ideas for prominent citizens who may be involved in the cult.

D12	Who is secretly in the cult?
1	A prominent burgomaster or merchant lord.
2	A rich farmer.
3	The child or sibling of the local lord or lady.
4	The head of the town guard.
5	The town’s priest.
6	A prominent rich mage.
7	The town drunk.
8	The tavern keeper.
9	The town’s richest shop keeper.
10	A local lord or lady’s mother or father.
11	The town’s blacksmith.
12	A famous retired adventurer.