Curious about your homebrews.

I just got Legend and really like it. I'm currently making my own homebrew but I'm kind of wishing I had more sample cults and orders to use as examples for my own.

So what are your campaigns like? I'd especially like to see what factions you've all come up with, and how many.
 
I'm a step behind you, thinking about what sort of cults and factions I want, whether I want to take an existing mythos, try some variants on christian myth, or invent things whole cloth.

Oh, and to get some motivation to do all of that. It's the hardest part of running a Legends game, if you don't buy a pre-built...
 
I agree about it being the hardest part. It's probably because factions seem to be the heart and soul of a legend campaign. I know for certain I want my factions to be memorable because they will be a new thing to my mostly dnd playing friends.

I've decided I'll probably make about 5 or 6 Factions of each type for now.
 
I agree they can be hard to come up with. In fact I told my players yesterday when they were making characters it might be fun to create a couple of cults in the process. It wasn't a total success but there were some and thats what counts in the long run.
 
Why don't you try Elric of Melnibone CRB and Cults of the Young Kingdoms. There are loads of cults which will provide lots of insperation.
 
Cults of Glorantha ($1 on drivethrurpg) has a pile of cults. Keep the mechanics (spells, skills, etc.) and write up a quick back-story - degloranthafy it.
 
Definitely worth doing before running a game.

In my campaign I broke the cults and organizations down into a number on a piece of paper (there are 16 major religious cults, 2 military ones in the city the campaign is based, and an organisation of free merchants, I also jotted down a few the players weren't going to be aware of such as 3 secret cults, a group of assassins etc).

Roughly thinking about them for a few minutes, I thought which ones the players were likely to interact with and only really fleshed those out. My players don't need to see a temples spell lists before joining the temple. They need to join the temple because they agree with the goals, like the feel of the place etc.
 
languagegeek said:
Cults of Glorantha ($1 on drivethrurpg) has a pile of cults. Keep the mechanics (spells, skills, etc.) and write up a quick back-story - degloranthafy it.


For a Buck... thats a dandy idea. Even if they don't fit your world it's easy to rip/copy/paste/edit something that works. I like it!
 
Since you did ask about specifics, this is the first cult I've put together for my home-brew. It is an early draft. I believe I'll be refining the backstory for this particular cult, as well as giving their spells more evocative names and special effects.



The One and the Prime (Divine Cult)

The world is overrun by Chaos, and the creatures of Chaos. Only a few bastions of Order remain, and in those that do, worship of The One and The Prime, champion of law, order and civilization, is strong. His image is that of a strong, veteran warrior, wearing robes of state instead of armor, with a pair of axes, and warriors of the faith study one or more axe fighting styles in that image. All Initiates and above are called to maintain the law above all other concerns, and to root out Chaos wherever it is found.

Service to the Law may entail hours worked at a church, helping out those in need amongst the congregation, serving as magistrates in trials held at the church in accordance with the law, or actively rooting out Chaos, either on quests set by the church or in self-directed knight erantry.

Magic:
Divine Magic: True (Axe); Heal Wound; Dismiss Elemental; Consecrate; Bless Crops

Common Magic: Abacus; Bearing Witness; Extinguish; Repair; Second Sight

Membership:
Lay Members: Any law-abiding person can claim lay membership. All that is required is vigilance against unrest, law breaking and the like, and regular presence for worship at the temple (1/month or more).

Initiates: To be initiated into the Law, an adventurer must have Lore (The One and The Prime) and Pact (The One and The Prime) at 30% each, or higher. They must know at least three of the cult skills at 30% or higher. And they must be willing to dedicate at least one point of POW to the god.

Acolytes: To rise to this level, all cult skills must be at 50% or higher, including Pact (The One and The Prime). You must have sacrificed three or more points of POW to the god. You must have donated at least 5000 silver guilders to the church, for use in construction of temples, city walls, and other defenses against Chaos. And you must have given 500 hours in the service of the Law. Any acolyte who is found to have been lax in the furtherance of the Law will be subject to punishment, up to and including excommunication.

Priests: Priests have achieved high levels of devotion to the church. In addition to the devotion of at least one-fourth of his or her POW (minimum 4) to the god, all cult skills, including Pact (The One and The Prime) must be at 80% or higher, with at least one at 100% or higher. A priest must also have served 1000 hours in service of the Law, and devoted 15,000 silver guilders to the church and their good works.

High Priests: The highest rank within the order, High Priests are the central authority in the church, and have direct communion with The One and the Prime. To become a priest, in addition to having 100% in each of the cult skills, including Pact (The One and The Prime), with at least one skill at 120% or higher, and a devotion of at least one half of his or her POW (minimum 7), a priest must have contributed 50,000 silver guilders to the cause, served the Law for 2000 hours. In addition, they must be responsible for the creation of at least one new church, in an area that had been heretofore kept from the faith.

Cult Skills: Lore (The One and The Prime); Axe (any from 2H Axe, 1H Axe, Axe and Shield, Dual Axe or Thrown Axe); Commerce; Engineering; Oratory; Evaluate
 
jwpacker said:
Initiates: To be initiated into the Law, an adventurer must have Lore (The One and The Prime) and Pact (The One and The Prime) at 30% each, or higher. They must know at least three of the cult skills at 30% or higher. And they must be willing to dedicate at least one point of POW to the god.
This is a just a quick aside rather than a critique of the Cult (which looks good!), but I was under the impression (and have always played that) the Pact (Cult) skill is incumbent on actually having sacrificed POW (ie being an initiate). Before sacrificing POW you may be knowledgeable about the Cult (ie Lore skill) but you do not have the divine/mystical connection represented by the Pact skill.
Am I wrong in this?
 
I suspect you may be right about that, Dan. I'd not put that together in my head. I'll have to revamp that to start to take effect after Initiate level only.
 
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