You were, or still are, a member of a cult. The cult may be religious, arcane, or of some other nature, and you may have been born into it or drawn into it at some later point in life. No matter the case, you have an affiliation with a cult that has defined your past, and maybe even your present and future as well. Perhaps your cult is benign, and merely stands to answer the whims of its charismatic leaders. Or perhaps you worship a dangerous, evil deity or otherworldly being seeking a foothold in the material plane. Maybe your cult is instead dedicated to a being of great arcane power, or simply to a bored being of immense power seeking to pass the time and escape their boredom.
Discuss with your DM the specifics of your cult, how you fell into it, what drew you to it, and its leaders to you. Who are the important figures? Are you still a part of the cult, or did you leave it prior to your adventuring? How? Where are they located, and how widespread are they?
- Skill Proficiencies: Deception, and your choice of Arcana or Religion
- Tool Proficiencies: Poisoner's kit
- Languages: Abyssal and Celestial
- Equipment: A set of common clothes, your cultist's robes, a hooded cloak, a poisoner's kit, a dagger, a book of the cult leader's thoughts and sermons, and a pouch containing 10 gp.
You know the locations of your cult's safehouses across the continent, and can seek them out for shelter and rations in times of need. Major cities always have a safehouse, while smaller cities and towns have a 50% chance of having a safehouse belonging to your cult. You may not know exactly where the safehouses are, but you do know how to find them, following clues and hidden messages to locate them. If you have left the cult, you have a 25% chance of being found out to be using their safehouse and rations whenever you do so.
Suggested Characteristics
Cult members are shaped by the ideologies of their cult leaders, and by the fanatical worship of their peers. Your personality was heavily altered by your time in your cult, your ideals were rewritten by the cult, and your bonds and flaws are more than likely directly tied to the cult, your fellow cultists, and your actions within the cult.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I love a good story, but I too often get lost in them and obsess over the characters. |
| 2 | It is important for friends to share everything with one another. No secrets nor resources should be hidden away. |
| 3 | I am deeply ashamed of my past and will do anything to avoid it. |
| 4 | I am eager to show others the true path to salvation, the one shown to me by the leader of my cult. |
| 5 | I was taught that it was my role to listen and learn, not to command or speak. |
| 6 | I hold a great anger for those who lead others onto paths of darkness and villainy. |
| 7 | I struggle to believe anything I am told without evidence. I have been lied to before. |
| 8 | I know that what my leader says is the truth, and it is unwise to question them. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Devotion. I will follow the rules and laws of my leader without question, as is the way for those who seek salvation. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Chaos. The truth of the universe is that it is all chaos, and I will not tolerate the laws and societies of those too weak to see the truth. (Chaotic) |
| 3 | Destruction. The darkness that my cult worships will destroy my enemies and make way for my rise to power. (Evil) |
| 4 | Truth. I must reveal the truth to those that are still under the spell of my previous cult. (Good) |
| 5 | Avoidance. There is nothing to be done about the people of my past and their desires. Better to avoid the danger than die facing it. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Belonging. I just do not think I want to ever be alone again, and wish to help others too. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My fellow cult members are the only family I know. |
| 2 | I will never forgive the person that first introduced me to my former cult leader. |
| 3 | I still dream about the figure my cult wanted to summon into this world. |
| 4 | My cult leader is the only one I have ever loved. |
| 5 | I will never want another person dead more than my former cult leader. |
| 6 | I owe everything to the person who got me out of the cult I was trapped in. I do not know if I can ever live up to their sacrifice, and ensure it was not in vain. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I blindly trust those in a position of power within my cult, and deeply resent those who do not. |
| 2 | Research and evidence are for those without faith. They are the tools of the infidels. |
| 3 | I run away from forming bonds with others. I have been betrayed before. |
| 4 | I question everything that goes against the teachings of my cult leader to the minutest of details, often annoying others. |
| 5 | I must chant the words of my cult leader nightly before bed. |
| 6 | I am ruthless when it comes to the members of my former cult. They are a foul disease that must be burned off of this world. |
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