I'm going to be playing a cultist soon and if any of you have any tips I'd like to see them here. My general idea is that he/she will be trying to summon their patron and watch the world get destroyed.
They would preferably be an evil alignment but I'm open to suggestions.
Edit: I've now got their patron & background. Just looking for a suitable race, any Roleplaying tips and backstory ideas
Hard to say with the information you provided. Is he going to be very secretive about his cult or is he going to be an open evangelist for his cult? Related to this is whether he knows that summoning his patron will actually destroy the world? If he thinks that he is making the world better by summoning his patron and ushering in what he believes to be a Paradise, he might not need to be played as evil. Could be naive idealist being used by the Patron. In this case he could be a neutral or even played off like a warped good character (this could be interesting with discussions on relativism of "Good").
Just some initial thoughts and questions to get you going.
Whenever I think of a cultist my mind always jumps immediately to the Great Old One patron over the others.
Following up on what Jayne_of_Canton said, your character could have had their mind twisted by whispers from their patron into believing what ever you want their patron have them believe. Perhaps your character could believe that the world is mostly wicked and their patron wants to cleanse the world of the wicked, to make it a place of peace and harmony.
Another thing to consider is that usually a cult would have a leader and followers, so consider your the leader of your characters cult could be. Perhaps the cult leader has convinced their followers that the cults patron is not evil, and wants what is best for the world.
One cool idea I've always had is a cultist of Dendar, whos sleep is wracked with nightmares and bad dreams. When searching for answers, they come across a cult of Dendar who promise that they can make their nightmares go away, so the follow on blindly with no thought to how, because in their mind the ends would justify any means.
He/She is probably going to be secretive about his/her cult until 8th level or something like that. Until then he/she will recruit those whom their patron wishes them too. I'll also take a look at Critical Roll's Cultist background.
I have been searching for appropriate pacts and the Great Old One does seem like a great fit (The only good one I've found) and it would make it easier for me to make him/her neutral or good character who's mind has been twisted.
One cool idea I've always had is a cultist of Dendar, whos sleep is wracked with nightmares and bad dreams. When searching for answers, they come across a cult of Dendar who promise that they can make their nightmares go away, so the follow on blindly with no thought to how, because in their mind the ends would justify any means.
This is a very good idea (keep it up!) and would be a great motivation for anyone to join a cult.
If you have played a cultist please reply with their backstory. I have around a month and a bit left while waiting for our GM
After looking at the kraken patron and the murderous celestial I think that his/her patron should be the murderous celestial as it fits the Cultist vibe much better than any other patron. The Recovered cultist background is one that I can reflavor to just be a cultist background. Now I'm just needing to figure out his/her race, any ideas?
After looking at the kraken patron and the murderous celestial I think that his/her patron should be the murderous celestial as it fits the Cultist vibe much better than any other patron. The Recovered cultist background is one that I can reflavor to just be a cultist background. Now I'm just needing to figure out his/her race, any ideas?
Thanks! Unfortunately it's been mentioned over on stack overflow that it is a bit overpowered. I'll be making changes to it soon.
I'm going to be playing a cultist soon and if any of you have any tips I'd like to see them here. My general idea is that he/she will be trying to summon their patron and watch the world get destroyed.
They would preferably be an evil alignment but I'm open to suggestions.
Edit: I've now got their patron & background. Just looking for a suitable race, any Roleplaying tips and backstory ideas
Hard to say with the information you provided. Is he going to be very secretive about his cult or is he going to be an open evangelist for his cult? Related to this is whether he knows that summoning his patron will actually destroy the world? If he thinks that he is making the world better by summoning his patron and ushering in what he believes to be a Paradise, he might not need to be played as evil. Could be naive idealist being used by the Patron. In this case he could be a neutral or even played off like a warped good character (this could be interesting with discussions on relativism of "Good").
Just some initial thoughts and questions to get you going.
There's a (Reformed) Cultist background in Critical Role's Tal'Dorei rpg setting pdf.
DICE FALL, EVERYONE ROCKS!
Whenever I think of a cultist my mind always jumps immediately to the Great Old One patron over the others.
Following up on what Jayne_of_Canton said, your character could have had their mind twisted by whispers from their patron into believing what ever you want their patron have them believe. Perhaps your character could believe that the world is mostly wicked and their patron wants to cleanse the world of the wicked, to make it a place of peace and harmony.
Another thing to consider is that usually a cult would have a leader and followers, so consider your the leader of your characters cult could be. Perhaps the cult leader has convinced their followers that the cults patron is not evil, and wants what is best for the world.
One cool idea I've always had is a cultist of Dendar, whos sleep is wracked with nightmares and bad dreams. When searching for answers, they come across a cult of Dendar who promise that they can make their nightmares go away, so the follow on blindly with no thought to how, because in their mind the ends would justify any means.
First off, Thank you for the replies.
He/She is probably going to be secretive about his/her cult until 8th level or something like that. Until then he/she will recruit those whom their patron wishes them too. I'll also take a look at Critical Roll's Cultist background.
I have been searching for appropriate pacts and the Great Old One does seem like a great fit (The only good one I've found) and it would make it easier for me to make him/her neutral or good character who's mind has been twisted.
This is a very good idea (keep it up!) and would be a great motivation for anyone to join a cult.
If you have played a cultist please reply with their backstory. I have around a month and a bit left while waiting for our GM
If your DM is up for homebrew pacts, I couldn't find anything that gave me the cultist vibe so I created this for one of my PCs here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/238408-the-murderous-celestial
It's untested so if you have any feedback, let me know.
You might also find the Kraken pact a good fit for a Warlock with the Cultist background.
https://thinkdm.org/hfh/pact-of-the-kraken-warlock/
I'd recommend China Meiville's novel Kraken for inspirational reading if you go with that one. (Or if you don't. It's just an awesome book.)
DICE FALL, EVERYONE ROCKS!
After looking at the kraken patron and the murderous celestial I think that his/her patron should be the murderous celestial as it fits the Cultist vibe much better than any other patron. The Recovered cultist background is one that I can reflavor to just be a cultist background. Now I'm just needing to figure out his/her race, any ideas?
Thanks! Unfortunately it's been mentioned over on stack overflow that it is a bit overpowered. I'll be making changes to it soon.