Welcome to today's #WorldbuildingWednesday post! For those of you new to this series, I'm 
My world - Trothguard - is a setting I've created as a catch-all location for any tabletop RPG games I run, so everything I build is filtered through a lens of 'how will this improve the game for myself and my players?'.
Today we're going to dive into Building Cults!
If the recently trending Netflix show 'Tiger King' is any indication, people are fascinated by cults and cult-like groups. So, I thought it would be fitting (and topical) to focus on Cults and Fanatics today! In this post, we'll look at what exactly makes a cult, and some prompts to help you flesh out your very own creation.
What is a Cult?
When I'm creating cults, they're generally designed as either opposition to the characters, or as a narrative means of portraying a different 'side' in a conflict. They don't always have to be evil but since I am currently building primarily for a tabletop game, they usually are. So, what makes a cult exactly? Well, for my purposes a cult is a group that either: follows a highly charismatic leader, or, is a group focused on a particular task - often occult, and almost certainly with evil intent and actions.
In both cases, the cult exerts an unhealthy level of control and management over their followers, and often isolates both the group and the individual from outside contact. They recruit individuals that are already isolated or in a desperate situation, and bring them into the fold with the promise of acceptance, love, and belonging. Inevitably, these end up as tools to keep the new member in line and dependent upon the cult.
I find that in my own worldbuilding, I gravitate to two different types of cults. The first is a cult of personality. These are the ones that are ran by a single charismatic or powerful individual, who leads and organizes the rest of the cult. These types rarely have dissent within the core group, as anyone not willing to stay in line and follow the cults mission is let go or disposed of.
The second type I use is a cult of common goals. These generally have a looser hierarchy formed of a group of people who all want the same end result. I typically make several 'leaders' on roughly equal footing for these groups, who rarely see eye-to-eye with the other leaders and usually have their own ambitions for the cult. These groups have a lot more internal conflict and infighting, which makes them a particularly fun type of cult for tabletop RPGs.
Before we look at the features or makeup of a cult, first decide what overall kind of cult you want to build. Consider:
- Do you want there to be a single leader, or do you want multiple factions within the cult?
- How large is the cult? Does it have a lot of members, or is it a small and secretive group?
- What does the cult (or the cultist faction) want to achieve? Are they seeking to return an ancient evil to the world, overthrow a government, or perhaps become a dominant religion and take over a region? Or, are their goals more materialistic and mundane
- How does your cult recruit new members? Is it word of mouth and recommendations? Do they groom youths or rely on the downtrodden?
- How have they avoided being destroyed so far? Have they got influence within the local government? Are they bribing guards? Are they just that good at being secretive?
- What amount of control is exerted over the members and how? Are dissenters killed or shunned? Is there freedom of choice regarding lifestyle or a highly regimented existence?
- How does the cult views itself? As saviors (bringing order) or destroyers (tearing down current systems)?
- How does the cult view the world? Is the rest of the world ignorant or evil in their eyes? Are they corrupted and in need of guidance? Or, is the world seen as a neutral place to manipulate for money or power?
Features of a Cult
With some of the big questions answered, let's look a little deeper into the individual features of the cult you're designing. These are going to be elements unique to each cult, and should build upon the over-arching questions we just answered to further refine your creation if you need this level of detail.
Leaders:
As discussed above, there are basically two types of leadership for a cult - and this leadership is essential to the growth and sustainability of the cult. Consider:
- Who is/are your cult leaders? What are a couple of defining features for this person or what are they known for?
- What does this leader look like? What kind of clothes do they wear?
- How do they control the cult? Are they charismatic, or do they control through fear and intimidation?
- What does this leader want? What motivates them?
- What does this leader fear?
Hierarchy:
The hierarchy of a cult is as important as it's leadership. There are usually (but not always) rigid tiers within the cult with different benefits and responsibilities. Consider how your cult is organized:
- How many tiers or levels exist, and what defines those levels?
- What responsibilities and rewards does each level of the cult have?
- How does a member advance within the cult? Is it merit based? Do they need to fulfill particular duties or complete particular rituals?
- What happens if someone fails in their duties for their particular level?
- Is internal conflict / infighting permitted and/or encouraged?
Ideals and Beliefs:
The ideals and beliefs of your cult are an important defining feature. In the overall section, we defined what the cult wants to achieve, and that's similar to this point in some ways, but defining the ideals and beliefs is a step further in detail. Ideals are the standards of perfection that the group aims for. Their beliefs are their faith and what they view to be true. Most cults have near-impossible to achieve ideals for their members, which are generally embodied solely by the leader. Consider:
- What does the cult idolize and strive for in their lives? Is their chief ideal to be as close to their god as possible? Do they idolize certain behaviors or achievements?
- How do members get closer to this ideal? Are members required to try and embody the ideals, or are they optional?
- What beliefs do the cult have? How do they practice those beliefs?
- Are their ideals and beliefs well defined and described, or are they convoluted and/or require a lot of hoops to 'jump through'?
Control:
How the cult controls it's members is quite important. Most cults are very active in managing and controlling their members to ensure the dependence and loyalty to the cult. Consider:
- What rules do the members of the cult have to follow (and are they different for different levels of the hierarchy)?
- What direct methods does the cult use to control it's members?
- Do they have harsh punishments?
- Do they gaslight or love bomb members?
- Do they rely on a 'sunken cost fallacy' by demanding monetary or production items from the cultists?
- What happens to members who do not follow the rules?
Uniformity:
Often the uniformity of a cult is important to achieving a unified identity and dependence on the cult. Consider:
- How is it achieved? Are members required to wear particular clothing? Are particular haircuts or other things required?
- Do different hierarchy levels have different expectations in their adherence to the uniformity?
- What mannerisms, behaviors, interests, and actions are required or discouraged to conform with the group and the cult?
- What happens if an individual does not conform to the group?
Isolation:
A cult's level of isolation will depend upon what they value and how powerful they are, but in general cults will be isolated from society in some way. Further, they will almost always attempt to isolate their members from the people and groups they used to be part of. Consider:
- How isolated is the cult itself?
- How isolated are members?
- Do they have any contact with the outside world?
- Do they have any contact with their families?
Symbols:
The symbols and decorations used by a cult are very important to cult identity. Often these have religious significance or are used as a means of showing membership. Consider:
- What is the primary symbol of this cult? Is it the symbol of their god, or does the symbol represent an ideal? Is it meant to be used as an identifier of membership to other cultists?
- Are there particular rituals around the use of these symbols?
Rituals:
The rituals that the cult practices are extremely important, and are intertwined with every previous point we've looked at. They are used as a means of control, encouragement of the cults ideals, a means of furthering group cohesion and unity, as well as a means of confirming the hierarchy balance and roles of members and leadership. Consider:
- Who leads the ritual, and how long is it?
- What is this ritual for? (Are there special rituals when a new member is accepted, members advance, members die, or members are exiled?)
- Are there specific holidays or events that will trigger rituals? (Eclipses, wildfires, harvest time, first snowfall in winter, etc)?
- Are there any items, symbols, statues, or other objects required for the ritual?
Conclusion
With these prompts answered, you should now have a fairly well defined cult for use in your world. There may be things you think of that I haven't included on this list. As usual, this is just what works for me, and what I ask myself when creating a cult. If you think I've missed anything, please leave a comment and let me know what you found useful that I didn't include - I'm always interested to see the different methods we worldbuilders take when crafting our worlds!
Thank you for reading today's #WorldbuildingWednesday! I hope this has provided you with some inspiration!
If there's something else you'd like to ask me about, please do so! I will make every effort to answer it next Wednesday.
For previous #WorldbuildingWednesday post you can read them here:
0: Introduction to WorldbuildingWednesday
1: Starting the World
2: Kingdoms, Factions, and Notable People
3: Creation Facts and Creation Myths
4: Shaping History
5: Myths & Legends
5.a: Player Visions (Supplemental)
6: Gods & Lesser Deities
7: Creating Cultures
8: Making Religions
