Developed cults

[JDS]

So I've got the Big Book of Cults and Golden Dawn. They are helpful, but I am planning a long-run (50-odd weekly sessions) colonial-era game, and most of the BBC do not translate. What I want are a couple (more) well-developed cults, probably emigrating from Europe or Africa rather than local developments, for my setting.

Anyone know of a product that can deliver this? I expect I will have to adjust to the time period, so long as the cults are not too embedded in a particular time period (as the BBC are).

[Nozbat]

I haven't got or seen the Big Book of Cults so not sure if these are in it. These are some of the actual Cults around in the 1920s that I had researched.. I think they can be found by doing a Google search for more information. Not all of them were 'evil' cults but they can suit whatever purposes you want:

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Illuminaten (founded by Adam Weishaupt and he wrote a number of sinister sounding books)

L'Ordre Martiniste-Martineziste de Lyon

FUDOFSI

L'Eglise Gnostique Universelle

Order of Knight Masons Plus Cohen of the Universe

Ordre De Saint Graal

Fraternitas Rosae Crucis

Ordre Kabbalistique De La Rose Croix

Our lady of Endor Coven

Thule Society

Order of the Solar temple

Fraternitas Saturni

Theosophical Society

Ordo Templi Orientis

Hermetic brotherhood of Luxor

[JDS]

The BBC is entirely fictional modern cults. Decent stuff, but not really transferrable. Thanks, Nozbat, I'll start the Wiki searches immediately.

[alter]

Maybe You can pick up Cults from Masks of Nyarlathotep? And Chapel of Contemplation (?) from The Hunting?

Edited April 4, 2022 by alter

[JDS]

4 minutes ago, alter said:

Maybe You can pick up Cults from Masks of Nyarlathotep? And Chapel of Contemplation (?) from The Hunting?

Nah, I got what I needed from Nozbat's post and a CoC wiki. Throw in some symbols from Pinterest, and I'm good.

[Darius West]

14 hours ago, JDS said:

So I've got the Big Book of Cults and Golden Dawn. They are helpful, but I am planning a long-run (50-odd weekly sessions) colonial-era game, and most of the BBC do not translate. What I want are a couple (more) well-developed cults, probably emigrating from Europe or Africa rather than local developments, for my setting.

Anyone know of a product that can deliver this? I expect I will have to adjust to the time period, so long as the cults are not too embedded in a particular time period (as the BBC are).

I'd love to help, but I have a couple of questions.  Firstly, to clarify when you say "colonial era" do you mean American Colonial Era, or the British Empire (or French, German, Belgian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish Empires) in Africa?

The classic African secret society is the Leopard Society of Sierra Leone.  There is also the Hyena Men of Nigeria.  There is also a huge witchcraft tradition in Africa that takes many forms.

[JDS]

11 hours ago, Darius West said:

I'd love to help, but I have a couple of questions.  Firstly, to clarify when you say "colonial era" do you mean American Colonial Era, or the British Empire (or French, German, Belgian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish Empires) in Africa?

The classic African secret society is the Leopard Society of Sierra Leone.  There is also the Hyena Men of Nigeria.  There is also a huge witchcraft tradition in Africa that takes many forms.

American, of course. 😉

Actually. I'm running a historical Flames of Freedom campaign. I'll check out the African societies; they could be very interesting, given the involvement of slavery in the conflict. 

Flames of Freedom's cults are just awful, and worse, they're in the core book for everyone to see, so I'm going with the Mythos, because you can't beat it for occult issues.

Edited April 4, 2022 by JDS

[Darius West]

14 hours ago, JDS said:

American, of course. 😉

Actually. I'm running a historical Flames of Freedom campaign. I'll check out the African societies; they could be very interesting, given the involvement of slavery in the conflict. 

Flames of Freedom's cults are just awful, and worse, they're in the core book for everyone to see, so I'm going with the Mythos, because you can't beat it for occult issues.

If you are running Flames of Freedom, that makes matter considerably easier.  The go-to cult is obviously Freemasonry with its allied strands of the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians and their alchemical tradition, Esoteric Judaism, and the Bavarian Illuminati if you are looking to something historical.  You can also incorporate the Witch Cult tradition if it interests you.  There is also the Dutch "Pow-wow" tradition of folk magic, and the Apalachian equivalent. 

In terms of African traditions in the area, there are Root Doctors in Georgia, the ubiquitous Voudon Louisianaise, and the general class of Hoodoo traditions across what would become the Confederacy.

IDK if Native American traditions of the 13 States regions are interesting to you?

Edited April 5, 2022 by Darius West

[AlHazred]

Colonial Era is too early to put in the Ghost Dance, but you could absolutely fabricate a secret society of Native Americans prior to Wovoka who had the same motivation: to use magical traditions to throw back colonial expansion and reclaim Native territories that had been overrun by invaders.

[Darius West]

I would draw everyone's attention to the IRL Lovecraft Country of the Bridgewater Triangle and the Hockomock Swamp in Massachusetts.  It falls nicely within the area of the War of Independence and you can meet Pukwudgies there.  The area is supposed to be a ridiculously active paranormal hot-spot like Skinwalker Ranch.  If you like this sort of folklore, do a little research and you will likely find it worth your while.

[JDS]

8 hours ago, Darius West said:

If you are running Flames of Freedom, that makes matter considerably easier.  The go-to cult is obviously Freemasonry with its allied strands of the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians and their alchemical tradition, Esoteric Judaism, and the Bavarian Illuminati if you are looking to something historical.  You can also incorporate the Witch Cult tradition if it interests you.  There is also the Dutch "Pow-wow" tradition of folk magic, and the Apalachian equivalent. 

In terms of African traditions in the area, there are Root Doctors in Georgia, the ubiquitous Voudon Louisianaise, and the general class of Hoodoo traditions across what would become the Confederacy.

IDK if Native American traditions of the 13 States regions are interesting to you?

Those are all good, but most are in fact the core occult villians in the core book, so I don't want to use them. Plus I don't know if any of my group are Masons.

I've gone with three obscure European groups with the serial numbers filed off, and two Native American groups that are a mix of Mythos and local legends.

I initially wanted an African-based group, and thanks to you I found an excellent one, but after careful thought I decided to save it for the 1920s. Even for a long campaign I have more than enough material to work with, what with the incredibly-layered politics of the American Revolution, the equally complex politics of the NA tribes, five cults, a variety of small independent groups and creatures, and then just a few nutcases tossed in to muddy the waters.

[JDS]

5 hours ago, AlHazred said:

Colonial Era is too early to put in the Ghost Dance, but you could absolutely fabricate a secret society of Native Americans prior to Wovoka who had the same motivation: to use magical traditions to throw back colonial expansion and reclaim Native territories that had been overrun by invaders.

Way ahead of you, bunky. 😉

As a point of fact, not long after the Revolution several groups appeared with much the same philosophy of the northern, late-cycle Ghost Dances (removal of the whites, return of the lost, trappings that defeat bullets).

Interestingly, the US Army encountered groups claiming to be able to defeat bullets via fetishes while putting down the insurrection in the Philippines.   

[AlHazred]

1 hour ago, JDS said:

Interestingly, the US Army encountered groups claiming to be able to defeat bullets via fetishes while putting down the insurrection in the Philippines.   

Eh, Boxers did it first! (I guess, I don't really know! But it sounded good, which is good enough for me!)

[JDS]

29 minutes ago, AlHazred said:

Eh, Boxers did it first! (I guess, I don't really know! But it sounded good, which is good enough for me!)

You're right, some Boxer groups made the same claim. I guess if you're about charge US Infantry armed with Krags, and your guys all have big swords, you want to buck up the troops.

[AlHazred]

19 hours ago, JDS said:

You're right, some Boxer groups made the same claim. I guess if you're about charge US Infantry armed with Krags, and your guys all have big swords, you want to buck up the troops.

I mean, you don't know that you're not immune to bullets until you try! Who's with me?!? Great... uh, you guys go first!

[Eff]

22 hours ago, AlHazred said:

Eh, Boxers did it first! (I guess, I don't really know! But it sounded good, which is good enough for me!)

"Bulletproofing", as a magical technique, is about as old as guns and continues more or less down to the present day, mostly with insurgent groups and bandits. Stories about a family Bible or medallion or similar stopping a bullet and saving someone's life are transmuted relics of belief in bulletproofing within our own cultures. Of course, most of the time this folk magic is reliant on complex systems of purity that are easily violated, and in a Lovecraftian context I suspect it works in a more gruesome fashion, perhaps as an explicit lottery of some kind. 

[JDS]

1 hour ago, Eff said:

"Bulletproofing", as a magical technique, is about as old as guns and continues more or less down to the present day, mostly with insurgent groups and bandits. Stories about a family Bible or medallion or similar stopping a bullet and saving someone's life are transmuted relics of belief in bulletproofing within our own cultures. Of course, most of the time this folk magic is reliant on complex systems of purity that are easily violated, and in a Lovecraftian context I suspect it works in a more gruesome fashion, perhaps as an explicit lottery of some kind. 

The pocket Bible/book, etc stopping a bullet is true enough on the face of it, but a key issue that is seldom considered is how much power the bullet had when it hit. The Army has conducted detailed studies of body armor in four wars, and the problem that undermines the studies is the lack of data on the shooter; in Vietnam particularly, poor quality of ammunition saw numerous incidents where Americans and South Koreans were struck by gunfire that did minimal damage (one example was a US soldier shot in the face by an AK-47 at a distance of under 20'; the bullet pierced his cheek, knocked out a tooth, and chipped a tooth on the opposite side, coming to rest in his mouth.

One issue I personally believe helped spawn the beliefs in the early years, particularly in forested eastern America and in the Philippines, is that shooting through dense brush and/or branches can cause rounds to deviate from the point of aim. So to people uneducated in the mechanics of firearms, shots from relatively close range missing could appear to be magically inclined.

And there's just the vagurities of war: in one documented case, a British officer in the 1777 Saratoga campaign emerged from a fight uninjured, but with 27 bullet holes in his (loose fitting) clothing. Some of that count would be entrance and exit holes, but that is still an impressive incident. Similar evens have been documented in other conflicts.

Edited April 6, 2022 by JDS

[1d8+DB]

You might find some inspiration in the discussion of 'The Occult in Colonial America': https://youtu.be/MRK66pRXr44. This 'Esoterica' channel is a great source for CoC Keepers.