The Age of Apostasy is upon us. The world has forgotten its gods and masters. Humans are a weak creature without Covenants, doomed to insignificance and meaningless lives of restraint and illusory order. You have been chosen to preach this message- to spread it far and wide, so that the meek creatures that call themselves Human are reminded of their place in the Cosmos. The Old Gods will have their spoils once more.This is a stupid little idea for a semi-minimalist RTD I had. The 5 players will each participate as the founding apostles of a new Cult- not the tranquil or pacifistic kind either. The Cult of the Old Gods has three patron deities, each with their own advantages and disadvantages to worshiping. All of Humanity, save for certain rare alcoves, flock under the Naturalist Conclave's influence. Your goal as a player is to bring the supernatural back, closer to reality in order to remind the decadent Naturalist fools of their meekness in the massive macrocosm.
Standard RTD Rules, save for rolls being invisible to players. (Essence of Fate isn't observable to mere mortals!)
[1]Crit. Failure
[2]Complete Failure
[3]Partial Failure
[4]Partial Success
[5]Complete Success
[6]Critical Failure
Name: (If it's a joke, at least make it clever.)
Gender: (Male/Female/Whatever the hell else you wanna use. Doesn't matter much anyway in the Cults.)
Age: (Somewhat important- age is respected in the Cults.)
Patron Deity: (Any of the three listed. Respective bonuses/penalties apply.)
Injuries and Wounds: (None at the start.)
Inventory: (You all start with your cult robes, the Primeval Scriptures AKA your holy text, an icon relating to your patron and an iron sacrificial dagger. If you feel like you need to start with something else, ask.)
Magicks: (Rituals/cantrips you have been gifted with by any of the Three. You may or may not start with any, depending on your patron.)
Boons/Banes: (Miscellaneous blessings/curses brought by forces divine or otherwise.)
Each Patron God has their own definition of Sin, so the Cult is fractured by nature. Sins require Penance, which also depends on your Patron God.
You may only have one Patron and may only receive their blessings, the other two Gods will mostly ignore you (unless you really offend them).
There are three Patrons, make sure you know about their ups and downs before reaching a decision as your choice of Patron determines your potential.
Domain: Akashir is the youngest of the Three Old Gods, and his spiteful touch expands to all lands (and forms) of Drought. Akashir represents entropy in it's purest form- he has no real opinion of the other Gods, and destroys their creation only because it is his nature. He is the Destroyer in the Old Gods pantheon. Left to his own devices, Akashir would eventually wither his own into nonexistence- this fickle and entropic nature should be kept in mind by all that deal with him.
Granted Boons: Akashir grants his most favored followers destructive magicks of epic proportions. A cultist who starts with Akashir's patronage starts with two basic magicks that the Prince can teach them as a 'sweetener' for the pact they strike with him- these magicks are entirely random and can only be identified after the Covenant between Cultist and God have been struck.
Sins and Penance: To a cold and merciless force such as Akashir, pity upon others is not only a sin but an insult to his work.
All followers of Akashir must end at least one human life per day through, torch a significant public structure to ashes or engage in ritual self-immolation as penance. Failure to do so will bring about His wrath.
Domain: Sierris is a Goddess of both atrocity and beauty, and mother of the Twin Deities Akashir and Ckaeyod. Anything that has blood, flesh, or bone is under her influence- living or dead. She is also the Creator in the Old Gods pantheon. Revelry and torture, carnal love and vitriolic hate are all her product.
Granted Boons: Sierris' most adored will find their mortal bodies and minds refined and evolved into more superhuman forms. Some gifts will leave others in awe at the astounding beauty, while some will invoke a primal terror of aeons past. Some of her followers may also be granted magicks that warp flesh and evoke intense emotion, but these are often saved for only her most beloved and fanatical worshipers. Followers start with a random beneficial mutation.
Sins and Penance: Sierris, while being the most loving of the Old Gods, also holds the greatest potential for ire. Sinners will find themselves twisted into malformed shapes that their pitiful flesh and bone were never meant to achieve. To a passionate and emotional 'artist' such as Sierris, destruction of art and denial of impulses are the greatest sins capable of being committed. Followers must always act upon their dark desires- of which they have many, and vandalizing sculptures or paintings is strictly forbidden for any possible reason. To achieve penance for these, her followers must willingly subject themselves to terrible mutagenic forces (brought about by Sierris herself) or make art pieces with their own viscera as material.
Domain: Ckaeyod is a God of raw strength, martial prowess and superior resolve. He is the Father of Generals and Progenitor of the Sword.
Compared to the others, Ckaeyod is the most 'stable' of the Old Gods- unwavering stoicism and strength being his gospel.
Granted Boons: Ckaeyod grants to his followers 'resistances' to various forms of damage, as well as martial prowess and lightning reflexes. Their equipment will also be refined just as their form is, runes invoking his steely resolve adorning their weapons and armor. Rusty blades will become glimmering masterpieces once more, and in fact may become more potent than they ever were. It is commonly said that those most favored by Ckaeyod become living suits of impenetrable armor and that their blades are honed enough to slash the Earth itself in twain. Followers start with an extra weapon of choice, imbued with a random Rune of Ckaeyod.
Sins and Penance: Ckaeyod, being the living bastion that he is, abhors nothing more than weakness and submission. Followers who surrender or yield in combat will be regarded as cowards, forced to hammer themselves thrice for each cowardly impulse obeyed. Maintenance of arms and armor are also a part of Ckaeyod's gospel, and those that willingly let their equipment rust or be otherwise blemished must immediately clean it less they wish to invoke His wrath. Ckaeyod also hates magick for the coward's pursuit that it is, and those that follow him are forbidden from ever learning it.
So that's all, for now folks. About 6 characters should do us.
Name: John "Knobody" Doe
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Patron Deity: Ckaeyod
Injuries and Wounds: dissolved arm(healing), major chemical burns on face(almost healed), damaged eyesight(permanent)
Inventory: cult robes(a little damaged), the Primeval Scriptures, an icon relating to Ckaeyod, an iron sacrificial dagger, gleaming runed chain-blade[Rune of Projection - Slashes can be projected as ranged attacks]
Magicks: Nope. Nope. Nope.
Boons/Banes: Antidote Rune (Resistant to most poison. Engraved on forehead, sticks out like a sore thumb.)
Name: Valith Sa'roka
Gender: Male
Age: 46
Patron Deity: Sierris
Injuries and Wounds: N/A
Inventory: A selection of different cloths, cult robe, iron sacrificial dagger, the Primeval Scriptures, icon of Sierris, an 8-shot revolver(5 left), another 8-shot revolver(5 left) partly torn face of Cassius, bloodied silken cloth(Cassius), eyes of a sulfuric homonculus
Magicks: None
Boons/Banes: Attractive(Uncannily youthful looking and handsome. Easier social rolls.) Clawed hands(Natural edged weapon. Very hard to dull or generally harm.) Chameleonic Skin (Can change the color of their skin and blessed robes to match the backdrop. Effectively invisible so long as Valith doesn't move too fast or get too close.) Cannibal (Difficulty controlling self around raw flesh. May eat nearby corpses partially or entirely. Immune to diseases that originate from raw flesh.)
Background: Valith Sa'roka was originally a promising and intelligent hunter-gatherer in a small, rural town known as Grandlich. He eventually won the position of Mayor, and spent a few good years managing the town in peace. In recent years, however, he has become acutely aware of his own mortality, and believes that he is destined for something more than simply shepherding a hundred-odd dirt farmers. Thanks to his innate charisma and strength of will, it did not take long for him to start a cult to the Old Gods, and sacrificing nearly all of Grandlich to Sierris, Mother of All, for the sake of defiling their local chapel by hanging up a grotesque tapestry made of almost every villager's flayed skin sewn together in a circle, their bodies connected around the perimeter to form a solid ring keeping it all in place. Valith now seeks one thing and one thing only: Immortality, by any means and any depths and depravities necessary.
Name: Erescal
Gender: Unknown
Age: Unknown, seems to be of middle age but face is concealed behind a mask of black cloth
Patron Deity: Akashir
Injuries and Wounds: I'm fine as can be
Inventory: Black robes, primeval scriptures, small figurine of flame, sacrificial dagger, cloth mask (purely flavor), matches(9 left)
Magicks: Heat Exhaustion(Inflict severe fatigue on targets in a cone area with possibility to inflict heat stroke) Disintegrate(Bolt of magic that tears things apart on a molecular level), Necrotic Touch(Inflict a horrible wasting disease on organic beings. Requires physical contact.) Corpse Puppetry(Inconspicuous control over a recently-dead body. Body behaves like it did in life, but is controlled by Erescal. Connected by ethereal and invisible magical thread that may be spotted by wary magicians.)
Boons/Banes: None (yet)
Background: Erescal has always sought three things. Power, with which to satiate his lust for blood. Respect, to make his enemies fear him.
Chaos, to end the blighted race of humanity.
What better way is there to get power, respect, and the ability to sow chaos than by forming a pact with the patron of chaos itself? Erescal would cause death and destruction simply to satiate his own desires, so why not do it in exchange for magicks of unimaginable destructive power?
Name: Azur
Gender: Male
Age: 39
Patron Deity: Sierris
Injuries and Wounds: None
Inventory: Cult robes, Primeval Scriptures, icon relating to Sierris, iron sacrificial dagger.
Magicks: N/A
Boons/Banes: Poison Glands(Wrists hold hidden stingers that inject a deadly neurotoxic venom) Insect Control(Mentally dominates insects within 90-ish foot radius.)
Uncanny Intuition (Can feel the intentions of those around him. Rarely surprised by traitors or sucker-punches because of this.) Sadist (Experiences urges to inflict pain on others. May be forced to 'toy' with those he attacks for a while before killing them, and has a small chance of involuntarily harming a heavily wounded ally.)
Name: Johny Boy
Gender: Male
Age: You know that its under a mask,thats it
Patron Deity: Akashir
Injuries and Wounds:
Inventory:
-Cult Robes
-The Primeval Scriptures
-Icon of Akashir
-Iron Sacrificial Dagger
Magicks: Barbed Chains (Summons edged chains from the Plane of Torment to attack enemies) Blazing Sight (An invocation to Akashir temporarily gifts you with His eyes, allowing you to burn targets by staring at them) Exploding Rune (Engraves a rune at a targeted location that explodes whenever the caster wills. Strength of explosion may vary.) Burning Mantle (Akashir's fire wreaths your body, cloaking you in a burning mantle. You become more resistant to cold and may burn whatever you come in contact with.)
Boons/Banes: N/A
Name: Sapphire
Gender: Female
Age: 35
Patron Deity: Sierris
Injuries and Wounds:
Inventory:
Cult robes
Copy of the Primeval Scriptures
Icon of Sierris
Iron sacrificial dagger
Primitive surgical instruments
Magicks:
Boons/Banes: Bone Spikes (Sharpened blades protruding from the elbows and knees. Can be used as strong natural weapons) Gaze of Confusion (Can willingly overload the senses of a target provided they can make eye contact, leading to problems like vertigo, fainting, etc)
WAITLIST:
Name: Porok
Gender: Male
Age: ~75
Patron Deity: Ckaeyod
Injuries and Wounds: None
Inventory: Cult Robes
The Primeval Scriptures
Rope necklace bearing a metal rune of Ckaeyod
Iron sacrificial dagger
Magicks: Fuuuuuck that, yo
Boons/Banes: None
Backstory: Porok has lived a harsh life, without a home or family to shelter him. He has been trod upon for decades by those who considered themselves better than him. No more. No one shall tread on Porok ever again.
Appearance: An old, old man, stick-thin with ragged white hair and eyes of flint.
Author
Topic: Roll To Heresy: A Minimalist RTD About Cults [DEFUNCT] (Read 16269 times)