Cult (mage V20)
Cult
Any mage with charisma can have friends; this Cult, however, goes beyond mere friendship. These devotees trust and revere you so deeply that, when gathered and directed, they can lend their beliefs to your rituals.
The nature of your cult isn’t important. You might be a religious figure with a congregation, an artist with especially devoted fans, a professor whose students literally revere him, or any other similar arrangement. What matters is the belief: your cult accepts you as someone who works wonders, and they want to be part of that magic... and so they are.
As detailed under Allies, Assistants, and Cults and Acting in Concert (Chapter Ten, p. 532 and pp. 542-543), a group of assistants who share a common belief add to the caster’s dice pool in a ritual cast with their help. Such rituals can involve either mystic Arts or technomagick, so long as everyone participates. In most cases, all characters involved must occupy the same physical space during the ritual; a potential exception could be made for a networked group linked by Mind magick or conference technology (a LAN party, video conference, and so forth). Again, though, the helpers must hold absolute conviction and be free – at least for the moment – from outside distractions.
Cult members are typical Sleepers: not especially skillful or accomplished beyond their utter faith in you. Powerful helpers are Allies, Backup, Retainers, or other major characters.
These people, though, have some vital reason to believe in what you do. On your end, then, you must fulfill their trust. If you want their trust, then at least appear to be the person they expect you to be. If their faith wavers, then you lose this Background’s benefits.
It’s possible to have a larger cult, of course – a popular evangelist might have hundreds of devotees. After a certain point, though, they can help you only so much. The five-dot rank in this Background offers the maximum benefit for a cult.
- X -- No cult.
- • -- Tiny cult: 3-7 people. Add one die to the dice pool of a ritual cast with that group’s assistance.
- •• -- Small cult: 8-12 people. Add two dice to rituals cast when that group is gathered.
- ••• -- Moderate cult: 13-17 people. Add three dice to rituals cast in the presence of the whole group.
- •••• -- Large cult: 18-22 people. Add four dice to rituals cast with that group behind them.
- ••••• -- Huge cult, between 23-30 people. Add five dice to rituals cast when the entire cult has gathered.
