Building a Religious Group

To illustrate how the various attributes of a religious group can be applied to specific groups GMs create, and to assist GMs in creating such groups for their games, the following sections proceed through an example. In the example, the group is a small cult devoted to a belief system that would be controversial in the Empire but falls short of actual blasphemy or heresy. The GM has set part of the campaign in the Isawa Mori, in the lands of the Phoenix Clan. There, the GM intends for the PCs to face a threat with which the religious group—known as the Children of the White Wolf—can assist them. However, the PCs must overcome their inevitable suspicions about this unusual cultish group, or its members may become formidable opponents rather than helpful allies!

Although the focus here is on developing a religious group, note that the same approach—developing background, motives, and resulting practices, and then incorporating these into a story for the players— can be adapted for use with nearly any type of group, spiritual or mundane.