Cultists!

[Marco]

Ok, maybe this has been done before (which is why I'm asking). I've been brainstorming for ideas for a source-book for our multi-genre game system (Universal, Ron! Universal! hah!) JAGS (Just Another Gaming System).

Here's the one I think I like the best: think Call of Cthulhu with two basic premise changes:

1. The 'Thus are (for indescrible, alien beings of great power and inscrutable aims) pretty decent ... um ... guys.

2. You play the cultists.

On a serious level it would play kinda like White Wolf's Vampire (you belong to a cult, get special powers, missions, etc.--you have to deal with people from other cults).

On a less serious level (and maybe the entry-scenario) you play investigators who find out that the alien horrors aren't out to destroy anything (or, like, maybe they're infuriated by the existence of tupperware or something--but those aren't dead bodies in the basement and the alien-avatar is like "stop it! stop shooting! Okay, you're pissing me off, guys. It's always like this: set up shop, get the zoning and the building built and then BANG some idiot shows up with an 'elder sign' and a flame-thrower!"

I was bouncing this off another member of the JAGS team and when I suggested that the PC's might start out as part of an 'evil government conspiracy' to edradicate the aliens that what with current events it might not be the time for government bashing. Any thoughts on that?

-Marco
[PS: We just released JAGS Treasure, over 300+ magic items and their histories (cool illustrations too). It, and JAGS is all free at:
http://jagsgame.dyndns.org/jags/index.jsp ]

[Matt Machell]

I like the idea of playing "nice" cultists. It makes a change from the traditional evil scheming (not that that's not fun).

It would amuse me to play in that sort of setting. Plenty of opportunity for parody of other rpgs too.

[GB Steve]

There was a scenario in The Unspeakable Oath that was based on the idea of playing cultists. I can't remember anything else about it though.

GB Steve

[contracycle]

I liked Conspiracy X for this sort of thing.  Technically the PC's aren't "cultists", but there are some implied doubts about the truth of this "fact".  It does not precisely exploit your idea that the otherworldly entities are Nice, but they are (mostly) comprehensible and can even be sympathetic; with some of them you know that they might be trying to destroy the world, but they also have some pretty good reasons for doing so.

ConX takes as its starting point the old adage that truth is the first casualty of war.  But I don't think thats true - the first casualty is dissent.  Don't let that happen.