Secret Societies R' Us

[Zap Dynamic]

Hey all! I've been prowling these boards for years, and I've only just recently decided to join and start posting. I've got a campaign setting that I'm cooking up, and I'm having a little difficulty coming up with inspiration for what I think is a pretty cool idea.

Here's what I've got so far:

The setting is heavily-inspired by the High and Late Middle Ages.
Gnomes make up part of an empire with what are essentially their half-elf-inspired cousins.
These gnomes build multi-level underground cities beneath the cities of their surface-dwelling cousins.
These gnomes are also obsessed with secret knowledge, and their "religion" is a reflection of that.
Right now, their religion is called The Humble Seekers of the Divine Secret.
My primary inspiration for this religion are the conspiracies surrounding freemasonry, the knights templar, and other secret societies.
Adherents of the faith are gradually promoted into deeper and deeper circles of knowledge, moving toward possession of the Divine Secret.
I'm thinking that this promotion also grants adherents access to deeper and deeper levels of their delvings, and the lowest level might be a passage to the underdark, which is essentially another plane (including hell and other less malevolent areas).
Crystals and other gems are sacred objects to the Seekers. Their symbol is a crystal magnifying lens that hangs from their necks by a cord or chain.


Part of the essence of the setting is that most factions--not only religions--have domains, making them valid choices for cleric-type characters. This faction/religion's domains include magic and knowledge, and may be expanded in the future. I like all of these details so far, but it's a pretty rough sketch. What are some things I could add to flush out this organization? I don't know a whole lot more about secret society conspiracies than what I've learned from wikipedia and a handful of websites, so any tidbits or inspiration that you can provide would be excellent!

[Zap Dynamic]

I notice there are a lot of views, but no responses, so let's try a different angle!

Post a sentence with an idea for a secret society. Completely free reign.

[Lord Tyger]

One of the big things about secret societies (even those without ulterior motives) is ritual. Come up with an unobtrusive but significant way of identifying yourself to another member, while leaving those who are uninitiated none the wiser. Perhaps a subtle motion of the hand- forming a circle with the thumb and forefinger, to represent the lens of the magnifying glass, and then covering it with the other hand to represent the secret nature of the knowledge thus revealed?

[Landis963]

I notice there are a lot of views, but no responses, so let's try a different angle!

Post a sentence with an idea for a secret society. Completely free reign.

OK... A cult worshipping the existence of magic, and willing to sacrifice and be sacrificed to said magic.

[awa]

cliche maybe but still fun
secret society of assassins using "accidents" to encourage political and social changes that favor the upper echelons.

a personal favorite of mine is having one secret society actually be a puppet of another secret society.

for example an anarchist group opposed to the government which is a puppet of the secrete society that has it's hooks in government.

The puppet masters use the anarchists to target those parts of the government they don't control and their acts are justification for the puppet master taking even tighter control not to mention the fact that the anarchist will attract the people who would normally oppose the puppet masters and now their efforts are minimized or even directed against their own interests.

black gyrocopters are optional

[Storm Bringer]

I notice there are a lot of views, but no responses, so let's try a different angle!

Post a sentence with an idea for a secret society. Completely free reign.

the cult is not as "unifed" as it first appears. thier are several distinct sub cults, who have formed around charaismatic cult leaders in high and medium high positions in the cult (ie, the leaders and those who want to be leaders). some of these are are basically relgious Schisms, where two leaders of cult disagree either on the Devine Secret, or interprate the Secret differently. Others are formed by power hungry people trying to pervert the cult into thier personal army so they can size control of the conventional power structures of the empire.

at least some of the highest level cultist are going to be involved in the Imperial government. do they rate the Seekers over the Imperium? or, do they seek to use the Seekers as a sort of "secret police", either by channeling dissent into a nonthreatening direction or just getting them killed "because they know too much!" either way could work.


Also, one thing quite a few secret socityes are accused of is meddling in politics,either seeking to unseat someone they don't like or to install a puppet.

[GodGoblin]

We had a recurring Gnome secret society in most campaigns my old group played. The LBG or Legitimate Business Gnomes while seeming like a very honest family run corporation they were essientially the Gnomish Mafia.

Not a religious group but Gnomish :smalltongue:

[Zap Dynamic]

the cult is not as "unifed" as it first appears. thier are several distinct sub cults, who have formed around charaismatic cult leaders in high and medium high positions in the cult (ie, the leaders and those who want to be leaders). some of these are are basically relgious Schisms, where two leaders of cult disagree either on the Devine Secret, or interprate the Secret differently. Others are formed by power hungry people trying to pervert the cult into thier personal army so they can size control of the conventional power structures of the empire.

at least some of the highest level cultist are going to be involved in the Imperial government. do they rate the Seekers over the Imperium? or, do they seek to use the Seekers as a sort of "secret police", either by channeling dissent into a nonthreatening direction or just getting them killed "because they know too much!" either way could work.


Also, one thing quite a few secret socityes are accused of is meddling in politics,either seeking to unseat someone they don't like or to install a puppet.

I had thought of different factions within the cult, but that was more for organizational purposes than for intercult warfare. I like it! I had envisioned there being something like: Initiates, Scribes, Craftsmen, Miners, Researchers, and Leaders establishing a hierarchy. Each of those have no-brainer definitions, but they would each also have a double-meaning. For instance, the Miners are responsible for going to the underdark and mining for gems, but they're also responsible for going out into the world to collect information, whether it be the names and properties of various plants, or the secrets government noteworthies try to hide. Likewise, the Researchers spend most of their time studying the findings of the Miners, though obviously they keep much of the data they receive a closely-guarded secret.

@God Goblin: Ha! I can just picture a bunch of gnomes running around with oily hair and shady mustaches, collecting debts and breaking legs with abandon.

[Omeganaut]

A cult dedicated to the worship of the might Uzelborg. Not that there is much proof of his existance, at least according to the non-believers, but those who have joined are very devout. The cult has seemingly meaningless tasks, which are decided upon by reading the waters of a specific sewer for information, and decoded using a Starmap, a dog, and five bits of brass, the specifics of which are known only to the High as a Kite, Shaman of the Dis-Order. Recently, they murderer a market vendor in his house in order to take his wooden spoons, all but seven of which were left in the headquarters of another society so secret their name is unknown. Somehow, these actions pleased Uzelborg, and he allowed the Sun to rise again, instead of taking its place and destroying the world with his asparagus eyes (According to a self-proclaimed spokesperson who seems insane enough to very well be a part of the Uzelborgians.)