Secret Society Pamphlet

[Narianna]

Trying to create a pamphlet for this secret society in my RP I'm starting. They're searching to recruit members. Anyone have any suggestions on what to include in such a pamphlet?

[HairyHeretic]

Isn't a pamphlet for a secret society somewhat defeating the purpose of it being secret? Wouldn't it be more of a word of mouth type thing?

[Narianna]

Isn't a pamphlet for a secret society somewhat defeating the purpose of it being secret? Wouldn't it be more of a word of mouth type thing?

Meh, there's been literature published by secret societies for years. Knowledge of its existence is one thing, knowledge of its whereabouts and members is another.

[TheGlyphstone]

I can't think of any secret societies that publish literature to the public. There are organizations people insist have 'secret society' underbellies, like the Masonic Lodge, who likely produce pamphlets. There are actual publicly known but private-membership invitation-only 'secret societies' like the Skull and Bones Society, who might produce pamphlets but only for existing members. A Secret Society that openly tries to recruit people into its secret-ness seems more like something out of a comedic/parody story - if that is the tone you are going for, that's a very different situation and ripe for material.

[wander]

It should be for a front company, not for the society itself. The front will screen prospective members and those who 'show promise' will be introduced to the idea of benefits if they wish to reach 'the next level' of the organisation.

[TheGlyphstone]

It should be for a front company, not for the society itself. The front will screen prospective members and those who 'show promise' will be introduced to the idea of benefits if they wish to reach 'the next level' of the organisation.

Yeah, that sounds a lot more plausible/realistic.

[Narianna]

It should be for a front company, not for the society itself. The front will screen prospective members and those who 'show promise' will be introduced to the idea of benefits if they wish to reach 'the next level' of the organisation.

Ooo! I love this idea! Thank you!

[wander]

It came across in my old Cthulhutech games. For a cult dedicated to the big man Cthulhu no less.

The front was a 'new age' meet up group, so they'd have fliers in local libraries etc. It was very 'Earth Mother' and delved with underwater healing and the prime nature of the sea... Targeting those who were unsatisfied with life, dealing with depression etc as an open ended and therapeutic healing group. There was for those who move to the next level of the pyramid scheme 'all natural drugs' for vision quests to bond with the underwater spirits... It was doping people for Deep One trysts essentially. Those... more receptive to the visitations of the fish-brethren advanced further in the cult until the curtains would eventually get fully drawn back and it was all a Rl'yehan cult for the raising of the dread city to free Cthulhu, who the cultists when learned about him at that point would be fully indoctrinated and consenting to Deep One smex.

[Inkidu]

If any secret societies have trademarked rituals, iconography, etc. in the US you can find it in the Library of Congress. Every trademarked fraternity in the US has a book in the LoC detailing their secret handshakes. I'd totally hand out pamphlets to my secret society. Only the true believer would follow it, and anyone else would probably dismiss it as a ruse for being too up front.

[Sain]

It came across in my old Cthulhutech games. For a cult dedicated to the big man Cthulhu no less.

The front was a 'new age' meet up group, so they'd have fliers in local libraries etc. It was very 'Earth Mother' and delved with underwater healing and the prime nature of the sea... Targeting those who were unsatisfied with life, dealing with depression etc as an open ended and therapeutic healing group. There was for those who move to the next level of the pyramid scheme 'all natural drugs' for vision quests to bond with the underwater spirits... It was doping people for Deep One trysts essentially. Those... more receptive to the visitations of the fish-brethren advanced further in the cult until the curtains would eventually get fully drawn back and it was all a Rl'yehan cult for the raising of the dread city to free Cthulhu, who the cultists when learned about him at that point would be fully indoctrinated and consenting to Deep One smex.

This sounds like it was a great game. Very neatly woven front for a Cthulhu cult!

[wander]

There were more cults with more fronts too, though that was the one who had quite publically available fliers in public places. Another cult was more 'stonemasons secret brotherhood' type via invite only where they'd meet in secret like a gentleman's club and it was for the 1% and most powerful people in a city. The cultists would provide any sexual desire for these people, including illegal ones. Then when the cult would make a push to takeover, they had all the blackmail material they'd need to make sure those who could stop them in powerful positions could do nothing. That was a Hastur cult.

[Narianna]

Ok, here's what I've created. The story is about a secret society that's hunting and killing all the supernatural creepy crawlies. One of the characters finds this pamphlet and a group is created to hunt down the hunters. How does this look:

Front:

Back:

[wander]

I'd highly recommend looking at Hunter:the Vigil if you haven't already. That will be a good source for different hunter organisations.

http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Hunter:_The_Vigil

[Narianna]

I'd highly recommend looking at Hunter:the Vigil if you haven't already. That will be a good source for different hunter organisations.

http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Hunter:_The_Vigil

White Wolf ❤❤❤ I'll hafta check out that Compact and Conspiracies as well! Thank you! (I've played Vampire for years and always wanted to check out Changeling...)

[wander]

As an aside, I'm very much a fan of the nwod Changeling:the Lost. It's a different more grimdark take on the fae and vastly different to the owod's Changeling:the Dreaming, though I highly recommend Lost just for the allowance to go really as grimdark and emotional as you can.

[Narianna]

As an aside, I'm very much a fan of the nwod Changeling:the Lost. It's a different more grimdark take on the fae and vastly different to the owod's Changeling:the Dreaming, though I highly recommend Lost just for the allowance to go really as grimdark and emotional as you can.

I'll definitely check that out first, then. I prefer the grimdark idea. I love DA a bit more than VtM because it's much more adventurous and dark in my opinion. Of course it really all depends on the GM.

[wander]

You may like Dark Ages: Fae then, if that's more your bag. It has a lot of the stuff that eventually went into Changeling:the Lost and is markedly different from Dreaming.