How does Veeky Forums like its religious fanatics?

How do you like your religious fanatics? Do you prefer zealots calm and measured to the point you couldn't tell they were a fanatic if you didn't have prior knowledge, or do you prefer your zealots frothing at the mouth and shouting the praises to their deity at the tops of their lungs in a fit of insane devotion? Do you prefer them secretive and wary of outsiders, or openly devout and evangelical towards nonbelievers? Do you prefer them trained and disciplined in battle, moving in a slow but unstoppable advance, or suicidally berserk, casting caution to the wind to charge in a furious mob?

I like them acting like real cultists. Most of them are clearly off, but they're generally not harassing people in the street. They're just creepy and weird, and go to great lengths to cover up the batshit stuff they do behind closed doors.

Thoroughly convinced. They are at their heart normal people, but they're convinced of some absolutely crazy shit and are driven to extremes by the 'truths' that they believe they know, while believing that the rest of society just doesn't understand, or are being controlled by some malign force and their actions are 'saving' them.

Variety is the spice of life, and all the flavors have their place and can work very well.

If you had to twist my arm and ask for my favorite, I prefer secretive, but when they're actually on the offensive everyone knows and feels it - ranging from fanatical zealots to raving beserkers seeking a blessed death, they never go down quietly. The irony comes in when their fanatical over something that seems like splitting hairs - a slightly different interpretation of doctrine, a text from a saint that most don't recognize, but the pressures of the orthodox way of doing things has forced them into creating their own, somewhat insane identity.

I prefer the former, but when it comes to being devout, they act like it's their fetish, bathing in their god's splendor, the blood they shed being nothing but divine will, the idea that they're meeting the needs something bigger than themselves so... strangely fulfilling, satisfying. When they speak of god, they speak with palipations you feel when speaking to a lover; hot flashes, heavy breathing, and a seductive drawl in their voice. They speak with the intensity of persuasion that stole them from sanity, in the name of their god.

They treat their faith with all the dignity of a proper holy order, with ecclesiary and crusaders. They have orders, which they are all to eager to boldly to live, fight, and die for. Sometimes they do something that you'd might mistake for goodnatured, like dying so that others could escape, or facing down a great beast for the security of their community. Sometimes they do these acts as to advertise their cult as good and something people should be interested in. They have their own interests in mind, and propagating themselves is amongst the top priorities, but not the ultimate goal.

When they aren't doing the work of their deity, who or whatever it may be, they are perfectly normal seeming. Some might have some odd marking or tattoos if they are especially devoted, but an uninitiated person wouldn't know what they were.
When they do their business, whatever it may be, they are aflame with passion, fanaticism, zeal. It is the purest ecstasy, as they can see path to salvation, enlightenment, power, or what have you.

Some pretty god-tier (heh) taste in this thread.

I prefer my cultists irreligious, it's much more disturbing when a full-blown cult is devoted to an ideal to the extent they're willing to kill and be killed for it. Personality cults are also top-tier, and I'm a huge fan of the cultist fanatic giving themselves up to be possessed by the divine entity they worship trope.

I like those that have a point. Those that make you at least understand them even if you disagree or maybe even reconsider whether you are on the right side.

They're my favourite characters to play. The 'church executioner' archetype is my absolute favourite character theme, making 4e's Avenger my favourite class, as well. Cultist, puritan, zealot, crusader — it deosn't how you approach it: they're all great in my book.

the more absurd, the better
though really I'll take any of them, I love religious fanaticism

I imagine them like the average Veeky Forums user.

I look at historical heretical movements with really outlandish views/practices for inspiration. I particularly like the cathars (radical views + disdain for the clerical establishment) and the flagellants (aberration of the flesh). I had a game where the PC's came across a holy site that was occupied by a procession of maniacal, chanting flagellants who whipped both themselves and anyone they deemed insufficiently pious.

>I prefer trained zealots but their are two sides of them. one friendly and careing priests and the other are warrior zealots, frothing at the mouth and shouting the praises to the dark one at the tops of their lungs.

also hate none-human

I like my religious fanatics to be very two-faced, manipulating political and educational institutions to present a peace-loving face, biding their time until they can seize control, while being violent, vicious and oppressive in private.

I like a mixture. They'll do anything and everything for the Lord. Large scale infiltration operations too. But if they have to, they'll withstand any punishment and fight tooth and nail, like undead.

That doesn't sound as fanatical as simply hypocritical to me

Literally all the things you said, all at once. I like there to be a clear divide between the secretive, elite upper echelons and the frothing, praise-singing mob that they throw at their enemies.

The hypocrites protect the fanatics.

Why is Robert Z'Dar wearing a head scarf?

Depends strongly on what the god they are devoted to "preached".
...and this is a good one

Now about the real ones. I have trouble imagining -why- would people go there. Is there some diary or research on how that works?

Hostile, incoherent, and of questionable sexuality?

Somewhere. But the general gist of it is that cults prey on people who are vulnerable. Trouble with the family, lack of friends, dissatisfaction with society are all things a cult exploits. Cults offer such people a sense of belonging and/or purpose they weren't able to find elsewhere and only then, once they have become dependent on the cult emotionally or physically does the weird shit kick in.

Kek.

Yeah has it right. Cults prey on the vulnerable and insecure. Read into any cult, and you'll find many of the members are/were insular weirdos who either thought too much of themselves or too little. This is why they're typically open to things like sexual abuse, child neglect, and mass suicide.

This is part of why I typically base my game cults on real life cult behavior instead of typical crazy doomsday wizards. Barging into the compound and finding out everyone already drank the kool-aid is far more chilling then fighting whatever bargain brand tentacle monster they summoned.

Marana! Palex!

One group is a bunch of people obsessed with order, metal, machines, civilisation, cities, hammers, and plan to conquer the wilderness, and another group is obsessed with Wild, Chaos, nature, freedom, hatred of civilisation, and plan to destroy the cities.

And of course you have a more extreme offshoot of the first group who want to turn all organic life into metal robots.

>Do you prefer zealots calm and measured to the point you couldn't tell they were a fanatic if you didn't have prior knowledge, or do you prefer your zealots frothing at the mouth and shouting the praises to their deity at the tops of their lungs in a fit of insane devotion? Do you prefer them secretive and wary of outsiders, or openly devout and evangelical towards nonbelievers? Do you prefer them trained and disciplined in battle, moving in a slow but unstoppable advance, or suicidally berserk, casting caution to the wind to charge in a furious mob?
like IRL: all of that.

>holy trips of truth

What do they gain from doing that ?

Secretive but otherwise amicable on the surface but absolutely batshit crazy underneath.

Power and vindication their way is the RIGHT way.

Money, power, immunity from persecution, an army of underlings to kill their enemies.

Fanatics who serve simply because they have found the Powers to be real. Such a cultist finds nothing behind the faith and ritual of organized religion, but when he calls out to the Powers, something answers. He cares nothing for his own empowerment - he simply feels that it is his proper place as a mortal to live or die at the whim of the gods, no matter how horrible they may be.

I prefer to their beliefs and mysticisms to be real but since they usually serve evil or dieties considered lesser or unholy compared to the God(s) of the common good folk and their practices foreign and Eldritch.

The only important thing is faith. You will get different reactions from different personalities and societies. But the important is that what we call logic and reason are irrelevant and get replaced by a great truth that can't be denied.

Honestly, why not use all of the above? Some true believers are purely rational and reasonable men with ironclad convictions, some are effectively rabid. Some maintain a clandestine, exclusive attitude, some cheerfully welcome their fellow man to join in their worship. Some are warriors armored in discipline as well as faith, some are little better than a mob of mad peasants. The fact that such different kinds of zealotry can exist, sometimes even in the same order, is part of what makes it interesting.

Hmm... like Christianity in ancient Rome?

they make great targets.

>How does Veeky Forums like its religious fanatics?

Dead.
You want to have your faith, talk to your god, show off your divine's power? Fine.
You want to tell other folks how they're supposed to believe, use force to make them follow your divine philosophy? You're the enemy of all good civilized people and you need to die.

If you're not willing to say that other people should believe in something, you probably don't believe it yourself. If you can't teach it, you don't know it.

This.