The Church of Darwin first began when an individual by the name of Savannah fought back against the injustices that she saw in the world when it fell. Those who were mutants or deformed were persecuted and killed, cutting off the way for evolution and survival. Savannah preached to her followers that there was another way - a path that involved the ability to adapt and survive with genetic diversity. She spoke of embracing these changes and paving the way for a new wave of evolution under Darwin’s teachings. Her name lives on within the Church, which has now expanded across the wasteland.

Followers of the Church of Darwin believe in the light of radiation and evolution. Those untouched by the glow of radiation are called “pure” and the “pure” should be avoided. Almost all followers of the faith have some kind of radiation poisoning or sickness in an effort to jumpstart evolution and push Strains and Lineages forward.

Each community within the Church of Darwin is usually led by a person known as the “Curie.” There are several regional Curies within the wasteland who all support their local flock. If several Curies meet together, each of them will yield to one for the time being. If there’s a dispute over who should be the lead Curie, the Curies will solve their dispute by demonstrating which of them is the strongest - through sheer strength or will. The “Cassandra” within the Church of Darwin is a person who sees vision of prophecy after being exposed to radiation. Cassandras often act as advisors to their Curies. Beneath these two heads are members of the Civil Corps, who act as warriors and scouts for their Curie. They often look for locations where ancient relics and artifacts may be found that support the Church of Darwin’s views.

• The Light is the way and the truth.

• Only exposure can help you evolve.

• Purity of flesh is to be scorned. Evolution comes from mutation.

• Seek out the places marked by radiation. Only here can we advance.

• Oppose those who deny the light. Show them the way if you can.

• Some call our visions mad. They have not seen the truth.

• Darwin knew we must evolve to survive.

• Savannah taught us the path.

• Honor them with all you do.

Mortis Supremus

A subsect within the Church of Darwin, the Mortis Supremus believe only those who are strong enough deserve to inherit the world. Their viewpoint is dangerously similar to that of the Final Knights; they believe in culling the weak so that they strong may push evolution forward.

New Arc Reactors

The New Arc Reactors firmly believe in advancing the world through scientific applications and technology. While they work on improving the world as a whole with these technologies, many wonder whether they’re truly helping or if they’re conducting scientific experimentation just for the sake of it.

Organus Sempris

The Infection flows through all living things, allowing them to evolve and survive. The Organus Sempris believe in unraveling the mysteries of the Infection and experimenting with it to spur evolution far beyond worldly flesh. Studying the undead, Strains, and animals, this subsect is usually looked down upon by others.

Techno-Evolutionaries

The flesh is weak, or at least that’s what Techno-Evolutionaries believe. They have turned to machines for strength in these challenging times. Through the use of metal and machinery, Techno-Evolutionaries believe that humanity can evolve beyond its worldly flesh as they experiment with limb replacement surgeries and more.

The world fell - a time that was foretold by most of the major religions at the time. There were tales of when the dead would rise - tales that told that when the world ended, something new would begin. These religions perished with the Fall, but something new rose in their wake. A man began to organized people to fight the undead. He called the undead hell-spawn and claimed that radiation was hellfire. Each time his legend was told, his name changed. However, he led his followers into battle to try and fight back the tide of the living dead. The group eventually gathered in an abandoned building and created order out of disorder. To this day, the Cult of the Fallow Hopes maintains the strictest of structures.

Followers of the Cult of the Fallow Hopes believe in sending all those who are dead back to the grave. They also believe that the core of Strains are the last vestiges of humanity and should be protected - which means anything that could change them (including radiation and anything that could spur evolution) should be eliminated. Those who choose to be tainted by radiation cannot be forgiven. Similarly, those who choose to abuse their powers as psions cannot be forgiven.

The Cult of the Fallow Hopes is led by the Minister General, who usually controls a geographical location and is the highest authority in all things military and religious. Beneath the Minister General is the Colonel, who is the Minster General’s head of the military and makes sure that the members of the faith are well trained and outfitted. The Chaplain is second in command to the Colonel and is an expert on all matters religious. The Chaplain ensures that all others within the Cult of the Fallow Hopes - referred to as Brothers, Sisters, and Siblings - know their mission and tenets.

• Seek the damned where they dwell.

• Wipe the scourge from the Earth.

• Follow your superior’s commands to the letter; dereliction of duty led us to this fallen world.

• Remain faithful; a higher power is testing us and we must meet the challenge through strength of arms.

• Do not trust those who rely on the green glow.

• They call it radiation, but it is the light of hellfire.

• A person, even one tainted by hellfire, may be redeemed if they find the light; all are given a second chance.

• There is no third chance.

Marterum

Each Strain has been tainted by the Infection - at least that’s what the Marterum believe. This subsect of the Cult of Fallow Hopes believes that the only true way to redeem oneself is to purge the world as best as one can and die a martyr’s death.

Recruitment Officers

Not every follower of the Cult of the Fallow Hopes can fight with weapons - some fight with words. The Recruitment Officers make it known how the good work of the faithful will one day rid the world of the plague of the Infection. The pen can be mightier than the sword.

The Inquisition

There are shades of grey in religion, at least that’s what the Inquisition believe. They take rad rods away from followers of the Church of Darwin to study how they function. The probe psions to see how their brains work. They learn all they can about the enemy in order to bolster the faith as a whole. They also are the ones that make sure the Cult of the Fallow Hopes warriors who waver in their faith disappear.

The Warring Hammer

The Warring Hammer believe in militarized structure, and it shows. They hold rank and file closely land largely spend their time practicing combat and strategies against their enemies. Acting largely as a mercenary-style group, members of the Warring Hammer are often seen as the army behind the Cult of the Fallow Hopes.

The day of judgement has come and gone, and everyone has been found wanting. When the bombs fell from the sky, a priest looked upwards and saw that even though he had lived piously, he was damned. Struck blind by a nuclear blast, his sorrow turned to rage. If he was damned, then he would rule over as much of the fallen world as he could.

He gathered followers together and their journey soon became one of seeking out the names of demons for power. The priest journeyed through burning deserts for 40 days, seeking enlightenment. When he returned to his followers, he was renamed Brother Isaac, and said that he learned the 33 names of power that would lead him and his followers to victory. They would be called the Final Knights, for nothing would come after them.

There are many ways to achieve power within the Final Knights. Some do so socially while others do so economically or through brute strength. They also are sure to subvert other faiths by poking holes in their doctrines. They believe that if one cannot hold onto power, one is not deserving of it.

Communities of Final Knights are structured with a Pontifex at the head, who is usually regional. However, the Pontifex only receives that title if they have the true knowledge of the names of the demon lords. Beneath them is a Lord, who usually knows a decent amount of the secret knowledge given to Brother Isaac. The Lord is usually responsible for several Deacons beneath them, who have taken their faith above base worship and have begun to learn the full lore of the Final Knights. Beneath Deacons are the Damned, which is the term used for all other Final Knights.

• This is Hell and we are Damned.

• Power is the true role of the Damned; those who have none should take it. if they cannot, they do not deserve it.

• Thwart those who would promote the false truths of the divine.

• Uphold the laws of Hell, and trust not those that claim the knowledge of the letter of those laws.

• Bring suffering where you can.

• Take power at all times.

Architects of the Fallen

Other religious documents are heresy - and there is power in knowledge. The Architects of the Fallen seek out other religious documents and items from before the Fall and rewrite them or destroy them. By this action, they rewrite history in their own image and so gain power.

Bone Collectors

Understanding that life is suffering is important - and spreading that lesson to as many people as possible is even more so. The Bone Collectors integrate themselves among towns and general populace, forming relationships that they then betray in order to teach their new pupils the ultimate lesson.

Shepherd of the Lost

These Final Knights believe in the importance of taking on a student and having them understand the true nature of suffering before gaining power. These individuals treat their students a bit like pets, shaping their futures and putting them through numerous trials of suffering. Often, these students wind up overthrowing their teachers in the ultimate act of understanding.

Undying Monks

Within agony there is wisdom, within madness there is truth, and within suffering there is strength. The Undying Monks put themselves through extreme excesses of masochistic suffering so as to better understand their own mortality. This subsect causes ripples of torment and destruction in their wake.

Live each day as if it’s your last and take it for all that it’s worth. In the post apocalypse, followers of the Light of Hedon truly believe in living for the moment.

No one is exactly sure when this religion emerged, but some believe it occurred before the Iron uprising. At that time, Irons worked hard each week doing backbreaking menial tasks before they were able to rest on the weekend. The weekend turned into a holy period, with Saturday becoming a night in which they could engage in revelry. All found themselves far more rested than they otherwise would have been as they prepared themselves to go back to work on Monday. Some believe Irons themselves created the religion. Others believe it was the work of cruel masters, encouraging Irons to be ready for work on Monday. Still others believe it was the work of one woman, who dubbed all of her followers as the Enlightened.

Those who follow the Light of Hedon are known as the Enlightened, and find pleasure in all things. The seven sins of lust, gluttony, vanity, greed, envy, wrath, and sloth are reveled in. During wild parties on Saturday nights, lust, gluttony, and vanity are most indulged, with sloth following on Sunday. However, there’s a price for indulging too much. While Hedons may excuse an act of wrath, outsiders may not.

The Enlightened have only a loose organization, and many of those who follow the Light of Hedon see bossing others around as pointless as long as they’re in the moment. That said, there is usually a regional Hierophant, who is tasked in organizing the Enlightened. The Host is beneath the Hierophant, and is in charge of organizing the holy Saturday Night revelry each week. The rest of the faithful are called the Enlightened.

• Stop trying to plan. There is no tomorrow. There may not be a later today.

• Enjoy yourself while you can. There is no vice anymore.

• The deities of temperance have left us.

• Oppose no one, but do not let them prohibit you from enjoying what you can.

• Show others the pleasure of the now, offer them a drink and a bed.

• Each person who worries more about the now will help you enjoy it more.

• The Seven are the guide to supreme enjoyment. Do not leave any out.

Chosen of Excess

The Chosen of Excess take the Light of Hedon to an extreme, truly living within the moment. They can be self-destructive with their philosophy, and many of them attempt to completely embody several sins, or just one.

Crafters of Sin

Sometimes there can be pleasure even in everyday objects. The Crafters of Sin create new and amazing items that would normally be viewed as “everyday” things for the Enlightened to take pleasure in.

Hosts of Sensation

Not all gain pleasure by partaking in the sins themselves. Some derive pleasure from providing enjoyment to others. The Hosts of Sensation organize large parties, trade routes, and events with dozens of people in the name of the Light of Hedon. They provide entertainment to others for their own entertainment.

Wrath of the Seven

Even within the Light of Hedon, there’s a militant subsect. The wrath of the Seven take their orders from the local Host of Hedon. Acting as fighters and assassins, they often take pleasure in death - which leads many of the Enlightened to view them as heretical.

Before the fall of the world, these was peace. There were white picket fences and perfect families with perfect lives. That all changed when the first zombies appeared. Yet there are still those who cling to this ideal and their faith that it will return in the future.

Followers of the Nuclear Family believe in the holiness of the Family Unit. Each Family Unit is governed by a Father and a Mother, who can be of any gender. The Father should be stern but fair, wise, and kind, and provide the most comfortable life they can for the family. The Father’s word on a matter is usually final. Their counterpart, the Mother, is meant to give counsel and advice to the Father. The Mother should be warmer with the Children, and often should be a balm if a Father’s punishments are too harsh. The Children within a Family Unit should abide by what their Parents say. These individuals do not have to be actual children but can instead be adults who are looking for a group to guide them. Children’s responsibilities are to show that they have learned the lesson of their Mother and Father and strive to make their Parents proud.

In addition to these roles, there is also the role of the Coach. Often a Coach is a former Child who has broken away from their own Family Unit. They often act as a go-between and neutral party between Family Units in the case of disputes.

• Faith is family.

• Keep your family close, and faith is on your side.

• Never argue with your Parents. They know what is best for you.

• The Family does not falter nor waiver.

• The Family endures, no matter what.

• Love thy siblings, even when they snitch to Father. It’s for your own good.

• When you make a mistake, admit it. If you don’t, you only make matters worse.

• Always treat others with respect. The neighbors might be watching.

The Chosen of the Atomic Home

Members of this subsect have embraced a new age of the Nuclear Family. Made up of families of mixed Strains and encouraging innovations and free thought, the Atomic Home believe that the time of the Nuclear Family is now and not in the past. These groups band together with interior loyalty and linked faith.

The Caretakers

The Caretakers see the community as a whole rather than just individual Family Units. They take it upon themselves to see to the welfare of the neighborhood, taking pains to help heathens and faithful alike. They believe that the best way to spread their faith is through continuous, outwardly positive behavior toward the neighborhood as a whole.

The Neighborhood Watch

The militant arm of the Nuclear Family, this group consists of Mothers and Fathers who band together to eliminate threats to the neighborhood - anything from drug trafficking to bad influences and more.

Valued Hosts

Valued Hosts are often looked down on by other subsects of the Nuclear Family. These individuals oversee murders, the sale of drugs, and other unsavory aspects of society. Their employees become their Children and are expected to follow what they say and represent the Family Unit respectfully at all times.
Loyalty is everything to Valued Hosts.

The Signal has always existed, and the Telling Visions are its heralds. Followers of the Telling Visionaries believe in the power inherent within the Signal and the grand creator, the Sponsor. Before the Fall, people were able to create Oracle Boxes to see the Telling Visions. Father R. Clark was able to write the visions upon the air itself. Then the Sponsor left the air and the Fall happened.

Father Ramirez Walken was the first to teach the Visions after the Fall. There were stories of fearless heroes who beat back the tide of evil. There were stories of triumphing over wicked and building a better tomorrow. These life lessons of life, love, loss, and longing were told over and over to those who would listen and learn.

It is the duty of all followers to spread the word of the Signal and be as much of a teacher as a student to others. The lessons they learn and teach do not make them either “good” or “evil,” but instead give them a better understanding of the world around them.

The Director of Programming is usually a local community head for local followers of the Telling Visionaries. This person is most knowledgeable about the faith and helps newer members. Priests among the Telling Visionaries are known as Showrunners, and non-priests are often referred to as Production Assistants, Key Grips, or Viewers Like You.

• There is the alpha and ohm-mega. The Signal is the beginning and the end.

• Collect the lost relics of the Telling Visions, and always quest to find the Signal.

• Destroy those who would impede the great Signal.

• Do not allow others to witness your prayers without having them pay to view.

• Every member must carry a piece of Holy Wood upon them as a sign of faith.

• Respect the merchants and heed the words of their Sponsors.

• Follow the visions of the Telling Visions and learn from their enigmatic ways.

Actors Guild

The Actors Guild don’t just believe in a single tale; rather, they believe in the person who portrayed a character in that tale. They search for information from old scripts and follow the same actor across several tales in order to glean hidden knowledge about those character portrayals.

Broadcast Standards and Practices

A more militant faction, Broadcast Standards and Practices make sure that Visionaries do not commit any heresies. They use overly dramatized actions and scenarios in order to teach the viewing audience to follow the tenets of the faith - or else.

The Film Union

The Film Union acts as the holy monks of the Telling Visionaries. Keeping archives of religious objects and safeguarding vaults filled with documentation of the silver screen, the Film Union oversee religious rites and make sure there is a proper preparation of holy sites.

The Nemesis

The Nemesis are often seen as a dangerous cult within the Telling Visionaries. However, their entire goal is to create heroes among the people of the world - by pushing them to rise to the task. Members don the clothes and faces of villains as they attempt to inspire people to be better. Unfortunately, there’s often a lot of collateral damage. The Nemesis are seen as heretics by other followers of the Telling Visionaries, since many members of the Nemesis are not only extremists but also devote themselves to acts of violence in the name of their faith.

Helping others, teaching others, and doing good in the world: This is what the followers of Sainthood of Ashes believe. Founded by people who wanted to bring light to the world. the Sainthood of Ashes is one of the most altruistic religions within the wastes.

While the faiths that existed before the Fall are long gone, a core value from them remained. That value is doing good for others in need. The first followers of the Sainthood banded together to first help the faithful, and then to help all who needed it. The world became their flock, and they did what they could in order to provide.

Followers of the Sainthood believe in only taking as much as they need and living on what they can. Strangely enough, they are also known to collect as much knowledge as they can and spread it across the wastes. Because of this ideal to help and do good, many followers find it hard to stay in one place. It’s not unusual to see groups of them, who call themselves Holy Men, Holy Women, and Holy People, traveling in bands across the wastes.

All followers of the Sainthood believe in a higher power, an unclearly defined being that is all-seeing all-knowing, and wants people to do good for others. They also believe in killing the undead and are second only to Fallow Hopes in their ability to rid the world of these creatures.

• The higher powers give us the power to make choices. Choose for good, always.

• Never leave a fellow traveler hungry or hurt.

• Karma always comes back around.

• Educate in your wake! Be it gardening or gun-fighting, knowledge is power.

• Teach others to teach, so your touch might linger after your feet have moved on.

• If you can do without, do so.

• Combat the undead wherever you can. Zombies are a parody of dynamic life.

Engineers of Hope

You need a strong foundation to build a house. The Engineers of Hope are crafters, engineers, distillers, and others who make the world a better place through technological improvements. They often look for pre-fall technologies and invent their own technologies in order to improve the lives others.

Honorarium

Tragedy often strikes groups of people within the wasteland. The Honorarium make sure that these people and entire settlements are taken care of. They travel the wastes, helping those who have lost loved ones deal with that loss - and put down the shells of the people who once lived so that their loved ones don’t have to.

Path Finders

The roads that branch across the wasteland can be dangerous, which is exactly where the Path Finders step in. They help make traveling safer, setting up supply caches and road stops where people can rest as they travel. They also clear the road of any undead that may be present.

Scribes of the Eternal Teacher

So much knowledge was lost during the Fall, and the world is worse off for it. The Scribes of Eternal Teacher ensure that this won’t happen again. They record current and past knowledge and spread it across the wastes so that information is never lost.

There is a time for everything. There is Winter, which is a time for wisdom. There is Spring, which is a time for growth. There is Summer, which is a time for labor, and there is Autumn, which is a time for reaping. The seasons continued even after the world fell, and these four times each have their place within the structure of the world.

Followers of the Tribes of the Seasons believe that everything happens for a reason. Because of the power of each season, they do not care to be praised. Instead, each person is expected to act as an agent of the seasons. Seasons have a longer or shorter rule depending on location. For example, further to the south, agents of Summer may be in rule for most of the year, whereas in the frozen north, agents of Winter may be in charge longer.

Each Tribe has a leader that is elected to rule for that Tribe’s season. For example, an Autumn Tribe may test their chosen warrior leader via combat, and a Winter Tribe may test their chosen leader through trials of wisdom. Whenever a Season changes, the next Tribe gains control of the area.

• The cycle of the seasons is proof that the world will continue and that there are forces outside the suffering of this world that we cannot understand.

• Each season must rule in kind. If a season is without followers, then none rule during that period and no decisions can be made.

• Mark the turning of the seasons with the natural rites; never turn another away from your ceremonies.

• The seasons rule in every place that the seasons exist, be it forest or be it city. Do not let the ways of the local people sway your faith.

• Those of the Tribe may call on the aid of the other Tribes in turn with their season.

• Let our Springs be fruitful, our Summers productive, our Autumns feared, and our Winters insightful.

Children of Father Night

The Children of Father Night are a mostly Lascarian subsect of the Tribes of the Seasons. Worshipping the turn of Mother Luna and the cycles of the stars, the Children of Father Night believe in hunting during the New Moon and paying respects to the night via symbols of nighttime creatures such as owls, bats, and raccoons.

Crow Eater

The Crow Eaters are a more brutal faction of the Tribes of the Seasons Following Winter and Autumn, these militant individuals will often leave a battlefield strewn with corpses for the crows to eat the name of their Season. They also adorn themselves with crow skulls in belief that this will help ward off death during battle.

Natural Order

The Natural Order don’t necessarily dislike inventions, but they do believe there are more natural and reliable advances that can be used to allow people to live more fruitfully. They create water filters from charcoal and gravel, and they show individuals how to create smokehouses to preserve fish. They show people that there is a better way to live other than relying on technology that may break with time.

Redeemed Earth

Each choice that is taken is just part of the natural progression of a river. Each decision that is made and each action that is taken is just another stone in the riverbed of time. Members of this subsect of the Tribes of the Seasons weigh each choice that they make carefully and try to predict what awaits in the future due to those decisions.

At the dawn of time, music was created. There was the sound of wind whispering through branches and the sound of the ocean rolling against the beach. And then the Kings and Queens took this music to another level, creating sounds that range in hearts of everyone’s chests. No matter what confronted a person, someone else had experienced it before them - and had expressed it through song.

Courtiers do not worship their Kings and Queens, for they are only mortal. Their music, however, is what lives on and is eternal. People don’t choose who their Kings and Queens are. Instead, the first song that truly speaks to a follower is what they follow. Courtiers do their best to defend the songs of their Kings and Queens, and worship is often expressed via performances.

Learning the history and the songs of the Kings and Queens is significant for Courtiers. If Courtiers live in the large city and are extremely lucky, they may be able to hold two or three unbroken vinyl records over the course of their lifetime. However, these items are extremely rare and coveted by most Courtiers.

Courtiers usually organize themselves into bands led by a Front Man. The Front Man is the decision maker and interprets the songs of their Kings and Queens. Bands will often battle each other to test each other’s faith and devotion.

• The voice, words, and spirit of your leader is the voice, word, and spirit of your band. Your leader interprets the voices of the King or Queen you follow.

• Faith is more than just following blindly. Prove the strength of your faith by challenging the faiths of others.

• Strengthen all, not to destroy.

• Celebrate as the Kings and Queens would. Fight as they would. Live as they would dream us to live. Die with the beat on your lips.

• Recover the icons of your fallen skalds, but do not worship them.

• The day the music died has come and gone, and these icons are nothing but ghosts.

• Let all who walk in your presence give respect to your King or Queen.

• Let your battle hymns be heard, as the mindless and soulless undead are sent to their final rest. One day, we will be able to bring these songs to the masses again, and one day you will be called.

The Kings of Rock

Known as the loudest and rowdiest members of the Courtiers, the Kings of Rock are not necessarily male. Instead, they are the followers of the multifaceted rockers of the pre-Fall skalds. Always looking for a drink and a cause, they make a splash wherever they go.

The Queens of Soul

The Queens of Soul are not necessarily female. Instead, the Queens of Soul follow skalds with a deeper and slower rhythm. They interpret the words being presented and look for deeper meaning, inspiration, and emotion. They realize that music speaks to the soul rather than the ear.

Road Crew

Not every Courtier can sing or play an instrument. The Road Crew focus on keeping the music alive in other ways. They often build radio towers, create musical instruments for their band, or focus on technology as a way to support their band. They are often unsung heroes of the Courtiers.

Priests of Sound

The day the music died has come and gone, and Priests of Sound make sure that this will never happen again. This secretive group tattoos blueprints of how to create radio towers on their skin and stores away fast amounts of technology and knowledge about the Kings and Queens of old.

Player-made cults need at least 10 participating members to be baptized into the cult to be recognized as an official religion to be effected by faith skills. Once 10 members are willing to join the faith, the tenets and list of members will need to be sent to the local directors to be made official in the database.

Chapter-made cults will likely have NPC activity, and will vary from chapter to chapter whether or not they can be joined by PCs.

• The Quiet Path