Cult

The Cult recruits players into something like a Mason group. In one variation, the Cult is on the Town's side, while in another the Cult is a separate Scum faction trying to take over the Town. In either variation, the Cult is successful when recruiting a player on the Town side, while a Cult member dies if they attempts to recruit a Mafia member. For the most part, cults cannot kill.

Usually, a cult will have a role called a Cult Leader who 'starts' the cult. If the cult leader dies, in some games the role is passed to the oldest living recruited player. In others, if the cult leader dies then the cult can no longer recruit. Sometimes there is a backup cult leader that takes charge when the actual cult leader dies.

Cults have been criticized for being very hard to balance. For example, in the case of many cults, the town could lynch cult each day but still lose. Cults could also overpower the town if they recruit all of the town's power roles. It's also annoying if a cult leader targets a Mafia member on the first night. Some mods will keep the cult leader alive if he's the only one alive when an Anti-Town role is targeted.

Another complaint about cults is that they can make a player's previous efforts in the game pointless. Usually this complaint stems from the ability of a cult to change one's alignment.