So my one problem with the Cult of Sigmar is that is so catholic...and kind of feels that it doesn't fit. I've been trying to figure out a how to make it feel more Pagan, more Hero-worship like or like the old cults of Zeus, Ares, or any of the other countless pagan faiths. Is anyone else doing anything like this in their games?

Thanks!

I would suggest that you play up the fanaticism and devotion of Sigmar worshippers. A priest of Sigmar doesn't preach love and peace, he whips the faithful into a killing frenzy against the enemies of the empire. When the priests speak they hold their hammer high and display holy relics in their ceremonies to remember the fallen and display to the faithful that those who fall in the name of the Empire will forever be remembered. In these troubled times farmers and townsfolk turn to Sigmar for protection and stability, and those that have already lost those things join roving bands of flagellants other zealot's to bring death to the enemies of the Empire at the cost of their own lives.

The main teaching is that Sigmar is the Empire and the Empire is Sigmar... and his chosen people have a duty to protect what is his, no matter the cost.

The cult of Sigmar is supposed to be Catholicism with a twist. The focus is on Sigmar the warrior that united the Empire and later became a god. The Emperor and the Grand Theogonist rule and guide the people respectively, similar to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope did back in the day. The cult of Sigmar even has a form of inquisition and witch hunts just as the Catholic church had in real life. However, the cult of Sigmar is much more focused on the military, discipline and loyalty to the Emperor. The cult already is a form of hero-worship, similar to the worship of Hercules, but here Sigmar was a normal man that became a god, not just a half-god like Hercules. But in the end, Catholicism was the main point of inspiration for the cult of Sigmar.

I apologize if a come across as rude, but if you don't see how it fits then you are missing the point about the Empire and the cult of Sigmar.

If you're looking to emphasize the differences between the worship of Sigmar and Medieval Christianity, fanaticism, relics, and zeal aren't the elements that you should emphasize. These are, after all, elements that are taken from real life. What you want to emphasize is the aspects that aren't related to that of those of real world religious practice.

The cult recognizes not only the existence, but the legitimacy of other religions.

The cult's relationship with dwarves, with dwarven secret names and dwarven language being used in cultic rites. The veneration of outsiders and followers of another god is certainly not the pattern followed by the Medieval Catholic Church.

Funny thing: I was actually trying to do the opposite of the OP by making the cult of Sigmar even MORE like Medieval Catholocism.

I made the Gods of the Empire (eg.: Morr, Verena, Shallya) into patron Saints of different orders of Sigmarites. Just like the Dominicans, Franciscans etc...

Along those lines, each of those 'faiths" have different variations of the cross: Morr's cross is a stylized raven, Shallya's is a dove, Verena is a sword etc....

Kind of neat, eh? It actually sort of works.

Yeah, the self-flagilation and witch-hunting need to be toned down to make it less Catholic.

Look into the Cult of Mithras in Rome. It has a central hero figure, and a good and evil thing (though less so than Sigmar).

Kopesh said:

You say this as if it's the only correct way to run a game in The Empire. It's not. There's plenty of room for personal choice and interpretation in WFRP.

It is true that the Sigmarite cult has a lot of elements that are basically a twisted parody of the medieval church, but not everything you see now has always been there. In the first edition, witchhunters were (as fart as I remember) not necessarily tied to the cult of Sigmar, and Solkan was possibly even more focused on witchhunters and rooting out Chaos. It's also not the only cult with Templars almost all cults have their own knightly order.

The Cult of Sigmar is far more hierarchical than any other cult, however. In 1st edition, Sigmarite priests were the only ones to get their spells from their superiors rather than directly from their god (one of the facts that may have inspired the Sigmarian Heresy thing).

Over the years, in various incarnations of the Warhammer setting, religion did grow more medieval catholic. 40K came with Inquisitors, WFB with zealots and flagellants (though I'm not sure if those are particularly catholic), and I think Marienburg Sold Down The River introduced the idea of saints within cults (but was it the cult of Sigmar? Probably not).

But at its root, it's basically a kind of hero/ancestor worship pasted into a polytheistic pantheon. It's a weird hybrid. Make of it what works for you.