We're all one big cult here

 I have to give full credit to Steve at Postcards from the Dungeon for the bullet points in this write up.

Cults are a wonderful possible villain for campaigns, but most are portrayed in very cartoonish, one dimensional ways (I'm looking at you Cthulhu cults). This is a complete shame as many, many more stories can be spun out of these groups. If they arent monolithic cartoonish cults, suddenly there can be interplay between factions and with the party, roleplaying of negotiations or turning a faction, and resources for fighting the cult. 

1. Three main categories of people
   1. The ignorant outsider (hasn’t been inducted into the mystery, yet)
   2. The loyal insider (is a member of the cult)
   3. The apostate outsider (is an ex-member of the cult)
2. Three subcategories within the cult
   1. The nominal member (in name more than deed, does the minimum)
   2. The active member (whole heartely believes; volunteers; above & beyond)
   3. The inner group (the leader & those immediately around them; same rules do not apply, may violate the very premises that are imposed on the other members)
3. Three rings of information
   1. Outward facing truth (intended for the ignorant outsider)
   2. Inward facing truth (intended for the loyal insider)
   3. Core (secret) truth (what’s known by the leader & inner core)
   
   Rather than use this just for cults, I think almost any group based villain could be explored this way. In fact I think blending the opponent creation section from Misspent Youth with this list to create a quick build enemy creation process.