Circle of Red

[Penelope]

I think what happened to them is that that single brief mention in the Black Spiral Dancers chapter of the original Book of the Wyrm was the only thing said about them. It's possible that they were an idea that just never went anywhere as Mage swallowed up most everything magic related, or it could be a creation of the author of that chapter that no other freelancers knew anything about and so never followed up on it, at least until several years later when Dark Ages Werewolf, lacking the BSDs as a major threat, turned to that bit of obscure lore for an additional villain.

Because of my age, I grew up in the middle of the whole "Satanic Panic" thing of the 80s, with the plethora of horror films on cable and video, the constant (and often weird) demonization of hard rock and heavy metal music, and assorted travesties of the criminal justice system. So when someone mentions a cult of evil witches that someone turns to when they need a particularly difficult target killed, my mind immediately jumps to things like, say, The Omen, where grisly deaths that are murder-by-black-magic meant to look like freak accidents happen because "witchcraft" (or Wyrmcraft in this case) just happens to be useful for that. It's just sort of a genre trope that evil magic cults are good at killing people with magic, so that I've always viewed it as an aspect rather than a reason of being. But that's just me.

In hindsight, I rather wish there'd been a Book of Wyrm Cults similar to the Freak Legion and Possessed books. We only really ever had three of them named, IIRC. The footnote that was the Red Circle, the defunct 19th century Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon, and the Seventh Generation (who, while having a reasonably well developed organization, were a really terrible idea conceptually). It would've been cool to see a broad collection of groups ranging from professional assassins and end of the world mad scientists to hippy Manson families and creepy suburbanite housewives. Something for the STs Vault, I guess.

I liked the Weeping Moon. The Seventh Generation creeped me out and not in a good way (aren’t they mostly defunct?). I never heard of the Circle of Red till I read this thread.

[Black Fox]

I think the Seventh Generation is an example of something that latter White Wolf would publish in a Black Dog supplement. Its defining feature is something that a lot of people would not be comfortable with at the gaming table. There are some good elements in it, but I would split it into three separate Wyrm factions as I mentioned in my analysis of Rage Across New York. One would be a greed cult based on the business and politics caste, another would be a disease/plague cult that dates back to the Stone Age, and a much smaller Seventh Generation cult focused on sex trafficking and related crimes. I also refocused the Seventh Generation as a cult directed against the "sacred feminine" which allows for leeway in the flavor text to avoid the ick factor.

I do like Wyrm cults though. In my chronicle notes, I have key canonical descriptions and ideas written for the Weeping Moon and Pretanic Order among others. In fact, the reason I started the thread was to see what else was known about the Circle of Red (which I only knew from that brief mention in first edition Book of the Wyrm), and wanted to know more in order to fill out my notes. The various references others have given have been a great help.

But I'm now getting obsessed about that issue of Redcap fanzine.

[Penelope]

That’s a good idea. If I ever run Werewolf I might steal your Seventh Generation retcon 😊.

I like the Pretanic Order too. I forgot about them.

Good luck finding that fanzine.

[No One of Consequence]

I liked the Weeping Moon. The Seventh Generation creeped me out and not in a good way (aren’t they mostly defunct?). I never heard of the Circle of Red till I read this thread.

As a general concept, The Seventh Generation was not a very good idea. Which is a shame, because from a purely structurally standpoint, it's a decently designed cult conspiracy. And yes, the idea of them being devoted to a much wider array of Wyrm related corruption goes a long way toward making them better.