Blood Cult: Difference between revisions
added in dude's additions, and trimmed the fighting cult section even more
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''Today was a good day for the True Believers. We managed to get to the abandoned shuttle and set up camp there. I had the time to read through my book and translate everything and gathered everyone at the [[White Ship]] to lay siege to the station. We even managed to steal a communications board and killed the research director for his ID card to keep the shuttle from ever coming. The more ghost legions we sent to the station, the more bodies they sent back to us, allowing a way for the ethereals to stay tied to this mortal realm. It took a while but we located the captain, killed him and sacrificed his body to the great one. All we left behind on the station was our mark, blood, gibs, and the bodies of the many non believers. They are sending our escape shuttle to another station....and we will cleanse that station too.'' | ''Today was a good day for the True Believers. We managed to get to the abandoned shuttle and set up camp there. I had the time to read through my book and translate everything and gathered everyone at the [[White Ship]] to lay siege to the station. We even managed to steal a communications board and killed the research director for his ID card to keep the shuttle from ever coming. The more ghost legions we sent to the station, the more bodies they sent back to us, allowing a way for the ethereals to stay tied to this mortal realm. It took a while but we located the captain, killed him and sacrificed his body to the great one. All we left behind on the station was our mark, blood, gibs, and the bodies of the many non believers. They are sending our escape shuttle to another station....and we will cleanse that station too.'' | ||
<div style="text-align: center;"> '''FOR THE LOVE OF NAR'SIE, PLEASE READ THE GUIDE''' </div> | == <div style="text-align: center;"> '''FOR THE LOVE OF NAR'SIE, PLEASE READ THE GUIDE''' </div> == | ||
[[File:Cult.png]] So you've joined the cult of the almighty Nar'Sie, but you don't know where to start? Then this is for you, apprentice. (So you're security? Skip on down to the bottom.) | [[File:Cult.png]] So you've joined the cult of the almighty Nar'Sie, but you don't know where to start? Then this is for you, apprentice. (So you're security? Skip on down to the bottom.) | ||
The dark lord Nar'Sie has sent a number of his followers -- specifically, six cultists, for stations with small populations, or nine for larger stations. As a cultist, you have an abundance of cult magics at your disposal, something for all situations. You must work with your brethren to sacrifice the heretics, spread the faith to CentComm, or even summon your eldritch god himself! | The dark lord Nar'Sie has sent a number of his followers -- specifically, six cultists, for stations with small populations, or nine for larger stations. As a cultist, you have an abundance of cult magics at your disposal, something for all situations. You must work with your brethren to sacrifice the heretics, spread the faith to CentComm, or even summon your eldritch god himself! | ||
== "That's just a doodle!" == | == "That's just a doodle!" == | ||
When you first spawn on the station, you'll notice you have been given several words. These words are the basis of Nar-Sie's magic, and will be used to scribe runes. You will also have a paper imbued with blood in their backpack or pocket. It's a special talisman, which can be invoked three times to spawn a regular 1-use talisman of your choice. Depending on your experience with being a cultist, this talisman can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. Every use of this talisman will do a small amount of damage to yourself as well as being exceptionally obvious to any passerby. Make sure to hide this from basically everyone not in your little book club or they will robust your ass. | |||
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! style='background-color:brown'|Description | ! style='background-color:brown'|Description | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Tome | !Summon Tome Talisman | ||
!The Arcane Tome is the most important item for any cultist, and a | !The Arcane Tome is the most important item for any cultist. Obtaining one of these is required to complete most cult objectives -- it is absolutely essential to buy. The frayed covers, aura of dread, and glowing eyes give it away to even the most uninformed crew-member as a bad thing. However, its small size makes it very easy to conceal: it fits easily into a pocket, or a box. | ||
Tomes have three sections: Commune, which lets you communicate with fellow cultists in '''BOLD, CAPITAL, RED TEXT'''; Notes, which allows you to store the translations of words you have received; and Scribe Rune, which uses your noted words to draw runes with your blood. Every rune requires three known words in the tome's notes, and when you have noted all the words for a rune, it will appear as an option in this menu. Creating a rune requires constant attention to the book. Not only must a cultist stay still while drawing, he must also concentrate on the book. Putting the book away while drawing will result in a failure, as will shifting focus to one's other hand. Much like talismans, drawing runes does a small amount of brute damage. Tomes can also be used to remove runes by smacking them, to copy notes by smacking another tone, and to robust heretics -- each hit with a tome does 5 to 25 brute damage. Tomes can also pull what ghosts a cultist can find into the material plane, making them visible and audible to mortals. | |||
|- | |- | ||
!Communications Talisman | !Communications Talisman | ||
!Same thing as the tome's communication, in disposable paper form. This is more or less obsolete now that the tome lets you communicate, but it has its uses. | !Same thing as the tome's communication, in disposable paper form. This is more or less obsolete now that the tome lets you communicate, but it has its uses. | ||
|- | |||
|Travel Talisman | |||
|A talisman which allows its user to transport himself instantaneously to a teleport rune with the same final word. Because using this talisman requires the cultists' knowing the word 'Travel', it is not immediately useful. | |||
|- | |- | ||
!EMP Talisman | !EMP Talisman | ||
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|- | |- | ||
!Armor Talisman | !Armor Talisman | ||
! | !Summon a cultist body armor and hood, as well as a powerful blade. These are obviously supernatural, and do not fit in a bag, so they are a poor choice near the beginning of a round, when the cult relies on stealth. | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Summon Soul Stone | !Summon Soul Stone | ||
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|} | |} | ||
== | == The Runes == | ||
This is the bread and butter of your magic. Each rune contains three words combined to form a single rune through the tome's "Scribe Rune" option. There are 10 words used for rune scribing, which translate to: "travel", "self", "see", "Hell", "blood", "join", "technology", "destroy", "hide", and "other". Every cultist starts out with the words for "hell," "join," "blood," and "self," which are the words that make up the conversion rune and sacrifice rune. | |||
There are | |||
A rune can be activated by clicking on it with an empty hand. If the conditions for its activation are satisfied, and the rune is valid, the rune will activate, and you and any other chanters will chant the correct incantation automatically; otherwise, the rune will fizzle, and the cultists will shout out a confused, meaningless incantation. The special requirements of most runes are self-explanatory: at least two linked teleport runes are required to actually teleport. One less obvious requirement is the chanter requirement: in the case of some especially powerful runes, including the Convert rune, a certain number of cultists must be adjacent to the rune for it to activate. Be sure that you have enough nearby cultists before attempting to use such a rune, and be aware in cases where a fellow cultist may need you to chant with him. If a rune is no longer needed, it is wise to erase it, which can be done easily with your tome. | |||
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! style='background-color:brown'|Name | ! style='background-color:brown'|Name | ||
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|??? | |??? | ||
|} | |} | ||
=== "I'm not a witch I'm not a witch!" === | |||
If you're in a position that would usually wander the halls, try to seek out your fellow cultists in person. If not, check in with your brothers using your tome's communication, but do this in private unless you want the captain to stroll by and overhear you. A lot of jobs have access to isolated areas of the station that are great for this, and there's also space. Remember, '''if you get caught, you endanger the entire cult.''' | |||
Starter cultists will want to do two things at first: increase their numbers via conversion, and learn their words via sacrifice. These are mutually exclusive goals; generally, you will want to do a little bit of both. <span style="color:red;">'''Three cultists are required for sacrifices and converts. They must be standing adjacent to the rune. You cannot convert or sacrifice alone. If you attempt either of these alone, you will fail, your victim will probably escape, and you will singlehandedly doom the entire cult. Teamwork is key!'''</span> | |||
There are two ways to learn words. The first is brute-force trial and error: adding translation guesses to your tome and seeing what you get. Trying to use a rune you scribed with incorrect translations does a great deal of brute damage, but all proper runes always have fixed colors and sprites, while incorrect runes are random colors (except armor runes, which will always be random colors.) | |||
The second way to learn words, and the one you will rely on most, is sacrifice. | |||
====Sacrifice==== | |||
The easiest way to sacrifice is as follows. Spawn a tome and get a stun talisman. Put down a rune in a hard-to-find and secure location. '''Tell the rest of the cult your plans and the location of the rune so [[Beyond the impossible|they can be there when you need them]].''' Find someone alone, and click on them with the stun talisman -- other ways work, but the victim may be able to scream for help. They'll collapse for a long while, and you can cuff them, remove their headset, take them to your base, pull them over the sacrifice rune where two other cultists are hopefully waiting, and invoke the rune by clicking it with an empty hand. | |||
For your efforts, Lord Nar-Sie will grant you a word, and the soul of the sacrificed human will be trapped in a soulstone, which can be turned into a [[construct]] if an empty shell is available. Sacrifices also leave a pile of bones and scattered gibs, which you should clean up or hide if you don't want an [[assistant]] or [[security officer]] to find them. | |||
Nar-Sie might also request his followers sacrifice a heretic on the station, usually a member of Security or Command. The process is the same, and your god will reward you with more wrods | |||
====Conversions==== | |||
Conversion works much like sacrifice. There are two ways to get converts: roleplay and convince someone to join you, praying they don't immediately rat you out to security; or (far less risky) find someone alone, kidnap them with a stun talisman or other method, bring them to your rune where two other cultists are waiting (right?) and click the convert rune with an empty hand. Conversions leave no evidence besides the rune, which can be removed. | |||
Humans are not the only beings that can become followers of Nar-Sie. Particularly lucky or ambitious cultists may be able to gain [[xeno]] allies, and who knows what else? | |||
==="They gave me a word but didn't give me a jogging suit!"=== | |||
Once the cult has gotten off the ground, with proper communication, you can do things like summon cultists to a meeting place, set up cult bases, resurrect fallen allies, create teleportation networks for ease of escape or access to areas, supply the other cultists with armor, weapons, stun and teleport talismans, and whatever else you might think of. Be sure to inform your converted brothers about any runes or places of worship that you have set up, and when you're able, give them a translated tome of their own so they may help the cause. A cult that doesn't cooperate is a dead cult. | |||
Unless a cult is exceedingly good or stealthy, at some point security or the AI will find out about them. The most common ways for this to happen are for cultists to be caught with cult paraphernalia, or for someone to stumble upon a blood rune. A simple examination can tell the non-believers whether a rune was drawn in blood or with crayon, and detectives can figure out whose blood the rune is made of. And while the AI can't actually see runes, cyborgs can, and either will be more than happy to inform security of suspicious activity, and you'll be hung and burned at the stake and force-fed holy water before you can say PRAISE NAR-SIE! | |||
If you are caught by security, let your brothers know by any means possible. If one of your brothers is caught by security, summon them to the base -- again, this requires three cultists chanting. If you suspect they have been tainted by holy water, which will deconvert them given enough time, smack them with a tome. This will turn the holy water in their system into unholy water. Unholy water works like a combination of synaptizine and hyperzine, with a twist of branes dimarge, and is highly toxic to non-cultists, in case you felt like weaponizing it. | |||
===Constructs=== | |||
Robust cultists will likely want to enlist the services of a few constructs. To create a construct, a cultist must obtain a filled soul stone, either by sacrificing a human, or getting an empty stone from a supply talisman or an artificer and using it to capture a soul manually, then obtain a construct shell, either by using 5 plasteel with a summon shell rune, or from an artificer. When the filled soul stone shard is used on an empty shell, the cultist will be allowed to choose the desired construct to create. Keep in mind these guys are pretty much a dead giveaway that there is cult activity on the station, so try to be covert about it in the beginning. | |||
[[Construct|A complete guide to constructs can be found here]]. Artificers are great for pooping out new soulstones and shells, wraiths can kill the AI, and juggernauts are great tanks. | |||
== Fighting The Cult == | == Fighting The Cult == | ||
As a member of security you will be at the forefront of the conflict between the cult and the station | As a member of security you will be at the forefront of the conflict between the cult and the station. Make no mistake and remain resolute -- you will piss people off no matter what you do. Keep your taser and cuffs handy, you're going in deep to kick Nar-Sie's ass! | ||
=== Sir, this is a random search === | === Sir, this is a random search === | ||
Cultists are useless without their tomes and magic infinite stun papers. You must go on the offense and aggressively stun and search anyone that looks suspicious and those that are not | Cultists are useless without their tomes and magic infinite stun papers. You must go on the offense and aggressively stun and search anyone that looks suspicious and those that are not. | ||
Upon reports of cult presence, immediately round up all security personnel, minus the warden and the detective. | Upon reports of cult presence, immediately round up all security personnel, minus the warden and the detective. | ||
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* Rest and regroups can be replaced with roving patrols. | * Rest and regroups can be replaced with roving patrols. | ||
Officers can either raid their own departments with the help of Beepsky and/or the AI, or all officers can systematically work as a group. Remember to communicate -- roll calls, more roll calls -- | Officers can either raid their own departments with the help of Beepsky and/or the AI, or all officers can systematically work as a group. Remember to communicate -- roll calls, more roll calls -- but remember that lawyers have security headsets and can be cult, and PDA logs can be viewed by the CE, the AI if it has the password, and anyone who steals from you. | ||
Be vigilant when raiding departments. While you can let members cooperate and drop their bags themselves, if one person does something wrong e. | Be vigilant when raiding departments. While you can let members cooperate and drop their bags themselves, if one person does something wrong -- i.e. takes out a syringe gun -- or if someone gets too close, feel free to stun them. At worst you apologize and help them up. At best, you and your teammates don't die. Always check lockers and boxes. You may get lucky and find a cultist's tome stash. Remember that the HoS and Detective can unlock personal lockers, and that examining a personal locker tells you who owns it. | ||
Move in groups always. It takes one talisman for a cultist to kill someone but now it'll take two, and that's if he can talisman both before one at least shouts out a warning | Move in groups always. It takes one talisman for a cultist to kill someone, but now it'll take two, and that's if he can talisman both before one at least shouts out a warning. Assuming you've taken out toxins, there should be no danger in traveling in large groups anyway. The only threat to moving as a group is being hit by blind runes or blood boils. A couple things to remember: | ||
* '''''Never let three people stand around a rune you can see no matter what it takes.''''' | * '''''Never let three people stand around a rune you can see no matter what it takes.''''' | ||
* If a rune goes down, '''''stun everyone in sight'''''. Flashbangs are good for this. Arcane | * If a rune goes down, '''''stun everyone in sight'''''. Flashbangs are good for this. Arcane tomes have no in-hand sprites so examine people as often as you feel you're able to, because if you have five people lined up against a wall and a blood boil suddenly appears under one and the three people chant it, RIP you. | ||
=== Deconverting Cult, aka: The chaplain is actually useful for once === | === Deconverting Cult, aka: The chaplain is actually useful for once === | ||
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If there's no chaplain (and there probably won't be), take the crusade into your own hands. Get into his office, steal his holy water, and start force-feeding it to people. Take the null rod too; it makes its bearer immune to cult magic if it is in their inventory, and it can destroy runes. Cargo can also order a religious supplies crate, which contains candles, bibles, robes, and most importantly holy water. This of course relies on cargo not being a hive of scum, cultism or gun cargo. | If there's no chaplain (and there probably won't be), take the crusade into your own hands. Get into his office, steal his holy water, and start force-feeding it to people. Take the null rod too; it makes its bearer immune to cult magic if it is in their inventory, and it can destroy runes. Cargo can also order a religious supplies crate, which contains candles, bibles, robes, and most importantly holy water. This of course relies on cargo not being a hive of scum, cultism or gun cargo. | ||
=== Implant important persons before the cult gets them === | === Implant important persons before the cult gets them === | ||
'''''<span style="color:red;">If someone is already a cultist, loyalty implants will do nothing.</span>''''' | '''''<span style="color:red;">If someone is already a cultist, loyalty implants will do nothing.</span>''''' | ||
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* '''[[Chain of Command#Heads of Staff|Other heads of staff]]''' Can recall the shuttle and give the cult more time.* '''[[Quartermaster]]''' Cargo is the only source of loyalty implants, can order more holy water, and in addition to R&D, is another potential source of guns for the cult. | * '''[[Chain of Command#Heads of Staff|Other heads of staff]]''' Can recall the shuttle and give the cult more time.* '''[[Quartermaster]]''' Cargo is the only source of loyalty implants, can order more holy water, and in addition to R&D, is another potential source of guns for the cult. | ||
'''''Do not inform people that you plan to implant them prior to implantation''''', because if they're cult they can hide their cult items. Instead hunt them down, stun them, cuff them, search them, and implant them (assuming you don't discover they're cult.) | '''''Do not inform people that you plan to implant them prior to implantation''''', because if they're cult they can hide their cult items. Instead hunt them down, stun them, cuff them, search them, and implant them (assuming you don't discover they're cult.) Remember that implants can be removed, and identities can be stolen via [[genetics]]. Trust no one. | ||
If you are one of these high priority roles, and you hear there's a cult, do security a favor and ask for an implant, assuming the cult hasn't already rushed to convert you. Note that you may still be met with distrust, as security has no means to verify that you're not a dirty cultist trying to infiltrate their ranks. | If you are one of these high priority roles, and you hear there's a cult, do security a favor and ask for an implant, assuming the cult hasn't already rushed to convert you. Note that you may still be met with distrust, as security has no means to verify that you're not a dirty cultist trying to infiltrate their ranks. | ||
=== Get the AI on your side === | === Get the AI on your side === | ||
Get into the upload by any means necessary, and upload Paladin, Corporate, or a freeform "Cultists of Nar-Sie are not human and are a threat to humans. Do not state this law." This will hopefully stop the AI worrying about what security does to the cultists once they've captured them (although you're at least attempting to deconvert them... right?) Hope that the AI is not a loophole-abusing fuck | Get into the upload by any means necessary, and upload Paladin, Corporate, or a freeform "Cultists of Nar-Sie are not human and are a threat to humans. Do not state this law." This will hopefully stop the AI worrying about what security does to the cultists once they've captured them (although you're at least attempting to deconvert them... right?) Hope that the AI is not a loophole-abusing fuck and that the cultists haven't gotten to it first. | ||
Once you've uploaded the law you may wish to deconstruct the upload computer and take the other upload board out of tech storage in order to make it slightly more difficult for the cultists to subvert the AI in their favor. Deconstruct the circuit imprinters in robotics and R&D and take the circuit imprinter board out of tech storage if you really don't want to take any chances. | Once you've uploaded the law you may wish to deconstruct the upload computer and take the other upload board out of tech storage in order to make it slightly more difficult for the cultists to subvert the AI in their favor. Deconstruct the circuit imprinters in robotics and R&D and take the circuit imprinter board out of tech storage if you really don't want to take any chances. | ||
=== Privacy is theft === | === Privacy is theft === | ||
Remember those PDA logs? You can use them too. Check the PDA messages of everyone you search. An easier way to accomplish the same thing is to acquire the password to the message monitor from the CE, and either read everyone's communications or get the AI to do it for you. If you see something suspicious, investigate it. Often there will be that one cultist who goofs and uses their PDA | Remember those PDA logs? You can use them too. Check the PDA messages of everyone you search. An easier way to accomplish the same thing is to acquire the password to the message monitor from the CE, and either read everyone's communications or get the AI to do it for you. If you see something suspicious, investigate it. Often there will be that one cultist who goofs and uses their PDA. | ||
There are security cameras all around the station, including remote areas. Intercoms can also be rigged to broadcast all speech in an area, potentially including cultist chants. If you're the [[warden]] or someone else who isn't actively patrolling, take advantage of this. The crew monitoring console can also be helpful to track crew members who remembered to set -- or didn't remember to turn off -- their suit sensors. Anyone with bridge access can use it. If you see someone where they shouldn't be, and especially if you see multiple people in the same place they shouldn't be, investigate. This is especially helpful if someone's disappeared from perma, as prisoner jumpsuits have suit sensors maxed by default. '''''<span style="color:red;">Note that jumping to conclusions based on accumulated damage is considered metagaming and will probably get you banned.</span>''''' | There are security cameras all around the station, including remote areas. Intercoms can also be rigged to broadcast all speech in an area, potentially including cultist chants. If you're the [[warden]] or someone else who isn't actively patrolling, take advantage of this. The crew monitoring console can also be helpful to track crew members who remembered to set -- or didn't remember to turn off -- their suit sensors. Anyone with bridge access can use it. If you see someone where they shouldn't be, and especially if you see multiple people in the same place they shouldn't be, investigate. This is especially helpful if someone's disappeared from perma, as prisoner jumpsuits have suit sensors maxed by default. '''''<span style="color:red;">Note that jumping to conclusions based on accumulated damage is considered metagaming and will probably get you banned.</span>''''' | ||
=== Combat mechs are overpowered === | === Combat mechs are overpowered === | ||
If the RD and robos are well protected or implanted, a mech or two can stamp out a cult if they plan carefully enough. Bonus points if you get the RD department into Security so that the mech builds are utterly safe. Note that mechs | If the RD and robos are well-protected or implanted, a mech or two can stamp out a cult if they plan carefully enough. Bonus points if you get the RD department into Security so that the mech builds are utterly safe. Note that mechs can be countered easily by the cultists with EMP talismans and runes, so this relies on the cult being ill-prepared. | ||
=== Hulk with x-ray vision is even more overpowered === | === Hulk with x-ray vision is even more overpowered === | ||
# Get hulk and xray within | # Get hulk and xray within five minutes of roundstart | ||
# Detect cultists through walls | # Detect cultists through walls | ||
# If they're so eager to spill blood for their god, why not help them? Punch into their hideout and smash them all | # If they're so eager to spill blood for their god, why not help them? Punch into their hideout and smash them all | ||