Cults
From NexusWiki
Cults are groups devoted to worshiping a particular Elder Power. Cultists are rewarded with gifts from the Power they devote themselves to as they gain favor and rank within that Power's cult. Cults exist independent of factions; a character may be in both a faction and a cult, and may be in a faction with members of other cults.
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[edit] Requirements
- A character must be Tier 3 in order to devote herself to a Power.
- That character must be of the same alignment as the Power he wishes to worship.
- A character that has become a member of a cult is permanently part of that cult, and may not join other cults.
- Certain cults have additional requirements; as an example, Namm requires that his followers possess the skill Hand of Zealotry.
[edit] Shrines
Each Elder Power has a single shrine, located in one of the planes of the same alignment as the Power. Shrines serve two purposes: it is where characters dedicate themselves to the Power, and it is where they perform sacrifices to curry favor with the Power.
[edit] Favor
Favor is a measurement of how much each Power likes a character. Characters not in cults garner no favor, but do not fall into disfavor, either. Once a character joins a cult, all Powers take notice and judge their actions.
You can have a maximum of 1000 favor at any time. If a cultist's primary favor ever becomes less than zero, he loses all cult powers until his favor is restored.
[edit] Gaining Favor
Gaining a great amount of favor will increase your cult rank and give you access to additional Cult Gifts provided by your chosen deity. You also become a more valuable target to members of rival cults.
Gaining favor is possible in several ways, depending on the deity. All deities grant favor in return for sacrifices at their altars, but you can only sacrifice to your chosen Power. Killing members of other cults (or in some cases, your own) can provide favor with your own Power, depending on the relationship between your cult and your target's cult, and the rank of your target within his cult. See the political matrix to see which groups hate which other groups. Killing a member (or one of his pets) of a cult your Power hates will grant favor; the higher your target's rank in their own cult, the more favor you gain.
[edit] Losing Favor
Losing favor is possible by performing actions a Power disapproves of; in general, killing your fellow cultists, or members of cults a power is friendly towards, will cause a loss of favor. Favor can be negative. You can lose favor with Powers you have not devoted yourself to, becoming an infamous enemy and very rewarding target. Often, you will lose favor with other deities as you gain favor with your own. All Powers look unkindly on the murder of mortals.
[edit] Decay
Favor also naturally decays. If you have favor above 50, it will decay at the rate of 2% per day. If you have negative favor, your Power will forgive your misdeeds. Negative favor with your Power will decay towards 0 at a rate of 2% per day. Negative favor with Powers other than the one the cultists follows will not increase towards 0 due to decay. If you are at 200 favor with Namm and -50 favor with Tlacolotl today, tomorrow you will be at 196 favor with Namm but still at -50 favor with Tlacolotl.
[edit] Sacrifices
Once you have joined a cult, you may perform sacrifices at the cult shrine. Sacrifices give you a variable amount of favor depending both upon chance and the value of the items you sacrifice.
All items have a point value for sacrifice. You may sacrifice multiple items at once, in which case the points are added together. The sum of your sacrificial value is then compared to a random number between 1 and 100. The random number is the notice chance. If the notice roll is greater than the sacrificed value, the sacrifice is said to fail; if it is less than the sacrificed value, you gain favor equal to the difference, plus a bonus that varies with the difference. As an example, if your sacrifice is worth 84, and the notice roll is 60, the difference is 24. The bonus for 24 is 10 points, so your character gains 34 favor. Different Powers will assess different values to items, including giving zero points for valuable items, or a bonus to what other Powers would grant; the same sacrifice at two different altars may have a different value.
Sacrificed items, whether the sacrifice is successful or not, disappear forever.
[edit] Gifts
All cultists are immediately given the power to speak in their cult's special language, unintelligible to characters not in the cult. Additionally, Powers grant attack, defense, and soak bonuses at the same levels of favor. Each cult is granted four unique gifts at favor levels 50, 200, 600, and 800. See each deity's page for more information:
