Cult Magic
This guide was written with the assumption that you have read and understood the Cultist guide beforehand. If you have not yet done so please read through that page first and then come back when you're more familiar with the Cult of Nar'Sie!
The Cult of Nar'Sie is a blood-magic cult that has infiltrated the station with the intent to sacrifice a crew member and then either spread its influence or summon Nar'Sie to destroy the station.
Before jumping into a guide here's a few quick tips:
- There are no defined cult 'heads'; all cultists are equal but each original cultist starts with a special 5-use talisman in their backpack as well as knowing the meaning of one rune word.
- Since cultists don't know all words required for creation of runes they need to research these words out through experimentation or by sacrificing. As such, the crew has some time before the cult starts to spread.
- The Chaplain can use his holy book to reveal hidden runes and his null rod to destroy visible runes. See the the Chaplain page for more details.
- Cultists draw runes from their own blood, requiring arcane tomes to do so. This causes a small amount of brute damage. Experienced players may take notice of anyone who has sustained minor brute damage on several limbs. Saline-glucose pills are a handy way to heal this damage an disguise your status as a cult member. Remember: this damage shows up on crew monitors so turn them off if you plan to use a lot of runes/talismans!
- Using the imbue talisman rune cultists can inscribe the following runes on pieces of paper: stun, blind, deafen, communicate, teleport, summon tome, summon armor.
- For a quick escape a cultist can carry around a paper imbued with the teleport rune. If he or she is worried about getting caught they can use the talisman to teleport away. Doing so in view of non-cultists, however, will alert them to the presence of a cult!
- The shuttle is possible to call and will end the round. One possible cult objective is to have a certain number of cultists on board the shuttle by the time it docks at Central Command.
- It is impossible to convert either the Chaplain or the Captain regardless of whether or not they have a loyalty implant.
- Using cult magic, whether a tome, rune, or talisman, is very visible and obvious to anyone who can see you. If your cult is trying to be stealthy do your best to avoid using any sort of cult magic out in the open unless absolutely necessary. If you are apprehended by security for some reason but they are not aware of the cult it may be better for you to accept a stay in the brig rather than use magic to escape and reveal that a cult is on board! Remember, however, that if they find cult items on your person the cult will be discovered!
Cultists should work together to achieve their objectives, and have access to many otherworldly powers to bring this about.
At Round Start
A cultist begins the round with a starting talisman in his backpack as well as the knowledge of 1 rune word which appears in your round-start text log. If you forget your starting rune word you can check what it is in your Notes verb in the IC tab. The talisman has 5 charges and is good for a number of things including summoning an arcane tome and communicating anonymously and secretly with other cultists. Your first act should be to find an isolated place and get two talismans: one to summon a tome and one to communicate with other cultists.
Summon your tome in a secluded place. It drops at your feet upon using the talisman and if you do this anywhere people can see you they WILL notice! This is important enough to reiterate: DO NOT summon a tome where you can be seen by non-cultists as it will appear on the floor where you stand!
Next use the communication talisman to tell your rune word to the other cultists.
Now pull out your arcane tome and activate it in your hand. Your tome has 3 options:
- Read it allows you to study spells, their required words, and what each spell does.
- Scribe a rune using words you've entered into the tome's Notes section.
- Notes is where you enter rune words that you know in order to be able to draw runes.
In order to draw a rune you must first enter the appropriate rune words into your Notes. If you wish to draw the stun rune you will need to enter the words for join, hide, and technology into your Notes section of your arcane tome.
It should be noted that the rune words are randomized every round. If certum is hell one round that does not guarantee it will be hell on any given round after that. That being said the words will not change during the course of a single round and any words in the Notes section of one arcane tome can be copied over to any other arcane tome by clicking the filled-out tome on the tome you wish to copy the words to.
| File:Cultrunescrayonrunes.png |
| A comparison of crayon runes (top) and cult runes (bottom.) |
When drawing runes it is important to ensure the words are entered correctly in your Notes. If the rune word you enter is incorrect the rune will not work, therefore if ire is listed incorrectly as self then you must correct it in your arcane tome or you won't be able to cast runes that use the word self. When casting spells or drawing runes you will make sounds and completed runes are clearly visible and quite different from regular runes drawn in crayon by the clown. When a rune is drawn you must click on the rune sprite to activate the rune's effect. Drawing or activating a rune uses your blood and causes a small amount of brute damage in the form of bruises on a random part of your body.
Finding a Hideout
The NSS Cyberiad has a myriad of places where you might be able to set up a cult hideout. Where possible, try to set up a hideout in a hidden room in maint. No cameras, little foot traffic. Out in space you might get lucky and find the white ship. The engineering outpost is nice because it has several rooms that are not visible from space and no AI cameras at round-start so you don't have to worry about the AI spying on you! The mining outpost has cameras but is rarely monitored by the AI, has a medical sleeper to heal brute damage, its own telecomms equipment which is easy to sabotage, and as a bonus the ore boxes that miners use can completely conceal a rune drawn on the ground! The research outpost is also a common place to set up a cult base as it, too, has a medical sleeper as well as many nooks and crannies that aren't visible to an AI's cameras. Be warned that cutting a camera's wires can instantly draw the AI's attention so sometime's it's better to simply set up shop where the AI already can't see you.
Rune Word Research
Guess and Check Method
At the start of a cult round you will hopefully learn up to 3 rune words from your fellow cultists on top of the one you start with. If you don't hear from them within 15 minutes of round start you might take a walk around the station to try to find them. You'll know a fellow cultist by the green cthulhu-like icon above and to the right of their character sprite. If you can get them to join you in an isolated area you can ask them for their rune word or politely suggest they make use of their starting talisman to communicate their word to the entire cult. It's entirely possible to research new words without knowing any beforehand but it is a massive pain. Ideally you will start with as many as possible but you can make some decent headway if you know a minimum of 2.
Find a rune that uses 2 words you know and a third word that you don't. If you know self and other then you should research communicate as it just requires you to guess technology thus making it an easy target. Next go to your notes, pick an unassigned word, and set it as technology. Once that is done activate your tome again and choose to Scribe a rune. You should be given a list of runes you can scribe, although at this point you may only be able to scribe the communicate rune. Pick that and you will begin the process of drawing the rune. Once the rune is complete click on it. If a window pops up asking you to enter your message, congratulations!
If not go back to your notes and set the next unassigned word to technology. Unless you're lucky you can expect to carve a lot of runes and accrue a decent bit of brute damage this way until you are successful in finding the correct rune word for technology.
If you can't find an easy rune to research be aware that correct and functioning runes glow and pulsate.
So while you may not be able to activate a sacrifice rune by yourself you will at least know you found the right word. Also note that most runes tend to disappear when they have been used successfully. To manually erase a rune just use your arcane tome on it. It is a good idea to write down which words mean what in your IC Notes section in case you lose your arcane tome!
Sacrifice Method
This method requires you to have the words for a sacrifice rune (hell, blood, and join,) as well as access to monkeys. Simply draw the rune and have 3 cultists stand adjacent to it (avoid standing on it unless you want to be the sacrifice!) and activate the rune. With every sacrifice there is a chance you will learn a new rune word. This method can be used with any monkey-type creature (farwas, wolpin, stok, etc.) or even captured crew members (although doing so is frowned upon unless said crew member happens to be the target of your sacrifice objective.)
If you have the time and the resources it is best to research as many words as possible. Once that is done you should communicate the words to your fellow cultists and then turn your efforts towards converting people and completing your objectives.
Creating Talismans
Talismans are pieces of paper imbued with the power of a rune. There are 9 runes in total which you can imbue on a piece of paper:
- Blind
- Communicate
- Deafen
- EMP
- Reveal Runes
- Stun
- Summon Armor
- Summon Tome
- Teleport
To imbue a paper with a spell you must draw two runes: an imbue talisman rune and the rune you wish to imbue onto the paper. You can place the secondary rune on the same tile as the imbue talisman rune or any of the 8 tiles adjacent to it. If you do draw the secondary rune on the same tile as the imbue talisman rune be sure that you only activate the imbue talisman rune or you risk suffering the effects of the rune you are attempting to imbue onto the piece of paper! Once both runes are drawn place a blank sheet of paper on the imbue talisman rune and then click on the imbue talisman rune. The secondary rune should disappear leaving only the imbue talisman rune and a newly-imbued piece of paper. See the spell descriptions below in the Runes section for information about how each spell works in both rune and talisman form.
The Mask of Nar'Sie
During a cult round any of the cultists, even crew members converted after the round has begun, will have the option to become the Mask of Nar'Sie. To do this check the Cult tab on the right side of the game window and choose the Become mask verb. You will be given two options: Subtle or Violent. If you choose subtle your belongings will drop to the ground in a neat pile. If you choose violent your body will explode causing your flying limbs to deal a small amount of brute damage to anyone standing too close. Either way you will find yourself with a new viewpoint hovering invisible at the point where you once inhabited your body. Your goal is to assist the cult as the link between the mortal realm and lord Nar'Sie himself! At your disposal are a number of abilities beyond what a regular cultist is capable of.
Spells: The Mask of Nar'Sie has a Spells tab on the right side of their game window with three spells available. Each spell has a cooldown period, in seconds, listed next to it.
- Create Talisman (300 second cooldown) - By far your most powerful spell as it can give cultists additional tools to fulfill Nar'Sie's sinister wishes. When you provide a talisman, soul stone, or construct shell for a cultist beware that it will appear on the ground at their feet, sometimes several steps behind them if they are moving around.
- The objects you can summon include:
- -Armor Talisman
- -Blind Talisman
- -Communicate Talisman
- -Conceal Talisman
- -Construct Shell
- -Deafen Talisman
- -EMP Talisman
- -Reveal Runes Talisman
- -Soul Stone
- -Stun Talisman
- -Summon Tome Talisman
- -Teleport Talisman
- Speak to your Acolytes (200 second cooldown) - For when you need to get an extremely important message across.
- Spread Shadows (100 second cooldown) - This spell bursts all lights near the cultist you are currently viewing.
Mask Verbs: Unlike Spells the Mask Verbs have no cooldowns and can be used at any time.
- Go to follower - Focuses your view on another follower.
- Set Cult Name - This changes how a cultist's name appears when they use a communication rune or talisman. If you do not set a Cult Name for a cultist they will show up as An Unknown Servant.
- Show your favor - This tells people whether they are doing a good job or not. Has three settings: Pleased, displeased, indifference.
- Urge Cult - Tells the entire cult what they need to focus on. Good for using during the final push when it's time to summon Nar'Sie or escape on the evacuation shuttle.
- Urge cultist - Provides an urge to a single cultist. Use this to let a single cultist know what they should focus on.
Because cultist rounds can be tremendously difficult for players who have never played them before it is highly recommended that this role is filled by an experienced player. A good Mask makes note of all known rune words and shares them around to all cultists whenever necessary. One thing to keep in mind: You can only see what your followers see. Be a wise guide to your cult and bring them success.
The Runes
Runes are the primary method for spellcasting as a cultist. There are 10 words used for rune scribing: ire, ego, nahlizet, certum, veri, jatkaa, balaq, mgar, karazet, and geeri. What they mean in english is: "travel", "self", "see", "hell", "blood", "join", "technology", "destroy", "hide", "other."
Don't forget, all proper runes pulsate visibly from dark red to light red and back, while failed runes are inert and do not change color at all.
| Rune | First Word | Second Word | Third Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teleport | travel | self | [any word] |
| Teleport Other | travel | other | [any word] |
| Summon Tome | see | blood | hell |
| Cult Armaments | hell | destroy | other |
| Convert | join | blood | self |
| EMP | destroy | see | technology |
| Drain Blood | travel | blood | self |
| See Invisible | see | hell | join |
| Raise Dead | blood | join | hell |
| Hide Runes | hide | see | blood |
| Ghost Self | hell | travel | self |
| Manifest a Ghost | blood | see | travel |
| Imbue a Paper | hell | technology | join |
| Sacrifice | hell | blood | join |
| Reveal Runes | blood | see | hide |
| Wall Rune | destroy | travel | self |
| Free Cultist | travel | technology | other |
| Summon Cultist | join | other | self |
| Deafen | hide | other | see |
| Blind | destroy | see | other |
| Blood Boil | destroy | see | blood |
| Communicate | self | other | technology |
| Stun | join | hide | technology |
| Summon Horror | hell | join | self |
| File:Teleportrune.gif |
| Making use of a teleport rune. |
Teleport
The first two words for this rune are "travel self"
The teleport rune is a special rune as it uses the first two words to designate that it's a teleport rune while the third word acts as a destination marker. When you have two runes with the same destination invoking one will teleport you to the other one. If there are more than 2 runes using the same destination marker you will be teleported to a random one. Since there are 10 words you can create 10 independent teleport networks. You can imbue a teleport rune into a talisman which, upon use, will teleport you to the destination rune.
Teleport Other
The first two words for this rune are "travel other"
This variation of the teleport rune allows you to teleport objects between the runes. You need to have 3 cultists standing adjacent to this rune to properly invoke it.
Summon a Tome
The words needed for this rune are "see blood hell".
Use this rune to summon a new tome. Most of the time you will use this rune to create new tomes for converted crew members. You can imbue this rune into a talisman to make it slightly more concealable. Whether you use the rune or the talisman the new tome will always be summoned on the floor.
Cult Armaments
The words needed for this rune are "hell Destroy Other".
When it's time for the cult to go loud it can pay to properly equip them. The cult armaments rune or talisman creates and equips a cult robe, hood, boots, and blade on the person who activates it. Before you activate this rune it is a good idea to make sure are not wearing anything on your head, your feet, or in your exosuit slot, and that you have at least one hand free, otherwise the equipment for the unavailable slot will not appear.
Convert
The words needed for this rune are "join blood self".
The single most important rune, the convert rune, is used to convert other people into cultists. To properly utilize it you need to put the victim on top of the rune and then click on it. Most folks don't want to be converted so make sure they are properly subdued first (stun talismans work wonders for this.) Also note that you cannot convert the Chaplain, Captain, or anyone who has a loyalty implant. If you attempt to convert someone and it does not work then they are immune to it and should be dealt with in a more lethal manner. It is possible to remove loyalty implants via surgery and then convert someone or to convert the clone of someone who previously had a loyalty implant (provided they do not receive another loyalty implant before you attempt to convert them.)
EMP
The words needed for this rune are "destroy see technology".
This rune creates an EMP effect in a 3 tile radius around it when activated. An EMP talisman creates the same effect but centered on the user. The EMP rune is useful for shutting down any cameras that the AI might use to spy on you without giving a notification to the AI. An EMP talisman is handy to have for use against borgs, mechs, or IPC security who are loyalty implanted and cannot be converted. Be cautious using this spell if you have artificial limbs or internal organs!
Drain Blood
The words needed for this rune are "travel blood self"
This rune instantly heals you of some brute damage at the expense a person placed on top of the rune. Whenever you invoke a drain rune ALL drain runes on the same z-level as you are activated (including those made invisible by a hide rune). If you happen to be standing on a drain blood rune when you activate it you will drain blood from yourself, however it immediately heals you anyways. If you find this rune early on it can help you stay healthy while researching other words.
One drain heals up to 25 damage per victim, however the rune can be activated nearly as fast as you can click it for rapid healing. Drain blood works on people, monkeys, and even manifests.
Blood hunger is a special condition you get when draining over 50 HP in one go. When afflicted by blood hunger you will keep slowly losing health until the hunger goes away or is satisfied.
See Invisible
The words needed for this rune are "see hell join".
This allows you to see invisible objects and people as long as you stay on top of the rune. Mostly you'll want to use this to spot ghosts nearby for when you're attempting resurrections or building a construct army. When using a see invisible rune you will also be able to see hidden runes, people using the cloak of shadows or chameleon genetic abilities, and even the AI eye if it is nearby.
Resurrect
The words needed for this rune are "blood join Hell".
To properly utilize a resurrect rune you must draw two of them in adjacent tiles. Place a living body (either a crew member or manifest) on one rune and a dead body on the other. The ghost being resurrected should stand on the same rune as the dead body and then you can activate the rune underneath the living body. If done correctly the living body will immediately gib while the dead body will rise at full health, now inhabited by the ghost that was previously hovering over it.
If there are multiple ghosts on top of a dead body when it is resurrected then only one of them will be resurrected. Beware that if you stand on the same rune as the living, "sacrificial" body, it is possible to accidentally gib yourself!
Hide Runes
The words needed for this rune are "hide see blood".
When it becomes necessary to conceal a rune but you don't want to completely erase it you can make use of a hide rune. This rune, which you can also make with your starting talisman, makes nearby runes invisible. Note, however, that you cannot invoke the runes if you can't see them, so you need to either use a "see invisible" rune, or use a reveal rune. Oddly enough, though you can get a hide rune talisman from a starter cultist's 5-use talisman you cannot actually make more using the imbue paper rune.
The hide rune conceals all runes in a 4 tile radius of the rune when activated. The hide rune talisman conceals all runes in a 2 tile radius from the user when activated. Both the hide rune and the hide rune talisman work through walls.
One of the most effective uses of a hide rune is when you combine them with wall runes. A wall rune which is activated and then hidden makes a completely invisible and impassable barrier. This is great for blocking off entry points to your cult hideout as you can use teleport runes, which are unusable by non-cultists, to get in and out of the hideout.
Ghost Self
The words needed for this rune are "hell travel self".
This rune allows you to leave your mortal body and become a ghost. This comes with all those benefits of being a ghost including being able to communicate with other ghosts, seeing invisible people/items, and so on.
Of course as a ghost you are unable to control your body and if you fly away you will have no idea if something is happening to it. You can re-enter your body using the "Re-Enter Corpse" verb in your Ghost tab on the right half of your game window.
While floating around as a ghose your body slowly takes damage. It is recommended that if you must make extended use of this rune that you have someone capable of healing you on standby to keep you patched up. Also beware that if your body is removed from the rune while ghosted you will not be able to re-enter it!
Manifest a Ghost
The words needed for this rune are "blood see travel".
This rune is close to the resurrect spell but works slightly differently. It does not need any dead bodies or sacrifices, just you and a ghost both standing on top of a rune.
Placing a paper with a name on the rune will give your manifested ghost a name, otherwise he will appear as Unknown. Once the rune is invoked a new body will appear right where you stand. The body will last indefinitely as long as you are standing on the rune. You, however, will begin to take damage. Once you die or leave the rune the ghost is banished from the body, gibbing it in the process.
Imbue a Paper
The words needed for this rune are "hell tech join".
This useful rune imbues an empty piece of paper with the power of an adjacent rune. See the Creating Talismans section for more information about which runes can be imbued onto paper and how to do so.
Sacrifice
The words needed for this rune are "hell blood join".
The sacrifice rune is used to gain favour of Nar'Sie by sacrificing living things to him. You need 3 cultists standing adjacent to the rune and any one of them can activate it by clicking on it. You can use this rune to research words with the Sacrifice Method. More importantly you will have an objective to sacrifice a specific crew member utilizing this rune.
Reveal Runes
The words needed for this rune are "blood see hide".
The words for the reveal rune are always the same words for the hide rune except in reverse. Functionally the reveal rune makes hidden runes invisible. It has the same 4-tile radius range as a rune and 2-tile radius range as a talisman. Despite the fact that you cannot create hide rune talismans you can create reveal rune talismans using the imbue paper rune.
Wall
The words needed for this rune are "destroy travel self".
This rune, when activated, magically thickens the air above it making an invisible wall. When activated again the wall is removed and you can move through the space. Once a wall is activated the rune for it can be hidden so that it cannot be deactivated until the rune is revealed.
Free Cultist
The words needed for this rune are "travel technology other".
While this rune requires three cultists to activate it can be used to free fellow cultists from restraints, including cuffs, locked DNA machines, locked/welded closets, etc.
If the cultist you are attempting to free is both cuffed and buckled to a chair or bed you must use the rune twice on them to free them completely. Note that this rune will not allow a cultist to escape a straitjacket, nor will it move the cultist to safety.
Summon Cultist
The words needed for this rune are "join other self".
Best when paired with the free cultist rune, this rune allows you to summon any cultist to the rune. You need 3 cultists adjacent to the rune for it to work and the target must not be cuffed, buckled, or hiding in a closet.
Deafen
The words needed for this rune are "hide other see" .
This rune temporarily makes all non-cultists in visible range deaf. You can imbue this rune into a talisman which has the same range but the duration of deafness will be shorter.
Blind
The words needed for this rune are "destroy see other".
Blind rune works exactly the same way as the deafen rune except blinding everyone in visible range rather than deafening them. This rune can be imbued into a talisman which has the same range but a shorter duration of blindness.
Blood Boil
The words needed for this rune are "destroy see blood".
Another rune which requires 3 cultists invoking it to work. When activated it deals massive damage to all non-cultists in visual range while dealing very little damage to cultists. There is a probability that the rune will simply explode after being invoked, badly damaging everyone in a small radius around it.
Communicate
The words needed for this rune are "self other technology".
This spell allows you to safely and easily communicate with other cult members. Invoke it and a window will pop up prompting you to enter a message. Type a message and click OK and it will be transmitted to all cult members in big red letters so they hopefully won't miss it. You can get a communication talisman using your starting talisman and it should be one of the first things you do in the round (after summoning an arcane tome) in order to share your rune word with the other cultists.
Stun
The words needed for this rune are "join hide technology".
Unlike other runes this one is generally meant to be used in talisman form. When a stun rune is invoked directly it stuns everyone in visual range for 1 second and blinds them for three seconds, including the cultist who invoked the rune. Though this may not seem useful it can be used as disarm and disorient pursuers. When imbued into a talisman and used on someone they are stunned for 10 seconds and silenced for 15 seconds - plenty of time to cuff them and remove their headset, or even to drag them to a nearby convert rune and activate it. If you are fast enough you can even draw a new convert rune right next to your victim, activate it, then remove the rune with your tome before the stun talisman wears off.
Summon Horror
The words needed for this rune are "hell join self"
The final spell, used to summon Nar'Sie. This rune requires nine cultists standing in a 3x3 grid with the rune in the center. Any one of the nine cultists can activate the rune, and so long as all nine cultists are are properly positioned Nar'Sie will be summoned. The summoning will prompt the message "NAR'SIE HAS RISEN!" in giant red letters in the chat-log for all players, and if the evacuation shuttle isn't already on the way it will be automatically called.
Take note that not all cult rounds involve an objective to summon Nar'Sie. Doing so on a round where it is not required is not against the Server Rules but it is generally frowned upon as it reveals the presence of a cult in the most glaring way possible and the chaos that results can make it difficult to achieve the sacrifice objective if that hasn't already been done.
Cult Magic Guide updated May 2016 by Keroman
Thanks to the following players for their valuable input: Lukesf (Neri Nalvi), Kyet (Colin Black), and Cid777 (Cid Squishings)