Guide to Cultist

Disclaimer

The first version of this guide is a near-identical port of the original Stonekeep Cultist guide, with adjusted terminology to fit Ratwood's lore.

The truth of reality is revealed in the glint of moonlight on puddles of blood, the shine of torchlight on a pitted iron blade. Death to the false gods and their attempt to order the world; the only truth is the new Godhead, Zizo.

As a cultist of Zizo, your objective is to ensure your leader, the Heresiarch, ascends to demonhood. To do so, you must convert others to your side, perform blood rituals, and make human sacrifices.

Starting Out

If you've toggled the cultist role and are selected for the gamemode, you will spawn in your usual role. You'll know you're a cultist by your chatbox, which will give you your objectives and a brief blurb about the gamemode. You don't have to run off into the woods to hang out with your cult friends the minute the round starts; in fact, it's better if you do your job as usual, and get accustomed to your new verbs and abilities.

You get some extra skills and a +2 buff to strength as a cultist, no matter the class. You also start with two extra verbs; Praise and Communicate. Praise is an emote that will make you praise Zizo and does nothing else. Naturally, you shouldn't be doing this in public, unless you want to take a trip to the church basement.

Communicate allows you to speak telepathically with your fellow cultists. This is key to coordinating your plans over a long distance and finding out who your fellow cultists are. Using Communicate too much will make you tired, and you also whisper some obvious, cult-y nonsense when using it, so be careful communicating next to someone.

Cult Ranks

• Heresiarch: The leader of the cult. They are the one seeking ascension. Can draw sigils.
• Cultists: The rank-and-file of the cult. Can't draw sigils, but can invoke them.
• Beasts of the Cult: Simplemobs that must perform the bidding of the cult; skeletons, Zizo beasts, and the like. Can't draw circles or sigils or invoke them.

Strategy

Your most powerful enemy in this gamemode is the Church, especially the Inquisitor, whose job is to root the cult out. You lack the resources of the church (at least at the beginning), so it's a good idea to start out subversive rather than going loud.

You should also decide on a home base for your cult. Pick somewhere secluded, but not too far away from your source of corpses; the Sewers and the Terrorbog are good places to start.

If you're picking a victim, start out with those who won't be missed. Passerby drifters or townsfolk wandering too far away from the City are ripe for kidnapping and sacrifice.

Useful roles to kidnap or convert

• Butcher - Is expected to be wandering around covered in blood, has access to meat
• Soilfolk - Farm is fairly secluded, can produce food for the cult
• bog Guard - Has access to weapons
• Innkeep - Has a secluded basement and food
• Merchant - Can buy useful items.

Roleplaying a Cultist

Remember that you're telling a story. Don't just run up behind people and kill them while using the Praise verb. Act the part of a bloodsoaked cultist; stare with wide, empty eyes at passerby, scream about the end times being near, kidnap the heir to the throne and drag them kicking and screaming to your blood ritual in the forest.

Overall, make sure to roleplay with your victim; losing is part of the fun in Ratwood, but you should preserve the atmosphere of the setting if you have to kill someone.

Blood Magick

To do the majority of what you need to do as a cultist, you must draw sigils and ritual circles. Within the ritual circles, you must place sacrifices at certain points of the ritual circle to gain their benefits.

To draw sigils and circles, your hands need to be bloody. To do this, you can click on a pool of blood with empty hands to bloody them. If you need a source of blood but there's no convenient meatbag around, use yourself! Swap to Weak intent, stab yourself in the hand, and bloody up.

It should also be noted that only animal meat will work with rituals. Ironically, human meat will not.

Servantry Rituals

Ritual	Effects	Directions	Conditions
Convert	Turns a victim into a Zizoid Lackey.	Place a victim at the center of the sigil and invoke the ritual of conversion.	There cannot be more than ten Zizoid Lackeys at a time. The convertee cannot be turned if they have a holy symbol. The convertee can resist conversion at the cost of 1 triumph.
Skeletal Jaunt	Turns someone into a skeleton that obeys the cultist's commands.	Place a living victim at the center of the sigil, and a heart at the north quadrant of the sigil. Invoke the skeletal jaunt ritual.	N/A
The Call	Summon a sleeping victim to the center of a ritual circle.	Place a bedsheet in the center of the sigil. Place a left leg on the west sigil. Place a right leg on the east sigil. Then, place a piece of parchment with the name of the desired victim written upon it. Wait for the victim to be sleeping, and invoke the ritual.	The victim cannot be a ruler or one of the churchfolk. Crosses will protect someone from being summoned.
Falsified Appearance	Randomizes the name and appearance of the person in the middle of the sigil.	Place a recipient in the center of the sigil. Place a severed head on the north sigil. Place a shard of glass on the east, west, and south sigil.	N/A
Pact of Unity	Possess a person's soul.	Place a piece of paper in the center of the sigil. Place a pair of eyes on the north sigil. The paper will turn into a pact paper; someone with a bleeding wound can sign it with their name, leaving their soul sealed in the contract. To destroy someone's soul and kill them, tear up the contract.	The soul takes 2 minutes to be destroyed after tearing the contract. Holy symbols will prevent the soul from being destroyed.
Heartache	Create a corrupted heart	Place a heart in the center of the sigil. Place a leech on the north sigil. The heart will then turn into a corrupted heart, which can be used to fully heal a cult member, or alternatively stun and silence an enemy who isn't combat ready. Particularly useful for abductions.	Using the heart on an opponent with combat mode on will result in both parties being stunned. Unlike fleshmending, corrupted hearts do not restore missing limbs and organs.

Transmutation

Ritual	Effects	Directions	Conditions
All Seeing Eye	Creates a scrying orb with a longer cooldown than the base orb.	Place an eye in the center of the sigil.	N/A
Criminal's Tool	Creates a bar of soap that quickly cleans messes.	Place a piece of cloth in the center of the sigil.	Only has 9 uses.
Propaganda	Creates an accursed leech that can attach instantly to a target and fill their mind with Zizoid propaganda truths.	Place a leech in the center of the sigil. Place a piece of parchment on the north sigil. Place a feather on the south sigil.	The leech does not suck blood.
False Idol	Creates an illusion of a chosen recipient or victim.	A human should be on the center of the sigil. Place a piece of parchment on the west sigil. Place a feather on the south sigil.	N/A
Invade Mind	Sends one-way messages into a recipient or victim's mind.	Place a parchment and feather on the center of the sigil. The parchment should have the desired message on it. Invoke the ritual and enter the name of the recipient.	N/A
Summon Gear	Summons two sets of cultist robes, blades, and chains.	Place a steel ingot in the center of the sigil.	N/A

Fleshcrafting

Ritual	Effects	Directions	Conditions
Fleshmend	Mends the wounds of the recipient. Restoring limbs and organs.	The recipient must stand in the center. Place a piece of meat on the north sigil. The recipient will be fully healed.
Saliendo Pedes	Allows a recipient to leap up Z-levels in a single bound.	The recipient must stand in the center. Place a left leg on the west sigil, a right leg on the east sigil, and meat on the north sigil.	N/A
Darkened Eyes	Gives nightvision.	The recipient must stand in the center. Place a pair of eyes on the west and east sigil. Place meat on the north sigil.	N/A
Painless Battle	Removes the ability to feel pain at the cost of a debuff to strength, constitution, and if you are a male character, the inability to mechanically have sex.	The recipient must stand in the center. Place a brain on the east sigil. Place a heart on the west sigil. Place 1 meat on the north sigil.	Male characters lose -2 Strength and -2 Constitution, female characters lose the same but -3 Constitution.
Stronger Form	Turns a victim into a monster.	The victim must be in the center. Place a left and right arm on the west and east sigil respectively. Place eyes on the north sigil. Place meat on the south sigil.	Cannot be performed on Zizo Cultists.
Gutted Fish	Quickly gibs a dead body and allows the organs and meat within to be harvested.	Place the dead body in the center of the sigil. Invoke the ritual.	N/A
ASCEND	Allows the cult leader to achieve apotheosis. Causes the round to end in 15 minutes.	The cult leader must stand in the center of the sigil. The ruler must be placed in the north sigil, and a virgin sacrifice must be placed in the south sigil.	Both the ruler and the virgin must be dead.