Demon Team: Design Phase T0TURNTURNTURNDesign: Dark Seduction
The demon grants its acolytes, and to a slightly lesser extent, missionary’s the power of dark seduction. This is a very simple spell of the dark. It requires only a bit of training to use and when cast it causes the victim to think of the caster in a much more favorable light as well as aligning their minds to evil. It enhances their negative traits and lessens and buries their positive ones. The spell requires its caster to be of evil alignment and continuously using it can lead to slight brain problems to the victim.
Dark Seduction: Easy: (2+2)+1=5: Average
As a Demon, you naturally possess a seductive charm- doesn't everyone want to try a little bit of evil now and again? This ability can be granted to your followers, simplified and standardised into a spell that any acolyte can learn. Doing so heightens your own appeal as well, as you make a methodical analysis of what exactly mortals like to feel.
While it cannot be used by non-caster missionaries, the resultant spell is simple, quick, and reasonably effective. Depending on the strength of the caster and the resistance of the target, the effects can range from undying devotion to a mild twinge of approval. The interaction of an average acolyte and an average human results in a surge of admiration followed by a lingering affection, sufficient to lure someone into further indoctrination efforts or provide immediate assistance with any semi-plausibly-reasonable task. The personality-warping effects are more subtle, but repeated castings (especially on the weak-willed) can eventually result in drastic shifts. Also brain damage, but whatever.
Dark Seduction will make infiltration efforts significantly more effective. As a simple spell, it is
Common
Thousands of Skeletons lie within the Buried Capital, waiting to be unearthed. It has been two thousand years since the Buried Capital fell and the people within it died - there should not be thousands of skeletons in the Buried Capital. It is because the Buried Capital remembers. It is because the Buried Capital hates.
With that said, the skeletons preserved by Evil have to be put to use by the actual ritual magic of the cult of Nar-Carok - but who better to spin Evil into the dead than a Demon and his cultist? To create One Who Remembers, a cultist gathers evil energy and remnants of the souls of the dead (preferably from the Buried Capital, but strictly speaking anywhere with an abundance of dead warriors and hatred and vengeance will do) and spins them together into the skeleton of a warrior. The resulting being is a skeleton that doesn't actually contain the spectre of a warrior, but instead essentially is amalgamated together from the spiritual remains of many and the feelings which bound them together - it is perhaps a single-minded being, focused on slaying the forces of Good, but possessed of surprising skill and intelligence when it comes to battle, composed as it is of warriors.
Those That Remember are not actually strictly speaking all that tough - although they often carry the armor of their life, that armor is OLD as can be, and is prone to flatly crumbling when it takes any real strike, serving really only to grant the skeletal being one more hit in its "lifespan" - when it even has that armor, which isn't guaranteed. Further, they're just skeletons, physically bound together by Evil magic - it isn't actually much tougher to destroy the bones of one of these than it is to destroy the bones of a mortal. We have furnished the skeletons with actual heavy weapons, primarily slashing pole-arms and greatswords - because what the advantage of Those That Remember is is their aggression and adroitness at using their bodily makeup to their advantage. They don't have muscles, they have magical force binding their bones, so they can do things like rotate their hands in rapid sweeping circles with those weapons, creating areas of bloody death, especially since they are significantly stronger than mortals. They don't have tendons limiting their range of motion, it's joint bones at most - and their force is unnatural, so they can do things like fold back and spring forward in large leaps. They don't have to support a whole body and organs, just bones - so if a fibula is broken, or some ribs go, it's hardly the end of the world. To stop One That Remembers, the key is to separate the pieces of their body or tactically smash them into physical non-functionality (unless you're powerful enough to just hit one so hard it can't realistically move around).
Those Who Remember: Hard: (2+4)-1=5: Average
Hatred is a powerful force. Perhaps even more powerful than Evil, at least when it comes to longevity. Those Who Remember need Evil to empower their dusty bones, but they require little in the way of motivation.
The ritual is short and sweet. And by sweet, I mean the tortured souls of buried warriors fill the air with horrendous screeching that rends the fabric of reality. As Evil fills the chosen skeleton, it rattles into unnatural motion, rising from the ritual circle with a visible aura of hatred suffusing their being. They are then quickly bound to your service, which is necessary to prevent them from grabbing a weapon and charging off by themselves. The One Who Remembers is subsequently equipped with a glaive or battle-axe (greatswords being somewhat harder to acquire)(neither are of great quality, but they're not terrible either), while retaining whatever armour they came with- the occasional helmet, sporadic greaves and armguards, very rarely the fragile remnants of scalemail (usually it has decayed beyond utility).
In a fight, Those Who Remember demonstrate the skill of a trained warrior, which combined with their surprisingly agile motion and inhuman strength makes a very capable combatant. While their ancient bones are fragile, the sheer hatred that drives them will hold their bodies together even if a few bones are broken, letting them fight on despite injuries. Arrows are rather ineffective against them, for they have no blood to spill or organs to pierce. They are more vulnerable to magical damage than cultists, but their main weakness is a lack of self-preservation instinct. So obsessed are they with slaying the forces of Good that they do not care if they are destroyed in the process, and so will often focus on offense at the cost of blocking or avoiding incoming attacks.
Those Who Remember are powerful shock troops capable of dealing a lot of damage very quickly, although vulnerable to counterattack. Unit Size: ~50
Uncommon
It is now the Revision Phase. You have two revisions. Note that you will also have two revisions next turn as well, but from Turn 2 onwards you will only receive one.
Nar-Carok: The diabolical leader of your faction, a being of immense power. There is very little he cannot do. Needless to say, he is Unique.
Mundane Units:
Cultist Spears: Being equipped with only a rusty dagger, a makeshift spear, and a wooden shield, combined with their lack of training, mean these are not elite warriors- they'd lose a one-on-one fight with a real soldier-, but they're cheap and plentiful. Like regular cultists, their dedication makes them more resilient mentally than civilians. Unit Size: ~50 Common
Cultist Archers: Cultists who have some experience with a bow are valuable assets in combat, harassing the enemy from a distance. They aren't sharpshooters, and their bows are designed for hunting, not piercing armour, but they're better than nothing. Like regular cultists, their dedication makes them more resilient mentally than civilians. Unit Size: ~25 Common
Acolytes: Cultists who have begun their exploration of the magical arts, studying under their demonic patron. They can cast any Common spells (unless noted otherwise). Their physical strength leaves something to be desired, but their mental fortitude is even greater than regular cultists. Unit Size: ~25 Uncommon
Cultist Missionaries: Cultists with a modicum of charisma and subtlety, sent forth as emissaries of their eldritch master. Unarmed and untrained, they serve no role in combat. Unit Size: ~10 Common
Summoned/Mutated Units:
Those Who Remember: Skeletal warriors, driven to return to the battlefield by relentless hatred of all things Good. They wield two-handed weapons and sometimes wear decaying ancient armour. Suffused with burning hatred and animated by the amalgamation of warrior souls, they are remarkably skilled and agile, as well as being quite strong. They are more vulnerable to magical damage, and are lacking in self-preservation instinct. Unit Size: ~50 Uncommon
Spells/Rituals:
Magic Missile: Known by many names, the simple technique of blasting your opponent with raw Mana/Good/Evil is a tried and true method of making things go away. Efficacy increases with caster's mental might, and decreases with the target's. Common
Novice Ward: A very simple magic barrier that will reduce the impact of attacks both mundane and mystical. Won't last long, but can be useful in a pinch. Common
Dark Seduction: A simple spell that causes the target to have an improved opinion of the caster, ranging from undying devotion to a twinge of approval, depending on the strength of the caster and resistance of the target. Will also slowly taint the target's personality if used repeatedly, and cause brain damage. Common
Infiltration Techniques:
Proselytise: Cultists go forth and spread the Evil word, finding those sympathetic to their cause and slowly winning them over. Not the fastest way of gaining converts, but it keeps the cult growing. Common
Author
Topic: Demon Team - Chiaroscuro 2 | Design Phase T6 (Read 17489 times)