The next release, the Explorer’s Build, contains – we think – all the major game mechanics. We’ll be adding and tweaking for another few months – and balancing! especially balancing – but here’s where the Expeditions mechanic is now.
Expeditions are, as you know, what crazed occultists mount to seize monstrous treasures from the lightless depths of adjective-haunted nouns. In Cultist Simulator, you’re playing the kind of villain that Indiana Jones will probably foil, although CS has no Indiana Jones… yet.
This is all WIP, bleeding-edge development build stuff. It also includes spoilers, so look away if.
I know these would be more compelling as gifs, but it’d have taken me three times as long to do, and I want to add Curses to the system before the end of the day! So:
We begin with the distant promise of Fort Geryk, with its attractive placeholder art. It’s in the Evening Isles, one of the tougher areas to go on Expeditions. Note that the Evening Isles are not necessarily or exactly the Caribbean. There’s more than one history in Cultist Simulator.
Expeditions need Funds and Followers. They’re a pretty significant investment of resources. but the rewards are worth it.
Familiar faces! That’s Neville and Valciane down the bottom, added to the slot, and I’m adding a summoned spirit too – one of the Hinter.. You can send summoned beasties on Expeditions. They may be too effective, may spirits, so some locations may have wards against specific beasties so you have to fall back on mortals.
This is a Peril attached to Fort Geryk. (That pink question mark is ‘art to come’.) Perils often kill a follower if they’re failed. Valciane, a Forge-aspected cultist, should be able to handle this.This is why I brought Neville, whose thing is Knock. Doors are Seals: they don’t kill you, but they still need to be passed successfully.And this is a Guardian obstacle. It’s why I needed the summoned Hint from behind the mirror.First we face off against the Sea peril (helpfully identified in the current build as one of four pink question marks NOT FINAL ART). Probably fine! We have five points of Forge, which should be plenty. Go Valciane!
We made it to the Fort! Note that each attempt at an obstacle costs us Funds. Expeditions can get expensive if they run into trouble.This is where I realise I didn’t need Neville. You can open a door with Knock, or smash it down with Forge, and Valciane is keen to try the second approach.Actually, maybe Valciane should have left it to Neville.er whoops, let’s sort that out by adding some Funds. You can send more Followers and Funds on an expedition after it begins – but you can’t reclaim them until it succeeds or fails.
We’re through!
Okay, the Dead. This is a Guardian that’s vulnerable to Winter and to Edge. The summoned Hint gives us a good whack of Edge.
er, whoops. Not a good *enough* whack of Edge. Our Hint minion has failed.
er, whoops. Not a good *enough* whack of Edge. Our Hint minion has failed.
They got the summoned Hint! That’s good news and bad news. Good news: I can summon another Hint later. They’re not irreplaceable like humans.Bad news: I don’t have any Edge-aspected or Winter-aspected members of the Expedition left. The Dead are going to tear us into tiny edible pieces.SO TIME TO BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS. I’m sending in Elridge, a fully upgraded Exalted believer with Edge aspect. I didn’t do this at the beginning because Expeditions take a long time, and I might have needed him to murder a detective or something; also, it would have been a bugger if the Sea Peril had killed someone and that someone had been my precious Elridge.Got ’em.What did the Governor keep in his hoard? TUNE IN END OF THIS MONTH FOR THE EXPLORER’S BUILD etc
….or, if you don’t have access to development builds from the Kickstarter or the early-purchase Perpetual Edition, wishlist here
