HQ25 Cultist spells poll

[Daedalus]

Discussion links:

Chaos Cultist spells:
A, B, C) Doom, Mask of Chaos, Corruption, more here
D, E, F, G, H, I) Discord, Waking Nightmare, Disturb,
Torment, Blood Sacrifice, Retribution
J, K, L) Mind Lock, Dominate, Mind Blast
M, EE) Anguish, Nightmare

The next poll is for Chaos Cultist spells which were voted as popular as Swamp spells in the HQ25 spell sets poll. Vote on any number of spells, though it's probably a good idea to choose at least six. Changing votes is allowed. Those entries with the most votes will make the cut for the core set of six spells, though others will be represented as alternates. [The Chaos spells of the NA Game System remain as a separate option for this spell set, as the Chaos Cultist monster special ability was originally created with these spells in mind. -edit]

Feel free to make comments--you may help others to decide. New spells may also be suggested in this thread to be included in the poll. If you're not sure of the description in an entry, follow the matching-lettered discussion link above in this post for a fuller explanation at the original post.

[Daedalus]

This set works a little differently because of the Cultist special ability:

[One or more Chaos-edit] Cultists may either draw one random Chaos spell or cast from this pool, though spells that can ever affect more than 1 Hero are discarded.

Of the 12 NA Chaos Spell Cards, 5 can't be cast and would waste a turn to draw and discard (Lightning Bolt, Cloud of Chaos, Firestorm, Summon Undead, and Summon Orcs.) The other 7 may be cast by a Chaos Cultist (Ball of Flame, Command, Fear, Escape, Rust, Sleep, and Tempest.) A one-for-one swap of Chaos Cultist spells for the useful Chaos spells would mean the Chaos Cultist core spell set should contain 7 spells, not 6.

Well, we could instead keep the core set at 6 and treat Escape as a discard as well (with a bit of ability rewording.) However, I think Escape could be salvaged as a useful spell if a Quest with Chaos Cultists noted the "safe place" on the map or stated an Escape spell could teleport the spellcaster to any unoccupied space on the map.

It's even possible to instead swap in a full core set to 12 Inn-created spells, but that would mean every draw from the spell deck would supply a useful spell, boosting the power of the Chaos Cultist. I'd say that could be handled as a special occurrence in the Quest notes with an alter or something. The same boost could be also be achieved with a smaller core deck of 6 or 7 cards by swapping out the Chaos spells that can't be cast instead.

[Daedalus]

I like the idea that Chaos Cultists assault the will of the Heroes. As Mind Points are a concrete measure of that will, threatening a Hero with Mind Point-reducing spells is a good fit, in my opinion.

The BQP approached Mind Point damage with a hammer, Mind Freeze. I prefer a piecemeal option of whittling a Hero down with accumulated damage, more like AtOH achieved with Mind Blast tokens. Here's another mind-affecting spell to help pile on that mental strain:

Anguish This spell compounds the effects of pain. Each time any one Hero sustains Body Point damage, he must roll one red die. If anything but a 5 or 6 is rolled, the spell inflicts 1 Mind Point of damage. The spell is broken when a 5 or 6 is rolled. Place this card beside the gameboard for reference.

I also wanted to create a Nightmare alternate that wasn't so crippling:

Nightmare This spell imposes visions of horror, inflicting 1 Mind Point of damage upon one Hero each turn. A Hero that is reduced to zero Mind Points goes into "shock." The spell may be broken immediately or on a future turn by the Hero rolling one red die for each of his Mind Points, or one if in "shock." If a 6 is rolled, any damage is restored and the spell is ended.

These spells have been added to the poll as choices M and EE.

[Daedalus]

The optional Cultist spell set of seven cards has taken shape. Voting has been minimal over an extended period, but the poll remains open. Here's the current breakdown:

1 vote:
The Chaos Cultist ability uses Chaos spells from the NA Game System. (An optional Cultist spell set may be substituted, as described in the introductory section of the Quest Pack.)

1 vote:
The core seven Cultist spells chosen are:

Doom, Corruption, Discord, Disturb, Blood Sacrifice, Retribution and Anguish

0 votes:
The six remaining spells make up the alternates:

Mask of Chaos, Torment, Mind Lock, Dominate, Mind Blast and Nightmare.