Chronicle of the Crusade #2: Cultists

Cultists are an important enemy family in Band of Crusaders. The world isn’t filled just with Abominations and selfish humans who have forsaken their humanity. Cultists are neither human nor Abominations, but something vile in between. Learn more about them… if you dare.

Origins of the Cultists

Imagine a world on fire, ravaged by years of war, plundered by raiders and defiled by Abominations, that’s the place where commoners strive for survival every day. Even in good times, morality isn’t something you can take for granted, and with order fallen and lords hiding in their castles, some ordinary folk turned to a different force for help.

This new way of living, based on worshiping the Abominations, pushed those who tried into a servant role, spiraling further into forsaking their humanity and fully switching sides. With rituals that seem to strengthen and summon even more Abominations, and with regular attacks on human settlements whom they now resent, the impact of the evil force takes a toll not only on their minds but also on their bodies, resulting in new appendages and vile deformations.

Design approach

Cultists who began as regular folk searching for a way of survival are now fanatics, caring less about their look and protection than humans would. They look more brutal, raw and chaotic. Nevertheless, some sparks of humanity remain as they use weapons and equipment of their own production or found on the battlefields.

Let’s have a look at one of the Heretics, in this case, the War Heretic. Characterized by dual-wielding weapons, in your Crusade you might find three variants of him based on the armor worn: Light, Medium, and Heavy. This doesn’t only mean a more difficult fight, but also an urgent need to strategize which Crusaders you’ll need to put into each battle.

Battle-forged veterans claim that Cultists, despite their use of weapons and humanoid shape, are too far gone and there’s not a speck of humanity remaining. Through their beastly practices and behavior, some even say that they are closer to Abominations. One can only wonder if they have reached their final form or are only mid-change into something more deviant. Especially if you notice some similarities with the Hellhound!

Perhaps there is a way to turn them back into humans. There wasn’t a single brave soul who would dare and try.

Since Cultists and Abominations are allies, they can unite in combat — either by forming joint units on the map or by becoming even deadlier when two full separate armies of each type participate in the same battle.

When looking for inspirations to create various Cultist enemies, we look into legends, stories and myths present in European folklore. Cultists are meant to be quite grounded and heavily physical, but we do not stray entirely from magical powers.

Hexe: A Cultist story from the German Medieval Legends

Let’s have a look at Hexe’s origin. The name itself already shows that the inspiration was taken from medieval Europe. First mentions date back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium in the region of what is today Germany. It evolved to naming close to what we are using (“ hecse ”) in various Rhenish and Upper German dialects.

Hexe: Special Traits

Hexe is often accompanied by many other Cultists, as she focuses on ranged combat and effectively harm Crusaders hiding behind her allies. Through self-mutilation she is able to generate massive amounts of damage.