Cthulhu Wars: Daemon Sultan Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Faction Board
  • Unique Ability
  • Setup
  • Units
  • Spell Books
  • Great Old Ones Card
• Introduction
• Set Up
• Playing as Daemon Sultan
  • Consummation
  • Traitors
  • Chaos Gate
  • Animate Matter
  • Undirected Energy
  • Fiendish Growth
• Thwarting Daemon Sultan

Components

• 6 Acolyte Cultists
• 4 Brain Cylinders
• 1 High Priest
• 1 Dark Demon
• 3 Chaos Gates
• 2 Larvae Thesis
• 2 Larvae Antithesis
• 2 Larvae Synthesis
• 1 Avatar Thesis
• 1 Avatar Antithesis
• 1 Avatar Synthesis
• 1 Power Marker
• 1 Azathoth Glyph Token
• 1 Azathoth Die
• 1 Doom Marker
• 1 Faction Token
• 4 Brain Cylinder Tokens
• 6 Spellbooks and Faction Cards

Note: the High Priest, Dark Demon and Brain Cylinder tokens are included for convenience if you are playing a game in which those are available to other players. The Daemon Sultan does not use them otherwise.

Faction Board

Unique Ability

Psychosis (Action; Cost 0): You must have an acolyte in your pool. Select an area that has no units from any faction. Place an acolyte from your pool there. Your "start area" is the first area in which you place an acolyte.

During each Doom phase, flip ALL your face-down faction spellbooks face-up again.

Setup

The Setup line on the faction board is not legible in the source scan (see note in the Table of Contents). The Set Up section below gives the setup rules.

Units

Units	Cost	Combat	Notes
Acolyte (Cultist)	1	0	Combat is 1 with Frenzy Spellbook.
Larva Thesis (Monster)	1	0	Combat is 2 if Avatar Thesis is in play.
Larva Antithesis (Monster)	1	0	Combat is 2 if Avatar Antithesis is in play.
Larva Synthesis (Monster)	1	0	Combat is 2 if Avatar Synthesis is in play.
Chaos Gate (Buildings)	N/A		The Chaos Gate can only be occupied by a Daemon Sultan cultist. Otherwise, it is like a normal Gate, except that it can only be placed via the Chaos Gate spellbook.

Spell Books

The faction board's six Spell Books panels read:

• You have one of each Larva type in play.
• An abandoned gate is on the map during Gather Power.
• Awaken Avatar Thesis.
• During any Doom phase, you declare that each other player chooses whether to receive 1 Power or 1 Doom. You gain everything they gain.
• Awaken Avatar Antithesis.
• Awaken Avatar Synthesis.

Great Old Ones Card

General Avatar Rules

1. You must have a Larva of the desired Avatar in play, for instance a Larva Thesis, if you wish to Awaken Avatar Thesis.
2. Costs vary with the Avatar.
3. Once the cost is paid, replace the Larva with the correct Avatar.

How to Awaken Avatar Thesis

1. Set the Azathoth marker on the Doom track on any desired spot from 0 to 8.
2. Pay Power equal to the Azathoth marker's setting.
3. Divide up Power among the enemy players in an amount equal to the total players (including you). Example: In a 6 player game, divide up 6 Power among them. A player who gets no Power gains 1 Doom.

Combat: Equals the Azathoth marker's position.

How to Awaken Avatar Antithesis

1. Avatar Thesis must have been awakened. (It need not be in play.)
2. Pay Power equal to 8 minus the Azathoth marker's setting.
3. Each other player must choose and eliminate 1 of their cultists.

Combat: Equals 8 minus the Azathoth marker's position.

How to Awaken Avatar Synthesis

[Not legible in the source scan. The Avatar Synthesis steps on the Great Old Ones card could not be read reliably at the available resolution, so they are not transcribed here.]

Introduction

The Daemon Sultan represents those few madmen who seek to learn of Azathoth, or who have already done so.

Set Up

The Daemon Sultan player starts with nothing on the Map, and begins with minimum Power (4, because the other players have 8). He must use his Psychosis ability to place his first Units.

Please note that the Daemon Sultan High Priest, Dark Demon, and Brain Cylinder Tokens are included for your convenience if you are playing a game in which these are available to other players. The Daemon Sultan does not use these otherwise.

Playing as Daemon Sultan

During the first turn, typically Daemon Sultan Summons free Cultists for a while. Near the end of the turn, build a Gate and either Move a second Cultist to it, or Summon a Larva. That'll use up your 4 Power. Yes, someone may Capture one of your Cultists, but it's cheaper to replace it (free) than to flee, unless you fear letting that player gain the Power next turn.

Your hardest Spellbook to achieve is the Abandoned Gate; often, you can't accomplish it until you have a Chaos Gate available. However, in theory, you could get the "every other player chooses whether he receives 1 Power or 1 Doom" Spellbook, in your first Action Phase but it can be risky giving your foes that early boost.

In general, you needn't suppress enemy players in the early-to mid-game (unless one pulls ahead drastically). Instead, you have several tools to use in boosting players who fall behind—let them pull down the leaders. You are, by and large, a Faction which thrives by keeping your enemies on an even playing field.

One of your big decisions is how much to pay for Avatar Thesis—you could, of course, pay nothing, but then you must pay it back later, when Avatar Antithesis costs 8! In general, a cheap Thesis makes sense, because Power is precious in the early game. But, it can be useful to get your second Great Old One out early, too. Some players like paying 4 apiece, which at least has the virtue that you know what your Avatars all cost. Don't forget, however, that if you have a 0-cost Avatar, you can Sacrifice it cheaply to keep another, better Avatar alive via Synthesis' Cosmic Ruler ability. Don't forget to re-Awaken your cheap Avatar.

Your Spellbooks activate once per turn, so you need to position yourself properly to maximize their value. You'll seem weak early, but later your three Great Old Ones help you surge ahead. Experienced enemies will figure this out; don't fall into the trap of spending your entire turn managing Spellbooks and slacking off on essential tasks, such as building Gates. Eventually, you may have only your Chaos Gates, but if you can manage to perform Rituals, you can get up to 3 Elder Signs each time.

Consummation

A core Spellbook, but pointless to take as your first one.

Traitors

An excellent Spellbook, though it may not appear so at first glance. You get an Elder Sign, another player gets saddled with a hard-to-protect Gate in the middle of nowhere, and you get a new Cultist to place for free with Psychosis.

Chaos Gate

This gives you a comparatively safe Gate, and also sets you up for the Terror weapon of Animate Matter.

Animate Matter

Your signature move. As the click-bait ad goes, "Other Great Old Ones hate him!"

Undirected Energy

It requires you to put Thesis in harm's way, but if he's cheap, you shouldn't care.

Fiendish Growth

Lets you set up for lots of stuff and, unlike Undirected Energy, since you get Units immediately, Antithesis is protected.

Thwarting Daemon Sultan

Daemon Sultan's great strength is that he can destroy your infrastructure and help your rivals. His great weakness is that it takes him at least three turns and 19 Power to set up all his Great Old Ones, which means he has a long, slow buildup.

You can pre-emptively hamper him by checking which Larvae he has out. If he doesn't have a relevant Larva, he can't Awaken that Great Old One. You should also kick him off his Chaos Gates. An Abandoned Gate is still good for you, after all, and you'll need the Power to rebuild your lost Gates.