Follower

Follower is an Aspect representing a member of your cult. There are Followers available for each of the nine Principles, with the exception of Secret Histories. Followers can be permanent or temporary; permanent Followers can be promoted, and named Followers have three stages of increasing strength: Believer, Disciple and Exalted. All Followers, with the exception of Spirits, are Mortal.

## Follower Types

### Named Followers

Named Followers are unique: they can only be recruited once, and once lost cannot be regained. As Believers, they have 2 points in their primary Principle; as Disciples, they have 5 points; and as Exalted, they have 10. At least two named Followers exist for each Principle.

Named Followers are met as Acquaintances, which can be found by speaking of esoteric matters or Exploring with a Peculiar Rumor. Once both of these options have been exhausted and no more Acquaintances are available, A Case of Mistaken Identity will be generated. Once met, named Followers can be recruited by Talking to your Society about the acquaintance and providing at least 1 point of the Society's Principle.

Five of the named Followers can only be recruited by turning members of the Suppression Bureau into Rivals; once this is done, they can be recruited by Talking to your Society about the Rival with a magnitude of 21 of the Society's Principle. These points must be partially supplied by a Tool, which will be permanently consumed as a mark of your good faith.

### Pawns

**Pawns** are weaker Followers. In a normal game, there are a total of eight, one for each Principle. They are first met as Acquaintances called **Hangers-On** speaking of esoteric matters or Exploring with a Peculiar Rumor. Hangers-On are recruited like named Followers, at which point they become Pawns. Pawns each have 1 point of Edge, but can be promoted to Disciples, at which point they have 2 points of their respective Principle, and 1 point of Edge, excluding Edge Pawns, which have only 2 Edge. Pawns cannot be Exalted.

While Pawns are not unique, you can only recruit eight of them through normal means. However, with the Inspector's Position, you can recruit generic Troublemakers as Pawns after they become Rivals. This is a limited and expensive method; Hirelings are both cheaper and stronger than Pawns.

Unlike other Pawns, which do not decay, **Erratic Disciples** have a lifespan of 600s, after which they decay to A Poor Lunatic.

### Hirelings

**Hirelings** are temporary Followers that can be found by exploring with a Follower or Health. They can be hired for 120 seconds by using 1 Funds. Their timer pauses when they are on Expeditions, on Cult Business, or you are Talking to them; Talking to a Hireling will also give you the opportunity to give them Funds to renew their timer.

Hirelings can be hired multiple times, making them handy replacements for named Followers in risky operations such as destroying Evidence or getting rid of Hunters.

### Spirits (Minions)

*Full article: Spirits*
Spirits are followers that can be summoned via rituals. They have aspects of higher magnitude than disciples or believers and can replace them in many tasks. Like hirelings, spirits are temporary cards and will vanish after their timer has expired. Most will leave a first-level Influence behind. Some spirits might have special interactions when talked with.

### Devotees

**Devotees** are temporary followers available in the Priest legacy. They can be recruited when working An Appointment to a Quiet Parish produces Exultation; providing your Society will produce a Devotee of the corresponding Principle. Providing the Society of St Hydra will result in a **Sturdy Worshipper**.

Devotees have a lifespan of 160s, at which point they decay to nothing. They are not unique, and multiple Devotees can be created from a congregation at one time.

## Promoting Followers

To promote a Follower, Talk to your Society about the Follower and provide a sufficient magnitude of your cult's founding Principle (e.g. Edge for the Church of the Bright Edge). Two slots are provided, one for Lore and one for Influences, Tools, or Ingredients; either or both slots can be filled for a successful promotion, as long as there is enough of the correct Principle. Ingredients and Influences will be consumed. 7 points are required to promote a Believer to a Disciple, and 21 are required to promote a Disciple to an Exalted. Notably, your Follower's own aspects are counted in this total; for instance, when the Wildwood Club promotes a Moth Believer with 2 Moth, only 5 additional points of Moth are required.

Only Followers matching the founding Principle of your cult can be Exalted; attempting to exalt other Followers (for instance, with a max-level Tool and Lore) will take the full 60s but return your Follower unchanged. This means the Society of St Hydra cannot promote their Disciples to Exalts, though any Principle can be used to recruit Followers and promote them to Disciples.

### Disciples

**Disciple** is an aspect appearing on cultists, whether they are your followers or not. On Followers, this indicates the second stage of advancement. Unique Followers have primary aspects of magnitude 5; Pawn Disciples have primary aspects of magnitude 2. Promoting a Believer to a Disciple requires you to provide at least 7 points of the founding Principle of your Society.

Rivals gain the Disciple aspect when their Ascension reaches level 3. Recruiting a rival at this stage turns them into a normal Disciple. Recruiting a generic rival at this stage will create a **Sturdy Disciple** of Edge 2.

#### Potential

**Potential** is an aspect that occurs on Followers who are Disciples, signifying that they might rise to become an Exalted.

Recruiting the unique Hunters as Rivals with the Disciple aspect and A Rival's Ascension of 3 will make the Hunter into a Follower, but they will lack the Potential aspect and already have the Exalted aspect, making it impossible to promote them further even if their main Principle matches your Society. (Douglas, however, can be promoted from Disciple to Reshaper by the Unflinching Order like normal.)

### Exalted

**Exalted** is an aspect appearing on cultists, whether they are your followers or not. It signifies that they have reached the highest possible understanding of their art, and Exalted Followers cannot be promoted further. Followers with this aspect retain the Disciple aspect, but lose the Potential aspect. Only named Followers can be promoted from Disciples to Exalts, at which point their principle will increase to magnitude 10. Promoting a Disciple to an Exalted requires you to provide at least 21 points of the founding Principle of your Society; the Disciple must also have the Potential aspect and the same principle as your cult.

An Exalted Follower will receive a title upon promotion:

* A Seer
* A Reshaper
* An Assassin
* A kindly-faced woman, who is silent
* A gaunt woman, who is silent
* A Tarantellist
* A Cyprian
* A Skintwister
* A Key

Rivals gain the Exalted aspect when their Ascension is at 4 or more. Recruiting a named Rival at this stage will make them a normal Exalted follower (which can be taken advantage of in the Detective legacy with the Mirror of Glory or the Society of St Hydra to recruit all of the named Followers as Exalted—the only way to acquire Exalted Followers with the Society of St. Hydra). Recruiting a generic rival, however, will still only create a **Sturdy Disciple**. The unique Hunters, if recruited at this stage, gain unique titles as Exalted followers.

* A Sage
* A Conqueress
* A Conclusion
* A Herald

## Follower Actions

Followers are critical for achieving a number of tasks. These include:

* Destroying Evidence
* Dealing with annoyances and Hunters
* Creating Snares and repairing Tools
* As sacrifices to Way: The Spider's Door
* Conducting Expeditions
* Spying on and defending against enemy Long
* As gifts to certain individuals
* As assistance or ingredients in Rites
* Performing cult business, or beneficial actions unique to each Society

## Trivia

* The Exalted heart follower title Tarantellist is likely a reference to Tarantism, a kind of hysteria characterized by an uncontrollable urge to dance.