Player Cult Macguffins

Legendary Weapons

Some Players believe that the End Game involves the destruction of certain powerful NPCs -- heads of state, leading crime bosses, corporate CEOs and the like. If enough of them are taken out of the picture, the Game will end. The Power Gamers largely hold to this line of thinking. Some take it a step further, however, seeing these NPCs as stepping stones to a far bigger Boss battle.

In order for the Players to survive a fight on that scale, they will need a similarly epic weapon. Power Gamers are always on the lookout for news of brand-new super weapons or military technology. They are behind several covert attempts to steal artillery, combat suits, mechs, explosives and even nuclear launch keys. Any unique, powerful weapon is likely to draw their attention.

Besides attempted theft, Power Gamers have been known to fund research into some of the more deadly technologies, and are attempting to build their own versions of military tech (usually from stolen specs).

The Zombie Virus

Many Death Bringers argue that the Power Gamers think too small, with their hunt for legendary weapons. Why target individual NPCs when you can destroy the whole system and bring the Game down on itself? To this end, Death Bringers are willing to consider weapons that most Players would hesitate using.

If there has been a recent raid on a secret medical facility, chances are the Death Bringers are behind it. They also covertly fund research into biological weapons, nanotechnology and various diseases & contagions. If all goes well, some scientist will eventually unlock the secret to wiping out all life on Earth, and the Death Bringers will be ready to relieve him of it.

The Portal

After Player One disappeared five years ago, there were some Players who fervently believed he had found the way out of The Game. The Puzzle Gamers eventually emerged from this group of hopefuls. This theorized exit, known as The Portal, is the subject of many debates and fruitless quests, costing the Puzzles Gamers countless hours of research every year.

They have followed hundreds of 'leads' on it -- everything from cracking into a secure Swiss bank vault to funding expeditions to various archaeological digs in search of 'power sources' for The Portal. Some believe that the Bermuda Triangle is really a giant cover-up for The Portal, while others believe it lies behind an unmarked doorway, somewhere in North America.

Expect Players to show up in some of the most unexpected places while searching for this thing. A lot of the things they steal have the potential to be 'Portal Keys', as well.

Player Two's Profile

After Scott Inskeep died, his family decided to leave his social media profiles alone, as a sort of online memorial to his life. While the core content rarely changes, the comments section sees occasional use as a sort of covert message board for Players when no other line of secure communication exists.

Beyond that, though, there have been several mysterious posts left recently, by a user that no one in the Cult recognizes. All attempts to trace this person have failed. Some of the posts are links to large, downloadable files (that are being carefully examined by the Puzzle Gamers), while others are simple pictures or one-word comments. It's possible that someone is having a joke at the Players' expense, but some wonder if Player Two isn't as dead as they thought.

Player One's Journal

Paranoid and brilliant, Jared Oswald kept a leather-bound journal of his experiences within the Cult, believing that paper-copy was harder for agents of The Game to track. In its pages, he detailed dozens of crimes, hundreds of moments of dark inspiration, plans for the future and incoherent passages written in his own personal cypher. Many Players believe that the journal holds clues about his disappearance, and it is the single most important written work ever produced by the Cult.

There are no copies of it, and the Players guard it jealously -- Exodus keeps it on his person at all times. While some sections of it are read aloud during general meetings, a Player can only gain access to the rest of it at Level 7 or above. This is done in part to keep evidence of Jared's past crimes out of the hands of authorities. Several attempts to steal or copy the journal have been made, and all have been met with the most violent resistance.