Belief

Belief

A character’s Belief is a measure of their influence upon the world, and it impacts nearly everything about them. Belief is a hotly contested resource, with Huldufolk spending months or even years to steal a single follower from their rivals1Mechanics for gaining Belief will be added in a later update.

Belief Ranks

There are five ranks of Belief available to player characters. While Huldufolk innately know the relative strength of Belief when encountering another character, it can be difficult to know exactly where a character stands. In Huldufolk society, it is common to refer to these ranks with formal titles.

  • Rank 1 (Freeholder)
    • The Huldufolk can purchase powers of level 3 or below and use them freely.
    • The Huldufolk can purchase powers of level 4, but must spend Belief to use them, or Burn Belief to access their spend effects.
    • The Huldufolk’s Personal Influence is 10 meters in radius.
    • The Huldufolk’s Territorial Influence is 1 km in radius.
  • Rank 2 (Citizen)
    • The Huldufolk can purchase powers of level 4 or below and use them freely.
    • The Huldufolk can purchase powers of level 5, but must spend Belief to use them, or Burn Belief to access their spend effects.
    • The Huldufolk’s Personal Influence is 20 meters in radius.
    • The Huldufolk’s Territorial Influence is 2 km in radius.
  • Rank 3 (Knight)
    • The Huldufolk can purchase powers of level 5 or below and use them freely.
    • The Huldufolk’s Personal Influence is 30 meters in radius.
    • The Huldufolk’s Territorial Influence is 3 km in radius.
  • Rank 4 (Margrave)
    • The Huldufolk can use the Spend effect of level 1 powers without expenditure.
    • The Huldufolk’s Personal Influence is 40 meters in radius.
    • The Huldufolk’s Territorial Influence is 4 km in radius.
  • Rank 5 (Sovereign)
    • The Huldufolk can use the Spend effect of level 2 and below powers without expenditure.
    • The Huldufolk’s Personal Influence is 50 meters in radius.
    • The Huldufolk’s Territorial Influence is 5 km in radius.

Belief points

A character has access to a number of belief points equal to their Rank x 3. A character achieves the spend effects of their powers by using one of these points, which refresh at the end of a game or when a specific effect causes a refresh. When a character uses a burn effect, they temporarily reduce their Belief Rank by 1, to a minimum of 0. If a character reaches Belief 0 due to burning belief, they lose access to nearly every benefit of being Huldufolk. They are unable to affect the human world, use powers above Level 2, or regain Belief Points until their Rank has been restored to at least 1.

Rare effects can actually permanently reduce a character’s Belief permanently, if a character is stripped of Belief rank, they must regain that rank as though they never held it. A Huldufolk stripped of their final Rank is left as little more than a passing shadow, barely a threat to a will-o-the-wisp.