MYTHOS 101: A CRASH COURSE IN LUNACY UNBOUND

-=The Story Thus Far=-
For a long time, you've heard rumors of strange cults, worshipping unhallowed and otherworldly
beings.  Ca'thc'hal, E'athl, Uyomnathe, and others.  Soon enough, some of them even founded their
temples in your city.  But a bunch of crackpots?  What harm can they do?  Perhaps more than we
suspect.

Meanwhile, in a distant dimension, Ca'thc'hal sleeps uneasily.  He dreams of the world of light and
order...and prey.  The stars are right, and it is unfortunate for the people of Earth that he is
so close to awakening...

-=Overview=-
The object of this document is to teach you the essentials of Lunacy Unbound, my latest creation.
First off, let's cover what you're trying to do.

If you've chosen Citizens D(efender), you're trying to protect the city you're in.  If you're
Citizens C(ultist), you're trying to destroy it.  Bear in mind that no one else can see what you've
chosen, and you can't see it for anyone else!

These goals are accomplished as follows:
-If at least 15 minutes of game time have elapsed and no Dimensional Rifts are open, a two-minute
countdown timer will begin.  If this reaches 0, the Defenders have sealed the gates into the town
and have won.
-If the Cultists manage to summon Ca'thc'hal, and the Defenders kill him, the Defenders have won.
-If all Defenders are eliminated, the Cultists have won.
-If your House is destroyed and you die, you have lost.

-=Characters=-
You start with a House, and only a House.  This House, by itself, can do nothing.  You must select
a hero.  Don't worry--you can change this later if you want.  The six heroes are the Police
Officer, the Vigilante, the Mobster, the Barkeeper, the Professor, and the Big Game Hunter.  Each
has their own strengths and weaknesses, and a "special ability" described below:

Police Officer: Night Vision - Can see farther than other heroes.
Barkeeper: Charisma - Can recruit more allies than others.
Mobster: Emotional Distance - Suffers less Sanity loss than others when his allies die.
Vigilante: Mask of Shadow - Can hide himself from normal sight.
Professor: Master Arcanist - Has True Sight and gains more energy from his energy upgrade.
Big Game Hunter: Marksmanship - Has a notably longer range than others.

Experiment around and find one you like.  Once the game's begun, you can change your hero, but
you'll lose all your money.

-=Neutral Buildings=-
In Lunacy Unbound, base-building is nonexistant.  The Cultists can open Dimensional Rifts and summon
Xeogeoids, but for the most part structures are preplaced.  To use a structure, walk up to it and
either press the "Claim Structure" button or hit "C", then click the structure.  You can then use it
until someone else comes along to take it.

A brief description of each one follows.

-House: Where people live.  Most of them are neutral and don't actually do anything.
-Tavern: Provides the Barkeeper and Mobster with energy upgrades.  You can hire Townsmen here, too.
-Police Station: Where the Police Officer and Vigilante get their energy upgrades.  Trains Gunmen.
-Library: The Professor can acquire his energy upgrade here, plus you can purchase Arcane Orbs.
-Laboratory: A place of interested science-type-folks.  You can hire Scientists and get cash for
monsters that you've killed.
-Hospital: Where you go when you're hurt.  Heals nearby units and can restore Sanity for a price.
-Weapon Shop: Go here to upgrade your attacks.  Also has the Big Game Hunter's energy upgrade.
-Temple of E'athl: E'athl the Formless can enchant your weapons, upgrading them past L1.  His
Disciples can also help you out if you hire them.
-Temple of Uyomnathe: Uyomnathe the Blind will bestow his blessing upon you, giving you extra
armor.  His Disciples bear a strange similarity to those of E'athl.

*Note that weapon upgrades past L1 and all armor upgrades cost Sanity!  That's what you get for
dealing with Things Beyond Space and Time!

-=Money and Sanity=-
These are your two resources in Lunacy Unbound.

Money (Minerals) is gained through two means, both of which center around killing things.
These are: (1) Through directly killing human units, and (2) through killing monsters and trading
in their remains at the Laboratory.

Sanity (Gas) is more tricky.  It starts at 50 and has various effects as it drops.
-Below 40: Paranoia - You no longer are sure who you can trust.  You may not form alliances.
-Below 30: Phobia - You develop an acute fear of things around you.  Your Sanity slowly drops.
-Below 20: Gleam of Madness - No sane person will associate with you.  You cannot recruit allies.
-Below 10: Schizophrenia - Every once in a while, you will temporarily black out.
-At 0: You die, lose all of your money and allies, and have your Sanity reset to 30.

Sanity is affected by various factors.  Buying arcane items, particularly Summoning Materials,
decreases it, as do dealings with Uyomnathe and E'athl.  More significantly (for the Cultists, at
any rate) summoning anything from another dimension costs Sanity.
A list of other modifiers follows, in order of increasing value:

Kill a hero: -4 Sanity
Kill a human unit: -3 Sanity
Lose an ally: -2 Sanity
Destroy a Glyph: +1 Sanity
Destroy a structure: +3 Sanity
Destroy a Summoning Material: +4 Sanity
Close a Rift: +6 Sanity
Spend 14 Money at the Hospital: +10 Sanity

Have Sanity below 29: -1/2 Sanity per Sanity cycle
Hire a Scientist: +1 Sanity per Sanity cycle
Hire 3 Scientists: +2 Sanity per Sanity cycle
Hire 6 Scientists: +3 Sanity per Sanity cycle
A Sanity cycle here means a certain amount of time; I'm not entirely sure how long it is, but it
should be roughly 30 seconds real-world time.

-=Ca'thc'hal=-
Ca'thc'hal the Eldest, Herald of Chaos, is the Elder One whom our good friends the Cultists worship.
Summoning him requires the would-be-summoner to gather all four Summoning Materials--the Forbidden
Manuscripts, the Ancient Idol, the Piece of Starmetal, and the Geometer's Crown.  A Gateway can then
be converted to summon our dread lord Ca'thc'hal.

Once Ca'thc'hal is summoned, the summoner loses the ability to do anything except control him--
they cannot get another hero, and if they lose Ca'thc'hal, they lose and take the rest of the
Cultists with them.

-=tl;dr=-
-Be paranoid
-Kill things
-Watch your Sanity
-Claim buildings
-Defenders: Close Rifts and kill monsters
-Cultists: Open Rifts and summon monsters
-Oh shit, it's Ca'thc'hal
-Ia!  Shub-Niggurath!  The Goat with a Thousand Young!