For a setting with an actual god of redemption in it, that particular example of Good at its best doesn't seem to get much love, or at least it feels that way much of the time. Whenever I've asked "where are the non-evil _____ tribes when they have free will and Sarenrae exists", the general answer is along the lines of "that's what the PCs are for", but that doesn't really get a lot of love either.
Most of the time redemption is mentioned in APs, it seems it's to say that so-and-so is beyond it or that characters interested in pursuing redemption for an NPC are just taking the bait for a trap.
I got to thinking about Council of Thieves recently, specifically the matter of
Spoiler:
Khazrae.
I read that AP after we wound up not playing it and went with Kingmaker instead. I remember thinking that that would have been an awesome opportunity to finally getting to have a PC that managed to redeem a character, and that certainly presented an interesting opportunity that my character concept for CoT certainly would have pursued. But thinking on it further it likely would have blown up in his face like most every other attempt in the past I've made with my characters simply because the possibility of it suceeding wasn't even mentioned in the text.
And that's the frustrating thing. Far too many GMs simply will not deviate from the text, so if the possibility isn't mentioned, it isn't there for them.
The one actual NPC that I can think of that actually had redemption written in as a possibility was actually
Spoiler:
in Curse of the Crimson Throne, and her redemption she pretty much takes care of herself without the PCs having much of a hand in it.
Maybe I'm missing some other examples in APs I can't read(due to playing, even if two are stalled indefinitely) but I certainly can't remember any more in the APs I've read.
This isn't confined to the APs either. My all-time favorite fey, the Forlarren, was presented in Tome of Horrors(where I first learned of it) as a creature ripe for this sort of thing. It was as if that creature had been made for the sort of player that would be interested in redemption rather than just Detect Evil-Smite Evil. Then in Bestiary 2 and all of that richness and possibility is lost because it's now presented as a gleefully evil creature that's all about the evil, and where before there was depth there's now just a mechanical debuff.
Could we see more support to let good characters interested in redeeming evil characters, be they player race or monster? I mean surely there's enough room in Golarion for that form of play as well, right?
Could we have opportunities to have a hand in the redemption of a fiend? Could we have opportunities to lead orc tribes out of the darkness of their evil cultures? Could we see redemption actually given full attention and love once and a while rather than just lip-service?
It would just be nice to be able to play a good character in an AP, ask WWSD?, and actually have a decent shot at it working.
If this comes across as gripey, sorry. Just been fighting some burnout on this issue for a long time now.
Still trying to build that dream monk. Just wondering if I've overlooked any options that allow monks other than Four Winds to get Elemental Fist before over halfway into their careers, so that they can start getting the flavor of the genie fighting styles earlier.
Y'know, so Flowing Monks might be able to use Djinni or Marid styles, Monks of the Sacred Mountain might be able to use Shaitan styles, and so forth. Is there some workaround hidden away somewhere that I'm not seeing? Or is Four Winds the only game in town?
Four Wind's Aspect Master is kind of a severe moodkiller for me personally. For this monk concept at least.
Finally getting back to rewriting Vow of Poverty for my games(hey, I can at least make the monk I really want available to my players at least).
The basic idea is that taking the VoP and staying true to it grants the monk access to a sort of "skill tree" arranged to fit a Vudran theme: the skill tree is represented by three major branches(Mind, Body, Soul) made up of chakras a VoP monk can unlock(one every level). Thinking about laying out the tree in some sort of ornate flowering format.
Each of these chakras grant a bonus or ability to the monk. Like the Qinggong monk, it would give players some range to make the monk they want. If one wanted to emulate the inherent bonuses from the original Book of Exalted Deeds VoP, they could with the right combination of chakras. If they want to emulate the benefits of the Big 6, they can go that route as well. The big thing is to make a viable gearless monk available, something that feels like a monk, and doesn't narrow the thematic range available to their players.
So to monk fans: What abilities and perks, physical or mystical in nature, would you like to see your monks capable of taking? The obvious bonuses to stats, to-hit, AC, and the ki pool are already in for certain. It's just a matter of where and how they're laid out on the tree. But what about more esoteric monk stuff that a VoP monk might take or leave according to taste? There's certainly going to be some holy-themed options here, though I can see keeping this available to monks of Zon-Kuthon in particular considering their nature. Also playing around with the idea of Paladin Mercy-like abilities, something that can make the monk more directly beneficial to the party outside battle as one of the common complaint about monk abilities is that they're "self-centered" in nature.
The tricky part now seems to be avoiding overlap with the Qinggong powers and the various monk archetypes, most of which this monk could remain compatible with(save for those with heavy equipment dependency built in, most likely).
Tentatively have STR and DEX perks placed in the Body tree, WIS and INT in Mind, and CON and CHA in Soul.
Player here. No spoilers plz. Just wanted to throw that out there for those responsible. This has been a crazy-fun trip so far.
Spoiler:
Ameiko, Sandru, Koya, Shalelu, Kelda, Esmerelda, Spivy, Helgragavagaavalgalvavlal, and Ushakka have all been fun characters.
Playing a super-CG Shoanti half-orc barbarian.
Really enjoying the dynamic between anti-racist Ameiko and our "grandma-racist" dwarven sorcerer. And the rivalry between my idealistic character and cynical Shalelu. And our elven magus and halfling bard are constantly trying to get Sandru hooked up with Esmerelda.
We lost Ziobe to Kikonu during the botched first attempt on that guy's life. I managed to grab her body as we retreated. Took some of her feathers and tied them to the head of my earthbreaker so Kikonu would see them when during the killing blow of our rematch. Still carrying those feathers around out of respect for a fallen ally, but I just realized recently that resurrection would work on them after we used the Seal to bring back one of our own. Planning to try and bring her back that way.
Finally found Suishen just recently. Turned out to be a cool guy. I'm really looking forward to comparing/contrasting/discussing Shoanti/orc warrior traditions and those of Minkai with him.
Critted with him on the first swing. Rolled maximum damage. I have a good feeling about this relationship.
Feels good man.
It's been really fun, especially finally getting to see Varisia from a player's POV after being so familiar with it for so long.
Spoiler:
Then once things move northward, things still stay strong and evocative. We all had the added benefit of having Skyrim fresh on the brains too.
Does anyone else have a hard time not imagining him as Charles Atlas from those old bodybuilder ads from comics in the 50's. Or by proxy as Flex Mentallo?
Is anyone having a hard time seeing him as that now?
Seriously though, how do you see him as far as personality and image? He's one of those minor deities that seems like he'd get a lot of love from folks in-setting, but we know very little about him so far.
I'd just love for monks to have some options to get some Avatar-style elemental manipulating abilities going without having to multiclass into a caster class.
Some of the style feats can really help there, but the low-level lockout for many monks, particularly some archetypes, kills that concept for most, especially if you're playing in an AP.
Thinking about a flowing monk. They can't get Marid or Djinni style wtihout heavy feat investment that doesn't pay off until level 13 or so, which is near the end of most APs. Kind of hallow if that's the flavor you wanted for your monk the whole time.
Maybe qinggong with the hydraulic push power could be a way to go.
Just an odd thought that came up during a break in tonight's session:
We're looking towards a Skull and Shackles campaign somewhere down the line, but we have a friend that's going to have to drop out of the usual day that AP would get played.
While discussing the "how spells work on boats" section of that AP's player's guide, I said something to the effect of "Who summons a mansion on a ship anyway?(having forgotten what the spell actually looks like) Can't help but imagine it just 'noclips' off the moving boat and floats where it's summoned."
His immediate thought: "I'd use it to maroon people."
Everyone at the table simultaneously clicked and went "damn...", followed by his in-character response, "Do enjoy these luxuries while you can![/jamesbondvillain]"
This had never crossed our minds before. What a terrible, but horrifically classy villainous thing to do. Sure the later discussion about putting buckets of chum in the mansion may have killed some of that class, but still...
And it works with rope trick too!
Can't help but think one could actually get a decent adventure out of this idea, with the PCs as the guests left behind in a floating extradimensional pocket that has an expiration date. Maybe their "host" left something behind to give them a sporting chance, if they can work together and figure it out.
Between Distant Worlds, Mass Effect, a sizable amount of excitement over seeing Ridley Scott and H. R. Giger collaborating again, and some recent and very uncomfortable dreams, this crossed my mind.
Instead of tying the Dominion of the Black into the Lovecraft Mythos, is anyone else going with a different approach with them? Just some half-formed thoughts here, but....
Kind of imagining them with a bit of the Reaper's MO: Inscrutible beings lurking in dark space who manipulate the inhabitants of starlit worlds(be they living organics, undead, or mechanical) and periodically harvest them. But that's where the similarities mostly end. Mostly, their actual goals, methods, and philosophy are things words fail to capture. But a certain eccentric Swiss artist with his own night terrors as his muse can.
Look at their ships as seen in Distant Worlds. What if, instead of being a singular organism serving as a living starship, they were composed of an amalgam of beings from different species from different worlds. All of them broken and/or engineered almost beyond recognition, seamlessly melded with technology and fused together, all with their wills bent in subservient madness to the Dominion, all to form one terrible machine. Victims of the Dominion typically aren't given the luxury of death. They lose almost all that they are save for what the Dominion wishes to keep, and are taken and made a part of the Dominion's very flesh.
That ship in Distant Worlds isn't one being. It's many. All pressed and fused together into one behemoth of flesh and metal and shackled to the will of uncaring masters. No two ships look exactly alike, though there is an unsettling regularity to their symmetry. One ship's hull might be lined with humanoids fused with black steel and tubes, the limbs of converted spellcasters swaying and summoning protective wards to protect the rest of the hull's relatively delicate arms/manipulators from debris impact. Another ship could be using two converted oma as twin thrusters.
This is actually how the Dominion reproduces and evolves. Whatever aspects other beings may possess that they envy they make their own. They might encourage whatever race and/or culture catches their attention to continue to evolve along lines that strengthen these desired traits, allowing their victims to "ripen" or replenish the stock.
They're never about wiping out life. Not about killing for the sake of killing. Any (probably horrible) death they cause has to be a (probably horrible) source of new (probably horrible) life in their eyes. Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on death, so to speak.
We know the Dominion of the Black has probable connections to the abomination-planet Aucturn, which has a horrifying tendency to induce mutations in visiting life forms. Then there's The Loving Place, which beyond the obvious badness is probably a hotspot for new and exciting perversions of organic life. And the subsuming of TLP's inhabitants' minds to its horrific mating cycles might as well be a warm-up for the regulated bio-mechanized version awaiting them or their descendants once the Dominion farms them for parts. Perhaps the Dominion-claimed beings can still reproduce after conversion. Perhaps they can't and the sole reason for such configurations is so that the Dominion can experience something that's otherwise unknown to them.
Then there's the Aballonians and the mystery of their original creators. Could the Dominion have had a hand in their creation, with both factions of the Aballonians in fact veering away from their originally intended purpose of being a self-renewing source of mechanical components to regularly harvest? Or perhaps the Dominion was something that happened to their creators, hence why they've been gone so long?
Then there's the Osirion connection. Besides getting their foot in the door and having an entire civilization possibly co-opted to possibly have a sizable population to regularly sample, Osirion's rise after the Age of Darkness may have also been something to invest in as far as bringing humanity safely back from the brink of extinction.
Why do the Dominion do any of this? Perhaps it's the only way they can be capable of change and evolution? Perhaps they're sense-freaks. Maybe they're a combination of both, essentially being a sort of alien version of kytons? Perhaps it's best to leave that as an unknown and only confront players with the effects of their passing through the solar system?
Fiddling around with an idea that I'll use either in my homebrew(as a GM) or in a Golarion game(as a GM or player).
Long story short: Basically looking for every serpent-flavored option in the game for a party of good-aligned characters.
Long story long: My homebrew has a continent inhabited primarily by yuan-ti offshoot race that was transplanted there from another world where they were originally standard yuan-ti. Their society is centered around a god-empress risen marilith that is just on the edge of apotheosis into the setting's actual for-reals goddess of redemption. The yuan-ti of that culture have slowly evolved into various races and castes. While I've had these guys on the backburner for a long time, the new nagaji and vishkanya races are probably getting their mechanics plugged in there to represent some of those races.
If this stuff gets used in Golarion instead, probably going to go for some different flavor, something centered around a sect devoted to a celestial aspect of Ouroboros or somesuch and other benign gods seen through that lens, spanning various cultures such as Osirion, Vudra, and Nagajor.
Broad strokes take on the characters:
Nagaji summoner w/ Serpentine Eidolon (mostly naga-shaped, heavy on spell-like abilities possibly) Sees eidolon as a sacred guardian to be deferred to.
Vishkanya summoner w/ Serpentine Eidolon (lillend/marilith hybrid shape, heavy on melee combat possibly) Sees eidolon as an ideal to ascend towards.
Egyptian flavored cleric, possibly an Ophidian (from Psionics Unleashed)
Vishkayna(most likely) monk (using Serpent Style and whatever else is evocative of that flavor, heavy on the twisting/tangling/contortionist image)
And an appropriate fighty type to round things out, possibly a nagaji.
Then there's possibly a Serpentine-bloodline sorcerer that could fit in there somewhere.
What I'm wondering about is what other options out there could be added to these guys?
We know that Vercites choose to join one of their three castes when they come of age, but is this choice set in stone for the rest of their lives? If so, that could explain part of the taboo against coercing someone towards a particular choice that may not be right for them.
But augmentation or possible discovery of divine connections later in life could still happen to people from all three castes, right? That kind of blurs the lines a bit.
How does Verces society deal with this if it does happen? And how does it affect the social norm of not marrying within your own caste, when you might sport the features of more than one?
We're five years and eleven Adventure Paths in, as far as what's out and what's been announced, and there still hasn't been any half-orc representation. Is there any chance the next AP after Shattered Star can break that no-show streak for the one player race that hasn't gotten any AP love yet?
The one half-orc iconic we have actually would have been a perfect match for Carrion Crown for example, what with her nation of origin, religion, and trade all tying into the theme of that AP, but she got bumped out by an iconic that had been featured repeatedly already.
I know the reason given for the half-orc iconic being absent for so long is that potential customers would apparently be confused to see a monstrous-looking character fighting monsters, but I really think that severely understimates gamers, many of whom are more than familiar with the concepts of monstrous-looking heroes and are long and well disabused of the notion that Beauty Equals Goodness. That goes for younger videogamers outside the current tabletop gaming demographic that Paizo might like to pick up as well.
I mean, these images show that heroic half-orcs make for great imagery.
Does anyone really think people would be confused about who the hero is in those pictures?
It just feels like half-orcs are the company Unfavorite sometimes. Can't they get spotlight time? Good, inspiring heroic artwork is easy to find of every core player race except half-orcs it seems.
(heck, half-orcs don't exactly have a lot of PbP avatar choices here either)
I've seen this come up a few times recently but haven't been able to find any official answer or errata anywhere, and this is kind of an important issue for anyone wanting to play a Qinggong monk:
A Qinggong monk can replace certain newly gained monk features with Qinggong powers at the following levels:
slow fall (4th)
high jump (5th)
wholeness of body (7th)
diamond body (11th)
abundant step (12th)
diamond soul (13th)
quivering palm (15th)
timeless body (17th)
tongue of the sun and moon (17th)
empty body (19th)
perfect self (20th)
The possible Qinggong powers are arranged by their own levels:
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Reading over the rules, it seems the intent is that you replace a standard class feature for a power of a level equal or lower than your current monk level.
But if that's the case, why skew the numbers to begin with? Level 18 powers could have simply been labeled Level 19, as you would have to be that level to take it anyway. Same for all of those other even-number powers whose number doesn't match any monk level with an eligible feature to switch out.
Is the strict reading correct or is there something being missed here?
I mean maybe they were going for a bit of that Charles Vess look. It works when he does it. But here, it's just solid pieces of plastic off of offbrand Troll Doll knockoffs. And it's really getting distracting.
Also, House of Ballads spoilers:
Spoiler:
It turns out the House of Ballads is just a bunch of supernatural LARPers. Yeah they do real combat with real weapons and magic. But they're still LARPing.
Throwing chakrams is fun though.
Still, this game has mainly made me wish there was an equivalent for World of Warcraft*, especially considering that that game's look is pretty much lifted wholesale here.
What would you like out of art that's meant to be inspirational for characters you'd like to play?
What would you like to see out of art that's intended to be a touch fanservicey with you in mind?
What would you prefer to see avoided in both?
What are some elements you'd like to see in art form that bring a setting to life for you or make it more appealing?
What artists and styles do you prefer?
Full disclosure: Gonna start placing art orders sometime soon(though it will be ongoing for a pretty long while before it's done) for a setting project. I'd like it to be as inclusive as possible within the context of the setting, especially if it can give some folks something they've wanted for a long time.
Great big majestic super LG silver dragon wearing armor consisting of drowskin.
PCs: What the hell is wrong with you!?
Silver Dragon: points at the guy wearing dragonhide armor
PCs: Yeah...but you're wearing people skin...oh...wait...
Silver Dragon: Yes, but they were all bad.[/ahnold]
PCs: Oh...still...
Silver Dragon: Buffalo Bill dance
PCs: :O
Got to thinking about this back when my paladin saw a set of blue dragonhide armor. Just felt too twisted from that perspective. Being friends with a dragon disciple probably played a part in that as well. In settings with a wide range of sapient beings, it just seems a lot of things one takes for granted leads to horrifying situations, even before in-setting values dissonance comes into play.*
*(on the other hand, my supergood barbarian would have seen it as honoring the dragon in question, unless the dragon or someone in the know informed him otherwise. Shoanti aren't much for letting anything go to waste....)
of course one could always just find or be given scales, though one is unlikely to get the reciept showing that when this armor turns up in treasure
Parents, go take your kids to this movie. I'm not going to say you should take them to this movie instead of whatever loud pop-culture-overloaded CG IN 3D flick is on this week, but if you do take them to see that, consider taking them to see this as well.
Fans of traditional animation without a visible computer footprint should give it a look as well.
Based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Animated by Studio Ghibli.
Going with the idea that brains extracted by neh-thalggu are horribly, painfully alive and not dead. Adventurin' types lose a friend to one of these beasts, one that doesn't have a full set of brains and isn't as powerful as it could be. They keep the body intact with gentle repose, complete with the pop off top of the skull and empty brainpan left by the neh-thalggu.
They find the neh-thalggu, and either kill it and immediately get to work or manage to rip their friend's brain(possibly identified through psionics, possibly going off some other clue*, possibly just hoping they have the right one).
A possible quick game of hot potato follows, with the dying brain being placed back where it belongs and the skull closed over it. Possible heal check required for the person doing that. Immediately following that, someone casts breath of life.
Personally, I think I'd roll with it. Technically, if the spell's sucess is dependant upon the soul still lingering right there, it's still tied into the still-living brain.
Wondering how what others' takes on this admittedly fringe situation would be. Would it work? Would it have some other requirements?
*The idea of victims' silently screaming faces forming underneath the skin of those brain-sacs on the neh-thalggu was bounced around elsewhere recently. Really like that idea. Makes the neh-thalggu more terrifying and motivates PCs to put them down that much more.
In a game from way back, I've seen the idea of a medusa using her own blood to safely restore some people she had petrified(to save them from drowning) without requiring any save to survive the process.
Thinking about putting that concept down in rules form, but BALANCE.
Basic idea is that medusa blood can be mixed with some other pricy ingredients to cook up a salve, which when applied to a petrified creature will slowly restore them to their previous state. Probably takes a few minutes to apply and work at the very least. Medusas themselves actually came up with this use, with more benign ones giving of themselves to cure accidental victims and no-so-benign ones using it on shattered victims when food is in short supply.
The difference between this and stone to flesh is that it doesn't require a Fort save and it isn't instant. I'm also thinking it should actually be volume dependant: Flesh to stone works on creatures of any size. Perhaps one dose of medusa blood salve can be applied to one Mediium creature or two Small creatures, while multiple treatments would be needed for larger creatures.
But if one is going that route, what should this cost?
Having a critical ingredient being the blood of a medusa sharply reduces easy availability. Figure a medusa donor could take 1d2 points of Con damage for each dose. With greater medusas this possibly comes with poison in the mix, making it less valuable as a curative item than vanilla medusa blood. Or could that do something else?
Could add to reasons for people to seek medusas out and possibly to reasons for medusas to want to stay hidden. Could change their place in society a little bit as well, depending on the setting. Medusa alchemists could get some steady business from adventurin' types.
ATTEMPTED NOT-SPOILAGE WHY YOU MAY NOT WANT TO DO SO:
Spoiler:
Unless you prefer open-ended endings.
Man this had to be a tough shoot for Liam Neeson.
The movie isn't really advertised accurately, but it's still worth checking out even if you want the movie that the trailers promise.(which, honestly, would probably still be money well spent)
REAL SPOILER:
Spoiler:
It may leave one wanting to watch some more upbeat fare afterwards though. Like say...The Way Back or Oldboy.
I have to admit I don't know much about the setting beyond Zobeck, but I've been interested in giving it a closer look. Just wondering if it has certain things though:
1. What direction did they go with their orcs? Always Chaotic Evil or a wider range of possibilities and cultures? If the latter, have any detailed cultures for that race been explored yet? One of the things I loved about Zobeck was its approach to kobolds, and I'm hoping the other monster races got similar treatments.
2. Is there an Ancient Egypt-themed, however fantastic or down-to-earth in interpretation it may be, present anywhere?
Y'know, smut aside, some bits of Oglaf really can enrich your game.
Wonder if anyone has tried pulling off a game revolving around dopplegangers and changelings unknowingly conspiring with and against each other to control a kingdom, and stumbling over each other all the way.
1. Roll a d100 five times, either with real dice or on Invisible Castle or some other dicerolling website if you wish to confirm your numbers here.
2. The corresponding numbers will show you the five races on the list that will be the player races for your setting. These five races are the only "default assumption" choices for your setting's player race options.
3. Write up a setting with those five races! It can be as simple or as highly developed as you want. From a few short paragraphs to an essay. The only requirement is that all five of your races must have a place in the setting. None of them can just be a footnote compared to the rest. You might want to consider the environment, how the races relate to each other, their origins, cultures, etc.
4. Assume that all of your races are "powered down" (or in rare cases, "powered up", so that they are balanced within reason. You can assume this works any number of ways, from the Savage Species route where races start weak "level up" as their race or that they're just watered down variants of those races.
5. If you get the same number more than once, you have two(or more) very different variants of that race, like the divide between elves and drow.
6. Individuals of all five races must be able to be in a party together.
7. Have FUN. Make it a world you would enjoy playing in or running. If you get a race you really don't like, put a new spin on them. You're not bound to flavor, alignment, aesthetics, or setting expectations save for what you want in your new setting. Make these races your own.
Who knows, you might have some new ideas you want to use in your games, or some that someone else may want to use!
11. Drow
12. Tiefling (humanoids with fiend ancestry)
13. Aasimar (humanoids with celestial ancestry)
14. Fetchling (humanoids with shae ancestry)
15. Ifrit (humanoids with efreet ancestry)
16. Undine (humanoids with marid ancestry)
17. Sylph (humanoids with djinn ancestry)
18. Oread (humanoids with shaitan ancestry)
19. Suli (humanoids with jann ancestry)
20. Dhampir (half-humanoid/half-vampire)
21. Changeling (hag-kin) (the children of humanoid males and hags)
22. Catfolk
23. Lizardfolk
24. Ratfolk
25. Vanara (monkey-folk)
26. Vishkanya (humanoids with slight snake-like features and poisonous blood)
27. Strix (black, avian humanoids with harpy-like builds)
28. Tengu
29. Merfolk
30. Gillmen
31. Duergar
32. Derro
33. Svirfneblin
34. Kitsune (shapechanging fox-folk)
35. Nagaji (reptilian humanoids originally created by the naga as a servant race)
36. Samsaran (reincarnated blue-skinned humanoids)
37. Wayang (gnome-like beings with roots in the Shadow Plane)
38. Grippli
39. Kobold
40. Ogre
41. Dryad
42. Satyr
43. Pixie
44. Nymph
45. Sprite
46. Forlarren (bipolar fey born from the unions of nymphs and fiends)
47. Nereid (aquatic nymph-like fey)
48. Nixie
49. Treant
50. Faun
61. Sahuagin
62. Cecaelia (merfolk-like humanoids, with octopus tentacles instead of a fish tail)
63. Grindylow (the goblin equivalent of Cecaelia)
64. Locathah
65. Derhii (winged, intelligent gorillas)
66. Girtablilu (centauroids with a scorpion-like lower half + claws)
67. Sasquatch
68. Tanuki (short raccoon-like humanoids)
69. Thriae (all female-race of bee people)
70. Spriggan
71. Dark Folk
72. Drider
73. Mongrelman
74. Serpentfolk
75. Ettercap
76. Shae (humanoids made of solid shadow)
77. Flumph
78. Vodyanoi (salamander-like humanoids)
79. Ghoul
80. Vampire
81. Gearman/Warforged (mechanical humanoids)
82. Changeling(doppleganger-kin) (descendants of humanoids and dopplegangers)
83. Shifter (descendants of humanoids and lycanthropes)
84. Uldra (small blue-skinned fey adapted for cold environments)
85. Darfellan (powerful humanoids with orca-like skin)
86. Asherati (desert-dwelling hairless elf-like beings capable of swimming through sand)
87. Illumian (human-like beings infused with sorcery with glowing sigils floating around their heads)
88. Raptoran (winged and taloned elf-like race)
89. Goliath (tall, strong humanoids with stony appearances and tough hides)
90. Dragonborn (draconic humanoids)
91. Aberration-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
92. Construct-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
93. Dragon-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
94. Ooze-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
95. Plant-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
96. Thri-Kreen (four armed insectoid race)
97. Bariaur (centauroid with a mountain goat-like lower half)
98. Rogue Modron (free-willed box-like construct)
99. Mul (half-human/half-dwarf hybrid)
00. Pseudodragon
If you need more information on any of these races, just ask!
Credit where credit's due:
Spoiler:
This is based on one of my alltime favorite threads on /tg/ that I really didn't expect to be as cool as it was. Basically, there was a picture posted by the OP with a large number of varied races, each with a name and a number. The rules were pretty much the same as presented here. There were a lot of neat ideas shared, and a couple of campaigns actually kicked off because of it. Good times. And surprising given the nature of the picture.
Hoping to kick up discussion on how best to fit these two classes and what they bring to the table into the Golarion setting(or in the case of the Juju Oracle, to expand their reach). Hopefully some of this'll be useful to folks that want these elements in their Golarion.
Basics
First, a quick rundown for those unfamiliar with the Juju Oracle or the White Necromancer, both Charisma-based full casters capable of bringing non-evil undead into being, which makes them special in the current PF paradigm as far as RAW goes.
The Juju mystery for oracles was introduced in Pathfinder #39 : The City of Seven Spears. These divine oracles work with (somewhat loosely defined IIRC) wendo spirits tied with Mwangi traditions for all manner of reasons, some good, some not so much. Their relationship with the wendo allows them to call these spirits into vessels to animate them, drawing upon a different animating force than most undead. Juju oracles can be of any alignment.
The white necromancer was introduced in Kobold Quarterly #19. These arcane casters are masters of manipulating both positive and negative energy, and many of their healing and protective abilities hinge on putting their own lives on the line. Necromancers also work with the spirits of the dead rather than enslaving them. Where evil necromancers force the state of undeath upon others, white necromancers actually have to use diplomacy to request the aid of the dead, and often this is a two-way bargain that must be respected. White necromancers can be any non-evil alignment.
The big thing about both of these classes is that due to the way they both create undead(specifically through means that remove the [Evil] descriptor from the relevant spells), their mindless undead are always neutral while their intelligent undead always share the alignment of their creator. In the explicit case of the white necromancer, their intelligent undead are also not in any way beholden to their creators by any magical means, and there is often the understanding that this undead state is a temporary affair that will end when whatever task that needs to be completed is done.
In Golarion
So, how to fit these into the Golarion setting(and other worlds, especially when one considers Eox)? Juju oracles are already present in the Mwangi, but their influence is largely confined there, at least in the form written into their article. Expanding on the basic idea of wendo spirits to a more generic form of spirits(background nature spirits, ancestral spirits, etc) makes this approachable for many other cultures in other regions.
The presence of these two classes(or at least the precedence they set) enable a lot of concepts that would otherwise be locked out: The Eternal Charge that has been going on in the Worldwound since the first Mendevian Crusade, eternally loyal and vigilant mummified paladins guarding over the necropolis of Rahotep, Pharaoh of Tomorrow until his returns from his rest in Nirvana(thanks so much for that plotseed Todd Stewart!), to self appointed safekeepers of Black Blood focused on keeping that stuff away from the living and from seeping into non-corrupted Darkland environments by any means necessary.
Now of course Pharasma would get frowny-faced about this. That's what she does and that's okay. We all have our pet peeves. But what about the setting beyond her? How do the other gods and cosmological forces view juju oracles and white necromancers, and how do they react or put them to use? How does Sarenrae consider the deeds of a good-spawned undead weighted against the sins commited during a natural lifetime, if at all?
What cultures tolerate them? What cultures might even embrace them? How do they in turn affect these cultures that they may or may not be a part of? What organizations react to them? What organizations might be born from or because of them?
Mwangi Expanse is easy enough to find possibilities in for Juju oracles and white necromancers. But right next to that we have Osirion with who-knows-how-many cities of the dead. Some of which need protecting from that ghoul civilization lurking underneath the surface...
Reverence of ancestral spirits among the Shoanti and Kellids could give a reflavored variant of the Juju a foot in the door with some tribes. Barbarian cultures don't necessarily lock out arcane white necromancers either, since it's portrayed as a more "don't think, feel" approach rather than an academic approach; that is, it doesn't require any colleges, it requires people skills and an understanding of respect, which is what the white necromancer lives and dies by.
And then there's the notion of Nexian undead agents infiltrating Geb...
JO/WN-made Undead
There's also another issue: The way juju oracles and white necromancers make undead of any alignment while using non-evil variants of animate dead, create undead, and greater create undead raises the question of just what these undead are. We know that they're either vessels for (wendo) spirits or undead made from willing souls, but how does this affect the finer details of what they are?
For example, would a NG ghoul look the same as a standard ghoul? Would they share the same hunger? And this is the trickiest part: What about their spawning ability?
Personally, while I would like to avoid making up new creatures to be alignment appropriate analogues for each undead on those creation lists, I do like the idea of reflavoring them a bit. Admittedly some are more problematic than the others in that regard, one in particular.
On the matter of spawning, perhaps one alignment dependant way of viewing it(besides the easy answer of "good undead just don't spawn") is that good-aligned undead made by Juju oracles or white necromancers can possibly infect those they slay with their own spiritual essense(and alignment). It could be seen as inflicting a massive dose of empathy and guilt in those sorely needing it. For some, it may be like the "Thirty hours of pain all at once, all for you" scene from The Crow. For others, it might be an explicit pact communicated on a spiritual level, offering a sort of Ragman-ish deal to the victim. Both cases and other possibilities could result in good-aligned undead born from evil(or evil leaning) mortals that are now truly repentant and seeking what absolution they can with whatever time has been offered to them. Perhaps it will ease the burden of their souls when they finally go before Pharasma, perhaps it won't, but most would push on as far as they can go anyway with or without the promise of a pardon. Of course, only evil beings with a spark of goodness would even be possible to spawn as good undead. There would have to be something salvagable present to begin with. And that's just for good undead. There's also the added bonus in offering an alternate explanation for why evil undead are the vast majority, if spawning does indead inflict some of the spawners essense upon the spawnee.
Variants
Back to alignment appropriate undead, this is by no means complete, so any other ideas on how to flesh this out are more than welcome(ie: please halp!):
Skeletons look the same out of the box regardless of the alignment of their creators. Any further aesthetics are going to have to be applied directly by their creators.
Zombies work largely the same regardless of the alignment of the spirit animating them. Except in the eyes. All zombies have dead stares, but there's a hint of something in some of them. While all zombies made by Juju oracles and white necromancers are truly neutral, some spark of personality or emotion that marks either where this spirit came from or where it's going. Some have the eyes of dreamers(CG), some absolutely serene(NG), some determined(LG), some absolutely wild-eyed(CN), some impossibly stoic(LN), some impossibly crazed and twitching in their sockets(CE), and some in absolute pain and abject hopelessness(LE).
Ghouls....I have to admit, I love the new aesthetic introduced in one of the early adventure paths. There's something unsettling about that clean, bone-white appearance. I'd largely want to keep that for all alignments, but feeding habits should probably reflect alignment. But they should also still be unsettling. Perhaps they have to devour flesh in order to recover from their wounds.
Mummies are easy to see going any number of ways by culture and alignment, particularly lawful ones big on respecting the dead(Osirion!).
Mohrgs, not so much. These guys might be worth heavily reflavoring for other alignments and aesthetics.
The big problematic one on standard creation lists, and this is one of those undead that I personally never even consider as an option when discussing non-evil undead along with the demilich, is the devourer. Maybe it's just my personal bias, but I can't help but see purposefully destroying souls as anything but the worst of the worst. If there's an unforgivable sin in fantasy land, that's pretty much it for me.
But. they're on the creation list. One could just say "just don't use them and ignore 'em". But let's go nuts.
Whatever the non-evil(I'd go so far as to say non-NE) answer to the devourer is, it has to do something similar: place the souls of their victims beyond the easy reach of their allies without destroying them. This softened approach also makes these souls easier to recover through means other than miracle and wish, though they can still be quests in and of themselves. There is a lot that can be done with this concept:
Names are highly likely to change the moment someone suggests something better (ie: anything)
LE variant - Hell Mason - This towering humanoid figure of flesh and stone has a burning fire within, exposed through stove-like openings dotting its body, the largest in its chest. When it draws the soul of a victim into itself, the fire and pressure within spike to horrible extremes. The screaming soul within is cooked and compressed until it is nothing more than a brick of the same flesh/stone hybrid material as its slayer, a single pained eye left to mark what it once was. Once the cooking process is complete, it disappears in a puff of brimstone, instantly teleported to Hell where it is place into the wall of one of Dis' many prisons. Recovering this brick allows for the vicitm to be raised without wish level magic.
Special Zon-Kuthon-specific variant - Augurmould - This horrible amalgam of flesh and iron is the manifestation of an absolute sadist who has seen what rewards await him in Zon-Kuthon's realm and has desperately tried to avoid it. This being has been allowed (temporary) respite in this undead state, which it can only maintain by sending others to eternal torment in its place. The augurmould is fully aware that whatever torments it inflicts in this form will be visited upon it a thousandfold, giving them a sadistic choice between calling it quits or going on another day and building up a greater debt of pain. This being's chest cavity opens up like an iron maiden, with multiple hooked chains ensnaring victims body and soul and drawing them within. Once the chamber is closed, the victim is physically and spiritually mutilated, their blood spraying from the joints of Augurmould until the chamber opens once more, releasing a new Augur Kyton upon the world(see Bestiary 3). Capturing or destroying this new augur allows the victim to be raised without needing wish level magic.
CE variant - Amalgam of Souls - This blank-faced figure has flesh and skin akin to melted wax having just hardened, with multiple muffled, screaming faces pressing outward just under the skin. Souls drawn within to its mass manifest as their full living figure writhing underneath the skin of the creature's flesh. This figure slowly melts away until it's just one more maddened face screaming along the creature's surface. Slaying an amalgam of souls and completely destroying the body allows victims to be raised without wish-level magic.
N variant - Walking Gateway - This grim, majestic "angel" of bone, looking like the walls of Sedlec Ossuary given roughly-humanoid form, has a hollow torso. Within is a spiral of planar energy, a whirlpool that leads to the Walking Gateway's rightful spot in line at the Boneyard. Essentially, any souls drawn within the whirlpool are fasttracked to judgment. Recoving the soul's newly born petitioner form from whatever plane they would be sent to allows them to be brought back without wish level magic.
CN variant - Priests of Potential - Unstable in form, these somewhat humanoid figures of flashing light and shadow and opposed elements are aimless unless guided by those with stronger wills. The souls they draw into themselves are assaulted by chaos, battering their sense of self and identity until finally they are something else entirely. These souls are eventually released, reincarnated as any number of things, be they humanoid, animal, plant, mineral, or even something as abstract as a song. Restoring these souls ranges wildly in difficulty, depending on what they've become.
NG variant - Chorus of Regrets - This wispy figure seemingly composed of tattered silks hanging about a constantly obscured emaciated humanoid figure is always shrouded in mists which seem to flow out from within its folds. These mists and silks seem to form mournful faces from time to time, lamenting ancient tragedies and regrets. Souls of the wicked that are drawn within are shouted down within, faced by the admonishment and guilt of the faces and voices within until they are made to see their own corrupted soul for what it is. These souls are eventually lost to a mysterious, misty isle of repentance somewhere in Nirvana(see The Great Beyond). Finding that soul and forcibly dragging them back from their self-inflicted purgatory(and possibly eventual redemption) will allow them to be raised without wish-level magic.
I'm sorely tempted to swipe Set's idea for Desnan celestials for a CG variant, it's that awesome. It would also present a notion that restoring victims of good-variants would require evil deeds(as in, each of those butterflies would need to be captured and then pinned alive to a humanoid effigy).
Any other ideas? Culturally/setting-wise/variants/etc?
edit-added Chorus of Regrets after thinking over that last sentence, also edited for readability because words words words
So we finally have a good-aligned god of darkness now(and madness, and repose, and the moon!). This is incredibly awesome, fact. But how best to get that awesome beyond the borders of Tien Xia?
(this thread could easily apply to any of the new gods introduced via Tien Xia as well if anyone has any ideas, I'm just totally playing favorites right now)
Running with the notion that the various gods are seen with different names and faces in different regions of the world, sometimes even within the Inner Sea Region(Shimye-Magalla for example), Tsukiyo and the rest could be ported over as possibly lesser known deities woven into the established mythology of the Big 20. But what's the best fit?
What little we know about Tsukiyo paints him a bit like Osiris, and as a bit of a romantic figure. Couple that with the madness bit and his LG-ness and things can get really interesting. Perhaps his wife the Sun Empress is seen as an aspect of Sarenrae, which puts him in a peculiar position amongst that god's faithful. Or maybe the romantic figure angle could be played up and make him some sort of associate, if not a consort, of Shelyn. That angle could possibly put him in the position of being a much healthier alternative to Naderi amongst the Inner Sea Region's mopey/longing youth. Less moody goth, more perky goth maybe, but keeping a good dose of melancholy. Parents might worry about all the black but at least they can be trusted around knives.
The visuals that can be evoked by an Inner Sea Region take on Tsukiyo are all over the place. If Tsukiyo is introduced to the region via Taldor, maybe he's seen as this gloriously over-the-top endless masquerade figure, constantly shifting masks and moods with the phases of hte moon. Through Jalmeray he could be this exotic, possibly heavily misinterpreted mystical figure whose true domains and myths are scattershot except amongst his actual priests.
Kind of liking the masquerade idea, but maybe with shifting ethnicities or races as well.
Going with the Darkness element, I'd really love to get this guy into the Mwangi Expanse somehow, but an organic entry point for his worship isn't jumping out at me. Along those same lines, I'd LOVE to see cults dedicated to this guy spring up in Nidal, and possibly get linked in some way to Desna(possibly tying his madness to her dreams?).
(and then there's the maybe-sorta angle to tie him with the similarly named Azata Lord from the first Bestiary, even if it isn't Golarion canon...)
Anyone have any ideas on how to bring him(or the others) over and expand on their mythology?
Mines still shipping, trying to wait, but have to ask:
Are there any ugly, monstrous-looking, darkness-themed, or alien-in-appearance celestials debuting here?
Any barbarian/savage-flavored Azatas?
Any good aligned creatures or races that represent the Dark Is Not Evil trope?
Any new aquatic races a bit more alien than merfolk, but not tied to Lovecraft by flavor(just adding that last bit since it's felt like everything in the water lately has been Innsmouthy in theme)
Any new player-appropriate races that look more fantastic or alien in appearance than the usual Core-likes and the new "animal"-folk races, like the "ShadowRace" pic from the recent blog preview?
Not looking for details or spoilers, just wondering if any of that is present.
By that, I mean something that explores these races, gives them possibilities outside the stereotypical evil alignments, and supports that with rich and well-developed cultural flavor on par with what Paizo does with their cultures.
For example, Eberron technically had a culture of non-evil orcs, but they were never really fully explored to the best of my knowledge. Not as in-depth and evocative as many of the cultures featured in Golarion products at least.
Are there any Paizo-quality products like this catering to gamers that want this sort of thing? Any that can make for a reasonably easy fit into Golarion?
Absolutely no clue which subforum this should really go.
I've been working on a Golarion fan-project for quite a while, to make something I've always wanted and what I hope a number of other folks want but can't get from any official source. I knew using the Community License pretty much barred one from doing anything with the Commercial License, but for a long time it really felt worth it, because while I really wanted to do some stuff in my spare time to put out there, I also really wanted what this fan-project represented. I've just always wanted a Paizo-quality book(both in terms of flavor development and art) about this kind of material, but the only real way I'll ever get it is to make it myself. And I also wanted to put it out for others that may have felt the same way. And, I have to admit, I also wanted to prove that it could be done without being trite, or unsuitable for the setting, or all the other myriad things naysayers have said. Probably a bit of a juvenile wish on that last part, but this project was partially born out of some long burning frustrations.
But I've just recently read that the Paizo store doesn't host free pdfs for Community Licensees except Paizo Fans United, and AFAIK that's for Wayfinder only, and this project (a 32-page players guide and a 64-page region book) is way too big to reasonably turn in as a submission. That and it probably breaks their rule on obeying canon.(it doesn't really change facts or take things out of the setting, but it certainly adds some things that aren't in canon and introduces a whole new culture for one race).
I've been trucking along up to this point and pouring money into the art when I could, but if there's no way to really get the completed pdfs out there and visible for the folks that would actually want them and use them...
And then there's the other projects that I would love to do but could be locking out by doing this fan project which would probably sink out of eyesight pretty quickly.
Considered just giving up and posting the completed texts and the art I've already bought as large posts on the boards. At the very least it would be visible for a while at least, but at the same time giving up means that that book I've been waiting years for is never going to get made.
Maybe I could file all of the Golarion IP out of the project and make it generic and go commercial, but that kills so much of the flavor and even using analogs of the Golarion areas and entities originally involved just feels like bad form to me.
I don't know. Could I just hand this fan project over to someone else to put out and just go uncredited and then move on to those other projects(and actually make a fraction of the art budget back)? Would making it just a forum thread make it less accessable and usable than having it in pdf format?
Just having doubts about this whole thing, I guess.
The problem: Flowing Monks can't get Marid or Djinn Styles until level 13 or so, and that's when most APs are getting close to wrapping up. If you wanted to have the flavor of those styles for your monk for even half of their career, you're out of luck.
So barring houseruling alternate prerequisites for the Style feats, what would be the best way for a DEX/WIS-focused monk to emulate the flavor of those styles so that he can use wind, ice, or water in his martial arts without having it come from some sort of magic gear? What would be the best way for the monk to be able to manifest that flavor either from within or harnessing it from without through their own power and discipline?
The thing that bugged me about the Oath Against ______ oaths for Oathbound paladins was that so many of them easily dipped into "absolutist, genocidally racist xenophobe" territory, especially when one considers good and neutral aberrations(nagas, flumphs), undead, and all the assorted sorcerer bloodlines that cross into that territory. Heck, Oath Against Wyrms specifically states that some of these paladins actively persecute draconic-bloodline sorcerers.
Besides the potential for party-griefing that these particular oaths provide, if paladins are required to actually be genuinely good, sooner or later their code and alignment are going to come into conflict with their oath unless the GM and players limit their world/PC choices. The Oathbound archetype actually cops to the fact that not all of these oaths are going to be appropriate for all paladin deities, but some of the "Against" codes really dips into evil territory when taken to the absolutes suggested in their very text.
What's your take how this should be handled if it happens? Personally I'd see the Oaths, as short as they are, to be secondary in importance to the primary paladin Code. If the two come into conflict, the paladin should most likely err on the side of the code and his alignment. Probably with the caveat that if the Oath was broken because it would have conflicted with the Code, the paladin doesn't lose the Oath abilities(and thus avoiding punishing the paladin for actually playing a paladin).
That or just have the paladin explicitly word how far they're taking their oath and have their deity accept or outright reject it, to keep Sir Hatecrimes from starting to begin with. That would stop any trouble before it starts, although it keeps most potential drama involving choosing between their oath or their code from happening for those players that want it(for reasons beyond griefing the party or being a self-righteous murder machine).
...really liking the "Oath of ______" series a lot more now. That and Oath of Vengeance is still missing a code of conduct section, which could make or break that one.
I remember in the "what do you want in an introductory set" a number of folks were wanting to trim the races down to the LotR set, but a lot of us(myself included) really pushed for all the races to make it in. Especially since, hey, heroic orcs are big with this generation of gamers in other mediums. Are they in?
Multiclassing a paladin with the white necromancer found in Kobold Quarterly #19.
Mulling this over for two settings, as a PC for Golarion(where choosing a fitting god seems the biggest hurdle) or an NPC for my homebrew(which has a deity that would be all over the White Necromancer class).
2. Be as much about protecting, helping, and working with the dead as with the living.
3. Be a dark, potentially scary, but benign and holy warrior.
4. Be able to call upon help from the dead and actually have undead backup if only for a limited amount of time.
5. Temporary undead servants are always made from willing souls, either those who this character has sworn to help or those hoping to alleviate the weight of their sins before going to their final rest.
But how best to divvie up the class levels so that it lives up to that image, particularly if the character is meant for an AP where at most they may go up to 14-15th level? At a glance it's looking like it would be best to focus on the white necromancer, since a lot of the paladin's flavor can get its mechancial support in early levels.
On the Golarion end of things, which god would be the best fit for the theme? Helping the restless spirits of the dead get past whatever is holding them back from their proper afterlife fits the general theme of healing, as do the white necromancers self-sacrificing-let-me-give-you-my-hp abilities, and the theme of giving the wicked a second chance at clearing up their karma falls under redemption, so Sarenrae feels like the easiest fit. But she's a sun goddess, which runs counter to the "Dark Is Not Evil" theme I'm hoping to pull off. Wondering what the best way is to spin that particular goddess and her mythos into something that supports this concept.
Using Psionics Unleashed powers that is. Has anyone given this a go yet? Do things work out well enough simply using appropriately leveled powers in place of spells for that ability? Did it require any fiddling beyond that?
Extra arms is something a number of people want. We all know that that's going to be a hell of a thing to balance if they're just slapped on a new race, but that's no excuse to just give up on it.
How many ways could this theme be approached to make it reasonably pricable for even Standard Races?
I've been bouncing loose ideas around my head off and on but I haven't had any real free time to sit down with them, but:
A. Extra arms fuction like normal arms - Probably costs a lot and probably out of the reach of Standard races.
B. Extra arms are some flat amount or percentage weaker than the primary arms - This may work especially well if there's some ability to make a race's primary arms weaponized or otherwise useless for normal function. The secondary arms take care of tool manipulation and aren't much good for combat use. (full disclosure, one of my homebrew races that I've been banging my head against the wall trying to build works like this: Crab pincers on the normally/over-developed arms, relatively normal hands on the underdeveloped arms)
C. Current arms are considered divided into two pairs at close to half-strength - Races with this would have multiple arms that are fully functional for tool manipulation, but it takes two working in tandem to accomplish what one arm on another race could do in combat or heavy labor. Maybe individual arms work at far less effectiveness than normal arms(perhaps it treats weapons as one or more size categories larger unless two arms are used on top of a STR and Attack Roll penalty)? Or perhaps (full disclosure, this is the closest fix I can think of for my primary homebrew race, who are really hurting for options right now)
Anyone else have any other ideas that could actually have a shot at making it into the rules, particularly for the six-and-up crowd? How much should B and C probably cost, and what would be the best way to set them down in actual rules?
I know the reason of giving up item slots and equipment issues have been given to explain why unusual body types have been passed over, but we've already got something along those lines going on with Hoofed. And honestly, many of us would be okay to give up some slots entirely just to have these body types as options.
Heck, a simple suggestion for cost modifiers for equipment for unusually shaped races could fit into a tiny sidebar.
Currently, the Hoofed ability is a Monstrous ability.
That locks out 10pt. races with Satyr-like appearances, like Draenei.
It really needs to be open to everyone considering what it really is, as should any other ability that is primarily there for aesthetics that may be added later, be they antennae, fronds, horns, or tentacles.
Ogma is one of the Azata Lords listed in the first Bestiary. There really isn't any information available on that being other than that he, she, or it is apparently a champion of something.
Pretty much know what races and causes that being is tied to in terms of PC beliefs and an alternate flavor fan project, but this is the one thing I can't get a solid handle on.
Which way sounds more fitting for the name? Or would actually setting in it stone as vague actually be the best way to go, as it would be a being that mortals instinctively project their own racial/ethnic/gender identities upon, making that being an idealized vision of something they relate to in order to inspire them that much more, which could really resonate with oppressed/underdog groups of people. The ultimate CG "blank slate", so to speak.
Bonus points if the creature that swallowed you whole is flying or is a swimming air breather.
So what else happens beyond possibly being held in place or being slowed? How best to represent that stomache-ache?
Could the creature involved possibly, if it can make the required movements, move itself backwards so that the rod is guided back up the throat? Escape Artist check or something else, and at what DC?
Alternatively, could the creature possibly cut it out and depend on muscular action to close the hole like always?
...got to thinking about this while thinking about using immovable rods in car/wagon chases....
A while back there was a thread that turned to alignment and human(oid) sacrifice and eventually about whether or not the souls of those sacrificed went to the deity/demon lord/archdevil/whatever being honored. I think the general consensus was that those souls always go to their appropriate afterlife unless unusual measures were taken in the ritual, and that there were also other ways to doom a soul to one of the "lower" planes after death that circumvented their judgment by Pharasma(and thus their being sent to the appropriate plane).
For the purposes of plot hook/world building fuel, just how many ways are there for this to happen to people regardless of deed or alignment, and how should this affect the setting?
Off the top of my head:
There's at least one type of evil altar-construct creature that sends anyone sacrificed upon it to whatever deity or fiend it is dedicated to. The name escapes me, Black _______ I think. I believe it's from the Council of Thieves Bestiary, but not in the actual AP.
There's a number of creatures in the Bestiary and Bestiary 2 capable of doing this to people, such as the Balor Lord that can instantly turn you into a demon. There's the Cacodaemon which is possiblly frighteningly common(certainly moreso than Balor Lords) and can serve as familiars. And all they have to do is be near someone when they die, then bam, instant soul gem ripe for the taking. There's at least one other daemon that does the same thing, the Thanatodaemon I believe.
Oh, and this is fun. The spell Hellfire Ray from the Cheliax book. If it kills the target, they possibly sent instantlly to hell. I can't remember the spell level entirely, but the notion of such power being in the hands of a mortal makes it even more terrifying in many ways than knowing a fiend can do it. Have someone petty and cruel enough, and a trip to perdition could just be a word and fingerpoint away.
I know there's a corruptive disease/condition originating from the Worldwound of a demonic nature that's easy to pick up just by going anywhere within that zone's borders, but I don't remember anything about it harming the soul. Directly at least. Could be wrong though.
I'm not entirely certain, but I think there has been mention of fiendish pacts passing the price down to the original signer's descendants. While I'm pretty sure Pharasma and most every non-evil deity frowns on that, does that "sins of the father" clause actually work in the Golarion-verse? Curses certainly pass down but this is quite a bit more harsh, all things considered.
That's all that stands out right now. Plenty of ways to kickstart an Orpheus plotline or a "let's raid hell and punch devils" adventure. But what about the finer details this stuff would affect?
Are Pharasma's servants pretty much expected to kill anyone known to have used hellfire ray on sight? How do inhereted contracts get squared with the current patron deities of pact-bound descendants? If there are demons powerful enough to flatout turn people into demons against their will, are there celestials who exist to heal those wounded souls?
How does one react if they know that despite a life spent in saintly virtue or apathetic meh-ness, they could be damned through no fault of their own? What measures do they take and how does this affect their culture?
I've been trying to keep my mind off these but other threads pushed 'em back in.
What are the chances we could see some kind of "Path of the Ascetic" or something for monks that could serve as an alternative to the VoP? Something balanced with the standard expectations so that a gearless 15-point buy monk using it could pull his weight in a standard party in a standard AP. Something slightly less powerful than a standard monk and with less versatility that would come with being able to use magical gear, but something that still grants enough bonuses and perks to keep them just under the curve rather than far below it, all while making the monk entirely dependant on the boons granted by their enlightenment rather than some sort of item allowance.
Also, is there any chance of new Qinggong monk powers coming out soon? We still don't have any good-aligned monk powers to answer the evil ones, and they could also thematic gaps. For example, Flowing Monks can't really take Marid or Djinni styles during an AP and Sacred Mountain Monks can't take Shaitan styles, but new Qinggong powers would allow them to grab some of that flavor that would otherwise be locked out for them.
Also also, would some method for a monk to directly enhance his unarmed strike have any shot at showing up in Ultimate Equipment or somewhere else? Something that preserved the flavor of a barehanded monk and was priced more fairly than AoMF, since it would be freed up from the natural attacks baggage?
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