New core 20 gods

[Captain collateral damage]

So in Starfinder there will be a new core 20 gods, with some new and some old. So lets do some speculation!
Iomedae: Has been mentioned in the Starfinder blog, so I think yes.
Erastil: Likely been phased out, as hunting and farming don't really apply anymore.
Torag: Mostly a dwarf god, so probably no.
Sarenrae: Goddess of the sun seems a pretty major role, as well as the fact that she's a very central god, so I say yes.
Desna: Being a goddess of stars and travel, she's an almost definite yes.
Abadar: Being a god of civilization, that works pretty well with the exploration aspect of Starfinder
Irori: An interesting case considering the Gap and him being the god of history. Maybe it was his doing for some unknown reason, or his death caused the gap.
Gozreh: If outer space counts as nature, then yes, but otherwise I don't don't really see Gozreh here.
Pharasma: As long as people are dying, Pharasma will likely stick around.
Nethys: Likely finally destroyed himself, which works in with how magic is less common.
Gorum: More destructive weapons = more fun!
Rovagug: With Golarion gone, (Maybe because of him) Rovagug's probably not in this.
New Gods: Obviously, there's the new AI god, but I think Also given the new advances Brigh likely will be launched into a core 20 position.
Thoughts?

[CorvusMask]

Would be nice if new AI god was the one from the Iron Gods since that one apparently has those?

I think Asmodeus is given since Hellknights were mentioned(Abadar too since Abadar Corporation was given as possibility)

[TheMountain]

I got the impression that magic wasn't less common, just many of its previous uses were now taken over by magic?

Aaaaaaanyway, I think Torag could continue to have a role. Things will still need to be built and created.

Erastil could have a role as a sort of hardy, conservative frontier colonist type god.

Not sure about Gozreh. I mean, other planet's will have nature, but I did get the impression Gozreh was Golarion-centred.

Cayden I think will continue.

In the case of new gods, I imagine perhaps gods from Triaxus, Castrovel and others may make an appearnce. And maybe for space and sci-fi centred gods, like a god of radiation, god of energy, etc, etc.

[Jamie Charlan]

While I still believe gods should be more... resident of their own star systems...

Iomedae: So evil trumpets is still around? You'd think that other than the desperate zealots on Golarion, any number of other worlds would've fixed that little problem already. Seriously, given her own official material she shouldn't still be around, let alone known as a galactic paladin idol.

Erastil: Hunting maybe a bit less, but there could be entire agri-worlds dedicated to mass production of foodstuffs. Community and Families are still a thing as well.

Torag: Are there no dwarves anywhere else? He covers several portfolios as well.

Sarenrae: Seriously depends: Goddess of one star system (golarion's) sun is rather minor in the grand scheme of things, and would be highly inappropriate as a major interstellar deity. "All suns" would be extremely powerful though, and doing so would mean you gotta accept Sarenrae as being in the very top of deities worshipwise, because many stars will have one or several worlds around'em.

Desna: The most likely non-local deity, as you've pointed out.

Abadar: Civilizations in general, rather than exploration. A god of having new places to visit, not of actually going out and finding them.

Irori: Speaking of "the Gap", is the starfinder society going to be as abjectly... unethical... as the pathfinder society? Still remains to be seen if "the gap" will be used tastefully in the background or if it'll be a cheap heavyhanded thing, however. Focusing on golarion's races while taking it out and going "well now uh, all these worlds are golarion's peoples except golarion, do not attempt to land there" worries me quite a bit actually.

Gozreh: How is the empty void not nature? It's some of the harshest parts of nature, but it's nature.

Pharasma: Another one that could be planet-locked; if you think back to previous editions for example, most crystal spheres had their own death gods (yeah sometimes more than one). Most worlds for example would've nuked Toril after they stoppered the flow of souls from their own gods being such tantrum-tossing little a#$@*$$s that they couldn't keep enough worship for themselves... There could easily be other gods doing that job in their own star systems.

Nethys: Is perhaps more quietly in the background, since any sufficiently advanced technology... (and vice-versa, any well-understood enough 'magic'...)

Gorum: Another possibly 'local' deity, one with a lot of other friends out there. A LOT.

Rovagug: It would probably be best if there were more than one of this. Otherwise it makes it too easy for APs and fluff to fall into a lazy "but what about golarion" focus on the setting all the time. Plus it gives high level players something to face off against in their best ships once in a while.

[gustavo iglesias]

Atom. All praise Atom, and accept the gift of the Glow and division that Atom gives to his Children

[Jamie Charlan]

Do his other names include "Astro Boy"?

[NenkotaMoon]

What happened to Calistria, seems like you forgot that one?

[QuidEst]

NenkotaMoon wrote:

What happened to Calistria, seems like you forgot that one?

Along with seven other core deities, yeah. It's just a partial list there. *jots down "noticed Calistria missing first" in notebook*

[Simeon]

On the note of Abadar, his followers formed a megacorp called Abadar Corp, so he's a definite yes. For good old Cayden Cailean, I imagine his worship has stuck around because wherever there's adventuring to be done and ale to be drunk, his faithful are sure to crop up. Saranrae probably would've stuck around, as she is described as being the goddess who convinced Ihys to keep fighting Asmodeus, so I think she's a pretty significant deity. As for Shelyn, I imagine she has stayed in worship as well, for she reaches out to all those who crave art and beauty.

[Matthew Shelton 1975]

The AI god must be something like Wintermute, which achieved self-upgrading superconsciousness, which permitted ascension through ultimate self-actualization as achieved previously by Irori.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity#Superintelligence

In that case, The Gap could have come about as a direct result of the technological singularity that was instigated by the AI achieving godhood. The rate of progress and civilized enlightenment must have been phenomenal, perhaps even leading to an explosion of other beings self-ascending, coupled with runaway technological development which could easily lead to the mass destruction of anyone left behind. Golarion and its star system had become an ever-accelerating train threatening to jump the rails at any moment. We need only look at Eox and the Diaspora to grasp what an improper mixture of hubris and power can do.

Faced with an impossible situation, the AI deity imposed The Gap, wiping everyone's memories of the technological singularity and how close everyone came to interstellar armageddon. The AI deity retrogressed what technologies it could in order to salvage some stability. It also vanished Golarion as part of the plan, to protect the rest of the Golarian system from the latent threats which could not be eliminated.

Of course, The Gap is only a temporary countermeasure. A new technological singularity will occur again someday and must be dealt with when it arrives. But the AI deity exists as an advantage that the denizens of the star system didn't have the first time. And Golarion may yet return as an ace in the hole for when the next singularity comes round.

[Captain collateral damage]

A thought I just had: The elves are from the same planet as the Lashunta, who are core now. It's not that much of a stretch to guess that the elven pantheon is the lashunta pantheon as well, meaning some of those gods may be core

[NenkotaMoon]

IMO, most gods should have some place still.

[randomwalker]

Aroden.

See the really interesting thing there is that... hmm... I seem not able to recall anything from the time when...

(but seriously? he was lost, and now all of Golarion is lost - and instead of the Absalom starstone there is the Absalom starbase? I bet he is in there somehow).

[Matthew Shelton]

Maybe he is the starbase...

[Evelyn Jones]

I'm remembering a different thread that gave a very interesting idea for Aroden, which would be quite funny indeed if it got some backing for Starfinder!

[Tallisan "Dusk Guardian"]

CorvusMask wrote:

Would be nice if new AI god was the one from the Iron Gods since that one apparently has those?

I believe it is!

[moon glum]

In a science fantasy universe without clerics per se, gods could be different from the D&D gods we are used to, because you don't have classes that basically need to have a god to worship. Given that, there might be different categories of gods.

* Old Gods: gods from Golarion's past, e.g. Desna, et al. Sone of these may be losing their power as the memory of them fades, as per 'Who Morns of Adonnis', Star Trek Original Series.

* Iron Gods: Casandralee, Helion, Divinity, et al.

* TNG style Q-beings.

* Elder Gods: Hastar, Asathoth, Yog Sogoth, et al. This category includes include other sorts of ultra powerful, ancient alien beings.

* False Gods: beings that have duped tribes, nations, planets, star sectors into worshiping them. Such belief may or may nor confer magical, divine power, but it certainly confers wealth and worldly power.

* Alien Gods: gods created and worshiped on alien worlds. These would be an alien world's equivalent of an Old God, Elder God, Iron God or False god. Some of these would be unknown until their respective alien worlds were discovered.

Note that these categories overlap, because any being of sufficient power, and knowledge, is indistinguishable from a god to relatively who are relatively impotent and ignorant.

[Matthew Shelton]

The real test of the Starstone is there's a hidden portal to the oververse where you have go, retrieve your own character sheet from that plane, then return to your world and burn your character sheet with a fire you kindled yourself on top of the Starstone. When the sheet is burned up, you lose all your stats, which is what makes you a deity in Pathfinder.

In Starfinder, the AI god realized what the oververse really was, then It reimagined it as hyperspace and passed it off as Its own creation. Then Golarion was done away with, and the Starstone with the oververse portal, so the AI god could cover Its tracks.

[UnArcaneElection]

Jamie Charlan wrote:

{. . .}

Iomedae: So evil trumpets is still around? You'd think that other than the desperate zealots on Golarion, any number of other worlds would've fixed that little problem already. Seriously, given her own official material she shouldn't still be around, let alone known as a galactic paladin idol.
{. . .}

People just said that Iomedae would be a likely candidate for a Core Deity in Starfinder. They didn't say that she would be a GOOD Core Deity in Starfinder.

Jamie Charlan wrote:

Torag: Are there no dwarves anywhere else? He covers several portfolios as well.

Already by present-day Pathfinder/Golarion time, Torag isn't just for Dwarves anymore.