It seems like it’s been forever since I made one of these preview posts, and I guess it has (and not just because every day seems like a month since everyone started working from home). There’s been a long wait for the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids, but the wait is soon over. Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omensis slated for late June, and every indication I’ve heard so far points to it releasing on time. So without further ado, let’s get into it, shall we?

Docks: Illustration by Kent Hamilton

In July, we’ll be launching our third Pathfinder Adventure Path for Pathfinder second edition, the fantasy cops-and-robbers Agents of Edgewatch, in which the players all take on the roles of members of Absalom’s city watch coming together to address a city-wide threat. It is fitting, then, that we include some members of said watch in this set. We put as many of these figures in the set’s variable slots as we could, allowing the same sculpts to be altered slightly to increase the total number of players who might find just the right one to represent their character. We had our concept artists design a series of uniforms for the watch so that we could maintain visual consistency between the forthcoming books set in Absalom and these minis, so be sure to let us know what you think of the new watch uniforms! Here we have two versions of the Absalom Watch Cadet, two Medium figures at the common and uncommon rarity, respectively.

We don’t yet know when or how we’ll be distributing it, but we’ve also got a promo repaint of the human version of this figure coming later, with a darker skin tone (perhaps of Keleshite ancestry).

Slightly higher in rank, the Absalom Watch Officer comes in two varieties at the uncommon rarity, both Medium (human) figures.

Rounding out this series of city watch members, we have the Absalom Watch Captain, a Medium rare figure.

While city watch members can really bring any campaign world to life, we didn’t just infuse Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omens with one flavor of Absalom. After all, it’s the world’s largest city. We pulled out all the stops to ensure the setting’s cosmopolitan nature was reflected in this set.

Take Chief Zusgut, for example. This Small rare figure represents the most influential goblin in Absalom, whose dominion over the Puddles is (mostly) absolute.

Absalom’s naval supremacy in the Inner Sea is undisputed, in large part due to two forces working to protect the city’s harbor and nearby waters. The first are the hippocampus-riding Wave Riders, while the second are the amphibious humanoids known as the Low Azlanti. Depicted here are the Large uncommon and Medium common figures for each of these two iconic Absalom natives.

Finally, in keeping with our tradition of including relevant deities from the Pathfinder pantheon in Pathfinder Battles sets, we knew we couldn’t do a set based on Absalom without including the remaining ascended gods. Thus, we have Aroden, founder of Absalom and currently very dead, and Norgorber. Check back over the next few weeks to see a few figures themed to the faiths of both of these gods! Both rare Medium figures, Aroden and Norgorber are sure to add a touch of the divine to any campaign.

And, if you’re looking to let your player characters potentially become gods, you’ll definitely want to pick up our first piece of set dressing: the Starstone! Based on the illustration from the cover of Lost Omens Gods & Magic, this Medium bonus figure promises apotheosis to all who touch it and survive the ensuing ordeal.

We’ll be back next week with a look at some of the figures based upon Absalom’s surroundings, including natives of the Isle of Kortos and subterranean dwellers to support both the Extinction Cure Adventure Path and the forthcoming standalone adventure, The Dead God’s Hand. Until then, stay safe and roll 20s!

Adventures Ahead!

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

No two characters worship the same way. How and why they worship their deities are as varied as the player base of Paizo’s organized play campaign. Many players choose for their characters to follow the examples of several deities, seeing a personal connection between them that motivates and inspires their journey. In some cases, adventuring parties form around one of these custom pantheons, becoming regional memes that take on a life of their own. Perhaps you have created a Pathfinder pantheon yourself?

Now you have the chance.

Lost Omens: Gods & Magic introduced us to a set of rules for creating and worshiping polytheistic pantheons. Developer Luis Loza graciously showed us more examples in his blog post, Friends in High Places. The Know Direction Network in collaboration with the Organized Play Team invites you to submit a brand-new pantheon, with the best submission becoming a sanctioned option for the Pathfinder Society!

There will be several stages to the contest. Upon receipt, Know Direction staff will review all submissions for contest criteria compliance (say that five times fast). After that, Know Direction judges will select their top pantheons from the anonymized entries and send them to Paizo Organized Play staff, for vetting as potential includees in the organized play program. From the vetted pool, the Know Direction judges will select their favorites. Paizo will host a highlight blog about the finalists and launch a period of voting by the public. Once voting closes, the winner will be announced via blog post on paizo.com, invited to participate in an episode of the Know Direction podcast, and the pantheon will be sanctioned for use in the Pathfinder (second edition) Society.

Know Direction Staff Judges:

Dustin Knight
The creative force behind this project, Dustin Knight made his big break-through when he met Alex Augunas and Owen KC Stephens at PaizoCon in 2019. He has since written books and game accessories for Everybody Games and has completed his first freelance assignment with Paizo, Wayfinder Origins. He writes Fox’s Cunning on Know Direction, runs two Pathfinder Society lodges as a Venture Lieutenant in Washington, and is a rabid advocate for anything and everything Pathfinder. You can follow Dustin’s rants on Twitter, Facebook or a smattering of Pathfinder discord servers as “KitsuneWarlock”.

Alex Augunas
Alexander “Alex” Augunas, the Everyman Gamer, has been playing Tabletop Roleplaying Games since 2007 after a friend pretended to be his father in order to smuggle him out of high school so his gaming group had enough people to run a module. Today, Alex is the owner and publisher of Everybody Games, a co-host on Know Direction: Beyond, and a player on Stellar. You can follow Alex’s exploits on Twitter (@AlJAug) or on Facebook. Know Direction fans are also welcome to “@Alex” him on the Know Direction Discord server!

Owen K.C. Stephens
Owen K.C. Stephens is a veteran of the TTRPG industry with more than 20 years of experience, including being on staff at Green Ronin, Paizo, and Wizards of the Coast and being the publisher of Rogue Genius Games. He has worked on numerous RPG lines, including being co-author of the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG, Design Lead for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, and a writer for numerous Pathfinder RPG products for both editions. You can follow him on his blog, on Facebook, and Twitter.

Ryan Costello
Ryan Costello believes that the collaboration and creative interaction seen in roleplaying games extends beyond the tabletop. What started as a couple of friends hoping to keep the conversation going after their favorite game looked like it was going away forever turned into the longest running Pathfinder podcast, and eventually a network of like-minded gamers and creators working together to serve a community with positivity and enthusiasm. Ryan serves as the Director of Operations of the Know Direction Network, cohosts the Know Direction podcast, and plays Xavier Saveur in the Adventurous actual play podcast. You can follow Ryan on Facebook, or read his regular blog content on the websites for the Least I Could Do and Looking For Group webcomics.

Jefferson Jay Thacker
Jefferson Jay Thacker, also known for Perram, has had a lifelong passion for gaming of all stripes, and a creative itch that he can’t resist. He’s used that initiative and desire to turn a onetime trip to Gen Con into a decade of podcast and video production through the Know Direction Network, a collection of podcasts and blogs about the Pathfinder and Starfinder RPGs, with Perram hosting and producing thousands of hours of content for the community including coverage and recordings of the official Paizo panels and hosting their official streams during PaizoCon and Gen Con.

Vanessa Hoskins
Vanessa Hoskins cut her teeth in the RPG Industry by first writing for Pathfinder Society, Paizo’s Organized Play program, from 2015. Since then she’s written several small-form adventures for Pathfinder and Starfinder Society and Starfinder Adventure Path volume 29, The Cradle Infestation. She’s also contributed to numerous rules systems, player options, and other game mechanics for Paizo. Vanessa also serves on the board of directors at Know Direction Network, GMs the actual play podcast Stellar with Know Direction, and writes the Craft (Adventure) and Random Encounter blogs on that network. She is a cast member for the Fall of Plaguestone and Three Ring Adventure actual plays on Roll for Combat. You can follow her Instagram or Twitter. She lives in upstate New York with her brilliant wife and adorable cat.

John Godek
John Godek is an Executive Producer for Intrepid Heroes. He is a 4-Nova GM for the Starfinder Society as well as a Starfinder freelance writer. When he is not busy running games or working on the podcast, he is a university professor in the Seattle area, teaching business classes. Before earning his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, he was an officer in the US Coast Guard where he sailed the seven seas and circumnavigated North America, in addition to doing scientific work in the Arctic and Antarctic, and law enforcement work on both the East Coast and West Coast of the US.

Contest rules:
Entrants may submit one (1) Pantheon for consideration, via this form. Each Pantheon must contain an entire stat-block, including alignment restrictions, domains, edicts, anathema, list of deities and so on. In addition, each entry should have a paragraph of no more than 150 words describing the pantheon in detail. There is no limit to why the gods you choose are in the same Pantheon, but you only have that paragraph to convince us. All elements of the Pantheon must be Pathfinder Society Legal, including patron deity, alignment restrictions, and cleric spells. Entrants are encouraged to read the full rules for Pantheons in Lost Omens: Gods & Magic and the Friends in High Places blog post for more information. All entries are subject to adjustment before final implementation into the Pathfinder Society campaign to adhere to Golarion’s themes and mythology . All finalists must sign a release allowing use of their creation in the organized play program before the public voting window opens. There is no financial remuneration or award for this creation. All entries are due by 11:59 pm PST May 10, 2020.

We wish everyone the best! Happy pantheon creation.

Come back tomorrow for some big news! Until then - Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

In my short time here at Paizo, I’ve learned that the production of a book is never an exact science. We know approximately how many words fit on a page and how much space a piece of art takes up. Even with these estimates, there’s always some content that does not make it onto the page. Sometimes, it feels like our books are actively working against us, constantly reshaping themselves and proceeding to taunt us about how we couldn’t fit everything we wanted into the book.

Once again, the books have teamed up with their old ally, physics, to taunt us once more. Even with the power of the gods in our hands, there was some cool content that we had to cut from Lost Omens Gods & Magic. Luckily, we have more tools to fight back against the literary menace known as “a lack of space”—free PDFs! We’ve collected a lot of cool stuff from the cutting room floor, dusted it off, cleaned it up, and are sharing with it you today!

Art by Ksenia Kozhevnikova

Gods & Magic introduced divine intercessions which allow deities to grant boons and curses to characters that have gained the attention of the gods. The book provides intercessions for the twenty core deities, but we had actually intended to provide them for the other twenty deities also showcased in the book, such as Arazni and Gruhastha. Unfortunately, due to a lack of space, these intercessions had to be dropped pretty late in production. Additionally, we never had a great spot to explain the design process for these intercessions to help GMs create their own. Thankfully, all of this great content lives again. We hope everyone enjoys this cool content. If you like what you see in the web supplement and you haven’t yet checked out the book, make sure to snag a copy of Lost Omens Gods & Magic.

Click here to check out the Gods & Magic Web Supplement!

Luis Loza
Developer

While the writers of our Paizo products are always credited in the front and back of the books, a simple name in a byline doesn’t give readers much information on the people who work to bring the setting to life! To wrap up our preview of Lost Omens Gods and Magic, I reached out to the authors of the book with the intent of promoting them—as well as any other personal work they would like to share, so that new fans of their work could find other projects, RPG products, websites, livestreams, and more to enjoy!

-Eleanor Ferron,
Pathfinder Developer Manager

Gruhastha Art by Emile Denis

Calder CaDavid
Calder CaDavid is a TTRPG freelancer living in sunny Los Angeles and has been contributing to Pathfinder since 2018. Calder had a great time envisioning the Four Horsemen in a new era of Pathfinder. Their nihilistic outlook and obsession with oblivion makes them a unique set of divines. Being able to establish personal history between the Horsemen created opportunity for complex and intriguing motives. Calder has contributed original RPG adventures to Dungeon in a Box and Pathfinder Society. Calder is also the host of the podcast, Mythos Manual. Mythos Manual is a Pathfinder homebrew live-play set in a pulpy jungle adventure with bi-weekly Crunch! episodes pulling from the previous chapters to spring-board discussion on a myriad of TTRPG subjects such as GM prep, house-rules, subsystems, and player agency. In his spare time, Calder has been creating original ancestries for the Pathfinder Second Edition system, such as the bouncy and adventurous Merrybears which will be available within the next couple months. Calder is can be reached on twitter @CaDavidCalder or by e-mail at Mythosmanual@gmail.com.

James Case
Hi! I’m James Case, editor à organized play developer at Paizo. Gods and Magic was a lot of firsts for me—my first time as editing lead on a project, as well as my first writing credit for Second Edition! I was happy to contribute the section for my favorite hot mess / literal hurricane bird, Hei Feng, as well as write (and copyfit ☹) the new domain spells. Eleanor and Luis were even kind enough to let me pitch a couple new ones, letting me add my much-longed-for star domain to the game. I tweet memes, Japanese music, RPG stuff sometimes I guess, and also memes on The Twitters at @toriariaria.

Katina Davis
Hi, everybody! My name is Katina Davis, and while I’ve been working at Paizo for nearly 6 years now, I’ve only recently started dipping my toes into writing for our products. I was absolutely tickled at the opportunity to write Shelyn’s section in Gods & Magic, because I have long identified with her values of art, beauty, and love. I was a relative latecomer to RPGs when I first started playing Pathfinder and I remember her making an impression on me. It’s been rewarding to be able to dabble in the world of Second Edition from the ground floor, starting with my favorite deity. In addition to writing for Pathfinder, Starfinder, and the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, I have also had the pleasure of working with Black Book Editions to translate RPGs from French to English. Though I speak German too, I have not yet had the opportunity to test my German RPG translation chops. (I’d love to, though!) If you’re interested in seeing my full list of credits or contacting me regarding freelance writing and translation, you can visit my website: katinawritesstuff.com.

Joshua Grinlinton
I’ve been playing tabletop for well over a decade. I got my proper start in 3.5e D&D playing a Wizard (for better or for worse), and immediately fell in love with the game. Since then, I’ve played in a dozen different systems, run and played in a multitude of campaigns, and have gotten deeply absorbed in writing new mechanics, classes, abilities, monsters, and more! Magic in particular has always been a huge draw to me, so it was impossible to pass up getting to write for 2e’s World Guide about Nethys, the ambitious man who sought to master and understand all of magic, and wound up splintering his mental faculties in the process. A dangerous endeavor, but a venture many mages would undoubtedly find respectable. I tend to do animation, illustration, design, and creative writing, and am available for freelance and contract work for all of this and more. If interested in seeing more of my work and getting in contact with me, feel free to find me at: joshgrinlinton.com

Virginia Jordan
Hi folks! My name is Virginia Jordan, and I wrote nasty mosquito god, Glaundher. It’s always so fun to write the grittier stuff from the Pathfinder universe, and I look forward to getting to write more content to fill Golarion with. You can also find my other writing for Paizo in Alien Archive 3 and Lost Omens: Absalom. While not centered on writing, you can get in touch with me via my professional website, virginiajordanphotography.com.

Jason Keely
Eleanor and Luis approached me with the opportunity to write up a couple of the minor Pathfinder gods that have a much a larger presence in Starfinder: Besmara, Brigh, and Casandalee. (The latter two are two-thirds of the Starfinder deity known as Triune.) While we know plenty about Besmara and Brigh from past products, Casandalee—from the Iron Gods Adventure Path—was only recently “canonized.” I was excited to pick through the last adventure of that AP, “The Divinity Drive,” to see what kind of goddess Casandalee would become. It turned out her personality and domains could be different depending on the PCs’ actions! Luckily, Eleanor and Luis gave me a brief sketch of Casandalee’s areas of concern, so it wasn’t difficult to realize how her faith would manifest on Golarion. In addition to being the patron of artificial life, Casandalee wants to help people understand and use advanced technology responsibly. Given that there isn’t a ton of that in the wider world (so far), the majority of her priests remain in Numeria. It was a ton of fun to write, and I hope we’ll eventually get to see a couple of devotees of the Iron Goddess outside of the Broken Lands!

Jacky Leung
Jacky Leung is a freelance tabletop game writer and editor who runs the Death By Mage blog (deathbymage.com) featuring articles on storytelling, game mechanics, and reviews. He contributed entries for Achaekek and Sivanah for Lost Omens Gods and Magic. Jacky has worked on numerous tabletop projects including the Uncaged Anthology, Book of Seasons, and Artifacts of the Guild featured on the DMsGuild. He is also one of the project organizers for the Unbreakable Anthology, featuring a series of Asian-inspired adventures for D&D 5e with a projected release in February 2020. He also creates indie tabletop games on itch.io (deathbymage.itch.io) such as his Harry Potter inspired game, Broomsticks & Wands, and the chilling horror-suspense game, Haunted Memories.

Lyz Liddell
When Arazni stepped forward into a more prominent role within the Lost Omens campaign setting, Lyz Liddell stepped forward to be her champion. Since Arazni's appearance in the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path, Lyz has worked to present the demigoddess with sensitivity, emphasizing her agency and centering her narrative within her own perspective. Lyz also adores basically the entire Lost Omens pantheon and contributed several other entries to this absolutely drop-dead gorgeous book. You can learn more about Lyz’s work at LyzLiddell.com or join in adoration of her cats on Twitter: @LyzMayTweet.

Ron Lundeen
I’m Ron Lundeen, a developer on the Pathfinder adventure path line here at Paizo. I wielded my pen in several different parts of this book. Perhaps my favorite was the section on the Eldest, the deities of the First World. Before I was a full-time developer here, I did some freelance development. The Pathfinder First Edition player companion Legacy of the First World was one of the first books I outlined and developed, and I chose to break up the sections in that book by the Eldest’s influences because I found them so compelling. They remain compelling to me, and I regret I didn’t have a lot more words here to spin yarns about them, their plots, and their relationships! Also, as the resident halfling expert, I was pleased to take another turn with Chaldira. I also put together the writeup of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, an organization my friend Rhett likes quite a bit (and I hope he likes that they’ve stepped a bit out of the shadows here). You can check out my RPG advice, including an entire free Pathfinder Second Edition adventure path I wrote, on my blog at RunAmokGames.com. I’m available for freelance in any number of game systems at rules.lawyer.ron@gmail.com.

Jacob W. Michaels
Hello all, I'm Jacob W. Michaels. I've been gaming for 30+ years, since I went on an Expedition to the Barrier Peaks in the third grade. I remember growing up thinking it would be cool to write for Dragon or Dungeon magazine, but I had no idea how. Then, years later, I entered Paizo's RPG Superstar and was stunned to make the Top 32.
After finishing in the Top 16 in 2012 and 2014, I became a regular Pathfinder freelancer, and have designed monsters, archetypes and setting material for Paizo. For Lost Omens Gods and Magic, I wrote sections on Gorum and Rovagug, trying to capture and expand the existing lore. I've written more than a dozen five-star products for Raging Swan Press; a module, Ironwall Gap Must Hold, that was the runner-up in AdventureaWeek.com's Pathmaster adventure design contest (which also featured Luis Loza's fun Timeless Fort); and more. I've run design contests to try to give new writers a chance to get into the industry, and am a founding members and administrator of Freelance Forge, the forum for RPG freelancers. You can find my complete credits at paizo.com/people/JacobWMichaels.

Matt Morris
In 2015, encouraged by an amazing group of creative friends, I made a showing in RPG Superstar, and that experience pushed me to explore writing for 3rd-party companies. I’ve been lucky enough to work extensively with Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games, producing a variety of rules options for Pathfinder and the popular Starfarer’s Companion for Starfinder. Recently, I’ve enjoyed working with a talented group of collaborators at Paizo, beginning with my contributions to the Starfinder Armory and Alien Archive 2. My work on Pathfinder Player Companions has had me body slamming, bushwacking, and relic hunting my way through Golarion, and writing back matter for an Adventure Path has even taken me to the Boneyard! The Lost Omens line for Pathfinder Second Edition has given me the opportunity to explore some of my favorite parts of the setting, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what is in store from the line in the future! For Lost Omens Gods and Magic, I got to delve into some dangerous secrets while detailing Norgorber and Groetus!
I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to send me a message via the forums if you are looking for a reliable writer! When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dave Nelson
Hey everyone. My name is Dave Nelson, a neurodivergent and queer writer, and this is my first Paizo credit. I've been playing tabletop games for about 15 years now, and Pathfinder for as long as it's been around. I have a degree in both Classics and Theology, so mythology is a passion of mine, making it rather fitting that I got to write in this volume. You can find my words in the articles for both Cayden Caliean and Gozreh. I hope you like what you see, I was sure to add some new flourishes to each of them. If you like my work you can find more of it in the upcoming Absalom: City of Lost Omens, or my work for Legendary Games on Legendary Cavaliers and Legendary Magus. I can be found on Twitter @davicthegrey, talking about theology, cybersecurity, and of course game design. Enjoy the book and I hope to be doing more of these blogs in the future!

Lost Omens Gods and Magic Table of Contents

Amirali Attar Olyaee
I’m Amirali and I am incredibly excited to finally be able to say that I have actual published writing! I’m very thankful to Paizo for having given me the opportunity to contribute to this incredible project (specially allowing me to write about one of my favorite gods!) Taking this project as inspiration, I hope to continue writing fantasy and fiction, either as part of other wonderful projects, or through short or long stories across various mediums.
I’ve always had a deep interest in fantasy and science fiction settings, the creativity that flows through them, and the infinite possibilities they offer for exploring all manner of themes, concepts, and ideas. I enjoy running tabletop RPGs, seeing how the players react to the world, how they deal with complicated decisions, and where the story goes once the characters of that story have full agency of their actions.
If any of that sounds interesting, feel free to follow me @_WritingBot on twitter where I’ll be sharing snippets of games I’m running, and updates on projects I’m working on!

Samantha Phelan
Hello! My name is Samantha Phelan, but I usually go by Sam. In Pathfinder Lost Omens Gods and Magic I contributed my writing and ideas to the Mother of Monsters, Lamashtu. Villains are often my favorite characters, and my background in Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics was very useful in describing the worship of this malevolent mother. I have contributed to several other Paizo products, including Starfinder’s Alien Archive 3, the upcoming Absalom, City of Lost Omens, and more. It's always exciting to see the book's final form. I hope I have the opportunity to work with many more wonderful creative people and contribute to a myriad of projects. For more complete information on me and my work please visit my site: samphelan.com or contact me at contact@samphelan.com for freelance work.

Jennifer Povey
Hi, I’m Jennifer R. Povey. I was born in Nottingham, England (Why yes, I do lay full claim to Robin Hood), but now live in northern Virginia with my husband. There I enjoy regular tabletop sessions, horseback riding and a minor obsession with Doctor Who.
I’m an RPG freelancer, writer of short fiction, and novelist. Please check out my website at www.jenniferrpovey.com. If you want to hire me for writing, editing your RPG book, or proofreading almost anything, drop me an email at poveyjennifer (at) gmail.com. If you want to check out my fiction, visit my Amazon author page.

Jessica Redekop
Hello! I'm Jessica Redekop, cat lady and Planescape nerd. I had the privilege of writing the Elemental Lords section for Gods and Magic, which I hope inspires you and gets you and your friends into some great planar trouble. You can find more of my planar work in Lost Spheres Publishing's City of 7 Seraphs, in my lottery games at PaizoCon, and perhaps in more Pathfinder books yet to come...? :> I'm on Twitter and Instagram as @tectonomancer and beginning Saturday, January 25th, I'll be playing in The Houses of Halifax, a Bloodlines and Black Magic live play game streamed over Twitch. For more information and the full game schedule, visit stormbunnystudios.com/houses

Nathan Reinecke
Once upon a time I wrote a vigilante guide, which led to me making a friend who pointed me at a third party Pathfinder studio that took new freelancers. Now I'm here, writing about two of my favorite Pathfinder deities, Shizuru and Tsukiyo. So hi, I’m Nathan Reinecke, and thanks to Paizo for the opportunities you’ve given me.
I'm a writer and blogger from Wisconsin and I've worked on backmatter for a few AP books before this (after this? One hasn’t come out yet). My main body of work is class options, especially trying to fill niches that don’t quite have them yet, but I’m also steadily developing a series of ancestries and archetypes for a setting I hope to release someday. If you liked my work, you can find more at fedoraferret.wordpress.com, where I do monthly class guides and regular content updates, or you can reach out to me atnathan.reinecke12@gmail.com.

Simone Dietzler Sallé (she/her)
Hello! I'm an editor, writer, and fierce advocate for representation in storytelling. While I have an abiding love of en dashes and serial commas, I'm most passionate about the way we use language to create relatable, engaging stories and build welcoming communities. I edit adventures in multiple systems and am thrilled to be a contributing author in several Starfinder and 2nd Edition Pathfinder resources, including this one! When I'm not editing and writing, I'm likely reading, hiking in my favored terrain, or—surprise! —gaming (currently in Pathfinder, Pendragon, Poem, and Subnautica).
To discuss working together, swap resources on storytelling and conscious language, or just to nerd out about good games and books, you can find me at www.wildwoodediting.com and on Instagram @wildwoodedits.

Michael Sayre
Yo! Michael Sayre here. Gods and Magic was the second Lost Omens book I’ve had the privilege of writing for, and definitely one was really excited to see come to life. Getting to write the goblins for the Lost Omens Character Guide was a blast, but for this book I got to revisit Nivi Rhombodazzle (possibly my favorite Golarion deity) and do the write-up on God Calling and the related deity stat blocks. The Sarkorian reclaimers and their allies are a part of the Inner Sea I’m really invested in, having written or developed multiple adventures talking about their stories (Scourge of the Farheavens, Breath of the Dragonskull, and another we haven’t officially announced yet!), as well as consulting on the short story posted in our blogs, Far From Heaven. I was a little worried that since god calling is a tradition with multiple deities (and “deities”) that it might not fit the format of this book as well, but the charts of deities and their statistics in the back proved a perfect place for me to point to while using the main article to talk about the god calling traditions and culture from a top level perspective. I’ll also take some credit for Imot, The Symbol of Doom making the cut in the Monitor Demigods section since I begged Luis and Eleanor to make sure we had a deity whose favored weapon was a shield included in this book. Hopefully you all have as much fun playing with these new options as I did working on them! Now to go remind the design team that the Sarkorians would love a proper summoner class for their god callers to be a part of….”

David Schwartz
Hey! I'm David Schwartz and I've been freelancing for Paizo since the days of Dragon Magazine. In that time I've written everything from player character options to monsters, setting material to adventures. Arguably my most famous contribution to Golarion is the iconic vigilante the Red Raven. Given my eclectic writings, it's appropriate that my contributions to Lost Omens Gods and Magic are for people who want a little of everything. Can't decide between good and evil? Dedicate yourself to one of the Monitor demigods, divine patrons of absolute law, unbridled chaos, or pragmatic neutrality. Can't choose just one deity? Follow a pantheon and get your divine magic from a whole family of related gods.
In addition to my work for Paizo, I've currently got a series of undercity locations coming out from 0one Games. Written for that other popular RPG, these ready-made adventure sites can be used individually or combined together. Watch trailers for the first two here and here.

Shahreena Shahrani
Marhaba/hello fellow pathfinders! My name is Shahreena. Much of my writings and imaginations about Pathfinder deities, their places of worship, and religious beliefs and practices are based on observations and knowledge about various Asian and Arab cultures. As an ethnologist, I am fascinated by communities of people and their cultural practices, and frequently spend time observing and thinking about how they relate with others. IRL, I teach courses in Modern Standard Arabic, and the literature and cultures of the Arab and Islamic world at The Ohio State University. I am passionate about (and give presentations on) providing equitable access, skills, and support to young people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds interested in pursuing foreign language study abroad, and am excited about my upcoming 360 video recording project in May! I cannot wait to begin recording in different cities of the Arab world and offer a virtual sense of cultural immersion to interested learners. (To contact, support, and/or learn more about my projects, you can reach me at: shahreena_s@yahoo.com .) Inshallah I’ll be back in time for Origins. Hope to see y’all there! O-H!

Jason Tondro
I’m Jason Tondro and I'm a Starfinder developer; I wrote the Outer Gods section of this book, which allowed me to explore what I think is really scary about the Cthulhu Mythos: not that it’s gross and icky, but that the universe Just Does Not Care About You. I’m also the author of Arthur Lives! for Fate Core, and the editor of Peripheral Code, a fanzine for the Ars Magica game. Follow me on Twitter @doctorcomics.

Diego Valdez
Hello everyone! I wrote the Empyreal Lords and Alseta. The Empyreal Lords have long been my favorite part of the Golarion cosmology. So being given the opportunity to write them was really awesome! Alseta was also a really fun deity to write! I hope you all find both to be fun and flavorful parts of your tables! Gods and Magic will be my first contributor credit in a physical Pathfinder book, but it is not the first writing I have done for Paizo. I have been invited to write 3 ACG scenarios. On the Starfinder end I contributed to both Alien Archive 3 and Near Space, I wrote a quest for Starfinder Society, and I wrote an article for the backmatter of an upcoming Adventure Path. For Pathfinder RPG, in addition to Gods and Magic, I have contributed the upcoming City of Lost Omens Absalom book. Creative endeavors beyond that include a YouTube channel I am working on getting off the ground (it’s still a work in progress).
If you’d like to get a hold of me for freelance, you can do so through my website, diegoavaldez.com, which also has a list of the projects I have worked on.

The people of Golarion have literally hundreds of gods that they could choose to follow. In fact, many people follow the teaching of multiple deities in their everyday life. A farmer might pray to Gozreh for rain, Sarenrae for lots of sunlight, and Erastil for a good harvest all in the same day. Considering this was a common aspect of so many of our characters and stories in Pathfinder, we thought that Lost Omens Gods & Magic was the perfect time to introduce a way to represent polytheism mechanically.

Pantheons are groups of related gods that can be worshipped either individually or together. In some cases, these gods share thematic ties. The farmer mentioned above sees Erastil, Gozreh, and Sarenrae as important because of their influence on the farmer’s crops. In other cases, gods are all part of the same pantheon due to their common worshippers. Most elves worship the same group of elven deities, for example. Sometimes gods might be actually related, such is the case with Torag and his family who make up the dwarven pantheon.

Art by Emile Denis

Gods & Magic introduces new rules for worshipping pantheons. A character can choose to worship a pantheon, which is very similar to the worship of an individual deity. A pantheon features a stat block with its own set of alignment restrictions, domains, edicts, anathemas, and so on, thus following the same rules as the worship of a single deity. Pantheons do have a wrinkle, however. Instead of simply worshipping the pantheon, a character must also select a patron deity among those that are part of the pantheon. Think of the patron deity as a character’s focus or guide to the specific pantheon. A character worshipping a pantheon must follow the edicts and avoid the anathemas of both the pantheon and patron deity, with the patron’s edicts and anathema taking precedence. Having a patron deity prevents a worshipper from becoming caught between mutually exclusive edicts and anathema from all the gods they worship as the worshipper can ultimately fall back on the patron’s requirements in conflicting or unusual situations.

Dwarf Pantheon

• Alignment LG (LN, NG, N)
• Areas of Concern Ancestry, crafting, dwarves, relationships
• Divine Font heal
• Divine Ability Constitution or Wisdom
• Divine Skill Diplomacy
• Domains creation, family, protection, wealth
• Alternate Domains duty, glyph
• Cleric Spells 1st: ant haul, 4th: creation, 7th: retrocognition
• Edicts develop skills useful to your community (especially mining, crafting, and trading), honor your ancestors through traditions and rituals
• Anathema dishonor your family, willingly break a contract or oath, irreparably damage an ancestral relic
• Favored Weapon warhammer

This book presents a few sample pantheons, such as the dwarven pantheon and the Godclaw. However, pantheons can come in all shapes and sizes. We recommend that GMs use the pantheons featured in the book as a starting point for what you can do with pantheons. In fact, let’s see what we might be able to come up with using some of the gods featured in Gods & Magic!

Art by Klaher Baklaher

You could consider gods who are each other’s’ allies. Desna, Shelyn, and Sarenrae all work together in their fight against evil and are even known to be lovers. If we made a pantheon that included their themes and values, we might end up with something like this.

The Prismatic Ray

• Alignment NG (LG, NG, CG)
• Areas of Concern Defeating evil, guarding innocents, and wholesome creations
• Divine Font heal
• Divine Ability Wisdom or Charisma
• Divine Skill Diplomacy
• Domains creation, moon, protection, sun
• Alternate Domains family, healing, travel
• Cleric Spells 1st: sleep, 3rd: fireball, 4th: creation
• Edicts Create works that inspire good acts, defend those who cannot defend themselves, pursue evil
• Anathema allow evil to spread, destroy that which brings joy to others, fail to offer evil a chance to surrender
• Favored Weapon shortsword

Here, I tried to snag a bit from each goddess. I settled on the Primastic Ray as a name that represents all three. The various colors represent Shelyn, while the ray could be either moonlight for Desna or sunlight for Sarenrae. Of course, this is just one take on these three deities. I could have chosen to focus more on the travel and freedom aspects of Desna or the healing aspects of Sarenrae. What’s fun about pantheons is that you can usually make them however you like, so long as they make sense thematically.

Art by Cynthia F.G

Speaking of thematic ties, have you heard of Ancient Osirion? Turns out they had lots of deities back in the ancient days. Also, did you know that Nethys was originally an Osiriani pharaoh? That’s fun! Well, let’s see what we can do with that. Gods & Magic includes rules for worshipping the Ancient Osirian gods. A good number of them (Isis, Selket, and Thoth to be specific) also have a focus on magic, just like Nethys. If we take those four, we might get a pantheon like this one.

Wards of the Pharaoh

• Alignment NG (LN, NG, N, CG)
• Areas of Concern Abjuration magic, protection, self-improvement
• Divine Font harm or heal
• Divine Ability Constitution or Intelligence
• Divine Skill Medicine
• Domains Family, knowledge, magic, protection
• Alternate Domains glyph*, healing
• Cleric Spells 1st: soothe, 4th: resilient sphere, 9th: disjunction
• Edicts Use magic to defend yourself and your allies, maintain magical wards, seek greater magical knowledge
• Anathema Destroy wards that are actively protecting innocents, refuse to use your magic to help those in need who ask you
• Favored Weapon staff

All of these deities have a focus on magic, but a lot of them are also focused on the protection of others or on knowledge. I chose to lean into these aspects a bit, creating a pantheon themed around using magic to protect others while still keeping the pursuit of knowledge. Nethys is a neutral deity, but I doubt that he would be against improving one’s magical skill regardless of what school of magic it’s for. As a result, he made a fitting, but very interesting addition to the pantheon.

Art by Emile Denis

Let’s try one more pantheon before I go. With the focus on knowledge, I want to snag a few knowledge focused deities and see what we can create. I start by grabbing Brigh and Casandalee. Then, I take Irori as he is an obvious choice. From there, I include Shyka who can understand all events throughout time thanks to their unique focus on time. Finally, to introduce a little chaos, I’ve added Ydajisk, a protean demigod focused on language. With all of those deities, we might get something like this.

Pillars of Knowledge

• Alignment N (LN, N, CN)
• Areas of Concern Learning, innovation, safeguarding knowledge
• Divine Font harm or heal
• Divine Ability Intelligence or Wisdom
• Divine Skill Crafting
• Domains Creation, knowledge, secrecy, truth
• Alternate Domains glyph*, perfection, time*
• Cleric Spells 1st: message rune*, , 3rd: hypercognition, 9th: retrocognition
• Edicts Seek new knowledge, use your knowledge and skill to improve the world around you, protect knowledge from becoming lost
• Anathema Choose to use old knowledge or tools after they have been improved upon, destroy knowledge, refuse to answer a query for which you know the answer
• Favored Weapon light hammer

Again, this leads to a fun little mishmash of different themes and ideas for each of the deities. Some of the most fun comes with creating anathemas for the pantheons. Brigh and Casandalee are both goddesses related to invention and innovation, so asking a worshipper to make sure they are using the latest knowledge and tools is an interesting way to express these themes. Ydajisk calls for worshippers to keep old languages—and old knowledge—alive, but they also keep you from holding your tongue when asked a question.

As you can see, pantheons can make for limitless interesting combinations and ideas. We’re looking forward to providing more pantheons in the future, but we’re most excited to see what pantheons players and GMs create for their own games. You could maybe take the four Horsemen and create a pantheon to worship all four. If you like the spirit of competition, you could create a pantheon that includes Kurgess and other sporting deities. I’m sure our fans will create lots of fun and memorable pantheons in the years to come. If you want to check out pantheons, make sure to snag Lost Omens Gods & Magic when it releases on January 29th. It’s going to be divine!

Luis Loza
Developer

Seelah took a moment to run a mental checklist before leaving the last place of cover. The sun was high, brightly keeping shadows at bay and ensuring she had clear lines of sight. It also ensured that as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she would be spotted. Stealth was not her area of expertise in any case. She would need different tactics to overcome her foes, and she hoped she had planned well enough. If she had not, the consequences would be dire.

There were two of them pacing in the rubble, hulking things of fur, horn, and claw. Their mere appearance was not so much different from beasts or giants, but even if she had not recognized them from her studies—ceustodaemons, extraplanar guardians set to keep any from reclaiming this place—the malevolent sensation that churned her stomach would have told her they were not of the material world.

Her eyes scanned the broken courtyard one last time. This had been a training ground once, before icons of death and despair had been carved into the rocks and the walls had been painted with obscenities. Once, nearby common folk would have come here for basic instruction in defense and young warriors of Iomedae would have tested themselves to see if they were ready to carry her ideals into a dangerous world.

Now, Seelah would face a very different kind of test.

Illustration by Igor Grechanyi.
For new faith-based tools you can use in battling the forces of evil, check out Lost Omens: Gods & Magic!

After a quick prayer for guidance, she strode toward the two monstrosities, shield up, sword drawn. They saw her immediately, of course. She had not planned to strike from surprise, nor to attack without giving them an opportunity to avoid conflict. She couldn’t imagine a circumstance that would make these creatures anything but her implacable enemies, but she still could not simply slay them without confirming they posed a threat.

“You are on once consecrated ground.” Her voice was firm, even. “And I shall see it consecrated again!”

The twin daemons turned and focused cruel attention upon her. She felt supernatural malice hammer her mind like invisible sling stones, trying to turn her limbs leaden, but she focused her thoughts through the immobilizing magic. Seeing her still moving and uncowed, the daemons responded with angry roars and headlong rushes toward her. She was hard pressed for a long second as they raged, clawed, and bit. Her armor weathered their blows, her shield taking some of the impact as well. Seelah had prepared for this and sensed no hint of the unexpected. She could bring her full force against them. Literal avatars of violent death, there was no chance they would ask for quarter.

Seelah moved to keep them from flanking her, flicking her eyes quickly from her targets to her environment. It pained her to see what had been done to the once beautiful columns and walls of the ruined temple, but she did not turn her face from any corner where another foe might hide. The sacrilege that had been carried out here was methodical, total, and nauseatingly creative. She did not believe these daemons to be any more than guardians left behind to ensure the vile vandalism was not undone. Some other intelligence had brought the temple low.

Suddenly a well-placed blow dropped one daemon sooner than she had expected, and the other leaped back from Seelah. She moved toward it cautiously but at a quick stride.

“Perhaps we should negotiate.” The creature’s voice was deep and gruff, as though mortal words hurt its throat, and its tone betrayed any intention of diplomacy. The false overture was scarcely out of its mouth when a gout of fire followed it. As the flames danced off her magically warded armor, Seelah surged forward and drove her blade deep into the daemon’s chest. The steel cut, the holy forces coursing through it cutting deeper still. With a gurgling cry, the remaining daemon staggered back and fell, ichor dripping from the wound.

“This wins you nothing!” The fiend’s growl was more petulant than defiant. “You cannot hold this place. That which bound us here shall see you begin to rebuild. Your dreamed-of monument to your lackluster mortal of a godling will fall again before you finish gilding it. No accolades will this win you from your light-thrall masters, no wealth or power will you collect!”

Seeleh paused a moment, her enemy’s tar-like blood boiling off her glowing blade. She disliked striking a fallen foe but there was, of course, no chance of turning this thing from its path of evil.

“This place,” Seelah indicated the open court with a jab of her chin, keeping eyes, sword, and shield carefully oriented against any desperate last strike the monstrosity might make, “is just a place. When my order lost it, we grieved, but more for the loss of those within than for toppled stone. We rebuilt elsewhere. We still train the willing, temper the faithful, and sharpen the keenest of Iomedae’s blades. If we can rebuild this place after it is cleansed, we will. But that is not why I am here.”

The daemon laughed once, a hard, humorless noise.

“Then you risk your life and rouse my anger of that which bound me for even less than I thought. It has done this to a hundred places and will do it to a hundred more. Vanquish us, and it shall return to do the same to you!”

At the last word the daemon lunged, claws slashing for Seelah’s armored belly. Unsurprised, she caught the blow on her shield, felt the impact crack its boards and bruise her arm. She smoothly thrust her longsword down and forward, channeling the divine power her patron granted her through the blessed metal, and felt it cut her foe’s fiendish malevolence as much as its hide and flesh. It collapsed, stretched out on the ground, it’s black blood seeping into the stone.

Seelah crouched, peering into its eyes. Was there some dim light still there? Some glimmer of its daemonic spirit still clinging to its useless physical form? If so, perhaps it could still hear her for a few moments more.

“I did not come here because that which conjured you did this to us. I came because, as you say, it may yet do the same to others. And when it comes here to seek vengeance upon me?” The spark was definitely gone from the daemon’s lifeless eyes. Seelah stood and looked at the hours of toil that would be needed to make this an even vaguely defensible place once again.

She smiled.

“When it comes? I will be ready.”

---

About the Author

Owen K.C. Stephens is a veteran of the tabletop RPG industry with more than 20 years of experience, including being on staff at Green Ronin, Paizo, and Wizards of the Coast and being the publisher of RogueGeniusGames.com. He has worked on numerous RPG lines, including being co-author of the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG and Design Lead for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game. You can support his writing and free content production at Patreon, and follow him at his blog, on Facebook and on Twitter.

About Iconic Encounters

Iconic Encounters is a series of web-based flash fiction set in the worlds of Pathfinder and Starfinder. Each short story provides a glimpse into the life and personality of one of the games’ iconic characters, showing the myriad stories of adventure and excitement players can tell with the Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games.

Characters living in the Age of Lost Omens have the unique benefit of being able to speak directly with their gods and have these gods directly influence the world around them. This is especially true of player characters, who typically have a direct line to their given gods, particularly in the case of faithful classes like champions and clerics. You can think of Lost Omens Gods & Magic as a catalog to help you decide not only what faith your character can follow, but also what benefits you gain for said worship.

Art by Michele Esposite

The most obvious benefit is new options for your character. Gods & Magic has new domains, equipment, feats, and spells for all faithful types, but we wanted to make sure that these options were not simply limited to characters who were champions and clerics. Faith is important to all manner of character in Golarion, whether you are a barbarian praying to Gorum for strength or an investigator praying to Zohls for guidance on the latest case. As a result, many of the options contained in the book are available to all classes and are meant to encourage players to play up the faithful sides of their characters. A great starting point for these options is with the new background featured in the book.

Raised By Belief Background

This background ties into your deity’s Divine Ability, a selection of two different ability scores that best represents your faith. Abadar, for example, has Constitution and Intelligence listed as his Divine Ability while Zon-Kuthon has Constitution or Wisdom. Every deity in the book features a Divine Ability, allowing this background to function with any deity necessary for your character concept.

Art by Klaher Baklaher

In addition to the background, we also present several feats. Most of these feats are available to all characters, allowing any faithful to gain benefits from their devout worship. As a note, some of these feats are restricted to particular faiths, such as the Sanctify Water feat that only functions for followers of a good or evil deity as it allows you to create holy water or unholy water respectively. Other feats are tied to specific classes, like Sacred Ki which allows monks to convert the damage from their ki blast into an alignment that matches that of their deity. One particular favorite of mine is Battle Prayer, which allows you to blast a foe with the power of scripture!

Battle Prayer

Now, as this book is titled Gods & Magic, one would assume that there is plenty of magic. Oh, boy, is there! This book features 14 pages of new spells and focus spells. Again, as we didn’t want to lock these spells to only characters with domains, a large portion of these spells are part of the arcane, occult, or primal traditions, making them perfect additions to your bard’s repertoire or your wizard’s spell book. Some of these spells include old classics that have been updated for Second Edition like anticipate peril, ill omen, shifting sand, and of course, cup of dust!

Cup of Dust

Although these spells aren’t part of the divine tradition, it doesn’t mean that clerics are out of luck when it comes to these spells. Many of these new spells are on the list of cleric spells granted by a deity, allowing worshippers of the correct god to gain these new spells, too! Are you sad that you missed out on time beacon, the cool new spell that allows you to turn back the clock and undo negative effects on you? Worry not! Just follow Shyka the Many or… erm… Yog-Sothoth and you can have this cool spell, too!

Art by Emile Denis

Magic takes many forms. For clerics, a significant portion of their magic is in the form of domains. Gods & Magic features 18 new domains that run the gamut of different concepts and themes. The Dust domain, for example, calls upon the power of the gods to dry and crumble what opposes you, allowing you call swirling dust with the dust storm spell. The void domain, on the other hand, lets you rend reality and create a rift that pulls creatures toward it with door to beyond. These new domains also cover general concepts that we didn’t have a chance to include in the Core Rulebook like the cold domain.

Winterbolt

Finally, let’s take a look at some of the cool equipment featured in this book. Most of the deities featured in Gods & Magic are ones that are being updated to Pathfinder Second Edition. Where we could, we tried to make sure these deities are exactly the same as they were originally, only swapping out things like the strength domain for the might domain where necessary. As a result, we needed to update a good number of favored weapons or even create brand new favored weapons for the new deities premiering in this book.

Art by Oksana Federova

These weapons range from classics like bladed scarf, fighting fan, and khopesh to brand new weapons like the polytool, a metal rod with several tools folded inside. The polytool is the favored weapon of Casandalee and her faithful, allowing her followers to always have whatever tool they need for a given task, be it crafting or fighting enemies. In addition to these new weapons, we also provide a number of new magic items, each with ties to a particular faith. These include the bottomless stein, a stein for Cayden’s faithful that never runs empty, the dagger of eternal sleep, a dagger used by Achaekek’s followers that automatically critically hits a sleeping target, and Urgathoa’s dreadsmoke thurible.

Dreadsmoke Thurible

As you can see, there are lots of goodies for those who are willing to follow the edicts of their faith, whether they are clerics or not. All of these options and more await anyone willing to take a leap of faith with Lost Omens Gods & Magic, releasing later this month on January 29th.

Luis Loza
Developer