Illustrations by Florian Stitz
Illustration by Scott Purdy


Why Do That Juju?

Friday, September 3, 2010

There's a line when it comes to what sort of material we put in our products. We try not to tread over the boundary of what might be offensive, provoking, or generally beyond what you might see in a PG-13 rated movie. But every now and then we test those limits—or abjectly bound past them. In Pathfinder Adventure Path #39, the ol' "questionable content" line gets a little hazy; not because of sex or violence, or whatever have you, but because of religion.

There's no doubt religious elements influence the characters and plots of the Pathfinder RPG—clerics, paladins, monks, and witches are playable classes after all, and untold armies of cultists have fallen before legions of adventurers. But we've long danced around one religious tradition with a lengthy history of involvement in sword and sorcery fantasy: voodoo.

We've kept away from this topic—one I've personally wanted to cover since back in the Dragon magazine days—for several reasons, the primary one being that vodou is a living religion practiced and respected in several parts of the world, and no one here knows enough about it to judge what might be offensive. What we do know about, though, are films like The Serpent and the Rainbow and stories like Robert E. Howard's "Hills of the Dead" or "Black Canaan." We also know the "juju zombie," a toughened up zombie who's been in RPGs for years and years (with a name inspired by African fetish magic and in, coincidentally, Bestiary 2). So, motivated by the Advanced Player's Guide's presentation of the oracle, a divine caster who worships a pantheon of patrons and cultivates a host of strange abilities, now seemed like a perfect time to test our luck and take a swing at a new tradition of magic inspired not so much by real-world vodou but more by voodoo films, stories of bayou magic, and swamp and sorcery fantasy.

All of this comes together in Mike Shel's article in Pathfinder Adventure Path #39's "The Path of Juju." Now, oracles can look forward to a new juju mystery allowing them to tap into the mysterious secrets of nature's deadliest wildernesses, while casters of all types might create a host of strange new magical items, from soul trapping powders to the infamous ganji doll. It's all in there, ready for GMs looking to tell tales of swamp magic and mystery or PCs ready to challenge the cities of men with the true power of their ancient beliefs.

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Florian Stitz Oracles Orcs Pathfinder Adventure Path Scott Purdy Serpent Folk Serpent's Skull Undead
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Justin Franklin wrote:
Lilith wrote:
Zombieneighbours wrote:
The_Minstrel_Wyrm wrote:
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
Zombieneighbours wrote:
You do!
Do what?
Remind me of the babe.
What babe?
The babe with the power.
What power?

The power of voodoo.


Not hoodoo?


Kajehase wrote:
Not hoodoo?

No, voodoo.


As long as it's not poo-poo.


How odd. I just watched Labyrith last night. (It was my wife's first time.) Of course, the 3.5 Tome of Magic's Binder can easily be reflavored for some added "voodoo" goodness. I haven't bought the entire run of an AP yet (well, Savage Tide, but that was in Dragon) - this might just be the one.


Viriato wrote:

By 'you're' I didn't mean you personally, but the people at Pathfinder. Regardless, trivializing, as you previously put it, tends to offend, so my point stands. You would also find very little in common with vodoun and the pulp voodoo that tends to be portrayed in popular culture, so the same line of reasoning can be applied.

To wit, this blog entry is symptomatic of an over-sensitiveness that permeates the mainstream western psyche nowadays, and that annoys me. Wes Schneider might as well apologize in advance for offending people who could possibly take umbrage to such a tiptoeing approach, while we're at it...

Well, considering that the entire Savage Tide campaign is one that sort of romanticizes colonialism and tends to cast the "natives" as simple savages anyway, it would be easy for a person of a marginalized group to take a little umbrage. But I think it boils down more to simple ignorance of African and Vodoun history and sprituality that leads to these potrayls in the media, which in turn feeds misperceptions about Voodoo...vice malice or overt racism.

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