The Mythic Side of Golarion

I have always wondered what would happen if the Tarrasque and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay got into a fight.

Interesting that Baba Yaga has a higher CR than Tar Baphon. Still, I suppose she is much more mobile than the Whispering Tyrant and has been around longer.

With what has been done with Baba Yaga recently I'm starting to wonder is she's a pet figure of one of the Paizo people.

brad2411 wrote:

Looks great. I did think the Whispering Tyrant would be higher CR but I shall be happy to have his stats. YAY

Yeah I do agree with that... I mean... The Whispering Tyrant was almost a threat to Aroden, right? I would have expected him to be at least level 20 and MR8... kind of disappointed...

Actually, since he is CR 26, he's have to be level 20 (CR 19) and tier 10 (+5 CR) with the lich template on top (+2 CR, so a total of CR 26). Level 20 and MR 8 is only CR 23, so don't worry, he is still VERY scary. Remember, 2 Mythic Ranks = 1 CR increase.

Ok, since I seem to be the only one to say it: the VALASHMAI JUNGLE on Tian Xia?!?!? Awesome. Joygasm. Now if only my budget were that excited. Damn you, Paizo. Damn you straight to the Abyss. I cannot even define how badly I need this now. Damn you - damn you good.

brad2411 wrote:

Looks great. I did think the Whispering Tyrant would be higher CR but I shall be happy to have his stats. YAY

Yeah I do agree with that... I mean... The Whispering Tyrant was almost a threat to Aroden, right? I would have expected him to be at least level 20 and MR8... kind of disappointed...

Meh, when he came back as a Lich he attempted to challenge Aroden who simply didn't care. That part lowered my expectations of him.

Level 20 has always been the cap.

At CR 26, he's above the normal maximum CR a plain old 20th level 10th tier wizard could hever hit.

I am not worried considering this dark lord of all undeath is on the frontcover of the world guide, I am pretty sure he will be very terrifying.

and more importantly old-mage Jantembe woot!!

Does anyone know were this Raskineya the Dark Comet is mentioned?

Didn't notice the mention of the Valashmai jungle. Cool, maybe we will find out more about the Titan's Grave.

Does anyone know were this Raskineya the Dark Comet is mentioned?

It's something Rovagug related I think.

"Gormuz (as in [[Pit of Gormuz]]) and that it will return again when a dark comet appears in the sky."

"in fact the name of the first of the spawn, and that the arrival of a dark comet will signify its return to life."

It's something Rovagug related I think.

"Gormuz (as in [[Pit of Gormuz]]) and that it will return again when a dark comet appears in the sky."

"in fact the name of the first of the spawn, and that the arrival of a dark comet will signify its return to life."

I didn't recall those quotes until you mentioned them. With those, and the picture of what appears to be the Tarrasque rising from the Pit of Gormuz, I'm more convinced than ever that the Tarrasque (or perhaps all the Spawn of Rovagug) are some kind of ascended, monstrous forms of formerly mortal men and women. Hmm...

(Or at the very least that the Tarrasque is coming back to life.)

Hmm. It's intriguing. I will definitely wind up getting this book ASAP, I think. Speculation time!

"While the book doesn't detail the challenges a hopeful must overcome to reach the Starstone, it does explain how this mysterious meteorite became the apotheosis catalyst it has become, and gives GMs and players unique powers to use as their characters ascend to the ranks of the gods."

Perhaps this will tell us just how the Starstone came to be a fount of mythic power, and what that entails. I would hope so, at any rate. If it's only explaining how the aboleths dragged it down plus how Aroden raised it and put it where it is, I'll be a bit cranky. It will, however, be interesting to see how the Starstone functions in context with Divine Source (the mythic ability) only showing up at 3rd tier. Does the Starstone raise you to 1 tier? Or is it several at once plus access to these new abilities?

"Inside, you'll find statistics for such NPCs and monsters as the Whispering Tyrant (CR 26), Old-Mage Jatembe (CR 24), Raskineya, the Dark Comet (CR 16), and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay (CR 30)."

Tar-Baphon is CR 26. Interesting. The Lich template is +2 CR. Now, he may have been done up differently, but that would seem to imply that he has 20 levels of Necromancer, +2 CR from Lich, and then the other 5 CR is filled up by a combination of mythic tiers and unique abilities (perhaps 7 mythic tiers, to give a 1.5 APL/CR range to special abilities).

Old-Mage Jatembe... I've been interested in this guy for a while now. Good to see that some light is being shone on him, and in particular I'm hoping that a little bit is revealed about where he's been and what he's been doing (if he's still alive). Going to guess that he's either a 20th level wizard with around 8 mythic tiers. Possibly less if he has some special powers. Or he might be a Magaambyan Arcanist. It would seem suitable, given that the PrC is built around stuff he developed and codified. I wonder how he reached Ascension, too. There's that legend that he battled against the King of Biting Ants, whose stronghold was the Doorway to the Red Star. Since said Doorway is a mythic fount, perhaps that was how he first gained his mythic status? Anyway, damn if he doesn't look badass. And as if he's not carrying too much in the way of magic with him, either. You have the archetype of wizards wearing magic items that have a net value of more than an entire country... and then Jatembe here, wandering along with a staff, old robes and even barefoot. Sure, sure, some of what he's carrying are probably either artifacts or just stuff described differently, but he does look fantastic.

The Dark Comet means that we might be getting a resurrected Spawn of Rovagug out of it. Interesting that it's not CR 20+. I know Mythic doesn't have to be, but it's good to see that there'll be at least some stuff in Mythic Realms that shows Mythic stuff functioning at a lower CR.

And the Oliphaunt of Jandelay, well, I guess we'll see why it destroyed half of Xanderghul's army when he summoned it once. And Xanderghul himself is probably around CR 27, too, though I'll be sad to not see him in the book. But maybe we'll get some means of summoning the Oliphaunt. Because if you want to go out with a bang, you may as well go out with a big one.

The presence of the 'old mage' in this book means there is a slight chance Saventh will be in there even though she is dead. Crossing my fingers :D

I recall somewhere that Jatembe never actually died, but walked away in obscurity.

Tarrasque... RIP Golarion.

Old-Mage Jatembe... I've been interested in this guy for a while now. Good to see that some light is being shone on him, and in particular I'm hoping that a little bit is revealed about where he's been and what he's been doing (if he's still alive). Going to guess that he's either a 20th level wizard with around 8 mythic tiers. Possibly less if he has some special powers. Or he might be a Magaambyan Arcanist. It would seem suitable, given that the PrC is built around stuff he developed and codified. I wonder how he reached Ascension, too. There's that legend that he battled against the King of Biting Ants, whose stronghold was the Doorway to the Red Star. Since said Doorway is a mythic fount, perhaps that was how he first gained his mythic status? Anyway, damn if he doesn't look badass. And as if he's not carrying too much in the way of magic with him, either. You have the archetype of wizards wearing magic items that have a net value of more than an entire country... and then Jatembe here, wandering along with a staff, old robes and even barefoot. Sure, sure, some of what he's carrying are probably either artifacts or just stuff described differently, but he does look fantastic.

Old-Mage Jatembe... NSFW, language

With what has been done with Baba Yaga recently I'm starting to wonder is she's a pet figure of one of the Paizo people.

Guilty!

Also, she's supposed to be a bad ass. She's traveled countless worlds and cowed demon lords and would be a demigod if she actually cared to be. Baba Yaga is kind of a big deal, not just on Golarion, but on dozens of worlds in the multiverse.

Drock11 wrote:

With what has been done with Baba Yaga recently I'm starting to wonder is she's a pet figure of one of the Paizo people.

Guilty!

Also, she's supposed to be a bad ass. She's traveled countless worlds and cowed demon lords and would be a demigod if she actually cared to be. Baba Yaga is kind of a big deal, not just on Golarion, but on dozens of worlds in the multiverse.

I <3 Baba! ^_^

I am half-Ukrainian and grew up calling my grandmother "baba", while being fully aware of the baba yaga tales as well

my baba is basically the toughest lady on this planet, so it absolutely slays me that yep, baba yaga is kinda a big deal in Pathfinder

plus I could totally see my baba kicking the crap out of a bunch of PCs then making them dinner for them while scolding the group to try harder next time

Wait wait wait hold the phone a REGIONAL MAP of the PIT OF GORMUZ?!

CASMARON CASMARON CASMARON WE'RE GOING TO CASMARON

Wait wait wait hold the phone a REGIONAL MAP of the PIT OF GORMUZ?!

CASMARON CASMARON CASMARON WE'RE GOING TO CASMARON

:D

So far, all the locales really grab me, except for the Mordant Spire. But I'm sure that'll surprise me.

Tar Baphon on the other hand only needs to have his phylactery destroyed before he can be slain, and while that is a quest in itself is still does not provide the same benefits or the as large complicated quest to complete as in the case of Baba Yaga.

I'd put the quest to destroy the Whispering Tyrant's phylactery on about equal footing with trying to kill Baba Yaga.

brad2411 wrote:

Looks great. I did think the Whispering Tyrant would be higher CR but I shall be happy to have his stats. YAY

Yeah I do agree with that... I mean... The Whispering Tyrant was almost a threat to Aroden, right? I would have expected him to be at least level 20 and MR8... kind of disappointed...

A level 20 MR 8 lich would only be CR 25.

Level 20 human necromancer = CR 19
MR 8 = +4 CR
Lich template = +2 CR

Total CR for that version of Tar-Baphon would be CR 25.

Darkorin wrote:

brad2411 wrote:

Looks great. I did think the Whispering Tyrant would be higher CR but I shall be happy to have his stats. YAY

Yeah I do agree with that... I mean... The Whispering Tyrant was almost a threat to Aroden, right? I would have expected him to be at least level 20 and MR8... kind of disappointed...

A level 20 MR 8 lich would only be CR 25.

Level 20 human necromancer = CR 19
MR 8 = +4 CR
Lich template = +2 CR

Total CR for that version of Tar-Baphon would be CR 25.

Which means Aroden when he was alive would have been...

Level 20 Wizard = CR 19
Azlanti = CR +1
MR 10 = CR +5
Diety = CR +?

Above 25 CR.

James Jacobs wrote:

Darkorin wrote:

brad2411 wrote:

Looks great. I did think the Whispering Tyrant would be higher CR but I shall be happy to have his stats. YAY

Yeah I do agree with that... I mean... The Whispering Tyrant was almost a threat to Aroden, right? I would have expected him to be at least level 20 and MR8... kind of disappointed...

A level 20 MR 8 lich would only be CR 25.

Level 20 human necromancer = CR 19
MR 8 = +4 CR
Lich template = +2 CR

Total CR for that version of Tar-Baphon would be CR 25.

Which means Aroden when he was alive would have been...

Level 20 Wizard = CR 19
Azlanti = CR +1
MR 10 = CR +5
Diety = CR +?

Above 25 CR.

Being Azlanti does not increase your CR. The bonuses granted by being Azlanti are less than half those granted by the Advanced template, remember, and that template grants only +1 CR in and of itself.

Personally... I probably would have made Tar-Baphon a little higher CR... maybe CR 28. But he's Jason's baby, and that's the CR Jason wanted him to be at. I would take your concerns to him if you think CR 26 is too low... but I'd also wait until you finally see the Mythic Realms book so that you'll have a place to start the conversation from other than speculation on his stats.

A level 20 MR 8 lich would only be CR 25.

Level 20 human necromancer = CR 19
MR 8 = +4 CR
Lich template = +2 CR

Total CR for that version of Tar-Baphon would be CR 25.

Fingers crossed for a Rank 10 Mythic Lich, personally. I mean, Tar-Baphon is pretty much the poster-boy for Lichdom in Golarion- he deserves the whole gamut of powers.

In fact, the photo for the Combat Pad, we see "W. Tyrant"'s HP going up rather than down, which could imply at least Rank 9 to get the Sustained by Magic ability.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? There are two options here -- lich with ten tiers of Archmage, or mythic lich. Or maybe he's found a way to hack the system and have both?

I hope he's made judicious use of Wish spells to ramp up his ability scores.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? There are two options here -- lich with ten tiers of Archmage, or mythic lich. Or maybe he's found a way to hack the system and have both?

I don't have Mythic Adventures yet, but my reading of the Mythic Lich blog post is that Mythic Liches do have both- tiers as well as additional Mythic Lich abilities that they gain in exchange for swapping out some of the standard path abilities they'd have otherwise picked up.

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? There are two options here -- lich with ten tiers of Archmage, or mythic lich. Or maybe he's found a way to hack the system and have both?

I don't have Mythic Adventures yet, but my reading of the Mythic Lich blog post is that Mythic Liches do have both- tiers as well as additional Mythic Lich abilities that they gain in exchange for swapping out some of the standard path abilities they'd have otherwise picked up.

Page 176 pretty much states that if you're a mythic character and you take a mythic template (like mythic lich or vampire), you generally replace the tiers with mythic ranks.

Page 176 pretty much states that if you're a mythic character and you take a mythic template (like mythic lich or vampire), you generally replace the tiers with mythic ranks.

Ah, gotcha. The blog post still refers to them as tiers, not ranks, hence my confusion. (That and, as mentioned, don't have a copy of MA yet.)

Yeah. It is a bit odd, admittedly, that a mythic lich loses its mythic tiers and abilities and instead gains the ranks. Like, does that mean it loses Mythic Spellcasting or Divine Source?

In general, monster abilities can be drawn from mythic path abilities (pg. 226), not just from the abilities listed in the New Universal Monster Rules section.

Is The Oliphaunt of Jandelay bipedal or a quadruped?

I know it's random, but yeah.

In fact, the photo for the Combat Pad, we see "W. Tyrant"'s HP going up rather than down, which could imply at least Rank 9 to get the Sustained by Magic ability.

I think that number is supposed to be the damage he's taken. Some people start with the monster's HP and count down. Other people add up damage until they hit the HP total.

agnelcow wrote:

In fact, the photo for the Combat Pad, we see "W. Tyrant"'s HP going up rather than down, which could imply at least Rank 9 to get the Sustained by Magic ability.

I think that number is supposed to be the damage he's taken. Some people start with the monster's HP and count down. Other people add up damage until they hit the HP total.

That's how I do it. That way, too, if the players get a peak at the pad, they have no idea how many HP the creature actually has left. :-)

Is The Oliphaunt of Jandelay bipedal or a quadruped?

I know it's random, but yeah.

This actually reminds me of an inside joke on my Friday group. We were playing Pathfinder and a drake was sent upon us. So, being a smart ass bard, I do knowledge and before I even roll, I jokingly ask "Is it a biped or a quadruped?" Confused, I explained to the GM that drakes are bipedal and true dragons are quadrupeds. He facepalmed so hard and now, I ask him that whenever we encounter any monster, dragon or not. :D

Is The Oliphaunt of Jandelay bipedal or a quadruped?

I know it's random, but yeah.

Maybe it's a monoped? "I only need one leg to kick your ass"

Does ANYone know what this thing is? I want it because it's a big monster, that's it. Lol.

This is the Oliphaunt.

Given its namesake, it sounds like a titanic magical elephantine behemoth.

I always had the impression that it was vaguely Lovecraftian. Like, something not just huge but sanity-shattering.

A little bummed that there has never been any mention of a truly mythic, hall of fame swordsman in Golarion or even the history of Golarion beyond Sirian Aldori ... and again, melee types seem to get the shaft by first appearances with this seemingly great product.

We're supposed to get - Tar Bapohn (arcane caster), Jatembe (arcane caster), Arazni (arcane caster), Kortash Khain (arcane & divine caster), Dark Comet (monster type), Oliphaunt of Jandelay (monster type) ... so that's 6 of the 9 characters and/or creatures in this saucy product.

Leaves only 3 for potential melee or rogue-ish types. Better give us at least 1-2 martial types Paizo. Otherwise, y'all are off balance. Sorry ... facts of the case.

Don't get me wrong - I'm psyched to get Jatembe, Arazni, Tar Baphon, & the "Olly of Jay" ... but, hello?!

Any awareness that the MASSIVE audience for fantasy adventure has loved,LOVED - Jedi Knights, Inigo Montoya, Aragorn, Lancelot, Miyamoto Musashi, Drizzt Do'Urden, Highlander, Zorro, the swordsmen & women from Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, etc., etc. ?! Hello?! McFly? Anybody home?!

Need Sirian the First or some badass swordsman ... we already have a multitude of arcane casters!! [Runelords, Arazni, Tar Baphon, Jatembe, Queen Abrogail, Queen Telandia ... the list goes on]

James, Jason, Erik ... please explain the rationale. There must be something I'm missing.

A little bummed that there has never been any mention of a truly mythic, hall of fame swordsman in Golarion or even the history of Golarion beyond Sirian Aldori ... and again, melee types seem to get the shaft by first appearances with this seemingly great product.

We're supposed to get - Tar Bapohn (arcane caster), Jatembe (arcane caster), Arazni (arcane caster), Kortash Khain (arcane & divine caster), Dark Comet (monster type), Oliphaunt of Jandelay (monster type) ... so that's 6 of the 9 characters and/or creatures in this saucy product.

Leaves only 3 for potential melee or rogue-ish types. Better give us at least 1-2 martial types Paizo. Otherwise, y'all are off balance. Sorry ... facts of the case.

Don't get me wrong - I'm psyched to get Jatembe, Arazni, Tar Baphon, & the "Olly of Jay" ... but, hello?!

Any awareness that the MASSIVE audience for fantasy adventure has loved,LOVED - Jedi Knights, Inigo Montoya, Aragorn, Lancelot, Miyamoto Musashi, Drizzt Do'Urden, Highlander, Zorro, the swordsmen & women from Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, etc., etc. ?! Hello?! McFly? Anybody home?!

Need Sirian the First or some badass swordsman ... we already have a multitude of arcane casters!! [Runelords, Arazni, Tar Baphon, Jatembe, Queen Abrogail, Queen Telandia ... the list goes on]

James, Jason, Erik ... please explain the rationale. There must be something I'm missing.

While I agree that there is too heavy emphasis on full casters for mythic NPCs, there are a couple of mythic melee types in Golarion that would be good candidates. My votes would be for a pre-deity Iomedae (Paladin) and Savith (most likely a Fighter).

A little bummed that there has never been any mention of a truly mythic, hall of fame swordsman in Golarion or even the history of Golarion beyond Sirian Aldori ... and again, melee types seem to get the shaft by first appearances with this seemingly great product.

We're supposed to get - Tar Bapohn (arcane caster), Jatembe (arcane caster), Arazni (arcane caster), Kortash Khain (arcane & divine caster), Dark Comet (monster type), Oliphaunt of Jandelay (monster type) ... so that's 6 of the 9 characters and/or creatures in this saucy product.

Leaves only 3 for potential melee or rogue-ish types. Better give us at least 1-2 martial types Paizo. Otherwise, y'all are off balance. Sorry ... facts of the case.

Don't get me wrong - I'm psyched to get Jatembe, Arazni, Tar Baphon, & the "Olly of Jay" ... but, hello?!

Any awareness that the MASSIVE audience for fantasy adventure has loved,LOVED - Jedi Knights, Inigo Montoya, Aragorn, Lancelot, Miyamoto Musashi, Drizzt Do'Urden, Highlander, Zorro, the swordsmen & women from Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, etc., etc. ?! Hello?! McFly? Anybody home?!

Need Sirian the First or some badass swordsman ... we already have a multitude of arcane casters!! [Runelords, Arazni, Tar Baphon, Jatembe, Queen Abrogail, Queen Telandia ... the list goes on]

James, Jason, Erik ... please explain the rationale. There must be something I'm missing.

I'm gonna be as gentle as I can here: Being able to b*tch-slap the laws of physics is a strong survival trait when things start to get ridiculous...

The Black Sovereign was hinted as being a mythic barbarian by James Jacobs. Also, the Mayor/King/Lord of Absalom is likely a mythic rogue.

Also, just as Inner Sea Magic introduced several mythic spellcasters (though that term did not exist at the time), I suspect that the upcoming Inner Sea Combat will also confirm the existence of some of the region's mythic warriors.

This is the Oliphaunt.

I know this, but thanks anyway. I wanted to know if the Oliphant is a bipedal or not. The picture doesn't really make it apparent for me.

Don't get me wrong - I'm psyched to get Jatembe, Arazni, Tar Baphon, & the "Olly of Jay" ... but, hello?!

There's not really anything special about Arazni's backstory that calls for her to be a wizard. It's not like other folk can't become liches, and she didn't exactly go about it the usual route, being lich-I-fied against her will long after her death.

Having the order of Ozem devoted to her, who didn't seem to have anything to do with wizardry, being pretty much standard knights with an anti-undead focus, there's even more thematic backing for making her a fighter, cavalier or (ex)paladin. If she'd always been a wizard, I would expect her knightly order to be more mixed arcanist knights, perhaps using the Magus base class, or the Eldritch Knight PrC.

It's not like Arazni not being an 11th level spellcaster would have slowed down Geb for a cold hard second if he wanted to raise her up with a variation on the lich template. He already broke the Bestiary rules by raising Arazni as a lich without her crafting her own phylactery, and I suspect that's not the only necromantic rule that Geb has bent in his long career...

Arazni's not the only world-shaking wizard I'd de-wizard-I-fy. Razmir would make a fine sorcerer. Aroden could have been a cleric of a dead Azlanti god(dess) in his earlier days. Urgathoa may well have been a necromancer, but there's lots of ways to be a 'necromancer' without necessarily being a wizard.

It's cool that, of the three Starstone Scions banging around, there's a Paladin (Iomedae), a Fighter (Cayden) and a Rogue (Norgorber). D&D/d20 has long had a tradition of movers and shakers being dominated by high level wizards (Council of Eight, Chosen of Mystra, etc.), and I would like just a few less wizards and a few more legendary knights and warlords and scoundrels and storytellers and priests.

I always had the impression that it was vaguely Lovecraftian. Like, something not just huge but sanity-shattering.

It seems the oliphaunt is based on Chaugnar Faugn, a Great Old One.

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

I always had the impression that it was vaguely Lovecraftian. Like, something not just huge but sanity-shattering.

It seems the oliphaunt is based on Chaugnar Faugn, a Great Old One.

Really? Chaugnar Faugn makes Tsathoggua look positively spastic... And he's not very big. Chaugnar is human sized.

I said based on, not identical.

And I have read several descriptions where he is described as "massive". Not sure if they are accurate, though.

Sauce987654321 wrote:

Is The Oliphaunt of Jandelay bipedal or a quadruped?

I know it's random, but yeah.

Maybe it's a monoped? "I only need one leg to kick your ass"

I have the image of my head of the Oliphaunt, approximately mountain-sized, hopping through Cyrusian back in the day like a giant elephant on a pogo stick, creating massive earthquakes with each landing that devastate Xanderghul's army while he shakes his fist impotently in its direction.

While I agree that there is too heavy emphasis on full casters for mythic NPCs, there are a couple of mythic melee types in Golarion that would be good candidates. My votes would be for a pre-deity Iomedae (Paladin) and Savith (most likely a Fighter).

I'd hope for Savith (she was badass enough to decapitate Ydersius, after all) and Lord Gyr.