Folca is infamous for being one of the most offensively repugnant fiends in Pathfinder lore, so much so as to actively be buried by its creators and ignored by its player base. I won't be going over why they are (it's pretty bad) and the point of this post is not to bring attention to that. Instead, I feel it is a shame that passed all the unacceptable bits is the hints of a truly compelling supernatural evil that is different from the others. I thus chose to do my own take on the daemon harbinger and expand on them with freshly-baked homebrew lore that I guarantee will make for a good villainous concept to throw at players.
Strangers are just friends you don’t know you have. Now, how about a treat?
Folca The Gaunt Stranger, The Unmet Friend, Mx. Sweets, the Confectioner of Souls, the Snatcher in the Alley
Daemonic Harbinger of sweets, naivety, and abductions
Among the wretched of Abaddon, few are as perplexingly contradictory as Folca. The Gaunt Stranger is a mute, androgynous humanoid with pasty pale skin that stretches with unseen appendages pushing just under its surface, dressed in common dark clothing and carrying a bulging sack filled with unknown, sickly sweet smelling contents.
Folca’s mortal origin is unknown, but it is certain that they are primarily yoked under Trelmarixian, though they came about under his predecessor, Lyutheria. Unlike other daemons, Folca does not aim for death as the final goal. Instead, they seek a form of twisted mercy. Like all daemons, Folca hates themselves and the world, but rather than handle it through bringing oblivion to reality, they instead take a psychological approach. Folca, and those who follow them, indulge deeply in the addictive succor of sugar. They purposefully seek ignorance, to narrow their experiences, and leave only a single, passionate obsession for candy. They ignore suffering and misery and indeed cause it through their apathy and pursuit of the addictive flavor and rush they get from their confections, both mundane and supernatural.
Folca’s role in daemonic society is that of a charitable philanthropist. Their realm, the Succulent Street, is a deep canyon that resembles a meandering alleyway, with a main thoroughfare that is fed by countless alleyways that lead to speakeasies, unholy confectionaries, abattoir basements, factories, and even fields of pungent rotting sugar crop and fruit trees. It borders Urgathoa’s realm and is a common bridge between it and Abaddon. Undead frequent it as much as daemons do, for it is here that a rare delight can be found, for Folca does not simply devours souls, but spins them into magical candies that are capable of bringing joy even to the most depraved fiends. Folca’s supernatural candies are so wickedly delightful they have been known to make daemons smile and weep with joy as though they had finally found something worth existing for. This, however, is a trap, for soon the rush is over and done and the victim of the experience grows just as disillusioned if not even more so with reality, growing increasingly willing to perform evil acts just to afford another taste. Even undead are not immune and indeed Folca counts a large number of undead in their clientele, among which includes the Pallid Princess herself, though she of course is immune to Folca’s total control and indulges freely without repercussion. She is quite fond of them, and often invites them to Bloodrot to feature their latest creations. Folca procures the ingredients for their craft through either donations (which are immediately repaid with finished candies of their making) and abduction (most often of those who would rehabilitate or hurt the willfully ignorant.)
For their part, Folca is placid and quiet, but not uncommunicative. They have a bizarre form of telepathy that manifests as flashing smells and tastes whose meaning can be intuited completely even for those who lack the means to taste or smell. Folca’s very presence can be addictive, caused by the heady psychic fumes emanating from them and their sack, which is always filled to the brim with liquefied soulstuff transmuted to raw spun sugar. Folca’s presence is such that many will simply follow in their wake, and Folca will unwittingly abduct entire towns they pass by, merrily minding their own business as they cause them to vanish, become lost, and eventually starve. Folca will on occasion offer soul candy to the innocent, favoring them as a kindred spirit, and seeking to block their acknowledgment of the outside world. For their part, those who are inexperienced perceive Folca as a friendly-faced stranger that exudes goodness and trustworthiness, whilst more worldly individuals will look on as a freakish monster interacts with the simple-minded innocent as though they were longtime friends, never to know the true ingredients behind the tasty treats they have just accepted. The more horrifying and numerous the truths hidden from those who unknowingly partake of delights there are, the more content Folca will be.
Folca despises those who willfully seek the truth despite how painful it is. They feel an envious resentment of Elysium and its delights, for Folca knows deep down that no amount of sweets can compare to the true happiness of a fulfilling life, a true friendship, or healthy love. They thus prize ingredients from that sacred realm and pay handsomely for those who would give it along with captive azatas and denizens whose spirits they may torment by induction to their own delights. Equally so, Folca loathes Nirvana for its asceticism and comfort, believing them foolish for denying the joy of sugar addiction for other, more wholesome pleasures.
Folca is not a powerful harbinger. Indeed, they are among the weakest in terms of combat ability. Fittingly, they favor enchantment, illusion, and transmutation magic personally and for their followers to trick, coerce, and transform their enemies. Folca’s greatest strength, however, is their popularity, for like a twisted parody of protective elder siblings, the daemons of Abaddon protect the Gaunt Stranger from outside depredation. Their reasons are numerous, be it their desire for them to continue creating their sweets, an understanding of the true and unique flavor of entropy they bring to reality, or simply a desire to earn their favor, Folca is a popular evil.
In times when they find a soul with a unique flavor or have a rare episode of murderous rage (most often induced by an occasional bout of awareness brought about by a foolhardy individual’s arguments), Folca will abduct an individual to harvest their soul, stuffing it into their sack for later use. When truly enraged, Folca will peel away their clothing, revealing an indescribable and maddening sight. The rare few who survive such an event and retain enough sanity to recount it have hypothesized a new origin for Folca: that they are, in fact, a qlippoth lord in hiding, masquerading as a daemon and actively subduing their perception of reality, a reality in which demons still hold dominion over the Abyss and there is no hope of qlippoths ever having their quiet, solitary, sinless universe again. For their part, Folca always responds to any such questions with heartier-than-usual offerings of candy, which if denied will certainly result in the harbinger turning hostile.
Folca actively loathes Norgorber, as the god is fond of using candy as a vector for poisoning. Folca does not seek a quick and painful end for their victims, but a slow, decaying, sedated, diabetic failure. However, Folca is not as powerful as Norgorber and is most often duped by the Reaper of Reputation into gifting poisoned candy to a would-be target. For their part, Folca becomes upset when it happens, then decides it was beyond their ability to stop and in merry obliviousness continues along their way, the sooner the incident is forgotten the better.
Folca’s relationship with the archdaemons is bizarre, as while there is certainly no affection, there is nevertheless a prolific interaction with various. Trelmarixian of course knows how Folca operates and leaves them to their own devices, content that the harbinger reliably has no ambition of overthrowing them and predominantly furthers the power of famine through their methods. Charon recognizes the lifespan reduction caused by Folca’s activities and encourages them by loaning them a few thanadaemons to serve as trade caravans for their product (and making a tidy profit off the proceeds, of course, with Folca demanding nothing in return). Apollyon tolerates Folca, seeing sugar addiction as a mediocre disease but one that serves a purpose all the same. The only archdaemon Folca is at odds with is Szuriel, as her violent mass-murder and warmongering create the very conditions Folca wishes their followers and victims alike to be pleasantly ignorant of. Indeed, few creatures evoke more displeasure in Folca than the Horseman of War, and Folca actively bans her followers from his realm for being ‘party poopers’.
The most insidious yet least evil of Folca’s cults take the form of baking circles that merely think Mx. Sweets to be some sort of patron spirit of their craft. These are Folca’s favorites, and they are jealously protected from the influence of others, with Folca’s blessings to them given as honestly as they would their other, more wicked followers. Darker cults are facilitators, forging alliances with and aiding other evil cults by purposefully keeping people blissfully ignorant of their activities and the miseries of the world, often by peddling inconspicuously addictive substances to do so. Some are hedonistic circles of the most apathetic and petty sort who care for absolutely nothing but their own gratification even as others suffer around them. Still others are truly depraved cannibal chefs seeking to create the ultimate candy out of the remains of their victims. Some undead seek Folca’s blessing to taste the pure joy of innocence never to be truly regained, often ones who resent or regret their condition, thus being spurned by Urgathoa.
Though Folca is not a great mover or shaker by way of ambitious designs or grand master planning, they are a dastardly and insidious spreader of evil, and the line between how much the daemon harbinger is or isn’t aware of the awful consequences of their existence and deeds is brought into constant question, but there is no mistaking that wherever Folca’s touch is felt, oblivion’s decay runs through the bodies, minds, and souls of all those who partake of their blessing, in the dead-end alleys where colorful and friendly strangers peddle their sinister sweets.
I'm not using one hand to hit with the dan bong. I'm using both hands to grapple with the dan bong. I'm gonna say the spirit of the game beats rules lawyering in this situation. Doesn't make sense that a tool that enhances an action in the real world would overall hamper your attempts to do the same thing in a fictional one.
In any case, my question was answered so... thanks for the input.
Skip past this if you don't want to hear the fluff reasons for this question:
I am making a slayer bounty hunter, and the game is starting at level 4. He's got a Dex build, and I've given him Agile Maneuvers to supplement his Dirty Trick attempts. At level 4, I have given him the Underhanded Tricks rogue talent from Blood of Shadows so when he blinds with his dirty trick, the enemy can't undo it the first round after it is done. In these early levels, the tactic for live capture is this:
1) If initiative is won, charge and dirty trick in place of a sneak attack to blind. Otherwise, straight up dirty trick.
2) With a free hand, draw a dan bong for the +2 bonus to grapple checks. Follow up with a grapple check, which thanks to the blinded condition has a great chance of succeeding and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
3) Pin and then tie up. Proceed to apply manacles, iron mask, etc. for apprehension.
I realize that a more effective tactic would be to knock the person out with repeated sneak attacks/dirty trick blinding, but for story reasons my character prefers his captives to be conscious so he doesn't have to physically carry them if he can afford to. Plus, I want to justify that level 5 archetype class feature substitution Submission Hold when it eventually pops up, and grappling is circumstantially useful against spellcasters anyway. I want to be able to have optimized, capable options.
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Ok, so the question. First, this:
Quote:
When you attempt to perform a combat maneuver, make an attack roll and add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus. Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver. The DC of this maneuver is your target’s Combat Maneuver Defense. Combat maneuvers are attack rolls, so you must roll for concealment and take any other penalties that would normally apply to an attack roll.
With this in mind, would my weapon attack bonus from Studied Target apply to grapple checks using a dan bong, a weapon that specifically has the grapple quality? Because if so, my bonus to grapple checks would be CMB + 2 from the weapon + studied target bonus, which is really damn good.
I would say it depends also on the local governing system as well as chosen deity. Qadira will listen to a paladin of Sarenrae before a paladin of Iomedae and Rahadoum will sick its Pure Legion on them if they dare use divinity as proof of righteousness. Cheliax cares a lot more about the letter of the law than the spirit, so they'd easily dismiss a paladin trying to use their status as a convincing argument unless that paladin also holds powerful political connections to grease the wheels of the bureaucracy in his or her favor. It's a very interesting dynamic because so many variables are left to be considered.
What I'd like to explore lies less on undeath's inherent evil and more with negative energy.
Negative energy is a source of destruction to positive's creation. It's a primal force, something that should not answer to either good nor evil. A negative energy creature (not necessarily an undead) feels the desire to destroy life because that's its intended purpose. Like predators keeping an infestation of prey from devouring every leaf in a forest, they trim the outgrowth of reality. It's like ouroboros, the eternal snake that devours itself and regenerates anew, a never-ending cycle.
Yet, just about ALL creatures born of negative energy are 'evil' because their purpose is destruction, to unmake and devour life and leave behind an emptiness, which inevitably, life will fill in again with new life. That's the way things work.
But you could say daemons do the same thing. Except daemons actively obliterate souls, taking them out of the equation entirely. Negative energy is subtraction. The daemons effectively want to make 1 = 0.
Getting off on a tangent here. What I'm basically saying is that infusing a formerly-dead body with negative energy is to create an agent of destruction, but it isn't purely that. It's almost like an adulteration of negative energy as much as it is of life itself.
So I want to contend the notion of negative energy = evil, especially since positive energy =/= good. Pathfinder IS a place where there is a cosmic balance.
Heh, didn't expect when I raised this thread from the dead to get this much traction.
Got themes for villains and major enemies in my horror campaign. Been fun.
Master Amadeus Kharam (unaligned male elf secret broker occultist 20/trickster 10) is the enigmatic and powerful deceased founder of Candlemere Asylum. His actions built the foundation for the entire campaign premise.
Director Francis Reliyehn (CE human thought eater mesmerist 15) is the psychopathic understudy of Amadeus Kharam, currently running the asylum.
Dr. Fing Nu (LG monk 4/chirurgeon alchemist is the asylum's resident physician with a tormented past. He succumbs to corruption and becomes a jiang-shi.
Head Orderly Mr. Zachs (CE male advanced bagman trophy hunter gunslinger 2) is the asylum's murderous head orderly. Has freakishly square fake teeth, sallow eyes, and a love for gunpowder and hunting people down.
Subject 01 (NE advanced hive warrior) is a test subject in the basement of the asylum being studied by Reliyehn.
The Renwelt Butcher (CE implacable stalker ogre slayer 4) is the elusive serial killer prowling the city of Agrowan. Unstoppable, brutal, and elusive, he has the entire city quaking in terror. There are hints that he is tied to the asylum.
Don Renalti Fuhria (CE male aasimar thug rogue 10) is the intimidating boss of the Fuhria Family, a criminal organization that deals in racketeering, extortion, and theft that despises 'pure bloods'.
Diestera and Ursula (NE changeling oracles 8) are two of the three sub-leaders of the Anthriku Coven, another criminal organization that deals in soul trading. Diestera is a tall and violent street prowler and Ursula is a cannibalistic socialite.
Mistress Anthriku (NE advanced blood hag) is the adoptive mother of the Anthriku siblings and the true leader of the coven. She seeks to bring back a folklore villain to Agrowan using soul gems to empower the ritual.
Lek and Mek Crozdin (CN male gnome experts 9) are twin geniuses and former Technic League engineers. They craft, repair, and produce all of the technological advancements that keep the Mirilen Syndicate a top contender in Agrowan's criminal scene.
Chief Lothore Mirilen (LE male elf grenadier alchemist 10) is a former Technic League administrator who guards his identity and illegal operations, killing anyone who comes even close to divining his true identity in a paranoid frenzy.
Chief Justice Twil Drohum (NE male human unchained summoner 7/circuit judge cavalier 3) is an overweight judge and popularly jovial figure in the Agrowani justice system, but secretly has become intoxicated by the promises of otherworldly beings and seeks to bring them here.
Huohuomug'osh the Slithering(LE advanced chyzaedu) is the emissary of the Dominion of the Black sent to Golarion to pave the way for an invasion fleet using various local agents swayed by madness or promises of power.
Be ready for this Pandora's Box to open, because matching characters with themes is kind of a hobby of mine. I even do it for other peoples' characters...
Anyway.
Aldrius Froidvoir (NG human water elemental sorcerer): "Undone by the Blood" remix by Alex Roe
Benedin (NE elf vivisectionist): "Dark Rebirth" from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3
Sakhbet (NE Kelish human alchemist): "Potion Shop" cover by the Hylian Ensemble
Hiram Desdalus VIII (LN tiefling magus): "Writhe in Pain" remix by The Legendary Zoltan
Barkhan Thine (N fetchling bounty hunter): "Serpent Dream" by Mike Oldfield
Melickaz AKA "Blacksaw" (CE gnome mesmerist): "Bogeyman Boogie" by Dr. Steel
Power fantasy is probably a core aspect of a lot of games. You play a singular badass taking down armies of people. Sometimes, you're just a born-and-bred master of destruction. Sometimes, though, the power comes from a singular object.
Of course we know about artifacts in tabletops of all kinds, and while they are always powerful (even minor artifacts), we sometimes wonder "how much more powerful can we make them?" They could be the focus of an entire campaign, after all.
So just for fun, I want to see everyone's idea for super-powerful artifacts. Add as much detail as you want, as many complications as you desire, a backstory and a means of destruction... world's your oyster.
I'll start it off. Gonna go on the record to say that I'm already using this artifact for my players and, although it is weakened, they are bit-by-bit discovering and unlocking more of its power. It's a focus of the campaign, after all, though they don't know it yet.
Quote:
Cosmos, Greatsword of the Master
This imposing +5 greatsword was created by Master Amadeus Kharam using the raw quintessence of creation. Yet, in base form, it is useless, as it has no blade whatsoever. Whenever the sword is anointed with one of 7 special quintessences (coined the Cosmospectra due to their unique hue and planar origin), it gains a blade of the appropriate color and bonus abilities based on that color. This effect remains until a new color anoints it or the current blade is destroyed (hardness 20, 60 hp). Anointing the blade requires a standard action and consumes a dose of the corresponding color. Master Kharam can anoint the blade as a swift action and does not require a material component to do so. The colors and their corresponding bonus abilities are:
Drimic: ghost touch exhausting phase locking
Inviolant: axiomatic unholy frost
Lavigo: deceptive unseen greater distracting
Memocyan: transformative called spell storing
Neregin: greater vampiric umbral
Phant: disjoining anarchic wounding
Solagone: holy flaming lifesurge
In addition, once per day per color, the user may activate a special ability or attack when a color is active by expending a point of mythic power and consuming a dose of the corresponding color (which may have additional effects). User must wait 1d4 rounds before they can use any other color ability. Kharam is able to use these abilities any number of days without consuming a color, though he must still expend mythic power. All saves are equal to 10 + mythic tier + user's charisma score.
Abandon Reality [Drimic]: Cast deep slumber and nightmare simultaneously (nightmare is treated as having a casting time of instant). Expend one additional mythic power to cast mythic versions of deep slumber.
Consuming drimic
Undeniable Truth [Inviolant]: Caster gains true sight for 3 rounds.
Be Forgotten [Lavigo]: Become invisible as per greater invisibility for a number of rounds equal to your mythic tier.
Remembrance of Might [Memocyan]: Recall Cosmos at any time from any distance, even across planes. Doing so causes a 10 foot burst of psychic energy that dazes enemies for 1 round and deals 5d6 points of damage (Fortitude halves and negates dazed condition). Creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities are immune to this effect.
Inevitable Oblivion [Neregin]: Slash the sword downward, causing any creature in a 120ft line to be affected by enervation (Fort halves). Spend 2 additional points of mythic power to make this energy drain instead.
Unmake [Phant]: The next creature or object struck by the weapon is also affected by a disintegrate spell equal to the user's character level as caster level.
All-Consuming Hope [Solagone] : Sweep the sword forward, causing any character in a 60ft cone to take 1d6 fire damage per the user's character level (Reflex halves). Half of this damage is sacred damage that bypasses fire resistance and does not affect good creatures. Expending an additional point of mythic power makes this 1d8 per character level instead.
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Destruction: To truly destroy Cosmos and its hilt, Amadeus Kharam must be killed with it. Doing so causes Kharam's soul to be released of its deity-borne curse of endless, conscientious, damned reincarnation and to pass on to the afterlife.
Quote:
THE COSMOSPECTRA
NOTE: All +1 to DC/CL are granted to scrolls written with the ink. Only one dose is needed regardless of the spell's level.
Memocyan: Silver blue. The color of memory. +1 DC/CL to divination spells. Anything written in it that is seen is impossible to remove via memory altering spells, though lavigo consumption or wish/miracle can. Consuming it casts ancestral memory on the drinker, but with only a 50% chance of success. Tastes like something you ate but whose taste you forgot. Taste lasts for 24 hours.
Price: 1,500gp per dose
Solagone: Bright, burning, amber-gold. Tied closely to planes of fire, good, and positive energy. +1 DC and CL to fire, healing, and good spells. 1d6 fire damage if used as a splash weapon, half of which is non-resistible divine. 3d6 vs evil creatures, 2d6 vs neutral. Does not, oddly enough, cause things to catch on fire. Tastes like burning gold and joy.
Price: 2,500gp per dose
Phant: Seemingly translucent, but with streaks of pale ashen gray misting through it now and then. Tied to the Maelstrom and the Boneyard. +1 DC/CL to spells with the chaos or death descriptor. Phant-colored weapons inflict devastating wounds that will not heal naturally, and require a DC15 heal check to treat, and a DC15 CL check to heal with magic. Drinking one dose grants death ward for 10 minutes. Consuming more than one dose instead causes the subject to suffer every blow as if it had phant applied to it for 10 minutes for every dose consumed. Tastes like nothing.
Cost: 2,500gp per dose
Lavigo: An electric violet. Tied strongly to the Astral Plane, specifically the Akashic Record. +1 DC and CL to illusion and mind-affecting effects. Dangerous if smelled or touched. Smelling causes the target's memory to lapse 1 round (DC12 Will negates). Direct contact causes the target to lose 1 random memory as if by modify memory (DC15 negates). Consumption causes the target to gain the amnesia greater madness. No one knows what it tastes like, because they immediately forget.
Cost: 2,500gp per dose
Neregin: The deepest, darkest black, it doesn't even reflect light. Tied strongly to the Shadow and Negative Energy Planes. +1 DC/CL to shadow and negative energy spells. Applied to an undead, grants them the effect of an unhallow spell for 1 hour. Applied to the living, causes 2d6 negative energy damage. If drank, inflicts 1 temporary negative energy level and 2d6 damage for every dose consumed (DC15 Fort negates). Tastes like your own rotting tongue.
Cost: 2,500gp per dose
Inviolant: The deepest red, both bright and dark at the same time. Tied closely to Hell. +1 DC and CL to law and evil spells. Completely indelible, and ignores invisibility. Can only be removed with phant, destroying the object it is on, or with the 'erase' spell (DC 20 caster level check, as if against spell resistance). Tastes like burnt blood.
Cost: 2,500gp per dose
Drimic: Strange, translucent green color. Tied closely to the Ethereal Plane and the Dimension of Dreams. +1 DC and CL to sleep based magic. Applied to up to 1x1 sq ft of surface of an object, causes that object to become incorporeal for 2 rounds before becoming material again, shunting anything shoved inside to the nearest square. If consumed, 1 dose causes a creature to enter a deep sleep (DC15 Will to resist), though they can still be awakened. 10 doses at once causes a permanent coma that can only be removed with break enchantment, greater restoration, psychic surgery, wish, or miracle. This coma also causes the drinker's soul to enter the Dimension of Dreams. Tastes like the sum of everything you have experienced since your last sleep cycle.
No one has brought up the Celestial Poisons discovery? It takes care of the largest number of enemies that are poison immune (evil outsiders and undead).
Well no matter what, I'd definitively put the following clause:
"[insert employee name here] will be exempt from any perceived mischief between the hours of [insert time of editing done here]. No take backsies on anything, this document included."
I've come up with an idea tackling for making complex or niche knowledge more interesting. I need to note that this process IS a little more complicated, so for people who would prefer simplicity, it won't work. Still, it's not so complicated that it'd cripple the game table, especially once players get into the habit of it, and it can encourage creative use of skills.
Gestalt knowledge rolls
When attempting to identify very specific, complex, or specialized knowledge, especially about obscure matters, two or more rolls from different knowledge skills may be required by one or more people. The average of these rolls will determine bits and pieces of what they are attempting to discover.
For example: Aballon is the first planet of the solar system [geography] and is dominated by machinery [engineering]. To find out more about where exactly on the planet you are you will require a combination of the two. To do this, take the following steps:
1) Find the average of the bonus for the knowledge skills (round it down if needed)
2) roll that number against the DC (in this case, it would likely be a DC15)
If two or more characters are making the roll, it will require 5 minutes for every multiple of 10 that the DC is (I.E. a DC10 check will require 5 minutes, 20 will require 10, etc.) as the two characters discuss and compare their respective knowledge to reach the needed conclusion. Methods that can transfer complex information rapidly can crunch this time down to 1 round, and telepathy can lower it to 1 minute per 10 DC. The time is spent from the attempt and before the result of the check, so even a failed roll costs time.
In the event that both characters have both skills, they can make the gestalt roll on their own, but they can retry the roll with each other. In essence, they would gain 4 attempts (1 per character, 2 for each shared gestalt roll). If one character has two but the other has only one, then there can be 2 attempts (1 for the character, 1 for the shared gestalt roll).
For instance, Jeane has [engineering] +6 and [geography] +7, but fails her roll (a +6). Taimen has [geography] +8. Jean can use Taimen's [geography] +8 in place of her own, gaining a gestalt roll of +7, and try a new roll due to fresh information from a separate perspective. Their result is a 17, enough to beat the DC15 check.
I always have felt fighters are shorted out on skills. They shouldn't be skill monkeys but they should definitely get more than 2 ranks, especially when skills are far more focused on more than just knowing stuff.
Also, knowledge is not practice. A wizard might know more about the origins, history, and cultural significance of a fighting style, even how to do it, but just as someone who has studies, say, parlour is no more physically able to do that particular activity because they have not exercised their bodies to be able to, a wizard would be incapable of actually doing the things a fighter does. The reverse is true of a rare fighter that takes, say, knowledge arcana. They know stuff, but they have not actually practiced the rites and apellwork.
Well, yes, less is more definitely, but part of the point is also to make cross-disciplinary and overlapping knowledge ok. I like lily's suggestion as an alternative to knowledge occult, particularly in a campaign where occultism, Lovecraftian tropes, and the like are taking a backseat to other factor, yet a need to properly differentiate this stuff as 'unusual' exists.
I'll say that I am very happy at the level of feedback I've gotten but more importantly by just the variations and ideas I have seen pouring out, many of them which are brilliant in and of their own.
Lily, my advice is that knowledge abnormal be covered pretty much by the same people that would get occult, since all of those basically tackle the 'things beyond the veil of understanding'. I would exclude magi because while they strike me as a soldiers first, scholars second kind of class, and their pursuits would focus on the subjects that increase their battle potential (arcana). Same could be said of warpriests. Inquisitors should definitely get it though. They specifically hunt down the HERETICAL MUTANTS FOR THE EMPR*cough cough* sorry, a bit of my 40K fan popped out for a second. Anyway, fighters and the like get knowledge martial anyway, so they are well compensated.
The name, I feel, could use work, too. Ahhh how about knowledge [cryptic] or [esoteric]. Rolls off the tongue better, imo. But that is all minor stuff, really,
I feel we have made quite a large number of different systems which can apply in their own genres and campaigns. I started this thread because my campaign focused heavily on horror and the occult with alien entities and the like, but still took place in Golarion. I didn't feel arcana was right, and dungeoneering focused in the wrong kind of dark spaces.
No one knowledge model is perfect for all, so I think we should settle with creating multiple, the right took for the right campaign. That said, let's shift the focus of this thread elsewhere. Write down your new knowledge skill set and what genre/campaign type it works with.
Knowledge [planes]: realms beyond the material plane, planar climate and terrain, planar settlements, planar hazards, planar alignment and properties, planar travel
Knowledge [religion]: Deities and their domains, symbols, and servants, Outer Planes outsiders, undead and haunts, divine magic and religious doctrines, churches, regional religions, esoteric practices and religions*
*moved Here from occult because I realized a lot of what is occult does not really require religious leanings and because occult was getting too big.
Couple of things to add.
As I was writing this I realized that a lot of places defy the standard knowledge. I mean, look at the Orvian Vaults. They are natural/supernatural, artificially engineered ecosystems. Knowledge nature won't answer much, knowledge geography can't cover the whole deal, and Knowledge occult would only tell you about the weird deal without telling you all the mundane stuff. Another example is various extraterrestrial planets. You could maybe get by on nature and geography with Castrovel, but on Aballon (engineering)? Eox (religion)? F***ing Aucturn (occult)? Gonna need more knowledge than just the one or two. These places are, however, admittedly harder to reach and generally higher level, so it fits that you would need to succeed not just one but possibly two or even three rolls just to gain a nugget of information. The combinations concern me as being potentially confusing and difficult, which is where I encourage the use of the lore background skill. You gonna be spending a lot of time in an Orvian vault? Maybe taking lore [Orv] is a good idea.
Ps written from my phone, apologies for any auto corrected bullsh*t.
Gonna do a little streamlined breakdown with peoples' recommendations taken into consideration.
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Nature, Planes, and Engineering stay the same. They cover what they need to nicely.
Arcana
1) No longer identifies spellwork, spell effects, etc. These have been moved to spellcraft checks.
2) No longer identifies anything that has to do with non-arcane magic.
3) Still IDs dragons, constructs, and magical beasts.
Dungeoneering
1) No longer identifies aberrations. Instead identifies underground creatures.
2) Used instead of knowledge [geography] when dealing with underground civilizations and regions.
3) Identifies minerals, non-magical metals, and other natural underground resources and hazards.
Geography
1) Replaces local and nobility. Humanoids, culture, industry, regions, laws, current rulers and authorities, celebrities, etc. all covered by it.
2) Used to identify humanoids.
History
1) Used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of historical figures, monsters associated with ancient civilizations, and magical/clockwork constructs.
2) Takes up nobility as far as needing to know more about the noble houses' pasts.
Occult
New skill that identifies aberrations, strange rituals, bizarre and obscure cults and practices, and matters regarding psychic magic.
Class skill for: bards, clerics, wizards, oracles, witches, shaman, warpriests, arcanists, investigators, all occult classes (except kineticists)
Religion
1) Identifies outsiders closely associated with gods.
2) No longer identifies obscure religious practices*, such as Old God worship. This is relegated to knowledge [occult].
*NOTE: As a general rule of thumb, 'obscure religious practice' generally refers to a) none of the core or secondary gods in Golarion, b) rituals performed by isolated communities, and/or c) entities outside of the general knowledge of the population or who do not actually possess divine power.
I've been thinking about the knowledge skills for some time. Here's some homebrews I'd like some feedback on:
OVERALL GOAL #1: TRIMMING KNOWLEDGE [ARCANA]
It's got too much going for it, honestly, and needs some wind knocked out of its sails. Let's start with the following:
OVERALL GOAL #2: DIVERSIFYING MONSTER ID ROLLS
Each monster has only one knowledge roll associated with it. This is kinda folly, considering that some monsters, such as devils, would be extensively researched not only by 'planar' scholars but also by religious authorities such as paladin. Rather silly for a class that focuses on killing these things lacks the basic knowledge about them, no?
OVERALL GOAL #3: MAKE SENSE
New Knowledge Skill: Knowledge [Occult]
Occult adventures introduced what is basically a 'new' branch of magic: occult magic. It has a lot of differences, down to how it's cast. It's likely that it uses an entirely different method and language from that which traditional arcane scholars like wizards would use, meaning you can't rely on your 'Beginners Guide to Prestidigitation' book for help in deciphering what that upside-down pentagram with an eyeball in the middle of it means. A whole new knowledge would be needed, one that focuses on recognizing much subtler signs.
Furthermore, I kinda found it weird over time how aberrations and knowledge [dungeoneering] grew further and further apart. It used to be the go-to because most aberrations came from, well, underground. Now, it covers extraterrestrial lifeforms and creatures that are just... not quite a fit for the dimension they're in. So, knowledge [occult] would make more sense as a home. This takes a little power away from [dungeoneering], but we'll give it back some love later.
Knowledge [occult] could also be used to identify creatures with the incorporeal type, since these too are a major staple of 'just beyond the veil of reality'. Things relating to obscure cults worshiping unimaginable deities, obscure rituals, and other non-traditional venues of magic would find home here. Knowledge [occult] won't intrude on arcana's ability to identify magic items, though. It's mostly about the obscure, the weird, and the just plain wrong, and magic items - save, maybe, those with particular ties to the aforementioned things - would be too common to fall into it.
Diversifying monster ID rolls and realigning current skills
Knowledge [religion]: Identifies devils, demons, daemons, angels, archons, agathions, azatas, psychopomps, and any other creature that is associated directly to a god (I.E. they are not worshippers, but directly involved with these beings). This, admittedly, puts a huge boost to religion, but I feel in world like Golarion where the gods are such a massive driving force, putting it up there with arcana as a 'mega knowledge' skill is pretty deserving. Besides, it still can't identify all outsiders, so planes still gets some love.
Knowledge [geography]: Needs love, I feel, specifically in that geography is defined as
the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries.
All of the above pretty much cover the entirety of human(oid) society. This sounds a lot like knowledge [local], so much so that I feel the two could be merged. In fact, let's do that: local and geography are now one and the same. This'll help balance out that nasty knowledge tree bloat from adding [occult] to the list. And geography over local because... well, local sounds more like you know about what Mrs. Pratchet was doing with your neighbor's husband last night. Gossip has its place, mind you, but honestly, in a game it's a lot more important and interesting for players to discover such snippets of intrigue than to just suddenly go 'oh, yeah, I heard about that'. More fitting for investigation using the diplomacy skill, really. Anything else? Can go into knowledge [history], if it's not concurrent.
Knowledge [history]: Honestly, a terribly unloved skill in a game where ancient ruins are some of the most prime locations for adventure, and the whole point of the Pathfinder Society. I think this knowledge can be used to identify the following:
1) Monsters or NPCs who are famous for past deeds, be they alive or not. Could coincide with knowledge [geography] if they're still lively and active. They usually have class levels, and tales of their exploits are much more informative than just going off what their species is. They're not garden variety beings after all!
2) Monsters associated solely and primarily by now-dead cultures. This is probably most subject to DM discretion, but a good example would be the sinspawn, created by ancient Thassilon. Another would be Thassilonian Sentinels, but... well, that is made redundant by the next bullet point.
3) Magical and clockwork constructs (but not robots). These have been around so long and were such an integral part of so many cultures - be it protecting, building, or destroying - that it's hard to imagine them NOT being deeply studied by historians. Constructs can be ID'd but not crafted using history.
Lastly, we're going to tuck knowledge [nobility] into history. Nobility is what it is because of the deeds of their predecessors. We'll say that you can identify contemporary nobles and what they lord over with [geography] but you won't know what the significance of their houses, their crest, or anything else without knowledge [history]. Alternatively? Leave that to research and other 'scholarly' adventures, most likely involving cat suits. Makes the most sense to me.
Dungeoneering: Hoo, boy. This one's a doozy. This one we're going to both expand AND snip at the same time. We already trimmed aberrations out of it, but there's still a reason they were here. As such, we're going to say that dungeoneering is going to cover identifying any monster that dwells primarily underground, from moles to neothelids. It's also definitely the go-to when it comes to navigating caverns. I'd be willing to go the extra mile and say it substitutes [geography] as far as determining the culture, cities, and peoples of the Darklands. It's going to be even more of an absolute must for underground adventures, but outside of it, it's going to be sporadic at best. If it wasn't before, I'd also add it should be used for identifying minerals, precious metals, gems, etc.
I have, for the longest time, found myself at a loss of what to do with my life. Today, after months of planning, countless hours of research, work, and frustration, I have succeeded in launching my very first Let's Play video! I was hoping to share this with the DND community, as this hobby has been a major part of my life for the past few years.
The gods are all businesses trying to get souls, selling ideals and afterlife insurance. Pharasma's kind of like the government: too powerful and necessary to the established economic function for any individual god to really do anything about it save lobby for favors. Urgathoa's that one business that said "screw you, I'm not paying taxes" and invented her own currency with undead, which Pharasma hates because that ain't kosher.
Your gods! I need to adjust the threads on my conspiracy billboard!
In the seasons when there are no whales, the ice trolls and other intelligent creatures trade with an enigmatic race of aquatic giants. It is said these aquatic giants can read minds and control a creature’s thoughts and dreams...
I've been reading and looking over the Prophecies of Kalistrade and a bizarre idea brewed in my head: could the Prophecies of Kalistrade been created by none other than the polar opposite force, the Savored Sting Calistria herself?
How could this be a conclusion, you might wonder. After all, the kalistocrats and their doctrine are as lawful and ascetic as you can get while Calistria is hedonistic and spontaneous as all hell, but here are my arguments:
1) The Prophet Itself: Kalistrade is shrouded in mystery. Nothing is known save his gender and the fact that he was an eccentric mystic who recorded what he dreamed. Such a nebulous originator leaves so much for interpretation.
2) The Name: Pretty self-explanatory. Kalistrade and Calistria share a lot of letters here. I know, I know, by itself this is tinfoil hat territory but hear me out further.
"But Al," you cry out, "this still makes no freakin' sense. Assuming these are all true, what possible reason could Calistria have to form the Kalistrade?" Here are my theories.
1) Calistria desired it. Calistria is Kalistrade, or Kalistrade was one of her worshipers. The Prophecies adhere to no god in particular, instead focusing on money and ownership. Calistria may have created the prophecies from any number of reasons, but my favorite is this: it's a honey trap. The prophecies are antithetical to Calistria, and therefore she'd hate anyone who would follow them. That said, most who do would go to Abadar instead of the Prophecies, meaning their souls would belong to him. How do you deprive a god of worshippers? You create an alternative. There was no way Calistria would convince these uptight money-lovers to worship her, so instead she made them worship a false ideal with no god, promising immortality for accomplishing a goal when there would be nothing but oblivion and purgatory at the end of it. The alternative is that maybe she was bored and wanted to create an 'opponent', something for her worshipers to trick and tempt or, if they fail and the Kalistrade achieves its goal of total domination, Calistria will have manufactured the perfect target for a vengeful sting, revealing that the Kalistrade was nothing but a farce, that immortality would not be granted, and that they have no one but themselves to blame for falling for such a lie. The Kalistrade is Calistria's secret toy, one she will enjoy toying with until it's time to play with.
2) The Prophet misinterpreted. Kalistrade recorded what he saw as a dream - possibly one sent by Calistria - less as a vision of what life should be and more as some kind of astral temptation to overcome. He had visions of wantonly wasteful spending, so he penned that wealth should be hoarded. He saw hoards of men and women in orgies, and rather than feeling aroused he instead was disgusted, penning that sexual abstinence and minimal physical contact resulted in purity of body and spirit. He saw a poor-looking drunkard enjoying life and heading for an early grave, but instead of taking it as a sign of how short life is and how it should be relished, he took it as dire warning and a promise for immortality when enough wealth was accrued. The fact that the prophecy is noted for being independent of divine connection means it could be either the mad rantings of a disturbed mind taken to logical extremes or a wrongful translation of an actual deity's will.
So many possibilities, but remember: it's just a theory. A tabletop theory!
Pardon my inane footnote, but every time I read the title of this thread, I mistakenly read as "Homebrewed *Soy*varian". I end up picturing sentient strings of soy being boiled alive, crying "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"
*cough* I'm sorry I didn't add anything to this conversation...
We didn't answer with evil deities most likely because of our culture, upbringing, and environment. Culture's a big one. Why is Asmodeus so huge in Cheliax? Because the government and lifestyle there greatly encourage him, and even people who would abhor him need to at least accept that there, he is king. Asmodeus is also like a supreme dictator, and all of his worshipers are like his subjects. Maybe the first generation of worshipers are reluctant, desperate, or even stupid, but the next generation will be raised to believe in the worship of Asmodeus fully. To fail to do so would result in unfortunate consequences for the family.
Other people just... suffered too much. The concept of beauty, love, and life are twisted jokes to them, so they turn to evil deities whom they see as vile but honest in how they espouse the way life is: selfish, cruel, even petty... but they give something in return. Asmodeus gives stability, and though you might be a slave to him, if you serve well, you'll be a master over others, and that intoxicating power soothes the egos of those who have been scorned too many times.
It's not just Asmodeus, either. Zon-Kuthon perverts pain into pleasure, making those who experience it to enjoy a life full of it. Urgathoa is a hedonist, and for those who want to gorge themselves on the joys of life welcome her. Rovagug and Lamashtu are both served primarily by monsters, and their mentalities are so alien and destructive that it might just be the only thing that they really think speaks to them. Then there's the host of demon lords, archdevils, and the Four Horsemen, all served by the insane, the lost, the sadistic, and the arrogant alike.
But it all boils down to power. Evil is about not having scruples, never having to say sorry, never having to sacrifice yourself for anyone but yourself, and destroying what offends you. Those are all things good deities might not be willing to do, but evil does.
He didn't make the truce with Shelyn out of the goodness of his heart, I assure you. I think he'd love nothing more than to make a dress out of her own intestines, then force her to wear it in a grotesque mockery of beauty and fashion. I mean, just look at what he did to his own father.
I suppose he saved them, but not without pulling out a price so horrific they might as well have died. Millenia of darkness in a country where pain is art and possibly an even more draconian government than Cheliax? I'm surprised people haven't decided to up sticks and leave it. Then again, there's probably about ten miles of barbed wire, assassins, and swords to ensure no one does.
I like your analysis on their mutual relationship and mostly agree with it. Still, the gods and the worshipers are two different things altogether, and Cayleanites are, much like their patron, often uninterested in living routine family lives (even though they might in some way or another). Nevertheless, I feel lawful and chaotic should have as much to bicker about as good and evil, even when they're on the same side (this is generally why you want your neutral goods on standby). It makes for interesting, flawed, mortal drama.
She had fought Erum-Hel, Lord of the Mohrgs, and she was horribly wounded from the fight. It's possible she was still recovering, or that her presence was needed elsewhere to keep another one of Tar-Baphon's lieutenants at bay. She probably served a critical role in the battle, but one that's a footnote to the main event: Tar-Baphon's defeat.
Erastil sadly doesn't have quite that much personality anymore. Paizo didn't mean to include most of his negative aspects, and they've since been retconned out of canon.
Yeah, Good gods aren't allowed to have negative qualities, unfortunately. It's why James Jacobs gets pissed every time somebody mentions Wrath of the Righteous. Guess that's non-canon too.
I'm curious as to what this WotR taboo is (include it in spoilers for obvious reasons).
I have an argument for Norgorber in that he, as a deity, isn't terribly interesting. He does everything a selfish, unscrupulous, amoral sociopath would do, and even his worshipers will find they're just means to an end to him.
The truly interesting part of Norgorber, like several other deities, lie in how his church worships him. Blackfinger, master of poisoners and poisonous creatures, mentor to alchemists, black marketeers, and other under-the-table businessmen. The Gray Master, greed incarnate, served by malicious merchants, tenebrous thieves, and fraudulent filchers all alike. Father Skinsaw, the murderer, his kills deliberately executed and yet coldly apathetic. And lastly, the Reaper of Reputation, blackmailer, broker, and destroyer of knowledge, looking not just to keep secrets but make more.
And they all belong to the same guy. And none of them necessarily like each other, how it seems to be less a single religion and more of a mass number of cults, yet no matter how they serve, they are all his. It's not even a matter of 'differing beliefs' such as with the Cult of the Dawnflower and the rest of the Sarenrites. This is all a product of what he is: a mystery so nebulous that you can't help but be drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I'm sure more than one cultist has been recruited in the hopes of wanting to learn the great secret of Norgorber, then slowly being twisted into what he wants them to be: his.
As for the whole 'banality of godhood', you can play it as such if you like but it should be noted that Norgorber isn't a 'nobody' because he was unknown. Norgorber is a 'nobody' because when he became a god, he erased knowledge of himself from across the universe. Even the gods apparently are unaware. This isn't a matter of an unknown number becoming a big shot by accident. This was someone or someTHING that was able to remove himself from history because he willed it so. I'd be willing to speak the same to Cayden: he wasn't a random mercenary when he took the test, but a well-know, nigh-legendary hero whose exploits had been told far and wide.
I agree. Racial variety would allow some of the less-common types of race/class pairings to be more palatable and would add an extra layer of color to the world.
So I bought Inner Sea Races and read through it. While I appreciate the additional information it provides, I nevertheless feel it was a missed opportunity to really get into the meat of the more neglected peoples of Golarion. This isn't to say all of them are misrepresented. The various 'Blood of X' books covered aasimar, tiefling, skinwalkers/half-weres, elemental-blooded, and dhampirs, and Bastards of Golarion gave us a pretty nice look for half-elves and half-orcs, there's still very little we know about three particular groups, race wise, and they are three of the core races.
Gnomes, halflings, and dwarves.
Now I'm not here to bash on the book. It DOES expand on these and I appreciate it. Nevertheless, I want to know... do these have racial variation? I know the dwarves do, in the form of the Pahmet of Osirion and other desert nations, with their blond hair and dark bronze skin, but beyond them there's nothing. What about dwarves that rose up in, say, jungles? Deep forests? Surely not all of them sprung up from mountains. There's a lot of caves that lead to non-mountainous regions in Golarion, and the Quest for Sky didn't distinguish the end result as 'a mountain'. If orcs appeared in jungles (see: rainkin), then surely the dwarves that pushed them up did as well. The duergar do deserve a mention, but even with this evil cousin species, the dwarves only have three races to their supposedly rich cultural heritage.
Gnomes might have an excuse for being, well, 'racially flat'. Each individual is so wildly colorful and different it might even be hard to say they're all from a single species, but there ARE the svirfneblin of the Darklands, showing that variation can happen over periods of time like any other species. At the same time, though, this very reason gives them the BIGGEST excuse for being racially diverse. Instead of their environment, I could imagine a gnome's race being determined by something a lot more whimsical and arbitrary due to their fey origins, like the time of day, the lunar cycle, the seasons, or some other aspect of nature. This would tie in nicely with the gnomish need for variety and new experience, since it means that no gnomish community is composed entirely of 'red-hairs' or 'dark-skins'. All of them would be every color of the rainbow. A dark-skinned gnome could be born to two light-skinned parents because he just so happened to be born during the shadiest summer day. This would probably lead to a lot of scandalous rumors from non-gnomes who might think all gnomes are unscrupulous with their partners, seeing as none of their babies look completely like their parents!
Halflings would have much the same racial tones humans have. It's not really a tough vision to see their society, so intimately tied to that of their larger neighbors, mimic them in more than mannerisms. The days are hot and sunny, so a people's skin would grow darker to ward it off. So it would be with a halfling. Still, it feels that their biggest, most notable changes would be in two areas: their survival method and their luck. Most halflings seem to be 'city halflings', born into a master society rather than their own. They've adapted to be cheerful, charismatic, optimistic, and lucky. These are the traits highly valued in an urban world. What about a jungle, though? You're not going to charm your way out of a snake. You might need to be faster on your feet, have thicker skin, or your luck might factor into a more focused area, such as resisting poisons, diseases, and other natural hazards. What about domains rich in magic? What about rural realms? What about places where padded feet don't help, but powerful hands do? Pure Steam gives us the Tenderfoot Halfling, who require using shoes but have developed higher manual alacrity. It seems that for the halfling, racial diversity boils to the most basic and simple concept: 'what tools do I need to survive?'
I'd like to see more about them to expand. What do you think would make for suitable ethnic aspects in the races?
It bums me out a bit that aquatic spellcasters are limited to aquatic campaigns. I decided "hey, why not make a new spell that helps even the playing field for them and can be used as a neat battlefield game changer.
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Aquifer School conjuration [creation, water]; sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 5, summoner 4, unchained summoner 4, druid 6
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CASTING
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Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a glass marble with water trapped inside)
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EFFECT
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Range short (25 ft. + 5 f.t/2 levels)
Effect dazed 1 round
Area 30-ft.-radius spread
Duration 1 minute/level or until dismissed
Saving Throw Reflex negate; see text; Spell Resistance No
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DESCRIPTION
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Aquifer creates a spherical, floating mass of water in the air or a dome on the ground. In enclosed, watertight areas, the water will fully fill the boundaries of the room and any crevice that is not waterproof (the water pressure remains the same regardless of how much smaller the room is to the spell’s area of effect. This means the spell cannot be used to burst open doors or other locked objects, though it can flood into other rooms.)
Creatures caught within the area of an aquifer receive a reflex save to avoid being caught in the sudden burst. Creatures who fail their save are dazed for 1 round and caught within the water. Creatures that succeed their saving throw negate the daze and may move anywhere between their present location to the nearest outside edge of the sphere. If multiple creatures move to the edge, the creature with the highest saving throw chooses which square to occupy and the creature with the second highest may choose a square adjacent to that creature.
An aquifer may easily be exited after being cast simply by swimming to the edge. The water does not leak or drain, allowing a creature to remain suspended even if the aquifer is suspended in midair. The water from an aquifer spell is maintained by magic but is not magical itself and can be affected by spells like control water, even by enemies. Water from the sphere is pure and clean and can be placed in containers. Water harvested from the spell in this way lasts for 1 day if not consumed. An aquifer targeted by a successful dispel magic or similar effect vanishes.
Aquifer can be made permanent through the permanency spell
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Any advice on how to make this spell better? The reason for the permanency is that it would also be cool to allow some aquatic encounters in otherwise dry dungeons, as well as for trapmaking. I'll also take suggestions on better names for the spell, mechanical tweaks, etc.
My friend and I started just by thinking about a backstory for one of his characters. He wanted to play a preacher-style gunslinger with (specifically) a Bible. Well, of course that wasn't going to be possible for obvious reasons.
So I decided "Screw it, let's make it work." Turns out it justifying stuff isn't hard when you're the DM. Be warned, some of this contains spoilers from other campaigns and from the origins of the universe in general. Keep in mind also that this takes massive liberties with real life religion and in no way reflects actual interpretations of said religion.
The big explanation:
Here's what we did:
1) The Origin of Earth: We knew Earth 'exists' in the Pathfinder universe from the fifth Reign of Winter module, so we came up with Earth's origin. It was created by Ihys, brother of Asmodeus and co-creator to the universe, as a personal project away from the eyes of all gods. Even his closest friends only barely knew it existed, and even then not where it existed. He'd been increasingly concerned as to whether or not Asmodeus was right regarding free will and mortals, and at this point he was wondering if Asmodeus was right. He created man and woman and gave them a single, strict order. When they proceeded to commit the first sin, Ihys expelled them from paradise. He would then proceed to continue his attempts at heavy-handed, direct management of mortals, weighing obedience vs. free action.
2) The Betrayal: Ihys gets stabbed and killed by Asmodeus after finally deciding that free will and personal choice are more important than enslaved perfection. His physical form destroyed and his essence trapped in the Ihystear, the only remnant of Ihys is a long shadow of his power and conscience that survived in Terra. Unable to keep the gods unaware of his private world and having it as his only means of escape, Ihys decided to use his last remaining power to reincarnate in a mortal body, then commit a sacrifice of pure selflessness that would undo the strictures he had bound to humanity whilst hiding their existence from the multiverse. Magic and divine power would not touch Earth and the large swathe of reality surrounding it and genesis could happen on any world within Ihys' barrier through divine means. The influence of the gods still bleeds through, though, inspiring and influencing human culture. Ihys no longer had the power to grant spells or influence the world. He entered a deep sleep, the shadow of his subconscious mind only barely able to influence anything and only through incidental reaction. His restoration as a full god is likely to never happen, as it would be a task that would require an unbelievable amount of divine power not possible to be achieved by any but Asmodeus (with the remnant of the Ihystear and Ihys' dormant shadow in the Terra realm.
3) Where the character comes in: My friend's character was a preacher in the 1900s, possibly 1950s. Through means I've not yet determined, he was transported to Golarion. Lovecraftian influence? A whim of Ihys' shadow? For whatever reason, he appeared in a desert in Osirion with full body burns and no name, rescued by locals and taken to the Pharasmins in Wati to be interred under the belief he was dead (he wasn't). He remembers nothing of his past life, but has a Bible with him and maintains a strong conviction in its writing even when called a lunatic for worshiping 'fictional deities'.
I'll be the first to admit all of this is extremely contrived, but I felt like sharing it.
One more thing:
C'thulhu appeared on Earth. Ihys was not happy. Continents were split, a huge flood happened. C'thulhu went to sleep. Served doubly to punish the extremely cruel, arrogant, and monstrous Atlantean civilization that had sprung up while saving a few who at least were decent people.
We had a kingdom event. I decided that the event (disaster) should be more memorable, so I said that a necromancer secreted into town and tried to raise a zombie army out of the freshly-built graveyard's residents (all victims of the owlbear attack). Of course, my players succeeded their stability check against that. In response I told them that the warden (Akiros) and Peacekeeper (Munguk) both handled it.
Queue an image of a hill giant using his greatclub to punt the necromancer clear across the Little Sellen. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
