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Hey, everyone. I've been wondering - I know Urgathoa is a Neutral Evil god, but her alignment range includes all sides of Evil including Lawful. This has me wondering - given Urgathoa's is about gluttony/hedonism/indulgence, as well as disease, undeath, and, well... DEATH... how would a Lawful Evil character - be they a fighter or a guard, a wizard, or a Cleric - go about worshipping the Pallid Princess?

For example - say the LE character was a wizard from Cheliax, maybe even one that's on the way to joining the ranks of the Hellknights and their Signifers. What would a Chelish Urgathoan's mindset be in this case - given the prominence of Asmodeus worship there, even if most gods are allowed to also be worshipped (until this is rescinded at the crown's discretion), as well as the general nature of the Hellknights.

Would a Urgathoan Hellknight - most likely a Signifer - be feasible? I'd imagine they'd stand the most likely chance of existing in the Order of the Gate, but still...

I digress - I look forward to reading your responses. :)

The reason those and other schools are wizard focused is the nature of the classes. Although the three classes share a spell list how they actually use magic is not the same.

A sorcerer is someone born with the ability to do magic. No amount of training can teach someone who does not have the inborn ability. Not everyone who has the potential to become a sorcerer chooses to develop the ability. In some cases, they may decide to develop the ability later in life. That explains how someone can multiclass into a sorcerer. But the ability was always there even if the character denies and suppresses it. A sorcerer does not need to understand how magic works they simply tap into their inborn talents. When they “learn” a spell it is more developing a new muscle then actually learning.

Wizardry is a skill that can be learned. The skill is complex and difficult to learn especially for someone without sufficient intelligence. Someone with a low INT simply does not have the mental discipline to control magic. The more complex the magic the more mental focus and concentration is needed. Since a wizard has no inborn magic ability, they often draw power from material components for even simple spells. This is why wizards use material components where sorcerers only need them for more powerful spells.

An Arcanist is kind of a mixture of the two. Like a sorcerer they are born with some magic talent. In some cases, it may not be strong enough to manifest as a sorcerer, in others it may be the character has the potential to become a sorcerer but chose to develop it in a different manner.

Most schools will be focused on wizard since anyone with sufficient INT can become a student. A sorcerer gains nothing from going to a school of wizardry, and in fact it may hamper his ability to develop as a sorcerer. This could cause the character to become an arcanist instead of a sorcerer. Arcanist schools are going to be fairly rare because fewer candidates will be able to fully learn this method...

Well said! I was wanting to go with this line of thought, though I was a bit uncertain - but also, as suggested by SheepishEidolon, said Arcanist (who would certainly be of the School Savant archetype in this case) could start out with the Wizard's approach to magic while hiding any inborn magical talent or gifts they have, and once either alone or even after graduating and beginning an adventuring career, they could begin dabbling more with their innate abilities or trying to experiment with said talents/powers in the form of exploits.

Let me just say, thank you both for responding and sharing such wonderful answers!

Hey, all - got a fairly simple lore/story-based question I was hoping to get some advice/insight on and hope y'all can help me. :)

So, I know that within Korvosa/Little Cheliax (depending on who you ask), they are two established schools for magical studies - the less-respected Theumanexus College and their generalized studies, and of course the Acadamae who produces specialist Wizards of each school (aside from their obsessive focus on Conjuration and their mandatory test in said school just to graduate). However, one of the main things known about the latter is that it's almost exclusively a WIZARD school - meaning Sorcerers are out of luck and potentially also Arcanists would have a hard time getting in... right?

What I'm wondering is what kind of options would a Korvosan-born Arcanist have for how they could have studied outside of those institutions? And would there be any possible exclusive or ideal options out there for an Arcanist of the School Savant archetype/style - such as a chance (or increased chance of) of being accepted into the Acadamae?

... Side question as well, is it just Conjuration that cannot be ignored/considered an oppositional school for Acadamae students - or would it be Divination -and- Conjuration? I ask because I read that they consider Divination as a universal school and somewhere that claimed both schools were basically too important to ignore.

Thanks all in advance, and have a great day/afternoon/night. :D

Hey, everyone.

So, I'm still a bit of a noob when it comes to learning the lore and understanding the world of Golarion better, yet I find myself drawn to both Ustalav and the likes of Korvosa and Kaer Maga both. Ustalav, specifically, intrigues me due to their academic focuses, Gothic themes and inspirations, and their necromantic history thanks to the Whispering Tyrant and his followers' influence over the years including the time Tar-Baphon was sealed away.

Now, I've got a few questions I could use some help with - either from anyone who has a supported answer from sourcebooks, established lore, etc or what a general consensus would be on the matter(s).

To start things off, are there any known or established arcane colleges or establishments for Wizards or Arcanists to learn or hail from prior to becoming adventurers?

I know that with the Carrion Crown Player's Guide, it mentions that Wizards would either make their way to Ustalav to look for any ancient tomes, lore, and artifacts or even to study or teach at the various colleges and universities that dot the land of the Immortal Principality, but would that just refer to any sort of establishment like the University of Lepidstadt that seems to focus more on mortal sciences, or would there be magic-oriented schools around as well?

Second question pertains more to religions - I know that with Tar-Baphon's influence throughout Ustalav's history, the Ustalavic people would see more worship of both Pharasma and Urgathoa, but would the latter still primarily focus on cult-sects for their flocks of death, or would there more public groups that worship the Pallid Princess in the land of Ustalav?

Then something a tad different for a final question, and probably one that's been asked to death and raised into undeath (sorry...), what would be the difference in names/naming conventions (if any) between a standard Varisian and an Ustalavic citizen?