Arralyn's page

here's what I think I know about the starstone:

1. the Test is mysterious and highly personal.
2. the stone was called down from the heavens by aboleth to destroy Azlant.
3. it elevated Aroden to godhood.
4. the Starstone seems to have an intelligence of its own, but its an alien way of looking at reality.
5. the Starstone seems to have incredible powers - it created the island of kortos after all.

suppositions:

1. the starstone has an agenda.
2. the starstone was called down by ABOLETH! they like to dabble in slimy horror magic. could the stone be tainted by the dark tapestry?
3. there are other means of achieving divinity...the starstone is merely one means among several. why is the starstone method so well known? you would think that something like that would be a Big Secret.

there's a lot of unknowns regarding that god rock. given a choice between lichdom and taking the Test of the Starstone, I think I'd go with lichdom. at least you know what you're dealing with...I just don't trust anything connected to the aboleth.

Well, considering that Iomadae is Lawful Good, and has been for several thousand years AFTER her ascension with the test, I doubt it is corrupting her. But the rest of the suppositions are interesting. And Lichdom is only good if your character doesn't worship a God/Goddess that basically hates undeath. And I agree about the vast sea of unknown about it, but I think that's a good thing - it leaves it open for interpretation. Also, I think the best way to keep a Big Secret is right under everyone's nose. :)

Agreed. That could span a whole adventure in and of itself. I'll keep that in mind.

Well, since Varisia is rife with left-overs of the powerful Runelords (who did not become gods), I figured ascension into godhood by power alone does not make a very interesting story. That being said, we did not discount that the Starstone was the ONLY way to becoming a deity. It's just that it was already placed there, so why not use it? We considered winging it, but as every group knows, there will always be the rules warrior who will leave with a bad taste in their mouth. We didn't want that. But, there are some very interesting ideas here! ^_^ I definitely didn't think it would spark such a large discussion. lol!

As of now, it's just a pipe dream in my boyfriend's mind(the GM). But, I am showing him these comments, because he loves collaboration.

More heavy probability than possibility. If you read the Absalom sourcebook (if my memory is right) there have been 3 succesful tries in about 3000 years, roughly one every thousand. There is also a section of the temple districted setup with shrines for those who tried and failed and it is littered with thousands upon thousands of these small remembrances.

If you LIKE your characters, perhaps the Test is something you would want to AVOID! :)

Haha! True! We were lucky to survive him converting Karzoug to Pathfinder. And I totally plan on getting the sourcebook, thanks!

Thanks for all your answers!

To answer Obirandiath: we had considered that we would have to come back to the characters. We even came up with an evil-aligned campaign to fill the gap.

Desriden: I'll definitely check out that campaign, and thank you for your answer. I agree that uber monsters and feats probably wouldn't do Pathfinder justice. I don't know about other players, but I don't see "mythic" as a way to overdo my character, but as a continuation of the path she is currently set upon. Since she's an elf Ranger/Wizard/Arcane Archer and a folower of Desna and Erastil, I had simply considered making her into an avatar, not a deity. She was never about combat uber DPS anyway, ha!

Rasmus Wagner: We have a Pathfinder hafling monk with the Serpent Style in our group, and he's already stated that being a deity isn't in his character's mindset, since he basically becomes damn near a god at level 20 anyway.

Quatar: We had considered doing that. And with our GM being more of the "I'm out to kill you" variety, we all knew dying was a possibility, lol!

So, my group finished the Rise of the Runelords, and we decided that we loved our characters so much that we didn't want to let them go. It happens a lot. We didn't want to convert 3.5 epic rules to take them past level 20, per se.

My concern is this: Having read the various deities, I've noticed one similarity with a lot of the newer ones - the Test of the Starstone. We decided that it would be cool to become deities, but there isn't much to go on. I haven't found anything in any of the books I own on exactly what the test is, and the PRD auto-fills for Starstone's Test, but nothing comes up.

Has anyone else thought of this as an ultimate end to their characters? (I'm quite certain SOMEONE has.) And if so, what would you do? Also, if anyone has any more information on the Starstone, the test, or how deities are made, please let me know. I've read Deities and Demigods from 3.5, but like I said, converting takes time. Any advice offered will be appreciated.

Well that's just awesome. Seltyiel scrubbing the deck in full armor is good for a larf!

He looks so happy to be doing it, lol! Can't wait to read this and find out the premise!!