Benjamin Tait's page

Thank you very much, and I hope so we get to see more of the Nindoru in future!

I recall mention of a Rune Dragon in one of the new Pactbinder, sounds like a potential new Dragon

So, I understand that Nindoru Ascetics are demigods akin to Demon Lords, but what exactly is/was/shall be Kugaptee's area of concern and domains? I don't need to have a full deity statblock (as nice as that would be) but some idea of what he's meant to be a god of and what a worshipper would pull from option wise would be nice.

I believe Milani is Aroden's daughter, and that's why a chaotic opponent of tyranny was championed by and elevated to sainthood at the hands of the God of Humanity. Well, after she rejected that Elf half of hers, of course.

Ok, the evil plot is most definitely evil...but NOT what I was expecting at all! Good show there! Seldeg Bhedlis is the king of bad ideas in the Lost Omens setting.

Mind sharing what new monsters we have? And what's your favourite part of this whole shebang?

Benjamin Tait wrote:

Atheism is really not a persecuted minority group, and I say that as an atheist. Please do not act like Rahadoum is somehow massively yikes on par with actual bigotry, thank you.

Not in the modern West by authorities, no. But there is bigotry toward atheists. I know of people who've lost jobs and spouses after revealing their atheism, or who've been harassed at criminal levels. Worse yet, some countries execute atheists. It is easier to hide from that kind of persecution since most atheists can feign retaining their belief, but many do have to hide. Which is why one call out is for atheists to make themselves known so that it becomes safer for other atheists.

ETA: Most bigotry against atheists comes from people who are also bigoted against many other groups, most of whom get treated worse. And those bigots organize against those other groups, even rally around that evil banner as an identity marker. Not so much against atheists, other than in a few theocratic countries.
End ETA.

That said, Rahadoum's pseudo-atheism does not mirror any Earth atheism. Atheism has diverse and conflicting options just like theism does. Hatred of active deities who've devastated one's region makes little comment on absence of belief in deities even existing. If anything, Rahadoum's story paints theism as the worse of the two camps. Yesterday I'd written a lengthy response to Trip that apparently was deleted w/o notification, so I'm reluctant to expound. But in short there are no societies on Earth, nor sub-cultures as the case is here, that one can point to and say "Those Earthlings have the same worldview (et al) as these evil guys on Golarion." Meanwhile many other countries & cultures do have corollaries on Golarion, and I doubt the French are offended by Galt, as grim as that country gets.

Fair point, they do suffer persecution in the world, but also other groups are getting a lot worse treatment in those areas, and may need some more help immediately than Atheism.

Atheism is really not a persecuted minority group, and I say that as an atheist. Please do not act like Rahadoum is somehow massively yikes on par with actual bigotry, thank you.

Rahadoum is what I would describe, religiously anti-theistic. They're not atheists who don't want to worship the gods, they're actively antagonistic or even full-on violent to any sort of divine magic; the fact they're willing to persecute people who manifested power after getting rained on during the Godsrain shows that it doesn't matter if you worship a god or not, the populace (largely thanks to the Pure Legion who are certainly the most extreme followers of the Laws of Mortality) are ready to see you punished for being a "God-slave".

Speaking of Pure Legion, that lovely paizo blog short story we had a while ago featuring a Pure Legionnaire demonstrated that they're kinda ready to just start cutting down anyone who seems remotely theistic; it literally featured a Legionnaire questioning a Druid that her nation hired, who saved her life, while keeping a hand on the pommel of her blade, just ready for an excuse to use it and all because Druidism looked a bit like praying in her eyes.

Please do not look at Rahadoum as the atheist nation, that's simply not what they are.

I'm not really sure how her lobbing Atheist souls at Groetus like snacks were a core part of her character, that was 3.5 D&D-ancient character from like one module iirc, and from a time when she was legit the only judge in the Boneyard we had ever heard of, but now she has a whole pantheon and worship or not her one and only concern is making sure the River of Souls flows correctly and the cycle of life and death is not perverted. Chucking souls at Groetus and presumably destroying them flys in the face of her character, and I don't consider hypocritical, actually evil all along characterisation as particularly interesting.

I feel the existence of Phlegyas, someone who Pharasma personally elevated to the rank of Usher, who also is tasked with handling the souls of Atheists, does imply that Pharasma doesn't feed Atheists to Groetus.

Friendly reminder that Pharasma is NOT the sole judge of all souls, most are getting judged by Yamaraj and Ushers, it's a whole ass legal system, and Pharasma leaves much of it's running to the discretion of those beneath her.

Also, iirc, there was an incident when Axis demanded Pharasma strip all Psychopomps of personality and free will and just make them drones, but she obviously refused; hardly the actions of a Tyrant.

And briefly on the memory thing, that's definitely not something Pharasma does that's not part of the normal process of Judgement; otherwise, I doubt one of the most powerful goddesses would be stumped by a Demigods sabotage (Soul Anchor)

I'm here now, gonna defend the Lady of the Graves.

Great work thus far KingTreyIII, also seems like Spore War is continuing to bring in Remaster Demons for you to work with:

Ooh, what other beasties are there in the back, aside from Demons?

Genuinely would've been disappointed or unenthused if the secret was something like "Norgorber is actually the son of Aroden who has the potential to become the god of humanity and turn everyone evil, which was prophecised long ago but some say that Aroden sacrificed himself to prevent the ascension of his most evil child."

But nah, he's a goober called Jaxter, love that for him.

It should be noted, it doesn't seem Arazni holds Iomedae responsible for her binding and death. If she did, it absolutely would've been mentioned by now and she probably would consider Iomedae a flat out enemy and hate her guts forever.

Kinda like how Geb claims there's no evidence that undeath upsets the balance of the universe and hastens its ending, while he himself is a ghost necromancer who lords over a nation of undead?

First off, Yivali is a She/Her, but that's no big dealio she is a little raven they're not extremely obvious in their sexual dimorphism. Also, have you ever heard of hypocrisy, projection and being blind to your own faults? It's clearly meant to be a character bit, rather than authors being weird or AI (Paizo still are very staunchly anti-AI my guy). It's just a quirk, that's all.

I will say though, it does seem that the majority, if not all, of the redemption arcs we've seen so far have been "Hot lady stops being evil", which is a complaint of mine because it definitely feels one note and kinda skeevy.

Paizo has THREE of these same characters:

Arazni, Nocticula, Shorsen

Each of them is IRREDEEMABLY EVIL. One is a bloody handed tyrant manipulator and schemer, the other is a DEMON PRINCESS, the last has controlled the bodies of others for millennia to do what they want, and advocated that more of this is better than less.

They do like, one kinda altruistic thing, and BOOM. REDEEMED.

They make for fun villains. They do not make for fun patrons.

As for me, Arazni is PERMA-DED in my homegame. She ain't gonna make that transition to divinity.

How is Arazni irredeemably evil? She got forced into undeath by Geb after being forcibly bound to her followers and then broken and used as a projectile by Tar Baphon. Then she tried to escape but never could while the Knights of Ozem gladly write her off as "The Harlot Queen", Aroden her former friend adventures about fighting demon lords but doesn't come to help her. Like jesus Arazni never asked for any of this and just wanted out.

To add to why Geb was fine with reviving a dead god and making her a figurehead without fearing reprecussion: he put her under a compulsion to obey himself and the graveknights (who stole her corpse in the first place) that he made her bodyguards. She couldn't refuse their commands, no matter how powerful she was. Also why he did it: the Knights of Ozem were spoiling for a righteous crusade, and sent a squad of paladins into Geb to assassinate its ruler and set up an invasion. Geb the ruler responded to this brazen attack by a foreign power by turning their fallen goddess into a puppet monarch, as both a warning to Lastwall and so he could spend more time prepping for Nex's return.

The implications of Arazni's early reputation and the compulsion established later on are not great.

I really wonder how they can actually enforce this ban against deities.

They apparently drove of an Empyreal Lord who got too close once, but I imagine most will get discouraged by the fact in times of external conflict the entire settlement unites against the intruders, the Gigas who guard the borders, and the Aeons who regularly attack the settlement. Seems like too much effort? Also, something keeps the archipelago together despite it being in the Maelstrom, maybe this power repels divinities?

Also I said I'd put ideas in for residents/locales, so here's one:
Jewel (pangender coloxus seamster) is the iridescent, vainglorious owner of The Gadfly, a boutique situated in The Close. Like many coloxus demons, Jewel has a highly inflated sense of self, although they are secure enough in their obvious beauty that they don't need flattery or affirmation. Rather, Jewel has made it their mission in life to ensure all others can be half as gorgeous as them (which would make them among the most stunning creatures, of course), eagerly pulling in passersby far too shabby to be walking the streets without intervention. All mundane garments are given away for free, with Jewel only charging for magical clothing from across the planes. They are assisted by their permanent display model/husband, Diamond (haughty aeolaka "mannequin"), who spends much of his time in the very middle of the store modelling Jewel's fantastic work. Jewel frequently associates with adventurers, either to give them outfits "fit for noteworthy heroes" or to hire them to find new materials to craft with.

No part of the Tripartite Oath any sort of ban on being religious, but their general belief in nonaggression does mean zealots and evangelists might not last for long in town.

I also feel it's somewhat unavoidable that many outsiders who eskew their typical in-built morality do so because of faith. A number of deities have atypical outsiders as servants (Mahathallah has Fallen Psychopomps, Narakaas has Risen Velstrac, etc.) so idk if Basrakal would reject them just because their redemption/corruption came at the hands of faith.

So first of all I love the city of wayward outsiders, filled with kindly fiends, cruel celestials and atypical monitors. One thing I'm not sure about is its attitude towards Clerics and Champions. Sure divine casters are allowed into the city, but they make a clear point of rejecting any deity that can grant magic to followers. But how do the people feel about worshipers being permanent residents?

I'll also be plopping in here some ideas for residents of Basrakal, on top of those suggested in Distant Realms. Feel free to share your own.

Hey so if anyone has this, what beasties are in the back?

What mythic monsters are there and which one stands out/why? And any surprising lore developments that didn't get mentioned before?

Honestly I headcanon that Aroden destroyed the concept of prophecy after utlizing it for his own ends because he had a bad prophecy coming up that would've prevented his "God King" plans, and then got destroyed for it.

Any hint as to the new beasties in this one?

Anyone with their copy mind sharing what new beasties are in the toolbox of this adventure?

Just got my PDF for this adventure a few hours ago and…WOW. From my first run through paizo may have even undersold this adventure. Its epic in every meaning of the word, delves into a lot of lore, a ton of interesting player facing options as well. I haven't given it a thorough read yet but I would be please to answer any relatively spoiler free questions about it to build up hype.

What new beasties will we be seeing in this adventure? How's the Red Mantis Assassin archetype? What's your favourite spoiler-free thing in this adventure?

AFAIK wish can't give you godhood because that would be way beyond the power of even a 10th-level spell. Also, the starstone doesn't turn you into a demigod, it turns you into a full fledged god. The only way to attain some semblance of godhood (because you don't even become a demigod with it) would be mythic powers which are being currently scheduled to release in War of Immortals.

New Wish Ritual in the Remaster can explicitly turn you into a god, this is what the poster is referring to.

Man I remember back when I was young, when anthropomorphized flytrap plants had a damn firm human gender. Dunno what chemicals the govmnt is putting in in the sprinklers these days, but they're for sure priming young Leshies to disrespect tradition and their elders. What a farce.

Indeed! Nevermind that fly traps possess both male and female parts! Nevermind that most plants, in fact, are hermanphrodotic! Nevermind that they're nature spirits wearing plant bodies! Leshies should pick one of the two genders invented by humanoids and stick with it!

Veltharis wrote:

Even momentarily ignoring the remaster's shift in Asmodeus' edicts/anathema, his Chelaxian clergy didn't "free" whatever slaves they held - Queen Abrogail did.

And Thrune herself doesn't get spells from Asmodeus, since she's a sorcerer. Probably her relationship with the Dark Prince is different from most people's, and she gets to push back more than "random clerics" since she speaks for the state, and what Asmodeus wants really is less "Abrogail Thrune's soul" and more to get the living monarch to rely more on more to Hell to solve whatever problems that come up so as to set the hooks on the entire country better.

He doesn't need to work to have Abrogail's soul, her soul is His by the right of the Chelish Covenant.

An amazingly talented person made a post on Reddit that I think is well worth discussing here, and that I recommend reading. In summary, they propose a "Warper" class that's based on aberrations and fleshwarping and is all about transformation, whether it be the body or the mind. My personal take is that this is one of many aspects the Shifter class could take in 2nd Edition: there's high demand to bring the Shifter into 2e, particularly as many players would like stronger battle forms, and while I think that much is good, I also believe the class could be so much more than just a Druid subclass turned into a full class.

Transformation I think isn't just the domain of primal magic, and I think a shapeshifter class that weren't shackled to just one tradition of magic could tell a great deal many more stories -- you could still have your primal warden who'd morph into an animal every time they fight (or perhaps an elemental?), but you could also have your freaky occult-flavored character who could turn into an ooze or some kind of aberration, a divine character who could turn into an angel or demon, or even an Iron Man- or Transformers-esque character who'd turn into a construct. Making one such Shifter a full martial class with access to focus spells I think would let them have really strong battle forms alongside some access to magic, and with the right feats they could do things no other class could in the same way, like disguise themselves really effectively as that poster illustrates, but also perhaps take on a chimeric form that combines two other transformations, or work as a mount to carry multiple allies into battle. There's tons of untapped potential to a transformation-based class, I think, and I think the Shifter could be expanded to deliver that full potential in 2e.

Truly, I'm eternally grateful that I'm not the only one really wanting to see a Shifter class. Sure it was a subpar class in 1e, but the concept has a lot of potential (as demonstrated by its archetypes) and I feel it could easily stand on its own in 2e.

Benjamin Tait wrote:

And now, over a decade later, we know for sure Golarion is high magic, with 1 in 5 people having a Cantrip and 1 in 20 people being able to cast at least 1st rank magic.

Where is this from?

Lost Omens Travel Guide, and given that's the average, some areas will have higher or lower numbers (Nex iirc is named as a place where it's even more common)

And now, over a decade later, we know for sure Golarion is high magic, with 1 in 5 people having a Cantrip and 1 in 20 people being able to cast at least 1st rank magic.

Oooo, I has it.

Mind sharing what's in the toolbox (including beasties)? And what's one of the highlights of this particular adventure?

So what beasties are in the backmatter? And what's the Green Man article like?

I read that threat title in the tune of Carmen Sandiego

Sibelius Eos Owm wrote:

I mean, if you think the only kind of hedonism the goddess of gluttony might be associated with is a "sex thing", that's kind of something you brought to the table with you.

No doubt Urgathoa's got some sex things going on, but really it's the forbidden hungers generally pervasive among most kinds of undead which form the basis of her theming. She loved all the pleasures of life, not just the horny ones.

All I can say it that is the angle that has seemd most prominent in what I've RETAINED after having read, but that, really, the whole hedonism aspect is ITSELF rather problematic for the connotations the cncept presents.

(If you want to take a stance I am so fracking fed-up with sex and all its aspects being waved around throughout human culture and I am sick to the back teeth of it being everywhere; that would be probably fair, as on a bad day, I wouldn't find it at all concerning it some outside horror waved the entire concept of sexual reproduction and all its associated fallout away entirely. (I say "bad" day, like that's not a normal day; there are no good days, anymore.)

But, leaving that aside, even just taking the feasts et al at face value, Undead, again, are beyond having to NEED to deal with food (except for ghouls and vampires, basically) and I think it's just not an idea that I think fits well with the vast majority of undead.

But again, this discussion of it it arguably more thought than I previously gave it; which perhaps is more damning itself that Urugotha who should *side glance at avatar* have been a fairly easy sell to me, is just not interesting to me at best, and off-putting to me at worst.

I'll admit I find your stance interesting, especially since I personally consider Urgathoa to be the most interesting undead god I've really seen in TTRPGs. I can understand why becoming a Lich doesn't really fit with the majority of what she's about, but I love the idea that the ur-Undead creature, the first divine Undead and inadvertent progenitor of the grand majority of Undead, didn't come back from death out of some nihilism or desire to turn everything Undead and brood over a dead universe.

No, she's someone who adored living and living in excess so much she refused to let death be the end of her party days. She's someone who pushes you to live life to the fullest and then claw your way back afterwards and keep going. Consumption to the point of vomiting is something she preaches, as is spreading disease, cannibalism, sex is a part of it but definitely not a major part.

Heck, her holy book is also a cannibalistic cookbook! That's just the kind of goddess she is.

Also, the fact she's so opposite what other undead and evil death deities are typically like, and yet is way too powerful for any of them to really challenge or usurp her, adds to her character. She's a bit basic true, she has no long term goals or long standing plans, has no aspirations to destroy Pharasma or anything, but really that's nice and refreshing; she came back to have a good time and that's all the motivation she needed to break reality asunder.

EDIT: I'll say she's often described as a hedonist, but really she's a libertine and that what makes her brand of seeking experiences particularly heinous.

BTW...Does anyone have any theories on how Ragathiel views the celestial being that was formerly known as the Hand of the Inheritor (HotI)?

Do you think he was upset that the HotI in any way "betrayed" him by agreeing to become the Herald of Iomedae?

Now that Queen Galfrey is Iomedae's new herald, do you think Ragathiel would take the HotI back as a servant or is the celestial being formerly known as the HotI now a "free agent" able to serve any demigod or god who would have him?

Nah, if I recall correctly the Hand asked for permission to take his leave from Ragathiel's host to serve Iomedae. Nothing cloak and dagger about the Hand leaving his service.

So we know of unholy animals (like the Thrunosaurus), what holy animals/beasts are there in here?

Wasn't the Hand of the Inheritor Ragathiel's herald before Iomedae ascended?

Ectar wrote:

Sun Tzu had legions. Typical Pathfinder table has 4-6 total individuals. You are not the same.

You're the guy in the bomb squad giving orders, but you're still charging past the kicked-in door with the rest of the squad.

So the whole fantasy argument goes in one way but not the other, huh? It seems for some people its imposible to abstract someone commanding a group than commanding an army.

A fighter is able to fight a demon, but since real life Sun Tzu commanded armies and not individuals then the commander shouldn't either?

False equivalence, you're not commanding armies you're supporting your party, and Commander isn't going to be made to be a lazy dude who orders armies about, this is a team game so the class has to be more than a benchwarmer who only interacts by puppeting allies and thats it.

They also don't usually have battles against fiends, horrors from beyond the stars and undead hordes, and yet here we are!

I love both of these from my initial skim over, I'm wondering though if Drilled Reflexes and Practiced Reflexes should be built in to the class features and not be feats? Given the class shines by giving allies extra reactions to use their tactics, I'll admit these two feats feel more like feat taxes than actual choices.

Especially Practiced Reflexes; at level 18 you can either choose an action that might disable one enemy under specific circumstances, or take the feat that gives virtually all your party an extra reaction to use your Tactics.

So what beasties are in the back?

Favourite new monster(s) in this book?

Gorum...because he adds nothing particularly interesting to Golarion.

He's completely unneeded/superfluous.

I mean, hardly a great god to hook people into an event with then is it? I don't get the "the dying god must be useless/have little impact with their death" argument, considering this is going to be a big event. For my money, I'm putting it on Sarenrae, as much as I don't want it to be her, she feels likely.

EDIT: Okay I do get it it's not wanting a favourite/one that person likes to be on the chopping block, but it's not going to be as interesting a story if they go for a god that will make zero impact with their death.

Meanwhile, I'm just like...

"Okay, once we figure who we lose of the Core 20, when do we start sweating bullets for favored non-Core deities?"

'Cause I've got a few of them I'd miss far more than anyone who's left...

I cannot help but notice the sudden explosion of non-Core 20 gods showing up in the last two prophecies...

We do have a hint that Torag is preparing for something - but we don't know or have any hint towards what that something may be.

I'm hoping to see some creature hints/previews, I love me some monsters and I can only imagine what may show up for the War of Immortals.