Christopherwbuser's page

If we set the time machine back to the heady days of 2009 and the Council of Thieves AP, we get this tidbit from the introduction of Iomedae:

"Though born in Cheliax, she is worshiped by many people outside that land, and once the direct threat of the Worldwound is ended she plans to wipe her homeland free of its diabolical trait."

Twelve years later, with Second Edition and the Worldwound safely sealed... is it time?

And if so, how would it work? It's not like Asmodeus led the legions of hell in conquering Cheliax. Rather, as far as we know, he supported the Thrunes, but it was still their free will that led them to Him, and it was still their direct actions as mortals that won them the country.

So how actively can She act in wiping Cheliax free of the Thrunes and their Hellish allies? Sending her Herald to Egorian seems rather... blunt, as does a dream to all her paladins to see Abrogail removed from the throne.

And if she did, how would Hell respond? Is Cheliax really so important to Asmodeus that he would dangle the key to Rovagug's prison and say "They asked to be Mine, and they are, and if I can't keep them, you can't have them either?" in reponse? Would it be the Crusade all over again, but against devils instead of demons?

What about the bordering nations? Especially Nidal and Andoran? If Iomedae truly tried to "wipe the diabolical clean out of Cheliax", would it plunge the enter Inner Sea into war?

Of course, this is the same AP that gave us the infamous paladins of Asmodeus, so if it's something Paizo wants to chalk up to 'early installment wierdness' and leave safely in the sands of time, that's understandable, but it got me to thinking. Would this be fertile ground for a truly epic Adventure Path? Or would such a conflict and the aftermath be too much of a change to the setting?

Celeste was already an intriguing character thanks to the first two books, but the idea of how Oracles worked earned the class a soft spot in my heart, and I was delighted to see her becoming one in the last book of the series.

More to the point, her tale encapsulated to me how the Oracle is supposed to work:

* Unasked for powers. Playing the "Why?" and the Mystery of it all to the hilt.

* A curse that's always on, with the effects mitigated or changed as more levels were gained.

Watching Celeste poke the edges of her Heavens Mystery, and the Curse of Tongues, was just delicious. Under first edition, Oracles were a wonderful compliment to the Sorcerer, and PT:PP brought all the unique flavor and challenges of the class to life.

Now?

With respect, it seems like two large steps away from that, in the wrong direction.

There were over thirty Mysteries and thirty Curses in first edition. Maybe that level of customization isn't suitable for second generation, but even "An Oracle with this Mystery must choose one of the following Curses" would be better than having Mystery and Curse permanently paired up.

Curses went from "Permanently on, but the Oracle compensated / was compensated as she progressed along her Mystery by gaining class levels" to "A consequence of using your revelation spell". If the revelation spells were more of a carrot, then that stick would be worth it, but as things stand now it's simply a reason not to use one of the core features of your class.

Maybe this has been addressed in another thread. Pretty new to here, haven't read them yet, wanted to get this in before the feedback window closed. Maybe things will change before the rules are final, or maybe there's a really good reason why the old rules are no longer suitable and this is the way it's going to be.

All I'd ask is that people go back and re-read Pirate's Prophecy, and try to imagine Celeste's story using the proposed second edition Oracle rules.