Dagnew's page

I know that Barzillai Thrune engaged in powerful magics in order to become a Genius Loci after death, so what he does isn't an example of how Soul Anchors work naturally.

I know that Soul Anchors are supposed to allow a soul to keep its memories in the afterlife, but, how does that work...?

Do you have to die next to the Soul Anchor, or can you bind your soul to it with a ritual and leave, or, can somebody else perform the ritual after you die...?

Even if the soul keeps its memories after death, it still has to be judged by Pharasma before being sent to its destination in the Outer Planes, and when Pharasma notices it keeps its memories, she will at best erase them before ending it away, or at worst, punish it by leaving it stranded in the Boneyard forever...

So, does the Soul Anchor bypass Pharasma's judgement too? And if so... what happens to your soul? Does it leave the River of Souls and stay floating around in the Astral Plane? Or, does it get sent to an appropiately aligned Plane?

What do you think?

Many people were very kind to answer my previous questions about immortality in the setting, so I feel encouraged to ask something more...

I know about Tian Xia religion, about the Esoteric Tradition and the Sangpotshi philosophy, the Samsarans, the Lake of Mortal Reflections and the Manasaputras.

But I don't know how all this fit with what we know about the Afterlife in the setting... I guess anybody can enter the Lake of Mortal Reflections in the Boneyard, but, if you aren't a Samsaran or a Manu, you will be reborn without memories of your previous incarnation, won't you?

It that is so... how does the whole Karma thing work? Or how can you move towards enlightenment across incarnations? I mean, a Tian Xia person enters the lake, is reincarnated as somebody in Irrisen... or in Akiton... or in a planet in another galaxy... and since they no longer learn about Sangpotshi, they no longer care about purifying their Karma, and they may end becoming petitioners in some Outer Plane, merging with it, and being absorbed back into the Maelstrom, that eventually the soul back as a complete tabula rasa...

So it seems to me that, unless you are a Samsaran, or you somehow manage to get everything right in your present incarnation and become a demigod or a Manu or whatever is your goal... any progress you make is lost when you die...

And if so... wouldn't it be better to try to secure a good afterlife in an Upper Plane rather than reincarnate? I mean, you will eventually reset and start again as an unaligned soul in the Positive Energy Plane, but the same will happen if you reincarnate, except you may screw it really badly in your next reincarnation and end spending a million years in Abbadon...

Reincarnation-based religions work in our own work because most of them claim that, if you accumulate good Karma, then you will be reborn in a place that offers even better chances to learn the correct religion, so you will have a good chance to purify your Karma even more... Being reborn as a member of the right religion is considered more beneficial than being rich or healthy or socially privileged, so the better Karma you have, the better chances to keep improving it during the next cycle... Also, these real-world religions claim that everybody reincarnates, you have no other choice, so you may as well endeavour to get good Karma to get a good reincarnation...

But I haven't seen anything suggesting that's the case in the Pathfinder setting... so, am I missing something?

After re-reading some of the sourcebooks, I am left with many doubts, so I decided to ask just in case somebody had answers...

1.-Is it possible to escape Inevitables using magic like Mind Blank, moving around a lot using Plane Shift and Teleport, and hiding in a Demiplane?

I mean, Inevitables don't seem to be that effective... There are MANY high profile NPCs who have been undead for very long, Artokus Kirran has been brewing Sun Orchid Elixir for almost three millennia and a half, and there are whole countries full of undead... it doesn't look like Maruts are very good at their job, so maybe it is easy to hide from them of fend them off...

2.-Pharasma and her church and minions loathe undead... but, what about people who prolong their mortal lives using magic like the Sun Orchid Elixir, Clone, Resurrection and Reincarnation? Will they try to stop them? I haven't read any mention of Pharasmites trying to eliminate non-undead immortals...

3.-Concordance of Rivals describes how the multiverse will end: When the last mortal dies, Groetus will descend on the Boneyard, destroy it, then move to the Material Plane and wipe it out... but, do we know how much will he destroy? What about the Inner Planes? Will they be destroyed and re-created? What about the Dark Tapestry? Most of the material plane belongs to the Dark Tapestry (star systems are like motes in a vast ocean of Void), and the Outer Gods probably can swat Groetus like a fly... Will Groetus visit all star systems one by one, leaving the Dark Tapestry alone...?

Thank you very much in advance to anybody who has any answer.

The original Sun Orchid Elixir, as described in 2008 Pathfinder Chronicles Gazeteer, was like this:

"Sun Orchid Elixir
Magic can do a great deal to extend one’s life, but most of these paths lead to a perverted form of undeath or are simply so powerful as to be extremely rare. As such, the sun orchid elixir is a valuable commodity. Those who imbibe a draft of the potent brew cease to age for 1d4 years, with no apparent side effects. Not surprisingly, vanity-seekers go to nearly any length to acquire the elixir, resorting to bribery, extortion, and murder. To curtail such troubles, the use of the elixir is outlawed in Thuvia (with the notable exception of the formula’s creator). Anyone found breaking this law is executed, and foreigners who bring such troubles to Thuvian shores face exile and are banned from further purchases.
Each vial of the elixir requires six mature sun orchids to create and 1 month’s time to ferment, although the exact formula used is a state secret. The vials typically sell for about 20,000 gp each, with the sun orchids needed to brew them often commanding a bounty of 500 gp apiece."

Okay, this version is FAR weaker than the current one. I think it should be attainable for players.

So, if the original Sun Orchid Elixir were refluffed as a new Longevity Potion... what level should it be? And its price?

Thank you very much in advance.

I have a couple questions about Demiplane keys...

Do we know if these keys register as magical to spells like Detect Magic?

How small can these keys be? Could a character create a tooth-shaped Demiplane key, then put the false tooth in their mouth to keep it safely hidden?

I get why Paizo has made Rituals be the way they are: They allow non-spellcasters to warp reality too, and they allow spontaneous spellcasters to use them without having to waste one of their precious known spell slots into a spell that isn't of use during combat and is better used during downtime...

But non-spellcasters are usually just helping with one of the secondary checks, so they don't feel like they are the ones doing the reality warping, and while spontaneous casters don't have to learn the spells, they need the help of the whole team to cast the Rituals, so I am not sure that's a good trade...

Also, the Rituals as they are now kinda enforce the narrative of a group of four friends who trust each other and are always willing to help each other... what if you are playing an awkward alliance between a fanatic LG priest, a paranoid, ambitious LE necromancer and a crazy CN gnome sorcerer? while they may work together to defeat a common enemy, would they trust and help each other in their personal pet project? Would the necromancer trust the others to help him create a Demiplane and store there his Clone? Would the priest trust the others to do anything unless its absolutely necessary...?

I think the Rituals should be more flexible: They should start with a high DC, and casting time, gold cost and number of helpers should be ways to reduce it (similar to D&D 3.5 Epic Magic). So if you have time to waste and a lot of gold, you can do the ritual alone, but, if you are in a hurry, and you lack the resources, you can recruit helpers...

What do you think...?

The text of the ritual says that a Simulacrum lack "special abilities", but I can't find a strict definition of what a "special ability" is...

They give the example of a Dragon Simulacrum, whose breath attack is a mere illusion with no effect...

But, what about a Wyvern's venom? It is listed as merely part of the damage of their stinger attack...

Do their claws and fangs work normally?

What about flight? Can you use a Simulacrum as flying mount?

What about proficiencies? Can a Simulacrum use a bow or swing a sword just like the original?

Can they cook or craft?

Can they make skill checks? Like, if you are doing a ritual, can you use a group of Simulacrum as assistants, and have them make the secondary Nature, Arcane, Occultism, Religion...etc., checks...?

Thank you in advance.

I am new to Pathfinder 2e, and I have been mostly checking the core material to see if it is worth switching to.

Something that has striken me is how strictly defined is the expected behaviour of Champions... when you layer the need to keep your alignment, to follow your Cause, Tenets, Edicts and avoid the Anathemas, it feels like a straightjacket...

Am I right, or am I overreacting?

Besides that, which deity do you think would allow most freedom to your typical LG adventurer who wanders around taking quests and bounties to kill evil creatures...?

Erastil seem okay if you plan to stay at your home village, being a decent person and protecting your neighbors, but he will probably get pissed if you leave to pursue adventure, wealth and fame...

Torag is similar to Erastil, with more focus on killing the enemies of your people.

Iomedae seem to expect her followers to be more "knightly" than other paladins, accepting duels and such. She also expects them to be temperate, which is kinda vague... where is the limit? are you expected to fast? can you wear flashy clothes? drink wine? own a fancy manse...?

Sanserae seems quite easy to follow at first glance... protecting your allies and healing the sick is something a decent person would want to do anyways... but she also demands that you destroy evil AND forgive repentant creatures... that may be hard to balance...

Irori demands that you perfect yourself, which is kind of a given to most PCs (they are becoming stronger all the time...), but you also have to help others perfect themselves, which can be a bother (am I required to take disciples...?), and you have to maintain self-control, which is kind a vague... where is the line? how ascetic are you expected to be?

Apsu seems easy to follow for a regular PC... you are expected to "Seek and destroy evil, travel the world, help others fend for themselves" and avoid to "Fail to pursue a foe who has betrayed your mercy, attack a creature without certainty of wrongdoing..."

Most LG PCs would do all of that anyways... but Apsu probably accepts few non-dragons as Champions...

Kurgess seems okay, but he is a bit too focused on athletic competition...

Horus and Ra seem to focus mostly on leaders.

Anubis seems to focus mostly on fighting undead.

Osiris seems to focus on agriculture and burials.

Thoth focus on knowledge and research.

Wadjet, much like Erastil and Torag, seems focused on the protection of your community, which may be hard for a traveling paladin...

Isis looks great... heal the sick? use magic to help the needy? don't be an a*$*@$$? Yeah, can do that...

Ma'at don't look too hard either... be honest and destroy monsters... the first part wouldn't be too hard, and PCs do the second for a living anyways...

Trudd seems easy to follow for your average PC... Using your power to help others weaker than yourself? That's basically the job description of a LG adventurer! However, Trudd is a dwarven god, and I don't know if he accepts non-dwarves...

Shizuru's dogma is kind of a mixed bag: protect nature, protect lovers, train everyday, be honourable... sort of like following the dogma of four different deities simultaneously...

Tsukiyou focuses mostly on helping the suffering ones... not a hard thing to do, but he probably expects his followers to spend a lot of time doing it...

I feel like Apsu, Isis, Ma'at and Trudd are probably the easiest to follow, but Apsu and Trudd are racial a gods (are they restricted...?).