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A location tag this time, from the Absalom book, but they got mechanical meaning so it counts!

4. Academy (Location)

Location: Sothan Alchemical Academy
[Academy][Employer][Workshop]
Located: Rose Quarter, Sothis, Osirion.
The Sothan Alchemical Academy is mentioned in PFS 1e S2-01: Before the Dawn Part 1.
The Midnight Scarabs are mentioned in the 1e book Osirion, Legacy of the Pharaohs.

Constructed during the years Osirion was under Keleshite rule, the Sothan Alchemical academy is a prestigious school with pricy admittance fee that serves mostly the nobility of Sothis. Despite its air of arrogance, the academy does issue scholarships to promising students among the peasants of Osirion, knowing that the institution loses many applicants to the city of Merab in Thuvia.
The three-storied structure is built in the middle of the Rose Quarter and also has a massive yard to conduct alchemical experiments safely. It is located near the market of the district and has several connections to vendors of the district to acquire alchemical tools easily and sell products of its students. While it has excellent teachers, the school has a lot of connections to scholarly organizations and uses this to invite guest lecturers regularly. Their most frequent guests are from the Sandswept Hall of the Pפathfinder Society, in the Canal District.

Flying Pyramid Connections: The head of the school, Sirek Arafe (deluded male Osiriani human school head) is a minor noble of Osirion that was always obsessed with personal prestige. Even heading the prestigious school wasn’t enough for him, and that made him a perfect victim to the machinations of Ahlish (scheming female invisible stalker pyramid commander). While the flying pyramid known as Pyramid of Sounding Gales has been quarantined in the Marblecourt district for the last 10 years, this didn’t really stop the invisible stalker from easily exploring Sothis to her heart’s content. While Sirek doesn’t know of her connection to the pyramid, Ahlish managed to recently convert him into worshipping the god Set and to sabotage the magical defenses of several noble estates, which Ahlish will strike when the time is right. Sirek was promised priceless artifacts of Ancient Osirion for his services, and in the meantime he gets a steady supply of ancient mummified corpses - that he makes into the drug mumia and sells at the black market.

Midnight Alchemists: The most esteemed teacher at the institute, Nahi Kertaf (calculated female Osiriani human toxicologist) has an aura of mystery around her. A strict teacher with no-nonsense attitude, the rumors about her background run wild, from rumors that she’s a Keleshite spy working within Sothis, or even a Red Mantis assassin. The rumors aren’t completely baseless, as Nahi is a member and a supplier for the Midnight Scarabs, assassins guild based in Sothis. Recently, someone has been stealing from the guild and uses Nahi’s toxins, and Nahi uses her spare time from the school to try and find the culprit.

Monstrous Inclinations: While he’s still considered a guest teacher, Runai (enthusiastic male Shemtej catfolk monster scholar) is the lead expert of the academy in matters of monsters. He used to be a cultist of Rovagug when he was younger in the Footprints of Rovagug, worshipping the destructive nature of the monsters of the deserts. But when the cult moved from worshipping the primal strength to ritualistic murder, Runai realized the cult needs to be stopped. Helping a band of pathfinders to take the cult down and then joining them on their way to Sothis, where he settled, he was recruited by the Sandswept Lodge for his extensive knowledge of monsters in exchange for abandoning his former faith.
Now, several years after being in the society, Runai aspires to begin a new faction in the Pathfinder Society, ones that will study the monsters of Golarion, with focus on the giant monstrosities of legend. He was taken off the Black Dome a couple of times after climbing on it, intrigued by its weird material, and hopes for a chance to one day visit Tian-Xia and see a Kaiju with his own eyes.[/LEFT]

3. Abjuration (Legacy)

Item: Kin-Warding, Greater - Item 9
[Uncommon][Dwarf][Magical]
Type Weapon Property Rune
Access Five Kings Mountains
Price 660gp
Usage Etched onto a clan dagger; Bulk -
A greater version of the Kin-Warding rune, that protects both you and your clan members at the same time. When you use the weapon’s Parry trait, you can choose an adjacent ally that gains a shield of runes around them. The runic barrier grants your ally the same weapon’s circumstance bonus to AC that you gain.
If you have the Clan Protector feat, you can also choose an ally within 10 feet of you.
Legacy Gains the Abjuration trait.

Item: Kin-Warding, Major - Item 16
[Uncommon][Dwarf][Magical][Saggorak]
Type Weapon Property Rune
Access Five Kings Mountains
Price 9100gp
Usage Etched onto a clan dagger; Bulk -
Only a few legendary Kin-Warding runes of this kind were created in dwarven history. When you use the weapon’s Parry trait, any ally within 20 feet of you gains a +1 circumstance bonus to AC, manifesting as a divine shield with historic dwarven families insignias over it.
If you also used the Shield Up! tactic this turn, this circumstance bonus is cumulative with the circumstance bonuses from shields, parrying weapons and the Shield cantrip.

Protect Kin [Reaction] (Force) Trigger An ally protected by the Kin-Warding rune takes damage from an attack; Effect The force shield reduces the damage by 20 and then disappears, and you can’t gain the protection of this rune until you Refocus.

Legacy Gains the Abjuration trait.

Thank you so much for your comments!

Ohhh, the monster is interesting, it really open up some fun uses, especially with the burrow speed that allow it to potentially escape once a party member is infected, which then create some very interesting roleplaying opportunity, as well as providing some obvious goals to the party that should keep them engaged. especially with the obvious infection the player are aware, but with them being unaware of the evolution if the creature don't want them to be, that's a neat idea.

For the aasimar feat though, I have to ask, was it intentional to make it so the "beast of nirvana" don't immediately gain a level 1 beastkin feat like the dragon gain a level 1 dragonkin one? I feel like the access to the change shape alone isn't quite worth the tradeoff there, but I'm not sure.

Yes, it was intentional. I felt like the feats were strong enough, considering Adopted Ancestry doesn't give a free feat or any ability.. But because it's a 5th level feat, I gave it this little extra, and I thought that Change Shape was pretty equal to a first level feat.

Hm this is a really fun idea! Would you mind if others (I.E me) joined in if inspiration strikes?

I wouldn't mind at all! I'll just warn you that I'm going to post these as I feel like, so I might even get 2 a day maybe, and there won't be a real schedule. I would love to see people join!

667. Redgrip Ivy: This type of climbing ivy have an is dark green with orange-red leaves in-between, looking pretty plain from the outside, yet it has a unique property - it can 'consume' rust off metals, looking for oxidized metals and absorbing the rust as both nutrition and poison against creatures that would consume it. It tends to grow over old bridges, the corpses of dead knights in armor, and from time to time - over constructs and automatons of ages lost.

This ivy was created by the Jistika Imperium to help maintain their standing armies, the plant is still found at the north of the Mwangi Expense and at Rahadoum, and used to be much more common before the desertification of Rahadoum. Treasure hunters know to spot those plants that many times hide treasures under them. Automatons that awake after many years tend to have redgrip ivy growing all over their bodies, and some even grow it over them intentionally as a fashion choice.

2. Aberration

Creature: Zecui Brood-Tender
Creature Family: Zecui
CW: Body horror, delusional parasitosis, delusions, gaslighting.
A rare spellcasting caste among the zecui, brood-tenders dedicate themselves to ensuring their nest’s larvae reach maturity. They often infiltrate remote villages or overlooked corners of thriving cities, cloaking themselves in illusions while manipulating the larva hosts from afar.
Becoming the target of a brood-tender is an unsettling ordeal. One day, the host feels the larva shifting beneath their skin - burrowing pain and movements through the tunnels of their flesh. The next day, the sensation is gone, replaced by uncanny calm. When the victim seeks healing, the brood-tender’s illusions twist perceptions so that trusted clerics and mages insist nothing is wrong.
Isolated by doubt and conflicting signs, the victim gradually begins to mistrust their own senses. Each passing day brings a deeper uncertainty about what is real and what is imagined, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to the infestation progressing unnoticed. By the time the truth surfaces, the larva has developed too far to be easily removed, ready either to overpower the host’s will or reach its final stage within them.
In their final moments of clarity, the victim finally understands that they were never mistaken. Every strange sensation, every unsettling intuition had been real all along. The revelation brings no comfort - only a cold, fleeting confirmation of the truth just as their life slips away.

Zecui Brood-Tender - Creature 10
[Rare][Medium][Abberation]
Perception +19; Darkvision, Larvae Sense (Impercise) 1 mile
Languages Aklo, Common; Larvae Telepathy 60 feet
Skills Acrobatics +21, Athletics +20, Deception +23, Medicine +22, Stealth +21
Str +4, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +5, Wis +6, Cha +7
Items +1 Striking Shortsword (2)
Larvae Sense (Detection, Occult, Scrying) The brood-tender can sense any creature infected with zecui larvae and zecuis from a great distance. If a creature is controlled by a zecui larvae (Stage 4 of the disease) the Brood-Tender can use an action to share its senses for the round.
Larvae Telepathy (Telepathy) The Brood-Tender can communicate with Larvae within 60 feet of itself, and they tend to be Helpful towards it.

AC 29; Fort +18, Ref +19, Will +21
HP 172
Larva Hiding Aura (Aura, Illusion, Occult, Secret) 1 mile. In this aura, the brood-tender can create an illusion that makes the larvae much more difficult to perceive, both for the normal senses and magic. Creatures affected don’t suffer the drained condition from zecui larvae, and can’t recognize the stage of their disease once they’ve been infected (see Secret Larvae sidebar). The aura attempts to counteract any attempt to detect or heal the disease, with +25 counteract modifier (the secret trait means that the caster doesn't know if its spell was counteracted).
Preserve Prey [Reaction] (Healing, Manipulate, Occult, Vitality) Trigger A living creature within 30 feet is reduced to 0 Hit Points; Effect The brood-tender channels corrupt vitality into the triggering creature, which still goes unconscious but does not gain the dying condition. While that creature is unconscious, the residual energy attempts to counteract any vitality spell healing that creature with a +21 counteract modifier.

Speed 30 feet, burrow 20 feet, climb 20 feet
Melee [Action] mandibles +19 [+14/+9] (unarmed), Damage 2d10+11 piercing
Melee [Action] +1 striking shortsword +21 [+17/+13] (agile, finesse, versatile S), Damage 2d6+15 piercing
Melee [Action] claws +21 [+17/+13] (agile, finesse, unarmed), Damage 2d6+10 slashing plus Grab
Ranged [Action] spit +21 [+16/+11] (range 30 feet), Effect spit mucus
Occult Spontaneous Spells DC 29; 5th Phantom Pain, Subconscious Suggestion (2 Slots); 4th Agonizing Despair, Flicker, Sleep (3 Slots); 3rd Heatvision, Hypnotize, Slow (3 Slots); 2nd Darkness, Illusory Disguise, Paranoia (3 Slots); 1st Command, Enfeeble, Forced Mercy (3 Slots); Cantrips (5th) Daze, Detect Magic, Figment, Forbidding Ward, Needle Darts

Harden Chitin [Action] The brood-tender fuses much of their chitin into a black metallic shell. They gain resistance 10 to all damage (except mental and spirit) until they next take a move action.
Spit Mucus A creature hit by the brood-tender's spit attack is immobilized by the larva-infested mucus and stuck to the nearest surface until it Escapes (DC 29). While that creature is immobilized, it is exposed to zecui larvae at the end of each of its turns.
Zecui Larvae (Disease) Saving Throw DC 29 Fortitude; Stage 1 visible lumps as the larvae move but no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 drained 1 (1 day); Stage 3 drained 2 (1 day); Stage 4 drained 3 and controlled by the zecui larva (1 day); Stage 5 the creature dies and the adult zecui can emerge from the corpse as an Interact action
===
Note: The Telepathy trait only appears in some monsters and isn’t a trait that is consistently used. Still, it was included here.

Sidebar: Secret Larvae
To enact the horror of the brood-tender to its full extent, the GM needs to work carefully and keep track of the characters’ disease stage. The initial save against the disease isn’t a secret roll, but once infected, every roll while within the larva hiding aura is secret, just as rolls to heal or help the disease. To keep the players on their toes, consider keeping the rolls until the character is free of the disease for 5 days, even if the character is no longer infected. At that time, the character might feel some paranoid delusions that the larva still crawl in its skin, and that the creatures still inhabit its body.

A personal challenge that I started a while back, and I decided to share here. Feel free to comment on posts even if they're old! I try to improve my homebrewing skills as much as possible.

Few things: English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for any mistake I'll make or weird phrasings, I try and improve myself. Also, there's no schedule, I will post stuff whenever I feel like it.

1. Aasimar (Legacy)

Beast of Nirvana - Ancestry Feat 5
[Rare][Nephilim]
Prerequisites Idyllkin, doesn’t have the Draconal Heritage feat (see below).
You embody the agathion connection to beasts and nature more closely than most nephilim.
You gain an inherent animal, same as Beastkin, that correlates to the animal your agathion ancestor embodies, and you gain the Change Shape ability as a beastkin.
You gain access to Beastkin feats, although they gain the Nephilim trait when you take them.
Note Idylkin with Draconal ancestors should take the Draconal heritage feat (below).
Legacy Instead of Nephilim, this feat is an Aasimar feat.

Draconal Heritage - Ancestry Feat 5
[Rare][Nephilim]
Prerequisites Idyllkin, doesn’t have the Beast of Nirvana feat (see above).
You’re a descendant of Draconal agathions, who embody the greatest of the dragons.
You gain a Draconic Exemplar, same as Dragonblood, that correlates to the Draconic Wisdom of your Draconal ancestor. You can choose any dragon except malevolent kinds (such as Diabolic or Despair Dragons, and others based on the GM ruling), but their tradition changes to Divine.
You gain access to Dragonblood feats, although they gain the Nephilim trait when you take them. You also gain 1st-level Dragonblood feat.
Legacy Instead of Nephilim, this feat is an Aasimar feat.

Student of Sulunai - Ancestry Feat 5
[Uncommon][Human][Nephilim]
Access Tianjing.
You have studied the life and works of the celestial nephilim Sulunai, who led the people of Tianjing in a time of nationwide chaos. You know that second chances are opportunities for salvation.
You gain the Hope of Second Chance reaction, and can use the spell Wash Your Luck as an innate divine cantrip.
Hope of Second Chance [Reaction] (Divine, Emotion) Frequency Once per day; Trigger An ally you see within 30 feet makes a roll with a fortune effect; Effect The ally gains +2 bonus to his roll.
Legacy Instead of Nephilim, this feat is an Aasimar feat.

[Designer's Note: An updated version of the 1e feat]

I love the GoT book series and me and my friends used to play the ASoI&F TTRPG (which is very fun and I recommend). Sadly I'm not familiar with the Pathfinder Adventure Card game, I can see that you put a lot of effort into it!

A miniscule feedback: I noticed the Blessing of the Smith gives a bonus to Dexterity checks, and while I can see that you tried to cover up all the bonus options for every figure of the Seven, that one is noticeably out of place. Maybe swap it with the father (con & int checks) or the Mother (damage reduction)?

No expecting an official answer, so it's more of a brainstorming thread. I recently read again the Monster Core 2 and started wondering about this piece of Adlet lore:

Adlets' legends say that long ago, a mighty hunter lost his way far from home and came upon a house of whalebone and ice. A woman dressed in white fox furs greeted him, fed him, and tended to his frostbite. In time, they married and had 10 children, five of whom bore the legs and tails of foxes. These children stayed with their mother, while the other five—born with the legs and tails of wolves—traveled with their father back to the human lands and became the first adlets.

Assuming that the mother is Daikitsu, who could be the father of the Adlets?

Options that I thought of:

Erastil
While he's married to Jaidi, there's an option that it happened before he got married. Erastil is commonly refered to as a hunter, so it's the go-to answer, but it doesn't fit with the way adlets are now - militant and xenophobic. Also, Daikitsu and Erastil are not in the same pantheons, so I don't think they interact a lot - at least not enough for me to see it happen. Still, the easiest answer.

Cernunnos
Erastil's son, is again an easy answer, especially if the fox-people are vulpinals. But it isn't perfect, as Cernunnos is both stag-themed and not wolf-themed, and the fact that Cernunnos isn't an agathion but an azata. Still, an option.

Curchannus
Probably my favorite answer at the moment, the dead god of beasts, travel and endurance would fit as a partner for Daikitsu and as a father for the adlets. More than that, without his guidance after his death, the adlets might have lost the way, becoming xenophobic and militant.

Daikitsu
Playing both roles in the story, the gender-shifting Daikitsu might have been both the hunter and the woman in the house, with the myth symbolizing that while they were created with a more militant aspect of the goddess (the hunter) they're still related to the her motherly aspect (the fox woman) from birth.

Garhaazh
A little stretch, but hear me out. Adlets are present on Triaxus according to Reign of Winter, so with the Adlets 'leaving with their father' they might have gone to Triaxus, with some migrating back to Golarion only a time later. Garhaazh can be described as a mighty hunter. The problems are mostly the fact that he cared enough about the woman to have kids with her, and the fact that the kids are not dragons. Still, I wanted to include a Triaxian deity here, seeing that as an option.

====
Is there an option you prefer? Or theories of your own? I would love to hear some!

This is an amazing resource, thank you so much for this! I'm looking forward for a chance to use several of those in my own campaigns.

In the meantime, I rolled myself and created an encounter inspired by your challenge: Save the Elephant - Severe 6.

The tidbits of lore about various deceased Hero-Gods throughout this AP make my mind race with ideas and really give this adventure an epic feel.

Is Cormion (mentioned on page 17) a Hero-God as well, based on the Lore check you roll?

Writing it as a simple hazard for 2e.

31: Form-Revealer- Hazard 12
[Uncommon][Magical][Trap]
Complexity Simple
Stealth DC 36 (expert), darkvision.
Description A mechanical eye containing a spell-charged rod, behind an identity scanner. Used as a security measure against shapeshifters and identity thieves in front of normal scanners.
It's considered taboo to use this trap in Astrazoan circles.
Disable DC 35 Thievery (master) to disorient the sensor, DC 32 (expert) Arcana to drain the spell, or dispel magic (6th rank; counteract DC 30) to counteract its magic.
Show Your Form [reaction] (arcane) Trigger A creature tries to verify its identity for the security measure; Effect The creature is affected by dispel magic (6th rank; counteract modifier +26) against each Illusion, Morph or Polymorph effect affecting it.

Besmara as a goddess of sea monsters was the boss who kept everyone in check. Sure, she benefited from it, but she was necessary evil, because if not her the sea monsters would run loose. For example, her planar ally Old Vengeance is one such monster.

More so, I would say that her views on personal freedom are reflected in the option to choose between Holy or Unholy. Just like Besmara might be fighting either Hell or Heaven in her journeys, her worshippers might fight Cheliax's Navy or oppose the Eagle Knights. She encourages her worshipers to take what they want, but what they want depends on them - just like one pirate desire riches and fame, another might desire vengeance on those who hurt him. Besmara would encourage them both.

With the Starfinder Playtest, I'd probably ask to play a Lashunta Bard or Psychic who's a researcher from Castrovel that study the aiudara, and fears that Treerazer might gain control of the Elf Gates and invade Castrovel next. Knowing my GMs, with a character like this in the campaign their fears would probably be justified, and they might save their home planet as well as Kyonin from the demonic danger.

I love the implications this has on a specific bit in Planar Adventures about Hero's Heart, Cayden's Realm:

The less traveled corners of the fields are home to all manner of labyrinths, ruins, and other examples of dungeoncraft; like the Starstone Cathedral where Cayden ascended, these dungeons constantly shift and evolve, offering the thrill of delving to those who seek such harrowing experiences.

This is on the outskirts of the realm. These challenges aren't arranged by the azatas or Cayden's servants. With the prophecy in mind, those dungeons might be Cayden's nightmares/the Starstone influence manifested, and who knows what secrets they contain if that's the case. Maybe some party might delve there and figure out what happened to Cayden on the cathedral (this could be used either to hurt Cayden or helping him overcome his insecurity with proof that he passed the test fair and square, both cool ideas to explore in a game).

Milani has a small realm there, she might know something.

I think that we could see Calistria go and Nocticula taking over her role in the core pantheon. Calistria has enough planar connections for it to be a big deal, and I think the setting would suffer much from losing her.

Also losing Erastil could be really interesting, and I'm also looking at Nethys, but Calistria is my first bet.

seems like the term "demodand" would probably be out. based on "deodant" from some Vancian work, but "demodand" seems to have first been used in TSR products - later turned into Gehreleths, and then back to demodands.

While I agree on the name, Paizo demodand lore with the titan connection is pretty different, and while they do need some rework in their designs I don't think that as a monster race they should be completly out.

But I do believe that it would take a while for us to see, us demodands are both high level creatures and titans having very little plots with them as main villians in the setting.

Damn, choosing would be too hard because there are so many. I'll try and divide it by my favorite phanteons.

Core Pantheon: Iomedae, hands down. With great background, inspiring lore and a really interesting take on the trope of paladin god. Shelyn is a really close second, with an honorable mention to Gorum.

Inner Sea: Naderi, great aesthetics, really inspiring, cool relations... My only problem is that her clerics are hard to fit in many adventures, but she's overall amazing. Honorable mentions: Besmara, Brigh and Milani.
Tian-Xia: Tsukiyo, but this is the hardest competition, with Lady Nanbyo, Shizuru and Hei Feng being all so amazing. This is the best phantheon of gods out of all.
Azlanti: Acavna and Amaznen were really amazing but they both died. So, I'll probably choose Scal, with Onos after him. Also great pantheon that doesn't get enough attention.
Mwangi: Grandmother Spider was a personal interest of mine in her 1e days, and the new focus of 2e only did her good.

Halfling: Yeah they only have 2, but Thamir Gixx is really amazing and I love everything about this dude.
Giant: Young and agressive, Urazra for the win here.

Archdevils: Really hard to choose here since they're all great, but I'll have to go with Mammon, then Mephistopheles.
Queens of the Night: Eiseth is probably the best deity in hell.

Horseman: The Oinadaemon, but if we count him out Szuriel.

Major Demon Lords: Abraxas.
Minor Demon Lords: Shivaska.
Nascent Demon Lords: Nightripper, with Sithud second.
Dead Demon Lords: Xar-Azmak, which I really love and mentioning because of the Rage of the Elements release.

Archon Empyreal Lords: Falanya, then Arqueros and Tanagaar.
Angel Empyreal Lords: Tolc. Honorable mentions to Pulura, Ragathiel and Vildeis.
Azata Empyreal Lords: Valani.

Lady Nanbyo is one of my favorite gods, and an Oracle built around her theme of disasters could fit right into Shenmen. Probably a tragic background about how disasters follow him.

The fluff of the 1E onmyoji spiritualist archetype as well is something I adore, and a summonner based on that- with the adventure being "the mission fate has assigned for me"- could also be really cool. Exorcist dedication could fit (we always play with free archetype). Could worship either Tsukiyo or Pharasama.

I think that morph-risen reflection based on a Jorogumo with mysterious condition/curse that locked it's shape also has some really good dramatic potential. No specific class is in my mind, but sorcerer or rogue is my first instinct.

I mean, Curchanus original body was part hyena (we know that because now Daclau-Sar), while the possibility that it was altered by Lamashtu post-mortem, I could see them as a creation of Curchanus that was corrupted by Lamashtu.

The longest adventure I DMed was centered around Goka, so it's my favorite city. I even had 1 character, as a part of her personal journey, visit the realm of the Oni Daimyo Onmyuza, and I think it was one of the best scenes I have ever run.

Other favorites: Magnimar, Absalom, Kasai, Urgir, Bloodcove, Port Peril and Ilizmagorti.

Also, not sure if this has been brought up anywhere, but I recall in one of the PF1E books a mention of a Sasquatch/Bigfoot ancestry (different from the already established Sasquatch monster. So I am hoping those are still around and might get detailed as a main ancestry.

YES! The Orang-Pendak would be an awesome ancestry to have.

I was wondering, why giving the Fier'Dal perception and not survival? Is it to make them a bit stronger/more unique? (Perception is more useful as a skill than survival).

A lot of the world changes that went from 1e to 2e didn't take effect yet in my setting, because I would like to one day explore it myself and maybe play the Adventure Paths. The Worldwound is one of my favorite regions in the setting, and for now- I keep the wound open and the demons coming.

Dark Oni wrote:

I have a few!

- I always theorized a connection between Brigh and Amaznen. I actually wrote a unique clockwork dragon, a former herald of Amaznen, "adopted" by Brigh- but I love the idea that the two are connected in more than that.
- I adore Shizuru and Tsukiyo, and especially Shizuru's Paladins. In my setting, I gave the Empress of Heaven a role in the cosmos that is more befitting for this name.

Can you share a little more about both of these? I'm a big Brigh fangirl, but totally unaware of any connection to Amaznen, and I've always wished Shizuru had a little more to do.

That's actually more of my own ideas. I don't know of any connection between Amaznen and Brigh "officially". But the 2 deities share similar themes of invention, and I didn't find any sign of Brigh worship pre-Earthfall, and Brigh's origin is a mystery. I just like to fill the dots there myself.

Shizuru in Faiths of Golarion is living in the Palace of Eightfold Mirrors on Clarion. While the Place still exists in my setting, it's used only to house the Tian Deities when they need to gather (The archons are not so pleased to let neutral and evil deities to the higher levels of Heaven). Shizuru is actually the Head in the Council of Vision, the council on Iudica who governs Heaven- and therefor is really the Empress of Heaven.

I have a few!

- I always theorized a connection between Brigh and Amaznen. I actually wrote a unique clockwork dragon, a former herald of Amaznen, "adopted" by Brigh- but I love the idea that the two are connected in more than that.
- The eclipse on Abbadon and the Oinadaemon are an obscure obsession, with a major storyline in one of my games about a Daemon loyal to the bound prince, that was trapped in the body of a Possessed Oracle.
- I adore Shizuru and Tsukiyo, and especially Shizuru's Paladins. In my setting, I gave the Empress of Heaven a role in the cosmos that is more befitting for this name.
- Red Mantis Assassins are actually one of the more underused factions of the game and their Island as well.
- The Cinder Seekers were mentioned only in Goblins of Golarion, but are my favorite Goblin Organization. A rebelious movement, trying to free goblins from the hobgoblin control.
- Lady Nanbyo going through the Abyss breaking anything in her way was actually something I wanted to use as a "natural disaster" in the Abyss. Also, Lady Nanbyo herself is an obscure favorite of mine among the gods.
- Lastly, Hei Feng Antipaladins who actually fight evil but in the most destructive way possible to please their god.

I guess that makes sense. In my opinion I would probably remove both Profession and Lore (for the same reason) to get 18 which is a more "beautiful" number- or replace lore with the Streetwise skill straight from 4e.

But that's a really minor change. As a whole, I really like this list.

I've always loved the north of Avistan, with Land of the Mammoth Lords being a personal favourite (my second PFS character was from there). I'm excited to see more of Irrisen as well, and while Varisia and New Thassilon don't interest me that much a recent read into Winter Witch (the Pathfinder Tales book) had made me interested to see more about the Nolands, and how it has changed.

Reminds me of D&D 4e skill list, of which I'm very fond of.

I'm surprised to see the lore skill from PF:Unchained, as this skill is the antithesis of a "reduced skill list", and not really sure why it's there.

46: Spider Infestation
Normal spider as well as giant spiders, ettercaps and spider-like monsters, this place is haunted by them. This could be because of a curse, cult for Mazmezz or Atlach-Nacha or even Jorogumos- but nevertheless, it's not a nice place to inhabit.

Fits best on forests, marsh and plain hexes.

For Settlement: Unless it's a settlement for a race that gets along with spiders (Drow, Jorogumos, Mitfits)- Danger +4, Economy -4, with serious problems maintaining the settlement (probably resulting in a very small settlement). If it is a settlement of such race, Danger +1 and Crime +2.

Without Settlement: Exploring through the area would probably result in an encounter with a swarm of spiders or a spider monster. Without a very good source of protection, anyone who moves through the area is exposed to Medium Giant Spider poison. Anyone who sleeps in the area is exposed to the poison 3 times.

I see! Personally I loved the idea that the Bebilith need to hunt some demons before it grows to a full sized demon-predator, that's why I used the young template, but your answer was helpful nonetheless!

And a small follow up question- do Bebiliths pay attention to demon lords at large? I'm sure they don't mind eating their servants, but would a Bebilith notice who's the lord of the layer they live in? And if someone is showing the Bebilith a symbol of demon lord, could they recognize it?

Hey James, in one my games (an evil-ish campaign) one player got the True Name of a young Bebilith (it was inscribed in runes- part demonic and part qlippoth- inside the caccoon it spawned from in Khavak-Vog). Now that he wishes to bind the creature to his service, I wonder how will a creature like bebilith react to someone using it's true name. To add on that, the Bebilith was spawned pretty recently to existence, so I wonder- does it have a natural instinct to fear someone using the true name, or does the Bebilith need to "learn" that it has a true name and this true name has power over it?

Lately I'm interested in characters with weird connections to powerful characters in the world. Maybe a witch with a connection to the lich Takaral (the lich that serves Nethys as his expert on Necromancy), or someone who carries his blood.

Hey James. Following you saying that Menxyr was imported from your home setting, how do you deal with creatures or demigods that represent something that is taboo in the real world? Specifically Menxyr, as a demigod of Necrophilia, I find particularly difficult to add to games because it's such a taboo topic, even if I would put Menxyr in his role as a "grave robber demigod" in a given plot.

Calliope785 wrote:

Given that she's got a reptilian theme and loves traps, how common is the worship of Andirifkhu among evil communities of kobolds? It seems like some might have a natural affinity for her.

Not that common at all. In my head, I think of kobolds more as devil worshipers, because they, like devils, are mostly lawful evil. The whole take of kobolds being dragons and worshiping dragons isn't super interesting to me although that seems to be a trope that most other folks DO find interesting, and so that's an example of one of many things in Pathfinder where I pretty much let go of my preference as creative director of the game and work to support the overwhelming preference.

But as for Andirifkhu? Maybe some here and there, but no more so than any other ancestry.

Just want to ask, is this your personal preference or related to a change in the lore of Kobolds in the 2e? Because in the book Kobolds of Golarion Anfirifkhu was listed as a somewhat common deity for kobolds.

Really not trying to get into the "the lore by JJ vs. the lore in the books" canon debate, but I've yet to read 2e thoroughly as I wanted, and I simply want to know if the 2e lore updates are related to your answer.

While they books don't specify any allies of Fumeiyoshi, in my campaigns I like to have divine connections- even from gods you didn't expect- that live in the same place.

So personally, I would say he might have a relation to the Ahriman (Who destroys cities and mortal legacies, which is something Fumeiyoshi would approve)- and maybe he ran across and have somewhat positive connection to the Daemon Harbingers of Mneoc, Osolmyr and Vorsha.

If you're looking for deities, I don't see a real reason for him to hate Lady Nanbyo- as she brings calamities to others.

With Pharasama being the goddess of births, why there is no psychopomp-blooded race?

What are the differences bewteen Mestama and Gyrrona's religions? I've read about both, but in the end they look and feel very similar.

Hey James! What would you say is the CR range of the goblin hero-gods?

Fumeiyoshi from the Tian Pantheon, also known as Lord of Envy. God of Dishonor, Envy, Graves and Undead.

I say Shenmen (in Tian-Xia) actually. Suprised no one mentioned it.

Dark Oni wrote:

What happened to the Apocalypse Horses of the dead Horsemen? Did they die with them? Did they pass on to the next Horsemen? Or maybe somewhere, some Apocalypse Horses of the former Horsemen still wander the planes?

I've always assumed they pass on to the next one, so that at any one time, there's only 4 of them in existence.

What about the Oinodaemon? He doesn't have a horse?

What happened to the Apocalypse Horses of the dead Horsemen? Did they die with them? Did they pass on to the next Horsemen? Or maybe somewhere, some Apocalypse Horses of the former Horsemen still wander the planes?

I just noticed that the body shape of the demon lord Andirifkhu is very similar to the Andi Spider People described in Faiths of Golarion (on the Grandmother Spider section). Is it possible that the demon lord was originally one of the Andi, or that there is some other connection?