Leliel the 12th's page

And…really, I honestly think this is a better sacrifice than Thog.

Because it is both a more personal struggle than “off a minion” and shows Nale being SMART.

The face is now useless as everyone knows who Nale is, and would remain as such. There is always a place for a confidant-cum-wrecking ball.

This indicates Nale is willing to personally suffer for long term gain, and that shows talent.

This is the point Nale showed he’s not just a pawn, but an apprentice.

1321 - Subject to Change

So, uh, yeah, those people who thought it was too petty are right - the IFCC is planning on metaphysical revenge.

Honestly, it's a really good thing what set them off was anger at the Evil Gods, because I can see several deities from Pathfinder alone who'd be into this. Urgathoa would probably be actively working on some of the designs, and she would not need to lie about her ideal Evil Paradise.

Asmodeus: "'Scuse me, gotta steal this-" *yoink*

Seriously, this thing is so utterly brilliant that it demands justification for how nobody's caught on the con. I suspect the devils "leak" ways to sabotage it, or pay to "delay" it in the form of memories that might hint as to its actual purpose.

I figured int makes just as much or more sense as anything else, but I'm increasingly gond of this mental image of a necromancer who, because necromancy is no super popular, uses their mastery over life and death to inscribe their knowledge in their own bodies and souls, like invisible tattoos that form a mnemonic, elegaic chant which recalls to them the methods of casting.

I guess I hear what people are saying, that songs are usually depicted as cha, but on the other hand, I like breaking weak stereotypes and I see no reason why all magical music needs to be virtuosic. Even if the dirge were exclusively musical in nature, using songs and chants to memorize long lists of things has just as much practical tradition behind it as more spontaneous, creative musical expression.

I see no reason why an Int-based caster couldn't touch on mnemonic music and I don't see any reason why a necromancer shouldn't be Int.

And, as far as I can recall - a dirge is also a poem. Which leads to someone who can be technically skilled, but is also of the "it was a dark and stormy night" persuasion.

BRB, making my Dead Poets Society Reject Nercomancer.

VerBeeker wrote:

Elfteiroh wrote:

KaiBlob1 wrote:

IS there any reason specifically that they didn't do settlement stat blocks in this? Is that a remaster thing?

I think the pronounciation guides took their places in the sidebars. And really, they were needed a lot. I don't know a lot of people that know how to read romanizations of many of the Asian languages. I know how to read the Japanese-inspired names, but it helped me a LOT with all the other ones (the only one I have been able to memorize before was the "C" in the name of some Chinese people, like in Cao Cao, that is actually closer to "ts-" than "k-".) I'm still working hard to learn the others, but until then, it's been VERY helpful. (TBF, I have trouble with prnounciations with my first language too, and English too sometimes... AND TBF, pronounciation guides have been asked A LOT in general for Pathfinder books.)

It's also one of the biggest continent they have treated with a book yet (Casmaron being bigger, but unpublished yet), and there would have been a LOT of settlements.

They definitely had a bunch of very hard choices to make to fit the page count.

I mean I personally would have been fine with a number for the populations listed next to the capitals.

Yeah, that's my feeling too. Population numbers never make sense for various reasons. I'd rather have pronunciations than that.

Personally, I feel like population numbers are specifically a "trap". They will probably ALWAYS feel wrong for someone, and I'm not sure they are THAT useful in play. I personally rarely look at them, because as soon as they get higher than 3 numbers, I can't really understand what it means. xD

So, I'm reading, and...

Is it saying something about me that a complete backstory for a Tianjinese mad scientist came into being? One who started as a benign abbot but upon experiencing the horror of the qlippoth directly was traumatized into this line of logic:

"Qlippoth are the worst thing in the world. When demons were created by polluting the Outer Rifts with sin, they turned the qlippoth from a cosmic-scale threat to dire one fighting for their own existence. Demons are better than qlippoth by default, ergo their creation was the benign will of the universe, and mortal sin can more easily fight alien evil directly. The seals are failing, and the idiots in charge refuse to notice. Ergo, learn to summon demons and engineer the creation of an army of demonblood cambions into being to serve as the ultimate line of defense for Tianjing and the world."

Had it that he's still an extremely pleasant, spiritual individual who is very empathetic and forgiving of darker emotions...he just sees more purpose in weaponizing those emotions, and what care he has for his "children" also comes with the suffocating expectation that they are his super soldiers - not his children.

Hell, he could even have found some Valashai tech caches earlier in his life to grow some clones and do Fun Things With Genetics, it's not incredibly far away.

Hm, is that Amiri on the cover? And she worships Gorum....

"...Therapy?"

"Therapy. I've been dealing with some existential angst recently for obvious reasons, so Mr. Grzlax here is helping me grapple with my self-image and changes to it."

"AAAAAAAUGH!"

"He's been a great help!"

CorvusMask wrote:

I'm fine with this if Gorum's church's reaction isn't despair or "time to find new god" but "Time for glorious final battle!" as they become empowered by god giblets raining down

I don't know. I think it would be okay if some Gorumites find the loss too great to bear. Certainly, a joining the righteous war to end all righteous wars would be the most fitting (and I mean, Aroden's church did that, too, at least those who were already within distance of the Worldwound), but it strikes me that Gorum's faith might have an inordinately high proportion of, "I have nothing and need nothing so long as I have a sword in my hand and Gorum to witness the glory of my next victory."

Losing something when you through you had nothing else to lose might fairly cause some BSoD, is what I'm saying--even if the general reaction of his followers is as you say.

I'd be fine too - I'm just focusing on the operative word of "some."

I'd prefer the majority just going "BLOOD FOR GORUM! VENGEANCE FOR THE FALLEN GOD!" and simply charge in the direction of his murderers, probably with new deific backing, because while Gorum was a jerk he was their jerk.

And...actually, brainwave. Having lost everything it was possible to lose and then some, suddenly finding yourself lost utterly, knowing someone specifically took something you loved from you...

I think I know why Arazni suddenly has a lot more prominence.

miath wrote:

Calliope5431 wrote:

Nintendogeek01 wrote:

YES IT'S NOT SHELYN!!!

My hats remain safe.

Gorum is just so...generic.

It does sort of feel sort of like a "not with a bang but a whimper" sort of situation, and I mean that with the utmost respect for people who like Gorum.

He's just NOT that interesting of a choice.

Not sure how I feel about it. Not sure what ramifications could be happening following the death of A god of war. War existed long before Gorum came to be. Unless he was protecting something dangerous...I just don,t see what kind of impacts his death could create.

Well from how they were describing it… a literal kind.

Seems like the Orcs are getting hit fairly hard by the Godsrain

Given how their AP is called Triumph of the Tusk, I don't think they'll be that plussed by the aftereffects.

They probably think whoever killed Gorum was a badass they can't wait to repay.

vyshan wrote:

I am fine with Gorum. Of the gods, he is one i never quite cared for. Though I wonder what will replace him for places that did worship him? Maybe more regional war gods?

Good guys still have Torag and Iomedae to lean on. Maybe (ugh) Cayden for the chaotic types.

Evil sorts have Rovagug, and maybe Zonny-boy.

People unconcerned with the ethical components of warfare who just love a good fight can... I dunno. The wrong sorts of (ugh) Caydenites, I suppose.

Or for purist "mastering the art of war" types, I guess there's (yawn) Irori.

And then there are non-core options who may or may not make it through all of this.... Milani for heroic revolutionaries, Moloch for lawful orderly "stomp your face in and commit atrocities" types, Szuriel for revel in pointless conflict.

Calistra's there for "repay hurt to those who hurt you" in war, and Arazni is newly minted as "dig in and drag the other guy to the Boneyard with you" types as a Core Deity.

So, best guess for Arazni; she gets enough Gorum-aid to cast raise dead on herself and decides that his seat rightfully belongs to her. Nobody really contests this, and the Gorumites figure hey, they have plenty of reasons to want to feel dignified and avenge themselves on Gorum's murderer, so they start changing out their (un)holy symbols.

Two weeks later, a frantic Red Queen shows up on Iomedae's doorstep, clearly not having slept that entire period, asking how the Abaddon she deals with having a major religion all praying to her at once.

I have always enjoyed Gorum as a god. Huge hulking god of war with Teo Handed Sword cleaving through his enemies. The art for him has always been top notch and evocative. Makes absolutely no excuses for who and what he is, does and represents.

What’s not to like about him as a God.

The issue is...I can't tell you what to DISLIKE either. He is a rather...generic-ass deity.

Thankfully, I won't have to scratch my head for reasons to remember him anymore. Gorum's the one who bites it, and the entire Prismatic Ray is safe...

...and really throws the "no no no, deicide is always a bad idea!" theme of the prophecies into sharp relief.

"I'm gonna kill War! This is the best idea ever!"

[Ducking god-slaying weapons] "THAT WAS THE WORST IDEA EVER!"

Arcaian wrote:

Calliope5431 wrote:

Ridge wrote:

Well I called this one wrong.

Poor Sarenrae, don't folks realize you can't make a safer omelet without utterly obliterating the fetid yolk of evil that was in the center of the world egg?

err or something like that.

But Rovagug is on the Safe list now, and instead of speculating on his death, dozens of fan fiction writers will instead debate whether or not the Dead Vault allows Conjugal visits and from whom! :)

I admit I was surprised that Sarenrae believes that "Imprisonment is not enough. Rovagug must die." given her status as goddess of redemption rather than, er, capital punishment.

Also given the LAST time she decided to personally punish things related to Rovagug rather than try a softer approach. Pit of Gormuz and all that.

Not that I think Rovagug actually could have been redeemed, it's just surprising given Sarenrae's history with the Beast. Good thing for all concerned it turned out a little better than last time...

I don't think it's particularly surprising, personally - she has an anathema of "fail to strike down evil", and has always been a deity focused on the possibility of redemption for those who are repentant and seek it, and the use of her scimitar and fire against those who reject the possibility of doing better and continue to harm innocents. Rovagug seems to fit the second category well - if she had the option to permanently kill Rovagug without risking the lives of those fighting him or on Golarion, I feel she happily would.

I suppose that's fair. It was just interesting because one of her primary motivations for being focused on redemption was the fallout from blowing up Gormuz. So I'd have expected a little more care.

I continue to feel the author of these prophecies is also warning the gods to caretake their domains and not succumb to pettiness. So it's a "hey sun lady? You hate the big evil bug, and I get it, but it's best to remember why you looked at Gormuz and declared 'never again', 'kay?"

Huh. So, was honestly expecting Rovagug to bite it, but thinking on it...not surprised. He's the Ultimate Evil. You don't beat that easily without wondering "oh BLEEP, maybe it wasn't worth it".

Still, yeah, I'm wondering if this is an indication it's Abadar after all - because as Yivali notes, the big theme is change. Abadar falling is going to be an Alea Iacta Est moment; as shown here, killing Rovagug didn't stop the concept of disaster at all.

(Also, yeah, Shelyn deserves to live.)

I hate to say this but I can't help but be afraid that it really is Shelyn who's going to die. I don't want her to, she's my personal favorite, but with the Prismatic Ray set to change somehow, according to an early tease, and that I doubt they're going to kill the goddess one of the iconics worships I can't help but fear that Shelyn is going to die.

Now I could be wrong, I desperately hope that I'm wrong. The one hint is open to interpretation, and maybe they feel like the extra shock value by getting rid of an iconic too, or something.

Honestly, I think a future adventure path kind of tipped their hand:

Shelyn dying will result in a loss of creative spirit across the board.

Curtain Call is all about producing an opera.

One of these things does not sound like something that can easily be done in light of the other.

Leliel the 12th wrote:

All I want to know is...

Will the BBEG take such a long!!!!! time!!!!! ... to!!!!! ... argh ... argh ... argh ... die?

(If there isn't at least three Discworld references per book in this particular AP, I will consider it a failed experiment.)

I'm not a fan of Discwolrd, so any references from that in here will be accidental or sneaky references from authors that I didn't catch on account of me being Discworld-ignorant.

...Ah. I'll magnanimously consider that a draw, and grade it on its own merits.

...wait.

A Norgorberite assassin...

Spreading mayhem at an opera...

With a troubled production...

...with supernatural abilities.

Calling it now, it's the dreamborn theater critic.

(Idea of a cookie to anyone who gets it.)

All I want to know is...

Will the BBEG take such a long!!!!! time!!!!! ... to!!!!! ... argh ... argh ... argh ... die?

(If there isn't at least three Discworld references per book in this particular AP, I will consider it a failed experiment.)

Huh. We've actually had two different stories that included "and art and love suffered terrible, because Shelyn was Very Sad".

I mean, I'm still not particularly inclined to believe that it's going to be Shelyn, but it is something I find myself noticing.

This increasingly looks like something that's just who she is, and art becoming hackneyed and/or angsty is a symptom of her being in a dour mod.

"Lamashtu take me, Shelyn's having a bad year again. Hold on to your butts, fellow critics, we're about to face some pretension for a bit."

Torag, Gorum or Gorzeth, Shelyn is someone kept close to the wire given how Desna was marked safe.

As Yivali pointed out, a big theme in the Prophecies is mortality; she doesn't think it's about divine fears, so I don't think the sakhils are involved, as cool as that would be, but I am wondering if it is about change. A reminder that the world isn't fixed and something drastic and apocalyptic can happen, especially if they play on the internal flaws of how deities act with their own portfolios that make them unworthy of their role; Desna growing slack and incurious, Pharasma losing faith in her judgement, Asmodeus failing to realize that not all dangers are a product of scheming and forgetting to clean his wound.

My thought is that the Godsrain will happen because the dead deity betrayed their nature in some way, and that rendered them vulnerable.

(Which is why I've come around on Rovagug, because each of his spawn are an act of creation by the Destroyer, and that'd get rid of the Tarrasque as an OGL remnant.)

The Raven Black wrote:

Irori still stays the most boring Core 20 IMO.

Cayden's miracle was not reiterated.

I think this really iterates the basic problem with Irori: He's so self-absorbed because of his obsession with personal perfection that he doesn't give a whole lot of hooks for RP. His main character hook is being "perfect," and it's imperfections that make a character interesting.

Cayden is interesting because his status as the "Accidental God" or the "Drunken Hero" implies some weakness in with his godly power, and his death story reiterates that it's not the power that made him worth emulating, but his personal qualities like humor and compassion.

The other ascended gods have obvious hooks - Nethys being obsessed with knowledge blinds him to the physical; Norgorber's many faces mean that nobody will ever REALLY know him; Iomedae's righteousness means she's at least partially blind to the ways of those who fight dirty. But Irori? His main character hooks are "I have reached physical and mental perfection" and "I think that any other way of attaining godhood is a cheat so I look down on scrubs like Cayden, Norgorber, and Iomedae."

To me, Irori is kind of the Gary Stu of the gods and this story doesn't really move the needle but instead just illustrates his basic flaw in the story 'verse.

Because arrogance, callousness, selfish ambition, and distance aren't flaws, apparently.

Seriously? This showed a flaw in the story and not in Irori? The temptation to decide the world does not matter to your enlightenment and to become something alien, cosmic, and fearful out of lack of concern and sheer bullheaded arrogance? If anything, this actually showed why in pre-Remaster, he had Lawful Evil worshipers; enlightenment is a morally neutral concept. I don't disagree he's too introspective for his own good as a figure, but really, this does show Irori can be interesting if he wants to be.

He's a xianxia protagonist. Anyone who is familiar with xianxia can tell you this makes him terrifying when he wants to be.

keftiu wrote:

Irori's pursuit of perfection leads him past the edges of creation, to try and master things best left forgotten... I appreciate the nods to his ego, less impartial than his monks would all hope for.

This prophecy was great! It makes me fear for Shelyn terribly.

His ego shall be the last thing to slip into the shining darkness of the void he has become; then all things will be a perfect oneness, forever.

All that is left is a very confused immigrant from Exalted, as the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible was sure that was his job and is busy trying to figure out how his schedule interfaces with Dark Irori's.

I can just imagine Irori reading this, and then furiously writing down new koans.

Because this was inspired, and it's definitely something he and his faith would promptly look at each other, nod, and get ready to debate over. (First on the list: Why is this a bad thing, though we accept it starts with 'kinda dickish to everyone else'?)

For stirges, you could go older and make them vampiric owls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology)

Could do what Delicious in Dungeon does with Mimics, and make them hermit crabs that hide in actual treasure chests and other valuable-looking containers rather than oozes (and appropriately slimy if still algothullu creations), and in place of cloakers, one could have an ecology of beings similar to Lurking Rays; they are simply the largest mobile form of entities that like to imitate architectural dungeon features.

To head off a possible technical tangent, I don't feel like poisoning food in and of itself is deceptive--its the act of presenting poisoned food as if it were not poisoned that is deceptive. Now, poisoning food and just leaving it around for somebody to eat might make a prospective paladin fall anyway if they're being especially negligent about who could be harmed by their action, but that's a third story

I can't help but see this as presenting a plate of fugu, with a helpful note stating "one of these is tainted! But surely, a great villain like you wouldn't be scared of misjudgement. :D"

(And then every fugu is poisoned, as "one of these" is of a set that includes "all of these", and the note was open about it being poisoned; that someone was dumb enough to eat the poisoned plate knowingly is on them, not the Glorious Solar Chef.)

First: Ha! I was right! The Godsrain Prophecies are fables, or at least, warnings! At least, our narrator thinks so, which makes sense.

Second, yeah, I'm pretty sure the Prismatic Ray are safe; this pretty much showed the end of one is going to leave the others in need of some major help in the key of "might end the world."

Iomedae: *sweating nervously*

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

This one made me feel real sad. It's an interesting take on the classic redemption arc, and honestly it's something people should take into account when writing them: A redemption arc doesn't absolve a character of the things they did before they decided to change, and that's REALLY rough to deal with. Redemption and forgiveness are two very different things.

TBH I definitely did not read it as the redemption of either Zon-Kuthon or Dou Bral.

So Shelyn did go to the dark side and mortals suffered for it and she came back empty-handed.

We sure do have a lot of selfish/short-sighted deities in these stories.

Feels like all of them got a severe case of Arodenitis. A divine illness that turns a deity into the worst self-centered short-sighted jerk possible with terrible consequences for their worshippers.

Honestly, like I've said, the Godsrain Prophecies come off as equal parts blistering satire and moral fable about the ways gods fall. So if this is a warning of "Don't be Aroden", it's hardly a stretch to invoke a pandemic of Arodenitis.

Okay, that's a brilliant spin, because Shelyn does it, only to discover she can't just undo millennia of self-inflicted suffering - Dou-Bral is still the god of despair, just of a different kind than Zon-Kuthon.

This comes off as the writer going up to her and shouting in her face to stop living in the past - let go, and begin again.

Though Arzani is likely most pleased to have someone join the Divine PTSD club to trauma dump at each other.

Littimer wrote:

Do undead tend to have a baseline weakness to Holy in addition to their Unholy trait, or is that reserved for uncommon concentrations of unholiness?

No holy weakness on any undead I saw. Even some fiends don't have the weakness-- see Qlippoth comments above. It seems like you basically have to be at war with celestials to get the weakness.

Hey, you got Exalted in my Pathfinder!

(Joking, of course, but that's surprisingly similar to how the Unconquered Sun declares beings he feels - usually correctly - are bad for Creation as a whole to be Creatures of Darkness, and so makes them vulnerable to Holy sunfire energy. It's an interesting bit of nuance.)

Ha! Called it - Nethys doesn't do much, but he's way too unique and interesting a deity, plus his split nature actually makes more sense with Holy and Unholy - he is both selfless and selfish, giving and taking, and so he is also neither, understanding the two sides without being of them.

Again, it comes off like a fable about him being unable to be his nature, and it destroys him - he tries to prove that the Essences can be dual and stronger for it like himself, and he ends up not only proving otherwise, he actually ends up negating all four with each other. My theory only grows.

Which makes me think the actual death is going to be someone who willingly does so to face their own fears...likely Iomedae, in that case.

EDIT: And of course, given who Nethys is, he's going to read this and promptly start experimenting with essence negation to see if he can control it.

Karhaz wrote:

is there a "Deadpool" some where? place the bets? I do love the shock value of it, the stories are fantastic, cant wait to see more. I have my ideas on who will go..

{. . .}

Now I want to see this movie Deadpool Goes to Golarion . . . .

That sound you heard was Abadar screaming as he woke up in a cold sweat.

Squiggit wrote:

The Raven Black wrote:

The death of the hunter at the claws of a primeval beast that then becomes a pure hunter of deities. And how both mortals and deities struggle to adapt.

My only real gripe is that instead of being a prophecy about the death of Erastil it's more like the prophecy of a monster that happens to kill Erastil along with a bunch of other deities.

It's supposed to be his story but you could take him out of it and wouldn't have to even change much. The story is very interesting but I feel like it doesn't do quite enough with the brief for me.

It is more the story of his legacy IMO. But I think Old Deadeye would approve.

And that's kind of why I'm going back to the "this is a series of stories about what the gods fear or being unable to be their natures" theory; Erastil, the ultimate hunter and community protector, is overcome by a predator that goes on to slaughter a significant portion of his community, the other gods. Quite simply, in this story, he failed his nature and task, and in Golarion's actual continuity, it's a warning for him to not get overconfident.

And now I'm back to the theory that says the general theme of the Godsrain is that the "dead" gods are overcome by what they most fear.

In the case of Urgathoa, it's someone she incidentally helped hurt coming back to haunt her, and her death stopping the party forever.

Which is leading me to believe the writer might be deeply linked to Zon-Kuthon and is teaching the gods to embrace the supposed negative emotion of fear to learn from it, or a calculated taunt ("See? You've got your own angsts too").

Aesthetically the sketch reminds me of D&D Blue Dragons a bit, but the vibes are nice.

"horned dragon" feels unevocative though, is that the final name? Feels kinda... vague.

"I SAW A HORNED DRAGON ON THE MOUNTAINTOPS"
"John, all dragons have horns."
"NO IT WAS A HORNED DRAGON, NOT A DRAGON WITH HORNS!"
"What's the difference?"

Given what they are an updated version of?

"BECAUSE...[shapeshift] We are quite proud of them, and that is what we wish to be called due to it. Now, I heard you have a lovely library I wish to relocate for safekeeping."

She's listed in the LOWG Glossary as 'the NE God of the abused, dignity, and unwilling undeath'.

So her areas of concern are actually very different from her listed ones in PF1 after having been freed (though they match the description of her non-Gebbite worshipers). My interpretation is that she's probably 'dead' in the sense of not walking around Golarion any more, but she's definitely free and acting as a God.

...I think I just got my first Evil Character idea.

Behold, the patron demigoddess of "All right. Okay. I get it. I'm the bad guy."

A bit linked to the Inner Sea, but I wouldn't mind Fantasy Metal Gear set in the Mwangi Expanse after a group of Andoran Eagle Knights turn mercenary and flee to Bloodcove, supposedly to assist Cheliax in reclaiming its lost colony as counterinsurgency specialists but in reality raising tensions by playing Taldor, Cheliax, and Andoran against each other by controlling the flow of resources and careful hiring of mercenaries until the three powers erupt erupt into a massive war. Then they will step into and quell the chaos, from which they will forge a nation that lives up to the ideals Andoran hawks and is free from the growing corruption within it.

Of course, most to all of the Path takes place in the Expanse, as the rogue Knights are very much keeping their real plans quiet and manipulating things from afar. Each adventure ends with a boss fight against one of the rogue Knights. With lots of sneaking in the jungle.

First: I might be posting this in the wrong forum, since it's a pitch that relies on Bestiary fluff, and I'm not sure if it goes here or in Homebrew.

I'm getting into 2E, and I have an idea for an all-tiefling game-specifically Beastbrood, the rakshasa-blooded. Namely, that by RAW, it's impossible for a Beastbrood to be genetically descended from a rakshasa, the child of one of the animal-headed megalomaniacs is automatically a reincarnation of, and thus a full fledged rakshasa herself. So, I had the idea that Beastbroods are the reincarnations of rakshasas who have grown jaded and disillusioned with their own lifestyle and reincarnate back into the normal karmic wheel as tieflings who will move onto the Boneyard after they die, like any other mortal. The idea being that the players are a group of Beastbroods who recognize each other from past life memories as fellows who also got sick of the whole thing and then also that there's a conspiracy they once helped run afoot. Focuses partly on intrigue, partly on coming to terms with having been a real jerk for a really long time.

I'm wondering how I would represent that with Ancestries before the Advanced Player's Guide comes out, and more pertinently, how to represent the effects of their past lives on them. Obviously the primary antagonists are earthbound evils whose regrets are limited at most to what they had for breakfast, but I'm thinking some of them were actually friends and allies of the PCs previous selves, and naturally there's still a lot of bad blood from victims. I wonder how that would manifest, and if the PCs should define who their rakshasa selves were before starting the game.

First of all, I don't have the 2E book, so I don't know if it's explicitly forbidden. But given how there's an NG paladin (or more accurately, a paladin is the Lawful iteration of a Good class of holy knights in big armor), but I love off-beat characters, and given how Old Two-Face still has NG as an allowed alignment going by his Archives, I was wondering if he might have some decidedly more martial goody-two-shoes followers.

And if so, how they'd function in daily life going by how his personal tenets are "if magic, then use."

Jib916 wrote:

I dunno personally I think the escape of the Whispering Tyrant adds a whole bunch of terror and horror to the setting.

How so? He's a threat to nations rather than to the cosmos, and that only to nations in a tiny, backwards, unimportant corner of the world.

I'm sure the people in that tiny, backwards, unimportant corner of the world are perfectly fine with being dismissed as not worth saving from the crazy lich. Truly, the fact he'll only depopulate countries in his initial rampage makes his release less of a nightmare for anyone connected even tangentially to those nations.

Also, keep in mind he's the Whisperer in the Whispering Way - you know, the same organization who believes the end of all life is a good thing? Even if he's kept in check, a Tar-Baphon who isn't sealed away is an unliving nexus of information and organization. His freedom would cause the Way, a more-or-less global cult, would have another Golden Age and rampage across the planet, scarring it even worse than the first time he took Ustalav for a joyride. Hundreds of new liches to menace the world even if he is stopped. So no, he's kind of second only to Rovagug.

It's fair to say the Starstone is now even more of a centepiece given how it's become a great Drift lighthouse.

Of course, given how it's at the heart of a space station, I wonder; is it still possible to use it and become a god? And if so, is there still a gauntlet of security to get past before hitting the Divine Power Now Please Button?

And more importantly, does anyone remember?

Essentially, I want my first character or major friendly NPC to be an LG AbadarCorp merchant who's secretly rather radical on the whole "slavery is not good for business" thing. As in, financial backer of the AAF levels of radical, because he thinks the self-destruct of any society that depneds on slavery is really increasing levels of civilization in the universe, such is his contempt for the whole institution. Which is why he's Good, but it's still somewhat heretical to say anarchy in certain contexts is good, and he knows it.

So, I was wondering-what are some ways he could use his sway to make the life of slavers miserable and their enemies a manadtory vacation week?

Actually, before I move on-here's Destiny's accidental evil kasatha counterparts. Also off the top of my head, hopefully better balanced (because there's less to screw up-they're essentially smarter, meaner, and less healthy kasatha):

The Fallen/Eliksni

Eliksni are Medium humanoids of the Fallen subtype.

+4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: The Fallen are extremely nimble, taught by brutal experience how to plan and make repairs quickly, and even in their degraded state have a rich spiritual life and deep intuition. Their constant ether shortages take a toll on their health and their desperate, opportunistic personalities rub everyone (including themselves) the wrong way.

Ether Dependency: Without the Light of the Traveler, the eliksni have had to come up with a substitute to keep themselves alive. All Fallen biologically require a gaseous substance called "ether", produced by converting organic material through sentient drones called Servitors (though really, it's the eliksni who serve-the Servitors are regarded as living gods) or portable devices produced by the same. In game terms, this means a Fallen character must consume twice the normal amount of food per day (half being converted to ether), but do not need to breathe or suffer the ill-effects of vacumn, as the ether store serves as oxygen to them and provides a bare minimum of what the Traveler once did.

Four Arms: Like the kasatha they resemble and bitterly envy, eliksni have four functional arms. This trait is identical to the kasatha trait of the same name, though eliksni can regrow theirs (in fact, it's traditional to dock the arms until a young Dreg has proven himself as more than a waste of resources).

Clinging On: When one's existence revolves around the concept of stealing and surviving to the point of it being a religion, one tends to get good at it. Eliksni have a +2 racial bonus to Survival and Stealth checks.

Chasers of the Great Machine: Fallen literally worship technology, and while Splicers are the true engineers of their society, eliksni learn how to care for their gods and repurpose them as a matter of survival on their ramshackle scavenged ships, and many eliksni pick up a thing or two about driving their homes. Chose two of Computers, Engineering, Profession (Salvaging), or Profession (Spacer). These Skills receive a +2 racial bonus.

Not Your Air Ambiguity: The result of not having my corebook open to the disease chapter.

I forgot there needs to be penalties that aren't implied by the "physical" portion. The big thing is that normal air will kill them and even in an enviro-suit it takes time to recover.

Reckless Intelligence: This is all Destiny lore though. The Cabal are the only organic species that can decipher Vex technology (the Vex are, it should be noted, a hive-minded race of cyborgs so advanced with temporal physics that nobody's sure when they come from or how they screw over time paradoxes so hard their basic guns shoot them as ammo) and have designed weapons that can destroy planets as basic military operations. They are not stupid when it comes to the hard sciences and strategy, it's their complete lack of ability to admit when it's time to change their opinions or understand emotional states that's the problem (hell, a major plot development in Destiny 2, spoilers, relies on their self-destructive bloody-mindedness). That seems like a deficient Wisdom score to me, not Intelligence. Think of them as very large, very mean, very serious Tinker Gnomes.

The core idea with them was to write a race that's good at both technology and fighting, but can't use magic worth a damn (Maybe a Charisma penalty? Cabal characters we read about are aloof or often mean-spirited). Also, they're meant to be a monster race, like Contemplatives; not always playable and heavily limited in some ways (see toxic air).

Good advice though.

First of all-I have no idea what I'm doing, so expect imbalance.

Cabal 6 HP

The Cabal are Large humanoids with the Cabal subtype.

+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity: The Cabal is both highly intelligent and physically powerful, but they are almost completely incapable of introspection or changing their minds and their frames make them somewhat slower than smaller races (not helped by their need for enviro-suits).

Not Your Air: The Cabal's homeworld, and the ones they have terraformed, has air components most races would find toxic but is necessary for the Cabal to breathe easily. They must make a Fortitude save for every full hour of breathing oxygen without a filter or become sick, contracting a disease with physical symptoms that they may only save against in an environ with their natural air (which can be inside of an enviro-suit).

Strategic Masterminds: Cabal spend much of their time analyzing potential plans, contingencies, and stratagems for any battlefield situation. They have a +2 racial bonus to all Skill rolls made to construct or adjust a battle plan or analyze and exploit strengths and weaknesses in enemies they have encountered before or have had the opportunity to study (about a day's research on valid intelligence).

No Word for Retreat: It's not realistically true (the Cabal language does have words for "cut losses" and "losing more than we gain"), but that should tell you how bloody-minded and determined the Cabal are. They have a +2 racial bonus to resist fear.

Of course, this makes me wonder what kind of darklord would have Mist-space domains.

I can easily see a shirren who decided the Swarm had the right idea and tried to assimilate a planet or so into a hive mind (controlled by her, of course..).

64. The "gods" kept receiving complains that magic was too powerful, so they decided to change the rules by hiding golarion and all its power away, which in turn reduced magic in the universe so the weaklings who couldnt access it didnt feel so bad.

77. Nethys got fed up with his followers' constant power trips and left in a huff. The other gods agreed with prejudice, and got a bit overeager.

Atzlant Star Imperial: Covemen/Atavists (seeing as how the Pact is much less racist and younger than they are, this compares them to primitive and outdated tribal beliefs, mocking them and their home at the same time).

EDIT: The other slur I made up, I just remembered, is an actual slur against transgender individuals. Yeah. I am removing it until a mod gives the OK (suffice to say it's hard to play racism against lashunta without dipping into transphobia).