Now, I'll preface this with the disclaimer that most of the time, not all the time but most, I play using the default Pathfinder Campaign Setting with most of the differences being due to the actions my player's have taken, with a few changes of my own (i.e. Lissala is Lawful Neutral, not Evil) but still, sometimes you just want to run a campaign that wouldn't work in Golarion as written, and you don't feel like making sweeping changes to the setting to make room for one campaign.
Still, even after you've constructed a new world in which your party of half-dwarves, psionic fishpeople, and valiant hobgoblins can successfully crusade against the insane machinations of the Twice-dead armies of the Gnomish Confederacy, there is still room for some things from Golarion proper to fill out the rough edges. After all, in the immortal words of Pablo Picasso "good artists borrow, but great artists steal."
Since I started the thread, I'll answer my own question first. A while ago I was running a homebrew campaign where all the continents had been shattered in an ancient cataclysm, creating a planet consisting of rough seas and vast archipelagos. It worked well for the type of game I was planning (a very episodic, Star Trek-esque new culture and threat every week sort of thing) but I felt like it needed an overarching threat to make it so my players would feel like they were actually accomplishing something other than killing things and taking their stuff. While I was debating what might be a good choice for the task, seeing as it would have to be a monster that was moderately powerful, had a good connection flavorwise, and wasn't such an obvious choice that anyone would be able to figure it out before I had a chance to properly set it up (e.g. "Oh we're in *not*-Egypt? I'm sure the villain is totally not a mummy!") my eyes caught upon one of the modules on my shelf, and after that, the choice was obvious.
You see, I happened to see one of the best Pathfinder modules there is (at least in terms of setting), that is to say The Moonscar and if you're anything like me, all you need to here about it is the phrase "Jungle Moon Succubi" and you're hooked. If you're a DM and that combination of words doesn't leave you proverbially salivating at the very thought of such a thing ...that is in entirely fine as no two tables are going to be exactly the same, and everyone gets something different out of this game, but for me that was the coolest thing since sliced bread. The Campaign practically wrote itself, with the PC's fighting islands whose leaders were dominated or charmed by succubi, lead by tieflings or half-fiends descended from the aforementioned succubi, or who worshipped the succubi as dark goddesses. Even when my players did fight succubi or other demons, they had no inclination that they we were popping in from the Moon of all places until very late into campaign and even then only after hints being dropped since level one.
All in all, it was one of my most successful homebrew campaigns, and it all started due to me blatantly stealing from another campaign setting.
Now, after I've spent the last couple paragraphs of this post boring you with personal anecdotes, back to the question at hand. What things from Golarion have you mixed in to your home settings?
I've always just flagged them as being Double Posts, but it never seemed entirely right to me, seeing as if a moderator sees a thread that has been flagged as such with no actual double posts in it, they might just chalk it up to it be false alarm, and go on their merry way not knowing that there is a literally identical thread in the exact same forum. Should I be doing something different, of have I been right all along?
*To be clear, I don't mean multiple threads with the same focus, I mean that OP accidently pressed the submit post button one too many times when making a new thread
Alright, since we know that 7 of the gods of the current Core 20 (Abadar, Desna, Iomedae, Pharasma, Sarenrae, Urgathoa, & Zon-Kuthon) are members of the New Core 20 (which includes some gods that we already know about today, & some alien gods). So that begs the questions of What have the gods been up to in the last thousand or so year? And why are some of them less popular than they used to be? They said in the stream that MOST of the old gods are fine, just less worshipped, but that still leaves a chance for some of them to have died. So without further rambling, I shall give my predictions on "Where Are They Now: Deity Edition"
Abadar:
Still widely worshipped, his followers have formed a MegaCorp called AbadarCorp. Surprise, surprise, the god of civilization and capitalism is still going strong, who would thought?
Asmodeus:
Real major missing person (well, devil anyway). A big player like Asmodeus doesn't just drop out of people's minds unless they are thrown out. Here is my theory: One day Desna, Sarenrae, & Iomedae were having lunch when one of them mentioned that Asmodeus was a total tool. Iomedae agreed with this assessment asked why they tolerated him. When the others failed to come up with a satisfactory answer, Iomedae proposed that they take Asmodeus out. They found him on his throne, exhausted after a long day of shouting "JUST AS PLANNED!" every single time anything of any import happened and as such easily overpowered him, with Iomedae and Sarenrae taking turns slashing him with longsword and scimitar respectively, while Desna kind of stood around cursing the fact that she didn't choose a more useful favored weapon. After they finished, the rest of hell got into a civil war over who would get to be the new top devil, so Iomedae, Sarenrae, and Desna, satisfied with a good day's work, went to go hangout with Shelyn, but found out she was otherwise engaged.
Calistria:
Elven deity, so since elves are no longer core, it makes sense that she is no longer core. Alternatively, see my entry for Shelyn.
Cayden Caliden:
Hardly a major god, so no great surprise he isn't more popular in space. Probably went on a bender, and by the time he got back home the gap happened, so most of his followers had already forgot about him, so he has had to start his church again from scratch.
Desna:
Space butterfly is still popular in space. What a shock. Maybe she finally killed Lamastu and got back the domain of animals, but I doubt it.
Erastil:
Not much to hunt in space, and increased tech means increased urbanization. No surprise that he fell to the wayside.
Gorum:
War is always relevant, so I am surprised he didn't stick around. Most likely option? Probably wasn't enough fighting for his tastes, so he left for somewhere that there was. Will come back when this section of the galaxy becomes interesting again.
Gozreh:
God of nature. Empty vacuum. Not a good mix. Enough said.
Iomedae:
As said in Heaven Unleashed Heaven has become more Iomedae's realm over the years. After killing Asmodeus they let her sit on the fancy throne in the Garden, and she is now Commander-in-Chief of Heaven's armies. Let evil beware!
Irori:
Had a conniption fit when the gap happened, and has been sulking for the last couple hundred years. The fact that there are barely any monks around anymore has only worsened his mood, so he ran off to find a new civilization to influence.
Lamashtu:
Another big missing one. My theory is Pazuzu, in his never ending quest to kill his ex-girlfriend, actually found something that worked/ became a god himself, and the ensuing fight resulting in a mutual kill. The other lords of the Abyss should probably be concerned that they lost two such powerful members of their alignment, but they don't because it means more power to them.
Nethys:
In a fit of "FOR MAGIC!", Nethys accidently created the Gap. When he came to and realised all the spellcasters that remained were 6th level spontaneous ones, he left the system in disgust.
Norgorber:
Became so sneaky that everyone forgot him, leaving him with little power on the material plane.
Pharasma:
Exactly the same as always. Nothing save the end of the universe phases Pharasma.
Rovagug:
What happened to Rovagug is tied so closely to what happened to Golarion it isn't worth asking as we shall never get an answer. Probably still locked inside Golarion, wherever that is.
Sarenrae:
A bit more busy because she has to represent more suns, but otherwise the same.
Shelyn:
Ah, The billion credit question. What happened to Shelyn? She isn't the sort of goddess people just stop worshipping, and people are unlikely to just forget best girl. My theory? Calistria, realizing that everyone liked Shelyn far better than her, went into a jealous rage and attacked Shelyn. Their fight hasn't been going on long by deities standards, but has still been going on since before the Gap, and as they are in mortal combat currently, neither can spare much notice to the affairs of the material plane, causing both of their churches to suffer without their guidance.
Torag:
Super dwarven deity in an area where there isn't many dwarves? I just can't tell why he is no longer as popular.
Urgathoa:
In space, no one can hear your legion of undead continue to party hard.
Zon-Kuthon:
Seeing as his sister is busy, and space is extremely dark, cold and lonely, ol' ZK has been seeing a bit of a golden age for his faith. Still extremely bonkers.
What do you think the developments of the deities has been like for the last thousand years? Do you think that you know who any of the other members of the new Core 20 are going to be? Leave your ideas in the comments below.
AND THUS THE BLESSED PROPHET, CHRIS LAMBERTZ, SPOKE TO THE ADHERENTS OF PAIZO, AND THE EFFECTS OF HER WORDS WERE FELT THROUGH MANY LANDS, FOR AS IT HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE AND SHALL BE SAID AGAIN, "THE HYPE TRAIN HAS NO BRAKES".
So we know the what the base classes are going to be (Technomancer, Mechanic, Solarion, Soldier, Envoy, Mystic, & Operative), & many of the base races (Lashunta, Humans, Ratfolk, Androids, Kasatha, and 2 unknown) so logic dictates that there will probably a 1:1 for race to class purposes, so let us guess what the remaining Iconics shall be!
Mystic- Probably going to Be female Lashunta for... Seoni reasons
Envoy- Already accounted for; Navasi, Female "human" (obviously actually a Changeling; look at the heterochromia)
Soldier: Probably Kasatha(so many attacks per round), other possibilities include ratfolk(for ironic/GotG reasons) or male human if I am wrong and it turns out not to have a only one of each race limit (think Valeros, and other white male iconic fighters DnD has had over the years)
Solarion: I am probably going to say that this is one of the unannounced races, considering that Solarions are looking pretty gonzo to me, so having it be a weird race fits. Failing that I could see it being a male Lashunta(if they want me to weep great salty tears) or Kasatha (seeing as they are a bit out there themselves.)
Mechanic: I would think it would be a ratfolk, kind of a Rocket Racoon sort of deal, but if, like I said for the Soldier, it isn't a limit of one iconic per race I could see it being an android (for obvious reasons) or an unknown race that fits this niche better.
Technomancer: Last, and certainly not least, I would say that their is still a good chance for this being a female Lashunta (again, for Senoi reasons) but it still could be an unrevealed race in the way the Borg (RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED).
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think that there will be a one iconic per race limit? That most of them shall be human? That it will solely be pin up shots of scantily clad female lashunta? Post your thoughts in the comments below.
