Ylem's page

I think we've all voided our warranty! :D

I feel much more confident now about the changes I'm making. Every GM's Golarion is an alternate reality, after all.

I originally started a homebrew world but realized I just didn't have the time to flesh it out properly, so I took the small kingdom I created (called Karnovia) and placed in Ustalav (replacing the county of Caliphas), which fit almost perfectly, both in size and theme. So from day one my Golarion was a little different.

I'm interested in hearing about your modifications, whether big or small. What are they, and what have been the payoffs or downfalls of those changes? For example, I've been changing a lot of names, of countries and NPCs, to better reflect my tastes. Maybe others have changed whole countries or added islands, added or eliminated races, etc. Let's hear it!

There is a huge article on Aroden written by me in Pathfinder #100 that covers pretty much all of this.

OMG! Thank you for the preview, Erik! This was exactly what I was looking for. I can't wait to read your full article!! :)

Aroden ascended to divinity but then stuck around as a very active physical god for a long time, which is one of the reasons that humans are the most influential species of the modern era.

Right, and I guess that's where I'm confused. When did he stop being an active physical presence on Golarion?

The passage of time doesn't necessarily guarantee technological progress. Look at the technological disparity between the Europeans and the Native Americans when the two cultures met.

In other fictional worlds, such as Middle-earth and Westeros, technology seems to have stalled at the medieval era for thousands of years. No one minds.

And it may be that our technological leaps are the anomaly, perhaps due to outliers like Newton and Einstein.

Okay, upon further reading I see that Aroden appeared on Golarion several times after his ascension. I'm curious to know the origin of the Starfell Doctrine, though; when it was written/uttered, and by whom.

Some guidelines from our world:

“Until the late 20th century U.S. age of consent laws specifically names males as perpetrators and females as victims. Following English law, in which the age was set at 12 in 1275 and lowered to 10 in 1576, ages of consent in the American colonies were generally set at 10 or 12. The laws protected female virginity, which at the time was considered a valuable commodity until marriage. The theft of a girl’s chastity was seen as a property crime against her father and future husband. If two people were married and had sex, no matter what their age, no crime was committed because a woman was her husband’s property. In practice, too, the consent laws only protected white females, as many non-white females were enslaved or otherwise discriminated against by the legal system.” --Sex and Society, Volume 1 page 54.

Based on this, it would not be unusual for your blacksmith to have a 13-yo wife.

Side note: Juliet was 13 but Romeo's age was only described as "young."

I've heard it said that he ascended (to Heaven or wherever) after the creation of Absalom. Is that correct? But he was around to kill Tar-Baphon in 896 AR. and when did the Starfall Doctrine come into place?