Is there any more info anywhere on the Deities of Golarion, other then the very little in the players guide and the great read on Desna in Skinsaw?
There's more on Lamashtu coming in the next issue of Pathfinder. They're pretty much planning on doing two deity write-ups for each 6-issue adventure path, it seems. They've got Abadar in Curse of the Crimson Throne and Cayden Cailean in The Second Darkness APs. I assume another couple of evil deities will get their write-up in each of those, too. Sean K. Reynolds has been penning those articles...much like the ones he did in Dragon magazine for other deities from Greyhawk, etc. And, as you can tell by the Desna write-up, he's quite creative in rounding out each deity with useful stuff for your game.
My two-cents,
--Neil
Is all that deity information going to be reprinted in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting Hardcover?
CEO
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Is there any more info anywhere on the Deities of Golarion, other then the very little in the players guide and the great read on Desna in Skinsaw?
There will also be some more info in the Pathfinder Gazetteer coming out in March, though the big write-ups will be happening in the pages of Pathfinder.
-Lisa
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Sean K. Reynolds has been penning those articles...much like the ones he did in Dragon magazine for other deities from Greyhawk, etc. And, as you can tell by the Desna write-up, he's quite creative in rounding out each deity with useful stuff for your game.
My two-cents,
--Neil
If Sean K. Reynolds is going to do the others, I will do my happy dance. ... You know that mechanical dancing santa you see in department stores? He stole that happy dance from me.
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Creative Director
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If Sean K. Reynolds is going to do the others, I will do my happy dance. ... You know that mechanical dancing santa you see in department stores? He stole that happy dance from me.Sean K. Reynolds has been penning those articles...much like the ones he did in Dragon magazine for other deities from Greyhawk, etc. And, as you can tell by the Desna write-up, he's quite creative in rounding out each deity with useful stuff for your game.
My two-cents,
--Neil
I sure hope so! I certainly want to pay him to write all of the other deities! :)
Any little tidbits anywhere?... That gives me a better idea?... Hard for a Cleric to pick a God when he knows nothing about them..
Spoiler:Edit: I only been able to Find 6 Symbols Abadar, Desna, Erastil, Gozreh, Sarenrae, Shelyn are there anymore anywhere?
There are descriptions of all the symbols here if that helps.
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Creative Director
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The upcoming Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer will have an entire chapter about the deities, and then later in the year the hardcover Pathfinder Campaign Setting will have a lot more. Until then, though, the best place to get tidbits is to search these boards; we've actually answered a lot of questions about various deities here. If there's one deity in particular you'd like to know more about, go ahead and post and I'll get to it as soon as I notice it (which hopefully won't take TOO long...).
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The upcoming Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer will have an entire chapter about the deities, and then later in the year the hardcover Pathfinder Campaign Setting will have a lot more. Until then, though, the best place to get tidbits is to search these boards; we've actually answered a lot of questions about various deities here. If there's one deity in particular you'd like to know more about, go ahead and post and I'll get to it as soon as I notice it (which hopefully won't take TOO long...).
Is the missing deity of sloth dead, really minor like that bloodsucker sidebar in the Desna article, some demon lord, or what?
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Creative Director
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Is the missing deity of sloth dead, really minor like that bloodsucker sidebar in the Desna article, some demon lord, or what?
There is a deity with the sloth portfolio... but he/she/it is very minor. Of all the sins, that's the one that has the most trouble going out and organizing.
In any event, said deity is not yet revealed. It's not Ghlaunder, the god of parasites, though.
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I'm interested in your notes on Nethys.
Alas, Nethys is one of the few deities that we haven't really done much at all with, and he's not one from my campaign world (which has three different gods of magic).
BUT!
I can say that Nethys does view magical research and item creation as important and worthy of pursuit for his faithful. He's also more schizo about his Destruction and Protection aspects, although most of his priests choose one and ignore the other. His faith is somewhat split among different callings, I suspect, but there's not much actual conflict among these faiths.
His church would certainly buy skinsaw masks for "recycling" but also wouldn't punish someone for destroying them. They are, after all, tied to another faith; just being a magic item doesn't mean it's sacred to the god of magic. I suspect he rather enjoys "sacrifices" of magic items.
When can you tell us more about Pharasma? You'd indicated in the past that the goddess does spring from your original campaign world...and that you had a lot of backstory on her.
I also remember you saying something about the clergy of Pharasma having a strong presence in Korvosa, which would make that faith particularly interesting to those wanting to play clerics in Curse of the Crimson Throne.
So, toss us some more info on Pharasma when you can...
Thanks,
--Neil
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When can you tell us more about Pharasma? You'd indicated in the past that the goddess does spring from your original campaign world...and that you had a lot of backstory on her.
I also remember you saying something about the clergy of Pharasma having a strong presence in Korvosa, which would make that faith particularly interesting to those wanting to play clerics in Curse of the Crimson Throne.
So, toss us some more info on Pharasma when you can...
Thanks,
--Neil
Pharasma does have a cathedral in Korvosa, so there'll be a little bit more coming out about her during Curse of the Crimson Throne.
She's also the goddess who judges all of the dead souls. If you die, your soul goes to Pharasma's Boneyard in the outer planes, which sits atop an impossibly tall spire that pierces the Astral Plane from the Outer Planes. Atop the spire is an immense graveyard, at the center of which is Pharasma's palace, where she sits on her throne and judges each of the dead souls that pass before her; there's an endless line of them winding out of her throne room through the surrounding graveyard. In many ways, the Boneyard is like purgatory; a place for you to come to terms with your death (or in some cases attempt to escape). When a soul is judged, it gets sent on to heaven or hell or wherever it's supposed to go. Those who worship Pharasma and do so well get to join her staff in her palace in death. Those who worship her poorly or for whatever reason mess something up (such as some, but not all heretics and blasphemers) get buried in the Boneyard itself. Which is not a pleasant fate. Agnostics and athiests do NOT get buried here, but I'm not really sure what happens to them in Golarion. They might not end up going to the Boneyard at all, but in my homebrew world the agnostic is judged by Pharasma against his own nature; if he wasn't true to his own nature he goes in the graveyard, but if he was, his spirit gets reincarnated into the Material Plane. Athiests don't go to the Boneyard at all; they just become free-roaming spirits who either transcend death into new forms of existence after wandering for a LONG time, or they get corrupted and captured and turned into larvae by demon lords and archdevils if they were jerks in life. AND: Overlooking all of Pharasma's Boneyard is another, lesser god. This is Groetus, the god of the End Times, a sentient and cruel moonlet that looks down upon the Boneyard and waits for the last living soul to die. When Pharasma judges the last soul after the last living body dies on the Material Plane, Groetus descends to the Boneyard to DO SOMETHING to it and Pharasma before he moves on to the Material Plane to "clean up" and pack the dust away for another reality. No one really knows WHAT Groetus is going to do once the last soul is judged, but it's generally accepted that it's not going to be a happy time.
Of course, Pharasma's also the goddess of birth and prophecy and fate. What I posted above is mostly just concerned with her role as the goddess of death.
I'm pretty sure that Pharasma can exist in multiple places at the same time...
Hello James!
Thanks for being accessible for these types of questions!
I was wondering if you had any more info on Gorum? We have a character in our group playing a rather scary, controlling undead type of cleric. I'd like to be able to give her some ideas about what her religion/church is really like.
Thanks a bunch!
JTStorm
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Hello James!
Thanks for being accessible for these types of questions!
I was wondering if you had any more info on Gorum? We have a character in our group playing a rather scary, controlling undead type of cleric. I'd like to be able to give her some ideas about what her religion/church is really like.
Thanks a bunch!
JTStorm
Gorum's basic story is, "What if Crom [Conan's god of choice] found a suit of full plate?"
Gorum is a heavily armored berserker type warmonger. He's called the Lord in Iron, not just because he himself wears iron armor, but because he is present in every sword and axe and mace and other iron weapon used by his faithful. When they speak of the Lord in Iron... it's often unclear if they're referring to Gorum or their weapons.
Somewhere in Golarion is a small island in a chain of volcanic islands; on this island is the Theocracy of the Fist, a pretty hard-core group of Gorum worshipers.
He's worshiped by mercenaries and barbarians all across the world, though. Whereas Torag is the god of the tactical side of war, and Sarenrae's the goddess of the necessity of war as a last resort, Gorum is the god of the excitement and adrenaline and flat-out brutality of war.
Gorum doesn't really throw in with undead all that much, but neither does he particularly crusade against them. I could certainly see a warlord who raises an army of undead being a Gorum worshiper, although this is more in Urgathoa's realm.
..<snipped lots of good Gorum Info>...
Thanks James!
Now my wife (the player playing the cleric) is even MORE excited about this character!
Gorum doesn't really throw in with undead all that much, but neither does he particularly crusade against them. I could certainly see a warlord who raises an army of undead being a Gorum worshiper, although this is more in Urgathoa's realm.
Perhaps a character who enjoys reanimating the foes she's personally defeated in combat, so as to have an entourage which speaks to her personal power and skill.
Pharasma...<snip>...
Very interesting stuff. I have a follow-up question, though.
Of course, Pharasma's also the goddess of birth and prophecy and fate. What I posted above is mostly just concerned with her role as the goddess of death...
I've been primarily interested in Pharasma's "fate" aspect. Does her doctrine teach that life is what we make of it...or that it's all pre-determined? What ability do her followers have for requesting intervention from her?
I'm pretty sure that Pharasma can exist in multiple places at the same time.
Is she a multi-personality deity? Like the way Fate has been represented in the past as three separate women (one young, one middle-aged, one old)? Or is it just that she's omni-present as a single entity?
When you first introduced Pharasma, one of the imaginings I had of her was something along the lines of Fate from the Incarnations of Immortality series of novels by Piers Anthony. Essentially, that being represented three women sharing one body. Clotho, the youngest, would spin the threads of each person's life from the substance of the Void. Lachesis, the middle-aged aspect, would measure the threads and determine the length of each person's life. And Atropos, the oldest, would cut the threads when it was time for each person to die. Each of them took over the body they inhabited when it was their time to act.
I always enjoyed this series, because everyday people were "promoted" or "drafted" or "invited" to become these god-like Incarnations of Immortality. And, in the case of Fate, there were three people embodying her at the same time. The main character of With A Tangled Skein (the third book in the series) started out as Clotho, the youngest aspect of Fate. Then she retired for awhile and went back to being a mortal. And later, due to certain circumstances in the plot, she returned to her duties as Fate, but came back as the middle-aged Lachesis instead.
I always thought that kind of arrangement would make for a really interesting deity of fate, prophecy, life and death in a campaign world. And depending on how you present Pharasma in Golarion, I may go with an interpretation along those lines for my own games. Still, I'm also interested in any unique twists you give her for those parts of her portfolio beyond Death. Anything more you can share in the days ahead...or throughout Curse of the Crimson Throne...would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
--Neil
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One thing to keep in mind about Golarion is that Prophecy is "broken." The death of Aroden, the first of the ascended gods, 100 years ago, pretty much caught everyone off guard. His death wasn't prophesied, and once he died, most of the other prophecies in the world started to go bad as well. Many of Pharasma's priests have lost their faith and/or gone mad as a result, but those who stuck it out are finding that Pharasma's hold over prophecy is becoming less important while her domain over death and birth and fate are growing stronger. It's a time of change for Pharasma and her faith.
Of course, Pharasma herself knew this was coming all along. She has a plan. (She's not a cylon, though.)
JJ,
Any extra information regarding Abadar?
Thank you.
The upcoming Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer will have an entire chapter about the deities, and then later in the year the hardcover Pathfinder Campaign Setting will have a lot more. Until then, though, the best place to get tidbits is to search these boards; we've actually answered a lot of questions about various deities here. If there's one deity in particular you'd like to know more about, go ahead and post and I'll get to it as soon as I notice it (which hopefully won't take TOO long...).
I missed this..
I beg for Iomedae data all the time, because I have a cleric of the Inheritor in my group. I've gleaned some basics, like she is ascended and on the coattails of Aroden... but anything beyond that would be great,
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JJ,
Any extra information regarding Abadar?
Thank you.
We just got in Sean's article about Abadar for Pathfinder 8 a few days ago. I haven't had a chance to look over it yet, but rest assured, Abadar will have a LOT of stuff going on in Curse of the Crimson Throne. Particularly in Pathfinder 8. Anyway, as a result, I don't wanna say too much about him until I get to see what Sean's come up with.
No problemo, I understand. Looking forward to it!
Thanks.
We just got in Sean's article about Abadar for Pathfinder 8 a few days ago. I haven't had a chance to look over it yet, but rest assured, Abadar will have a LOT of stuff going on in Curse of the Crimson Throne. Particularly in Pathfinder 8. Anyway, as a result, I don't wanna say too much about him until I get to see what Sean's come up with.JJ,
Any extra information regarding Abadar?
Thank you.
How about Shelyn? :)
E
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Creative Director
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How about Shelyn? :)
E
Shelyn's Mike McArtor's girl. He posted quite a bit about her elsewhere on these boards... I'll see if I can find that post.
EDIT: Found it! It's a little down the page HERE.
Also... anything I or Mike or anyone posts here about our deities before the information's set in stone in print is subject to change...
Mighty McArtor!
Could you do for me, what you did with Sheyln for NSpicer? Only with Iomedae ("All Day"), who I think is also one of your girls? (and thanks to Doc J, because I missed that Sheyln post)
Did I mention that you go under praised around here Mike?
Thanks James! I'm not sure how I missed that one, but I'm glad you pointed it out. Plenty of info.
Cheers!
How about Shelyn? :)
E
Shelyn's Mike McArtor's girl. He posted quite a bit about her elsewhere on these boards... I'll see if I can find that post.
EDIT: Found it! It's a little down the page HERE.
Also... anything I or Mike or anyone posts here about our deities before the information's set in stone in print is subject to change...
One thing to keep in mind about Golarion is that Prophecy is "broken." The death of Aroden, the first of the ascended gods, 100 years ago, pretty much caught everyone off guard. His death wasn't prophesied, and once he died, most of the other prophecies in the world started to go bad as well. Many of Pharasma's priests have lost their faith and/or gone mad as a result, but those who stuck it out are finding that Pharasma's hold over prophecy is becoming less important while her domain over death and birth and fate are growing stronger. It's a time of change for Pharasma and her faith.
Of course, Pharasma herself knew this was coming all along. She has a plan. (She's not a cylon, though.)
I have a Pharasma priest in my group. I have given him a benefit, where he receives some rather lively dreams every night. After each session I write a new dream for this character.
I see it as the runelords are a really bad thing for Pharasma, taking away control of the souls. Actually, the time of the runelords might have been the darkest time of Pharasma. This means that Pharasma has a great interrest in having Karzoug stopped, permanently, and for this is sending the priest. (Pharasma of course already knows what the result of the priests work will be.)
Now to the question:
Is this view from Pharasma on the runelords compareable to what you have in mind at the moment?
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Iomedae is one of Erik's deities, actually. He's posted a bit about her elsewhere on the boards as well, but not in such a huge chunk, I think. Bits and pieces.
And as for Pharasma and the runelords...
Of course, you can change it so that the runewells consume the souls in your game if you'd like, in which case, yes, Pharasma would CERTAINLY hate the Runelords. To the extent that she'd probably have crusaders and a MUCH stronger presence in the Runelord history than she does.
Contributor
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Mighty McArtor!
Could you do for me, what you did with Sheyln for NSpicer? Only with Iomedae ("All Day"), who I think is also one of your girls? (and thanks to Doc J, because I missed that Sheyln post)
Did I mention that you go under praised around here Mike?
He he... flattery will get you everywhere. ;)
Honestly, though, Erik invented Iomedae. So I can't really give you any more than what has already been revealed about her.
And since I posted that massive treatise of Shelyn, James and I have already changed at least a couple little things (mostly involving her relationship with her half-brother). So yeah, until it sees print it's not canon. Just a guideline. :)
James, any godstuff like this, you should be sure to CC me so it's sure to end up in the Core Beliefs writeup. :)
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James, any godstuff like this, you should be sure to CC me so it's sure to end up in the Core Beliefs writeup. :)
Sean, do you want me to send you the crazy stuff I wrote about Shelyn with notes from James about her relationship with Z-K? :) Or do you want to wait until we're closer to you actually doing her write-up?
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So I'm starting *another* isntance of RotR tomorrow night (this will make 3 I'm running...), and one of my players wants to play a priest of Calistria. I've read the posts elsewhere on the forums, where you guys went into her background a *bit*, but I'm trying to help my player come up with a reaonably good backstory for his character, as well as develop a believable justification for why a priest of hers would be "adventuring". Some basic concepts I've been tossing around which would seem to fit in would be:
Calistria's domains include knowledge - would this be more in the form of forbidden or dangerous knowledge?
My player wants to have started out as a scribe. Do you yet know much more about her church's organization, if it even has one?
He he... flattery will get you everywhere. ;)Honestly, though, Erik invented Iomedae. So I can't really give you any more than what has already been revealed about her.
And since I posted that massive treatise of Shelyn, James and I have already changed at least a couple little things (mostly involving her relationship with her half-brother). So yeah, until it sees print it's not canon. Just a guideline. :)
Can't blame a guy for trying... and I have scraped up a bit from Erik's posts.
I reckon Iomedae is a good candidate for a full write-up in the 3RD AP (as the "good diety") if you keep to the model of one good and one evil per AP.
My logic being thus:
Perhaps instead of smiting, just casting an awful big shadow...
Since the Inheritor is closely related to the original Starstone, you have something of a tie-in there. Also you're going to have an awful lot of evil with the Drow, and even Riddleport. A paladin diety makes a nice constrast for all the ambiant evil that's going to be in the AP anyway.
Of course, I could argue with myself and claim that the existing Starstone has nothing to do with some other heavenly body that might be interposed between Golarion and the Sun...
But hey! I'm thinking! The pistons are firing!
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So I'm starting *another* isntance of RotR tomorrow night (this will make 3 I'm running...), and one of my players wants to play a priest of Calistria. I've read the posts elsewhere on the forums, where you guys went into her background a *bit*, but I'm trying to help my player come up with a reaonably good backstory for his character, as well as develop a believable justification for why a priest of hers would be "adventuring". Some basic concepts I've been tossing around which would seem to fit in would be:
Calistria's domains include knowledge - would this be more in the form of forbidden or dangerous knowledge?
My player wants to have started out as a scribe. Do you yet know much more about her church's organization, if it even has one?
The big reason, I suspect, that a cleric of Calistria might become an adventurer is because of an urge to go out into the world and cause trouble and be mischievous and spread the word of the goddess through sexual encounters and trickery. Revenge is another great reason to become an adventurer, especially if a cleric has some sort of tragedy in her past that she needs to get vengeance on.
The Knowledge bit from her domains is mostly secrets and gossip, really. Forbidden and dangerous knowledge is certainly a part of that.
Sean, do you want me to send you the crazy stuff I wrote about Shelyn with notes from James about her relationship with Z-K? :) Or do you want to wait until we're closer to you actually doing her write-up?
I think I found the link to that thread and sent myself the info. Just keep track of what you say and make sure that I eventually get what you consider canon for the setting. I don't want to miss a neat detail and have someone hammer me for it. :)
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The big reason, I suspect, that a cleric of Calistria might become an adventurer is because of an urge to go out into the world and cause trouble and be mischievous and spread the word of the goddess through sexual encounters and trickery. Revenge is another great reason to become an adventurer, especially if a cleric has some sort of tragedy in her past that she needs to get vengeance on.The Knowledge bit from her domains is mostly secrets and gossip, really. Forbidden and dangerous knowledge is certainly a part of that.
The background my character's working from is that he knows there's Thassilonian stuff out there, including all sorts of secrets and dangerous information out there, begging to be discovered. The church wants this information...
It seems to me that it fits
Thanks a lot James for providing all this info on the deities. One of my players wants to play a cleric of Cayden Cailean. Is there anything you could tell me about him that would help my player get started until the gazetteer comes out in March? Thanks.
My paladin/military leader was worshiping James Jacobs but seemed to get the short end of a stick on the miracle front so converted to Torag and was wondering what Torag grants his faithful.
Would you be able to tell me the holy symbol of Gorum? I love the write up above about the "God in Iron" that was great, thanks...
Have a look here.
About 2/3 down the page is a description of all the holy symbols.
Any more tidbits on Irori? I have a player about to generate a psionic character - I know, I know - but he really wants to play a psionic character and I figure it is his game too.
Anyhow, I was picking up on the idea mentioned elsewhere that if anyone would have associations with psionics, Irori would.
So, before I make it all up myself, is there anything official(ish) we can have?
Ta
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Have a look here.
About 2/3 down the page is a description of all the holy symbols.
GG, thanks... That is exactly what I needed.
GG, thanks... That is exactly what I needed.Have a look here.
About 2/3 down the page is a description of all the holy symbols.
De nada.
Now, I'm hoping that one of the previews of the Golarion Campaign Book or the Pathfinder Gazetteer is a blog post with pictures of all the symbols. That way you can show your players what they look like, even if you're not getting the campaign book.