|
How are you other GM's handling this?
Do the truly devout amongst Gorum and Calistria's CE clerics and worshippers get to party hard in Elysium along with the CG and CN folks?
Do they have to go on the reincarnation merry-go-round until they "get it right"?
Third option?
Got to dwelling on what a crazy scene Elysium must be, what with having so many of your goodly and goodish barbarian types, pirates-that-don't-do-anything, roguish rogues, fey, azatas, alien lepidopteran Romany nudist goddesses, the multiverse's biggest drunken party animal, elves, drow-that-throw-off-their-evil-lineage, gnomesgnomesgnomes, and most of the cast of Gurren Lagann.
And then you throw in Calistria, Slaanesh's classier sister, and GORUM SMASH, and all of their followers, including those succubi and what other demons were mentioned as serving Calistria...
Just wondering how others have approached this plane. What's it like in your games?
You're in little danger of death(none if you're one of the dead), but there's still the danger of some of its more capricious inhabitants pulling all many of trickery on you or placing curses upon you, like say being turned into a rock for a few centuries. Huge problem for a visiting planar traveller. Somewhat less so for an immortal native.
It's a place of high adventure and intense emotion, but in the end all works out. Generally.
I'd have many of the evil followers of Cal and Gorum making it, but much like how I'm seeing their demon followers now, the worst of their nature is washed away by the pure chaotic nature of their patron deities. There's still a wicked edge to the worst of them, but they've been filtered, more or less.
|
I'd have the followers, regardless of alignment, go to their deities' realms; this seems in keeping with the existing canon with alignment deciding a soul's place in cases where no deity holds a strong sway, but the deity's sway taking precedence. I'd probably limit their ability to easily access the rest of the inappropriately-aligned planes beyond their deities realms for the most part, though; I'd imagine that neither they nor the plane's other inhabitants would be keen on a bunch of evil beings just wandering around Elysium as they please. That probably wouldn't be an issue in most cases given the size of deific realms, though; I'm under the impression that those tend to be rather large, often times the size of planets or larger.
I did the petitioner template for Bestiary 2. Assuming it makes the cut you might get some answers to your questions when that book comes out.
Creative Director
|
If a follower of Gorum or Calistira was evil in ways that the deity approved, then yes, those followers do go to the appropriate deity's realm on Elysium. If they were evil in ways that were inappropriate, they'll probably go to the Abyss instead. As for who gets to decide what's appropriate or not... that's pretty much left to Pharasma (perhaps with some consultation with the other deity in question).
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I did the petitioner template for Bestiary 2. Assuming it makes the cut you might get some answers to your questions when that book comes out.
Huh! I don't think I've ever seen petitioners actually written up in mechanical detail before... Is this a first?
I'm actually not sure how to feel about the idea.
If a follower of Gorum or Calistira was evil in ways that the deity approved, then yes, those followers do go to the appropriate deity's realm on Elysium. If they were evil in ways that were inappropriate, they'll probably go to the Abyss instead. As for who gets to decide what's appropriate or not... that's pretty much left to Pharasma (perhaps with some consultation with the other deity in question).
Ah, nice! Keeps things complicated. :D
And that brings up an interesting possibilty! What if Pharasma judges a soul worthy of their god and the god in question feels otherwise?
Pharasma: Now onto the matter of Tricky Pete...
Calistria: Guy's a #$%^. Throw him back.
Pharasma: But he is truly a vision of his goddess' ideals in flesh.
Calistria: Oh HELL no.
Pharasma: Are you so upset to see yourself so accurately reflected? There is only one place he truly belongs in this reality. With you.
Calistria: WHAT?! THIS IS BULL@#$%!
Pharasma: U MAD
|
Creative Director
|
I did the petitioner template for Bestiary 2. Assuming it makes the cut you might get some answers to your questions when that book comes out.Huh! I don't think I've ever seen petitioners actually written up in mechanical detail before... Is this a first?
Petitioners have been in the game for a long time. I'm pretty sure they were in every edition of the game at one point or another. They appeared in 3rd edition in Deities & Demigods, I believe.
Whether or not they make the final cut into Bestiary 2, we can't say yet. Since that book isn't in layout yet.
And that brings up an interesting possibilty! What if Pharasma judges a soul worthy of their god and the god in question feels otherwise?Pharasma: Now onto the matter of Tricky Pete...
Calistria: Guy's a #$%^. Throw him back.
Pharasma: But he is truly a vision of his goddess' ideals in flesh.
Calistria: Oh HELL no.
Pharasma: Are you so upset to see yourself so accurately reflected? There is only one place he truly belongs in this reality. With you.
Calistria: WHAT?! THIS IS BULL@#$%!
Pharasma: U MAD
Cayden Cailean: Ladies, Ladies, WHAT IS UP!? Yo. Plenty of C-train to go 'round.
*One of Cayden Caileans powers is a Todd-like ability to sense divine cat fights!*
Cayden Cailean: Ladies, Ladies, WHAT IS UP!? Yo. Plenty of C-train to go 'round.
*One of Cayden Caileans powers is a Todd-like ability to sense divine cat fights!*
Hellz yeah the "C-train." Best deity nickname ever.
*One of Cayden Caileans powers is a Todd-like ability to sense divine cat fights!*
*appears amid trailing black smoke and a chorus of whispers (in homage to LOST)*
Ok, you've invoked my name mortals. What's this about?
And my particular take on some of these issues:
Deities' sway on the petitioners claimed by them trumps the local environment of the plane. This was true in 2e and 3e and I see no reason it shouldn't be true for Golarion.
So if you have an evil soul that worshipped Calistria in life (and expand this for other gods as needed)? Several possibilities here:
1 - the evil petitioner and perhaps all of her petitioners slowly grow more and more like their goddess, influenced by the actual divine presence they experience on a daily basis within her domain. They might even be aware of this transition - and bathed in her presence and glory they might welcome this transition and be fully aware of their prior nature (evil or good).
2 - they might begin to embody specific aspects of their goddess, evil petitioners growing more to embody darker aspects and good petitioners more benevolent aspects. In gestalt her population of petitioners resembles all of her facets.
3 - If they truly worship her and are claimed by her but are such true outliers in terms of alignment they might be bumped back to the mortal sphere with some quasi-destiny in place to have them try worshipping her again, with hopefully better results the second time.
So what about evil petitioners of Calistria wandering out into the CG plane of Elysium? Well, here's a question for everyone in reply: Why would they ever want to leave her divine domain? Seriously. They stand in her physical presence within her domain, and to leave her embrance would be abhorrent to virtually all of them. I truly don't see this happening all that much to be an issue for common petitioners.
|
Wow, after thinking through this I'm really glad I ruled, long ago, that to be a Cleric of a Deity (or Power) one has to be the same Alignment as the Deity.
Ofcourse, that was because I figured that if Pelor was gonna grant you spells every day then you were damn sure gonna be his bi+ch and have his alignment. And he's one of the "good" Deities.
. . . . Maybe if your Alignment is one step from your Deity's you have to pass a "test" when you die; if your god says you pass you become one of its Petitioners, if not -- Pharasma gets to judge where you go.
Actually, this kind of "test" is not so outrageous -- some real-world religions have something like "stand before the gates and be judged before entry" after you die but before you get where you're going.
. . . . This makes Pharasma interesting (for the first time). LE worshipers of Asmodeus go to Hell and LG worshipers of Iomedae go to Heaven-- not much for Pharasma to do... But for the mases of folks who were "between" alignments or those few LN worshipers of Asmodeus- Pharasma actually has something to do and is no longer so lame.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There's actually a lot more for Pharasma to do than sit on her throne and sort dead people. I suspect she's actually one of the oldest, if not THE oldest deity, and she's certainly going to be the longest lived one since she's the last of ANYTHING that's going to die. She also knows what happened to Aroden, since she sorted him out and sent him on once he died. And while she could have warned her followers that prophecy was going to break with Aroden's death, she didn't, and as a result a lot of her followers lost faith and/or went mad.
She's pretty complex and interesting, as far as I can tell where I sit...
She's pretty complex and interesting, as far as I can tell where I sit...
She's austere and coldly elegant, and yet in another light she's creepy and scary in a way that's best described as awesome. I like her. :)