Does the multi-verse have a soul? Multiple souls (one for each universe)? Is Pharasma tasked with deciding the eventual fate of it/them?
The classic quote of Death in Neal Gaiman's Endless is like this.
"When the first living thing existed, I was there, waiting.
When the last living thing dies, My job will be finished.
I'll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights, and lock the door on the Universe, when I leave."
How close is this to Pharasma's take on things?
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The Book of the Damned lists Abraxas's favored weapon as the flail, while Inner Sea Gods lists it as the whip. Are they both his favored weapon, or does the newer source take precedence? Is there a specific kind of flail (light or heavy), or is either type of flail valid?
Thank you! ^_^
Hmmm. The mythological Abraxas used a whip, which was the original intent for his favored weapon, but the art that came in late had him armed with a flail if I remember correctly, so we changed it to flail. That said... it's better to go with the newer hardcover version and go with whip.
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#1: If a living person and an undead created from their body both exist at the same time, the living person dies again, and a resurrection spell is cast upon them... what happens? Does the undead existing prevent the resurrection spell from functioning or is it only an undead created from the immediately prior lifetime that matters for that purpose?
#2: For Book Ward, does it affect one object/level, each of which can weight up to 10 lbs, or does it affect a singular object with a greater weight allowance as level increases? (The former would seem far more useful for books, naturally)
#3: Also, does it protect against a single element chosen upon when it's cast, or does it protect against both acid and fire with a single usage?
#4: If the second, do they share a single pool of damage they can prevent or do they both receive the full allotment?
As always, thanks for your time, consideration, and answers. :)
1) That's such a fantastically rare combination of events that I doubt it'd ever matter knowing. But that said, if you were resurrected from a fingernail, and then someone turned your body into a zombie, and then you were killed and resurrected from your new body, the old zombie version wouldn't be affected by that at all. In theory, you could make an army of cast off zombie bodies like this, but in practice, casting resurrection that many times would break the bank, and being that powerful, what are you gonna do with a zombie anyway? Wasted time.
2) Go with the former then, since that's the point of the spell.
3) Dunno. You've crossed that tenuous boundary for rules questions. I don't actually know where book ward comes from and am not familiar with it off the top of my head. It's best to ask rules questions like these in the forums associated with the product in which they appear, so they can be FAQ tagged and so the rules team can see them easier.
4) See 3 above.
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So if Pharasma is the oldest being out there, is she older than being like Azathoth and cthulhu and all that?
Not necessarily. Pharasma's the oldest of the core 20, for certain. Whether or not she's the OLDEST thing ever though... I'm increasingly unsure. The Elder Mythos deities ARE pretty old, and the Great Old Ones don't die, so that does suggest something even more ancient than death, or that which is not dead, etc...
;-)
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The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to escape the cycle of reincarnation, shed the illusion of Self, and become one with everything. Is that what merging with a plane is like?Have you studied much of Buddhism or Eastern Philosophy?Not really.
Could be.
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Does the multi-verse have a soul? Multiple souls (one for each universe)? Is Pharasma tasked with deciding the eventual fate of it/them?The classic quote of Death in Neal Gaiman's Endless is like this.
"When the first living thing existed, I was there, waiting.
When the last living thing dies, My job will be finished.
I'll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights, and lock the door on the Universe, when I leave."
How close is this to Pharasma's take on things?
Pretty close, but I prefer Lord Dunsany's similar take on the subject via Charon. It's quite short but powerful. Check it out by clicking!
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Not even a module for Tian Xia? Absolute zero on that whole front?
I am interested in Starfinder and i even got Strange Aeons to give it a chance, but that´s a bit disapointing by now i´m afraid.
Is Paizo afraid of getting hurt there? Is there no love for the eastern continents of Golarion?
If and when we announce a module set in Tian Xia, you'll hear from here. I know you want one set there, and I've heard your requests in particular, but I don't use this thread to announce products even IF they're a day away from being announced.
We aren't "afraid of getting hurt" there. We're just not doing as many modules overall at all at this time. There's Tian Xia content popping in on the Campaign Setting and Player Companion books semi-regularly, but not exclusively, obviously not in large enough quantities to satisfy you though.
Thanks for noticing i guess, i´m beginning to feel like Cato the older about it.
With Starfinder about it makes of course sense not to do as many modules overall.I did notice the increase in Tian Xia content being sneaked in and it´s something i really appreciate, especially since the quality is really awesome. Player Companions and the PFS scenarios stand out there in a real good way.
I freely admitt that i would love an AP or bigger adventures there. Hopefully we´ll see that day sometime in the future^^
Different people are passionate about different things in the game and this is just mine.
Hi James,
I've read through the adventure section of the new Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover. You did an amazing job with the volume, and I think I like it even more than the Rise of the Runelords special edition
Having not encountered it before, I have some questions:
1) Does Kazavon owe any inspiration to Vlad Tepes? his human appearance and backstory strongly remind me of that character.
2) Why does Zon Kuthon want to prevent Kazavon's resurrection? Or is it mostly something the church in Nidal is against, and Zon Kuthon is more neutral on?
Thanks!
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Hi James,
I've read through the adventure section of the new Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover. You did an amazing job with the volume, and I think I like it even more than the Rise of the Runelords special edition
Having not encountered it before, I have some questions:
** spoiler omitted **
Thanks!
Answers:
1) Absolutely.
2)
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Especially when you consider that memory and personality generally don't make the transition from death to afterlife.
1)Then how do the rezzed/reincarnated(as the spell) have memories or personality?
2)Why would empowering zombies with souls be evil if removing memories/personality already happened to the souk from other means rather than by the process of making a zombie?
3)Why would anyone see any value in, or care about an afterlife if they cease to exist and therefore don't get a reward/punishment in the afterlife?
Memories, personality, and the continuity there-of, are what makes us, us. Remove memories and personality and you destroy us, the same way taking a newspaper, ripping it to shreds, soaking it into a paste, and making a paper sculpture makes it no longer a newspaper. The material may be the same, but when the pattern is removed from that set of material and replaced with a new pattern, the old pattern no longer exists.
4) If an individual knows the truth of their certain destruction in the afterlife, why woukd there be any moral issues in trying to escape it (aside from the actions taken to avoid it)? Aka, how can they be considered selfish simply because they seek to have their memories and personality continue instead of being destroyed?
5) Why does a god judge a character's lifetime when they die, if all that remains of them is nothing more than the energy that used to, but no longer, contains that character?
Hello, James if you could travel to Golarion or other places in the Pathfinder multiverse, where would you learn magic?
Speaking of Zon-Kuthon, are there any deities who have either privately or publicly held opinions about the situation between Shelyn and the Midnight Lord even though they are not party to it? Even though Shelyn might not want that, perhaps.
Sarenrae is one who has an almost sisterly relationship with Shelyn, so I can see her getting perhaps particularly upset about the anguish it has caused. Desna is also close but perhaps not as much so?
This is aside from the hideously evil things Zon-Kuthon has done and caused to be but also related in that it is a part of the well of suffering that is between the siblings.
I've looked through all of them as part of the approval process before we ship the books to the printer. And I wrote several of the backmatter articles, so I've read those for sure! But I haven't yet actually read any of the other adventures yet. Good to hear they're fun, though!Hi James,
Have you had a chance to poke your head in on the results of the Strange Aeons AP, and read any of the final product?
I have to say I am really enjoying it. Volume 3, the one with lots of Dreamlands stuff is particularly great. As much as I would have loved to have you develop it, you being such a huge mythos fan and scholar, I am personally still very happy with the results.
As always, thank you for being a part of this thread. I would have understood completely if you had decided to let it go, because I can imagine in some way the need to be on top of it likely adds some stress to you, but I, for one, find it one of my favorite spots on the internet.
I did remember that you had written a lot of the back matter stuff; which is, of course, excellent!
If I recall, you were doing all of the write ups of the Great Old Ones in the AP? If so, do you have a favorite as to how one you wrote turned out? If it is too hard to pick, I completely understand!
Regardless, drive safe on your holiday voyages this year (as I recall you've mentioned here before you travel to Northern California from the Seattle area this time of year), and have a great Holiday, James.
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Especially when you consider that memory and personality generally don't make the transition from death to afterlife.1)Then how do the rezzed/reincarnated(as the spell) have memories or personality?
2)Why would empowering zombies with souls be evil if removing memories/personality already happened to the souk from other means rather than by the process of making a zombie?
3)Why would anyone see any value in, or care about an afterlife if they cease to exist and therefore don't get a reward/punishment in the afterlife?
Memories, personality, and the continuity there-of, are what makes us, us. Remove memories and personality and you destroy us, the same way taking a newspaper, ripping it to shreds, soaking it into a paste, and making a paper sculpture makes it no longer a newspaper. The material may be the same, but when the pattern is removed from that set of material and replaced with a new pattern, the old pattern no longer exists.
4) If an individual knows the truth of their certain destruction in the afterlife, why woukd there be any moral issues in trying to escape it (aside from the actions taken to avoid it)? Aka, how can they be considered selfish simply because they seek to have their memories and personality continue instead of being destroyed?
5) Why does a god judge a character's lifetime when they die, if all that remains of them is nothing more than the energy that used to, but no longer, contains that character?
1) Because when you're resurrected, you haven't yet been judged. You can't resurrect/bring someone back to life if they've been judged, and the time it takes to judge a soul accounts for whether or not they're destined to be brought back to life at some point in the future. Pharasma knows if this is their fate and such souls are in a holding pattern and don't get judged. Bringing someone back to life after they've been judged and moved on to their afterlife is still possible, but it requires a harrowing and likely mythic adventure akin to the classic myths of someone bravely walking into the Underworld to find their lost love or whatever and physically bring them back and help them transition from their afterlife back into their mortal life.
2) Because even tainting a tiny fragment of soul is evil. It's a story decision that we made for Pathfinder. Change it in your game if you want, but officially, zombies and skeletons are evil as a result of the corruption you inflict on a fragment of the soul and the disrespect you pay to the body and the fact that left to its own a zombie or skeleton, while mindless, does have an instinctual urge to kill the living.
3) That's a question each and every person would have to answer for themselves, but keep in mind that for the vast majority of folks in game they don't know the exact mechanics of what awaits. But yeah, this is WHY death is scary, and it's WHY in game there are lots of religions to help folks come to terms with it. It's part of the whole meaning of existance. If you knew that your character retained their memories and skills and abilities after death, but essentially stacked those powers on a more powerful base race (all outsiders are tougher than humans, for example), why WOULDN'T you just kill off your character and keep playing that character as, say, an angel or an azata or a devil or a protean? Death has to be preserved in-game as something to be feared or avoided in order to preserve a semblance of realism and to give every single story we tell in the game something relatable to us in the real world to understand. Otherwise, we would have set the game in the outer planes and players would play outsiders. Which sounds fun, but is a very different game.
4) Yes, in fact, knowledge of the truth and then fighting against it is probably a worse sin than not knowing and fighting against it. It's more selfish, for sure, since you're operating with facts rather than guesswork.
5) Because what that character did during their life matters. Their actions forged their soul into something that makes it worthy of doing specific tasks in the afterlife. Think of life as exercise, getting your soul in shape. If you waste your life, your soul is just a shapeless mass that isn't good for much, but if you live a full and meaningful life, be it one of a great hero, a great villain, an upstanding parent, a famous poet, or even just a hermit devoted to self perfection through meditiation in the wild, your soul will be more useful to help hold up the pillars of reality in the afterlife, be that as a petitioner, an outsider, or the very structure of reality.
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Speaking of Zon-Kuthon, are there any deities who have either privately or publicly held opinions about the situation between Shelyn and the Midnight Lord even though they are not party to it? Even though Shelyn might not want that, perhaps.
Sarenrae is one who has an almost sisterly relationship with Shelyn, so I can see her getting perhaps particularly upset about the anguish it has caused. Desna is also close but perhaps not as much so?
This is aside from the hideously evil things Zon-Kuthon has done and caused to be but also related in that it is a part of the well of suffering that is between the siblings.
All of them have opinions, but not all of those opinions are public.
Sarenrae is hopeful that Shelyn can some day redeem her brother and helps where she can.
Desna doesn't understand why Shelyn doesn't just let Zon-Kuthon go and focus on fighting the evil he spreads, but she respects Shelyn's decision and supports her anyway.
Iomedae is frustrated with Shelyn and periodically tries to convince her to put down her mad dog of a brother... although she does so more diplomatically. Torag, not so diplomatic.
Gorum thinks she's wasting her time.
Norgorber thinks it's all a joke and can't wait for Shelyn's redemption attempts to backfire and corrupt her.
And so on.
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I've looked through all of them as part of the approval process before we ship the books to the printer. And I wrote several of the backmatter articles, so I've read those for sure! But I haven't yet actually read any of the other adventures yet. Good to hear they're fun, though!Hi James,
Have you had a chance to poke your head in on the results of the Strange Aeons AP, and read any of the final product?
I have to say I am really enjoying it. Volume 3, the one with lots of Dreamlands stuff is particularly great. As much as I would have loved to have you develop it, you being such a huge mythos fan and scholar, I am personally still very happy with the results.
As always, thank you for being a part of this thread. I would have understood completely if you had decided to let it go, because I can imagine in some way the need to be on top of it likely adds some stress to you, but I, for one, find it one of my favorite spots on the internet.
I did remember that you had written a lot of the back matter stuff; which is, of course, excellent!
If I recall, you were doing all of the write ups of the Great Old Ones in the AP? If so, do you have a favorite as to how one you wrote turned out? If it is too hard to pick, I completely understand!
Regardless, drive safe on your holiday voyages this year (as I recall you've mentioned here before you travel to Northern California from the Seattle area this time of year), and have a great Holiday, James.
I did indeed design all the Great Old Ones, and also most (but not all) of the other mythos creatures. I think my favorite one is probably Xhamen-Dor, since he's actually my OWN creation from top to bottom, and the meta story around him (If you know about him, it's already too late!) is really creepy. Plus, I've always been freaked out by how fungus grows on dead things... or living things even!
Won't be driving this year; my car broke down. Spending the holidays up in Seattle with friends instead of family this time.
Hi James,
I've read through the adventure section of the new Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover. You did an amazing job with the volume, and I think I like it even more than the Rise of the Runelords special edition
Having not encountered it before, I have some questions:
** spoiler omitted **
Thanks!
Answers:
1) Absolutely.
2) ** spoiler omitted **
Thanks James for the answers. I figured that something like that might be the case for 2), but glad to receive confirmation.
Merry Christmas!
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Creative Director
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Have you heard about the fossilized dinosaur voice box they found that indicates dinosaurs were incapable of roaring like in Jurrasic Park, but more likely cooed like pigeons or quacked like ducks?
I have not. Or more likely, I have, but have discounted it as bad science by hatemongers.
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It's not easy to bypass Pharasma's judgement, but spells like hellfire ray, being sacrificed during a special ritual, or being turned undead all do that.
Hi James! thank you for delving into that question.
--> In the common case of a creature being turned into a vampire and seeing its alignment become evil, how is the soul judged upon the vampire's destruction? (let's assume the soul spent more than half its life as a single lawful good bookbinder splitting his off time between activities led by the Church of Torag and a librarian club sponsored by the faith of Irori)
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I think I read somewhere that Desna, Sarenrae and Shelyn are lovers, is that right?At various points in the past, present, and future, yes, it's correct.
I am very interested in this plot point. Any chance we could read (more) about this somehow someday?
Edit: where did Paladinosaur read about this? thanks.
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Especially when you consider that memory and personality generally don't make the transition from death to afterlife.1)Then how do the rezzed/reincarnated(as the spell) have memories or personality?
2)Why would empowering zombies with souls be evil if removing memories/personality already happened to the souk from other means rather than by the process of making a zombie?
3)Why would anyone see any value in, or care about an afterlife if they cease to exist and therefore don't get a reward/punishment in the afterlife?
Memories, personality, and the continuity there-of, are what makes us, us. Remove memories and personality and you destroy us, the same way taking a newspaper, ripping it to shreds, soaking it into a paste, and making a paper sculpture makes it no longer a newspaper. The material may be the same, but when the pattern is removed from that set of material and replaced with a new pattern, the old pattern no longer exists.
4) If an individual knows the truth of their certain destruction in the afterlife, why woukd there be any moral issues in trying to escape it (aside from the actions taken to avoid it)? Aka, how can they be considered selfish simply because they seek to have their memories and personality continue instead of being destroyed?
5) Why does a god judge a character's lifetime when they die, if all that remains of them is nothing more than the energy that used to, but no longer, contains that character?
1) Because when you're resurrected, you haven't yet been judged. You can't resurrect/bring someone back to life if they've been judged, and the time it takes to judge a soul accounts for whether or not they're destined to be brought back to life at some point in the future. Pharasma knows if this is their fate and such souls are in a holding pattern and don't get judged. Bringing someone back to life after they've been judged and moved on to their afterlife is still possible, but it requires a harrowing and likely mythic adventure akin to the classic myths of someone bravely walking into the Underworld to find their lost love or whatever and physically bring them back and help them transition from their afterlife back into their mortal life.
2) Because even tainting a tiny fragment of soul is evil. It's a story decision that we made for Pathfinder. Change it in your game if you want, but officially, zombies and skeletons are evil as a result of the corruption you inflict on a fragment of the soul and the disrespect you pay to the body and the fact that left to its own a zombie or skeleton, while mindless, does have an instinctual urge to kill the living.
3) That's a question each and every person would have to answer for themselves, but keep in mind that for the vast majority of folks in game they don't know the exact mechanics of what awaits. But yeah, this is WHY death is scary, and it's WHY in game there are lots of religions to help folks come to terms with it. It's part of the whole meaning of existance. If you knew that your character retained their memories and skills and abilities after death, but essentially stacked those powers on a more powerful base race (all outsiders are tougher than humans, for example), why WOULDN'T you just kill off your character and keep playing that character as, say, an angel or an azata or a devil or a protean? Death has to be preserved in-game as something to be feared or avoided in order to preserve a semblance of realism and to give every single story we tell in the game something relatable to us in the real world to understand. Otherwise, we would have set the game in the outer planes and players would play outsiders. Which sounds fun, but is a very different game.
4) Yes, in fact, knowledge of the truth and then fighting against it is probably a worse sin than not knowing and fighting against it. It's more selfish, for sure, since you're operating with facts rather than guesswork.
5) Because what that character did during their life matters. Their actions forged their soul into something that makes it worthy of doing specific tasks in the afterlife. Think of life as exercise, getting your soul in shape. If you waste your life, your soul is just a shapeless mass that isn't good for much, but if you live a full and meaningful life, be it one of a great hero, a great villain, an upstanding parent, a famous poet, or even just a hermit devoted to self perfection through meditiation in the wild, your soul will be more useful to help hold up the pillars of reality in the afterlife, be that as a petitioner, an outsider, or the very structure of reality.
I have been away from this thread for a long time (to avoid spending a lot of time reading it and posting in it) , then I randomly check JJ post and find this and I am lured back.
I was under the impression that generally the soul memories are deleted (but they can sometime return for strong willed individuals) but the soul itself isn't destroyed/recycled to energy.
So the soul in the afterlife isn't exactly a blank slate, it has some leftover personality trace as a consequence of what the person did in life.
I was wrong?
I know that there are things that utterly destroy a soul and that sometime powerful souls spawn several outsiders, not one, so there isn't a single reply, but my reading was that for most people it was a form of reincarnation (not the spell, the cycle of lives thing) in a new form, without conscious memories of your old life.
Good holidays to all of you.
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I think I read somewhere that Desna, Sarenrae and Shelyn are lovers, is that right?At various points in the past, present, and future, yes, it's correct.I am very interested in this plot point. Any chance we could read (more) about this somehow someday?
Edit: where did Paladinosaur read about this? thanks.
Maybe some day.
I'm not sure we've ever said this in print, actually. Mostly because for whatever reason, we haven't really talked much about deity relations and interactions much due to the way our format focuses on individual deities more as individuals rather than as groups. I personally see this as a mistake, but not a major one, and not one that's all that easy to correct at this point.
The rumor about these three deities being lovers is, I suspect, in large part due to some pretty racy fan art out there.
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I have been away from this thread for a long time (to avoid spending a lot of time reading it and posting in it) , then I randomly check JJ post and find this and I am lured back.
I was under the impression that generally the soul memories are deleted (but they can sometime return for strong willed individuals) but the soul itself isn't destroyed/recycled to energy.
So the soul in the afterlife isn't exactly a blank slate, it has some leftover personality trace as a consequence of what the person did in life.
I was wrong?I know that there are things that utterly destroy a soul and that sometime powerful souls spawn several outsiders, not one, so there isn't a single reply, but my reading was that for most people it was a form of reincarnation (not the spell, the cycle of lives thing) in a new form, without conscious memories of your old life.
Good holidays to all of you.
In rare cases there may or may not be traces of memory, but for the most part they're wiped when they pass into the afterlife, in much the same way lots of mythologies from the real world have similar elements (see the River Styx for a classic example). So yeah, for the most part, you're wrong in assuming that a soul retains memories or fragments of them. They can, but it's VERY rare.
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It's not easy to bypass Pharasma's judgement, but spells like hellfire ray, being sacrificed during a special ritual, or being turned undead all do that.Hi James! thank you for delving into that question.
--> In the common case of a creature being turned into a vampire and seeing its alignment become evil, how is the soul judged upon the vampire's destruction? (let's assume the soul spent more than half its life as a single lawful good bookbinder splitting his off time between activities led by the Church of Torag and a librarian club sponsored by the faith of Irori)
Depends on if becoming a vampire was something the person willingly sought out AND on what they did as a vampire. On average, folks in this situation who weren't evil and became a vampire do end up taking a hit and run a higher chance of being punished in the afterlife, although not to the same extent as someone who willingly became a vampire in order to be evil.
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James, q question about forum formatting that I think is important for the creative director, too.
A few years ago the color of the citations was changed. Now it is way harder to recognize the cited text. Maybe it is simply that with old age my eyes are becoming less sharp, but, from what I recall, until not so long ago it was way easier to identify the border between a citation and the text written by the person citing it.
Why the change, and there is a chance to reverse it?
I think that a good number of us are not so young, so the people choosing the forum formatting should keep that in mind.
As we all know, and you have discussed this multiple times, necromancy is inherently evil. However, considering the above case, perhaps the sins done by an unwillingly converted intelligent undead would be "deferred?" onto the necromancer's soul, especially if the necromancer had them under thrall?
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James, q question about forum formatting that I think is important for the creative director, too.
A few years ago the color of the citations was changed. Now it is way harder to recognize the cited text. Maybe it is simply that with old age my eyes are becoming less sharp, but, from what I recall, until not so long ago it was way easier to identify the border between a citation and the text written by the person citing it.
Why the change, and there is a chance to reverse it?
I think that a good number of us are not so young, so the people choosing the forum formatting should keep that in mind.
The web team made the change. I'm not sure why they did so.
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As we all know, and you have discussed this multiple times, necromancy is inherently evil. However, considering the above case, perhaps the sins done by an unwillingly converted intelligent undead would be "deferred?" onto the necromancer's soul, especially if the necromancer had them under thrall?
Not quite right. I've never said necromancy is inherently evil. Undead are inherently evil, and undead are created by necromancy spells, but not all necromancy spells create undead. There are a LOT of necromancy spells that are not inherently evil.
Whether or not sins on an unwillingly converted intelligent undead could or would be deferred or absolved or whatever is dealt with on a case by case basis, in any event. The actions of those who defeat the undead matter as well. A group who defeats an unwilling intelligent undead and then blesses the body or sees that the remains are buried in blessed ground or otherwise works to undo the effects can help to get that soul through without punishment, for example.
In most cases, it won't matter for game play. In cases where it does, the GM gets to roleplay Pharasma and make the decision.
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In rare cases there may or may not be traces of memory, but for the most part they're wiped when they pass into the afterlife, in much the same way lots of mythologies from the real world have similar elements (see the River Styx for a classic example). So yeah, for the most part, you're wrong in assuming that a soul retains memories or fragments of them. They can, but it's VERY rare.I have been away from this thread for a long time (to avoid spending a lot of time reading it and posting in it) , then I randomly check JJ post and find this and I am lured back.
I was under the impression that generally the soul memories are deleted (but they can sometime return for strong willed individuals) but the soul itself isn't destroyed/recycled to energy.
So the soul in the afterlife isn't exactly a blank slate, it has some leftover personality trace as a consequence of what the person did in life.
I was wrong?I know that there are things that utterly destroy a soul and that sometime powerful souls spawn several outsiders, not one, so there isn't a single reply, but my reading was that for most people it was a form of reincarnation (not the spell, the cycle of lives thing) in a new form, without conscious memories of your old life.
Good holidays to all of you.
I think I was unclear. I know that recovering some of the life memories is extremely rare.
What I was meaning is that the soul is still the same.The new petitioner soul is already primed to be CG if the person in life was CG. He isn't a completely new thing with no connection to he was formerly.
Finding an appropriate example is hard and the language barrier don't help, but to make an example:
if you make a Tyrannosaurus model with used matches, the matches are still matches, they haven't become toothpicks.
Or in the Hindu religion, if you reincarnated in a new body after death, you are still burdened with the ill and good actions you did in your past life, even if you don't recall anything.
Memory is lost, but the soul is still the same "you".
Would dimensional anchor prevent a soul from reaching Pharasma?
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As I read through Strange Aeons, I'm learning that...
This wasn't really part of the entry in Wake of the Watcher, nor were its origins in Carcosa; were these aspects of its existence newly created for Strange Aeons, or were they always part of your design (and simply omitted from the Carrion Crown article for wordcount reasons)?
Thank you! ^_^
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Happy Holiday's James
To reign in some Holiday Cheer, as a Lovecraftian enthusiast, would you like to see what this deep sea fisherman posts as his unique catches of the day?
And
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Creative Director
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As I read through Strange Aeons, I'm learning that...
** spoiler omitted **
Thank you! ^_^
The Wake of the Watcher information...
How would you stat up Z̸̵̕á̀͜ļ͘͠ģ̸̀̕̕o̕͞? What would be their areas of concern?
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Depends on if becoming a vampire was something the person willingly sought out AND on what they did as a vampire. On average, folks in this situation who weren't evil and became a vampire do end up taking a hit and run a higher chance of being punished in the afterlife, although not to the same extent as someone who willingly became a vampire in order to be evil.
Let's assume he wasn't a willing victim. Upon destroying the vampire would the soul go "ahhh!! thank you! noble adventurers!" and live happily ever after in the Great Beyond?
Won't be driving this year; my car broke down.
If it's not to weird or personal, what type of car do you drive?
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Creative Director
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How would you stat up Z̸̵̕á̀͜ļ͘͠ģ̸̀̕̕o̕͞? What would be their areas of concern?
Dunno; first I've heard of this, actually. A quick glance at the link would suggest that it might not even be a thing, but instead a disease or other curse that self-propagates. I wouldn't make it a deity.
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Creative Director
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Depends on if becoming a vampire was something the person willingly sought out AND on what they did as a vampire. On average, folks in this situation who weren't evil and became a vampire do end up taking a hit and run a higher chance of being punished in the afterlife, although not to the same extent as someone who willingly became a vampire in order to be evil.Let's assume he wasn't a willing victim. Upon destroying the vampire would the soul go "ahhh!! thank you! noble adventurers!" and live happily ever after in the Great Beyond?
Not immediately, and possibly not ever. Again, it really depends on the story you want to tell and how hard-core you want to get on the nature of sin and souls and whether or not you're an optimist or a pessimist. It's best left up to the individual GM.
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Have you seen the Kickstarter for Harlem Unbound? Cthulhu Mythos set in the Harlem Renaissance.
I hadn't. Looks interesting, but I'm not kickstarting stuff at the moment... not a great time for me to be throwing around money...