Much Like The Lone Clerics post I want to know about your oracles. I think oracles can be all over the place and even their origin/practices can be extremely varied.
I find Oracles very interesting because of their ties to deities on a much more natural rather than forced level.
The oracle that i have in my campaign was actually a boy that the party picked up after his town was destroyed by undead. The party then took them down. He was an orphan since he was an infant and was eager to go off adventuring.
At first the party thought him just a little mascot to tag along and make wear funny things. (They had carved a dire bat up and made a bat suit for him) Eventually the party entered into battle with a crazed alchemist who was thought to be helping the party. The boy had become comfortable with the now villain and when he turned on the group he threw the boy hard against a wall knocking him out.
Once he came to, his powers were unlocked and he rose into the air pulling frigid air from the depths of space causing the villain to be covered in little crystals of ice.
As you can tell he is an oracle with the heavens Mystery. His curse is he is haunted.Sspirits can be seen tinging around him. He although completely changes when his powers come out. He doesnt understand why he becomes so angry and so strong but the gods run through his soul using him as a conduit to help guide the party in saving the world from imbalance.
Otherwise his Name is Thatch and he is a regular old kid who just loves to run around and hear adventuring stories!
Varian the Enlightened Philosopher of Lore with clouded vision. He is an old man making his living in Westcrown as a fortune teller. He has no points in profession (fortunetelling), instead he has points in bluff. He has the revelation Automatic Writing, but uses it to predict his 30 minutes with his client.
He has a habit of ripping off rich well to-do nobles, as well as the uncanny ability to disappear whenever a sting is set up to catch him. He also has a rogue that helps him in his quest for ill-gotten riches, and the rest falls into line with the AP ;)
Minos Bonifar, dhampir oracle/sorcerer... pretty obviously, Bones mystery/Undead (Sanguine) bloodline. He was a lord of undead terrorizing a whole region until a broad-minded inquisitor defeated and "converted" him. Now he's the shaman of a mongrelmen tribe, searching a way to overcome his bloodthirst and become fully human, though deep in his black heart he believes to be doomed to be evil (actually, he's much better than he thinks). He uses magic to create artificial blood to drink, and dreams one day to kill his vampiric father and rescue the tortured soul of his human mother.
I don't know yet if making him into a Mystic Theurge, or not.
I actually have two on the drawing board....
First one is a Shoanti Bonespeaker (Oracle of the Ancestors/Haunted), who speaks to ancient ancestors that served the Thasilonians as warrior cast.
The other is a Dewarven Oracle with the Spellscar mystery, that I'm building with a strong "spellfire" type theme.
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16 year old female Half elf haunted life oracle, with eldritch heritage arcane bloodline.
She has a thrush familiar named Horatio, who speaks with a voice like Barry White.
Her haunted curse manifests as animals constantly and suddenly around her. like you look away, look back and 40 canaries are sitting in a tree, silently staring at you. Mice run around in her bag moving things (takes longer to draw items)
She is a complete pacifist, and refuses to harm living creatures. Constantly singing and dancing down the roads.
her non cureing spells are sanctuary, forbid action, compell hostility.
cast sanctuary. cast compel hostility. they try to hit you, them ake a save or cant attack you. then you just forbid them attackin altogether.
"you dont wanna hit him, you wanna hit me, but you dont wanna hit me cuz I'm cute, so how about you dont hit anybody"
I also run her like a complete "Disney princess" type ala snow white
I played a human battle oracle whose "magical abilities" were severely downplayed.
Daeron Sedig worked for Professor Lorrimor as a personal bodyguard on a number of successful ventures. After some years, the dangers sadly proved too much for even his ability. During a bandit raid on an expedition to a foreign excavation site, Daeron was forced to step between the professor and those that would do him harm. Though he was able to fend off the attackers and save the professor, Daeron nevertheless suffered a severe axe blow to the head, blinding him in one eye and forever leaving him disfigured and nearsighted. Surgeons among the caravan were able to save Daeron's life and piece his face back together which, despite horrific scarring, healed quite well. Daeron sought out healers blessed with divine magic in hopes of returning his sight to normal so that he could return to the life of a warrior. Much to their astonishment, however, no healer has been able to do anything for Daeron's disability. Over time, Daeron found that he could counteract his blindness somewhat using his other senses. With much practice, he discovered a latent sixth sense that allowed him to almost "see" his enemies' moves before even they knew to make them.
Feeling that the crippling of his bodyguard was partially his fault, and knowing that Daeron sought to one day return to an adventurous way of life, Professor Lorrimor included mention of his loyal servant in his personal will, inviting him to his funeral as a pall bearer and setting the stage for Daeron to discover a new path as a battle prophet.
Much Like The Lone Clerics post I want to know about your oracles. I think oracles can be all over the place and even their origin/practices can be extremely varied.
I find Oracles very interesting because of their ties to deities on a much more natural rather than forced level.
Actually if you're going by the class text, It's an extremely forced relationship. The Oracle isn't someone who's chosen to be one, it's a path that's been literally dumped on thier shoulders frequently unwillingly.
Oracles are Draftees.
I'm sorry I didn't clarify that. I didn't mean forced/natural as in their will, i meant it as an understanding of how the power works.
A cleric is devotion, prayer, study. But an oracle is more natural the magic just flows. Even if the oracle doesn't want the power it still just comes out.
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About Countess Eleise Velune
Lady Eleise is haunted by her twin brother George. Two years ago, her parents let them attend the opera alone as a birthday present. Unfortunately it was the the premeire performance of 'Among the Living', a night that became infamous with the massacre of many members of Taldoran Nobility at the hands of Zyphus cult at the House of the Immortal Son. She was fortunate to survive.
Soon after that terrible night the dreams began; her brother promising his return, whispering into her ear. Night after night he came, and gradually she came to understand. George was now part of something much greater then himself; he was part of glorius Zyphus, Lord of accidental death.
Soon she took up Opera, in order to connect her to her brother and all those who joined Zyphus that evening two years ago. As time went on her connection to her brother, to Zyphus, grew stronger until she could manifest his powers in the world.
She learned a great many things; that in time she could join him. But she also knew she must help others join Zyphus. She'd seen the deadly power of the Pathfinders who had saved the lives of many from Zyphus' minions.
She also became aware of how effective the Pathfinder Society was in helping many people 'accidentally' die. With that in mind so she has decided to join them, doing her utmost to aid them. Every death brings her closer to her brother. His presence can be felt in the shadows around her and the ghostly voices that whisper to her. She knows in time he will rise in all his glory--with her aid.
But in the mean time, there is no reason these deaths cannot serve Taldor. Baron Dalsine was glad to recruit her to his service. If he only knew her ultimate goals he would be disturbed. Best he not know.
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Name: Tamar
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Oracle of Bones (Urgathoa)
Curse: Haunted
Alignment: N
Tamar was born a beggar and a coward. Though he often was reduced to eating garbage, he savored each meal like a feast. His life as a beggar came to an end when Tamar was convicted of murder when caught stealing food in the inn room of a recently killed merchant. When he was hung, Tamar saw the lines of dead awaiting judgement and a lady in a white robe (Urgathoa) beckoning him away. True to his fearful nature he fled the judgement of Pharasma, returning to his body as it was being cut down from the gallows.
By longstanding county tradition, those who survived execution were found to be "innocent by the gods" and must be given pardon. But that did nothing to stave of the fear and hatred in the eyes of the people of the village. A mob came in the night to kill Tamar as he slept huddled in an alley.
With cries of "demon" and "monster" they set upon him with clubs and fists. But as Tamar raised his hands to ward off the blows, a darkness descended upon his attackers, and their flesh was torn by unseen forces. As his tormentors fled, Tamar shivered as his mind was filled with unearthly wailing.
Tamar's brief touch with death left him haunted by the voices of the dead. So, with a ragged scarf to hide his hanging scar, he fled once again. This time seeking to escape both the hatred of his home, and the dead souls that whispered in his ear.
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Raven, human Oracle- Waves mystery, neutral good (She's called/calls herself "Raven"-- her birth-name is Devin Harlock, but so far no-one other than Raven in the party knows that-- because she's a fugitive from Imperial "Justice", she sticks to her pseudonym)(campaign is using the Pathfinder deities, but is not set in Golarion).
Raven was born and raised in the capital city of the Empire, which was strictly and rather harshly ruled. The old Emperor wasn't too bad, but his word was law, his will was absolutely enforced, and the Imperial Inquisition was there to enforce order, discipline and obedience throughout the Empire. Raven's parents were inquisitors, and she was raised to follow in their footsteps, to believe in the "rightness" and "justice" of the Empire, and to eventually become an Inquisitor herself (the 20th century equivalent here would be someone who was raised in the Hitler Youth, so thoroughly indoctrinated in the Nazi way and sheltered long enough from opposing ideas that she really believes in the cause and doesn't understand why it could be wrong). Just as Raven was reaching her teenage years, the old Emperor disappeared, and the head of the Inquisition made her bid for power, using the Inquisition as her tool to ensure she got it. The inquisition, and the Empire itself, took a decidedly evil turn.
As a teenager, Raven started working for the inquisition. She was charming, sweet, rather innocent, and had a knack for getting people to open up and talk to her. She talked to people the Inquisition wanted to know about, she brought that information back to her inquisitorial masters, and these "subversives" and "malcontents" (who in truth hadn't done anything wrong, except present some sort of potential threat to the Master of the Inquisition) disappeared in the night. Things went on like this for a year or two... until one night in her dreams, Raven got a personal visit/calling from Pharasma herself.
She was shown that what she had been doing was wrong, she was exposed to full understanding of the evils of the Empire and particularly of the Master of the Inquisition, she learned exactly what had happened to all of the people she had betrayed to the Inquisition (terrible stuff, btw); and she was held out over the abyss of judgement, was informed that she was on the wrong path- and that she needed to change, immediately. She was set on the road to opposing the Inquisition and other evils in the world that were trying to mess with destiny and Fate's plans-- because the Inquisition (in this world) loved using fire, she was given the power of water to oppose them (along with all the other divine "powers"-- aka spells to employ in her new path).
Pharasma also left her with an overt curse to remind her to stay on her new path, and to serve as a reminder that she has much to atone for in her life. Raven accepts this-- even though she may not have known (or really had a way to know, with the way she was raised) that what she was doing for the Inquisition was wrong, many people were still harmed and killed by what Raven did for the Inquisition. Now, she is haunted (her Oracle's curse)-- by the spirit-echoes of all the people she gathered intelligence on and betrayed to the Inquisition. Raven takes the effects of haunting somewhat in stride, because she figures she does deserve it and will need to spend the rest of her life atoning to make up for what she now feels were her "crimes".
As with many Oracles, this calling was not voluntary-- Raven was told she could accept, or that Pharasma could just toss her in that abyss she'd been shown immediately. Raven obeyed Pharasma's calling and fled the Imperial capital. Now on the run from the Inquisition she once served, she has joined up with some other adventurers to oppose Imperial ambitions on the frontier. Raven knows very well that her powers come from Pharasma, and she honors the Goddess of Death and Fate. She also believes she saw Iomedae watching Pharasma's calling to her (in the dream-visions) and that Iomedae helped in imposing the haunting curse on her-- she pays respect to Iomedae in the interests of serving true justice, rather than human law, now. She also devoutly worships Sarenrae (because she feels the need for Redemption, for herself and not just for herself but for others also), and honors Shelyn (for love), Desna (for dreams and luck, and because she has to travel a lot), and Milani (because she needs hope and she's opposing an evil Empire).
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The other Oracle I'm playing is still a little bit under development. Campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms (heavily modified by many, many years of prior campaigns in FR run by the same GM)(using Pathfinder rules-- GM decided to upgrade from 3.5 but didn't want to run 4E-- a decision I like), follows on with sort of a 'legacy' theme from many of the prior campaigns (the last of which was 3.5, but this GM's history of running in the Forgotten Realms goes back to AD&D 1E).
His grandparents are all characters from past campaigns (not all of them were my characters). Aasimar, NG, Flame Oracle. He's an Oracle with the Flames mystery, because one of his grandparents is a Fire-Archon sworn to Kossuth's service-- because of something that character did in game, her entire bloodline is sworn over to Kossuth (FR's God of Fire), so the mark of the Deity is on him and the power of fire is literally in his blood-- he can't escape being a Fire Oracle. Another of his Grandparents spent an extended period sucked into the Far Realms and then managed to escape back to our reality (think, "got stuck in the Dark Tapestry" or "spent a few years in Yog-Sothoth space")-- he's haunted (his curse, yes I know I've used it for both Oracles I'm playing) because of echoes of the Far Realms still clinging to that grandparent's bloodline (or it could just be because his grandparents messed with so many extra-planar powers between the four of them that he's just cursed for that reason). His other two grandparents were both heroes that were paragons of Good during play, and who both ascended to Celestial status in the service of Good deities at the end of their respective campaigns of play-- their connection to good and their combined blood/heritage came out as stronger than the blood of his other two grandparents in determining race-- thus he wound up an Aasimar (instead of an Ifrit or Tiefling-- considering how mixed up his blood is, a race not tied somehow to other planes was extremely unlikely-- longlong story why Tiefling actually was a possible option in there).
Solara Farronel is an Andoran-born young oracle(Life)/sorcerer(Arcane) (using the UA Gestalt rules from 3.5 as a solo player). 3 years ago her beloved little sister had gotten deathly ill and her parents (who had, by then, emigrated to Absolom to fit the DM's request to start there) did not have the money to take her to a cleric. Solara knew a man who would loan her the money, and she took it to get her little sister healed.
Unfortunately for her, she didn't succeed in paying him back -on time-, and for that she was snatched out of the Coins rather unsuspectingly one night, 'laundered' a bit (moved to the out-of-city slave camps then brought back in 'legally'), and sold in Misery Row. Her owner was rather apathetic about her, neither being friendly nor cruel, and 3 years passed. Her parents inquired into her whereabouts, but had no way of knowing what had happened to her. In grief, and bitter about what the city had cost them, they returned to Andoran.
During an encounter between the Token Guard and a drunken wizard in the Coins, a poorly-aimed fireball killed her owner and blasted her off a bridge. She took the fall almost directly on her knee. That would have been bad enough, but as she tried to unsteadily rise, a rampaging horse and cart came through and struck her as well. As she lay, presumably dying, she cursed her bitter luck at surviving to get free only to die in an accident seconds later. But she didn't die. Instead, she awoke in the Temple of Iomedae. Her leg couldn't be properly healed for some reason, but she also had this...-spark-...in her that wouldn't seem to go away. When she left the temple she began to research in the libraries, finding stories of what happened, similarities, and so on until she began to slowly develop her talents (ie, become level 1/1).
She wears skirts and dresses but her knee is always bandaged (Lame curse). It causes a somewhat noticeable limp and she is still somewhat self-concious about it; her leg throbs a bit, a dull pain, when the frequent rainstorms are coming and she uses a staff to make walking easier, although she can go short amounts of time without one. She believes her powers were granted by Pharasma because of the brink-of-death, but has no way of ever knowing for sure. She has attached herself to a beginning warrioress and rogue (NPC's) and together they have solved a conspiracy to cause food riots throughout the whole of Absalom (level 4/4 now). She is known to support Andoran causes and to be a vehement - if law-abiding (for the moment) - opponent to slavery of any form.
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Marina was to be born a twin, but alas her sister Irina did not survive the birthing. Marina grew up never knowing she had a sister. Marina proved to be very accident prone as a child, often getting injured when her parents weren't looking. When she was young she started playing with an imaginary friend. This friend existed for several months until her parents heard her talking to someone they couldn't see, who she called Irina. Her parents forbade Marina to talking to this friend anymore. Shortly after Marina's room caught ablaze during the night, the family barely escaping. After this, they contacted a priest of Pharasma.
The priest, through divinations, learned that when Irina died during the birthing process, her soul and been intertwined with Marina's. Each had taken half of the other's soul with them, one to the land of the living, the other to the land of the dead. As Irina had only half her soul, she was not allowed to pass Pharasma's Bone Tower (I believe that's what it's called). As such, Irina's spirit had became malicious and tried to take Marina's life in exchange.
The priest placed a temporary ward on Marina to prevent Irina from taking control and offered to take her away to people who could help her control this spirit. The priest had a friend, a worshipper of Nethys, who specialized in these sorts of oddities. He discovered that Irina's spirit had truly become corrupted, and the only way to save them both was for Marina to counter the evil that Irina now felt in her heart.
Thus Marina dedicated herself to the cause of good, not to save her own soul, but rather to help quell the evil in her sister's heart. She studied the texts of all the Goodly gods and tried to embrace all their teachings into her own life. The strength that Irina used to cause her harm became her own strength, and through study of the teachings of the gods became capable of harnessing this strenght on her own. She changed her name and became reborn, thus dubbed Hyporia stardust, Oracle of Lore.