Hallowed are the Ori

[Gwyrdallan]

So after watching too much SG-1 I have the urge to tinker arround with a character based off of a prior. Either Cleric or Oracle. What deity would be a good fit for semi-forced conversion, or at least actively trying to prove that his religion is superior.

[The NPC]

Asmodeus, evil Irori-ans, and Zon-Kuthon actually.

[Bellona]

+1 for the Asmodeus option. Their PR department (e.g., the holy text) might sound LN or even LG, but the Powers That Be (the Ori) and their holy servants are LE. And they like fire.

Flame Oracles would be good too.

[Matthew Morris]

Asmoirori!

Seriously (set snark to stun) if you're looking at the Priors in their universe, the Ori were drawing power from the worship of their followers with the promise to the Priors of joining their ranks and (assuming the Ancients were telling the truth)* they were lying.

I'd guess that the Priors were 'artifically evolved' in universe, so an Oracle (Oricle?) based on a Prior might be infused with divine energy and possibly even no deity was involved**, but one (or more) might take advantage of that.

Fire Mystery is a natural, but Lore might work as well (represnting contact with the Ori) Ancestor has merit for staff tricks.

Dang, now you have me wanting to play an Oricle!

*

Spoiler:

The Ark of Truth seems to confirm that they were. Then again it also confirms that Merlin had no qualms in committing genocide. So in the end we only have the Ancients' word that the Ori were not ascending their fellows and that the Ark functioned as advertised.

**

Spoiler:

Depending on your paradigm, a 'coversion of godhood' could empower the Oracle. Maybe it's a fragment of Aroden's divine energy? Actually an Oracle of Aroden would be an intersting Prior, given that the holy text of Aroden "combines his personal anecdotes of living in Azlant, his goals for humanity, basic facts about medicine and engineering, and guidelines for ushering the human race to greatness." Lore would also work as the mystery, since Aroden's domain was knowlege. Hmm, give him the tongues curse and make him speak ancient Azlanti or celestial...

[Bellona]

And now I'm wondering how the various suggested Stargate-Golarion conversions/campaigns are working out ...

[Volaran]

I always had the priors pegged as 3.5-style psions, but that may just be because I'd always wondered if they'd based the look on Ialdabode.

[Matthew Morris]

Well of course they're psions, they're evolved humans after all :P. Hmm, maybe use Elans for them?

But the OP was thinking Oracle, so I ran with that.

[GM Elton]

I believe that I have the Stargate RPG on my machine. The RPG doesn't cover seasons 8-10. But according to the show, the Ori evolved through Religion and the Ancients through Science. An Ascended Ancient would be a disembodied Spirit (yuck! I've been one, let me tell you). An Ascended Ori would also be the same thing.

The Alterans are split. One group, the Ancients, believed in Science and Personal Growth. The other half, the Ori, believed in Superstition and Communal Growth. The Alterans would seek to explain things through Natural Law and direct observation of the Cosmos. The Ori explain things through Superstition and Inference.

Spoiler:

The difference between the Ancients and the Ori is their dichotomous stance on Freedom vs. Tyranny. The Ori were spiritual communists. Plain and simple, they forced everyone to convert to their religion or they destroy them. The Ancients believed in Spiritual Liberty, therefore, they didn't take a heavy hand in Earth's affairs.

Both side saw each other as the Great Evil, so in the end, we don't know who really was except by the results. It's like the Dichotomous ideas between Sith and Jedi. The Sith believed that the Jedi were the Great Evil in the Galaxy, and the Jedi the same thing. However, Darth Sidious proved who was really in the wrong through how he gains control of the Republic.

-----------------

HALLOWED ARE THE ORI

A Prior would be an oracle/psion, most likely an Inspired from Eberron (see the ECS). He would not be an Elan. As an oracle, he would receive divine dogma from the Ori (not wisdom, dogma). As a psion, he would have access to telepathy and telekinesis. However, a Prior can be caught off from his source of power. A psion, in principle, can't.

Spoiler:

Ascension by the Ori Alterans is tightly controlled, though, since the Ori Alterans depend on the crutch of Worship for their power. The more worship they receive, the more power they gain. The Priors were partially ascended by design, and promised full ascension if they do well.

The Ancient Alterans do not have a say in who will be ascended. They leave that up to the individual.

When the Doci sees what is in the Ark of Truth, he learns that the Ori were wrong in relying on Superstition and Religious Dogma as a way of saving souls, and that promised Ascension wasn't the goal of the Ori. When the Alterans that became the Ancients left, they left their Galaxy at the mercy of the Superstitious. Probably because they had no choice.

[GM Elton]

Bellona wrote:

And now I'm wondering how the various suggested Stargate-Golarion conversions/campaigns are working out ...

Dang you Bellona, you have me tempted. AGAIN!

[Matthew Morris]

OT Star Wars rant:

Spoiler:

Proves he was in the wrong by how he seized control? Considering the Jedi were going around using suggestion for minor annoyances, and really frakking with people "You will go home and rethink your life," were lying by omission to the Senate, "You know those precog powers we have? Yeah, they're not working" cheating, (dice games anyone?) They were just as bad as Palpatine. If not worse. Rather than rely on the institutions they were sworn to protect, they became judge/jury/executioners. And that's not counting the things we've seen in the Clone Wars, including violating Cad Bane's mind. (the dreaded mind R-word would seem to fit, but out of deference to our hosts...) We won't even get into the question of what they were going to do with Ani had Qui-gon not stepped in...

Ahem, back to the Ori,

Again, like the Elan, the Inspired aren't in Pathfinder (at least the Elan are open content). An oracle makes a good 'fit' for the role of the prior, with some of the mysteries (and curses) making for that 'creepy not quite right' build.

As to the series, I don't recall any 'ancient style' ascended being being technologically ascended. Indeed, the Atlantis "Ascendomatic machine" that Rodney got zapped with was likely going to kill him. The village of people they encountered ascended through enlightenment, as did Daniel and Anubis (albiet with help). The Ancients were technologically advanced but Ascention came independent of that advancement. That's why Destiny predates Ascention.*

If the Ori chose to help/let anyone ascend, it would be the same way in making a Prior, an artifical evolution. I believe Origin was designed to keep any 'accidental ascentions' It's also conjected (I'm not recalling Morgana or Merlin coming right out and confirming it) that the Ancients were interferring, shielding the Milky Way (and I assume Pegasus) from the Ori's detection.

*

Spoiler:

I guess that's another 'what the hell' moments about Stargate. "We've ascended to another plane of existance. We're not going to interfere, but we're going to leave all our crap around, like our gate systems, (and possibly the ring technology, who knows what the Gou'ld found/adapted) our city ships, (at least two we know of) our honking powerful weapons, our bioweapons, our replicators, oh yeah, and this parasitic species we created. We're also leaving a series of really old ships out there, letting them randomly drop off *more* of our gates. We're also not telling our allies about any of this, well except the gates."

[Bellona]

Bellona wrote:

And now I'm wondering how the various suggested Stargate-Golarion conversions/campaigns are working out ...

GM Elton wrote:

Dang you Bellona, you have me tempted. AGAIN!

:D

Well, if you do get started on that, please post the results in a thread here!

[GM Elton]

I was inferring starting another Play-by-Post campaign.