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As there are questions that even the mighty James Jacobs cannot answer, I pose a question to you, o Rob McCreary, upon his suggestion:
What would you say the narrative themes and ideas in Reign of Winter are, apart from learning about and understanding Baba Yaga and her long legacy across the universe?
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As there are questions that even the mighty James Jacobs cannot answer, I pose a question to you, o Rob McCreary, upon his suggestion:
What would you say the narrative themes and ideas in Reign of Winter are, apart from learning about and understanding Baba Yaga and her long legacy across the universe?
There are a number of different themes, but the big one is "dark fairy tale." Pathfinder is full of all sorts of more-typical heroic fantasy, but the best fairy tales, the really dark ones, don't have much room for heroes. Obviously, however, players like playing heroes, so that's still there, but we still wanted to get a lot of that dark fairy tale flavor in there.
Beyond that, there's the theme of traveling all over the place, getting a taste for different cultures (and even different planets), and linking Golarion to Earth (especially since Baba Yaga herself is from Earth). Winter is of course a big theme as well, especially different aspects of winter and what they mean for the land and the people, from the eternal winter of Irrisen, to the unexpected supernatural winter in Taldor, to Triaxus with a centuries-long winter, to World War I in winter.
Lastly, we just wanted to do a bunch of crazy stuff that you could only do if you had a magical hut that can take you almost anywhere!
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Thank you! Another question, if you don't mind. I asked this of James on his thread and Wes in his Tumblr. What areas of Golarion lore would you say you are most well versed in to answer questions about in places like this thread? For instance, James' areas of expertise include Varisia, demons, elves and Desna, while Wes' includes Ustalav, Hell, and Sarkoris.
I'd appreciate knowing what Golarion questions would be best directed your way. Thanks again! :)
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Thank you! Another question, if you don't mind. I asked this of James on his thread and Wes in his Tumblr. What areas of Golarion lore would you say you are most well versed in to answer questions about in places like this thread? For instance, James' areas of expertise include Varisia, demons, elves and Desna, while Wes' includes Ustalav, Hell, and Sarkoris.
I'd appreciate knowing what Golarion questions would be best directed your way. Thanks again! :)
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.
But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
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Thank you! Another question, if you don't mind. I asked this of James on his thread and Wes in his Tumblr. What areas of Golarion lore would you say you are most well versed in to answer questions about in places like this thread? For instance, James' areas of expertise include Varisia, demons, elves and Desna, while Wes' includes Ustalav, Hell, and Sarkoris.
I'd appreciate knowing what Golarion questions would be best directed your way. Thanks again! :)
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.
But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
Many, many thankies for Sekhmet! She's my favorite Goddess atm.
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Many, many thankies for Sekhmet! She's my favorite Goddess atm.Thank you! Another question, if you don't mind. I asked this of James on his thread and Wes in his Tumblr. What areas of Golarion lore would you say you are most well versed in to answer questions about in places like this thread? For instance, James' areas of expertise include Varisia, demons, elves and Desna, while Wes' includes Ustalav, Hell, and Sarkoris.
I'd appreciate knowing what Golarion questions would be best directed your way. Thanks again! :)
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.
But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
Glad you like it!
All of the art of the Ancient Osirion gods is excellent, IMO, but I love the Sekhmet piece especially.|
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Many, many thankies for Sekhmet! She's my favorite Goddess atm.Thank you! Another question, if you don't mind. I asked this of James on his thread and Wes in his Tumblr. What areas of Golarion lore would you say you are most well versed in to answer questions about in places like this thread? For instance, James' areas of expertise include Varisia, demons, elves and Desna, while Wes' includes Ustalav, Hell, and Sarkoris.
I'd appreciate knowing what Golarion questions would be best directed your way. Thanks again! :)
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.
But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
Glad you like it!
All of the art of the Ancient Osirion gods is excellent, IMO, but I love the Sekhmet piece especially.
Yesh, I was very pleased with her artwork :3
JJ said you were the one who developed this part of Golarion mythos, so...
What do you like and dislike about
1- Shizuru?
2- Tsukiyo? (Finally a Good deity with the Madness domain! ^^)
3- General Susumu?
4- Su Wukong?
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JJ said you were the one who developed this part of Golarion mythos, so...
What do you like and dislike about
1- Shizuru?
2- Tsukiyo? (Finally a Good deity with the Madness domain! ^^)
3- General Susumu?
4- Su Wukong?
I actually wrote the gods of Tian Xia, so it's really hard to find much that I dislike about them. What I like, however...
Shizuru: Shizuru is basically the Japanese goddess Amaterasu. If you've got a Golarion equivalent Japan (Minkai), then to my mind, you pretty much have to have an Amaterasu-equivalent. For Shizuru in particualr, I like the mix of sun, ancestors, and swordplay in her areas of concern, and I especially like her relationship with Tsukiyo.
Tsukiyo: Beyond having a good deity with the Madness domain, I also like having a good deity with the Darkness domain as well. I always thought it was weird that Golarion has a sun god, but no moon god, so I was really happy to create a moon god with Tsukiyo. I also like his history with Shizuru and Fumeiyoshi, which allowed him to have an interest in souls and spirits outside of Pharasma - important for two aspects of Tian Xia: kami and the samsarans.
General Susumu: I love this guy. Shizuru might be the go-to goddess for heroic samurai, but not all samurai are interested in honor. He's the perfect god for ronin or other warriors that just want to fight. Plus, I've always been a interested in Mongolian history, so having a god of archery and horsemanship for Tian Xia's "Mongols," the Tian-Las, was also important. Plus his title is "the Black Daimyo."
Sun Wukong: He's the Monkey King. That's pretty much all there is to say about that. You can't have an Asian pantheon without the Monkey King. And it was fun taking some of the mythology about the Monkey King and tweaking it to fit in with the existing gods of Golarion and the new Tian gods.
What's your preferred poison(s)*?
-TimD
* given your comment about Mediogalti Island, specifically alcohol(s) :)
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Thank you! Another question, if you don't mind. I asked this of James on his thread and Wes in his Tumblr. What areas of Golarion lore would you say you are most well versed in to answer questions about in places like this thread? For instance, James' areas of expertise include Varisia, demons, elves and Desna, while Wes' includes Ustalav, Hell, and Sarkoris.
I'd appreciate knowing what Golarion questions would be best directed your way. Thanks again! :)
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.
But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
I should also point out that I'm the development lead on half of the APs (every other one), so I could be also be considered an "expert" on those. The early APs I developed (Serpent's Skull, Carrion Crown, and Jade Regent) were based on outlines written by James Jacobs and Wes Schneider, so they've got a lot of information about those as well. But Skull & Shackles, Reign of Winter, Mummy's Mask, and the upcoming Giantslayer are all me (with the able assistance of Adam Daigle on the back matter).
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what are your favorite animals? Also, will we ever get more celestial lore? I see we have three classes for the three major evil outsiders, but none for the good ones. I feel this should be robs duty. Let him have some outsiders to poke at. Also, I would like to see one or two planar adventures. Mostly to see how merisiel works when shes in the abyss.
Rob, what is best in life?
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Can you talk to Sarah and Andrew about getting me a neat hat?
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what are your favorite animals?
Dogs, wolves, African wild dogs, cheetahs, bats, hyenas, thylacines.
Also, will we ever get more celestial lore? I see we have three classes for the three major evil outsiders, but none for the good ones. I feel this should be robs duty. Let him have some outsiders to poke at. Also, I would like to see one or two planar adventures. Mostly to see how merisiel works when shes in the abyss.
We probably will see more about celestials, but I'm not sure what you mean by "three classes"of outsiders. We already have four types of celestials: angels, archons, agathions, and azatas. And to a certain extent, Wes is as much a fan of celestials as he is of devils, so there's already somebody with an interest in them.
Planar adventures would be cool! I'd love to do a planar AP, but that may take some time, to avoid some of the same themes that appeared in Reign of Winter (traveling to a new exotic location every adventure).
Cannopic jar of Unlife (sp?): can an undead be created and linked to more than one?
How would you rank a "Lycanthropic Apocalypse" amongst other apocalypse scenarios?
^ but for Golarion?
Your opinion(s) on "Lycanthropic Apocalypse"?
Thanks!
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How would a Werewolf/Weredirewolf interact with the Rime pelt (sp?)? In encounters with Winter Wolves? In the Ecology section, should we assume werewolves/weredirewolves fair better in couplings with Winter Wolves (and females fair better than regular human females)? Extra abilities gained from such pairings?
Werewolves would interact with a rimepelt the same as any other creature. The rimepelt allows a creature to polymorph into a winter wolf as if using beast shape IV; this holds true whether you're a human, werewolf, or any other creature. As such, they would interact with winter wolves the same as any other creature wearing a rimepelt.
As for werewolves breeding with winter wolves, it would all depend on whether the werewolf was a natural or afflicted lycanthrope. A natural werewolf would probably have no problem breeding with a winter wolf (either in wolf or human form), and the offspring would most likely be a winter wolf with the werewolf template.
An afflicted werewolf, on the other hand, would likely have no easier time than a normal human, though the offspring would be likely be werewolves as well (in this case, the affliction turns the offspring into a natural lycanthrope). As for extra abilities, that would be up to the GM to determine, though it would certainly make sense for a werewolf descended from a winter wolf to have some winter wolf abilities.
What would happen if Hakotep got the mask back while being the "Forgotten Pharaoh"?
He still needs to reunite the three parts of his soul and he still needs to find his body inside his flying pyramid, so he would likely continue as the Forgotten Pharaoh until the cult is able to find and access the pyramid. Once that happens, he can bring all 3 pieces of his soul back together and come back to life - and not as a mummy, like he ends up doing in the AP.
Canopic jar of Unlife (sp?): can an undead be created and linked to more than one?
A canopic jar of unlife is very similar to a lich's phylactery, so in general, I would say an undead creature can be only be linked to a single jar. That being said, it might be possible for some very special and significant creature to have multiple canopic jars, all of which must be destroyed to end the creature's life once and for all, but that would probably be the focus of an entire campaign (kind of like gathering up all of the pieces of the sihedron in Shattered Star).
How would you rank a "Lycanthropic Apocalypse" amongst other apocalypse scenarios?
^ but for Golarion?
Your opinion(s) on "Lycanthropic Apocalypse"?
Thanks!
That's an interesting question, and one I've never really considered. But in all honesty, I don't really think it would work as well as other apocalypse scenarios (like a zombie apocalypse). First off, afflicted lycanthropes often remain unaware of their condition, and it takes until the next full moon for the change to really take place, so as a disease, it's not going to spread very fast. Lycanthropy is also relatively easy to cure (with either remove disease or wolfsbane). But even if none of those remedies are available, it's even easier to kill an afflicted character and end the infection, since in human form it gets none of the lycanthrope's defensive abilities. It's an interesting idea, though, and would maybe have a better chanceof succeeding if some lycanthropic mastermind was behind it all and able to react to some of the means used to try and halt the spread of the affliction.
As for the "Lycanthropic Apocalypse"; I was thinking some Demon Lords stepping up their games and kinda aiming for the LA, I could see other quasi deities, demi deities and Deities have very different views, reactions and actions/"solutions" to that.
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Hi Rob,
Apparently, just like the original post in this thread states, James Jacobs can't answer everything, and that you're the go-to guy (along with Adam?) on Irrisen!
I've been spending time GMing the beginning of Reign of Winter, and somehow I've gotten interested in how Irrisen's climate works. How has Irrisen's magical winter has shaped its environment? How do you feel about my take on it?
I guess all my questions are just specific parts of the more general question:
How does Irrisen (especially Hoarwood) maintain its image of what seems to be permanent Siberian winter, complete with forests and snow-fall?
Admittedly, the extreme north of Siberia is largely tundra, and from how the Irrisen campaign setting reads, perhaps everywhere aside from Hoarwood is tundra or glacier. I also assume some form of winteryew must be ubiquitous across the nation, despite only Hoarwood having a visible forest on maps (otherwise there'd be no food chain for all the dangerous monsters to exist!).
My own investigation started when I realized that none of the rivers (nor the lake) in Irrisen are frozen, and ballooned from there. At this point, I've spent a couple days researching the hydrological cycle, plant activity during winter, and supplementing my own knowledge about winter in general (and largely answered my original question along the way!).
1) What is the temperature range in Irrisen? How frequently is it above 32°F and for how long? Does it get colder during winter, or does the supernatural weather keep the temperature range roughly constant throughout the year?
It is stated, at least in year 4713, that the summer temperature in Irrisen has highs and lows between 40°F and 0°F (Fort saves every 10 minutes). The winter months would frequently go below 0°F, unless the supernatural weather prevents this.
I don't believe the temperature will ever be high enough for a long enough period of time for there to be any ground thaw. In the Arctic regions on Earth (and supposedly the Crown of the World on Golarion), the summer months include periods of time where even the daily temperature lows are above freezing, allowing for some amount of ground thaw to take place. This is due to near 24-hour daylight, which Irrisen doesn't have. As such, during periods above freezing, any snowmelt is unlikely to absorb into the ground, so the majority of the snowmelt will be absorbed into the air, run into a nearby river, or mostly just refreeze in place.
2) How frequently does it snow in Irrisen?
My guess is quite a bit, especially during summer, when the warm winds carrying large quantities of water vapor from the oceans west of the Land of the Linnorm Kings (LotLK) hit the magical temperature barrier on Irrisen's border. This sudden temperature drop should result in a large amount of precipitation (as snow) as the air's capacity to hold water drops. There is likely less snowfall in the winter months when the LotLK's own air temperature is low and is less able to transport water vapor to Irrisen.
In combination to my conclusions in 1), there is a large amount of precipitation that cannot easily be removed from the country. After 1400 years of snowfall, Irrisen is likely sitting on top of a glacier. Even worse, the towns and cities are either continually manually cleared of snow (luckily most of them are on a river where they can dump it) and sit in a valley compared to the surrounding countryside (which has 1400 years of snow build-up), or they must be continually built up.
Interestingly, if the eternal winter is suddenly removed from Irrisen, massive flooding would occur during the spring and summer with the destruction of most, if not all, settlments in Irrisen and the LotLK.
My conclusions to this question don't take into account the existence of any other mitigating factors (one of which is discussed below).
3) Why are none of Irrisen's waterways frozen?
Glacier Lake is fed by underwater hot springs. There are apparently enough to keep the water above 0°C. The lake is primarily fed by the two rivers, the Marbleflow and the Frozen Road.
The Frozen Road only starts freezing year-round once it enters Irrisen from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords (RotML), but there is enough turbulence caused by new water from the RotML that any ice that forms is continually pushed ocean-ward. The Gullik/Foxflow Rivers should behave similarly. Despite this, ice builds up in the river, and it is expressly stated that the Frozen Road is continually ice cleaved (ice is manually broken up with breaker barges). I can only assume this occurs on all the rivers, especially the Rimeflow river that is at least as long as the Frozen Road but whose only tribuataries are the Glacier Lake, kept just above freezing by hot springs, and the Iceflow River, whose major source would be glacier melt from north of Irrisen's borders during the summer. Incidentally, this should mean that the Iceflow is completely frozen during the winter months (possibly? There might be enough groundwater flow year-round from the glacier to counteract this).
The Marbleflow River begins on the Irrisen side of the Kodar mountains. With very little snowmelt in the mountains (due to the supernatural winter), the Marbleflow must be entirely sourced by hot springs or aquifers from the Varisian side of the Kodar mountains or there would be no flow.
This question apparently isn't terribly difficult to answer, assuming there is some way to allow groundwater to flow!
4) How much plant life exists in Irrisen?
It is stated that most plants aside from the winteryew are either dormant or dead. My inclination goes towards everything on land is dead except for the winteryew. Indeed, with an average temperature far below the melting point, any seasonal plants would have died in the very first year, and none of their seeds would ever grow to create new plants. Naturally, evergreens would have gone dormant, then died of thirst as the water stored eventually left the plant via transpiration, with no waterway remaining for nutrients to keep themselves fed. I think 1400 years of winter is enough to kill even the hardiest dormant trees. However, it is stated that the evergreens are locked into eternal hibernation, so I guess Baba Yaga's magic could have intentionally cryogenically frozen them. Note that, from 2), the massive build-up of snow would eventually cover most of the plants and they would disappear from sight.
With the hot springs in Glacier Lake, it likely contains a decent variety of hardy underwater plants that would provide for the lake fauna and surrounding settlements.
That leaves the winteryew, which uses magic to sustain itself in some way. Assuming that the tree acts like a plant (and doesn't just conjure nutrients & water for itself), the magic likely finds some way to convert the ice in the ground into water so transpiration can take place indefinitely. The simplest way would be for the roots to be a magical heat source that thaws the ground around it so that water can flow, and nutrients can be absorbed. Similarly, the winteryew seeds that are so necessary as a food source for both the wildlife and the human population might be heated so that once dropped they melt through the snow before taking root in the ground. This doesn't need to be much, as they could germinate during periods of melting, but they do need to reach the ground beneath the snow itself, then be able to grow back out of it.
Winteryew heat production has a secondary effect: deeper roots could be able to heat the ground enough to permit groundwater flow and and a water table wherever a gathering of winteryew exists, potentially counteracting the snow build-up discussed in 2). With this, the idea of Irrisen being an "idyllic" winter Siberia can still exist. Snow-fall and blizzards occur, but there is rarely more than a couple feet of snow on top of the ground, as the winteryews melt it behind the scenes. The water flows into the rivers and lakes, helping to add turbulence to break up ice formation.
I'm sorry for the (even more) massive amount of text, but I hope my enthusiasm and fascination with the subject comes across.
Whats your favorite NPC in Skull and Shackles, Reign of Winter and Mummy's Mask (and even Giantslayer if you want to)
great job Rob keep it up:-)
Actually i'd like to change my question, if possible:)
what is your favorite NPC in every AP, not just the one's you've worked on (or any you might not have)
Hi Rob
I asked James Sutter this question on his thread, and he referred me to you.
How, specifically, would Spurhorn and Ivoryglass be different in Summer from the way they are presented in Frozen Stars? It seems to be implied that the Vahara glacier never completely melts.
Thanks
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As the brains behind Reign of Winter, how would you respond to players making silly references to the movie Frozen? I have it on authority from Adam Daigle that Baba Yaga would likely smack any PC who burst into song about "letting Irissen go." :P
I would just ask, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
One thing that's always bugged me about Tsukyio (Dragon Empires god of the moon and spirits) is that he became the patron of the samsarans after he was resurrected by his lover, but he is continually depicted as a human rather than a samsaran. Any thoughts as to why the samsarans would depict their patron (and a god of reincarnation) as a human?
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Hi Rob,
Apparently, just like the original post in this thread states, James Jacobs can't answer everything, and that you're the go-to guy (along with Adam?) on Irrisen!
I've been spending time GMing the beginning of Reign of Winter, and somehow I've gotten interested in how Irrisen's climate works. How has Irrisen's magical winter has shaped its environment? How do you feel about my take on it?
I guess all my questions are just specific parts of the more general question:
How does Irrisen (especially Hoarwood) maintain its image of what seems to be permanent Siberian winter, complete with forests and snow-fall?
Admittedly, the extreme north of Siberia is largely tundra, and from how the Irrisen campaign setting reads, perhaps everywhere aside from Hoarwood is tundra or glacier. I also assume some form of winteryew must be ubiquitous across the nation, despite only Hoarwood having a visible forest on maps (otherwise there'd be no food chain for all the dangerous monsters to exist!).My own investigation started when I realized that none of the rivers (nor the lake) in Irrisen are frozen, and ballooned from there. At this point, I've spent a couple days researching the hydrological cycle, plant activity during winter, and supplementing my own knowledge about winter in general (and largely answered my original question along the way!).
** spoiler omitted **...
Wow. That's a lot of info, but it seems very well thought out. I'm not a climate scientist, and we didn't fill the Reign of Winter adventures with a lot of climate details that don't actually matter (for the most part) to the adventures themselves, though of course GMs can go into as much detail as they (or their players) want.
From my perspective, the easiest explanation is magic. Baba Yaga is using mythic power to fuel Irrisen's winter, which means pretty much throwing out the laws of nature right from the get-go. You also have to remember that the more realistic you try to make things, the more a nation like Irrisen just wouldn't work. That's one of the reasons we included the winteryew, to at least make some attempt at explaining how people eat and have fuel, at least.
But this is a deep rabbit hole to fall into, so we tried to do what was best for the adventure themselves!
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As the brains behind Reign of Winter, how would you respond to players making silly references to the movie Frozen? I have it on authority from Adam Daigle that Baba Yaga would likely smack any PC who burst into song about "letting Irissen go." :PI would just ask, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"
Yes, please! :D
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Actually i'd like to change my question, if possible:)
what is your favorite NPC in every AP, not just the one's you've worked on (or any you might not have)
This one is really hard, and I had a lot of trouble narrowing it down. I have lots of favorites, especially in APs I wrote or developed, but if I have to choose only one, here goes:
Rise of the Runelords: Xanesha
Curse of the Crimson Throne: Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills
Second Darkness: Samaritha Beldusk
Legacy of Fire: Undrella
Council of Thieves: Khazrae Kuelata (some on, she's a severed erinyes head!)
Kingmaker: Munguk!
Serpent's Skull: Athyra
Carrion Crown: Merrick Sais
Jade Regent: O-Sayumi
Skull & Shackles: Tessa Fairwind
Shattered Star: Sheila Heidmarch
Reign of Winter: Marislova
Wrath of the Righteous: Iomedae
Mummy's Mask: Her Excellency Muminofrah of Sothis, Fan-Bearer on the Right Side of the King
Iron Gods: Lirianne with a laser pistol!
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Hi Rob
I asked James Sutter this question on his thread, and he referred me to you.
How, specifically, would Spurhorn and Ivoryglass be different in Summer from the way they are presented in Frozen Stars? It seems to be implied that the Vahara glacier never completely melts.
Thanks
I don't think much would change at either location during the summer. Spurhorn would remain a mountain fortress, though probably without the surrounding snow. As far as I can recall, we never established Spurhorn's elevation, so it could have snow even during Triaxus's summer, but I'd say it's probably low enough for the snow to melt in summer.
The Vahara Glacier would remain, even during the Triaxus summer. It might shrink some, but since Ivoryglass is actually inside the glacier, and magically "floats" above the moving ice, it would be unaffected by any melting (which is good, since Ivoryglass is made out of ice itself, and you wouldn't want the whole fortress to melt in summer!).
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One thing that's always bugged me about Tsukyio (Dragon Empires god of the moon and spirits) is that he became the patron of the samsarans after he was resurrected by his lover, but he is continually depicted as a human rather than a samsaran. Any thoughts as to why the samsarans would depict their patron (and a god of reincarnation) as a human?
Iobaria, Irrisen, the Shackles, Osirion, Taldor, and Mediogalti Island (with James Jacobs) are my main "areas of expertise." To a lesser extent, you can also throw dwarves and the pantheons of Tian Xia and Ancient Osirion in there.But Jacobs is Creative Director, and I'm but a lowly Senior Developer, so I can't really make sweeping canon decisions unless and until they appear in print. But I'm happy to try! :)
There are basically two answers to this question. The simple one is that Tsukiyo is portrayed as human because in a world like Golarion that follows the Pathfinder rules, people can actually talk to gods and see them. Tsukiyo was originally Tian-Min, so that's what he is. You don't need to make up an appearance for your god if you can travel to his home plane and meet him.
The more complicated answer is that his nationality is Tian-Min, which means he was originally a Minkaian deity (it doesn't necessarily mean that Tsukiyo himself is or was Tian-Min). Because of this, most people would view him as (or assume he is) Tian-Min, much how Buddha is traditionally depicted as Asian on Earth, but other races might view him differently. In this case, it would certainly make sense for samsarans to depict Tsukiyo as samsaran.
All of that being said, Tsukiyo is a god, and he can probably appear as whoever or whatever he wants to. To Tian-Mins and other humans, he looks human, but to samsarans, he could easily look like one of them.
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Since you're the guy to talk to on Taldor, what are things that would get a member of the Ulfen Guard disgraced, but not executed for treason?
And did the Ulfen Guard exist prior to the Age of Lost Omens?
I'm interested in writing up a character for my character's backstory who was kicked out of the Ulfen Guard and founded a mercenary company (though it was back before the start of the Age of Lost Omens, the backstory is for a Forlorn elf this ex-Ulfen-Guard adopted).
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Since you're the guy to talk to on Taldor, what are things that would get a member of the Ulfen Guard disgraced, but not executed for treason?
Basically, this would be the same sort of thing that would get you kicked off a police force, but not arrested. So maybe things like abuse of power, corruption, or maybe minor theft. Anything that could possibly threaten the life of the Grand Prince (or could lead to that) would probably result in execution, however.
And did the Ulfen Guard exist prior to the Age of Lost Omens?
They did. They were formed after Grand Prince Jalrune was assassinated in 3129 AR, so almost 1,500 years before the Age of Lost Omens.
Based on each Pathfinder Iconic's respective backstories, who is the most likely to get assassinated by the Red Mantis cult and why?
Are you of familial relation to Bear McCreary?
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Senior Developer
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Based on each Pathfinder Iconic's respective backstories, who is the most likely to get assassinated by the Red Mantis cult and why?
Balazar. The Arclords of Nex aren't exactly happy with him, and if they can't get him back to use him to use the Void Chasm, they might just decide he's too dangerous to let live uncontrolled.
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Senior Developer
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1)Does the core 20 pantheon interact with the Osirian pantheon at all?
They do, but only when necessary, since the worship of the Osirian gods is so local, and considerably less widespread than it was in the past. For example, Pharasma is still goddess of death, so all Osirian souls still go through her. If a worshiper of Anubis, Osiris, or any other Osirian god dies, their soul is going to go before Pharasma and she's going to send them on to their god.
2)where is Osiris's planar realm?
Unrevealed. The likeliest place would be Heaven, but he could have a realm on another Outer Plane that he shares with the rest of the Osirian gods.
1)Does the core 20 pantheon interact with the Osirian pantheon at all?They do, but only when necessary, since the worship of the Osirian gods is so local, and considerably less widespread than it was in the past. For example, Pharasma is still goddess of death, so all Osirian souls still go through her. If a worshiper of Anubis, Osiris, or any other Osirian god dies, their soul is going to go before Pharasma and she's going to send them on to their god.
So wait, then what's the point of having Anubis weigh the souls of the dead if Pharasma's already judged the soul?
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Senior Developer
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So wait, then what's the point of having Anubis weigh the souls of the dead if Pharasma's already judged the soul?1)Does the core 20 pantheon interact with the Osirian pantheon at all?They do, but only when necessary, since the worship of the Osirian gods is so local, and considerably less widespread than it was in the past. For example, Pharasma is still goddess of death, so all Osirian souls still go through her. If a worshiper of Anubis, Osiris, or any other Osirian god dies, their soul is going to go before Pharasma and she's going to send them on to their god.
You'll note that weighing the souls of the dead is not mentioned in Anubis's entry in Pathfinder #80, and neither is he a god of death. He's a god of burial, the dead, funeral rites, mummification, and tombs. It does say that he guides souls to Pharasma and defends the dead on their journeys to the Boneyard.
That's because Pharasma has long been established as the goddess of death in our campaign setting. So Anubis, in our campaign setting, has to work with the preexisting structure of Pharasma judging the dead.
In other words, there's necessarily a difference between the mythological Egyptian gods we know, and their presence in the Pathfinder campaign setting as Osirian gods.
You'll note that weighing the souls of the dead is not mentioned in Anubis's entry in Pathfinder #80, and neither is he a god of death. He's a god of burial, the dead, funeral rites, mummification, and tombs. It does say that he guides souls to Pharasma and defends the dead on their journeys to the Boneyard.
That's because Pharasma has long been established as the goddess of death in our campaign setting. So Anubis, in our campaign setting, has to work with the preexisting structure of Pharasma judging the dead.
In other words, there's necessarily a difference between the mythological Egyptian gods we know, and their presence in the Pathfinder campaign setting as Osirian gods.
That disappointing; that's an iconic aspect of Egyptian Mythology. That's like tossing away mjolnir because Gozreh is a deity of nature and storms.
Does the Pathfinder-Universe's version of Earth (as seen in Rasputin Must Die!) also do away with Anubis's role as weigher of souls, or did he "pick up" that association in traveling from Ancient Osirion to Ancient Egypt?
why did james jacobs eat wes? I liked wes, he was a cool guy.
Please tell me you fed the dinosaur in the last month.
Vampires WANT you to think that they're not around anymore. It makes preying on you all the easier. In any case, Wes is super active on his Tumblr.
Bring stake. And garlic.
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Well, then. He still hasn't told me all the secrets of devils and diabloists. I happen to LIKE the outer planes and when giving a player who has something to do with spirits, they have a tendancy to see petitoners, ones who are merely passing through, they don't DO anything, they just freak the player out and generally get the character sent to an asylum, because seeing ghost people and having conversations with them isn't exactly socially acceptable