Are there any psychopomps concerned with shepherding souls to the material plane for birth?
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Are they actually needed ?
I could easily fathom that it is the experience of living and dying that alters a soul so that a psychopomp is needed to guide them after death. In such a case, a new soul could just go directly where it is needed with no help required.
This however might not hold true for people born with "old souls" aka reincarnation.
All that said, a psychopomp of birth is a fascinating and refreshing idea, with actual mythological antecedents, even though those are far less well-known than the post-death psychopomps.
Creative Director
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Not likely there ever will be either. Mostly because the word "psychopomp" is a very specific real-world word that has nothing to do with birth and everything to do with its opposite. ;-)
Pharasma may well have outsider agents who assist with births, but we haven't detailed them yet and if we do, they'll probably be their own thing.
I could see using spirits of childbirth and fertility that do this very thing. Would be something cool to see.
Kokopelli would certainly be interesting fit As would Coatlque. Though she'd be interesting to draw...
Would make an interesting new type of outsider. If souls are constantly waylaid making their way TO the afterlife, I would imagine unborn souls might also need shepherding and protection.
Not quite the same thing, but there was a 3.5 book that had outsiders that were essentially the opposite of undead, the souls of the unborn. Might have been a Monte Cook production...the Book of Hallowed Might, I think?
Speaking of Pharasma, I think a new kind of Outsiders should be inspired by the roman goddess Carmenta, like the Psychopomps where inspired by Charon and Hermes/Mercury