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So freaking amazing. Oras is such a wonderful concept for a god - I think my first PC will likely devote themself to it. Either Oras or Besmara. Please-please-please let Besmara be one of the remaining gods! :D
I think she was mentioned last year, at least space pirates exist so why would she not be present? :P
I like the new magic god, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happened to Nethys!
I really hope caiden and shelyn are still a thing
even if caiden may have a smaller status as a probably mainly human god he has a fun concept
and if Zon-Kuthon is still a thing his sister should also be
I hope Cayden got torn asunder by Rovagug, and that Nethys is out of the picture because half of him is trying to stitch him back together and the other half keeps tearing him apart... for obscure purposes.
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Actually, the universe seems to have moved on while I was trying to update the Akhasic record to no longer record using prophecy. The reboot may have been harsh. Sorry.
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So THAT is what has been going on with the web page...
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Not a fan of the new magic god's ideas, to be honest. I don't think of magic as separate from physics (only a different aspect), and all knowledge should be free.
Since this a deity of magic, secrets, and history, but not knowledge, suffice to say its mentality is more Warhammer 40K than yours...
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I wonder if the pantheon will get artwork for everyone in the book. Inner Sea Gods is my favorite book because of it, and I hope we get to see the new ones as well a updates to the others (especially Sarenrae) and get a bigger section than they did in the Pathfinder CRB
I'm actually kind of interested if Pharasma ends up being the only god of death. I mean, the construction of the Outer planes for Pathfinder seems to put Pharasma as the absolute god of death but that just doesn't feel right.
I mean, if that were true, then ironically Pharasma has a pretty accurate map of the galaxy already since everyone has to die eventually. Avoiding plot holes like that demands at least the possibility of there being other death gods.
But then again, maybe I'm just babbling and this is an already answered question that I'm just ignorant of due to it being part of source material omitted from the wikis. Rightfully so, of course.
I wonder if the pantheon will get artwork for everyone in the book. Inner Sea Gods is my favorite book because of it, and I hope we get to see the new ones as well a updates to the others (especially Sarenrae) and get a bigger section than they did in the Pathfinder CRB
From what was previewed in PaizoCon, unfortunately, we are not getting full illustration for each deity. The only illustrations in their entries seems to be of their holy/unholy symbols.
Who wants to bet that 1-2 of the new gods ascended from the Starstone (like Iomedae, or Cayden Cailean)? I'd bet that Weydan became a god that way.I'm of the opinion that Weydan was a god from elsewhere who just wandered into the Pantheon one day after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque.
Wait, Weydan is a Wabbit?
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Who wants to bet that 1-2 of the new gods ascended from the Starstone (like Iomedae, or Cayden Cailean)? I'd bet that Weydan became a god that way.I'm of the opinion that Weydan was a god from elsewhere who just wandered into the Pantheon one day after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque.Wait, Weydan is a Wabbit?
A wascally wabbit.
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Yaraesa appears to be the scholar god who wants everything out in the open. Knowledge and information should be readily accessible, but you should constantly add to it, question it and expand it. Yaraesa probably loves the idea of the internet, where anybody can go and research anything they like. Normally I would say this sort of god should be Neutral, but Yaraesa seems to want this sort of pursuit to actually help people.
Eloritu then would be the scholar god who wants to preserve the value of knowledge through secrecy and mysticism. I bet that Eloritu would hate the internet, except for certain deep web sites that take special training just to access, let alone understand. What is the point of wisdom if you can just pick up any data slate and look at it?
I would like there to be a Neutral Evil god along those lines as well. The scholar god who actively wants to use information for selfish, if not directly harmful ends. A god of propaganda and deceit that thinks knowledge should be controlled and harnessed and used as a weapon. Sort of Norgorber, but less stabby, maybe? A god of criminal masterminds, blackmailers and other such types.
However, for that last slot we have Nyarlathotep. The shame there is that Nyarlathotep doesn't just want knowledge to be weaponized, it wants knowledge to be used indiscriminately for wide spread harm.
Yaraesa might want to make dinosaurs from fossilized remains to learn more about dinosaurs and the process of cloning. Eloritu would want to make sure that the dinosaurs created weren't right so that the truth of them wouldn't be readily available. My ideal mystery god wouldn't be happy unless the dinosaurs were leveraged for maximum profit, prestige, and personal power. Nyarlathotep would want a retrovirus to escape, start turning people into dinosaurs and make sure trusted public officials took the fall for it.
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True. I feel that the main difference is that Irori wants you to follow The Way to enlightenment where Yaraesa wants you to find your own way, so long as it is rigorously tested and documented.
Irori- Follow in my footsteps and know true harmony.
Yaraesa- Did you get this peer reviewed?
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Okay, so I have been away, but I think we are past due for some updates to our list now that not just one, but two new articles came out this week, each one regarding three of the new gods.
Before going any further, I would like to thank Rob McCreary for getting us these articles. I know he is behind it because he wrote the gods for Starfinder and I spoke to him on the first day of GenCon expressing my desire for more information on this very topic. He said he liked reading this thread and would see what he could do about getting more articles out there about he gods for us... So, thanks, Rob!
So, going on the assumption that Paizo will give us a core 20 like that of Pathfinder alignment-wise (4 neutral and 2 of all the other alignments), I will reorganize the list so we can more clearly see what is missing in terms of alignment and even make a couple of guesstimate placements for those who are unconfirmed in regards to alignment. The order will be primarily sorted from Lawful to Chaos with a secondary sorting order of Good to Evil (the four purely Neutral slots will wind up dead center of the list this way). I will italicize the 7 hold-overs from Pathfinder's core 20, bold our six most newly revealed deities (though we already knew about Weydan, we now have confirmation on his information, so I will treat him like a new entry and I will be using the existing material on Nyarlathotep in Pathfinder to find his place on the list), and strikethrough empty slots where I have made guesses (note that Damoritosh is a guess, too, since we do not have confirmation on his alignment yet).
The Starfinder core 20 deity list as we know it thus far:
1. Iomedae, the Inheritor (LG) - Goddess of Honor, Justice, Rulership, & Valor
2. Hylax, the Forever Queen (LG) - Goddess of Diplomacy, First Contact, Friendship, & Peace
3. Abadar, Master of the First Vault (LN) - God of Cities, Law, Merchants, & Wealth
4. Talavet, the Storyteller (LN) - Goddess of Community, Self-Reliance, & Tradition
5. Zon-Kuthon, the Midnight Lord (LE) - God of Darkness, Envy, Loss, & Pain
6. Damoritosh, the Conqueror (LN?) - Glory, War, Protection?
7. Sarenrae, the Dawnflower (NG) - Goddess of Healing, Honesty, Redemption, & the Sun
8. Yaraesa, Lady of Wisdom (NG) - Goddess of Knowledge, Mental Perfection, Scholarship, & Science
9. Pharasma, Lady of Graves (N) - Goddess of Birth, Death, Fate, & Prophecy
10. Triune ("... a divine network integrating Epoch, the machine-built deity of Aballon; Casandalee, the god of androids; and Brigh, the clockwork goddess. Calling itself Triune, this new collective consciousness vaulted to prominence by providing mortals with access to a heretofore unknown hyperspace dimension called the Drift...") (N?) - Artificial Intelligence Collective God of the Drift, Aballon, Androids, Clockwork, Technology?, Invention?, Space Travel?, Internet?, Artificial Life?, Patron-Saint of Mechanics?, and/or...?
11. Eloritu, the Hidden Truth (N) - God of History, Magic, & Secrets
12. (N) - God of Space/Stars/Black Holes/Subspace Disturbances/Unknown?
13. Urgathoa, the Pallid Princess (NE) - Goddess of Disease, Gluttony, & Undeath
14. Lao Shu Po, Old Rat Woman (NE) - Goddess of Night, Rats, & Thieves
15. Desna, Song of the Spheres (CG) - Goddess of Dreams, Luck, Stars, & Travelers
16. Weydan, the Endless Horizon (CG) - God of Discovery, Equality, Exploration, & Freedom
17. Oras, Agent of Change (CN) - God of Adaptation, Evolution, & Natural Selection
18. Besmara, the Pirate Queen (CN) - Goddess of Piracy, Sea Monsters, & Strife (I believe the sea monster bit might need an update/change... or not)
19. Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos (CE) - Outer God of Conspiracies, Dangerous Secrets, & Forbidden Magic
20. The Devourer (CE)
Well, we got our gods of evolution and of math and physics, didn't we? Also, I totally called it on a Great Old One sneaking in there... just saying. :)
Thanks to learning about the existence of the Xenowardens (space druids), I believe that 'their god' would be Oras as a replacement for Gozreh in the "nature god" slot in the core 20. I think he is especially fitting for that post with his "survival of the fittest" and "adapt or die" philosophy and it manages to bring a sci-fi attitude to the whole nature god angle.
We now know more than half of the gods that will end up in Starfinder's core 20, but we are not done yet and I will not rest until I know all 20 of them prior to GenCon. (Not that it will do me any good... and I probably will rest a little; especially since I have been sick a lot lately...)
Also, we definitely now know that Domains are not a mechanic being used in Starfinder because one of the developers came out and said so. I can't remember who just now, though.
I'll continue to maintain that at least a couple of the these empty slots will be existing gods or powers that were not a part of the core 20 from Pathfinder. In particular, I am eyeing that empty CN slot for Besmara, Hanspur, Sun Wukong, or some other god we have seen before. But, I am hoping and betting on Besmara to get it because... well, space pirates, yarrr! Captain Harlock could totally be her immortal consort/rival/champion/avatar or something... if crossing IPs were a thing here... [insert sarcasm and bad voice imitations]But, you know... "Don't cross the streams.", 'cause that would be bad.[/sarcasm and bad voice imitations]
I noticed something else, too, with these newer entries to our list and it is something we have speculated on previously, and that is that each of the new, non-human core races gets a sponsoring god, just like the old core races and gods did in Pathfinder.
So, we have:
Android = Triune, I think, given that Cassandalee was the goddess of Androids that it is the best fit.
Kasatha = Talavet
Lashunta = Yaraesa
Shirren = Hylax
Vesk = Damoritosh
Ysoki = ?
If this pattern holds, then one of those remaining, unknown slots belong to the sponsor god of the Ysoki. I suspect Lao Shu Po because of all the existing gods we know of, she is the only one related to rats or mice. Furthermore, while none of the entries on the ratfolk never specify any particular deity they worship (in fact, these entries go out of their way to suggest they will worship most any god), I believe that will still be givin a rat god by the Starfinder developers. One of the previously written rat gods, Lao Shu Po or Hanspur, would be ideal rather than creating a whole new rat god just for the ysoki, but with Hanspur being CN, it would interfere with the slot I believe Besmara should get. So, I believe Lao Shu Po will wind up as their patron goddess.
Also, I noticed that the product description of our first Starfinder Adventure Path: Temple of the Twelve (Dead Suns 2 of 6) by John Compton, states, "... On Castrovel, their findings point them toward an ancient elven temple-city called the Temple of the Twelve, lost deep in Castrovel's teeming jungles. But the heroes must contend with two other factions—the exiled Corpse Fleet of Eox and the Cult of the Devourer—who are also interested in the asteroid's secrets and have their own plans for the ancient alien superweapon, if they can find it first!
"Temple of the Twelve" is a Starfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 3rd-level characters. This volume of the Starfinder Adventure Path includes a gazetteer of the jungle planet Castrovel, details on the menacing Cult of the Devourer, and a selection of new monsters from alien worlds."
So, this "Cult of the Devourer" sounds like it could be highlighting the cult of an evil god to me; especially since there will be an article in the 2nd ever AP book for Starfinder and there is a precedence for articles on gods in Pathfinder APs. Furthermore, the author, John Compton, wrote in the thread for that product description pretty much debunking a poster's theory that the Devourer is Rogagug (also Rob McCreary stated that both Rovagug and Torag are gone/missing in a panel at PaizoCon). It is my belief that the Devourer will likely be the identity of our missing CE god.
Isn't that Dahak's moniker. :-)
Edit: Nope, it's The Endless Destruction.
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I am thinking/hoping that The Devourer is the name for the gestalt presence of The Swarm. Not a got that is worshipped (normally), but the emergence divinity of so many minds linked into unison.
Because hell yes, tyranids.
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Alright, might as well share some thoughts.
1. Oras is the first CN god made by Paizo that I think doesn't fall into the stereotype of being chaotic "neutral" (read: evil). I'm really happy about this.
2. A wisdom goddess in the core 20 who views knowledge of the natural world as having higher truth contained in it? Yes yes yes yes yes. She's easily one of the favorite deities I've ever seen Paizo make. I already have an android character who's going to be one of her followers (initially planed to be a sarenite, but Yaraesa works so much better).
3. Talavet has the same problem I think Irori (and several other LN deities) has- she doesn't really come of as lawful neutral- she seems more lawful Good then anything else. I mean, how am I supposed to believe that a goddess of building up communities and sharing knowledge is on the same moral level of the god of "wage war for its own sake" (hi Groum).
We know Asmodeus is still around- the question remains why he's no longer a core deity- as one of the oldest beings in the entire multiverse, it seems odd that we know so little about his transition into the Starfinder world.
Part of me thinks that Barbatos might be a core deity now- he was always... cosmic horror-ish.
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I get the feeling that Talavet doesn't care if the communities are happy or well adjusted, so long as they are stable and long lasting.
Also this bit "Thus was Talavet born—not just a storyteller, but the story itself, a god embodying all the tales and legends of the kasatha race." seems to indicate that Talavet is every bit as much the monster in the wilderness as she is the hero who saves the village from it. Perhaps she would purposefully put a wolf in the path of little blue riding mouthscarf just so somebody has the opportunity to come to the rescue.
Asmodeus is probably not a core deity for the simple reason that without Cheliax, he is not very popular in civilization. There will probably be pockets of worship here and there and likely a lot of them, but his church isn't exactly a galactic power.
Which is a shame, star-satanists sound like fun.
I get the feeling that Talavet doesn't care if the communities are happy or well adjusted, so long as they are stable and long lasting.
Also this bit "Thus was Talavet born—not just a storyteller, but the story itself, a god embodying all the tales and legends of the kasatha race." seems to indicate that Talavet is every bit as much the monster in the wilderness as she is the hero who saves the village from it. Perhaps she would purposefully put a wolf in the path of little blue riding mouthscarf just so somebody has the opportunity to come to the rescue.
Asmodeus is probably not a core deity for the simple reason that without Cheliax, he is not very popular in civilization. There will probably be pockets of worship here and there and likely a lot of them, but his church isn't exactly a galactic power.
Which is a shame, star-satanists sound like fun.
Regarding Talavet, I concur with Stone Dog.
Regarding Asmodeus, wasn't a lot of his power tied up in keeping Rovagug in his prison? I mean, that was his schtick, right? If so, perhaps that played a role in diminishing him when Golarion disappeared.
We never actually got a full body character illustration for Casandalee or Epoch - their "avatar". I would like to see how they actually looked when they were a single being.
I know I'm quite late on this, but there actually is a full body illustration of Casandalee in Iron Gods Part 3 The Choking Tower, on page 4, showing her being finally cornererd by the gearsmen that were pursuing her.
By the way, just in case anybody didn't notice . . . .
With apologies to Ashanderai-
The Starfinder core 20 deity list as we know it thus far:
1. Iomedae, the Inheritor (LG) - Goddess of Honor, Justice, Rulership, & Valor, Spirit of Humanity
2. Hylax, the Forever Queen (LG) - Goddess of Diplomacy, First Contact, Friendship, & Peace
3. Abadar, Master of the First Vault (LN) - God of Cities, Law, Merchants, & Wealth
4. Talavet, the Storyteller (LN) - Goddess of Community, Self-Reliance, & Tradition
5. Zon-Kuthon, the Midnight Lord (LE) - God of Darkness, Envy, Loss, & Pain
6. Damoritosh, the Conqueror (LN?) - Glory, War, Protection?
7. Sarenrae, the Dawnflower (NG) - Goddess of Healing, Honesty, Redemption, & the Sun
8. Yaraesa, Lady of Wisdom (NG) - Goddess of Knowledge, Mental Perfection, Scholarship, & Science
9. Pharasma, Lady of Graves (N) - Goddess of Birth, Death, Fate, & Prophecy
10. Triune (N) - "Triune is a single entity, but each of its three aspects retains its own personality and portfolios. Known as "the Precursor," the Brigh aspect represents the foundation that all technology rests on, and is worshiped as a goddess of invention, machines, and technology. The Casandalee aspect, also called "the Created," embodies technology's success in creating new forms of consciousness, and is venerated as a deity of artificial life, emotion, reincarnation, and renewal. Triune's third and final aspect is Epoch, named "the Transcendent." Epoch epitomizes the pinnacle of machine evolution, revered as the god of artificial intelligence, programming, and robots. All AIs, computers, machines, programs, and robots are the domain of the All-Code, but Triune is most famous for discovering (and perhaps creating) the Drift, as well as the subsequent dissemination of Drift-based starship technology to cultures across the galaxy"
11. Eloritu, the Hidden Truth (N) - God of History, Magic, & Secrets
12. Urgathoa, the Pallid Princess (NE) - Goddess of Disease, Gluttony, & Undeath
13. Lao Shu Po, Old Rat Woman (NE) - Goddess of Night, Rats, & Thieves
14. Desna, Song of the Spheres (CG) - Goddess of Dreams, Luck, Stars, & Travelers
15. Weydan, the Endless Horizon (CG) - God of Discovery, Equality, Exploration, & Freedom
16. Oras, Agent of Change (CN) - God of Adaptation, Evolution, & Natural Selection
17. Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos (CE) - Outer God of Conspiracies, Dangerous Secrets, & Forbidden Magic
18. The Devourer (CE)- Space Rovagug and patron of oblivion.
Twoooooo left.
So, anyone starting to wonder if Ashanderai has some latent psionic abilities? Lao Shu Po - very good call. Looks like The Devourer fills in your slot for black holes (and supernovas). Which still leaves us a slot for CN, assuming Damoritosh or our other two unannounced gods don't take it, which makes Besmara look more and more likely for a promotion (yay)! Incidentally, I'm thinking it's very probable Damoritosh is going to end up being LE. That Obozaya was convinced to drift away from his faith is pretty strong evidence for a big bad right there.
Also, I wonder how The Devourer's power compares to the Great Old Ones or even the Outer Gods, as its aims appear to be about destroying everything in existence. Is the Devourer connected to them in some way? At the very least, it seems to be the new Rovagug of the setting.
Assuming Besmara makes it for #19, it is interesting we don't yet appear to have a deity representing space itself. We have star deities (Sarenrae, Desna), and black hole and supernova deities (Devourer), but nothing really representing the void itself. Unless Desna/Triune assimilate that role? A god of gravity seems a shoe-in.
Okay, we got an update with the Paizo Blog today with more gods revealed. It looks like the Devourer and Lao Shu Po theories panned out and we got new data and confirmation of old info about Triune. They have also slightly altered the portfolio of some of the older, holdover gods, so I will update from the last posted list with bold being the newest stuff confirmed and strikethrough stuff being theory.
The Starfinder core 20 deity list as we know it thus far:
1. Iomedae, the Inheritor (LG) - Goddess of Honorable Battle, Humanity, Justice, & Valor (Rulership was taken out)
2. Hylax, the Forever Queen (LG) - Goddess of Diplomacy, First Contact, Friendship, & Peace
3. Abadar, Master of the First Vault (LN) - God of Cities, Law, Merchants, & Wealth
4. Talavet, the Storyteller (LN) - Goddess of Community, Self-Reliance, & Tradition
5. Zon-Kuthon, the Midnight Lord (LE) - God of Darkness, Envy, Loss, & Pain
6. Damoritosh, the Conqueror (LE?) - Glory, War, Protection?
7. Sarenrae, the Dawnflower (NG) - Goddess of Healing, Redemption, & the Sun (Honesty was removed from her portfolio)
8. Yaraesa, Lady of Wisdom (NG) - Goddess of Knowledge, Mental Perfection, Scholarship, & Science
9. Pharasma, Lady of Graves (N) - Goddess of Birth, Death, Fate, & Prophecy
10. Triune, The All-Code (N) - God of Artificial Intelligence, Computers, & the Drift (confirmed that Triune is a single entity, but each of its component gods retains their own personality and portfolios. Brigh, "the Precursor", represents Invention, Machines, & Technology. Casandalee, "the Created", embodies Artificial Life, Emotion, Reincarnation, & Renewal. Epoch, "the Transcendent", epitomizes Artificial Intelligence, Programming, & Robots.)
11. Eloritu, the Hidden Truth (N) - God of History, Magic, & Secrets
12. (N) - God of Space?/Stars?/Subspace Disturbances?/Riddles?/Madness?/Puppets?/Anime?/TV Binge wathing?/Unknown?/Wild Guesses?
13. Urgathoa, the Pallid Princess (NE) - Goddess of Disease, Gluttony, & Undeath
14. Lao Shu Po, Grandmother Rat (NE) - Goddess of Assassins, Rats, Spies, & Thieves (this is an update from the old portfolio which has Night, Rats, & Thieves and called her "Old Rat Woman")
15. Desna, Song of the Spheres (CG) - Goddess of Dreams, Luck, Stars, & Travelers
16. Weydan, the Endless Horizon (CG) - God of Discovery, Equality, Exploration, & Freedom
17. Oras, Agent of Change (CN) - God of Adaptation, Evolution, & Natural Selection
18. Besmara, the Pirate Queen (CN) - Goddess of Piracy, Sea Monsters, & Strife
19. Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos (CE) - Outer God of Conspiracies, Dangerous Secrets, & Forbidden Magic
20. The Devourer, the Star-Eater (CE) - God of Black Holes, Destruction, & Supernovas
I'm still gambling on Besmara, but I have no clue about that last neutral slot. Also, I have to applaud the designers in making those changes to Iomedae. I didn't really like her before, but that simple change of having her take on the role of the spirit of a humanity that has lost their homeworld is a nice touch.
{. . .}
Assuming Besmara makes it for #19, it is interesting we don't yet appear to have a deity representing space itself. We have star deities (Sarenrae, Desna), and black hole and supernova deities (Devourer), but nothing really representing the void itself. Unless Desna/Triune assimilate that role? A god of gravity seems a shoe-in.
I think Weydan is probably your space deity ("The Endless Horizon").
With apologies to Ashanderai-
The Starfinder core 20 deity list as we know it thus far:
{. . .}
So, by alignment we have:
Lawful Good: 2
Lawful Neutral: 2 or 3 (depending upon where Damoritosh ends up)
Lawful Evil: 1 or 2 (depending upon where Damoritosh ends up -- I'm guessing Lawful Evil)
Neutral Good: 2
Neutral: 3
Neutral Evil: 2
Chaotic Good: 2
Chaotic Neutral: 1
Chaotic Evil: 2
Unknown (and names unknown as well): 2
Adding Besmara would get the Chaotic Neutral slot up to 2, and then you just have to figure out where the remaining deity goes. Since on Golarion Chaotic Evil felt rather thin with Rovagug being rather impersonal (due to being imprisoned), I think Starfinder would have the same problem with Chaotic Evil with the Devourer being rather impersonal (in this case just because it isn't very personable), so we probably need 1 more in this slot, unless Damoritosh winds up being Lawful Neutral, in which case Lawful Evil needs 1 more major deity (maybe Droskar decides to become a more organized pointy-haired boss deity?).
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What I personally would love on the CE, or perhaps even CN, end: Nocticula. She's trying to ascend to godhood in Pathfinder, what if she succeeded by the time Starfinder takes place? That and there is no god/goddess of lust, hedonism and other such things (Urgathoa only covers subsection of it)
Sivanah also is one I always love to see but that's purely personal interest. She could even add holograms to her portfolio.
Anyone else notice that Sarenrae's holy symbol got Trekified? I like it.
Also, I remembered something I noticed a few months back, but forgot to post. Anyone noticed the symbol on the kasatha's lower shoulder in the cover of the Starfinder Player Character Folio? I don't recognize it. It does not appear to belong to any of the new gods we have seen so far. I was wondering if it might belong to a god or organization we haven't seen yet. We know it isn't for Damoritosh, either thanks to the art and story for Obozaya. If it is for one of the gods we don't know yet, it would have to be for either #12 or #18 on my most recent list. If not, then I think it belongs to some organization, nation, or maybe even a minor god not in the new core 20.
It might be a trekified symbol of Pharasma, but it's unlikely, because Keskodai.
Could also be the new symbol for Gozreh, a stylized maelstrom/tornado.
It could also be a stylized sun or black hole, as the Kasatha is a Solarian.
I don't think that we have a planetary nature-focused deity yet, so there might be a Neutral one for that. Maybe Gozreh?
An alternative could be a Neutral "space-nature" deity who focuses on natural forces in space which have not already been grabbed by other deities. Maybe a deity served by the aeons, like Pharasma is served by the psychopomps?
Yeah, I think Oras is filling that niche, too. But, I also think that their is room for a space god who is all about natural space phenomena and isn't out to destroy everything. That is why I put space, stars, and subspace disturbances in that last neutral slot.
Since aeons are true Neutral, I don't think that they would serve Oras (CN). But I can see them working for a N deity with the right interests.
Alright, might as well share some thoughts.
1. Oras is the first CN god made by Paizo that I think doesn't fall into the stereotype of being chaotic "neutral" (read: evil). I'm really happy about this.
2. A wisdom goddess in the core 20 who views knowledge of the natural world as having higher truth contained in it? Yes yes yes yes yes. She's easily one of the favorite deities I've ever seen Paizo make. I already have an android character who's going to be one of her followers (initially planed to be a sarenite, but Yaraesa works so much better).
3. Talavet has the same problem I think Irori (and several other LN deities) has- she doesn't really come of as lawful neutral- she seems more lawful Good then anything else. I mean, how am I supposed to believe that a goddess of building up communities and sharing knowledge is on the same moral level of the god of "wage war for its own sake" (hi Groum).
We know Asmodeus is still around- the question remains why he's no longer a core deity- as one of the oldest beings in the entire multiverse, it seems odd that we know so little about his transition into the Starfinder world.
Part of me thinks that Barbatos might be a core deity now- he was always... cosmic horror-ish.
you're putting an awful lot of stock in the word of a deity with the Trickery domain and Deception subdomain. We don't really have anyone else's word that he was one of the original deities. Unless you think he's Tiamat in disguise, in which his tale of being one of the original two deities sort of fits with Apsu's.
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Alright, time for the final tally (As before, the newest/confirmed information is in bold:
1. Iomedae, the Inheritor (LG) - Goddess of Honorable Battle, Humanity, Justice, & Valor (Rulership was taken out)
2. Hylax, the Forever Queen (LG) - Goddess of Diplomacy, First Contact, Friendship, & Peace
3. Abadar, Master of the First Vault (LN) - God of Civilization, Commerce, Law, & Wealth ("cities" and "merchants" were removed from more broadly applicable and up-to-date terminology)
4. Talavet, the Storyteller (LN) - Goddess of Community, Self-Reliance, & Tradition
5. Zon-Kuthon, the Midnight Lord (LE) - God of Darkness, Envy, Loss, & Pain
6. Damoritosh, the Conqueror (LE) - Conquest, Duty, & War (Uh-huh, I figured this guy was gonna be LE.)
7. Sarenrae, the Dawnflower (NG) - Goddess of Healing, Redemption, & the Sun (Honesty was removed from her portfolio)
8. Yaraesa, Lady of Wisdom (NG) - Goddess of Knowledge, Mental Perfection, Scholarship, & Science
9. Pharasma, Lady of Graves (N) - Goddess of Birth, Death, Fate, & Prophecy
10. Triune, The All-Code (N) - God of Artificial Intelligence, Computers, & the Drift
11. Eloritu, the Hidden Truth (N) - God of History, Magic, & Secrets
12. Ibra, the Inscrutable (N) - God of Celestial Bodies, the Cosmos, & Mysteries of the Universe
13. Urgathoa, the Pallid Princess (NE) - Goddess of Disease, Gluttony, & Undeath
14. Lao Shu Po, Grandmother Rat (NE) - Goddess of Assassins, Rats, Spies, & Thieves (this is an update from the old portfolio which has Night, Rats, & Thieves and called her "Old Rat Woman")
15. Desna, Song of the Spheres (CG) - Goddess of Dreams, Luck, Stars, & Travelers
16. Weydan, the Endless Horizon (CG) - God of Discovery, Equality, Exploration, & Freedom
17. Oras, Agent of Change (CN) - God of Adaptation, Evolution, & Natural Selection
18. Besmara, the Pirate Queen (CN) - Goddess of Piracy, Space Monsters, & Strife (Ha! I knew that if she were in the core 20 here that she would have to have "sea monsters" updated to something more applicable to the new setting)
19. Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos (CE) - Outer God of Conspiracies, Dangerous Secrets, & Forbidden Magic
20. The Devourer, the Star-Eater (CE) - God of Black Holes, Destruction, & Supernovas
I really like that Ibra turned out to be a god of space mysteries and is probably going to be a better nature god for those who didn't like the looks of Oras. This was the one that was the biggest wild card for my guesses, but I was primarily looking at him to be some sort of space nature god and it looks like that panned out. I like the looks of this god as a perhaps the best replacement for Gozreh since he (it?) does not come with any sort of agenda, unlike Oras.
Well, I guess that is that. We now know the names alignment, portfolios, and even genders of the various new gods of Starfinder. I can't wait to dive in and read more about them when the book comes out.
I can't wait to see the articles about the gods that are sure to come out in the Adventure Paths. *-*
I don't see Ibra as a useful nature deity. But then a nature deity seems pretty unnecessary for a spacefaring civilization. Hence Gozreh still around but not one of the big 20.
I find it more interesting that there is a large spacefaring society that needs gods to prop up its sciences, no real appreciation for art or beauty, and the expectation that everything of worth is actively hidden or out there somewhere to be discovered (though only with permission). That says a lot about the shape of Pact society.
Quite a few potential plot hooks with that as the norm of civilization.
Is there any particular reason we think Paizo is committing to this hopelessly backward and pedantic structure? Why wouldn't the different domains of deities be spread among the beings they evolved in the noosphere of? Each would then hold their own connections to the planes. I always thought this was the strength of Starfinder. The most powerful LG deity in the pact worlds is an Insect Queen. This implies Celestial Mantis and Beetle -like Archangels and massive buzzing holy choirs of bees the size of ponys.
Did one of the creators really say they were committing to a reductive 20 part structure based on alignment? Because, if so, I think that's a bit of an insult to their audiences intelligence.
It's also largely irrelevant. Looking at Pathfinder as an example, there were oodles of gods based on setting specific stuff that either cropped up in various player companions or adventures. The 'core god' distinction is mostly just to give players an idea of which gods their characters had likely heard of as citizens of the Pact Worlds more than anything.
Space is vast and there is every chance of bigger fish out there.
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Space is vast and there is every chance of bigger fish out there.
Sometimes literally!