I know Paizo will not give an official answer, and I understand why. Some people will just nitpick it to death based on what Paizo does with PF does in the future, and based on their own preferences.
Did any of you try to come up with anything yet?
For now I am torn between coming up with something. It is really an idea I had over 10 years ago, but never finished fleshing out, and just looking at SF as its own thing, just like if I was playing a Star Wars game I would ignore any time before those civilizations had space travel.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Gap isn't my favorite part of the setting. That said, it's here, and so rather than complain about it, I want to make a story out of it, and I'm also a fan of (although I never got to play in) the White Wolf Original World of Darkness(*). So my take on it would be that people, books, and electronic records of it actually have memories (of the usual varying degrees of certainty) of the time, but the problem occurs when you try to compare different ones -- different people, books, and electronic records disagree with each other on very major details of what happened, and various memories are certain enough and have enough corroborating evidence that you can't figure out which one is true. The best theory is that parallel multiverses with alternate histories exist, as in some theories of branching time, but not only do they branch off from each other, but sometimes they also join back together, thus resulting in contradictory memories, as different people and things got their memories from parallel multiverses with differing histories.
(*)As far as I know, the Original World of Darkness never explicitly stated a theory of history like the one I have stated here, but it would explain a LOT of things, if you add in different physical laws also applying to the various parallel multiverses.
So far what I have is that there was a great war, and magic devastated everyone. It was so bad that very powerful magic was looked at similar to how nuclear weapons are viewed now.
An agreement was made to not not use it again. It was enforced by some ritual that changed things such that it would be almost impossible for anyone to use very powerful magic or recreate it. If someone thought of an idea that would lead to a powerful spell they become distracted within seconds or just lose their train of thought. The idea almost never makes it to paper so they have to start over again if they idea comes back.
If someone came across an old magical scroll that might contain a 9th level spell they still have the ability to decipher it, but before completing the task their mind goes to something else. They may even leave the area without the scroll.
The same applies for other relics(old magic that was not meant to be used again).
Over time the current level of magic became the standard.
This also led to more of a focus on technology.
I don't know what else has changed so I don't have any ideas for that.
|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
It all began with the death of Aroden. His own prophecy predicted his death and he couldn't prevent it or it would break his own power.
However, Rovagug, trapped though he was within the heart of Golarion, reached his power as it and perfected the moment of Arodens death by 1 day.
It was enough to tilt the axis of balance and begin a collapse of space and time as a synchronised unit. The error began small, barely noticed by even the most powerful of creatures, but through time the error began to manifest in strange ways.
Events that were for all intents and purposes co synchronous in time and only separated by space, seemed to occur across months of separation to those living them to those hearing of them later.
The collapse of the Wardstone barrier at the world wound occurred within the same month as the first goblin attacks on Sandpoint that lead to the rediscovery of xin Shallast, the lost rune lord city. And yet for those who experienced those events it felt as if years separated those events.
Eventually it was Pharasma who saw the danger. This new twisted reality would rend the chains to contained Rovagug himself. If the great destroyer were to escape, all creation would be destroyed. Pharasma is the last great power, for even gods must eventually present before her grace and face judgement for their deeds.
Calling on the energy potential that lingered from Arodens death, she reached out and excised the entire section of space time that had been affected. But like a cancer, she couldn't risk even the slightest memory of Rovagug and his twisting reality to remain. Her excision spanned more than just those years directly affected by the events discussed above, she cut a thousand years either side of that boundary and used the edges to wrap the corrupt and wounded planet of Golarion in its own cocoon of shattered space time.
Absalom is the pin, a single tear from the death goddess that had to be shed in order to seal the final hole where the edges were re sewn. It sits at the tip of a tear drop shaped cocoon of time that exists outside of all known realities.
So far what I have is that there was a great war, and magic devastated everyone. It was so bad that very powerful magic was looked at similar to how nuclear weapons are viewed now.
An agreement was made to not not use it again. It was enforced by some ritual that changed things such that it would be almost impossible for anyone to use very powerful magic or recreate it. If someone thought of an idea that would lead to a powerful spell they become distracted within seconds or just lose their train of thought. The idea almost never makes it to paper so they have to start over again if they idea comes back.
If someone came across an old magical scroll that might contain a 9th level spell they still have the ability to decipher it, but before completing the task their mind goes to something else. They may even leave the area without the scroll.
The same applies for other relics(old magic that was not meant to be used again).
Over time the current level of magic became the standard.
This also led to more of a focus on technology.
I don't know what else has changed so I don't have any ideas for that.
I forgot that Golarion still exist.
Maybe it is slightly out of time with the rest of the Universe. Those creatures who can see into the future or past still can not detect it.
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Once upon a time Cayden Cailean's drunkenness finally gets to a point where he did something out there. Iomedae got him in a 12-step program. He became Wayden and the entire world agreed, "We will never speak of this again."
And now you know what happened in the Gap, children!
It all began with the death of Aroden. His own prophecy predicted his death and he couldn't prevent it or it would break his own power.
However, Rovagug, trapped though he was within the heart of Golarion, reached his power as it and perfected the moment of Arodens death by 1 day.
It was enough to tilt the axis of balance and begin a collapse of space and time as a synchronised unit. The error began small, barely noticed by even the most powerful of creatures, but through time the error began to manifest in strange ways.
Events that were for all intents and purposes co synchronous in time and only separated by space, seemed to occur across months of separation to those living them to those hearing of them later.
The collapse of the Wardstone barrier at the world wound occurred within the same month as the first goblin attacks on Sandpoint that lead to the rediscovery of xin Shallast, the lost rune lord city. And yet for those who experienced those events it felt as if years separated those events.
Eventually it was Pharasma who saw the danger. This new twisted reality would rend the chains to contained Rovagug himself. If the great destroyer were to escape, all creation would be destroyed. Pharasma is the last great power, for even gods must eventually present before her grace and face judgement for their deeds.
Calling on the energy potential that lingered from Arodens death, she reached out and excised the entire section of space time that had been affected. But like a cancer, she couldn't risk even the slightest memory of Rovagug and his twisting reality to remain. Her excision spanned more than just those years directly affected by the events discussed above, she cut a thousand years either side of that boundary and used the edges to wrap the corrupt and wounded planet of Golarion in its own cocoon of shattered space time.
Absalom is the pin, a single tear from the death goddess that had to be shed in order to seal the final hole where the edges were re sewn. It sits at the tip of a...
I think I'm going to use this for my game. The PCs may never discover it, but it's so good and doesn't presume mortals to be strong enough to cause such an event.
Really? You tried to rhyme "hinge" and "revenge"?
Other than that, pretty interesting.
Really? You tried to rhyme "hinge" and "revenge"?
{. . .}
Sounds fine to me, although on the other hand, I grew up in the US state of Georgia (with all the modification of English speech that entails), so that might have something to do with it.
I spent the first five years of my life in North Carolina, so I am in the unique position of understanding Southern speech without being able to reproduce it naturally. I do recall many of my relatives pronouncing "pin" and "pen" identically.
The great retreat happened. Science and magic each advanced to the point where they could not coexist. All who chose science left the planet. As the last arrived on the station, Golarion and it's moon slipped over into the magical timeline.
Either that or someone shot Rovagug with a bullet of pure antimatter. Now you know what happens.
3rd possibility, The great old ones tried to come back. Some Mythic god killer slew several old ones till his sanity totally gave out. He had to drink the Milk of Amnesia, and then had to wish all mythos infected history away. Golarion was a victim of this redaction.
Did any of you try to come up with anything yet?
We know that we are millennia in Pathfinder's futue and that Absalom Station was "lived in" long before the Gap.
Essentially, the Gap is a device that allows people not to worry too much about matching Starfinder with Pathfinder lore. In-setting it's surely connected with some kind of divine warfare and the need to lock away something horrible that would destroy the cosmos.
Beyond that? There almost certainly is an "official" answer and I'm just as almost-certainly sure to ignore it.
The Gap has some interesting implications. At first it seems faintly ridiculous: Oooohhh history is ambiguous" Oh noes! But it also wiped out most of human memory, including the memory of un-scripted human interactions.
"But it also wiped out most of human memory, including the memory of un-scripted human interactions."
Good God, no idea what I was even trying to say here. :P I seem to have wandered off from the keyboard in the middle of a thought.
What I should have said is that it wiped out traditions -- like oral traditions -- that relied on memory. And since those kinds of traditions form a large part of the sinews of experience even in literate societies, that's actually a huge loss.
I like cut of your jib, friend. :)
The reason the records do not agree is because lots of fiction looks a lot like non fiction. If you had amnesia and the first things you found were a medical text and Bram Stoker's Dracula, which would you believe?
Maybe a lot of records had to be destroyed because they contained Mythos?
It all began with the death of Aroden. His own prophecy predicted his death and he couldn't prevent it or it would break his own power.
However, Rovagug, trapped though he was within the heart of Golarion, reached his power as it and perfected the moment of Arodens death by 1 day.
It was enough to tilt the axis of balance and begin a collapse of space and time as a synchronised unit. The error began small, barely noticed by even the most powerful of creatures, but through time the error began to manifest in strange ways.
Events that were for all intents and purposes co synchronous in time and only separated by space, seemed to occur across months of separation to those living them to those hearing of them later.
The collapse of the Wardstone barrier at the world wound occurred within the same month as the first goblin attacks on Sandpoint that lead to the rediscovery of xin Shallast, the lost rune lord city. And yet for those who experienced those events it felt as if years separated those events.
Eventually it was Pharasma who saw the danger. This new twisted reality would rend the chains to contained Rovagug himself. If the great destroyer were to escape, all creation would be destroyed. Pharasma is the last great power, for even gods must eventually present before her grace and face judgement for their deeds.
Calling on the energy potential that lingered from Arodens death, she reached out and excised the entire section of space time that had been affected. But like a cancer, she couldn't risk even the slightest memory of Rovagug and his twisting reality to remain. Her excision spanned more than just those years directly affected by the events discussed above, she cut a thousand years either side of that boundary and used the edges to wrap the corrupt and wounded planet of Golarion in its own cocoon of shattered space time.
Absalom is the pin, a single tear from the death goddess that had to be shed in order to seal the final hole where the edges were re sewn. It sits at the tip of a...
The only problem with this is that it's so good that searching for, finding, and fixing Golarion should be an AP of its own.
Maybe the swarm ships were attacking and they shifted the planet into the ethereal causing the ships to shoot each other? The station returned to normal space 24 hours later after the battle was over.
Golorion is still there but so heavily cloaked that it's undetectable. The illuminati are protecting their source of Orchid elixir. All records of the revolution where the poor people tried to rise up and take the magic for themselves had to be erased. Don't ask where the rich and powerful get their wish rings and resurrection unguent. You don't want to be charred bones in a blast pit on a hidden planet.
I have pieced together a head canon for Eox that has them attacking Damiar and Iovo using a weapon that harnessed the minor god zyphus. That's why it destroyed both worlds, wrecked Eox, and left so much wild magic. Zyphus is the God of accidental death but he doesn't show up in the starfinder pantheon. It doesn't give me any clues about Golarion tho.
Currently Canon in my Shared Pathfinder Universe
Current Thoughts on Further Development
The Pathfinder Society eventually ceased pretending to fulfill any of it's original objectives. Instead it became a private mercenary company with the lucrative contract of providing all of the military forces for Absalom. It also went on to do work for other nations including (but not limited to) Taldor, Osirion and Cheliax. The organisation eventually renamed itself to better fit it's mercenary operations.
---
That's all I've got thus far.
Currently Canon in my Shared Pathfinder Universe
** spoiler omitted **Current Thoughts on Further Development
The Pathfinder Society eventually ceased pretending to fulfill any of it's original objectives. Instead it became a private mercenary company with the lucrative contract of providing all of the military forces for Absalom. It also went on to do work for other nations including (but not limited to) Taldor, Osirion and Cheliax. The organisation eventually renamed itself to better fit it's mercenary operations.
---
That's all I've got thus far.
They needed a waystation for their starships. They created what was going to become Absolon station at some point, They will probably start mining the asteroids and the moon to expand it. The mining colonies probably were the forerunner of the Diaspora.
They needed a waystation for their starships. They created what was going to become Absolon station at some point, They will probably start mining the asteroids and the moon to expand it. The mining colonies probably were the forerunner of the Diaspora.
The Diaspora was there long before present-day Pathfinder.
One of my ideas for how technology became as advanced as it did is that the inhabitants of Golarion used the technology in the Silver Mount to essentially jumpstart their development. It's assumed that every AP happened successfully in Return of the Runelords, so we can extrapolate that to Iron Gods where the Technic League was defeated and the only thing keeping Numerian hypertech from spreading removed. Once that happened, people began using the old technology and fabricating new tech. As a result, most Pact Worlds tech originating from Golarion is in fact based off of ancient Androffan designs.
|
Some really interesting ideas here. I'd been scribbling some notes of my own on a "Chinese Warring States" area somewhere in the Vast where they assume the Mandate of Heaven was lost somewhere during the Gap.
I like the concept that Pathfinder and Starfinder could be different simulations, and that explains why they end and start so abruptly. And it is a bit of a coincidence that Triune sent out the Signal so soon after the Gap isn't it?
On a different take - did anyone ever see Aroden and Brigh/Casandalee/Epoch in the same room together?
I'm aiming for my campaign not to have a "one well-known truth" about the cosmology, but rather some competing paradigms. The "simulation" paradigm is one possible narrative. It might be popular among some branches of the church of Triune.
For those who know the backstory of Iron Gods, Starfinder could in fact be an incredibly advanced simulation taking place in an AI somewhere on Golarion - maybe Pathfinder is still going on, and Starfinder is just an imaginging.
In a different take, maybe it's not a simulation, but a dream in the mind of a meta-deity. In this overgod's dream, there are positive aspects of their psyche (Desna in particular), fractal and transformative aspect (Triune) and nightmares (Zon-Kuthon, Nyarlathotep). And Pathfinder? That was another dream from long ago.
Maybe games and stories are how realities reproduce. Maybe our reality started as a story in a short lived world that was biblically accurate?
You could have any set of characters go to first world and the natives are surprised to see fictional characters come to life.
This is another version of Golarion and Spacefinder are in different universes. Either G created S, S created G, X created both, or both were created by 2 different universes. They can be from 2 branches of one timeline where one went magic and the other went science.