What is the relationship like between Cheliax and the Pathfinder Society? My understanding is that Pathfinders are banned from Cheliax, but Cheliax once had its own faction of the Society, and now it has a faction run by a Paracountess who used to be loyal to the Thrunes but is now independent? Can anyone fill me in on the rest of the story (at least as much as is public knowledge)?
I'm planning to run a PFS character that's a minor Chelish noble (third child of a minor baron,) and the character might one day want to return to Chelish society (and doesn't want to do anything to make House Thrune suspicious of his house.) So I'm just looking for context on how the Pathfinder Society is viewed by the Chelish nobility.
Any details?
I was not planning on being in any way discreet about my Chelish heritage - are you saying I should be?
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It varies greatly depending on the scenario you're in, because scenarios are written in their own time frames and dealings with cheliax have fluctated more than a little bit.
Most of the society doesn't care if you're chelish. (Liberty's edge members may be making extra perception checks around you though)
To the nobles back home, pathfindering is probably going to be viewed with suspicion as sedition or at least part of an overall plot (then again anything you do will be seen that way back home...)
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Appalachia
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Yeah icy at best is probably the way to describe it.
Hellknights at least have the option of being from Magnimar or Korvosa.
For a minor Chelish noble you can deal with the fact that what you are doing is probably suicidal for society back home or else being from Korvosa or Sargava (Chelish Colonies gone independent but with tons of influence held by Chelish nobles still) might be elegant options if you don't wish to be coy about your heritage.
Hmm, ok. I guess I was hoping for something short of "social suicide"... I've been envisioning the character as possibly aspiring to be a Chelish hellknight (although still very unsure of what he really wants to do with his life.)
How about relations (or lack thereof) between Cheliax and The Exchange? His family owns a mine and fledgling foundry business, so would there be any possibility of making connections in The Exchange through the Pathfinders, in order to advance his family's business interests?
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Regional Venture-Coordinator, Appalachia
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There's actually some really nice details in the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path you could use for that actually!
Kintargo is still very much Chelish but its city is close enough to the border and has enough traders in it that you could probably make yourself a member of one of the noble families listed in that book.
Heck Kintargo is actually the home to a hellknight order, the Order of the Torrent.
You can find some nice details on this stuff in the hell's rebels AP Players Guide, which is a free download. That might even give you your out for being abroad all the time - you're not seditious youre just a merchant.
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I know how you feel Rumpin. My -1 was originally member of Cheliax faction and is in a similar situation, second son of a minor noble house that was essentially excommunicated because he had infernally tainted blood (infernal bloodline sorcerer) and was accepted into service with Paracountess Dralneen. After the faction change, I have been downplaying that aspect of the character but, in his mind, he is still Chellish and does intend to return to the homeland one day. He has his eye on a Chellish country house once he has enough PPs to spare to pull the trigger. So far, the character has worked fine during scenarios.
As an aside, I really miss the old factions. I understand what the OP team did with them and they are very interesting and give players some fun options, but I really liked how the old factions tied PFS directly to the world of Golarion. Personally, the rich game world is the thing that draws me the most into Pathfinder and my -1 was inspired by reading through the Core Rulebook and Inner Sea World Guide. I really liked how my fresh new character felt immediately immersed in the meta plot and the world.
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Yeah, I know how you feel, Wicked Brew. On the bright side, though, Faction Cards work a lot better than Faction Missions ever did.
You could also have your character join the Society as a way out of previous social suicide: "I think I'll take a trip to Magnimar and wait for all this to blow over..."
*later*
"Mrs. Heidmarch? I heard you were looking for a new editor? Well, you've got one now!"
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The best way to describe Pathfinders in Cheliax is "Imagine what would happen if a bunch of American Boy Scouts went to North Korea"
Very dangerous Boy Scouts.
Let's ask that lovable Paladin of Calistria and holder of an Andoran Knighthood, Dame Candi Payne, for her thoughts:
More opportunities for the slaughter of Az-holes in their homeland would be great fun. I've been reduced to mooning their embassies and temples, and it's not quite the same thrill.
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I've just created a new Cheliaxian character, an archer warpriest who is a follower of Pazuzu. His backstory is that he was the child of two Iomedean paladins who died in Glorious Reclamation. The character's embrace of demonism is a rejection of both his parents and the Throne regime.
It's also a bit of an experiment. I've seen a number of NL characters who are followers of Asmodeusu and that's generally seen as OK. I'm curious to see if a NC follower of a demon lord is similarly accepted.
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I've just created a new Cheliaxian character, an archer warpriest who is a follower of Pazuzu. His backstory is that he was the child of two Iomedean paladins who died in Glorious Reclamation. The character's embrace of demonism is a rejection of both his parents and the Throne regime.
It's also a bit of an experiment. I've seen a number of NL characters who are followers of Asmodeusu and that's generally seen as OK. I'm curious to see if a NC follower of a demon lord is similarly accepted.
As long as you have reason to play nicely with others (in character) your Chaotic Neutral demon-worshipper can work just fine. This generally means finding a good in-character reason to cooperate with the Pathfinder Society, and not being "evil-lite."
It can certainly be done. I have a CN Cleric of Lamashtu, albeit she's a Separatist archetype. So she doesn't worship a demon lord in her head, she worships "the Holy Mama", a goddess of motherhood. Nana believes that all creatures deserve a mother's love. She doesn't realise her goddess is a demon lord (INT 7, no knowledge skills except Knowledge:Nature, no spellcraft).
A "conscious embrace of demonism" is going to be a bit harder to fit, possibly. Ask why your character is Chaotic Neutral rather than Chaotic Evil, and find an answer that isn't "because I'm not allowed to play evil". If you can do that, you're good to go.
Lawful Neutral followers of Asmodeus and other evil deities can generally emphasise the Lawful in order to justify cooperation with others. I have a divine verminous hunter of Achaekek for example.
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As long as you have reason to play nicely with others (in character) your Chaotic Neutral demon-worshipper can work just fine. This generally means finding a good in-character reason to cooperate with the Pathfinder Society, and not being "evil-lite.
I'm actually having some silly fun with this. The guy, Venti is his first name, is basically CE at heart. Of course, since he's a warpriest, he has a CE aura so it's really impossible for anyone to tell what his actual alignment is.
Venti has been possessed by Pazuzu several times and during his last possession, he got the following instructions:
1) Tone down the evil and be CN in order to join the PFS and otherwise mix with non-demon cultist people.
2) In process, show that worshiping demons isn't so bad and "normalize" demon worship in the eyes of the people he associates with.
He's prone to say things like:
"Demons just want us to be free."
"Possession is Pazuzu showing how much he cares."
"Aren't people killed by demons really sort of asking for it."
You can think of him as "alt-demon."