Roll call: dead gods

[Tinalles]

Pathfinderwiki has a category for dead deities. If I've counted correctly, only six of them are full-on gods:

• Acavna
  
• Amaznen
  
• Aroden
  
• Curchanus
  
• Ihys
  
• Peacock Spirit
  

Am I missing any?

All the others on the wiki list are demigods of one sort or another. Mostly demon lords killed by Nocticula -- she's a busy lady. Namzaruum is hero-god and it's not exactly clear that he's perma-dead. Thron isn't technically dead, and it's not exactly clear whether he was a full god back in the day. Tsukiyo is a full god, but since he got resurrected he's not actually dead any more.

[The Sideromancer]

Here's something interesting: Aroden died ~100 years ago, right? True Resurrection can reach back 170 years by the time you can cast it.

[Zhangar]

The Peacock Spirit probably isn't dead, and quite possibly isn't even a god.

There's been a very good argument put forth that the Peacock Spirit may actually be the Runelord Xanderghul. (And I'm kicking myself for not being able to find it right away.)

@ Sideromancer - Heh. A god being a valid target for True Resurrection is probably in the realm of GM Fiat. That being said, it's probably fair to say that Iomedae and/or Milani already tried that.

[Tinalles]

I've always been a bit flummoxed by the Peacock Spirit. It's weird. Its sole purpose, apparently, is to be enigmatic. I'll take it off the list.

[homebrew]
In case it's relevant, the reason I need a list of dead gods is that my PC needs a back door into Pharasma's spire. I've decided the core of Pharasma's spire is filled with chambers devoted the memories of deceased deities, one layer of chambers for each one. Passing through these will allow the PC to bypass most of Pharasma's usual guardians, but there will be differently themed challenges for each deity. Working name: the Halls of Dead Gods.

I may throw in a couple of dead homebrew gods as well. Demigods are excluded because there are too many of them, and most of them are demon lords who wind up in the Rift of Repose anyway.
[/homebrew]

[Haladir]

You missed one: The forgotten god Ahiza, whose shackled, half-dead corpse adorns one of the walls of Betzebbul, the fortress of the arch-devil Baalzebul. (Book of the Damned, p. 143)

[Tinalles]

Azhia "barely clings to life, constantly fed upon by the innumerable flies that make up Baalzebul’s verminous form." (Book of the Damned, p. 143)

So she's not dead. But she probably wishes she were.

[The Recorder]

I have recorded the domains/subdomains of Acavna, Amaznen and Aroden, do you think Paizo will publish any of the other dead god's worship statblocks.

[Rysky]

And as of the Azlanti Deities articles in Ruins of Azlant I’d remove Amazmen from the list too.

[Tinalles]

Why? The article in Ruins of Azlant uses the past tense to talk about him, says he vanished from existence, and there's an NPC cleric of Amaznen in the AP who is no longer receiving spells from him. The word "death" was not used, but all the symptoms are there.

[Malachandra]

I believe the Oinodaemon is a deity, although it's only mostly dead

[James Jacobs]

As for the Peacock Spirit... I'll just note that Part 4 of the upcoming Return of the Runelords Adventure Path is called "Temple of the Peacock Spirit."

And Amaznen is indeed dead. I can confirm that.

[Tinalles]

OOO, teasers! Neat.

And RIP, Amaznen.

[Rysky]

Damn, I was hoping that the writeup hinted that he had been blasted into an alternate universe or something, his reemergence would have made for a cool storyline.

Oh well, Thankies for the clarification Directorsaur.

[Todd Stewart]

Malachandra wrote:

I believe the Oinodaemon is a deity, although it's only mostly dead

Maybe, perhaps, it's complicated. The Four certainly overthrew them and rule unchallenged, but it's possible that in doing so they might have fused the Oinodaemon with the plane of Abaddon itself and really made their situation worse should the First Daemon ever wake up. The particulars of the situation are known only to the Four and best left uncertain and unelaborated in Canon, thus letting you tailor it to fit your home game.

[Ouachitonian]

Dou-Bral is dead, from a certain point of view. Zon-Kuthon betrayed and murdered him.

[Tinalles]

Ehhhh ... plausible, but not quite the same thing as normal death. The identity that was Dou-Bral is gone, replaced by Zon-Kuthon, but the divine being never stopped existing. I think it's like Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader -- he never again answered to his birth name after the events of Episode III, but he didn't actually die until the end of Episode VI.

In fact, I kind of wonder if Dou-Bral's original personality might be trapped in that glaive Shelyn has been holding onto all this time.

Are there any clerics of Dou-Bral still out there? Are they still getting spells? If they're not, that would suggest that Dou-Bral is truly dead. Or perhaps they were all driven mad by his transformation? Or at least driven to abandon him for new, less masochistic deities.

[The Sideromancer]

Tinalles wrote:

In fact, I kind of wonder if Dou-Bral's original personality might be trapped in that glaive Shelyn has been holding onto all this time.

Would produce some delicious irony if this was the case and by transforming the glaive, Dou-Bral is irretrievably lost.

[Malachandra]

Quote:

Dou-Bral is dead, from a certain point of view. Zon-Kuthon betrayed and murdered him.

This is not the god you're looking for

[Zhangar]

@ Tinalles - IIRC, there are lawful neutral heretics of Zon-Kuthon who worship him as Dou-Bral, god of perfect, merciless, beauty.

So he'll actually answer to that name if prayed to, but the follower still needs to be compatible with him. Now, just what sort of afterlife awaits such a follower is open to question.

My memory might be way the hell off on this, though.

[Adam Daigle]

Rysky wrote:

Damn, I was hoping that the writeup hinted that he had been blasted into an alternate universe or something, his reemergence would have made for a cool storyline.

Oh well, Thankies for the clarification Directorsaur.

Also, as the author of that write up, I can confirm that Amaznen is certainly dead. Wiped from existence even.

[Rysky]

Okay.

[Adam Daigle]

I really considered adding another dead god or two to that article, but changed my mind because I felt it would cheapen the concept of dead gods if there were too many of them.

[Tinalles]

I really like dead gods. They offer a ton of scope for storytelling! Such as:

1) Conflicts between the faithful who refuse to let go and those who switch allegiances to a new deity.

2) Power struggles between deities over the sudden power vacuum.

3) Later, locations that nobody understand any more because they were devoted to gods who have long since been forgotten.

I've been running this homebrew campaign for almost six years now and made tons of story revolving around Curchanus.

And now I'm doing this Hall of Divinity Lost thing which is going to be a ton of fun, and wind up with some events that will shake the foundations of the multiverse. I can hardly wait! *rubs hands gleefully*

[Xenocrat]

Adam Daigle wrote:

I really considered adding another dead god or two to that article, but changed my mind because I felt it would cheapen the concept of dead gods if there were too many of them.

Are any of the gods in that article also present in Starfinder under different names? I haven't picked up that AP volume yet, but the blog summary had a couple who seemed similar to new Starfinder gods.

[Adam Daigle]

Xenocrat wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

I really considered adding another dead god or two to that article, but changed my mind because I felt it would cheapen the concept of dead gods if there were too many of them.

Are any of the gods in that article also present in Starfinder under different names? I haven't picked up that AP volume yet, but the blog summary had a couple who seemed similar to new Starfinder gods.

None of them have shown up in Starfinder, that I'm aware of. I think at least a couple of them would be good fits, particularly Sicva.

[Zaister]

Adam Daigle wrote:

Also, as the author of that write up, I can confirm that Amaznen is certainly dead. Wiped from existence even.

What does that mean?

[Adam Daigle]

He sacrificed himself and ceased to be.

[Freehold DM]

Adam Daigle wrote:

I really considered adding another dead god or two to that article, but changed my mind because I felt it would cheapen the concept of dead gods if there were too many of them.

I must disagree! Dead gods are a treasure trove of ideas and adventure hooks!

MOAR DEAD GODS PLZ

Spoiler:

dont tell any of the Golarion pantheon I said this...

[quibblemuch]

Adam Daigle wrote:

I really considered adding another dead god or two to that article, but changed my mind because I felt it would cheapen the concept of dead gods if there were too many of them.

All I can picture is Terry Jones in his "dowdy housewife" drag muttering: "And 'oo's going to clean up all these dead gods? Me, that's 'oo! Bleedin' deceased de'ities strewn all round the place. 'Orrible!"