Abadar, the LN god of wealth, trade, cities, and nobility has his sacred animal listed as a monkey (and previously an eagle back in the 3.5 days). While the intelligence of monkeys is certainly something Abadar would value, I don't think the mischievous and flighty monkey to be the best fit for such a disciplined and reserved deity.
Inspired by Abadar's CR 4 divine servitor from Inner Sea Gods, the orsheval (think an iron horse), I think the better fitting sacred animal is the horse. Its a land animal which fits Abadar's Earth domain, its used for travel, its a pack animal making it indispensable for trade, and its often associated with nobility in the medieval world.
Ultimately this is just a small flavor change, as I don't think there are any game mechanics that involve sacred animals, but I think its fitting.
And don't get me started on Irori and the snail...
I am necroing this post as it was the only one I could find to address this. Lost Omens Gods ans magic 2E lists Abadar's sacred animal as Monkey. AI Google says it is not; stating that Nethy's Archives dose not list it as such. It suggested Lion. I am looking for an official answer as to if Monkey is cannon, has been errata-ed, or is in need of an errata.
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I am necroing this post as it was the only one I could find to address this. Lost Omens Gods ans magic 2E lists Abadar's sacred animal as Monkey. AI Google says it is not; stating that Nethy's Archives dose not list it as such. It suggested Lion. I am looking for an official answer as to if Monkey is cannon, has been errata-ed, or is in need of an errata.
...why would you go off of Google's AI summary instead of actually checking AoN? It has his sacred animal as monkey.
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For what it's worth, Abadar's been associated with monkeys as a sacred animal since around the early 90s when I first created him for my homebrew campaign.
A less cheeky reply is to note that for the best and most accurate canonical answers to things like this, print products are the place to go to first. When there's discrepancies, skew toward the most recent printed products for accuracy.
Thank you James. I appreciate both of your answers. Monkey it is.
Off topic but the source of question. I understand, agree with and support the need for remastered and the ORC. That being said, was it rushed? Do you feel that you and you team had enough time to proof the products, or does the community need to be a bit more vigil so we can get a good Errata? This is not to imply anything negative toward Paizo, from the outside it appears to be a lot of changes and not on your timeline, but the lawyers.
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Thank you James. I appreciate both of your answers. Monkey it is.
Off topic but the source of question. I understand, agree with and support the need for remastered and the ORC. That being said, was it rushed? Do you feel that you and you team had enough time to proof the products, or does the community need to be a bit more vigil so we can get a good Errata? This is not to imply anything negative toward Paizo, from the outside it appears to be a lot of changes and not on your timeline, but the lawyers.
The choice to remaster things was not something "the lawyers" forced on us, nor is it something they gave us a timeline to follow. It was all us, on the creative team, moving the proverbial heavens and earth to get things into a safer place for Paizo to continue publishing RPGs and for Paizo's employees to keep their jobs in the face of a potential catastrophie that caught the entire industry off-guard. I don't think we could have done the remaster project faster, but we couldn't afford to do it any slower.
It was all us, on the creative team, moving the proverbial heavens and earth to get things into a safer place for Paizo to continue publishing RPGs and for Paizo's employees to keep their jobs in the face of a potential catastrophie that caught the entire industry off-guard.
I truly thank you for doing so. I am thankful that the creative team did not wait to act.
In your opinion how did the group do in the monumental task of moving Heaven and Earth? From the outside the amount of work you did was impressive to say the least. Do you think the group caught most if not all the snakes in the grass, or do we need to be a little more vigilant over the short term?
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It was all us, on the creative team, moving the proverbial heavens and earth to get things into a safer place for Paizo to continue publishing RPGs and for Paizo's employees to keep their jobs in the face of a potential catastrophie that caught the entire industry off-guard.I truly thank you for doing so. I am thankful that the creative team did not wait to act.
In your opinion how did the group do in the monumental task of moving Heaven and Earth? From the outside the amount of work you did was impressive to say the least. Do you think the group caught most if not all the snakes in the grass, or do we need to be a little more vigilant over the short term?
By being professional and highly skilled and dedicated and passionate and creative and focused. I was mostly on the outskirts watching from the outside, as the Narrative side of things went "second" in the transition over to the remastered rules, but I was there to help out and advise when and how and were I could, but everyone at Paizo pulled together to work together to make it happen so you'd have to ask each of them for the actual details.
For what it's worth, Abadar's been associated with monkeys as a sacred animal since around the early 90s when I first created him for my homebrew campaign.
A less cheeky reply is to note that for the best and most accurate canonical answers to things like this, print products are the place to go to first. When there's discrepancies, skew toward the most recent printed products for accuracy.
We don't know how Abadar was in your homebrew, so hard to judge.
But I kind of agree with OP that monkey is an odd choice, even among other primates.
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I think a strong argument for monkeys instead of other Primates is that monkeys coexist with humans in many places (Southern Asia mostly) in a way that more human-like primates never would.
So you could have monkeys just lounging about in your temple of Abadar that would constitute only minor nuisances that we tolerate because they're sacred, but you'd always be at risk that a chimp would tear off someone's face even if they were a sacred chimp.
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For what it's worth, Abadar's been associated with monkeys as a sacred animal since around the early 90s when I first created him for my homebrew campaign.
A less cheeky reply is to note that for the best and most accurate canonical answers to things like this, print products are the place to go to first. When there's discrepancies, skew toward the most recent printed products for accuracy.
We don't know how Abadar was in your homebrew, so hard to judge.
But I kind of agree with OP that monkey is an odd choice, even among other primates.
True, but some folks do attach weight to the original creator's intent for things, and being that original creator, I figured I'd drop my perspective in there.
Sometimes, when choosing sacred animals for a deity, I'd choose something that might seem strange or unusual. Same reason I'd give a deity an unexpected domain or area of concern or anything like that. It's a great way to give a deity personality at the start when you don't have a lot of time or room to go into details beyond the basics, or alternately, choices like that help to inspire new bits of lore down the road.
I am curious to hear, what are the reasons/associations that Abadar would have for his sacred animal being a monkey?
Did he have a pet monkey at one time?
Is it because in old movies traders were sometimes shown with pet monkeys?
Was it simply because you thought "this'll be funny"?
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I am curious to hear, what are the reasons/associations that Abadar would have for his sacred animal being a monkey?
Did he have a pet monkey at one time?
Is it because in old movies traders were sometimes shown with pet monkeys?
Was it simply because you thought "this'll be funny"?
I think James answered your question, at least indirectly.
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I chose monkey because of the traditions of traders and entertainers sometimes having monkey "helpers" and because monkeys have hands and because of the old "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" monkey trope was a fun symbol for the complexities of how society functions. And also because of the whole "Humans keep monkeys as pets because they feel like 'little humans' and try to make them do things and sometimes that backfires tragically" thing was an interesting take on how Abadar as a god kind of regards his worshipers as pets to amuse him at how they build up societies. And also because monkeys are often regarded as "cute and harmless and friendly" but they're actually capable of sudden violence and cruelty and warfare, just like human societies (and because Abadar's not good, I wanted an animal that's one that goes both ways when it comes to portrayals in fiction and life). And also because no one else in the core 20 made sense to have a monkey and I wanted there to be a monkey on the list.
I love that answer James. Thanks for the insight.
Prior to your answer, I was specifically thinking of the Monkey Man in Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I suspect that may have been part of the inspiration.
I am envisioning a conflict between a cranky Abadarian priest and followers of Ragdya in my home game. I think Abadar priests might take themselves entirely too seriously in a city like Absalom. Thanks for the background information!