When do you think we will get a Starfinder Gods book? Something similar to the Inner Sea Gods or the Lost Omens Gods and Magic books?
The probability is high for it to be a few years from now.
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I think that topic should be covered under the wider umbrella of a book about Mysticism in the setting. We need to explore the stranger, more magical stuff in the setting like the different planes and esoteric events.
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Wouldn't be a bad place to drop a couple dedicated divine classes, though.
I agree with the lack of divinely sponsored classes that there isn't much need for heavy lore on the divine in Starfinder.
Though a book about them would be a good place to drop archetypes or new classes involving them.
I don't think either are on the timetable for Paizo right now.
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Wouldn't be a bad place to drop a couple dedicated divine classes, though.Frankly, I think the Mystic's "divinity-optional" approach is a way better approach for Starfinder's setting.
And you're entitled to that opinion.
I don't share it.
I think that while I would love this book, it could be better served as a chapter in a book about magic and mysticism in Starfinder. Would I love to see a whole book about this? Yeah, but we don't really need it because Starfinder isn't Pathfinder, the Gods are separated from their followers and their followers aren't chained to their service to gain power.
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Wait, does that mean the gods listed in the Connections entries for the Mystic are "more guidelines than actual rules" to quote those pirate movies (I hate having to do this, it's a good quote but Johnny Depp is a Terrible Person(tm), yanno?)? You can pick a connection even if your god of choice isn't on its list?
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Wait, does that mean the gods listed in the Connections entries for the Mystic are "more guidelines than actual rules" to quote those pirate movies (I hate having to do this, it's a good quote but Johnny Depp is a Terrible Person(tm), yanno?)? You can pick a connection even if your god of choice isn't on its list?
I think that the answer is no. If you are a mystic and worship a deity you are bound by the deity's connection preferences. The unbound mystics are those who do not believe in a deity and gain their connection from an ideal. (i.e. "I believe in the sanctity of life" = Healer connection; "I believe that technology is too prevalent and nature needs a stronger say" = Xenodruid)
I would like to get a gods book like the Gods of the Inner Sea book.
Wait, does that mean the gods listed in the Connections entries for the Mystic are "more guidelines than actual rules" to quote those pirate movies (I hate having to do this, it's a good quote but Johnny Depp is a Terrible Person(tm), yanno?)? You can pick a connection even if your god of choice isn't on its list?I think that the answer is no. If you are a mystic and worship a deity you are bound by the deity's connection preferences. The unbound mystics are those who do not believe in a deity and gain their connection from an ideal. (i.e. "I believe in the sanctity of life" = Healer connection; "I believe that technology is too prevalent and nature needs a stronger say" = Xenodruid)
That doe make much sense to me. What happens if a combative survival of the fittest Mindbreaker Mystic starts worshipping Oras? Surely he doesn’t lose powers that never came from that god in the first place.
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Magic is a pretty agnostic force in Starfinder. The deity lists for Mystic Connections are guidelines rather than hard rules. Your magic might be shaped by your faith but their is no ‘fall’ mechanic like in Pathfinder.
Now, if you decide your magic is inherently from your god, that’s your prerogative
I think that topic should be covered under the wider umbrella of a book about Mysticism in the setting. We need to explore the stranger, more magical stuff in the setting like the different planes and esoteric events.
I'd definitely be into a book on the Gods, planes and magical stuff in general. (Maybe a chapter on Starfinder era artifacts akin to the Dead Suns Macguffin).
Wait, does that mean the gods listed in the Connections entries for the Mystic are "more guidelines than actual rules" to quote those pirate movies (I hate having to do this, it's a good quote but Johnny Depp is a Terrible Person(tm), yanno?)? You can pick a connection even if your god of choice isn't on its list?You do not, as a Mystic, require a god at all, and there are absolutely no rules around gods and Mystics. So, yes, they're really just guidelines.
The closest thing to a rule on this is that deities "rarely" grant connections that don't fit their ethos, but you don't even need to get your connection from a deity in the first place. The book example is that as the god of freedom, Weydan is unlikely to look kindly on Overlords - but there's really no reason for that god to take issue with a Star Shaman.
This is my take as well: since there is no one step alignment rule to BE a Mystic your powers come from within and from all around you, not just a deity. The one step rule only comes when you declare an allegiance to that deity but you still don't lose your powers if you fail to live up to your pact and your powers are not necessarily bound to that master.
Looking forward to the CE devastator mystics worshiping Saranrae as part of that fringe cult.
Looking forward to the CE devastator mystics worshiping Saranrae as part of that fringe cult.
I mean...yeah, you could do that.
I could dig a book that delved more into Starfinder deities. I don't know if that is a full book by itself, or one that deals with the planes and demiplanes as well. I'd love a chapter on the Akashic Library.
Hmm
Planescape is by far my all-time favorite game setting, I'd love to see a version of that that was updated for the Starfinder era. Infernal space stations orbiting Dis, specialized monastery ships flying through Limbo, Hell and the Abyss fighting over the souls of great inventors or military commanders to gain advantage in their eternal war, heavenly space marines rolling in to protect upper planar interests...
While that is 100% awesome, it'd probably have to be modified if it was to be set in Starfinder's universe, since a lot of the concepts that make Planescape Planescape aren't present, like the philosophy elements, the Blood War, The Cage, githyanki and githzerai, etc.
Sure, but they could devise similar aspects and make it their own.
I never looked at the planar guide that came out for PF1.0 recently. Did that setting have character?
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I would really like a Starfinder Gods/Planes book.
I realize that Starfinder intentionally kicked alignment to the back seat compared to Pathfinder, and that's great. We've seen a lot more weird plants and aberrations and far fewer outsiders. Cool.
But the gods are still there, the other planes are still there. Before Drift tech became the mainstream FTL method, space travel used extraplanar shortcuts (Iomedean cathedralships, Hellknight helldrives, Kuthite shadowdrives etc) and maybe they still do.
Big burning questions remain: how does technology permeate the outer planes? Do the axiomites have superior tech? Does Hell collect the most advanced secrets of dead sinners? Because souls from all kinds of planets go to the same afterlives, does that give the afterlives access to the best of all worlds? Can you go to Elysium to bargain for tech from more advanced planets that could help your civilization?
What I would really like to see out of a future book on the divine would be an outline about what happened to The Empyreal Lords, The Demon Lords, Infernal Dukes, and lesser Gods like Apsu and Dahak (It's likely if those two still around, they're a big deal on Triaxus).
Still, my Ragthiel worshiping bounty hunter Operative needs some backstory.
Planescape is by far my all-time favorite game setting, I'd love to see a version of that that was updated for the Starfinder era. Infernal space stations orbiting Dis, specialized monastery ships flying through Limbo, Hell and the Abyss fighting over the souls of great inventors or military commanders to gain advantage in their eternal war, heavenly space marines rolling in to protect upper planar interests...I could dig a book that delved more into Starfinder deities. I don't know if that is a full book by itself, or one that deals with the planes and demiplanes as well. I'd love a chapter on the Akashic Library.
Hmm
I love Planescape too, and I'd be interested in any Book of the Planes, even if I don't become a regular SF player. It can't use all the IP that Planescape had, and PF has its own names and geography and Outsider races for the planes. But it would be interesting, and a good place to also discuss gods (including gods that didn't get into the Core) and various religions and philosophies. Optional mechanical effects of worshipping a specific god, or feats that represent exceptional faith and [some benefit], would be interesting.
One thing to think about: The Pact Worlds has gone from medieval tech to superscience. But there have been other worlds that had superscience centuries or millennia ago -- e.g. Androffa. So wouldn't high tech have been known on the Planes for a long while now? The question to me is less "what are the Planes like now (in-universe)" but "Given that the universe now (meta) includes the concept of high tech, what cool stuff can you add to the Planes in any era?"
Frankly, I think the Mystic's "divinity-optional" approach is a way better approach for Starfinder's setting.
The Mystic's thing seems like a way to incorporate "The Force" or the equivalent. If you mean that you think religion should be less prominent than in PF, I would disagree. While that would fit well into a purely sci-fi setting, I don't think the erosion or disappearance of faiths is a given even in scifi. And this is a setting where magic and the gods are verifiably real. So I wouldn't expect religion to be on the wane. Indeed, given that the gods made off with an entire planet, and introduced hyperspace travel to the entire galaxy, they're profoundly visible after the Gap.
That doesn't mean there's no room for an Athar-like faction who don't believe the "gods" are anything more than absurdly powerful Prime Material beings, and don't think they deserve worship. If I were a (non-Hylki) human or elf or dwarf, I might be pretty ticked off about the Gap and Golarion's disappearance, and maybe blame the gods. (If I was Hylki, I might be ticked off at Triune for that FTL thing...)
I'm curious about where to fit characters who worship a group of gods (as though it was a pantheon) or a traveller who just honors the local gods of whatever place they visit today. My Mystic/scientist worships 3 different deities regularly (one of which is only mentioned in PF), plus others depending on the situation, and doesn't believe that zir mystic connection depends directly on any one deity.