| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There might be differences in the visual manifestations and the somatic/verbal components of spells depending on tradition though, as the power is coming from very different places.
I’d welcome a (carefully done!) Pesh Mage archetype in 2e.
|
I do find it really strange that everywhere else on Golarion has its own gods, then you go to Osirion and it's like someone was tired of creating gods so they just went "screw it, it's just the Egyptian Ones".
The "fantasy Egypt's" I most enjoyed (MtGs Amonkhet and Warhammer's Nehekhara) had their own unique gods and it made them feel more like their own thing which I enjoyed.
I think a focus on Golarion's deities (like Nethys, as someone mentioned previously) would be really nice.
In the setting, it is the Osiriani gods that later became the Egyptian gods.
I found it interesting (likely a take on the "pyramids come from another world" concept). But I totally get how worshippers might be offended and that is more important IMO than my slight interest in the concept.
|
|
I've always been so confused about the Pharaoh being considered a divine ruler of sorts. People don't seem to worship him there, so I've been depicting this facet as him being incredibly popular (pff, Abadar is backing MY king, what about yours?). How the osiriani see the Pharoah? Are there relevant diverging opinions? Or being considered a divine ruler means nothing?
I guess similar to the Japanese emperor or the Catholic pope : infinite respect for the role, and by extension for the person. They basically are the one only the gods can contradict.
Does not mean they are all powerful though. If they don't also have political power, they are mostly religious figures revered for their supposed knowledge / proximity to the gods' will.
Interaction with Rahadoum should be extremely interesting.
|
|
I like the idea of Rahadoum. But everytime I try to figure out how it can be from within, I end up thinking about the very real and very sensitive political issues we have in France about secularism these days.
I feel it is hard to tackle this concept without being heavily influenced by RL political issues, one way or another.
Or we stay outside the Rahadoumi mindset and just use them as mostly monolithic allies or opponents.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I like the idea of Rahadoum. But everytime I try to figure out how it can be from within, I end up thinking about the very real and very sensitive political issues we have in France about secularism these days.
I feel it is hard to tackle this concept without being heavily influenced by RL political issues, one way or another.
Or we stay outside the Rahadoumi mindset and just use them as mostly monolithic allies or opponents.
I think the way to play Rahadoumi folks is not to be anti-god, but to be pro-study. We live in an age of wonders - magic and science await mortal minds to tame and master them! Pushing the boundaries of the possible, not just for thrills or power, but to help your fellow people. You can do some really inspiring humanism with them, celebrating mortal potential. Healing broken bodies, repairing a dying environment… the Rahadoumi seek new methods of doing good.
Gotta remember, the Oath Wars paint a bleak portrait of things: the major faiths were a militant sun goddess, a patron of thieves and murderers, a god of destructive magic, and the lord of both assassins and natural disasters. Sarenrae is the only one with a warm and fuzzy side, but the other three all quickly skew horrifying. Their distrust of the divine is very well warranted.
|
|
I like the idea of Rahadoum. But everytime I try to figure out how it can be from within, I end up thinking about the very real and very sensitive political issues we have in France about secularism these days.
I feel it is hard to tackle this concept without being heavily influenced by RL political issues, one way or another.
Or we stay outside the Rahadoumi mindset and just use them as mostly monolithic allies or opponents.
I think the way to play Rahadoumi folks is not to be anti-god, but to be pro-study. We live in an age of wonders - magic and science await mortal minds to tame and master them! Pushing the boundaries of the possible, not just for thrills or power, but to help your fellow people. You can do some really inspiring humanism with them, celebrating mortal potential. Healing broken bodies, repairing a dying environment… the Rahadoumi seek new methods of doing good.
Gotta remember, the Oath Wars paint a bleak portrait of things: the major faiths were a militant sun goddess, a patron of thieves and murderers, a god of destructive magic, and the lord of both assassins and natural disasters. Sarenrae is the only one with a warm and fuzzy side, but the other three all quickly skew horrifying. Their distrust of the divine is very well warranted.
I thought of the scientific progress thing too. Likely because it's what happened in Europe after religious institutions lost some of their power.
But Golarion is not like that. Based on Alkenstar, it is the absence of magic that drives technology. Not the absence of deities' worship.
And there are deities that are absolutely ok with technological progress. So, any country other than Rahadoum can be just as good at scientific progress AND benefit from the Divine magic of Clerics.
Except, of course, if Rahadoum gets help from those who also hate/despise the gods ...
Really Rahadoum is tailor-made for Alghollthus. As if they engineered its creation. Or as if someone engineered Rahadoum's creation knowing that it would attract Alghollthus' attention, as a way to find them and their plots. The perfect bait to catch them with.
Do we know of anyone that would hate the Alghollthus enough to try this ?
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Rahadoum got lots of interesting locations and stories to tell. With all the fallen temples, cult hideaways, black markets, intrigue with Cheliax, outsiders conducting their secret wars, religious sects intrigue, the asura, magical beasts from the desert, thieves guilds, ruins of the Jistka Imperium, and macguffin artifacts.
Rahadoum is also suffering from plagues, famine, swarms, and divine curses. A campaign can just be centered around going to place to place: lifting curses, helping nomad clans and saving rustic villagers, fighting monsters, evil warlords, ending plagues and famine, and the selfish whims of the gods.
I would recommend the heroes to be nomadic, since many of the inhabitants of the region are nomadic. So if you're going to do a campaign, a style of play could be episodic (monster of the week or problem of the week), with lots of colorful NPCs that should make the PCs care about helping them, and the NPCs being reoccurring.
With a nomadic theme adventure, it be more sandbox. You could have a linear background story going on behind the scenes influencing all the big bad things, and I would probably recommend the Asura to step up in the role of the big bad or a actual vindictive god (not any of the Core gods) that is angry at the nation to be the big bad.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Interesting thing about Manaket from the Pathfinder wiki on asura rana, Rahu the Sun Eater, and the veiled masters.
Rahu has allied with a veiled master who hides under the city of Manaket in godless Rahadoum, due to their shared interest in deicide. To show his good will, Rahu sent the veiled master an aghasura named Shuvahavorath and two dozen tripurasuras, the latter of whom are now serving as the veiled master's spies in Manaket.
Rahu is an asura rana associated with executions and eclipses, which his followers see as expressions of gluttony for life and light.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
If I can resurrect this one: I've discovered tonight that there's astonishingly little info on the Vourinoi "desert elves" in published sources. 1e has basically nothing that I can track down (though there's lots to be found on the region's dwarves and some info on the local orcs and half-orcs), while the section in the Character Guide is charming, but brief. The latter tells us that they protect oases, are prone to wanderlust, prize hospitality, are generally friendly, revere Desna, tend towards gender fluidity, and have a unique belief system centering on reincarnation and personal destiny.
Give me more! The Mwangi book made each Mualijae nation jump off the page and really feel alive; I'd love to see these charming pilgrims and queer storytellers in greater detail, to make them really feel playable.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
In addition to what the other said here, if we get a golden road book similar to the mwangi expanse one, I would like the new ancestries to be a bit more fleshed out fluff wise.
It was my biggest (or rather, my only) problem with the mwangi book, the chapter on anadi, conrasu and the like was almost solely about their mechanic, and we didn't have an in depth view of how their society work and where they are situated, like the various elves culture were for exemple.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
The latter tells us that they protect oases, are prone to wanderlust, prize hospitality, are generally friendly, revere Desna, tend towards gender fluidity.
I'm delighted to learn my nb-femme Forlorn elf liberator champion of Shelyn was way more in keeping with the desert elf description than I even knew at the time, even if she was orphaned at a fairly young age and so wouldn't actually have been brought up much in vourinoi culture XD
|
I like the idea of Rahadoum. But everytime I try to figure out how it can be from within, I end up thinking about the very real and very sensitive political issues we have in France about secularism these days.
I feel it is hard to tackle this concept without being heavily influenced by RL political issues, one way or another.
Or we stay outside the Rahadoumi mindset and just use them as mostly monolithic allies or opponents.
I think the way to play Rahadoumi folks is not to be anti-god, but to be pro-study. We live in an age of wonders - magic and science await mortal minds to tame and master them! Pushing the boundaries of the possible, not just for thrills or power, but to help your fellow people. You can do some really inspiring humanism with them, celebrating mortal potential. Healing broken bodies, repairing a dying environment… the Rahadoumi seek new methods of doing good.
Gotta remember, the Oath Wars paint a bleak portrait of things: the major faiths were a militant sun goddess, a patron of thieves and murderers, a god of destructive magic, and the lord of both assassins and natural disasters. Sarenrae is the only one with a warm and fuzzy side, but the other three all quickly skew horrifying. Their distrust of the divine is very well warranted.
I thought of the scientific progress thing too. Likely because it's what happened in Europe after religious institutions lost some of their power.
But Golarion is not like that. Based on Alkenstar, it is the absence of magic that drives technology. Not the absence of deities' worship.
And there are deities that are absolutely ok with technological progress. So, any country other than Rahadoum can be just as good at scientific progress AND benefit from the Divine magic of Clerics.
Except, of course, if Rahadoum gets help from those who also hate/despise the gods ...
Really Rahadoum is tailor-made for Alghollthus. As if they engineered its creation. Or as if someone engineered...
I played around a bit w/ Rahadoum for my game. There wasn't some war between religious sects, instead the Rahadoumi have always been against divine worship. They believe that their country was the first place which Aroden landed, and he gave them "The Law of Man"
The Rahadoumi believe that the successor church built in Absalom is an aberration from the original teachings. They have never worshipped a god because the Last Azlanti gave them all the teachings which they need. The death of Aroden has only reinforced their antipathy for the other religions.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This is a little random, but something I'd like is the return of the shotel as a weapon, as the Golden Road is probably one of the places it'd most likely be a popular weapon (apart from Osirion where the khopesh is king, obviously). Sure there's Sickles and the new Lion Scythe that have a similar general shape, but they're both slashing weapons while the shotel was more meant as a piercing weapon (and its stats in 1e reflect this), plus those two weapons are classified as knives rather than a proper sword.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
With how lovely the Mbe’ke, Taralu, Dongun (is that the proper name for Dongun Hold dwarves?), and Kulenett have been, it would be a shame to not see similar treatments for the Vahird (of Rahadoum) and the Paraheen (of Qadira), both of whom got fleeting glimpses in the Character Guide. An expansion on each plus a little more meat on the bones of the Pahmet (who are awesome, but a little one-dimensional) would go a long way.
I’ve never really been a fan of dwarves in fantasy, but Garund has changed that - and it rules!
Also, I want an explanation for that poor Vahird’s haircut in LOCG.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
I’ve recently read some of P. Djèlí Clark‘s “Dead Djinn” series of works, a number of fiction pieces that share a magical alt-history setting of a 1912 Cairo where djinn-taught magic frees Egypt from British subjugation and starts a whole cultural renaissance.
Things lean hard on the magical (occult issues are common and understood enough to have a devoted governmental agency that investigates them operating openly) and the modern (breathtaking technology at the turn of the century, Egyptian feminist movements) balanced well alongside ancient traditions and culture. Djinn live and work in society. Angels are rare and frightening. Clockwork servants handle much of the labor. Cults are rife, and not entirely bad, just different from the Muslim norm.
What I’m saying is that it’s /perfect/ Golden Road inspiration. I’m certain that much like the protagonists, the Pure Legion has spent long hours in their archives trying to figure out what they’re trying to perform an exorcism on. The grand cities of Thuvia, Osirion, and Qadira should feel as incredible as this fantasy Cairo does. Sinister angels selling impossible pacts is everything I want from Katapesh.
Using this thread because it's close enough - is there anywhere to look for info on the Halflings of the region? I can't find anything other than very, very brief "they've been slaves in Osirion since forever," with no real hints of culture or any named ethnic group.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Since the Barrier Wall separates the Golden Road and Mwangi Expanse meta-regions I imagine Jaric halflings are prevalent in this area; a hypothetical Golden Road book is probably the most likely place for us to get more info since they aren't covered in Lost Omens: The Mwangi Expanse.
A non-bowdlerized Katapesh.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
...
I’ve never really been a fan of dwarves in fantasy, but Garund has changed that - and it rules!
...
It's funny how such things can make a big difference when it comes to taste, isn't it?
I loved the D&D 1st edition 'earthy' gnomes, but I've never had any interest in the Pathfinder 'troll doll' version. But now that PF2 has introduced keenspark gnomes, gnomes are back on my favorites list.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
A non-bowdlerized Katapesh.
I’d love to hear what you like about Katapesh; it’s never much hooked me.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
In terms of playable heritages that it would be nice to have from a Golden Road source book, obviously there are the Vourinoi elves, Jaric halflings, the gnolls of southern Osirion and Katapesh, and Osiriani Pahmet and Rahadoumi Vahird dwarves who could use some fleshing out. And there's been tidbits of catfolk clans who live in the desert, as well as half-orcs inKatapesh. But in terms of heritages that weren't previously playable, there are two I think would be neat:
* Maftets, the sphinx-like winged half-feline half-humanoids who sometimes make their homes in the deserts;
* Girtablilu, who are like centaurs except instead of being part horse they're part scorpion.
I genuinely don't know how you'd even begin to balance them. Flight being inherent for any playable race is unbalancing to most mechanics, especially in the early game, and being a large creature with a sting attack would prevent its own difficulties. But there are reasons why people go to homebrew for some funky stuff, and either would be pretty cool if Paizo could pull it off.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I’d /love/ if Maftet were playable! Shabti have a good chance here, too.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Some Ancestries from the Golden Road region I would love to see:
Universal Heritage:
Shabti - To me the Shabti make a perfect Universal Heritage as they can be made from any Ancestry that has a soul. While the creation of Shabti appears to have developed in Osirion, this knowledge has likely spread throughout most of the Golden Road region.
New Ancestries:
Maftet - Maftets are just kind of awesome and would work very well as an Ancestry. Their population centers are most likely found in Thuvia and wherever the deserts meet the mountains. They have a connection with Sphinxes, which definitely needs more exploration. In general appearance we know that there are the leonine Maftet with goldenrod to rust red coloration, as well as spotted leopard Maftets, pale and white furred Maftets, and black furred Maftets with grayish-purple coloration. Since we know that Maftets have a connection with Sphinxes, we can reasonably expect that there are Maftet populations anywhere Sphinxes are found. This suggests there may be Maftet populaitons in Iblydos, and also raises the question of where are there major Sphinx populations? Maftet and Sphinxes may have a similar relationship as Naga and Nagaji. However, the expression of the relationship between Sphinxes and Maftets, and Naga and Nagaji is clearly very different.
Zhyen - Zhyen are the Genie Ancestry you never realized you so desperately needed. Zhyen are kind of the Genie equivalent to Sprites. Zhyen are tiny in size and Heritages are tied to an elemental plane (Air, Earth, Fire, Water). Like Leshies, they may serve as familiars to powerful spell casters, however, their independent natures often see them striking out on their own. Zhyen are also know to hangout with Mephits and serve in the courts of more powerful types of Genies. If that wasn't enough similar to Gnomes that undergo the bleaching and become Bleachlings, Zhyen that endure the suffering become Jocta. Jocta and Bleachlings are derived Heritages that require losing advancement in the starting Heritage and gaining advancement in the derived Heritage after undergoing an experience that is unique to a specific Ancestry. Hopefully we will get rules for these derived Heritages at some point.
Girtablilu - As they are currently presented we are unlikely to see Girtablilu as an Ancestry. However, we have seen nothing that really discusses Girtablilu lifecycle. For me, I think it would be very reasonable to see Girtablilu have an egg, larva, pupa, adult lifecycle. Playing around with this concept we could possibly see playable Girtablilu that are primarily playable during their larval stage of development. Larval Girtablilu are medium sized humanoids with rigid chitin like skin and scorpion like tails. (In concept they are somewhat similar to the Spider-Man villain called Scorpion or Scorpia from She-Ra). Later, when they go through their pupa life stage they create a chitin cocoon and eventually emerge as an adult Girtablilu. The adult stage of the lifecycle will probably remain off limits for player characters as that comes with a lot of perks. Although, Paizo might be able to work something out. The recent Creature Archetypes in the form of Undead Archetypes have shown that it is possible to slowly layer on various creature attributes in the form of an Archetype.
As a personal aside, I would love it if Girtablilu originated from Azlant and some fled in advance of Earthfall to the deserts of Northern Garund/central Casmaron, and some fled to the deserts of Arcadia, giving us scorpionfolk populations in both geographic areas.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
The Gnolls of the region are definitely something I’m hungry for more info on - and not coincidentally, Shimon-Je is a character I’m keen to see in further stories. I don’t demand or expect any retcons to their general place as outsiders feared for banditry and kidnappings, but an understanding of what /else/ they have going on would be nice.
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, a shift from that being the thing they're known for to a thing they're known for would be appreciated, if a hard retcon isn't in the cards...Especially since Paizo has kinda deprecated the use of slavery as a theme for themselves.
Also, this is basically a given, but it bears saying: I would love if the deserts here were made out to be just as rich and vivid as the jungles of the Mwangi Expanse, and not just within the oases. After all, they are the defining geographic feature here (and part of why this is the Golden Road, I'm sure), and all but the harshest deserts are still pretty lively and diverse ecosystems (or at least more than just a uniform pile of sand with no recognizable features)... And that's before you take into account the supernatural and the fantastical.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As a personal aside, I would love it if Girtablilu originated from Azlant and some fled in advance of Earthfall to the deserts of Northern Garund/central Casmaron, and some fled to the deserts of Arcadia, giving us scorpionfolk populations in both geographic areas.
Like Shedu or Lamassu, Girtablilu (in real life) originated in Mesopotamia so making them survivors of Azlant feels a bit wrong. We do know that Ninshabur's armies threatened to conquer the pre-Taldan principalities and Ancient Osirion, so it could be that they're a remnant of that ancient conquest, the same way Kortos's centaurs, minotaurs and harpies are descendants of Voradni Voon's invasion. If I recall correctly, their armies got as far as Varisia before they were beaten back.
It also solves one of my problems with the Inner Sea as a setting, which is that at its heart virtually everything revolves around Azlant and its descendants.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It also solves one of my problems with the Inner Sea as a setting, which is that at its heart virtually everything revolves around Azlant and its descendants.
I haven’t really felt this in 2e, honestly. There’s almost nothing to do with Azlant in the Mwangi Expanse, other than that they brought the serpentfolk low, and I can’t think of any links at all to the upcoming Impossible Lands, either. Lots of Avistan likewise has pretty much no trace of Azlant, too, especially as you get away from the western coast.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lots of Avistan likewise has pretty much no trace of Azlant, too, especially as you get away from the western coast.
And the southern coast - most of Taldor's state-building, and thus its successors, are self-consciously in the Azlanti tradition or the Arodenite tradition which sprung from it. To say nothing of Absalom.
About the only freedom from the Azlanti legacy to be found in Avistan is in the far north (Irrisen, Sarkoris, Issia, etc.)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lots of Avistan likewise has pretty much no trace of Azlant, too, especially as you get away from the western coast.And the southern coast - most of Taldor's state-building, and thus its successors, are self-consciously in the Azlanti tradition or the Arodenite tradition which sprung from it. To say nothing of Absalom.
About the only freedom from the Azlanti legacy to be found in Avistan is in the far north (Irrisen, Sarkoris, Issia, etc.)
If you squint, you can tie Thassilon to Azlant, and Thassilon’s fingerprints are all over the Broken Lands, where a lot of 1e players spent the bulk of their time in. I could see that warping the scale of Azlant’s place in the setting.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Also, Taldor controlled a decent chunk of the Broken Lands at one point. I would agree there are plenty of Inner Sea locations without much connection to Azlant though--as Keftiu pointed out, Garund doesn't have much besides Saventh-Yhi and the Azlanti influence on the Jistka Imperium (plus maybe the Lirgeni if they are indeed partially descended from Azlanti).
Wasn't there something about Jatembe possibly recovering Azlanti magic to kick-start the rediscovery of magic after Earthfall? I know there's one myth he wrested it from Ydersius, and to do that he'd have had to go through Saventh-Yhi.
Whatever the case, my point was that Osirion is a place with ancient and rich magical traditions of its own, an entire lexicon of magical symbols in its hieroglyphs, especially with a bunch of pyramids having crashed down across Osirion to perhaps reintroduce some lost magic to modern scholars, and yet its two arcane schools (the Academy of Scribes and El-Shelad Madrassa) don't even rival those of places like Varisia in terms of size or prestige. The Living Monolith archetype is neat and all, but when I think of something tryly Egyptian-flavoured I think of the famous deified wizard-priests like Imhotep, Amenhotep son of Hapu, or Djedi, You then have Jistkan construct-crafting, Thuvia's alchemical history, and Qadira's genie-binding which has become controversial lately, to add to the mix and do some interesting things with, and set the Golden Road apart from magical schools in places like Absalom, Old Cheliax or Shining Kingdoms.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
According to Legacy of Pharaohs, Ancient Pharaohs bound elementals to keep the land safe. Earth, Wind and Fire elementals to tame the desert sands, and Water elementals to keep the river flowing regularly. Those pacts lapsed when the Keleshites took over, and immediately sprang back into effect when Khemet I sat on the throne, but in between a bunch of elementals managed to break loose and found clans in the east and south deserts. Janhelia is from one such clan, the Illuminates of Sokar (the only canon reference to Sokar I could find) from the volcano Sokar's Boil, which is also a portal to a fire/fey demiplane the dragon Asuulek is looking for. But we don't actually know what those pacts involve - we know that Qadira and the greater Padishah Empire have pacts with the Plane of Fire and its Efreet rulers, and that the last time Qadira fought Taldor the only reason Kelesh allowed it was because its armies were busy fighting on the Plane of Fire. There may be similar deals brokered between the other planes and ancient Pharaohs, though Osirion seems to have had a broader spread.
And beyond that, we know that the Pharaoh of Famine bound divs to unleash on Jistka, the Pharaoh of Blades is held to have used genies to build the walls of Ipeq, and Hakotep himself bound a Shaitan to guard the Khepsutanem. So it wasn't just elementals the Pharaohs bound. Even the Great Library of Tephu still binds certain fiends and monitors to protect its more hidden archives.
I think those planar pacts would make for some very interesting new lore that a Lost Omens: The Golden Road could update and recontextualise. Especially with Qadira grappling with having an emancipationist consort to the Satrap, and Osirion having starved chattel slavery while it replaced it with construct labour. Even by the standards of the Padishah Empire, Qadira was seem as especially and needlessly cruel and brutal to its slaves, especially the extraplanar ones - many genie-kin fled to Osirion to escape persecution when it was conquered.
Speaking of the Ruby Prince, is that guy ever going to officially call himself King? I understand originally he wanted to wait until he'd brought Absalom under his sway, but he seems to have given up on that. Which makes me wonder what he's actually waiting for. Is he maintaining a legal fiction with the Padishah Empire, who were the first to recognise Khemet I in exchange for the safety of keleshite citizens? Is he just waiting for some suitable disaster he can save the country from before declaring himself? Does the average Osiriani actually care about the distinction? And IIRC, the last Sultana and her family are still out there in Qadira having fled with their household and money - are they trying to get the throne back, or did they reluctantly settle down as lesser obles of their ancestral homeland?
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
At this point the Ruby Prince is certainly poised to become the Ruby Pharaoh. And I am excited by that prospect.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
One thing it just occurred to me that a Lost Omens: The Golden Road could deal with...currency! The whole region is one massive trade route connecting distant Rahadoum to the trade routes of Casmaron. We know Absalom's currency in detain, but we only have a full description of Katapesh's currency to work from. For my own game I've been assuming that Katapesh inherited the same currency system Osirion uses (copper grains, silver pennies, gold scarabs, and platinum genies) but there's a lot of room to expand on. Electrum was extremely valuable to the Ancient Egyptians, who also valued silver more than gold, and while I don't expect or want a full parallel to the Bronze Age pre-currency economy, or even the Ptolemaic adoption of Greek drachma or Roman denarii, you could really make every region feel a bit different and tie it in to the theme of the metaregion.
We know that while Rahadoum is sceptical of religious people entering its borders, it has no choice but to permit it for trade - how does that trade work? The markets of Manaket, Merab, Sothhis and Katapesh are world-famous, and the whole region is famed for its trade, both the trade ships that hug the coastlines and the overland caravans, and one of my players had the brilliant idea of an ancestor buying an old Nexian war surplus sandship and converting it into an overland merchant cruiser (and then having it stolen as impetus to adventure). And detailing the trade routes and the ways money changes hands gives them an excuse to talk about the various peoples who live in the deserts of northern garund, and how they in turn plug into that network - vourinoi elves, yerbira humans, mafdets, ammurrans, half-orcs, gnolls, and so on, staking out their territories, charging for safe passage or hiring themselves as temporary escorts, actively preying on them, bartering their own produce for things they can't make in the desert, in a constantly shifting network of alliances that changes like the sands.
I briefly considered trying to look into fleshing out the economic system of Osirion for my Mummy's Mask game, but quickly decided it was more effort than I was going to get in reward. But I think you can do it in a way that doesn't make it feel tedious.
|
Sasha, bless you for that post. I’d love to see Osirion be less Fantasy Egypt and more a living, storied part of Golarion.Yeah, we know it's got pyramids and a pharaoh... okay what else?
The politics of various elemental clans out in the desert? The 85-century nearly unweathered carapace of Ulanut and all manner of Rovagug pilgrims it surely attracts! The sphinx-friendly habit as an opportunity to make up for the underuse of riddles!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm hoping for a martial anti-divine subclass for Rahadoum.
I'm hoping for a martial anti-divine subclass for Rahadoum.
I don’t think we’ll ever see a class in a Lost Omens book, and “anti-divine” is a pretty narrow space for a whole class to occupy.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I could see a Pure Legionary archetype, with a few tricks to combat clerics specifically or magic-users generally given the traditional disparity between martials and casters, but not a full class. Likewise, it would be neat to see Thuvian Alchemist as an archetype. Osirion already has Living Monolith but I've expressed earlier that it would be nice if they got something that leaned a bit more into the arcane side of Osiriani culture, and the Sahir-Afiyun has potential if treaded carefully around, as does the Qadiran Daivrat given that it treads on the toes of how Golarion handles slavery, though I think it could quite easily be replaced as the regional archetype by either the Horselord or the Ashiftrah, both of them harkening back to more positive things about Qadira - the Ashiftrah who defend the homeland from Taldan invaders, and the Horselord representing Qadira's internationally famous tradition of horse breeding.