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It was recently revealed by Avi Henriques on blue sky that Lamashtu has new anathema!
Old attempt to treat a mental illness or deformity, provide succor to Lamashtu’s enemies
New attempt to change what makes you different, provide succor to Lamashtu's enemies.
They go on to mention that they wanted to "Disentangle the idea that disability itself was monstrous and instead focusing on her embracing those who revel in being different".
Honestly this is a huge relief to me personally. Lamashtu has always been one of my favorite deities. But as someone who struggles with disability in its many forms, it always felt gross to make any character with that anathema. I am uninformed whether she requires unholy sanctification (its likely she does) but for mundane worshippers of her I gather this change will be much appreciated.
It also puts her softly off my "deities likely to die" as why would they concern themselves with the future following of Lamashtu if they were gonna kill her next year? Haha they totally wouldn't do that right guys?
Anyone else have any particularly uncomfortable anathema like this that could benefit from some change? Thoughts on Lamashtu's new anathema?
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A pretty good change, I say!
It makes it clearer why Lamashtu would curse you by making you...conventionally attractive! D:
To a person who finds beauty in what makes them different from others, being made to look just like everybody else would be quite devastating...
I like it, everyone's bringing up good points. Always liked Lamashtu but felt weird about it, I like this take more.
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Lamashtu actually does not require unholy but it is an option for her worshippers.
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Lamashtu was always one of the easiest core evil deities to write a sympathetic alternative character interpretation for as a champion for the dispossessed and disaffected members of society. On the other hand she's still an ascended demon lord, with all the character flaws that entails. Are we to assume her edicts remain more or less as they were?
Lamashtu not requiring her followers to join the unholy crusade of cruelty and sin only makes things more interesting. I think the best description of her teachings was a sort of "don't try to heal, don't get better--get worse". It makes a lot of sense for the formerly-CE deity to espouse self-acceptance (generally positive) to the utmost extreme.
She almost has "Marvel villain has an actual point so they made them kill people to show they're evil" energy, which is what makes her such an interesting deity to me.
The conundrum for me now is whether I'd rather play up the "still a demon lord who despises civilization and stability" aspect, with her sanctification being, like Sarenrae, an invitation to join the righteous/wicked when you're ready, or to lean in on her "near-universally shunned religion of the downtrodden" aspect.
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Lamashtu was always one of the easiest core evil deities to write a sympathetic alternative character interpretation for as a champion for the dispossessed and disaffected members of society. On the other hand she's still an ascended demon lord, with all the character flaws that entails. Are we to assume her edicts remain more or less as they were?
Lamashtu not requiring her followers to join the unholy crusade of cruelty and sin only makes things more interesting. I think the best description of her teachings was a sort of "don't try to heal, don't get better--get worse". It makes a lot of sense for the formerly-CE deity to espouse self-acceptance (generally positive) to the utmost extreme.
She almost has "Marvel villain has an actual point so they made them kill people to show they're evil" energy, which is what makes her such an interesting deity to me.
The conundrum for me now is whether I'd rather play up the "still a demon lord who despises civilization and stability" aspect, with her sanctification being, like Sarenrae, an invitation to join the righteous/wicked when you're ready, or to lean in on her "near-universally shunned religion of the downtrodden" aspect.
Since Holy has not been mentioned as an option for her followers, I feel the latter does not make much sense. Why would the downtrodden be unable to join the cause of Holy ?
My first Paizo campaign was Rise of the Runelords, D&D 3.5 version played under PF1 rules, and Lamashtu had a significant role in that adventure.
The events in the 1st module, Burnt Offerings, related to a foundling Nualia left at the temple of Desna in Sandpoint, Varisia.
Due to the temple of Lamashtu buried beneath Sandpoint, Nualia had an opportunity to devote herself to Lamashtu.
As Nualia slept, she dreamed unhealthy dreams. Fueled by the wrath from below and the taint of Lamashtu, Nualia became further obsessed with the cruel demon goddess and the conviction that her wretched life was inflicted on her by those around her. She came to see her angelic heritage as a curse, and the demon-sent dreams showed her how to expunge this taint from her body and soul, replacing it with chaos and cruelty. When she finally woke, Nualia was someone new, someone who didn’t flinch at what Lamashtu asked of her.
When the party meets Nualia in person, she is partially transformed. One of her arms has turned demonic.
Thus, Nualia was changing her angelic heritage, which made her different, to a demonic heritage via magic from Lamashtu. Lamashtu was breaking her own new anathema, "attempt to change what makes you different."
I suppose that this might be partially mitigated based on how PF2 Remasters treats the aasimer versatile heritage. If it has become a general-purpose Nephilim heritage that does not distiguish between angelic and demonic like aasimer and tiefling do, then this might simply be the other side of Nualia's heritage.
A better phrasing of "attempt to change what makes you different" that fits Nualia's story would be, "attempt to change yourself merely to fit other people's pre-conceptions."
It was a significant plot point in Burnt Offerings that Nualia left the temple of Desna in shame and anger and became a fighter/cleric of Lamashtu. Clerics of Lamashtu appeared frequently in the Rise of the Runelords adventure path. Many of those clerics were lamia.
Lamias are bloodthirsty victims of an ancient curse for which they blame the gods. Most lamias are humanoid from the waist up but have the lower bodies of beasts and monsters. Sinister magic comes naturally to a lamia, and they prefer the use of illusions and enchantments to deceive prey for later consumption, or simply to torture.
Lamia and their variants were common in Xin-Shalast, the ancient lost city that had served as the capital of Runelord Karzoug's kingdom. Since my players infiltrated Xin-Shalast and made alliances, including with some lamia, I filled out the culture of the lamia. About a quarter of the lamia worships Lamashtu, because they were monsters. About a quarter of them venerated Karzoug as a god, because he aided them in the past and would return. About a quarter of them worshiped Pharasma, who they thought could free them from their curse if they were sufficiently pious. And the last quarter were purely secular, not respecting any god.
Their history was that their foremothers had been punished by the gods due their sacrilege and transformed into lamia. The gods had not expected the original lamia to breed, since they were all monstrous females and would pass the lamia curse to their children. Nevertheless, the lamia had found ways to have offspring--some of them quite vile--and had continued their cursed bloodline in defiance of the gods. Yet the one god whom they believed would accept them as they are was Lamashtu.
Lamashtu was significant in Rise of the Runelords, but had no role in the other three adventure paths I ran, except that I added her to my PF2-converted Ironfang Invasion campaign because the Barghests and their barghest-hero gods were involved in the Ironfang Invasion. Lamashtu had freed the barghest hero-gods from working for Asmodeus.
In Assault on Longshadow the party can destroy some of the Ironfang Legion's support camp, such as the camp that trains and tends their monstrous warbeasts. The commander of that camp is the hobgoblin Repral.
Repral, the camp’s overseer, grew up in the Darklands deep below Molthune. She has an unnatural kinship with strange and terrible beasts, forged in her long period of survival in a monstrous realm. [General] Kosseruk found this kinship useful when she took the hobgoblin as a slave a decade ago. In the intervening decade, Repral has become one of the minotaur’s most trusted agents—despite her somewhat feral nature—and purchased her freedom, but the hobgoblin still wears her iron slave collar as a sign of deference and fear.
Repral had hunter class, a ranger-druid hybrid that does not exist in PF2. I tried converting her to ranger, but that did not fit. What fit was converting her to a warpriest of Lamashtu. Repral's parents had fled to the Darklands after the Goblinblood Wars in Isger. They died there and a Darkland goblin tribe had adopted hobgoblin Repral in hopes that she would soon grow into a big, strong warrior. But Repral did not grow any faster than the goblin children, so she was abused. Lamashtu had mercy on Repral and sent her Tikik, Repral's snake constrictor animial companion, to protect her. Ever since, Repral has loved monsters and served Lamashtu.
Repral's orders from General Kosseruk were to stall the party, because the Ironfang Legion was invading the city of Longshadow in their absence. So she talked to the PCs. And made arrangements to free the slaves left in her charge to the party, because neither Repral nor Lamashtu liked slavery. That was a big point in her favor with the party.
I love Lamashtu and am really happy to see this change to her anathema.
Any fantasy world that has knowable gods and magic, but keeps real world narratives around childbirth has to have birthing be the domain of a sadistic monster god/goddess. Like, believing that making childbirthing less painful, traumatic, and lethal wouldn't be one of the first things any benevolent deity (and many morta magic scholars as well) would dedicate themselves too is only possible if there is something powerful and malicious making that impossible/extremely difficult.
Lamashtu was always one of the easiest core evil deities to write a sympathetic alternative character interpretation for as a champion for the dispossessed and disaffected members of society. On the other hand she's still an ascended demon lord, with all the character flaws that entails. Are we to assume her edicts remain more or less as they were?
Lamashtu not requiring her followers to join the unholy crusade of cruelty and sin only makes things more interesting. I think the best description of her teachings was a sort of "don't try to heal, don't get better--get worse". It makes a lot of sense for the formerly-CE deity to espouse self-acceptance (generally positive) to the utmost extreme.
She almost has "Marvel villain has an actual point so they made them kill people to show they're evil" energy, which is what makes her such an interesting deity to me.
The conundrum for me now is whether I'd rather play up the "still a demon lord who despises civilization and stability" aspect, with her sanctification being, like Sarenrae, an invitation to join the righteous/wicked when you're ready, or to lean in on her "near-universally shunned religion of the downtrodden" aspect.
My only 1st-to-20th character was a Gnoll Cleric of Lamashtu (for a Way of the Wicked campaign). I've always enjoyed the interplay of the capacity for compassion and evil in her religion. Paizo is good at giving nuance and reasons that sane people would actually worship the evil deities.
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Lamashtu is a great evil deity because she's a mother, and a lot of her behavior can all be traced back to a mother's love. Once of the most compassionate and relatable impulses on earth.
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Since Holy has not been mentioned as an option for her followers, I feel the latter does not make much sense. Why would the downtrodden be unable to join the cause of Holy ?Lamashtu was always one of the easiest core evil deities to write a sympathetic alternative character interpretation for as a champion for the dispossessed and disaffected members of society. On the other hand she's still an ascended demon lord, with all the character flaws that entails. Are we to assume her edicts remain more or less as they were?
Lamashtu not requiring her followers to join the unholy crusade of cruelty and sin only makes things more interesting. I think the best description of her teachings was a sort of "don't try to heal, don't get better--get worse". It makes a lot of sense for the formerly-CE deity to espouse self-acceptance (generally positive) to the utmost extreme.
She almost has "Marvel villain has an actual point so they made them kill people to show they're evil" energy, which is what makes her such an interesting deity to me.
The conundrum for me now is whether I'd rather play up the "still a demon lord who despises civilization and stability" aspect, with her sanctification being, like Sarenrae, an invitation to join the righteous/wicked when you're ready, or to lean in on her "near-universally shunned religion of the downtrodden" aspect.
Absolutely no reason the downtrodden couldn't join the holy cause by following a holy deity. Sarenrae and Shelyn both seem like deities who would be more than happy to have their followers lend aid to the beaten down, and offer acceptance to the rejected, but Lamashtu is the deity that comes to you when the whole world seems to hate you and tells you that you're just perfect the way you are, who licks your wounds and tells you to reject convention, to reject the society that shunned you. These individuals don't join the holy cause because Lamashtu cares not for it and doesn't preach going out of your way to help others.
Besides which, I feel like it would be a little weird for a holy deity to become a 'near-universally shunned religion' which was a main point, albeit leaning into the sympathetic aspect of Lamashtu will probably sooner or later violate my preference for depicting goodly deities as actually being good, not inveterate hypocrites.
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Lamashtu is a great evil deity because she's a mother, and a lot of her behavior can all be traced back to a mother's love. Once of the most compassionate and relatable impulses on earth.
If I ever get around to running a campaign of my own I'm 100% portraying Lamashtu as a narcissistic mother.