She’s not one of the biggest 20 gods relevant to the Pact Worlds in general and adventures in particular. Maybe sun worship is passe when you know the sun is a big ball of gas and there are billions more just in this galaxy, maybe moral concerns are less import to a jaded tech audience with mass social media, maybe she was uniquely focused on human concerns and there aren’t enough humans around anymore to make her reach too 20 status
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Sarenrae gets a passing mention in the backmatter of Murder in Metal City. No new stats or anything, but apparently she's surprisingly big with anacites, who are solar-powered.
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She’s not one of the biggest 20 gods relevant to the Pact Worlds in general and adventures in particular. Maybe sun worship is passe when you know the sun is a big ball of gas and there are billions more just in this galaxy, maybe moral concerns are less import to a jaded tech audience with mass social media, maybe she was uniquely focused on human concerns and there aren’t enough humans around anymore to make her reach too 20 status
I believe it was also said, as Nezuyo pointed out, that they want to narratively emphasize the gods unique to Starfinder's setting. Same reason Iomedae and Desna aren't part of the Core 20.
My headcanon though?
Desna and Sarenrae are a little too depressed now that Shelyn is Zon-Shelyn (who is open to restarting the relationship but wants so time finding her/them-self before that).
As for Iomedae? She's taking a short break because she needs to destress from the pressure of being the god representing not just humanity, but lost Golarion as a whole.
Note, these breaks don't mean their faithful aren't receiving spells/powers from worshipping them, but they're not paying super close attention to mortal matters.
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The weirder omission is Desna not being listed. Like traveling amongst the stars and the galaxy is named after her.
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Desna got a lot of exploration in SF1e and it seems they wished to shake it up.
The future is now, old moth. Desna is out, Lambatuin is in.
I feel like Weydan covers Desna's stuff better then Lambatuin.
She’s not one of the biggest 20 gods relevant to the Pact Worlds in general and adventures in particular. Maybe sun worship is passe when you know the sun is a big ball of gas and there are billions more just in this galaxy, maybe moral concerns are less import to a jaded tech audience with mass social media, maybe she was uniquely focused on human concerns and there aren’t enough humans around anymore to make her reach too 20 status
But the sun isn't just a big ball of gas. It's a portal to Creation's Forge and thus the way mortal souls enter the system. Most stars are.
Well, sun worship becomes a little passe when 99.99999% of the suns you are dealing with aren't Sarenrae's (as she is very specifically the deity of the Pact World's system's sun, her worship is much less popular now that easy space travel and FTL are a thing).
She's still worshipped in the Pact Worlds (Burning Archipelago sun-churches, Fullbright scimitar dancers, Eos's still-living population defending themselves, etcetera), but if you're, say, a system-hopping Starfinder, her faith may not be super relevant to your life and work, so she's not in the core. Same with a lot of the PF gods, really - everyone except Rovagug is still around, but their faiths aren't necessarily super popular or relevant to the lives of contemporary people. (Would still really love to see a book that's just a bunch of details for Golarion options in the far future - like, does Erastil have a following amongst first-gen space colonists and historical re-enactors? Are the churches of Nethys now the most hazardous magitech R&D in the galaxy? How's Torag doing with the Second Quest for the Sky?)
Well, sun worship becomes a little passe when 99.99999% of the suns you are dealing with aren't Sarenrae's (as she is very specifically the deity of the Pact World's system's sun, her worship is much less popular now that easy space travel and FTL are a thing).
She's still worshipped in the Pact Worlds (Burning Archipelago sun-churches, Fullbright scimitar dancers, Eos's still-living population defending themselves, etcetera), but if you're, say, a system-hopping Starfinder, her faith may not be super relevant to your life and work, so she's not in the core. Same with a lot of the PF gods, really - everyone except Rovagug is still around, but their faiths aren't necessarily super popular or relevant to the lives of contemporary people. (Would still really love to see a book that's just a bunch of details for Golarion options in the far future - like, does Erastil have a following amongst first-gen space colonists and historical re-enactors? Are the churches of Nethys now the most hazardous magitech R&D in the galaxy? How's Torag doing with the Second Quest for the Sky?)
Torag is speculated to be guarding Golarion. He's not answering prayers right now. Angradd took over the patriarch role.
everyone except Rovagug is still around
wait Rovagug is gone? Dead or in his missing cage?
Might as well be walking on the sun ;)
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Nethys, at least according to Eloritu’s write up in 1e, is also a ‘lost good’. It’s specifically mentioned in the context of people speculating that him and Eloritu are connected and Eloritu’s clergy vehemently denying it. Of course, things can change from edition to edition, but as of right now, him being missing alongside gods like Torag and Rovagug was part of the divine status quo laid out in back matter and Galactic Magic.
Where the heck are folks getting the idea that Sarenrae is only attached to the Pact Worlds Sun from??
Also, I get it, wanting to focus on other gods, but I think moving away from Desna was a mistake, I mean, she's legit the goddess of STARS!
Same for Iomedae when the Knights of Golarion are still presented as one of the major factions in the galaxy. Like, we never even learned how she lost her arm.
And I'm not gonna lie, a fair few of the replacements don't really pop to me all that much
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What's interesting is that Desna kind of got MORE stuff in her portfolio in 1e Starfinder because she was essentially filling in for Shelyn as a music goddess, emphasizing the "Song" part of her "Song of the Spheres" title.
So it does make a certain amount of sense that she's stepping back from the metaphorical spotlight now that Zon-Shelyn is establishing themselves both literally in-universe as their older churches reorganize and figuratively as we learn more about them and get a feel for them at the table.
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Im afraid I don't have much knowledge of Starfinder-specific lore, but at least one Pathfinder myth describes Sarenrae as the goddess of all suns, being the one who kindled the portals in specific stars meant to bear life (and likewise Desna painted the void of the Universe with stars in the first place).
Of course, there are plenty of other sun gods out there in the universe, presumably as different mortal cultures decide to jive with different divine beings (Shizuru in Tian Xia as an example), but by no means does Sarenrae seem to be a limited goddess. If she's more associated with Golarion's star than others, that may just be due to the story of Rovagug and the Rage of Creation centering on that system, or it may have more to do with the way Absalom Station is the centre of the setting. For all we know there are hundreds of stars in other parts of the galaxy that are named after Sarenrae in various titles that we've simply never been introduced to
Kind of bold and a bit risky of Paizo to give Sarenrae, Iomedae, and Desna no mention in their 2e Starfinder Player's Core not gonna lie.
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Kind of bold and a bit risky of Paizo to give Sarenrae, Iomedae, and Desna no mention in their 2e Starfinder Player's Core not gonna lie.
There's mention, it's just kinda in passing. Desna is referenced as the Song of the Spheres in the Rhythm Mystic Connection, for example. Besides, they're three of the most popular PC deities in either game, I think they can handle waiting to get emphasis in later adventure paths or deluxe adventures.
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everyone except Rovagug is still aroundwait Rovagug is gone? Dead or in his missing cage?
His cage is Golarion, which has indeed gone missing.
The closest thing to his influence currently around is the Devourer, which was speculated to be related to Rovagug by virtue of being a Deity revolving around destruction and entropy.
Then PF2e confirmed it as the Devourer was revealed to a piece of Rovagug sealed within Gorum's armor, freed when the Red Mantis slew the War God.
Main difference between Rovagug and the Devourer is that while Rovagug was portrayed as actively malicious, the Devourer is portrayed more as entropy and desolation personified and therefore largely indifferent and impersonal.
Torag is speculated to be guarding Golarion. He's not answering prayers right now. Angradd took over the patriarch role.
And Angradd is hating it because the dude feels like he's erased and usurped Torag in the process.
Not sure if it's intended to connect the two settings, but there's a legend about the Worldforge from War of Immortals. It says that if Golarion is ever damaged enough, Torag will use the Worldforge to repair Golarion and everything on it, though the process will take millennia. It's very possible that that's why Torag is MIA, he's currently repairing whatever happened to Golarion
