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legomaster00156
2019-11-19, 06:06 PM
Alrighty, so there's a Golarion-based campaign I've wanted to do for a while, tentatively named Fractured Gods. The premise is that the PC's start as level 1, Mythic 1 characters (possibly higher level?), each of whom is a former deity or demigod. All deities (except Rovagug and possibly Asmodeus) and many (but not necessarily all) demigods have found themselves rendered mortal, their memories of the events leading up to said status unclear. All across the world, divine casters have lost their powers, and as might be expected, mortals are in a bit of a panic. The mortalized gods must find the fragments of their divinity, or otherwise accomplish appropriate Mythic deeds, to claw their way back up to divinity and uncover the who, what, when, where, and why of what happened.
I am looking for additional interesting plots or locations to throw into the campaign and turn it into, well, a full campaign, instead of snippets of unrelated material. Things I know I want to involve are spoilered below.

1. The party awakes in Absalom and is called by the now-mortal Kelinahat (She of Ebon Wings, an empyreal lord). A few months ago, a servant of Kelinahat uncovered information in a fortress in Abaddon that suggested that around this time, many divine beings would be rendered mortal. This is as much as she personally knows, but she still has loyal (if depowered) servants across Golarion who can aid with gathering intelligence - making her an excellent person through which to feed information to the players.
2. Another former god also called to the meeting is slain on the way. All that is known is that they were slain from behind with a long bladed weapon.
3. The true culprit is Achaekek, the Red Mantis. Long discontent with being merely a weapon against upstart would-be gods, he has spent centuries formulating and implementing a plan to bring down the gods. Though unable to kill a deity, once rendered mortal, they can be slain by himself or his cult, the Red Mantis Assassins. One of these beings killed the aforementioned god.
4. The Starstone Cathedral is missing. Achaekek was unable to remove the Starstone or its housing from Golarion, though, where it is bound to until Golarion's destruction (which, obviously, would release Rovagug), so instead it has merely been moved to a different location on the planet. This is a wonderful location for the party to eventually enter in order to finalize their returns to divinity.
5. All planar travel to or from the Material Plane is cut off. Summoning and calling spells are worthless. The exception is that souls can pass freely to the Boneyard and then to afterlives as appropriate. This is because Pharasma foresaw all of this, and has implemented secret "back roads" that her psychopomps can use to transport souls while she is incapacitated.
6. At least two locations I want the party to eventually travel to are Iblydos, a land teeming with Mythic power, and the body of Aroden, whose heart was cut out and used as a prime component in Achaekek's ritual to mortalize the gods.

Palanan
2019-11-20, 12:00 AM
Originally Posted by legomaster00156
The premise is that the PC's start as level 1, Mythic 1 characters (possibly higher level?), each of whom is a former deity or demigod.

Do the players get to choose which former deity they start as? Do they know they’re running a former deity? And are the class options for each deity dependent on that deity’s portfolio or general vibe?


Originally Posted by legomaster00156
1. The party awakes in Absalom….

This seems a little generic. Does it need to be Absalom?

Personally I would have them awaken as the cold tide is lapping their ankles, realizing that they’re lashed with stout ropes along a rocky shoreline, already hypothermic from the driven sea-spray and watching the relentless waves rise ever higher around them.

Also, this begs the question of why Achekwhatzis left them alive in the first place. If he can knock them down to the weakest state of mortality, why not finish them off?


Originally Posted by legomaster00156
3. The true culprit is Achaekek, the Red Mantis.

This will probably be more interesting to players who know and love Golarion. As someone who’s not invested in Golarion lore, uncovering this as part of a big reveal would be something of a letdown.


Originally Posted by legomaster00156
Summoning and calling spells are worthless.

This would definitely crimp any druids in the party, to a degree not felt in other classes. Yes, druids can probably handle the loss better than many other classes…but still, losing access to SNA feels like you took away my dessert.


Originally Posted by legomaster00156
This is because Pharasma foresaw all of this….

So, did she think to warn anyone?

“Yo, divine peeps! Watch out for that mantis creep, I always knew he was trouble!”

Seriously, if Pharasma saw this scenario coming, why wouldn’t she take steps to prevent it? And if she knew she would be incapacitated, why not grant herself a phalanx of psychopomps to defend her while in a mortal state?

legomaster00156
2019-11-20, 12:10 AM
Yes, the party is aware of the fact that they are divine beings, and they do get to choose the deity they want to play as. That said, the player needs not emulate the god exactly, and in fact, the gods can be reshaped over the course of their new mortal lives.

The starting location is unimportant.

Achaekek didn't kill the gods with the ritual because the ritual wasn't designed for that. The ritual doesn't kill the gods, but it does break them. After that, he and his cult must hunt the gods down normally, something they are actively doing throughout the campaign.

No, Pharasma does not warn the other gods, because she's distant like that. That said, yes, she actually does put into motion some effects to protect the natural order, and her own life. I should also clarify that she doesn't actually know exactly who performed the ritual, or for that matter, even how it happened.

Firest Kathon
2019-11-20, 04:30 AM
With divine magic out of the picture, I think technology would get a high interest as being able to replicate many effects formerly provided by divine casters (e.g. healing (https://aonprd.com/EquipmentTechMiscDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Nanite%20hy pogun%20(black))). So both Numeria and Alkenstar will be regions of interest.


There's also the question of the AI gods, and how they are affected by Achaekek's ritual. Unity basically bootstrapped itself into divinity, and may do it again. Casandalee, if the adventure path was already plaed in their world, may be of interest to the players (even if the characters obviously have not played it).


Then there is the obvious plot of threat X, which was held in check by god Y (possibly one of your players' chosen gods) which is now unleashed. The Whispering Tyrant (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Tar-Baphon) comes to mind, but the gods are not actively keeping him in. Not sure if there is anything in official Golarion lore, but for sure you can think of something.

Another figure of interest would be Razmir (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Razmir). Clearly his claim to power will be more credible now, seeing as his clerics still have their powers... :smallamused: :smalleek:

aerilon
2019-11-21, 05:33 PM
I find this concept interesting and if I saw it as a player would probably sign up, but as others have said, summoning being cut off is a big oof. Also extra planar travel - it's one thing to cut off access to their home areas, but you could actually do a lot of interesting things with the idea that fragments of their divinity might be scattered across the planes, not just the Prime Material.

Also, I don't think "no divine magic" would be the right approach. In fact, it might be better to say that until x deity regains a sufficient degree of power, they cannot grant any divine spells or power to others, but if they have any spark of divinity left, perhaps they just start at level one as effectively a worshipper of themselves, or even no God and giving them the choice to set their own portfolio by choosing their domains and themes.

legomaster00156
2019-11-21, 08:46 PM
Oh, I should clarify. The players themselves can have divine magic, but nobody else does, due to the spark of divinity still left inside them. And yes, Razmir is suddenly going to be a very popular god.
Planar travel will become possible, at a point in the campaign (undetermined) where the ability to call on loyal outsiders will no longer be game-breaking, but useful to the story.