Questions about Tiamat (3.5)

[Coidzor]

So, often when she comes up, it's in the context as of the patron goddess of adventurers.

Why is this? Is this actually stated in the WOTC fluff or was it decided upon somewhere online in much the same way as Pelor: The Burning Hate?

And how on earth would she reconcile the whole patron/mother of chromatic dragons when chromatic dragons are perennial favorites of adventurers?

[AslanCross]

I think it's more in terms of Pelor: The Burning Hate---an out of hand interpretation of her portfolio.

Mostly she's seen as a power-hungry goddess of greed. She subverts, dominates and kills to gain more power and wealth.

Just like adventurers.

[Mando Knight]

Be careful as you kill the monsters, lest you become one. AslanCross hit the nail on the head: Tiamat is the goddess of killing things and taking their stuff. There are two kinds of creatures that particularly enjoy this activity: adventurers and dragons. Thus, she can be considered the patron of both.

[Dr.Epic]

First rule of Tiamat: don't talk about Tiamat.

[Mystic Muse]

Speaking of Tiamat, what is the place where she lives? I know she lives in the nine hells but I mean the temple she lives in.

She's the Patron goddess of Adventurers because she's the patron goddess of killing things and taking their stuff.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Speaking of Tiamat, what is the place where she lives? I know she lives in the nine hells but I mean the temple she lives in.

She's the Patron goddess of Adventurers because she's the patron goddess of killing things and taking their stuff.

IIRC Tiamat lives in the first or the second circle of Battor... but I suggest you check FCII for a an answer

[AslanCross]

Speaking of Tiamat, what is the place where she lives? I know she lives in the nine hells but I mean the temple she lives in.

She's the Patron goddess of Adventurers because she's the patron goddess of killing things and taking their stuff.

If I'm not mistaken it's a giant cave on the first layer of Hell that overlooks the way down to the second.

However, I prefer giving her a unique demiplane made up entirely of her hoard like they did here.

[Mystic Muse]

What I mean is I'm looking for the name of her most major temple. The one she lives in. I'd check FC2 but I don't have that book right now.

[Runestar]

And when an adventuring party and a dragon meet (both of whom have been accumulating wealth for quite some time now), you know one side is going to hit paydirt.

[Coidzor]

Makes sense. What is her portfolio actually though?

[hamishspence]

If I'm not mistaken it's a giant cave on the first layer of Hell that overlooks the way down to the second.

In Faerun her home is with the other dragon deities on the plane "Dragon Eyrie"- however she has a portal to that cave on Baator, and keeps a powerful aspect of herself on station there.

In core- the real Tiamat lives there.

[Jair Barik]

Be careful as you kill the monsters, lest you become one. AslanCross hit the nail on the head: Tiamat is the goddess of killing things and taking their stuff. There are two kinds of creatures that particularly enjoy this activity: adventurers and dragons. Thus, she can be considered the patron of both.

and now you have me trying to remember the quote used at the start menu of Baldur's gate... Seriously what was it....

[AslanCross]

Makes sense. What is her portfolio actually though?

Evil dragons, conquest and greed.

Addendum: In Eberron, Tiamat is one of the demon overlords and the daughter of Khyber, the primordial dragon that spawned all the fiends. She's currently imprisoned in a heavily fortified and guarded chasm in the middle of the dragon continent.

[Athaniar]

Speaking of Tiamat, what is the place where she lives? I know she lives in the nine hells but I mean the temple she lives in.

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Wikipedia calls her lair the Dragonspawn Pits of Azharul, but it is unsourced, so I do not know how reliable that information is.

and now you have me trying to remember the quote used at the start menu of Baldur's gate... Seriously what was it....

He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

[Jair Barik]

Thank you so much! It is an awesome line that I may end up using in a campaign, it characterizes RPing games (particularly 3.5) so well.

[Yora]

However, I prefer giving her a unique demiplane made up entirely of her hoard like they did here.

Ever heard the Song of the Dwarves?

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Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.
Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.
Gold, gold, gold,
Gold, gold, gold,
Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.

Gold, gold, gold, gold!
Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold!
Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold,
Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.

[Zeta Kai]

Wikipedia has a surprisingly-in-depth article about Lady Five-Heads. Check it out.

For the record, her portfolio is: Evil dragons, evil reptiles, conquest, & greed. Her domains are Destruction, Dragon, Evil, Greed, Hatred, Law, Scalykind, Trickery, & Tyranny. So yeah, adventurers should definitely worship her.

[El Dorado]

There's also the D&D cartoon from the 80s. How she could never eat the adventurers is a mystery. I think she secretly approved of their shennanigans.

[Machiavellian]

I once played a LG Talon of Tiamat. THAT was fun...

[Coidzor]

Wikipedia has a surprisingly-in-depth article about Lady Five-Heads. Check it out.

For the record, her portfolio is: Evil dragons, evil reptiles, conquest, & greed. Her domains are Destruction, Dragon, Evil, Greed, Hatred, Law, Scalykind, Trickery, & Tyranny. So yeah, adventurers should definitely worship her.

Needs more Murder, and then it'd be golden.

[KillianHawkeye]

Unfortunately, FC2 merely refers to it as "Tiamat's Fortress."

[Mystic Muse]

Unfortunately, FC2 merely refers to it as "Tiamat's Fortress."

Darn. There goes a perfectly good threat.

Ah well.

[Jair Barik]

There's also the D&D cartoon from the 80s. How she could never eat the adventurers is a mystery. I think she secretly approved of their shennanigans.

In one of the baldur's gates though there is a tapestry depicting tiamat and the characters and it tells the story of how they all died to her. The show did have an inconclusive ending after all.

[KillianHawkeye]

In one of the baldur's gates though there is a tapestry depicting tiamat and the characters and it tells the story of how they all died to her. The show did have an inconclusive ending after all.

Heh. I know I don't remember that show very well, but I thought Tiamat was usually just a plot device used to scare away the real villain, Venger.

[arguskos]

In one of the baldur's gates though there is a tapestry depicting tiamat and the characters and it tells the story of how they all died to her. The show did have an inconclusive ending after all.

The location, if you care to know, is on the second floor of Ribald's Adventurer's Mart, on the back wall, in Baldur's Gate 2.

Also, am I seriously the only person here to thinks that the whole "Tiamat is the patron saint of adventurers" meme is stupid? It doesn't even fit, as only the stereotypical adventurer is a greedy bastard.

[BenTheJester]

First rule of Tiamat: don't talk about Tiamat.

Nop, that's Vecna, not Tiamat.

First rule of Tiamat would probably be "kill all chromatic dragons, and everything else while you're at it"

[Tiki Snakes]

In one of the baldur's gates though there is a tapestry depicting tiamat and the characters and it tells the story of how they all died to her. The show did have an inconclusive ending after all.

Actually, it did have a conclusive ending, they just never actually got to make it.

Tiamat doesn't even feature in it in any meaningful way, if I recall.

Only the stereotypical adventurer is openly a greedy, murdering bastard. Many more are too, just not so openly.
Of course there are exceptions, who aren't particularly Tiamat-appropriate, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule, and are more PC's than Adventurers anyway.

[KillianHawkeye]

Actually, it did have a conclusive ending, they just never actually got to make it.

I'd say lack of existence makes it somewhat less conclusive.

[El Dorado]

I'd say lack of existence makes it somewhat less conclusive.

The last episode was eventually produced as a radio play and included in the DVD boxed set.