Results 91 to 120 of 227
Thread: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
-
2014-08-10, 02:05 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
More to the point, why wouldn't an evil deity of death be motivated to kill people before they can atone, or minimize their suffering?
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
-
2014-08-10, 02:07 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Location
- Southern Oregon
- Gender
-
2014-08-10, 02:08 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Threads made due to my misreading of a rule: 2
One of my favorite hobbies is criticizing popular members and moderators for anything they do wrong. So nothing personal.
I know I promised to stat a lot of things, but my life got busy and, well, my life got busy. I'm not very active on the forum for now, but I will be fulfilling my promises later.
-
2014-08-10, 02:09 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
-
2014-08-10, 02:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Assuming the gatekeeper isn't forced to do anything, they wouldn't. To take the Orcus example, most souls would end up being either fuel or his slaves had he suceeded in his goal. This definately wouldn't be a model I'd use for most settings but it doesn't seem stupid in and of itself.
-
2014-08-10, 02:17 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- GMT -5
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Except then you have to explain why the good gods are still worshiped when their power is crippled by not receiving governance of the souls of their followers.
Basically, it becomes "Be Evil and be rewarded in Hell, or be Good and be damned to suffer in Hell"
Might work for a hardcore apocalyptic setting, but outside of that it just doesn't function properly.I follow a general rule: better to ask and be told no than not to ask at all.
Shadeblight by KennyPyro
-
2014-08-10, 02:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
There's also the issue that if the arbiter of mortality is pro-undead, well, he's not doing a very good job, is he?
Last edited by TiaC; 2014-08-10 at 02:20 AM.
-
2014-08-10, 02:56 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
-
2014-08-10, 07:18 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
The good thing is unlike, say, Pharasma or Iomedae, you can kill off Cayden without impacting the world all that much. And you can invent any story you like as to how it happened! Mine is that the night he got black-out drunk and took the dare to attempt the test of starstone, he passed by Reginald Cuftbert and laughed at his fabulous pink bonnet. Reginald stuffed a lit stick of dynamite in Cayden's pants, killing him instantly with the explosion. He then proceeded to murder all the witnesses with his bare hands, stole Cayden's clothes off of his back, put them on (right there in the street), drank 14 bottles of whiskey, and finally bunny hopped off into the sunset. Later that day, he would single-handedly depopulate the multiverse of gnomes.
-
2014-08-10, 07:33 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
I took that for my homebrew setting and ran with it all the way to the Fallout end of the spectrum >.> Apparently people think it's pretty neat >.>
Anyway, contributing to the thread, I particularly like the sheer amount of options the players are given in terms of who they want to worship (or not). You've got proper Gods, high powered angels, demons, devil, the Four Horsemen, Fey "Gods", false gods, fallen gods, dead gods, quasi-gods, and things better left unknowable. Or you could just say "Screw this" and make an Atheist and, you know, not get nailed up to a wall of souls for all eternity.Awesome avatar by linklele
"The Barrier World" Google Doc
A post-post apocalyptic steampunk magitech Pathfinder setting.Spoiler
Awesome avatar by Akrim.elf and Ceika
-
2014-08-10, 07:48 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
That's cool! I understand that Folca makes you uncomfortable, and I certainly wouldn't consider him a deity for everyone.
Much like Call of Cthulhu or some of the riskier material from 3.5's Book of Vile Darkness, I'd only ever use Folca in a campaign where I knew the players could handle his particular brand of horror. What I find daring is that Paizo doesn't shy away from things like Folca even though they can (and in your case, did) make people uncomfortable. Did you also check the other harbinger I mentioned, Osolmyr? Or Ajids, Corosbel, Jacarkas, Zaigasnar or Arlachramas? These are all all-but-unknown harbingers and easy to ignore if you don't want to use them in your campaign. However they all touch on controversial topics that are perhaps more relevant to our present-day world than the fairly abstracted Hextor the God of Tyranny or Rovagug the Destroyer, and so hit a bit closer to home. More than any other evil deity I've ever seen written in an RPG, Harbingers reflect the evils of Man. That's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I for one find that it's much easier to get immersed in a scenario where you're fighting a threat that you can relate to.
Consider Folca's favored weapon, his symbol, his sacred animal (the black stork), his sacred colors, and his domains. The way I see him, Folca not so much the god of "paedophiliac serial killers" as he is the God of Families inverted - he is the daemon harbinger that steals children away and destroys families in the process. In British, Irish and Scandinavian culture that ties into a series of myths and legends about changelings, trolls and fey that goes back to well before the viking era. He plays on the primal fear of losing your loved ones, and is one of the most despicable deities ever written for Golarion. All of that is conveyed in the one entry he gets in the Inner Sea Gods deity appendix. You might not agree, but I for one think that's both impressive writing and pretty damn cool.
The reason Folca only has two lines about him is that daemon harbingers have only appeared in two books, and in both cases the vast majority of them only made the appendix. To the best of my knowledge, Harbingers have yet to be explored in their own book.
I recently included a cult of Folca-worshipping hags replacing children with changelings in a Rise of the Runelords campaign, and I've never seen my players more fired up to stop the bad guys in an adventure path that otherwise takes the long view and has somewhat abstract villains. While I certainly respect your opinion and right to decide that Folca doesn't work for you, I don't think you should be so quick to dismiss him. He can and does work well in other games.
-
2014-08-10, 07:51 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- NO LONGER IN CHINA!
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
-
2014-08-10, 08:24 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2006
- Location
- Indiana
- Gender
-
2014-08-10, 08:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
I kind of see Erastil as the stage between Gozreh, who's basically "untouched wilderness" and Abadar, who's basically "sprawling civilization". He's the god of rural communities and villages. Nirmathas strikes me as the kind of kingdom Erastil would approve of.
The original article on Erastil was in the second book of Kingmaker. I quicky skimmed over it just now and there certainly are some statements that are troubling. I can definitely see why they retconned him and I'm glad they did - the old depiction of Erastil is very much at odds with the gender-neutral feel of Golarion at large.
And healing, the sun, honesty, temperance, patience and redemption. The flaming scimitar bit is mostly for when they refuse to be redeemedLast edited by Kudaku; 2014-08-10 at 08:32 AM.
-
2014-08-10, 08:33 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- NO LONGER IN CHINA!
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
-
2014-08-10, 08:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
- Gender
-
2014-08-10, 09:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2012
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Watch this then
My Homebrew: found here.
When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes
PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.
Drow avatar @ myself
-
2014-08-10, 09:56 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
- Location
- Pennsylvania
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
There's actually a country on Golarion composed of atheists, and this has affected their outlook a bit. Because Pharasma is responsible for the judgement of all souls upon death, they know that they'll eventually have to face her and explain why they so disrespected powerful beings they know for a fact exist.
-
2014-08-10, 10:03 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
I don't see why Pharasma should care. You're saying she judges atheists more harshly than those that follow the undead-loving god? That makes no sense... Don't recall his name because "big evil deity that has the hots for walking corpses" are all basically the same anyway. (And for her duties, she shouldn't even be seeking to screw over those followers, ideally)
-
2014-08-10, 10:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
She inters them in the Boneyard and they don't have to be around any other gods but her. Seems like a win to me.
They also keep the Majora Moon thing away so bonus points.Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
-
2014-08-10, 10:11 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
A skilled storyteller absolutely could do something interesting with Folca: But I don't think Paizo has. Pretty much the only information on him is the list of his interests, domains, and favored weapon. I mean, I can do that too!
Name: Alethor
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Interests: Sapient Toaster Ovens, Patent Infringement
Domains: Artifice, Chaos, Magic, Psionics, Trickery
Subdomains: Construct, Divine, Noetics, Protean, Thievery
Favored Weapon: Scimitar
-
2014-08-10, 10:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2012
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Last edited by toapat; 2014-08-10 at 10:16 AM.
My Homebrew: found here.
When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes
PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.
Drow avatar @ myself
-
2014-08-10, 10:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Last edited by Kudaku; 2014-08-10 at 10:20 AM.
-
2014-08-10, 10:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Switzerland
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Honestly, I don't really see anything in here that wasn't in D&D already. Some of the gods might be new, but if you dig around in On Hallowed Ground a bit (which explicitely states that all Earth mythologies exist on the planes and stat up dozens of real world gods), you should find one that covers just about anything. Atheists? Plenty, of the angry misotheist (Athar) and philosophical variety. Neutral death gods? Dozens. Magitech? Pretty much every setting actually, I think.
Is there anything actually new in the Golarion cosmology or is it really just a remix?Resident Vancian Apologist
-
2014-08-10, 10:17 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2012
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
My Homebrew: found here.
When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes
PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.
Drow avatar @ myself
-
2014-08-10, 10:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
-
2014-08-10, 11:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
And at least when they say "no" he doesn't go for it anyways. He just keeps trying to get lucky. Consensually.
As I said, 10/10, better than Zeus.
So yeah, 10/10, prefered pick for deity if i would ever visit PFthnx to Starwoof for the fine avatar
-
2014-08-10, 12:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2008
- Location
- Xin-Shalast
- Gender
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Hmm, I suppose that fits. I agree with you about Nirmathas from what I recollect of the place. And you can even probably get some kind of tension to show the sometimes uneasy symbiosis between the urban and the rural, too...
Ahh... Makes sense he'd be in that one, I suppose. Sorta weird they'd go that direction when they'd started out with a bunch of gender-neutrality and even some LGBTQness. Though I suppose I don't recall the timeline on the latter all that closely.
Or are Taldan and don't want to be conquered by foreigners for some reason. XD
edit: Hmm... Is it Pharasma's Boneyard that replaced the Outlands?
I thought their facepalm-worthy, argument-causing take on goblins was more notable. I hadn't even heard about the ogre stuff, I don't think anyway...
I think that's already right there on the tin with them having been torn apart by religiously motivated wars encouraged by the deities in question, so they kicked them out because they were doing nothing but causing death and destruction.
So, ah, she knows. XD
-
2014-08-10, 12:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
I'd say he falls under the "idiocy" category.
I'd say that this is actually the point: It's true that it makes things very silly if you do it wrong, but if you do it right, having a group of cyborg orc zombies show up in your pirate adventure can be awesome.
-
2014-08-10, 12:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
Re: Pathfinder cosmology ... sucks
Awesome avatar by linklele
"The Barrier World" Google Doc
A post-post apocalyptic steampunk magitech Pathfinder setting.Spoiler
Awesome avatar by Akrim.elf and Ceika