#Paladin of Cayden Cailean

[shadesofmauve]

Gwen: "Hello, druid Mauseth! We've come to seek your wisdom and aid!"

GM: there's no response.

Gwen: "We've got beer!"

GM: There's no response.

Gwen, with total confidence: "She's not here."

[honourablejester]

Sticking with Pathfinder for another minute:

Pathfinder Deity Spotlight: Cayden Cailean

Once a mortal human, Cayden Cailean is now one the few deities known as the Ascended. In his mortal years, Cayden was a sellsword of no small fame, known for his boisterous manner, skill with a blade, and fearless resolve. During a particularly rowdy night of drinking, a series of escalating dares led the wandering mercenary to attempt the Test of the Starstone. He emerged from the Starstone Cathedral 3 days later, laughing, a fully realized god. Divine responsibility did little to change Cayden’s attitude from what it was in his mortal life. He continues to crave adventure, drink, and pleasurable company while abhorring bullies, tyrants, and cowards.

Cayden has no formal churches or structure clergy, but simple shrines to him appear in almost every tavern and roadside inn. Many of his priests own such businesses and offer healing to patrons, some of whom may have been injured during a drunken brawl. While Cayden’s faith is a charitable one, Caydenites still seek payment for such services— at the very least, the injured party is expected to purchase a round of drinks for the house. Only in places where worshippers of the Accidental God are in direct opposition to the local powers, such as where a rebellion is forming under a tyrant’s nose, is his church out of the public eye. Caydenites can bring themselves to be quiet in the face of oppression only for so long, however, and once a rebellion reaches full bloom, the god’s silver tankard is often proudly displayed across every bar.

As a mortal, Cayden often found himself at odds with the work he was hired to perform and abandoned jobs that went against his conscience. This gave him a reputation for being unreliable among his more unscrupulous employers, but it garnered significant respect from clients with stronger morals. Legends tell of him taking contracts to free entire crews of slaves, undoing the operations of predatory business owners, and other rebellious deeds for the good of the common folk. His worshippers often involve themselves in similar matters: safeguarding the freedom and prosperity of working-class people, overthrowing tyrants, and helping the oppressed to relocate to freer lands. His champions, in particular, embed themselves in nations with harsh laws and stir up rebellions— often from the back room of a tavern.

--- Lost Omens: Gods and Magic (2020)

Cayden Cailean, the Accidental God. God of alcohol, pubs, and freedom fighters. One of the things that the 2e source doesn’t mention, and one of the reasons that I love him, is a little tidbit I found mentioned on a wiki (so I’m assuming it’s from a 1e source). And that is that he’s called the Accidental God because he doesn’t remember how he did it. The Test of the Starstone. He doesn’t remember how he passed it. This mad lad got black out drunk, took a lethal test with a 99%+ failure rate on a dare, and then woke up three days later as a god with no idea what happened in between. Which is just. I mean. You’ve got to admire it? Exactly three people aside from Aroden have ever passed the test of the Starstone. In all of history. Three. Iomedae, goddess of paladins, Norgorber, mysterious god of thieves and murder, and this man. Cayden Cailean, the Accidental God. Who got drunk and did it on a lark, and became a god to his own surprise, let alone anyone else’s.

And who then woke up, abruptly an unplanned deity, and went right. I can do something with this.

And, okay. He’s a fairly typical Robin Hood type god? Rebel looking for a cause, champion of the little guys, an adventurer who stumbled into a lot more power than he ever could have expected. He’s the sort of cheerful, boisterous adventurer who you probably do want to punch sometimes, who has power in some ways because he lucked into it. But. But. In some ways, also, not because he lucked into it. Because he may have been drunk at the time, and he may not remember what happened, but he did pass the Starstone Test. A test that people have been attempting for four thousand years, and that killed everyone that attempted it except this man and three others. So there was skill there, as much as luck, and there was depth as well.

He's a cheerful, boisterous adventurer, an accidental god, the god of alcohol whose temples are all pubs, but he had principles even as a mortal sellsword, and he stuck to them even at the risk of his business. And he sticks to them still. He woke up from a bender as a god, and went, okay. I can help people like this. I can fight so much bigger tyrants, and protect people on so much bigger a scale. And I do respect that about him.

I also just enjoy his public house temples as well. It’s a fun sort of echo and reverse of how many medieval European breweries were in monasteries. Sometimes holy ground is the local pub. Heh. And the little detail that you can get healing services there, at the cost of at least a round of drink for the house. Like, that’s just a fun set-piece? You and your party get badly injured in a fight in the woods or the dark alleys of a city, and you drag yourself a nearby pub, and then scrounge up the coin to buy a round to get your guts put back in. A pub which, incidentally, may also be the meeting place and headquarters for the local resistance movement, with the full blessing and support of its divine patron.

There’s just. There’s a reason he’s a popular god? Even if his personality might rub you the wrong way a bit on occasion. There’s a nice thread of something genuine running under it, as well as a banger origin story, and some fun trappings to his faith.

[dailycharacteroption]

Prestige Class Spotlight 14: Chevalier

(art by Lord-of-the-slugs on DeviantArt)

Sometimes when you look through the early days of a gaming system, you see ideas that clearly formed the bones of ideas that would come later, but it makes you wonder why they themselves were left behind? Well, today’s subject is like that.

Today’s subject is a prestige class from the early 3.5 days of the Pathfinder setting, from the back matter of one of the Second Darkness AP books. Essentially, it served as a way to inject a little bit of paladin into characters that don’t fulfill the alignment requirement to actually BE paladins, even if they are otherwise good.

Indeed, this archetype is most commonly associated with the adventuring god Cayden Cailean, and like him they firmly believe in protecting all that is good in this world, but aren’t too hung up on rules and restrictions. While many have the trappings of knights, theirs is an informal order that accepts anyone with desire to do good and the courage to stand up towards the most fearsome of threats without backing down. Beyond that, anything goes, from backstabbing the bad guy to breaking the law to simply just enjoying life with no moral restrictions beyond what they view as right.

Now, you can see why this would have been a big thing back in those days because, outside of homebrews and obscure Dragon and Dungeon magazine articles, the notion of folks getting paladin (or blackguard)-like powers outside of two classes was practically unheard of. Aura of Courage and Smite Evil were a paladin thing.

It only made sense that eventually, with Pathfinder Second Edition fully divesting itself of many old assumptions, that we would see the Paladin transform into the Champion class, with much more flexible sets of morals and whatnot.

But what bugs me is that Chevalier never came back as a name for either of the non-paladin goodly variants of the class. Which sucks because Chevalier is a much more fun than Liberator, even if it isn’t as descriptive. It would have been such a good callback though.

Eh, but I digress. In any case, this prestige class is definitely a contender for prestige class with the fewest actual levels, only having 3. This makes sense though, as it really does just exist to do one thing and one thing only, so let’s talk about what that is.

The requirements for this prestige class include being of goodly nature, having decent social skills and fighting skill, as well as having faced a very strong threat, making the minimum possible level to start taking it be 6th. However, the low number of levels in the prestige class means it could reasonably be taken by any class, even at later levels.

These warriors exude fearlessness, warding them against fear as well as doing the same to nearby allies to a lesser extent.

They also, however, exude recklessness, and whenever they join combat their hastiness lends them a measure of deadly sureness to their attacks during those first few critical moments.

They learn to offset some of this, however, keeping their guard up when charging at foes.

A headstrong nature also helps them when it comes to fighting off hostile enchantments, sometimes allowing them to shake them off moments later if they initially succumb.

Perhaps as a reflection of the Drunken God’s own alcohol tolerance, or merely because the divine forces find the idea of such daring heroes falling to something as base as poison abhorrent, but these warriors are blessed with total immunity to toxins as a result.

Finally, They also are blessed with enough divine power to smite the wicked as if they were a true paladin.

This prestige class of course needs a slight bit of conversion work because it’s technically a 3.5 creation, but it overall represents a fun little idea and a minor dip that may be worth it to some characters. One level is enough to make even casters happy what with fear immunity and a buff to attack rolls and damage that includes spells, while more martial characters will enjoy the better charges, protection for one of their weaker saves, and their own special way to smite… and many of these abilities scale to your total character level, not just levels in this prestige class!

I can imagine that many of these characters are somewhat lackadaisical when it comes to their daily lives unlike some paladins, causing them to sometimes come into contention with others that have certain expectations for what a paladin or other holy warrior has to be. Even still, when the chips are down, these warriors are fully capable of getting serious, though they likely still have plenty of quips for their foes.

A terrible rash of murders have been occurring in the farmlands of the Eastern Province, and a band of adventurers led by a brave chevalier arrive to investigate. In doing so, the party discovers that the murders are the work of the largest infestation of monstrous Jack-o’-Lanterns ever seen, leading to the question of what could have given rise to such an army of autumnal adversaries.

They say that the only true law of the sea are the oceans whim, and yet there are still those that seek to bring joy and peace, such as the wandering Depthwards, a group of aquatic beings, mostly cecaelians, that travel between oceanic communities writing wrongs and living free.

Cast out from the order for failing to live up to their standards, Vilga was delighted to see that she still retained enough of her god’s favor to receive a trace of divine power. Now she fights for justice on her own terms, though some hardliners in the order brand her a heretic.

[mantis-lizbian]

i have been struck with inspiration!

Cayden Cailean: "hey so what's your gender?"

Iomedae: "paladin."

CC: "but what should i call you?"

Iomy: "Light of the Sword!"

CC: "no, like what are your pronouns?"

Iony: "/jo mə daı/"

CC: "😐 ...okay, what's in your pants?"

Iomy: "JUSTICE!"

[starlightcleric]

I was pairing up my Kingmaker and Wrath characters for worldstates, and I just realized my most recent are both dlc companion romancers.

(More details on the various worldstates below the cut)

Queen Adia Rih, NG tiefling Kineticist and Lorraine Summerglen, halfling Monk/Rogue/Paladin, mythic Angel. The goody-two-shoes, first playthrough of both games state. They both also romanced the blonde healer man of their parties.

Baroness Bella Dorso, CE tiefling Cleric of Norgorber and Poetry, CG tiefling Warpriest of Cayden Cailean, mythic Trickster. I'm not super sold on this pairing, but since Poetry is kind of a canon worldstate to my version of Golarion, it felt weird to not have someone with her. Although if I ever play or run a tabletop game of Kingmaker that would upset this state.

Baroness Liza Ylvaris, CG half-orc Alchemist and Angelina Ylvaris, CN half-elf Bard/Witch, Legend. The cousins universe! I keep going back and forth on if Liza should really be a Baroness or if I should make her a dlc protagonist, but I like her enough that for now she'll chill here.

Baroness Amber Orlovsky, LN half-elf Investigator and Caroline Gemsledge, LG dwarf Cleric of Torag, mythic Angel. This is the new one, and what they have in common is that both of these are a result of sitting down and looking at the lore around the games and crafting characters to fit into it. They both are also planned to romance the dlc companions (Kanerah and Ulbrig).

I have some Knight Commanders without Kingmaker counterparts just because I have more Wrath characters. If I ever figure out Secret Ending games for both games, those characters will probably also share a worldstate.

[sadruru]

In-character character development questions for Melissa!

🔮 CRYSTAL BALL — what is a core memory from your childhood that you think defines you today?

😶‍🌫️ FACE IN CLOUDS — is there something you're hiding from the people you love? if so, how urgent is it for them to hear it? what's holding you back from sharing it?

Thanks for the questions! I've already decided how I'm going to answer them, it's going to be a bit experimental 😈

Melissa will personally answer questions. Expect a cameo ~

😶‍🌫️ FACE IN CLOUDS — is there something you're hiding from the people you love? if so, how urgent is it for them to hear it? what's holding you back from sharing it?

"Well, well... All right! It's a miracle you could convince me, and I'll repay you for the drink and song. I don't like to stay in debt. First of all, let me say I'm not a very good storyteller, and my stories aren't very sweet. You won't be in Drezen for long, right? I doubt I'll see you again in the future. If I started telling my story, believe me, it would take a few nights. Hold on, what do you mean calling you by your name, sugar-voiced Lark? I won't, because it's more interesting!

…I hide a lot of things from those closest to me. If I have any. I often hear from others that I change topics too easily, especially from one restless boy. I've never liked looking into the future, because you never know what will happen tomorrow. On one hand, it sounds a little scary... Maybe one day I'll tell them, and him too.

I had too much shit behind me. So much that I should shut up. I don't think you'd believe me the first time.

You know, I used to not really care about this Crusade or the people around me. You should have seen how everyone reacted to me at first. The obscure bandit turned knight-commander, the tiefling, who looked like “ a succubus” or “ a whore”. Or whatever those "noble" paladins and knights called me for my looks and temper. Never mind. I've been called worse in the River Kingdoms. But now I see that they look at me with hope, despite what I do... It gives me a bitter taste in my mouth. I don't... I don't want to seem weak to everyone. It's really annoying.

Hmm… Did you see the adorable little elf with the burns? Ember. Sometimes she draws a crowd of onlookers. Her eyes, words and actions... When that girl looks at me, it's like she sees right through me. These moments make me feel pretty… Vulnerable? Oh, no. Too many bad thoughts in my head again. Now you owe me another pint!"

🔮 CRYSTAL BALL — what is a core memory from your childhood that you think defines you today?

"Ah, come on! Another tough question again? I really don't know! I had a lot of good and bad moments.

I don't know about you, little Lark, but my childhood ended quickly and darkly. I'll tell you about the good one. When I was five years old, I saw my dad carving something for me. It wasn't just another wooden toy, and he didn't say what it was. To be honest, I wanted a dragon toy so bad! I begged him long and impatiently until he finally finished and hung a simple amulet around my neck. The amulet bore the symbol of Cayden Cailean. Then he said to me, "Be brave, strong, and believe in good as always, Lissa. I can feel the spirit of adventure in you. Perhaps in the future you will continue our family business, or travel to other countries. That's your choice."

My first piece of jewelry... Ha ha! After that, I pounced on my mom's stuff and started imagining myself as a rich lady in a dress, with lots of gold rings and precious bling. I dreamed of getting rich, making our tavern bigger, buying a big house near the sea, with lots of servants and cats, maybe even finding a handsome husband and living happily ever after! Uh... My parents scolded me severely for making such a mess.

Believe in good, right? And foolish childish dreams... As you see, something went wrong."

Why little Lark? Because Siavash is half elf and taller than her 🤣

I hope I portrayed her character well. I don't know about the second question. Many memories in her childhood defined her. So I decided to show one of them - about her childhood dream of a good ending.

How it ended: Fluffy steals meat from hand.

Better not look at what's going on in the background. I just like to draw funny sketches in the background. I wonder if people recognize their kids? Hehehe...

[wearepaladin]

Hey there Paladin! Hell’s Rebels campaign update on my CG inquisitor of Cayden Cailean handling the evil inquisitor of Asmodeus responsible for destroying his family and the death of his adopted brother:

After a thorough series of questions, she pretty solidly established her staunch adherence to her faith, lack of remorse for anything done in its service, and total disinterest in helping us. Short story: it was a bit like watching the Basterd’s interrogation of a N*zi officer in Inglorious Basterds. She didn’t care to help us or our cause in the slightest and would rather die than betray queen, country, or faith.

As for the events of my character’s backstory, she’d committed so many years of atrocities in the name of her church that she couldn’t even remember the incident in question. “Listen, I’m sure what happened was a very important day for you, but to me, it was just another Toilday. I’m sure your family was paid an appropriate amount for [your brother’s] value - as a slave.”

Rather than having our Slayer of Ragathiel kill her however (which would’ve been appropriate for his religion), my character did so himself with a carefully-placed critical from his rapier after allowing her a chance for last words, of which she had none. “I’ve come to learn that there’s a difference between justice and revenge, though sometimes they can be the same thing: Revenge is something you do for yourself. Justice is something you do for others.”

A fine conclusion to the story. Thank you for sharing, and forgive me for not always answering questions, I sometimes don’t have the energy for even innocuous ones.

[gefdreamsofthesea]

I talk about how upset I would be if each Pathfinder deity dies.

SPOILERS for the current "safe" deities if anyone cares.

Okay so to start off let's take the current safe deities off the table:

Pharasma

Asmodeus

Okay, now that that's out of the way. Let's go in the order of the chart from the top left.

Erastil - He's gotten a bit of an overhaul since 1e where he was more sexist and less hidebound (lol) in general but honestly I wouldn't be mad if he died (especially if his family gets more attention)

Iomedae - Iomedae is boring. She's boring okay? But I'm still very attached to my DM's depiction of her as a repressed lesbian (and her afterlife had many hot ladies in armor) and okay lady paladins are hot

Torag - Snoooooore, kill Torag I don't give a shit (my dwarf loving friends will)

Sarenrae - do not touch the Sarenrae/Desna/Shelyn throuple, ever, but also I think it would be metal if they killed the fucking sun

Shelyn - if Shelyn dies, I riot, also do not touch the Sarenrae/Desna/Shelyn throuple

Cayden Cailean - I will be very upset if Cayden dies. I know many queers who will be very upset if Cayden dies.

Desna - do not touch the Sarenrae/Desna/Shelyn throuple

Abadar - fuck Abadar and his colonizing ass

Irori - Irori is boring in the same way that Iomedae is boring

Gozreh - Gozreh dying could cause a lot of problems but I have no strong feelings either way

Nethys - It would be so funny if Nethys dies and the Archives of Nethys has to change its name

Calistria - I like sexy vengeful wasp lady but she appeals to a certain niche and letting her go would feel like Paizo is really trying to shred that "dudebroness" of 1e (there are still plenty of horny designs in the bestiaries but it's not solely pandering to straight male horny)

Gorum - Honestly what does Gorum even offer to this pantheon? Kill him off idc.

Zon-Kuthon - leave Daddy weird evil BDSM guy alone

Norgorber - Fuck Norgorber he's a bastard and his followers are bastards

Urgathoa- I personally would be very upset if Urgathoa died but also the goddess of undeath dying herself would be ironic in the best way

Lamashtu - Lamashtu's whole thing is, uh, squicky and a bit problematic. I know a bunch of folks who are uncomfortable with her whole deal. Also the Abyss would be even more of a chaotic mess after her death

Rovagug - LOL like they'd actually kill off Rovagug. He's already imprisoned and killing him would do what? Remove one of Golarion's biggest problems?

[sentinelcole]

More fun "woke" Golarion facts!

Calistra is very sex-positive but also puts a huge emphasis on consent. Fastest way to get wasps stings to the groin is to disagree with her there (I'm not joking, that's canon)

You know how at the end of every beer commercial, they say drink responsibly? Well Cayden Cailean (the Accidental God and god of beer, wine and freedom) is basically the god of that. He's fine with you getting wasted so long as you're doing it for enjoyment (rather than drowning your feelings) and as long as your drunkeness doesn't cause harm.

Their very first adventure (Rise of the Runelords) had a canonically gay paladin of Abadar (god of civilization) and his husband living happily in the starting town.

A new deity in the upcoming Starfinder 2e is Zon-Shelyn, a god of channeling suffering into artistic expression. This is a merging of two Golarion deities: Shelyn, god of love, beauty and art and her brother, Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, darkness and Linkin Park. This means Zon-Shelyn would be both fem and masc, though not much is known about them yet.

The iconic cleric is a Middle-Eastern coded woman and worships the god of life and the sun.

The new gunslinger is a black dwarf and she weilds the Buster Sword equivalent of a blunderbuss.

The new Mwangi Expanse book was written by a team of black writers and it's amazing (there is a civilization of demon hunting orcs and half-orcs which ask the question: what if we made a city of witchers?

Daily reminder that WotC doesn't truly give a shit about you, and that while stanning corporations is cringe at least Paizo puts their money where their mouth is and makes genuine effort to represent people.

[dreadfutures]

On a completely different note, I was commissioned to draw Fudd, Champion of Cayden Cailean. Fudd isn't great at this paladin business but his trusty, sentient shield has plenty of scornful advice to offer! He still hasn't figured out quite yet how to put on all that plate armor. Surely "visor" and "pauldron" are the same thing.

[theadventurersrespite]

(art by the fabulous @ladybugkisses)

"Come on y'all, just 'nother couple miles till the next town! Drinks on me!"

Meet Spiffany Fast-Talk, former slave turned Virtuous Bravo of Cayden Cailean. Fast on her feet and faster with her wit, she's just as liable to chat your ear off as she is to rile you up! Be careful though, that rapier isn't just for show! Though don't worry, it takes a lot to get under her fur. So pull up a seat, pick your poison and let her regale you of the triumphs of Cayden over a home cooked meal!

(I'm beginning to notice a trend with my characters and it's that most of them use rapiers. Am I going to change that any time soon? Not likely, but I am thinking of a fighter/barbarian mix for another game, so I think they might be a greatsword using angry kobold.

Anyway! I was looking for a replacement character for a campaign that I'm hoping gets back up on its feet and I stumbled across the Virtuous Bravo, an entirely dexterity based paladin archetype that runs off of panache and deed play but loses the one thing that really makes a paladin, well, a paladin: their spells. They also can't wear full plate, but they're nimble and able to dart around the battlefield as a dodge and parry based tank.

The choice to make her a catfolk wasn't really hard, I figured what with their natural grace and penchant for freedom, she was a perfect fit as a follower of the man accidentally turned deity. And the more I built her out, the more things slipped into place. Out of all of the characters I've made for my campaigns, she's the one that sticks out cause I've had the easiest time building out who she is.)

[lizzorasaurus]

For all characters associated with a specific deity (because they’re a cleric/paladin or because they’re otherwise religious) which deity is it? :0

Mako - Not religious. Tiarnan -  Worships Gozreh, dabbles in interest in Nethys. Aster - Worshiper of Cayden Cailean, though mostly only invokes his name when shit goes sideways, or while visiting a bar-temple. Artemis - Paladin of Shelyn Fai - Worshiper of Shelyn Iori - Spent their formative years under the care of the monks at the temple of Irori, and is quite devout. Tilly - Thinks Shelyn is neat, though isn’t particularly devout. Makalian - ;) that’s a secret..... Rivkah - Warpriest of Pharasma Gin - Worshiper of Cayden Cailean Moira - Cleric of Desna ------------- Stevie - extended family is catholic, but immediate family is pretty non-religious.

[signetofworlds]

No Immortal (Divine Manifestations of Golarion)

“I only wanted a blessing made

Now I've been labeled a renegade

It seems so clear now what I must do

You're no immortal, I won't let them

Deify you

They view you as the new messiah

Deify you

Renew belief in some demented man”

-Dan Donegan / David Draiman / Michael Wengren / Mike Wengren, “Deify”

Many find my profession as a cleric to be at odds with my rather blatant misotheism. My disdain for the Last Azlanti is the closest that I come to hating anything in this ridiculous universe, and trust me when I say that a cursory search of my memories would be enough to outrage even the steadiest of sages. Let me clarify that I am not and have never been out against the conventional gods for attention, nor do I merely dislike the idea of obeying rules or tenets (a little bit of routine works wonders for me, in fact). The reason I so often dislike deities is because their work is so often built on deception, deception which does little more than entrap mortals by making them view the cosmos as a diorama of smiling personas. 

Now, maybe there are some myths out there which have made their way to me free of embellishment. Maybe those towers across Golarion really were built by Dou-Bral to stitch together a ludicrously complicated prison for the ravenous beast known as Rovagug. That said, I can’t help but snicker at the concept of the monstrosity entombed within the planet being able to consume the entire universe. Having met a number of gods, I can tell you that they are nothing to sneeze at in terms of power. That said, it is absolutely possible for a determined and immensely skilled/lucky group of individuals to combat, incapacitate, and eventually kill a so-called deity. I’ve seen it happen before, and the mere idea is often enough to render my interlocutors’ jaws slack. 

And yes, before you ask, I mean this about ANY god. If something interacts with worshippers, accepts offerings, and tosses out clerical magic like candy, it can be found, isolated, and eventually destroyed (notice how I discounted Yog-Sothoth, the Green Faith, and other fundamentally disinterested forces from this definition. I’ve tried to kill gravity six times and it has never worked). I personally have no interest in attempting such tasks, as titles like “The Butcher of Divinity” tend to make covert research a rather difficult affair. That said, there are a number of people who have made promises of favors in exchange for the information I will provide below.

Presented here is a pamphlet containing basic rundowns of the abilities of various deities known across Golarion. These could potentially be utilized for staging a conflict with them, or perhaps they could be used to resolve esoteric arguments about the relative abilities of different divinities. One thing that I know for certain is that a lot of very powerful and insecure beings will be sniffing my shadows for disclosing this information. Relish in this bit of enlightenment, but know that somebody has been burdened with many sleepless nights in order to deliver it.

Every one of these characters uses the Walking God template, which accounts for their tremendous power and their ability to grant spells to worshippers. This makes hurting them somewhat difficult, but many associates have informed me that “If it rolls, we can kill it.”

Abadar: Human Symbiat (Egregore) 20/Spheremaster 8, CR 32

Achaekek: Unique Mythic Asura MR 7, CR 31

Alseta: Human Symbiat (Synapse) 20/Spheremaster 6, CR 30

Arazni: Mythic Lich Human Legendary Wizard (Genius Scholar) 20/MR 1, CR 27

Asmodeus: Unique Mythic Pit Fiend MR 10, CR 34

Besmara: Undine Hedgewitch 20/Trickster 2. CR 26

Brigh: Forgeborn Blacksmith (Essence Smith) 20/Spheremaster 5, CR 29

Calistria: Elf Eliciter 20/Spheremaster 5, CR 29

Casandalee: Android Symbiat (Technopath) 20/Spheremaster 3, CR 27

Cayden Cailean: Human Fighter (Coiled Blade) 20/Gifted 4, CR 28

Chaldira: Halfling Rogue (Lucky Bastard) 20/Trickster 5, CR 29

Desna: Aasimar Bard (Corteggiare)/Trickster 9, CR 33

Erastil: Skinwalker Hunter (Greenrunner) 20/Gifted 8, CR 32

Ghlaunder: Unique Mythic Fiend, MR 6, CR 30

Gorum: Half-Orc Armiger 20/Gifted 6, CR 30

Gozreh: Suli Druid (Avatar) 20/Spheremaster 7, CR 31

Grandmother Spider: Kasatha Fey Adept 20/Spheremaster 8, CR 32

Groetus: ??? (I wouldn’t even call this thing a god, honestly)

Gruhastha: Human Scholar 20/Gifted 3, CR 27

Hei Feng: Tengu Armorist (Vajrahasta) 20/Gifted 5, CR 29

Iomedae: Human Paladin (Champion of the Cause) 20/Gifted 4, CR 28

Irori: Human Unchained Monk (Drifting Lotus) 20/Gifted 3, CR 27

Kazutal: Human Conscript 20/Gifted 5, CR 29

Kurgess: Human Thaumaturge (Savant) 20/Gifted 2, CR 26

Lamashtu: Unique Mythic Gallu Demon MR 7, CR 31

Milani: Half-Elf Commander 20/Marshal 6, CR 30

Nethys: ??? (This god evidently knows what he’s doing)

Nivi Rhombodazzle: Gnome Hedgewitch 20/Spheremaster 5

Nocticula: Unique Demon Lord MR 1, CR 29

Norgorber

Reaper of Reputation: Human Commander 20/Gifted 4. CR 28

Father Skinsaw: Human Slayer (Mercenary) 20/Gifted 4, CR 28

The Gray Master: Human Unchained Rogue (Treasure Seeker) 20/Trickster 4, CR 28

Blackfingers: Human Scholar 20/Gifted 4, CR 28

Pharasma: Elan Soul Weaver 20/Spheremaster 10, CR 34

Rovagug: Unique Qlippoth, MR 10, CR 40

Sarenrae: Unique Empyrean Angel, MR 7, CR 31

Shelyn: Human Eliciter 20/Spheremaster 6, CR 30

Shizuru: Human Mageknight (Warrior of Holy Light) 20/Gifted 5, CR 29

Sivanah: Fetchling Fey Adept 20/Spheremaster 2, CR 26

Torag: Dwarf Blacksmith 20/Gifted 5, CR 29

Tsukiyo: Human Soul Weaver (Ghost Sovereign) 20/Spheremaster 5, CR 29

Urgathoa: Mythic Vampire Soul Weaver 20, MR 7, CR 32

Zon-Kuthon: Human Eliciter (Fright Wright) 20/Spheremaster 6, CR 30

[dailycharacteroption]

Book Review: Faiths of Purity

And with today’s entry we end off the week with a beginning, a beginning of a quadrilogy in the Pathfinder Player Companion line of books, focused on the various faiths of Golarion’s Inner Sea Region deities.

Now, I say faiths specifically instead of deities, since this book is less about the deities themselves and more about how the mortals worship them and incorporate their beliefs into their daily lives.

The reason that these books came to be was to help build the world and give a religious character that one was portraying plenty of inspiration for what they would value and what sort of holy days and the like they would celebrate and follow through with, which was a fair bit more than what we got out of deity descriptions in many editions of D&D. Sure, you knew their alignments, their domains, and they symbols, but beyond a paragraph or two, their lore was pretty sparse in most books, so it was a nice change of pace.

The book starts with a breakdown of the seven good-aligned major deities in the Inner Sea Region, specifically information about their faith and their worshippers, everything from what sort of classes favor the religion, what they wear to identify themselves to other members of the faith outside of holy symbols, how they worship, what they consider taboo, and of course, their goals. Additionally, there is a bit on what sort of relationship the faithful have with other belief systems. These deities range from the frivolous but heroic followers of Cayden Cailean, the wandering and wise Desnans, the parental (and condescending) followers of Erastil, the righteous devotees of Iomedae, Sarenites who honor the mighty but merciful hand of the Dawnflower, art-focused followers of Shelyn, and the stalwart followers of Torag.

The book goes on further to briefly speak of the goodly minor deities. While not gone into the same detail, gives a good idea of what sort of followers they attract. They even go into the Empyreal Lords as well!

From there, we get various organizations that are tied to the aforementioned religions but having more specialized goals than simply following the teachings of said divinity. Things like secret organizations that bring light to nations of tyranny, or knightly orders.

Beyond that we get new combat feats associated with the fighting styles of the god’s followers (but not the divine fighting style feat, that comes later), as well as spells associated with each faith.

Additionally, with the exception of chaotic divinities, these faiths all qualify as valid options for a paladin to follow, and each one actually has an entry about how the oaths of paladins are altered by the nature of the god they worship, such as Shelynite paladins never striking first except to protect innocent life, and valuing the beauty and cultural importance of works of art greatly and seeking to protect them as well.

Finally, there is a bit on the various holy days and observances each faith in this book observes, which can be a fun way to set up festivals when the party goes to town or even inspiration for characters that would observe them even far away from where their faith is common.

The lore offered in this book is a major worldbuilding boon, as characters and NPCs alike can be fleshed out a lot by how they interact with and observe their faith. Faith means a lot to many people in the real world, so why wouldn’t it for characters in a fantasy world, even if they themselves aren’t divinely empowered?

Additonally, I like that none of the art in this book is of the deities themselves. Instead, it’s all example art of various worshippers of the faith, tying back to the “divinity from the mortal perspective” angle that this book and it’s companions are going for.

I do love this book. It’s a fun expansion of lore into the various major goodly faiths of the primary region of our setting, with plenty of fluffy to inspire characters with a light bit of crunch like that bit of cookie in a Twix bar. Firm enough for substance, but not so prominent so as to overshadow the texture of that delicious caramel. I hope that simile makes any kind of sense.

I don’t have super lots to complain about in this book, but I will say some of it is a little outdated, from Erastil’s somewhat traditionalist ideals that got downplayed in 2e to the paragraph on Apsu claiming that he does not grant divine magic to non-draconic followers, something that proves expressly not true in later books. (There’s even a paladin archetype that is baseline assumed to be associated with him, after all). But overall most of it is still good.

And that does it for our first week of book reviews, and the reception has been quite positive, so I’ll definitely be continuing this special in the future! But for now, look forward to more archetypes next week, and more specials in the future.

[wearesorcerer]

Spells: Enhance Water, Tears to Wine, etc.

Enhance water (Inner Sea Gods, pg. 233; Faiths of Purity, pg. 28) is a 1st-level Bard/Skald, Cleric/Oracle/Warpriest, and Paladin spell associated with Cayden Cailean. Tears to wine (Arcane Anthology, pg. 22) is similar and on more spell lists: 1st-level on the Alchemist/Investigator, Bard/Skald, Druid/Hunter, Medium, Occultist, and Shaman lists and 2nd-level on the Arcanist/Sorcerer/Wizard, Cleric/Oracle/Warpriest, and Witch lists.

Both turn water into mediocre wine. Or other middling booze. In the process, they also purify it.

Enhance water only works on non-magical water. The more contaminated the water is, the darker the ale, more full-bodied the wine, etc. It has a duration of instantaneous, so the drink is permanent.

Tears to wine turns any non-magical liquid into booze (no increase in quality), but it also ruins (un)holy water and potions. Those who drink the alcohol get a +2 (+5 @ 9th CL, +10 @ 15th) enhancement bonus on all Intelligence- and Wisdom-based skill checks. The spell has a duration of 10 minutes/level, but I think that’s for the buff specifically (given odd wording in the text).

Part of me thinks that this is silly as a 1st- or 2nd-level spell (buff aside) because purify food and drink is a cantrip and all this does in game mechanics is make water tastier (which is a function of prestidigitation) and technically poisonous but in obvious ways (I mean, unless you’re turning water into vodka, but then you still have to mask the smell somehow [again, prestidigitation]).

I suspect that part of the rationale has something to do with money: together with create water, you either have infinite hooch to sell at 1st level (though you’d easily saturate the market if you’re not careful) or you have that but as a variation of the glamered leaves and pebbles trick. Still, it’s not like you can’t screw up an in-game economy with the spells worded the way they are. (Heck, you can screw up in-game economies fairly easily in ever so many ways. Wall of iron comes to mind.)

I say all of this because I swear I have seen a water-to-wine spell somewhere, but I don’t know where. Dionysos has a Salient Divine Ability in Deities & Demigods (3.0) that does that, but I’m pretty sure there was another spell in 3.5 somewhere that did it.

N.B.: Before you get onto the devs for blasphemy against Jesus (not that I’m expecting many of you would), that type of miracle isn’t limited to Christianity. It’s noteworthy that they didn’t make the quality of the wine/mead/whatever dependent on caster level, which would have made it more in line with the story of the Wedding at Cana. ’Course, that’s what prestidigitation is for. (Shrug.)

[theinsanecrayonbox]

Welcome to the Flip-Side

So, I can finally get around to sharing my current dnd party’s team roster, since I got my magic corgi last week XDD

The premise of this story is interesting. Generations ago, there was this evil that rose up to try to take over the world, but it was thwarted; the first thing that happened in the reign of terror though was that the stars went out/missing. So our band of heroes all meet randomly at a festival...when the stars suddenly go out and skeletons rain from the sky to attack. The party then ventured to the center of the continent...only to get sucked through a magic well, and wake up as completely different people (who have less than favorable alignments in some cases; in other cases we don’t know what’s going on with them) in a world where the stars were still there. We’ve made it back to the A-Side (and in the process lost 2 party members who had gone full native on the B-Side)...but only after we ran into a bad guy who seemed to recognize that we didn’t belong in this world...

I have so many theories, and it is great fun. As we swap places, traits from the B-Side bleed over into the A-Side character for some, while others have no idea what their B-Side is about yet and it is infuriating in the best of ways (that someone is me lol)

So the A-Team:

-Krytos, the Dragonborn Paladin of Cayden Cailean, raised by Dwarves, on a mission to brew the ultimate beer eevr -Til, the Half-Orc Fighter, he’s recently joined the party -Dixon, the Half-Elf Crossbow-slinger (Gunslinger but crossbow I believe? idk anymore) -Band Ada, the Human Cleric of Qi Zhong, stolen/raised by Fae in the Fae Glen, and recently thrown back into the world of man (dis me) -Neo Sporekin, Ada’s magic corgi companion who is a guard dog -Larry, the Div-Spawn Rogue, he’s also recently joined the party

And the B-Squad:

-Crow, the Drow Swashbuckler, who we know is wanted for the murder of his family, and deaths in several towns (he is Krytos) -Ghonner Rhea, the Ifrit Fighter, who we know is a pyromaniac (he is Dixon) -Yrral, the Aasimar Sorcerer, who we haven’t met yet (he is Larry) -Gauzra Bandai, the Changeling Draconic Druid, who we know nothing about (she is Ada) -Ace, Gauzra’s magma drake companion (yup he’s Neo) -The Professor, the Half-Orc Necromancer, who we haven’t met yet (he is Til)

So yeah, table top rpgs are fun guys. I wish i was playing more than just once a week again ^^;;;