Psergei, NE Greater Goddess of Fire

Rae ArdGaoth · 14th September 2007, 08:42 AM

Psergei, Goddess of Fire

"SEHR-gay"
The Red Queen, The Searing Gaze

Enworldian Greater Deity
Symbol: A black disc consumed by fire
Home Plane: Plane of Fire
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Fire, the desert, evil fire creatures, patience, pain, destruction, mercilessness.
Worshippers: Efreet and other evil-aligned races of fire, the Fire Tribes of the Lands of Fire, cultists.
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil
Domains: Destruction, Evil, Fire, Sun
Favoured Weapon: Red Machete (Falchion)

Note: Evil clerics of Psergei with the Sun domain may perform a greater turning (as per the Sum domain ability) against undead in place of a regular rebuke, even though they channel negative energy.

Psergei is an ancient goddess composed entirely of fire. Though she can shape herself into any form, she usually appears simply as a column of red and orange flame. Sometimes she takes the shape of a humanoid, but retains her fiery substance.

Psergei demands only one thing of her worshipers; that they spread her fire across the world. She has no holy texts, her religion is passed completely by word of mouth. Some clerics have branded their skin with stories of Psergei's fiery wrath consuming entire cities, or the beginning of time when Psergei was the spark that brought heat and life into the world so that she could have something to slowly dominate and destroy. Psergei controls the Tower of Fire, which provides heat for all of Enworld. As such, she holds the power of life and death in her hands, as do those that control the other Towers.

Psergei's clerics are always evil. They have been known to "spread Psergei's domain" by committing random acts of arson, and are often banned from cities where Psergei is a known deity. The Red Queen is not well known except in the Lands of Fire, because her worshipers are notorious for causing all kinds of wanton destruction, and most living in the Central Lands have been executed, exiled, or are in hiding. The Fire Tribes of the Lands of Fire are nomadic desert societies, founded by Efreet, who have worshiped Psergei for thousands of years. The Fire Tribes believe that they are Psergei's chosen people, destined to control all of Enworld. They periodically cut away swaths of forest to the north of the Fire Lands to help the desert slowly expand towards the Tower of Earth, which they hope to one day conquer. They maintain a strict set of traditions and worship rites, many of which are cruel and painful, such as the annual fire sacrifice of a live innocent (sometimes a daughter of their own tribe, if a girl from another tribe cannot be kidnapped).

Psergei has a few temples, but most of her worshipers are nomads, so their places of regular worship are usually the massive bonfires they frequently build while on the move. There are several large temples of Psergei in the Lands of Fire, and many Fire Tribe traditions involve a regular pilgrimage to one of the nearby temples. The most famous temple is on the side of a volcano a mere 100 miles from the Tower of Fire itself. This temple was fashioned from the obsidian and the tunnels formed by rivers of lava from the volcano. Today the volcano is still active, and through some feat of engineering, the lava is directed around the temple itself, though the frequent explosions make it accessible only a few times a year. The temple has no permanent residents, but Psergei's high clerics make sure to worship in the temple whenever possible.

Rae ArdGaoth · 14th September 2007, 08:46 AM

To round out the elemental theme among the greater enworldian deities. I made a list of deity portfolios and noticed that we had no pain or destruction, so she fills that gap quite well. We also have only the good side of the sun, so I gave her the bad side to balance the scale a bit.

Enworldian Deities' Portfolio List:

Boddynock · 14th September 2007, 09:27 AM

The inclusion of "patience" in the list of portfolios bothers me a bit. I understand the reference with respect to the slow march of the desert but it doesn't really seem in character for a goddess of the sun.

(I note, by the way, that there's no reference to patience in the portfolio list you provided. The "and scribes" & "and traps" entries seem like they might be mistakes as well.)

Apart from that, though, it seems fine - and if we're wanting to balance up the elemental entries, then this seems to do the trick.

Off the top of my head, though - and because I'm too lazy to look up the answer myself - what sort of proportion of good to evil gods do we have, particularly with an elemental theme?

Edit: OK, to answer my own question:

Code:

                       LG     LN     LE     CG     CN     CE     NG     N     NE

Greater Gods:          0      2      0      1      1      0      2      0     1

Intermediate Gods:     2      1      0      0      0      0      2      0     1

Lesser Gods:           1      2      2      1      0      4      2      0     2

Demigods:              0      1      1      0      2      1      0      3     0

BigB · 14th September 2007, 03:11 PM

I can see some interesting desert based adventures for the Sairundan Dervish.

B4cchus · 14th September 2007, 10:57 PM

Looks good! I can see the patience part working with the rest of the portfolio although i would expect it with a LE diety. The NE works better with the desert and fire theme.
What is the black shpere in the symbol?

Rystil Arden · 14th September 2007, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B4cchus

Looks good! I can see the patience part working with the rest of the portfolio although i would expect it with a LE diety. The NE works better with the desert and fire theme.
What is the black shpere in the symbol?

They're patient, but yet they commit random arson. All in all, it averages out to neutral on that axis (and to keep theme, she absolutely must be Neutral Evil). I would assume there were probably LE and CE sects that emphasises the patience or the randomness over the other.

Rae ArdGaoth · 15th September 2007, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B4cchus

What is the black shpere in the symbol?

The black sphere is the world, now turned to ash, entirely consumed by Psergei's fire.

The patience bit... It fits with the desert theme well. Galatea is the goddess of the ocean, and Psergei would be the goddess of the desert. So perhaps... "entropy" or "destructive change" would be another portfolio, to justify her clerics (probably, as RA said, CE clerics) committing arson.

Trouvere · 15th September 2007, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rae ArdGaoth

The black sphere is the world

Cosmological heretic!

Solange · 15th September 2007, 01:37 AM

That's good

Bront · 15th September 2007, 06:00 AM

I like it, and I'd approve it as is, but I have a minor suggestion...

No temples is overkill. I could see one famous temple of some kind (perhaps in the side of an active volcano that never seems to desecrate the temple itself somewhere towards the tower of fire). It might not be manned always, but used on special occasions by high up priests and worshipers. Perhaps it's only accessable at certain times of the year due to lava flows.

Giving followers a little more structure beyond most being "nomads" fits a bit better into the alignment thing.

Just thoughts

orsal · 15th September 2007, 11:27 PM

I think an evil deity with the Sun domain is problematic. Flavour-wise, it's fine -- I don't see that the sun has to be inherently good, although it being a source of light at least makes that plausible. But mechanically speaking, how do you use the Sun domain ability (to improve undead turning) if you don't channel positive energy?

Rae ArdGaoth · 17th September 2007, 12:17 AM

Hmm... good point orsal. I looked over the spells in the Sun domain, to make sure that it wasn't meant only for good clerics. But I missed the domain power. The simplest solution would be to simply drop the Sun domain. I think it fitting for a desert goddess to have the Sun as a domain. But clearly, the creators of the game meant for the sun to be more of an "anti-undead" domain, rather than a "desert-goddess" domain. So I think I'll just drop it.

Bront, I like the idea about the one temple. Perhaps it was fashioned long ago by lava flowing from the volcano itself. And you're right, a completely nomadic culture implies chaotic tendencies. But I tried to counterbalance the nomadic (and chaotic) mentality with the importance of traditions. A few temples would help balance it out more, though, so I'll add something about that.

Trouvere, you devil. You're absolutely right. I'll fix it right away.

Bront · 17th September 2007, 02:46 PM

Yes

The worst case for the sun power is you don't use the domain ability. I'd put it back in there. Or, you can always rule an evil cleric may choose to use the ability and one of his rebukes functions as a turn when he does. All that requires is a note in the god's description. Zephos already has evil clerics that can only turn (something about the shepherd of the dead controling what they construe as abominations just didn't mesh).

Knight Otu · 17th September 2007, 07:52 PM

Iiinterestiiing.....

Sun as a domain would make sense, but, as noted presents a mechanical problem. I'd say it should be left out.

Trouvere · 17th September 2007, 08:45 PM

Setting aside any question of appropriate flavour, if Psergei's Sun domain power were altered to apply to rebuking*, what horrible abuses would become possible?

A cleric of Psergei with this alternate Sun domain power could command one single undead of HD from half his level up to his level (those of HD half his level and below he could command anyway). Undead commanded by a rebuking are under mental control that requires a standard action to give orders.

By comparison, the Sor/Wiz 2 spell Command Undead allows a Wizard to command any undead that fails a Will save (if intelligent; mindless get no save), with no HD cap and with no limit as to the total number of HD of undead under command at one time, and to control them verbally as, presumably, a free action.

The alternate Sun domain power seems a bit weak to me - although I'm probably forgetting some horrible ability of undead creatures that will break the game.

* i.e. "Once per day, you can perform a greater rebuking against undead in place of a regular rebuking. The greater rebuking is like a normal rebuking except that the undead creatures that would be rebuked are commanded instead."

Rystil Arden · 18th September 2007, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trouvere

Setting aside any question of appropriate flavour, if Psergei's Sun domain power were altered to apply to rebuking*, what horrible abuses would become possible?

A cleric of Psergei with this alternate Sun domain power could command one single undead of HD from half his level up to his level (those of HD half his level and below he could command anyway). Undead commanded by a rebuking are under mental control that requires a standard action to give orders.

By comparison, the Sor/Wiz 2 spell Command Undead allows a Wizard to command any undead that fails a Will save (if intelligent; mindless get no save), with no HD cap and with no limit as to the total number of HD of undead under command at one time, and to control them verbally as, presumably, a free action.

The alternate Sun domain power seems a bit weak to me - although I'm probably forgetting some horrible ability of undead creatures that will break the game.

* i.e. "Once per day, you can perform a greater rebuking against undead in place of a regular rebuking. The greater rebuking is like a normal rebuking except that the undead creatures that would be rebuked are commanded instead."

First of all, it makes no sense for the Sun to be associated directly with controlling better undead than, say, Urdiga, goddess of undeath. Secondly, controlling undead of your own Hit Dice is problematic. Consider templated undead like Vampires and Liches

Rae ArdGaoth · 18th September 2007, 10:21 AM

It doesn't really make sense for the Sun domain ability to be controlling undead. Half of its spells deal extra damage to undead.

As a matter of fact, it might make more sense for her clerics to be like Zephos'; that is, they turn undead rather than control it, despite channeling negative energy. Psergei is a goddess of destruction, and I imagine she loves seeing the walking dead burn just as much as she loves to see the living burn.

And KO, sorry if I'm stepping on your ambitious character's androgynous toes.

Trouvere · 18th September 2007, 11:27 AM

Yes, if anything she'd particularly dislike undead, as creatures that have been destroyed but still just won't give up.

Rystil Arden · 18th September 2007, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rae ArdGaoth

It doesn't really make sense for the Sun domain ability to be controlling undead. Half of its spells deal extra damage to undead.

As a matter of fact, it might make more sense for her clerics to be like Zephos'; that is, they turn undead rather than control it, despite channeling negative energy. Psergei is a goddess of destruction, and I imagine she loves seeing the walking dead burn just as much as she loves to see the living burn.

And KO, sorry if I'm stepping on your ambitious character's androgynous toes.

That would be fine with me. It would, however, be worth noting that Spontaneous Healing >> Spontaneous Wounding and, to balance, Controlling Undead >> Turning Undead. This sun cleric is acceptable because it gets the weaker of both pairs (I would not accept a cleric that spontaneously healed and controlled undead).

Rae ArdGaoth · 18th September 2007, 07:55 PM

I think you're right; it's a weaker choice, and one that someone would choose strictly for the flavor of having, say... a Desert Sage cleric of Psergei, who is awed by the destructive power of the sun.

I'll add a note about the Sun domain ability, and then I think Psergei is ready for votes.