Hello again my delightful darlings and welcome back to the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! We have another product review for y’all this edition: a deeper look at Pathfinder Lost Omens: Gods and Magic! I was pretty excited to see how this would turn out when it first hit the Roundup Radar a few months ago, so this is a wonderful little treat. Let’s get started!
Right out of the gate, Gods and Magic comes at you hard. If you’re not super familiar with the Golarion pantheon, the first splash art is an EYEFUL. It’s beautiful and evocative and colorful, I just don’t think anyone ever expects to see that particular angle of Lamashtu…ever. To be fair, I don’t think anyone ever expects to see any particular angle of Lamashtu.
The introductory section continues Paizo’s recent tradition of well-crafted introductions to new and multifaceted concepts. There’s a brief rundown of how to incorporate faith into your character’s makeup, and a tasteful section on faith and devotion for even those characters who do not derive power from that devotion.
Divine Intercession sand deific Boons and Curses are given a clear and unambiguous warning to the DM not to just hand them out willy-nilly, but I couldn’t help myself reading through the following sections and automatically thinking how much fun they’d be to have on a character. Which, granted, is kinda the idea with a literal gift from a god, but reading with too much expectation may set players up for disappointment.
Now, on to the core deities! Each core deity is given a two-page spread which includes their most common depiction, their holy symbols, a description of their history and worship, as well as neat little details like sacred animals and sacred colors. What I found most intriguing, however, was the Aphorisms that were found in every sidebar. Each deity has a few sayings or phrases used as oaths or common expressions amongst their faithful. While some are a little corny and some sound a little stiff for everyday use, the aphorisms are a wonderful and unexpected ways to add depth to or reinforce the characterization of your hero.
The minor and other deities are a great place to find some weird and off-the wall deities, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it used as a showcase for how Golarion and Pathfinder as a whole are evolving. Arazni is an odd include in this section – she seems to actively spurn pretty much any kind of worshipper – but she makes sense as she is likely important in recent or upcoming Adventure Paths. The much-maligned Nocticula got the glow-up to end all glow-ups (shame the same can’t be said for Calistria), and there’s even a god in here that is DEFINITELY NOT the moon from Majora’s Mask.
But what of even more esoteric faiths, you ask? Well, the Demigods and Philosophies sections have you covered. These are the only sections where I feel the designers maaaay have been reigned in a bit – the decision was made here to separate their description from the mechanics involved in their worship, and I can’t help but notice that each section of demigods fits neatly onto a two-page spread. Also, when there’s a whole section on Elder Gods and Great Old Ones, there’s a bit of an expectation to see ol’ squid-face, and he is conspicuously absent.
That about does it for this edition of the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! Well, this Paizo Product Review. What kind of gods and deific monsters are you looking forward to in this book? Which ones do you think they’re holding out on?
Right out of the gate, Gods and Magic comes at you hard. If you’re not super familiar with the Golarion pantheon, the first splash art is an EYEFUL. It’s beautiful and evocative and colorful, I just don’t think anyone ever expects to see that particular angle of Lamashtu…ever. To be fair, I don’t think anyone ever expects to see any particular angle of Lamashtu.
The introductory section continues Paizo’s recent tradition of well-crafted introductions to new and multifaceted concepts. There’s a brief rundown of how to incorporate faith into your character’s makeup, and a tasteful section on faith and devotion for even those characters who do not derive power from that devotion.
Divine Intercession sand deific Boons and Curses are given a clear and unambiguous warning to the DM not to just hand them out willy-nilly, but I couldn’t help myself reading through the following sections and automatically thinking how much fun they’d be to have on a character. Which, granted, is kinda the idea with a literal gift from a god, but reading with too much expectation may set players up for disappointment.
Now, on to the core deities! Each core deity is given a two-page spread which includes their most common depiction, their holy symbols, a description of their history and worship, as well as neat little details like sacred animals and sacred colors. What I found most intriguing, however, was the Aphorisms that were found in every sidebar. Each deity has a few sayings or phrases used as oaths or common expressions amongst their faithful. While some are a little corny and some sound a little stiff for everyday use, the aphorisms are a wonderful and unexpected ways to add depth to or reinforce the characterization of your hero.
The minor and other deities are a great place to find some weird and off-the wall deities, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it used as a showcase for how Golarion and Pathfinder as a whole are evolving. Arazni is an odd include in this section – she seems to actively spurn pretty much any kind of worshipper – but she makes sense as she is likely important in recent or upcoming Adventure Paths. The much-maligned Nocticula got the glow-up to end all glow-ups (shame the same can’t be said for Calistria), and there’s even a god in here that is DEFINITELY NOT the moon from Majora’s Mask.
But what of even more esoteric faiths, you ask? Well, the Demigods and Philosophies sections have you covered. These are the only sections where I feel the designers maaaay have been reigned in a bit – the decision was made here to separate their description from the mechanics involved in their worship, and I can’t help but notice that each section of demigods fits neatly onto a two-page spread. Also, when there’s a whole section on Elder Gods and Great Old Ones, there’s a bit of an expectation to see ol’ squid-face, and he is conspicuously absent.
That about does it for this edition of the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! Well, this Paizo Product Review. What kind of gods and deific monsters are you looking forward to in this book? Which ones do you think they’re holding out on?
