2d4chan - User contributions [en]

Traveller

2020-07-02T22:28:11Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}
{{Game Infobox
|name = Traveller
|picture = [[File:Traveller_Classic_cover.jpg|200px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = Game Designer's Workshop Steve Jackson Games Mongoose Publishing Far Future Entertainment
|authors = Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and Loren K. Wiseman (followed by many others)
|year = 1977
}}
'''Traveller''' is a science fiction game that is older than you are. It's always tried to be a science fiction instead of science fantasy, and it manages to pull it off... most of the time. It's grounded in '60s and '70s science fiction like Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Poul Anderson, and other people who are not hacks like [[Star Wars|George Lucas]] nor hippies IN SPACE like [[Star Trek|Gene Roddenberry]].

There are eight major star-faring races, three of which are human: the Vilani who are the decadent old empire who grew up on a world where you had to ferment everything to make it edible (their beer tastes like gym socks); the Zhodani who are all too-tall telepathic middle-eastern types (but they love their Thought Police! Honest!); and the late-to-the-show Solomani, who it turns out grew up on the planet humans actually came from (which makes them BETTER than ANYONE! TERRA FIRST! FUCK YEAH!). The other races are K'Kree, herd-centaurs who are fanatic vegetarians who never travel in less than family groups of six ("they eat meat? burn the planet from orbit"), the territorial Aslan (meow), the pirate Vargr (woof), the hexapodal Hivers (walking starfish made of "[[just as planned]]") and highly specialized Droyne (insect-y lizard-y types).

The setting is the "Third Imperium," after the Vilani First Imperium collapsed, and the Solomani 2nd imperium flared and then imploded. Humaniti is in the middle of the eight races mentioned above (except the Droyne, who are anywhere but don't care about conquest), and getting pushed on all sides. Furthermore, stellar travel takes a week for each "jump," which could be 1 to 6 parsecs -- your engine increases the range of the jump, but it's always one week per jump. Since it can be months to get a message from the capital to the frontiers, and because of recurring dark ages, the Third Imperium is mostly a feudal state, with local governors, barons and the like. The post office run is an unmanned jump-4 "x-boat" ship that pops in, bursts an upload of mail, downloads new mail, and then jumps out. Even these ships could take 15 months to get from the capital to the borders where a typical adventuring party would be.

A typical Traveller campaign is players who own the mortgage on a small merchant frigate, moving cargo from point A to point B and doing odd jobs that may or may not be legal. Yes, very "Firefly," but this came first and Firefly has [[Serenity|its own role-playing game]] and then [[Firefly|another RPG edition on different rules covering only the TV series]].

Traveller was unique at the time, and still unusual, in the fact that your character could die during generation (later changed to severe wounds and convalescence).

There were many editions of Traveller, because people just won't let it die:
* Traveller "Classic" (1977) came in a black box, with four 5"x8.5" booklets with solid black covers and white letters. Stats were from 0 to 15 (you used hexadecimal for everything, so "0" to "F"). They made a bunch of expansions, and you could fit them all in the box until the alien race books. Everyone had a military background, and your stats and starting equipment were modified by bonuses you got during your terms of service. The splatbooks would go back and redo the original character generation rules.
* Traveller:2300 (1986) was supposed to be the Solomani before discovering the other races. Used d10 instead of 2d6. Got confused with MT the next year.
* Megatraveller (1987) folded all the splatbooks back into the basic rules, and the setting changed with a huge civil war in the Third Imperium with the assasination of the emprah. Most Traveller fans thought this was made of fail and faggotry, and decide to ignore this bit of history. These books were bigger, and there was no black box.
* Traveller: The New Era (1993) The Imperium gets ripped to shreds by a virus that sends every jump-capable ship into the nearest star. Every planet is cut off from interstellar travel, and there's anarchy. Whoever has the most tech tends to become the local lord. New game mechanics, no more needing to learn about the setting since you aren't going anywhere. Game Designer's Workshop went under before they could make this space game about space again.
* Marc Miller's Traveller (1996) (aka "T4") is when the original authors got the rights after GDW went under. He rolled back the clock to the start of the Third Imperium, no more assasination, no more Virus, but he totally failed at getting a good editor to review his work and his book needed twenty-five pages of errata.
* GURPS Traveller (1998) happened because Steve Jackson is a nut for the original. No assasination, no Virus, and he got the original splatbook authors to come back and rewrite the alien races books and adventures.
* Traveller 20 (2002) is Traveller using the [[d20 System]]. Takes place during the war that happened when Solomani met their neighbours.
* Hero Traveller (2007) is Traveller with Hero System rules which were also used in the CHAMPIONS superhero RPG.
* Mongoose Traveller (2008) is new, and it doesn't suck. Mongoose bought the rights to publish stuff for at least ten years. The setting is roughly equivalent to the original.
* Traveller5 (2013) (aka "T5") is the newest, and at the moment it's practically unplayable (unless you are a Traveller expert). Made by fanboys for fanboys on a Kickstarter, it's a 656-page book that provides rules for every damn thing there is or could be, but not much of a coherence or clarity.
* Mongoose Traveller 2 is a 2016 product that is widely played.
* Traveller5.1 2017 is the newest and bestest version, a tool box for many other Traveller versions and with a New setting. Set at least 1000 years into the future of the previous settings it allows for massive exploration campaigns.

OK, you see how on the front cover up there a ship is basically doomed? Yeah. Expect that. Traveller is not a forgiving system. In older editions, it was possible to literally die during chargen (due to the life-path generation system). This is now impossible, but the life-path generation system is of such a nature that all characters end up either being cripples or Bastard Hard. Within the game itself, combat can mess you up, especially ship-to-ship combat. I hope you took Vacc Suit and Zero G as skills.

One major fun of the game is to roll star-system characteristics with dice (ProTip: Get a computer or web-page utility to do it!) and then move around trading, buying low and selling high. Your buying and selling prices (as percentages of base values) are determined with dice-rolls and skills. See if you can maintain your starship payments and strike it rich besides, as long as wars, political intrigue, wildernesses or alien beasts don't kill you first.

Traveller 5 has reintroduced death during character generation (but only if you're stupid :) )

==Links==
* [http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page Traveller Wiki] fanboy drooling, conduct policies
* [http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/ GURPS Traveller] no longer supported by SJG
* [http://www.travellermap.com/ Travellermap] mashup of Google maps and Traveller's setting
* [http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss ] official forums for the game

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Traveller

2020-07-02T22:27:21Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}
{{Game Infobox
|name = Traveller
|picture = [[File:Traveller_Classic_cover.jpg|200px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = Game Designer's Workshop Steve Jackson Games Mongoose Publishing Far Future Entertainment
|authors = Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and Loren K. Wiseman (followed by many others)
|year = 1977
}}
'''Traveller''' is a science fiction game that is older than you are. It's always tried to be a science fiction instead of science fantasy, and it manages to pull it off... most of the time. It's grounded in '60s and '70s science fiction like Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Poul Anderson, and other people who are not hacks like [[Star Wars|George Lucas]] nor hippies IN SPACE like [[Star Trek|Gene Roddenberry]].

There are eight major star-faring races, three of which are human: the Vilani who are the decadent old empire who grew up on a world where you had to ferment everything to make it edible (their beer tastes like gym socks); the Zhodani who are all too-tall telepathic middle-eastern types (but they love their Thought Police! Honest!); and the late-to-the-show Solomani, who it turns out grew up on the planet humans actually came from (which makes them BETTER than ANYONE! TERRA FIRST! FUCK YEARRRAGH!). The other races are K'Kree, herd-centaurs who are fanatic vegetarians who never travel in less than family groups of six ("they eat meat? burn the planet from orbit"), the territorial Aslan (meow), the pirate Vargr (woof), the hexapodal Hivers (walking starfish made of "[[just as planned]]") and highly specialized Droyne (insect-y lizard-y types).

The setting is the "Third Imperium," after the Vilani First Imperium collapsed, and the Solomani 2nd imperium flared and then imploded. Humaniti is in the middle of the eight races mentioned above (except the Droyne, who are anywhere but don't care about conquest), and getting pushed on all sides. Furthermore, stellar travel takes a week for each "jump," which could be 1 to 6 parsecs -- your engine increases the range of the jump, but it's always one week per jump. Since it can be months to get a message from the capital to the frontiers, and because of recurring dark ages, the Third Imperium is mostly a feudal state, with local governors, barons and the like. The post office run is an unmanned jump-4 "x-boat" ship that pops in, bursts an upload of mail, downloads new mail, and then jumps out. Even these ships could take 15 months to get from the capital to the borders where a typical adventuring party would be.

A typical Traveller campaign is players who own the mortgage on a small merchant frigate, moving cargo from point A to point B and doing odd jobs that may or may not be legal. Yes, very "Firefly," but this came first and Firefly has [[Serenity|its own role-playing game]] and then [[Firefly|another RPG edition on different rules covering only the TV series]].

Traveller was unique at the time, and still unusual, in the fact that your character could die during generation (later changed to severe wounds and convalescence).

There were many editions of Traveller, because people just won't let it die:
* Traveller "Classic" (1977) came in a black box, with four 5"x8.5" booklets with solid black covers and white letters. Stats were from 0 to 15 (you used hexadecimal for everything, so "0" to "F"). They made a bunch of expansions, and you could fit them all in the box until the alien race books. Everyone had a military background, and your stats and starting equipment were modified by bonuses you got during your terms of service. The splatbooks would go back and redo the original character generation rules.
* Traveller:2300 (1986) was supposed to be the Solomani before discovering the other races. Used d10 instead of 2d6. Got confused with MT the next year.
* Megatraveller (1987) folded all the splatbooks back into the basic rules, and the setting changed with a huge civil war in the Third Imperium with the assasination of the emprah. Most Traveller fans thought this was made of fail and faggotry, and decide to ignore this bit of history. These books were bigger, and there was no black box.
* Traveller: The New Era (1993) The Imperium gets ripped to shreds by a virus that sends every jump-capable ship into the nearest star. Every planet is cut off from interstellar travel, and there's anarchy. Whoever has the most tech tends to become the local lord. New game mechanics, no more needing to learn about the setting since you aren't going anywhere. Game Designer's Workshop went under before they could make this space game about space again.
* Marc Miller's Traveller (1996) (aka "T4") is when the original authors got the rights after GDW went under. He rolled back the clock to the start of the Third Imperium, no more assasination, no more Virus, but he totally failed at getting a good editor to review his work and his book needed twenty-five pages of errata.
* GURPS Traveller (1998) happened because Steve Jackson is a nut for the original. No assasination, no Virus, and he got the original splatbook authors to come back and rewrite the alien races books and adventures.
* Traveller 20 (2002) is Traveller using the [[d20 System]]. Takes place during the war that happened when Solomani met their neighbours.
* Hero Traveller (2007) is Traveller with Hero System rules which were also used in the CHAMPIONS superhero RPG.
* Mongoose Traveller (2008) is new, and it doesn't suck. Mongoose bought the rights to publish stuff for at least ten years. The setting is roughly equivalent to the original.
* Traveller5 (2013) (aka "T5") is the newest, and at the moment it's practically unplayable (unless you are a Traveller expert). Made by fanboys for fanboys on a Kickstarter, it's a 656-page book that provides rules for every damn thing there is or could be, but not much of a coherence or clarity.
* Mongoose Traveller 2 is a 2016 product that is widely played.
* Traveller5.1 2017 is the newest and bestest version, a tool box for many other Traveller versions and with a New setting. Set at least 1000 years into the future of the previous settings it allows for massive exploration campaigns.

OK, you see how on the front cover up there a ship is basically doomed? Yeah. Expect that. Traveller is not a forgiving system. In older editions, it was possible to literally die during chargen (due to the life-path generation system). This is now impossible, but the life-path generation system is of such a nature that all characters end up either being cripples or Bastard Hard. Within the game itself, combat can mess you up, especially ship-to-ship combat. I hope you took Vacc Suit and Zero G as skills.

One major fun of the game is to roll star-system characteristics with dice (ProTip: Get a computer or web-page utility to do it!) and then move around trading, buying low and selling high. Your buying and selling prices (as percentages of base values) are determined with dice-rolls and skills. See if you can maintain your starship payments and strike it rich besides, as long as wars, political intrigue, wildernesses or alien beasts don't kill you first.

Traveller 5 has reintroduced death during character generation (but only if you're stupid :) )

==Links==
* [http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page Traveller Wiki] fanboy drooling, conduct policies
* [http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/ GURPS Traveller] no longer supported by SJG
* [http://www.travellermap.com/ Travellermap] mashup of Google maps and Traveller's setting
* [http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss ] official forums for the game

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Illuminati

2020-05-25T21:15:10Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Nice try Illuminati. We know you exist.

[[Image:EYE_OF_PROVIDENCE.jpg|thumb|Right|350px|The Eye of Providence, a symbol frequently attributed to the Illuminati]]

The '''Illuminati''' (Latin for ''the Illuminated'') was a secret society whose master plan was to combat superstition, religious influence over daily life, and abuse of state power. Their members had a tendency to disagree with eachother, especially about adopting Freemason ideollogies. [[FAIL|They ultimately were disbanded when the government of Bavaria banned all secret societies.]] Which just shows how good they were at getting their original plans accomplished.

The Illuminati is the center of all sorts of conspiracy theories, especially those where the endgame is a New World Order. The Illuminati is responsible for all sorts of events, from the French Revolution to the JFK Assassination to 9/11, [[Just as planned|all of which is done to make their evil agenda of controlling the world a reality!]] The Illuminati as an all-evil cabal hellbent on world domination. This makes them a popular villain in all sorts of media, especially in cyberpunk and paranormal settings for tabletop games (e.e. the aptly-named [[Illuminopoly]]).

In Warhammer 40k, the [[Illuminati (40k)|Illuminati]] were a group who sought to round up the [[God-Emperor_of_Mankind|Emperor's]] descendants, kill them in front of the Golden Throne, and kill the Emperor, all to reincarnate him into the Star Child. [[Derp|This was dumb, though]], and the Inquisition declared them to be a [[Tzeentch]]ian cult and purged them all. The idea of the Illuminati was re-purposed into the Horus Heresy-era [[The Cabal|Cabal]], which is much cooler and ''way'' better handled.

All of this mystique around the idea of the Illuminati led to a [[Illuminati (Card Game)|fantastic card game]] being made by [[Steve Jackson Games]], wherein the players are all various organizations, each seeking to enact their agendas over the world.

[[Category:Not related]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:38:45Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Trivia */

[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

{{stub}}
===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition. Very descriptive. It would be appriciated if someone was to edit this.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Siberia mixed with lovecraft.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Kasatha

2020-05-22T17:34:51Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{NeedsImages}}

'''Kasathas''' are another of [[Pathfinder]]'s strange alien races, this time covering that gimmick of the aliens with multiple arms. Aside from their quadruple arms, their skin tends to be of pale coloration and their heads are elongated and almost cone-like, which probably would take a few hours of make up and SFX/props to put on a set of [[Doctor Who]] or [[Star Trek]].

==Pathfinder==
Despite lacking much of a cultural identity, the fact that they usually live in [[Golarion#Numeria|Numeria]] makes it pretty clear that they're definitely not native to Golarion and might be part of whatever incident led to Numeria becoming the techno-barbaric wasteland it is today. Their uncertain origin and their unusual appearance is the reason they tend to be reclusive nomads with one exception. That exception revolves around a certain coming of age ceremony where youths leave their clans and go wandering on their own so they could observe other cultures before returning.

Their particular makeup of stats and appearance lends to them resulted in them gaining a unique archetype to the [[Ranger]] class, where their four arms are put to use dual-wielding bows with no issue.

===Stats===
::Stat Adjustment: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom
::Size: Medium
::Normal Speed: Kasathas have a base speed of 30 feet.
::Defensive Training (Ex): Kasathas have a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class.
::Desert Runner (Ex): Kasathas have a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue, exhaustion, and other ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, and hot or cold environments.
::Desert Stride (Ex): Kasathas move through nonmagical difficult terrain in desert environments at normal speed.
::Jumper (Ex): Kasathas are always considered to have a running start when attempting Acrobatics checks to jump.
::Multi-Armed (Ex): A kasatha has four arms. One hand is considered its primary hand; all others are considered off hands. It can use any of its hands for other purposes that require free hands.
::Stalker (Ex): Perception and Stealth are class skills for kasathas.

Alternative Racial Trait: Stealthy - Kasatha living on Golarion must often take great pains to hide their existence from others. Such kasathas gain a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks. Stealth is always a class skill for them. This racial trait replaces jumper and stalker.

==Starfinder==
Surprise, surprise, Kasathas were really aliens. More specifically, they're aliens that are fleeing their dying homeworld of Kasath aboard the massive starship the ''Idari'' and tried to colonize Akiton and failing. In response, they decided to park their ship nearby and become a colony. This leads to a situation similar to what one would see in a [[Craftworld]], where every citizen is trained in order to do their part in maintaining and protecting the Idari while also allowing them to pursue different callings in civilian life.

In addition, their lack of cultural identity is revealed to being an incredibly traditionalist culture, with many items and weapons originating from their ancient history. Even their dead have their memories delved into in an Infinity Circuit kind of way in order to uncover more history and progress.

===Statline===
::Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Int
::Hit Points: 4
::Size and Type: Kasathas are Medium humanoids with the kasatha subtype.
::Desert Stride: Kasathas can move through nonmagical difficult terrain in deserts, hills, and mountains at their normal speed.
::Four-Armed: Kasathas have four arms, which allows them to wield and hold up to four hands’ worth of weapons and equipment. While their multiple arms increase the number of items they can have at the ready, it doesn’t increase the number of attacks they can make during combat.
::Historian: Due to their in-depth historical training and the wide-ranging academic background knowledge they possess, kasathas receive a +2 racial bonus to Culture checks.
::Natural Grace: Kasathas receive a +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics and Athletics checks.

'''Alternate Racial Traits'''
:''Akitonian Settler:'' Replace Ability Score Modifiers with +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con
:''Kasath Native:'' Replace Ability Score Modifiers with +2 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Cha
:''Nomad:'' Replace Ability Score Modifiers with +2 Int, +2 Cha, -2 Wis

:''Crew Member:'' Gain a +2 Racial Bonus to either Computers, Engineering, or Piloting. Replaces Historian.
:''Personal Traditions:'' You can re-roll a failed Saving Throw once per day. This replaces Natural Grace.

{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:26:16Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Tian Xia */

[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

{{stub}}
===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition. Very descriptive. It would be appriciated if someone was to edit this.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Siberia mixed with lovecraft.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:26:01Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Tian Xia */

[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

{{stub}}
===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition. Very descriptive. It would be appriciated if someone was to edit this.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Siberia mixed with lovecraft.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:24:15Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Crown of the World */

[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

{{stub}}
===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition. Very descriptive. It would be appriciated if someone was to edit this.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Siberia mixed with lovecraft.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:21:46Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

{{stub}}
===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition. Very descriptive. It would be appriciated if someone was to edit this.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:21:24Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Varisia */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

{{stub}}
===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition. Very descriptive. It would be appriciated if someone was to edit this.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:19:51Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Taldor */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:19:01Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Sargava */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:15:15Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* River Kingdoms */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically Anarcho-Monarchists of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:13:26Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Razmiran */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically the Balkans of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:08:27Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Mwangi Expanse */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who fortunately worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over so you can kill them and take their stuff.) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Ever play a game with an [[That guy|edgelord]] who always wants to be the [[Mary Sue|super-bestest at everything]] and the GM just capitulates to their every whim and gives them [[Grimdark|a kingdom which they rule worse that North Korea and say everyone should worship them as a god?]] Well, that's pretty much this country. Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically the Balkans of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T17:07:22Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Molthune */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing. GOTT MIT UNS!

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who, sadly, worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Ever play a game with an [[That guy|edgelord]] who always wants to be the [[Mary Sue|super-bestest at everything]] and the GM just capitulates to their every whim and gives them [[Grimdark|a kingdom which they rule worse that North Korea and say everyone should worship them as a god?]] Well, that's pretty much this country. Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically the Balkans of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T16:48:57Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: /* Katapesh */

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious, eldritch race called the Pactmasters. Its basicaly Oman before OI MATE DO YOU HAVE A LISCENCE FOR THOSE BLACKSLAVES, GUNS, OPIUM AND HOOKERS!

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing.

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who, sadly, worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Ever play a game with an [[That guy|edgelord]] who always wants to be the [[Mary Sue|super-bestest at everything]] and the GM just capitulates to their every whim and gives them [[Grimdark|a kingdom which they rule worse that North Korea and say everyone should worship them as a god?]] Well, that's pretty much this country. Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically the Balkans of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Golarion

2020-05-22T16:47:09Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Hail Hydra!

{{stub}}
[[File:Continent of Avistan.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Welcome to Golarion.]]
[[Golarion]] is the "main" planet in Paizo's default [[Campaign setting|campaign setting]] for the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]] that, as of Pathfinder's second edition, is named '''Age of Lost Omens'''. It's not the sum total of the setting's Material Plane like, say, Athas is, but it's where most of the action is and where you're going to be spending most of your time so it's also the nickname for what's properly known as the [[Pathfinder Campaign Setting]]. Golarion was first introduced to players as a generic OGL module named ''Crown of the Kobold King'', released in June of 2007 under Paizo's GameMastery imprint. Two months later at [[Gen Con]] 2007, Paizo published ''Rise of the Runelords'', the first of Pathfinder's famous Adventure Paths and the first product to bear the Pathfinder brand name; this was followed by another adventure path and a couple "Pathfinder Chronicles" supplements. When Wizards announced [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] and neglected to mention that the OGL would be replaced with a giant spiky dildo, Paizo cashed in on the confusion and announced that they would be creating a replacement RPG, based on OGL content but with a less restrictive license for its "Product Identity" and with Golarion as the default setting.

Golarion is notable for ripping off fucking everything, including dime-store pulp novels, random bits of relatively modern history, earlier editions of D&D, sci-fi kitsch, and the kitchen sink. This is a transparent attempt to [[FATAL|fill the gaping orifice]] left behind by the loss of the D&D's "Product Identity" as cheaply as possible, justified as a way of allowing many different campaign styles to coexist in the same setting. One notable exception is the elder gods of the Far Realm, which Paizo replaced by biting the bullet and licensing the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] from Chaosium.

It bears mentioning that this "fantasy kitchen sink" style actually isn't new to D&D. ALL of the "iconic trinity" of settings from the earliest days of D&D - [[Mystara]], [[Greyhawk]] and the [[Forgotten Realms]] - have a similar motif. What makes Golarion stand out compared to Greyhawk or the Realms is that the latter settings tend to obscure their real-world inheritances more by keeping the "non-Medieval Europe" cultures pushed from the highlight; the Realms in particular generally keeps its more blatantly real-world homage based portions off of the core map and out of the spotlight, such as [[Al-Qadim]], [[Kara-tur]] and [[Maztica]]. Even its blatancy is not unique; [[Mystara]] did it first, and with its bizarre races and fantastical tweaks on real-world cultures, Golarion resembles a Mystara written in and for the 2010s more than anything.

The centerpiece of Golarion is the Inner Sea region, consisting of the fantasy equivalents of Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea zone, and the northern half of Africa. Unlike [[Dark Sun|most]] other fantasy settings, many of the cultures and civilizations of the Inner Sea region are in severe decline after the only deity which represents humans in the [[Outer Planes|Great Beyond]], Aroden, died a few centuries ago. To add salt to the wound, this caused a series of events which fucked up the world: the formation of a massive supernatural stationary fuckstorm that annihilated two entire nations and allowed [[Pirate|pirates]] to develop their own kingdoms, the obliteration of a noble [[barbarian]] empire by [[Eye of Terror|a tear in the tissue of reality]] opened directly into the [[Abyss]], and the prophets and diviners committing mass suicide as an prophesied golden age for mankind suddenly faded into nothing. As if this wasn't enough, the religious hysteria led the two greatest empires of the region to become balkanized devil-worshipping fantasy Nazis and decadent chucklefucks, respectively.

==Nations of Golarion==
===Absalom===
[[File:PathfinderExplained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Golarion (or at least the parts that matter) in a nutshell.]]
Mecca meets [[Sigil]] in the middle of the ocean, with a culture more like Medieval Rome mixed with Venice. 10,000 years in Golarion's past, a fuckhuge magic space rock called the Starstone struck the planet, creating the Inner Sea in the process and destroying Azlant, home of the Glorious Azlanti Master Race. The last of the Azlanti, Aroden, lifted the stone out of the Inner Sea 5,000 years later and used its magic to become [[Emperor|the God of Humanity in living flesh,]] founding the city-state of Absalom on the island where he dumped the thing to protect it from others who wanted to pull the same trick. It's still there, in the heart of the Ascendant Court, and anyone who survives the Test of the Starstone can use it to become a god too. (Thousands try every year; only three have ever succeeded, including [[Lulz|one guy who took the test on a drunken dare and can't remember how he did it.]]) As everyone has a stake in keeping the number of crazy gods around to a minimum and the island is strategically located in the middle of the Inner Sea, Absalom has become the effective center of civilization in Golarion's western hemisphere, with a complete clusterfuck of races and nationalities walking the streets to wheel and deal. Other areas of note include the Cairnlands, the slightly-haunted graveyard for all the dumbasses who tried and failed to invade one of the most important places on the planet, and the Ivy District, which is where all the whores are and where everyone goes to [[Diplomacy|stab each other in the back.]]

===Alkenstar===
Fuck yeah [[Murlynd|guns in your fantasy setting.]] Alkenstar is in the middle of a giant non-magical desert formed by a war between its magocratic neighbors, Geb and Nex, so they had to tell [[Medieval Stasis]] to shove it and learn engineering to stay relevant. Almost all of Golarion's gunpowder-based weaponry is produced by Alkenstari engineers, and they like to keep it that way so they can continue to charge out the ass for them. This is so your GM has an excuse to veto firearms. Despite what you'd expect from a desert nation that shits firearms, they're ''not'' particularly friends with Andoran, maintaining scrupulous neutrality and being situated in Golarion's equivalent of northeastern Africa.

===Andoran===
Fuck yeah 'Muricans. When Cheliax shat the bed, the nobles of Andoran went along with their new devil overlords in the interest of not becoming a fucking bloodbath like Galt or Cheliax itself. Andoran's burgeoning merchant class had other ideas and whipped up a revolution two years later, using Galtan philosophy (as if the American Revolution parallels weren't fucking obvious enough) to fuel the fires and inventing democratic socialism and the welfare state from whole cloth. As expected of fantasy Americans, they also practice cultural imperialism, actively exporting their radical ideology and disrupting the Inner Sea's slave trade. This makes them less than popular with the rest of the world. Their patron divinity is a [[Guardinal|celestial eagle-man.]]

Adventures (including those for Pathfinder Society) on the other hand paint a different view entirely. There it's a massively corrupt land ruled by unfettered monopolies with a senate that's little better than aristocracy. The only checks to their power are increasingly unhinged extremists who would push the nation into another Galt.

===Belkzen===
Stupid dumb [[Orc|greenskin]] scum. When Golarion's dwarves took their expedition/holy war out of the Darklands, they pushed the orcs ahead of them. The dwarves eventually pushed them back into a shitty little valley in the continent's north, but not before a [[Grimgor Ironhide|strong and ambitious orc warlord]] named Belkzen managed to capture and ransack a [[Dwarf Fortress]] that he rechristened Urgir, the closest thing to a capital city they have. Naturally, the Hold of Belkzen has since collapsed into a fuckpile of semi-nomadic tribes with friendly names like Broken Spine, Gutspear, and Murdered Child constantly wrangling with each other for territory. The current holder of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand, has discovered the value of trade with less beefy races, and your average PC can walk the streets in relative safety... most of the time. Other locations of note include the Brimstone Haruspex, where orc clerics huff volcanic gas to predict the future, and the Foundry, where and I quote: [[Mekboy|"crazed orc engineers known as Steeleaters remain neutral in order to sell their bizarre siege weaponry to all sides."]] '''Green really iz da best, innit?'''

===Brevoy===
Stuck all the way in the upper right corner of the map, this land is cold, forested and the country is on the verge of collapse. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Supposedly some dragon or dude with a dragon showed up, conquered everyone and his line has ruled for years only to disappear one night and now the various noble houses vie for control.]]

Anyway, Brevoy is divided into a few regional areas, each ruled by a noble house who have their own outlook and goals, as well as a [[Greyhawk|somewhat independent city of adventurer swordsmen]]. The northern nobles are loosely allied against the equally loosely allied south and, in an attempt to build power and prestige enough to keep the calm, the newest king has sent [[Adventurer|adventurers]] south to found a new kingdom, [[Just As Planned|preferably a weak one that they can conquer in a weekend war.]]

===Cheliax===
[[File:Cheliax_flag.png|right|thumb]]
Motherfucking '''DEVIL [[Nazi|NAZIS.]]''' I mean, shit, their flag has a fucking swastika on it, modified ''just'' enough to keep German fa/tg/uys from [[/pol/|getting arrested.]] They were the biggest big cheese since Azlant until Aroden died and the noble houses turned the empire into a clusterfuck resembling a [[Crusader Kings]] game gone bad. House Thrune, fortunately (for them), [[Devil|had some friends in low places]] and leveraged their foul magic to slaughter their way through a 30-year civil war and put Queen Abrogail on the throne. Now the people of Cheliax have to deal with a government that worships [[Asmodeus]] as a state religion, regularly employs bound devils in its armies, [[Chaos|and ''really'' likes putting spikes on things.]] Anyone who doesn't support the new order is at risk of getting ratted out by his neighbors for profit and the villages "live in fear," but for the most part people live as they always have. And yes, they ''do'' make sure the <s>trains</s> carriages run on time and have a huge standing military. You know, just in case the swastika wasn't big enough of a hint.

===Druma===
[[Star Trek|Ferengi]] in a fantasy setting. Their religion (which they claim is just a set of divinations, even though it acts exactly like a real-world religion complete with all kinds of weird social stipulations) literally directs them to make as much money as they can, bling themselves the fuck out, favor each other over <s>goyim</s> unbelievers in business dealings, and eventually buy out the entire world. [[Chaotic Stupid]] robbers beware, that unassuming gem convoy is also blinged out with enough contingency spells to flash boil a dragon, and if the magic doesn't get you, the equally pimped-out guards will. Contrary to expectations, ''not'' dwarven, though there is a substantial dwarven minority because of their role in getting the Five Kings Mountains to stop killing each other and the absolutely retarded amount of gold and gems on their land. [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For them, heaven is humans-only]] (Or was until their setting book came out, which retconned that away.)

Said setting book (Druma: Profit and Prophecy) explores the social stipulations and ideology of the Prophets further, revealing that their strange behaviors and hoarding of wealth are all in preparation for a ritual which will allow them to dodge the afterlife entirely and live on in a tricked-out demiplane until their tombs are robbed.

===Five Kings Mountains===
When the dwarves forced their way to the surface, they popped up here mostly. Over the course of the Quest For Sky (the aforementioned holy war to the surface) they built up a fuckton of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|grudges]] with each other that mutated and merged over time, and after an exceedingly long and generic history the Five Kings Mountains are in a situation similar to the real-life Holy Roman Empire; there are far more than five dwarf polities there, and none of them can be considered "kings." Otherwise they're your standard awesome as fuck fantasy dwarves. Funnily, are neighbors with the elves and the Ferengiboos, as well as the not!Americans.

===Galt===
'''VIVE LA REVOLUTION!''' Galt was at one time a Chelish holding, but after Big Daddy Asmodeus got his fingers in its contingency of [[Neckbeard|poets and philosophers]] started writing screeds about how shit House Thrune was and if someone like that could rule by divine right, then divine right was a crock of shit. Because Galt is just the high school history version of France during the Terror, this idea spread like wildfire and anyone who was even remotely related to the Chelish leadership was put to the sword. Modern Galt is a continuously shifting crab-bucket of revolutionary governments, each one falling victim to the next based on the shifting whims of the mob. One neat wrinkle is that the guillotines used to execute yesterday's news (the ''final blades'') trap the souls of those they kill, simultaneously preventing resurrection and keeping the soul from getting stolen by (or sent to, if the victim was evil) Hell. Dwarf players should take note of the town of Azurestone, which is built around a holy site of Torag and is kept relatively insulated from the anarchic clusterfuck.

===Geb===
Fuck yeah [[Lich]] King (actually a ghost king, though there is a Lich Queen ruling in his stead, since the ghost king is mildly senile (edit: said Lich Queen was destroyed in an AP and is now wandering around without a body somewhere on Golarion)). Originally part of ancient Osirion until they exiled a cocky necromancer named Geb, so he started his own kingdom with [[meme|blackmagic and hookers]], also named Geb, and got into a multi-century pissing match with the wizard Nex, who ruled the nation of Nex. This war fucked both countries, turning Geb into an undead wasteland and the southern portions of Nex into a desert where magic doesn't work.

===Hermea===
[[Council of Wyrms]]: The Nation. An island in the sea between Cheliax and Varisia ruled by a gold dragon who is instituting some "[[communism|Glorious Endeavor]]" to perfect humanity. Has had literally 0 info put out about it except that it kinda exists... '''UNTIL SECOND EDITION''', where it turns out that said Great Wyrm is using eugenics to form the perfect weapon, powered by perfect souls, to kill an avatar and save the world. A plan so perfect that he doesn't need to ask anyone's permission about it. Enter the player characters...

===Irrisen===
Cold as a witch's titty, and boy are there witches here. Founded by [[Baba Yaga]] after a month long war, she locked the land in perpetual winter then promptly fucked off, only returning every 100 years to kidnap the current queen and install a new daughter on the throne. Formerly part of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, they are still [[butthurt]] about losing the territory. Was a major focus for one of the adventure paths and had some sourcebooks written about it. Basically it's a Russian's nightmare of every single cruel icy fey imaginable, witches be fucking everywhere (and they rule the place) and there is a secret police with lots of spies. [[Furry|There is also a transforming worg waifu that half the fandom creamed their pants over.]]

===Isger===
Cheliax's bottom bitch. Only notable because their flag has a barely-disguised swastika on it. A glorified trade-route between Cheilax and other wealthier nations, such as Druma, keeping the trade roads secured is the main priority, leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Isger is used to suffering, though, as large swaths of the country were recently fucked in a war with raiding goblin tribes from which they still haven't really recovered. Its like Marvel Comics Switzerland in WW2 where it became a puppet of the Reich and is usually given over to Hydra if they aren't given Bavaria or some other southern territory in Great Germany.

===Jalmeray===
Little India. Originally ruled by Nex it was given to a Vudran explorer because Nex liked the cut of his jib.

===Katapesh===
Slavers and drug dealers ruled by a mysterious and alien race called the Pactmasters.

===Kyonin===
Typical elf kingdom. Been fucked over by a demon who has blighted a huge swath of the south.

===Lands of the Linnorm Kings===
Vikings and nasty animalistic dragons called [[linnorm]]s. If you can actually kill a linnorm they'll crown you as one of their kings. Killing a linnorm subjects you to the linnorm's death curse, which does bad things to you until you die. Notably, actually uniting the Lands of the Linnorm Kings involves killing the biggest, meanest linnorm, and ''his'' death curse causes you to [[Lucius the Eternal| become him]], so have fun with that.

===Lastwall===
Crusader state that fights a constant battle against both [[Orc]]s from Belkzen and [[Vampire]]s from Ustalav.

===Mendev===
Another crusader state, this one fights the demons from the Worldwound. Its queen is over 100 years old but looks to be early middle aged due to a youth potion they buy from Thuvia.

===Mendiogalti Island===
Island of assassins who venerate a giant red praying mantis god. They can and will murder anyone but sitting monarchs.

===Molthune===
Fantasy Prussia. Recently lost their northern lands to a bunch of Robin Hood wannabes. Makes the criminally stupid decision of hiring [[hobgoblin]] mercenaries because they have an unhealthy obsession with outdoing Cheliax in the whole empire-building thing.

===Mwangi Expanse===
Home to intelligent gorilla men (who, sadly, worship a [[Demon Prince]] and thus want to fuck everyone else over) and a super ancient empire of black men who lived in flying cities.

===Nex===
Originally part of ancient Osirion, at some point it became its own nation called Nex ruled by the [[wizard]] named Nex. Real creative bunch, these wizards. As is natural for a nation of wizards they have royally fucked up their lands in a massive magic war with Geb, to their south, almost single-handedly making the nation of Alkenstar in the process. After Nex just completely fucked off one day, the war pretty much went into a stalemate because Geb didn't even want to fight anymore if he wouldn't get to kill Nex.

===Nidal===
Client state to Cheliax that worships the Goddess of Love's twisted big brother. They are basically Clive Barker's Cenobites (think BDSM people who love hard piercings and spiked chains) plus 1984.

===Nirmathas===
A wooded area that told Molthune to fuck off. Basically this is Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.

===Numeria===
[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] meets [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks|science fiction]], so expect super buff barbarians throwing spears at giant robot scorpions with plasma cannons for stingers. Hard core as fuck.

===Osirion===
Literally Egypt if the [[Mummy]] movies were documentaries. The capital is built in and around a giant beetle shell, there are pyramids everywhere filled with mummies and treasure, adventurers from all over the world go there [[Indiana Jones|to protect the artifacts]], and it once had [[Historical Empires|one of the largest empires in existence]] before being taken over by foreigners.

===Qadira===
Fantasy Turkey/Arabia. Have warred with Taldor and for a while ruled Osirion. May or may not be on the verge of a civil war. Is actually the westernmost holding of an even larger Persia-inspired empire called Kelesh.

===Rahadoum===
A country so fucked over by decades of war between three churches - ironically, one of them was the church of [[Sarenrae]], who is the local Goddess of [[Paladin]]s - that divine magic and worship is outlawed. This no-doubt displeases the gods but they [[Tzeentch|continue their machinations in secret via espionage]] courtesy of hidden [[oracle]]s, [[clerics]], and even [[angel]]s.

===Razmiran===
Ever play a game with an [[That guy|edgelord]] who always wants to be the [[Mary Sue|super-bestest at everything]] and the GM just capitulates to their every whim and gives them [[Grimdark|a kingdom which they rule worse that North Korea and say everyone should worship them as a god?]] Well, that's pretty much this country. Previously part of the River Kingdoms, broke off a few years ago because said "God-King" converted a bunch of idiots. A nation of Scientologists and home of the "false priest" archetype for sorcerers.

===Realm of the Mammoth Lords===
Ever want a low fantasy caveman game that still fights witches, giants, demons, [[dinosaur|prehistoric megafauna]] and more? Go here.

===River Kingdoms===
A vast territory of constantly rising and falling petty kingdoms, it's likely if it ever united it would be one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sea since its comparable to Taldor and Cheliax in size, but they prefer fighting amongst themselves. All neighboring countries claim some bit of it but can never hold it long due to various reasons. Banditry is massively common and is expected by the populace, some even take up banditry as a bit of part-time work between their normal lives like fishing and farming. Has its own unspoken code called the "Six River Freedoms" which basically amount to:

#Say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if a Half-Orc punches you in the face when you call their mother uglier than a mountain troll.
#If you swear an Oath you keep it or you die, no exceptions.
#No one can block the use of the rivers or land travel or charge tolls other than in wartime. However if you get attacked whilst travelling them you're on your own.
#Within their realms all who are there are bound to whatever local laws exist.
#Slavey is utterly prohibited, and even wizards can get their ass bitten if they summon a creature in view of commoners.
#As long as you give the victim a chance to defend their belongings, you're allowed to steal and conquer their stuff. However if you steal their stuff and they don't get a chance to block it you're treated as a common criminal.

Basically the Balkans of the setting, but with more rivers. Also the home of the Kingmaker AP module, which let players build their own kingdom.

===Sargava===
Technically a colony to the devil-worshipping assholes in Cheliax, they are effectively independent thanks to the massive fuck-you hurricane and pirates to their north. The local Mwangi people are little better than slaves and may be plotting to overthrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples the colonists].

===Shackles===
Pirates of the Caribbean. "Ruled" by the Hurricane King, every island and small stretch of land is claimed by some pirate or pirate group.

===Sodden Lands===
Previously consisting of two small kingdoms that thrived on prophecy, when Aroden died and prophecy pretty much failed followed by a massive hurricane that would make Katrina look like a small breeze, they collapsed and this is now just ruins and swampy, marshy lands. So yeah, Louisiana on a bad day.

===Taldor===
Has overtones of the Byzantine Empire and British Empire. Stagnant, decadent, corrupt. The grand prince hires vikings as bodyguards. Once rules much of the world but has become a shadow of it's former self.

===Thuvia===
Barely held together because the small cities in this realm produce the single most sought after magical item. No, not girdles of gender-swapping. I swear to... No, they make a potion that reverts the drinker to the prime of life. Consume it often enough and you basically can be immortal. Only a few batches are made each year and the prices are exorbitant.

===Ustalav===
I vant to zuck your blood! [[Ravenloft|Take every fantasy gothic horror trope and dump it here.]] You got [[vampire]]s, [[zombie]]s, [[werewolves]], [[lich]]es, [[hag]]s, voodoo, [[Cthulhu]], [[witch]]es and everything else. [[Castlevania|Here, EVERY night is a horrible night to have a curse.]]

===Varisia===
This is the main setting of the main setting. Vast wild lands, a few small cities at the edges, massive ruins to explore, [[goblin]]s to kill, gypsies and more. Most of the adventures paths either play completely here, start here or at least have ties here.

Varisia also had a massive overhaul done to it when Pathfinder updated to its second edition.

===Worldwound===
Aroden, god of humans, made a lot of enemies in his day before he died. One was a giant insectoid demon lord. When he bit the bullet about a hundred years ago, the demon lord saw his chance and tore open a new gaping hole into the world to fuck. In constant war with Mendev and for the most part leave Numeria and the Mammoth Lords alone because why would you fuck with alien tech and guys who fight on mammoths?

==Lands Beyond the Core Setting==
[[File:Golarion Continents.jpg|300px|thumb|right|So many places to go, so little places well-developed...]]
Paizo, still wanting even more kitchen sink fantasy and wanting to emulate Forgotten Realms, have other continents and lands beyond the core setting.

===Arcadia===
Well they needed a place for the Americas. Notably the vikings from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings think of it as a kind of paradise and their rulers have a settlement on it in an allusion to Vinland from viking history.

Recent books have expanded upon Arcadia more, filling it with numerous Mesoamerica-inspired civilizations and a few Wyrwood (little wooden people) settlements.

===Azlant===
Atlantis by another name. Home to the first human empire that was uplifted by the [[Aboleth|aboleths]], was destroyed by the Starstone when the aboleths thought humans were getting uppity.

===Casmaron===
What happens when you mix India, the 'stans and the Middle East? This. Vast swaths of largely unruled or ungovernable lands but also two massive "empires", one being a Persian/Ottoman expy, the other being fantasy India.

===Crown of the World===
Connects Avistan (Europe) to Tian Xia (East Asia). Has a few eskimo-like settlements and Cthulhu horror themes going on here.

===Darklands===
Paizo's Underdark. [[Drow]], [[Svirfneblin]], [[Duergar]] and all the tropes therein.

===Iblydos===
Classical Greece. An island archipelago that serves as a common stopping point for traders going between the Inner Sea region and the distant lands of Vudra and Kelesh in Casmaron. Known for its prophesying Cyclopes and Demigod Heroes who often rule its numerous City-States.

===Sarusan===
Mysterious land of deadly terrors which is clearly Australia. Australia is bad enough, who the fuck knows how scary it would be with fantasy elements. Nobody can remember what it looks like for some reason that has nothing to do with leaving a blank canvas for your GM to paint with horrible death.

===Tian Xia===
[[File:Pathfinder Tian Xia Map.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Paizo is always careful to avoid cultural appropriation and treats foreign cultures in a respectful and well-informed manner.]]
Has all your classic [[Oriental Adventures|East Asia fantasy tropes]] going on here. Decadent empires, [[Oriental Dragon|eastern dragons]], [[monk|monks]] in monasteries learning kung-fu, mystical gurus meditating under waterfalls, Studio Ghibli creatures running around, [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Mongols]], [[ninja]], and [[samurai]].

==Gods of Golarion==
There are gods upon gods for the game but they split up into a number of different pantheons.

===Core Pantheon===
'''[[Abadar]]:''' God of Civilization, Walls, and Banking. Doing pretty well in modern times, all things considered. Lawful Neutral in a very reasonable kind of way, leaning more towards good, but still stuck doing shit like letting Zon-Kuthon into his Vault because he doesn't break his contracts. His herald is the Lawgiver, a giant gold-plated living statue with an equally-huge hammer. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Asmodeus]]:''' It's [[Asmodeus]], what the fuck do you expect? The most notable changes from OGL are that Asmodeus is actually a deity this time around, and that [[SJW|misogyny is an explicit part of his dominion. Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell that he's a bad guy.]] Yes, the leader of his greatest group of mortal servants is female. No, the setting material does not comment on this. (One designer claimed this is because he doesn't care so much about ''mortal'' gender, since mortals are just going to die and the lawful evil ones will end up his anyway. While this was probably just the designer trying to keep his ass from getting ripped by angry neckbeards and doesn't make that much sense, it does line up with PF Asmodeus' general "they'll all see things my way eventually" mentality.)

'''[[Calistria]]:''' An elven goddess of Lust and Revenge, Calistria's temples often double as centers of intrigue and brothels. [[Slaanesh|Feeding into people's lust]] and also feeding people's anxieties until they seek revenge, she is seen often as a bit of an odd one. Her favored animal is the hornet since they can sting repeatedly. Seriously, if you piss her off she will show her disdain for you by having hornets sting your junk until it's black and blistered. She is Chaotic Neutral to the extreme, in fact she is so whimsical and unreliable that she is the only non-chaotic evil deity that even Asmodeus refuses to work with.

'''[[Cayden Cailean]]:''' Five humans in the setting have ascended to godhood, each with their own outlooks and spheres and Cayden Cailean is one of them. His outlook and spheres? Partying it up, [[dwarf|getting drunk]], helping people, and going on adventures. Cayden Cailean apparently got drunk one night and took the Test of the Starstone. There are plenty of legends around why exactly the drunken man did it but one says he saw [[Slaanesh|Calistria, goddess of lust and revenge]], and wanted some of that. The goddess rebuffed him and said only a god could pleasure her. Pissed and drunk, he grabbed a keg and set off. Three days later, rocking a heavenly hangover, Cayden emerged as the most recent of the gods. His herald is Thais, a former prostitute who was his best buddy back in their mortal days.

'''[[Desna]]:''' An ancient space alien who befriended one of the first gods. When Lamashtu stole the beast domain from him, she took his travel domain. Chaotic Good, and likes wandering around, but guides people with her control over luck, and has a bunch of scientist followers who see her as helping them find knowledge. Very chill for a goddess whose signature weapon is an oversized shuriken. Has a habit of creating and releasing gods, some of which are locked up for a good reason. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Erastil]]:''' Old-fashioned god of the harvest and rural areas; a grumpy but well-meaning old codger who's getting a little past it since "city living" became a thing, but is still popular out in the farming country and wilderness regions. Source of much [[SJW]] outrage when his first detailed writeup revealed that being "God of the Old Ways" also makes him a patriarchal chap who believes women should get married and make babies, though he will sigh and accept it if a woman wants to prove she can have a happy life doing something else. They kicked up such a stink about this, claiming there was no way he could be Lawful Good and think this, that Paizo hastily retconned it. For the record, men are supposed to (eventually) be settling down too. Basically a generic wilderness/rural god, though he does have some similarities to [[St. Cuthbert]].

'''[[Gorum]]:''' Basically [[Khorne]]-lite, and including the bits about not killing non-combatants. (Well, technically [[Conan the Barbarian|Crom]], but the kids only care about their 40k.) Favors actual strategy and tactics over charging massed archers armored only with war-cries though.

'''[[Gozreh]]:''' Nature god. Most interesting thing about them is that they're a [[dickgirl|hermaphrodite]], with their female form being associated with the sea and their male form with the sky.

'''Green Faith:''' Not so much a deity as much as it is a nature-minded philosophy adhered to by [[druid]]s. It essentially gives the druids a sort of organization that'd be familiar to 2E's druid hierarchcies.

'''[[Iomedae]]:''' Aroden's herald, who mostly took over his job after his untimely demise. A former paladin turned deity via the Starstone, and a righteous crusader type. Paizo really screws with Iomedae depending on what source you read. Sometimes seen as a [[paladin|paragon of righteousness]], she sometimes comes across as a prick, [[That guy|going so far as to deafen people who are trying to save the world because they dicked around too much in her presence]] in one poorly-balanced and poorly-written adventure. May or may not have banged the local Bahamut-equivalent, Apsu, as a gold dragon calling her mom hangs out in her court.

'''[[Irori]]:''' Fantasy Kung-Fu Buddha. A former mortal, but unlike the others, whom he mocks for just copying his old friend Aroden, he got there on his own, by refining and honing his body and mind into literal perfection. Has more followers out in Tian, but he's making waves in Golarion. His clerics get [[monk|Improved Unarmed Strike instead of a favored weapon]].

'''[[Lamashtu]]:''' Mother of monsters and a former female demon lord who stole the domains from a god she murdered. Most of the "monster" races pay homage to her, and her evil favor usually manifests as hideous deformity and mutation. Usually manifests as a [[/d/| heavily pregnant mishmash of monster parts]]. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Nethys]]:''' The god of magic. Played too much ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' and broke his brain by briefly gaining omniscience. His fractured mind usually manifests as two faces, one white and benevolent, one black and destructive. Has self-contradictory holy texts. The only things he consistently cares about are a policy of not giving spellcasting to people who weren't born with it, nor have earned it, and opposing Rovagug.

'''[[Norgorber]]:''' A supposed mortal who became the god of trickery, secrets, backstabbing, and deceit and thus is represented by a very inconspicuous-looking bugger who totally won't fuck you over at the first opportunity. His worshipers tend to either worship one of four extremes of his character: the trickster, the serial killer, the saboteur, and the assassin. All information about his past is '''REDACTED''', and trying to learn too much about his church can get you killed even if you're a member.

'''[[Pharasma]]:''' [[The Raven Queen]], sort of. The deathly-neutral type of death goddess, survivor from the previous multiverse and shaped the beginnings of this one while protecting it from [[Cthulhu]], and is, along with [[Yog-Sothoth]] one of the two anchors of the current multiverse. Is grooming one of her psychopomps to do the same for the next multiverse as she herself did to this one. ''Haaaaates'' undeath, so much that her clerics get a custom variant of the Death domain with the undeath-related parts replaced. Judges the souls of every creature that ever dies before assigning them to their proper afterlives, with allowances made for things like racial affiliation and belief in reincarnation. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Rovagug]]''': An ancient primordial force of destruction, despised by all the other gods and worshipped only by madmen and lesser primordial forces of destruction. The other gods put aside their differences long ago to trap him in the Cage, which is Golarion itself. Bad Things will happen if he ever gets out, [[Starfinder| which might be fated to happen]]. His spawn still rampage around the world, one of which is the [[tarrasque]]. A ''mid-tier'' one.

'''[[Sarenrae]]:''' [[Rule 63]] [[Pelor]]. Asmodeus's good-aligned brother's first servant, who took up his portfolio after Asmodeus murdered him. Ironically, the two allied to take the foremost role in defeating and caging Rovagug. In addition to being a sun goddess, she emphasizes the idea of compassion and redemption for the truly-repentant and destruction for those who're truly past all that. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Shelyn]]:''' Beauty, art, and love goddess. Not so much sex though, that's Calistria's job(this has not stopped her from getting cozy with both Desna ''and'' Sarenrae). Literally all beings love her... some are just incapable of expressing that love in healthy ways. Lamashtu in particular gives her the creeps. Zon-Kuthon's sister, and responsible for containing the worst of the monster he's become. Also worshiped in Tian Xia.

'''[[Torag]]:''' We have come up with interesting twists for at least most of the blatant copies on this list. No such luck here. Torag is [[Moradin]], dwarf without end. Amen.

'''[[Urgathoa]]:''' Once upon a time, when the world was young, there lived a decadent queen who spent her whole life in unbridled hedonism. So much that, when she died, and went to wait in line in Pharasma's Boneyard to await judgement, she cut out of the line and slipped back into the world because she couldn't stand the thought of giving up the pleasures of life. In the process, she became the first undead creature and infected the world with both undeath and disease. Aw well. Very cheery for an evil goddess, since she's all about doing what you love... though for most of her followers, that's various shades of cannibalism and plague-spreading.

'''[[Zon-Kuthon]]:''' Originally known as Dou-Bral, half-sister to Shelyn, he got so asshurt about his sister's talents that he decided to go to the leather club between realities to brood. There, he was [[Rape|enlightened]] by an [[Slaanesh|alien presence]]. He returned to Golarion as a hyper BDSM fetishist known as Zon-Kuthon, god of pain, torture, and edge. His unholy symbol is a skull with a spiked chain going through the eye sockets, for fuck's sake. Despite his worshipers being evil touturing murderers and his servants being straight-up Cenobites, his clergy still tends to be kind to those who worship Shelyn because he still loves her, deep down in the irrevocably-ruined part of him that's still Dou-Bral.

===Tian-Xia Deities===
'''Daikitsu''': Basically the Shinto god(dess) Inari. Literally named "big fox". Goddess of kitsue, farming and rice making her one of the most popular Tian-Xian gods. Rumored to have had relations with Nalinivati but both deny this.

'''Fumeiyoshi''': After murdering Shizuru (see down) he was cursed to be god of the undead (though he is not one himself), and dishonor and has picked up evil oni. He is named for the Japanese word "dishonor" (Fumeyo) paired with the common suffix for male names yoshi.

'''General Susumu''': Shizuru's evil brother (though with the low detail on these deities it isn't clear why he is evil instead of lawful neutral) and god of asshole samurai instead of honorable ones. Also horses, even though he has no domains to support this. Curiously gets the glory domain which is full of good aligned spells. He is named for the Japanese word "advance" (in the military sense). Vaguely based on Susa-no-O.

'''Hei Feng''': Tengu god of thunder, storms, sea and winds. Also the god of Chaotic Stupid characters, being that his creeds include "flipping your shit if somebody insults you or Hei Feng". Funnily enough his Anti-Paladin code includes a clause about helping good causes if it entails violence visited on others and another clause where you have to be honest about your hatred for others.

'''Kofusachi''': God of Joy and Prosperity

'''Lady Nanbyo''': Her name is Japanese for "incurable disease", and is predictably goddess of disease.

'''Lao Sho Pu''': A rat who feasted on the corpse of a Tsukiyo during his brief death. Lives in the alleys and sewers of a daemon city.

'''Nalinivati''': Goddess of Naga, Nagaji, sorcery, lovers, and patron goddess of Nagajor. Rumored to have had relations with Daikitsu but both deny this.

'''Qi Zhong''': God of medicine and the elements.

'''Shizuru''': Shizuru is your typical asian themed goddess of sun (vagely based on Amaterasu), honor, ancestors, and swordplay. She's generally on good relations with every other Tian deity. She's typically worshiped by honorable samurai and weeaboos. She is the lover of the moon god Tsukiyo and had to get him resurrected by the help of Qi-Zhong, the god of medicine, after his brother Fumeiyoshi grew so damn jealous of his brother actually having a girlfriend that he geeked him. She has an star archon daughter called the [[Weeaboo|Dusk Ronin]], who got kicked out of her mother's house and now wanders the Great Beyond in search of redemption. Oh and she's a dragon. Not "depicted as a dragon", an actual massive dragon that's on fire.

'''Sun Wukong''': The classic trickster from ''[[Journey to the West]]'', now as an outright god instead of mere celestial after he tricked the gods into making him divine.

'''Tsukiyo''': God of the Moon and Jade. Lover of Shizuru which got him killed by Fumeiyoshi. Brought back to life by Qi Zhong, but not before he was nibbled on by Lao Sho Pu. Noted for being a lawful good god with the madness domain.

'''Yaezhing''': Ninja god of murder, death, and punishment

'''Yamatsumi''': God of Mountains and Volcanoes.

===Other Major Deities===

'''Zyphus''': God of Accidental Deaths and pointless tragedy. He achieved godhood by rejecting his death after dying a pointless accidental death. Hangs around with daemons all day and snatches any and all souls who died from accidents, making him a true parasite and a hated foe to all good and neutral gods, especially Pharasma.

===Dwarven Pantheon===

'''Droskar''': Dwarven God of Pointless, Soul-sucking jobs. He mostly took over those Dwarfs who refused to take the Quest of the Sky and eventually became Duregar.

'''Torag''': Leader of the Dwarven gods, noted for having a substantial following with humans. Made Nivi Rhombodazzle the first and so far only Gnome god(deep gnome) after she traded him a gem stone.

===Elven Pantheon===

'''Alseta''': Goddess of Doorways and Portals, friendly with most other gods even house sitting for them when they have to step out. More a shrine than church kind of goddess. Not technically an Elf

'''Ketephys''': Down to earth god of forests and the hunt.

'''Yuelral''': Neutral good goddess of Magic and jewelers. Very open to Half Elves.

'''Findeladlara''': Goddess of Art and Culture. Looks down on invention and new ideas, ignores the prayers of non-elves.

===Halfling Pantheon===

'''Chaldira Zuzaristan''' Goddess of luck and battle, tends to run headlong into fights to protect Halfling kind.

'''Thamir Gixx''' God of thievery, strongly opposed by Chaldira Zuzaristan but supposedly friends with Norgorber the primary god of thieves and murder.

==Races of Golarion==
Being effectively [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.75, Golarion is absolutely crawling with races. Your D&D standards are here, but there's also an ever-growing array of races, from monstrous humanoids to ones lifted from real-world mythology to even homebrewed races.

===The Standards===
'''[[Human]]:''' Bog-standard human, following in the best D&D traditions by having different nations with different hats to wear.

'''[[Dwarf]]:''' Originated in Golarion's [[Underdark]], migrated to the surface in the legendary "Quest for Sky" centuries ago. Had flying fortresses, but most of them are destroyed or in enemy hands now.

'''[[Elf]]:''' One of the planet's oldest races. Buggered off through magical gateways to another planet during the worst of the Starfall disaster, then came back a few centuries ago.

'''[[Halfling]]:''' Pretty much your standard stunties, barring the fact that they're very popular slaves throughout the Inner Sea region. No homeland has been given, not even one that no longer exists.

'''[[Gnome]]:''' Fey who migrated to Golarion from [[Feywild|The First World]], then found out that without regular stimulation, they undergo something called "The Bleaching" which drives them mad and painfully kills them. In other words, they can literally get bored to death!

'''[[Half-Elf]]:''' Pretty much your standard half-elves. Splat gave options for Half-Drow, but that's still not a radical change.

'''[[Half-Orc]]:''' Instead of (only) "you were probably born from rape!" backstory, Golarion's half-orcs are the result of orcs realizing they are indeed retarded and need non-retarded leaders/spellcasters. Also born of political marriage in places where orcs team up with humans to fight other orcs and other threats.

===Snowflake Races===
The races most of /tg/ mocks because they're seen as favored by people who want special snowflake or weeaboo type characters, even if these are all races with roots in traditional D&D.

'''[[Aasimar]]:''' The iconic D&D Goodly [[Planetouched]]. Because Pathfinder has a much bigger array of "angels", there's many different sub-varieties of aasimar. There's actually a country where these guys are really common, which makes them almost as normal in Golarion as a [[dragonborn]] or [[half-orc]] would be in standard 5e D&D.

'''[[Aphorite]]:''' [[Lawful Neutral|Lawful]] [[planetouched]] humanoids with skin and hair of a golden metallic luster, created by the [[Axiomites]] of [[Axis]].

'''[[Catfolk]]:''' Pretty bog-standard [[Chaotic Stupid]] cat-people. Infamous for their schizophrenic artwork, which has portrayed them as anything from "[[catgirl]]s with a fine layer of fur all over their body" to "full fledged [[furry]]" to [[Elder Scrolls|"why does this look exactly like a Khajiit?"]].

'''[[Changeling]]:''' Not to be confused with the [[Eberron]] changeling, which is a [[doppelganger]]'s half-human spawn, Golarion's changelings are the immature larval form of [[hag]]s. Essentially, an entire species of cute/hot witches - with heterochromia, no less! - who are supposed to beautiful, but at the same time, so creepy and spooky they get a Charisma penalty. This aspect is the main reason why /tg/ mocks them. They're not necessarily a bad race, though, especially if you want more dark fantasy or horror fantasy games.

'''[[Dhampyre|Dhampir]]:''' Half-human and half-vampire, but, like the changeling, they fit the Ustalav region just great - hell, it really is surprising that these guys never showed up in [[Ravenloft]].

'''[[Drow]]:''' When the elves fucked off to another planet to escape an apocalypse, some of the more arrogant assholes stayed behind. Ultimately turning to worship of various [[Demon Prince]]s to survive, and becoming psycho-evil arrogant assholes in the bargain. Most noted for their fucked-up love of fleshcrafting, which is basically manipulating living creatures and turning them into monsters.

'''[[Ganzi]]:''' The most obscure of the PF [[Planetouched]], these guys are essentially Chaotic Planetouched and may be connected to the Proteans, Golarion's equivalent to the [[Slaad]]i.

'''[[Genasi|Ifrit/Oread/Sylph/Undine]]:''' These guys are basically [[genasi]], but Pathfinder pretends to treat them as seperate races in order to make the comparison seem less obvious.

'''[[Ratfolk]]:''' Merchant-tinker rat-people. Smarter and more chill than the [[Skaven|usual rat-type races]]. [[Ysoki|May have come from space]].

'''[[Shifter|Skinwalker]]:''' As dhampirs are to vampires, these guys are to [[therianthrope]]s. Essentially [[Shifter]]s with less shitty artwork.

'''[[Suli]]:''' One of the stupider [[planetouched]] races in Pthfinder, these guys are [[genie]]-kin who trace their lineage to the oft-forgotten Janni, the mixed-elemental fifth genie race which is the weakest of them all.

'''[[Tengu]]:''' Humanoid flightless crow-people who love shinies. Essentially less-evil [[kenku]] outright using the mythological version's name. Tend to become rogues (or ninjas), samurai and pirates. Sometimes two at once.

'''[[Tiefling]]:''' When one of the countries has the theme "demonic invasion through gaping portals to the Abyss" and another is "Fantasy Nazis using a pact with Satan to stay in power", are you really surprised that these guys are everywhere? Especially considering Golarion has a huge list of fiends outside of the Devil/Daemon/Demon trinity and they ''all'' make tieflings.

===Monstrous Humanoids===
'''[[Goblin]]:''' Doubles down on the [[Chaotic Stupid]] aspects; love fire, really good singers, absolutely terrified of dogs, horses and writing. Made a core race in 2e which fits perfectly with the general kill-on-sight thing the more civilized races have for them in the lore.

'''[[Orc]]:''' Driven up from the Underdark by the dwarves, who they used to war with. Really double-down on the Always Chaotic Evil aspects.

'''[[Kobold]]:''' Pretty much the D&D iconic version.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]:''' A militaristic race descended from an experiment to magically mutate goblins into slave-soldiers to fight against the elf empire; their creators were killed, but the hobgoblins were complete, and now they don't have an off-switch.

===Foreigners===
Because Golarion has lots of "not!X" countries, there's both a "not!India" (Vudra) and a "not!Orient" (Dragon Empires), each of which has some fairly unique races native to it.

'''[[Kitsune]]:''' Your standard mischievous fun-loving shapeshifting fox-folk.

'''[[Nagaji]]:''' A race of [[serpentfolk]] bred as slaves by the [[naga]]s; they're quite content in their servitude.

'''[[Samsaran]]:''' Spiritually enlightened blue & white-colored humans who continuously reincarnate.

'''[[Vanara]]:''' Friendly, sage-like monkey-people.

===Sci-Fantasy Races===
Pathfinder's mapped out the star system that Golarion comes from, and in best pulp fantasy fashion, that means that you can play androids and aliens in this setting too. These races and more would be later expanded by the sister game line [[Starfinder]].

'''[[Android]]:''' Look like humans with pale, silver-tinted skin and circuitry that lights up like science-tattoos when they use their powers. Most common in Numeria, as they are born out of "creation forges" left behind when the starship crashed.

'''[[Kasatha]]:''' Four-armed humanoids who don't remember what world they came from. Favor dual-wielding bows.

'''[[Lashunta]]:''' The natives of Golarion's equivalent of Venus; antennaed humanoids with psionic powers and [[-4 Strength|extreme sexual dimorphism]] - men look more like dwarves, women look more like elves.

'''[[Triaxian]]:''' Pointy-eared aliens whose planet undergoes an extreme orbit, leading to centuries-long summers and winters, and thus the species is divided into "Summer Generation"(Baldy) and "Winter Generation"(Furry) subspecies.

===Real-Worlders===
The least common race group, so far, these are critters taken from non-D&D fantasy sources, including several Lovecraft races and cryptids.

'''[[Reptoid]]:''' Shapeshifting lizardfolk with [[psionics]] who hail from an unknown world or plane, based on a popular conspiracy theory.

'''[[Orang-Pendak]]:''' A cryptid that is basically a smaller, smarter sasquatch.

'''[[Deep One]] Hybrid:''' A human with [[Deep One]] ancestry, giving them amphibious abilities but cursing them to turn into a Deep One - which is death to their old personality - in their 50s.

'''[[Being of Ib]]:''' Amphibious, gnome-like frog-people from the Cthulhu Mythos; although their Dreamlands colony was famously annihilated by Sarnath in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", it's possible other colonies exist elsewhere in the multiverse.

'''[[Yaddithian]]:''' Tapir-snouted insectile-looking people adept in sorcery who have scattered across the galaxy due to their homeworld being destroyed by bholes. Taken from the Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".

==Other Planets and Planes==

==Trivia==
===Contradictory Tone===
One weird thing about Golarion is that, when Paizo was starting out, they decided to market themselves not only as the "true heirs to 3.5", but also as "the mature D&D company" - touching upon subject matter that the bigger, more public WotC couldn't or wouldn't dare.

Initially, as part of their blatant pulp-styled setting, that meant they went for a much more [[grimdark]] tone to their world. In a manner closer to D&D's [[Sword & Sorcery]] ancestors, the world of Golarion is really fucked up; [[ogre|ogres]] are depraved, sadistic, inbred cannibals right out of a hillbilly slasher film, [[Lamashtu|one of the main evil deities]] promotes miscarriage, mutation and bestiality, another main evil deity is [[Urgathoa|the goddess of lust, cannibalism, and necrophilia]], body horror runs rampant, slavery is legal in many major countries, one country is basically [[Nazi]] Germany controlled by [[Devil|devils]], the Gods of Good can be (and usually are) morally flawed...

But then, somewhere along the lines, they realized there was another audience also looking for "mature" D&D content. The social progressives crowd, who wanted a D&D world that more overtly tackled political matter. So, Paizo decided to fill their world with things to appeal to them. Ethnic minority pride? Well, how about the fact that not!Africa is the oldest, most unbroken seat of human civilization on the planet, was never conquered by any other human nation, and is even one of the original founders of magic amongst humanity. Sexual minority representation? Homosexuals and transgender people are everywhere amongst the NPCs and the game's iconic characters.

Now, this is not exactly a happy marriage. The progressive fanbase tends to look down on the pulp fanbase with sneers of disgust; witness the controversy over [[Erastil]] for one of the earliest examples of this. In return, the pulp fanbase scorns the progressives as gutless and wanting to "hugbox" the setting, until it becomes as bland and PC as D&D itself. Unfortunately for the pulp fans, it seems the progressive fanbase may be winning; the 2e teasers for the "moved on" Golarion include good-aligned goblins joining mainstream society, open rebellion in Cheliax, and a reforming Grand Princess on the throne of Taldor... which may put some pretty major nails in Paizo's coffin, given that the pulp fanbase was the original foundation for their setting's success. But, at the same time, there were plenty of voices even before the PC elements were introduced arguing that the "mature" content was just [[edgy]] for edge's sake, so who knows what the future will bring? And it's not as if having sexual and racial diversity somehow inherently exists on a competing end of the spectrum from [[grimdark]].

==Further Reading==

{{Pathfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Mystara

2020-05-21T23:18:59Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}

[[Image:Map karameikos 1981.jpg|thumb|300px|The very first campaign setting map]]
[[Mystara]] is the original default published campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. The actual original settings were "the lands around Castle Greyhawk," but [[Gary Gygax|Gary]] couldn't get his shit together in time for TSR going to press, and [[Dave Arneson|Dave]]'s Blackmoor wasn't much more than a city and a map, so David Cook and Tom Moldvay expanded on the examples they used in the wilderness rules for D&D Expert Set and the starter module "X1: Isle of Dread." The working name for the setting was just "Known World," which you still might see on old maps.

TSR did the right thing with this world, by sketching out a variety of nations and cultures with a very broad brush (hippie elves over here, Corsican pirates over there, Arabs in here and some Cossack/Mongol horsemen up there...), and gave each nation to a writer to flesh it out into a sub-setting product. These products became the "Gazetteer" series, which even today are pure goddamn gold. Do not hesitate to buy it if you see it in an old bookshop, and download the fuck out of them if you catch 'em on <s>rapidshare</s> Mediafire or Mega.

Arneson's Blackmoor was ret-conned into Mystara as an Atlantis-style mythic past, and the legendary source of lost magics, efreet bottles, secrets man wasn't meant to know, blah blah. Gygax was already pooh-poohing Basic D&D in favor of his "Advanced" version with mary-sue elves and [[-4 STR|strength penalties for women]], so his "World of Greyhawk" was for AD&D only.

Mystara was discontinued by TSR (probably due to the ''brilliant'' marketing savvy of [[Lorraine Williams]]), but fans still keep it afloat. A dude in England made the titanic effort to record and correlate all the maps from splatbooks and Dragon magazine articles. There's even been projects to rewrite the settings for D&D 4E. In terms of 5E, there is a conversion project made by [http://www.youtube.com/user/thehgw/ Mr. Welch], of "Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do in an RPG" fame. He's actively trying to get the attention of the community, in hopes of opening the setting on DM's Guild.

Mystara was also the setting for the pure fucking awesome Capcom produced Dungeons and Dragons side-scroller beat 'em up games: ''Tower of Doom'' and ''Shadow Over Mystara''.

== Nations ==
This is a list of nations that were described in the Gazetteer series. They're all on a single continent of Mystara called "Brun," which is only 1/4 of the planet's total land area - and put together they only cover like ''1/10'' of Brun anyway.

;The Grand Duchy of Karameikos
This is your default middle-ages northeast Europe setting that you kinda expect with Dungeons & Dragons. Big coastline, crossroads for a few other nations, multiracial.

;The Emirates of Ylaruam
Arabian Nights all up in this bitch. A desert basin east of Karameikos, with a people simultaneously snooty with high culture and savage with scarce resources. Magic use is forbidden here, and wizards are hunted down and executed. Clerics are okay in their book, though.

;The Principalities of Glantri
Nation of magic-users, alchemists and militant atheists. Includes some variant magic rules to mary-sue-size your mage NPCs. Did I mention that being a cleric is punishable by death?

;The Kingdom of Ierendi
Fuck yeah pirates. They try to look like "respectable businessmen", so you get some mafia vibe here too. Includes some board-game kinda rules for ship-to-ship combat. Actually, if you have to pass on any of the Gazetteer series, you can pass on this one: Minrothad Guilds does a much better job.

;The Elves of Alfheim
You know the stereotype of [[Elf|elves]] being tree-worshipping hippies and a bunch of fucking snobs? Totally what's going on here. If it makes you feel better, they get buttraped by infighting and civil war in the canon history.

;The Dwarves of Rockhome
STRIKE THE EARTH! Included rules for characters that were both dwarves and clerics, and some AD&D conversion rules, 'cause AD&D is Gary's baby.

;The Northern Reaches
Fuck yeah Vikings. Included cardboard models of a Viking village for your minis, and rules for clerics to use rune magic.

;The Five Shires
It's <s>hobbits</s> halflings. You can be homebody big-bellied halflings, or the gypsy under-foot nuisance type.

;The Minrothad Guilds
Merchant of Venice time. Merchants on the high seas, including privateers for the cut-throat businessman.

;The Orcs of Thar
Need a place to lump together all the dirty smelly humanoid "monsters", so let's put them in and under this volcanic mountain range. Has rules for playing monster humanoids as player characters, has a hilarious booklet for what every orc infantry needs to know, and (!) includes a board game by Tom Wham.

;The Republic of Darokin
Fuck yeah musketeers. Includes rules for a new player class "Merchant", and retrofits trade routes into the previous gazetteers and Companion- & Master-level rules for commodity trading between nations.

;The Golden Khan of Ethengar
Fuck yeah Mongol hordes invading your shit. Adds a shaman player class.

;The Shadow Elves
Shaman player class here too if you missed the Mongol splatbook.

;The Athruaghin Clans
Here we have Amerindian-like clans, living mostly on an isolated plateau. Another shaman player class is given too, the totemic kind.

;Thyatis and Alphatia
As if all the stuff described before wasn't enough, there was also a boxed set for a couple of empires that covered more territory than all the above combined. Thyatis was built like Ancient Rome, and Alphatia is a another magicocracy but more industrial and bureaucratic than the cultish rulers of Glantri.

;The Hollow World
Oh shit, and then there was the entire OTHER campaign setting that was all Aztec/Inca-y that was supposed to be set inside the hollow planet of Mystara (just like our Earth where Hitler said the UFOs were coming from). It had dinosaurs, so it couldn't be all bad.

;No-Gaz. Nations
Several adventure modules expanded the description of Brun continent:
* X4&X5 added Sind and Hule to the west of "The Known World" map
* X6 added The Serpent Peninsula
* X9 went further west with "The Savage Coast" (later it even became the AD&D setting ''Red Steel'')
* X11 added Wendar and Denagoth (north of Glantri)
* CM1 added Norwold just north of Known World.
Other products like Wrath Of The Immortals and Champions of Mystara, as The Poor Wizard's Almanacs gave a deeper insight on those lands.

== Links ==
* http://pandius.com - The "official" Mystara webpages
* http://mystara.thorf.co.uk - all of the maps of Mystara. ALL OF THEM

{{Template:D&D-Settings}}
[[Category: Mystara]]

Ilsensine

2020-05-21T23:12:48Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Ilsensine
|Symbol = [[File:Ilsensine Symbol.jpg|200px]] Glowing Brain with 2 Tentacles, or Illithid Face with a World in its Tentacles
|Aliases = The Great Brain, the Tentacled Lord
|Alignment = Lawful Evil
|Divine Rank = Greater Deity
|Pantheon = Illithid/None
|Portfolio = Mental dominion, Magic, Mastery of the Mind, Psionics
|Domains = Evil, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Mentalism, Mind, Slime, Tyranny
|Home Plane = ''Caverns of Thought'' ([[Outlands]])
|Worshippers = [[Illithid]]s, Evil [[Wizard]]s ([[Enchanter]]s), Evil [[Psion]]s (Telepaths)
|Favoured Weapon = ''Tentacle'' (Unarmed Strike)
}}
'''Ilsensine the God-Brain''' is the closest thing that the [[illithid]]s have to a patron god in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], outside of the long-deceased [[Maanzecorian]]. Although worshipped by evil [[wizard]]s and [[psion]]s with a penchant for mind-control, its primary worship is and always has been the illithids themselves. Although "worship" might be too strong a term; the position of Ilsensine within illithid society is far more of a matter of academic respect (coupled, many believe, with some level of mental influence). Ilsensine is seen as the ultimate progression of the elder brain, that which all illithid aspire to, and it is thus held in the highest esteem as the greatest exemplar of their people. While it's nonstandard to say the least, such academic reverence and respect certainly seems to be enough to sustain its existence as a power.

What few true clerics of Ilsensine do exist amongst the illithid most often serve the role of city slavemasters, applying their powers to corral the settlement's living and undead slaves. They also, while rarely being appointed as leaders themselves — as most illithid cannot help but project their distaste of divine reverence to even their own kind — often serve as viziers or advisors for those that do lead, guiding such with the word of Ilsensine and ensuring that its will is done.

Ilsensine is portrayed as a glowing, disembodied, emerald-green brain that trails countless ganglion-like tentacles, which stretch into the darkness of its lair and, reputably, extend across the [[multiverse]]. This cold, calculating entity uses [[magic]] and [[psionics]] both to manipulate events as it sees fit and to gather information, pulling it from the mind of all mortals on the [[Prime Material]] or elsewhere.

The residence of Ilsensine, the Caverns of Thought, lies in the layer of the [[Outlands]] known as the Deep Caverns. It's a twisted, turning, maze-like structure permeated by psionic energy that only grows stronger as you get deeper inside, which ultimately results in most mortals going mad or being reduced to a psionic zombie.

Despite having so little in the way of true worship as most think of it, Ilsensine does still direct the actions of its servitors towards specific ends, the source of many of the long-term goals of the illithid; as such a powerful psionic entity, it is quite skilled at directing the illithid towards these goals. It would see the utter destruction of the stars that bring light and hope to so many, plunging all into the darkness of the underground that so suits the illithid. It would see all that occurs fall under its purview, no action happening without its knowledge. It would see the "cattle" of the Material Plane finally learn their proper place in supplication to their obvious betters. In short, it would see all upon the Prime fall under the dominion of the illithid, dominated physically and mentally by the mind flayers. As for the planes; as the Prime goes, so too go they, and so to Ilsensine they are of far less importance.

Aside from illithids, Ilsensine is also the creator of the [[Cranium Rat]]s, which it uses as its spies throughout the planes. Worshipped by /pol/ under the disguise of a frog.
{{clear}}
{{D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

Power Armour

2020-05-21T16:02:27Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

[[File:Power_Armor.PNG|thumb|right|400px|The first eight marks of Space Marine Power Armour.]]
{{Topquote|Feels like you can take on the world in there, doesn't it?|Danse, [[Fallout|Fallout 4]]}}
'''Power Armour''', also known as Power Armor to Americans, is a science fiction concept of mechanized armor which increases the strength, speed, and reflexes of those who wear it. It is featured heavily in science fiction/fantasy settings such as Iron Man or [[Warhammer 40,000]]. The idea of Powered Armor was invented by E.E. Smith and [[Starship Troopers|ripped off]] or borrowed and refined by other writers.

==Starship Troopers==
Like so many military science-fiction concepts, the modern idea of powered armor dates back to the Mobile Infantry of Heinlein's ''[[Starship Troopers]]''. The "Marauder" suit is bulky, with integrated thrusters and heavy weapons (including nuclear weapons and heavy explosives, carried as easily as a human soldier carries grenades). Their primary purpose is not to destroy indiscriminately (though they certainly can), but to "make war as personal as a punch on the nose" -- to [[Drop Pod|drop in]] and destroy with precision, in order to break the enemy in exactly the right way. In other words, it's much like Crisis [[Battlesuit|battlesuits]] with less [[Tau|weeaboo]] and more [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|humanity fuck yeah]] inside.

Heinlein never discusses [[pauldrons]], but the [[Space Marines]] certainly take after the Mobile Infantry's other aspects.The dudes from the book not the movie. That was a parody anyway.

==Warhammer 40,000==
Because 40k has a huge hard on for Space Marines, and because no super soldier worth his genetic enhancements will go into battle without super armaments, 40k has developed nearly as large a hard on for power armor.

===Space Marine Power Armour===
The most iconic users of power armour in 40k are the [[Space Marines]] and the [[Chaos Space Marines]]. Made of ceramite layers upon plates of plasteel and adamantium/[[C.S.Goto|adamantite]] which will deflect all but the most powerful of weapons, Power Armour possess many life support systems designed to keep the Space Marine inside alive, even in the worst and most extreme of battlefield conditions. Has physical properties that has lead some material scientists (who clearly also do Warhammer) to speculate whether Space Marine armour is in fact an extraordinarily tough ceramic compound (ignoring all this easily trademarkeable sci-fi bullshit about plasteel and adamantium/tite), which would make sense given that the Emperor actually invented very little new stuff when making the Marines' battle gear, instead just scaling up and making it bigger/louder/harder/better/faster/stronger etc.

The Black Carapace, one of the [[Gene-Seed]] organs, is specially designed to allow a space marine to interface his nervous system with his armor and is the last organ implanted in [[Codex Astartes|Codex]] Chapters. Amongst its features, power armour possess auto-senses to supplement the Marine's already considerable senses, auspex arrays to create minimaps and transmit data between squad members and commanders, painkiller delivery systems in the event of severe bodily damage, and waste recyclers to keep the Marine going for up to fifty days without fresh food or water. Or, for that matter, taking a shit. The connection between the two being one of the rather less dignified aspects of Astartesdom. The power source is a backpack mounted generator which needs initializing, but after that can take solar energy to keep itself going. According to GW, the backpacks themselves were inspired by the bedrolls (actually greatcoats in reality) carried by soldiers in the Napoleonic era. The "roll" on the backpack contains oxygen for use whenever the environment demands (like space combat) and the balls on the sides are either jet engines for maneuvering in space or heat vents. Some early art showed they are more likely jet engines, and can lift a Space Marine for extra battlefield maneuverability, though presumably nowhere near as good as a Jump Pack. Running throughout the suit is a notoriously willful machine spirit that maintains the armor and assists with the interfaces.

There are <s>eight</s> ten (technically nine because one has never been shown) types or '''Marks''' of Power Armour used by the Astartes. Regardless of their type, they all have massive [[Pauldrons]], under which the Marine's ammunition is stored. Pictures can be found in the gallery at the bottom of the page.

{{clear}}

====Mark I: Thunder Armour====
[[File:ThunderWarriorZoomed.png|200px|thumb|right|Your move, techno-creep.]]
The first type of Power Armour was designed for the [[Thunder Warriors]] and worn by many of the techno-barbarians of [[Earth|Terra]]. They provided basic protection against weapons and enhancements to upper-body strength, but that is all - the suit was incapable of supporting its own weight and basic variant did not provide any significant protection to the legs. Which seems like a bizarre and terrible idea given that as any person who moves furniture often can tell you; you should do most of your lifting with your legs unless you want to give yourself a hernia, and as most soldiers can tell you, having to carry a lot of extra gear with the weight distributed onto your shoulders sucks and is exhausting, and being fatigued significantly hurts combat effectiveness. But perhaps this was intentional as the Emperor intended to replace the Thunder Warriors anyway. Since they were only used on Terra, there was no need to protect them against the void. Though the lack of life support systems and much lesser degree of protection make them essentially useless in the 41st millennium (this doesn't seem to stop people from pestering Forge World to make models for it though, even though they've said that they won't for exactly this reason), several Chapters retain sets of Thunder Armour for ceremonial purposes. If you were to field one now, it would probably count as carapace armor (4+ save) with a slight bonus to strength but a penalty to initiative.

In [[Deathwatch_(RPG)|Deathwatch]], you can actually get your hands on some. Be forewarned: it's noisy, doesn't offer as much protection, doesn't work with a Marine's Black Carapace, and actually might not be a whole suit of armor depending on its state of repair. Overall, it's kind of shitty, but it's a surviving artifact linked to the days of the living [[Emperor]] and early Imperium and that impresses other Marines and those Ecclesiarchy schlubs. Take it for formal occasions.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkI.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark1.jpg
Thunder Warrior 1.jpg
Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Mark II: Crusade Armour====
[[File:CrusadeArmorZoomed.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The Facegrill, v1]]
Designed by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] with the [[Great Crusade]] in mind, the Mark II armour was fully enclosed and contained all the life support and auxiliary systems now common among Astartes power armor, like a waste recycling unit and automated medical equipment. Much of these newer additions were made possible by a more efficient cooling system, which allowed a considerable reduction in the size of the powerpack. The helmet also came with a bunch of enhanced sensory equipment. Overall protection and flexibility was much improved, especially since the legs were now enclosed in armoured hoops and came with their own servomotors. Unlike the Mark I suit, the design is still sufficiently sound to remain in active, albeit extremely limited, use well into the 41st millennium.

Early depictions of this armour often featured a fixed helmet, similar to old-school diving suits. While [[Forge World]] completely [[Retcon|retconned]] this away for the sake of compatibility with other Marine kits, there had been depictions of Mark II suits with movable helmets since the [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader]] days, so it's not like GW were ever consistent about it anyway.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkII.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark2.jpg
MK2Squad.jpg
881ee11d4d5deee89611414658e77e9f--space-wolves-space-marine.jpg|<center>The armor that carried out the [[Great Crusade]]</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Mark III: Iron Armour====
[[File:Mk3IronArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|The Facegrill, v2]]
Mark III armour was first conceived for <s>the [[Squat]] campaigns</s> boarding actions of the Great Crusade. It was pretty much a modified Mark II designed to provide better frontal protection for close quarters combat, essentially fulfilling the same role that [[Terminator]] armour would later fulfill. By the time of the Horus Heresy, the Mark III was slowly being phased out and replaced by Terminator armour, but it's still fairly common among the Traitor Legions. In fact, several of the more traditional Legions were reluctant to phase out Mark III because it was the most brutally iconic mark of power armour in their day, so there was talk of keeping it for honour guards or spear tip operations. Of course, since it was good enough that it did Terminator armor's job well enough to become "iconic" despite the Mark II being the primary issue at the time, then maybe they should've kept using it to augment Terminator forces when numbers were needed. Even into M41, the helmet or faceplate is still popular. It appears as a DLC armor in [[Last Stand - Captain|The Last Stand]]
for the Space Marine Captain, where it increases the force of his melee strikes.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkIII.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark3.jpg
MK3Squad.jpg
EC Legionary Mk III.jpg|<center>Heresy era [[Emperor's Children]] legionnaire</center>
MarkIIITacticalSquad.png|<center>Ultramarines</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Mark IV: Maximus Armour====
[[File:MarkIVMaximus.png|200px|right|thumb|So cool, they brought the helmet back for the Primaris boys!]]
Now having access to more [[Standard Template Construct]]s, the Mechanicum was able to further refine power armour internal systems. In addition to having more advanced visual sensors, the helmet was now capable of easier movement. The suit was also made a whole lot lighter than before while only marginally reducing Mark II's protective capabilities. Bears mentioning it had much, much more superior manufacturability compared to MkII and was easier to repair due to its nature of having no interlocking armor plates and whatnot. Although the chest power cables were once again relocated to the outside of the plating, they were given an armoured sheath to protect them from damage (since the gaps between armor are actually made of plasteel, that was likely used on the cables, plasteel gives Terminator armor is legendary durability so...). [[Horus|Horus Lupercal]] manipulated the Mechanicum's supply lines to ensure that the Legions that were planning to side with him in the Heresy would be fully equipped with Maximus Armour in time for the Heresy; as a result Mark IV was usually reserved for Chapter Masters and senior Captains of the Loyalist Legions. As the Legions were either fully or partially re-equipped with these suits by the time the [[Horus Heresy]] began, Mark IV is one of the most prevalent types of armour among the Chaos Space Marines. It's a little strange that the Imperium didn't build more of them after the Horus Heresy, though, since its far easier to produce and repair than the current Mark VII but not notably inferior. Seeing as they're always short on everything, you'd think these features would be the most important thing to consider for them.

Some Chapters/Legions also made their own sub-patterns of Maximus power armor, such as the Ultramarines' Praetor pattern and the Thousand Sons' Achean pattern.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkIV.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark4.jpg
MK4Squad.jpg
AstralClawsMarine.jpg|<center>As a relic of the [[Astral Claws]] chapter</center>
MarkIVTacticalSquad.png|<center>Tactical Squad</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Mark V: Heresy Armour====
[[File:Mk5HeresyArmour.png|200px|right|thumb|What a stud.]]
In between production of the Mark IV and what would be the Mark VI, both Loyalist and Traitor Legions found that they were running out of replacement parts for damaged systems. This would result in several Legions taking parts from older Marks and inadvertently making a brand new Mark of Power Armour. Although appearances varied widely as a result of its ad hoc nature, some form of standardization was achieved. One of the most notable was the introduction of molecular bonding studs on the left pauldron and both greaves (the famous "rivets"), which made them look totally Metal - these were actually originally designed to field-patch busted vehicle armour before they could be repaired properly. Probably one of the most common suits of armour in service among the Traitor Legions, since this was what most of them were wearing when they retreated to the Eye of Terror.

For a while, the Horus Heresy [[Fluff|novels]] and [[Crunch|black books]] outright [[Retcon|retconned]] Mark V armour into a catch-all term for any improvised or prototype suits that existed outside of the main Mark series, yet weren't advanced enough to be considered artificer armour (likely so Forge World wouldn't get nagged to make variants of all their Mark III and IV squads in Mark V as well). However, they ended up backpedaling on this a bit in [[Horus_Heresy#Retribution|Retribution]]. The classic "studs and cables" version shown here is now apparently considered the "production" model of Mark V armour (presumably an [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]-sanctioned version that went into mass production), while the more variable, improvised suits it was based on are "non-production" models. Presumably, Forge World realised that the retcon didn't make much sense, since all known art and models of the armour up to that point were no less visually consistent than any of the other Marks (and arguably ''more'' consistent than a couple of them).

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkV.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark5.jpg
MK5Squad.jpg
Carcharodons Battle-Brother.jpg|<center>The [[Space Sharks|Carcharodons]] favorite armor pattern</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}
====Mark VI: Corvus Armour====
[[File:Mk6CorvusArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|Hate the Xeno. Ca-caw.]]
The much-beloved [[Beakie]] armour. Designed during the latter years of Great Crusade, this one was initially field-tested by Salamanders and Iron Warriors to become a proper Mk V. While the former's reaction is unknown, [[Perturabo]] despised the idea of reducing the protection of his <s>cannon fodder</s> sons. He arranged the next test to be conducted by the [[Raven Guard]], and so [[Corax]], whom our autistic weirdo didn't like, received a lot of Mk VIs and was sent on the galactic fringe to fight Eldar. To Iron Lord's surprise, the test was such a smashing success that the suit received the XIXth Primach's name, and beakie armour became a common sight in his legion even before it was actually accepted for service in wider Imperium. It anticipated some of the lately developed Mark VII features, producing a suit of armor that is in many ways equal to its descendants, if being a little bit specialized. Although it offered the worst protection compared to all other proper marks, Mark VI armour was the first to feature a redundant power system and parts that are largely interchangeable with those of other marks, particularly with Mark VII. Somehow, it also manages to be lighter and fit together more smoothly than the current Mark VII Aquila, allowing for quieter movement, while the helmet includes further improved sensor systems in its, um, "beak". Due to the design's inherent stealthiness and legacy, it still remains the preferred armor among the sons of Corax, who tend to be saddled with older equipment anyhow. For reasons nobody can seem to explain, it was also sporadically used by the [[Alpha Legion]] around the time of the Horus Heresy even though it was never actually [[Blood Ravens|issued]] to them. Then again it's the Alpha Legion so who knows.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkVI.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark6.jpg
MK6Squad.jpg
20191026 181625.jpg|<center>A [[White Scars]] legion tactical marine</center>
ImperialSpaceMarine.jpg
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Mark VII: Aquila/Imperator Armour====
[[File:Mk7AquilaImperator.png|200px|right|thumb|All said, this face really does say "disgust" better.]]
The most common Mark of Power Armour among loyalist Space Marines, Mark VII armor was still being designed when the Traitor Legions reached the Sol System and seized [[Mars]]. When this fact became all too foreseeable, [[Rogal Dorn]] ordered the design teams transferred to Terra to prevent the Traitors from seizing it. Mark VII featured completely covered chest and arm cabling, a distinct helmet that provided more protection, a high level of compatibility with previous Marks, and also bore the Imperial Aquila on the chest, which was first used there to provide quick identification of the Loyalist Marines during the chaos of the Siege of Terra.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkVII.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark7.jpg
Lamenters Battle-Brother.jpg|<center>The most iconic pattern</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}
====Mark VIII: Errant Armour====
[[File:Mk8Errant.png|200px|right|thumb|MY THROAT IS INVINCIBLE]]
[[Jes Goodwin]] [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:MkVIII_Errant.jpg originally] designed it with awesome [[Power Fist]]-style hands, a modified helmet, a streamlined power pack, and a more flexible leg-and-ankle joint. Games Workshop only bothered with using the altered breastplate, [[Derp|so the overall design looks like a regular Mark VII with a collar.]] That said, the more recent models for Space Marine Devastators have a flexible, ball-like ankle joint more in line with the original artwork. Deathwatch models have this ball-joint and the modified helmet, and Primaris models also have this ankle joint, presumably inspired by the MkVIII like the breastplate collar is. Said collar is described as being brought into use due to an alarming pattern being noticed; namely, that bullets would deflect off the top of the breastplate and up into the bottom of the marine's helmet, killing him, or would pass in-between the bottom of the helmet and the top of the chest plate, into the marine's throat, killing him (similar to a shot trap found on the gun mantlet of Nazi Germany's Panzer V Panther D & A tanks in WW2). Breaking the trend of reverse-compatibility between newer and older marks, this Mark can only accommodate the helmet designed for it, which kind of becomes a moot point when reserving it for officers, since everyone higher up than a battle brother will never wear his helmet. The specialist design, or the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]'s head-up-own-arse tendencies around distributing new technology, are thought to be the probable reasons why it has yet to be widely adopted among Space Marine chapters. Because of its rarity, the armour is generally restricted for use by senior officers only, and even then they'll usually only be able to wear the breastplate. Munitorium series from GW, however, shows that it's fully compatible with Mk7, so Veterans will sometimes receive a part of Mk8 to replace analogue from their Mk7 for some heroic deed, meaning if some Veteran is equipped with full Errant pattern, he is a serious badass and likely expects promotion. The [[Minotaurs]] and [[Deathwatch]] chapters appear to be the exceptions here, as almost all of their battle brothers have access to full suits, the former because they suck the High Lords' dicks and the latter because the Deathwatch is a special operations group made up of veterans of all chapters.

It should be noted that, while artificer armor, at least in the art, looks like a pimped out Mk.VIII, regular Mk.VIII [[Crunch|doesn't actually improve armor save]]. But Fantasy Flight [[Deathwatch_(RPG)|gave it some love]] with an extra armour point all around, and the ability to deflect some headshots to the chest, greatly improving its protection and explained why so many officer using it tend to not wear a helmet (not to mention that the collar helps protect the neck from shrapnel or shots hitting it).

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkVIII.jpg
DeathwatchKillTeam1.jpg|The Errant Armour comes as a standard...
DeathwatchKillTeam2.jpg|in the Deathwatch, apparently...
Minotaurs Tact. Marine.jpg|<center>The most complete depiction in official artwork to date</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Mark IX Armour====
Who the fuck knows, really. This mark was skipped over when Mk10 was introduced, and no details were made available. It could either be an Mk5 treatment, with any Mk7 or 8 suits made with improvised parts or even contemporary Artificer Armour [[Proxy|counted as the Mk9]]. Another possibility is that the Mk9 might be part of [[Roboute Guilliman|Guilliman]]'s new job of [[Gets shit done|actually getting shit done]] and gets a new mark rolled out for the Classic Marines. Nothing's really known at this point, <s>so actual information should come out in a some weeks</s> and there's still no word, over a year after Primaris were announced. Why GW don't make a new set of models and saying that this Mark is used to bring Veteran Marines physical capabilities to Primaris level is a mystery for the ages. Then again, it could just be that Mk 10 sounds way cooler than Mk 9 (iPhone X, anyone?), although [[Games Workshop|Geedubs]] did allude to its existence when Primaris armour was revealed to be numbered as 10.

If it helps, it has been suggested in forums and such, that Mark 9 power armour was that 'variant' which was used by pre-primaris Librarians. Still, it is annoying that nothing official is there to be found. This could of course be nothing more than wishful thinking or plain old nonsense, as Librarians have been shown in various armour Marks, and some sources have shown their psychic hoods as a detachable add-ons rather than built-in.

====Mark X Armour System====
A new form of Power Armor introduced in 8th Edition, worn primarily by the Primaris. Unlike all previous marks, the Mk. X was built with internal modularity in mind, and all their pieces can be swapped into another that make a single set or armour change its battlefield role. If the next mission is more [[Infiltrator|stealth oriented]], you don't need to ask for a new armour, just change the pieces into the ones of the Phobos; or if you're [[Aggressor|going to take heat]], change it into a Gravis. It's basically kitbashing on an armor level. But this also lets you to [[Your Dudes|create your own armour configurations]].

There are several configurations that are currently in use:

=====Tacticus=====
[[File:TacitusIntercessorZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|Getting huger, and all without Terminator Armor]]
The "default" form of the Mark X, the Tacticus configuration combines aspects of Mk8 armor (the collar) with aspects of earlier variants (the helmet (mk4) being the obvious bit) and [[Fluff|all the latest technology of the Imperium in the 42nd Millennium]]. ([[Crunch|Still doesn't affect armor save]].) So far it's only been shown on the Primaris Space Marines, it is unknown if the scruffy old obsolete Space Marines will get it. The vambraces are noted to have built-in cogitator systems, which can be used for a variety of purposes depending on the user's role. Like all Mk. X armour the tacticus class is highly customizable, for example the librarian has a Gravis style plated belly. Other changes can be seen across the range, such as the form-fitting greaves on the Chaplain, and the occasional addition of tassets to the hips (especially common on Hellblasters).

<gallery>
image:PrimarisApothecary.jpg|<center>Primaris Apothecary</center>
image:Primaris Chaplain.jpg|<center>Primaris Chaplain</center>
image:PrimarisLibrarian.jpg|<center>Primaris Librarian.</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

=====Gravis=====
[[File:GravisCaptain.png|200px|right|thumb|I. AM. ULTRASMURF.]]
The heavy configuration, that grants +1 Toughness and +1 Wound. Yay. (Rumors that 8th Edition is being designed to make future video projects easier to code remain unfounded.)

Gravis armour is worn by the Captain included in the Warhammer 8th Edition Boxed Set. The example captain had both a master crafted power sword ''(that does two wounds nowadays)'' AND a brand new '''Boltstorm Gauntlet''' which combines the functionality of a power fist with a bolt pistol capable of firing at triple rate -- Marneus Calgar approves. Said armour design appears to take some leanings from ... Iron Man (a noted early proponent for the founding of the Mechanicus, as such a most blessed servant of the Omnissiah), <s>or perhaps the T'a</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|'''HERESY!'''}}, or terminators, with what appears to be augments on the legs, an enhanced ribcage, and an enclosed armoured hoodie for good measure.

Gravis Armour (like all Mk. X) is highly variable; for example the Inceptors have a tacticus style bodyplate and a retractable face-shield.

Gravis Armour is also worn by the Inceptor Squads, granting them the toughness boost as well. Their version also comes with built-in jump packs, replacing the normal backpack-worn type, and shutter style face visors. Another variant is worn by Aggressor Squads, which can come with Fragstorm Grenade Launchers.

Models in Gravis Armour are [http://steppingbetweengames.com/new-8th-edition-40k-models-size-comparison/ fucking big] even compared to even the NuMarines, so... Primaris Centurion Armor.

Seems to be the most [[Skub|contentious]] of all the Mark X variants, by far. It really seems like you either love or hate this one.

<gallery>
image:PrimarisAggressor.jpg|<center>Primaris Aggressor</center>
image:PrimarisInceptor.jpg|<center>Primaris Inceptor</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

=====Phobos=====
[[File:Mk10Phobos.png|200px|right|thumb|Modern. Aerodynamic. [[Nighthaunt|Spoopy]].]]
Another Mark X configuration worn by [[Reiver|Reivers]], [[Vanguard]], and [[Incursor]] Primaris forces, the Phobos can be compared to the Mark VI ''Corvus'' Armour due to similar associations with recon troops.

Like the Mark VI, the armour is designed for silent infiltrations and drop assaults – and by "drop," it is sneakily by Grav-chutes, and not flashy like Jump Packs – and in the same way the older mark was pioneered by the [[Raven Guard]], Phobos Armour was pioneered by the [[Original character, do not steal|Primaris]] [[Night Lords|Reivers]]. Since Reivers from time to time enter the battlefield via air drop, the armour's power pack sometimes sports a pair of fins for the occasion. These fins are used to direct flight as the Reivers' Grav-chutes slow their descent. Whether or not those fins are the Grav-chutes themselves is arguable – probably unlikely because aside from [[Jokaero|Digital Weapons]], Imperium tech does not shine really bright in the field of miniaturization; that is to say, their style choices usually go big or go home. Most of the Vanguard Marines seem to lack these fins, which supports the assumption that they're not the grav-chutes themselves (Actually, only the Lieutenant in Phobos Armour has the Grav Chutes ability out of the Vanguard, and he has the fins. Other Vanguard are just sneaky, and have Concealed Position instead). The [[Infiltrator]]s' power packs instead sport a bunch of antennas, which make up an omni-scrambler system designed to conceal them from enemy auspex scans, while [[Incursor]]s instead have a visor system mounted, allowing them to see through any obstructions to their sight.

The standard Phobos helmet seems to come in a couple of different shapes, which resemble either a Mk X Tacitus helmet or a Mk 7 helmet (both of which sport what seem to be some kind of rebreather system). The Reivers instead rock a Night Lords inspired skull-helmet instead of a Raven Guard beakie, which [[Skub|may or may not be awesome]], and it [[Banshee|amps up their voice to insane levels of sound]].

<gallery>
PrimarisReiver2.jpg|<center>Mask-only Style</center>
PhobosArmorFins.jpg|<center>Grav-chute Fins</center>
VanguardPrimarisMini.jpg
VanguardEliminatorMini.jpg
SalamandersIncursorMini.jpg
Vanguard-Librarian.jpg
</gallery>

=====Omnis=====
[[FIle:Vanguard_Suppressors.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Well, you see, when an [[Inceptor]] and a [[Devastator Squad|Devastator]] love each other [[Rape|very much]]...]]
Worn by [[Suppressor|Vanguard Suppressor Squads]]. It's basically just Tacticus configuration with Inceptor shock absorber boots, Reiver-style grav-chutes and gorget/collar, a miniaturised jump pack (which looks like a second pair of backpack exhausts), and a new helmet visor design. The models have been the subject of a fair bit of [[Skub|"debate"]] since their debut in the Shadowspear box, although that's likely got little to do with the armour they're wearing, and more to do with those ridiculously oversized [[Autogun#Accelerator_Autocannon|accelerator autocannons]] that they're toting.

====Artificer Armour====
[[File:BloodAngelArtificerArmorZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|A typical Blood Angels Nipple Pattern artificer armor.]]
Pimped out and individualized versions of regular suits, often enough to be considered one-off derivations in their own right. Artificer Armour can be formed from any older mark of Power Armour (perhaps barring Mk.I plate possibly excepting Thunder Warrior officers) by adding extra or upgraded protection. The upgraded and individualized suits mean that they require a lot of maintenance and needs techs to work around the clock to make sure they stay functional. Standard issue for [[Techmarines]], the [[Sanguinary Guard]] and optional for [[Brother-Captain|officers]], pairing artificer armour with an Iron Halo can offer better protection than Terminator armour with none of the drawbacks, yet with only some of the benefits.

<gallery>
image:TechmarineArmor.png|<center>Techmarine</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Chaos Power Armour====
[[File:ChaosAstartesArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|[[rape|I'm horny and you corpse-worshippers' got the butts I CRAAAAVE]]]]
While many Traitor Marines are equipped with Marks IV or earlier (at least in the lore; if you go buy the models, almost all of them seem to have Mark VII armour with Mark VI legs), Chaos power armor is often a mix-and-match setup. About the only unified feature of Chaos power armour is a distinct power pack with stabilizers on long curved fins, that still runs on solar converter core instead of fusion reactor of modern loyalist power packs. Because Chaos Marines often have to go long periods with no access to proper industrial facilities, proper maintenance and replacement parts became an issue. Because of that, many subsystems in each suit of armor don't work and replacement parts come in the form of whatever they can dig up from plunder and take off of corpses after [[Orks|raiding and looting]]. Furthermore, Chaos Marines like to customize their armor with devotional iconography and personal trophies, making sure that virtually every suit of armor is personalized and none are exactly alike. Where things get even weirder is when the armor gets too steeped in Chaos and begins to twist, mutate, and turn partially organic, or had a daemon replace its machine spirit. It's quite likely that the parts of armor that don't work get replaced with warp magic, daemonic influence, or Dark Mechanicus tech-heresy.

Recent editions and artwork show senior Chaos marines with a sinister and more organic-looking power armour of Mark III through V, a look they pick up after a while either deliberately or due to the Warp's influence changing their outside look to match their corrupted souls. In the Rogue Trader Era, Chaos Power armor ''was'' organic, so this is actually a pleasant return to the old days. The Chosen models from the Dark Vengeance box set are commonly referred to as the harbringers of this new style, while the new Raptors/Warp Talons set incorporate this design, alongside the regular Raptors, whose design seems like being "metal-guilded armour, that's begun to blend together and form spikes and weird shapes", hinting of what's to come for the aging Chaos Space Marine range.

As of 2016, the non-[[Terminator armour|Terminator-armoured]] [[Thousand Sons]] are now fully equipped with modified, ornate suits of Mark IV armour, in the style of the original [[Jes Goodwin]] Thousand Son model and concept art that established their aesthetic back in the [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|old days]]. Since most of them [[Rubric Marines|aren't really capable]] of changing out of their armour anymore, this makes their current models their most lore-friendly--and least [[neckbeard]]-[[Rage|enraging]]--incarnation yet.

And then, in 2017, GW started releasing new Death Guard Space Marines. The ugly bastards pretty much relive the original style from the old Forge World Death Guard upgrade pack (itself a throwback to Jes Goodwin's [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader-era]] Death Guard concept), decked out in rotted, space-AIDS-riddled suits of Mark 3 armour, with most sporting the classic reinforced belly plate to hold in their bloated guts and intestines.

2019 finally saw a major update to the main Chaos Space Marine line, including two new kits for the basic Chaos Marine squad (a fully monopose, set-loadout one in the Shadowspear box, and a semi-monopose standalone version with more head and weapon options a few weeks after). The new sculpts are like a less ornate version of the Dark Vengeance Chosen, mixed with the old-Mark-heavy look of the 2nd edition CSM metals, and with better proportions than both. The new Chaos Havoc kit extends this style further by adding recoil-dampening talon mutations on the boots, as well as Mk III-inspired reinforced frontal plating (although the actual suits seem to be based on Mks V and later).
{{clear}}

====Fleshmetal Armour====
[[File:AspiringChampionFleshmetal.png|200px|right|thumb|The one known exception to [[Iron Hands|"The Flesh is Weak"]].]]
Essentially the Chaos Marine's take on Artificer armor, given only to champions favored by the Chaos Gods. A blast from the past editions, Fleshmetal Armour is how it sounds. After spending gods knows how long in the Warp and centuries of combat under chaos, it eventually caused a chaos marine's power armor to fuse with their own flesh, forming an incredibly hard, organic carapace, tempered by ceramite and reinforced with warpfuckery.

Once a marine receives this gift, they're now more literal weapons than ever, as the armor cannot be removed anymore (since its now their second skin), condemning them to an eternity of unending war. Of course, since Chaos Marines live for that kind of thing, its more of an encouragement than anything.

Just about any Chaos special unit or veteran has fleshmetal armour, like [[Obliterator]]s and [[Chaos Chosen]].

<gallery>
image:ChaosObliterator.jpg|<center>Obliterator</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}
====Aegis Armour====
[[File:GreyKnightAegis.png|200px|right|thumb|It's all holy smokes and mirrors from here.]]
The Power Armour of the [[Grey Knights]], Aegis Armour is master-crafted on the forges of Titan and inscribed with prayers and [[Matt Ward|wards]] to prevent [[Daemon]]s from possessing it. [[Khornate Knights|Early fluff insinuated that a psyker was burned alive to be sacrificed as part of the machine spirit of the armour (GRIMDARK) but this aspect has been downplayed massively in later revisions]]. (Considering the Golden Throne [[Grimdark|burns an ungodly number of psykers every day to keep]] [[The Emperor|Him]] [[Astronomican|alive]], this isn't too farfetched.) Based on parts from Marks VI, VII, and VIII, within the breastplate of each set is a copy of the Liber Daemonica. It frequently bears a Stormbolter on its left forearm, keeping both hands of the wearer free to use. There is an Aegis/Grey Knight version of Terminator and Dreadnought armours, too. Just remember to keep any observations that Aegis Armour look in anyway similar to Tau [[Battlesuit]]s to yourself.{{BLAM}}
<gallery>
image:GreyKnightArmor1.jpg|<center>Variant 1</center>
image:GreyKnightArmor2.jpg|<center>Variant 2</center>
image:GreyKnightArmorCrowe.jpg|<center>''[[Castellan Crowe|Castellan Garren Crowe]]''</center>
</gallery>

====Auramite Armour====
[[File:CustodianAuramite.png|200px|right|thumb|Banana Armor.]]
The most common power armour within the [[Adeptus Custodes]], it is straight up in the top 3 power armours of the Imperium, its other contenders being the Aquilon & Allarus terminator armours. The material used for its construction is known as, you guessed right, Auramite (which is ceramite, except even [[Cheese|better]]): The first samples and tech to make it was brought back from the depths of [[Terra]]. The armour itself is even better than artificier armour and include a refractor field, essentially giving it the same properties in-game as terminator armour, it can even get a teleportation transponder as well as an Arae-shrike: a nasty (so nasty the Mechanicum declared it blasphemous) piece of archeotech that fuck up nearby cogitators. The only ones allowed to make it, like all custodes-grade weapons, are Emperor-chosen clans of Terra. Probably the only people the Mechanicus won't fuck with for fear of the golden bois getting...[[Rage|inconvenienced]].
{{clear}}

===Terminator Armour===
[[File:TerminatorArmorModel.png|200px|right|thumb|His head must be all mushed in there...]]
[[Terminator]] armor, or Tactical Dreadnought armor, are set aside for space marine veterans who are exemplars of toughness, martial ability, and wonky proportions. This power armor provides the best personal protection available. Heavily layered with adamantium and indestructible [[pauldrons]], a suit of Terminator armor is built to steamroll nearly everything and gives a fighting chance against everything else, which are the things that gives anybody else a fighting chance against Terminators. Standard loadout for Terminators are [[Power Fist|power fists]] and [[Storm Bolter|storm bolters]], or [[Power weapon]]s and [[Twin-Linked|twin linked]] bolters for the Chaos Terminators; but these are often and changed up with other heavy weapons systems, other killtastic melee weapons, and the a squad is sometimes augmented with a shoulder-mounted missile racks. Since most suits are about at least as old as the chapter that owns them, and that the pauldron allegedly contains a tiny fragment of the Emperor's own power armor, these suits are holy relics as well as top shelf wargear.

Despite all the pain they lay down (and keep away), Terminator armor has a few serious drawbacks. First thing is that it is seriously hard to make. Seriously. Most chapters have only a handful that they can distribute amongst their veterans and officers, and any lost suits are damn near impossible to replace. Second thing is that they lack mobility. They counter this mostly since Terminator armor can be safely teleported from orbit into the thick of it, and judicious use of teleport homers can put them right where you need them, and a heavy transport such as a [[Land Raider]] can carry small squads. Beyond that, Terminators are otherwise going to be footslogging since they're too fucking huge to hitch a ride on anything smaller than a house. Better plan on not moving them too far once they hit the ground.

Terminator Armor had 3 major designs: the Cataphractii pattern, the Tartaros pattern, and the Indomitus pattern. The '''Cataphractii Pattern''' was the first run at Terminator armor, developed after the Mk.III power armor and sharing many systems. Bearing much larger power field generators and thicker armor, it provided better protection than future variants, but was much more unwieldy and difficult to use, making it even slower than normal Terminator armor. The '''Tartaros Pattern''' shared many of its systems with the Mk.IV power armor and was much more maneuverable than its predecessor, but gave up some of its protection to do so, becoming more like contemporary Terminator armor. The '''Indomitus Pattern''' is the current pattern of Terminator armor (though the Forge World books make it clear that it was common at the time of the Heresy, perhaps more so than Tartaros and Cataphractii), sharing similarities with the Tartaros pattern in terms of functionality whilst being cheaper to produce. It also gave rise to the experimental Gorgon pattern, a design that was being tested during the Heresy by the Iron Hands Legion. There are also human-sized suits of Terminator armor, but the tiny amount of them that still exist are used exclusively by the Inquisition.

After the Horus Heresy, Cataphractii pattern had eventually fallen out of general use. This may have been because the last of that armor was either lost in the fighting and [[Adeptus Mechanicus|the pattern became another lost technology]] in the following years. Or because production was ceased in favor of later patterns, and most suits were either cannibalized or became a relic that was the chapter's equivalent of fine china: makes a nice display piece, but practically useless due to enforced disuse. These relics wouldn't see field use again until the day GW released the Angels of Death supplement (no doubt because they'd sell more copies of ''[[Betrayal at Calth]]'' if both 30K and 40K Marine players could use it).

Finally, there was one more pattern of Terminator armour, called Saturnine. It's got the hugest pauldrons one can get before moving into walkers category and was famous for it's extreme bulk, durability, cumbersomeness and difficulty of piloting - basically everything good and bad about Cataphractii turned to eleven. It never went out of field testing phase, since new smaller Castraferum Dreadnoughts could do everything Saturnine was designed for (boarding actions and indoor/tunnel fighting) better and without it's numerous drawbacks except for needing a half-dead Astartes. Some legions still had their batches of test suits when Horus Heresy hit and used them to gain whatever edge over their opponents they could, but they were never seen after the Heresy.

'''Extermination''' claims the Alpha Legion used five patterns of Terminator armour during the Invasion of Paramar, suggesting that other patterns are yet to be revealed. Or, you know, the Alpha Legion being what it is could mean that their in house artificers are straight up inventing new technology or their infiltrators were stealing technology from other Legions.
{{clear}}

===Centurion Armour===
[[File:CenturionSuit.png|200px|right|thumb|HELP ME I'VE GOT A TINY MAN INSIDE ME]]
Since somebody at GW forgot that the [[meme|Xzibit meme]] wasn't funny anymore, Space Marines now have [[Centurion_Squad|centurion armour]] that they equip like a miniature walker vehicle, more like a mini-mech, a cute little dreadnought preparing space marines for their life after living. Centurion armour is "worn" over regular power armor, giving better protection (like terminator armor without the invul save but with an additional wound, along with +1 to both S and T) and comes in two flavors: assault and devastator. Assault centurions are heavy assault units equipped with drills and meltas or flamers, meant to get in close to enemy strongpoints and fortifications and wreck shit. Devastator units are heavy fire support units with hurricane bolters and twin-linked heavy weapons, which, in practice, provide less fire power than regular [[Devastator Squad]]s, but higher resilience and mobility, as the suits have Slow and Purposeful.

Fluffwise, the machine spirits on this thing is advanced, almost on par with the [[Land Raider]]'s. There has been once instance where a group of Salamander Centurions were deployed to clear out a Dark Eldar incursion. The Dark Eldar released a toxin that [[grimdark|liquefied people into soup]] and the marines wearing the armor eventually perished after their suits took damage and the toxin leaked through the cracks. [[Rage|A bit miffed after the loss of their pilots]], the Centurion suits' machine spirits continued to fight on, even after their pilots were just fleshy goop at this point. They were eventually disabled, but not after killing scores more Dark Eldar during their rampage.
{{clear}}

===Human Power Armour===
[[File:InquisitorIgnatus.png|200px|right|thumb|Imperials always show off the guns.]]
Virtually identical to Space Marine power armor, these suits of armor are scaled down to fit regular humans (notice that this is the reverse of what it would have been 10,000 years ago). Human power armour is relatively quite rare, since it occurred to somebody that making good protection being an affordable and wide-spread asset would severely impinge on the current state of [[grimdark]], not to mention expensive.

Without the extra room and black carapace interface Marine armor provides, many suits of human power armor don't offer the same degree of protection, as much strength enhancement, or as many subsystems found in Marine armor. Still, the wearer will still be stronger, better protected, and better equipped than the [[Imperial Guard|guy in cardboard]]. There are a few variants, including a lighter suit and one for Chaos-fighting Inquisitors. Because these things are still super-rare, usually only [[Rogue Trader|people rolling in money]], [[Adeptus Mechanicus|tech fetishists]], and [[Inquisition|those able to declare not giving them power armor is]] [[heresy]], will have any.
{{clear}}
====Sisters of Battle Armour====
[[File:BattleSisterArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|Shaped for pragmatism I bet...]]
Less bulky than the Space Marine armour, as they're designed for normal sized humans. Despite Astartes & Sororitas armour both giving 3+ saves on the tabletops, in actuality the power armour of the Orders Militant of the [[Adepta Sororitas]] provides less ballistic protection than Space Marine armour does. (The identical in-game protection is mostly because saves in 40k are decided on numbers between 2-6, so there aren't as many gradients in-between.)

This armour also does not provide the same level of strength enhancement, but it gives enough to carry [[Heavy_Bolter#Heavy_Bolter|heavy bolter]]s and ammunition into combat, and fire them without a sister shattering her arms. Sororitas armor has noticeably smaller [[pauldrons]]. The leading theory behind why they chose this design feature is that smaller pauldrons cut back the material cost it takes to create this variant, without having to sacrifice the pair of perky, globular breasts.

Helmets are ''not'' included as standard either, mostly because the majority of Sororitas models have <s>spent hours doing their hair</s> distinctive haircuts. But also because (according to [[Dark Heresy]]), the Sisters of Battle do not receive their helms until about halfway through their careers (how the sisters of battle are expected to fight in environments hostile to human life then is anyone's guess). This makes them inverse of the tradition held by the Astartes, where higher ranking officers are more likely to ditch their helmets instead.
The advantage of Sororitas power armour, though, when compared to other human-scales of power amour, is that it runs off of the same fusion reactor that Astartes armour does, and therefore can run indefinitely, rather than for a few hours at a time. Another advantage is that it is not as bulky so it does not turn the wearer into a big giant target either.
{{clear}}

====Sisters of Silence Armour====
[[File:VratineArmorZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|... Since it has historical precedent.]]
Exclusive to the [[Sisters of Silence]], this is what the Null-ladies get to wear after finishing their training. The '''Vratine Armour''' is ''the armour of oath'', containing designs akin to Space Marine Power Armour and possibly a local pattern from Luna ('''''Selenite void-mail'''; Selene being a goddess of the Moon in <strike>Greek</strike> ROMAN mythology''). Considering that the suit does not come environmentally-sealed like how Power Armour usually do (''as you can see that the "helmet" is actually a full-faced mask'') – though additional gear can be equipped to operate in a hostile environment – this armour that these Sisters wear is possibly the closest thing the Imperium has to the Mark I, which is also a Power Armour pattern that is not sealed.

On the other hand, the Sisters of Silence might have been a later addition to the Imperium over the course of the Great Crusade, and the design elements of the Astartes Power Armor is actually derived from a later pattern such as the standard Mark II, or maybe even up to Mark VI, assuming that the armour, like the Space Marines', has several renditions of itself. This is likely since the Vratine is designed with agility in mind, and the protection factor is also definitely not compromised for that.

As a side note, it doesn't have a noticeable reactor (much like Custodes armour) and is not called "power armour" anywhere in the FW books, but it is later identified as a form of power armour in the 8th Edition Sisters of Silence Codex.
{{Clear}}

===Dragon Scale Armour===
[[image:MilitantEnginseer.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Like walking around in an armored Deep Blue computer.]]
Dragon scale armor is basically Mechanicum power armour, commonly used by militant Enginseers of Imperial Guard and Myrmidon [[Paladin|warrior priests]] of the Ordo Secutor. It does not have an external power source, as it derives power from Mechanicus implants (and therefore cannot be used by anyone outside the tech-priesthood or high-ranking [[Skitarii]]). Not as thick as Astartes power armour, it sports many more inbuilt devices and sensors and gets further pimped by the Techpriest wearing it as he progresses through the ranks of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to the point where it's hard to tell where the armour ends and its wearer begins. Some wonder if it is connected to the [[Void Dragon]].

<gallery>
MyrmidonDragonScale.png|<center>Myrmidon Secutor</center>
MyrmidonDestroyer.jpg|<center>Myrmidon Destroyer</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

=== Tau Battlesuits ===
''Main Article: [[Battlesuit]]

[[image:XV22 CommanderShadowSun.jpg|The blueberry's battlequeen with her XV22|200px|right|thumb]]

The Tau's take on "power armor" is a bit more diverse compared to the Imperium, that it encompasses both personal protection suits, like stealth suits, and giant weapons platforms, like Riptides. Essentially, the Tau put everything from a simple flight suit to Imperial Knight / Titan-Class mechs as "Battlesuits". In proportion to their size: Tau battlesuits generally have lower raw protective capabilities than their Imperial counterparts due to their emphasis on mobility, but makes up for it by having a slew of advanced tech to give them a leg-up on their foes.

The battlesuits that are more along with the other factions idea of personal "armour" instead of "combat walker"-type mechs or "a very fancy flight suit", are the: XV15 Stealthsuit, XV22 Command/StealthSuit, and XV25 Stealthsuit. The stealthsuits rely primarily on just not being seen (obviously), because you don't have to worry if your armour will stop a bolter round, if the enemy never knows you are there to be shot at.

<gallery>
XV15 black.jpg|XV15
XV22 Shadowsun.jpg|XV22
XV25 White.jpg|XV25
</gallery>
{{clear}}

=== Eldar Armour ===
[[image:GuardianMeshArmor.png|200px|right|thumb]]
The Eldar use Mesh Armor technology to supplant their powered armor suits, said armor is made out of a combination of wraithbone and thermoplas, all woven together to make a futuristic mail armored suit. The suit is psychically attuned to the wearer's mind, so it is capable of tailoring its fit and use to the wearer's style.

Unlike Imperial powered armor, which is designed to shrug and deflect shots (hence its bulkiness); mesh armor instead scatters the force of a hit throughout the armor, weakening the overall impact of a hit the wearer takes. Its also supposedly heat-resistant, making it effective against energy-based weapons like plasma or lasers (not that you'd notice crunch-wise).

While this doesn't seem like much protection, keep in mind that the Eldar are capable of such rapid movement and reaction that its only matched by [[Space Marine|superhumans]], [[Slaanesh|followers of the cocaine god(dess)]], [[Dark Eldar|and their edgier brethren]], along with the standard Eldar doctrine of emphasizing on mobility and precision. Hence, Mesh armor isn't really designed to withstand withering amounts of damage like how marine armor works; its designed to keep the wearer agile, yet still sufficiently protected. It's also possible to simply glance hits, with angled impacts deflecting and splattering away.

There are currently a couple variants:
*Mesh Armor - Standard armor worn by guardian squads. Its also equipped with life-support functions and sensory equipment.
*Aspect Armor - Aspect armor are worn by [[Aspect Warrior]]s. Each aspect shrine has their own take on Aspect Armor depending on their role, so Swooping Hawks and Howling Banshees have lighter armor, while Dark Reapers and Fire Dragons have heavier armor (although "heavy" is subjective as it still allows the wearer to be nimble like every other Eldar warrior). The main thing in common they have though, is that they're much more durable and flashier than standard mesh armor.
**Exarch Armor - Aspect armor worn by Exarchs. Because of the Exarch's seniority and experience; the armor is typically much more blinged out than the standard variant, offering the wearer more protection and other equipment options. Exarch armor is also adorned with the spirit stones of deceased Exarchs, bestowing the wearer with literally millennia of combat experience from past heroes.
**Phoenix Armor - The armor worn by the Phoenix Lords. Is so expertly made that it can withstand all but the most powerful and/or luckiest of hits, even after thousands of years. Phoenix Armor also stores the consciousness and memories of the original wearer, so in the event a Phoenix Lord falls in battle, he will be instantly revived when another living Eldar dons the armor again (although it has the questionable effect of completely overriding the future wearer's mind, with the Lord effectively making the unfortunate recipient a flesh puppet.).
*Rune Armor - Mesh armor worn by warlocks and farseers. Along with standard mesh armor tech, the suit is also inscribed with several runes that afford the wearer a greater deal of protection from damage, and also to better attune them to psychic energy. It also comes with an extra layer of wraithbone for more protection.

===Dark Eldar Armour===
[[image:Archon7th.jpg|200px|right|thumb|An Archon wearing Ghostplate armour]]
The Dark Eldar's armor is similar to their Craftworld cousins, although even lighter to accommodate the Dark Eldar's penchant for coke-fueled speed. Skimpier in the case of Wyches, who's career require them to show skin. They're also adorned with a plethora of spikes and blades, to the point that realistically: all those pointy sticks ''must'' affect unit cohesion and personal movement while in combat.

The few variants they have are:
*Kabalite Armour - The combat armor worn by just about every lowly kabalite that isn't going in naked. To further aid in movement: Kabalite armor is typically just a bodysuit, with armor plates attached where appropriate. They function similarly to mesh armor, in that the bodysuit hardens on neural impulse to deflect damage more effectively, and pressurized to allow the wearer to fight in hostile environments. Its also very, ''very'' spiky.
*Wych Suit - Not really "armor" per se, as a lack of one, but included for the sake of reference. Wych suits are flexible body gloves, cut away at certain places to show the Wych's good sides to the crowd while fighting in arenas or in the field. It offers very little protection due to the latter fact, as it's role is more for entertainment, than pure combat.
*Incubus Warsuit - The closest thing the Dark Eldar have to traditional power armor. It affords similar protection to that of Imperial power armor, whilst being so expertly manufactured that it doesn't inhibit the wearer's reflexes and agility in the slightest. The warsuit is completely exclusive to the Incubi, and not even Archons can pay/intimidate their way into getting a personal warsuit.
*Ghostplate Armour - Armor used by the poncier gits in Dark Eldar society, most notably Archons. The armor offers much better protection than bog-standard kabalite armor, whilst having a built-in forcefield generator. It also doesn't compromise on agility, as the resins used in it's construction are lighter and tougher.

{{clear}}

=== Ork Armour ===

[[File:MeganobZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|I'S WEARIN A VEHICLE YA GITS]]

The only known variety of Ork power armour is Ork mega-armour, a direct Orkoid equivalent to Astartes Tactical Dreadnought armor. Mega-armour is essentially exclusively worn by the elite of Ork society such as Nobz, Bosses, and Warlords; further ensuring the deadliness of Ork mega-armour users. While slow and clunky (as is represented by slow and purposeful) and lacking the energy field protection/indestructible surfaces of Tactical Dreadnought armour (hence the lack of an invulnerable save) your average Ork nob is considerably hardier than your average space marine (hence having two wounds) and an Ork warboss is even tougher than that. However, it seems that the Orks have not created quite as many weapons to go along with mega-armor as humanity has created systems to go along with tactical dreadnought armour. Unlike Terminators, Mega-nobz cannot teleport, and while a Space marine storm bolter/combi-bolter is roughly equivalent to an Ork Kombi-shoota, mega-nobz are not really known to fit any other kinds of ranged weapons onto their suits besides swapping out the second barrel of a kombi-shoota for a rokkit launcher or a skorcha. The only known exceptions to this are Ork Big meks, and certain Warbosses/Warlords who might fit a unique gun or a Big shoota (if they're Gazghkull) or a kill kannon or megablasta if they're Gorgutz. For melee weapons, nearly every ork mega-armour user uses a power klaw, which is a direct equivalent to the human power fist, though some rich orks may choose to trick out their power Klaws, most notably Gorgutz who tricked his power klaw out at both Kaurava and Kronus, even having the damn thing be constantly on fire and at Archeron has decided to fit a launcher and chain system to his power klaw to act as a give grappling hook. Another weapon used is the Killsaw, which corresponds most closely to the chainfist, although it seems most Mega-armour wearers choose to fit killsaws to both hands rather than just one to make them extra choppy.

Orks don't often wear full-face helmets, generally preferring at most an iron gob to protect their jaws paired with a relatively simple cap helmet (usually horned), but some will go the full distance to protect their faces with helmets best described as full-faced welding masks or helmets taking after their Warhammer fantasy counterparts' black orc helmets. This tendency for Orks to not cover their heads adequately has been exploited by Ciaphas Cain at the very least who, when rushed by an Ork Warboss managed to get a victory against an opponent capable of crunching a squad of space marines like toys and stomping many a Space Marine Chapter Master or Chaos Lord into powder by emptying his Laspistol's magazine into the Ork's head since the rest of the warboss was way too well protected for his chainsword and pistol to make much impact.

One advantage Ork mega-armor wearers have over their Space Marine counterparts (loyalist or otherwise) is that Ork Mega-armor wearers can ride on just about any Ork transport and get stuck into the fight almost immediately while terminators will need to wait for a Stormraven, land raider, or spartan assault tank to do the same. Meanwhile, a few Nobz can get into a trukk and drive furiously at the enemy to shove some power klaws and killsaws up someplace unpleasant. For many Ork players, this more than makes up for the lack of deep striking options for Meganobz as it provides for a cheap and quick delivery system for their otherwise plodding Meganobz to get into the thick of combat to smash some faces in.

Another thing to note that with Orks it can often be very hard to tell an Ork-meganob apart from an Ork who just so happens to have a lot of bionic gubbinz attached to him.

{{Clear}}

==Fallout Power Armor==
[[File:T-60.png|thumb|right|300px|The newest iteration of atom-powered tin-can, the T-60 Power Armor.]]

Unlike Warhammer 40,000, [[Fallout]] powered armor is Fluff-wise more "power" than "armor". It was originally made to allow troops to use heavy weapons on the move and with increased weight limit it was obvious to put some extra armor on the exo-suit. Even while it turns you into a nearly-indestructible walking tank, there is no shortage of stupidly powerful and/or armour-piercing weapons in Fallout, so sneaking and camouflage are always considered better protection than armor, so the main reason people use it is strength and radiation resistance bonuses. It is also possibly the most realistic armor here, strangely. Around Fallout 1 and 2, power armor was an almost cheat button up to the endgame, with an obscene bonus of +3 STR and near immunity to all small arms fire up to energy and heavy weapons(and Gauss in Fallout 2)

Afterwards came Fallout 3, where a leather jacketed character high on morphine could soak more damage than a sober power armored dude and mow him down with a cheap Chinese assault rifle. It had become a glorified metal full plate, met with [[RAGE]] until New Vegas came with some decent power armor, though it still got overshadowed by a badass riot armor that didn't need training(Lonesome Road DLC) or a clingy female AI driven stealth suit(Old World Blues DLC).

Power armor got a massive overhaul in ''Fallout 4'', turning them into basically an infantry fighting vehicle rather than just better armor. The crafting system extends to upgrades and new systems for the armor, including neat stuff like a stealth field and a jet pack. On one hand Fallout 4 is one of the few games where power armour feels like actual power armour and not just the best armour you can get, but on the other, it was so strong they couldn't help but give it to you right at the start of the game (because working towards rewards requires an attention span they don't think we have, apparently) and had to [[Retcon|change the fact power armour comes with an internal battery so you could only use it until you ran out of fusion cores. Which you never did as they were cheap to buy.]]

{{clear}}

===T-45 Powered Armor===
[[File:t-45.png|thumb|right|200px|More of a 'proof of concept' than an effective piece of military hardware.]]
The first generation of power armor to go into the field, the T-45 series was rushed into service to hold back the invading Chinese from taking over Alaska. It worked and contained the invasion, but had a lot of problems. Later used on the homefront. The T-45d is most commonly seen in the Capital Wasteland.
[[File:big_willie.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The T-45 prototype.]]
After Bethesda got the rights to make ''Fallout 3'', they were like "Guys, guys, let's make a SHITTY POWER ARMOR!" and they went through with it. The result was <s>far from shitty</s> a [[skub|mixed bag]]. Sure, it has -2 AGL, less radiation resistance, and makes you move around like the [[/co/|Comic Book Guy]] from ''The Simpsons'', but it looks '''''BAD-ASS!!!''''' Noted for using fusion packs and batteries to power the suit like a RC car, which made recharging quick but ran out of power often (though naturally this wasn't incorporated gameplay-wise until Fallout 4). Most suits after had an internal reactor that allowed them to basically run forever (until Bethesda retconned that too). As of Fallout 76, we have what could be considered a more canon representation than Fallout 4's. T-45 has the most common spawns of all the military armors and the lowest base spawn level. When compared to an at level suit the it has worse protection than any military suit, but is much cheaper to build and repair and is lighter.

{{clear}}

====NCR Salvaged Powered Armour====
[[File:scrap-armor.png|thumb|right|200px|The BOS equivalent of killing Jesus and wearing his skin.]]
This is the 'zombie' version of the T-45d. After the Battle of HELIOS One, the NCR recovered many suits of T-45d from fallen Brotherhood Paladins. However, either because the NCR do not have the capability to manufacture spare parts, lack the actual knowledge to use and maintain power armor, or a bit of both, the "power" part of the armor was stripped, so its just...armor.

The servomotors that augments the wearers' strength have been removed along with a good chunk of the extra plating, and the back-mounted rad scrubbers were replaced with a cheap air conditioner so the wearer doesn't die from heat stroke while using it (and lords help you if you're patrolling in the middle of the desert with heavy metal plates all over your body). As its not "true" power armor, it does not require special training, or vulnerable to electric-based attacks, so just about any mook with some measure of brawn can be fitted into it and send him off. The result is, for a lack of a better term, plate armor with an AC strapped to the back. It has less protective qualities than the armor it's based on, has no built-in rad protection, and has no mechanical assistance to carry all this weight since it was ripped out, so its cumbersome as all hell.

Its use is less for practicality and more as a moral and political tool, basically letting the NCR brag "See? We got power armored troops too!" without actually having the knowledge and technology to build and maintain said troops. Crunch-wise it is utterly fucking useless with an obscene agility penalty and weight and is best reserved as materials to repair ''actual'' power armor (and even ''that'' isn't worth it if you have the Jury Rigging perk and can use cheap metal armor instead).

{{clear}}

===T-49 Powered Armor===
[[File:t-49.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Let me tell you a tale...]]

Best well known for being worn by the titular Storyteller (a fan-made lore project that became so big Bethesda actors were appearing on its show and is practically just short of canon now) the T-49 was a prototype originally expected to succeed the T-45d by improving a number of engineering shortcomings while lowering the power cost to keep the suit running. It even came with an optional modification to make the suit solar-powered, only draining its fusion core when not in direct sunlight. Only a small number were produced however since the inbuilt fusion reactor of the T51b armor made most of its power-based features obsolete. Only a couple of suits have survived to the modern-day and are more considered collector items then military equipment.

{{clear}}

===T-51 Powered Armor===
[[File:FNV T51b Armour.png|thumb|right|200px|The T-51b Power Armor. By far the most popular variant, though it's certainly not because if the doughboy look of NPCs in New Vegas...]]

The second generation of power armor, the T-51 series managed to get all the kinks ironed out. Used to kick the Chinese out of Alaska and invade China. The quintessential Fallout power armor suit. The T-51b variant is common among the West Coast Brotherhood of Steel. Two suits are known to be in the Capital Wasteland.

This armor only has +1 STR for some reason. What's even stranger is that the hunk of metal that you put on your head (AKA the helmet, but who calls it that?) gives you a +1 CHR bonus (probably because it's heavily featured in old world propaganda, but yet again, so was the T-45d variant). We really should be wearing around hunks of metal on our heads these days. After all, this armor be pullin' all dem bitches...

T-51b is the most advanced power armor that existed in the world before the Great War. [[Retcon|At least it was, until Bethesda decided to change that in Fallout 4,]] [[Rage|even though this fact was well established nearly two decades before Fallout 4 came out.]] As of Fallout 76, T-51b is back to being the best pre-war power armor, and T-60 only provides higher radiation resistance, while being statistically worse in every other way.

Used as the standard armor for Paladins, the suit has become an icon (both in universe and real life) for the Brotherhood of Steel.

Due to a developer error that Bethesda never bothered patching, the Winterized variant that you receive as a reward for completing Fallout 3's ''Operation: Anchorage'' DLC is actually the version meant to be worn by NPCs in the Anchorage simulation, so it's [[Awesome|functionally indestructible, with a whopping 999,100 HP]] (the version you were meant to get has only 100). However, the vanilla game's suit was involved in a rather difficult fetch quest (where you were hired to retrieve it for a ghoul called Crowley), and the NPC version of the winterized armour still has that version's quest script assigned to it, so taking it will [[Fail|prematurely mark that quest as completed by making the game think you stole the vanilla suit for yourself]], locking you out forever. However, anyone in their right mind would have stolen the suit instead of giving it to Crowley anyway, it's not all bad.

===X-01 Power Armor===
[[File:x-01.png|thumb|right|200px|The original, the best.]]

The Enclave rolled out their advanced power armor in 2220. It went through several upgrades and variants through its operational history, like the Tesla armor, which has improved energy resistance, and Hellfire armor, which has improved insulation against heat (for which the flame weapon-armed troopers who wear them are grateful). It can be encountered, in all of its variants, on the West Coast, the Mojave Wasteland, the Capital Wasteland, and the Commonwealth (the latter is, however, strange, since neither Enclave's bases, nor even evidence of Enclave operations are encountered in Commonwealth. Except from one Children of Atom zealot in Far Harbor, who says he was part of the Enclave. [[Fail|Still doesn't explain the Nuka World Quantum Armour though.]] Although it is at the very least implied that the variant in the Commonwealth is the experimental prototype of the stuff seen in Fallout 2 and beyond, either way, Bethesda sucks at continuity.).

[[File:x-02.png|thumb|left|200px|The shitty 'urban' modification, often known as the X-02]]

It's implied that the newer versions of the armor as seen in Fallout 3 is actually a sort of stripped-down 'urban' version of the armor. Like their stripped-down plasma rifles they are designed to be easier to maintain and build, most likely due to losing most of their resources and production facilities after the war with the NCR. While, like their plasma rifles, the redesign is shit compared to the original the fact it's lighter and provides easier (MUCH easier) movement better suits the more enclosed city environments where being a walking tank just gets you stuck in door frames all the time.

[[Skub|If creation club]] content is canon then the X-01 and X-02 are confirmed as different suits. Also, Fallout 76 moves away from it being the [[Ultramarines|best]] power armor to having the highest Rad protection and above-average energy protection.

{{clear}}

[[File:hellfire.png|thumb|right|200px|Hellfire armor, the compromise between X-01 and X-02]]
The Hellfire armor further suggests that the Enclave is attempting to close the gap, combining the cheaper more agile qualities of the newer design with the protection of the earlier designs.

{{clear}}

===T-60 Power Armor===
[[File:t-602.png|thumb|right|200px|"Can never have enough pauldrons." - Bethesda]]

A new addition to the series in Fallout 4, introduced as the another-best Power Armor. The T-60c was designed to supplement the T-51. With a more cannon stat base in Fallout 76 it has inferior protection levels than the T-51b. But it is much cheaper to build and repair, making it better suited to mass production and deployment. This frees up the superior T-51 for deployment in elite units, which also explains the T-51's prominence among the Brotherhood of Steel until they set up for mass deployment in Fallout 4. It draws many of its design elements from the T-45 as that allows it to use many of the same internal components as the earlier models. The double pauldrons look is still silly.

{{clear}}

===Horned Power Armor===
[[File:horned_armor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't piss off Rudolph.]]

Used in the semi-canonical (due to New Vegas, Fallout 4) Fallout Tactics (Bethesda's offical stance is that the major events are canon, but many fans choose to believe that either the whole thing is canon or isn't canon) the Horned Power Armor is used by the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel with it's defining feature being, you guessed it, horns. The Midwestern Brotherhood stands out as fully incorporating itself into wasteland life, offering protection to tribes and towns in return for resources, recruits and information. This in turn is shown in the design of the armor, being the only suit designed from scratch by a Brotherhood faction since the war. Designed for mass production over protection (similar to the more recent Enclave designs) the armor still incorporates many mechanical elements from the T-51b such as a internal reactor. It's also slimmer and less bulky than other armor designs (though not on the same level of the newer Enclave designs).

Overall the armor is a compromise between mass production and protection, with heavy modification possible due to the more scrappy way it is produced unlike the more industrial Enclave. While it is numerous enough to equip all of their Paladins (keeping in mind their numbers are MUCH larger then other chapters) it still leaves more of the lower ranking infantry to use more traditional protection.

The armour's horned helmet, greaves, and slimmer design are reminiscent of the Enclave's Mk. II advanced power armour (or X-02), which may imply that they're connected. One of the complaints about the original Tactics armour design was that it didn't look retro enough for Fallout, so it's possible that it's actually scavenged or stolen Enclave armour (which wouldn't be a stretch, since the Enclave are also known to have been active in Chicago), and the design was just "retrofied" for its reappearance in Fallout 3. Alternatively, it's possible that the X-02 was made by hybridising elements of this armour with the earlier Enclave X-01. Bethesda haven't said anything about the similarity though, possibly due to Tactics' weird place in Fallout canon.

===Raider Power Armor===
[[File:raider_armor.png|thumb|right|100px|If the T-51b was a Tiger tank, this is an armored car.]]

Raiders in the Commonwealth and beyond have managed to refurbish power armor frames, and by cobbling together scraps of T-45 and T-51 armored suits and scrap parts, this.....thing, was made. Raider power armor is the least versatile & weakest of all the armor types. It's complete shit against anything that has a caliber above 38. and laser pistols can kill the user within 4-5 shots. Turns out a bunch of drugged-out vindictive assholes who shun society are not the best engineers. [[Orks|Still looks metal as hell though.]]

Despite how it looks however, it ''is'' functioning power armor. Its not very good power armor, but its power armor. Its fully sealed so it has some measure of environmental protection, the servos work to an extent, and meshes in standard power armor frames. Yes, this means that a couple of crack-addled junkies are capable of making and maintaining functioning suits of power armor, but an large nation state with an established technology-base can't. This either highlights the incompetence of the NCR's military minds (who's only solution to this was to strip all the good stuff and slap an AC in the back), or Bethesda's "abilities" as storytellers.
{{clear}}

==Rifts Power Armor==
The RPG [[Rifts]] has sooo much power armor, there's entire books devoted to listing different models of the things. Perhaps the most notable and iconic is the Glitterboy, named for it's shiny reflective armor, but most famous for the Boom Gun, a huge railgun so powerful it has to anchor itself to the ground with extendable pylons to keep from being knocked on it's ass every time it's fire, and which produces a sonic boom loud enough to deafen even superhuman foes wearing enclosed armor.

The main armor of the Coalition States is the flying SAMAS armor, which is cool and all and has mini plasma missiles but lacks a gigantic boom gun. Even though the CS views the design as their sole property, since it's based on a pre-cataclysm design a couple groups have their own.

Less common power armors include Centaur armor in case you want some extra horse legs, dinosaur power armor, the [[Angron|Angrar]] armor which is actually a pissed off demon who tries to corrupt you, and Chipwell armor, which cuts out all the super advanced alloys everything else uses and replaces them with something approximating tinfoil, for your bargain-basement power armor needs.

==StarCraft Power Armor==
[[File:Terran marine.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Incredibly unoriginal, rip off of space marine armor. But still fucking cool looking.]]
In [[StarCraft]], the Confederate Marine Corps Power Armor, more simply called the CMC power armor, is the standard powered armor suit used by all military factions within the Koprulu sector. Despite the fact that each armored suit comprises a complex array of sensors and other advanced combat technologies, life-support systems, and its own independent power supply that appears to be a portable fusion reactor, it seems to be dirt-cheap as hell to manufacture, given that every armed force within the Koprulu sector can give one of these suits to every Terran marine worth a damn. Unfortunately, that technology doesn't seem to grant much actual protection; the marines are usually unceremoniously wiped out by the <s>dozens</s> hundreds during an engagement.

The main purpose of Armor for the Terran Confederacy and likely the Dominion is the armor protects the user from the vacuum of space first, seal the wearer inside it like a mobile prison and finally serve as combat armor. Umoja, on the other hand, values their all-volunteer forces but hasn't made many in-game appearances. The CMC armor is incapable of reliably protecting the wearer from projectiles, ruptures, or chemical attacks (apart from the passive hazards found in NBC environments), in both fluff and crunch, considering that it cannot hope hold out against: zergling claws, roach acid, the Marines' own gauss guns (hell, it can't even deflect the pistol rounds from their sidearms), fire and/or plasma, hydralisk spines, Mutalisk wurms, Psi attacks, Protoss photon guns, and really just about anything. Then again even tanks, huge giant robots and battlecruisers could not hold against said attacks en masse - this might say more about how nasty are weapons in StarCraft universe rather than how shitty is armor there, or more likely it's how real-world armor works. In fact, some of the fluff describes it as existing more to protect the wearer from the recoil of the [[Gauss]] than anything else. In addition, Starcraft armor is primarily ablative - no armor in the game renders anything in the game immune to damage. However, it should be noted: Fluff stated at certain points people got blunt force trauma'ed to death by the gauss fire, even inside the suits. Besides that, acid, if applied to joins in the suit, burns through those and not the armor. Since mind attacks are, well, mind-based, armor ain't gonna do shit. It's really just Spess Suit first, prison second, and body armor third.

Other variants exist, based on specialized functions. Medics wear a light armor that isn't designed for combat, but which carries advanced field surgical equipment and even some minor cybernetic construction equipment, allowing them to patch up wounded troopers and fix their busted armor. More visually distinctive is a model of power armor worn by Firebats. The armor is much bulkier than the standard armor, which, keep in mind, was already similar in size to terminator armor, especially in Starcraft II, where the thing's arms and pauldrons are bigger than its legs. Since the armor's bulk makes it thicker, it can take far more abuse than the regular armor. As the name of the unit might indicate, the armor uses a pair of built-in flamethrowers. The armor worn by Marauders in Starcraft II looks almost identical apart from a change in color, and has the same durability, but in place of flamethrowers uses grenade launchers that are best used against armor. The visual similarity between the two is neatly explained by the fact Marauder armor is rebuilt and re-purposed Firebat armor. Despite the armors' size (and concomitantly longer legs), the guys using them are just as slow as regular marines (oh come off it, the legs aren't much longer. they're lucky to not be slower). A third type of armor is made for Reapers, which looks similar to [[Assault Marines]] except their jetpacks are bigger.

Less well known, but still present, is the armor worn by the Protoss. This advanced alien armor, although considerably more "ceremonial-looking" than Terran armors, is actually significantly more durable. Not only is it comprised of more resilient materials, but it contains built-in devices that convert the bearer's psionic energy into a forcefield; though this is depleted by absorbing damage, it will eventually regenerate, if the user survives. Presumably, it also provides environmental protection, though that may have something to do with the fact that the Protoss' alien biology makes them hardier than humans, even without armor they can take more abuse than any Terran CMC armor variant. The common "Zealot" armor also has wrist-mounted devices that can focus psionic energy into energy-blades, which they use to rip 'n' tear shit. Dark Templars use similar devices to create "void blades", whose alien energies are one of the few things that can permanently kill "ruler" type Zerg such as Cerebrates.

Starcraft armor is often mocked for looking fat and bulbous, something which grew more pronounced in Starcraft 2. This is also worsened by Starcraft suffering from "elephant seal-itis" much like Warcraft, where the men tend to be so big in comparison to female models that you wonder how anyone has heterosexual sex without breaking female half of the equation. The pre-rendered CGI models aren't too bad about this although they certainly are on the fat side of armor design when the general trend in sci-fi aesthetics has been to make things sleeker and slimmer, but the in-game models are pretty awful about this. The Starcraft 2 Firebat and Marauder look tubbier than the god damn Centurion. The very fact that Starcraft's power armor manages to make Space Marine armor look slim and sexy is the source of a tremendous deal of derision from Warhammer fans.

==Metroid Power Armor==
AKA the "Power Suit" or "Chozo Power Suit", and one of the most powerful armors on this list. Like Starcraft, pretty much every scrub gets a power suit in Metroid (especially if you're with the Galactic Federation), but the main character's suit is the one you probably want to know about. [[Samus Aran]]'s armor is like a wearable, form fitting [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]], designed by [[Lord of Change|magic bird people]] who took Samus in after her parents were killed. It completely kicks the shit out of basically ''all'' other technology in the Metroid universe; while a Federation plasma cannon is as powerful as a charged shot of Samus's Plasma Beam (which slices through aliens like a knife through warm butter), it's also nearly as big as a person, takes several minutes to charge, and requires a heavy power pack, while the proper Plasma Beam is integrated with all of Samus's other weaponry into her forearm-sized cannon, takes ''seconds'' to charge, absorbs ambient atmospheric energy to function, and is so energy-efficient it doesn't dip into her suit's resources whatsoever.

But that's not all, it's ridiculously modular and can accept pretty much any piece of technology ever and turn it into an upgrade, even if the Chozo had never once encountered the technology in question! Samus doesn't have any idea of how this works either [[Derp|but more or less all she knows about the suit and its functions is that it works.]]

When fully upgraded to end-game status, the Chozo suit is an unstoppable engine of destruction that's not only ludicrously durable but also incredibly fast and amazingly well armed. The only real flaw in its design is that it is stupid easy to knock all of its power ups and reset to default -- Samus never manages to hold onto her upgrades between games, though it could be because as we know that power ups can be destroyed (from metroid prime), she decides to just store them somewhere safe when she doesn't need them since most of her power ups are relics made by a species no one has seen a living example of in years. Like all Power Armours worth their name it also has [[pauldrons]]; the default pauldrons are actually pretty small, but add a Varia upgrade (where some materials have listed the pauldrons as a cooling system associated with the upgrade) and she can shame even the most ridiculous Space Marine. However as Metroid has grown older, Samus' suit has become sleeker and more form fitting. In the transition from Prime 1 to Prime 2, her varia suit became considerably sleeker, with the most notable changes being that her visor went from a T to a Y and that her pauldrons went from going to a bit above her brows to being low enough to offer her full peripheral vision. This suit design was kept as the official one (super smash brothers brawl's preference of the 2-D style "straight visor" suit notwithstanding) until Other M.

Until other M, the sleekest and slimmest power suit was the light suit, where the pauldrons were downright tiny and looked like something that would allow a full range of motion, meant to emphasize just how advanced and glorious the fusion of chozo and luminoth technology was. Then Other M came and essentially made the Light Suit's proportions the standard, with the pauldrons now being at most going up to her chin if not shorter. Whereas her older suits were bulky and androgynous, right now her default armor is pretty obviously worn by a woman even if it lacks anything egregious like boobplate or high heeled boots thanks to its pronounced hour glass figure. While not subject to as much criticism as the Zero Suit this redesign certainly has a lot of people who aren't really much of a fan of it. Whether it's out of simply disliking the aesthetics or that Nintendo's preference for it seems to be them showing favoritism for the extremely contentious Other M game over the almost universally beloved Prime trilogy is dependent on who you ask. To be fair, there's as much criticism of the Zero suit for looking like impractical fetish gear as there is criticism for it overshadowing what should be Samus' default appearance in marketing in an attempt to appeal to waifu seeking weebs.

In Metroid, Power Armor seems to be a ubiquitous and easy to manufacture technology. Basically the entirety of the Federation military, both Marines and Army are equipped with it. All of the hunters in prime hunters could outfit themselves with shields comparable to Samus' own suit, and one of the hunters; Sylux (Metroid's resident ensemble dark horse and probable pretty boy given Nintendo's recent male character design) has a suit of power armor that's basically equally matched to Samus' when both have a similar level of upgrades in every way. Notably Sylux's armor is said to most likely be a stolen federation prototype from a black ops research base that was destroyed some time ago, as is his ship. So clearly the Federation was aware of the massive gap in capability between their troops and Samus Aran and was trying to rectify it until whomever Sylux is stole it and totaled all of their research on the project. However by Metroid Fusion it seems the Federation at least has the ability to replicate the software portions of Samus' technology, which has some disturbing implications given that Fusion exposed the rot at the Federation's core.

As for how Federation grunt power armor performs. Federation Marines seem to be generally evenly matched with Space Pirates who seem to be greatly physically superior to the average human based on the athletics they constantly do. Whether or not it's shielded is unknown, but twenty or so marines made a pretty decent last stand against a hugely numerically superior force of Ing possessed Splinters (dog sized predators who seem to be aether's equivalent of wolves and who become much more durable when possessed by the Ing) before being inevitably overwhelmed by their enemy's sheer numbers. The Demolition troopers whom you have to escort in the last leg of the pirate homeworld's arc of Metroid Prime 3 to destroy a gate blocking the way to the phazon leviathan can also more than pull their own weight against the unending hordes of Space Pirates the Pirates will throw at you the moment they realize that you're on your way to destroy their leviathan. And their armor is actually noted as somewhat weaker than is standard for Federation marine armor (which...doesn't make a terrible deal of sense for soldiers whose job it is to handle explosives in the face of heavy enemy fire, that's a kind of job where you would want as much armor as you can get away with having) which makes it even more impressive.

There's also Federation Force's clunky Golem project Mini-Mecha but the less we speak of Federation Farce the better.

==Halo Power Armor==
[[File:Spartan.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Spartan MJOLNIR Mark IV armour]]
Most people think of the Spartan power armor when they are asked about Halo. These suits cost as much as a UNSC ship and have the decency to protect the wearer from [[What|multiple Fuel Rod shots, despite being penetrated by a single pistol shot]]...inconsistency aside the Spartan power armor is in between the strengths of Astartes power armor and the Terran power armor. Unlike most other armors, the enhanced speed and strength given by these things is too much for an ordinary human; anybody other than the Spartans, who underwent genetic enhancements, and had a large wire stuck into their brain, ends up [[Grimdark |getting mutilated in the armor just by trying to move in it]]. Other power armor in Halo includes both the Brute and Elite combat harness which boosts their already insane strength (twice that of a human of the same mass for elites, about two or so tons for a Brute) and reaction time (although Brutes tend to be a bit more sluggish than humans).

The energy shields in the power armor are probably the suit's most vital asset, as without them no human, genetically modified or not, could possibly survive eating at least 10,000 rounds in a single battle. Besides this, later games add a number of armor upgrades that radically augment the suit's features, such as a jetpack, bubble shield, EMP blast, etc. Sprint used to be an add-on, for... some reason, but fortunately became a standard feature.

More noteworthy perhaps for the fact it does not cost as much as a spacecraft, does not have pauldrons the size of the user's head and is implied to be halfway to efficient or practical (but if you took away its active ingredient, the shield generator it becomes as useful as wet tissue paper) and is used by the SAS in SPEHSS is the ODST armor, which has both better data analyst equipment than the MJOLNIR and suspiciously similar play style to the piece of junk used in halo 1.

Of course there are the Forerunner Combat-Skins, which the books hype but the games tend to show much less impressive technology that makes the books make very little sense trying to reconcile the two. Whether it is used to dumb down the difficulty to make the game playable or pull out some ill-contrived [[Bullshit|bullshit excuse]] to explain why the Forerunner tech can be taken down by the magic of 7.62 NATO rounds is often [[Skub|a point of contention.]] For example, the books describe mini-mecha suits that can command a million drones or level city blocks but how you can reconcile this with the British B1 battle droids as designed by Apple that make up the bulk of the Prometheans in Halo 5 is anyone's guess. Whilst 343i tried to explain that the Prometheans were the byproduct of a madmen not giving a damn about quality control, it immediately contradicts itself when we see those same Prometheans suddenly [[Derp|blowing up Forerunner starships with the same weapons that many of us considered as 'meh' in the game itself.]] One also has to remember that Sentinels and Prometheans still have to be close enough to the suits in power to be relevant on the same battlefield before you run into the question that plagues many a superhero team, the age old "how is Hawkeye relevant on a team with Thor and the Silver Surfer?" It certainly doesn't make much sense when the Boredom Eternal/He of the endless recycled boss fights can [[Wat|take on a ludicrous amount of direct tank shots but can be taken apart with a combat knife]] and is supposed to be some badass guard figure. Then again, Halo isn't really known for its plot consistency and rivals WH40K on how unreliable the sources are.

It is also worth noting that Forerunner armor comes in mini-mecha and form-fitting varieties. Most of the above is for the mini-mecha, while form-fitting armor seems to be substantially less impressive. This is probably reconcilable by the people working on the Games having a completely different vision of the Halo universe than Greg Bear who likely recycled some concepts he had from unfinished books for the Forerunner trilogy. In the mean time, 343 took whatever it saw as having interest for its game ideas (namely the Ur-Didact and Librarian characters) and largely ignored the rest. And of course, Halo 5 had a completely different writer than Halo 4 and Halo 5 is so far regarded as having by far the worst writing in the entire series out of any of the games. Where everyone is out of character, the people who aren't out of character are so boring you won't remember a thing about them after finishing, several plot holes that was pulled out of everyone's asses and absolutely everyone is an idiot and all eight of the main characters are so superfluous to the plot that you could remove them all and not a single thing would change.

While Halo Spartans used to be pretty top of the line impressive for visual scifi; as the Genre has matured the genre has also become full of far, far more over the top settings as it becomes more and more possible to display over the top stunts. Much like how Superman's initial power level quickly ended up being eclipsed by various golden age competitors, a lot of what MJOLNIR armor can do has become so bog standard in science fiction (especially because a lot of its touted in game features are now standard for every FPS protagonist; apparently the first world war was fought by a bunch of wolverine clones, who knew?) that it's lost a great deal of its luster. To its credit Halo has avoided the route Superman underwent back in the Golden Age where he just kept on getting more powerful to one up his competition like Captain Marvel in the comic book superpower arms race; but if you're used to playing Warframe or something like that you can come into Halo wondering why Master Chief is supposed to be special. In which case congratulations for missing the entire point of the Spartans and the Master Chief. They are special because despite the power of their enemies they still manage to win through a combination of dumb luck and mind-boggling courage and tenacity that is intended (and succeeds in) engendering respect and admiration in the audience/player.

==Marathon Power Armor==

Halo's grand-daddy has one or two examples:

One (maybe) is a human standard issue Battle Armor designed to allow the wearer to fight in hard vacuum (and underwater). While designed as a space suit with several minutes of pressurized oxygen first and as armor second, it also has an energy shield that consumes suit power when protecting against combat and extreme environments, wholly dependent on external power supply to be recharged. It also has a suite of sensors and helmet HUD readouts including Halo/Aliens-style motion sensor, automapping with IFF transponder tracking, cameras with transmitter and optional "hypervision", and voice comms. Although the only guy seen wearing one is the protagonist, whose… inherent capabilities make it difficult to judge whether the Battle Armor offers any additional benefits to strength and speed.

The other is the Pfhor "Hunter" armor worn by the local Elite-equivalents, who serve as Heavy Infantry and dedicated slave hunters. Aside from vacuum capability, it has an integral shoulder-mounted plasma cannon in keeping with its blatant Predator/Yautja trappings, and also comes in a 1.5x bigger mini-mecha version.

==Metal Gear Exoskeletons==
Exosuits have featured throughout the ''Metal Gear'' series. While not very /tg/-ish, they do deserve a spot on this list for being either [[Indrick Boreale|balls-out wacky]] or [[Gabriel Seth|complete awesome]].

===Solidus's Powered armor===
The powered armor suit worn by Solidus Snake during his rebellion. It uses artificial muscles that grant him vastly increased strength and reflexes (to the point he could parry concentrated machine gun fire with just his swords) and an accelerator that acted like a booster to allow him to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. The suit could "Hulk up", the artificial musculature bulking out for even greater strength enhancement. It was also equipped with an extra pair of limbs called "Snake Arms", very strong robotic tentacles mounted on the shoulders that could also shoot "plasma" missiles. However that works. They probably meant to say Plasma Bolts.

===The Octosuit===
Solid Snake's signature suit in MGS4, it was made of artificial muscles like Solidus' suit. Because he'd turn into an old fart at this point, the octosuit was less of a performance-enhancing set of power armor as it was a full-body prosthetic. Still, it allowed him to fight as well as his younger self, with the added bonus of the Octosuit passively copying his surroundings to allow him to blend in better. With the added facemask, he could even fully disguise himself to remain totally inconspicuous in public - doesn't work on murderous robots at abandoned military facilities, however it does give him enough strength to knock them over. Of course, the player should have Snake shooting those damn things instead. As rolling into Gekko successfully is basically up to the RNGs.

===Cyborg Exosuits===
After the fall of the Patriots, cyborg technology was released into the world. With CNT muscle fiber being as cheap to produce as plastic, just about every mercenary insane enough opted to be augmented and encased in one of these things. This armor enhances the wearer's strength, agility, and durability to absurd levels, basically turning them into [[Eversor|unstoppable murder machines that will completely wreck the shit out of anything they face]].

The caveat to this is that majority of cyborgs are not mentally sound for a variety of reasons. While some accepted augmentation willingly to enhance their abilities or restore lost functionality (and are thus able to come to terms with their new life), there are many who were forced to undergo cyborg transformation, either through force or grave necessity (a lot of cases were that they were former soldiers couldn't find jobs, either because their home country was in civil war, their country's economy was floored by the post-SOP recession, or they're disabled. So it was either sign up with a PMC to armor up or you and your family starves to death). Those recipients can be injected with fear-inhibiting nanomachines that will force them to fight, regardless of the circumstances, [[grimdark|all while their inner self is trapped, screaming, in their mind and is unable to stop themselves]].

Some of the more notable examples include [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Hgg4C92IU Gray Fox, the Patriots' first Cyborg Ninja], who was resurrected and became a guinea pig for further genetic experimentation. His exoskeleton was grafted to his own skeleton to allow him to safely utilize its strength-enhancing features, such as incredible strength and reflexes. However, he wasn't alright in the head. Fox was forcibly brought back from the dead and put into the project against his will, due to this his only ambition in his life is to have one final duel with Solid Snake before finally being given eternal rest.

Raiden was captured by the Patriots and turned into a cyborg in Area 51. Everything from the jaw down was removed and his mandible-less skull and dangling spinal cord were attached to a cyborg body. The increased strength allowed him to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R61cCBUWNQM break dance with 10-foot walkers attached to his legs and have a stabbing match with a bisexual flamenco-dancing vampire] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypphRK14t8 duel and throw a Metal Gear RAY into the air]. A later body, built exclusively for combat, gave him the facilities to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzfYcwo7Wtw fight and ''suplex'' a Metal Gear the size of a Warhound Titan, then tear off one of its arms to engage it in a duel and destroy it]. The hyper-specialization for combat meant that this body couldn't have a self-repair unit; instead, Raiden had to take fuel cells from other military-grade cyborgs to repair any damage he might sustain and replenish his fuel, [[Rip and Tear|by forcefully yanking it out from them and consuming it on the spot]].

===Sam's Powered Armor===
Defying all semblances of coherency; Jetstream Sam, a Brazilian samurai and Raiden's eventual rival, used nothing more than an exoskeleton to give him abilities that not only completely outclassed Raiden's original cyborg body (who, mind you, is able to lift a 30-foot mech and throw it into the air), but be able to go toe-to-toe with Raiden's later custom built body (who is able to bodyslam a Metal Gear the size of a Warhound Titan). By nothing more, we mean he had little-to-no cybernetic enhancements (his only real one is a cyborg arm after losing his sword arm, and even then he was capable of dueling a Metal Gear RAY UG all on his own before getting it).

It did just about everything Raiden's body could do, from repairing itself by ripping out people's spines, grant him unreasonably high strength, and give him fast-enough reflexes to slow down time, deflect bullets using nothing more than a sword. and reliably catch his sword after launching it out of his scabbard at high speed using an explosive quick-draw system. One wonders if cyborg tech is even necessary at this point considering Sam can do all this bullshit without getting his arms and legs amputated. Just like Armstrong he was quite loaded. [[Flash_Gitz|So he most likely wasted his family fortune on upgrading his weapon and power armor.]]

==Marvel==
Marvel comics has the most famous examples of Powered Armor. From the minds of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby,Larry Lieber and Don Heck to the printing press from movies to video games.

===Iron Man suits===

{{spoilers}}

Probably the most well known Power Armor suit in fiction, popularized by the Superhero who's power is that he has power armor. Tony has built a lot of suits, some meant for a specific purpose, some just a stronger version of older iterations. At the high end, Iron man's suit is flat out superior to anything in nonserialized science fiction short of a few cheese builds from role playing games (but hey, comic books), even allowing him to fight Odinforce Thor, who mind you, has the power of a being who can destroy galaxies as the side effect of his fights. Sure his standard suits may be beaten by weaker stuff, but if he really sets his mind to it, the things Tony can build are essentially magic contained in metal and [[Get shit done|get shit done!]]

His armor has been constantly getting exponentially better in recent years. First was the Extremis armor that let him use technopathy in tandem with a super soldier enhancement. Then was the bleeding edge armor which could basically form weapons as Tony needed them from nowhere from living metal. Then was the Endo-sym armor which was not only able to do that but drain energy from anything and output so much energy that it can hurt even energy absorbers. And now he has the Model-Prime armor which can not only do all that but also automatically transform into any other kind of armor he needs whether it's a bulky hulkbuster suit for raw strength or Samurai esque armor when Tony feels the need to express his inner weeaboo. Since the older Bleeding Edge armor is low Herald level(as in Herald of Galactus) he should be able to fight the gods of monotheistic settings and win against most of them! It should also be possible for Mark L Tony in the MCU to defeat them too. As anyone who lasted more than three minutes in a fight with against Thanos when he has at least four Infinity Stone or more for longer than three minutes has at least Solar System level damage output and durability. His latest nanotech armour also allows him to wield all six infinity stones for a short while at the end of Endgame's big CGI punch-up when he steals the stones out of Thanos' gauntlet, and also allows him to channel their power to dust-ify big boi grape and his army, although it can't prevent the power from killing Tony in the process.

===Destroyer Armor===
Perhaps the snazziest and most powerful armor in fiction. This creation of Odin (Marvel Universe version) cannot be damaged by anything less powerful than Odin himself (characters who can smash planets to pieces have tried and failed) and can destroy just about anything weaker than Odin in a single hit. Forerunner suit, Starktech? HAH. This is made by gods who actually feel godlike. Crafted by someone who could eradicate entire galaxies as a side effect of his fights to battle even more powerful beings. Accept no substitutes, this is the finest power armor you'll ever find that does not ascend you to Celestial wonkyness. Even if it does run on magic.

Humorously, the [[C'Tan|Celestials]] this armor was designed to fight show up in the story and immediately one-shot it. In a bizarre turn of events the armor has become intelligent and now serves Galactus as a herald.

Comic books are ''weird.''

==Strike Legion==
[[Strike Legion]] has teraton pistols, Uzis that can outgun all of WH40K and planet busting grenades. You can survive those in one of these babies. Even the weakest ones have built in shield generators and flight capabilities. That is really all that needs to be said. They are also mass produced. Like, standard issue level mass produced.

==X-COM==
[[File:NXCom.jpg|right|200px|thumb|XCOM operatives in Titan armor]]
[[File:MEC.png|right|200px|thumb|A trio of MEC troopers with kinetic pilebunker fists and minigun. Yes, you can make your own [[Terminator]] squad using MEC upgrades, or get the mod.]]
[[X-COM]] always had high-tech armor, including actual power armored suits in the first game. The first one is the "Titan" armored suit, a heavy personal powered armor suit composed of alien alloys. These could drastically reduce damage, give the wearer increased strength and stamina. The other is the "Archangel" armor, while less durable, it instead sported a personal jetpack that allowed the user to hover and fly for limited amounts of time until they ran out of fuel. Finally, there is "Ghost" suit, which get more emphasis on power part of power armor, granting increased mobility and maneuverability, while only being slightly more durable than carapace armor, and as the name suggests, it spotted both passive camouflage systems and active cloaking. They're all fully sealed from the outside-environment and had an array life-support systems, so the wearer was immune to poison, fire, and getting choked to death.

However, in the ''Enemy Within'' expansion to the 2012 remake. This came in the form '''M'''echanized '''E'''xoskeletal '''C'''ybersuit troopers, or "MECs" for short. Departing from the usual type of armor, these require a considerable amount of cybernetic enhancements through the use of the game's Meld resource to use. The pay-off for that is enormous, however. Unlike other low ranking soldiers in X-COM, the MEC troopers are extremely durable (to compensate for their size meaning they can't use cover.), and can use the most powerful guns in the game, that only the MEC's strength and durability allows them to use. Additionally, subsequent rank-up abilities and suit upgrades will further make MECs much more killy, and can improve the small ammo clip of the main gun.

However, while MECs are incredibly powerful, they are not invincible. They are like XCOM's equivalent of tanks, and much like tanks, they tend to draw the biggest amount of enemy fire in the map (This is made more problematic by the fact that even the aliens' basic plasma pistol can be a threat to MECs and the enemy AI will usually prioritize anyone not in cover), very limited ammunition stores which force frequent reloads, and just generally tend to lose against numbers where they're simply [[Imperial Guard|drowned by the sheer amount of attacks that come their way]]. Thus, relying completely on MECs isn't the best strategy, and it is always best to supplement MECs with some infantry for support. Another in-universe drawback to turning your soldiers into MEC troopers is that [[Dreadnought|they have to have all of their limbs amputated to interface with the suit]], though a number of Gene Mod upgrades available in Enemy Within would logically simplify the process of storing and reattaching their limbs at a later date.

Since the technology for the MEC troopers is taken from the alien invaders, they unsurprisingly have their own version called the Mectoid. The Mectoid is one of their basic troopers, the Sectoid, in their own MEC suit. By the sequel they have phased these out and instead have Advent MECs, which, like the sectopod, are fully autonomous and have no living pilot. The Advent MECs are equipped with giant mag cannons and triple shot grenade launchers. And can jump 30+ feet. Failure to incapacitate (or hack) one as soon as it's encountered will end in much [[Rage|rage]]. unless you have [[Rip and Tear|end game weapons]]

In XCOM 2 power amour takes 3 forms:
*The Wraith suit, which is similar to ghost armor in that it trades some protecting power for increased maneuverability and dodging ability. Trades ghost mode for wraith mode, which lets you walk through all obstacles for two turns. Also comes with a grappling hook.
*Basic power armour called the warden suit.
*And the "Hey guys let's strap a even more powerful Exosuit power thing on to power armor and slap a thermonuclear weapon onto the wrist and see what happens" WAR suit.

It also can have WH40k armor and weapons. As there are now several 40k mods on the Steam Workshop.

==Warmachine==
[[File:PIP33007 500.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|A Khador Man-O-War Shocktrooper]]
[[Warmachine]] has had a number of different armors that technically qualify as power armor (almost all warcaster armor, for instance, includes enhancements to the wearer's strength and speed fueled by their magic), but probably the closest (and likely most famous) thing it has to traditional power armor is [[Khador]]'s Man-O-War armor. Designed because Khador found it the lack of materials to make cortexes for its [[Warjack]]s meant even with the effort it put into building its jacks to last, it had a problem with still having a lot of resources it wasn't using and its lack of any cheaper jacks meant the jacks it had tended to be too badly outnumbered. To compensate for these problems, they designed huge suits of armor that would allow the wearers to function almost like pseudo-Warjacks. The Man-O-War functions the same way Khador's jacks do: it's slow, heavily armored, and hits really hard when it gets in close. [[Fluff]] wise there's a problem with the built in boilers releasing steam where it shouldn't go and killing the wearer, but this doesn't show up in gameplay since it would make them too unreliable (plus it only happens when they're damaged enough, depending on the addition to the game). Not that they care as they gladly DIE IN STEAM!! Since the armor is still expensive to manufacture, Khador only allows its veteran troops to wear it, meaning they possess high skill with melee weapons.

While the Man-O-War is an industrialized solution to lacking mechanical brains for light warjack-production, they are not the only power armors in the [[Iron Kingdoms]]: Some very eccentric mechaniks actually build their own armor called "Ironhead armour". Though the Man-O-War-armour is big and scary, these tend to be even larger and impractical, and are usually built so only the bearer can use it properly. The use for these is everything from mechaniks-work to warfare, as proved by Captain Dominic Darius of Cygnar, who actually build himself a small, wearable light 'jack which in turn creates new miniature 'jacks called Halfjacks as long as he activates the thing. The thing is a four-ton heavy machine, that births smaller machines at all times. I couldn't make this shit up.

Also, the [[Iron Kingdoms]] RPG allows players to own these armors - The Gods, Nations and Kings expansion allows for the use of Man-O-War armour and career, and the 52# issue of [[No Quarter]] has rules for your own custom-build murdermachine of steel and awesome.

== Star Wars ==
The [[Star Wars]] Expanded Universe has had some minor power armor use. The iconic Stormtrooper armor is unpowered, but certain specialized variants like the Hazard Trooper and the zero-G assault Stormtrooper ("Spacetrooper") do use power armor. Dark Trooper armor itself was bigger and had strength enhancing and protective systems, but the mobile factory ship the project was based on was destroyed by Rebel agent Kyle Katarn. It incorporates a set of thrusters and other integrated weapons. Visually, it looks a bit like a cross of [[Terminator]] armor and NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit, with a goofy, oversized Stormtrooper helmet. The less common Phase III Dark Troopers, which functioned as both automated robot infantry or could be worn as Power Armor, and were pretty much 40K Terminator Armor that wasn't hunched over(Soloing tank columns,anyone?), and had a built-in jetpack along with fun stuff like micromissiles. Sadly, like all cool things in the Star Wars universe, it shows up for just a couple games and books, then gets immediately destroyed and you never use it.

Ultimately, power armor isn't used as much, since some sources indicate that the materials used in regular armor can hardly stand up to small arms like the ubiquitous blaster, nor the much rarer but much more asskicking lightsaber. This is maintained in RPGs and video games where power armor is merely more effective footsoldier armor with some enhanced muscles, rather than immunity to small arms a proper armored vehicle has. Ultimately, power armor is practically useless in the universe when compared to [[Plot armor]].

==Wolfenstein==
From Wolfenstein 3D onwards, Wolfenstein has pretty much always featured some sort of power armor being used by the Nazis. The first game had Hitler's power suit which comes at you with quadruple gatling guns, though when his health was depleted the suit would be destroyed and he'd jump out and keep on fighting you with dual wielded gatling guns (and somehow have more damage per second this way) and later games generally give special elite Nazis suits of dieselpunk power armor. Unfortunately for the Nazis, they're going up against motherfucking Captain B.J Blazkcowicz so all the power armor in the universe isn't going to save them from him showing the world what you do with Nazi scum. In the latest game, the new order; Deathshead gets into a mini-mecha suit that's essentially an update of Hitler's power armor from Wolfenstein 3D, most notably featuring four gatlIng guns as Strasse tries to kill you in the moon baⁿse while ranting about he's the actual good guy here. Which is of course just him being a deluded Nazi bastard because by this point you've had twenty hours to see how very much of an awful person he is. You ALSO get power armor, that is remarkably inconsistent, as in get zapped by laser beams, shot by bullets and rockets, unbreakable unless you run out of armor, but getting punched in the chest twice deactivated it. Also, guys with crowbars pry it off. Somehow.

==[[Doom]] (2016 + Eternal)==
Yes, even the most famous of FPS's now has powered armor. Like any other franchise, they appear in different forms.

The original games don't have any power armor of the sort, instead just giving boring old protective body armor to absorb damage but not totally nullify it. Doom 3 similarly has basic body armor that isn't quite power armor but has similar ablative properties and the added benefit of environmental sealing with an air supply (in order to traverse the outside of Mars for about a minute) and (with the help of mods/BFG Edition) a suit-mounted flashlight.

=== Praetor Suit (aka Doom Guy's armor) ===
The armor worn by the Doom Slayer. Confirmed to be a custom suit upgraded and modified by the Doom Slayer over the centuries. The Doom Slayer is already strong enough to kill zombies with his bare hands, so the Praetor Suit just makes him even faster, stronger, and tougher than he already is. It allows him to carry several weapons and tear limbs off even the largest of demons after doing enough damage to stagger them. The suit is able to absorb Argent Energy, which is literally harvested from Hell itself, and seems to be able to run solely off that if it runs on anything aside from its wearer's intense overwhelming hatred. It can also install upgrades with no physical alterations at all (with the exception of jump boots) and interface with both UAC technology and demonic runes without difficulty. It can even receive voice communications from his own space station in Earth orbit as out as Mars and through other dimensions. The Praetor Suit is pretty much Doom's equivalent to the Power Suit from Metroid. [[Awesome|Making the Doom Slayer the male version of Samus.]]

By the second game, it seems to have been altered further, with a Predator(aka Yautja) style left shoulder-mounted cannon and blade mounted on the wrist. [[kharn|The Vambraces also seem to have been damaged, missing from the suit completely and exposing parts of the Slayer's arms.]] Most of the armor on the left arm and shoulder are replaced with what looks like to be a patch job in order to mount the blade and cannon.

=== UAC ===
The Union Aerospace Corporation seems to have wised up and started using their own Powered Armor for working in the inhospitable environment of Mars and the bowels of Hell. How good it actually is unknown because we only get to see in action during Doom 2016's multiplayer. So any claims about how strong it is are dubious at best.

==== Elite Guard ====
The armor of UAC's elite guard. It didn't do them much good against the Lazarus Wave unleashed by Olivia Pierce and they are definitely nowhere as good as Samuel Hayden's cybernetic body as he was the only one from the UAC to make it back from Hell. One can assume it is superior to the standard armor used by the UAC. As several dead Elite Guards are seen throughout Hell and even the unexplored Necropolis region.

=== Night Sentinels ===
Has a design based on two different types of Renaissance-era armor. The only real indication that it is Powered Armor at all is because like the other types there are no gaps that allow for air or eyeballs. So we must assume that has the same functions as the kind used by the UAC. They also have some pretty snazzy looking swords. Though how good those are is a crapshoot because we have yet to actually see anyone but the Doom Slayer engaging in combat outside of multiplayer. Which again is questionable in canon.

== Real Life ==
[[File:Powered Exoskeleton.jpg|thumb|right|250px|DARPA exoskeleton going through its paces in a rather literal sense.]]
[[File:Lockhead Martin Onyx Exoskeleton.jpeg|thumb|left|250px|Onyx Exoskeleton designed to reduce fatigue and knee injuries.]]
While they are still some ways off from producing a fully functional power suit, there is interest in the idea. Some people are now looking into making functional powered exoskeletons, this includes some guys in Japan and the US government. While it's initially going to be used to help do heavy lifting where heavy equipment is impractical/inadvisable, along with helping the disabled to walk once more, using it for military applications is in the works. Hell, just look at the images. The basic idea works well enough, but there are still in the experimental phases and while they got the basics of the "power" part down they have yet to add the armor. Currently the primary focus is to reduce fatigue and leg injury rather than superhuman strength, which makes sense given what the modern infantry doctrine is about. Given the desire for modularity and practicality, body armor and exoskeletons will likely come separate.

That said, they still have a fair bit to go since most early versions will be restricted by a power tether or run on batteries that have at most a few hours of juice. Still, the first airplane's flight only was about 35 meters and it took less then two decades to go from that to the first transatlantic flight.

But don't start holding your breath just yet. Though asymmetric war makes all kinds of spectacularly idiotic war toys possible, power armor will face a redundancy/nesting doll issue by placing a humanoid automata... inside of a humanoid automata. Since the goal is to protect the former "automata", why place it inside the latter? Direct piloting, as opposed to remote, will likely have little affect on the frames overall combat effectiveness. However neither are mutually exclusive to each other so exoskeleton equipped troops may become a thing if it's treated in the same sense body armor is: Something that helps, not as a crutch.

==Fantasy in General==
Depending on who you ask, any magic armor that increases your speed and strength and has spells that counteract encumbrance bound to it could be considered a form of power armor, especially if it's full plate armor and particularly if it has some system to keep out nasty shit like drowning, poison gas, or the vacuum of space.

It is armor, and it is using a power source in the form of magic to enhance the wielder. More traditional power armor can also be found in fantasy; particularly in settings that are at least to a clockpunk level of technological development, often using magic or just not caring enough about physics to allow power suits to function with technology like steam boilers, clockwork gears, and diesel engines or simply running off of magical energy.

This particular trend has started to become more common as more and more fantasy writers have started to rebel against the concept of medieval stasis and even in settings that don't just outright abandon the faux-medieval trappings of fantasy try to incorporate more in the ways of technological development or practical magic. In warhammer fantasy perhaps the most famous suit of power armor belongs to Ikit Claw, an ingenious device that is powered by warp stone and comes complete with an arm cannon to fire off warp lightning.

It is not an uncommon fantasy trope, and typically shows up to show that the fantasy world is 'advanced'.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:99810101076 ArmourThroughAgesNEW01.jpg|The first five Marks through the ages.
File:Power Armour Components.png|Diagram of Aquila armour components.
File:Newsletter vision study.jpg|Eternal Crusade concept art. Again, fitting real snugly.
File:Terran marine cutout.jpg|It actually fits! Still a bit unsure about those hips though.
File:SST_PA_J.jpg|Japan's take on the Marauder Suit.

</gallery>

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Space Marines]]

Plate armor

2020-05-21T15:05:49Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{awesome}}
'''Plate Armor''' is, simply put, armor made of solid plates of metal, essentially a slab of metal made to be worn by people. The cumbersomeness and the lack of mobility is often exaggerated in media, mostly due to confusing tourney armor with combat armor. Tourney armor indeed was unreasonably heavy, thick and restricting in movement, precisely because no one wanted to die or just break a rib (which considering the shitty medicine of that days could be fatal as well) on a tourney, but when knights and men at arms went to war, they clad themselves in a much lighter combat armor, in which they could run, jump, or even perform a somersault ''more'' easily than chain mail (which had its weight distributed almost entirely on the shoulders) - because in a real fight you should fight for hours rather than few minutes, and mobility is just as important as armor for survivability. What we think of as Plate Armor began to take shape around the late 1300s and became what most people thought of as plate armor in the 1400s.

A decent plate armored suit could deflect or shatter most blades and arrows that struck it due to its hardiness, requiring those who wielded these weapons to either find chinks in the armor to stab at the wearer (which is a bit hard when he's trying to chop your head off with impunity), or use concussive/heavy piercing weapons like [[mace]]s and [[warhammer]]s, which could either bypass or penetrate the plating. Arrows had limited effect as well, although bolts shot from [[crossbow]]s typically had enough power to at least dent plate armor, and heavy crossbows could plow through it with ease. Contrary to popular beliefs guns didn't pierce through plate with ease - only high-caliber muskets had enough power in their shot to reliably pierce though the plate, and much like heavy crossbows they payed for it with their sluggishly slow firing rate. From the times of sword and shot also originate the term "bullet-proof", as when a noble or a mercenary went to buy a new set of armor (or just a plate cuirass), he got a pistol with him, and "proofed" his buy by shooting at it at point-blank - good armor suit were supposed to hold that shot, and good luck selling anyone a suit which hadn't passed the test, because who the fuck gonna buy and armor that couldn't stop a pistol in a times when everyone and his dog is armed with one. Unscrupulous smiths were known to use a round-ended hammer to create a fake bullet mark on their armour in order to sell poorly-made products to unsuspecting rubes. Even in Sengoku era Japan, where militaries absolutely spammed guns, most conscript soldiers had breastplates.

Fiction often portrays plate armor as the most expensive armor there is, but it really wasn't. By the 15th century (not that far after plate armor itself was invented) high demand and the invention of the automatic (water wheel powered) hammer resulted in "munitions grade" plate being produced in large quantities. Conversely, [[mail]] remained very labor intense to make and was entirely obsolete beyond armoring joints. Never the less, a suit of custom made full plate was well beyond what most people could afford back in the day. Even with modern day tools, getting a suit of armor is still expensive since it has to be made to order to fit your body, and you have to maintain your current body weight or else it won’t fit. Because of how a full suit is dependent on interlocking pieces, getting the dimensions just right is crucial. Munition armor was rarely ever full plate, usually limited to a cuirass and helmet, or a “half-plate” suit of armor that only covered the upper body.

In fantasy, plate armor is typically given to warrior classes to denote their position as the front-line close combat fighters. Its commonly also the victim of [[Fantasy Armor]] syndrome where the armor is so bulky beyond belief that you start to wonder how the wearer is able to move, much less fight, when the armor is twice as big and heavy as him.

== Parts of Plate Armor ==
[[File:Plate armor.jpg|250px|thumb|right|A standard suit of plate armor. Use the list to the left to reference the parts]]
*Plate helmet (many variants existed, although they're all designed to protect the head)
**Visor (Covered the face. Was usually hinged with the helmet, although some people did not bother with visors)
*Gorget (covers the entire neck)
**Bevor/Falling Buffe (covers front of neck)
*Spaulders (covers the shoulders)
**[[Pauldrons]] (an evolution of the spaulders. Pauldrons are larger than spaulders, not only covering the shoulder, but most of the upper arm as well. They're also reliable as blunt implements to shoulder charge somebody with.)
*Rerebraces (covers the upper arms)
*Couter (covers the elbows)
*Vambraces (covers the forearms)
*Gauntlets (covers the hands)
*Curiass (plate which covers the torso)
*Breastplate (single plate which covers the front of the torso)
*Backplate (covers the back of the torso)
*Tassets (covers the upper legs. They're the plate skirt that covered the cuisse)
*Cuisses (covers the thighs)
*Poleyn (covers the knees)
*Greaves (covers the lower legs)
*Sabatons (boots for walking and covers the feet)

== Plate armor by region ==
*Ancient Greece
*Medieval Europe
*Japan
{{Stub}}
[[Category: History]]

Fantasy Armor

2020-05-21T14:51:48Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{skub}}
{{Promotions}}

'''Fantasy armor''' has a long and noble tradition of [[awesome]]ness and [[skub|lively debates]]. Many kind of fantastic armor, such as sexy bear skin speedos, chain mail bikinis, massive codpieces, ridiculously massive suits of plate mail, armor made of gold or even gems, and other overly elaborate forms of armor are all standard equipment for adventuring parties. Threads dedicated to fabulous and ridiculous armors are a common sight on /tg/, and discussions regarding people's favorite type of armor are also a common way to pass the time, [[cancer|although doing so has a risk of starting an ugly political debate over issues best not discussed on this page]].

Most agree that even the most over-the-top armor designs aren't a huge problem for anything other than historically accurate settings, and in terms of the [[crunch]] it simply doesn't matter, as the stats and the design do not need to be linked in any way - after all, the key word is "fantasy".

==Common Types==
As you may see with the images to the side, fantasy doesn't need its armor to be logically sound. Due to this, armor design is usually done more to appease the eye than the mind. Thus, armor design and usage that tends to be over-the-top usually leans on the following styles:

===Living Fortress===
The character is so excessively armored with large pieces of armor that you must wonder how they can even walk unassisted without falling over. Usually done to give characters a stoic and/or intimidating look. Issues such as avoiding heatstroke and being unable to use a toilet in that armor are usually sidestepped in fiction, but then those issues are [[Magical Realm|almost]] never addressed in fiction anyway. In real-life these drawbacks were trade offs for the protection the armor offered, and the armor itself can't be put on or removed by the person wearing it without someone else helping - in practice it's usually one of the jobs of a squire. To avoid heatstroke, the wearer had to drink and minimize activity where possible, and as for the toilet problem since the armor can't be properly removed without help, there was a flap at the back - otherwise the squire would have to clean it afterwards.

===Bare Minimum===
Not an armor type, so much as a lack thereof. Characters in this style typically wear just enough to keep them from being classified as naked (think "Red Sonja" and you'll get the idea). Traditionally given to characters who favor speed over protection (or fanservice, depending on the setting), it is also sometimes given to those who use some kind of supernatural protection against damage to supplement their armor or simply happen to be so good at withstanding/dodging attacks that they don't normally need to worry about being hurt in the first place. The average magic user is a good example of this, given that the traditional wizard robes are just natural fiber clothing and aren't usually much better in terms of their protective value (enchantments and other forms of magical protection notwithstanding). One popular example is Conan being depicted wearing only boots, a loincloth and a belt. This look originated from artwork of Conan by renowned artist Frank Frazetta. Frazetta himself depicted Conan this way because he liked drawing the human body and put that personal preference in his art style (which is why men and women in his art tend to be scantily clad whenever possible).

It should be noted that the "almost naked female armor" is not actually as common as one might expect. The worst offenders are usually fantasy pinups and JRPGs (and in the latter case, often applies to both men and women); for actual tabletop RPGs and most western-developed videogames, they're actually somewhat uncommon in recent years in due to, among other things, the backlash, the practical objections, the widespread mockery, and most probably importantly due to shame instincts kicking in as it dawns on the artists and writers that more women are playing this stuff (as such, the nakedness is usually either made more "artistic", or more effort is used in "justifying" it in-universe).

===Flash to the Extreme===
The character's armor is excessively decorated and designed in an over-the-top manner (ranging from bright colors to it being encrusted in precious gems and metals) that they basically scream: "walking target" and/or "mobile treasure chest" when out into the field. Usually given to the upper hierarchy of a setting to denote either their position or wealth. [[Chaos Space Marine|Large spikes]] count as an "evil" version of this; while they can make a villain look intimidating, they'd also be getting in the way, either poking yourself or your allies ''constantly''.

===Style over Substance===
The character's armor includes elements that reduce its practicality in favor of looking flashy or appealing. Such features are found almost entirely on female armor and includes high heels, contoured breastplates, no clear means of fastening it together, thigh-high boots, and a lack of padding. Then again, one can easily point to countless real-world examples of the above-mentioned traits (Yes, even heels - riding a horse with stirrups is much easier wearing boots with heels), but most of the time were usually reserved for ceremonial armor or just not totally optimized for combat (because even the best armor available for one age would have been outstripped and improved upon in design in later years).

===Fear Me===
The character's armor is specially designed to intimidate their enemies, either by just looking menacing or realizing what the armor is, is enough to inspire dread. This is typically reserved for villains, who will dress all evil-like to intimidate their foes and cement their position as a, or ''the'', big bad. The good guys sometimes use this style, as an attempt to show his allies and the enemy he means business. This can take a variety of forms, such as:
*Dreadful armor - simply designed to intimidate foes while looking dignified. They make take the shape of beings feared throughout the setting, like dragons, wolves, angelic/daemonic warriors, or what else have you. While sometimes they're adorned with iconography that their enemies would fear.

*Eldritch abomination - armor that looks like something H.P Lovecraft would make. Such style incorporates features that are designed to either disgust or horrify the enemy [[Chaos Space Marines|at the mere thought that something like them could exist.]] Typically used by big bads, who either have armor writhing like its alive or have fused with their armor like its their second skin.

*Armored hedgehog - covered in big sharp spikes. Some armors in this school have so many spikes that wearing them in real life would run the genuine risk of impaling oneself. Sometimes the user is even portrayed as using the spikes themselves as a weapon.

*The Faceless - some very intimidating primary villains wear helmets which completely obscure their face. This usually indicates to the viewer what it does to characters - this person is not to be fucked with. For some reason villains with full face protection tend to be very dangerous. They got so strong because they [[Reasonable Marines|wore helmets]] long enough to not get killed before [[Level|levelling up]] a lot.

===What are these "ergonomics"===

One thing should be emphasized about real world armor: It's already bloody uncomfortable to wear an at least 20 pound (or 10 kg) over shirt (which is about what the very lightest armor will weigh), never mind fight in such a thing. Padding was absolutely required for even the most basic of armor (most cutting weapons can do double duty as (expensive) clubs), and that's just the first obvious problem you'll have when fielding armor (and, in fact, there was and is a non-trivial amount of armor that was ''nothing but'' padding (go look up the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson Gambeson] if you don't believe us; D&D calls it "padded armor" and undervalues it because game balance)). Padding, needless to say, is hard to move around in. The Ergonomics of Real World armor was (and remains to this day) very important, as a result of these and other factors.

Fantasy armor frequently ignores such considerations as "weight", "flexibility", "range of motion", "chafing", "padding", and "comfort", among other considerations, with exceptions being people who wear armor that shows a lot of skin (which sorta defeats the point of armor, but there you go) or where magic compensates for ergonomics or function (e.g.; a metal bikini enchanted to protect its wearer). This is also ignoring the tendency for almost everybody to walk around without any kind of helmet.

== The Main Source of Skub ==

Female armor is the main source of [[skub]] when Armor is discussed. These points are indisputable.

# The forces that produce cheesecake outfits in Real Life probably exist in your game world.
# The realities of combat also probably exist in your game world, which directly counteracts #1.
# The armor worn by women in Fantasy Art veers strongly towards the cheesecake side of the line.
# In the real world, there were actual suits of armor that had some ''very'' goofy looking codpieces but otherwise the armour was still normal plate armour.; [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armor_of_Ferdinand_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor here's one famous example].
# In the real world, practical armor is fairly unisex - breasts just don't get as much in the way as you might expect, particularly once you start adding the necessary padding. Depending on the size of the breasts, at least.

(For example, point number two is dependent on how much of a roleplayer vs. [[rollplaying|rollplayer]] you are. You wouldn't care much about how well armor covers you if it's +3 defense regardless of hit location. You'll also have people argue that artistic license is more important than adherence to reality when it comes to fiction.

Beyond those few points, expect to see nothing but a sea of bullshit.

== A Mild Digression about Ceremonial Armor ==

In Real Life, armor was usually divided into practical and Ceremonial armor. Practical armor was intended to be used (protect a guy from that spear or knife in the middle of a melee). Ceremonial armor was intended to look good. This resulted in occasional wild differences between the two, such as the ridiculous codpieces mentioned above.

Fantasy armor is usually inspired by the Ceremonial armor, as that's what was usually put into artistic depictions.

== The Warhammer Line ==

As a side note, if your armor is as or more ridiculous than Warhammer's (either [[Warhammer 40,000|40k]] or [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy]]), expect to be mocked. Yes, this means you, generic anime-inspired MMORPG, and you, [[That Guy]] who uses a screenshot from said MMORPG as his character portrait.

==See Also==
*[[Helmet]]
*[[Armor]]
*[[Pauldrons]]

{{MedievalWeaponry}}

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
File:Skelerotic Warrior.png|It separates, AND supports!
File:Bikini-Armor-Cosplay.jpg|This armor protects the most vital parts of the body.
File:Megnets.jpg|Perfectly safe, proven by practical evidence.
File:Glamour armor.jpg| Fantasy armor is known to reveal Fabulous Secret Powers to its wearer.
File:Armour of Bulk.png|[[Centurion Squad|The Centurion armored suit]]. An armor system where [[Derp|the guy wearing powered armor wears another powered armor suit on top of it]]. At least the title is correct.
</gallery></center>

[[Category:Meme]]

DA2: Temple of the Frog

2020-05-21T14:39:21Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}

The module that has the chips to call itself ''THE ORIGINAL'' D&D Dungeon Crawl. Written by Dave Arneson with help from Stephen Rocheford, the '''Temple of the Frog''' was bundled with '''Supplement II Blackmoor'''.

It's... a little rough

== What's the Plot? ==
{{spoilers}}
In the Great Dismal Swamp, off Lake Gloomy, exists the City of the Frog. There, the Frog Cult is building an army of genetically modified frogmen while kidnapping and enslaving the populace of the surrounding area. Now, it's up to the PCs to infiltrate the Temple, discover its secrets, and in general do what adventurers do.

In truth, the Frog Cult's new leader, Stephen the Rock, is actually a space traveller who has passed his advanced technology as divine power.

== Playing It ==
Herein lies the problem with the Temple of the Frog: it was written in the proto-D&D Chainmail/Blackmoor slurry and later converted to OD&D. As such, the combat encounters are massive (there are areas in the Temple proper that have hundreds of guards, suicidal for a straight fight even for an experienced party). Meanwhile, the mapping itself is amateur and poorly keyed.

The module was rereleased for D&D Expert Version as '''DA2 - Temple of the Frog'''. This version is better fleshed out, but suffers from heavy railroading, the intro monologue to the players being several pages long.

All in all, Temple of the Frog is not good, but it is an interesting piece of history, showcasing the weird and wild flavor of D&D before it became codified into its familiar form. (Among other things, there's a boat named for a member of Ken Kesey's [[Spook#Users|Merry Pranksters]]...)

[[Category:Modules]]

Vikings

2020-05-21T14:17:27Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{Topquote|It was not as if we'd stayed home and wasted our lives drinking wine with pretty girls.|A recurring motif in the Lay of Kraka}}
[[Image:VikingShip.jpg|500px|thumb|right|A Viking Longship, A thirty meter long can o' [[rape]] (literally) back in the day.]]
'''Vikings''' were Scandinavian people from the 8th to 11th century, a period in which societies based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, making use of their long-ships set forth to trade and colonize areas including Northern France, the British Isles, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and even reached North America (though the settlements they set up there did not last). They also made a habit of bathing and washing their hands frequently, which at the time was unheard of among the peoples of Europe. Probably because they had to have about two dozen dudes on a small boat for a long time, so you would regularly bathe if you didn't want to be [[That Guy]]. They only stopped when France, of all countries, rolled a nat 20 on Diplomacy by offering Normandy to duke Rollo. One of his descendents by the name of William ended up with a claim to the throne of a place populated with Anglo-Saxons named Anglo-land (later known as England), and ultimately became its king.

Unlike popular belief, they did not wear horned helmets. This is for the practical reason that a big horned helmet might catch a sword unintentionally, which is all sorts of bad for the wearer; horned helmets were used on occasion, but only for ceremony. The ol' "horn-headed people eater" image was popularized during the 1800s.

As a final note "Viking" is not a noun, but a verb. Proper usage would be something like "Hay Olaf I'm bored and need some spending money want to go viking?" (The noun form would be ''víkingr'', a person who goes ''viking'').

==Culture==
Vikings believed that when they died in battle (preferably in a totally fuck-awesome way) they would go to a place called Valhalla to become one of the Einherjar (Chosen Slain) or to Fólkvangr (the realm controlled by Freyja, the Nordic goddess of love, prosperity, spring and being foxy as hell; also a death goddess and war goddess, which is why she gets half the chosen warriors in the first place), where they would chug booze, [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|eat all the meat and cheese they wanted]], and (if that actually managed to get dull) participate in massive murderfests only to be fully healed the next day and ready to do it all over again. On the other hand, if they died in bed or in a totally lame way (such as AIDs or cancer or... actually anywhere but battle is lame) they would instead go to a totally boring place called Hel where NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED! '''EVER!''' (As you might imagine, this became problematic for many of their folk heroes who were just that fucking hard to kill). And if ''that'' weren't bad enough, people who committed what the vikings saw as the unforgivable sins, like oathbreaking, went to a prison overseen by the goddess of the dead. The ceiling is made from the bones of serpents, which drip burning venom, the halls are waist-deep in cold, slimy blood, and there is nothing to drink but goats piss and nothing to eat but rotten food (basically a Minnesota Vikings game). The exception is if you died while giving birth, then you got go to Valhalla; the vikings were surprisingly egalitarian in their attitudes towards the sexes.

That said, there was the ''third'' way to die. Dying at sea was totally cool for the Vikings, for while the Battle-junkies went to Valhalla and Freya, and the lame ones went to Hel,
the Sea-Bears went to the Halls of Aegir, god of the sea, where they got their own Watery Valhalla.

Vikings aren't known for being nice, [http://www.badassoftheweek.com/turgeis.html for a good reason]. During their raiding parties, after killing, enslaving and/or raping the non-Viking people they encountered, the Vikings would [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|they would steal ''anything'' that wasn't nailed down.]] If it was nailed down, they'd try and steal the nails and if that didn't work, they'd eat it. If they couldn't eat it, they'd ''burn'' it, and if they couldn't burn it they'd ''''SMASH'''' it!

Later some of the smarter Viking warlords started to conquer shit rather than rape, pillage and kill everything in their sight. For quite a long time a large chunk of France and Italy, and the entirety of England and Russia were ruled by Vikings or their descendants, although they all got quickly assimilated into the nations they've conquered, to the point when they started to think of themselves as French/Russians in just a two or three generations after settling in. The Vikings also had a level of prestige in the Byzantine Empire, as they were the preferred recruits for the Emperor's bodyguard, the Varangian Guard.

=== [[Mythology#Norse Mythology|Norse Mythology]] ===
Like Greek mythology, the Norse have their own version of creation, different sets of gods, and heroic stories of manly feats. Here are some of them (Note that, much like Celtic mythology, Norse mythology was only written down long after Scandanavia had become Christian, so there remains a massive amount of missing stories (for example, while the war between the Vanir and the Aesir is mentioned, we don't actually have the full description of it, even though at one time it probably existed).

==In Modern Fiction==
Vikings and the honorable Neanderthals are some of the closest that the real world has ever had to [[dwarves]], but they should not be confused as such. While they had a penchant for [[axe]]s and could use anything, [[Dwarf Fortress|including body parts and broken furniture]], as a weapon, Vikings were just unspeakably awesome humans (they couldn't handle as much booze as a dwarf, though only just). Vikings that [[Toothless Dragon|rode Dragons]] even more so. Vikings are not to be confused with [[barbarian]]s either, despite any combination with the former resulting in awesome. [[Warriors of Chaos|Vikings are also notable for pledging themselves to Chaos]] and becoming [[Space Wolves|werewolf supersoldiers]].

The Vikings have also finally gotten their own TV show starring Vladimir Kullich. It is about the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-eye, Halfdan, Hvitserk, and Ubbe, as well as the tales of Duke Rollo of Normandy, King Harald Fairhair, and Alfred the Great of Wessex.

==Viking Longships==

The thing that put the Vikings on the map were their Longships (or LongBOAT if you're not [[skub|American]]). Basically these were large canoes made from planks with a mast to catch the wind. They could, however handle rough northern seas very well, and allowed some Vikings to reach such exotic locales as Newfoundland centuries before other Europeans. One thing that helped made the Longships such a gamechanger was that the vikings worked out that properly curing and drying out timbers it made it stronger and more resistant to being eaten at sea by nematodes and similar grody things.

Sometimes to save travel time, the Vikings would pull their Longships overland for kilometers. No joking, no hyperbole. A few tricks (like log rollers) helped, though. One of them (Oleg, the prince of Kievan Russ) even mounted his longships on wheels to quickly move them into Constantinople harbor, bypassing the defensive chain pulled across the path (which possibly inspired the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II when he used a similar trick to help him capture Constantinople).

Their Longships also had an [[derp|early warning system]] so that people could tell wether they were going to fuck them up or not. It's to do with the shields:
If the Shields were on the outside of their Longships, then they were coming to trade goods.
If the Shields were not on the outside of their Longships, then they were going to use them in battle, and you should run for the hills (if you get that far...)

==Viking Berserkers==
There's lot of bullshit about these guys on the internet and in general beliefs. Hell, the word itself had became the synonym of uncontrollable rage in many languages. The truth, however, is quite boring - berserkers (which comes from the Old Norse for "bear hide", as it was their signature piece of clothes they wore above armor, or sometimes instead of it) were equivalents of champions in the Norse culture with a pitch of warrior-priest flavor added - i.e. the guys who fought in duels on behalf of the tribe or some wealthy noble. And Norse culture had a fuckton of things settled with duels. As best of the best professional warriors among already brutally strong vikings they kicked all kinds of asses, and were rightfully feared for their skill and bravery. As you may guess, they where quite rare, so no "hordes" or even "squads" of berserkers for you - at best you'd have two or three per raid, and most often only one. As for uncontrollable rage... well, sagas mention a total of ZERO berserkers going into what we now call "[[Khorne|berserker]] rage" - there are mentions of jarls and ordinary warriors going to battle biting shields, foaming with mad anger and killing friend and foe alike, but never berserkers. WRONG:

{{topquote|-And as the foemen's ships drew near, The dreadful din you well might hear Savage berserks roaring mad, And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, Howling like wolves; and clanking jar.|Harald Fairhair Saga ch 19.}}
Mushroom brew painkiller that allow to fight despite heavy or even fatal wounds likewise weren't their exclusive, although proper brew (that wouldn't ruin your liver, therefore sentencing you to a lame death in your bed if you survive the battle) was quite expensive, and berserkers, as pretty much second-in-command of jarls were among those wealthy enough to afford it.

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:Elspeth_and_Vikings.png|When [[Elspeth Tirel]] needs backup, these are the people she calls.
Image:WarbandViking.jpg| JEG SKALL DRIKKE FRA HODESKALLEN DIN!!!.
Image:Lego_Viking_ship.jpg|Pillaging colorful brick villages since 576 A.D.
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [[Pirate]]
*[[The Poetic Edda]]
[[Category:History]]

Color Pie

2020-05-21T13:49:18Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: This ain't /pol/, get out of here.

{{stub}}

The color pie is a set philosophies that inform much of the mechanics of [[Magic: The Gathering|Magic]]. Each color has certain themes and gifts that they are good at, as well as weaknesses that they cannot overcome without splashing into another color. If a card in a certain color does something that is generally considered outside of the Color Pie, it is called a Color Bend, or in the most severe cases, a Color Break.

== White ==
White embodies law, order, community, healing, and light.
White is the color of [[Paladin|goody-two-shoes]], as well as the zealous and totalitarian.
The White mana symbol is a sun, and its land is plains.

White characters include:
*[[Elspeth Tirel]]
*[[Gideon Jura]]
*[[Elesh Norn]]
*Konda
*Gerrard Capashen

White creatures include:
* Angels

White classes include:
* Solider
* Cleric

White Keywords include:
* Lifelink
* Vigilance
* First/Double Strike

White is really good at:
* Gaining life
* Wiping the board
* Preventing damage (either by straight-up negating damage or tapping down creatures)
* Exiling things like artifacts and enchantments
* Pumping the board
* Making tokens

White is really bad at:
* Drawing cards and accruing card advantage
* Doing direct damage
* Ramping

==Blue==
Blue embodies logic, thought, observation, prescience, and arcane magic.
The Blue mana symbol is a droplet of water, its land is islands.

Blue characters include:
*[[Jace Beleren]]
*[[Jin-Gitaxias]]
*[[Richard Garfield]]
*[[Teferi]]

Blue creatures include:
* Aquatic life
* Changelings

Blue classes include:
* Wizard
* Pirate

Blue Keywords include:
* Scry
* Flying
* Flash

Blue is really good at:
* Drawing cards
* Bouncing threats
* Counterspells
* Mind control
* Tapping and untapping things

Blue is really bad at:
* Dealing with threats after they resolve (enchantments and [[Planeswalker| Planeswalkers]] are particularly sore for blue decks)
* Doing direct damage

==Black==
Black embodies self-interest, moral relativism, and power at any cost.
Black is the color of demons and undead, but also respect of the individual over the collective.
The Black mana symbol is a skull, its land is swamps.

Black characters include:
*Liliana
*Drana
*Sheoldred

Black creatures include:
* Demons
* Undead

Black classes include:
* Cultists
* Necromancers

Black Keywords include:
* Deathtouch
* Menace
* Lifelink

Black is really good at:
* Sacrificing others for your own gain
* Killing creatures and Planeswalkers after they resolve
* Discarding your opponent's hands
* Card advantage... at a cost
* Reanimating the dead

Black is really bad at:
* Dealing with artifacts and enchantments
* Preventing threats from coming on the board
* Disrupting non-creature related gameplans

==Red==
Red embodies passion, freedom, and [[rage]].
The Red mana symbol is a ball of fire, its land is mountains.

Red characters include:
*[[Chandra Nalaar]]
*[[Jaya Ballard]]
*Squee
*[[Urabrask]]

Red creatures include:
* Dragons
* Goblins
* Elemental

Red classes include:
* Barbarian
* Shaman

Red Keywords include:
* Haste
* Trample
* First/Double

Red is really good at:
* Direct damage (which is good against creatures, Planeswalkers, and [[Red Deck Wins| your opponent's face]])
* "Chaotic" card advantage (through random effects or by exiling cards and allowing you to play them for a limited time)
* Destroying artifacts
* Destroying lands
* Going fast with hasty creatures and short term bursts of mana
* Temporarily stealing creatures

Red is really bad at:
* Dealing with enchantments
* "True" card advantage (you often have to discard cards if you want to draw cards, which is not true card advantage, it's card selection)
* Long term games (chances are you'll fizzle out if you don't win fast unless you're playing Chonky Red)
* Subtlety

==Green==
Green embodies destiny, nature-over-nurture, [[Tyranid|the food chain]], and [[Ork|really big, angry green monsters]]. The Green mana symbol is a tree, its land is forests.

Green characters include:
*[[Nissa]]
*[[Vorinclex]]

Green creatures include:
* Non-Aquatic Animals
* Most Elves

Green classes include:
* Druids

Green Keywords include:
* Trample
* Reach
* Vigilance

Green is really good at:
* Ramping and fixing your mana
* Making huge creatures, either through combat tricks, auras, or just ramping into a big boy
* Dealing with enchantments and artifacts
* Making tokens
* Drawing cards (but not as good as blue or red)
* Fighting creatures with other creatures (either through fight or bite effects)
* Uncounterable threats
* Dealing with fliers

Green is really bad at:
* Direct damage
* Straight up removing creatures without having a board presence
* Dealing with Planeswalkers
* Non-creature interaction in general

==Colorless and Devoid==
Basically the "color" of [[Construct|Artifact Creatures]] (though some colored ones have appeared) and [[Call of Cthulhu|eldritch abomination]], as well as a decent chunk of artifacts. Colorless costs can be paid with any mana, which means they can be put in any deck with room for them. Blue does this the most, as it has weak creatures on its own and many abilities which interact with artifacts. Once had an empty diamond as a symbol and "wastes" as a land, but this was dropped after the one set that used it as a gimmick.

[[Category:Magic: The Gathering]]

Al-Qadim

2020-05-21T13:39:01Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}
{{dnd-stub}}
[[Image:AQlogo.gif|center]]
'''Al-Qadim''' is an Arabian style campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in the vein of The Thousand and One Nights. Much like '''[[Kara-Tur]]''' and '''[[Maztica]]''', it was presented as a distant continent on the world of Toril, the homeworld of the [[Forgotten Realms]] Setting. These "mini-settings," as they were, were conceived of as small projects that would allow TSR and GMs to explore alternate campaign settings without making massively different rulesets, species, and classes. Al-Qadim was unusual in that the name did not refer to the continent itself, as it did for the other modules, but to the culture that lived on the continent of Zakhara.

'''TL;DR: AD&D races live in a Hollywood Arabic society. Also, you get to fight YAKMEN. Completely old school.'''

==The Land==
Zakhara is a harsh, tropical continent that lies south of Faerun and southwest of Kara-tur, a land of rugged extremes, girded on all sides by sea.

==The Culture==
Culture in Zakhara is monolithic, and quite obviously based on Medieval Arabia mixed with what can only be called "liberal Islam" so law is secular, polytheism inetad of monotheism, women need not dress quite as modestly (As in not black-coat hangers.) etc. It transcends races; an [[elf]] or a [[dwarf]] in Zakhara follows the same customs and beliefs as a human, an [[orc]] or a [[gnoll]], creating a racially integrated culture unlike almost anything in standard AD&D cultures.

The biggest split in culture in Zakhara is the divide between the Al-Hadhar, the city-dwellers, and the nomadic Al-Badia. Even then, they share roughly the same social stations, cultural norms, beliefs, religions and traditions. Even city-states, whilst imposing their own particular spins on things, still preserve the general precepts of Zakharan culture.

What are those precepts? In short:

*'''Honor:''' Broadly definable as the embodiment of all that is good - honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and so forth - honor is the driving force behind Zakharan life. Every action an individual takes can increase or erode their honor - and an individual's honor colors those of his family as well.
*'''Family:''' The ties of blood, as might be inferred from the precept of Honor, are unbreakable, precious and irreplaceable to Zakharans. This guiding principle of their life is simple; Family Comes First, and the rights of the family supersede the rights of the family's members.
*'''Purity:''' One of the more overtly Islam-inspired aspects of Zakharan culture is the indigent belief that men and women are inherently weak where matters of the heart are concerned. Chastity, at least in the sense of avoiding overt demonstrations of carnal desire, is upheld as a matter of great spiritual and social importance. Whilst women in Zakhara have more rights and freedoms than their Islamic counterparts, it is still expected that they will generally avoid overt displays of desire, and whilst both sexes will veil and cover themselves to avoid enflaming lust, the onus is generally on the part of the women.
*'''Hospitality:''' To put it bluntly, Zakharans believe that generosity brings honor and stinginess erodes it. Thusly, any honorable man (or woman) will strive to be the greatest host they can - whilst visitors are held to similar standards as guests.
*'''Tolerance:''' Closely related in spirit to hospitality, tolerance is highly regarded amongst Zakharans, which has helped their culture to become so widely accepted amongst the different races and enables them to function as a nation of disparate sub-cultures and ethnic groups. Of course, there are limits to how far a Zakharan will extend tolerance, but it is considerable honorable behavior to accept the strangeness of others and respond with, at most, polite curiosity and debate.
*'''Piety:''' Honor and piety are considered inextricably linked; those acts that earn a man honor do so because they revolve around a man behaving in a manner deemed good and right by those who rule the heavens. An honorable man is inherently a pious man, and vice-versa. Thusly, Zakharan tolerance finds a sharp limitation in the face of atheistic beliefs: An individual who does not believe in some higher divinity, by Zakharan reasoning, lacks the moral anchor needed to function in society. Such a person is unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous! Suspicion and hostility will quickly be risen against anyone who is openly apathetic to the existence of the gods.

===Fate, Enlightenment and the Loregiver===
One element of Zakharan culture, oft-mentioned yet little defined, is that of Enlightenment - the Zakharans consider themselves "Enlightened", and all non-Zakharans to be "Unenlightened". So, of course, you're wondering just what the hell is up with that.

Even in the time when Al-Qadim was written, it was considered to be too on the nose to directly refer to certain key Islamic concepts. Instead, Al-Qadim has the Loregiver, a female prophet who, instructed by Fate, wrote the Scroll of Law - a holy text that contains precepts and instructions on how to be an honorable man so clear-cut and obvious that they became the foundation of Zakhara's modern culture. Most notably, the Grand Caliph, the ruler of all Zakhara, holds that position because they supposedly claim descent from the first caliph to find the Scroll of Law and bring the teachings of enlightenment to the people.

Who is Fate? The simplest way to describe it as as the Overpower of the Zakharan pantheon. Fate is viewed as an entity whose power lies outside that of the gods; a female entity who ebodies the natural force that is a part of every man and woman's future. Whilst not to be worshipped like the gods, she aids those who succeed and may comfort those who fail, and the gods themselves defer to her.

===Religion===
The teachings of enlightenment may be the foundation of Zakharan culture, but they do so by attributing at least part of their holiness to the gods. Still, Zakhara is large and, under its veneer of cultural monolithism, it has many subcultures and cults, leading to a uniquely divided pantheon.

Zakharans divide the gods into three categories; Major (or Great), Local (or Common), and Savage (or Heathen).

'''Great/Major Deities''' are those directly referenced in the Scrolls of Law, and thusly their worship has spread across Zakhara. They number eight deities, and are all considered to embody specific ideals regarded as enlightened.
* [[Hajama]]
* [[Hakiyah]]
* [[Haku]]
* [[Jisan]]
* [[Kor]]
* [[Najm]]
* [[Selan]]
* [[Zann]]

'''Local/Common Deities''' are "small" gods of Zakhara; those whose worship is confined to a specific area or ethnicity. They are not as directly tied to the principles of enlightenment, and make up the larger part of the Zakharan "pantheon".
* [[Bala]]
* [[Kahin]]s
* [[Vataqatal]]

'''Savage/Heathen Deities''' are those not directly recognized in the teachings and tales passed down by the Loregiver. These include the Forgotten Gods of Nog and Kadar, the Cold Gods of the Elements ([[Akadi]], [[Grumbar]], [[Istishia]], [[Kossuth]]), the gods of unenlightened Zakharan cultures such as the Hill Tribes and the islanders of the Crowded Sea, and the Ajami (Foreign) Gods - the gods whose faith has been carried to Zakhara by migrants from other lands, predominantly [[Gond]], [[Helm]] (called "Helam" by confused Zakharans) and [[Clangeddin Silverbeard]] (whose diminishing worship amongst Zakharan gods has seen him renamed "Clang").

The unusual nature of the zakharan pantheon has led to two distinct faiths of note; the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods and the League of the Pantheon, or the Pantheist League.

The Ten Thousand Gods Temple takes the polytheistic inclinations of the Zakharans to the extreme; they worship ALL gods, interchangeably and commmunally. Their holy ideal is acceptance; their ethos is that all deities are merely facets of the same divine force. As such, their holy principles are simple:
:''The gods are aspects of a greater holy power. Men and women, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and other creatures - all these mortal beings mirror the diversity of that divine power. All are touched by the same holy radiance. Accept your brothers and sisters. Think well of them and treat them kindly, for they, like you, are divine.''

The Pantheist League is a comparatively small, but powerful, cult which has come to dominate a cluster of cities on the Crowded Sea and along the easten side of the Golden Gulf. They practice a combination of a very fundamentalist view of the common Zakharan faith and a their own unique pantheon; they recognize only the Greater Gods Hajama, Kor, Najm and Selan as "true" gods, alongside their own self-claimed "Greater" God, a local deity named [[Jauhar]]. Hidebound, moralist and dangerous conservative, their ethos preachs a combination of moral superiority and strength through unity:
::''Only by gathering together, and by combining the best talents of the group, can we succeed. Trust your foes to be jealous of your accomplishments. The gods of the Pantheon are the only true gods. All other so-called deities are common creations, and their followers must be "enlightened". Excessive actions may be excused by excessive circumstances.''

===Races===
Zakhara is home to a vast array of races, and is almost unique in AD&D [[Forgotten Realms]] for how racially mixed it is. Traditional enmities like those held between dwarves or elves with [[goblinoid]]s have been forgotten, washed away by the culture of enlightenment. As such, many traditionally "evil" races are found as respected, integrated members of society, meaning that Zakhara works well when paired with [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids.

...Of course, this being an AD&D book, the splats present very little effort into telling you HOW the non-human members of Zakhara live or how to play them! After all, that would go against the humanocentric vision of the game, and you're already getting faux-Arabs...

Still, there are some useful things to glean.

The Land of Fate splatbook calls out [[orc]]s, [[kobold]]s, [[ogre]]s, [[hobgoblin]]s, [[lizardfolk]] and [[gnoll]]s as commonly found throughout Zakhara, with [[merfolk]] and [[locathah]] being similarly common in the port cities.

Likewise, the City of Delights splatbook describes the city of Huzuz hosting more unusual creatures, which are certainly justifiable as adding to the PC list: [[Half-Orc|half-orcs]], [[Half-Ogre|half-ogres]], [[Oni|ogre magi]],[[centaur]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[wemic]]s, [[aarakocra]], and [[kenku]].

Said books also state that Zakhara is home to many civilized [[giant]]s, of which the most familiar are hill giants, stone giants, and [[troll]]s.

The City of Delights splatbook furthers this by giving rejiggered level limits and kit suggestions for the most common humanoid PC races, although you still need to pull their stats from the CBoH:
* [[Goblin]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 7, [[Thief]] 12, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, beggar-thief, matrud; hakima, kahin, mystic
* [[Hobgoblin]]: [[Fighter]] 11, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, corsair, desert rider, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; holy slayer; kahin, pragmatist
* [[Kobold]]: [[Fighter]] 8, [[Thief]] 12, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, beggar-thief, matrud, rawun; kahin, mystic, pragmatist
* [[Lizardfolk]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 9, [[Cleric]] 7 corsair, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; beggar-thief, holy slayer, merchant-rogue, rawun; mystic, pragmatist
* [[Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 3; askar, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, matrud, merchant rogue; pragmatist, hakima, kahin
* [[Half-Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 4; askar, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, merchant-rogue; pragmatis, ethoist, kahin
* [[Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, faris, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, matrud, merchant-rogue; pragmatist, ethoist
* [[Half-Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; any Zakharan kit

==Splatbooks==
As settings go, Al-Qadim got a fairly significant array of [[splatbook]]s. The core trinity (officially, core duo, but everybody considers ''City of Delights'' to be a third corebook) consist of ''Arabian Adventures'', ''Land of Fate'' and ''City of Delights'', whilst the rest expanded upon the setting in various ways.

''Arabian Adventures'' is supposed to present AL-Qadim as a general "theme", a way to build your own Arabian Nights-inspired D&D settings, in much the same way as the earlier [[Oriental Adventures]]. It's somewhat undercut because it opens with an examination of the Zakhara as a canon realm, covering in brief the land and its cultures. It also covers building characters, most notably how to adjust races to reflect the unique cultural aspects and prohibited characters, an assortment of new [[kits]], proficiencies and equipment, and new spells, and new setting-related rules, such as calling upon fate, the evil eye, survival in the desert, and how to handle armor vs. the intense tropical heat.

''Land of Fate'' acts as the campaign setting, exhaustively examining the different city states and expanding upon cultural aspects, including religion. it also features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters.

''City of Delights'' fleshes out Huzuz, the capital city of Zakhara, home of its Grand Caliph. It expands upon the city's history and layout, talks about the character of its residents, expands upon daily life and culture, depicts notable figures, includes an examination of how to base a campaign out of Huzuz, and features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters. This boxset is considered most useful for its aside on optional humanoid PCs, providing some slightly tweaked rules for playing [[goblinoid]], [[kobold]], [[lizardfolk]], [[orc]] and [[ogre]] (and their half-breed progeny) PCs. These rules are incomplete, still mandating access to [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids for basic stats, but do expand their classes by comparison.

Naturally, Al-Qadim has its own Monstrous Compendium Appendix - which, ironically, actually doesn't feature any of the monsters that appeared in ''Land of Fate'' or ''City of Delight''.

''[[The Complete Book of|The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook]]'' is an expansion of rules, [[kits]] and other materials for Al-Qadim's native [[wizard]] variants.
==What Happened to it?==
Unlike '''Kara-Tur''', which was rereleased as ''[[The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic]]'' and ''Oriental Adventures'', '''Al-Qadim''' was not updated for [[3e|3e/3.5e]] in any significant way. Precisely why, nobody is sure, but most blame the obvious [[/pol/]]-related issues.

The one element of Al-Qadim that has survived is the [[Sha'ir]]; it received an updated to 3e in [[Dragon Magazine]], and then appeared in Heroes of the Elemental Chaos for [[4e]]. Dragon 321 also had several prestige classes.

==External Links==
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakhara Map of Zakhara]
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakharan_pantheon Al-Qadim Pantheon]

{{Template:D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Forgotten Realms]]

Al-Qadim

2020-05-20T21:11:18Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Remember your punctuation kids.

{{oldschool}}
{{dnd-stub}}
[[Image:AQlogo.gif|center]]
'''Al-Qadim''' is an Arabian style campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in the vein of The Thousand and One Nights. Much like '''[[Kara-Tur]]''' and '''[[Maztica]]''', it was presented as a distant continent on the world of Toril, the homeworld of the [[Forgotten Realms]] Setting. These "mini-settings," as they were, were conceived of as small projects that would allow TSR and GMs to explore alternate campaign settings without making massively different rulesets, species, and classes. Al-Qadim was unusual in that the name did not refer to the continent itself, as it did for the other modules, but to the culture that lived on the continent of Zakhara.

'''TL;DR: AD&D races live in a Hollywood Arabic society. Also, you get to fight YAKMEN. Completely old school.'''

==The Land==
Zakhara is a harsh, tropical continent that lies south of Faerun and southwest of Kara-tur, a land of rugged extremes, girded on all sides by sea.

==The Culture==
Culture in Zakhara is monolithic, and quite obviously based on Medieval Arabia mixed with what can only be called "liberal Islam" so law is secular, women need not dress as modestly (As in not black-coat hangers.) etc. It transcends races; an [[elf]] or a [[dwarf]] in Zakhara follows the same customs and beliefs as a human, an [[orc]] or a [[gnoll]], creating a racially integrated culture unlike almost anything in standard AD&D cultures.

The biggest split in culture in Zakhara is the divide between the Al-Hadhar, the city-dwellers, and the nomadic Al-Badia. Even then, they share roughly the same social stations, cultural norms, beliefs, religions and traditions. Even city-states, whilst imposing their own particular spins on things, still preserve the general precepts of Zakharan culture.

What are those precepts? In short:

*'''Honor:''' Broadly definable as the embodiment of all that is good - honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and so forth - honor is the driving force behind Zakharan life. Every action an individual takes can increase or erode their honor - and an individual's honor colors those of his family as well.
*'''Family:''' The ties of blood, as might be inferred from the precept of Honor, are unbreakable, precious and irreplaceable to Zakharans. This guiding principle of their life is simple; Family Comes First, and the rights of the family supersede the rights of the family's members.
*'''Purity:''' One of the more overtly Islam-inspired aspects of Zakharan culture is the indigent belief that men and women are inherently weak where matters of the heart are concerned. Chastity, at least in the sense of avoiding overt demonstrations of carnal desire, is upheld as a matter of great spiritual and social importance. Whilst women in Zakhara have more rights and freedoms than their Islamic counterparts, it is still expected that they will generally avoid overt displays of desire, and whilst both sexes will veil and cover themselves to avoid enflaming lust, the onus is generally on the part of the women.
*'''Hospitality:''' To put it bluntly, Zakharans believe that generosity brings honor and stinginess erodes it. Thusly, any honorable man (or woman) will strive to be the greatest host they can - whilst visitors are held to similar standards as guests.
*'''Tolerance:''' Closely related in spirit to hospitality, tolerance is highly regarded amongst Zakharans, which has helped their culture to become so widely accepted amongst the different races and enables them to function as a nation of disparate sub-cultures and ethnic groups. Of course, there are limits to how far a Zakharan will extend tolerance, but it is considerable honorable behavior to accept the strangeness of others and respond with, at most, polite curiosity and debate.
*'''Piety:''' Honor and piety are considered inextricably linked; those acts that earn a man honor do so because they revolve around a man behaving in a manner deemed good and right by those who rule the heavens. An honorable man is inherently a pious man, and vice-versa. Thusly, Zakharan tolerance finds a sharp limitation in the face of atheistic beliefs: An individual who does not believe in some higher divinity, by Zakharan reasoning, lacks the moral anchor needed to function in society. Such a person is unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous! Suspicion and hostility will quickly be risen against anyone who is openly apathetic to the existence of the gods.

===Fate, Enlightenment and the Loregiver===
One element of Zakharan culture, oft-mentioned yet little defined, is that of Enlightenment - the Zakharans consider themselves "Enlightened", and all non-Zakharans to be "Unenlightened". So, of course, you're wondering just what the hell is up with that.

Even in the time when Al-Qadim was written, it was considered to be too on the nose to directly refer to certain key Islamic concepts. Instead, Al-Qadim has the Loregiver, a female prophet who, instructed by Fate, wrote the Scroll of Law - a holy text that contains precepts and instructions on how to be an honorable man so clear-cut and obvious that they became the foundation of Zakhara's modern culture. Most notably, the Grand Caliph, the ruler of all Zakhara, holds that position because they supposedly claim descent from the first caliph to find the Scroll of Law and bring the teachings of enlightenment to the people.

Who is Fate? The simplest way to describe it as as the Overpower of the Zakharan pantheon. Fate is viewed as an entity whose power lies outside that of the gods; a female entity who ebodies the natural force that is a part of every man and woman's future. Whilst not to be worshipped like the gods, she aids those who succeed and may comfort those who fail, and the gods themselves defer to her.

===Religion===
The teachings of enlightenment may be the foundation of Zakharan culture, but they do so by attributing at least part of their holiness to the gods. Still, Zakhara is large and, under its veneer of cultural monolithism, it has many subcultures and cults, leading to a uniquely divided pantheon.

Zakharans divide the gods into three categories; Major (or Great), Local (or Common), and Savage (or Heathen).

'''Great/Major Deities''' are those directly referenced in the Scrolls of Law, and thusly their worship has spread across Zakhara. They number eight deities, and are all considered to embody specific ideals regarded as enlightened.
* [[Hajama]]
* [[Hakiyah]]
* [[Haku]]
* [[Jisan]]
* [[Kor]]
* [[Najm]]
* [[Selan]]
* [[Zann]]

'''Local/Common Deities''' are "small" gods of Zakhara; those whose worship is confined to a specific area or ethnicity. They are not as directly tied to the principles of enlightenment, and make up the larger part of the Zakharan "pantheon".
* [[Bala]]
* [[Kahin]]s
* [[Vataqatal]]

'''Savage/Heathen Deities''' are those not directly recognized in the teachings and tales passed down by the Loregiver. These include the Forgotten Gods of Nog and Kadar, the Cold Gods of the Elements ([[Akadi]], [[Grumbar]], [[Istishia]], [[Kossuth]]), the gods of unenlightened Zakharan cultures such as the Hill Tribes and the islanders of the Crowded Sea, and the Ajami (Foreign) Gods - the gods whose faith has been carried to Zakhara by migrants from other lands, predominantly [[Gond]], [[Helm]] (called "Helam" by confused Zakharans) and [[Clangeddin Silverbeard]] (whose diminishing worship amongst Zakharan gods has seen him renamed "Clang").

The unusual nature of the zakharan pantheon has led to two distinct faiths of note; the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods and the League of the Pantheon, or the Pantheist League.

The Ten Thousand Gods Temple takes the polytheistic inclinations of the Zakharans to the extreme; they worship ALL gods, interchangeably and commmunally. Their holy ideal is acceptance; their ethos is that all deities are merely facets of the same divine force. As such, their holy principles are simple:
:''The gods are aspects of a greater holy power. Men and women, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and other creatures - all these mortal beings mirror the diversity of that divine power. All are touched by the same holy radiance. Accept your brothers and sisters. Think well of them and treat them kindly, for they, like you, are divine.''

The Pantheist League is a comparatively small, but powerful, cult which has come to dominate a cluster of cities on the Crowded Sea and along the easten side of the Golden Gulf. They practice a combination of a very fundamentalist view of the common Zakharan faith and a their own unique pantheon; they recognize only the Greater Gods Hajama, Kor, Najm and Selan as "true" gods, alongside their own self-claimed "Greater" God, a local deity named [[Jauhar]]. Hidebound, moralist and dangerous conservative, their ethos preachs a combination of moral superiority and strength through unity:
::''Only by gathering together, and by combining the best talents of the group, can we succeed. Trust your foes to be jealous of your accomplishments. The gods of the Pantheon are the only true gods. All other so-called deities are common creations, and their followers must be "enlightened". Excessive actions may be excused by excessive circumstances.''

===Races===
Zakhara is home to a vast array of races, and is almost unique in AD&D [[Forgotten Realms]] for how racially mixed it is. Traditional enmities like those held between dwarves or elves with [[goblinoid]]s have been forgotten, washed away by the culture of enlightenment. As such, many traditionally "evil" races are found as respected, integrated members of society, meaning that Zakhara works well when paired with [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids.

...Of course, this being an AD&D book, the splats present very little effort into telling you HOW the non-human members of Zakhara live or how to play them! After all, that would go against the humanocentric vision of the game, and you're already getting faux-Arabs...

Still, there are some useful things to glean.

The Land of Fate splatbook calls out [[orc]]s, [[kobold]]s, [[ogre]]s, [[hobgoblin]]s, [[lizardfolk]] and [[gnoll]]s as commonly found throughout Zakhara, with [[merfolk]] and [[locathah]] being similarly common in the port cities.

Likewise, the City of Delights splatbook describes the city of Huzuz hosting more unusual creatures, which are certainly justifiable as adding to the PC list: [[Half-Orc|half-orcs]], [[Half-Ogre|half-ogres]], [[Oni|ogre magi]],[[centaur]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[wemic]]s, [[aarakocra]], and [[kenku]].

Said books also state that Zakhara is home to many civilized [[giant]]s, of which the most familiar are hill giants, stone giants, and [[troll]]s.

The City of Delights splatbook furthers this by giving rejiggered level limits and kit suggestions for the most common humanoid PC races, although you still need to pull their stats from the CBoH:
* [[Goblin]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 7, [[Thief]] 12, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, beggar-thief, matrud; hakima, kahin, mystic
* [[Hobgoblin]]: [[Fighter]] 11, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, corsair, desert rider, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; holy slayer; kahin, pragmatist
* [[Kobold]]: [[Fighter]] 8, [[Thief]] 12, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, beggar-thief, matrud, rawun; kahin, mystic, pragmatist
* [[Lizardfolk]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 9, [[Cleric]] 7 corsair, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; beggar-thief, holy slayer, merchant-rogue, rawun; mystic, pragmatist
* [[Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 3; askar, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, matrud, merchant rogue; pragmatist, hakima, kahin
* [[Half-Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 4; askar, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, merchant-rogue; pragmatis, ethoist, kahin
* [[Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, faris, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, matrud, merchant-rogue; pragmatist, ethoist
* [[Half-Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; any Zakharan kit

==Splatbooks==
As settings go, Al-Qadim got a fairly significant array of [[splatbook]]s. The core trinity (officially, core duo, but everybody considers ''City of Delights'' to be a third corebook) consist of ''Arabian Adventures'', ''Land of Fate'' and ''City of Delights'', whilst the rest expanded upon the setting in various ways.

''Arabian Adventures'' is supposed to present AL-Qadim as a general "theme", a way to build your own Arabian Nights-inspired D&D settings, in much the same way as the earlier [[Oriental Adventures]]. It's somewhat undercut because it opens with an examination of the Zakhara as a canon realm, covering in brief the land and its cultures. It also covers building characters, most notably how to adjust races to reflect the unique cultural aspects and prohibited characters, an assortment of new [[kits]], proficiencies and equipment, and new spells, and new setting-related rules, such as calling upon fate, the evil eye, survival in the desert, and how to handle armor vs. the intense tropical heat.

''Land of Fate'' acts as the campaign setting, exhaustively examining the different city states and expanding upon cultural aspects, including religion. it also features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters.

''City of Delights'' fleshes out Huzuz, the capital city of Zakhara, home of its Grand Caliph. It expands upon the city's history and layout, talks about the character of its residents, expands upon daily life and culture, depicts notable figures, includes an examination of how to base a campaign out of Huzuz, and features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters. This boxset is considered most useful for its aside on optional humanoid PCs, providing some slightly tweaked rules for playing [[goblinoid]], [[kobold]], [[lizardfolk]], [[orc]] and [[ogre]] (and their half-breed progeny) PCs. These rules are incomplete, still mandating access to [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids for basic stats, but do expand their classes by comparison.

Naturally, Al-Qadim has its own Monstrous Compendium Appendix - which, ironically, actually doesn't feature any of the monsters that appeared in ''Land of Fate'' or ''City of Delight''.

''[[The Complete Book of|The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook]]'' is an expansion of rules, [[kits]] and other materials for Al-Qadim's native [[wizard]] variants.
==What Happened to it?==
Unlike '''Kara-Tur''', which was rereleased as ''[[The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic]]'' and ''Oriental Adventures'', '''Al-Qadim''' was not updated for [[3e|3e/3.5e]] in any significant way. Precisely why, nobody is sure, but most blame the obvious [[/pol/]]-related issues.

The one element of Al-Qadim that has survived is the [[Sha'ir]]; it received an updated to 3e in [[Dragon Magazine]], and then appeared in Heroes of the Elemental Chaos for [[4e]]. Dragon 321 also had several prestige classes.

==External Links==
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakhara Map of Zakhara]
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakharan_pantheon Al-Qadim Pantheon]

{{Template:D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Forgotten Realms]]

Al-Qadim

2020-05-20T21:08:06Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}
{{dnd-stub}}
[[Image:AQlogo.gif|center]]
'''Al-Qadim''' is an Arabian style campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in the vein of The Thousand and One Nights. Much like '''[[Kara-Tur]]''' and '''[[Maztica]]''', it was presented as a distant continent on the world of Toril, the homeworld of the [[Forgotten Realms]] Setting. These "mini-settings," as they were, were conceived of as small projects that would allow TSR and GMs to explore alternate campaign settings without making massively different rulesets, species, and classes. Al-Qadim was unusual in that the name did not refer to the continent itself, as it did for the other modules, but to the culture that lived on the continent of Zakhara.

'''TL;DR: AD&D races live in a Hollywood Arabic society. Also, you get to fight YAKMEN. Completely old school.'''

==The Land==
Zakhara is a harsh, tropical continent that lies south of Faerun and southwest of Kara-tur, a land of rugged extremes, girded on all sides by sea.

==The Culture==
Culture in Zakhara is monolithic, and quite obviously based on Medieval Arabia mixed with what can only be called "liberal Islam" so law is secular, women need not dress as modestly etc. It transcends races; an [[elf]] or a [[dwarf]] in Zakhara follows the same customs and beliefs as a human, an [[orc]] or a [[gnoll]], creating a racially integrated culture unlike almost anything in standard AD&D cultures.

The biggest split in culture in Zakhara is the divide between the Al-Hadhar, the city-dwellers, and the nomadic Al-Badia. Even then, they share roughly the same social stations, cultural norms, beliefs, religions and traditions. Even city-states, whilst imposing their own particular spins on things, still preserve the general precepts of Zakharan culture.

What are those precepts? In short:

*'''Honor:''' Broadly definable as the embodiment of all that is good - honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and so forth - honor is the driving force behind Zakharan life. Every action an individual takes can increase or erode their honor - and an individual's honor colors those of his family as well.
*'''Family:''' The ties of blood, as might be inferred from the precept of Honor, are unbreakable, precious and irreplaceable to Zakharans. This guiding principle of their life is simple; Family Comes First, and the rights of the family supersede the rights of the family's members.
*'''Purity:''' One of the more overtly Islam-inspired aspects of Zakharan culture is the indigent belief that men and women are inherently weak where matters of the heart are concerned. Chastity, at least in the sense of avoiding overt demonstrations of carnal desire, is upheld as a matter of great spiritual and social importance. Whilst women in Zakhara have more rights and freedoms than their Islamic counterparts, it is still expected that they will generally avoid overt displays of desire, and whilst both sexes will veil and cover themselves to avoid enflaming lust, the onus is generally on the part of the women.
*'''Hospitality:''' To put it bluntly, Zakharans believe that generosity brings honor and stinginess erodes it. Thusly, any honorable man (or woman) will strive to be the greatest host they can - whilst visitors are held to similar standards as guests.
*'''Tolerance:''' Closely related in spirit to hospitality, tolerance is highly regarded amongst Zakharans, which has helped their culture to become so widely accepted amongst the different races and enables them to function as a nation of disparate sub-cultures and ethnic groups. Of course, there are limits to how far a Zakharan will extend tolerance, but it is considerable honorable behavior to accept the strangeness of others and respond with, at most, polite curiosity and debate.
*'''Piety:''' Honor and piety are considered inextricably linked; those acts that earn a man honor do so because they revolve around a man behaving in a manner deemed good and right by those who rule the heavens. An honorable man is inherently a pious man, and vice-versa. Thusly, Zakharan tolerance finds a sharp limitation in the face of atheistic beliefs: An individual who does not believe in some higher divinity, by Zakharan reasoning, lacks the moral anchor needed to function in society. Such a person is unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous! Suspicion and hostility will quickly be risen against anyone who is openly apathetic to the existence of the gods.

===Fate, Enlightenment and the Loregiver===
One element of Zakharan culture, oft-mentioned yet little defined, is that of Enlightenment - the Zakharans consider themselves "Enlightened", and all non-Zakharans to be "Unenlightened". So, of course, you're wondering just what the hell is up with that.

Even in the time when Al-Qadim was written, it was considered to be too on the nose to directly refer to certain key Islamic concepts. Instead, Al-Qadim has the Loregiver, a female prophet who, instructed by Fate, wrote the Scroll of Law - a holy text that contains precepts and instructions on how to be an honorable man so clear-cut and obvious that they became the foundation of Zakhara's modern culture. Most notably, the Grand Caliph, the ruler of all Zakhara, holds that position because they supposedly claim descent from the first caliph to find the Scroll of Law and bring the teachings of enlightenment to the people.

Who is Fate? The simplest way to describe it as as the Overpower of the Zakharan pantheon. Fate is viewed as an entity whose power lies outside that of the gods; a female entity who ebodies the natural force that is a part of every man and woman's future. Whilst not to be worshipped like the gods, she aids those who succeed and may comfort those who fail, and the gods themselves defer to her.

===Religion===
The teachings of enlightenment may be the foundation of Zakharan culture, but they do so by attributing at least part of their holiness to the gods. Still, Zakhara is large and, under its veneer of cultural monolithism, it has many subcultures and cults, leading to a uniquely divided pantheon.

Zakharans divide the gods into three categories; Major (or Great), Local (or Common), and Savage (or Heathen).

'''Great/Major Deities''' are those directly referenced in the Scrolls of Law, and thusly their worship has spread across Zakhara. They number eight deities, and are all considered to embody specific ideals regarded as enlightened.
* [[Hajama]]
* [[Hakiyah]]
* [[Haku]]
* [[Jisan]]
* [[Kor]]
* [[Najm]]
* [[Selan]]
* [[Zann]]

'''Local/Common Deities''' are "small" gods of Zakhara; those whose worship is confined to a specific area or ethnicity. They are not as directly tied to the principles of enlightenment, and make up the larger part of the Zakharan "pantheon".
* [[Bala]]
* [[Kahin]]s
* [[Vataqatal]]

'''Savage/Heathen Deities''' are those not directly recognized in the teachings and tales passed down by the Loregiver. These include the Forgotten Gods of Nog and Kadar, the Cold Gods of the Elements ([[Akadi]], [[Grumbar]], [[Istishia]], [[Kossuth]]), the gods of unenlightened Zakharan cultures such as the Hill Tribes and the islanders of the Crowded Sea, and the Ajami (Foreign) Gods - the gods whose faith has been carried to Zakhara by migrants from other lands, predominantly [[Gond]], [[Helm]] (called "Helam" by confused Zakharans) and [[Clangeddin Silverbeard]] (whose diminishing worship amongst Zakharan gods has seen him renamed "Clang").

The unusual nature of the zakharan pantheon has led to two distinct faiths of note; the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods and the League of the Pantheon, or the Pantheist League.

The Ten Thousand Gods Temple takes the polytheistic inclinations of the Zakharans to the extreme; they worship ALL gods, interchangeably and commmunally. Their holy ideal is acceptance; their ethos is that all deities are merely facets of the same divine force. As such, their holy principles are simple:
:''The gods are aspects of a greater holy power. Men and women, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and other creatures - all these mortal beings mirror the diversity of that divine power. All are touched by the same holy radiance. Accept your brothers and sisters. Think well of them and treat them kindly, for they, like you, are divine.''

The Pantheist League is a comparatively small, but powerful, cult which has come to dominate a cluster of cities on the Crowded Sea and along the easten side of the Golden Gulf. They practice a combination of a very fundamentalist view of the common Zakharan faith and a their own unique pantheon; they recognize only the Greater Gods Hajama, Kor, Najm and Selan as "true" gods, alongside their own self-claimed "Greater" God, a local deity named [[Jauhar]]. Hidebound, moralist and dangerous conservative, their ethos preachs a combination of moral superiority and strength through unity:
::''Only by gathering together, and by combining the best talents of the group, can we succeed. Trust your foes to be jealous of your accomplishments. The gods of the Pantheon are the only true gods. All other so-called deities are common creations, and their followers must be "enlightened". Excessive actions may be excused by excessive circumstances.''

===Races===
Zakhara is home to a vast array of races, and is almost unique in AD&D [[Forgotten Realms]] for how racially mixed it is. Traditional enmities like those held between dwarves or elves with [[goblinoid]]s have been forgotten, washed away by the culture of enlightenment. As such, many traditionally "evil" races are found as respected, integrated members of society, meaning that Zakhara works well when paired with [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids.

...Of course, this being an AD&D book, the splats present very little effort into telling you HOW the non-human members of Zakhara live or how to play them! After all, that would go against the humanocentric vision of the game, and you're already getting faux-Arabs...

Still, there are some useful things to glean.

The Land of Fate splatbook calls out [[orc]]s, [[kobold]]s, [[ogre]]s, [[hobgoblin]]s, [[lizardfolk]] and [[gnoll]]s as commonly found throughout Zakhara, with [[merfolk]] and [[locathah]] being similarly common in the port cities.

Likewise, the City of Delights splatbook describes the city of Huzuz hosting more unusual creatures, which are certainly justifiable as adding to the PC list: [[Half-Orc|half-orcs]], [[Half-Ogre|half-ogres]], [[Oni|ogre magi]],[[centaur]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[wemic]]s, [[aarakocra]], and [[kenku]].

Said books also state that Zakhara is home to many civilized [[giant]]s, of which the most familiar are hill giants, stone giants, and [[troll]]s.

The City of Delights splatbook furthers this by giving rejiggered level limits and kit suggestions for the most common humanoid PC races, although you still need to pull their stats from the CBoH:
* [[Goblin]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 7, [[Thief]] 12, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, beggar-thief, matrud; hakima, kahin, mystic
* [[Hobgoblin]]: [[Fighter]] 11, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, corsair, desert rider, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; holy slayer; kahin, pragmatist
* [[Kobold]]: [[Fighter]] 8, [[Thief]] 12, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, beggar-thief, matrud, rawun; kahin, mystic, pragmatist
* [[Lizardfolk]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 9, [[Cleric]] 7 corsair, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; beggar-thief, holy slayer, merchant-rogue, rawun; mystic, pragmatist
* [[Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 3; askar, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, matrud, merchant rogue; pragmatist, hakima, kahin
* [[Half-Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 4; askar, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, merchant-rogue; pragmatis, ethoist, kahin
* [[Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, faris, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, matrud, merchant-rogue; pragmatist, ethoist
* [[Half-Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; any Zakharan kit

==Splatbooks==
As settings go, Al-Qadim got a fairly significant array of [[splatbook]]s. The core trinity (officially, core duo, but everybody considers ''City of Delights'' to be a third corebook) consist of ''Arabian Adventures'', ''Land of Fate'' and ''City of Delights'', whilst the rest expanded upon the setting in various ways.

''Arabian Adventures'' is supposed to present AL-Qadim as a general "theme", a way to build your own Arabian Nights-inspired D&D settings, in much the same way as the earlier [[Oriental Adventures]]. It's somewhat undercut because it opens with an examination of the Zakhara as a canon realm, covering in brief the land and its cultures. It also covers building characters, most notably how to adjust races to reflect the unique cultural aspects and prohibited characters, an assortment of new [[kits]], proficiencies and equipment, and new spells, and new setting-related rules, such as calling upon fate, the evil eye, survival in the desert, and how to handle armor vs. the intense tropical heat.

''Land of Fate'' acts as the campaign setting, exhaustively examining the different city states and expanding upon cultural aspects, including religion. it also features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters.

''City of Delights'' fleshes out Huzuz, the capital city of Zakhara, home of its Grand Caliph. It expands upon the city's history and layout, talks about the character of its residents, expands upon daily life and culture, depicts notable figures, includes an examination of how to base a campaign out of Huzuz, and features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters. This boxset is considered most useful for its aside on optional humanoid PCs, providing some slightly tweaked rules for playing [[goblinoid]], [[kobold]], [[lizardfolk]], [[orc]] and [[ogre]] (and their half-breed progeny) PCs. These rules are incomplete, still mandating access to [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids for basic stats, but do expand their classes by comparison.

Naturally, Al-Qadim has its own Monstrous Compendium Appendix - which, ironically, actually doesn't feature any of the monsters that appeared in ''Land of Fate'' or ''City of Delight''.

''[[The Complete Book of|The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook]]'' is an expansion of rules, [[kits]] and other materials for Al-Qadim's native [[wizard]] variants.
==What Happened to it?==
Unlike '''Kara-Tur''', which was rereleased as ''[[The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic]]'' and ''Oriental Adventures'', '''Al-Qadim''' was not updated for [[3e|3e/3.5e]] in any significant way. Precisely why, nobody is sure, but most blame the obvious [[/pol/]]-related issues.

The one element of Al-Qadim that has survived is the [[Sha'ir]]; it received an updated to 3e in [[Dragon Magazine]], and then appeared in Heroes of the Elemental Chaos for [[4e]]. Dragon 321 also had several prestige classes.

==External Links==
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakhara Map of Zakhara]
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakharan_pantheon Al-Qadim Pantheon]

{{Template:D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Forgotten Realms]]

Al-Qadim

2020-05-20T21:05:24Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{oldschool}}
{{dnd-stub}}
[[Image:AQlogo.gif|center]]
'''Al-Qadim''' is an Arabian style campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in the vein of The Thousand and One Nights. Much like '''[[Kara-Tur]]''' and '''[[Maztica]]''', it was presented as a distant continent on the world of Toril, the homeworld of the [[Forgotten Realms]] Setting. These "mini-settings," as they were, were conceived of as small projects that would allow TSR and GMs to explore alternate campaign settings without making massively different rulesets, species, and classes. Al-Qadim was unusual in that the name did not refer to the continent itself, as it did for the other modules, but to the culture that lived on the continent of Zakhara.

'''TL;DR: AD&D races live in a Hollywood Arabic society. Also, you get to fight YAKMEN. Completely old school.'''

==The Land==
Zakhara is a harsh, tropical continent that lies south of Faerun and southwest of Kara-tur, a land of rugged extremes, girded on all sides by sea.

==The Culture==
Culture in Zakhara is monolithic, and quite obviously based on Medieval Arabia mixed with what can only be called "liberal Islam". It transcends races; an [[elf]] or a [[dwarf]] in Zakhara follows the same customs and beliefs as a human, an [[orc]] or a [[gnoll]], creating a racially integrated culture unlike almost anything in standard AD&D cultures.

The biggest split in culture in Zakhara is the divide between the Al-Hadhar, the city-dwellers, and the nomadic Al-Badia. Even then, they share roughly the same social stations, cultural norms, beliefs, religions and traditions. Even city-states, whilst imposing their own particular spins on things, still preserve the general precepts of Zakharan culture.

What are those precepts? In short:

*'''Honor:''' Broadly definable as the embodiment of all that is good - honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and so forth - honor is the driving force behind Zakharan life. Every action an individual takes can increase or erode their honor - and an individual's honor colors those of his family as well.
*'''Family:''' The ties of blood, as might be inferred from the precept of Honor, are unbreakable, precious and irreplaceable to Zakharans. This guiding principle of their life is simple; Family Comes First, and the rights of the family supersede the rights of the family's members.
*'''Purity:''' One of the more overtly Islam-inspired aspects of Zakharan culture is the indigent belief that men and women are inherently weak where matters of the heart are concerned. Chastity, at least in the sense of avoiding overt demonstrations of carnal desire, is upheld as a matter of great spiritual and social importance. Whilst women in Zakhara have more rights and freedoms than their Islamic counterparts, it is still expected that they will generally avoid overt displays of desire, and whilst both sexes will veil and cover themselves to avoid enflaming lust, the onus is generally on the part of the women.
*'''Hospitality:''' To put it bluntly, Zakharans believe that generosity brings honor and stinginess erodes it. Thusly, any honorable man (or woman) will strive to be the greatest host they can - whilst visitors are held to similar standards as guests.
*'''Tolerance:''' Closely related in spirit to hospitality, tolerance is highly regarded amongst Zakharans, which has helped their culture to become so widely accepted amongst the different races and enables them to function as a nation of disparate sub-cultures and ethnic groups. Of course, there are limits to how far a Zakharan will extend tolerance, but it is considerable honorable behavior to accept the strangeness of others and respond with, at most, polite curiosity and debate.
*'''Piety:''' Honor and piety are considered inextricably linked; those acts that earn a man honor do so because they revolve around a man behaving in a manner deemed good and right by those who rule the heavens. An honorable man is inherently a pious man, and vice-versa. Thusly, Zakharan tolerance finds a sharp limitation in the face of atheistic beliefs: An individual who does not believe in some higher divinity, by Zakharan reasoning, lacks the moral anchor needed to function in society. Such a person is unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous! Suspicion and hostility will quickly be risen against anyone who is openly apathetic to the existence of the gods.

===Fate, Enlightenment and the Loregiver===
One element of Zakharan culture, oft-mentioned yet little defined, is that of Enlightenment - the Zakharans consider themselves "Enlightened", and all non-Zakharans to be "Unenlightened". So, of course, you're wondering just what the hell is up with that.

Even in the time when Al-Qadim was written, it was considered to be too on the nose to directly refer to certain key Islamic concepts. Instead, Al-Qadim has the Loregiver, a female prophet who, instructed by Fate, wrote the Scroll of Law - a holy text that contains precepts and instructions on how to be an honorable man so clear-cut and obvious that they became the foundation of Zakhara's modern culture. Most notably, the Grand Caliph, the ruler of all Zakhara, holds that position because they supposedly claim descent from the first caliph to find the Scroll of Law and bring the teachings of enlightenment to the people.

Who is Fate? The simplest way to describe it as as the Overpower of the Zakharan pantheon. Fate is viewed as an entity whose power lies outside that of the gods; a female entity who ebodies the natural force that is a part of every man and woman's future. Whilst not to be worshipped like the gods, she aids those who succeed and may comfort those who fail, and the gods themselves defer to her.

===Religion===
The teachings of enlightenment may be the foundation of Zakharan culture, but they do so by attributing at least part of their holiness to the gods. Still, Zakhara is large and, under its veneer of cultural monolithism, it has many subcultures and cults, leading to a uniquely divided pantheon.

Zakharans divide the gods into three categories; Major (or Great), Local (or Common), and Savage (or Heathen).

'''Great/Major Deities''' are those directly referenced in the Scrolls of Law, and thusly their worship has spread across Zakhara. They number eight deities, and are all considered to embody specific ideals regarded as enlightened.
* [[Hajama]]
* [[Hakiyah]]
* [[Haku]]
* [[Jisan]]
* [[Kor]]
* [[Najm]]
* [[Selan]]
* [[Zann]]

'''Local/Common Deities''' are "small" gods of Zakhara; those whose worship is confined to a specific area or ethnicity. They are not as directly tied to the principles of enlightenment, and make up the larger part of the Zakharan "pantheon".
* [[Bala]]
* [[Kahin]]s
* [[Vataqatal]]

'''Savage/Heathen Deities''' are those not directly recognized in the teachings and tales passed down by the Loregiver. These include the Forgotten Gods of Nog and Kadar, the Cold Gods of the Elements ([[Akadi]], [[Grumbar]], [[Istishia]], [[Kossuth]]), the gods of unenlightened Zakharan cultures such as the Hill Tribes and the islanders of the Crowded Sea, and the Ajami (Foreign) Gods - the gods whose faith has been carried to Zakhara by migrants from other lands, predominantly [[Gond]], [[Helm]] (called "Helam" by confused Zakharans) and [[Clangeddin Silverbeard]] (whose diminishing worship amongst Zakharan gods has seen him renamed "Clang").

The unusual nature of the zakharan pantheon has led to two distinct faiths of note; the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods and the League of the Pantheon, or the Pantheist League.

The Ten Thousand Gods Temple takes the polytheistic inclinations of the Zakharans to the extreme; they worship ALL gods, interchangeably and commmunally. Their holy ideal is acceptance; their ethos is that all deities are merely facets of the same divine force. As such, their holy principles are simple:
:''The gods are aspects of a greater holy power. Men and women, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and other creatures - all these mortal beings mirror the diversity of that divine power. All are touched by the same holy radiance. Accept your brothers and sisters. Think well of them and treat them kindly, for they, like you, are divine.''

The Pantheist League is a comparatively small, but powerful, cult which has come to dominate a cluster of cities on the Crowded Sea and along the easten side of the Golden Gulf. They practice a combination of a very fundamentalist view of the common Zakharan faith and a their own unique pantheon; they recognize only the Greater Gods Hajama, Kor, Najm and Selan as "true" gods, alongside their own self-claimed "Greater" God, a local deity named [[Jauhar]]. Hidebound, moralist and dangerous conservative, their ethos preachs a combination of moral superiority and strength through unity:
::''Only by gathering together, and by combining the best talents of the group, can we succeed. Trust your foes to be jealous of your accomplishments. The gods of the Pantheon are the only true gods. All other so-called deities are common creations, and their followers must be "enlightened". Excessive actions may be excused by excessive circumstances.''

===Races===
Zakhara is home to a vast array of races, and is almost unique in AD&D [[Forgotten Realms]] for how racially mixed it is. Traditional enmities like those held between dwarves or elves with [[goblinoid]]s have been forgotten, washed away by the culture of enlightenment. As such, many traditionally "evil" races are found as respected, integrated members of society, meaning that Zakhara works well when paired with [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids.

...Of course, this being an AD&D book, the splats present very little effort into telling you HOW the non-human members of Zakhara live or how to play them! After all, that would go against the humanocentric vision of the game, and you're already getting faux-Arabs...

Still, there are some useful things to glean.

The Land of Fate splatbook calls out [[orc]]s, [[kobold]]s, [[ogre]]s, [[hobgoblin]]s, [[lizardfolk]] and [[gnoll]]s as commonly found throughout Zakhara, with [[merfolk]] and [[locathah]] being similarly common in the port cities.

Likewise, the City of Delights splatbook describes the city of Huzuz hosting more unusual creatures, which are certainly justifiable as adding to the PC list: [[Half-Orc|half-orcs]], [[Half-Ogre|half-ogres]], [[Oni|ogre magi]],[[centaur]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[wemic]]s, [[aarakocra]], and [[kenku]].

Said books also state that Zakhara is home to many civilized [[giant]]s, of which the most familiar are hill giants, stone giants, and [[troll]]s.

The City of Delights splatbook furthers this by giving rejiggered level limits and kit suggestions for the most common humanoid PC races, although you still need to pull their stats from the CBoH:
* [[Goblin]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 7, [[Thief]] 12, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, beggar-thief, matrud; hakima, kahin, mystic
* [[Hobgoblin]]: [[Fighter]] 11, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, corsair, desert rider, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; holy slayer; kahin, pragmatist
* [[Kobold]]: [[Fighter]] 8, [[Thief]] 12, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, beggar-thief, matrud, rawun; kahin, mystic, pragmatist
* [[Lizardfolk]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 9, [[Cleric]] 7 corsair, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; beggar-thief, holy slayer, merchant-rogue, rawun; mystic, pragmatist
* [[Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 3; askar, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, matrud, merchant rogue; pragmatist, hakima, kahin
* [[Half-Ogre]]: [[Fighter]] 12, [[Sha'ir]] 7, [[Thief]] 10, [[Cleric]] 4; askar, faris, mamluk, mercenary barbarian; sha'ir; sa'luk, merchant-rogue; pragmatis, ethoist, kahin
* [[Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Thief]] 11, [[Cleric]] 9; askar, desert rider, faris, mercenary barbarian; sa'luk, barber, matrud, merchant-rogue; pragmatist, ethoist
* [[Half-Orc]]: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Ranger]] 5, [[Sha'ir]] 5, [[Thief]] 11, [[Bard]] 6, [[Cleric]] 9; any Zakharan kit

==Splatbooks==
As settings go, Al-Qadim got a fairly significant array of [[splatbook]]s. The core trinity (officially, core duo, but everybody considers ''City of Delights'' to be a third corebook) consist of ''Arabian Adventures'', ''Land of Fate'' and ''City of Delights'', whilst the rest expanded upon the setting in various ways.

''Arabian Adventures'' is supposed to present AL-Qadim as a general "theme", a way to build your own Arabian Nights-inspired D&D settings, in much the same way as the earlier [[Oriental Adventures]]. It's somewhat undercut because it opens with an examination of the Zakhara as a canon realm, covering in brief the land and its cultures. It also covers building characters, most notably how to adjust races to reflect the unique cultural aspects and prohibited characters, an assortment of new [[kits]], proficiencies and equipment, and new spells, and new setting-related rules, such as calling upon fate, the evil eye, survival in the desert, and how to handle armor vs. the intense tropical heat.

''Land of Fate'' acts as the campaign setting, exhaustively examining the different city states and expanding upon cultural aspects, including religion. it also features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters.

''City of Delights'' fleshes out Huzuz, the capital city of Zakhara, home of its Grand Caliph. It expands upon the city's history and layout, talks about the character of its residents, expands upon daily life and culture, depicts notable figures, includes an examination of how to base a campaign out of Huzuz, and features a bestiary with a number of uniquely Zakharan monsters. This boxset is considered most useful for its aside on optional humanoid PCs, providing some slightly tweaked rules for playing [[goblinoid]], [[kobold]], [[lizardfolk]], [[orc]] and [[ogre]] (and their half-breed progeny) PCs. These rules are incomplete, still mandating access to [[The Complete Book of]] Humanoids for basic stats, but do expand their classes by comparison.

Naturally, Al-Qadim has its own Monstrous Compendium Appendix - which, ironically, actually doesn't feature any of the monsters that appeared in ''Land of Fate'' or ''City of Delight''.

''[[The Complete Book of|The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook]]'' is an expansion of rules, [[kits]] and other materials for Al-Qadim's native [[wizard]] variants.
==What Happened to it?==
Unlike '''Kara-Tur''', which was rereleased as ''[[The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic]]'' and ''Oriental Adventures'', '''Al-Qadim''' was not updated for [[3e|3e/3.5e]] in any significant way. Precisely why, nobody is sure, but most blame the obvious [[/pol/]]-related issues.

The one element of Al-Qadim that has survived is the [[Sha'ir]]; it received an updated to 3e in [[Dragon Magazine]], and then appeared in Heroes of the Elemental Chaos for [[4e]]. Dragon 321 also had several prestige classes.

==External Links==
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakhara Map of Zakhara]
*[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakharan_pantheon Al-Qadim Pantheon]

{{Template:D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Forgotten Realms]]

Guardinal

2020-05-19T16:51:25Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Purging furfag heresy.

[[Dungeons & Dragons]], despite having a diverse array of demons and devils to fill the ranks of its evil extraplanar monsters list, has always struggled to make meaningful entries into its list for the opposing team. Perhaps in no small part because of the game's reputation as a refuge for [[murderhobo]]s? Regardless, to fill the obligatory slot for Neutral Good angels, D&D has traditionally relied upon the Guardinals, a race of benevolent outsiders who just so happen to appear as a melding of man and beast, usually making use of some positive symbolism related to the animal.

Needless to say, '''Guardinals''' get a lot of mockery as being, essentially, "[[furry]] angels". Making matters worse, D&D artwork for Guardinals traditionally goes in the direction of... well, let's be honest: fucking ''ugly''. If they had to make furry angels, they might have been better off getting actual furries to do the artwork; at least they might have looked somewhat decent.
Guardinals first appeared in the [[Blood War]]s card game way back in 1995, and then made the jump over to the [[Planescape]] Monstrous Compendium Appendix II in the same year. They went on to be further detailed in 1999's "Warriors of Heaven". After that, they slowly migrated over to 3rd edition, scattered across several sourcebooks; the Monster Manual 1 and 2, Manual of the Planes, and [[Book of Exalted Deeds]].

The Guardinals are ruled by a group of Patrons - basically epic level demigod members of their race - most known for their brodom with each other, to the point it's implied they're basically an epic tier Good-aligned adventuring party.

==Avoral==
Bird-based avian angels, the avorals hold the honor of being both the first guardianal to make the transition to 3rd edition and the one to make the most appearances in 3e in general (Monster Manual 3e and 3.5, Savage Species, Planar Handbook), the only one to receive attention as a player race, and for going through the most Patrons between sourcebooks - from Duke Windheir in the Blood Wars card game to Zvestra in the Warriors of Heaven splatbook to Duchess Sathia in the [[Book of Exalted Deeds]]. Avorals make up the scouts of the guardinal forces, using their flight and keen eyesight. They are perhaps best known for being one of the most fucking ugly guardinals of all.

Sathia the Sky Duchess is a CR 26 celestial best known for serving as a patron & muse to painters and sculpters, with a keen eye for artwork.

==Cervidal==
The [[satyr]]-like cervidals are said to make up the bulk of the guardinal "armies", being the closest things they have to professional soldiers. Despite this, they didn't make it into 3rd edition until the Monster Manual 2.

Manath, the Horned Duke, is the second Cervidal Patron to be named in Planescape lore thus far, having taken over from Lord Rhanok (who had the job in AD&D and his own card). The in-universe newest member of the team, he's only CR 20 and feels he has much to learn about his new role, though if he's intimidated at the prospect, he certainly doesn't act it. He's certainly nothing like his curmudgeonly predecessor, which his partners appreciate.

==Equinal==
One of the last races to make the edition jump, not appearing until the [[Book of Exalted Deeds]], the equinals are big, good-natured boisterous bruisers who like testing their strength and bashing evil-doers upside the head. They had to wait until the Book of Exalted Deeds to get an appearance in 3rd edition.

As with the Cervidals, their original Patron was lost with the edition change, Lord Hwhyn being replaced by Vhara, the Duchess of the Fields; a 15ft tall CR 24 female equinal who adores flowers (especially gifted bouquets) and hides a generous, emotional nature behind a facade of being aloof and somewhat domineering. Despite this, she's a skillful brawler who can easily tear through small armies of evil humanoids with her bare hands. Hooves. Whatever.

==Leonal==
Essentially a race of leonic [[paladin]]s, leonals are the unofficial leaders of all guardinals, and so their Prince, Talisid the Celestial Lion, has been in charge of them all since he first appeared in Blood Wars. In fact, he's so prominent and powerful - CR 30! - that the band of Guardinal Patrons are officially known as "Talisid and the Five Companions".

Leonals first appeared in the Manual of Planes for 3e, but were reprinted alongside their avoral buddies in the 3.5 Monster Manual.

==Lupinal==
Angelic wolf-people who constantly hunt down evil. Like the cervidals, despite their commonness amongst the Upper Planes, they didn't appear until the Monster Manual II.

Their Patron, Duke Lucan, was replaced by Kharash the Stalker in 3.5, a CR 22 monster who's essentially a good-aligned assassin/ranger multiclassed character.

==Musteval==
A race newly added to the guardinal ranks in the [[Book of Exalted Deeds]], their newcomer status is lampshaded by noting that "The Companions" have never had any Musteval Patrons in their ranks, but they're sure that'll change soon. The smallest of all guardinals at only 2ft tall, these humanoid ferrets are essentially an entire race of golden-hearted rogues.

==Ursinal==
Bearlike guardinals whose benevolent wisdom leads to them serving as the scholars, philosophers and record-keepers of Elysium in general and the guardinals in particular. They are still 8ft tall bear-people and more than capable of slapping you upside the head if you're an evil prick, however.

Originally lead by Duchess Callisto, she was replaced in the Book of Exalted Deeds - the race's first reappearance in 3rd edition - by Bharrai, the Great Bear. An 18 foot tall, near max-level wizard with god-like intelligence and a bevvy of other powers that make her Challenge Rating ''28''.

==Agathions==
Because [[Pathfinder]] never met a D&D 3e element it couldn't try to rip off, it eventually created its own race of Neutral Good celestial furries, and called them Agathions. Credit where it's due, at least they look better than the Guardinals did.

Agathions inhabit the plane of Pure Good, [[Nirvana]], and are all the ascended souls of former Neutral Good mortals. They are aggressive and interventionist in the mortal world when it comes to dealing with evil, and their philosophical acceptance of both Order and Chaos whilst subordinate to Good means they often serve as go-betweens and diplomats for the more opinionated Lawful Good and Chaotic Good celestials, such as [[Archon]]s and [[Eladrin|Azatas]], soothing hot tempers and working toward mutual goals of vanquishing evil and protecting good.

All agathions have an animal-like aspect. Some are more humanoid in appearance, while others spend their entire existence in a form nearly identical to that of a true animal. Each type of agathion serves a particular role in Nirvana, and their duties on other planes echo these responsibilities. Agathions are proud of their feral aspects and don’t take kindly to the suggestion that they are cursed folk like lycanthropes or nothing more than magical talking beasts. Every agathion was once a mortal who aspired to goodness and was rewarded in the afterlife with a form suiting her talents and personality; suggesting that an agathion’s form is a kind of punishment is a terrible insult.

As with all Pathfinder outsiders, a massive array of guardinals exist; the ones below merely document the types that have been described so far. Other types exist beyond these, corresponding to other conventional animals (bears, dinosaurs, fish, wolves, and so on), with a few having shapes that resemble insects (particularly beetles, butterflies, and mantises); a handful resemble stranger creatures (such as basilisks and owlbears) or unique “animals” native to extreme environments on distant worlds. Certain animals, particularly those associated with scavenging activities (such as hyenas, buzzards, or jackals) or parasitism (like lampreys or ticks) specifically do not have agathions associated with them—these animals are not intrinsically evil, but their habits and ecological niches are far from the noble and proud traditions that most of the souls who seek enlightenment upon Nirvana would associate with themselves.

Individual agathions may be male or female, but they do not reproduce among their own kind—every agathion is a unique individual made from the soul of a good mortal. This does not prevent them from falling in love or having affairs with mortals, and a few [[aasimar]] and [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|celestial sorcerer bloodlines]] derive from past contact with agathions, particularly among communities not averse to anthropomorphic humanoids. Indeed, many mythologies tie numerous races of this kind to the inevitable result of human tribes forming strong emotional attachments to visiting agathions.

Most of the agathion breeds were revealed in the Pathfinder Bestiary 2, with others creeping in with subsequent [[splatbook]]s.

The Bestiary 2 species can be considered the "Core" agathions, and consist of the following:
* '''Avorals''' are eagle-featured agathions that serve as the scouts, spies, and messengers of the agathions. They resemble humans with hand-bearing wings for arms, bird-like legs, a feathery cowl in lieu of hair, and human but "avian" facial features; a prominent nose reminiscent of a beak and piercing eyes.
* '''Cetaceals''' are orca-featured agathions charged with defending the seas and the aquatic races against evil aquatic creatures, such as [[sahuagin]] and [[aboleth]]s. They resemble huge [[merfolk]] with the lower bodies of orcas and the black & white skin-tone extending to their humanoid upper torsos.
* '''Draconals''' are amongst the rarest and most powerful of the agathions, serving as direct servitors of the Neutral Good deities and embodying mystical elements relating to energy, life, and the natural world. They resemble humanoid dragons, with wings, reptilian muzzles, tails, scaly skin and dragon-like hides. They come in five different colors, Black, Green, Red, White and Yellow, and each color is associated with a different mystical aspect. These colors are normally chromatic rather than metallic, and an ignorant person seeing a draconal’s colors may mistake her for an evil [[half-dragon]]. However, some draconals have metallic or gem-like coloration; for example, a yellow draconal may appear mustard yellow or metallic gold, while a white draconal may be chalk white, pearlescent white, or metallic silver. Draconals can change their coloration after a lengthy period of meditation, but normally only do this in response to some horrible evil that requires their direct intervention. This change affects the draconals’ personality, and may alter their physical shape or apparent gender. In a sense, draconals are based on [[Oriental Dragon]] lore, although they visually look more like the classic [[Chromatic Dragon]] or [[Metallic Dragon]].
** Black is a balance between male and female energy, and represents the sky, stars, immortality, and leadership. Black draconals are immune to fire damage, and their breath weapon is fire.
** Green is slightly skewed toward masculinity. It represents wood, plants, and flowers. Green draconals are immune to cold damage, and their breath weapon is cold.
** Red is a strongly masculine color, and most red draconals are male or have aggressive or gregarious personalities. Red represents fire, light, and warding against bad luck. Red draconals are immune to fire damage, and their breath weapon is fire.
** White is slightly skewed toward femininity, and most white draconals are female or have protective or serene personalities. White represents brightness, fulfillment, metal, mourning, and purity. White draconals are immune to cold damage, and their breath weapon is cold.
** Like black, yellow is a balance between male and female energy. Yellow represents earth, oracles, stone, and luck. Yellow draconals are immune to acid, and their breath weapon is acid.
* '''Leonals''' are, as their name suggests, humanoid lions who vary between actively hunting down agents of evil and simply guarding areas against the depredation of evil. Both roles are equally respected.
* '''Silvanshees''' are the smallest and weakest of their ilk, taking on a form that resembles a somewhat [[fey]]-looking cat. They often serve as [[familiar]]s to goodly aligned [[mage]]s, which fits in well with their role; they are the spies of Nirvana, wandering the world in secret to act as its eyes and ears against evil influences.
* '''Vulpinals''' are charming, charismatic humanoid foxes who serve as the [[bard]]s and sages of Nirvana, often working closely with [[lillend]]i. Ironically, they're Small-sized, meaning the charming fox troubador is technically only the size of a [[gnome]] or a [[halfling]].

'''Bishop Agathions'''' resemble a strange melding point of man and fish; a roughly piscine body shape, but with webbed limbs instead of fins and a weirdly human face. They serve as go-betweens for the angelic powers of the land and the sea, being amphibious enough that they can safely move between the two environments. Appearing in the adventure "Shards of Sin", they were most likely based on the Sea-Monk, a Renaissance-era mythical creature of Europe.

'''Cervaprals''' are humanoid antelopes who embody the essence of liberty and are passionately devoted to both the overthrow of tyranny and the abolition of slavery. They have no moral objection to the concepts of royalty or nobility, but hold any group that is granted authority through inheritance or tradition to a very high standard, insisting that the rights of the ruled must be protected at least as strongly as the rights of the rulers. As you can probably tell from this, Cervaprals appeared in the [[splatbook]] dedicated to Andoran, the "America/Democracy, Fuck Yeah!" region of [[Golarion]].

'''Cervinals''', not to be confused with Cervaprals, are a [[centaur]]-like agathion who consist of a humanoid upper body (with stag-like antlers growing from the head) sprouting from the neck & shoulders of a massive elk. They are sometimes termed the “knights” of the agathions, having gained a reputation for their battle prowess, noble natures, and admirable wisdom, as well as their fearlessness and willingness to lead from the front, serving as either general or elite warrior depending on the situation. Cervinals were first mentioned in the "Chronicle of the Righteous", and were reprinted in the Bestiary 5.

'''Chelonidals''' are humanoid sea turtles who serve as Nivana's guardians and foot soldiers; when roused to war, they are powerful, well-armored troopers. Ironically, chelonidals assigned to guard places in the mortal world have a well-documented tendency to fall in love with mortals they interact with, leading to the birth of idyllkin [[aasimar]]; if this happens, the chelonidal's priorities change to safeguarding and looking after the child(ren), as whilst they are dutiful and protective by nature, family comes first. This agathion breed appeared in the adventure "The Lost Outpost".

'''Muldnals''' are humanoid moles who, having formed from the souls of farmers and miners, work to guard and maintain the underground regions of Nirvana and tend to the health of that plane's soil. On the material plane, they have been known to attend sites of magical power associated with agriculture and nature. Although small and inoffensive looking, Muldnals possess a paralytic bite and potent(ish) [[druid]]ic magic over the earth, the plants and small animals, which they use to defend themselves and their charges. Muldnals were first detailed in the adventure "Assault on Longshadow".

'''Procyals''' are humanoid raccoons who embody the positive aspects of civilization, and seek to guide cities to achieve that perfect state in which the city and its inhabitants symbiotically support and strengthen each other. They believe that individuals can be truly happy or free only within a society when they have access to luxury, commerce, and choice, and that society basically exists as a structure centered on the freedom of the individuals within. Procyals see some administrations as fundamentally better than others: democratic groups and wise councils are among their favorite forms of government, while dictatorships, monarchies, and military states must ultimately be replaced. They appeared in the adventure "Dance of the Damned".

'''Reptials''' are curious and benevolent scholars of Nirvana. They spend their time collecting holy relics, no matter how minor, and can store some of their knowledge within a chosen relic. They keep most of these relics for themselves, but individual reptials have been known to distribute particularly useful pieces to good-aligned individuals and temples that are enduring difficult trials. These agathions, who resemble humanoid iguanas, appeared in the Bestiary 5.

Whilst the above represent the official Agathions, "Wayfinder", the Pathfinder fanzine, has also hosted some fan made additions; issue #8 houses the jellyfish-like '''Aequoreals''', dreamy sages of Nirvana's oceans, and #9 houses the '''Chiropteals''', halfling-sized humanoid bats who look after the goodly races of the Golarion [[Underdark]], namely [[svirfneblin]].

==Gallery==
;Guardinal Lords
<center>
<gallery>
File:Guardinal Patron - Talisid.jpg|The closest thing to a "king" of the Guardinals, and for very good reason.
File:Guardinal Patron - Manath.jpeg|He's witty, charming and can headbutt illusions so hard they dissipate.
File:Guardinal Patron - Sathia.jpg|Yes, she's naked. Yes, you wish she wasn't.
File:Guardinal Patron - Kharash.jpg|He likes hunting. A lot.
File:Guardinal Patron - Bharrai.jpg|She's 18ft tall, a level 18 wizard, has Int 30, and is CR 28. You may now commence praying for mercy.
File:Guardinal Patron - Vhara.jpg|Before you get your fur-smiting staff, remember that she's 15ft tall, CR 24, and ready to literally stomp your ass into the grass. She also likes flowers.
</gallery>
</center>

;Agathions
<center>
<gallery>
File:Agathion, Vulpinal.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

{{D&D-Outsiders}}

The World Wars

2020-05-17T00:52:03Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when Industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!). Things changed in 1914 when Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War. '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: Technology and Nationalism. Technology is the easier of the two to understand, in the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-6 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Sub Machine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of it's population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London who's dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich who's mom is jewish" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened, they and their family were not majorly harmed and they ended up with a new noble house in charge, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion (Not to beconfused with the Boxer rebellion.) in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain (Kind Of), and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms (Like true comrades). The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the infamous Yugoslav nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia(Biggest Yugoslav country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli and declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

== The Interwar ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace; he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Fortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vaugue ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (Even shittier proto-United Nations). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that and was taken over by communists after a civil war, while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success. This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems), which further hindered recovery. The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of the Nazi (National Socialists German Workers Party) party and a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war. And ideals of peace and disarmamemt certainly somewhat popular in the UK and France.

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China and becasue Japan wanted to take over China and Korea since its been a unified country. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went. The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all but one of the US carriers which only suffered minor damaged, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, began winning the war of attrition, and were able to roll back the IJA and push back the IJN to the home islands.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, people thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians, rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the Japanese "civilians" who would be mobilized into militias and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the atom burn hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some angry Illyrians in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing. Germany was still the one to go to war with Belgium and get the British involved so they could certainly take some blame.) All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and is widely considered a wasteful war as winnings were slim on the Allied side. If Russia didn't get involved or if the Axis didn't go for Belgium or if Italy either started under the allies or stayed in the axis or if Italy was the cause of WW1 as it likely would have been depending on how things would have continued in AH if the either the Duke dying didn't result in a war or if the Duke was never assasinated a war with one side getting a much greater victory could have transpired.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again and even cracked down on small mutinies arising. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did.

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2020-05-17T00:51:13Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when Industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!). Things changed in 1914 when Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War. '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: Technology and Nationalism. Technology is the easier of the two to understand, in the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-6 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Sub Machine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of it's population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London who's dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich who's mom is jewish" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened, they and their family were not majorly harmed and they ended up with a new noble house in charge, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain (Kind Of), and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms (Like true comrades). The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the infamous Yugoslav nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia(Biggest Yugoslav country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli and declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

== The Interwar ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace; he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Fortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vaugue ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (Even shittier proto-United Nations). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that and was taken over by communists after a civil war, while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success. This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems), which further hindered recovery. The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of the Nazi (National Socialists German Workers Party) party and a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war. And ideals of peace and disarmamemt certainly somewhat popular in the UK and France.

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China and becasue Japan wanted to take over China and Korea since its been a unified country. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went. The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all but one of the US carriers which only suffered minor damaged, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, began winning the war of attrition, and were able to roll back the IJA and push back the IJN to the home islands.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, people thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians, rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the Japanese "civilians" who would be mobilized into militias and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the atom burn hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some angry Illyrians in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing. Germany was still the one to go to war with Belgium and get the British involved so they could certainly take some blame.) All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and is widely considered a wasteful war as winnings were slim on the Allied side. If Russia didn't get involved or if the Axis didn't go for Belgium or if Italy either started under the allies or stayed in the axis or if Italy was the cause of WW1 as it likely would have been depending on how things would have continued in AH if the either the Duke dying didn't result in a war or if the Duke was never assasinated a war with one side getting a much greater victory could have transpired.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again and even cracked down on small mutinies arising. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did.

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2020-05-17T00:29:58Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when Industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!). Things changed in 1914 when Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War. '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: Technology and Nationalism. Technology is the easier of the two to understand, in the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-6 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Sub Machine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of it's population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London who's dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich who's mom is jewish" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened, they and their family were not majorly harmed and they ended up with a new noble house in charge, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms. The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the infamous Yugoslav nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia(Biggest Yugoslav country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli and declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

== The Interwar ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace; he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Fortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vaugue ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (Even shittier proto-United Nations). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that and was taken over by communists after a civil war, while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success. This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems), which further hindered recovery. The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of the Nazi party and a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war.

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went. The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all the US carriers, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, began winning the war of attrition, and were able to roll back the IJA and push back the IJN to the home islands.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, governments thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians (who the American public generally either didn't care about, or even blamed for not forcing their government into peace), rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the aforementioned civilians and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the atom burn hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some damn fool thing in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. The actual fighting was approached in the most bull-headed idiotic way possible, trying to force 19th century Napoleonic tactics to work with 20th century weapons. When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing). All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and was quite possibly the most pointless and wasteful war in all of human history.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did.

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2020-05-17T00:25:57Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when Industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!). Things changed in 1914 when Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War. '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: Technology and Nationalism. Technology is the easier of the two to understand, in the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-6 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Sub Machine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of it's population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London who's dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich who's mom is jewish" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened, they and their family were not majorly harmed and they ended up with a new noble house in charge, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms. The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the infamous Yugoslav nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia(Biggest Yugoslav country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli and declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

== The Interwar ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace; he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Unfortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established. Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that and was taken over by communists after a civil war, while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success. This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems), which further hindered recovery. The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of the Nazi party and a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war.

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went. The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all the US carriers, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, began winning the war of attrition, and were able to roll back the IJA and push back the IJN to the home islands.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, governments thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians (who the American public generally either didn't care about, or even blamed for not forcing their government into peace), rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the aforementioned civilians and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the atom burn hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some damn fool thing in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. The actual fighting was approached in the most bull-headed idiotic way possible, trying to force 19th century Napoleonic tactics to work with 20th century weapons. When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing). All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and was quite possibly the most pointless and wasteful war in all of human history.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did.

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2020-05-17T00:25:14Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when Industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!). Things changed in 1914 when Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War. '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: Technology and Nationalism. Technology is the easier of the two to understand, in the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-4 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Sub Machine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of it's population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London who's dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich who's mom is jewish" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened, they and their family were not majorly harmed and they ended up with a new noble house in charge, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms. The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the infamous Yugoslav nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia(Biggest Yugoslav country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli and declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

== The Interwar ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace; he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Unfortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established. Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that and was taken over by communists after a civil war, while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success. This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems), which further hindered recovery. The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of the Nazi party and a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war.

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went. The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all the US carriers, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, began winning the war of attrition, and were able to roll back the IJA and push back the IJN to the home islands.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, governments thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians (who the American public generally either didn't care about, or even blamed for not forcing their government into peace), rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the aforementioned civilians and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the atom burn hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some damn fool thing in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. The actual fighting was approached in the most bull-headed idiotic way possible, trying to force 19th century Napoleonic tactics to work with 20th century weapons. When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing). All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and was quite possibly the most pointless and wasteful war in all of human history.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did.

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

Glorantha

2020-05-17T00:24:00Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: :( F in chat for Greg Stafford

{{stub}}
One of the first settings for roleplaying games. It began in 1966 when [[Greg Stafford]] was trying to [[FAIL|pull some wiccan chicks into his wargaming group]]. '''Glorantha''' is based off of themes found in myth rather than from [[Tolkien]]'s works, and given the fact that Greg was a [[Spook|practicing]] [[What|shaman]] with a degree in Comparative Religion it's completely batshit.

The "world" is a cube floating in an endless sea topped with a dome of stars that is really the underside of a land of gods and myths. As for other planets there are the various moons which seem to do little more than fuck everything up which is fortunately not often (unless other civilizations or cults get in the way). Everything that occurs in Glorantha generally has some sentient being or magical force responsible for it. For example, all rivers flow in any particular direction because a god had decided, been forced, or been bribed to be there (as the god and the river are one in the same). The people/elements/plants/ducks/lizardmen that inhabit Glorantha are generally religious zealots or ingrates that are more than willing to be extorted by any local gods that they have the poor fortune to witness. Aside from these Neanderthals there are a number of civilizations that seem to get by okay when they pool their efforts and trade off with the stronger gods. That is, except for the Lunar Empire, which seems to fuck everyone's shit up by using a mysterious magic known as logical reasoning. Aside from the Lunars, there is also the Orlanthi who follow Orlanth (very original guys) and fought the Lunar Empire in order to get [[King of Dragon Pass|their own videogame]] and spotlight status. Besides these major players, Glorantha contains more individual peoples and places than can be covered in a singular paragraph.

Recently a new, gigantic lore book titled "Guide to Glorantha" was released (12 lbs of lore) and covers everything (generally speaking). Sadly it is only available in pdf format and unlikely to be reprinted, but it did make enough money to keep the setting going with new lore.

For more reading pirate the book on /tg/ or <s>support Greg's retirement fund</s> ... (not anymore, he died in 2018 :().

==Links==
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorantha The wikipedia page]

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:RuneQuest]]

Half-Orc

2020-05-16T23:04:29Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

[[File:4e Half Orc PHB2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A pair of half-orcs.]]

{{cleanup}}

A '''half-orc''' is exactly what it says on the tin - a fusion of [[human]] and [[orc]]. Traditionally, such procreation is done under a male orc/female human paradigm, predominantly under connotations of rape (not explicitly stated as such, but heavily implied nonetheless). This has made the half-orc one of the more traditionally [[edgy|"edgy"]] and politically incorrect racial options, so it has almost as many haters as it did fans; the fact that half-orcs are usually described as looking more like orcs (aka, monstrous) has further made them a somewhat marginal race even amongst edgelord players, who are more likely to gravitate towards races like [[tiefling]]s, [[dhampyre]]s, or even [[half-elf|half-elves]] (who were actually ''also'' usually the result of rape in D&D 1e). In fact, this "child by rape" standard origin is generally held up as the reason why it's believed [[TSR]] didn't make half-orcs playable in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] until the Complete Book of Humanoids, when they had first appeared in the 1e PHB.

Traditionally, half-orcs receive a "watered down" version of the orc's traits; this amounts to a lesser Strength boost but also a lessened penalty to mental stats, as well as by having better nightvision than humans, but also better daylight vision than orcs, gaining darkvision without suffering light sensitivity (except in 3e, where they still had the orcy extra vulnerability to spells like Sunlight). Bonuses towards intimidation-type effects, reflecting their frightening mien, aren't uncommon, and they tend to lean towards evil and chaos in settings where orcs just swing that way for reasons of giving PCs critters to kill without feeling bad about it.

Weirdly, half-orcs weren't quite in line with the aforementioned paradigm in AD&D 2e; they got +1 to both Strength and Constitution to offset their -2 Charisma, with pureblood-orcs only getting the +1 Strength, and they had higher racial maximums for Constitution and Intelligence. Meanwhile, orcs had a higher racial maximum for Wisdom and could get to much higher levels in Cleric, Shaman, Witchdoctor and Thief than half-orcs (unless the half-orcs had exceptional ability scores). Pureblood orcs had a chance to notice new/unusual construction and sloping passages, whilst half-orcs lacked the light aversion of the purebloods. In the 1st edition [[Player's Handbook]], half-orcs were allowed unlimited level advancement in the [[assassin]] class, as well as the ability to multi-class as assassin/[[fighter]]s, or assassin/[[cleric]]s.

The half-orcs suffered considerably when converted to 3e, which is responsible for cementing the archetype of the half-orc as a "big dumb brute" in most /tg/ circles. With +2 to Strength contrasted by -2s to Intelligence and Charisma, and their only unique racial traits being darkvision, "orc blood" (can use orc-exclusive feats and magic items, treated as an orc for racial triggered abilities & spells) and a favored class of [[barbarian]], they were the most mediocre and underpowered race in the PHB. They didn't even make very good assassins any more! Having no bonus to Dexterity (the core class-based ability score) was one thing, but that Intelligence penalty severely hampered their ability to get the skill ranks they needed to even qualify for the class. As a result, even more so than small races like [[halflings]] and [[gnome]]s, half-orcs tended to be unpopular and pigeonholed.

It got so bad that both [[Pathfinder]] and 4th edition tried to fix it, with 4e even leaving half-orcs out of the PHB in order to devote more time to coming up with a good niche for them - something that wasn't popular with many people, but really wasn't unprecedented.

The PF half-orc is basically just the 3.5 version with some extra orcy racial traits; swapping the +2 Str/-2 Int/-2 Cha paradigm for "+2 to one ability score of the player's choice", and gaining +2 to Intimidation checks, Weapon Familiarity (Double-Axe, Falchion, Ork), and the Orc Ferocity racial trait (can fight on for 1 round after dropping to 0 hitpoints). It was a simple fix, but compared to the 3.5 half-orc, it was a huge step up. Plus, if nothing else, they have access to the awesome [[Muscle Wizard|scarred witchdoctor]] archetype for [[witch]]es, which is both crunchy goodness and awesomely flavored.

The 4e half-orc, in comparison, became a +2 Str/Dex race with bonuses in Endurance and Intimidate, Low-Light Vision, the Half-Orc Resilience trait (gain +5/10/15 temporary hit points the first time you are bloodied in an encounter), which makes them a lot tankier, the Swift Charge trait (+2 speed when charging), which lets them excel at running people down, and the Furious Assault racial power (1/encounter, boost weapon damage dice for a successful hit by +1 dice). All in all, they're melee monsters, made for kicking ass and taking names, but they don't have to be barbarians; 4e half-orcs make pretty good [[rogue]]s, thus restoring their 1e traditional expertise, and surprisingly good [[monk]]s.

5th edition followed in 4e's footsteps and focused on making them natural ass-kicking tanks, almost like being a barbarian-lite just by your choice in race. +2 Str and +1 Con, Darkvision, free Proficiency in Intimidation, can tank a killing blow 1/day, and +1 dice worth of damage on critical hits with melee weapons. Maybe not as broad in possibilities as the 4e version, but certainly a hell of a lot stronger than the 3e version.

Of course, bad crunch was only one half of the half-orc's problem. As we said up at the top, they've always been the edgiest of the "traditional corebook" races. Whilst PF ran with it, even emphasizing the whole "you were probably born of rape and everybody hates you!" stuff, other editions or even settings within 2nd and 3rd edition have tried to have more cheery fluff.
[[File:Half_ork.jpg|300px|thumb|left|An edit of the half-orc man in the above picture.]]
For example, there was implying that female orcs [[monstergirls|generally aren't as ugly as people make out]], and that frontier clans tend to intermarry with some frequency. Even way back in AD&D, there were occasional comments implying individuals having peaceful co-relations; the factol of the Bleakers in [[Planescape]] was the son of a blind man and his orc wife, whilst Greenwood has spoken on forums about isolated regions where human widows or spinsters have accepted displaced orc braves as, essentially, live-in hired help that accepts sex and food in lieu of money for taking care of the homestead. Some places actually have full on half-orc ''populations'', where man and orc have so thoroughly interbred that ''everyone's'' at least a little bit half-orc. Fourth edition also introduced more explicit ideas for racial backstories beyond "orcs like to rape and pillage", such as half-orcs being the result of deliberate intermarriage on a massive scale, crossbreeding by some external faction, or even a deliberate creation of either [[Gruumsh]] the orc-god to create a superior strain of orcs to lead the rest of his children to victory, or [[Kord]] to create a super-race of warriors.

Everyone agrees that this is in much better taste and shuts out some of the edgelord bullshit, and it's gone over quite well.

Of course, it probably goes without saying that exactly ''how'' oppressed and angsty half-orcs are varies with the setting, and, more to the point, with the setting's orcs.

When they're just traditional rampaging barbarians all the time, they tend to get all kinds of shit on -- [[Golarion]], home of the [[Pathfinder]] setting, really plays up the "half-orcs are usually born to rape" in the fluff, so they get a ''lot'' of flak... somewhat two-facedly, though, most of their important half-orc characters are ''not'' rape-children, and in places like the deserts or the Mwangi jungle, half-orcs are actually quite respected. Desert half-orcs actually get bonuses to ''diplomacy'' instead of intimidation.

In places like [[Eberron]], where orcs aren't so bad once you get to know them, they fare much better, though still suffer discrimination due to a perceived lack of intelligence.

In some places, it might even vary from place to place. Forgotten Realms, for example, has the Eastern territory of Thesk; when the Tuigan Horde nearly overran the place, Thay sent an army of orcs to defend it, and then abandoned them when the Horde was pushed back. The Theskians took them in and the orcs actually settled down pretty well - in Thesk, the stereotype of the half-orc is a gruff, hard-working rancher or miner, and a damn good neighbor to have in a place where bandits and invasions happen all the time. Meanwhile, in the Northern territories of Faerun, half-orcs are rare and usually killed at birth, because they're seen as being no different than the local orcs, who are murderous, wrathful monsters - although this has softened over editions, thanks to Many-Arrows.

Almost every setting, though, points out that anyone big and beefy enough can carve out a niche for him- or herself in among the "civilized" races, and that being the smartest motherfucker in the room and only slightly less strong has its own advantages in the orc tribes. Lots of famous orcish heroes had enough human blood in them to make them, as their [[ork|spacefaring cousins would say]], "ded kunnin'."

Although this page focuses on human/orc hybrids, in AD&D, Half-orcs were a lot more diverse. The "basic" half-orc entry in the Monster Manual covered not only orc/human hybrids, as discussed in detail here, but also orc/[[goblin]] and orc/[[hobgoblin]] crossbreeds. Orc/[[ogre]] crossbreeding was rumored to be the source of the Orog species (although 3.5 [[Forgotten Realms]] retconned orogs as an [[Underdark]] dwelling species of bigger, smarter orcs), which itself received magically augmented/created variants in the "Neo-Orogs" of the Forgotten Realms (divided between Red ones, for fighting, and Black ones, for assassination). A confirmed orc/ogre crossbreed, though definitely leaning towards the Ogre (it was actually listed under "half-ogre" in the AD&D MM) is the Ogrillon, which basically resembles a giant orc covered in bony spikes. The weirdest half-orc is the Losel, or "ape-orc" of [[Greyhawk]], which is half-orc and half '''baboon''' -- thankfully, that one's believed to be a magical creation, like the [[owlbear]].

Heck, in 1st edition, there were actually some stats given to the orc-bugbear, the orc-gnoll, the orc-goblin, the orc-hobgoblin, the orc-kobold, and the orc-ogre crossbreeds, although these were presented more as new enemy fodder, in the 44th issue of [[Dragon Magazine]].

That said, the 5th edition monster manual's lore for orcs does say that orcs can make half-orcs with many different races of compatible size, explicitly calling out dwarfs as a candidate, so with a DM's permission, a half-orc's fluff could get... creative.

Non-human half-orcs with actual mechanical support have appeared here and there. The [[Tel-Amhothlan]] from [[Kingdoms of Kalamar]] is a half-elf half-orc. The [[Dworg]] is a half-dwarf half-orc]] from the [[Midnight]] campaign setting.

==See Also==
*[[Krusk]], the iconic half-orc from Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. A pretty swell guy.
*[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races]]

{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

Murlynd

2020-05-15T22:06:10Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Murlynd
|Symbol = Six pointed star with rounded ends
|Aliases = The White Paladin
|Alignment = Lawful good
|Divine Rank = Hero-God
|Pantheon = Oerth
|Portfolio = Magical technology
|Domains = Good, Knowledge, Law
|Home Plane = Land Beyond the Magic Mirror
|Worshippers = [[Paladin]]s,
|Favoured Weapon = ''[[Firearm|Firebrand]]'', longsword, crossbow
}}
{{topquote|Technology is an instrument of Justice so long as the hand that wields it is True.|Motto of the White [[Paladin]]s}}
[[File:Murlynd.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Murlynd, the White Paladin.]]
If you've been playing [[Dungeons and Dragons]] long enough you will eventually come upon that one chucklefuck who wants to have [[firearm]]s, or at least access to gunpowder. Most of the time the [[DM]] can just say no on the ground of there not being any gunpowder or the gods opposing it for some reason. But unfortunately for them one of ''Gygax's own friends'' was one such chucklefuck, and as such [[Greyhawk]] has produced a god that rather clashes with the tone of the others. His name is '''Murlynd''' and he is one of the most bizarre deities in Greyhawk.

Murlynd is a handsome man dressed in worn leather and wears a hat of an unknown style. His weapons of choice are a pair of hand-held weapons that emit powerful projectiles. His holy symbol is a six-pointed star with rounded tips. His holy text is a pulp novel describing his exploits when he was ''just'' an adventurer. So in other words, he's a fucking wild west sheriff. In Greyhawk of all places. Whether this is awesome or fail really depends on who you ask, so just roll with it.

Murlynd is the hero-deity of magical technology. He was one of the members of the Company of Seven, a group of adventurers formed by [[Zagyg|Zagig Yragerne]] and included [[Iggwilv]] who later bretrayed the group and fucked off to go fuck demons. He was a paladin of [[Heironeous]], who eventually sponsored his ascension to demi-deity. He later traveled to the plane of [[Boot Hill]], where he obtained his signature weapons.

Out of universe, he was a PC created by Don Kaye, a friend of [[Gary Gygax]] who helped him set up [[TSR]] and a big-time fan of Westerns who was the major creative force behind [[Boot Hill]]. He was rolled-up in Gygax's kitchen during the second-ever session of ''D&D'', making him the first notable instance of a new player wanting to be a "special snowflake." When Kaye died unexpectedly three years later, Gygax decided to pay homage to his friend by highlighting Murlynd, first as a unique character in the Greyhawk setting, and then as a god. Murlynd is also the first case of a player coming up with a name for his character, as the rest of Gygax's group gave their characters mutations of their own name (Gary -> Yrag).

==Domain==
As the god of magical technology Murlynd is very driven to discover and develop new technologies for the good of the common people. If they encounter inferior technology they will either try to upgrade it or create something better themselves. The discovering and building of weapons and technology is a virtue in the eyes of Murlynd, and technology too dangerous to be used is destroyed. Murlynd's [[cleric]]s often work together with those of [[Phaulkon]]'s to this latter goal.

==Dwelling==
Murlynd has a home in the Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, which is part of the plane of [[Dungeonland]], a classic [[AD&D]] adventure module. Note that this land shares a name with the follow-up module, The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, but Murlynd does not appear in this module. The demiplane that he lives in is just under a mile in diameter, filled with thick temperate forests forming natural pathways. Those who hack their way through the forest will eventually find themselves back where they started. Murlynd's house can be accessed via a mirror in [[Castle Greyhawk]], located on the same level as Zagyg's Crypt.

==Followers==
The [[gunslinger| clerics of Murlynd]] have a lot in common with those of Heironeous: they uphold the virtues of law and good, protect the weak and crusade against evil. Clerics dedicated to him will use their knowledge of technology to improve the lives of the common folk while the paladins dedicated to him (who are more like a sect of Heironeous than an independent faith) use the knowledge of technology granted by their god to destroy evil. They are often dressed in strange garb that they cobbled together themselves and wield ''firebrands'' [[firearm|hand-held devices that shoot metal balls at high speeds]].

{{D&D-Greyhawk-Deities}}

Firearm

2020-05-15T21:57:56Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

[[image:Shotgun After Firing.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Nothing like the smell of burnt powder in the morning]]
About twelve hundred years ago in [[China]], some people figured out that certain chemicals mixed together (such as potassium nitrate, carbon, and sulphur) rapidly combusted when brought to spark, which became known as "black powder." After some experimentation, they discovered that a tube sealed off at one end could be used to contain the pressure of said combustion and focus it into an explosion to propel an object at high speeds. After a few centuries of refinement, and invention of the frag grenade, they managed to take that mechanical principle and apply it as a weapon of warfare which changed the game: the arquebus. Comparatively cheap, easy to make, easy to learn to use, and capable of penetrating all but the heaviest armor, this marked a transition away from close quarters to ranged warfare.

In modern times, firearms are the staple weapons of any nation. Speculative fiction showcases weapons that doesn't even fire solid projectiles, like [[lasgun|lasers]].

From an engineering standpoint, firearms had a big difference from previous weapons in that they don't require the user's muscle power to work. Swords, maces, and axes are swung, spears are thrust, and bowstrings need to be drawn. Even crossbows and siege weapons work by storing muscle power via tension until it's released. The energy required to accelerate a firearm's projectile comes from explosive propellants; all the user needs to do is to hold the weapon, aim, brace themselves and set off said explosive charge. The significance of this is illustrated in the American Proverb: "God made man, Sam Colt (the inventor of the first practical revolver) made them equal." Having a reliable repeating gun means that your simple brute physical strength does not mean as much in a fight as it would in a bare knuckle brawl or a swordfight (either defensively or offensively).

The firearm's bigger bro is the [[Cannon]] and its cousin is the [[Rocket]].

==How Traditional Guns Work==
For our non-firearm oriented friends, here's a brief, heavily condensed explanation of how these murdersticks work. These instructions will probably vary depending on the type of gun you're using.

[[image:Teppo.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Some Tanegashima matchlocks]]
===Olden Muzzle-Loading Guns===
====The Slow Way====
1. Put your musket in half-cock position. Take your powder flask, and pour a few grains into the flashpan. Pour some more down the barrel (amount can vary wildly; later powder flasks come with built-in measuring tools for ease of use and safety). Ram the powder, bullet, and cloth wad down the barrel of your gun. Ensure you're doing this in correct order because [[Not as Planned|putting the ball first, then powder, for example, can lead to hilarious and/or lethal results]].
 2. If you're using a matchlock gun: light up the fuse, aim and brace yourself, and lastly wait for the fuse to burn out. If you're using a flintlock gun: just cock the mechanism. With percussion caps, replace the explosive cap on the firing titty after cocking the hammer. In any case, aim once you're done setting it up.
 3. Once the powder burns; the gasses from explosion of the black powder will send the bullet flying out of the barrel like a bat out of hell and penetrate into something or someone, and if you're lucky it might actually hit what you were aiming at. Also, hope you aren't downwind because guns during this time generated ''a lot'' of black smoke.
 4. Take stock of the situation. If you've managed to hit anyone or you're currently still in a shooting war; repeat step 1. If your firing line missed most of their shots and those barbarians are charging up your position; [[Imperial Guard|affix bayonets]].

====The Not-Quite-As-Slow Way====
1. Take your paper cartridge, and bite off the end with the powder in it. Carefully pour a few grains into the flashpan, and the rest down the barrel. Take the remainder of the cartridge, ball and paper, and ram it down the barrel.
 2. Follow steps 2 through 4 as above. Paper cartridges have the advantage of saving you a few seconds of precious time while reloading, which can mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield. Another advantage is that they can be made somewhat weatherproof with a grease coating. But if you're just hunting or can't find/afford paper, most people didn't bother with the time-consuming preparations. Towards the end of the muzzle-loading era, paper cartridges could be chemically treated to be more flammable, so tearing them open became unnecessary. This was mostly done with revolvers.

===Single-Action Guns===
1. Load rounds into the magazine (or chamber if it's a single cartridge gun), remove the safety, work the action (pump the slide, rack the bolt, cock the hammer, et cetera) to chamber a round, and aim.
 2. Pull the trigger, this will cause the hammer to strike the primer on the chambered round and cause the powder inside the shell casing to ignite and explode; sending high-pressure gases screaming out of the barrel while propelling the solid bullet out at high speed towards whatever you were aiming at. If you're using single-action flintlock guns; see above for the result.
 3. Because the gun lacks a mechanism to re-chamber itself; you now have to work the action again to eject the spent shell (unless its a revolver, in which case you do that while reloading) and load another round into the chamber. How you do this depends on the gun in question.
 4. Repeat until you run out of bullets in the magazine if your gun has one or you have a spare moment where nobody's shooting at you, in which case either reload the magazine or load a new round (the default case if you're using a single round breechloader).

===Auto-Loading Guns===
1. Load rounds into the magazine, remove the safety, work the action to chamber a round, and aim.
 2. Pull the trigger and this causes the same effect as stated above.
 3. Because of the mechanism of the gun; it redirects some of the forces used to propel the bullet to work it's action, eject the spent shell (unless its a DA revolver), re-chamber another round, and allow you to shoot again by just pulling the trigger. The forces used depend on the gun in question, some use a gas block to redirect some of the gasses expelled by bullets, while other uses the force of the recoil itself, to work the action and chamber another round. Additionally, it could also re-chamber itself using a mechanical sequence (like revolvers) or is electrically operated.
 4. If you're using an automatic; hold the trigger down and only release it once you want to stop shooting (or are forced to do so due to lack of ammo). If you're using a semi-automatic; pull the trigger again to fire another round.
 5. Repeat until you run out of bullets or you have a spare moment where nobody's shooting at you, in which case either reload the magazine or load a new one.

==A Brief History of Firearms==
'''800's:''' Taoist monks attempting to find an elixir of immortality stumbled on the next best thing: a substance that would suddenly and violently make things very dead. They'd discovered potassium nitrate (alternatively called saltpeter), a white crystalline powder that burned with a purple flame. When mixed with powders of charcoal and sulfur the resulting substance would burn instantly and aggressively on exposure to flame. It didn't take long for the Chinese to start inventing ways to use it.

[[image:Firelance.jpg‎|thumb|150px|left|The Firelance, the Chinese invention that started this all]]
'''1000s to 1200s:''' The Chinese realize they can make barbarians shit their pants by shooting hollowed arrows packed with powder and bamboo tubes filled with powder and pebbles at them. Bamboo gradually gives way to cast iron and bronze.

'''1300s:''' Various gunpowder weapons begin to proliferate westward along the Silk Road, aided by the [[Mongols]]. Crude versions of hand cannons, grenades, rockets, and flamethrowers all see use. Despite considerable psychological effect and good armor penetration, most of these weapons are only marginally more likely to kill the target than the user and had a range of only twenty or so meters. As such, their use is not widespread. For the most part, these weapons were used by skirmishers and guards. The fact that they were so dangerous meant they were mostly used by low class soldiers, and in turn this meant that the smiths making them were generally not the most skilled artisans; which did little to improve quality even given the limitations of the day. Even so, the designs and methods of manufacture were gradually refined and improved by various early gunsmiths through trial and error.

'''1400s''': Hand cannons see continued and expanded use. Bit by bit from the crude handgonnes of previous centuries, the first "true" firearms evolve with the gradual development of the matchlock, taking on the basic shape of lock, stock, trigger, and barrel (which is where we get the saying from). By clamping a lighted wick into a flashpan via a trigger, the shooter is able to aim ''and'' fire at the same time, making him markedly less likely to blow his own jimmies off. Despite advances, the matchlock was unwieldy, unreliable, and generally inferior to a good bowman. The issue of course is that only England (in Europe) HAD good bowmen; bowmen were the scum of the army everywhere else. This didn't stop some inventive commanders from seeing their potential, particularly with poorly trained conscript soldiers. [[Weeaboo|Some forces]] made a go of it by carrying two or three guns at a time and just throwing the spent ones away like a really shitty Matrix movie. Note: while we use a "weeaboo" hyperlink up there, it's worth remembering that troops like cuirassiers and even pirates would do the same thing with pistols, carrying a whole brace of them, but they just did not exist yet. By the 1400's having more then one gun was the only way to have any real rate of fire before breechloaders existed.

'''1500s:''' Guns continue to evolve with the invention of spring-loaded firing mechanisms. The wheel-lock spins a steel plate against sulfide rocks to produce sparks (think cigarette lighters), which ignites powder a flash pan. This was revolutionary, allowing soldiers to prime their weapon in a matter of seconds instead of fucking around with a lit wick, and allowed calvary to use guns for the first time while on horseback, giving rise to the cuirassiers. It also means that for the first time, guns weren't completely fucked in the rain, just mostly fucked. They also cost a lot to make and were still not completely reliable, so most people stuck with matchlocks. Powder formulas had improved considerably, including the development of the more powerful, stable, and moisture-resistant corned powder made by wetting raw gunpowder, forming it into cakes, crushing them, and sieving them for size. Japan's Oda Nobunaga was particularly notable in the history of firearms for his heavy transition from blades to guns after discovering the novelty of matchlock guns. In fact, by the end of the 1500s, they had more trained arquebusiers in their armies and produced more matchlocks than any other country to date during that period and had the most guns per capita in the world. Meanwhile, virtually every army figured out how to use a combination of volley fire in dense square formations surrounded by pikemen (called Pike and Shot); making armored cavalry, crossbows, & longbows outdated. Accuracy still sucked but that was what the massed shooting was meant to compensate for.

[[image:FlintlockMechanism.jpg‎|thumb|200px|right|The flintlock mechanism. Now you did not need to light some string and put it into a serpentine before firing]]
'''1600s''' The wheellock is refined into the simpler and more reliable flintlock, though it would take some time to supersede the matchlock. Muzzle loading is simplified with the creation of paper cartridges, essentially the pre-measured cake mix of murder. Some German dudes came up with the idea of cutting spirals into the barrel, which they called "rifling," to spin-stabilize the bullet so that they wouldn't have to walk up right next to their targets to hit them, but this required a barrel tighter than a nun's cunt, a hammer to ram the ball in, and grooved bullets made for the gun so it could fit the rifling of the gun like the cap to a soda bottle. To put all that into perspective: well-trained musketeers could fire three to four shots a minute, while a rifleman could only manage one shot every minute. Not great, however the idea of spin-stabilisation hung around and payed off in later times. Breechloaders are invented alongside the flintlock in both Europe and China but the problem of hot gas leaking and burning shooters' hands made them limited in use and in number. Hence, while nobles such as King Henry could own a breech loading rifle for hunting ducks, said breech loaders were either expensive to make in good quality, leaked hot gas every time you shot a less finely crafted piece, or was of inferior performance to the basic muzzleloader.

'''1700s''': The French invent the bayonet, allowing their troops to be [[choppa|choppy]] while they were [[dakka|shooty]]. Thus, the Pike and Shot formation became the Bayonet and Shot formation. That and refinement of tactics led to the dense but slow and cumbersome square formations being reformed into thinner but more responsive rectangle formations. This is the point where gun infantry tactics become the dominant (though still not only) form of fighting when guns go from one a few common infantry weapons to the primary weapon used by most infantry. Formations of musketeers go from big square blocks to lines two or three ranks thick to put enough bullets in the enemy's ranks as quickly as possible. In the 1600's armies had started to realize that dividing up your people into groups and firing in turn would allow you to maintain fire while reloading (particularly the English with the New Model Army), but it was in the 1700's that everyone really got good at drilling it into soldiers how to fight in lines.
[[image:Chassepot.jpg‎|thumb|200px|left|The mechanism of a French Chassepot, an early bolt action rifle, as well as its paper cartridge]]

'''1800s''': Pretty much everything that makes up a modern firearm is invented here. Some fool came up with an explosive that would go off if you slam a hammer into it, which led to the first explosive primers. So flintlocks transitioned to percussion caps. This basically involves putting explosives in ur explosives to explode your explosives. Eventually, standardized methods of making copper & later brass casings by the French and English replaced paper cartridges; making gas leakage in breech loading mechanisms a thing of the past. Cartridges that contain a primer, propellant, and slug, similar to modern-day bullets, are developed. With this, not only was loading ammunition simplified with a package that contained everything needed for a gun to fire, it also made it waterproof & easier for conscripts to load. Furthermore, the brass casings' small expansion when firing served to seal the firing chamber to prevent hot gases from leaking and burning users’ hands. Extracting the flush but stuck cartridge in the chamber was simply a matter of adding extraction pins that were manually pressed to kick them out by the rims on the bottom base. By this time, wars were largely fought using firearms rather than melee weapons, though also by this time firearms were also melee weapons as in the early 1800s the bayonet charge was still both an accepted and useful tactic.

By the late 1800 inventors had finally gotten the technology to contain the force of the gunpowder explosion with a tight seal and do so cheaply. Experiments that had been done earlier like the Puckle gun (1718), Ferguson rifle (1776), and even the bizarre 1780 Girandoni Air Rifle, [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Steampunk which was an air gun with a 20 round magazine], all failed to create breech loading rifles cheaply. See, despite that it was well known that that slotting in bullets from the rear and using a mechanism to load it into the chamber is much simpler than spending about half a minute to ram it down a long barrel, the technology was just not there as without cheap steel (cheap is important for hand guns you are going to mass-produce), getting iron to contain the explosion without deforming and leaking gas, thus weakening the shot, was a nightmare. The Industrial Revolution, among other things, gave birth to the concept of "breech-loading" and later "magazines" and simpler mechanised feeding systems like tubes, slides, cylinders, and bolt-actions. The likes of pump-action shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and lever-action rifles, and revolver and semi-automatic pistols, are developed and/or developed upon, giving a glimpse on how weapons in the future would function. Near the end of the decade, some French guys worked out that they could both improve firepower and keep their guns considerably cleaner by replacing black powder with nitrocellulose, the first of many "smokeless powders." Also known as “guncotton/flash-paper,” it was first discovered by some German chemist who accidentally soaked a cotton apron in a nitric/sulfuric acid mix before trying to dry it by the fire; culminating with explosive results. After various explosive bouts of trial and error, the French managed to alter its formula to make it stable enough to use without blowing up its creators. Stabilizing it by soaking and drying it a second time in alcohol before adding stabilizer compounds made concoction safe to make without blowing factories sky high. And adding extra explosive compounds such as nitroglycerin served to make it more explosive for shells and artillery. The cleaner burn and threefold increase in power led to more powerful bullets and weapons.

Just as important as the new designs that came about during this period were the new methods of production. People like Eli Whitney worked out devices such as milling machines, which allowed for the quick production of finely tuned parts which were so close in size that you could take one bit off one gun, stick it on another from the same line, and it would work just as fine. Breech loading and repeating firearms had existed for centuries beforehand, but were not cost effective to mass-produce until the Industrial Revolution.
[[image:Lee-Enfield Rifle.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A British Lee-Enfield Bolt Action Repeating rifle]]
This is also the time where the first "automatic" guns were invented and put into production. The word "automatic" is in quotes because these early machine guns were not self-reciprocating; they did not load and fire themselves and were instead manually powered. The most famous (and successful) of these weapons is the Gatling gun, which saw limited action in the American Civil War, but became much more widely used the world over in subsequent wars. But while it was the most famous, the Gatling was not the only manual machine gun developed; dozens of different types were produced during the US Civil War alone on both sides, but because these guns tended to be mounted on cannon carriages they were treated like cannons instead of the close support weapon machines guns are, so it took some time for them to hit their stride.

'''1900-early 1930s''': The heyday of guns because of the advent of WW1. The idea of bolt-action rifles are popularized, along with semi-automatic and fully-automatic weapons. Bolt-action rifles meant that riflemen no longer had to be confined to shooting one round at a time before needing to reload as they could now load individual clips that contained 5-10 rounds a piece. Machine guns are now becoming more and more popular in the battlefields, drastically changing the way infantry would maneuver the battlefield as a single MG emplacement can effectively cripple platoons with the right positioning. Submachine guns, the first automatic infantry weapon, are developed by the German Empire and issued to their stormtroopers, giving the rest of the world an idea of the wonders of a lightweight fully-automatic weapon that could easily be used by infantrymen, which was previously restricted to crew-served heavy machine guns. Not liking to be one-upped, the Americans came up with the trench gun (a 6 shot, pump-action renforced shotgun with a bayonet that was pure murder in the confines of a trench) that ultimately evolved into the modern combat shotgun.

On the subject of the machine guns, if there was ever a weapon that represented this part of history it would be the heavy machine gun. To go back to an early quote "God made man, Sam Colt made them equal and John Browning (designer of a large number of machine guns including the m2 .50 cal or 12.7mm) made them civilized!". We talked about the hand powered machine guns above, and while good when used correctly, these weapons have their issues. In order to use most of them, you had to be standing up to turn the crank and sustained fire was tiring, but the hand cranked guns had one major advantage: the most successful of the hand-cranked guns, like the Gatling or Gardner, had multiple barrels meaning you can fire them with little or no need to stop to let the barrels cool down. At the dawn of the 20th century, this is what the early machine guns had to be compared to when European generals went window shopping. The solution was water-cooling, which allowed machine guns to fire for countless hours with little or no failures, but at the cost of weight rendering them truly static, though highly effective, weapons. If you could point to two developments that caused the First World War's trench warfare, you can point to water-cooled machine guns and barbed wire.

'''late 1930s-1940s''': At the start of World War II, all of the powers involved, France, England, Germany, and Russia, were armed with bolt action weapons. Over the course of the war, automatic and semi-automatic rifles started to become more common; however, only the Americans completely phased out bolt-action rifles for standard infantry by the time of the war (Marines and Army units in the Pacific Front were stuck with the old stuff for a few months due to the Germany First policy). Submachine guns are now becoming more popular with various armies around the world, making it the staple lightweight automatic weapon for infantry troops, totally redefining urban combat due to the weapon's great effectiveness in close combat. Nazi Germany invents the ''Sturmgewehr 44'', the first widely produced assault rifle (the Fedorov Avtomat was the first to be put into service, introduced in 1915, but production was limited due to costs). This weapon would later become the template for modern assault rifles used by the world over.
[[image:QBZ-95.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A QBZ-95 Assault Rifle, the current service rifle of the People's Republic of China, note bullpup configuration (the magazine feeds behind the trigger), thus saving space]]
'''1950s-1990s''': With World War II over, the armies of the world had a chance to study Germany's assault rifle and built their own. The key invention was selective fire, which allowed a single weapon to serve as a traditional rifle or a somewhat long and unwieldy submachine gun. Burst fire was also developed, intended to fire a grouping of rounds to defeat personal body armor but automatically stop before the recoil of fully automatic fire would have a significant impact on aim. The USSR's entry was the AK-47, which was powerful, easy to mass produce, and legendarily tolerant of mistreatment after briefly flirting with the SKS (a semiautomatic carbine fed by stripper clips). On the other side of the world, the US briefly experimented with an automatic version of the M1 known as the M14, before (mostly) getting their shit together and developing the M16, which was expensive, complicated, and notoriously finicky. One thing not to be underestimated is the standardization introduced by NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Gone were incompatible calibers unique to each nation, and in their place were a single pistol caliber (9x19 for NATO, unless you were an American snowflake, and 9x18 for Pact.), a single intermediate caliber (5.56x45 for NATO, 7.62x39 for Pact, later 5.45x39 in certain Pact countries), a single full power rifle cartridge (7.62x51 for NATO, unless you were a French snowflake, and the venerable 7.62x54 for Pact), and heavy machine gun cartridge (.50 BMG for NATO and 12.7×108mm for Pact) for small arms. Even before NATO standardization was officially a thing, many western countries eagerly armed themselves with American surplus M1 Garands and M1 Carbines, which greatly simplified things.

'''2000s''': With the invention of more advanced materials such as plastics and carbon fiber, along with numerous technological advancements of the modern world, firearms are... basically the same they've been for the last fifty years, just usually lighter and with more options. Serious efforts were made to look at new designs like caseless ammo and fused smart grenade bullets, but most went nowhere. The most significant development in firearm technology was the advent of practical ranged tasers; essentially wired dart launchers with high voltage capacitors, they're the first handguns ostensibly intended for less lethal force (occasional heart attacks not withstanding) that weren't a total joke (like pistol caliber tear gas rounds).

'''2010s''': Development of more robust weapons (such as the POF P416 and HK 416), modularity (FB MSBS, similar to the ACR with the variation count of a Lasgun), practical telescopic and caseless ammo (LSAT project), and ship cannon sized railguns (The Naval Research Laboratory currently working with a practical version, i.e. can reload at the same rates as an Abrams 120mm loader). Apparently, it can fires rounds with 32 megajoules of energy, or 23,601,988 foot-pounds.) So apparently even in 2017, we outpace the Imperium in development, makes you wonder what the Dark Age of Technology holds. Few of these have progressed far enough to get fielded and may just be dead ends. The main innovation at this time comes from optics, where even cheap sights makes the professional equipment of old look like crap. Also cheap rifle parts and market (at least for Americans) due to advances in manufacturing. No seriously, you can get a basic AR for $500 or even just make it yourself from parts for less than $400 (Firearms are taxed 10-11%, parts are not. Thus there is significant savings by only buying a small block of aluminum as a "firearm".), and that's if you aren't diving into sub-milspec stuff. New designer rounds to outpace rounds such as the 5.56 and .308 in performance are also coming out, such 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 MPC, .224 Valkyrie, .300 Winchester Magnum, and so on. These only see widespread uses among snipers however, as the cost of replacing existing guns and ammo for what is a marginal increase in performance is of questionable budget use.

[[File:LSAT telescopic ammo.png|150px|thumb|right| An example of humanity developing practical telescopic ammo. Designed to be light weight while not compromising muzzle energy, it'll bring much benefit to anyone needing to bearing the ammunition (assuming the kinks are worked out).]]

Many countries around the world are now looking for new ways to either improve or adapt combustion-based firearms as a whole, and are looking for ways to make what were once sci-fi-only ammo and weaponry, such as [[lasgun|laser]], [[plasma]], direct energy overall (involving the last two), [[gauss]], telescopic/caseless ammo, and more, a reality. While met with some degree of success, nobody (pardoning America, 'cause you gotta do something with that large budget) has found a way yet for these weapons to be man-portable (or cost-effective in the case of telescopic and caseless ammo) that a single soldier could carry these into combat or be affordable/reliable to an extent that it would be more feasible to make these instead of the traditional ballistic weaponry. There is also the problem that if you get a hard projectile (think tungsten and steel) going fast enough, it will just over-penetrate and go through a target, doing little actual damage as compared to our modern bullets that hit, create a temporary cavity the size of a dinner plate, then tumble going through the target sideways (which means that against unarmored targets your average 5.56 round would likely do comparable damage to a bolt round). Rounds that fragment and inbuilt post-penetration destabilization fix this, however the main point here is that there is little reason to equip your soldiers with some [[Bolter|fancy dandy overly complex and costing a half-million dollar gun and ammo]] when a [[Lasgun|good ol' service rifle and some traditional ammo costing a few hundred bucks]] will allow them to do their job just fine. Leading off from the previous statement, even if such projects were successful, there is a strong point to be made that, as least as far as infantry weapons are concerned, chemical-based firearms will remain both cost effective and lethal enough to last at least another century or two, if not longer. While elite units will certainly benefit from new developments, the ordinary grunt will have to wait until they become cheap enough to mass produce. Most modern work is either completely experimental, or fine tuning already present technologies with developments from other areas.

[[File:Textron Systems, General Dynamics, and SIG Sauer NGSW-R respectively.png|250px|thumb|left| NGSW system prototypes by different companies competing for the potential to become America's new service rifle.]]

'''2020s''': With the ever growing commonality of rifle resistant gear (i.e. body armor and helmets, hell there are reliable news reports that soldiers survive headshots with top grade helmets), need for reduction of weight and increased mobility, and ability to react to both close and extended range threats(ie 7.62×54mmR has a longer range than 7.62 NATO) , certain firearms development has begun to focus on new munitions. Namely looking to high power and reduced weight ammunition, be it polymer or reinforced, munitions that can reach out lengthy distance without being too cumbersome. In that regards, the NGSW system (which evolved from the previous LSAT program) is being developed, with competition with as of 2019 three corporations Textron Systems, General Dynamics, and SIG Sauer competing for the bid.
Currenlyt the US Army are looking at an 6.8mm round and .338 Norma Magnum(an 8mm bullet) to replace 5.56x45 and 7.62x51, respectively. The latter more so because American snipers found themselves outmatched by their European during international sniper competitions. As America is among the last of NATO countries to formally adopt .338 Lapua Magnum. A slightly longer and older round compared to 8mm Norma.

== GUN SAFETY ==
Should be self-evident, but to be frank it isn't. Between the movies having actors brandishing guns everywhere, the video games and toys like airsoft that make them look more harmless than they are and plain human ignorance and negligence; people forget that they're holding something that could easily scatter someone's brains or outright remove their skull.

That said, there are four main rules to gun safety.
*Muzzle sweep: Avoid this. Muzzle sweep is one when points or sweeps a gun in a direction onto people or objects that could get harmed. To avoid this, one should keep the gun's barrel pointed away from anything that you don't intend to destroy or value. This means one must be conscious of where they are pointing it. Or in other words, '''never point the gun at something you don't want to shoot!'''

*'''Treat every firearm as if they were loaded at all times.''' Even if you fully know the gun is empty after removing the magazine and checking the chamber, still treat it as if it wasn't. This creates a force of habit so that if you are ever in a rush/interrupted while handling your gun/given a weapon by someone else/whatever... you will avoid any mishaps and tragedies that could arise because you think the gun is empty where it actually isn't.

*'''Know the target, what's in front of the target, and what's behind the target.''' Remember, bullets are designed to punch holes in things. Even if you've got pinpoint accuracy, the bullet might go right through the target and kill some guy who's just minding his own business. This is why any self-respecting firing range has a thick wall or a pile of packed-down dirt behind the targets. Bullets that don't punch through the target and don't shatter (like frangible rounds made of sintered metal) can ricochet back at the shooter or others around them. For this reason, shooting at metal targets is usually done with the targets angled down.

*Trigger discipline: '''Never put your finger on the trigger unless you want to kill/destroy whatever you're pointing your gun at.''' Also pretty much self-explanatory.

Easy, right? Well... apparently not. Ask any gun enthusiast and they'll gladly tell you all sorts of horror stories that happened because [[That Guy|somebody]] failed to follow these simple rules.

And for the love of the God-Emperor, don't be a fucking tool and mix alcohol/drugs and firearms together. Doing so, very, very unsurprisingly results in the breaking of one or more of the aforementioned rules.

==Types of firearms==
Having been around for well over 1500 years there have been many types of firearms over the course of time. Humans are, if anything, very inventive when it comes to coming up with new and interesting ways to kill each other. A rough list are:

===Ye Olde Gonnes===
*Firelance: Oldest of the Oldschool guns, simple bamboo tubes stuffed with gunpowder and pebbles used in the Ten Kingdoms period and the Song Dynasty. One inaccurate spray of flaming fuck-off in close quarters, often tied to a spear.

*Handgonne: A catch-all term for a primitive gun without a lock that need their powder charges. Majority of these guns were handcannons, as in literal man-portable artillery pieces that had a 50/50 chance of either working or malfunctioning, the worst of which would be the gun exploding in the shooter's face.

*Arquebus - A basic matchlock Firearm. A note of clarification: 'Arquebus' and 'musket' are both used to describe firearms from this time and they are often used interchangeably. But if you want to be ''really'' technical in this period an Arquebus is a regular two handed matchlock firearm while a musket is a larger heavier gun firing a larger projectile, sometimes up to an inch in diameter. Latter (about 1700 onward) musket would refer to any muzzleloading long barreled handheld firearm used for mainly shooting solid shots. This is not too much of a big deal and is nothing to get mad about, but it is worth noting.

*Musket - Today, the musket is a catch-all term for all early smoothbore, shoulder-fired, muzzle-loaded firearms. Technically this isn't the case, the musket was an improved Arquebus, one of the earliest muzzle-loaded guns. However because of romanticism and literature; people who aren't acquainted with firearms will commonly refer to any muzzle-loaded long weapon as a musket (about the same reason why most people today refer to any automatic weapon as a machine gun). Muskets were inaccurate as people have yet to put serious research into firearm ballistics, lacked sights, generated a lot of smoke due to primitive gunpowder mixtures, and were temperamental to environmental conditions (rain will pretty much render a musket into an wet stick of wood), but still enjoyed a lot of popularity due to their lethality and ease of use compared to other man-portable ranged weapons at the time - and even their inaccuracy (they were after all, shooting at a bunch of guys standing shoulder-to-shoulder...) may have been more attributable to the generally-poor training given to the vast majority of soldiers of the time. Muskets were quickly phased out once rifles sufficiently improved (they co-existed for multiple decades, with rifles being reserved for light infantry who used their rifles to place accurate shots...at a fraction of the fire-rate of muskets who stayed in the hands of the line infantry, because the light infantry now had to shove the bullet in by the spiraled rifling) to do what a musket could do, but better. Muskets were categorized by what firing mechanism was used in the lock:
:*The earliest versions used matchlocks, which fired by poking a slow-burning fuse into the firing chamber. These were fairly unreliable and somewhat hazardous since you had a smouldering fuse close to the flashpan when you were reloading.
:* Flintlocks replaced matchlocks, which ignited by generating sparks when it struck the iron frizzen, igniting the powder in the flashpan. The flint would periodically break and need replacing, but it was still safer than a matchlock.
:**Fusils are early flintlocks (in fact "fusil" derives the Latin "foisil" , meaning a piece of flint), and like any early technology they were more expensive then there later derivatives. Therefore Fusils were given to elite higher trained troops, hence the english/french words 'fusileer' and 'fusillade'. The primary use of Fusils while they distinct from standard infantry weapons (matchlocks) were guarding artillery since the unlike matchlocks, Flint locks like the Fusil do not produce so many sparks, a major concern around barrels of gunpowder common around artillery trains!
:* With the invention of the percussion cap came the Caplock, or Cap & Ball. This was the final evolution before breachloading became widespread. The cap would be fitted onto a tube to the firing chamber after the musket was loaded. Caplock firearms did not generate sparks in and of themselves; rather, they used a simple hammer to strike the cap, which would in turn ignite the powder in the firing chamber. Far more contained than flintlock, until the fully self-contained cartridge superseded it entirely.

*Multi-barreled gun - In the olden days, people wanted more dakka launched at enemies, but things like magazines and self-loading weapons were still an alien idea during its time. So as an alternative people took a breach/muzzle-loaded firearm, slapped one or more barrels onto it, and reworked the trigger so they can fire more shots before needing to reload. This resulted in some particularly wacky times for guns. To this day, the only multi-barrel weapon still commonly used (disregarding military rifles with underslung grenade launchers, door breaching shotguns, or rotating barrel Gatling-style guns) is the double-barreled hunting shotgun. Some notable guns were volley guns called ribauldequin, which were a line of infantry dudes without most of the dudes. The problem was that this took very long to load, because you have 2 or two people ramming shit rather than 20 dudes each loading. So, that was a colossal fail in a long term artillery exchange, but quite effective for countering a charge when all you need is one volley to make mincemeat out of that cavalry coming at you.

===Modern Firearms===
*Handgun - Also called "pistols", handguns are small-sized firearms that can be comfortably fired in one hand (hence the name). Handguns are mainly used for close defense and as a sidearm, making them akin to daggers. Modern pistol calibers are commonly between 8mm and 11mm, although popular magnum rounds like the .50 GI and .50AE are also exist for handguns (albeit they tend to be large, heavy, and likely to fuck up your wrist from the recoil).
:*Machine pistol - A machine pistol is a handgun that can fire in either bursts or in full-auto. While they're commonly thrown into that category, machine pistols are not submachine guns due to their size and use. Machine-pistols are not in widespread use with traditional military forces as SMGs and PDWs do better damage and have a longer range, but they remain popular with personnel like bodyguards, who require a highly portable but powerful sidearm.
:*Derringer - Another case of the concept being named after its inventor, "derringer" refers to tiny pistols, often used as concealed or backup sidearms, that could fit into the palm of your hand. These things have been around since the 19th century and were single-shot, though could have multiple barrels to fire off more shots before reloading, which were fired in a sequence. Due to their size and intended use (i.e: shooting someone while literally next to them); derringers typically used small rounds like .22 and below. But if you ''really'' wanted someone dead (and your wrists obliterated); some packed larger shots like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COP_.357_Derringer .357 magnum rounds].
:*Pocket Pistol - Modern versions of the derringer, those are really small handguns or revolvers that sacrifice range and ammo count in order to be as small and easily concealed as possible. Also called "subcompacts".

*Revolver - A revolving gun is any weapon that uses a revolving cylinder to load new rounds after every shot. While its commonly now relegated to pistols (a revolver typically meant a revolver pistol these days) the style is still used for some shotguns (like the Armsel Striker) and grenade launchers (like the MM1-Hawk). Revolvers are still in use for a few reasons: they're simple and cheap to make, can easily be used by left and right-handed shooters (since spent casings aren't automatically ejected like in the case of modern firearms) and is still pretty robust compared to today's modern weapons as fewer mechanisms means fewer points of failure. Downside is that they have very limited ammunition space (because the gun was made around the cylinder you can't expand it like how you can with detachable magazines, so you either had a gun with 5-8 rounds or a bulky gun with a 12-round cylinder) and reload time (revolvers in all generations were a pain in the ass to reload. If you had an old revolver with a loading gate; you had to eject each round by hand, ''then'' load new rounds. If you had a newer one; you had to empty the cylinder, load the rounds, then cock the hammer. This is in contrast to modern guns where you just had to eject the magazine, load a new one, and charge the weapon). Thanks to the American old west era and subsequent movies about it, revolver-styled handguns have achieved a kind of rustic yet sleek appeal to them. Revolvers come in generally the same calibers as handguns, from the modest .22 Long Rifle used for practicing and target shooting to the behemoth .500 S&W Magnum which can put down a bear. "Snubnose" revolvers refer to revolvers with shortened barrels in an attempt to make them more compact.
:* Top Break - A revolver with a hinged frame that opens to expose the cylinder. Top breaks were originally designed for cavalry, as they are very easy to load. However, the two piece frame is a weakness that limits the power of cartridge that can be used.
:* Swing Arm - By far the most common type of revolver, the swing arm mounts the cylinder on a moving arm known as a crane, which allows the cylinder to be exposed for loading. The chief limitation of the swing arm design is that the crane can bend over time and due to rough handling.
:* Gate Loading - Named for their loading gate, these revolvers can only expose one cylinder for reloading a a time, with the spent casing being pushed out through the gate by a long ejector rod. Gate loading revolvers are the earliest style for cartridge revolvers, dating back to conversions of percussion cap revolvers. Gate loading revolvers are now rare except for reproductions and revolvers designed to big cartridges. The fixed cylinder is the strongest possible configuration of revolver and thus the most tolerant of high power ammunition.

*Submachine gun - A submachine gun (abbreviated to SMG) is a fully automatic weapon that fires pistol cartridges instead of the larger rifle cartridges. One of the first true fully automatic infantry weapons outside of the machine gun, hence the name. The weapon fulfills a similar role of the carbine, striking a balance between firepower, recoil, and bulk. They also make good stealth weapons, as most pistol rounds are subsonic with heavier bullets and thus much quieter when suppressed.

:*Personal Defense Weapon - A PDW is a bit of a mix of a carbine and an SMG, firing specialized cartridges with rifle-like characteristics (usually in the 4-5mm range, shorter than a rifle cartridge but longer than a pistol cartridge) at the cost of additional weight. Its original role is as its name implies; a personal defense weapon for nonfrontline infantry, like artillery spotters, scouts, vehicle crews, commandos, etc. Back in the day PDWs weren't necessarily automatic; a pistol with a longer barrel and mounted stock could be classified as a PDW (This was done with the German C96 and Luger P07), today however these would qualify as "pistol carbines". These days PDWs are commonly lumped into the same category as SMGs, as they now fulfill similar roles.

*[[Shotgun]] - Shotguns are smoothbore weapons (as in the barrel is not rifled) designed to fire either shot (multiple steel or lead pellets) or slugs (a single, heavy projectile), although modern times have included other types of ammunition. The ability to fire multiple types of ammunition without modification is one of the main advantages to using a shotgun; converting an anti-infantry weapon into a door-breaching tool, a mini-flamethrower, or a less-lethal weapon with but a switch of the munitions. The vast majority of shotguns are pump-action or breech-loading, though as of 1905 shotguns can come in semi-automatic or fully-automatic configurations, but sheer variety of shell loads makes their reliability highly ammo dependant. For more information see the [[shotgun]] page. The most common bore size for shotguns is 12 gauge (about 18.5mm). Confusingly, higher gauges are lower in size because its based on weight of spheres of lead rather than diameter; a 20 gauge is about 15.6mm, while a 10 gauge is 19.7mm (.410 bore exists outside this and is .410 inch/10.4 mm/67 bore).

*Rifle - Rifles were originally shoulder-fired weapons that had their barrels "rifled" to increase precision, by putting spiral grooves into the barrel in order to have the bullet spin before leaving the barrel; reducing it's wind resistance (otherwise known as drag) and giving it more momentum as it leaves that muzzle. In ye olden days, these were specialist weapons given to marksmen while the common soldier carried a musket. However, because all modern non-shotgun non-explosive firearms now use rifling to improve ballistics, the term is usually reserved for a shoulder-fired long weapon, designed for accurate fire.
:*Assault Rifle - Assault rifles are a term given to any rifle that can be fired on full-auto and shoot intermediate-caliber rounds, typically in the 5mm range (or a shortened 7mm round if you're from the Eastern bloc). This is usually the standard weapon of a non-specialized front-line infantryman. The STG44 is considered to be the earliest one fielded in industrial quantity, though the idea has been around since at least the first World War.
:*Battle Rifle - Basically the assault rifle's big brother; battle rifles are bigger automatic rifles designed to fire high-caliber rounds, typically in the 7mm range. These were the mainstay for armies in the 1950s, but the US eventually found out that giving infantry rifles with smaller rounds is better since its lighter and can allow infantry to be more accurately engage enemies better due to lower recoil (albeit at the cost of power), so battle rifles were replaced by assault rifles for front-line use and battle rifles were relegated to specialists like marksmen or support gunners (who's job permits for a slower-firing but more powerful weapon). The M1918 BAR may count as one, though the first occurred no latter than 1942's FG42.
:*Carbine - A carbine is a compact rifle, primarily designed to be used in close quarters. In most cases, carbines are based from a parent rifle, and are scaled down by using lighter/smaller parts and shortening the barrel (such as in the case of the American M16 vs M4) or is its own weapon (like the Korean K1A). These are typically given to units who need to engage the enemy at close range and need a rifle for the job, like commandos, assault teams, or other specialist units, or given to units who are not expected to fight on the front but need a compact but decent weapon to defend themselves if the need arises, like pilots or vehicle crews. Carbine may also refer to pistol-caliber semi-automatic weapons that are longer than a pistol, but this is typically only used in the civilian market. The concept of a carbine predates modern firearms, though they existed primarily for cavalry.
:*Micro Assault Rifle - Even smaller than carbines; these are ultracompact rifles designed when someone needs a highly portable but powerful weapon. A MAR is basically a PDW that shoots actual rifle rounds. Much like carbines; a MAR can either be based on a parent rifle and scaled down or made as its own weapon. These tend to have low effectiveness for standard calibers, since those were designed for full length barrels, but the logistics of supply are superior.
:*Sniper Rifle - A sniper rifle is a special precision rifle, specifically designed to engage targets at extreme range with lethal efficiency. Many sniper rifles use standard 7.62mm rounds, but high-performance rifles will use more potent rounds up to 12.7mm rounds for extra range and stopping power. Preferably, sniper rifles should use match-grade ammunition to provide consistency and accuracy at high extended ranges. The vast majority are bolt-action for simplicity and power (much more reliable and because all the gasses are diverted into the barrel, rather than some being diverted to work the action; the gun can launch the bullet farther and faster), but there are also a decent number of semi-automatic ones. Sniper rifles are given to special marksmen called "snipers", who are capable of engaging the enemy from extreme distances, usually well away from the scrap.
:*Designated Marksman Rifle - A sort of compromise between battle rifles and sniper rifles, DMRs are precision weapons meant to be used by frontline infantry to accurately engage distant targets that regular infantry weapons cannot. Due to its role, it's generally more accurate than a rifleman's gun, but usually not as effective as an actual sniper's gun (DMRs are usually only effective within 1 kilometer, while SRs are typically effective beyond 1 kilometer). Generally speaking, DMRs avoid using the more high-performance rounds that snipers may use, as it may be detrimental for an infantryman's role.
:*Recoiless - Not a conventional gun in most senses; a recoilless gun (models with rifling are called "Recoiless rifles" though people often miss this distinction) is as the title suggest, a rifled weapon without (or at least reduced) recoil. It does this by basically being a cannon with the back taken off. When loaded the cartridge sits in an open back tube, there is no breach. When fired, the explosion propels the shell out the tube, but an equal amount of gas comes out the other side canceling out the recoil. This means that total muzzle velocity is lower than a cannon with a breech on it, but they make up for it by shooting bigger shells, and with HEAT shells (thanks to the nature of the Munroe effect) the wider the diameter of the shell the more effective it is, meaning even a large slow moving projectile can do a great amount of damage to tanks.
:*Anti-Tank/Materiel Rifle - Essentially modern elephant guns; these rifles are geared towards destroying tanks and hard objects, although they are very much still capable of demolishing infantry (albeit overkill since rifles of this type tend to outright cause body parts to explode by the sheer amount of force they carry.). Anti-tank rifles were the norm for years (From the 1910s to the late 1970s) as they were a cheap yet effective way of getting rid of tanks, but advancements in vehicle armor has largely rendered AT rifles obsolete (at least for anti-tank roles, these things can still royally murder lightly-armored vehicles and urban housing, thus why they can be seen in use today). Anti-materiel rifles however, are a bit of an offshoot of AT rifles, and are still in use today. They are often used to take out lighter vehicles, to detonate ordnance at a safe distance or fuck up anything valuable to the other side like radars, communication devices, heavy weapons, etc... They have been successfully used against light boats and even to down the occasional helicopter. Likewise, they have been used by both professional and paramilitary forces due in thanks to their ability to annihilate cover (and hopefully what's behind it) where most conventional small arms won't.
:*Elephant Gun - A rifle that fires a ludicrously heavy bullet, usually as a single shot but rarely as a bolt action. As the name implies, these were developed to bring down big game like elephants, but eventually became the precursors to anti-material rifles. Unlike the later, range or penetration aren't big concerns so much as delivering a massive amount of energy to a soft-skinned target. While hunting elephants may be illegal today, a large caliber weapon is still useful for defense against large predators like bears or lions, who would shrug off a smaller 5.56mm or 7.62mm to the body. Firing such a heavy weapon while standing or even sitting isn't a pleasant experience; without the right stance, it'll go flying once you pull the trigger.
:*Everything else - Except sniper rifles and most Designated Marksman Rifles, all of the above rifles are generally "military-grade" and thus are generally not available to the public (unless you are in '''The Great United States Of America'''*, *NFA restrictions apply). Any other type of rifle will typically be called a "sporting rifle" or "hunting rifle", etc and are either bolt-action or semi-automatic. Technically speaking, most "military-grade" firearms can be modified to become semi-automatic to allow for use within the public.

*Machine Gun - Colloquially a machine gun is a large automatic weapon (though technically anything fully-automatic, ranging from a machine pistol all the way up to auto-cannons), typically fed from a magazine or a belt (or both, as is the case with the M249) and meant to either be man-portable or fired from an emplacement or mount like a tripod or turret. The main difference between MGs and the rest of the automatic weapon family is that an MG is a gun meant to fire with longer continuous bursts as a support weapon; meaning that the machine gunner applies continuous suppression fire at the enemy to keep them down (and occasionally kill those stupid enough to not get the message), while the rest of the squad maneuver. Machine guns are generally heavier, not only because of the volume of ammo they carry; but their parts (such as the barrel) are made of heavier materials so that the gun can withstand the punishing amounts of bullets it puts downrange (firing hundreds of rounds without pause can cause guns to overheat and malfunction, even catch fire or explode in the worst of scenarios, unless they're built for such a task.) Even then, barrel changes occur frequently to change warped and damaged barrels.
:*Light Machine Gun - an LMG is a man-portable MG that fires the same intermediate rounds as assault rifles. They are intended to be almost as portable as a rifle (as in, they can be shouldered, but get better performance with a bipod) and allow machine gunners to provide suppressing fire at the squad level. Some LMGs are magazine-fed rifles with heavier barrels and modified bolts (such as the RPK), or else scaled-down MMGs (such as the M249 SAW).
:*Medium Machine Gun - an MMG is a man-portable MG that fires the same full-power rounds as battle rifles. These tend to push the limit of what's practical for a man-portable weapon, and when deployed are usually fired from a stationary position either on a bipod or tripod due to the recoil they generate. These weapons usually overlap with General Purpose Machine Guns and tend to be deployed at the company level or as a vehicle weapon.
:*Heavy Machine Gun (classic) - The definition of an HMG has changed a bit over the last 100 years so the catagory has been split up into two category's. The classical heavy machine gun is exclusively meant to be fired from emplacements and mounts like a tripod due to their large size and weight and was designed to be fired from a fixed position: constantly, just spitting out bullets for days. Often done with the aid of a water jacket which further increased the weight of the weapon. These are the guns that created the quagmire of the great war. Their heavy weight made them impossible for an infantryman to fire on the move (regardless of what you hear; even Hollywood couldn't make these monsters man-portable in their movies, and those fire low-powered blank rounds and is being held by the like of [[Sly Marbo|Sylvester Stallone]]). But that weight also greatly limited their maneuverability and forced them to stay in a static defensive position. Usage outside of vehicle mounts died off when artillery became more precise and could easily wipe out immobile emplacements. Unlike modern heavy machine guns, classical ones used a standard sized rifle cartridge, the vickers for example used the .303 bullet same as the standard rifle of the day, what made them 'heavy' was the focus on sustained shooting to throw back waves of attacking infantry. Examples include the Maxim gun, Hotchkiss Mle 1914 and the Vickers.
:*Heavy Machine Gun (Modern): a modern heavy machine gun is not designed to fire constantly, but to fire a big bullet. Only slightly too small to qualify for the definition of 'cannon' are weapons like the M2 browning .50 caliber, or 12.7 mm machine gun. Modern HMG's are powerful enough to penetrate light armor and damage fragile equipment on heavy armor (like scopes), making them formidable weapons. Examples of modern HMG's are the Russian DHSK and the American M2 Browning.
:*General Purpose Machine Gun - Essentially a machine gun that can perform multiple roles of the previous stated. Examples of this are the German MG34 (arguably the first of this concept) and MG42/MG3, or (from an American prospective) the American M60 and M240, which can reliably serve both infantry-level support weapon and mounted gun roles by fitting them with the appropriate parts. The first ones used the general rifle cartridge, while modern examples are in 7.62x51 NATO or its equivalents.
::*Squad Automatic Weapon - An attempt to make a GPMG that use the intermediate cartridges everyone else in the squad used. Despite the weaknesses of intermediate cartridges (limited range, low barrier penetration/destruction) being more noticeable in a machinegun role, they is still commonly used by virtue of their reduced logistical requirements and lighter weight compared to other man-portable LMG variants. The RPD, RPK and M249/SAW/MINIMI family are the main entries here, though it seems every modern assault rifle has tried to make a SAW variant with varying degrees of success.
:::*Infantry Automatic Rifle - A more recent concept that seeks to combine the continuous firing properties of a machine gun with an assault rifle's accuracy and ease of use. So far only attempted seriously by the US Marine Corp with the M27; while the higher-ups are pleased with it so far, there is considerable debate about whether its lower rate of fire compared to the M249 will make it less effective at providing suppressing fire.
:*Rotary Machine Gun - Originally known as the "Gatling gun", man's first known attempt to have enough [[dakka]]; a rotary machine gun is an automatic weapon that uses revolving barrels that interchange every time the gun fires off a round. The kicker to this is that it allows the gun to shoot with little threat of the barrels wearing out as they interchange between shots; giving them a small window to cool off before firing again. The end result is a gun capable of firing over 3,000 rounds per minute without fail, or in a smaller scope; 50 rounds per second. Modern rotary guns are electrically powered to allow them to reach such insane speeds, and are given ammo drums that contain thousands of rounds to be able to sustain that amount of bullets being fired; so they're confined to static emplacements and vehicles (unlike what the media constantly portrays; these things are not even close to being man-portable without assistance from powered armor.) These types of guns are used almost exclusively on aircraft or anti-aircraft emplacements, as they're the only non-missile weapon that can reliably hit fast-moving aircraft. But a rotary gun that fires 30mm rounds is powerful enough to tear tanks in two, as well (metaphorically, they only have to penetrate top armor and rate of fire helps). Unlike what the movies would tell you a rotary machine gun does not need a long spinup time to get to full speed: when the trigger is pulled the gun starts to spin and fire immediately.
:*Chain gun - A chain gun is a machine gun that is fed using an electric motor. Instead of relying on the gasses from the bullet to work the action to cycle a new round; a machine automatically ejects and loads a new round in after firing a shot. Chain guns have the benefit of never jamming due to feeding failures, as even if the round is not discharged; the machine pops it out and loads a new one regardless. However, it is also not man-portable as it requires an electric motor to function, so it is only found on fixed emplacements or vehicles. Can easily fuck up any poor shmucks day by perforating the boat or car they are in. People sometimes use the words "chain gun" and "rotary machine gun" interchangably, but chain guns are typically single-barreled, as they don't need the high rate of fire that rotary guns do outside of anti-air guns.

===Actions===
"Action" refers to how ammunition is loaded into the weapon.

*Single-shot: The first and oldest of all; a single-shot weapon is when users manually load rounds into the chamber. This can be anything from loading a new round, cocking the weapon every shot, or pumping the action.
**Muzzle-loaded: The earliest form of how weapons were loaded. This meant you had to load a new round directly into the muzzle, which is where the bullets come out. In its earliest form; muzzle-loaded guns were complicated to arm; you had to fuck around with a wad, powder, and slug. In the heat of battle, you had to ram these down the barrel of your gun in the correct order, light the wick, then aim before the gun goes off. And you had to do all this while standing in the open within firing range of your enemy. Still in use because many jurisdictions have a muzzle loading only season and such obsolete arms are subject to fewer legal restrictions in general.
**Breach-loaded; An upgrade over muzzle-loading and developed shortly after cartridges were invented; breach loaders are where the back of the barrel can be opened so that you can load a new round into it. Many muzzle loaders were converted to breech loaders in workshops near the end of the Industrial Revolution. It is still a popular setup for multi-barreled shotguns. Certain revolvers are breach-loaded as well, but given the size and design of the revolver, this gives them a notable weak point at the top of the weapon where the parts connect together. Most come in flavors such as break action (popular with simple shotguns), trapdoor mechanisms, rolling blocks, falling blocks (attached to levers), or bolt action.
**Bolt-action: This type of action is where you pull the charging handle of a weapon, every time you shoot so that a new round can be chambered. Originally starting off as single shot rifles, they eventually added magazines to reduce the amount of loading required. These were pretty popular in WW1 and continues to be used today for precision rifles and discount anti-material rifles due to their simplicity and strength.
**Lever-action: The cool kid of the single-action club; lever-action weapons are those where you have to use a lever to chamber a new round, which was usually mounted near the trigger. Great for shooting from horseback, not so great lying on the ground. This type was made popular by Winchester during the frontier age of the Wild West and even more by Arnold Schwarzenegger when he used a lever-action shotgun during Terminator 2. Tend to be chambered for pistol cartridges and intermediate rifle cartridges because its metalurgy and action weren't strong enough for full rifle cartridges till the 1890s, when bolt actions had started displacing it, and tube magazines requiring flat nosed rimed cartridges while market forces limit them to cartridges that are still made (a crossover that's essentially just .22lr, revolver cartridges, .30-30 and .45-70).
**Pump-action: A pump action is where you had to pull the "pump" of the weapon to cycle a new round. This is the most common action used by shotguns. A few rifles used this setup as well (but only with round bullet heads as pointed bullets have the risk of setting off the primers), and there is one instance of a bunch of madmen creating a pump-action 3+1 (three in the tube, one in the chamber) 40mm grenade launcher.
*Automatic action/Self-loading: Unlike single-shot weapons, it uses gasses expelled by the cartridge or recoil to power a mechanism that automatically chambers a new round after each shot. Generally speaking, the semi-automatic to fully-automatic action is determined by the trigger sear, which may either inhibit the hammer from hitting against until the trigger is let go (semi-automatic), stops firing after a certain number of rounds have been fired (burst-fire), or continuously fires until ammo is expended (fully automatic).
**Semi-automatic: A semi-automatic weapon is any weapon that can fire after every trigger pull, with the user only needing to work the action after reloading a completely empty gun. Most handguns and many rifles are semi-automatic.
**Burst-Fire: A setting sometimes included on automatic weapons, each trigger pull fires three (or sometimes two) rounds in rapid succession. This is used as a way to allow automatic capability without wasting bullets, as keeping the trigger held too long on anything other than a mounted weapon tends to cause it to lose accuracy very quickly.
**Fully-automatic: A fully-automatic weapon is any weapon that can fire automatically, so long as the trigger is depressed, rather than pulled each time like how semi-autos work. Automatic weapons tend to be banned for civilian use and are only available to military.

===Ammo Storage and Feeding===
This refers to how ammunition is given to the weapon. Also the topic of a /k/ommando's greatest sources of rage; the clip vs magazine misconception. This section will give a short explanation for both.

*Pepperbox - basically the bastard child of a break-action long gun and a revolver; a pepperbox gun has 3 or more barrels loaded and ready to fire, with the gun rotating between the loaded barrels to fire in relatively quick sucession. As this was one of the only ways to get more than a single shot in less than a minute without resorting to carrying multiple guns; the design was wacky but popular during the olden ages (and still today to a limited extent for some pocket pistols). The Empire's Outriders are armed with these weapons if you want a visual of what they looked like. Most pepperboxes where smoothbore since they were made on the cheap and never intended for more than point blank fire.

*Volleygun - A variant of the olden multi-barrel family, the volleygun foregoes single, accurate shots in favor of alpha-striking to saturate the area in lead, having anywhere between 2 to 20 barrels (and you can go well beyond this if your contraption can handle it) and the size ranging anywhere from a pistol to a full-sized artillery piece. As the name describes; it fires all of it's payload in a single volley, basically making it a one-man firing line. This style of weaponry gradually fell out of disuse as more modern firearms were developed (mainly self-loading weapons, which were more reliable and accurate), but is notably still used for the "Metal Storm", a prototype weapon with truly absurd number of gun barrels that go off simultaneously to shred the ever-living fuck out of it's target. The only types still in use today are double barreled shotguns and derringers.

*Superposed load - the disadvantage to using a multi-barreled firearm is that it adds a lot of weight to the firearm. One alternative was to simply stack multiple bullets and charges into the same barrel, and then have the firearm set them off sequentially. The early version of this mechanism was prone to failures, as the bullets were not self-contained and a poor gas seal could result in multiple charges going off, destroying the gun (and the user if unlucky enough) if it was not designed to handle the stress. The King of England was once gifted several such guns and after one exploded killing the guard firing it the whole affair was deemed a very creative attempt at assassination. However, this setup was revived with the invention of caseless bullets and electronic triggers used most prominently in Metal Storm weapons. If combined with multiple barrels, a metal storm weapon can have a bewildering rate of fire. So far the technology is mostly used in multi-shot grenade launchers.

*Bullpup - A bullpup is any weapon where its action is located in the behind the trigger, instead of in front. Bullpups have the advantage of being more compact, compared to the traditional setup, as most of the gun's mechanism is located in the stock area. but has the disadvantage of not being ambidextrous (being that the shell ejection port is directly beside the shooter's face, left-handed shooters are forced to shoot from the right to not get their faces burned off) unless specifically designed to be so. This is usually resolved by cutting out ejection ports on both sides and swapping parts over, or else ejecting bullets downward or forward. And typically suffer from poor triggers due to the distance from trigger to action, though there are aftermarket kits for many that can mitigate it a good deal. Modern pistols and many SMGs that feed from inside the grip are ''technically'' bullpups, since their magazine and action are behind the trigger and connected by a transfer bar, but they generally aren't counted as such.

*Clip - A clip is a device, used for bundling bullets together for immediate use. Guns cannot use clips by themselves, they have to be loaded into a magazine first to be used by a gun. The most common version were "stripper clips": each clip held about five bullets, and to load the rifle you placed the clip on top of the magazine, then squeezed the bullets off the clip into the magazine. Another type, en bloc, was used by the M1 Garand and held eight bullets in a 2x4 configuration. The entire clip was put in the magazine, with the clip being ejected after being emptied. The last kind is the moon (or half-moon) clip, used specifically for revolvers, which holds bullets in a circular formation for loading the chamber up in one go. Clips are still used today, but exclusively to speed up loading external magazines. Filling external magazines generally requires a small disposable tool, which is included in any ammo lot packaged on stripper clips.

*Speedloader - A speedloader is essentially a clip that has moving parts, usually to aid with holding and/or loading ammunition. Two common types exist. The first is similar to a moon clip in that it holds bullets so that they can all be loaded into a revolver simultaneously, but use a locking mechanism to secure the bullets while they are being carried, then release them once they are loaded into the cylinder. While not as fast as a moon clip, it still makes loading revolvers considerably faster. Another type of speedloader is the magazine loader, which is designed to reduce the spring pressure in a magazine, making it faster and easier to load.

*Magazine - The magazine is part of the weapon that houses and feeds actual ammo into the weapon. In the olden days, many guns had magazines that were built into the weapon itself and were fed using clips of ammo that were loaded after the gun ran out of ammo. Built-in magazines, however, severely limited the potential ammunition capacity of guns as they cannot be expanded without significantly making the gun larger and was a pain in the ass to reload (such as in the case of revolvers). To counter this; people designed guns whose magazines were detachable from the gun itself. This allowed people to easily expand the ammo cap of a gun, as they only needed to ensure that the extended magazine will fit into their gun and cycle properly, they no longer needed to re-work the entire structure of the gun to enlarge a built-in magazine. It also greatly increased a person's reload speed, as instead of fumbling around with several clips to ram down the gun: they just had to detach a magazine, pull one out of their vest/bag, load it in (charge the gun if needed), and they're good to go. High-capacity magazines tend to take on weird shapes rather than the standard flat box; the most common variant is the drum magazine, but there are also double drums, caskets, and helicals. Typically the weakest part of any firearm. A large part of the misconceptions of the M16 were related to the fucktarded idea that it should be issued with DISPOSABLE MAGAZINES! They were initially not intended for repeated use, empty the mag. Drop it, crush it under your boot, reload a brand new never used mag. Worked well till some bureaucrat ordered reusing them which alongside some other bureaucrats skipping the chrome lining for the barrel and issuing really shitty ammo made with spare parts caused regular failures. Newer iterations of the magazine have since addressed these issues.

*Belts - The belt is what it is; a long belt filled with bullets, which can either take the form of a cloth belt or linked by metallic chains. Belts are the common loading method of most machine guns, who typically have ammunition capacities well beyond 100 rounds. The reason for this is that it simplifies the operation of the gun (since belts do not require them to be fed to the gun with a mechanism like in traditional magazines) and makes them less prone to malfunctions (with a gun designed to shoot continuously; you wanna make sure that there's less critical moving parts to fuck up as it's firing it's 300th round at the enemy). Belts are also much easier to transport, as the belt can be folded several times to make it more compact, versus a solid magazine. This is mostly because until H&K put out their steel high reliability 5.56 nato mag, most magazines couldn't keep up with the fire rate and were too flimsy(The Soviet counterparts that used magazines, used AK pattern magazines which you can open a beer with and then load into the gun). Pretty much every man issued a M249 with the magwell adapter, will attest to how dire you must be for bullets in the air to use it.

==Ammunition themselves==
To call a round or cartridge "a bullet" would be the equivalent of calling of calling a magazine a clip. Bullets are the projectiles that are or to be launched, while the "round" is the entire thing. To do otherwise would summon the wrath of the /k/ommando.

===Composition of the modern round/cartridge===

*Casing - The metal jacket that houses the propellant, primer, and to an extent the bullet (pardoning telescopic munitions which house the bullet completely.) Usually made from brass, they can be made from steel or plastics (at the detriment of the gun itself, unless designed for such).

*Propellant - Powder that is used to propel the bullet/slug/projectile. In the good ol' days, it used black powder, but those clouded the air with black smoke, left soot in the gun, were corrosive, and weren't powerful. Most modern rounds use a double base powder (generally guncotton/nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, may include a variety of stabilizers (to improve shelf life of the round) and deterrents (to prevent the cartridge from being too "hot" and prematurely combusting or shattering the barrel from overpressure). For artillery, they make good use of triple base propellants, which is smokey as hell but burn well.

*Primer - What activates the powder in the rounds themselves. Generally a firm dent is enough to activate the munitions. Modern commercial ammo generally use non-corrosive compression sensitive materials, though many governments kept using corrosive primers well into the Cold War.

*Bullets - What people get tripped up on in naming munitions. Being the projectile, anyone loading the munitions has a vast choice of what can be used as a bullet. Generally, lead, steel, and tungsten make the core of the round (thanks to their weight) while the outer coat for the round could be lead (since it is also very malleable), copper, and nickel, though Teflon and certain plastics can also be used. If you're feeling lucky, you can load a variety of other materials into the rounds (or shells for shotguns). Take for example salt, which doesn't kill, but you can mark people and they sting like hell. Alternatively, if you're riot police trying to suppress a crowd without killing them, you'd use bullets or shotgun shells loaded with rubber, foam, plastic, bean bag rounds, or tear gas with reduced propellant. If it hits you in the head or in an unlucky spot, you might die from blunt force trauma but it's less lethal than an actual bullet.

===Types of bullets===
As a short note on bullets, its important to know that just because a bullet can easily penetrate armor doesn't mean its a definite upgrade over everything else. If a hard bullet like the FMJ or AP penetrates the human body and exits in the same shot; its gonna hurt like hell but unless that bullet was in the 12.7mm (.50 caliber) category or it hit something important like a lung or the head; the target has a good possibility to survive through a combination of medical aid, hormones (adrenaline in fight or flight), and willpower (with the side possibility of stimulants), and even still continue to fight onwards if they're that dead 'ard. That said, if a 12.7mm round came tearing through your body; it has enough momentum to potentially rupture a good chunk of your insides which is ''very'' lethal, but 12.7mm guns are generally not mainstay (these are guns like the Desert Eagle, M2 Browning, or M82 Barrett), so unless you're a real-life action hero, a turret gunner, or a counter-sniper; its unlikely for you to have access to these behemoths.

Likewise, if a soft bullet like the JHP or SP penetrates the body, then which expands, fragments, and/or tumbles inside; in short internal and external bleeding would be the most urgent of the target's concerns, with ruptured organs and torn muscles leaking like a broken sewage pipe, thus making HP lot more lethal and debilitating. That said, soft bullets fragment easily and body armor proportionate to it's caliber can reliably stop soft round. That said even if armored; the target is still gonna feel the impact of the bullet's force hitting against his body, and that still has the potential of killing someone if the circumstances are right (although its still unreliable).

In the end, a bullet is either specialized where it's only effective against either armored or unarmored targets, or a special combination that renders it effective against both types (although these require an experienced smith to manufacture properly).

*Ball - though if we start talking bullets we need to start with the first bullet: the lead ball, from where we derive the common term for bullets as 'rounds'. It's. . .just a lead ball though, not much to say about it. The balls were hand made, often by soldiers themselves since lead has such a low melting point, with the molds often being unique to each gun. This used largely the same process that was used for [[Sling]] bullets since antiquity. These early bullets would be smaller then the barrel and so would often 'rattle' down the barrel due to the ill fitting, which combined with a lack of riffling would mean early guns were horribly inaccurate. If one used a larger bullet that better fitted the gun, one could use rifling, but this required, (see above) hammering the bullet into place to make sure that there were no gaps.

*Minié ball- The first bullet we would know as a 'bullet', and the first truly distinct from a lead ball. A Minié ball is a conical bullet with a concave hole in the base. When fired the base flared out from the pressure of the blast, letting it engage with the rifling of the gun. This meant that it formed a seal with the barrel making it incredibly accurate, while not needing to be tightly hammered down the barrel. The best of both worlds. Combined with it's large size these things were lethal on the battle field maiming and crippling an entire generation of soldiers during the US civil war.

*Full Metal Jacket (FMJ)- Generally a lead or steel bullet encased in a soft metal such as copper. Acts a sort of lube as well as preventing fouling of the barrel. Depending on design, has a potential to fragment post impact, shredding internal organs.
**Synthetic Jacket- FMJ ammo with a plastic jacket, which has the advantage of reducing cleaning requirements and safer when hitting steel at the cost of various things not really relevant in practice ammo. Currently only in handgun calibers and only made as practice/match ammo (though some hollow points and AP rounds do also use polymer jackets).

*Hollow point (HP)- The hollow section in the center makes the bullet expand on impact, creating a bigger hole in its victim at the expense of being less effective against armored targets. That being said, the decreased penetration also makes it safer to use in situations where over-penetration could be dangerous (e.g. on an aircraft). Certain designs have bladed tips on expansion, causing additional cutting and bleeding too. It was banned from military use by the Hague Convention of 1899, so restricted to police, civilians, and, as of 2017, the United States Armed Forces (The US didn't sign that provision, but previously stuck with FMJ even after mass production became feasible for the sake of NATO compatibility).

*Semi jacketed Hollow point (SJHP)- Same as a hollow point, but has a copper jacket to help reduce fouling.

*Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)- Same as above, but fully covers the bullet down to the tip.

*Wad cutter (WC)- Flat tipped bullet. Not very aerodynamic but it leaves a big hole to help tell you where you hit the target. Generally for closer range paper targets as they lose velocity very quickly due to the drag on them.

*Semi Wad Cutter (SWC)- Like the wad cutter, but more aerodynamic.

*Armor Piercing (AP)- As name implies, intended to penetrate armor, be it person or equipment. However, this ultimately depends on what gun you're shooting from and what armor you're shooting at. A 9x19mm AP steel round coming from a 4" barrel will do diddly to NIJ Level IIIA, where as a 7.62x51 AP flying out of a 24" barrel will punch through it easy as you please. Modern AP rounds are often jacketed in plastic, but this is purely to protect the barrel (turns out sending something meant to destroy steel through a steel barrel results in a wrecked barrel) and adds no armor piercing quality.

*Saboted light armor penetrator (SLAP)/Saboted bullets- Think of the discarding sabots fired from a M1 Abrams or a saboted slug of a shotgun, but redesigned to be fired like a standard rifle round. The sabot is designed to the grip the rifling until it leaves the barrel, then discard after leaving the barrel. This would leave the penetrator or bullet with a high velocity while providing a sufficient spin to the bullet to keep it stabilized in the air. With a higher density and/or thinner bullet, they can potentially penetrate better than potentially even APHE. Likewise for handcrafted bullets, they provide higher velocity for a smaller bullet in a cartridge intended for a larger caliber. G

*High Explosive incendiary (HEI)- Explosive tipped munition. Generally for larger rounds (think 7.62 and beyond), they typically are meant for non-infantry targets such as light vehicles, light aircraft, and barriers, showering those inside with speeding shrapnel. Despite their implication, they might not work as well as one might think against hard target.

*Armor Piercing Incendiary (API)/Armor Piercing High Explosive (APHE), High Explosive Incendiary Armor Penetration (HEIAP)- Designed with the intentions of penetrating hard targets that HE rounds can't do alone and being anti-material in general, API and HEIAP are the answer to those targets. Generally have sufficient power in and behind the bullet (think Raufoss Mk.211), it will penetrate body armor and light vehicles with awe-inspiring ease.

*Soft point or semi jacketed - Like a FMJ, except the tip is exposed. Designed to have the reduced drag of a FMJ, while expanding upon hitting a target similar to a hollow point. Generally designed for hunters in mind.

*Ballistic tip - Similar in performance to the semi-jacketed bullet, but rather than being a solid core of lead it is designed like a hollow point, but with a plastic tip at the end to reduce drag and ensure expansion.

*Ratshot - made for smaller-caliber guns and is basically birdshot for rifled barrels. The tip is a plastic cap that contains a small amount pellets, typically within the 1.5mm range. As the name implies; the gun is primarily designed for shooting pests and small animals like rodents and grass snakes. You can use it to shoot at larger pests like coyotes or humans, but it's woefully underpowdered for the job.

*Matchgrade - ammo designed primarily for shooting competitions and/or extreme feats of marksmanship. Very expensive compared to popular alternatives and impractical for common use, but you get what you pay for: a cartridge produced with the finest minds R&D could muster, subjected to much more rigorous batch testing and quality control, and guaranteed to shoot a bullet as far and accurately as physics would allow. Rounds alone do not make an accurate firearm however, so the gun it's chambered in has to be well-maintained and designed for precise shooting in mind.

*Tracer - a regular bullet coated in pyrotechnic coating that ignites when fired. These are most commonly used with machineguns (every fifth round in a belt, to be exact) since it's useful for the gunner to accurately see where all his bullets are going, as well as make it clear to any enemies he's suppressing just who he's aiming at. Similarly rifle magazines are often loaded with tracers at certain intervals to provide indication of remaining ammo. Of course, the caveat is "tracer's work both ways" as they can give away your position; this can be mitigated by using "dim" tracers that can only be seen through night vision goggles. Sometimes also used by spotters or commanders to mark a specific target. They can potentially set fire to objects, if the incendiary compound hasn't burned out yet on impact.

*Breaching - Designed specifically to destroy things like locks, hinges, and door frames. A breaching round consists of a wad of metal particles held together by a binding compound. Fired at extremely close range, this load effectively sandblasts whatever it hits into pieces and then disperses, without any risk to people further downrange.

*Less-lethals - Commonly known as 'rubber bullets' even though they're made of other substances such as plastic, foam, and beanbag rounds for shotguns these days. Used in riot control and such, where the shooter isn't allowed to kill. The key word is "less", however. They hurt like a sonovabitch and can still kill in the wrong circumstances when they hit you in the head or a sensitive area, though. Airsoft this ain't.

*Silver - Pure fantasy, but common in there to counter supernatural creatures weak to silver. Silver bullets would suffer from many problems that rarely get mentioned in fiction. Chief among these are the cost, that silver shrinks when cast (so it's really hard to get the right size and shape), and that silver is too soft to engage rifling so even if you get the right size accuracy will be terrible. [[Monster Hunter International|More /k/ aligned works]] solve these issues with solutions like sabots (which helps accuracy but still worse than real bullets), ballistic tips made of silver and frangible bullets filled with powdered silver (instead of the typical competitively cheap metal).

===Types of Rounds===
Apart from the traditional type of rounds, here are some unique ones for reference.

*Blanks - What you commonly see loaded in movies. Blanks are basically that; the round has a primer and powder, but the bullet is just a paper or plastic sheet designed to keep the powder in, so you get the sound of a gun going off, but not the damage. That said, blanks ''can'' still kill people, the gasses used to propel the bullet forward are still there (just not launching any bullets); and its powerful enough to liquefy organs and break bones if you were dumb/desperate enough shoot someone with a blank at close range. Movie armorers make a point of demonstrating this with things like fruit before letting anyone touch blank firing guns. This is why instead of blank-firing guns, actors will use flash paper guns at close range for safety. There's also blank ammo specifically designed to make as much noise as possible for the purpose of disorienting and intimidating people in an area. In a military sense blanks do have a use: typically for turning your rifle into a grenade launcher, using the expanding gasses to launch a grenade held at the muzzle by a cup.

*Caseless - An old but futuristic concept, a caseless round has everything required for the bullet to be launched, inside the bullet itself. This removes the need for guns to eject spent shell casings after every shot, reducing weight and ammo costs. While this has been pioneered since WW2 and a few prototype examples for it were already developed (like the G11); caseless rounds are still determined to be unreliable for field combat use in comparison to traditional ammunition, so as of today their use is largely limited (mainly to grenade rounds like the Russian VOG-25 grenade).

*Gyrojet - A unique but largely impractical cartridge in the gun circuit, WH40K's famous [[bolter|boltguns]] run on the same concept as the gyrojet. Basically, the bullets are miniature rockets that build up speed as they travel, capable of exceeding the speed of sound after traveling 60ft. While the idea sounds cool; gyrojets were ''required'' to gain minimum distance to achieve their full effect (if you fired at point-blank for example, they didn't really do much), had a design flaw in their propulsion system that made the rockets prone to corkscrewing off-course, and were highly temperamental to environmental conditions, not to mention the costs. At the end the concept was a bust as it didn't really do a lot that couldn't be achieved with traditional small arms for cheaper. Still GeeDubs thought it was nice and became the basis of how boltguns work, where it's largely the same but with more techno-flubdubbery and "because future".

*Magnum - Unlike what vidya gaems portray, magnums aren't really super-mega handguns of death. A magnum round is basically a parent cartridge that's been enlarged so it does more damage due to a combination of larger mass and more powder used (so it flies faster and hits harder), and this can be anything from the .357 magnum handgun round used by revolvers, to the large caliber .338 Lapua and Winchester magnum rounds used for precision sniper rifles.
** Special - An earlier equivalent. The only two to see continued existence are .38 special and .44 special which also went from black powder to smokeless powder, both of which coincidentally have even longer magnum variants.

*Overpressured - Designated as "+P", overpressured rounds still uses the same cartridge (unlike the magnum), but is loaded with higher-pressure powder that releases more energy when fired. It sounds like a nice way to up your damage, but guns have a level of pressure they can tolerate, and if your gun isn't designed to do such and you use +P rounds; you run the very high risk of destroying your gun (and the rest of your body if you're that unlucky). There are guns that are proofed to fire +P and +P+ ammo but it typically used in SMGs. Certain batches of surplus ammo will blow up guns because they were made to be used in more robust SMGs and not commercial pistols, poorly stored, or just plain poorly made.

*Subsonic - Rounds designed to shoot slower than the speed of sound to prevent creating the loud cracking sound a projectile makes when it goes beyond 345m/s, making them more stealthy. There's two ways to go about this. The first is to put less powder in the round, or use specialized one that explodes with and imparts less energy (although this may cause problems for self-loading guns, who are not designed to cycle using less powerful ammo). The other is to make the bullet much heavier than usual so the standard powder load doesn't have enough energy to have the bullet break the sound barrier, although this translates to slower projectile speed and lower range, but increased chances of armor penetration as heavier bullets retain energy much more efficiently than lighter ones. Subsonic munitions are primarily used in silenced weapons for their sound-reduction benefits, although some take advantage of certain subsonic rounds' heavy bullets and low-energy for defeating armored opponents at close range (as this ensures that no over-penetration will happen, which AP bullets have a tendency of doing).

===Types of shotgun loads===

*Buckshot - The shell is filled with lead or steel pellets, each of which is typically around 15mm each (it ultimately depends on the bore), that spread out once discharged. Poor at penetrating armor and limited effective range comparison to other firearms as the pellets scatter and the pellets are too small to do serious damage individually (Although do note that unlike what the vidya gaems portray; a decent 12G shotgun loaded with buckshot is effective upto 30-50m, not just in point-blank range); but they do cover a fairly large radius and the force of 8-12 pellets impacting against your body will send you tumbling and rolling on the floor in agony, even if they don't penetrate.

*Birdshot - Similar to buckshot and more pellets, but the pellets are smaller (5mm and less, although still depends on the bore). As their name describes; the ammo is designed to pelt down birds by [[Ork|throwing as many bullets at the target and hoping atleast a few of them hit]]. You can use them against non-avian targets aswell and they'll do something, but they don't pack the punch you'd like and don't expect them to dent body armor too much. Their ineffectiveness against human targets [[Wikipedia:Dick Cheney hunting accident|was demonstrated by a (possibly drunk) Vice President of the United States]] when he shot an old guy in the face with some and the only lasting damage was the voice.

*Slug - Instead of multiple pellets; the gun fires a single, heavy lead projectile, similar to how traditional ammo works. Because shotgun barrels are not rifled; slugs do not have the range nor accuracy rifles do, but because of their weight and the shotgun's fairly large caliber; they're fully capable of crushing their way through armor at close range. Slugs are typically used for hunting large game in areas where rifle ammunition isn't allowed due to the risk of overpenetration.

*Breaching - A specialized variant of the slug round, breaching rounds are designed specifically to destroy door locks at extremely close range. Generally composed of very dense powdered steel held together with wax.

*Less-lethals - Designed for riot control where the shooter isn't allowed to kill; the bullet is either made of rubber, paint, or beanbags designed for minimal penetration, while the powder used in the rounds is less to reduce the projectile's velocity. The end result is a bullet designed to simply cause shock and pain to the target in order to incapacitate them long enough to be arrested and not rejoin the fight in the meantime. That said, you're still talking about launching an object at someone at speeds similar to cars speeding on a highway; so hitting vulnerable parts of the body like the head, neck, or ribs can still result in a fatality. On the flip side, anyone wearing bullet-resistant armor won't be affected too much.

*Chain-shot - Typically reserved for olden cannons, the chain-shot is two cannonballs linked with a chain. The spinning contraption was intended to tear through a ship's mast and sails. Obsolete as fuck, but it is still possible to replicate this with shotgun ammo. Basically you tie two pellets or slugs together so that when they're discharged; they're basically flying garrotes. Awesome, but because of how unpredictable bullets are while in flight, it's highly impractical for combat use.

*Flechette - Buckshot, but instead of pellets; the shell is loaded with small metal darts. They achieved better penetration and range than traditional buckshot; but because shotguns aren't really designed as precision weapons; they were highly impractical for combat applications. They destroyed barrels and tended to deflect off really silly things like raindrops.

*Explosive Rounds - The shell contains an slug that explodes upon impact, capable of using anti-armor or anti-personnel shells, basically turning the shotgun into a portable grenade launcher. Not as powerful as the real thing, but invaluable when you need accurate explosions but not the excessive collateral damage or restrictive weight and mass. Has seen some use in rifle rounds on the eastern front of World War II as well as in .50 BMG (officially for use on objects, not people).

*Dragon's Breath - An odd type of ammo. DB shells are loaded with magnesium pellets. When discharged; they create a short but hot burst of fire that burn at temperatures upto 1,600°C. While not really used much for conventional combat due to its status as an incendiary weapon (which would give a warcrimes committee a field day); blasting a person with this at close range will create about the same results as a giant fire-breathing lizard incinerating an unlucky knight to death, hence their name. Also destroys barrels, as dragon's breath burns hotter than the melting point of steel, and close to the melting point of chromium (two of the most common metals used in gun parts).

*Misc - Shotguns aren't really picky with ammo since they are manually operated and don't depend on a gas seal as much; just about ''anything'' can be used for bullets if worse comes to worse/you're bored. Could be lego pieces, could be old hard candy, solid scrap,frozen meat [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-n4bxxn9gA or even glass]. Hell, it can be a Sly Marbo tabletop figure if you could fit him inside a shell and prevent him from disintegrating from the force while exiting the barrel, the choice is yours. (More likely blow up your gun as Sly refuses to die and gives you the finger for trying.) Incidentally this unfastidious in ammunition also means that in a fantasy setting you can basically load anything you want down the barrel of a shotgun to deal with basically any monster that had a weakness. Wooden stakes for vampires, Cold iron for fae, silver for werewolves, the aforementioned dragon breath for flame vulnerable monsters, salt if that's a thing demons hate in your mythos, freeze holy water into ice and you could still likely shoot it with a sabot. Basically shotguns should be the go to for the modern murder hobo.

==Manufacturing of Firearms==

===Brief Overview===

The production of firearms historically speaking has been an, err, interesting path. The first firearms were little more than metal (or whatever other material one so chose) cylinder with with one hole for the ignition of the powder and one for the projectile to be projected. As time passes on manufacturing techniques got more advanced, leading to triggers which frees up one hand from having to push a hot object into the powder. Most used a sort of striker to ignite the powder, be it flint or rope. Around the early to mid 19th century, self-containing cartridges became a possible reality. As such the firearm had to change too, with an action either simply accepting a round into the barrel or an action that would be worked to put it in. Near the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th, auto-loading firearms became possible, but the actions had to become more complex to automatically feed the round by means of either recoil or gas. After that, guns haven't exactly changed too drastically (still major changes) in the current 21st century, pardoning the much higher efficiency of the modern weaponry. The complexity of modern firearms however doesn't interfere with how cheaply they can be produced. As such, there are endless aftermarket gun parts for sale around in places such as the USA.

===DIY===
[[image:.45 ACP ISB SMG.png|thumb|175px|left|.45 ACP ISB SMG designed from a STEN, but has many parts that differ. According to the designer "I like to think of it as a cross between an FG-42, a Welrod and a Sten."]]

First and foremost: guns are not toys, and should never be treated as such.

It comes as no secret that one can manufacture their own guns in one's own home so they chose to ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pass_copy Just ask the Afghans]). Depending on the skill of the user, the manufacturing tools used, material quality of the parts being used and/or made, design of the gun, and so on, a DIY can range from a explode-in-your-hand zip gun all the way up to high-quality rifles that have a minute of angle (MOA) of 1 or less. All one need is one's [[Ork|imagination]] and a [[Techpriest|firm understanding on how a gun works from the inside out and machining]]. In addition to that, the internet has a broad data base on the knowledge and schematics of guns.

[[image:Homemade_gun_exploding.PNG|thumb|150px|right| Careful you might blow your eye out]]
That said, DIY-guns require a decent understanding of physics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering to manufacturer at all, so unless you're a [[Mekboy]] with all the know-wotz implanted in your brain; its highly recommended you read up first, lest your firearm's first unwitting victim is you.

[[image:Stormbolter_IRL.jpg|thumb|223px|right|If a modern rifle was a stormbolter.]]

Examples of DIY are:

*Zip gun: Usually a metal tube attached to a piece of wood or object, within it some sort of trigger and striker. One example of this is a slam fire gun. Generally a 12 gauge shotgun shell loaded into a 3/4 inch tube that can be shoved into a 1 inch tube that has cap containing a nail at the end. When shoved in, the cap's nail will be more than enough to set off the shell, making the tubes effectively a shotgun.

*Experimental design: Every line of guns started out as a experiment somewhere. Some catch on, some don't, some just are there because why the heck not? Want to have dual barrels on your gun? Go for it! Add a counterweight to the gas block so that the recoil is next to nothing? Makes shoot a breeze! Add a round cam to your bolt so you can have a smooth action and reduce wear on the gun? No reason not to! The choices are endless if with time, diligence, and a bit of imagination.

*CNC Manufacturing: Avoiding the painstaking effort of machining it by hand [[Machine Spirit|a machine do it for you?]] A Computer numerical control (CNC) machine can easily mill out receivers and whatever other parts you need assuming you have the plans on the computer and the materials to be drilled out. In most countries, it's only necessary to mill some of the components as most firearms have a single designated part which is legally viewed as "the gun" (usually the receiver for rifles and the frame for pistols) and everything else is considered replaceable. The downsides of that CNC are a bit pricey relative to their hand milling machine counterpart. However some go for as low as $1200, which is roughly the same price as a mid-tier intermediate rifle in the USA.

==Relations here==
Most fantasy writers tend to exclude firearms. There are a variety of reasons for this, such as:
*Most fantasy comes from [[Tolkien]], who, being a naturalist who largely despised industrialization, did not put guns in Middle-earth, although gunpowder does exist, used by the wizards (Gandalf's Fireworks and Saruman's Fires of Orthanc) and by the orcs.
*Most fantasy (whether copy-catting Tolkien or not) is based on medieval Europe. Depending on your definition of "medieval," Europe did ''technically'' have firearms towards the very end (crude and unreliable ones, but firearms nonetheless), but most authors base their fantasy on earlier medieval Europe.
*As in real life, firearms mean that vulgar, dirty, peasant conscripts can take down the author's Mary Sue noblemen [[knight]]s that trained ''so'' hard in the arts of swordsmanship and melee combat, though if the writer had any historical knowledge they would know that armor can be made "proof" against early firearm bullets (which is partly what spurred the development of full-body plate mail to begin with, as a sidenote) or that a crossbow or longbow can just as easily (in fact, MORE easily due to the general shitty performance of old guns) turn an armored man into swiss cheese.

All that being said, most fantasy authors are much more open to cannons, which became viable on the battlefield long before smaller firearms anyway, especially in naval use (cannons were a huge game changer for sea battles). Some even make room for crude rocket launchers, especially if there is a not-China/not-Korea in their setting. (Laugh, but a big firework rocket will put a sod on fire and ruin his day just fine, doubly so if the morons are in wooden fort.)

Generally speaking, if a world has both the "stock" fantasy races and guns, there will a strict hierarchy of who uses them, from most to least likely:
*[[Dwarves]]: They almost always have the best, most plentiful guns. If only one race gets firearms, it's likely going to be them.
*[[Gnomes]]: As tinkerers, they're frequently on a different tech level from everyone else, including firearms.
*[[Human]]s: Unlike the other races, which are usually an all-or-nothing deal, different human nations have different likelihoods of having guns. Italian and East Asian analogues, as well as the "industrious" or "scientific" nations, are much more likely to have them. Your barbarians, guys keen on knights and chivalry, and the more conservative less so. If the nation is Post Renaissance, expect pike and shot style IRL analogue armies.
*[[Orc]]s: Orcs would probably love guns if they could actually build some. However, they're usually either incapable of building things or have a hard time organizing themselves to the point that large-scale firearm and powder production is possible. Even so, they could still obtain them them by other means such as fighting as mercenaries for guns and stealing them off the corpses of the fallen and similar. They are higher on the list if they are more like Tolkienian orcs, which can be fairly well organized and "delight in explosions" enough to manufacture their own gunpowder, if only for simple bombs. If Orcs are of the more Chaotic Evil variety then they will barely have crossbows, let alone guns. If Orcs are of the Klingon variety, as in the violent tendencies are normal enough that the civilization can function, then they will LOVE big guns.
*[[Elves]]: Being arrogant pricks, they see guns as crude, inaccurate, foul-smelling contraptions that are no substitute for a bow. However, they'll still use them when necessary, even if they don't like it. That said, elves also had a good reason to not use them, namely most firearms in a fantasy settling are arquebus-type single-shot smoothbore weapons, which are outranged by longbows. Longbows are even decent against most kinds of armor ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt ask the French]). The main advantage of firearms, even early ones, is ease of use and armor penetration though armor could be made that could stop an early handgun. The main problem with longbows is that it takes years to learn, which is not a problem for long-lived elves. Between a smoothbore handgun and a longbow, the bow is simply a better choice to an elf. The problem of course is that longbows are about as good as bow technology can get while handguns can be improved to rifles, against which bows only have rate of fire as an advantage, then Repeating Rifles, which bows have no advantage at all against. So while Elves may have an advantage to sticking with there longbows well into the age of pike and shot, if they're not careful their Longbows will end up fighting against Springfields and Winchesters and they will end up the worse in that exchange. If tech reaches that point, expect the Archer/Hunter stereotype to turn into Snipers/Mad minute riflemen.
*Wood Elves and other Fey/Nature types: They'd rather die than use a firearm, even if the rest of the world has moved onto biplanes, bolt-action rifles, shell-firing cannons, and tanks. If this happens, this means they either have powerful magic (so the actual weapons used are unimportant), they are ''really really'' good shots with a bow, they have much stronger friends (Think like the amish) or they're about to get colonized. That said: the problem they have are not guns themselves, but making them as mass production always has some environmental costs they can not stand for. If they could get there hands on some way to make guns that did not harm the environment in the process, at least anymore then making a sword does they might go small for small scale fire arm production, but this is rarely explored in fiction.

For how this conservative attitude tends to apply to tech in general for fantasy settings, see [[Medieval Stasis]].

Of course, sci-fi writers almost exclusively use firearms, seeing as how it's THE FUUUUUUTTTTTUUUUURRRREEEE. The exceptions are [[Warhammer 40,000]] and ''[[Dune]]'': although guns are the main combat implement in 40K, close combat is still alive and well, and most armies have at least one elite, close-combat unit wielding weapons that are distinctly not firearms; in ''Dune'', guns are pretty much dead as a weapon of war, as personal-scale force fields stop fast-moving matter (like bullets) from crossing them, but slower matter (like swung knives) can pass through, and if a lasgun blast touches the field, at least one end of the equation comes out "BOOM!!!". Most sci-fi universes do have close combat weapons on the scale we see in modern warfare, though, like in Mass Effect, where, as the Reaper forces (who are basically [[Necron]]s and [[Tyranids]] combined) invade the galaxy, people begin developing their Omnitools to snap-produce a white-hot blade of hard metal above the wearer's hand... And then there's the Krogan, who are too bloodthirsty and too large to properly take cover, so they headbutt things instead of using guns.

== Rules ==

Most fantasy RPGs deal with firearms the way they deal with lots of things that threaten their [[Medieval Stasis]]: terror, suspicion, and shitty rules. If you have the option of using a firearm in most games, it probably has one shot that's weaker than a bow, then takes an entire encounter to reload, and is illegal everywhere in-setting in case you didn't get the hint.

[[D&D#Basic_Dungeons_&_Dragons|BECMI]] Dungeons & Dragons doesn't have rules for firearms, but there were one or two adventure modules that incorporated a crash-landed spaceship, with weapons the players could loot. They were treated as magic wands and staves. A few issues of Dragon magazine offered rules for early cannons and hand cannons.

[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] mentions guns in a tucked-away subsection on importing TSR's Cowboys & Indians game Boot Hill to AD&D (DMG, pg113). Revolver pistols and Gatling guns would do as much damage as a longsword; shotguns as much damage as a two-handed claymore, a (thrown) stick of dynamite does 4x the damage of a short sword. The rules insist "...when gunpowder is brought into the fantasy world it becomes inert junk, ergo, no clever alchemist can duplicate it." To reinforce this concept, the ''Manual of the Planes'' included rules for factors of prime material planes, one of which determined if complex (read: setting destroying) chemical compositions like blackpowder would even work in said plane. If you have any knowledge of chemistry, you may cry now. Notably, [[Greyhawk]] had a [[Murlynd|god of firearms]], and his paladins were basically Wild West sheriffs.

[[Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons#AD.26D_2nd_Edition|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition]] included the arquebus in the Players Handbook, where they were depicted as slow, powerful and expensive (500 Gp!). They were also potentially dangerous to the user as the result of a bad roll. It was painfully stressed that the inclusion of firearms in the campaign was the call of the DM. Firearms were a bit more common in the [[Spelljammer]] setting. Moving away from the classic fantasy background, there was the historical campaign sourcebook ''A Mighty Fortress'' that introduced rules for firearms of the 16th and 17th centuries and the ''Masque of the Red Death'' setting for [[Ravenloft]] pushed everything into a gothic horror version of the 1890's.

[[Dungeons_&_Dragons_3rd_Edition|D&D third edition]] has a section on advanced technology (DMG, pp162-164) for Renaissance-era, 20th century, and futuristic weapons. The weapons are more powerful than what can be found among ranged weapons in the Player's Handbook, but also heavier and more expensive. You're better off with magic crossbows.

[[Pathfinder]] greatly over complicates guns: they have shorter range than bows without magical items, take longer to reload, and have at least a 1/20 chance to break or explode every time you fire it, and use up more expensive ammunition. As though this wasn't enough, they have a stiff feat tax needed to make use of them and the fact that there's really only one major gun factory in the land, the Gunworks of the small nation of Alkenstar, and they keep most of their guns to themselves. In return they hit harder, have a ''terrifying'' 4x crit modifier, and ''use touch AC'' in the first range increment, effectively ignoring armor when fired close up. A specialized class, the [[gunslinger]], is centered around the use of firearms. [[Lasgun|Energy weapon]] specialists in Iron Gods have it a bit better, though ammo is limited for most of the adventure.

[[Dragonmech]] has guns, sort of kinda, as well. Only instead of using gunpowder, they use steam to propel the bullet like an airsoft gun. they can only be fired once every other round as the pressure needs to build up. There Treated a bit like crossbows that do more damage and can shoot a little further.

[[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] includes a section on firearms in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide''. They hark back to 2nd edition in terms of stats, fitting the general tone of the game, but aren't quite as punishing for a player to learn to use and make. And with the increased emphasis on houseruling and homebrewing, modding the Crossbow Expert feat to work for them seems a simple leap of logic. The "race builder" guide in the back even suggests changing around the dwarf weapon proficiencies to include them! Furthermore, if you want to get your [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks]] on, it includes some futuristic guns as well, like lasers and disintegrators.

[[Warhammer Fantasy]] features firearms based on early real-world equivalents, like flintlock pistols, musket rifles and the blunderbuss. Although deadly and still on the experimental side, they're also considered very unreliable and are prone to misfire and sometimes even to explode. Rpg-wise, firearms were already included in the core rulebook of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition, but were later somewhat expanded in the Old World Armoury supplement. Some variations that function like firearms were also added as weapons to some Skaven classes in the Old World Bestiary supplement. Generally speaking, firearms require more costs in order to be used, as each shot requires a firearm shot (bullet) and additional gunpowder. Except for the obvious disadvantages of becoming useless once getting wet and longer reloading times, firearms deal more damage than bows and crossbows, with more complex models even having a repeater function, but obviously longer reloading times for each barrel to be loaded again.

{{MedievalWeaponry}}

Flesh Golem

2020-05-15T20:38:51Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{dnd-stub}}

'''Flesh Golems''', as their name suggests, are a kind of [[golem]] made from human flesh...

What? Alright, alright, we'll get serious. You're familiar with the story of Frankenstein's Monster? About a mad scientist trying to create life by stitching together a bunch of corpse pieces and zapping it with lightning Well, [[Dungeons & Dragons]] never met an idea they couldn't steal, and so promptly co-opted the idea for their own setting.

Flesh Golems are created by taking parts from multiple corpses - and it always has to be multiple corpses, with [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[Pathfinder]] traditionally requiring 6; 4 separate limbs, 1 for the torso, and 1 for the brain (head optional) - and melding them together before animating them as a [[golem]]. Depending on the setting, this may or may not have certain advantages over the usual golems of clay or metal. At the very least, it tends to be easier and cheaper than the standard golem, but they're also more likely to run amok.

Distinguished variants include more horrific and obviously undead forms of flesh golem (known variously as Zombie Golems and Carrion Golems) and the obvious sapient golem ala Frankenstein's Monster.

==D&D==
===AD&D===
Introduced in this edition as a "Lesser Golem", the Flesh Golem is a big, dumb, lumbering brute, mostly useful for its relative ease of construction. Hideously strong, it doesn't handle combat well, having a tendency to fly into a mindless berserk fury if forced to fight for too long (cumulative 1% chance per round). Immune to attacks from non-magical weapons, fire and cold-based spells only Slow them for a few rounds, whilst electrical attacks heal them (1 HP per damage die inflicted) instead of hurting them.

The same edition featured two variants, both native to [[Ravenloft]].

The "Ravenloftian Flesh Golem" is a direct reference to Frankenstein's Monster, and is far more powerful than its standard cousin; it's more intelligent (sometimes to the point of true sentience, although in such cases the golem inevitably turns on its "master") and has great healing powers - it regains 1 hit point per hour and, if slain, can be resurrected by sewing up its wounds and jolting it with lightning. And those are just some of its powers. It does have a unique weakness, in that it takes significant damage from fire. Adam, Lamordia's [[Darklord]], is the best known of these flesh golems.

The Zombie Golem is an even more grotesque version of the standard flesh golem, made from rotting flesh which later editions would specify have to be taken from bodies that had originally been animated as [[zombie]]s. It's even more sluggish and stupid than a normal flesh golem, and lacks its standard magical defenses, but can't go berserk, can be healed by Animate Dead spells, and exudes a noxious stench akin to that of a Ghast.

[[Mystara]] is home to the "Drolem", which is what you get when you make a Flesh Golem out of '''[[Dragon]]''' bodyparts.

====Flesh Golem PCs====
The "Book of Secrets", #3 of the [[Books of S]] netbooks for [[Ravenloft]], features an article called "Wretched Creations" which presents rules for playing a Flesh Golem PC in a game of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition.

===D&D 3e & PF===
The D&D 3e flesh golem appears in the first [[Monster Manual]]. It is essentially the same as its AD&D counterpart, save for one new trait; zapping it with lightning fixes any Slow effect it may be under, and also heals it instead of hurting it.

A 3e update for the Zombie Golem appeared in the [[Ravenloft]] Gazetteer #2.

The 3.5 book [[Heroes of Horror]] introduced the cadaver golem, an intelligent golem that can gain new skills and abilities by attaching new body parts from other creatures to itself.

[[Serpent Kingdoms]] introduced the serpentflesh golem, a golem made out of dead snakes or other scaly creatures. They usually are made by people who really hate [[Serpentfolk]].

[[Pathfinder]]'s flesh golem appeared in its first bestiary. Its equivalent to the Zombie Golem, the foul-smelling, disease carrying Carrion Golem, appeared in the 2nd Bestiary.

===D&D 4e===
There are multiple kinds of flesh golem in D&D 4e.

The standard Flesh Golem appeared in the Monster Manual 1 for this edition. It's pretty much the traditional D&D flesh golem; a cheap, low-level golem that stands out by being strong, tough & stupid, with a propensity to fly into berserk rages.

The Open Grave sourcebook features the Blaspheme, a direct reference to Frankenstein's Monster in the form of a unique undead created from multiple body parts, and the Cadaver Golem, a rare outcome where an attempt to create a flesh golem imbues it with its own sentience, which typically hates its creator. This version of the cadaver golem has very different abilities than the one from the previous edition, as it doesn't gain new abilities from assimilated flesh.

===D&D 5e===
Appearing in the Monster Manual, the 5e Flesh Golem mostly preserves its tradition of being a shambling, destructive, unstable brute, but with a few tweaks for the new edition. This is the first edition where the standard flesh golem had some kind of pyrophobia, in the form of suffering Disadvantage on its attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its next turn if it takes fire damage.

{{D&D2e-Races}}

==World of Darkness==
Rules for crafting flesh golems as adversaries appeared in the New [[World of Darkness]] 1e sourcebook "Antagonists". This idea was then expanded upon to create the game-line [[Promethean: The Created]], in which you basically play as different lineages of flesh golems.

==Monstergirls?==
{{Monstergirls}}
[[File:Flesh Golem MG.jpg|300px|thumb|right|What better bride than one you built yourself?]]

Now, you might think that in comparison to standard golems, flesh golems would never get the [[monstergirls]] treatment. After all, they're pretty much the [[necromancer]] version of the golem, right? Well, you're wrong: beside the fact that monstergirl [[zombie]]s and [[ghoul]]s are things, it does make a morbid sense. If you're crazy enough to gather corpse-bits, stitch them all together and bring them to life, why not try and do it with bits taken from dead women and make yourself a girlfriend out of it? Heck, there's even some actual movies along this theme, from the legendary Universal film "Bride of Frankenstein" to the infamous horror-comedy "Frankenhooker", in which a hapless mad scientist ends up building a strangely sexy super-slut female flesh golem from the bodies of dead whores.

The [[Book of Erotic Fantasy]] takes this to its conclusion with the Pleasure Golem, made from "extremely fresh" humanoid flesh and wax. Normally it looks like a bunch of stitched-together bodies but it can use Disguise Self at-will to look like anyone within the limits of the spell (this means on average in the 5'-7' range), so those who like them some [[shortstack]]s but also the more [[amazon]]ian physique might be better off with two Pleasure Golems instead of one. Pleasure Golems have no minds of their own; instead they have a drive to deliver pleasure and have a semblance of life thanks to an infusion with a fire [[elemental]]. They cannot speak, but they can produce sexual noises. And it's worth noting that they always sound and feel the same (it's up in the air if this means that you'll be able to feel the stitchings), [[RAW]] Disguise Self can make them look, [[magical realm|smell and taste differently]]. Certain Pleasure Golems are built with extreme docility in mind for the more... harsh of owners, so there's a rough 5% chance that a threatened Pleasure Golem will not fight back when attacked. When it is attacked however it can clumsily defend itself with its fist, and has the standard Construct immunities. The Pleasure Golem does have one crippling flaw: its Intoxicating Pheromones Extraordinary Ability. All creatures (but the text specifies this as mammalian) within 30' of a Pleasure Golem have to roll a DC15 Will save or come under effect of the ''Vision of Exquisite Pleasure'' spell. This flat-out STUNS the target for the spell's duration, and since you have to save every turn in the presence of a Pleasure Golem... well, you better hope your Will save lasts longer than you do.

If this isn't enough for you, the [[Scarred Lands]] sourcebook for "Shelzar, City of Sins" has a sidebar on page 63 introducing "Sex Constructs"; flesh golem-like entities engineered by perverse wizards in pursuit of the wealth of the most hedonistic and debauched nobles of this infamous city of carnal pleasures. The two specific types mentioned are the Sintaur, resembling a [[centaur]] whose lower body is made of two human lower torsos melded together, with each "foot" replaced by a dextrous, long-fingered human hand and each pair of leg-arms having its own set of attendant genitals, and female sintaurs having two to three pairs of "huge" breasts; and the Slavering Orificer, which is basically described as a [[Gibbering Mouther]] made out of vaginas instead of mouths and which is associated with revels of such debauchery that the construct often doesn't survive the orgy that centers on it. Truly, creations worthy of a [[Slaanesh]]ii [[necromancer]].

[[Category: Monsters]]

Diabolus

2020-05-15T20:30:09Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

'''Diaboli''', the plural form of ''Diabolus'', are one of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]' most forgotten, and yet most ancient of races. Originally appearing in the ''Master Set'' for Basic D&D, they then went on to appear in the ''Wrath of the Immortals'' boxed set. They were then updated to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition when they were made official denizens of [[Mystara]], courtesy of that setting's Monstrous Compendium Appendix. Finally, their journey culminated, so far, when they appeared in their own "Winning Races" article in [[Dragon Magazine]] #327, which not only updated their lore to 3.5, but also made them a playable race.

The diaboli are a race of benevolently anarchistic (Chaotic Good, with a small minority of Chaotic Neutral and tiny minorities of Chaotic Evil, Neutral Good, True Neutral and Neutral Evil) humanoids native to the Demiplane of Nightmares; a plane coterminous with the Region of Dreams and the Ethereal Plane, but also very prone to leakage from the [[Far Realm]]. A peaceful race who fill much the same role in their realm as humans, this overwhelming onslaught of true horrors has served to drive many of them to abandon their homes and seek a new life on the Material Plane. Something rather difficult given that they tend to find most humanoids as being as scary and alien as those humanoids find the diaboli.

See, a diabolus looks pretty much like your stereotypical devil. From the waist up, a diabolus looks basically like a human - if you can ignore the fact their skin coloration comes in various shades of purple, from mauve and lavender to near-black violet. At the waist, however, they sport digitigrade legs ending in cloven hooves, much like a goat or a sheep, and long, whip-like tails tipped with pronounced, curving sickle-blade stingers of bone; these can inject a debilitating, but ultimately mild, toxin. Their hands lack the pinky finger of a human's hands, and their face is marred by the presence of two thumb-sized, vestigial horns rising from the top of the head or the brow, a Roman nose, elf-like ears that stick out at severe angles, "reptilian colored" eyes in hues such as red or yellow, and long, fork-tipped, snake-like tongues. In addition to that, diaboli are informally divided into three subspecies; one species grows hair much like any human does, whilst a second, known as the "hirsute diabolus", has more pronounced hair-growth, with coarse, goat-like fur adorning their legs; the third, known simply as "bare diaboli", sprouts absolutely no hair at all, with even the women lacking so much as a strand upon their head or anywhere else. This difference is literally only skin deep and there's no greater divisions between the subraces.

The diabolus mindset is naturally aligned towards the chaotic; their society exists in what is essentially anarchy because they believe that as no one government style is provably better than the rest, then it's best to just not have anything to do with the hassle of government whatsoever. The diabolus society, such as it is, holds together mostly through strong customs and traditions that have proven repeatedly to be helpful, and a strong sense of fair play; the guiding philosophy of the diaboli can be summed up as "do what thou wilt, but harm none", the foundational "great truth" that unites their people and which provides the roots from which all taboos, traditions, and customs ultimately grow.

One oddity from second edition that was left out of third was that, originally, diaboli were immune to magic cast by natives of the material world - but, at the same time, magic used by diaboli would have no effect on material-worlders, either.

The 3.5 stats for diaboli are as follows:
::No ability score modifiers
::Type: Outsider (Native)
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::+2 racial bonus on all saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
::+2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks made against animals and humanoids.
::-2 racial penalty on Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Perform and Sense Motive checks against Prime Material races.
::Weapon Familiarity: Tridents are a Simple weapon for diaboli and not a Martial weapon.
::Natural Attack: Tail Sting. This is a secondary natural attack (-5 to-hit penalty) that does 1d4 damage and injects poison (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Con modifier) which Sickens the victim for 2d4 rounds as its initial damage and has no secondary damage.
::Favored Class: [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]]

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Dungeons & Dragons Races]][[Category:Races]] [[Category: Mystara]]

Dice

2020-05-15T15:57:34Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{Cleanup}}
[[Image:dice.jpg|right|thumb|I COULD JUST DIVE INTO THEM!]]
[[Image:Uglydie.jpg|thumb|left|SO FUCKING UGLY. But he has a fetching hat.]]
[[Dice]] (singular: '''die''') are high-impact polyhedra. In [[role-playing games]] and tabletop war games, they are used as randomizers to inject an element of chance into the game. Non-gamers often only know about the six-sided die (hereafter referred to as the d6) thanks to the ubiquity of games like [[Monopoly]] and [[Yahtzee]]. Which dice are used tends to vary by system. [[Dungeons and Dragons]], for instance, makes use of all types. On the other hand, [[White Wolf]] games and Classic Traveller use only ten- and six-sided dice, respectively. [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/O/on-the-gripping-hand.html On the gripping hand], some games don't use dice at all! These tend to be relatively new games like [[Nobilis]] or [[Amber]], or board games that use instead use the abomination known as a spinner (at first a result of war rationing, later used for non-numerical results).

Bear in mind, if you're not familiar with how statistics work, one d12 does not have the same probability distribution as two d6s (same goes for any combination of die). A single die of good quality will have the same percentage chance for any side to roll, whereas using multiple die will result in a probability distribution resembling a bell curve (in the two d6's case, seven will be the most common roll, followed by sixs and eights, then fives and nines, and so on). Keep this in mind when you're doing homebrew rules. Likewise, it's important to remember that dice can't roll 0, so the average is 0.5 higher than half the highest number (3.5 for a d6), not simply half.

If you do not have dice for whatever reason, consider <strike>[[chits]]</strike> getting some fucking dice.

Dice are considered by most people to be impartial arbiters of [[statistics|random chance]]. [[Fa/tg/uy]]s (and craps players) know better. Dice are controlled or at least influenced by the unseen force of Dice Mojo. It is believed that Dice Mojo can be influenced by players through manifold rituals, including:

*Placing a die with the desired number upward, that it 'gets used to' that position and tends to return to it.
*Placing a die with the desired number downward, that the die is tricked into thinking it has already made a bad roll and will produce a good outcome on the subsequent roll.
*Rolling a die until a string of good rolls are achieved, tapping into a streak of 'good mojo' or 'rolling out' bad outcomes.
*Various chants, prayers, threats, and curses made toward the die in order to entice or coerce it into [[Natural 20|producing favorable rolls.]]
*Being careful not to drop dice or just roll them to pass the time till next turn, as when rolling a twenty, the critical ratio may be "used up" for the day.
*Building dice towers as tribute to Dice Gods that they may bless one's dice with good Mojo.

The one true method (at least for those without specialized tools) for finding if a die is cursed or lucky dice however is putting it in a cup of very salty water and seeing which side floats to the bottom. Clear dice are less vulnerable to these imperfections since their see through nature means manufactures can't get away with substantial air pockets.

==[[/tg/ Dice| Dice on /tg/]]==
[[/tg/]] The dice are magical beings, and should be treated as such. Anger the dice, and your life shall cease. Please the dice, and it shall reward your courageous behavior. Worship the Dice. Dice is love, dice is life.

{{clear}}
==Types of Dice==
===d0===
Nobody knows what a 0-sided dice looks like, and they are useless anyway because they always land on a 42 for some reason.

===d1===
[[Image:Mobius dice.jpg|thumb|right]]
Rolling this visually elusive die involves armed, digited humanoids gesturing with one arm while extending only a single centralmost digit of its hand and informing the party what's gonna happen. The few one sided dice that exist are either just a ball with the number 1 written on them, or a mobius ring.

===d2===
[[Image:D2.gif|thumb|right|A D2. Careful not to spend it all in one place.]]

A d2 isn't a die - it's a coin.

You flip the fucking thing. Heads count as 1, Tails count as 2.

You can, alternately, roll any other [[dice|die]] - counting odds as 1 and evens as 2.

[[Image:Actual d2.jpg|thumb|right|A more literal version that definitevely costs more than the penny you could be using instead, it can double as a less hazardous d4 however]]

====In Various Works====
d2s are used with disturbing frequency in both CCGs and RPGs. They are used in most two player card games, with the notable exception of [[Yu-Gi-Oh]] using rock paper scissors as the preferred method, to determine who gets the first turn. Since this requires players have a coin to play ''anyways'', most TCGs have some oddball cards that use coin flips for random effects. They rarely show up in serious matches because the vast majority of these would be crap even if you ''could'' ensure the outcome. The [[Pokemon]] TCG bucked the trend of this being unusual and (especially early on) has such effects be common.

The RPG ''Bean!'' is a d2-based game, and it's actually pretty good.

Loaded d2s, known as double sided coins, are extremely popular in fiction. This is probably because they're the easiest die to recognize as/prove is loaded, and the most consistent.

====Also Currency====
The d2 are the only dice you can put in a vending machine and spend for candy. With string and a sufficient dexterity score, you don't even have to "spend" the d2 at all (This only works on 50 year old or so vending machines).
{{clear}}
===d3===
Not much to say about it.
[[Image:D3.jpg|thumb|right|The D3...]]
[[Warhammer 40k]] uses D3's <s>every once in awhile</s> [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics(8E)| all the time]] - Rending, [[Manticore Rocket Launcher|Manticores]], & other cases such as +D3 attacks, 2 + D3 objectives, etc. Most of the time, they don't actually use a D3 - they just roll a [[d6]], at which points three schools of thought engage in a holy war:
* Some subtract 3 from any result that's 4 or higher. So, for example, a 5 becomes a 2.
* Others divide the result by two, rounding up. So, for example, a 5 becomes a 3.
* Lazy people just assign the value of 1 to the first 2 numbers, and so on. For example, a 4 would be a 2.
The 40k rulebook explicitly proselytizes the second option, which means the former and latter are [[heresy]]. Other games don't really care as much.

Actual d3s come in two major flavours: The weird triangular nublette things seen to the right, which are largely used by people who think having weird dice makes you interesting, and d6es which had 1, 2 and 3 written on them twice, used by people who like to build things out of dice.

Since you can readily simulate a d3 result easily enough without obtaining extra dice why in the hell would you bother?
{{clear}}
===d4===
[[image:D4.jpg|thumb|right|This fucker will hurt more than any lego.]]
A pyramidal [[dice|die]] that has the second-sharpest points of any die (only the [[d8]] is sharper), and, appropriately enough, has four sides. Used by Wizards, small weapons, and low-caliber firearms in d20 modern. At least it gets more love than the [[d12]], which probably falls asleep every night in a pool of tears and melted butter.

There are two ways to print the numbers on a D4. On one, the numbers are arranged on the corners of each face, and so the number at the top (it will always be three of the same number) is what you actually rolled. On the other kind, the numbers are arranged in the middle of each side of the face, and so the number on the bottom (again, it will always be three of the same number) tells you what you rolled. Oldfags will insist the "numbers on the bottom" d4 is the one true way, despite the fact that they need the full power of their coke-bottle glasses to see the numbers. [[Skub|Don't argue]] with 'em, just keep using the d4s that you and everyone at the table can read.

====Fucking Caltrops====
Whilst the d4 isn't as sharp as a d8, it has one major bit of natural defense - no matter what way it lands, it will have a point face-up. Because it's the smallest die, care needs to be used - if one escapes its dice-box and into the wild, it will wait, with its [[Bear Lore|natural weapon]] ready, for the exact moment someone walks into its vicinity barefoot to strike, whereupon it will inflict some surprisingly-vicious puncture wounds.

Somewhat related, in D&D Caltrops inflict 1d4 damage. [[Just as planned|Coincidence]]?
{{clear}}
===d6===
''Not the same thing as the [[D6 System]] by [[West End Games]].''

[[Image:Cube_template.gif|thumb|do-it-yourself kit]]
If you don't know what a d6 is, holy shit are you in the wrong place.
Go back to playing [[Monopoly]] in your blissful ignorance that it uses two of them.

A d6 with indented pips and rounded corners has a significantly higher chance of rolling a one than anything else. Do not trust them.

Fun Fact: Do you own a regular #2 pencil? If so, congratulations, [[Barrel dice|you have a d6]].

See [[Cubes]] for more details.

====Delta-6====
A die-rolling method for numbers from 0-5 with a particular curve.

Roll two d6, and subtract the smaller from the larger.

The curve looks like this:
{|style="border:1px solid black;" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3
! roll !! odds % !!  
|-
| 0 || 1/6 16.7% || <tt>######</tt>
|-
| 1 || 5/18 27.8% || <tt>##########</tt>
|-
| 2 || 2/9 22.2% || <tt>########</tt>
|-
| 3 || 1/6 16.7% || <tt>######</tt>
|-
| 4 || 1/9 11.1% || <tt>####</tt>
|-
| 5 || 1/18 5.5% || <tt>##</tt>
|}
{{clear}}

===d7===
It exists. Use for whatever reason you could possibly need a d7 for.
[[File:D7 2.jpg|thumb|right|This thing costs £4.95 ($6.38)]]

In seriousness, there are very limited uses for this die. Maybe you could use it to randomly select a day or some shit. They're also advertised for use in seven-player backgammon games.

[[Image:D7 1.jpg|thumb|center|The bizarre d7. This wasn't even on this page until 2020.]]
{{clear}}

===d8===
The eight-sided die is an octohedron: one of the symmetrical polyhedra known as the "Platonic solids."
[[Image:Buncha_d8s.jpg|thumb|right|A wild herd of d8s]]

Despite being a "Platonic" solid, it looks like two pyramids caught in the beautiful act of reproduction. Long live the dice race.

A d8 was always used for hit points for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] monsters, and in Advanced D&D it was used for those classes that have more hit points but weren't supposed to be as butch as Fighters or Paladins.

Eight-sided dice also have the most variations with weird not-numbers stuff on them, like compass directions, random weather, letters. They're also used as below-bargain-basement minifigs because one point is always off the table, like a big nose, or turret.

When you played Dragon Dice, the d8s were the terrain, which could change under your feet without moving your army, somehow.

James Ernest came up with a game "Dogfight" that uses d8s for their numbers, for being pointy and for turning in circles when you try to roll them like wheels... then he remembered that people put weird shit on d8s and he came up with a new game called "DiceLand," which is a beautiful game.

[[Fantasy Flight Games]] fucking *loves* themselves some d8s. Their games make you wonder if all their parents were killed in a horrible cube-shaped accident.
{{clear}}
===d10===
[[Image:Ten-sided die.png|frame|center]]

It's a [[dice]]. With ten sides. Pretty simple concept.

It's in the shape of a pentagonal trapezohedron. You can stand it on its point and spin it like a top. You should not do this, however, as it is the universal sign of boredom and is considered faux pas in most gaming circles.

The tenth side usually bears only a zero, but you should still read it as "ten" because you want your result to be 1-10, not 0-9.

[[Image:D10_bronze_thorns.jpg|frame|center|Your d10 dice are not this good-looking.]]

====Rolling d100 Using Two d10s====

[[Dark Heresy|Some Systems]] require you to roll d100s frequently. There's a better way of doing it than rolling a [[#d100|golf ball with 100 sides]].

Get out two d10s. Use one die to denote the singles digit and another die to denote the tens digit. Some d10s have two digits per side (see above) to make differentiating your digits easier, but you can roll d100 with any two d10, provided you specify beforehand which die is the tens and which the ones.

Reading it off is simple. Did you roll a '''20''' and a '''4'''? That's a '''24'''. A '''90''' and a '''1'''? '''91'''. A '''00''' and a '''5'''? Just a '''5'''.

The only possibly ambiguous result is two zeroes: a '''00''' and a '''0'''. Obviously you rolled a '''100'''. Why? Because the alternative is a '''0''' which you can never roll with any other die. That, and the system assumes a roll from '''1''' to '''100''', not '''0''' to '''99'''.

Mathematically, each digit is determined in an independent manner. There are exactly 10*10=100 two-digit combinations, all equally likely. You now have a uniform distribution of 100 different results, as desired.
{{clear}}

===d12===
[[Image:D12_Cries.jpg|thumb|right]]
The [[d12]] is the loneliest die. It is used for barbarian hit dice and greataxe damage in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. The fact that [[Orcs]] (and [[Half-Orcs]]) are both the most common barbarians and the most common wielders of greataxes, it is suspected that Gruumsh is the head of a conspiracy aiming to eliminate the [[d10]] in favor of the [[d12]], in order to "purify" dice sets so that they consist only of true platonic solids.

Observant smar/tg/uys will notice that d12 are the hitdice used for undead and dragons instead of the usual [[d8]]s.

[[d12]] is the highest stats can ordinarily go in [[Savage Worlds]] or [[Ironclaw]]. [[BBEG]]s and [[DMPC]] [[Mary Sues]] can have [[d20]], but it's hella rare.

[[d12]] shows up in [[Cthulhu]]-themed games, like Pokethulhu or [[Cthulhu Dice]], probably because [[d12]] is just as beautiful and graceful as the mighty Cthulhu.

One of the few places where the [[d12]] is not lonely, and is in fact used a great deal, is the [[DragonMech]] campaign setting. Its chief use there is for damage rolls with mech weaponry.

If you’re on a budget, the [[d12]] is your best friend, capable of functioning as a [[d3]], [[d4]], [[d6]], and even a [[d10]] or [[d8]] in a pinch. Not that useful, but it can still come in handy.
{{clear}}
===d16===
Used basically just in [[Blood Bowl]] to randomly select a player on a team (which has a max of 16 players). Originally introduced by the [http://www.thenaf.net/the-naf/history/ NAF] in 2013 (when G-Dubs refused to license their block dice anymore), [[GW]] wised up in their 2016 edition of the game and added it to their product line, replacing the old method of drawing a [[chits|chit]] from a cup.

===d20===
Before [[TSR]]/[[Wizards of the Coast]] tried to trademark "d20", every gamer knew what the fuck an icosahedron is, and why "natural 20" is a gift from God.

'''The Truth About 20-Sided Dice:'''

There are a limited number of “twenties” in any given d20. That is, no matter how many times you roll a d20, you cannot roll another twenty once the supply has run out. These twenties can only be replenished by rolling a corresponding one with the same die. Thus every gamer is duty-bound to protect their supply of good rolls. If a friend rolls a twenty using your die, not only have they stolen your good roll, but they have doomed you to the extra one required to replenish the twenty.

Some players get excited when they roll several twenties in a row, concluding the dice are “hot”. Don’t make this blunder! This is like driving your car for 400 miles without gassing up, and then concluding that your car is a perpetual motion machine. After a few good rolls, pass the die off to an unwitting companion and let them charge it up for you.

Statisticians have known about this behavior for years. They call it “the probability seesaw”. Unlike the bell-shaped curve, in the seesaw system the odds of rolling high or low is directly proportional to what has been rolled in the past. They usually pretend this isn’t true. If a statistician hands you a die insisting that “any given roll has the same odds of rolling a one or a twenty”, it means he’s handing you a depleted die in the hopes of taking advantage of you. Don’t fall for it!

Now the secret is yours. Please put this knowledge to good use*.

*By “good use” I mean, “take advantage of other players”.
{|border=0
|-
|[[Image:Green_d20.jpg|center|frame|'''BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR GOD''']]
|[[Image:PennyArcade_papvp2_8.jpg|300px|We're Number One]]
|}

{|
|-
|valign=center| The '''[[d20 System]]''' for role playing came later. 
Like eighteen centuries later. 
Don't believe me? Check this out:
|[[Image:2nd_century_Roman_d20.jpg|center|thumb|200px|2nd century Rome, bitches]]
|}
{{clear}}
===d30===
[[Image:D30_olympic.jpg|thumb|right]]

Only ever used for those critical-hit tables when you rolled a natural [[D20|20]].
Or if your DM was rolling damage and felt like being a dick.

But man, would it leave a bruise when your little sister threw it at your head.
{{clear}}
===d50===
<center>
[[Rage|Fifty goddamn sides!!!!]]

For when you want to do 2-100 points of damage with a vaguely normal distribution.

... yeah, I don't know either
</center>

It also doubles as a golf ball.

[[Image:D50_Alan_Davies.jpg|center|320px]]
{{clear}}
===d100===
[[File:Zocchihedron2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Golfball.jpg]]
Take that, d50's!

They're useful when you really want to take 5 minutes to find out if you hit something in [[Dark Heresy]]. In other words, better just use a pair of [[D10]]'s like a normal human being.

Apparently it took about 6 years to make this die. I guess this means that it takes 6 years to put the numbers 1-100 on a fucking golf ball.

====Usage====
It may seem awesome when you see it, but as soon as you get one (and whoever's selling it to you is also aware of how unspeakably lame it is, and will probably even tell you) you will find that it has two major flaws: it takes about a minute to stop fucking rolling around and if you aren't blessed with a perfectly level playing surface you will never find out exactly what you've rolled (and when there are six other numbers right next to the 100 and 1, that's a pretty big problem). Oh, and to top it off, it isn't even very balanced, so it's effectively a loaded die.

On the other hand, if you hate your friends, show up to your next meeting and sweep all the d10s off the table, then drop your d100 right in the middle with a theatrical gesture and watch as everyone is mesmerized by its incessant rolling (see: takes about a minute to stop fucking rolling around). Take this opportunity to pocket the d10s, run away and never come back.

[[FATAL]] seemed to expect you to use this (but then again FATAL expects you to play FATAL so you can't expect much).
{{clear}}
===d120===
This is the most number of sides that a die can have while being 'mathematically fair die' (that doesn't have the dual problems of rolling forever and being prohibitively hard to read). The d120 stops rolling after a reasonable time (with the condition that this only applies if you don't roll with 'too much force'). It is also a bit tricky to read (but still perfectly possible). The company that sells the die points out that it can act as any of the standard 7 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d10 of 10s, d12, and d20). And thanks to the chart they released for free, you don't even have to do the math yourself [http://thedicelab.com/d120tables.html]. Of course for the d100 roll you'll have to roll the d120 twice, roll 2 d120, or use a die other than the d120 (although you could still use the d120, e.g. a d10 and a d120). [http://nerdist.com/this-d120-is-the-largest-mathematically-fair-die-possible/]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:premiumdice.jpg|Premium Dice!
Image:premiumdice2.png|Premium Dice cont.
Image:Big_Gay_Purple_d4.png‎|A d4 in the wild, natural weapon readied. As you can see by the notch on the left edge, this one has already claimed a victim.
Image:Caltrop.jpg|Now that's just sick and wrong.
File:I hope you step on a d4.png
Image:Go_outside_die.jpg|Try and MAKE me go outside. Fuck off, d12.
Image:anna_louge_dice.jpg|Even camwhores know that the d20 is sexy, and each face has an exactly 5% chance of appearing.
File:DToM.jpg|It is said if not for the trusty D4 the Union would never have one its independance from Britain and the reason no one can beat Russia. As Russia's savage wilds are famous for its saber toothed white furred D4's to defend the motherland.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Barrel dice]]
*[[Chits]] - The nega-dice of yesteryear.
*[[Crayola Dice]]
*[[Dice pool]]
*[[Exploding die]]
*[[Fudge dice]]
*[[D6 System]]
*[[D20 system]]

(External Links)
[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20040517a Dungeons & Dragons Dice Roller]
[http://www.dicecollector.com/JM/ Dice Collector gallery of all the dice; all of them]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2fxoNHIuU Lou Zocchi explains Dice.]

[[Category:Game Mechanics]][[Category:Dice]]

Dice

2020-05-15T15:56:52Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Dont Treat On D4's Or Russia.

{{Cleanup}}
[[Image:dice.jpg|right|thumb|I COULD JUST DIVE INTO THEM!]]
[[Image:Uglydie.jpg|thumb|left|SO FUCKING UGLY. But he has a fetching hat.]]
[[Dice]] (singular: '''die''') are high-impact polyhedra. In [[role-playing games]] and tabletop war games, they are used as randomizers to inject an element of chance into the game. Non-gamers often only know about the six-sided die (hereafter referred to as the d6) thanks to the ubiquity of games like [[Monopoly]] and [[Yahtzee]]. Which dice are used tends to vary by system. [[Dungeons and Dragons]], for instance, makes use of all types. On the other hand, [[White Wolf]] games and Classic Traveller use only ten- and six-sided dice, respectively. [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/O/on-the-gripping-hand.html On the gripping hand], some games don't use dice at all! These tend to be relatively new games like [[Nobilis]] or [[Amber]], or board games that use instead use the abomination known as a spinner (at first a result of war rationing, later used for non-numerical results).

Bear in mind, if you're not familiar with how statistics work, one d12 does not have the same probability distribution as two d6s (same goes for any combination of die). A single die of good quality will have the same percentage chance for any side to roll, whereas using multiple die will result in a probability distribution resembling a bell curve (in the two d6's case, seven will be the most common roll, followed by sixs and eights, then fives and nines, and so on). Keep this in mind when you're doing homebrew rules. Likewise, it's important to remember that dice can't roll 0, so the average is 0.5 higher than half the highest number (3.5 for a d6), not simply half.

If you do not have dice for whatever reason, consider <strike>[[chits]]</strike> getting some fucking dice.

Dice are considered by most people to be impartial arbiters of [[statistics|random chance]]. [[Fa/tg/uy]]s (and craps players) know better. Dice are controlled or at least influenced by the unseen force of Dice Mojo. It is believed that Dice Mojo can be influenced by players through manifold rituals, including:

*Placing a die with the desired number upward, that it 'gets used to' that position and tends to return to it.
*Placing a die with the desired number downward, that the die is tricked into thinking it has already made a bad roll and will produce a good outcome on the subsequent roll.
*Rolling a die until a string of good rolls are achieved, tapping into a streak of 'good mojo' or 'rolling out' bad outcomes.
*Various chants, prayers, threats, and curses made toward the die in order to entice or coerce it into [[Natural 20|producing favorable rolls.]]
*Being careful not to drop dice or just roll them to pass the time till next turn, as when rolling a twenty, the critical ratio may be "used up" for the day.
*Building dice towers as tribute to Dice Gods that they may bless one's dice with good Mojo.

The one true method (at least for those without specialized tools) for finding if a die is cursed or lucky dice however is putting it in a cup of very salty water and seeing which side floats to the bottom. Clear dice are less vulnerable to these imperfections since their see through nature means manufactures can't get away with substantial air pockets.

==[[/tg/ Dice| Dice on /tg/]]==
[[/tg/]] The dice are magical beings, and should be treated as such. Anger the dice, and your life shall cease. Please the dice, and it shall reward your courageous behavior. Worship the Dice. Dice is love, dice is life.

{{clear}}
==Types of Dice==
===d0===
Nobody knows what a 0-sided dice looks like, and they are useless anyway because they always land on a 42 for some reason.

===d1===
[[Image:Mobius dice.jpg|thumb|right]]
Rolling this visually elusive die involves armed, digited humanoids gesturing with one arm while extending only a single centralmost digit of its hand and informing the party what's gonna happen. The few one sided dice that exist are either just a ball with the number 1 written on them, or a mobius ring.

===d2===
[[Image:D2.gif|thumb|right|A D2. Careful not to spend it all in one place.]]

A d2 isn't a die - it's a coin.

You flip the fucking thing. Heads count as 1, Tails count as 2.

You can, alternately, roll any other [[dice|die]] - counting odds as 1 and evens as 2.

[[Image:Actual d2.jpg|thumb|right|A more literal version that definitevely costs more than the penny you could be using instead, it can double as a less hazardous d4 however]]

====In Various Works====
d2s are used with disturbing frequency in both CCGs and RPGs. They are used in most two player card games, with the notable exception of [[Yu-Gi-Oh]] using rock paper scissors as the preferred method, to determine who gets the first turn. Since this requires players have a coin to play ''anyways'', most TCGs have some oddball cards that use coin flips for random effects. They rarely show up in serious matches because the vast majority of these would be crap even if you ''could'' ensure the outcome. The [[Pokemon]] TCG bucked the trend of this being unusual and (especially early on) has such effects be common.

The RPG ''Bean!'' is a d2-based game, and it's actually pretty good.

Loaded d2s, known as double sided coins, are extremely popular in fiction. This is probably because they're the easiest die to recognize as/prove is loaded, and the most consistent.

====Also Currency====
The d2 are the only dice you can put in a vending machine and spend for candy. With string and a sufficient dexterity score, you don't even have to "spend" the d2 at all (This only works on 50 year old or so vending machines).
{{clear}}
===d3===
Not much to say about it.
[[Image:D3.jpg|thumb|right|The D3...]]
[[Warhammer 40k]] uses D3's <s>every once in awhile</s> [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics(8E)| all the time]] - Rending, [[Manticore Rocket Launcher|Manticores]], & other cases such as +D3 attacks, 2 + D3 objectives, etc. Most of the time, they don't actually use a D3 - they just roll a [[d6]], at which points three schools of thought engage in a holy war:
* Some subtract 3 from any result that's 4 or higher. So, for example, a 5 becomes a 2.
* Others divide the result by two, rounding up. So, for example, a 5 becomes a 3.
* Lazy people just assign the value of 1 to the first 2 numbers, and so on. For example, a 4 would be a 2.
The 40k rulebook explicitly proselytizes the second option, which means the former and latter are [[heresy]]. Other games don't really care as much.

Actual d3s come in two major flavours: The weird triangular nublette things seen to the right, which are largely used by people who think having weird dice makes you interesting, and d6es which had 1, 2 and 3 written on them twice, used by people who like to build things out of dice.

Since you can readily simulate a d3 result easily enough without obtaining extra dice why in the hell would you bother?
{{clear}}
===d4===
[[image:D4.jpg|thumb|right|This fucker will hurt more than any lego.]]
A pyramidal [[dice|die]] that has the second-sharpest points of any die (only the [[d8]] is sharper), and, appropriately enough, has four sides. Used by Wizards, small weapons, and low-caliber firearms in d20 modern. At least it gets more love than the [[d12]], which probably falls asleep every night in a pool of tears and melted butter.

There are two ways to print the numbers on a D4. On one, the numbers are arranged on the corners of each face, and so the number at the top (it will always be three of the same number) is what you actually rolled. On the other kind, the numbers are arranged in the middle of each side of the face, and so the number on the bottom (again, it will always be three of the same number) tells you what you rolled. Oldfags will insist the "numbers on the bottom" d4 is the one true way, despite the fact that they need the full power of their coke-bottle glasses to see the numbers. [[Skub|Don't argue]] with 'em, just keep using the d4s that you and everyone at the table can read.

====Fucking Caltrops====
Whilst the d4 isn't as sharp as a d8, it has one major bit of natural defense - no matter what way it lands, it will have a point face-up. Because it's the smallest die, care needs to be used - if one escapes its dice-box and into the wild, it will wait, with its [[Bear Lore|natural weapon]] ready, for the exact moment someone walks into its vicinity barefoot to strike, whereupon it will inflict some surprisingly-vicious puncture wounds.

Somewhat related, in D&D Caltrops inflict 1d4 damage. [[Just as planned|Coincidence]]?
{{clear}}
===d6===
''Not the same thing as the [[D6 System]] by [[West End Games]].''

[[Image:Cube_template.gif|thumb|do-it-yourself kit]]
If you don't know what a d6 is, holy shit are you in the wrong place.
Go back to playing [[Monopoly]] in your blissful ignorance that it uses two of them.

A d6 with indented pips and rounded corners has a significantly higher chance of rolling a one than anything else. Do not trust them.

Fun Fact: Do you own a regular #2 pencil? If so, congratulations, [[Barrel dice|you have a d6]].

See [[Cubes]] for more details.

====Delta-6====
A die-rolling method for numbers from 0-5 with a particular curve.

Roll two d6, and subtract the smaller from the larger.

The curve looks like this:
{|style="border:1px solid black;" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3
! roll !! odds % !!  
|-
| 0 || 1/6 16.7% || <tt>######</tt>
|-
| 1 || 5/18 27.8% || <tt>##########</tt>
|-
| 2 || 2/9 22.2% || <tt>########</tt>
|-
| 3 || 1/6 16.7% || <tt>######</tt>
|-
| 4 || 1/9 11.1% || <tt>####</tt>
|-
| 5 || 1/18 5.5% || <tt>##</tt>
|}
{{clear}}

===d7===
It exists. Use for whatever reason you could possibly need a d7 for.
[[File:D7 2.jpg|thumb|right|This thing costs £4.95 ($6.38)]]

In seriousness, there are very limited uses for this die. Maybe you could use it to randomly select a day or some shit. They're also advertised for use in seven-player backgammon games.

[[Image:D7 1.jpg|thumb|center|The bizarre d7. This wasn't even on this page until 2020.]]
{{clear}}

===d8===
The eight-sided die is an octohedron: one of the symmetrical polyhedra known as the "Platonic solids."
[[Image:Buncha_d8s.jpg|thumb|right|A wild herd of d8s]]

Despite being a "Platonic" solid, it looks like two pyramids caught in the beautiful act of reproduction. Long live the dice race.

A d8 was always used for hit points for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] monsters, and in Advanced D&D it was used for those classes that have more hit points but weren't supposed to be as butch as Fighters or Paladins.

Eight-sided dice also have the most variations with weird not-numbers stuff on them, like compass directions, random weather, letters. They're also used as below-bargain-basement minifigs because one point is always off the table, like a big nose, or turret.

When you played Dragon Dice, the d8s were the terrain, which could change under your feet without moving your army, somehow.

James Ernest came up with a game "Dogfight" that uses d8s for their numbers, for being pointy and for turning in circles when you try to roll them like wheels... then he remembered that people put weird shit on d8s and he came up with a new game called "DiceLand," which is a beautiful game.

[[Fantasy Flight Games]] fucking *loves* themselves some d8s. Their games make you wonder if all their parents were killed in a horrible cube-shaped accident.
{{clear}}
===d10===
[[Image:Ten-sided die.png|frame|center]]

It's a [[dice]]. With ten sides. Pretty simple concept.

It's in the shape of a pentagonal trapezohedron. You can stand it on its point and spin it like a top. You should not do this, however, as it is the universal sign of boredom and is considered faux pas in most gaming circles.

The tenth side usually bears only a zero, but you should still read it as "ten" because you want your result to be 1-10, not 0-9.

[[Image:D10_bronze_thorns.jpg|frame|center|Your d10 dice are not this good-looking.]]

====Rolling d100 Using Two d10s====

[[Dark Heresy|Some Systems]] require you to roll d100s frequently. There's a better way of doing it than rolling a [[#d100|golf ball with 100 sides]].

Get out two d10s. Use one die to denote the singles digit and another die to denote the tens digit. Some d10s have two digits per side (see above) to make differentiating your digits easier, but you can roll d100 with any two d10, provided you specify beforehand which die is the tens and which the ones.

Reading it off is simple. Did you roll a '''20''' and a '''4'''? That's a '''24'''. A '''90''' and a '''1'''? '''91'''. A '''00''' and a '''5'''? Just a '''5'''.

The only possibly ambiguous result is two zeroes: a '''00''' and a '''0'''. Obviously you rolled a '''100'''. Why? Because the alternative is a '''0''' which you can never roll with any other die. That, and the system assumes a roll from '''1''' to '''100''', not '''0''' to '''99'''.

Mathematically, each digit is determined in an independent manner. There are exactly 10*10=100 two-digit combinations, all equally likely. You now have a uniform distribution of 100 different results, as desired.
{{clear}}

===d12===
[[Image:D12_Cries.jpg|thumb|right]]
The [[d12]] is the loneliest die. It is used for barbarian hit dice and greataxe damage in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. The fact that [[Orcs]] (and [[Half-Orcs]]) are both the most common barbarians and the most common wielders of greataxes, it is suspected that Gruumsh is the head of a conspiracy aiming to eliminate the [[d10]] in favor of the [[d12]], in order to "purify" dice sets so that they consist only of true platonic solids.

Observant smar/tg/uys will notice that d12 are the hitdice used for undead and dragons instead of the usual [[d8]]s.

[[d12]] is the highest stats can ordinarily go in [[Savage Worlds]] or [[Ironclaw]]. [[BBEG]]s and [[DMPC]] [[Mary Sues]] can have [[d20]], but it's hella rare.

[[d12]] shows up in [[Cthulhu]]-themed games, like Pokethulhu or [[Cthulhu Dice]], probably because [[d12]] is just as beautiful and graceful as the mighty Cthulhu.

One of the few places where the [[d12]] is not lonely, and is in fact used a great deal, is the [[DragonMech]] campaign setting. Its chief use there is for damage rolls with mech weaponry.

If you’re on a budget, the [[d12]] is your best friend, capable of functioning as a [[d3]], [[d4]], [[d6]], and even a [[d10]] or [[d8]] in a pinch. Not that useful, but it can still come in handy.
{{clear}}
===d16===
Used basically just in [[Blood Bowl]] to randomly select a player on a team (which has a max of 16 players). Originally introduced by the [http://www.thenaf.net/the-naf/history/ NAF] in 2013 (when G-Dubs refused to license their block dice anymore), [[GW]] wised up in their 2016 edition of the game and added it to their product line, replacing the old method of drawing a [[chits|chit]] from a cup.

===d20===
Before [[TSR]]/[[Wizards of the Coast]] tried to trademark "d20", every gamer knew what the fuck an icosahedron is, and why "natural 20" is a gift from God.

'''The Truth About 20-Sided Dice:'''

There are a limited number of “twenties” in any given d20. That is, no matter how many times you roll a d20, you cannot roll another twenty once the supply has run out. These twenties can only be replenished by rolling a corresponding one with the same die. Thus every gamer is duty-bound to protect their supply of good rolls. If a friend rolls a twenty using your die, not only have they stolen your good roll, but they have doomed you to the extra one required to replenish the twenty.

Some players get excited when they roll several twenties in a row, concluding the dice are “hot”. Don’t make this blunder! This is like driving your car for 400 miles without gassing up, and then concluding that your car is a perpetual motion machine. After a few good rolls, pass the die off to an unwitting companion and let them charge it up for you.

Statisticians have known about this behavior for years. They call it “the probability seesaw”. Unlike the bell-shaped curve, in the seesaw system the odds of rolling high or low is directly proportional to what has been rolled in the past. They usually pretend this isn’t true. If a statistician hands you a die insisting that “any given roll has the same odds of rolling a one or a twenty”, it means he’s handing you a depleted die in the hopes of taking advantage of you. Don’t fall for it!

Now the secret is yours. Please put this knowledge to good use*.

*By “good use” I mean, “take advantage of other players”.
{|border=0
|-
|[[Image:Green_d20.jpg|center|frame|'''BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR GOD''']]
|[[Image:PennyArcade_papvp2_8.jpg|300px|We're Number One]]
|}

{|
|-
|valign=center| The '''[[d20 System]]''' for role playing came later. 
Like eighteen centuries later. 
Don't believe me? Check this out:
|[[Image:2nd_century_Roman_d20.jpg|center|thumb|200px|2nd century Rome, bitches]]
|}
{{clear}}
===d30===
[[Image:D30_olympic.jpg|thumb|right]]

Only ever used for those critical-hit tables when you rolled a natural [[D20|20]].
Or if your DM was rolling damage and felt like being a dick.

But man, would it leave a bruise when your little sister threw it at your head.
{{clear}}
===d50===
<center>
[[Rage|Fifty goddamn sides!!!!]]

For when you want to do 2-100 points of damage with a vaguely normal distribution.

... yeah, I don't know either
</center>

It also doubles as a golf ball.

[[Image:D50_Alan_Davies.jpg|center|320px]]
{{clear}}
===d100===
[[File:Zocchihedron2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Golfball.jpg]]
Take that, d50's!

They're useful when you really want to take 5 minutes to find out if you hit something in [[Dark Heresy]]. In other words, better just use a pair of [[D10]]'s like a normal human being.

Apparently it took about 6 years to make this die. I guess this means that it takes 6 years to put the numbers 1-100 on a fucking golf ball.

====Usage====
It may seem awesome when you see it, but as soon as you get one (and whoever's selling it to you is also aware of how unspeakably lame it is, and will probably even tell you) you will find that it has two major flaws: it takes about a minute to stop fucking rolling around and if you aren't blessed with a perfectly level playing surface you will never find out exactly what you've rolled (and when there are six other numbers right next to the 100 and 1, that's a pretty big problem). Oh, and to top it off, it isn't even very balanced, so it's effectively a loaded die.

On the other hand, if you hate your friends, show up to your next meeting and sweep all the d10s off the table, then drop your d100 right in the middle with a theatrical gesture and watch as everyone is mesmerized by its incessant rolling (see: takes about a minute to stop fucking rolling around). Take this opportunity to pocket the d10s, run away and never come back.

[[FATAL]] seemed to expect you to use this (but then again FATAL expects you to play FATAL so you can't expect much).
{{clear}}
===d120===
This is the most number of sides that a die can have while being 'mathematically fair die' (that doesn't have the dual problems of rolling forever and being prohibitively hard to read). The d120 stops rolling after a reasonable time (with the condition that this only applies if you don't roll with 'too much force'). It is also a bit tricky to read (but still perfectly possible). The company that sells the die points out that it can act as any of the standard 7 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d10 of 10s, d12, and d20). And thanks to the chart they released for free, you don't even have to do the math yourself [http://thedicelab.com/d120tables.html]. Of course for the d100 roll you'll have to roll the d120 twice, roll 2 d120, or use a die other than the d120 (although you could still use the d120, e.g. a d10 and a d120). [http://nerdist.com/this-d120-is-the-largest-mathematically-fair-die-possible/]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:premiumdice.jpg|Premium Dice!
Image:premiumdice2.png|Premium Dice cont.
Image:Big_Gay_Purple_d4.png‎|A d4 in the wild, natural weapon readied. As you can see by the notch on the left edge, this one has already claimed a victim.
Image:Caltrop.jpg|Now that's just sick and wrong.
File:I hope you step on a d4.png
Image:Go_outside_die.jpg|Try and MAKE me go outside. Fuck off, d12.
Image:anna_louge_dice.jpg|Even camwhores know that the d20 is sexy, and each face has an exactly 5% chance of appearing.
File:DToM.jpg|It is said if not for the trusty D4 the Union would never have one its independance from Britain and a shortage of D4's was the reason no one can beat Russia as Russia's savage wilds are famous for its saber toothed white furred D4's to defend the motherland.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Barrel dice]]
*[[Chits]] - The nega-dice of yesteryear.
*[[Crayola Dice]]
*[[Dice pool]]
*[[Exploding die]]
*[[Fudge dice]]
*[[D6 System]]
*[[D20 system]]

(External Links)
[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20040517a Dungeons & Dragons Dice Roller]
[http://www.dicecollector.com/JM/ Dice Collector gallery of all the dice; all of them]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2fxoNHIuU Lou Zocchi explains Dice.]

[[Category:Game Mechanics]][[Category:Dice]]

Genghis motherfucking Khan

2020-05-13T23:02:11Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{cleanup}}

[[Image:Genghis Khan by el grimlock.jpg|thumb|Right|350px|Pictured: World's greatest borscht, kebab, noodles and bratwurst remover.]]
''Despite being very similar, he is not the same person as [[Jaghatai Khan]].''

'''Chinggis Haan''' (more commonly known in the English-speaking world as '''Genghis Khan''' and '''Genghis 'Motherfucking' Khan''' to the assholes of /tg/) was a 12th century Mongolian warlord (Born AD 1162 Died AD 1227) and Khagaan (Emperor) who, in AD 1206, succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes of Northeastern Asia into what would become known as the Mongol Empire. Contrary to popular belief, he was not the first individual chieftain to attempt in creating a unified Mongol confederation; the first having been his great-great grandfather Habul Haan who established the Khamaag Mongol confederation. Chinggis was infinitely more successful though, and managed to unite nearly all the disparate Mongol factions into his empire; which is why he is considered by modern day Mongolians as the founding father of the Mongol state.

Born Temujin, meaning 'man of iron' big daddy Genghis' and thought to be derived from a Northeastern Turkic word, he was the son of Yesukhei (later to be known as Yesukhei Bahadur or 'Yesukhei the Warrior' after being dubbed posthumously so by Chinggis), who was chieftain of the Borjigid tribe (Grey-Blue wolf tribe) and descended from the legendary warrior-king Bodonchar Munkhaag (lit. Bodonchar the Bastard, dubbed so for his illegitimate birth). In turn, Temujin was also descended from Borte Chino, [[Leman Russ|the great wolf]] and mythical forebear of the Borjigid tribe, as well as from Tengri, the regional equivalent of [[Viking|Tyr]].

Chinggis is notable primarily for being a warlord and having waged the Mongol Invasions of Asia and Europe, which collectively resulted in the massacre of 40 million people; which amounts to 10% of the world's population at that time. He's also notable for having 0.4% percent of the world's population springing forth from his mighty loins, which makes him akin to a real world equivalent to Walder Frey from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]]. Or at least he would if Frey was an apocalyptic level badass and not an underachieving old lecherous fuckwit. For obvious reasons, most of these people tend to be from Central Asia (Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, East Turkestan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan), some parts of South Asia (primarily northern India and Pakistan) and Siberia and Turkic Russia (Republic of Tatarstan, Republic of Baskhortostan) and most of them are Muslim. Descent from Chinggis Haan is so wide-spread that it even has a name; Altan Urag, which translates roughly to 'Golden Lineage' and is also the name of that Mongolian folk-rock band. In Kazakh, this is called 'Töre'. Historically, a person descended from Chinggis Haan would be called 'Chinggisid', in the tradition of Central Asian tribes deriving their names from their founders and adding '-id'; meaning 'descended from', compare with the Scandinavian '-inga' suffix.

Despite his highly noble birth, Chinggis was born at a time when mediaeval Mongol tribes were constantly at each other's throats in a manner not dissimilar to how the [[Warriors of Chaos]] in Warhammer Fantasy are. Every fucking second of every fucking day until the Everchosen decides to smack heads together. Incidentally, the Kurgan, one of the three groups comprising the Warriors of Chaos, is based off the Mongols. Except Mongolia is less cold and marginally less dangerous than Norsca. Chinggis would grow up to be the Everchosen of this scenario, in terms how apocalyptic his eventual rise to power would be to the people south of him, much like how the Everchosen is. Hell, he even claimed divine favour from Tengger Etseg (lit. Sky-Father) - the Mongol god of thunder and head of the Mongolian pantheon. For much of his childhood however, his lot was to be married off by his father Yesukhei in order to secure an alliance with the Khongirad tribe; where he would later meet his wife Borte. Unfortunately for the future Chinggis Haan, daddy ran afoul of the neighbouring Siberian Tatar tribes to the North and ended up with his skull being used for some Tatar Haan's koumyss. After that, Temujin's family was swiftly usurped from the position of chieftain by one of his father's anda (bondsman, essentially) and so was he cast out with his brothers Begter, Hasar, Hachiun and Temuge and his mother.

Despite only being 12, Temujin managed to look after his family, making ends meet and carving out an existence in one of the most hostile environments on earth. He even killed his elder brother Begter over a dispute over hunting spoils, to give you an idea of how harsh living conditions were at the time. Interestingly, around this time he was captured and made a slave by the Tayichi'ud tribe of Mongolia, but managed to escape through his balls-to-the-wall insanity and the aid of a sympathetic guard. He apparently must have pulled some [[Conan the Barbarian]] level shit there, since he earned something of a mythical reputation shortly thereafter. Later on, he reunited with Borte and married her, only to have her stolen by the Merkit tribe (bride-kidnapping was nothing unusual in Mongolia at the time and is still used symbolically in some Central Asian countries as a sort of courtship ritual). Despite the fact that most Mongols at the time would simply shrug and steal another wife from somewhere else, Chinggis was not one to accept defeat willingly and swiftly gathered warriors to raid the Merkit tribe in order to recover Borte. A particularly bloody affair it would seem, as a few folk-tales supposedly tell of how Chinggis devoured the perpetrators of the kidnapping in a shamanic ritual. What is confirmed however is that whatever Chinggis and his raiders did must have absolutely slaughtered the Merkits, since by the time he was declared Khagaan shortly afterwards they cease to exist as a distinct tribal group, with the survivors being absorbed by the other tribes or fleeing northwest to be subsumed by the Qipchak Turks. This and other references to his brutality is what leads many elegen/tg/entlemen to suspect he was a champion of [[Khorne]].

Incidentally, Turko-Mongolian paganism really does have a red war-god associated with battle-frenzy; [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyzaghan Kyzaghan], who may or may not actually have been one of Khorne's many guises during medieval Terran days, just like with [[Vikings|Odin]].

After defeating all his tribal rivals and becoming Khagaan of the Mongol Steppe, Chinggis turned his wrathful blue-eyed gaze (yes, really! http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-genghis-khan) south to the Jin empire, which had long played the Northern tribes off against each other in order to protect their northern borders. Not one to allow the sallow skinned southern pansies to get the better of the stronk manly northerners, Chinggis marshalled his forces to end the Jurchen domination over Central Asia.

Like Angron's Dominion of Fire, Chinggis Haan's invasion of the southern Jurchen empire was a tremendous success, his hardened Mongol tribesmen slaughtering the weak, soft-bellied Jin armies like wolves among sheep (an actual expression in Turko-Mongol battle poems). In time, he succeeded in extracting vassalage from the northerly Chinese empires. After the resounding success he had garnered against the Jin and Tangut Xi-Xia, he turned his attentions to the Kara-Khitai Haanate which was under the command of the deposed Mongol chieftain Kuchlug, who had previously headed the Naiman clan which Chinggis had defeated and pushed out of Mongolia in his quest to unite the clans. The Mongol invasion of Kara-Khitai saw its borders extent to Lake Balkhash in present day Kazakhstan, which later brought it into conflict with the Khwarezmian Empire. Though Chinggis died in 1227, his son Ögedei Khan and grandsons Kublai Khan and Möngke Khan would expand the empire into its peak, conquering all of China and pushing into Iraq until he was stopped by the Mamluks in Egypt. Unsurprisingly, the Mamluks themselves were Qipchak warriors closely related to the Mongols by blood and lifestyle. In the end, the only thing that could truly halt the Steppe Warriors was other Steppe Warriors (and Vietnamese).

==End of an Empire==

After years of civil war and succession issues, the empire was divided into four giant segments in the late 13th century between his four sons Ögedei, Tolui, Jochu, and [[Jaghatai Khan|Chagatai]]. These separate Khanates would later fragment and dissolve by the 16th and 17th centuries, the great Mongol Empire of Chinggis never to return. The closest the successors of Chinggis ever came to recreating his empire was his great-great-grandson Timur (Tamerlame) in the late 14th century, who ran around central Asia kicking ass left and right and not giving a single damn who stood in his way. Genghis Khan's descendants and succesor kingdoms tended to pop up again and again throughout history; with Hulagu Khan laying siege to and utterly razing Baghdad in 1258, Yonten Gyatso (a descendant of Kublai) becoming the 4th Dalai Lama and Ablai Khan in the late 18th century uniting much of Central Asia into what is now modern-day Kazakhstan. For centuries after his conquest, royalty from Mughal Emperors to Czars of Russia could possibly relate to Chinggis in some way.

==In the 40k Fandom==

800 years in the future, mankind is so impressed by Chinggis that he is inserted as an honorary warrior in [[Warhammer 40000|everybody's favorite grimdark wargames series]]. And what faction could possibly be worthy of this [[White Scars|riding, bearded, Mongolian, head-chopping conqueror with "Khan" in his name]]? That's right, the [[Daemon]]s of [[Khorne]]. It's long been accepted in the fandom that upon the "death" of Chinngis he actually achieved apotheosis and became [[Doombreed]], the first daemon prince who was explicitly noted to have been offered daemonhood before the Emperor revealed himself to humanity.

The GW writers saw our devotion and decided to sorta kinda canonize this theory with another nicely copyrighted name they can sell us models of. In [[Imperial Armor]] Volume Seven, Siege of Vraks part three, Uraka Az'baramael, the Warbringer, strides into the lore. He's explicitly stated to have lead "horse-bound armies across Ancient Terra" and that almost exactly ten years before his death, "Upon taking [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nishapur one city] by siege, he ordered the entire populous massacred and thousands were beheaded," an act that so pleased the Blood God he was offered a chance at daemonhood. All he had to do was behead a Bloodthirster, but that's no hard feat for Chinngis. He's been terrorizing Grey Knights ever since.

[[Category: History]][[Category: Awesome]]

Mike Brooks

2020-05-13T21:16:14Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Wordings things to be more polite as to stop skub.

Mike has written some rather fine Necromunda stories for Black Library and looks like a man who's father fucked a particulary goth looking parrot. If his mohawk and punk band are any indication, he certainly fits the part of a writer of Grimdark fiction. 

Previously published sci-fi author, massive fan of the game. Has an appropriately massive 40K army and a dick bigger than [[ Aaron_Dembski-Bowden|ADB]] but not as big as [[Dan_Abnett|Dan Abnett]]'s.

He's one of the new wave of authors that came after they fired [[Laurie Goulding]]

Recently he has written the 40k novel "Rites of Passage" which has come under fire from Neckbeards due to controversial inclusive considerations such as characters with non-traditional genders and they're pronouns in the novel. These are in-line with BL's guidelines (especially for ad-mech) as it's more sci-fi.

He is not [[Danie Ware]]

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Writers]]
[[category:Black Library]]

The Last Church

2020-05-13T20:56:05Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

{{Awesome}}

[[File:The Last Church on Terra.jpg|200px|right|thumb|THE LAST CURIOUSLY DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH!]]
'''The Last Church''' by [[Graham McNeill]] is a short story describing the conversation between an old and lonely priest named Uriah Olathaire of the very last church on Terra (The Church of the Lightning Stone) during the [[Unification Wars]] (where the Emperor banned religion and the worship of gods) and a mysterious character named [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Revelation]], the story is pretty deep and thought provoking and shows you that you don't need '''XTREME GRIMDARK''' and violence to make a great 40k story (even though the story doesn't take place in the 41st millennium). As well as being the earliest complete story in the 40k canon, it deals with morals, religion, atheism and humility and the benefits and costs of each. And also, Uriah is probably running for 'most badass non-augmented human' in the setting at first place. What's more badass than [[Ollanius Pius| getting killed by Horus]]? Telling the Emperor, ''to his face'', why he sucks (note that the Emperor was never Jesus: at most, and in fairly old lore he was implied to be Jesus's 13th disciple, which in turn means not only that he knew Jesus, but purposely tried to do better than God at guiding humanity with [[Horus Heresy|predictable results]]. What is more, other than its being called a "church," there is not really anything specifically Christian about Uriah's religion explicitly described–rather it seems like a vague syncretic religion that venerates miracles, saints and nature.)

==Plot Summary==
In the titular last church, the very last worshipper and priest on Earth, Uriah Olathaire, is visited by a mysterious figure. They talk about why the church is the last of its kind, and what happened to all of the faithful who once cherished it so much. This figure, "Revelation", argues about all of the harm that religious worship and organizations have inflicted on humanity throughout history (despite his examples being blatant lies and the opposite of what really happened in history), whilst the priest attempts to refute it. Finally, Revelation reveals himself as the Emperor of Mankind, and more specifically as the being who originally (unintentionally, more or less incidentally due to Uriah's experiences during a brief and dramatic encounter between the two during the Unification Wars) inspired the priest to believe in his religion. He then gives the priest a chance to recant his false beliefs and leave; the church will be destroyed, but he does not have to perish as well.

The priest refuses. Instead pointing out the Emperor's hypocrisy in the various things he has done and in doing that, makes him to be no different to the crusaders and fanatics of the past. Despite this, the Emperor disregards Uriah's words and escorts him outside before his troops start destroying the church. As his church is destroyed, Uriah gives the Emperor one last warning about the folly of his plan before calmly walking back in to the church, preferring to die with it, and prays while he waits for death before he is crushed beneath the rubble.

The Emperor dismisses him as a lost cause and moves on. As the rain lifts, and the morning sun rises over the smoldering remains of the last church on Terra; inside, a broken clock, prophesied to chime only when the world is at an end, begins to softly ring...

==Moral==

The moral of the story is a lot more complicated and relevant than most would think. The Emperor is a well-intentioned extremist fighting against four monstrously powerful daemonic gods and trying to starve them out by spreading the Imperial Truth. He made mistakes, yes, but his intentions were pure (sort of, his methods weren’t at all necessary, merely easier than worrying about people calling him out on immoral acts as proven when his ultimate rebuttal to Uriah calling him out was to eliminate him)). ([[Tolkien|Ah, but good intentions matter not. Only good deeds]].) In this he had the stereotypical view towards religion that some atheists have: that it is the cause of most of humanity's problems including much of the killing and/or all the wars in human history, ignoring any and everything else that was a factor in said problems/wars, the fact that those same negative behaviors and actions are also found in non-religious people and ignoring the fact that '''other''' modes of thought (such as his own) also cause untold suffering. It also ignores the fact that any time extremists act on their religion, their beliefs are almost always directly contradictory to their religion (any successful religion teaches tolerance (To an extent, otherwise your stuck with constant fighting all the time.), extremists are anything but). So, if anything, the Emperor should have made religions enforce their own teachings. The story also is about the Emperor's adamant refusal to accept that extremists are extremists, whether religious or secular. On top of that, the extremists who might have become religious extremists instead become secular extremists thanks to his own secularization of his Imperium and this comes back to bite humanity horribly for the next ten thousand years. The story is about why people really do what they do for their beliefs. The Emperor was prepared to do whatever it took for his beliefs because it appeared to him that he was undeniably correct, just like extremists. The moral is that any reason based on rejection is immoral reason. Case in point, the Emperor-lead Imperium purged so much and so often that it’s sheer scale of atrocity was part of the traitor Primarchs’ motivation to rebel.

He was also under the belief that it was faith in general that makes the Chaos Gods stronger and the [[Imperial Truth]] was an attempt to stop them. What the Emperor failed to understand was that the Chaos Gods were powered not only by faith, but by emotions as well as aspects of reality itself such as change (which also means wiping out all life probably would fail to destroy Chaos). People going about their daily lives experiencing their normal emotions would still empower the Chaos Gods. It has been argued that if the Emperor had not destroyed the other religions and actually WARNED people about Chaos ([[Interex|like some other people]]), Chaos would have been less powerful because people would have directed their belief to religions (such as the Abrahamic faiths) or outright have nothing to do with it at all (which is still better than falling to it). If anything, belief and faith grant power in this setting and even [[Ork|make gods real if they weren't before]], so while [[Interex|an atheistic approach guarding against Chaos]] could help, at most it would just result in a stalemate; theistic religiosity in the 40k verse not only defends but allows adherents to [[Ynnead|take the fight to Chaos and provides the only possibility of defeating them]]. Therefore, by abolishing religion (especially purging the theistic ones) [[FAIL|the Emperor HELPED the Chaos Gods]], albeit [[Tzeentch|unintentionally]]. As such the Emperor's own ignorance in this regard led to the [[Horus Heresy]], bringing about his own downfall. The Emperor may have been tens of thousands of years old, vastly intelligent and unbelievably powerful, but even he could not predict everything (he didn't have to predict anything, just accept that Chaos feeding on emotion is exactly what it says on the tin instead of projecting his own nonsensical beliefs that aren't even truthful in the first place). Perhaps that was his greatest failing: he attempted to ''predict'' how to defeat Chaos instead of applying the scientific method. From his words throughout 40k it is clear he saw Warpcraft and science as completely separate and distinct fields. Had he applied the scientific method to studying Chaos, he would have learned the above information about Chaos's strengths and combating it with faith. As with most genii, he outsmarted himself. Naturally trying to understand the Warp scientifically is impossible, but that's its ''behavior'' not its ''nature''. Nothing stopped him from studying its nature in order to get a good enough concept of what it feeds on. The Inquisition did exactly that which is how they got so good at fighting Chaos in the first place. Even so, his reaction to anything but blind-obedience was “kill them with fire.” When you’re claiming there must be no religion and kill anyone who wants a reason to believe your claim that religion is bad, you set yourself up for self-destruction at best.

Murdering countless worlds while claiming it's because religious people are violent really just gets people to think "Then what the fuck are you!?" In short, the Emperor turns out to be a high-functioning psychopath. There's a reason religion exploded shortly after the Emperor's internment into the Golden Throne.

===Alternative view===

Makes you think though - The Emperor knew about the Chaos Gods (even if he didn't refer to them as such), since he talked to Horus about them, who then passed it on the Garviel Loken to soothe his mind (not strictly true - Horus and Loken only learned about Daemons - Loken is totally mystified when an Interex soldier explains the nature of Chaos/Kaos to him). The Emperor also might have had an inkling that it wasn't just belief that powered them (in actuality, they solely feed on emotion, worship and belief are vectors to reality but not even slightly needed or empowering for them...but for the Emperor...), what with him being in such close contact with the Warp 24/7. This begs the question - was he, in fact, out-Just As Planning Tzeentch and, as [[Erebus]]' false(?) memories showed Horus, did he ALLOW the Primarchs to be taken, just so Lorgar would land on Colchis, be raised by Kor Phaeron, learn about Chaos, fall to Chaos, turn Horus, allow the Horus Heresy to happen, teleport to Horus' Battle-Barge, kill his son while being mortally wounded himself, and be installed on the Golden Throne just so the billions upon billions of humans would have someone to worship other than the Chaos Gods, as a God that can be seen, touched and interacted which is nowhere near as powerful as a God that must be believed in purely through faith. Probably the only hiccup that The Emperor didn't foresee was Magnus ripping through his psychic shields and wrecking the Golden Throne/Webway Gate, which could've been avoided if The Emperor had fucking told his sons what he was doing. And especially if he'd given them a way to communicate with him, since that problem was why Magnus used sorcery to try and warn him of Horus in the first place.

In other words... did the Emperor plan to be worshiped all along? Probably not, but it makes you think. Still, though, this idea might actually have some merit judging by how the Emperor didn't seem so disbelieving of his divinity when chatting with Guilliman after his son's return from stasis. Given he planned for Magnus to take his place on the Golden Throne and how Sanguinius was basically an even better Emperor than the Emperor, it seems likely that he have every intention of arranging them as such and perhaps sacrificing himself in someway to become humanity's "god" in the Warp. He's basically sci-fi Sigmar and that is basically what Sigmar did, so it would make sense if you add Grimdark.

===Author's Opinion===
[http://graham-mcneill.com/ McNeill's website] has an explanation for his thought processes when writing the story as well as his opinion of it on [http://graham-mcneill.com/last-church/ its own page], but it's been copypasted here for convenience. Strangely, Graham states that "he didn't want to preach", but then states he wanted Uriah to be "wrong" and the Emperor to be "right" (see below).

<blockquote>I came late to this anthology, as I was finishing a novel while the bulk of writers were thrashing away at their keyboards. So when it came time to start developing a story, I asked the editors to send me a one-line pitch for each of the other stories so I didn’t waste time replicating a story that had already been written. When I got them, they were mostly bolters blazing, chainswords hacking stories, which is great, but I felt needed balancing by one that had a more thoughtful pace, with less fighting. One of the aspects of the Heresy I’ve liked the most has been the dichotomy between a growing secular empire butting heads with humanity’s urge to worship things in the sky. I saw this story as a challenge to myself, the readers and to BL. Would I be able to write a story like this that was exciting and engaging? Would the readers buy into it or would they be bored without the action? Would BL publish a story like this? Turns out that it seems all three were answered with a resounding yes. There’s a lot of me in this story, though I’m certainly not preaching to anyone with it. It’s more like I wanted people to talk about the story, to ask themselves questions and look at things in a different light. Some folk have said that Uriah is a straw man, and that the arguments made on both sides of his and Revelation’s debate are simplistic. Part of me agrees with that, as I’m not a theologian (and, crucially, neither was Uriah. He was a drunken rake, called to be a priest by a personal experience. No years of training in a seminary for him…) and I wasn’t trying to write a treatise on religion or belief, but rather a story that got people talking and entertained them. It’s also the first time the Big E turns up in a Heresy story in any real form. He’s appeared a few times to deliver the odd line of dialogue, but this was the first time we’d seen him talk, interact and appear for any length of time (even though most of it is in another guise) so I needed to be careful. In the end, to really stir the pot, I wanted to end the story in a way that, while Uriah might have been wrong, he was the one you liked better and who came out with the apparent moral high ground. The Emperor was right, yet he came across as the arrogant, short-sighted tyrant – the very kind he rails against in the story. Now go back and read it again and see if you agree!</blockquote>

==Trivia==
*Isandula Verona's paintings depict 3 events of old earth (both factual and presumably fictional), one painting depicts "nude figures disporting in a magical garden", likely the Garden of Eden. The second is a painting of "a battle between a golden knight and a silver dragon", undoubtedly based of the battle between the Emperor and the Void Dragon in ancient Libya. But the third painting is by far the strangest, it depicts a "wondrous being of light surrounded by a halo of golden machinery" (couldn't possibly be foreshadowing the Emperor on the Golden Throne) ... Also, there is the description of an "explosion of stars", possibly referring to the creation of the Eye of Terror.

*The church in question appears to be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne Lindisfarne]: perched on "a rocky promontory jutting from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain an island] that was said to have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_empire once ruled the world]". Uriah even references it being raided by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne#Vikings Scandi].
*Many of our currently existing countries and continents are mentioned in the story, however they are spelled and pronounced differently.
*The Mariana Canyon where the giant stone figures are carved in is most likely the remnants of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the Earth's present-day oceans -- given that this place is now exposed, you can grasp just how much the Earth has changed... For example, the oceans boiled away due to various factors. Some of the new land that became exposed became known as the "Panpacific".
*Given Uriah's knowledge of (and ability to travel to) other countries, and his reaction to the Emperor's plans to conquer the galaxy, it seems likely that the Age of Strife on Terra was less of a complete societal breakdown and more of a regression to the dark ages in which knowledge of the past remained largely intact but functionally useless. Ironic, considering the state of the Imperium ushered in to save humanity from that. So, the inverse of the 40k Imperium.
*Lastly, The Emperor's claim that "humanity will not be free until the last stone of the last church falls on the head of the last priest" is lifted from a quote of [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/122284-civilization-will-not-attain-to-its-perfection-until-the-last Émile Zola]. Interestingly, he doesn’t seem to have a reason for believing this.
{{40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Backgammon

2020-05-13T12:48:36Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569: Fixed a typo regarding Central-Asian being spelled as Middle-Asians.

[[File:Backgammon battle.jpg|200px|thumb|right|All games pretty much advance to this]]
A descendant of the royal game of Ur. '''Backgammon''' is an ancient board game, [[Roll and Move | where you throw dice and move pieces accordingly]]. The word itself is said to have come from the words "back game", as this marvelous piece of entertainment was commonly played in the back rooms of seedy taverns and cheap whorehouses.

It's also the oldest known board game, with 5000 years of archeology behind it (although a lot of that is for the Royal Game of Ur (a.k.a. The Game of Twenty Squares, because the board had twenty squares on it), a slightly different game that used somewhat odd d4s rather than d6s). Fun fact: The word for Backgammon in Azerbaijani is "Nərd", which is what you are if you think said fact is in any way fun.

Generally considered a "trash game" (although not [[Ameritrash]]). As in: Something everyone has played at one point of their life but didn't pay that much attention to it; like [[Monopoly]] or tic-tac-toe.

'''TL;DR''' it's Parcheesi on a short U-shaped track and four times as many pawns.

==The horrible, horrible violence==

Being the favourite game of Central-Asians (Who the hell put middle? Middle-Asia where the hell is that supposed to be? Part of Gandolf's manga collection?). This simple buttons and dice game sparks wild bouts of anger and violence. It is thought that image of jagged teeth ignites the animalistic portions of the brain and encourages the individual to a frenzy of uncontrollable [[rage]]. This is accentuated by the fact that a complete idiot is able to win against a veteran by sheer luck.

Many have lost their lives over this horrible amusement, which is why you should steer clear of it and play something else.

==Doubling cube==
[[File:Doubling_Cube.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Rolling for the binary number encounter table]]
In case the casual violence wasn't good enough for you: try throwing some money on the table, raise the stakes and risk losing your left floating rib.

'''How it works:''' the cube starts the match with the '64' facing up, but that counts as '1'. Let's say you bet a beer on the outcome of the match. You win, you get two beers: 1 of yours and 1 of the other guy's. ''At any time'', a player can take the cube, change it so '2' faces up, and give it to the opponent. Either the other guy accepts it, or forfeits the game and the beer. Now both players are betting two beers each. Whoever's holding the doubling cube can advance it to the next highest number and give it to the other guy, who must accept it or forfeit the game (and the 2, 4, 8 or however many beers were on the cube before you gave up). Technically, you can go past '64', but at that point whoever wins will be carrying at least three cases of beer away from the backgammon table from a single match, and that is fucking heavy.

{{Board Games}}

[[Category:Board Games]]

Backgammon

2020-05-13T12:46:57Z

2607:FEA8:E9A0:592D:5CD2:E80C:A914:3569:

[[File:Backgammon battle.jpg|200px|thumb|right|All games pretty much advance to this]]
A descendant of the royal game of Ur. '''Backgammon''' is an ancient board game, [[Roll and Move | where you throw dice and move pieces accordingly]]. The word itself is said to have come from the words "back game", as this marvelous piece of entertainment was commonly played in the back rooms of seedy taverns and cheap whorehouses.

It's also the oldest known board game, with 5000 years of archeology behind it (although a lot of that is for the Royal Game of Ur (a.k.a. The Game of Twenty Squares, because the board had twenty squares on it), a slightly different game that used somewhat odd d4s rather than d6s). Fun fact: The word for Backgammon in Azerbaijani is "Nərd", which is what you are if you think said fact is in any way fun.

Generally considered a "trash game" (although not [[Ameritrash]]). As in: Something everyone has played at one point of their life but didn't pay that much attention to it; like [[Monopoly]] or tic-tac-toe.

'''TL;DR''' it's Parcheesi on a short U-shaped track and four times as many pawns.

==The horrible, horrible violence==

Being the favourite game of central(Who the hell put middle? Middle-Asia where the hell is that supposed to be? Part of Gandolf's manga collection?)-asians, this simple buttons and dice game sparks wild bouts of anger and violence. It is thought that image of jagged teeth ignites the animalistic portions of the brain and encourages the individual to a frenzy of uncontrollable [[rage]]. This is accentuated by the fact that a complete idiot is able to win against a veteran by sheer luck.

Many have lost their lives over this horrible amusement, which is why you should steer clear of it and play something else.

==Doubling cube==
[[File:Doubling_Cube.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Rolling for the binary number encounter table]]
In case the casual violence wasn't good enough for you: try throwing some money on the table, raise the stakes and risk losing your left floating rib.

'''How it works:''' the cube starts the match with the '64' facing up, but that counts as '1'. Let's say you bet a beer on the outcome of the match. You win, you get two beers: 1 of yours and 1 of the other guy's. ''At any time'', a player can take the cube, change it so '2' faces up, and give it to the opponent. Either the other guy accepts it, or forfeits the game and the beer. Now both players are betting two beers each. Whoever's holding the doubling cube can advance it to the next highest number and give it to the other guy, who must accept it or forfeit the game (and the 2, 4, 8 or however many beers were on the cube before you gave up). Technically, you can go past '64', but at that point whoever wins will be carrying at least three cases of beer away from the backgammon table from a single match, and that is fucking heavy.

{{Board Games}}

[[Category:Board Games]]