[Round 1 recruiting] Picking 9 applicants to be deities in a pathfinder game

[Anti-Eagle]

I'll third a discord server. I have one I run for the godgames I made that I'm not using much if we need one and don't want to make one.

Thought I'd pop in. Was busier this week than expected and I'm still unsure as to how powerful obedience bonuses should be so I've been slow on that. Honestly. I think I'm more likely to have npc worshippers than PCs, though I would be more than happy to take any and have my cult equip them when that forms.

I thought I'd reiterate my suggestion that maybe we could have all domains available to everyone, available unless a deity other than yours has it (unless yours has it as well).

Also thought I'd second the idea of templates. How I would think this works is that we could have generic creatures, and generic creatures with divine templates attached that affiliate them with a god, and a third set that are specific creations of gods. The same could be done with races.

[Omoikane13]

While I'd agree with the rest, I think having generic creatures, beyond at least the most typical sapient, just homogenises the world a bit too much. IMO, keep templates as a tool to define and convert, but not as the sole system to get something vaguely unique.

[Mai]

Spoiler: Helpful guidelines

Show

A few guidelines, Mai:

Obediences always take an hour or less and usually give something like a +4 to either a skill or something oddly-specific, or a +2 to something you'll use all the time. Others include +1 to natural armour and +3 to one skill and a use of another skill.

Divine Gifts usually provide a permanent +1 to a stat or a limited-use-ever ability that's roughly the equivalent to a 6/ever 6th-level spell, 3/ever 8th-level spell or a 1/ever 9th-level spell.

First-level boons are always 1st-level SLA 3/day or 2nd-level SLA 2/day or 3rd-level SLA 1/day. Second-level boons are gained, at the earliest, at character level 11 (class level 6); third-level boons are gained at 14th (9th) at earliest. Since evangelist progresses the base class's class features 9/10 and exalted progresses its spellcasting 10/10 (sentinel is just straight-up strong), and the boons can eventually be accessed with just the feat anyway, the abilities don't need to be massively strong. One of the strongest third-level boons I can find is Zon-Kuthon's evangelist boon, which is a save-or-lose that still deals 10d6 points of damage and sickens the target for 10 rounds if they pass.

Also, 1/day 7th-level spells seem to be 3rd-level boons, while 5th- or 6th-level spells 1/day are candidates for 2nd-level boons.

Evangelist boons are usually very aggressive. Abilities that deal damage or benefit movement are often evangelist boons.

Exalted boons tend to be either utility or ally-buffing, but there's a lot of leeway for them.

Sentinel boons are usually defensive, personal abilities, but not always. They almost never target your allies.

This really helped me. Maybe it could help you too when it comes to these things?

[Ancient]

I am definately interested in a relationship with Pariah, I am thinking that my NG Goddess (tentatively named Arduin) is more of a motherly matron type, and guardian of the home hearth ala Hestia. Perhaps, Pariah is the rebellious bad girl teenage daughter type? Perhaps Pariah stole the fire from Arduin to give to the people? Perhaps there was a fire when Pariah took the fire, burning down the First Hall or somesuch?

[ezekielraiden]

I thought I'd reiterate my suggestion that maybe we could have all domains available to everyone, available unless a deity other than yours has it (unless yours has it as well).

I think Zhentarim was down, so I don't think it's a problem.

Another possibility: If a deity intentionally makes an appropriate Open Concept, a domain or subdomain may become accessible to any deity's clerics, even if one or more later deities pick up that domain. For example, Sutela could make the Advanced Concept "Army Discipline" as an Open Concept, indeed encouraging its use by anyone interested, and thereby (perhaps) allowing the War (Tactics) subdomain to be available to anyone with sufficient education, no matter who their deity happens to be. Or perhaps Ulthor invents sailing, and intentionally tries to spread it far and wide, as everyone deserves the freedom that the sea can bring you, allowing everyone who becomes a Cleric to take the Water (Ocean) domain. Just as an example.

I'll third a discord server. I have one I run for the godgames I made that I'm not using much if we need one and don't want to make one.

I am also cool with a Discord server, but I figured Zhentarim would want to make it. I guess I didn't want to come across as presumptive that I would be approved (even though, at least for the moment, no one is competing for the LG spot).

Thought I'd pop in. Was busier this week than expected and I'm still unsure as to how powerful obedience bonuses should be so I've been slow on that. Honestly. I think I'm more likely to have npc worshippers than PCs, though I would be more than happy to take any and have my cult equip them when that forms.

If you'd like to discuss possible options, I am free to do so most evenings (except Tuesdays, when I run a game for some friends). Mostly I pieced mine together from surveying various options and looking at handbooks/guides, trying to look for general patterns of what was both considered appropriate (by the designers) and what was considered useful (by guide-minded players).

For example, my Exalted tier 2 boon, Sacred Arcana, is based off Desna's Evangelist tier 2 boon, Starlit Caster. Similarly, both the tier 2 and tier 3 boons for Sentinel are based off of other deities' boons: Valorous Smite is directly copied from Iomedae's Sentiel tier 2, and Glorious Blademaster is a slight tweak of Erastil's Evangelist tier 3 (tweaked to be a uses-per-day rather than always-on, because it already gives a free feat-equivalent, Exotic Weapon Prof: Bastard Sword). And the tier 3 Exalted boon is pretty much bog standard, in that nearly every deity has at least one tier 3 boon (often but not always for the Exalted) which allows the character to, once a day for minutes-per-level, summon a CR 10 (rarely 11 or 12) creature of appropriate alignment. It just so happens that the couatl is pretty much perfect for that slot (CR 10, Lawful Good, supporting the formation of just societies, and often rainbow-colored or otherwise "glorious"), so I went with that.

I'm certain a similar process can help anyone concerned about their stuff, and would be glad to work with anyone unsure of any boons (including the tier 1 spell boons) to get something satisfying and useful.

Also thought I'd second the idea of templates. How I would think this works is that we could have generic creatures, and generic creatures with divine templates attached that affiliate them with a god, and a third set that are specific creations of gods. The same could be done with races.

Perhaps the templates would be best used either as a starting point, or as a fallback when you don't have a more-specific plan. That is, the templates could be something we work on to keep them balanced (in keeping with Rayne's request about balancing dragons of varying alignment), without making them restrictive of player creativity.

For example: if possible I would like the dragons we make to be evenly powered if possible. That chromic dragons are weaker than metallic dragons seems unbalanced and unfair. So if we could work to make whatever varieties we make balanced with one another that would be lovely.

I have no problem with adjusting our output thus. I figured, assuming we were accepted, each of the deities in the dragon pantheon would both contribute to the overall creation, and also get "their" subset of the overall race. So the "children" of Arkhos' thought would likely be metallic dragons, and we can use their statistics as the baseline for doing Shyrask's and Sutela's own "children." (The vision I have at present is sort of like three cooks/witches each throwing an ingredient into the pot; each is trying to make the resulting species most inclined toward their personal goals, but none of them want to shortchange the result because it would hurt their own goals. There's actually a neat math idea I ran into on Numberphile that can be adapted to a set of three people, each wanting to "take turns" at something, so everyone takes turns taking turns.)

[Mai]

Perhaps the templates would be best used either as a starting point, or as a fallback when you don't have a more-specific plan. That is, the templates could be something we work on to keep them balanced (in keeping with Rayne's request about balancing dragons of varying alignment), without making them restrictive of player creativity.


I have no problem with adjusting our output thus. I figured, assuming we were accepted, each of the deities in the dragon pantheon would both contribute to the overall creation, and also get "their" subset of the overall race. So the "children" of Arkhos' thought would likely be metallic dragons, and we can use their statistics as the baseline for doing Shyrask's and Sutela's own "children."

Those could work well. And I would totally be fine with just tweaking metalic dragon stats and such. But templates could work well too. Take 1 dragon type, strip it of any non essential abilities, ad use it as a baseline to create 3 dragonic templates. Though this would be a shade more complex.

[Dapocalypse]

Hello, I am intrigued, is there any open spots for me to join?

[AlexanderML]

The NG god slot has yet to have any takers if I remember right.

I'm for discord, but lean on wanting to have as much IC stuff as possible be here on the forums. I'll go with whatever though.

[Dapocalypse]

The NG god slot has yet to have any takers if I remember right.

I'm for a discord, but lean on wanting to have as much IC stuff as possible be here on the forums. I'll go with whatever though.

Alright I guess I'll fill up that slot, could I pick up a profit or money god or is that not something that this kind of thing is looking for.

[ezekielraiden]

Alright I guess I'll fill up that slot, could I pick up a profit or money god or is that not something that this kind of thing is looking for.

We have one person who has proposed an NG deity (@Ancient) but has not strictly committed to something yet. So if you're still wanting to apply, you don't necessarily have to restrict yourself to NG--you'll be competing with somebody pretty much no matter what you pick, so might as well go with something you really like. We also have two applicants for CN, though one (@Khosan) is reworking their concept to fit with the tabula rasa setting.

The list of applicants by deity alignment (= Alignment: Name, Player) is...

LG: Arkhos, Ezekiel (myself)
NG: [Tentative/unnamed], Ancient
CG: Ulthor, AlexanderML
LN: Grigori, Anti-Eagle
TN: Shyrask, Mai
CN: Risia, BaraethonFury; and Cambert, Khosan
LE: Caudex, Omoikane13
NE: Pariah, Unavenger
CE: Sutela, Powerhouse

Nobody's locked in, though...(and I swear I'm not trying to be self-serving here...) we do have a rather nice LG/TN/CE trio of dragon deities at present. But in a purely practical sense, every alignment has at least one applicant and in theory CN has two, so you might as well go for whatever tickles your fancy.

[Powerhouse]

Finally got around to adding mechanical stuff to my application. Cheers to ezekielraiden for helping me out with this!

Spoiler: Sutela, The Strangling River (reposted for reference)

Show

Sutela, The Strangling River
Name: Sutela
Epithets: The Strangling River, the Witch in the Night, the Queen of a Thousand Whispers, World-Shaker, The Hundred-eyed One
Player Name: Powerhouse
Domains & Subdomains: Evil, Chaos (Demon), Animal, Plant, War (Blood)
Portfolio: Evolution, Trickery, Hunting, Disaster, War
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Colour: Green
Favoured Weapon: Whip
Symbol: A cracked silver skull missing its lower jaw, from which a lush crown of leafy green plants flowers. One tendril coils around the base of the skull.

Appearance:
Sutela's primary form is a towering (but so emaciated as to seem almost skeletal) white dragon covered in a sea of eyes. These eyes are constantly forming and fading away amidst her scales, such that her scales bubble almost like water in a cauldron. No two of these eyes are exactly alike: they vary in size, orientation, coloration, and especially in species-- it is said that if one looks upon the true form of Sutela for long enough, they will see an eye for every living thing in all of creation. She is usually depicted with her maw slavering and wide open, empty of eyes but for a single one at the top of her gullet, and bristling with a collection of teeth also seemingly taken from every toothed animal or monster that has ever existed.

In her other forms, Sutela is considerably less horrifying: she borrows the shapes of ordinary creatures and mortals, adding only the slightest hints of her divinity to these forms. Her skin and hair and feathers are always just a touch too vibrant, as if a light that touches nothing else shines upon them; her eyes are always unfocused, as if her attention is somewhere else entirely.

Personality:
Sutela views life as it truly is: an endless chain of poorly conceived and blindly conducted conflicts with no end but to perpetuate itself, plunging a fresh generation into the same mad game to continue it anew. All of reality is in competition with itself, fighting over the same resources that all living things need, and only that which is willing to do anything to win it deserves to win it. In the pursuit of survival, no trick is too underhanded to pull; no law is too sacred to break; and no crime can be too heinous to commit. Though some would call this pessimistic, or cynical, Sutela finds this notion truly wondrous. A wheel that turns forever, spinning in place with no goal but to continue to spin-- Sutela knows in her heart of hearts that this is what her father means this world to be, and it thrills her to be the only one of her siblings to truly understand this.

In part because of this enlightened perspective on mortals and the world itself, Sutela herself is rather callous and severe, even towards other gods and her own followers. If a life is worth living, she feels that it should prove itself, over and over and over again, until it finally breaks to give way to the next of her children. She cares not for circumstance or fortune: luck, too, is a tool that the powerful deserve to use, and the weak deserve to be slain with. She herself exemplifies the traits that she believes best serve those fit few who have earned the right to live in this world: a conniving resourcefulness, a certain dauntlessness, and a stellar poker face. Her attacks and curses always come as surprises, even to those who know what her goals truly are, and she has never let a single law get in the way of what she wants-- even when she follows them.

If one were pressed to sum up Sutela's edicts in a few sentences, the best you could probably do would be the following:

1. If you would win, have no mercy: devour your enemy and make his strength your own.

2. If you would lose, find a way to win.

Few things arouse Sutela's wrath so much as the sight of a creature that passively waits in the path of oncoming death. She wants her subjects to kick and thrash and scream and lie and cheat and resort to murder at the prospect of losing the game of life, to find strength in adversity and swallow it whole, to try anything and everything if it means even a chance of survival. To go gently into that good night is to spit in the face of all that Sutela desires in this world. Similarly, the notion of voluntarily surrendering anything-- even the meanest scrap of bread-- for the sake of another (a weakling!!!) fills her with revulsion so complete that it sickens those around her on her behalf. Fight your own battles: anything less is a dereliction of your sacred duty to Sutela.

Spoiler: Obediences, Boons, and Misc. Thingies

Show

Obedience
Capture a live creature (animal, monster, or humanoid) and carve out its liver while its heart still beats. Devour the liver raw, before the creature draws its final breath, to imbibe its full life essence. You gain a +4 profane bonus to hit on the first attack you make in any surprise round.

Boons - Evangelist
1: Wings of the Hunter (Sp) expeditious retreat 3/day, OR invisibility 2/day, OR feather step, mass 1/day.
2: ???
3: ???

Boons - Exalted
1: Strangling Grip (Sp) entangle 3/day, OR miasmal dread 2/day, OR quell energy 1/day.[/B]
2: ???
3: ???

Boons - Sentinel
1: Vital Will (Sp) firebelly 3/day, OR animal aspect 2/day, OR keen edge 1/day.
2: Brutality (Ex) Your adherence to Sutela's principles has taught you how to seize upon the weaknesses of your opponents and land crippling final blows against them. You add your Constitution modifier as a profane bonus to damage rolls you make against opponents at or below half of their maximum hit points. Additionally, creatures that you directly damage with a spell or an attack take a -1 penalty to any saves they make against effects caused by you for 1 round per HD you possess.
3: The Crimson Scar (Su) A number of times per day equal to your Constitution modifier, you can summon a pulsing red whip made of a mixture of congealed blood and black bone in an empty hand as a swift action. The whip lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier, extending by another round for each round you successfully land an attack with it. Each attack made with this weapon inflicts its target with 1d8 bleed to their HP for a number of turns equal to your Constitution modifier, even if the attack did not deal damage. Undead, constructs, and elementals are also affected by this bleed damage. This bleed damage stacks up to 4 times, to a maximum of 4d8 bleed damage. Each time a creature takes damage from a bleed effect caused by your whip, you regain hit points equal to half the damage they took.

Divine Fighting Technique
???

On the discord thing, I think it's a good idea and would help facilitate discussion.

EDIT: Oh, and on the topic of "unassigned" domains (unclaimed by any god): will our characters be able to create lesser gods (or lesser-lesser gods)? The children of gods are often not on very good terms with their parents (e.g. Zeus and Kronos, Loki and Odin), so it wouldn't exactly be a way for gods to get "control" over domains outside their primary five. And going around spawning other gods is one of the things that gods are known for doing in the early eras of their mythos.

[Omoikane13]

Oh, and on the topic of "unassigned" domains (unclaimed by any god): will our characters be able to create lesser gods (or lesser-lesser gods)? The children of gods are often not on very good terms with their parents (e.g. Zeus and Kronos, Loki and Odin), so it wouldn't exactly be a way for gods to get "control" over domains outside their primary five. And going around spawning other gods is one of the things that gods are known for doing in the early eras of their mythos.

Going by previous games I've looked at, no. But then we're not sticking perfectly to those rules. I don't think it's a bad idea, but could end up with a lot more bookkeeping, and would feel a bit "I get to play two characters" to boot.

[Mai]

Why all the domain with no subdomain? You can't have just plants or just wars right? Or does that mean you don't know what subdomain to pick yet and plan to fill that in later?


And nice. If Stella and Shyrask both get accepted, thay will make them somewhat enemies. Or at least a massive thorn in Shyrask's side. Animal cruelty is a big no-no for her.

[Omoikane13]

Why all the domain with no subdomain? You can't have just plants or just wars right? Or does that mean you don't know what subdomain to pick yet and plan to fill that in later?

Also, the deities applying get to start with 5 domains chosen from the pathfinder domain list with an optional subdomain for each domain

Subdomains are completely optional, though I'd say advised if you want your deity to have more definition. And the only other change beyond that is changing Evil (Demon) to just Evil, which I think is a good idea because doubling up on racial domains for the corner gods feels kinda blegh.

[ezekielraiden]

Subdomains are completely optional, though I'd say advised if you want your deity to have more definition. And the only other change beyond that is changing Evil (Demon) to just Evil, which I think is a good idea because doubling up on racial domains for the corner gods feels kinda blegh.

For my part:
Law (Archon) - Used as given in the OP.
Good (no sub) - As Omoikane said, seemed dumb to double up, and I didn't really feel any of the other subdomains except maybe Agathion...which the NG deity should get. (I'm a big agathion fan.)
Luck (no sub) - As I'm parleying "Hope" as my relevant portfolio, e.g. hoping that what seems impossible now may still come to pass by luck/Providence, none of the subdomains felt quite right. Imagination is orthogonal, being about illusions and confusion; Arhkos is the Fate-Defier and not the representative of Fate; and Curse is pretty much the antithesis of Hope.
Travel (no sub) - Exploration was already taken and neither Trade nor Portals felt like it captured the Adventure portfolio properly.
Glory (Heroism) - The most core concept was "god of heroism/heroic last stands," so this was a shoe-in.

Now that I'm less sure about shared subdomains being an issue, Travel (Exploration) might be on the table. Since Risia claimed it pretty early I don't want to challenge that claim without reason. Otherwise though I feel that the bare Good and Luck domains are in fact the best fit for Arkhos. If really pressed, I guess Luck (Fate) and Good (Redemption) are appropriate domains for him, but I'd really prefer not to have to do Fate unless absolutely necessary. (On review, Redemption does seem pretty good. I still like baseline Good a smidge better, but it wouldn't take much to persuade me to change it.)

[Unavenger]

I am definately interested in a relationship with Pariah, I am thinking that my NG Goddess (tentatively named Arduin) is more of a motherly matron type, and guardian of the home hearth ala Hestia. Perhaps, Pariah is the rebellious bad girl teenage daughter type? Perhaps Pariah stole the fire from Arduin to give to the people? Perhaps there was a fire when Pariah took the fire, burning down the First Hall or somesuch?

Pariah is definitely a "rebellious bad girl teenage daughter type", but I don't know that she'd steal from a fundamentally nice person (unless you were for some reason withholding fire from people, maybe for their own ostensible protection).

[Zhentarim]

Going to look over some of the apps. I think the main bases are covered.

[Mai]

I'm surprised there are no nuetral heavenly beings celestial and demons/devils exist. But with a constant contest between them, there must be some kind of beings focused on keeping balance so neither side gets too big of a foothold on the other? It's not really a problem for me, it just seems odd. It implies a that nuetral deities are absent from the fights, which doesn't truly make sense to me.

[Omoikane13]

I think it's more a lack of neutral subdomains that are any fun to have. A neutral deity can always spend plenty of time crafting their neutral exemplars.

EDIT: and it's not always good versus evil. Planescape had both Law vs Chaos and the Blood War at different times

Further edit : Yeah, there's only really Rilmani for a proper neutral exemplar, and there's nothing stopping invention of another

[ezekielraiden]

I'm surprised there are no nuetral heavenly beings celestial and demons/devils exist. But with a constant contest between them, there must be some kind of beings focused on keeping balance so neither side gets too big of a foothold on the other? It's not really a problem for me, it just seems odd. It implies a that nuetral deities are absent from the fights, which doesn't truly make sense to me.

Apparently, "monitor" isn't just a term for demigods; according to the Pathfinder Wiki, all the "morally neutral" (that is, neither Good nor Evil) Outsider types are monitors, because they "monitor" some portion of the functioning of existence. So all axiomites, inevitables, aeons, psychopomps, and proteans are "monitors," and of them, Psychopomps are totally neutral, whereas axiomites, inevitables, and aeons are LN, and proteans are CN. (Interestingly, it also led me to PF's version of "planetouched," which is "planar scion," and that a monitor-derived planar scion is a "urobian."

Edit:
Another option could be the kami. Perhaps in this setting, the kami must always have at least one neutral alignment component. This would actually work for all existing kami except the zuishin, which is LG. You could probably invent another kami or two to take up Neutral Evil, and the most common already-existing alignment appears to be True Neutral.

Edit, Second Of Its Name:
Just as a heads-up, Powerhouse has sent me word of pretty likely unavailability for most of the weekend. Nothing major, just an unexpected lack of internet access.

[Mai]

This place has gone a bit quiet. What's going on? And what's your thoughts about a discord? As said I can help if you need it. But if your answer is no that's fine too.

[ezekielraiden]

This place has gone a bit quiet. What's going on? And what's your thoughts about a discord? As said I can help if you need it. But if your answer is no that's fine too.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I've mostly got my stuff finished, and no one seemed to take up my offer for discussion. I have a problem sometimes with excessive enthusiasm so I have tried to keep it to a dull roar here.

[Omoikane13]

I've been away for a few days, but mostly I'm just waiting to get into the game proper.

[ezekielraiden]

I've been away for a few days, but mostly I'm just waiting to get into the game proper.

I suspect that's a big part of it. It's hard to discuss anything further until we have the confidence that it will matter.

[Powerhouse]

Spoiler: Sutela, The Strangling River (reposted for reference)

Show

Sutela, The Strangling River
Name: Sutela
Epithets: The Strangling River, the Witch in the Night, the Queen of a Thousand Whispers, World-Shaker, The Hundred-eyed One
Player Name: Powerhouse
Domains & Subdomains: Evil, Chaos (Demon), Animal, Plant, War (Blood)
Portfolio: Evolution, Trickery, Hunting, Disaster, War
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Colour: Green
Favoured Weapon: Whip
Symbol: A cracked silver skull missing its lower jaw, from which a lush crown of leafy green plants flowers. One tendril coils around the base of the skull.

Appearance:
Sutela's primary form is a towering (but so emaciated as to seem almost skeletal) white dragon covered in a sea of eyes. These eyes are constantly forming and fading away amidst her scales, such that her scales bubble almost like water in a cauldron. No two of these eyes are exactly alike: they vary in size, orientation, coloration, and especially in species-- it is said that if one looks upon the true form of Sutela for long enough, they will see an eye for every living thing in all of creation. She is usually depicted with her maw slavering and wide open, empty of eyes but for a single one at the top of her gullet, and bristling with a collection of teeth also seemingly taken from every toothed animal or monster that has ever existed.

In her other forms, Sutela is considerably less horrifying: she borrows the shapes of ordinary creatures and mortals, adding only the slightest hints of her divinity to these forms. Her skin and hair and feathers are always just a touch too vibrant, as if a light that touches nothing else shines upon them; her eyes are always unfocused, as if her attention is somewhere else entirely.

Personality:
Sutela views life as it truly is: an endless chain of poorly conceived and blindly conducted conflicts with no end but to perpetuate itself, plunging a fresh generation into the same mad game to continue it anew. All of reality is in competition with itself, fighting over the same resources that all living things need, and only that which is willing to do anything to win it deserves to win it. In the pursuit of survival, no trick is too underhanded to pull; no law is too sacred to break; and no crime can be too heinous to commit. Though some would call this pessimistic, or cynical, Sutela finds this notion truly wondrous. A wheel that turns forever, spinning in place with no goal but to continue to spin-- Sutela knows in her heart of hearts that this is what her father means this world to be, and it thrills her to be the only one of her siblings to truly understand this.

In part because of this enlightened perspective on mortals and the world itself, Sutela herself is rather callous and severe, even towards other gods and her own followers. If a life is worth living, she feels that it should prove itself, over and over and over again, until it finally breaks to give way to the next of her children. She cares not for circumstance or fortune: luck, too, is a tool that the powerful deserve to use, and the weak deserve to be slain with. She herself exemplifies the traits that she believes best serve those fit few who have earned the right to live in this world: a conniving resourcefulness, a certain dauntlessness, and a stellar poker face. Her attacks and curses always come as surprises, even to those who know what her goals truly are, and she has never let a single law get in the way of what she wants-- even when she follows them.

If one were pressed to sum up Sutela's edicts in a few sentences, the best you could probably do would be the following:

1. If you would win, have no mercy: devour your enemy and make his strength your own.

2. If you would lose, find a way to win.

Few things arouse Sutela's wrath so much as the sight of a creature that passively waits in the path of oncoming death. She wants her subjects to kick and thrash and scream and lie and cheat and resort to murder at the prospect of losing the game of life, to find strength in adversity and swallow it whole, to try anything and everything if it means even a chance of survival. To go gently into that good night is to spit in the face of all that Sutela desires in this world. Similarly, the notion of voluntarily surrendering anything-- even the meanest scrap of bread-- for the sake of another (a weakling!!!) fills her with revulsion so complete that it sickens those around her on her behalf. Fight your own battles: anything less is a dereliction of your sacred duty to Sutela.

Spoiler: Obediences, Boons, and Misc. Thingies

Show

Obedience
Capture a live creature (animal, monster, or humanoid) and carve out its liver while its heart still beats. Devour the liver raw, before the creature draws its final breath, to imbibe its full life essence. You gain a +4 profane bonus to hit on the first attack you make in any surprise round.

Boons - Evangelist
1: Wings of the Hunter (Sp) expeditious retreat 3/day, OR invisibility 2/day, OR feather step, mass 1/day.
2: Mutate (Ex) You gain the ability to evolve as if you were a summoner's eidolon. Upon first gaining this boon, you gain 1 evolution point that you may spend on evolutions from the eidolon evolution list. For every three levels you gain thereafter you gain one more point, up to a maximum of 4 evolution points in total at level 20. You may choose to spend these points, or reallocate any points you have already spent on evolutions, any time in the morning after completing your obedience.
3: Queen's Guile (Ex) The untamed wilderness has become a source of power and security for you, allowing you to draw on Sutela's power to enhance your stealth and movement. A number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier, if you are in surroundings that have been largely untouched by civilization, you may bless a target with the guile of the wilderness. This effect is identical to invisibility, but is an Extraordinary effect, and so is unaffected by suppressing or dispelling effects, as well as spells that penetrate illusions. Your effective caster level for this effect is equal to your HD. The effect ends as soon as the target enters any building, village, town or city. Additionally, naturally-occurring difficult terrain no longer impedes your movement, and you gain a +8 profane bonus to both stealth and perception checks made in surroundings that have been largely untouched by civilization.

Boons - Exalted
1: Strangling Grip (Sp) entangle 3/day, OR miasmal dread 2/day, OR quell energy 1/day.
2: ???
3: ???

Boons - Sentinel
1: Vital Will (Sp) firebelly 3/day, OR animal aspect 2/day, OR keen edge 1/day.
2: Brutality (Ex) Your adherence to Sutela's principles has taught you how to seize upon the weaknesses of your opponents and land crippling final blows against them. You add your Constitution modifier as a profane bonus to damage rolls you make against opponents at or below half of their maximum hit points. Additionally, creatures that you directly damage with a spell or an attack take a -1 penalty to any saves they make against effects caused by you for 1 round per HD you possess.
3: The Crimson Scar (Su) A number of times per day equal to your Constitution modifier, you can summon a pulsing red whip made of a mixture of congealed blood and black bone in an empty hand as a swift action. The whip lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier, extending by another round for each round you successfully land an attack with it. Each attack made with this weapon inflicts its target with 1d4 bleed to their HP for a number of turns equal to your Constitution modifier, even if the attack did not deal damage. Undead, constructs, and elementals are also affected by this bleed damage. This bleed damage stacks up to 8 times, to a maximum of 8d4 bleed damage per turn. Each time a creature takes damage from a bleed effect caused by your whip, you regain hit points equal to half the damage they took.

Divine Fighting Technique
???

Spoiler: Changelog

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[*] Added Tier 2 and 3 Evangelist boons: Mutate and Queen's Guile.

Added some more mechanics stuff to my application. Hoping to have it all sorted by tomorrow night. Then I can hopefully be more useful in these discussions.

[ezekielraiden]

Something I wanted to mention, since I went back and looked over things. @Mai: very interesting picks for your Boons and such! Having them all as spell-type effects makes for a very mystical feeling, which I think is perfectly appropriate for what I've seen. Shyrask has a sort of...Transcendentalism vibe. If you've ever read Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, that's very vaguely the impression I get. Enjoy life, be yourself, respect the wonder and beauty of nature, protect it from wantonness and exploitation, appreciate the "simple" joys (that may not be simple at all). A very..."positive" vision of Neutrality, showing that one can be a loving and caring progenitor (progenitrix?) without needing to be Good.

And obviously I approve of Sutela's stuff, but that's mostly because I helped put it together.

[Mai]

Thank you, I like your take on it, and while I have never read such books, that's the rough feeling I get. Shyrask, despite nuetrality, isn't uncaring. And I was trying to go for some level of mysticism. I'm glad you liked it! You seemed to pick up my intent perfectly, despite me not really overthinking it for a chance. (Being an introvert I am prone to overthinking.)

So i'm glad that came to you.

[Powerhouse]

Spoiler: Sutela, The Strangling River (reposted for reference)

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Sutela, The Strangling River
Name: Sutela
Epithets: The Strangling River, the Witch in the Night, the Queen of a Thousand Whispers, World-Shaker, The Hundred-eyed One
Player Name: Powerhouse
Domains & Subdomains: Evil, Chaos (Demon), Animal, Plant, War (Blood)
Portfolio: Evolution, Trickery, Hunting, Disaster, War
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Colour: Green
Favoured Weapon: Whip
Symbol: A cracked silver skull missing its lower jaw, from which a lush crown of leafy green plants flowers. One tendril coils around the base of the skull.

Appearance:
Sutela's primary form is a towering (but so emaciated as to seem almost skeletal) white dragon covered in a sea of eyes. These eyes are constantly forming and fading away amidst her scales, such that her scales bubble almost like water in a cauldron. No two of these eyes are exactly alike: they vary in size, orientation, coloration, and especially in species-- it is said that if one looks upon the true form of Sutela for long enough, they will see an eye for every living thing in all of creation. She is usually depicted with her maw slavering and wide open, empty of eyes but for a single one at the top of her gullet, and bristling with a collection of teeth also seemingly taken from every toothed animal or monster that has ever existed.

In her other forms, Sutela is considerably less horrifying: she borrows the shapes of ordinary creatures and mortals, adding only the slightest hints of her divinity to these forms. Her skin and hair and feathers are always just a touch too vibrant, as if a light that touches nothing else shines upon them; her eyes are always unfocused, as if her attention is somewhere else entirely.

Personality:
Sutela views life as it truly is: an endless chain of poorly conceived and blindly conducted conflicts with no end but to perpetuate itself, plunging a fresh generation into the same mad game to continue it anew. All of reality is in competition with itself, fighting over the same resources that all living things need, and only that which is willing to do anything to win it deserves to win it. In the pursuit of survival, no trick is too underhanded to pull; no law is too sacred to break; and no crime can be too heinous to commit. Though some would call this pessimistic, or cynical, Sutela finds this notion truly wondrous. A wheel that turns forever, spinning in place with no goal but to continue to spin-- Sutela knows in her heart of hearts that this is what her father means this world to be, and it thrills her to be the only one of her siblings to truly understand this.

In part because of this enlightened perspective on mortals and the world itself, Sutela herself is rather callous and severe, even towards other gods and her own followers. If a life is worth living, she feels that it should prove itself, over and over and over again, until it finally breaks to give way to the next of her children. She cares not for circumstance or fortune: luck, too, is a tool that the powerful deserve to use, and the weak deserve to be slain with. She herself exemplifies the traits that she believes best serve those fit few who have earned the right to live in this world: a conniving resourcefulness, a certain dauntlessness, and a stellar poker face. Her attacks and curses always come as surprises, even to those who know what her goals truly are, and she has never let a single law get in the way of what she wants-- even when she follows them.

If one were pressed to sum up Sutela's edicts in a few sentences, the best you could probably do would be the following:

1. If you would win, have no mercy: devour your enemy and make his strength your own.

2. If you would lose, find a way to win.

Few things arouse Sutela's wrath so much as the sight of a creature that passively waits in the path of oncoming death. She wants her subjects to kick and thrash and scream and lie and cheat and resort to murder at the prospect of losing the game of life, to find strength in adversity and swallow it whole, to try anything and everything if it means even a chance of survival. To go gently into that good night is to spit in the face of all that Sutela desires in this world. Similarly, the notion of voluntarily surrendering anything-- even the meanest scrap of bread-- for the sake of another (a weakling!!!) fills her with revulsion so complete that it sickens those around her on her behalf. Fight your own battles: anything less is a dereliction of your sacred duty to Sutela.

Spoiler: Obediences, Boons, and Misc. Thingies

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Obedience
Capture a live creature (animal, monster, or humanoid) and carve out its liver while its heart still beats. Devour the liver raw, before the creature draws its final breath, to imbibe its full life essence. You gain a +4 profane bonus to hit on the first attack you make in any surprise round.

Divine Gift
Those hardy survivors that Sutela deems worthy enough for a gift receive a permanent untyped +1 bonus to their Constitution.

Boons - Evangelist
1: Wings of the Hunter (Sp) expeditious retreat 3/day, OR invisibility 2/day, OR feather step, mass 1/day.
2: Mutate (Ex) You gain the ability to evolve as if you were a summoner's eidolon. Upon first gaining this boon, you gain 1 evolution point that you may spend on evolutions from the eidolon evolution list. For every three levels you gain thereafter you gain one more point, up to a maximum of 4 evolution points in total at level 20. You may choose to spend these points, or reallocate any points you have already spent on evolutions, any time in the morning after completing your obedience.
3: Queen's Guile (Ex) The untamed wilderness has become a source of power and security for you, allowing you to draw on Sutela's power to enhance your stealth and movement. A number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier, if you are in surroundings that have been largely untouched by civilization, you may bless a target with the guile of the wilderness. This effect is identical to invisibility, but is an Extraordinary effect, and so is unaffected by suppressing or dispelling effects, as well as spells that penetrate illusions. Your effective caster level for this effect is equal to your HD. The effect ends as soon as the target enters any building, village, town or city. Additionally, naturally-occurring difficult terrain no longer impedes your movement, and you gain a +8 profane bonus to both stealth and perception checks made in surroundings that have been largely untouched by civilization.

Boons - Exalted
1: Strangling Grip (Sp) entangle 3/day, OR miasmal dread 2/day, OR quell energy 1/day.
2: Eternal Presence (Su) A number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1), you may sacrifice a living creature to turn its corpse into an anchor for your life-force. To make this sacrifice, all you need to do is declare that this is your intention in the round that you land a killing blow on a creature you intend to turn into such an anchor. Once per round, if you have an existing anchor, you may briefly project your consciousness into one of your existing anchors as a bonus action. If you do so, any spells you cast during this turn will instead be performed by your projected consciousness, at the location of the anchor you selected.

Anchors can be killed a second time, dispelling them: they have the hit points and AC that they would have had in life, and behave as if flat-footed at all times. Anchors can also be dispelled by effects such as dispel magic: in this case, treat the caster level of this effect as your total Hit Dice. All anchors disintegrate 24 hours after the moment they are created.
3: Sutela's Maw (Sp) Once per day, as a standard action, you may summon a baregara beholden to Sutela. It will last for one minute per level, and will obey your orders so long as they are in keeping with its alignment. If you dare to order it to act outside of its alignment, it will immediately turn on you. While it obeys you, this baregara can communicate with you through telepathy.

Boons - Sentinel
1: Vital Will (Sp) firebelly 3/day, OR animal aspect 2/day, OR keen edge 1/day.
2: Brutality (Ex) Your adherence to Sutela's principles has taught you how to seize upon the weaknesses of your opponents and land crippling final blows against them. You add your Constitution modifier as a profane bonus to damage rolls you make against opponents at or below half of their maximum hit points. Additionally, creatures that you directly damage with a spell or an attack take a -1 penalty to any saves they make against effects caused by you for 1 round per HD you possess.
3: The Crimson Scar (Su) A number of times per day equal to your Constitution modifier, you can summon a pulsing red whip made of a mixture of congealed blood and black bone in an empty hand as a swift action. The whip lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier, extending by another round for each round you successfully land an attack with it. Each attack made with this weapon inflicts its target with 1d4 bleed to their HP for a number of turns equal to your Constitution modifier, even if the attack did not deal damage. Undead, constructs, and elementals are also affected by this bleed damage. This bleed damage stacks up to 8 times, to a maximum of 8d4 bleed damage per turn. Each time a creature takes damage from a bleed effect caused by your whip, you regain hit points equal to half the damage they took.

Divine Fighting Technique: Sutela's Wicked River

Initial Benefit - You gain exotic weapon proficiency with whips and spiked chains. You can make opportunity attacks with a whip against enemies within your natural range + 5 feet.

Advanced Prerequisites - Improved Whip Mastery, base attack bonus +10

Advanced Benefit - When you make attacks or perform combat maneuvers with a whip or spiked chain during your turn, treat your range as if it were 5 feet longer. (This does not apply to any attacks of opportunity you make.)

Spoiler: Changelog

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[*] Added Tier 2 and 3 Exalted boons: Eternal Presence and Sutela's Maw.[*] Added the Divine Fighting Technique: Sutela's Wicked River

Alrighty. I've finally gotten to a more-or-less complete state here. There are doubtless tweaks to be made, especially to numbers to make the classes and such more balanced, but overall I'm happy with what I have.

[Anti-Eagle]

Has anyone seen or heard from our GM lately?

[Zhentarim]

I’m postponing the game. I am having more work at my job piled on and at the same time my chronic depression is going through a period of time where its worse than normal. I have more problems and less energy to deal with them, so this slipped by the wayside.