Of Gods and Gamemasters

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#PathFinderFriday: Orcus in the Dawntimes (Crux)

On the world of Crux, at the beginning, the gods were more directly involved. Heroes and villains rose. One such was the entity now known as Orcus, who in Crux, began as a human, with fiendish blood, who slowly, mystically, turned himself both more undead, and more demonic. He found a way to revere *himself* as a god, as well as channel the worship of others, to fuel this change. This is a picture of him before his *first* death and rebirth, in the Dawntimes...but after he was Ruined.

It's a complicated, templated, mythic build with 21 character levels, but *everything* you need to use it is on the sheet, even if you don't have the books.

Orcus is a tall, extraordinarily stout and corpulent human, his body draped in heavy black robes and hidden from sight. Other than a swollen neck, his face and head appear relatively slim, as the bloating is from hoarded blood and power, and is not natural, healthy flesh. He bears a short, skull headed wand or rod that he uses as a walking stick and a channel for his  power, and often wears a funerary mask of great power, as well. (Mask of Forgotten Pharoah stats, but a Sumerian appearance). His eyes are twisted by the demonic power his he has channeled from his ultimate patron, Dahak.

More generally, the Four Who Were Ruined:

Near the end of the 1st Age, Dahak corrupts and Ruins 4 mighty heroes. They become the Four Who Were Ruined, or the Ruined for short.

Orcus, once a brilliant wizard, a follower of Enki. He becomes the twisted and bloated Necromancer and fleshwarper who remakes so many of the Spartoi into orcs.

Lamashtu, a powerful druid, becomes a mother of monsters. She forms the gnolls, and fills them with hatred of her own former race, the elves. She also corrupts…

Baphomet, a barbarian general. Once human, this mighty warrior becomes the first minotaur.

Andirifkhu, a dragonborn rogue and illusionist who was corrupted by her sadism and love of fiendish traps.

sheet here https://www.patreon.com/posts/69441516


By Alessio Damato - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4633723