Pathfinder People - Tar Baphon & the Whispering Way

[@blueThumbnail]

So the whispering way are the curtis yarvins of golarion got it.

[@Podfinder]

I hadn't drawn that parallel myself, but you are absolutely correct!

[@chrizzlybear5565]

Yeah, most of the description of the Whispering Way in the beginning of the video could 1:1 describe any fascist movement ever. I wonder how much intent was behind those parallels, cause having neonazis as the ultimate bbeg of a setting as queer as Golarion sure fits!

[@Nikuthulhu]

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of this! 😂

[@joshuaturnquist5538]

Little Tar Baphon in the thumbnail is cute. It's like a poppet Tar Baphon.

[@casimirlawnicki8990]

A Hollywood feature length film: I sleep A 3 hour epic about a Lich ive never heard about: REAL SHIT. WE'RE SO BACK.

[@TheLocalDisasterTourGuide]

From one excessively long-winded KZbinr to another: Sir, that was impressive! I absolutely enjoyed that video & I applaud you for the incredible work you did on this! And that Outro... that outro speaks to my soul. Content creators never learn. LOL!

[@Podfinder]

Thank you so much! As I was making this, I didn't realize how long it was going to be. It was super fun, though. And yeah, as much work as this deep dive was, I just couldn't stop myself from digging into the Runelords as my next big project.

[@TheLocalDisasterTourGuide]

@Podfinder While I realize I should not encourage the innate urge of content creators to take on ever-increasingly insane projects... I would definitely be inclined to binge watch such a video if it dropped...

[@Podfinder]

@TheLocalDisasterTourGuide the way that project is going, the word "video" (singular) definitely isn't accurate.

[@watdahill]

More than 3 hours!! Sir you just beat The Mythkeeper from the longest video. Epic.

[@bucknutz75]

Dude that was great, I listened to the whole thing in one go this morning, and am now brimming with campaign ideas, nice job, although I couldn't help but flinch each time you mention the cult's "tenants" instead of "tenets," as I think they'd make terrible landlords.

[@Podfinder]

Lol. I didn't think landlords could be more evil than they already are, but I stand corrected.

[@alganhar1]

@@Podfinder Whispers do speak of a Landlord that is neutral, potentially even good. Unfortunately no one has thus far been able to find this mythical being, and it appears it is immune to all known forms of divination. Alas for the language thing, it is unfortunate that English has had a habit, indeed still does, of mugging other languages for any interesting vocabulary it likes... I rather suspect that English is close to the soul of draconic tongues, in the way it adores hoarding its ill gotten verbiage.

[@ScottBoydathome]

Chibi Tar-baphon!!

[@Rythian]

What a magnum opus. Well done! Time to settle in for a long listen or four. :)

[@presidenttogekiss635]

You know what this reminds me of? Brain Drain, the lore oracle spell. It allows the user to enter someone's mind and get their thoughts. A single Lore oracle with a subdued member of the whispering way could do a lot of damage

[@Podfinder]

Ooh, I really like that idea! I'm going to write that down and make use of that some day.

[@presidenttogekiss635]

@@Podfinder My Lore Oracle is from Ustalav, and this is defenetly something she would do.

[@haski8604]

A great idea for a Halloween video, the runtime alone gave me shivers! See you on the other side friends, this one is gonna be epic. Edit: My only regret is not having popcorn for a video of this quality. I'll always be up for a ridiculously long video but don't burn yourself out!

[@john-jamesoreilly5013]

The end of the Crusade made me laugh bc it made me imagine if the Allies had ended WW2 by leaving hitler down in the bunker after concreting over the doors.

[@denniskrust2137]

Except, that would have worked so long as they posted guards atop it.

[@SarkFaLL]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! Very excited for this holiday special!

[@kingcrowbro2486]

My new headcanon (as in I literally just made it up now) is that our fair lady, The Unyielding, rescued what tiny fragments of the the Tyrant's Grasp PC's souls remained from oblivion, reforging those pieces into divine heralds, *Her* divine heralds. They AREN'T the same as they were before, but they 'echo' the PCs... Look I know its sappy, but if she liked them enough to do a last second teleport away from a magic nuke, there's no way she'd look at them planning to turn themselves into a deadman switch and not intervene at the end.

[@Podfinder]

I really like that idea.

[@ConFusi0n]

3 hour Podfinder video? I didn't know we were getting presents on Halloween!

[@y813lnJack]

I was so confused thinking it was Friday but so excited for this one a day early

[@patricklapinski1526]

Never stop making videos

[@matthewschultz7390]

This gives me an idea for a Champion of Pharasma who was once a member of the Whispering Way, but abandoned it.

[@Podfinder]

Love that idea! Might be a good fit for the new Avenger or Vindicator class archetypes from War of Immortals.

[@kidrissa]

I was going to try to watch this tonight, but then I remembered I've got a 2.5 hour drive tomorrow. So, I'll listen to it on that trip. Thanks!

[@Podfinder]

You're very welcome! Hope you enjoy.

[@strangerous1313]

I saw the length of this video, and pretty much decided not to watch it. But over the last couple days, I have been haunted to come back and revisit. I sure am glad you produced this, as it brings together a lot of information I knew bits of. You've earned a new subscriber!

[@Podfinder]

Thanks very much!

[@FelixYyz]

This is fantastic stuff. Thanks for making tnis video!

[@Podfinder]

You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@TheLocalDisasterTourGuide]

3:08:36 Paizo - this scene needs to appear in an AP yesterday!

[@mushuable]

Man your content is top notch. I had randomly stumbled upon a video of yours about Kingmaker that I had already liked (very informative and detailed) and as I was browsing War of Immortals I read about Achaekek slaying Gorum and I was like "who dat?". Then I watched your video about Achaekek and loved it, then the Gray Maidens and loved it, now this... I'm set to binge listen / watch your podcasts. You're doing a great job at explaining Golarion's lore. Even if the visual part is definetly nice, have you considered uploading to Spotify ? Id probably listen to it while cooking or something...

[@Podfinder]

I'm in the middle of my big year-end project for this channel, but I'm hoping to make a decision regarding an audio-only version in early 2025.

[@hectorvivis3651]

What a wonderful video. Basically anything I needed to learn in case I ever wanted to use Tar Baphon in a campaign. And it never felt too long or going to unnecessary length about some details IMHO. Just discovered your channel, and subscribed instantly. Magnificent job!

[@Podfinder]

Thank you very much! It was difficult to strike that balance between too much detail and not enough to be useful. I'm glad the approach I decided on ended up working out well for people.

[@DonnyCalamari]

As someone preparing a game set in the Eye of Dread, this video came out at a perfect time. Thank you

[@Podfinder]

Glad it worked out!

[@songbird666]

Great vid! It was a really impressive dive on ol Tarbaps. I'm kind of not-surprised and disappointed to hear that he's sticking around in nonspecific might-use-in-the-future capacity rather than getting wrecked and finally finished off as the big capstone to 1E. Oh well! Excited for the next vid too... You really think Hei Feng is more divorced than Geb is to Nex?

[@Podfinder]

To be fair, I don't think Next and Geb were ever technically married. But they are definitely more broken up than Hei Feng.

[@samstriker5584]

Great video! Since you mentioned it, there is a Starstone-analogue in Shadow Absalom: The Glare, an incredibly bright light also inside of a cathedral. For creatures not from the Shadow Plane, it sends them back to their home plane, while it has apparently random effects on creatures from the Shadow Plane. Its definitely still conceivable that Tar-Baphon could have hidden his soul cage somewhere in the cathedral, though.

[@Podfinder]

Thanks for the information! I had heard about the glare, but didn't realize it was in the place of the Starstone Cathedral!

[@RyanVonAegir]

Such a long video for Halloween! Thank you Podfinder! Hope you have a good Halloween! This will help when I return to dming Tyrants Grasp. I like the Whispering Tyrant conceptually but I wish he was given more unique things in the current day.

[@motorsportbimmer]

Great work, man. Thanks

[@twootouchab4511]

I just kept hearing THE KNIGHTS OF OZYMPIC

[@Thoendithas]

This was an amazing deep dive thank you for your hard work! I would love to hear a recap of more APs if you ever run out of lore to talk about I never got to play the two here and loved hearing the over all plot

[@Podfinder]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@benalias9118]

2:51:44 Geir is mentioned in a PFS scenario and is reputed to have tested a new weapon inspired by the Radiant Fire. I This leads to the rise of Mahja Firehair as a new divinity.

[@Podfinder]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm surprised I missed that. It's even listed on his wiki entry.

[@lucabaldazzi7289]

Tyrant Grasp to me breaks his own narrative when it takes, without saving throws, level 13+ people into another continent to an holiday in a place far from their wars, while also assuming these people can easily return back to the gravelands, which they could do immediately. Also, while i really love the vibe Baphon gives, he's far from the greatest threat of Golarion, expecially a Golarion that just closed the Worldwound, and that have still Treerazer and those insidious drow elf ready to make a second earthfall on stand-by ... and let us not talk about the avatar of shub-niggurath that lives next to Baphon's house

[@ZZ9PluralZedAlpha]

I realize it's true about many of the character's mentioned in this podcast, but Lucimar has a deeper (but mostly unrevealed) history. He first appeared in "Crown of the Kobold King" as a Necromancer who had been put into a cursed body of worg-like being where he canonically survives and partially restores his body by absorbing energy from the broken seal of Narthoc beneath Droskar's Cruicible. He later reappears late in the Carrion Crown Adventure path as an enemy of the heroes/PCs face underneath Renchurch Cathedral. In response to your Carrion Crown editorializing, (and thus, here there be spoilers for a 10 year old story). I will admit that it has been a few years since I read/ran Carrion Crown, but the point wasn't just to make Galdana into a Lich it was to literally turn Galdana into a copy/clone of the Tyrant that existed on this side of the Great Seal. I described it to my players as if making a copy of the hard drive of a computer and having a duplicate in another location. The fact that almost all of Galdana's bloodline has a propensity for arcane talents that would be of great use to necromancers, even millennia after the first death of their ancestor Tar-Baphon, is points in the favor that A.A.'s plan would have worked.

[@Podfinder]

This is fantastic insight, and I appreciate the added perspective of someone who actually ran Carrion Crown, since I haven't yet. Also, thank you for the clarification on Lucimar. I can't believe I missed that he returned under Renchurch!

[@Kirinboy39]

It feels blasphemous to listen to this will playing Bg3...but thanks for the great stuff!

[@kidrissa]

I’m listening to this over a few days of driving, so I’m leaving comments as they occur to me: - I’m also listening to the Pathfinder Tales novels, right now the ones by Dave Gross about Varian Jeggare & his “Hellspawn” bodyguard Radovan. Turns out, Radovan is FROM Ustalav and his family name is Virholt. I did NOT realize it was also a county in Ustalav 🤔 General Arnisant is also referenced in the series. - I like that Geir went through ALL THAT TROUBLE & RISK, just to have, “Let’s just pretend this never happened” as the final outcome. 😂 - ADDED: I've always enjoyed the "Editorializing" you do in your videos. This one was no exception. And the GM ideas are always on-point.

[@Podfinder]

I recently read the Lord of Runes novel about Radovan and Varian. It was surprisingly good. And I agree, Geir having to act like nothing happened is very funny.

[@drgoo2825]

Dear gods, please don't one up yourself on researching the Runelords.

[@Podfinder]

I'm more than a hundred hours into Runelords research and writing at this point. It's too late to turn back.

[@ChronoHarvester]

Thank you! So Pathfinder's Golarion was made by fans of DnD 3.5, along with tons of other media. Assuming "Tar Baphon" isn't an anagram like "Tom Marvolo Riddle' and "I am Lord Voldemort," the inspiration for the nasty lich is hard to pin down. Do you have any opinions on what media and characters could have contributed to Tar Baohon's behavior, his minions, his relationship with godhood...? The obvious comparison would be with the wizard that killed Mystra. What else?

[@RyanVonAegir]

I think he's naturally meant to be inspired Vecna. His title of whispering tyrant is similar to the whispered one. He's also very similar to Nagash from warhammer fantasy.

[@denniskrust2137]

With Tar Barphon's history of outwitting Aroden and using Aroden's divinity to his own benefit, I think it likely Tar Barphon crafted a spell which resulted in Aroden's death.

[@Podfinder]

That's certainly an interesting theory, and I don't doubt that TB could probably pull it off. If I were to run with this idea, however, I would suggest that maybe TB didn't use a spell to kill Aroden, but rather set into motion a series of events (magical and mundane) that led to Aroden's death. The only reason I say this is because the sheer power gap between Aroden and TB is so huge that I doubt TB could actually muster the raw power necessary to outright kill him. Again, not disagreeing, just offering my 2 cents.

[@Pathsfound]

2:51:00 Geir does appear in PFS materials for 2e! Or, at least his efforts do

[@Podfinder]

That's awesome! Do you know which scenario?

[@Pathsfound]

@Podfinder It is the one featuring MAHJA Firehair, I think it is called in glorious battle

[@redblack9618]

"to be precise it'd be 46 books, don't ask how I know that" happy sinmas y'all

[@Podfinder]

The best part is, it ended up being 54 books!

[@natez9738]

I wish I could post pics in yt comments because I happened to look at the view count as I was chipping away at this and it happened to be at "666." 😂 I'm still glad I have the screenshot, tho. For prosperity. 😉

[@Podfinder]

"Let those who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number."

[@obamabiden]

i think the conceptually most interesting (even if they'd never actually do it because it wouldn't be any fun to play/would make a lot of previous whispering tyrant content just seem dumb) would be he successfully becomes a God through the power of the starstone and is then immediately struck with how much he just reduced his own agency like he's fucking jafar from Aladdin hope ya like granting some clown 1st level Bane and centuries of fan discussion of "why doesn't tar-baphon intervene in X?", idiot even more ridiculous and unlikely but would be doubly funny if he then got jumped by the main pantheon of the setting like he's rovagug 2.0

[@Podfinder]

I really like these ideas. Give him what he wants, then let him realize he's doomed himself to an eternity of boredom.

[@ankitk236]

what a bapby

[@stillyourgoth5841]

/Monacle

[@yoh1914]

Way to go champ.