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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
920 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Aug 2020 : 19:39:12
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Fellow scribes,
Would you all be amenable to the Paragnostic Assembly being a minor faction in Faerun? It certainly would not have nearly the size and scope of the Harpers or the Zhentarim, but I could see their information brokering giving them influence disproportionate to their numbers.
It feels good to be back at the 'Keep.
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3740 Posts |
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2020 : 20:46:51
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Lord Karsus brings up an ironic point about the agnostic bit. As described in Complete Champion, the Assembly is actually rather devout. Priests of Oghma and Deneir would not only be welcome. They would form the backbone of any chapter.
Would the Assembly be decentralized? I also see it antagonizing other organizations with their cataloguing of what others will consider privileged information. (Lists and maps of functioning portals,anyone?)
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3740 Posts |
Posted - 24 Aug 2020 : 01:25:18
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| -I would assume that they'd be organized like the Harpers, where they're very decentralized and operate very independently. There'd definitely have to be some kind of centralized place to keep and store all of the lost and secret knowledge that they find. If they were directly aligned with those deities of knowledge, it could be in main temples. If not, probably in a very fortified library place, like Candlekeep. Or Candlekeep itself, lol. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe
Australia
401 Posts |
Posted - 24 Aug 2020 : 02:31:21
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On my suggestion, a fellow PC playing a Cleric of Azuth turned Paragnostic Apostle placed the Paragnostic Assembly in Mordulkin in Chessenta. It was dedicated to Azuth and attached to the Jedea Academy there. Not only was it convenient for her Chessentan background and Azuthan faith, it's a good city for magical study and philosophy, which fit well with the Paragnostics (paragnosis is knowledge that can only be gained through extraordinary or supernatural means, not really related to gods).
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mordulkin |
BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
Scientific technical editor
Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki |
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SaMoCon
Senior Scribe
USA
403 Posts |
Posted - 24 Aug 2020 : 23:35:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
... taking out the agnostic part and substituting in those two gods.
I don't have Complete Champion so I had to look up information about it online. What I found does not seem to indicate that one needs to be agnostic or the organization itself is agnostic. Looking at the name the breakdown has the prefix "para-" applied to the word "gnostic." Gnostic is the adjective version of gnosis, which means esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth held to be essential to salvation. Para- could mean "aside/adjacent to" or it could mean "to ward off/protect from," but the organization's descriptions I found seem to indicate the former. If Complete Champion has agnosticism as part of its write-up then the organization itself is misnamed.
Any organization that has core values that dictate ambivalence or rejection of the gods is problematic. It would be difficult for anyone of the FR to deny the gods because the existence of the gods & the afterlife is not a matter of belief but of proven fact like the sun is bright, water is wet, and rocks are hard. Knowledge would just reinforce the notion of these over-beings influencing the physical world & controlling the supernatural realms as they see fit. So it would be impossible to have an agnostic position (neither knowing nor not knowing if the gods exist), leaving only a position for denying the gods their roles as stewards of the afterlife (which, again, education would reveal this to be a futile act of petulance that will lead a stubborn practitioner to eternal damnation in the Wall of the Faithless or, if lucky, to be smuggled into the Abyss and tormented there as the lowest of the low by the demons).
I think Lord Karsus has it nailed and that what other settings call the "Paragnostic Assembly" is just called "Candlekeep" in the FR. The lore has stated multiple times that Candlekeep has its own agents and sympathizers outside their walls. I certainly would use write-ups from the Paragnostic Assembly to fill in the gaps for Candlekeep's foreign operations. |
Make the best use of the system that's there, then modify the mechanics that don't allow you to have the fun you are looking for. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11806 Posts |
Posted - 25 Aug 2020 : 14:33:43
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From complete champion, this organization isn't a rejection of the gods
Those who are already devoted to knowledge or to understanding the multiverse most commonly petition for entrance to the Paragnostic Assembly. Such classes include clerics, wizards, archivistsHH, and the more studious bards and psions. However, members of many other classes, including sorcerers, rogues, and warlocks, make up a significant minority. Even druids, monks, and the occasional canny fi ghter can be found in the organizations ranks.
In all, I see this organization to be very much like Candlekeep, the Herald's Holdfast, the Edificant Library, etc.... However, it might be interesting if there were an organization that were similar to this with "twists" to them. For instance, a group that focuses very much on the concept of the archivist (in which they share the adaptation of various divine spells from across different faiths, such that these archivists might have access to paladinic, ranger, druid, and "god-specific" spells). If this organization also had ties to say knowledge of binding entities as well, perhaps they might have studied the arts of pact magic and perhaps they have some prestige class that is vestige independent for building up something like an archivist/binder who serves a god of knowledge or dark arts (I'd personally love this idea for an odd "priest" of Velsharoon). Perhaps having ties to the Theurgian Society or the Theurgist Adepts knowledge. Maybe having the group having ties to a psionic god like Auppenser, but also perhaps having captured something like an illithid's elder brain and somehow enslaving it as some kind of repository for knowledge by erasing its personality. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Paragnostic Assembly in Faerun
