Meta:Ghlaunder
Retcon
In Inner Sea Faiths 41 and prior published works (ie. Campaign Setting 170), Ghlaunder is explicitly described as a demigod. In Lost Omens Gods & Magic 59, Ghlaunder is in the "Gods of the Inner Sea" section rather than the "Demigods and Other Divinities" section and described as a god. Other works such as Feast of Ravenmoor and Faiths of Corruption also refer to Ghlaunder as a god, but were of a lower canon tier and older than Inner Sea Faiths, and the relevance of the distinction was not apparent.
In 2009, James Jacobs suggested on the Paizo forums that Ghlaunder is significantly more powerful than Pazuzu. When explicitly asked in 2024, James Jacobs confirmed on r/Pathfinder2e that Ghlaunder is a god and not a demigod, and noted that Ghlaunder was originally envisioned as a Great Old One, which are demigods:
- Ghlaunder is a god. But note that in 2nd edition, there's not as much of a distinction between what a god and a demigod is. From a narrative stance, a demigod is more likely to be something that manifests as something with a stat block that can be fought by powerful PCs.
- Note also that we had some internal discrepancies in how demigods vs. gods were handled in 3.5 and in 1st edition, since there was a fair amount of miscommuncation back and forth for much of the earlier lifecycle before we settled in on a "gods don't get stats and demigods are level 26–30 stat blocks" thing in the later half of 1st edition's cycle.
- (I created Ghlaunder as a Lovecraftian entity in a short story I wrote LOOOONG ago, which ended up being the basis of "Feast of Ravenmoor." Rather than make him into a Great Old One like I did in that story, though, when I introduced him into Pathfinder I made him a god instead. There may have been some internal confusion in my own brain since Great Old Ones in Pathfinder 1st Edition are quantified as demigods, and even though Pathfinder's Ghlaunder isn't a Great Old One, that lingering bit of headcanon might have caused some of the confusion early on in text I wrote or developed about Ghlaunder.)
As the distinction has primarily mechanical relevance—in either context, Ghalunder is a divine entity who grants divine magic to worshipers—this is treated as a retcon to how Ghlaunder is described for canon purposes instead of as a canon conflict. -Oznogon (talk) 23:51, 15 March 2024 (UTC)
Unincorporated sources
- Faiths of Corruption good little overview esp. re church p 19 --Fleanetha (talk) 18:25, 19 July 2015 (UTC)
- . “Ghlaunder” in Inner Sea Faiths, 40–45. Paizo Inc., 2016 -Oznogon (talk) 06:36, 22 March 2016 (UTC)