Bright Phoibe is the youngest of Ge’s six Titan daughters, and represents quick-wittedness. and she inherited her mother’s affinity for earth-based prophecy. She is also counterpart to her husband Koios, representing earthly, practical knowledge to his heavenly, abstract knowledge.
Phoibe (PDF Version)
(Golden-Crowned, the Bright, the Golden Crowned One)
Intermediate Power of Carceri, LN
Portfolio: Intellect, prophecy, earthly knowledge
Aliases: Phoebe
Domain Name: Othrys/Mount Othrys (the Library of Thought) and Minethys/the Library of Thought
Superior: Kronos
Allies: Apollo, Asteria, Leto, Koios, the Titans
Foes: The Olympians (nominally)
Symbol: A golden wreath of laurel leaves
Wor. Align.: Any
Golden-Crowned Phoibe (P’OY-beh or FEE-bee) represents raw intelligence and quick-wittedness. As a daughter of Ge, she inherited her mother’s earth-based affinity for prophecy.
The youngest of the Titanesses save Lovely Tethys, it is said in the mythology of the Titans and Olympians she was born with a golden crown of laurel. As the quickest wit among all her siblings, the laurel crown soon came to be seen as a symbol of intelligence and scholarship, eventually representing excellence in a wide variety of endeavors. In her brother Koios she found a kindred mind for he sought knowledge in all forms and the pair frequently engaged in debates and philosophical inquiries together. And so it was when Eros first moved among the Titans that this fondness blossomed into love, and they married as part of the celebration of the victory over Ouranos.
In time, this love bore fruit in a pair of daughters; Dark-Robed Leto was born first, followed by Starry-Eyed Asteria. Phoibe doted on her children, but Koios was a distant parent. When Ge and Ouranos pronounced a prophecy on Kronos that he would be overthrown by his son, Golden-Crowned Phoibe saw the truth of this, and in the confines of her prophetic cave on Olympos she spoke a prophecy of her own to her children. She foresaw that they would need to stand with the sons of Kronos, and that their children would be important members of the new pantheon that formed after. Phoibe and her daughters kept this from Koios, for she knew he would oppose their decision. Thus it was that the daughters of Koios chose the Olympians’ side when war came, and Bright Phoibe herself stayed neutral, granting prophecies to those who followed the forms of asking, regardless of their side.
When the Titanomachy ended with her brothers defeated, Phoibe stayed within her cave on Olympos. She had received a prophecy for herself in all this; the prophetic cave would be an inheritance for one of her grandchildren when the time was right. When Apollo slew the mighty wyrm Python, she knew the time was right. Taking Apollo into her confidence, she taught him the arts of prophecy so that he would take her place, and finally she reunited herself with her beloved Koios, for she knew also that her influence would be needed one day if the Titans were ever to atone for their actions.
Like most of the Titans, Golden-Crowned Phoibe rarely dispatches avatars to the Prime Material Plane. In fact, she has not been known to do it openly at all, although many sages widely speculate that she does so in secret to spread knowledge of prophecy among worshipers of the Titans and the Olympians. She far prefers using other manifestations, and most of her followers consider their prophecies to come from their goddess herself.
Phoibe’s Avatar (Mystic 33, Diviner 28, Bard 18)
Phoibe appears as a lovely mature human woman with either loose, black hair and a golden wreath of laurel leaves or golden hair pulled back into a braided bun, while her eyes are a rich, earthy brown. Her garments are always in light shades, favoring white, gold, or pale green. Over the course of one round, she can easily alter her height between that of a normal human and her full stature. She draws her spells from all spheres and schools save the school of illusion/phantasm.
AC −1; MV 24; HP 201; THAC0 0; #AT 1
Dmg 6d6+13 (torch+4, +9 Str) + 3d6 (fire damage)
MR 55%; SZ M–G (5½ feet tall to 90 feet tall)
Str 21, Dex 21, Con 22, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 21
Spells P: 14/13/13/13/12/11/9, W: 7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7*
Saves PPDM 2, RSW 3, PP 5, BW 7, Sp 4
* Numbers assume one extra divination spell per spell level.
Special Att/Def: Phoibe dislikes combat, preferring to use her magic to disable or dissuade attackers. If pressed or in defense of others she cares about, she fights with Brightflame, an enormous iron torch +4 that is always burning. Any creatures struck by this torch suffer an additional 6d3 points of fire damage; even creatures normally immune or resistance to fire take half damage.
The Golden-Crowned One can cast feeblemind at will, and three times per day she can cast crown of brilliance on herself. Once per day she can slow all hostile creatures within sixty feet. Every ally within 30 feet of her functions as if under the effects of an unfailing premonition.
Bright Phoibe is immune to fire, mind-affecting spells, and size-alteration magic. She is only struck by weapons with a +2 or better enchantment, and no natural terrestrial animals will willingly attack her.
Other Manifestations
Phoibe rarely manifests her power on the Prime Material Plane, as with her Titan siblings, but when she does so, it is always through prophetic visions and divinations. She often sends omens and divinations in the flickering flame of a torch, with the shape, color, and movement, all conveying different messages to followers who pay attention. She is not known to manifest in any other way.
The Titans call on asuras, lesser titans, and monsters of legend as their preferred servants, but Phoibe calls upon baku, brownies, contemplators, dobies, dogs of all sorts, firestars, glass golems, light aasimon, mediators, observers, spectators, and steel dragons. She displays her favor through the discovery of wild bay laurel trees with golden leaves, heliodor, topazes, and golden flowers of all sorts. She Is not known to display her disfavor through any manifestations other than withholding prophetic visions from followers who have disappointed her.
The Church
Clergy: Clerics, specialty priests, mystics
Clergy’s Align.: LN, N, CN
Turn Undead: C: Yes, SP: No, Mys: No
Cmnd. Undead: C: No, SP: No, Mys: No
All clerics, specialty priests, and mystics of Phoibe receive religion (Titan) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Small but highly respected, the priesthood of Golden-Crowned Phoibe is called upon by poor and powerful alike to guide their actions through prophecy. The clergy maintains neutrality when competing interests request a glimpse of their future, granting no favoritism to one side or another. The priesthood also maintains an interest in teaching practical matters, especially mathematics and natural philosophy; they eschew the more esoteric topics such as political philosophy and existential philosophy, however. They aim to identify the brightest and most quick-witted members of a community and ensure they have all the tools to make the most of their intelligence.
Temples dedicated to Phoibe usually center around a cave that has naturally occurring non-toxic gases. These caves serve as the chambers from which the temple’s prophetess receives her messages, and outsiders are rarely allowed inside. Exterior to the cave is a small temple complex, with the main public worship building being a circular colonnaded building with a domed roof and a statue of Bright Phoibe within. The rest of the complex consists of treasuries, living quarters, and other support structures, all surrounded by a low wall. Rarely, temples may also be built over surface vents that expel the same sorts of gases; in such cases a special building is constructed to serve the same purpose as the natural caves.
Novices in the service of Bright Phoibe are called Unseeing. Full priests in the service of the Golden-Crowned One are called the Vision Guided. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by the priesthood of Phoibe are Iron Leaf, Bronze Leaf, Silver Leaf, Gold Leaf, Iron Wreath, Bronze Wreath, Silver Wreath, and Gold Wreath. Each temple has a single high priestess with a unique title who is both head of the temple and a prophetess granted unique powers to foretell the future in a cryptic manner. These high priestesses must be female and are either specialty priests or mystics, never clerics. Specialty priests of Golden-Crowned Phoibe are called cthonseers. Females (81%) comprise a much larger portion of the clergy of Phoibe than males (19%), who are almost exclusively defenders and administrators of temple property. Specialty priests (46%) and mystics (32%) dominate the priesthood, with the remainder being clerics (22%).
Dogma: Encourage everyone to engage their mind and make full use of their skills. Look for the brightest and the best to ensure they are given the opportunities to be their best. Search for the natural places that are conducive for prophetic visions.
Day-to-Day Activities: The clergy of Phoibe run schools of natural philosophy, mathematics, and practical skills. These schools tend to be attached to their temples and are often quite prestigious. Some members of the priesthood favor the life of a wandering oracle, traveling through rural regions to help people determine the direction they should take with their lives and taking short jobs as tutors and teachers. Such wandering priests also serve a crucial function of ensuring the many sorts of practitioners of divinations not associated with any church are not acting in a fraudulent manner.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The most sacred event in the church of Phoibe is held on the first day of summer. This celebration, known as the Brightening, marks the beginning of a new year of teaching and learning. The priesthood holds that the summer is the best time to learn new things because the long light of the sun offers more hours with which to study and students are not preoccupied with the cold or the many hours of natural darkness. The Brightening is not typically observed within towns and cities, unless they are home to an important sanctuary of Golden-Crowned Phoibe. The celebrations last the full day, during which new students of all ages are officially welcomed into their study programs and the virtues of learning are highlighted with mythic fables told by members of the clergy. The day comes to a close at sundown with a sacrifice and feast to start the summer’s learning off on a positive note.
Major Centers of Worship: Not far from the Gate-Town of Fortitude on the Outlands can be found a small mountain by the name of Petros; this mountain is home to sanctuary dedicated to Phoibe of the same name. The Sanctuary of Petros is one of the few remaining well-known sites of worship of the Golden-Crowned Lady. Within the confines of this temple is a sacred cave from which the prophetic priestess, known as the Petria, utters her divinations every ten days.
Two sanctuaries dedicated to Bright Phoibe are known in the crystal sphere of Greatspace. The oldest is located in a remote mountainous region of the world of Thesalys, near the old capital of House Kanuwanda. The temple has suffered a long slow decline as the fortunes of House Kanuwanda have also fallen from the lofty days when they once ruled the planet in the days before Lagor discovered more worlds in the night sky. The temple, Brighflame Hall, still hosts an oracle that is occasionally consulted by the more religious members of the House, and has an excellent but small school in mathematics and natural philosophy.
The second sanctuary in Greatspace is the small complex called the Cavern of Golden Light, located on Lagor’s World. This old temple complex surrounds a small natural cavern in which various gases that enhance divination and prophecy gather. Located near the borders of three different cultural groups on the western continent, it was once popular as a place for neutral diplomatic meetings to convene; since the emergence of the unified Greatspace government, it has fallen out of favor. Still, it has an excellent school of mathematics, and it receives visitors from those few who choose to trust in its oracular reputation.
Affiliated Orders: The church of Phoibe sponsors no martial or monastic orders, but a loose order of wandering mystics and specialty priests, known as the Sisterhood of the True Torch (for they are all female) travel through rural areas to bring the blessing of oracular visions to those who cannot afford the main temples. Rumors also claim that there are some humanoid oracles (PHBR10) who seek to bring the prophetic insight of Golden-Crowned Phoibe and the Titan pantheon to their people, although this has yet to be verified.
Priestly Vestments: Priests in the service of Phoibe wear a belted peplos of pale green, fringed with white. Embroidery up the front in golden or yellow thread indicates the rank of the priest through geometric patterns. Further, the high priest of a temple always has golden embroidery along the edges designed to look like laurel leaves. Hair is usually worn long, tied neatly or braided. Oracular members of the clergy, rarely more than one per temple, have vertical slashes of red along the sides of their peplos to indicate their position. The holy symbol used by the church is a small medal model of a laurel wreath; any metal will do but gold is the most prized.
Adventuring Garb: When traveling or adventuring, Phoibe’s clergy favors armor that is easy to move in such as leather and light scale. They favor weapons that can be easily carried and can aid in travel such as staves and slings and generally dress to be seen as inconspicuous wanderers. In emulation of their goddess, many members of the church also carry iron torches to use as weapons. These torches are well-made and function as normal clubs, but deal 1d3 points of additional fire damage if lit. Use of these torches requires proficiency, which are open to all members of the priesthood regardless of class.
Specialty Priests (Cthonseers)
Requirements: Intelligence 12, Wisdom 15
Prime Req.: Wisdom
Alignment: LN
Weapons: All bludgeoning (wholly Type B) weapons
Armor: Any up to chain mail, no shield
Major Spheres: All, charm, divination, elemental (air, earth, fire), healing, thought, time
Minor Spheres: Protection, summoning, wards
Magical Items: Same as clerics
Req. Profs: Etiquette
Bonus Profs: Fire-building
- Cthonseers must be human, although rumors persist that medusae and hags are also called to her service.
- Cthonseers are not allowed to multiclass.
- Cthonseers cast all spells from the sphere of divination as if they were two levels higher than their current level.
- Every time a cthonseer gains a new spell level, they may select one wizard spell from the school of divination to add to their priestly spell list. The spell must be from the same level the cthonseer has just attained and cannot be changed at a later date. The spell gained is cast exactly as described with the same components, casting time, range, and area of effect.
- Cthonseers gain a +2 bonus to their saving throws against any gas attacks of a noxious, toxic, deadly, or caustic nature. This includes the breath weapons of a green dragon or gorgon and spells such as stinking cloud, cloudkill, and death fog, but not the sleep or slow breaths of certain metallic dragons.
- Once per week, cthonseers can perform an augury (as the 2nd-level priest spell) on behalf of another individual or group. The cthonseer cannot participate in or directly benefit from the actions that is the subject of the augury. The normal material components of the spell are not necessary, but to invoke the augury the cthonseer must inhale incense (worth at least 5 gp) and enter a trance for 1d4+1 rounds, during which they are oblivious to the outside world.
- At 2nd level, cthonseers can cast emotion read or log of everburning (as the 1st-level priest spells) once per day.
- At 4th level, cthonseers can cast fog cloud (as the 2nd-level wizard spell) or idea (as the 2nd-level priest spell) once per day.
- At 6th level, cthonseers can cast enchanted torch (as the 3rd-level wizard spell) or zone of sweet air (as the 3rd-level priest spell) once per day.
- At 9th level, cthonseers can cast divination or genius (as the 4th-level priest spells) once per day.
- At 12th level, cthonseers can cast commune (as the 5th-level priest spell) twice per week. The usage of this ability never incurs annoyance by their goddess so long as it isn’t used for personal gain.
- At 15th level, cthonseers can cast divine inspiration (as the 7th-level priest spell) once per week.
Phoibean Spells
2nd Level
Draw Upon the Divine Spirit (Pr 2; Invocation/Evocation)
Sphere: Summoning
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 rd./level
Casting Time: 2
Area of Effect: The caster
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cast, the priest’s head and eyes glow with a golden aura as it becomes a vessel for the power of her goddess. As a result, the caster can choose to increase one mental ability score (only Intelligence and Wisdom are eligible) by +1 per three levels of her experience (+1 at 3rd level. +2 at 6th, etc.).
Only one ability score can be increased. The effect lasts for the duration of the spell. Ability scores can be increased above the normal restrictions due to race and class, to a maximum of +6 or to 25, whichever is less. All benefits for exceptional ability scores listed in the Player’s Handbook apply; however, the divine abilities found in the Legends & Lore book are not gained by use of this spell. For example, an 18th-level priest with Wisdom 15 could increase her Wisdom to 21 for 13 rounds, granting her a +4 bonus to saves against mind-affecting spells and a variety of spell immunities.
When the spell ends, the energy abruptly leaves the caster’s body, leaving the priest physically and mentally drained. No action other than rest can be taken for the next 4d6 turns. A successful Constitution check (at the priest’s normal ability score) reduces this time by 50%.
The material components are the priest’s holy symbol and a vial of holy water that has been blessed by the high priest of the caster’s faith.
Ecstatica (Pr 2; Divination)
Sphere: Divination
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 1 turn
Area of Effect: The caster
Saving Throw: None
By means of this spell, the caster may summon an ecstatic spirit into themselves to provide divinatory advice. While in the ecstatic state, they are unaware of their surroundings, although being attacked breaks the spell and frees them from their altered state. While in this state, the caster responds to questions posed to them by an individual or small group specified at the time of casting. The questions must be specific and narrow in focus and the caster answers with short, cryptic answers, never with a simple yes or no. If the questions are about past or current events or regarding a near-term action (about 1 day per level of the caster), the priest can answer one question for every two levels they have achieved. If the designated questioner instead asks about long-term plans or far future events, they may only ask one question, after which the spell ends. Asking such a question after asking other questions results in no answer and the spell ends early. Questioners have the same chance of returning an answer as the augury spell.
The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol and a variety of incenses that must be burned for the duration of the spell, worth 50 gp. It is normally expected that those wishing to ask questions provide the funds for the incense.
3rd Level
Golden-Crowned Torch (Pr 3; Conjuration/Summoning)
Sphere: Elemental Fire
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 2 rds./level
Casting Time: 6
Area of Effect: 1 torch
Saving Throw: None
With this spell, the caster conjures a magical iron torch to use as a weapon. It gives off a bright golden light, far more powerful than that of a normal torch (matching a continual light spell). It warms those within 10 feet, protecting against normal cold for the duration and granting a +2 to saves versus cold attacks to all those within the same area. The caster wields the torch with proficiency, dealing 1d6 points of damage per hit, with an additional 1d6 points of fire damage. Creatures vulnerable to fire take 2d6 points of fire damage instead, while those who resist fire take only 1d3 points of base fire damage. Creatures immune to fire are only injured by the iron torch itself. The golden-crowned torch strikes as a +2 weapon, although it grants no bonuses to the caster’s attack or damage rolls.
The flames can only be extinguished if submerged in water or brought into an airless void. It is otherwise unaffected by normal wind and rain. A create water spell cast by a 7th-level caster targeted upon the torch will extinguish it. If extinguished, the whole torch vanishes and the spell ends.
The material component for this spell is the priest’s holy symbol.
I’m greatly enjoying learning about all this. Thanks for putting in the work.
Do you know if any 1e or 2e product specifically detailed what an imprisoned god can still do? Your write-ups are somewhat inconsistent about what powers such beings still have available to them
Not really, in large part because what imprisoned means varies by deity. Tharizdun/The Dark God are the classic *fully* imprisoned deity, and he cannot grant spells at all, meaning his followers only get spells of levels 1 and 2. The Titans are not imprisoned in the same way; they can still grant spells, however. I actually only recently noticed that in Legends & Lore it says they cannot manifest power but but can send avatars to the Prime, and that feels like it should be the opposite to me.