Pathfinder Regional Deepdive: Nidal
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ค. 2024
- Welcome back to our Deep Dive series! Who would have guessed that the longest video on this channel would be about Nidal, a region that honestly has only ever been tangential to my own adventures. But what a rich region it is once I started doing some research, with ancient history dating back longer than almost any other country in the inner sea region.
Once again, its a very long one, so take your time and split it into multiple viewings if that helps.
Learn more about Zon-Kuthon: • Pathfinder Religion Gu...
Enjoy all!
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - The History of Nidal
26:00 - Nidalese Culture
39:09 - Factions in Nidal
55:48 - The Uskwood & Pangolais
1:22:18 - The Northplains
1:31:02 - Conqueror's Bay & Nisroch
1:46:32 - Atteran Ranches
1:57:50 - Mindspin Foothills
2:05:12 - The Umbral Basin & Ridwan
And don't forget to Like & Subscribe!
CREDITS
The large high-res map I use is not a Paizo official map, but the work of the incomparable Rob McCaleb ( www.artstation.com/robmccaleb ) used here with their gracious permission.
Content for this video came from "Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Nidal, Land of Shadows" by Liane Merciel with assistance by Lyz Liddell, Ron Lundeen and Mark Moreland
If you enjoyed this video, please support Paizo publishing by purchasing this product or others.
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#paizo #pathfinder #golarion #innersea #roleplaying #rpg #history #lore #d&d #Nidal #Pangolais #Ridwan #Nisroch #PlaneOfShadow #Kyton #Velstrac #Vampire #Fetchling #Caligni
Like many, I knew a bit about Zon Kuthon, and virtually nothing about Nidal. What an impressive tour; half of the time I thought 'ooh, I wanna go there!' & the other half was 'not for all the platinum in Greengold!' Great work, as always 👏
Thank you so much for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the video!
I highly recommend Night Blade and Night Glass Pathfinder Tales Novels by Liane Merciel. She also was one of the writers for the Nidal source book. She more than anyone else has defined what Nidal is like.
I didn't know I needed a two hour video about Nidal before I got it... but now I know.
Yeah this one came out surprisingly long, but actually there's a lot of detail out there for this nation.
@GM_Steelhaven
...and so 😢many ways to make one truly feel alive and value every single precious breath left to take.
I have been waiting with dread for this deep dive to drop for so long.
Cheliax is evil but with rules. So if you follow the rules you're more of less 'safe'.
Nidal is sadistic evil. You're only safe depending on the whims of those with power. (I once played a character who's back-story was an orphan from the streets of Pangolais. Needless to say, scars are more than flesh deep and he had a lot of scars)
Nidal- The place I love to hate.
Two hours...Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You're so welcome! I was a bit leery of doing a full two-hours on this relatively lesser known location but people seem to be digging it.
The "Nightglass" and "Nightblade" novels by Liane Merciel are good books about a shadowcaller wizard who grows up in Nidal. The first book is an especially good series of snapshots at the mundanity of the horror of living in Nidal.
Great video as always!
Thanks for watching. Although I reference them in the video I must admit I haven't read the books yet, but I am planning to check them out.
Liane is also one of the main writers for the Nidal source book. Much of the details we have for Nidal are from her.
They really do turn torture into a art form in that one. The glass chimes sounds both beautiful and horrifying
49:41 oh cool Xenomorphs in Golarion, how horrifying!
Look hard enough and everything pops up in Golarion!
Nidal is one of my favourite places in Golarion.; It's got such a fascinating history and culture. I highly recommend Liane Merciel's Nightglass and Nightblade novels; they're simply incredible.
I must confess, though I reference the books in this video I haven't actually read them! This is a great recommendation though and if I get a chance I will definitely check them out.
Yes, thank you!
What little I had read and heard of Nidal befor watching this made Nidal sound like the nation of Edgelords. But after watching this I have a more complete idea of the nuances of this enshrouded nation. It would be an excellent nation of origin for a character written with a traumatic or troubled past, or a character of dhampir versatile ancestry. Up until now I had thought Ustalav had the monopoly on dhampirs.
I must admit Nidal was also a blind-spot for me, and part of the reason this video ended up so long was because I was also learning as I was going. I am always particular to revolutionary struggles, so the Desnan Dreamers I thought were a particularly cool group.
@@TheMythKeeper Agreed. 👍
Nidal: What if the Cenobites from hellraiser were Christian Conservatives as well?
Joking aside. Nidal sounds really exciting, and there is a lot of potential. Thank you for doing these videos, cause there is a very limited videos on lore, so these feel almost godsent.
Thank you for the kind words!
I honestly was not expecting a xenomorph reference, and I love it! Nidal is so cool for that.
I’d love to see them in garund too! That combination would be absolutely awesome.
Yeah, when people accuse PF of being a bit of a kitchen sink setting its kind of true. You can find *everything* in this world, if you look hard enough.
@@TheMythKeeperBeing a "kitchen sink" isn't inherently bad. Take a look at Warhammer 40k that setting is basically "Oooh I like it. Let's add it to the lore".
@@chillax319 For a game world it can be a lot of fun, you just need to be willing to take some silliness in stride.
@@TheMythKeeper I mean we all know Zon-Kuthon and the Kuthites, and a good portion of the NE pantheon are all just allegories for Cenobites.
@@MrTotalAhole Yep!
I might make Zon-Kuthon the antagonist of my campaign now
Haha! Awesome, do it!
I gotta admit, all of the Nidalese artwork shown strikes a chord in my shadowy soul. Nice folk livin' 'round here :D
Haha! If this country feels inviting to you, you should probably look into that with a therapist some time.
after multiple sessions of lightning shocks, ice-cold baths and some hot coals, my therapist declared me...ok 😂
@@freshhands9461 🤣🤣🤣
15:38 I like the minecraft type pixel fire you used there.
I played a fetchling as my first pathfinder 2E character as a test for mechanics, so this video makes me want to bring him back and use Nidal as their point of origin.
Appreciate the video!😊
You absolutely should! If you're a player you can also talk to your GM about having them pop up as an NPC as well.
I watch every one of your videos A+, I would also love such lore for Starfinder, MapleTable is good, but I love your style!
Hopefully I'll get around to Starfinder as well in the not too distant future. There is SO MUCH content for Pathfinder though, so who knows!
Good timing I really needed this video
Awesome! I wasn't sure if this one would land, but glad folks are appreciating it.
They could make a Total War game of Pathfinder, like they did to Warhammer , great lore and something for they to be creative , how a turn based game in general be like if its real time and strategy.
Yeah I personally would love to see more 'types' of games in Golarion. This is a weird pick from me, but I'd love to see a Thief or Assassin's Creed type game where you just get to explore the weird locales as a rogue or arcane trickster.
@@TheMythKeeperooooh where you play as a red mantis assassin
@@chazzwozzio Precisely
2 hours and 17 minutes?! Wow, MythKeeper. You're clearly just making it up at this point.
Can't wait for the next one! Keep them coming ❤
Haha! I wish I was! This was my edited down version! My first script would have had me talking to closer to three hours 🤣
@@TheMythKeeper Bummer...
Aaaah I've been waiting for this one. What a fascinating place Nidal is.
Hope you enjoy!
When you want to play a goth character, Nidal is your home😆.
Awesome video once again Mythkeeper!
With these deep dives, I have to by now be getting close to the threshold where I know more about completely fictional fantasy history than I do about actual Earth history.
Watch some Kings & Generals content for some great Earth Lore ;-)
Nidal is my favorite region in Pathfinder setting. I'm playing in Blood Lords Campaign and I've made 2 nidalese diplomats in this campaing, a tyrant champion of Zon-Kuthon and after his demise, a mummy fighter working under Umbral Court.
I love the idea of Kuthite characters playing through Blood Lords campaign. Good stuff here.
Great work. Even I have trouble keeping up with your weekly videos. King of Pathfinder
I'm fairly proud of how consistently I've managed to keep these videos going - and they're not small videos either! This is a real labor of love for me. Hopefully I can keep it going for a long time to come here.
An amazing video, this and the glass cannon podcast sidequests helped me to understand Nidal better, because it's really odd. This video specifically gave me much information about this nation that is so interesting and unique
Thank you so much for the kind words!
I can't wait for the Velstrac video, I plan on using them in my upcoming campaign!
Next week!
Your videos are so well presented, but somehow also soothing. They get my mind going on my own worldbuilding, and help me ground myself when i'm depressed. Thanks for the herculean effort that goes in to them!
And thank you so much for watching and for the kind words!
Fantastic coverage for my Hell's Vengeance game. Nidal's shadow grows long over Cheliax as the Reclamation presses House Thrune, and my party's wizard is entertaining some Darker Powers during his moments alone...
Haha! Awesome, thanks for the share
Im so proud of how far you've come, dude. Your videos never miss.
I feel like this question has been asked before, so forgive me if it is so, but do you have any plans on making deep dives on other settings like Eberron or Planescape? If not, that's totally fine. Your videos on Golarion are superb enough!
I do actually. I'm just a bit of a completionist, so I can't see myself embarking on other settings until I feel like I've covered a critical threshold of ground on Pathfinder (ie: all regions deepdived).
"All regions deepdived" - Sir, you must let Paizo Publishing finish writing it before you can read it all!
@@grinningbuck Haha! True! I'm eagerly awaiting the Tian-Xia book right now.
God I have looked forward to this.
I'm really happy to see how many people are enjoying a deep dive into this lesser known nation.
Nothing like a new region deep dive and just in time for the remasters rolling out. Im super pumped to get another pathfinder game going once Im finished the rest of my university run. Hoping to run a game were all the players are a kind of suicide squad loaned out to the pathfinder society to explore dangerous locations.
That sounds like a pretty epic idea for a game.
Hell yeah, needed this video for my day.
You're so welcome! Hope you enjoy!
I love the depth of research you do for your sessions. I have learned much for my Society characters watching your segments.
Wow, thank you!
@@TheMythKeeper My very first AP character for Pathfinder 2 was a cleric of Zon-Kuthon. I have used your Orc dive for my Orc Dread Striker, this one for my Dhampir who was adopted by a Sarkorian Venture-Captain and will be making a Sarkorian piper.
@@AndrewFullerton-vo3wp rock on! Thanks for the details
Confession time: I once basically stole the entire setting of Nidal for a planet in a Dark Heresy game I ran a few years ago (with a few lore tweaks, obviously). None of my players knew I stole the setting from pathfinder and I'm not remotely sorry I did.
Honestly Nidal works absolutely great as a planet in the 40k 'verse
It *does* sound like an imperial shrine world.
You gotta grab and use the best ideas first. It'll show you where it can be strong and where it's weak. You have to learn somewhere. Why not from the best. I've used worse ideas. And as long as you can say that, I think it's ok.
It makes you a better story teller.
Xon kuthon is very interesting, and so are his followers. They give me a lot of dark inspiration for my campaigns. Thanks for the video!
Dark is his middle name ;-)
Perfect timing, about to run a game in cheliax about nidal/andoran/cheliax
Yeah, plenty of Nidalese allies can be found throughout Cheliax, and they have a really interesting and unique culture that sets them apart from the devil-worshipers of the South.
@TheMythKeeper one of my players is a fetchling that worships pharasma so having more nidal info will help make my campaign more interesting :)
@@patricklapinski1526 - Ah awesome! One of the really cool things about fetchlings in Nidal is that they represent a minority and diaspora culture forming their own micro-culture within the broader Nidalese context. Superficially they 'fit in' with the rest of Nidal's doom and gloom, but in actual fact they are not cool with Zon-Kuthon and they represent some of the most well-organized resistance to Kuthite rule.
Holy cow, what a great video. I am so thankful you are putting out content like this.
You're really welcome! Thanks for watching
I haven't been able to watch your videos in the last weeks but finally I can catch up again! Thank you so much for this Deepdive, always a joy to listen.
You are so welcome!
Another fantastic episode.
Thank you so much!
Oh boy. Thank you so much for your videos, Mythkeeper. They are GREAT!
Sincerely waiting for the Qadira video.
@@MarcosSilva-vt9cc Not too long of a wait now - though there's still I think... 6 regions between here and there.
a very terrifying nation!
thanks again for this awesome work of investigtion!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for these videos!
I've been watching since your ancestries videos. The narrative you spin and add into the history for these places.
I'd love to get a Lastwall/Gravelands video, possibly the area that changed the most drastically aside from the Worldwound. I am making a Half-Orc Barbarian from here, so it would be awesome to see your take on this place.
Thanks for the comment and request. I will definitely get around to Lastwall eventually, but that material is so dense I've been saving it and trying to figure out if I want to tackle it as a single video or a double feature.
@@TheMythKeeper considering what happens… yeah take your time hehe
A Last Wall/ Gravelands two parter would be awesome!
Thanks so much this was great
Excelent! I absolutely adore your deep dives, could you please do one on Absalom?
Absalom is coming! Patience, patience...
I could watch and listen to MK videos all day.
Haha! Thank you, I really appreciate comments like this. Keeps me going!
A great video. I think the Nidal book came out before Nocticula arose as a goddess, since otherwise I think there would be a lot more about Nocticula's faithful in Nidal.
As I think for Nidalese Nocticula would fit those that want to rebel as much as Desna might. I can see many who like the shadows and darkness and those who value the hospitality that the Nidalese gave to various other races like the fetchlings, The Caligni, shadow giants, fleshwarped and others liking Nocticula.
I agree completely.
Neat
🥳
Incorrect.
It is pronounced "Nih - dahl"
I gotta know where you got the art of characters for this video! I am working on a campaign set in Nidal and there was not enough art in the Land of Shadows book. Would love to have more to use as tokens in my VTT. What other books did you use to find that art?
Where possible I used Pathfinder sources, but I also leaned heavily into art from Pinterest, ArtStation and Imgur. Are there any pieces you're looking for in particular?
Quite a few!
37:23
40:04 Umbral court agent
40:45 Master Eloiander
42:07 Master Kyvicir
43:00 Master Mykos Roarik
44:53 Adamant Guards
47:21 Midnight Inquisitor
1:20:28 Peloise White Eyes and Speaker Tralayhi
1:25:26 Admiral Ferixia Rone
1:35:05 Harbormaster Glaul
1:43:14 hancellor Zelvith
1:47:55 nsevier of Nisroch
1:56:50 Beldoire Chaintounge
2:05:08 Mayor Wistea Glasswing
2:15:07 Grenda of Elith Lorin
@@TheMythKeeper
@@Dando-qu9uu Oh dang, well I'll try! Here we go -
37:23 - Random vampire on pinterest, magic the gathering vampire, a vampire from Lost Omens: Impossible Lands
40:04 - Paths of Prestige sourcebook
40:45 - Realms of Horror sourcebook
42:07 - Search for a Bryan Syme deathknight or graveknight on this one
43:00 - Also another random vampire from Pinterest, unknown illustrator
44:53 - These are diablo iv necromancer concept art sketches ;-)
47:21 - Also diablo iv concept art (rogue maybe?)
1:20:28 - I believe Realms of Horror again
1:25:26 - Tiefling Paladin or Deathknight art from Pinterest - unknown illustrator
1:35:05 - I think I pulled this directly from Eric Belisle's site
1:43:14 - www.artstation.com/olgajaworska
1:47:55 - This is from an official source but I can't for the life of me recollect which one. Possibly the AP that is set in Karpad.
1:56:50 - Beldoire here is from SixMoreVodka studios (Degenisis project)
2:05:08 - More Bryan Syme art, likely from Pinterest
2:15:07 - Can't remember!
Sorry, I really hope this helps. I sift through hundreds and hundreds of pieces of art to make these videos. There's a reason I don't credit artists in the video description and its not for lack of desire. Its just impractical to track all of this and keep the weekly production schedule. I think I did pretty good on memory though!
Nidal is tied with the land of the linnorm kings for my favourite area on Golarion
the longer the video the better 😃
Haha! Thank you!
"Brovos Gulltongue" indeed. That image is of Olgeird von Everec, from The Witcher 3's 'Hearts of Stone' DLC. Youuu caaan't fooool meee.
Haha! Well-spotted sir.
🎶So you wanna play with (devil contracts)? Cause I'm coming at you like the (first tame) horse!🎶
Amazing vid as always!
Is there an AP with the black triune?
No AP but there are some standalone modules set in Nidal, as well as some Pathfinder Society adventures. Nidalese characters also feature heavily in all the Cheliax based APs.
where did you get the art for the adamant guard??
That is IIRC Diablo IV concept art ;-)
Ah Pathfider's version of Melnibone always a good time.
Nice! Such a wierd nation
Right!?
Wow. and well done !....there is a large amount of information of Nidal. What kind of artifact do you think the players managed to steal in Season 2 of Everflame ? Also is there any contact between the leaders of Nidal and Tar-Baphon ?
There probably isn't direct contact between Tar-Baphon and the Black Triune, because Tar-Baphon is a crazy powerful elitist who thinks everyone and everything is beneath him, but he does work through a number of intermediaries - the leadership of the Whispering Way cult that serves him. There is probably contact, and maybe alliances of convenience between the Black Triune and the Whispering Way. They have many shared common enemies after all.
had no idea nidal was actually a pre-earthfall culture, that's kinda crazy
maybe the fact they were in contact with so many other planes and the darklands was the real reason they never really expanded, being connected to several near-infinite hellworlds would probably make you lose a bit of interest in the relatively small mundane world
Yeah its an interesting alternate way of having diplomatic ties. They didn't really engage with other nearby nations, but they have deep connections with the netherworld and with the darklands.
Are worshippers of entities from the Dark Tapestry welcome in Nidal?
Yes they are! Zon-Kuthon's corruption comes from the Dark Tapestry, so yes they are quite friendly with the cults of the great old ones and the outer gods.
I've always wondered if Shelyn's Clerics can just walk into Nidal and do their works without Kuthite violently kicking them out?
Kuthite's are pretty careful about not killing Shelynites as a courtesy to the relationship between their patron gods, but if the Shelynites are poking around where they don't belong, expect them to be escorted out roughly.
well, we know the chain outsiders will be for all next
Haha! Its almost like you're seeing the pattern behind the madness here. (And yes, Vesltracs next!)
@@TheMythKeeper nice any idea when we are to get to the material plane monsters, the oni rakshasa and such?
Man, I want to know where you get your maps.
The underlying map is the Rob McCaleb original, but all the other maps I make myself in the GIMP.
Where did you find information about Meleyne the Sun-Dimmer, it seems she does not exist on google!
Lots of this content doesn't exist on Google, you've got to track down the books. Check my video description for links to the relevant sources.
Nidal has nothing on Detroit.
Eeek!!
I listened on the way home from work and then watched on the computer for all the great art work.
What in the 9 Hells did they do to Mericiel?! @48:28
No, just no!
That's what happens when you get infected by the hive!
Yet another comparison. The Hive and their Queen remind me an awful lot of the Xenomorph from the alien franchise. They don't appear to breed within the humanoid hosts however. But I have read that there are certain species of insects which infect other species and turn them into thralls to protect the eggs of the insects in question.
Yeah the Hive and the Queen appear to be a direct port of the xenomorphs into Pathfinder.
I like every video I’m trying to get you big
Thank you sir! The likes are appreciated!
The Gosch Paradise💀
Meanwhile out in the middle of nowhere, the horse is being tamed by the Nadalins.
Then they're anexed by an evil empire... and everyone else copyed their horses.
The druids have xenomorphs?
Apparently so!
My thoughts always run to "What are the good and compassionate deities doing to stop places like Nidal from harming people for centuries, for no crime other then being born there.....
I think the answer is "What they can". The good gods cannot overpower Zon-Kuthon, or imprison him as they did with Rovagug. If they could, they would have already done so.
Especially some major neutral deities like Pharasma.... can she really judge a soul and send it to "deserved afterlife" when that soul was denied any choice or freedom in their beliefs. I can't see a slave soul who only pretended to worship Zon-Kuthon, providing much power to the god. 🤔
@@RadeFoxxy - A common misconception about Pathfinder is that the power of a God is correlated to the number of worshipers they have. In fact a god can be very powerful without any worshipers at all. What Zon-Kuthon is doing in Nidal isn't about power, its about pride and vanity. He likes owning a country on Golarion, and he likes that the other Gods are unable to intervene.
Because when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
Same reason in Realms that Elminster never just had a go at Fzoul of the Zhentarim... the devastation that would cause would be horrific.
Same reason that Geb and Cheliax exist.... a war with either (or Nidal) would make the casualties of the Mendevian Crusades look like a nose bleed.
to be fair in the case of Geb the nations of Lastwall, Holomog and, of course, Nex all tried to get rid of them but it never went particularly well
also *spoilers below*
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i think the 2e book on legendary figures in golarion's article on Nex basically confirms he's still alive, but is staying out of the material plane because he knows Geb is waiting for him to come back and he's responsible enough not to restart a war between two magocracies that both canonically have several 20+ level casters and a proven record of using them like ICBMs
in my blood lords campaign one of the lords the party met, who was a more open-minded type (for an evil wight) talked for a while about how screwed basically everyone in both countries would be if the war started because of how bad the like, random bombardments of Wish spells, divine intervention, 9th level cloudkill etc etc would probably get
You say Mistress Feylanthe is at human at 41:00 but she’s half-elf (even has elf ears in pic :p)
Good catch! You won a no-prize!
Questions:
￣￣￣￣￣
Will Zon-Kuthon murder the Sister of this body He now inhabits?
Do the bodies of dead Deities & Demigods float through the Astral Plane of Golarion's Reality?
Does Pharasma judge the "essence" of dead Gods or is this the rapidity if Groetus?
Does Zon-Kuthon know Pharasma from the reality which existed before this one?
1. I think Dou-bral is still in there, and won’t allow anything to happen to Shelyn.
2. No. Gods are already judged, just like other post-mortals. Pharasma only judges mortal souls. Dead gods have their essence dispersed across the outer planes, like divine cosmic stardust. Typically they cannot be brought back.
3. Cool question, honestly I don’t know if Pharasma recognizes Zon-Kuthon as being the puppet of something that’s older than the universe, but it’s possible
Honestly if you replace zon kuthon with any other spooky god like the raven queen, and then cut all the self mutilation out of the picture, this would prolly be my favorite country in any setting. I just can't stand all the body horror, it gives me a tick.
That's a fair reaction tbh
Eh, still better than Cheliax. If they had any other neighbour they would have all fled by now.
Honestly I'm not sure which nation I'd rather live in... make your way east to Andoran or north to Varisia if you can.
Shockingly bad placenames. Random syllables smashed together do not make for a coherent or believable setting imo.
Whatever chief