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*RUXP
285�/25'�,1�,521
CN god of battle, strength, and weapons
Realm Clashing Shore (Elysium)
Allies none
Enemies Achaekek, Norgorber, Urgathoa
Temples armories, battle elds, fortresses
Worshippers half-orcs, mercenaries, smiths, soldiers
Sacred Animal rhinoceros
Sacred Colors gray and red
Divine Ability Strength or Constitution

The clash of steel, the cry of victory, the gasping

denial of death: these are the sound of prayers
to Our Lord in Iron, for to follow Gorum is
to ght. Gorum does not care the reason for
battle—a village’s desperate stand against
raiders is no less worthwhile to him than a
crusader army marching against demons in the
Sarkoris Scar—nor does he choose sides in such
clashes. Good or evil, law or chaos, the reason for
the ght is irrelevant. It is the thrill of battle that
nds his favor, the crucible of struggle in which
victory is there for the taking.
Gorum recognizes the value of strategic warfare and
the need for archery, siege weapons, and stealth, but those hold little
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allure for him compared to hand-to-hand combat, the contest of raw, 41 24358

brute strength against honed, deadly skill. Gorum takes no pleasure in

one-sided ghts or the slaughter of innocents; an armored knight drawing
a sword in his name against a helpless peasant might nd his blade rust
away. Far more delightful would be the peasant’s seemingly pointless swing
of an iron pot, which might be answered as if it were a spoken prayer and
transformed into a deadly blow.
The god’s followers hold that one is either brave or a coward,
with battle the threshing oor that separates the wheat from the
chaff. Death in battle is an honor. While tactical retreats or even
breaks in ghting to negotiate are tolerable, no greater shame
can befall a person than to ee from combat. Murder and
assassination similarly offer no honor, and Gorum feels
nothing but contempt for those practices, as well as
for Achaekek and Norgorber, who condone them. The
god and his followers likewise look on Urgathoa
with disdain, as her diseases steal lives in the sickbed
while the gluttony she promotes destroys warriors’ tness
for meaningful battle.
Gorum’s followers are innumerable: soldiers,
mercenaries, knights, and raiders across the
Inner Sea region offer him tribute, especially in
places where battle is an everyday way of life, such
as Belkzen, the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, the
Realm of the Mammoth Lords, and the Gravelands.
Believers claim that the god’s spirit lives in iron and
gird themselves in metal armor whenever possible.
They ght frequently, though not always, to the
death—battle can establish dominance, relieve
tension, or even just serve as prayer.
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His priests are hard to differentiate from his other followers. They
commonly wear armor (or heavy robes that incorporate metal) as their
vestments and are adorned with all manner of weapons, making them GODS &
walking arsenals ready to draw steel at the slightest opportunity. Though MAGIC
Gorum has no sacred text, his followers learn the church’s creed from a
OVERVIEW
collection of seven heroic poems called the Gorumskagat. Each verse keeps
to a rhythm that remains the same across all translations, which warriors GODS OF THE
learn to recognize and chant while on the march. These chants harmonize INNER SEA
into the haunting sound of a roaring battle, and Gorumite warbands take
great pride in chants that suggest great con icts. Battle is the true DEMIGODS
AND OTHER
language of Gorum, acting as the great uni er, and it
DIVINITIES
differs little whether fought by those speaking Shoanti
or Dwarven. PHILOSOPHIES
Gorum’s clerics preach that should all battle ever end, AND
Gorum would abandon Golarion, only to return when SPIRITUALITY
mortals inevitably clash again. His most holy sites are
CHARACTER
battle elds, consecrated by the struggles, blood, and OPTIONS
lives of those ghting on them. His temples resemble
fortresses, complete with armories and forges—even those APPENDIX
in the midst of peaceful cities. They contain images of the
INDEX AND
god, often pictured as a suit of spiked plate armor with
GLOSSARY
burning red eyes. Shrines to him are simple: a pile of stones capped
with a metal helm or a blade jammed into a crevice.
Among adventurers, most Gorumites are humans or half-orcs, though
followers can be found among all ancestries. They are valued companions Aphorisms
thanks to their skill at defeating foes, even though violence tends to be With worship of Gorum widespread
their rst answer to every problem. They typically set out not in search of across the Inner Sea region, these
great treasures but rather to nd challenges, test their mettle, and honor common sayings can be heard in many
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their god in glorious combat. The most fortunate prove themselves by languages and cultures. 41 24359

emerging from battle victorious time and time again, but even these are Blood, not rust: Gorum believes
more likely to be slain on the battle eld than to retire and fade away into a warrior should keep her armor
old age. clean, but if it must be dirty, better
with an enemy’s blood—or even the
',9,1(�,17(5&(66,21 wearer’s—than rust. This phrase
Gorum views things very simply: one either ghts and earns his favor, or one encapsulates the idea that something
is a coward and receives only scorn. that may not seem perfect can still
R RR Gorum grants you a weapon whenever you need one. You be acceptable. Some devotees of the
can use an Interact action to draw a 0-level non-magical iron weapon, even god instead interpret this phrase as a
if you have no weapons on your person. Such a weapon lasts only as long as call to action, especially in the face of
you continue using it to attack, and it can’t be sold, given away, melted for hopeless odds, believing it is far better
scrap iron, or the like. to risk death in battle than to simply
RG RR Your blows become unstoppable, carrying the momentum rot into old age.
of Gorum’s thrill for battle. Your greatsword Strikes gain the forceful trait. Iron-tongued: This descriptor—kin
MR RR Gorum feeds you the zeal of his undying warriors, allowing to silver-tongued and acid-tongued—is
you to draw upon your own life force to ght on and on without falling. used to describe people who always
Whenever you would be reduced to 0 Hit Points, you are instead healed manage to say the right thing to start
to half your maximum Hit Points and become doomed 1 (or increase your a ght, though few openly connect the
doomed condition by 1). phrase to Our Lord in Iron.
R Gorum rewards cowardice with frailty. Any armor you wear
and shield you wield reduces its item bonus to AC by 2 (minimum 0) and its
Hardness, Hit Points, and Break Threshold by half.
RG You’ve lost the glory of slaying a worthy opponent. All of
your weapon and unarmed attacks decrease their damage dice by one step,
and all your attacks are nonlethal.
MR You are unable to keep up with the rigors of combat. The
moment a combat breaks out, you become fatigued and slowed 1. At the end
of each of your turns, your slowed condition increases by 1. These conditions
end only when you are no longer in combat.
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