(art by JohanGrenier on DeviantArt, used as actual concept art in Pathfinder!)

And it’s time for another subdomain, and it’s another one tied to a type of outsider, specifically the failed and monstrous creations of the fallen titans, the demodands!

Now, the lore surrounding the titans in Pathfinder is spotty and contradictory, with some sources claiming the rebellious ones were banished to Abaddon and not the Abyss, others claim that the formorian titans were the oldest, others the danava… it’s a whole mess that somebody should go through and sort out at some point.

What does remain consistent is that the wicked, rebellious titans, even after being banished to the Abyss, were still spiteful and envious of the gods, and so sought to make their own worshippers (with blackja-), an outsider clan more powerful than most other divine servitors or mortals, and beautiful and perfect as well.

Whether it was the Abyssal clay used to shape them, the vindictive emotion in the blood they used to bring them to life, or perhaps the fundamental inability of these not-quite deific beings to truly create, (probably a bit of all that and more) their creations: the demodands, were perfect and beautiful for like half a minute before, like an amateur child sculptor’s creation, began to sag and warp, breaking down into ugly, horrific forms. Some sweating foul tar or slime, some sprouting scales, uneven fur, or horribly long skin protrusions, and all breaking down at the seams in some way or another.

But they did not die, and despite the horror and pain of their own existence, they remained loyal to the titans and eager to please (for they had been made to know no other way).

And so were born the demodands, horrors that destroy, torment, enslave, and corrupt the mortals that the gods show their love to and in turn be showered with worship from, loyal only to their creators.

(Which is why it’s really weird that this subdomain is listed as being in Rovagug and Yaezhing’s portfolios. I mean Rovagug I kinda get since I can imagine the titans ordering their creations to go out and answer the call of Rovagug's cult since their interests and goals align somewhat (or are at least useful to their goals), but Yaezhing is a god of brutal but otherwise divine judgement. I doubt he’d ever work with such beings, nor they him.

This subdomain is almost guaranteed to show up exclusively in the anti-theist cults that tend to crop up when corrupted mortals are set back loose on their homeworlds, spreading their hate to try and prepare worlds for invasion by titan and demodand forces and rob mortals of their faith in the gods. There is of course no reward for such efforts, only more servitude or death.

Of course, before we go into what these poor twisted fools actually get from the domain, I would be remiss to not mention the current flux that demodands as a whole find themselves in.

You see, aside from the nebulous and contradictory lore of titans in Pathfinder, demodands are actually another example of a holdover from D&D. Originally, demodands were an artificially created clade supposedly made by combining diabolic and demonic power, experiments by the yugoloth/daemons. These beings were exiled to the prison/like plane of Carceri, where they took to the role of wardens.

That history in various editions of the World’s Oldest Roleplaying Game (with only three unique additions from Pathfinder) means that if and when they show up again, they’ll probably receive a new name and facelift (like what happened to nightshades). Hopefully when it happens they won’t end up looking terrible and boring (like what happened to nightshades).

But with that out of the way, lets see what fell power they have to offer those unlucky enough to have been twisted to their worship!

Rather than the touch of chaos or evil powers, those who tap into this domain gain the ability to utilize a lesser form of the demodand’s infamous faith-stealing power with their attacks, briefly inhibiting the link between a divine caster and their deity.

The spell changes of the subdomain include being able to align their weapons to both chaos and evil, rather than only one. Furthermore, rather than infuse objects with life to cause chaos, these divine casters instead emulate the corrosive slime of some demodands to inflict foes with long-lasting, rapidly-spreading acid.

For both clerics and inquisitors, this subdomain has a fairly unique ability to make them hunters of divine casters, though obviously this is most effective if you have a team to fully take advantage of this shutdown since it lasts such a short time. The spells that clerics can use, on the other hand, makes one of their lower-level options more flexible, and also grants them a genuinely nasty high-damage spell that either punishes foes with high damage or forces them to waste actions to mitigate it.

Now, this subdomain is canonically only available to some of the most broken abuse victims in the entire setting, so unless you’re trying to explore that with a character that starts evil, this domain is almost exclusively going to be villain territory. It could be fun roleplaying a character that could be convinced to return to the light by making them realize that they’re no longer fully in the grip of a power that literally cut them off from their deity and other sources of support. On the other hand, be mindful of your table, and if anyone’s got abuse as a hard no, maybe eschew using it for that campaign.

Sometimes driders who escape drow society learn to look beyond the demonic powers that hold most of their former people in thrall, and call out to something, anything else. Unfortunately for Lunixa, what answered her call was so much worse, twisting her into a servant of the ones that would tear the gods from the heavens.

Normally preferring to fight alongside similarly-aligned clergy, Noctis the ahmuuth psychopomp is forced to seek out the party when a charge he was meant to collect for the underworld was dragged away be a fearsome demodand hunting party and their cleric-slaves. What they want with the wayward soul is unknown, but they know they could not handle such powerful beings on their own.

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Artifice covers a lot of things, with anything created by the efforts of sapient beings, be they handcrafted or made with machine assistance, falling under that purview. Few creations are as insidious, however, as the trap.

Indeed, from simple snares to rigged chokepoints to the classical hallways and rooms of death of fiction, traps have been a source of impersonal, automated doom for adventurers since the very first edition of the World’s Oldest Roleplaying Game. In fact Gary Gygax’s own personal “meat grinder” dungeon, the Tomb of Horrors, is heavily focused on such things.

I could go on and on about traps themselves (and should probably make a special on that at some point), but today we’re looking at the Trap Subdomain of the Artifice Domain, which can be found in “Kobolds of Golarion”

Indeed, Kobolds have been associated with traps for a long time as well, and for good reason. Since they lack the physical might of the dragons they venerate, kobolds must use their cunning, either mastering magic or turning to feats of engineering to protect themselves.

Interestingly enough, this subdomain, as written, is actually locked behind a trait, and not directly associated with any deity. Kobold characters with the Kobold Faith trait can pick this and a handful of other subdomains if their deity has the associated domains. With that in mind, this subdomain could be seen as a corruption of a deity’s core teachings, or perhaps a refinement, depending on the god.

Regardless, whether you choose to limit access to this subdomain or not, it represents a unique focus of artifice, using traps to protect oneself or precious things, to hunt, or in the most sinister cases, torment foes.

 Rather than command a weapon to come to life and attack foes, these mystics instead learn the secrets of creating a single supernatural trap associated with the trapper archetype of rangers. Which trap they pick is up to them, but it adds a nasty trick to their arsenal.

Additionally, rather than mold wood and stone or create walls of iron, this domain grants a handful of trap-related spells, namely one that can quickly create a magical basic snare, one that enhances the effectiveness of an existing trap, and one that wards an area so that teleporting invaders are shunted to where the caster wants them to be.

Definitely a more defensive subdomain, this one might not see a lot of player use unless the player really wants to make a trap-focused character. Clerics will definitely make use of the fabricate spell to make various mundane traps of their own when time and scenario allows for it, and both clerics and inquisitors will definitely want ways to carry traps with them, either by using Learn Ranger Trap to gain a few mundane rigs, or by purchasing or designing deployable traps like bear traps, rigged crossbows, and so on. Alternatively this might just be a minor aspect of the build, a way to prepare for future conflict.

 While typically this archetype is associated with kobolds, it doesn’t have to be. Whatever race you end up picking for such a character is likely a cunning person that does not value honor and glory in combat, only victory and survival, thus, they probably don’t fit the textbook definition of good, though they are not necessarily evil.

  Fascinated by the materials used by surfacers, Igibool decided to enter the clergy of The Crafter. However, after joining an expedition to a ruined outpost, his devotional blueprints have taken on a more sinister tone, the locathah becoming inspired by the traps utilized by the bandits therein.

 As aloof and cruel as his kin, Krongax the salt mephit brooks no intruders in his domain, and delights in tormenting those that do, using his keen mind and divinely granted powers to lure interlopers into increasingly creative traps, often wounding them to the point of immobility and leaving them to suffer and die, often spawning unquiet dead.

One of the biggest advantages of civilization is the ability of its members to work together, accomplishing great feats by pooling their resources. Whether it be working together to build or repair a wall, teams of craftsmen creating a large group of finished products, or anything like that, up to and including actual industrialization, depending on the setting.

This differs from the Toil subdomain in that while both can produce great works, toil focuses more on repetition and they physical demands of the labor involved, making it more associated with grueling work and evil deities that seek to work their mortal worshipers to their limit and beyond.

Associated with the Urban Acolyte trait, this subdomain is normally impossible to take unless that trait is also taken, though like the apocrypha subdomains, this is subject to modification by the GM.

I imagine that inquisitors that take this subdomain might serve the deities of a community, and are the protectors of workers and the common folk whose labor makes civilization possible.

Indeed, the same could be said of clerics, as they act as shepherds of the people working to make their lives better, overseeing and aiding in great works.

 Those with this domain eventually become able to project an aura that sooths fatigue and improves the durability of their equipment, while weakening other objects nearby, allowing those within to work longer and break through materials more easily should they need to. This has combat applications as well, warding them against magical effects meant to exhaust them, protect their equipment, and shatter that of their foes.

Clerics also get a few different spells than the ordinary artifice subdomain, replacing magic meant to animate rope, conjure iron barriers, and create domed energy barriers with those that bless craftsfolk with greater skill, create temporary extradimensional mansions, or conjure forth small squadrons of wooden golems to serve and fight.

This subdomain provides a flavorful connection to a community, but it also has its uses beyond downtime labor. The aura can be useful against certain necromancy spells, as well as other magic meant to force exhaustion. Not to mention how it can protect against foes that target equipment, or make enemy equipment and environmental objects more vulnerable. The altered spells also make the cleric more useful during downtime, both in town and while resting. I recommend this subdomain for builds of either class that focus on supporting allies.

 These divine casters are likely a big part of the community or workforce, and likely make the effort to get to know everyone. In their home turf or anywhere they’ve spent a significant amount of time, they are likely a friendly face that the locals rely on, and vice versa.

  Aside from the troglodytes that remain, xulgath society has vanished from the world, or so they say. Rumor has it that at least one city remains in stasis below ground, populated by not only soldiers, but divinely empowered civil engineers to help conquer and rebuild.

 Though their time as an ambulatory food source has ended, the ghoran continue to help provide for the other races of the nation, working in agriculture and infusing small bits of foodstuff with magic to improve its nutritional value. Some even go as far as to become devotees of The Sacred Spade, channeling the divine to help improve crop yields and farmer efficiency.

One of the biggest advantages of those that build are the servants they make for themselves. Constructs are a long-time staple of fantasy in various forms, and there’s no denying the strength of created servants, whether they be laborers, warriors, or experiments into the artificial creation of living beings.

In fact, one might argue that one of the greatest goals of artifice is to create artificial beings that equal organic creatures in intelligence and adaptability, making this subdomain a noble, if difficult and expensive, pursuit.

From the expert clockmaker to the priest holding the secrets of creating humanoids from clay, there are plenty of ways to use this subdomain.

Inquisitors that take this subdomain likely do so out of a desire to create divine constructs to further arm  the faith against their enemies, but they might have difficulty making certain constructs due to their limited spell selection.

 Though they still gain the ability to heal and harm constructs and objects with a touch, these clerics also gain the ability to temporarily animate objects, creating construct servants out of almost anything nearby.

Additionally, they also learn a few alternate spells, namely the ability to make minor rewrites to reality and transmute almost any substance into any other, both of which are very useful for crafting constructs.

Having added utility and/or ready-made tough, but limited constructed minions has its uses, but this subdomain really is meant to be paired with crafting feats, particularly craft construct, either through the normal method, or through the accelerated method with the story feat Defender of the People. Most of your character’s budget is probably going to go into saving up to craft your constructs or magic items, so keep that in mind. I recommend a build that can support allies, including ones that don’t benefit from morale, such as most constructs.

 Artifice domain users might already be insular, staying in their workshops, but construct domain users might be even more so, preferring the company of their creations over that of other living beings.

  It has taken decades of work and tapping into truly mythical realms of power, but the magnum opus of the grand priest Yanovi, a quintessence golem dedicated to the goddess of fate, is almost complete. However, Some believe that the creation of a being made from the very essence of the planes is blasphemy, and seek to slay Yanovi before his work is complete, resorting to drastic measures to combat the mythical mage.

 They say that wood golems made from the peach wood of a toshigami’s ward have strange mystical powers, similar the oaks of dryads and so on. However, the violence usually necessary to acquire this wood taints the golem, making them especially violent. There are, however, stories of dying Toshigami bequeathing their trees to worthy mages and priests.