Avowed is one of the most hotly anticipated RPGs of the coming console generation. Set in Obsidian Entertainment’s world of Eora, first featured in the studio’s Pillars of Eternity games, the trailer's first-person sword-and-sorcery style has many fans hoping to get their fantasy fix in the absence of news from Bethesda about The Elder Scrolls 6.
The world of Eora contains many different races, including relatively standard fantasy Elves and Dwarves. However, the divinely mutated Godlike are among the strangest races in Avowed, if they can be called a single race at all, and are sure to provide some great roleplaying opportunities in the upcoming RPG.
The Gods
The gods of Eora were created by an ancient people called the Engwithans who formed a civilization was supposedly roughly evenly composed of the various civilized “Kith” races of the world. The Engwithans created the gods, each based on a pure ideal, after they discovered the absence of gods and harnessed Animancy – the science of souls – to create false idols from the harvested souls of their own people.
The fact that the gods had been created by mortals was a secret so tightly kept that when a single wood elf inadvertently discovered the truth an Inquisition was set up immediately to destroy all evidence of the subsequent atheist movement. By the time of Pillars of Eternity, the gods of Eora are in a strange spot. They are immensely powerful beings that each represent a single core ideal, and despite being made by mortals they are able to have intense and notable impacts on the lives of their Kith followers.
One of the biggest ways that the impact of the gods is felt across is Eora is through the Godlike. The Godlike are Kith that are blessed – or, depending on point of view, cursed – by one of the gods. They are revered and often feared by the other Kith, and are believed to have a particular connection to their god, though characters like Vatnir the Priest in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire find their blessing to be more of an inconvenience, and opportunistically exploit their perceived holiness.
The Types of Godlike
The Godlike vary greatly in appearance. Not only can any of Pillars of Eternity's Kith races be born a Godlike, but their appearance will differ greatly depending on which god chose them. Here are the main types of Godlike and the way their blessings manifest:
- Death Godlike: Blessed by Berath, they often have horrifying growths that cover their eyes and make them some of the most feared of all the Godlike. Undead will not attack them, but the same cannot be said for the living.
- Fire Godlike: Blessed by Magran, the fire Godlike have bodies that resemble burning wood or metal, and fire crackles beneath their skin. It was the followers of Magran who built the magical Godhammer bomb that killed Saint Waidwen, ending the Saint’s War.
- Moon and Marine Godlike: Blessed by Ondra, the Moon Godlike are often the most trusted, these Godlike usually only have pale skin and sometimes a moon-like growth on their head. Ondra is also known as Ngati, the goddess of the sea, and so also creates the Marine Godlike, who have some of the features of aquatic animals like tentacles for hair or ink-producing glands. Marine Godlike were not playable in Pillars of Eternity.
- Nature Godlike: Blessed by Galawain, these Godlike have animal or plant-like features, such as developing deer-like horns and ears. As with the Moon Godlike, these are often some of the least feared of all the Godlike.
- Avian Godlike: Blessed by Hylea, these Godlike can have anything from a few feathers along their face to a beak. They have also not been available as playable characters in Pillars of Eternity so far, but could easily be included in Avowed.
- The Endings Godlike: Blessed by Rrmygand, these Godlike are ravaged by disease and spread it wherever they go, and are also unplayable in PoE.
- Skaen’s Godlike: Skaen is the god of resentment, rebellion, and secret hatred. He appears as a flayed slave, and as a result his Godlike are often born so deformed that they are killed before their parents even realize the divine influence. These also have not been playable so far.
As well as carrying the burden of their “blessing,” Godlike are unable to reproduce and Obsidian Entertainment developer Josh Sawyer confirmed that Godlike can have difficulties when it comes to marriage. Sawyer explained that in the Vailian Republics, a confederation of city states, Godlike do not have legal sex or gender because they cannot reproduce, and that such legal constructs can cause difficulties for them. Whether he meant that they simply dislike legal constructs or whether binding them by law has a literal effect on them is unclear.
The effects of being blessed by a god can also be reduced if caught early enough. Vailian animancer Giacolo discovered that Godlike souls have a unique “chime” that can be detected when the child is still in the womb. This chime can be severed from the child before they have completed puberty to prevent them from mutating and to reduce their already manifested mutations.
The Godlike could be one of the most customizable races in Avowed if included as a playable race as they were in Pillars of Eternity. It remains to be seen whether or not Avowed will allow every Kith race to be Godlike as they can be in the lore, or whether or not all types of Godlike will be seen or be playable in the game.
The Godlike have connections to some of the strangest phenomena in all of Eora, standing as living proof of gods that nonetheless were made by mortals. It is likely that the Godlike will help distinguish Avowed from standard fantasy settings, and, if playable, could provide some of the most unique roleplaying opportunities in all of fantasy gaming.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.