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I'm making a cleric of Sarenrae character and trying to flesh out a few details.
The obvious is what should my character call herself? I think the title of Priestess is probably reserved for those who have a permanent position in an established temple (or is it called a church?). So what would an adventuring cleric be called?
Also, given that Sarenrae is the Goddess of Honesty, among other things, can I safely assume that the line for bluff skill bonus on my character sheet should read "Become an ex-cleric"? I've never played a character that can't lie before, or a female character for that matter, so this should be an interesting role playing challenge.
Actually, that's one thing that kinda bugs me about Sarenrae. Doesn't honesty seem like a lawful thing to anyone else? I just can't imagine the diety of honesty being NG, rather than lawful.
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I'm making a cleric of Sarenrae character and trying to flesh out a few details.
The obvious is what should my character call herself? I think the title of Priestess is probably reserved for those who have a permanent position in an established temple (or is it called a church?). So what would an adventuring cleric be called?
Also, given that Sarenrae is the Goddess of Honesty, among other things, can I safely assume that the line for bluff skill bonus on my character sheet should read "Become an ex-cleric"? I've never played a character that can't lie before, or a female character for that matter, so this should be an interesting role playing challenge.
Actually, that's one thing that kinda bugs me about Sarenrae. Doesn't honesty seem like a lawful thing to anyone else? I just can't imagine the diety of honesty being NG, rather than lawful.
The head priests are called Dawnmother or Dawnfather, so maybe Dawnsister?
Also, of course you can lie: Sarenrae is a virtuous and conciliatory goddess: never lying is a confrontational attitude which does not suit her worshippers.
To be honest (no pun intended), the honesty thing isn't in her full write-up and seems a bit tacked on to Faiths of Purity. I think it means the deeper, more moral sense of not ripping people off or setting out to deceive, rather than the surface 'honesty' of refusing to lie.
Actually, FoP calls out her taboos, and lying isn't in there:
Taboos
There are few taboos in your faith, and most of them
deal with casual cruelty or thoughtlessness that might
harm others. When you have been thoughtless, or when
you have unnecessarily crushed hope or joy—whether on
purpose or inadvertently—you must seek out the wronged
person and obtain his forgiveness. If he does not forgive
you immediately, you must (within limits) serve him for
a period, depending on the severity of the offense. If he
asks you to harm another, your service is ended: you serve
only the good.
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Well, now you're making me want to by Faiths of Purity. I already bought Gods and Magic when I decided to play a cleric, so I could look at all the gods and pick one that suited my character concept. But apparently, FoP has more details, and it's not very expensive...
*sucking sound of dollars flying out of my wallet and flying to Paizo's offices*
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Well, now you're making me want to by Faiths of Purity. I already bought Gods and Magic when I decided to play a cleric, so I could look at all the gods and pick one that suited my character concept. But apparently, FoP has more details, and it's not very expensive...
*sucking sound of dollars flying out of my wallet and flying to Paizo's offices*
I like FoP, it's very supportive of character creation.
If you really like your god-stuff then the second Legacy Of Fire AP (House of the Beast) has the most extensive article on Sarenrae: 6 pages, including aphorisms, associated myths and optional summoning.
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Looking again in Gods and Magic, I'm not sure if I agree with you about Sarenrae being ok with lying. It specifically lists lies among her "turn offs", along with things like cruelty and needless suffering. Obviously, some things are bigger problems than others, but it did make the list.
As you said, she's very conciliatory, so maybe she'd tolerate lies in the name of keeping the peace, or minor "white lies" to avoid hurting someone's feelings. But I can't imagine her priests getting away with the types of big lies that usually require a bluff check in game, without at least seeking atonement afterward.
I was already planning for my character to never participate directly in lying, but tolerating it from her teammates if she truly believes it's for the greater good (ie she's not "lawful stupid"), and I think I'll stick to that.
Also Gods and Magic seems to just refer to the clergy of Sarenrae as "priests", and her places of worship as "temples". But that book seems to do that for most of the dieties, so I think it might just be generic terminology. So I'm still not sure if I should refer to my character as a priestess, or start with another term to indicate lower rank in the temple hierarchy.
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Yup: the word "priest" is a generic word for "someone who worships a deity or takes part in a religion and has an active role in that faith's organization." It can apply to clerics, oracles, wizards, fighters, paladins, or whoever. Doesn't apply just to clerics.
Yeah, I kinda figured that Gods and Magic used the word that way for that reason.
But that still doesn't answer the question of what formal title my first level adventuring cleric of Sarenrae would hold within the church hierarchy. She's a priestess, but she's probably not a Priestess yet.
Yup: the word "priest" is a generic word for "someone who worships a deity or takes part in a religion and has an active role in that faith's organization." It can apply to clerics, oracles, wizards, fighters, paladins, or whoever. Doesn't apply just to clerics.Yeah, I kinda figured that Gods and Magic used the word that way for that reason.
But that still doesn't answer the question of what formal title my first level adventuring cleric of Sarenrae would hold within the church hierarchy. She's a priestess, but she's probably not a Priestess yet.
Perhaps you should look at a page like this
Acolyte would be a simple choice.
Other than that, you might want to determine what "denomination" your priestess is from. Some are more warlike than others and some may have a stronger connection to Qadira and the Kelishite Empire and that can be used to construct a title. For instance, she could simply be referred to as a traveling "blade", then later a "burning blade" and finally a "blade of the dawn", etc. Or, just something along those lines.
I think "formal" may not really be so formal in a nonlawful hierarchy...
The obvious is what should my character call herself? I think the title of Priestess is probably reserved for those who have a permanent position in an established temple (or is it called a church?). So what would an adventuring cleric be called?
Church and temple are used interchangeably now a days but considering the model of the world and in the original meaning of the world a church was not a place. So temple would probably be more accurate.
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Yup: the word "priest" is a generic word for "someone who worships a deity or takes part in a religion and has an active role in that faith's organization." It can apply to clerics, oracles, wizards, fighters, paladins, or whoever. Doesn't apply just to clerics.Yeah, I kinda figured that Gods and Magic used the word that way for that reason.
But that still doesn't answer the question of what formal title my first level adventuring cleric of Sarenrae would hold within the church hierarchy. She's a priestess, but she's probably not a Priestess yet.
Perhaps you should look at a page like this
Acolyte would be a simple choice.
Other than that, you might want to determine what "denomination" your priestess is from. Some are more warlike than others and some may have a stronger connection to Qadira and the Kelishite Empire and that can be used to construct a title. For instance, she could simply be referred to as a traveling "blade", then later a "burning blade" and finally a "blade of the dawn", etc. Or, just something along those lines.
I think "formal" may not really be so formal in a nonlawful hierarchy...
Yeah, I was thinking Acolyte, but for completely different reasons. I looked it up in the 1st edition AD&D Players Handbook, and that was the formal title for a first level cleric there. :p That would mean Adept at level 2 and Priest at level 3. I may actually go with that, and just keep calling her Priestess after level 3, as that seems like a good enough generic, formal title, once she's earned the right to be called it.
My character's definitely not tied to Sarenrae's traditional geographic regions at all. Her family has worked for the Pathfinder Society for generations, living in Absalom to be based near the Grand Lodge. The family's traditional patrons are Aroden and Iomedae, with her father being a paladin of Iomedae. She grew up learning about the various good dieties and was drawn to the softer side of Sarenrae's nature as the goddess of redemption and healing, while appreciating that Sarenrae can still smite some evil butt when needed.
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'cleric' is actually a pretty appropriate title imo.. even if at first it seems uninspired because it's also the class name.
As for the bluff skill, there's a couple ways to look at it.
One, is the combat application (feint) Totally a reasonable reason to be good at bluff even if you have a vow to never lie.
Two, the 'little white lie' aspect. Even if you like the idea of a character that never lies, being able to suppress your reactions to something some NPC says will still be of great diplomatic value.
example: "I, NPC who holds some critical information you need, profess some view you find blasphemous, vile, and or generally unpleasant!"
Cleric of Sarenae PC: "..."
GM: Make a bluff check to avoid insulting him and making your diplomacy check that much harder...
My character's definitely not tied to Sarenrae's traditional geographic regions at all. Her family has worked for the Pathfinder Society for generations, living in Absalom to be based near the Grand Lodge. The family's traditional patrons are Aroden and Iomedae, with her father being a paladin of Iomedae.
Knowing what I know about your father, is it possible that your character also may lay claim to an honorific related more to her social standing? "Lady Brightblade"? If so, is she cleric first- noblewoman second? Does she even acknowledge her social station?
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My character's definitely not tied to Sarenrae's traditional geographic regions at all. Her family has worked for the Pathfinder Society for generations, living in Absalom to be based near the Grand Lodge. The family's traditional patrons are Aroden and Iomedae, with her father being a paladin of Iomedae.Knowing what I know about your father, is it possible that your character also may lay claim to an honorific related more to her social standing? "Lady Brightblade"? If so, is she cleric first- noblewoman second? Does she even acknowledge her social station?
"I'm not that old! Lady Brightsword is my mother!" :lol:
I definitely think her rank within the church hierarchy would trump her noble standing. I'm thinking of maybe just calling her Sister Isabella.