Cole Deschain |
Abadar, Iomedae, Pharasma, Zon-Kuthon, Desna, Urgathoa, & Sarenrae all confirmed for Starfinder, so yay/not yay, depending on your point of view.
Mostly yay!
Although I think the church of Shelyn is going to be a LOT more prominent at crossover gaming tables than it is in-setting... I get that that she's not particularly space-happy, but can you imagine how GORGEOUS a Shelynite ship could be?
Malefactor |
Malefactor wrote:Abadar, Iomedae, Pharasma, Zon-Kuthon, Desna, Urgathoa, & Sarenrae all confirmed for Starfinder, so yay/not yay, depending on your point of view.Where is this? Could you link it?
It was during the Paizo livestream. They should be putting it on their Youtube channel after they finish streaming.
The Sideromancer |
Malefactor wrote:Abadar, Iomedae, Pharasma, Zon-Kuthon, Desna, Urgathoa, & Sarenrae all confirmed for Starfinder, so yay/not yay, depending on your point of view.Mostly yay!
Although I think the church of Shelyn is going to be a LOT more prominent at crossover gaming tables than it is in-setting... I get that that she's not particularly space-happy, but can you imagine how GORGEOUS a Shelynite ship could be?
I'd rather pore over a drive core designed by Nethys, personally.
Michael7123 |
Milani. She's just about the only chaotic deity that I've seen where the "chaotic" part of the alignment isn't used as a way of having the negative/evil aspects of the deity be brushed aside as not actually being evil/negative. (IE: Calistria, Gorum, Besmara, and to a lesser extent Cayden, I'm looking at you.)
She's the best example of what the chaotic good alignment ought to be about- just as dedicated to selflessness, heroism, self sacrifice, and compassion as any other good aligned person can be. I only wish she had been one of the core 20 deities. Oh well, what to do.
MMCJawa |
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After thinking about it a bit, Here would be my favorite deities by alignment
LE: Asmodeus hands down. LE to me has always attracted me as the most interesting of alignments. Ultimately They are capital E, but the fact they operate with a veneer of civility makes it all the horrible when they inevitably betray you. Asmodeus has a plan, and that plan results in him ruling over the planes, not destroying them directly or indirectly, like most of the other evils. That he is head of a rigid hierarchy of lesser dieties and devils makes him all the more dangerous. Plus, Asmodeus is the classic fallen angel expy, and the story of the fall is perhaps one of the most interesting tales from religion and its subsequent retellings
NE: Hands down Norgorber, although I think a lot of his shtick is shared with other deities. Still I find the "4 halflings in a trenchcoat" idea inherently amusing, and the fact that his faith can take 4 different aspects which may actually be deeply philosophically opposed to one another is very interesting
CE: Rovagug, because it practically took almost all of the rest of creation to defeat him, and even they only managed to imprison him, a prison that is rapidly developing holes
LN: I guess Alseta? Honestly not a lot of options, especially since as of yet there are very very few options for demigod level beings
N: Pharasma, as the classic Neutral judge of the dead. I also like that she is paired with prophecy and birth, which are aspects that really do mesh well together and complement each other in a portfolio
CN: Calistria. I like there is an option that draws upon the classic idea of temple prostitutes (I tend to think of Calistrian clergy as kind of like the companions in Firefly). Pairing her with vengeance is also pretty great
LG: Several decent options amongst the Empyreal lords, with Ragathiel having the most interesting backstory probably, but Lymnieris being pretty interesting option for worship for players
NG: Shelyn. I just think they did a good job with the characterization of love and beauty in her development. The fact that every god loves her, even if in a very twisted way, is great. Plus I see a lot of very interesting interaction between her clergy and Zon Kuthon
CG: Well, I like the idea that "Desna is actually an eldritch abominaton...just a really nice one" pretty compelling, and the Mothra links are nice.
GM Xan Nes |
Gotta say, I am a diehard Desna fan. Went through Inner Sea Gods just to read more on her. and I wasn't disapointed. I like that she is there to protect dreams and travlers/ slash that is one thing her followers tend to do.
Made me think of a ranger (Divine Hunter) who would just help out any random stranger if they were about to lose hope, like the Mysterious Stranger from the fallout series.
Set |
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Desna is indeed my favorite of the 'big 20,' but of the B-team, I'm a fan of Alseta, Brigh, Sivanah and Yuelral, and gosh, my sexist preferences for female deities is showing...
From previous settings;
Greyhawk - Wee Jas (magic and death, two great tastes that taste great together!), Trithereon (love the summoner aspect and his three animal companions, covering land, sea and sky), Rao (a good god of peace, reason and serenity? Nice! I played my only Greyhawk Paladin as a diplomat and peace-maker devoted to Rao), Celestian (god of the stars, really came into his own when Spelljammer came along), Istus (goddesss of fate, gave both the Chaos and Law domains, and it totally made sense that she would, being a goddess of both random chance and ordained destiny!)
Realms - Jergal (possible prehumen god predating the last two gods of death? Oh yeah!), Azuth (no-nonsense god of wizards, not quite as sentimental as his boss, Mystra), Torm (while I hated the Time of Troubles, his fight against Bane in Tantras made me a fan!), Lleira (a mysterious goddess of illusion? Very cool!), Auril (I wrote an entire campaign around her followers trying to kick off a Fimbulwinter), Gond (technology!), Tymora (goddess of luck and adventurers! The first I recall that pretty much had 'god of adventurers' stamped right on her chassis, followed by the likes of Cayden Cailean), Loviatar (like Zon-Kuthon, but sexy!), Talona (not sexy, but useful as a source of villains)
Scarred Lands - Nemorga (a Neutral death-god whose not terribly fond of undead? I like this one!), Madriel (it's Sarenrae, with a spear, and a stronger focus on healing, she was my number one choice from the Victors, although the multi-gendered weather god/dess, who was totally not Gozreh, came a close second)
Demihuman - Aerdrie Faenya (another possible prehumen (or pre-elven!) deity, rumored in the realms to have been the god of an avian progenitor race that's long extinct), Deep Sashelas (sea elf fan for life!), Arvoreen (god of Halfling paladins! They're so cute! Ow, stop hitting me!)
Drahliana Moonrunner |
Milani. She's just about the only chaotic deity that I've seen where the "chaotic" part of the alignment isn't used as a way of having the negative/evil aspects of the deity be brushed aside as not actually being evil/negative. (IE: Calistria, Gorum, Besmara, and to a lesser extent Cayden, I'm looking at you.)
She's the best example of what the chaotic good alignment ought to be about- just as dedicated to selflessness, heroism, self sacrifice, and compassion as any other good aligned person can be. I only wish she had been one of the core 20 deities. Oh well, what to do.
A major part of her charm for me is that she isn't one of the Big 20. Her portfolio isn't really that all encompassing so it's actually appropriate that she isn't.
Drahliana Moonrunner |
Gotta say, I am a diehard Desna fan. Went through Inner Sea Gods just to read more on her. and I wasn't disapointed. I like that she is there to protect dreams and travlers/ slash that is one thing her followers tend to do.
Made me think of a ranger (Divine Hunter) who would just help out any random stranger if they were about to lose hope, like the Mysterious Stranger from the fallout series.
If you're a desna fan you should google Clinton Boomer's Chaotic Good Desnan Anti-Paladin archetype.
Razcar |
Pharasma. Because she has an important job and a purpose. And she seems detached, uncaring and alien, while not evil, and that's how I like my fantasy gods. :) Most of the other ones seem more like dilettante nobles, walking around looking for something to do or other gods to pick a fight with. But not Pharasma.
I like Norgorber as well, partly because of the name. With such as nerdy name you can just imagine all the toilet bowl christenings poor Norby got growing up in Vyr, and thus the size of the chip on his shoulder...
I would like to like Desna, but she is a little too cutesy with the fluttering butterflies and what not. I've grimdarked her a little in our campaign, more stars and travel, less eyelashes and gossamer.
I like Calistria. I like that there's a prominent elven goddess that's not about cliché elven stuff, like longbows, leaves and skipping around in meadows.
And I really like Ghlaunder. Just creepy and cool. And the adventure where it features prominently is one of my Paizo favs.
DM Beckett |
Flavor wise, Id have to say Ragathiel. Unfortunayely, mechanically speaking, I just dont think Paizo handled it well outside of the basic statblock.
As far as straight mechanical options, Im a fan of Sarenrae's options probably the most. I also like Desna's and C.C.'s Domains for cherry-picking, but dont teally care much one way or the other for the deity themselves or the established flavor.
Zon-Kuthon seems like he'd be really cool, but I just never really got around to playing a divine character of him. I just dont think the function really flows after the form. Same with Groteus. Cool concept, mediocre mechanical options all in all.
Ouachitonian |
Some alignments are more crowded than others, but there's almost always something I like, in any alignment.
LG: Tie between Ragathiel and Apsu. Apsu is my eternal go-to for good draconic beings, though I do wish there was more variety in Draconic gods. On the other hand, If I'm playing a paladin he's probably a Ragathiel worshipper (or else very niche, see my NG and LN entries). I enjoy the Wrathful Good aspect. It's just too bad he doesn't have fire for a domain. I would so enjoy a pyrokineticist or flames oracle who's all about cleansing bad guys in holy fire, and he's half fire elemental, so it'd make sense. Anyway, Ragathiel deserves to be a full god. Someone tell him to drop by the Starstone. Honorable mention to Erastil, but I wish he was NG so that Good Druids of his didn't have to be semi-heretical.
NG: I like Trudd. If I'm a dwarf, I'm almost certainly worshipping Trudd the Mighty. I've got a dwarf Stonelord paladin of Trudd submitted for a game right now, actually. For nondwarves, the Empyreal Lord Eritrice is one I like. As a Philosophy minor in college who works with lawyers, I can get behind a god of Debate and Truth. It's nice to have a Good deity for the 1% of lawyers who don't give the rest of the profession a bad name.
CG: I'm all about Milani here. Hope and uprisings! Down with the tyrants! But none of that crazy guillotine stuff. Seems like she should be more popular in Brevoy, among the Swordlords. At least, she is with my Swordlord in Kingmaker. If I'm a full elf or raised in Kyonin or something, I could see going Ketephys, though. Or maybe Cernunnos.
LN: Not an alignment I'm a fan of, really. I feel like Pharasma should be LN. Death is the unavoidable law that all must obey, after all. Also, that would make undead-hunting Paladins of Pharasma possible. I'm actually playing a character built like that right now, but he worships Alseta, whom I'm hoping also isn't a fan of undead since she's apparently a close associate of Pharasma.
N: Green Faith for all my nature characters who aren't Erastilians. Wait, you want an actual god? Ok, Nethys. Magic is power, and nothing else matters. Also really great for Master Chymists, because you can play off of his dual-mindedness and have the regular personality who's NG and wants to save the world and the mutagenic personality who's NE and wants to destroy it. I also like Pharasma, as I said earlier.
CN: Besmara, Gorum, and Sekhmet, the battle threesome. Which one depends on the character. Am I a pirate, or wanting a Fencing Grace build? Besmara. Am I a half-orc, or do I want to wear fullplate and wield a greatsword? Gourm. Am I in Osirion, or playing an Osiriani character? Sekhmet.
I'm not really a big Evil player, so I'm more ambivalent towards the rest of these. Usually.
LE: Achaekek is probably my go-to here (in part because he strikes me as more LN than really LE. He's basically the god of "just following orders"), unless I want fire or have some tie to giants, in which case you can't go wrong with Zursvaater. Half-giant Soulknife/Pyrokineticist of the Prince of Steel? Yes please.
NE: Honestly, Ymeri is probably my go-to here. Burn it all and let Pharasma sort it out. Or maybe Szuriel, if I'd rather hack it to tiny bits. But my evil pyrokineticists are usually Ymeri worshippers, out to turn the whole world into a burnt offering. Sezelrian works too if I'm an orc or half-orc, for the same reason as Ymeri.
CE: Maybe my least favorite alignment. Seriously, even if I play a CE character, I'm probably an antipaladin of a CN or NE deity. I do use Dahak pretty much exclusively if I'm an evil kobold, wyvaran, or other dragon-blooded being though.
It's funny, with every evil alignment, there's some fire tie. I guess bad me just likes burning things.
Set |
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LN: [snip] I'm actually playing a character built like that right now, but he worships Alseta, whom I'm hoping also isn't a fan of undead since she's apparently a close associate of Pharasma.
[tangent] While I have no idea if this is a canonical trait for the mainstream Alsetan church, it would make sense that she'd be less than fond of creatures like undead, who refuse to 'go through that last door' into the afterlife, and linger around unwelcome in the mortal world. IIRC, she's associated with transitions, as well as physical doorways, and undead (whether those like liches, who have usually chosen that continued stagnant existence, or those trapped in this state against their will by animation or create spawn abilities), have defied this natural transition and are literal examples of 'the guest who wouldn't leave' or someone who as 'outstayed their welcome' and are poisoning the world with their (sometimes selfish) refusal to just transition peacefully.
An undead-fighting Alsetan could therefore see themselves as evicting unwelcome guests and sort of 'pushing them out the door' to the next stage of their existence, and even freeing those trapped in this state unwillingly (skeletons, zombies, many spawn).
Existence, from birth to life to death to existence as a petitioner on some outer plane, could be seen as a measured movement from one 'room' of a metaphorical home to another (or one building to another, perhaps), with doors representing the transition points of birth and death. Undead would be 'stuck' in one 'room,' and need help (guidance, or violence...) to 'find their way' through the 'door' to the next 'room.' [/tangent]
Ouachitonian |
Precisely how I'm playing him. For bonus points, he's a Dhampir, and therefore himself sort of "stands astride the threshold". But I'm not sure there's really anything canon in that. I need to take a look at her section in Inner Seas Faiths again, but I don't recall there being anything about undead (I actually came up with the character before I got the book, so...).
Almonihah |
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It would be hard for me to pick a favorite, but I *do* want to say something about Shelyn. Her love aspect has been covered pretty well in this thread, but I think the way beauty is fit into her portfolio is lovely, as well. It's not there because it's associated with love, and it's not about shallow 'this looks pretty' beauty.
Beauty, from my reading of Shelynite doctrine, uplifts and ennobles. True beauty is about inspiration, about creation. Shelyn cares about beauty and art because she believes they can uplift people, soothe the broken-hearted, inspire them to reach for greater heights, to be better. The greatest beauty is within--being the kind of person who builds others up.
And to me, that's beautiful.
(Also not something I've seen done with a deity of beauty before, which is part of why I loved seeing it when I read about Shelyn. It's an awesome way of making beauty & art really fit with a Good deity.)
Set |
(Also not something I've seen done with a deity of beauty before, which is part of why I loved seeing it when I read about Shelyn. It's an awesome way of making beauty & art really fit with a Good deity.)
Shelyn is definitely a step away from Aphrodite, who could be (like all the Greek gods) petty and vindictive, or even Sune, from the Realms, who would reject priests for getting scars that made them less 'pretty.'
While I'm not a huge fan of gods of love and beauty, she's hands-down the coolest.
Redelia |
My list that I consider when making a character: Shelyn, Sarenrae, Caeden Caylean, Desna, Milani, Iomedae, Erastil.
I don't play characters that aren't of good alignment, and don't allow non-good alignments when I GM. I also wouldn't even play a character of good alignment that worships a neutral deity, although I would allow one as GM. It just doesn't mesh with my idea of what a hero should be.
KahnyaGnorc |
Realms - Jergal (possible prehumen god predating the last two gods of death? Oh yeah!), Azuth (no-nonsense god of wizards, not quite as sentimental as his boss, Mystra), Torm (while I hated the Time of Troubles, his fight against Bane in Tantras made me a fan!), Lleira (a mysterious goddess of illusion? Very cool!), Auril (I wrote an entire campaign around her followers trying to kick off a Fimbulwinter), Gond (technology!), Tymora (goddess of luck and adventurers! The first I recall that pretty much had 'god of adventurers' stamped right on her chassis, followed by the likes of Cayden Cailean), Loviatar (like Zon-Kuthon, but sexy!), Talona (not sexy, but useful as a source of villains)
I would often use a Banite as the big bad for Realms campaigns (or homebrews that use Realms deities). I find LE villains to be most interesting.
However, I did have a Jergal worshiper once or twice . . . usually depressed the Hell out of the other players, though.
Fractured Jester |
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Are we just talking from the core Pathfinder deities?
Well, if not, I really liked Ghaunadaur. There was no other god like him, a god of slime... and I always wanted an ooze deity and he was the closest I ever got. Forgotten Realms had a lot of interesting gods and goddesses but he interested me the most.
The Dark Powers of Ravenloft were fascinating, though not a god in any fashion.
The core gods of 3.0 DnD were meh IMO, but I liked Olidammara because he seemed the most fun.
Now, onto Pathfinder:
The core deities? I love Shelyn. Sune of FR wasn't as interesting and Shelyn has a nice duality with her brother.
Now my current favorite 'god' for my character isn't even a god, but a Protean Lord called Vestrivissia the Mocking Canticle from the Purple Duck Games PDF 'Protean Lords of Porphyra.' I love the idea of my cleric having to act like a theological Cuckoo bird, and has to weave her prayers and rituals into the chants and dances of other religions. Its one gigantic joke and the laugh is on the unsuspecting clergy.
Drahliana Moonrunner |
Honorable mention to Erastil, but I wish he was NG so that Good Druids of his didn't have to be semi-heretical.
Play a Hunter instead. there's no neutral requirement to the class, and you can go full bore on his frontier community aspect instead of being beholden to preserve the forest above all else. An archery based Hunter would be totally iconic to Erastil.
Quandary |
Core Deity-wise, I would say Nethys and Erastil,
Erastil as the ancient proto-Aroden with one foot in wild world and embodying survival ethos,
Nethys likewise playing role in foundations of civilization, with purported ties to Jatembe etc.
Arazni of course awesome being Evil because she was made to be Evil, i.e. Evil incarnate.
I like Osirioni pantheon in general and wish more was done with them, Wadjet probably my favorite.
(though that triggers my gripe with Alignment domains, when she could have had Scalykind IF ONLY!)
Nalinivati's duality intrigues me - magic/love AND Nagaji patron (who are LN vs her TN alignment*),
on one hand concrete state religion of Nagajor, on the other inscrutable lore of mystics and lovers.
* which coincidentally is interesting way to marginalize LG/LE within L-inclined Nagaji Nalinivati priesthood
Todd Stewart Contributor |
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Now my current favorite 'god' for my character isn't even a god, but a Protean Lord called Vestrivissia the Mocking Canticle from the Purple Duck Games PDF 'Protean Lords of Porphyra.' I love the idea of my cleric having to act like a theological Cuckoo bird, and has to weave her prayers and rituals into the chants and dances of other religions. Its one gigantic joke and the laugh is on the unsuspecting clergy.
You are awesome and you should feel awesome! I'm so happy to hear that you liked that supplement and Vestrivissia in particular. :D
Fractured Jester |
Fractured Jester wrote:You are awesome and you should feel awesome! I'm so happy to hear that you liked that supplement and Vestrivissia in particular. :D
Now my current favorite 'god' for my character isn't even a god, but a Protean Lord called Vestrivissia the Mocking Canticle from the Purple Duck Games PDF 'Protean Lords of Porphyra.' I love the idea of my cleric having to act like a theological Cuckoo bird, and has to weave her prayers and rituals into the chants and dances of other religions. Its one gigantic joke and the laugh is on the unsuspecting clergy.
God yes. I started getting into DnD at about 3.0, so I never saw the old Slaadi gods, and the forces of true law and chaos got shoved to the side in exchange for good and evil.
Gods of chaos in 3.0 3.5? The best I got was Trithereon, and a mention of a dead god of anarchy called "Valigan Thirdborn" in Forgotten Realms.
A book full of Proteans that can fill the role of a pantheon of chaos gods? Damn straight I love that PDF. =3