I'm thinking of making a Cleric that channels negative energy for Channel Smite, but I'm bumping into a problem: I'd also like to cast [Good] spells. Technically, I see nothing wrong with it, but flavourfully it feels weird.
Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaotic, evil, good, and lawful descriptors in their spell descriptions.
The Cleric's going to be CN (PFS doesn't allow Evil alignment) who worships Gorum, with negative energy channels. CN isn't opposed to Good, so I should still be able to cast [Good] spells.
A good cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships a good deity) channels positive energy and can choose to deal damage to undead creatures or to heal living creatures. An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships an evil deity) channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or to heal undead creatures. A neutral cleric of a neutral deity (or one who is not devoted to a particular deity) must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed. This decision also determines whether the cleric can cast spontaneous cure or inflict spells (see spontaneous casting).
Emphasis mine. The decision whether I channel positive or negative doesn't seem to influence spell selection. The choice of positive or negative energy doesn't outright restrict a Neutral Cleric to a certain alignment. Alignment influences channel abilities, but not the other way around, it seems.
A cleric who is neither good nor evil and whose deity is neither good nor evil can convert spells to either cure spells or inflict spells (player’s choice). Once the player makes this choice, it cannot be reversed. This choice also determines whether the cleric channels positive or negative energy (see channel energy).
Again, my choice of channel doesn't seem to influence my spell selection. The first quoted part doesn't influence anything at all, while the other two quoted parts just seem to influence channels, and none of these parts seem to influence each other (in this case, obviously it does when I'm of Good or Evil alignment). So... Does that mean I can channel negative energy and still cast spells with the [Good] descriptor? Negative energy isn't necessarily evil, but it's associated with it a lot, so I'm not sure if I'm cheesing this too much. I might be missing something crucial here, so please tell me if I'm wrong.
|
With a feat, you could be channeling both positive and negative energy. Would you abstain from both [good] and [evil] spells?
Yes, being neutral and worshiping a neutral deity means you cast both [good] and [evil] spells. Gorum grants both to his clerics whether they choose to channel to heal their comrades or to defeat their enemies.
|
Nothing wrong with a cleric of a neutral deity casting good or evil aligned spells. The deity doesn't care. Channel is the same, the deity just doesn't have strong opinions on it. Could even flip a coin to determine your channelling energy type.
And remember, channelling positive doesn't alway mean healing. Some living creatures take damage from positive and are healed by negative. You can also use feats like elemental channel, to make either energy type damage/heal other types of creatures. There's also the Iron Priest archetype that can use channel to heal/damage constructs - I keep meaning to make one of those.
You would only be forbidden to cast good aligned spells if your deity was evil. If you follow a neutral deity you can still cast good or evil spells regardless of the type of energy you are channeling.