With the types of missions that Pathfinders are sent on, what deities work well in PFS?
Outside of normal party roles, is there any special expectations on a PFS cleric?
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You can make any deity work. Just be aware that hardlining any particular tenet may be a problem when it comes to the ol' Explore Report Cooperate. I've played a cleric of Lamashtu without significant issue at the table and his express purpose is to grief paladins. Pharasmins can be challenging as you might get paired up with a necromancer for a mission and uh...well, let's just say that ends up being a multipage debate on the forums within a week.
Re: "special expectations," some people automatically read cleric as healbot. Don't feel beholden to that understanding. "I'm not that kind of cleric" is a valid statement, but keep in mind that the ability to cast heals means it's usually worth having some of the useful ones prepped as you get to higher levels. Breath of Life is a common expectation once you're 9th level. Even then, as long as you're willing to use someone's scroll, that's probably good enough (though check for table variation on Spring Loaded Wrist Sheathes before stuffing said scroll in there as that's another active debate).
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I've played a cleric of Lamashtu without significant issue at the table and his express purpose is to grief paladins.Why would you create a character with the express purpose of annoying and antagonizing other players?
It's PFS.
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He didn't say players. He said Paladins.I've played a cleric of Lamashtu without significant issue at the table and his express purpose is to grief paladins.Why would you create a character with the express purpose of annoying and antagonizing other players?
The players usually had a lot of fun with the conflict. The tension of having to work with a neutral worshiper of an evil deity who was actively helping them created a lot of good RP opportunities. The character itself was too crazy to know or understand what was going on with that.
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The players usually had a lot of fun with the conflict. The tension of having to work with a neutral worshiper of an evil deity who was actively helping them created a lot of good RP opportunities. The character itself was too crazy to know or understand what was going on with that.He didn't say players. He said Paladins.I've played a cleric of Lamashtu without significant issue at the table and his express purpose is to grief paladins.Why would you create a character with the express purpose of annoying and antagonizing other players?
Ah, now that you have spelled things out, I understand.
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The players usually had a lot of fun with the conflict. The tension of having to work with a neutral worshiper of an evil deity who was actively helping them created a lot of good RP opportunities. The character itself was too crazy to know or understand what was going on with that.I've played a cleric of Lamashtu without significant issue at the table and his express purpose is to grief paladins.Why would you create a character with the express purpose of annoying and antagonizing other players?
Ah, OK, that makes more sense.
I approve of creating a character because you think it will lead to interesting and mutually enjoyable RP opportunities.
I don't approve of griefing.... That's why I reacted as I did. There are people out there (they tend to ruin most comment threads on the Internet) who aren't having fun unless they're pissing in somebody else's cheerios.
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As you can see, there are differences of opinion about what deities are "appropriate"
Personally I find that just about any good or neutral deities work well along with most lawful evil and some neutral evil. Chaotic Evil can be very difficult to play as a cleric as many of them have tenets which are hard to reconcile with the strictures of Organized Play. So you may find yourself having to be a more "moderate" or "separatist" cleric than you want to be.
The ones I don't recommend (though don't worry, someone will jump to explain why I'm wrong shortly):
- Rovagug
- Lamashtu
- Urgothoa
The ones that can be played with a bit of moderation.
- Gorum - sometimes your group may want to avoid a fight.
- Pharasma - can be tricky due to her absolute hatred of undead.
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In my limited experience (a bit less than a year in PFS), I've played a character who dipped into cleric, and his ideals have only directly conflicted with the mission once or twice. But Cayden was a mercenary himself in life, so He understands the need to be pragmatic at times.
I've also found that with the missions that are most likely to push a cleric's or paladin's alignment buttons, the briefing usually emphasizes caution where it's most needed.
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Outside of normal party roles, is there any special expectations on a PFS cleric?
One think you will quickly find is that there's no such thing as "normal party roles" in PFS. Especially when you start looking at archetypes you can find clerics that work well in all kinds of builds. One who throws fireballs all day long. One who wears heavy armor and has a lot of extra combat feats but very few spells. One who focuses on summoning creatures. One who has tons of knowledge skills. I personally play one who inspires courage as well as a bard and is focused on enchantment spells.
About the only expectation is that if someone hands your cleric a wand of cure light wounds, you can activate it.
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Variety of cleric examples:
I have several PFS characters with cleric levels.
Cleric 16 worships Sarenrae.
Cleric 9/Diabolist 1 wirships Dispater
Cleric 2/Wizard 1/Mystic Theurge/5 wealth mage of Abadar
Cleric 1/Monk 3/Paladin 2/Champion of Irori 5 worships Irori.
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Not a Cleric, but my Oracle/Diabolist was/is a devout Asmodeus follower, with both the will and the capacity to rain hellfire down upon her foes.
At the same time, she served as a primary healer (main reason I went Oracle over Cleric was to sidestep the "evil deity = negative energy" issue), party face ("Why of course I'll speak with the bound angel to negotiate safe passage"), and general buffing and anti-extraplanar utility provider.
You can make nearly any deity work, but if you're going with an evil one, you need to do so with a light touch. There's certainly some room for inter-party friction - my Chelaxian Oracle and a friend's Taldan Cleric spent a fair amount of time trash-talking each other's nation on one mission, and the different factions and their viewpoints/goals are simply MADE for this. But at the end of the day, you just need to remember that you're part of a team, both in and out of game, and be mindful of the others at the table.
Just because the paladin keeps glaring at the imp on your shoulder, doesn't mean you have to be antagonistic about it. Paladins are just misguided souls that need time to accept the truth of the world. When they're ready, you'll be there to guide them back into the fold.
Cleric 9/Diabolist 1 wirships Dispater
As a fellow Diabolist player, I hate to have to say this, but I'm fairly sure the Archdevils aren't valid deity choices for PFS play...
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Gods: all of the gods listed in the appendix are legal choices except daemon harbingers, great old ones, infernal dukes, malebranche, nascent demon lords, orc deities, outer gods, qlippoth lords, and whore queens.Dispater is featured there and archdevils are not excluded.
Huh... They must have pared that back at some point, because I could have sworn archdevils, demon lords, etc. weren't allowed.
Oh well, nevermind then. It's been a while since I've had a chance to play in PFS, so I haven't been paying too much attention to AR updates.
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The ones I don't recommend (though don't worry, someone will jump to explain why I'm wrong shortly):
- Rovagug
- Lamashtu
- Urgothoa
Lamashtu can work. Bear in mind that if you're a cleric of an evil deity in PFS, you're going to be neutral. Your behaviour will be different to that of evil clerics of the same faith. I run a Chaotic Neutral separatist cleric of Lamashtu. Nana's a sweetie. Her goddess is "The holy mama", a goddess of motherhood. Nana doesn't recognise the holy mama as Lamashtu, or even as a demon. Of course, Nana has an evil aura and this sometimes leads to interesting conversations with paladins and the like. We had fun when Nana saved the life of a gnome paladin on one adventure :)
I also have a concept worked out for an Urgathoan cleric, focused on the gluttony aspect. But that's one for the future.
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I also have a concept worked out for an Urgathoan cleric, focused on the gluttony aspect. But that's one for the future.
I've had passing thoughts of a gnome urgathoan focused on the gluttony side, too.
"Urgathoa teaches us that more of a good thing is the best thing and to never let anyone get in the way of what you want."
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Here I am! :D My warpriest should really take ranks in Bluff so he can better lie about his worship of "Pharasma".The ones I don't recommend (though don't worry, someone will jump to explain why I'm wrong shortly):
- Urgothoa
My inquisitor of "Pharasma" *cough*Norgorber*cough* was intentionally built so that the one thing he's best at in the world is "keeping secrets" (bluff).
Here I am! :D My warpriest should really take ranks in Bluff so he can better lie about his worship of "Pharasma".The ones I don't recommend (though don't worry, someone will jump to explain why I'm wrong shortly):
- Urgothoa
My inquisitor of "Pharasma" *cough*Norgorber*cough* was intentionally built so that the one thing he's best at in the world is "keeping secrets" (bluff).