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Although you can't play evil PCs, it's implied that you can worship evil gods (specifically Asmodeous if you're Cheliax).
Can somebody confirm that it's okay to play a LN/N/CN follower (incl cleric) of a LE/NE/CE deity?
you might not get a response until wednesday... most of the team is at origins until that time - just FYI
Although you can't play evil PCs, it's implied that you can worship evil gods (specifically Asmodeous if you're Cheliax).
Can somebody confirm that it's okay to play a LN/N/CN follower (incl cleric) of a LE/NE/CE deity?
From the SRD:
Alignment
A cleric’s alignment must be within one step of his deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful-chaotic axis or the good-evil axis, but not both). A cleric may not be neutral unless his deity’s alignment is also neutral.
So, a Lawful Evil deity (Asmodeus) could have a Lawful Neutral worshipper (or Neutral Evil, but that doesn't apply in Pathfinder Society ;) ).
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Thankyou for responding Lilith, I understand what's said in the PHB/SRD, I hadn't appreciated that my question was unclear, and I regret that you feel I'm asking a question the answer to which is already evident.
Is it okay, in PFS, to play a PC who is a [lawful|true|chaotic]neutral follower (in particular a cleric) of an evil god?
Obviously it is within the (vanilla, 3.5, core) rules for [N]PC cleric's alignments to diverge from their god's by one step -- I'm not questioning this.
However, this is specifically different to Living Greyhawk -- the closest convenient analogue -- where having PCs who were neutral worshippers of evil gods was not permitted.
Whilst, as presented, it would appear that in PFS this is okay I didn't think there was harm in asking for a clarification.
Too bad everybody's away at Origins for an official answer...but I would think, they specifically stated "no evil PCs" doesn't mean you can't worship an evil god (otherwise, a good portion of Cheliax intrigue goes away).
I imagine we'll get a final answer when they actually finish writing the handbook. :)
Chief Technical Officer
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Too bad everybody's away at Origins for an official answer...but I would think, they specifically stated "no evil PCs" doesn't mean you can't worship an evil god (otherwise, a good portion of Cheliax intrigue goes away).
I think that Lilith is right—and I *know* she's right that the only people who can answer definitively are at Origins.
We'll have specific details in the Player's Guide, but worship of evil deities will be allowed within certain guidelines.
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In my specific situation I have a plague doctor (Alchemist) who worships Urgathoa he has a deep respect for the simplicity and power of poisons and diseases.
He also seeks to defeat suffering and death of all those he treats, believing that the undeath hold the secret to immortality. Specifically Vampires and other intelligent undead. Not that he goes around turning people undead or anything.
Would this be something considered in the LN camp?
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I fully expect non-clerics (or paladins or inquisitors) to worship many, if not all of the deities. I was just saying that the further away you stray from their aspects, the less likely you would be a true worshiper. There may not be much difference between "worshiping" and "revering" but that is kinda my separation.
If there was a feat, trait, item, etc that requires the character to be a worshiper of a deity, I would expect the PC to be within one step just as the accepted worshiper classes.
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If you are not within one step of the deities alignment, I wouldn't refer to you as a "worshiper" although, in most cases, that doesn't matter. A true worshiper just wouldn't deviate that far from the deity's tenets. Feel free to aspire to certain aspects of the portfolio.
I like this statement a lot, I think I will steal it.. Thanks Bob!
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At this point my question is strictly fluff related.
Just as I would be a doctor could be made from any class with enough ranks in heal and the obvious profession skill.
You can make worshipers that are not necessarily clerics/druid/paladin etc. For example one would look at Cayden Cailean who would have a score of fighter/combat based worshipers. I'm sure Erastil also has more than a few rangers at his temples.
At this point my impression is you "can" revere/respect/give donations/ to basically any god as part of your character's inclination. There are enough reasons to do so within Golarion and it would be more surprising to find someone who was in fact godless. In Forgotten Realms sailors would pay respects to the CE god of the ocean before setting sail, out of fear mostly.
To take it to the next level, that is to worship a deity, you'd need to take some active role in the clergy, ceremony, dogma surrounding the temple/deity. To be within 1 alignment of the god should be only a requirement for Worship not revering.
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From a purely "fluff" standpoint, this is all fine.
Where it becomes an issue is if there are mechanics tied into being a worshiper (or even a priest) of a particular deity.
It has been previously clarified that for PFS purposes, "priest" only refers to a cleric. This is important for any of the customized summon lists, which are only available to "priests".
Any other mechanic that requires you to be a "worshiper" of a deity (Ex a Religion Trait with that prerequisite) or a deity to be your "patron" (like the items in Gods & Magic) means that you must be within one alignment step of the deity.
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I have no problem with a sailor giving some reverence to an ocean god even if said god is evil. There is a lot of historical precedence to that concept. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans did things like this all the time and I would encourage it for role-playing and fluff. However, I still content that giving reverence to a god for the explicit reason as to not pi$$ them off, is not really worshiping, IMO.
I view it as more like:
Worship = loving the god and actively following their tenets and aspiring to be liked and accepted by said deity
Reverence = simply paying respect. performing impromptu actions with the expectation of a specific response, like avoiding pissing them off, or a bountiful harvest, or giving birth to a healthy child, or participating in a burial ritual.
Of course, this is just semantics of what words we use to describe character's actions. YMMV.
I think it's funny that the OP asked an alignment question and everyone is talking about worshipping (or paying reverence to :P) gods. Heh.