I am thinking of making a cleric/holy vindicator, and think that Aroden would be(have been) the diety of choice for my PC. Seeing as Aroden is no longer an active source of power, how far of a stretch would it be to pray to Aroden, and have Iomedae hear my prayers as she was his follower. I know it is something to talk to the DM about but what does the community think?
Certainly doesn't sound unreasonable, but would be up to the DM. If it mattered i'd certainly be down for it if one of my players asked.
Awesome! I think my DM will go along with it also, as long as I have a good backstory for it and explain what is happening. Should be an interesting game.
Yar.
Just a little FYI: A cleric, by the rules, CAN gain powers without worshiping a deity.
If a cleric is not devoted to a particular deity, she still selects two domains to represent her spiritual inclinations and abilities (subject to GM approval).
In this case, the Cleric would worship a dead god, or more specifically (games mechanics wise) the dead gods tenants/teaching. Those ideals, or "spiritual inclinations" are what (s)he draws her powers from.
^_^
But of course: "(subject to GM approval)" is the most important thing here.
Have fun!
~P
Yeah unless your an elf, I really do not see how you are worshiping a god who has been dead longer then you have been alive. Also Iomedae swallowed most of the Aroden faithful, she is his successor, I do not see any god granting a non worshiper power.
I just do not see this working on many levels.
Aroden has been dead for centuries now. That anyone would still be worshipping him is bending the plausibility envelope to a severe degree.
History is alive with people worshipping dead gods. Ancestor worship is still practiced. What if the character believed Aroden died to save humanity and still exists in some capacity, trapped and in need of followers.
What if his family line passed down relics of the faith from generation to generation preaching Aroden's triumphant return?
Because we as readers all know that Aroden is dead, as in permanently dead, that doesn't mean the people of Golarion are so terribly sure.
Jesus died two thousand years ago. Ask his followers about plausibility.
Yes, they are sure. Every single god told their clerics "Aroden is dead".You have a massive unending storm still going since the day he died, you had storms roll over the whole of the world. His clerics lost all power, they could not hear him, they lost all spells and could gain them no more. The world knows he is dead.
You simply can not be a cleric of aroden, some people still believe he is coming back, but those are not clerics. Some used to be clerics, but no longer.
and last time I check Jesus never granted spells :)
Yes, they are sure. Every single god told their clerics "Aroden is dead".You have a massive unending storm still going since the day he died, you had storms roll over the whole of the world. His clerics lost all power, they could not hear him, they lost all spells and could gain them no more. The world knows he is dead.
You simply can not be a cleric of aroden, some people still believe he is coming back, but those are not clerics. Some used to be clerics, but no longer.
and last time I check Jesus never granted spells :)
Here is my scenario if I was trying to justify the character's background. He grew up on a destitute farm barely clinging to some sandy soil in any number of countries. Then a charlatan masquerading as a priest of Aroden arrives in the village proclaiming Aroden's soon to be triumphant return. He performs some cantrips, reads some scripture, and petitions the townsfolk for offerings promising that Aroden will look after the town in the forth coming days. The crops grow taller that year. The harvest was bountiful. The farmers believe Aroden's cleric was the difference. My character, directly impacted by the bounty, offers to become the local representative of Aroden and organizes offerings and services.
The world at large may know of Aroden's demise and the effects but there are rural corners of the world that may not be so educated.
And there are people who believe Jesus grants cure light wounds.... and dispel magic and a host of other spells....
Yep but again he could not be a cleric. That is the issue, you must have a god, and no god is gonna invest power in you, while you are thinking that a dead god is doing so.
Gods do not invest folks with power who are not devoted to them.
Also side note, he may have cast those spells but he never had clerics :) He could however have been a cleric
Yep but again he could not be a cleric. That is the issue, you must have a god, and no god is gonna invest power in you, while you are thinking that a dead god is doing so.
Gods do not invest folks with power who are not devoted to them.
Also side note, he may have cast those spells but he never had clerics :) He could however have been a cleric
I'm gonna convince you yet!
Calistra, goddess of trickery playing the ultimate prank.
That's where you're getting hung up. The rules pretty clearly state that you do not require a god to be a cleric, merely that if you do not have one you need a strong center of faith and/or philosophy with GM discretion. Aroden's church has been thoroughly detailed enough to qualify as such, complete with available domains listed, strictures, and so on. A character can worship Aroden AND be a cleric following his philosophies and derive power from that and faith in his return.
Correct. Page 40 in the core rulebook mentions clerics having no patron god (under Domains). And I can't find a mention in any of the Golarian setting books that changes that, so clerics do not need a god, but derive their power totally from their faith in something. Deities aren't required for a person to cast divine spells. (The only published setting that I know of that requires divine spellcasters to choose a patron deity is Forgotten Realms, but that setting is a special case that specifically says a god is needed.)
I can also anticipate that you intend to counter with Word of Developer - which is frankly so inconsistent on the subject of who and what needs gods that a strong character backstory should probably trump it.
It doesn't matter at all what a developer says. It would purely be that developers opinion. It is only a rule if it appears in a book. So until it is printed somewhere, clerics do not need a god.
First off the 3.5 setting was pretty clear it just did not say it the way folks wanted them to. Second James is the Creative director not a rules Developer, his word goes on Golarion as that is his job. He is the man in charge of the settings vision, and that vision is no godless clerics.
We are not talking about the core rules but the Golarion setting, which do not allow godless clerics.The new setting book it is also very clear, but because it does not say the word "No godless clerics" even if it does say pretty much that on page 274. They clam you can still do so, even after being told about a dozen times you can not.
In Golarion you must have a god to be of the cleric class.This has been shown in both setting books and said by the man in charge of the setting.
Aroden can not have clerics.In fact we have seen a few in canon who do not have power as he is dead. A dead god can not grant power and faith alone can not grant power to a cleric in Golarion.
First off the 3.5 setting was pretty clear it just did not say it the way folks wanted them to. Second James is the Creative director not a rules Developer, his word goes on Golarion as that is his job. He is the man in charge of the settings vision, and that vision is no godless clerics.
Doesn't matter what he intended. If the rules say is works one way, and he the other, the rules win unless it is errated, because the only thing most people have to go on is the rulebook.
We are not talking about the core rules but the Golarion setting, which do not allow godless clerics.The new setting book it is also very clear, but because it does not say the word "No godless clerics" even if it does say pretty much that on page 274. They clam you can still do so, even after being told about a dozen times you can not.
Are you sure about that page number? My copy of the setting book only has 255 pages. There is no page 274.
Edit: Ah, you said "new setting book", which would be the Inner Sea World Guide?
Jesus died two thousand years ago. Ask his followers about plausibility.
He got better. :)
Doesn't matter what he intended. If the rules say is works one way, and he the other, the rules win unless it is errated, because the only thing most people have to go on is the rulebook.
This sir is incorrect. The setting always over rules the core rules. The core rules have no setting, they have an option that the Golarion book simply does not allow. The AGP and UM also have option likely not to be allowed in all settings
In this case the setting always is the rule you use.
Are you sure about that page number? My copy of the setting book only has 255 pages. There is no page 274.
Edit: Ah, you said "new setting book", which would be the Inner Sea World Guide?
Indeed I was using the new book, but if you look at the 3.5 book it pretty much says just that. Not in words it should but it is very clear that the intent is for clerics to must have a god.
JJ said they would make it more clear in the new book, I think it wasn't as clear as it could be but clear enough, but because they Did not say it in the words folks wanted them to, people still say it does not mean what the man in charge says it does indeed mean.
If ya also look PFS also does not allow godless clerics as it takes place in Golarion and uses Golarion cleric rules.
This sir is incorrect. The setting always over rules the core rules. The core rules have no setting, they have an option that the Golarion book simply does not allow. The AGP and UM also have option likely not to be allowed in all settingsIn this case the setting always is the rule you use.
I wasn't clear. By "rulebook" I indeed meant the campaign setting rulebook, not the core rulebook. But still, if what he said does not appear in any rulebook (either the core book or the setting books), it is not a rule.
Indeed I was using the new book, but if you look at the 3.5 book it pretty much says just that. Not in words it should but it is very clear that the intent is for clerics to must have a god.
JJ said they would make it more clear in the new book, I think it wasn't as clear as it could be but clear enough, but because they Did not say it in the words folks wanted them to, people still say it does not mean what the man in charge says it does indeed mean.
If ya also look PFS also does not allow godless clerics as it takes place in Golarion and uses Golarion cleric rules.
No, the 3.5 Golarian setting does not say clerics need gods. There is a section dealing with how the base classes differ from the core rulebook versions, and the Cleric entry never mentions gods being required.
And while "Clerics need gods" is never specifically mentioned in the Inner Sea World Guide, I will admit it does say, on page 235, that "Dead gods can not grant spells to clerics", which does imply that a god is needed. There are a few places that imply that a god is needed (such as the philosophies on page 236 - a cleric needs to chose a god from among the associated religions of a philosophy), but it is never clearly stated a cleric needs a god.
So, I will admit, at least by Rules As Intended, a god is needed. However, by Rules as Written, nothing is changed from the core rulebook cleric, so no god is needed.
Edit: As for the PFS rules, they admit that changes are made to the game rules, as PFS doesn't work the same as a normal game. No magic item creation for example, and since PFS changes how the rules work, how they handle something should not be considered as how the setting actually works (Or is there really no item creation in Golarian? If you believe the PFS rules, there isn't any at all.).
And they also say a cleric must choose a god for the "sake of simplicity...dealing in abstract clerics is something we do not want to see...", which implies that patronless clerics are indeed possible in Golarian, but that you can't be one in Society play.
...you must have a god, and no god is gonna invest power in you, while you are thinking that a dead god is doing so.
Gods do not invest folks with power who are not devoted to them.
So to clarify, I was thinking of having my PC grow up in an area that used to have a temple to Aroden, being a simple farmer, I would not know the history of the great storm, or the fate of Aroden. I would have read tales of him on the walls of the temple growing up, and aspire to walk in his company. Iomedae would take pity on me, and since the domains I am going for are Glory and Protection(the most likely ones that she followed before her ascent to godhood) anyway, she would grant me power, but send hints to me of her existance to persuade me to follow her path.
My favorite thing? I've got a Magus, right? He says he's an Inquisitor of Aroden, right? So, in setting, people would scoff, or laugh a little, but also pity him. Every day, when he prepares spells from his spell-book, the spell book appears to be a book of prayers to Aroden, and the words to cast them, gestures, etc. all seem to fall in line with cleric/inquisitor type stuff to beseech a god to lend strength or whatever. He's "magic domain" and uses a longsword, and best of all, can cast spells, armored, without Arcane Spell Failure, AND, using spell combat to buff or something can just seem like "Swift action: Activate Judgment," and depending on what buff it is (Shield, Bulls strength, true strike are some of my more common ones,) I can say "Activate judgment of (protection, Destruction, Justice, etc.)"
Yeah!
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To reply to the original post I do not think it is much of a stretch. Rule wise your god is Iomede and flavor wise your god is Aroden. Being that the two gods were so closely associated and tha Iomede took in most of Aroden's clergy then I think it should be fine.
RAW for Golarion I guess not, but It does not seem like you are trying to take advantage and I see no reason for your DM to not approve it.
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Oh gods are we really doing this again, again?
Iomede took in most of Aroden's followers so it would be very possible you get your power from her.
Core rules you do not need to have a good to be cleric.
Golarion, as stated by others and James Jacobs, you NEED a god, demon lord, archdevil or so forth to be a god. Ardoden being dead has 0 clerics.
If you want to play a divine character of a dead god though may I point you to the oracle (a half crazed oracle of "Aroden" would be fun. Also a paladin who embodies the ideals of the dead god, yet serves no one could be interesting.
I would have to say that, theology being what it is, the deadness of Aroden is still very much up for debate.
After all, before Aroden showed up, mortals could not ascend to godhood--or at least none had done so in living memory, so it comes to much the same thing. Before Aroden showed up, gods could not die either.
Then there was Urgathoa, who died and then became a goddess via inventing undeath.
And then there's Zon-Kuthon, a god who disappeared and then had some alien nastiness come walking back in his shell. Is the original god dead or just possessed and is there a difference when you're talking gods?
So far as everyone knows, Aroden is not granting prayers and Commune spells just get the divine version of "The party you are trying to reach is not available, but a forwarding number has been left: 1-800-IOMEDAE. Please make a note of it." And Iomedae says he's dead and who would doubt Her divine word?
Well, anyone who knows anything about the history or politics, for one. Is Aroden being gravely injured, in a coma, being nursed back to health by Iomedae in a basement beneath the Starstone completely out of the realm of possibility?
After all, Pharasma herself failed to tell her clerics about Aroden's death, putting a large dent in her reputation as goddess of prophecy, and even if Aroden really is dead, it's not like some other gods might not give disinformation if it suited their agenda or just being unsure themselves.
I mean, look at Calistria: Isn't this a goddess who would be waiting for the other shoe to drop?
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Oh gods are we really doing this again, again?
Iomede took in most of Aroden's followers so it would be very possible you get your power from her.
Core rules you do not need to have a good to be cleric.
Golarion, as stated by others and James Jacobs, you NEED a god, demon lord, archdevil or so forth to be a god. Ardoden being dead has 0 clerics.
If you want to play a divine character of a dead god though may I point you to the oracle (a half crazed oracle of "Aroden" would be fun. Also a paladin who embodies the ideals of the dead god, yet serves no one could be interesting.
This might not be true. I thought I recalled reading in one of the campaign books that there was still a temple to Aroden in Lastwall and that Iomedae was fufilling their prayers. Anyone remember seeing something along these lines?
And while "Clerics need gods" is never specifically mentioned in the Inner Sea World Guide, I will admit it does say, on page 235, that "Dead gods can not grant spells to clerics", which does imply that a god is needed. There are a few places that imply that a god is needed (such as the philosophies on page 236 - a cleric needs to chose a god from among the associated religions of a philosophy), but it is never clearly stated a cleric needs a god.
So, I will admit, at least by Rules As Intended, a god is needed. However, by Rules as Written, nothing is changed from the core rulebook cleric, so no god is needed.
This is the issue however RAw only works if you Ignore all those things you just pointed out. And the cleric is the only Divine cl;ass in the book it does not cover "Godless"versions of. Even Paladins without gods are talked about.
Sorry but no, the book is clear on clerics needing a god. If You could have godless clerics the setting would be vastly different for at lest 2 countries would have to be reworked as they simply can not be in a world with godless clerics.
I don't see why a paladin, or even cleric, would necessarily have to admit and believe their god is dead. For humans it's sort of tough to justify someone having been around 100 years ago to experience his death, but other races have clerics and paladins who may remember it. In any case, one could believe wholeheartedly (thus not being dishonest or deceitful) that they are worshiping Aroden when in fact their powers come from the ideals he stood for. Since direct contact between deities and mortals is extremely rare in Golarion anyway, how would they ever know that they're really worshiping the concept of good and valor instead of a god who embodies good and valor? Perhaps commune spells don't ever work right, and no matter how many times they try to summon a planar ally from Aroden's court to assist them they never come. But there are plenty of crazy people in the real world who can't admit that things have changed in their lives or the world as a whole, and while a fantasy environment adds in a major reality check for one of these people (in that they no longer get spells or whatever) there is a stopgap built into the rules with being a paladin/cleric of an ideal. I wouldn't want to limit a player's creativity if they came up with an awesomely delusional cleric of Aroden, so I'd let it go, as long as both the player and I were on the same page about how it worked and to what extent their PC would work differently than the standard, living-deity-worshiping PC of their class.
I think I found my answer. This should work for my DM also(hopefully)
As a GM I would have no problem allowing a Cleric to pray to a dead god they sincerely beleive in and getting divine spells as a result. I would of course decide which entity was granting that power. Saving the big reveal for the end of the campaign would be worth it.
Could even dip back to 1st Edition where,
1st to 3rd level divine spells were considered mundane/ritual magic, available to all.
4-6th were spells supplied by minor gods and up
while 7+level spells were major gods only.
Though my impression for Golarion is divine spells are supplied by some god no matter what. Worship the mighty Smurfs and its Densa backing you actually.
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This is the issue however RAW only works if you Ignore all those things you just pointed out. And the cleric is the only Divine class in the book it does not cover "Godless" versions of. Even Paladins without gods are talked about.
Sorry but no, the book is clear on clerics needing a god. If You could have godless clerics the setting would be vastly different for at lest 2 countries would have to be reworked as they simply can not be in a world with godless clerics.
We could get into the philosophical argument of when a god stops being a god. Aroden definitely has a god starting point (starstone and all that) but his ending point is not clearly delineated. His current status is best described as MIA, i.e. not confirmed dead.
Now some might say that they stop being a god when they stop granting spells. But a live god could stop granting spells too can it not?
RAW does not provide for a god to stop being a god. Aroden is still listed as a god isn't he? Therefore if he picks Aroden, he has a god.
We could get into the philosophical argument of when a god stops being a god. Aroden definitely has a god starting point (starstone and all that) but his ending point is not clearly delineated. His current status is best described as MIA, i.e. not confirmed dead.
Now some might say that they stop being a god when they stop granting spells. But a live god could stop granting spells too can it not?
RAW does not provide for a god to stop being a god. Aroden is still listed as a god isn't he? Therefore if he picks Aroden, he has a god.
This is incorrect. He is not MIA he is dead, every single cleric of Aroden lost all power at once, this is a fact. His soul has been judged, also a known fact. He is dead and can not come back.
The issue is he should not be dead, but he is. What ever killed him turned everything upon its head, but he is dead.
You can not be a cleric of a dead god, you can not be the cleric of a false god. And if you worship a god you think is alive well its a false god which is not allowed.
If you could be a cleric of a dead god, his church would have never fallen, there would have been no civil war and the current state of Golarion would be very different.
You guys are using RAW that the setting has over ruled. Golarion does not allow godless clerics or those of dead or false gods.
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Canon seems to be:
It specifically says under his entry in Gods and Magic
"Now his true clerics have migrated to Iomedae's faith or live on without magic in the shadow of their former glory, with only a handful of doddering old priests remaining."(PG.53)
This seems to impy that in Golarion, worshipping Aroden gets you no cleric abilities.
However it also says under Iomedae's entry, "Her followers also use old churches of Aroden, slowly replacing the dead god's ornamentation with that of Iomedae's so as not to disturb the sensibilities of the dwindling number of Aroden's priests." (pg.21)
This seems to imply that there are still priests of Aroden, and she has taken them under her wing, sharing their temples and supporting them. It also implies that she is "easing" them over to direct worship of her, and slowly weaning them off of worshipping Aroden directly.
It also says her holy text is The Acts of Iomedae, which recounts 11 personal miracles performed by Iomedae as demonstrations of the power of Aroden. This seems to imply that she and Aroden would both be venerated in his churches, just that devoted believers in Aroden would still see her just as a herald.
To me, this means that priests of the herald and priests of Aroden may have co-existed in the past in churches, and therefore if they did so today, it would not be a surprise. Iomedae could be answering the prayers of Aroden's faithful lest they be led astray, but slowly sending them dreams and adjusting things so they end up as her true followers or at least supporting the "joint faith of Aroden/Iomedae" until they die.
As a player worshipping Aroden, you could talk with your GM, and add in this "slow transfer to Iomedae" aspect, even if your character wants to resist it. Alternatively, (and especially if you are from Cheliax), perhaps your mentor is a die-hard Aroden worshipper and trained you that way, and Asmodeus has chosen to secretly answer your prayers as Aroden for his own ends, perhaps to have you take over a church of Aroden(Iomedae) and have you lead it back to the true faith of Aroden (Asmodeus). At a minimum, you will probably have to accept that Aroden is gone by the time you start receiving higher levels spells, or the first time you go to Commune.
As a GM, I would allow this, but his divine abilities would come from Iomedae (or perhaps another diabolical source)not from a sphere of influence, himself, the Universe or from Aroden.
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We could get into the philosophical argument of when a god stops being a god. Aroden definitely has a god starting point (starstone and all that) but his ending point is not clearly delineated. His current status is best described as MIA, i.e. not confirmed dead.
Now some might say that they stop being a god when they stop granting spells. But a live god could stop granting spells too can it not?
RAW does not provide for a god to stop being a god. Aroden is still listed as a god isn't he? Therefore if he picks Aroden, he has a god.
This is incorrect. He is not MIA he is dead, every single cleric of Aroden lost all power at once, this is a fact. His soul has been judged, also a known fact. He is dead and can not come back.
...snip...
You guys are using RAW that the setting has over ruled. Golarion does not allow godless clerics or those of dead or false gods.
I don't know Golarian so I can't speak to the RAW there. So let us say by RAW it cannot be done.
Now, if you were a GM would you allow it? The quotes above seem to indicate that Iomede is willing to let some priests bitterly cling to Aroden. Not RAW but fluff. Fluff wise I think he could make the character and still have spells via Iomede.
No, a hundred years ago some of his clerics excepted her as his successor. She has taken over many of his old temples and is slowly taken away his trappings. but all those she grants spells to know she is the on e granting them.
Those that have not excepted her has their god do not gain spells. We know this, Aroden still has one very old living bishop who is spelless and very devote to his god.
Clerics of Golarion need a god for his power. The PFRPG rules don't require it, but canon PF Chronicles/Campaign Setting does.
In the end, no matter what, you can do what you want, no matter what the settings or the rules say. You could have a lawful neutral Paladin.
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I would never say no to a player that wanted to worship a dead god, as long as he understood that his or her god would not be granting any spells, that they came from somewhere else. What this somewhere else is could either be a GM mystery or an agreed upon alternate deity.
The player gets a LOT of extra baggage to worship a dead god:
-You have to juggle what your character believes, adjusted by events and such, against what truly is.
-You will have almost no fellow clergy (if any at all), and no church structure or support network of senior clerics.
-People will laugh at you everywhere you go and rarely will you be seen as a serious individual and not a buffoon who has no clue.
-Priests of other gods will at best give you pitying glances and talk to you like a trauma victim.
As a GM, there is almost no better story hook to allow you to develop NPC interactions (divine or otherwise) and storylines than a cleric worshipping a dead god. It would be so much easier to just pick a living one, which already has lots of followers and clergy, and a pre-existing structure. So any player that wishes to tie a moderate size albatross around his neck, take on a hefty and colorful roleplaying load, and make my life easier in the bargain definitely has my blessings :)
Yep but again he could not be a cleric. That is the issue, you must have a god, and no god is gonna invest power in you, while you are thinking that a dead god is doing so.
Gods do not invest folks with power who are not devoted to them.
Also side note, he may have cast those spells but he never had clerics :) He could however have been a cleric
I'm gonna convince you yet!
Calistra, goddess of trickery playing the ultimate prank.
Seeker is correct, and you don't hear me say that often. :)
James has said Aroden is dead on these boards, and he has said that Golarion requires a deity for paladins and clerics. There really is no disputing that.
If you are arguing from a non-Golarion point of view I see no issue with it, but if you are going by Golarion lore it ain't happening.
You simply are not making a Golarion pc. No matter how you try and justify it a cleric of Aroden is a thing of the past. It simply does not fit the current setting.
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Yep but again he could not be a cleric. That is the issue, you must have a god, and no god is gonna invest power in you, while you are thinking that a dead god is doing so.
Gods do not invest folks with power who are not devoted to them.
Also side note, he may have cast those spells but he never had clerics :) He could however have been a cleric
I'm gonna convince you yet!
Calistra, goddess of trickery playing the ultimate prank.
Seeker is correct, and you don't hear me say that often. :)
James has said Aroden is dead on these boards, and he has said that Golarion requires a deity for paladins and clerics. There really is no disputing that.
If you are arguing from a non-Golarion point of view I see no issue with it, but if you are going by Golarion lore it ain't happening.
Going with what James has said is looking behind the GM's screen. We can all agree, as players, that what James says goes if we're playing PFS (which is Paizo's extended house game) and moreover agree that what's published in the books is canon for Golarion unless specifically retconned (cf. paladins of Asmodeus).
That said, as individual GMs, we are free to break canon as we like for our home games. A couple sessions ago, a fervent old Aroden worshipper had a wish granted. The wish? "I wish Aroden would return and save us all!" This quickly passes into GM ruling territory: Is the power of a wish sufficient to jump-start a dead god? Especially a monkey's paw wish from a mischievous fey?
Answer? For my own game: Sure, why not. The goddess Arazni, Aroden's herald, already died and was jump-started into the Harlot Queen of Geb, so a wish could certainly bring back Aroden, if just for a short cameo, specifically to grant spells to his last and most faithful cleric, Father Basri of Oppara who had also been huffing the fumes of Incense of Obsession.
He ran through Oppara, dousing the flames of a fire that was threatening to burn down the Gilded City, then proceeded to resurrect the dead and perform other miracles until finally ending up at the Grand Canal casting Purify Water until he passed out because Incense of Obsession gets really nasty when clerics get unlimited 0 level spells.
That all said, no way in all the nine hells would I ever try to sell this storyline to James, as it completely wrecks canon. But for my own home game? Sure, why not?
However, looking at Golarion canon, we have both the fact that Aroden is dead as well as the fact that Father Basri, his sad old archbishop, is still at the Basilica of the Last Man, either holding out hope for his dead god's return or else, alternately but less likely, cynically turning Aroden's last temple into a tourist attraction and paying lip service to the idea that Aroden might return even though he doesn't personally believe that anymore.
But given that Father Basri can't look behind the GM's screen to see that Aroden is not merely dead but really most sincerely dead, exactly what is he going to say to the faithful to convince them that Aroden might return?
First off, he will remind them that, before Aroden, men could not ascend to godhood.
Second, he will point out that, while Pharasma, Lady of Graves, is the final arbiter of where souls go, etc. and goddess of prophecy, she hasn't a perfect track record for veracity. She didn't tell any of her prophets that Aroden was going to die but then she later said that he was dead. If she's capable of lying about the first item, then why not the second? Perhaps she knew that Aroden would be gravely wounded and so the rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated?
Thirdly, yes, Iomedae says she's the Inheritor, and she's a goddess and so forth. That's nice. She may be convinced that Aroden's dead and thus is doing the best she can, but she was always a good soldier type, and it's not like she was the one who raised the Starstone herself, is she? Have faith that this is all part of Aroden's grand design and plan.
Fourth, the other gods made the mantis god after Aroden "died." Even if Aroden were dead, what does death mean for a god when the other gods can conceivably bring you back to life any time they feel like it, and who are we to question their ineffable plans?
Fifth, it is rumored that the Lady of Graves sent Aroden's soul back as a mortal once again, reincarnated so he might be among the faithful as one of them, but once he has learned enough, he will return to the cathedral of the Starstone and ascend to godhood a second time!
Sixth--etc.
Point is, Father Basri has a lot of theological legs to stand on, even if ultimately they're all incorrect, but this is why it's a matter of faith.
I just never under stand going out of your way to make a character that does not fit the setting you are playing.
You do not make an elf in an all human game.
You do not make a paladin in an all undead game.
And you do not make a godless cleric in a setting that does not allow them.
The OP like a few others here is not wanting to make a pc that fits the setting, but bend and change the setting till it is no longer what it was, just so his idea now fits.
Aroden does indeed have cleric, none of them have clerical powers at all and all are over a hundred years old.
That is the issue I always have with threads like this, make a character that fits the setting you are playing in.