Can dragons be religious?

[Pharier]

Greetings everyone.

I've read a fair amount on pathfinder dragons and from what it says they don't put much thought or emphisis into religion or worship (Though they do revere Aspu, few actually practice divine magic). Now this is understandable as they have immense power and arrogance.

However what if say a Bronze dragon(arguably the most humble)of whom hung out frequently with humanoids felt the desire to worship and follow a deity he believed suited his persona and ideals besides the obvious one being Aspu. I.e say his main desire in life was to snuff out evil where ever it may lie and protect the good from its malice, could he decide to worship Iomedae or Sarenrae?

Or say unlike most dragons he belived in living for the moment, travelling and having a good time. Could he prehaps be draw to Caydens views?

cheers.

[Ambrus]

Dragons have deities of their own, so that's a good indication that at least some of them may be religious. As to worshiping other deities, why not? If the god's ethos is something the dragon supports then it'd seem a viable path to follow. The deity might even offer the dragon sponsorship should it desire to take levels in a divine class; say if your bronze wanted to take paladin or cleric levels.

The thing to keep in mind about dragons is that, perhaps more than even humanoids, they are staunch individualists with their own personalities, desires and goals. Certainly some broad generalities can be sketched out for the members of a sub-species, but all dragons are capable of pursuing different paths in life; perhaps many such paths seeing as they can live for thousands of years. Some dragons might be too arrogant or mired in hubris to stoop to worshiping another entity, while some might see it as a path to even greater power, while yet others might exalt in the striving for higher ideals. It takes all kinds. There are many examples in fantasy literature and previous editions of the game in which religious dragons were highlighted.

[Rory_N]

I've never found any reason for dragons NOT to have a religious affiliation, regardless of what various rule books may say. I see no reason why a dragon couldn't follow any religion that it felt suited its needs and beliefs.

I was actually working on a campaign at one time where the original race on the planet was the dragon. They had their own version of what could be considered "The Bible" and used it to spread their religious beliefs throughout the world as new races began to appear. Eventually the dragons went into hiding, but there were still other races that followed their religion.

[GeraintElberion]

On Golarion it makes sense to worship a deity; the consequences of atheism are pretty unpleasant.

[Icyshadow]

Some green dragons venerate Irori.

Some stupid chromatic dragons worship Dahak.

Most metallic dragons honor the name of Apsu.

And what are the consequences of atheism on Golarion??

[GeraintElberion]

Icyshadow wrote:

Some green dragons venerate Irori.

Some stupid chromatic dragons worship Dahak.

Most metallic dragons honor the name of Apsu.

And what are the consequences of atheism on Golarion??

linky

[SwnyNerdgasm]

Would you tell one he can't be religious?

[LazarX]

Rory_N wrote:

I've never found any reason for dragons NOT to have a religious affiliation, regardless of what various rule books may say. I see no reason why a dragon couldn't follow any religion that it felt suited its needs and beliefs.

There's no reason to, to be sure. It's just that most dragons tend as the Apex of Apex creatures see THEMSELVES as godlike beings, so they're not big on worship for the most part. Where they really draw the line is the giving of tithes part. So it's not that it can't happen, it's just very uncommon. It's probably more often that a dragon might set itself up as a god rather than worship one.

A good example is Dragonlance, while there are two draconic deities, the dragons that theoretically "worship" them tend to see them as elevated peers rather than beings they drop to their knees for.

[Shifty]

GeraintElberion wrote:

linky

Might need to spoiler it... I have no idea about that mod.

[GeraintElberion]

Shifty wrote:

GeraintElberion wrote:

linky

Might need to spoiler it... I have no idea about that mod.

good point, too late now so I'll flag it.

[James Jacobs]

Dragons can absolutely worship deities and be religious. We've had plenty of examples in our adventures. The biggest one that comes to mind to me would probably be...

Spoiler:

...Kazavon, from Curse of the Crimson Throne. He was essentially a champion of Zon-Kuthon.