I've seen a few threads about these spells but none of them really seem to cover quite what I'm looking for in terms of question.
I'm running a campaign at the moment with two clerics, one of whom has already made mention in passing regarding the Lesser Planar Ally spell which he's just gotten access to upon reaching 7th level. Having read the spell description, I've already ruled that the outsider that is called by the spell will be determined by me, as it's the choice of his deity rather than himself.
My issue, however, is choosing an appropriate ally both for his deity and for his situation. I could quite easily find outsiders specific to one of these two situations (Lyrakien, as he worships Desna; or fire elemental as he wants its aid against a band of marauding trolls) but each has their downsides. Deity-specific may lead to a situation where his summoned ally is of no use for the task he wishes of it, but a situation-specific one may seem to be a little like I'm giving him exactly what he needs. Not to mention that a fire elemental seems uncharacteristic for a servant of Desna.
Does anyone have any advice on how to handle the above situation to try and get as close to the best of both as I can? Also, are there any sources that have more generic lists of potential Planar Allies (creature types, rather than specific examples as presented in the AP articles) for Golarion's various deities to offer inspiration?
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I wouldn't restrict a deity to one specific creature per HD (lesser, normal, greater ally) interval. Instead, I'd make a "family of creatures" that the deity tends to call on; some more suited for combat, others more suited for advice and so on.
Obviously the player gets to know a bit about what kind of creatures his own religion sends. That's what Knowledge: Religion is for (also for identifying other religion's creatures).
In general, I'd say go through the bestiaries and pick outsiders that fit with the god's theme. Add to that some animals with simple templates (celestial, entropic etc) and maybe some classed creatures with a Half-Celestial template (bestiary 169). Classed creatures are particularly relevant if the ally has a function other than combat, such as functioning as a judge, in which case it needs better Knowledge skills than most bestiary creatures.