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I've got a LN 2nd Level Inquisitor (Asmodeus) 1/Fighter 1 for PFS. The character is from Isger, I've always envisoned him as someone who entered the service of the Church of Asmodeus out of respect to what they and Cheliax had done to restore order and peace to his country after raising him as an orphan in their church-sponsored orphanages.
Now, although he is certainly not good, he knows the dangers chaotic creatures (especially demons) pose to the world. He has also learned that several of these demons are resistant to normal attacks, but it can be overcome with cold iron and/or holy weapons.
He's already purchased a cold iron longsword. However, as a servant of a LE God, I can't give the weapon the "holy" benefit to use against these creatures as part of the Inquisitor special abilities.
Can my character wield a "holy" weapon within PFS with no penalties? Or is this against the rules? Is there an RP reason why the Church would have a problem with me wielding a weapon like this with the intent purpose of using it to kill demons?
Tarrintino
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Inquisitors, I always get the feeling, have a license to act outside the norm to pursue their goals. The 'holy' property would be a tool to defeat the enemy. Like Angel giving Buffy a cross necklace, advice, and aid against other vampires, or Blade using UV lights and crosses against other vampires. Don't ask why both examples are vampires, haha. Anyway, Oil of Holy might be a viable option as a last resort, or flasks of holy water for those pesky flying demons. But that's my take.
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If you want to avoid the concerns get an Axiomatic Weapon instead of Holy.
I am aware of no reason why you could not use a Holy weapon without penalty as a Neutral character. I also don't see why the church, as a whole, would object. I could imagine individuals might.
I considered Axiomatic, but the following factors came to mind:
1st: I can add "Lawful" to my weapon as one of my Inquisitor Judgements, so there's no immediate need to add this at this time.
2nd: I can't add "Holy" to a weapon, per the rules, since I serve a Lawful Evil God of Tyranny. So adding "Holy" to the weapon is the only 100% sure fire way to get around the DR of a creature that has DR/good or good & cold iron.
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Well, holy is always on, so you don't have to spend the extra turn putting on bless weapon, and you don't have to make any knowledge check to know that good-aligned will bypass their DR. As well, holy does extra damage to anything evil. With the amount of enemies that have DR/good, it's actually a fantastic enchantment for PFS.
My bard is true neutral and certainly uses his holy bow to great effectiveness. It's not that he's good and hates evil things, it's that he understands just how often it comes in handy.
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I like Sior's justification. A very hardcore LE cleric of Asmodeus might not like you carrying a holy weapon, but he may also acknowledge that a great many of Asmodeus' enemies are hurt by such weapons. Demons, for example.
Hence the oils of bless weapon so they don't have to carry a holy weapon. Or scrolls as Nebten suggested.
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I suggest the oils for your early levels. Once you get higher in levels, remember that Bane adds effective enhancement levels to your weapon and a +5 weapon will pierce alignment DR.
In my experience you will run into mostly magic DR, followed pretty closely by both silver/CI DR and alignment DR, and then lastly by very rare encounters with Adamantine DR enemies. You can get a Magic weapon after a couple mods, and a +1 weapon with bane is enough to pierce silver and CI DR. So you just need to keep bless weapon oil handy until you can afford your +3 weapon.
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I don't think there's a rules issue with using a holy weapon, but how does your character feel about it? It was probably created by being blessed by the power of a good god (let's say Iomedae). How embarrassing to walk into your local temple of Asmodeus with this weapon.
I play an inquisitor of Asmodeus also who would probably not be too concerned with using a bless weapon to help defeat a foe, but would never allow himself to own a holy weapon.
Of course the practicalities of getting through DR are a challenge. My inquisitor has a cold iron weapon which helps (and a silver secondary in case). Sometimes you need good and cold iron (or silver). That's a problem. Inquisitor's bane the your best weapon. It's very powerful.
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I don't see that Asmodeus would have a problem in the slightest. He has cordial relations with the gods of good and has worked with them in the past. He's all about finding loopholes in the system, and this is a great example. Iomedea was Chelish, a blade blessed by her in the hands of a Cheliaxian Inquistor shouldn't cause a conflict. And Asmodeus hates the crap out of demons. Demonslaying weapons shouldn't bother him.
That's my approach to the topic, as well, Victor. Even though most of the good-aligned gods may despise Asmodeus, there is hardly a capital in the world where at least one of his clerics is allowed to live openly amongst the people as his is the god of contracts.
If a good-aligned person (ie., a cleric of Iomedea) were to see me carrying the sword, I could see the encounter going one of two ways. The first past might be one of violence, as the cleric tries to reclaim a holy weapon. However, I find the second option more viable, where she recognizes that a Inquisitor of Asmodeus is carrying a holy sword and not writhing in pain, leading her to believe that there might still be some form of good still in him.
I liked the statement where Asmodeus and his followers might find in humorous and interesting that my character found a loophole around the issue, acquired a holy weapon, and is carrying it openly in his name. Regardless, it should make for some great role-playing.