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In the context of Golarion's world what significance does body mod hold? I understand Varisian tattoo magic. Kuthites mutilating themselves and blood shaman witches in Orc tribe but I'm still curious.
Can paladins get tattoos?
If so what constitutes a proper one? Could their tattoos be blasphemous or frightening?
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I would see not reason why not. As long as the tattoos did not depict some atrocity (unless the atrocity was being stopped), it should be fine.
I could even see a paladin who has his paladin code tattooed on his forearms as a constant reminder of his duties.
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I don't see anything inherently forbidding about body modification that would violate a paladin's code of conduct, though that largely depends on the paladin and deity they follow.
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Canon: Sarenrae rocks a nose piercing.
Nothing good or evil about those particular fashion choices.
Hmm, Shelynites could certainly make the art of ioun stone implantation a thing. Tsukiyo worshippers may very well have some sort of jade jewelry in them if not simply on them.
Now I'm imagining some Erastilian tribes having priests that embed antlers into their skulls/scalps...
Got a tiefling PC whose twin sister is an Iomedaen priestess. Has longswords tattooed on the membrane of her vestigial wings between each "finger". That was viewed with approval, whereas my character chopping off his wings was not.
Edit-This gets even wilder when you consider the planet Verces and its cybernetic augmentation being available to paladins. Full conversion with metallic wings and a built-in chosen weapon of your deity? Yes plz. :D
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There is no reason to discriminate against different potential ring slots.
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I had an idea for a tiefling paladin with extreme self-loathing that he feels the need to be a paradigm for everyone around. His self loathing manifested originally as self mutilation before progressing to tattoos of his 'home' the torments off the abyss as warning to any who followed his mothers sins. He is a worshiper of the empyreal lord of vengeance I forget the name off the top if my head.
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Possible twists:
Abadar: I think that paladins of Abadar would rather go for jewelry than piercings or tattoos.
Aroden: (obviously of little importance now) As god of humanity could view human form as sacred with piercings, tattoos and similar modifications marring the perfect vessel and could discourage them. Catch: paladins of Aroden could decide to get themselves piercings and/or tattoos as mementos of failures, coming close to falling, etc. Another interpretation could be that Aroden actually encourages magical body modifications to improve on human form. Irori and Kurgess could also represent either stance.
Erastil: Piercings would be probably uncommon but tattoos could be quite common.
Torag: Metal piercings could be common (Torag portfolio involves forging after all) or could be not (because they could pose problems with putting on heavy armor).
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The idea of a Paladin with the symbol of their god tattooed onto their forhead is a visual I have always liked. Maybe even shaved head with tattooed scripture on their head.
Never pictured my paladin with piercings, but to be honest, it was more out of just not thinking about it and not out of thinking their god would have issue with it.
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You know, I just want to say that this "it's really not good or evil, it's a fashion choice" approach is much much better than the "alt fashion is a sign of the worst sort of wickedness!" thing the Book of Vile Darkness had going on.
The gothy Ashava worshippers with the guyliner and those Shelynites that have tongue studs would likely thank you. :)
Better nipple ring than one of more... er, exotic ones.
EDIT: I expect at least some of my players shrug and ask about someone who can make piercings just to equip that damn thing.
I'm making a kyton-spawn tiefling Paladin of Sarenrae. he'll be heavily tattoed and pierced. A childhood bully who went through some event that made him redeem himself. Now using his wicked looks to intimidate sinners into redemption or having evildoers identify with him and convince them to redemption.
It could be interesting to see a Shelyn-paladin with lots of colourfull tattoos - maybe a gnome?
I agree that among the clergy of gods like Abadar and Erastil, you might only find a "The Code 4ever" on the forearm or something like that.
You know, I just want to say that this "it's really not good or evil, it's a fashion choice" approach is much much better than the "alt fashion is a sign of the worst sort of wickedness!" thing the Book of Vile Darkness had going on.
The gothy Ashava worshippers with the guyliner and those Shelynites that have tongue studs would likely thank you. :)
That's because guyliner is totally awesome (says the guy who is known far and wide in Seattle for ALWAYS having his eyeliner and Eye of Ra curls on).
I've never had a problem with Paladins and body mods, except for Diabolic/Demonic/Daemonic grafts.
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Mormon paladins are not allowed to do body modification. [/joke]
While I see no reason to ban tattoos, piercings, and body modification for paladins of any kind I would caution a player whose character asks for multiple modifications.
A paladin should (in my opinion) strive to be modest and not attempt to be too outlandish in their appearance. While a single modest piercing or a simple tattoo would be fine, covering their entire body in tattoos, having large and gaudy piercings, or scarring large patterns into their flesh probably wouldn't be.
Consider this, they live for their god and work to glorify them. They are considered the front lines in not just battling their god's enemies, but also finding new converts. They are expected to be around the common people, to teach them of their god, and to help those that desire to join their religion. If their appearance wasn't modest, or they had an unusual type or amount of modification, it would make that job harder. Imagine, the suggested implanted antlers would scare away potential converts, and certainly there would be a few who mistakenly think that they have to do the same if they converted.
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I had an idea for a tiefling paladin with extreme self-loathing that he feels the need to be a paradigm for everyone around. His self loathing manifested originally as self mutilation before progressing to tattoos of his 'home' the torments off the abyss as warning to any who followed his mothers sins. He is a worshiper of the empyreal lord of vengeance I forget the name off the top if my head.that might be Lord RAgathiel...... iirc
It is in fact.
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I don't see why a paladin couldn't have tattoos, even of the more outlandish variety. They are not born with the stick, it is inserted at some point Let me tell you about my character... ;)
With less snark, there is really nothing about the paladin that disallows them from not being tight-laced sticklers for conformity. They are lawful, but they need not be conformist. Any for every paladin tethering on the edge of LN, there ought to be at least one on the border to NG.
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In Pacific cultures, tattoos are associated with honor and sanctity. I could see a paladin based on such a culture being heavily tattooed.
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Imagine, the suggested implanted antlers would scare away potential converts, and certainly there would be a few who mistakenly think that they have to do the same if they converted.
Unless you're from a culture that reveres Erastil as a benign take on the "Horned Hunter" archetype. ;) It's something that's going to vary from culture to culture, which is where a lot of the fun in this sort of thing comes into play.
In Pacific cultures, tattoos are associated with honor and sanctity. I could see a paladin based on such a culture being heavily tattooed.
Oh man the visuals coming out of this...
:D
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Pacific Islander Tattoos were given, not merely purchased. Each tattoo MEANS something. EG, a friend participated in a cross-ocean voyage in a traditional canoe (1970s?). When they crew off loaded in Fiji (?), they had a big party and he woke with a Tattoo with stylized waves on his back. We were in a bar in Pearl City (near Honolulu) and the bouncer recognized the Tattoo and showed his. We got in and drank free that night and he and his wife got invited for lunch the next day. So a Paladin having Tattoos associated with advancement, etc. makes great flavor.
FR's Red Wizards have tattoos that help focus their powers, and a friend's 3.0 world expands that to ALL metamagic feats. Your taking a meta feat involves going under the needle.
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I am also thinking what about a variasan or shaonti paladin.
You know, I just want to say that this "it's really not good or evil, it's a fashion choice" approach is much much better than the "alt fashion is a sign of the worst sort of wickedness!" thing the Book of Vile Darkness had going on.
The gothy Ashava worshippers with the guyliner and those Shelynites that have tongue studs would likely thank you. :)
Yeah, the Book of Vile Darkness was HIGHLY biased to the author's viewpoints... alt fashion is evil, prostitution of ANY kind was evil... While overall it had good ideas on making great villains, those things always bothered me. You can't throw all instances of such things in the evil pile. Apparently Pathfinder's writers thought so, especially since Calistria isn't an evil deity, but by the Book of Vile Darkness she'd have to be, since she has um... profane prostitutes?
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Pacific Islander Tattoos were given, not merely purchased. Each tattoo MEANS something. EG, a friend participated in a cross-ocean voyage in a traditional canoe (1970s?). When they crew off loaded in Fiji (?), they had a big party and he woke with a Tattoo with stylized waves on his back. We were in a bar in Pearl City (near Honolulu) and the bouncer recognized the Tattoo and showed his. We got in and drank free that night and he and his wife got invited for lunch the next day. So a Paladin having Tattoos associated with advancement, etc. makes great flavor.
In my first-ever Pathfinder game I played a half-orc paladin of Sarenrae from the woods north of Andoran. In retrospect I played him with all the hallmarks of the Redeemer, doing nonlethal damage when he could and trying to convince monsters to use their superior strength and other monstrous attributes to better society, but not even the APG had come out at that point. He was a reformed POW from the goblinblood wars, and I played him as having a lot of remaining aspects of orc culture that he applied to his life as a holy warrior; he wore a ghoulish war mask as the faceplate of his helmet, he had a tendency to eat monsters that wouldn't redeem to supplement trail rations, and most importantly, for every major victory (read: boss battle) he would pull his shaving razor, carve another tally-like scar into his face, and rub colored chalks in before letting it heal naturally (his lay on hands obviating the traditional orc means of obtaining status-bearing facial scars).
TL;DR I played a Paladin who did body scarification as a sign of cultural significance!
Though not Golarion iirc the 3.x iconic had Hieronus' (sp) holy symbol branded into her forearm.
Also it's no worse than the dwarf paladin in our group who made a note to point out every so often that he ritualistically shaved and polished to a shine everything but his beard. ( part of his back story involved him running into a burning church of Moradin to save a blind priest ( who was actually an avatar) and being scarred so badly he couldn't grow even a beard for years. When he finally accepted his call to paladin hood he was restored his hair but only kept the beard.