Ale / Wine Variant Channeling

[Slartibart]

I am making a cleric of Sun Wukong, and am thinking about taking the Ale/Wine Variant Channeling ability. The only PFS Gods that have Ale or Wine as an Area of Concern are Cayden Cailean and Halcamora; Sun Wukong has Drunkenness, which is not represented as a variant channel. Is it reasonable to take Ale/Wine with him and have it work at most tables, or should I expect that many GMs will object?

In another thread James Jacobs stated that Besmara and one of the Eldest - The Lantern King would have access to Ale/Wine, so there is precedent for it, even though the Ask JJ anything thread is not official I would expect it to carry some weight. Sun Wukong's portfolio of Drunkenness, Nature & Trickery is more compelling than Besmara's Piracy, Sea Monsters & Strife or Lantern King's Laughter, Mischief & Transformation as an argument for the Ale/Wine ability.

[RainyDayNinja]

I don't think you'd run into any problems with that. It seems like a natural fit to me.

[FLite]

It sure seems reasonable, since the effect of the variant channel is to get people drunk. But I have no idea what the official answer would be.

[RtrnofdMax]

The problem with variant channeling is that there isn't a standardized list of portfolio items for gods, like there is for domains. There are many portfolio areas that only one deity has, and there are many more that are logically close, but not the same, as in your example.

All I am getting at is that you can't have a bullet proof answer with the rules as written. I too agree that you should not have an issue with what you're proposing, but a particularly legalistic DM could rule against you. I would suggest clearing it with your local even organizers and you should be fine.

[Netopalis]

This is something I would definitely like to know, too. It thematically makes sense for a cleric of Abadar to channel Contracts or Calistria to channel Luck (She has the domain, after all). Unfortunately, Variant Channeling is quite unclear.

[Majuba]

Go for it.

[Andreas Forster]

I'd say, as long as the player can reasonably explain why his character's deity should grant a certain type of variant channeling, it works.
The exact name of the variant channeling ability shouldn't have to be listed in the deity's portfolio, just something that is clearly related to that variant channeling ability's name.

"Drunkness" and "Ale/Wine" are clearly related. I'd like to see the person who wouldn't see that.

[Markov Spiked Chain]

Did we ever get any guidance or Campaign Clarifications on this? I'm thinking of making a cleric of Sun Wukong, and this would be fun. It seems like there's a lot of ambiguity about "portfolio" that would be nice to clarify in PFS.