I have a party NPC kitsune witch that reveres ancestors. After death, elders continue to serve the living members of their kin, guiding them through rituals and dreams. After a spirit successfully sees to the prosperity of their future generations, they depart to Nirvana and become vulpinal agathions. The religion honors the ancestors of old, but has a complicated set of beliefs relevant to grave robbing. They believe burying ancestors with their useful belongings gives them the tools to aid the living in the afterlife. However, a departed is expected to allow their kin to receive an inheritance. Spirits that departed to Nirvana have no use for their equipment, and therefore, the members of this religion have little problem raiding the tombs of sufficiently ancient people.
The NPC's deceased grandmother teaches her new spells in her dreams, the witch later practicing them until she learns to perform the spells herself. Her cat familiar acts as a connection between the two and helps her interpret her visions. The witch's tribe also values nature, life, and harmony with others. The witch, however, is learning with difficulty that sometimes the life of an evil one has to end in order to protect lives and harmony.
If statted, the religion would probably look like this:
Whispers of Old
A faith of ancestors, family, honor, and nature
Alignment NG
Domains Animal, Community, Glory, Good, Repose
Subdomains Agathion, Ancestors, Family, Friendship, Fur, Heroism
Favored Weapon Any weapon type qualifying for the Heirloom Weapon trait.
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I had an idea writing an adventure based on Norman England (High Middle Ages era), and I thought that the Western Catholic Church would schism (in fact, it did in Historical times when the French pope excommunicated the Italian pope and vice versa, but not to the extreme I'm proposing). I wanted the Church to Schism into two, following after two noble ideals:
The Church of Love would be based on the Virtues in the Ultima series. While the Human Potential Church would be based on the Divine Humanity Church in the Priest's Complete Handbook.
I'd thought Medieval England would be split amongst the two. The two Churches preaching a different view of Roman Catholicism. The Church of Love would have love as it's center, while the Church of Human Potential would have potential as its center. And the two would be opposed, causing doctrinal conflict.
The idea is based on how I view the Creationist vs. Evolutionist debate. I just realized that the reason the debates still go on without conclusion is that they serve a purpose. And I wanted to show that purpose as an underlying theme. The adventure won't encourage two clerics in the party from the two churches, and the PCs won't run into street preachers though.
The Adventure will figure a Church dedicated to love in the starting area, but have a Church dedicated to Potential in another.