1) He's a nature-based character, which is rarely on 2 extremes.
2) He's animal-based, like the Agathions.
3) The Stag Archon... looks like an Agathion than a LG Outsider.
4) There's no Agathion deity in the core pantheon.
May sound like nitpick, but still...
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His isn't really a nature-based religion in the way that most think of it.
He is about turning areas into farmland. About creating small communities and taming the wilds. His goals are for communities to live in harmony with the lands. He would fight those who would despoil the lands, but that doesn't mean he wants them completely wild.
Sounds like someone bringing order out of chaos to me. I think making him NG would mess with a lot of the paladin code they gave for him in Faiths of Purity.
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Just because he has animal motifs doesn't mean he's inherently connected to agathions. Take a closer look at his ethos and practices and they paint a very different picture. And be aware that he essentially has a CG opposite number in the form of the Empyreal Lord Cernunnos.
And in addition, the stag-headed archer may be the best known image of him but it's basically his little-used "war form" so to speak. He prefers to appear as a grizzled member of the race of whoever's observing him. The only reason the elk-head is so prominent is because it's something people of ALL races can recognize.
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He may have once been an agathion who drifted towards law, conceivably.
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And +1 to what LazarX observed. He's NOT a nature god.. he's a god of Putting Nature to Good Use.
I was going to phrase this as "He isn't a 'nature' god. He's a 'rural' god. There is a difference.", but your version is better.
Not to mention, he's very much a supporter of Social Roles. That Men should be Men and Women should be Women and hrumph!
He's pretty much the grumpy old man god of rural living.
Since that original article printed Paizo has stated that view is in error. There might be some misguided worshipers who believe that, but Erastil believes that everyone should work together and work the land; he doesn't specify who needs to do which work.
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Since that original article printed Paizo has stated that view is in error. There might be some misguided worshipers who believe that, but Erastil believes that everyone should work together and work the land; he doesn't specify who needs to do which work.Not to mention, he's very much a supporter of Social Roles. That Men should be Men and Women should be Women and hrumph!
He's pretty much the grumpy old man god of rural living.
In the original publishing, it did suggest that he was in favor of social roles and a bit sexist. I don't think he would be against a woman hunting or a guy taking care of the kids if the situation warranted but still, is big on social stability and if a little sexism helps this along (and isn't too tyranical) he'd be all for such social stability.
And I like this about him from a game perspective. It saddens me that they're removing things like this from the game with revisions.
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Thing is, if a society has gender roles where women go out and men stay at home then supporting that is still women being women and men being men. With the roles of their society. I do love him better as the grumpy old man god. I can somewhat picture him grumbling about all these young whippersnappers running around as gods.
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anyone who lived in a rural area (real rural, not rural++Walmart...) will agree that it's much harsher/boring if you're there all alone YEAR-LONG and no one is really sticking together (i.e. as can be the case for rich folks' cottage country, where people sell their main residence after retirement and decide to "live the rest of their days in the country")
Not all of them end up staying forever in their "pristine dream land" and a lot of them put up the For Sale sign and return to the city.
Truly rural areas don't have the all the trappings and convenience of (sub)urban areas. If you're gonna do everything alone it's gonna cost you. That's why most people born and raised in remote locations learn the value of relying on others and offering one's help in return or up front... that's why their annual fairs or farmer's markets are really cool places to be, as the people make all the difference.
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One thing that might be worth pointing out here is that Hound Archons have animal heads too, but that doesn't make them secret 'caninal' agathions either.
Word, Ross! That... came up in a game recently, actually.
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Since that original article printed Paizo has stated that view is in error. There might be some misguided worshipers who believe that, but Erastil believes that everyone should work together and work the land; he doesn't specify who needs to do which work.Not to mention, he's very much a supporter of Social Roles. That Men should be Men and Women should be Women and hrumph!
He's pretty much the grumpy old man god of rural living.
I have to wonder if it would have been better to let Eristil keep his original attitude. Showing the gods to have 'Feet of Clay', some flaw in an otherwise squeaky-clean image would be a refreshing change.
I have to wonder if it would have been better to let Eristil keep his original attitude. Showing the gods to have 'Feet of Clay', some flaw in an otherwise squeaky-clean image would be a refreshing change.
Nah, there is enough in the real world where people make judgements based on gender. I think it is good to leave that sort of thing out of fantasy since it keeps real-world social problems in the real world.
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I have to wonder if it would have been better to let Eristil keep his original attitude. Showing the gods to have 'Feet of Clay', some flaw in an otherwise squeaky-clean image would be a refreshing change.Nah, there is enough in the real world where people make judgements based on gender. I think it is good to leave that sort of thing out of fantasy since it keeps real-world social problems in the real world.
Actually, that wasn't the issue at all. The issue was a combination of him being Good and that not being a Good attitude, and it really taking a lot away from his role as God of Family.
There are certainly other sexist individuals and Gods in Golarion. Asmodeus, for example, is extremely misogynistic.
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Law vs. Chaos is the key. Law tries to label everything, from what color of underwear is acceptable to society to roles that are acceptable for men and women.
If you want unorthodox life choices, look at the elves or other Chaotic cultures. They are the grasshoppers.
If you want traditional roles, look at the dwarves. They are the ants.
Erastil definitely wants ants, not grasshoppers.
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I actually really like that we have a LG Nature deity. Old Societies, and Nature, which Erastil represents, DO have fairly rigid rules and hierarchies.
It's also not something you see often in a fantasy setting, which makes it rather nice to see. There's this trope that "Civilization = Lawful, Tribal Culture = Chaotic" that has never sat well with me. Tribal Societies often have much, MUCH more rigid taboos and strictures than more modern ones.
Free-Thinking tends to come from the leisure resultant from plenty and safety that more organized, larger communities bring about.
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+1 to Erastil being closer to LN than NG.
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And they'll do the same when the lumber consortium wants to clear-cut another section of forest.
And they'll do the same when the lumber consortium wants to clear-cut another section of forest.
and?..