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As the title asks. I had the idea to make a netural cleric of Urgathoa for PFS since I enjoy the deity, and have an interesting build idea for one that I'm not sure is 100% viable. Anyway, I'm looking for advice, both in terms of role play and crunch for this character, and for that I am turining to you. The idea behind the build is to create a necromancy/negative energy-inclined character who makes use of the channel smite + Guided Hand combinations of feats so they can effectively melee with dumped strength, allowing for more charisma then usual and thus a better command undead DC. Unlike actual PF, command undead is a very powerful feat in PF society and a better way to do necromancy then the actual animate dead spell as undead don't last past encounters so the "new save each day" drawback in real games is largely negligible in PFS. Taking the channel smite + Guided Hand feats allows me to only really need two stats(wisdom, charisma) instead of the three I'd normally need(wis, cha, str) to be effective in low-level play/have access to melee while still maintaining strong necromantic casting and a good command undead DC. Anyway, my idea for a rough build is below..
Race: Human
Class: Cleric
Alignment: TN
Deity: Urgathoa
Abilities:
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 16 (14+2)
Charisma: 16
Maxed Skills:
Diplomacy
Perception
Knowledge(Religion)
Spellcraft
Build:
1st: Cleric 1: Orisons, Death Domain, War Domain, Channel Negative Energy 1d6, Spontaneous casting(Inflict Spells), Aura, Feats: Channel Smite, Guided Hand, +1 Skill Point
2nd: +1 Skill Point
3rd: Channel Negative Energy 2d6, Feats: Command Undead, +1 Skill Point
4th: +1 Skill Point, +1 Wisdom
5th: Channel Negative Energy 3d6, Feats: Spell Focus(Necromancy)(Or Selective Channeling..see text below), +1 Skill Point
6th: +1 Skill Point
7th: Channel Negative Energy 4d6, Feats: Undead Master(Or Shatter Resolve, see text below), +1 Skill Point
8th: +1 Skill Point, +1 Wisdom
9th: Channel Energy 5d6, Feats: Improved Channel, +1 Skill Point
10th: +1 Skill Point
11th: Channel Energy 6d6, Feats: Divine Protection or Divine Interference(Not sure which...the former lets me free up my cloak slot/gives me a strong save boost since I have decent cha for a cleric while the latter is just useful...advice here would be nice.), +1 Skill Point
I have an alternative build as well, which instead of focusing on a combination of command undead + Necromantic casting is entirely based around channeling. It is exactly the same as the top build, except Spell Focus(Necromancy) becomes Selective Channeling and Undead Master becomes Shatter Resolve. If you think this build would be better for PFS then the animator/undead dominator please tell me.
As for RP advice, I am mainly looking for ways to reconcile the very evil aspects of Urgathoa's faith with a TN/non-evil outlook. Just what, exactly, in terms of personality would a TN worshiper of Urgathoa act like? Any opinions on this would be great as well.
So, anybody think they could help me out on either of these fronts?
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I've never heard this. In fact, I've heard the opposite. I have heard stories of people playing neutral Urgathoan clerics in PFS, as well as LN Asmodeus clerics, and in general non-evil clerics of evil deities. You only need to be one step away from your deity's alignment to worship them and TN is one step away from NE. Unless the rules for PF society have changed recently, I have never heard anything about Urgathoan clerics not being allowed, and I have heard of people using them in PFS in the past.
EDIT: Ninja posted. Thats what I was trying to say. You can be a cleric of Urgathoa as long as your TN instead of any of the evil alignments. My point stands. It is possible to play a cleric of Urgathoa in PFS.
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Nothing in the PFS handbook says that. It simply says you must be within one step of the deity's alignment. TN is one step away from NE, meaning that, by the rules presented in the player's guide for PFS, a TN cleric of Urgathoa should be legal. If there is an FAQ or other official source that is contrary to this I'll eat my words, but you've yet to provide any. Until you cite a specific, official source that states this, I'll continue to say your wrong because the PFS players guide says all you need to be is within one step of your deity's alignment, and TN is within one step of NE. There is nothing in the player's guide that bans NE deities, nor says that the "one step" rule only applies to lawful and chaotic deities. So, if your getting this information from a source other then the PF society player's guide, please, cite it.
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Kodger is correct, as long as you're within 1 step of the deity you can select to worship them.
As for your question about roleplaying, I would suggest having this character come from Geb where having undead slaves is not only accepted, but a way of life. It is more efficient to have workers who do not tire or eat like a traditional slave would.
To me, this would allow you to roleplay the character with your own spin (a salesman of undead slaves, perhaps an undead physician - ensuring the undead were in top shape and ready for work, etc).
The main thing is to balance the evil feeling parts of the character (undeath, urgathoa) with a positive and nice personality. If I had this character I would want other people to say "That character is really nice and reasonable, it's just the undead I find weird."
Hope that helps!
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You can be a neutral cleric of a neutral evil deity in Pathfinder. The only limitation pathfinder places on cleric alignment is you must be within one step of your deity.
Alignment: A cleric's alignment must be within one step of her deity's, along either the law/chaos axis or the good/evil axis (see Additional Rules).The rule for neutral clerics Chris Ballard is referring to was a 3.5 rule that was dropped in pathfinder.
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Well, in my opinion you should worry more about the character you'd like to play over worrying if you'll be most effective.
I think both are viable, so I would first work out the roleplaying flavour you like, and then if it fits shatter resolve then go that way, or if it favours undead master then go that way.
That is how I would look at it.
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In addition to what others have said with regards to roleplaying a non-evil devotee of Urgathoa, I'd suggest having your character interpret her gluttony aspect as more of a social thing.
For example, you could organize lavish feasts and parties, encourage the consumption of fine food and wine (maybe even prepare some yourself, if you have skill points to spare), play matchmaker for possible romantic couples (Urgathoa is noted as being an advocate of marriage, despite her hedonism), and in general treat life and unlife as one big celebration.
Urgathoa is definitely one of my favourite deities, too, and I think there's plenty of wiggle room to create a plausibly non-evil worshipper.
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I role play mine as a hedonist with growing curiosity. He joined the church out of a desire for acceptance because in real life, he was too harshly judged for his indulgences. He reads Feeding Your Hunger like a guidebook for life because the church is what has saved him. When he adventures, he takes a trophy from at least one fallen foe (always a physical body part) and each night at midnight, he can be heard crying himself to sleep as he fails, yet again, to consume the flesh of those he has slain despite knowing that this would be pleasing to his goddess.
This is his nightly ritual for regaining spells.
He is a battle cleric, strong and capable, though not as wise as others. He is formidable nonetheless.
I prefered a more martial lean and focused on negative energy channeling, shatter resolve and tossing out some smack down with my scythe. He has the undeath and tactics domain and command undead. His spellcasting is all supplemental and thematic. With that said, I would end up suggesting you go with whichever style of play you think you'll enjoy most. As I already have a caster blaster oracle and adventure with another evil negative channeling cleric who focused on undead and casting more, I felt a martial approach would be more satisfying.
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I role play mine as a hedonist with growing curiosity. He joined the church out of a desire for acceptance because in real life, he was too harshly judged for his indulgences. He reads Feeding Your Hunger like a guidebook for life because the church is what has saved him. When he adventures, he takes a trophy from at least one fallen foe (always a physical body part) and each night at midnight, he can be heard crying himself to sleep as he fails, yet again, to consume the flesh of those he has slain despite knowing that this would be pleasing to his goddess.
This is his nightly ritual for regaining spells.
I think this is a great idea. Very similar to a character I've been thinking about too.
As a Cleric of an evil deity, concealing his identity might become important at times, so I think secrecy belongs in the story in some way.I love the idea of a whimpering/crying cleric faced with an impossible choice.
You could reverse it with the Corpse Cannibal Urgathoan trait. Maybe the pitiful moments come from hiding his need to consume repulsive rotten flesh to earn his power. The shame!
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Thanks for all the advice, this really has turned out to be a big help. I've decided to go with a more caster/undead-focused build, in the end, though I want to know how much charisma is really needed to make good use of command undead? 16, while nice, is hard to get stat-wise, so if you all think I could make do with 14 charisma I'd like to know as 14 cha would allow me to get 18 starting wisdom, which would be very nice for the build I have planned. So...exactly how much charisma would I need to make use of command undead? Is the 16 pretty mandatory or could I get away with 14?
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You could try for 17 and 15 starting stats after racial mods. Increase your primary at 4 and secondary at 8. Grab a headband of either stat of choice or a dual stat headband around 7th level. You should still have remaining points for a solid con and passable Dex but you probably have to dump a stat and maybe take a hit on a second.
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In a fairly recent campaign that's currently on hiatus, I had a Neutral with good tendencies character who worshipped Urgathoa. The character was a fledgling vampire from ancient Ustalav who was "killed" during the crusades against Tar Baphon and left impaled on a pike. After the pike eventually wasted away, she woke up in a new age.
She is a faux-noblewoman who dislikes how far Ustalav has sunk, and has interest in discovering more about the world after such a long slumber. Her homages to Urgathoa include lavish feasts and/or indulging in things that make you happy. As an example, after happening upon a massacred hamlet, she insisted on feasting to honor the dead.
She really dislikes Pharasma and believes people should be able to make their own decisions. She is mildly racist/classist in that she basically has a noble/commoner view of vampires/non-vampires, but it gets demonstrated in a sense of chivalry insofar as she considers certain activities beneath her and found it offensive when she found a dhampir being mournful of their heritage. She insisted that if the dhampir must judge value from her heritage to find value in it, not without it.
She insisted that the dhampir embrace her desire to feed and to do it "the right way", and would secretly take the dhampir out to feed when her moral guardians who were appalled by her "affliction" weren't paying attention; insisting on teaching her how to be a "lady".
Religion and such is a funny thing. How you approach almost anything will ultimately determine the true morality of it. In D&D, morality is simple and sweet. If you're not hurting, oppressing, or killing people, you're not doing evil. Given how broad Urgathoa's themes are, it's very easy to have neutral or even good followers for her.