Fiendish / Celestial template

[Celanian]

Are fiendish creatures considered evil and celestial creatures considered good for purposes of alignment spells/effects such as Smite/Protection from X? I don't actually see it anywhere in the template description.

[Nefreet]

Summon Monster wrote:

When you use a summoning spell to summon a creature with an alignment or elemental subtype, it is a spell of that type. Creatures on Table 10–1 marked with an “*” are summoned with the celestial template, if you are good, and the fiendish template, if you are evil. If you are neutral, you may choose which template to apply to the creature. Creatures marked with an “*” always have an alignment that matches yours, regardless of their usual alignment. Summoning these creatures makes the summoning spell's type match your alignment.

[Snowblind]

Fiendish/Celestial creatures don't automatically get their alignment set by the template. They can be any alignment (although in setting you would expect a bias).

Note that most of the times you will see celestial/fiendish stuff is while summoning, so see the summon monster rules text Nefreet posted.

[Entryhazard]

Not summoned fiendish and celestial creatures are denizens of the aligned planes so there's also that indicating that they're naturally evil/good even without subtypes

[Celanian]

Interesting. So if a neutral wizard summons an animal, he can choose either celestial/fiendish template at the time of the summoning, whichever is more beneficial, but the monster itself would be neutral and thus immune to alignment specific spells/effects.

[Nefreet]

Neutral characters are the mechanically stronger option in a few situations.

[Set]

Entryhazard wrote:

Not summoned fiendish and celestial creatures are denizens of the aligned planes so there's also that indicating that they're naturally evil/good even without subtypes

In the Ask James Jacobs thread, he clarifies that, in Golarion, summoned creatures are created when the spell is cast and cease to exist when it ends, they aren't actual denizens of the outer planes.

*Called* creatures, on the other hand, are 'real people.'

There's also some alignment wonkiness, in any event, as Calistria, who has evil clerics and servants, makes her home in Elysium, the CG upper plane, so it would be entirely possible to call a succubus servant of Calistria *from Elysium.*

But anywho, as in the quoted text above, a celestial or fiendish creature summoned via spell is only good or evil if the summoner was good or evil. A neutral summoner summons up neutral celestial or fiendish (or non-lawful axiomatic or non-chaotic anarchic) critters.

[Entryhazard]

Set wrote:

Entryhazard wrote:

Not summoned fiendish and celestial creatures are denizens of the aligned planes so there's also that indicating that they're naturally evil/good even without subtypes

In the Ask James Jacobs thread, he clarifies that, in Golarion, summoned creatures are created when the spell is cast and cease to exist when it ends, they aren't actual denizens of the outer planes.

*Called* creatures, on the other hand, are 'real people.'

There's also some alignment wonkiness, in any event, as Calistria, who has evil clerics and servants, makes her home in Elysium, the CG upper plane, so it would be entirely possible to call a succubus servant of Calistria *from Elysium.*

But anywho, as in the quoted text above, a celestial or fiendish creature summoned via spell is only good or evil if the summoner was good or evil. A neutral summoner summons up neutral celestial or fiendish (or non-lawful axiomatic or non-chaotic anarchic) critters.

Indeed I said "not summoned"