Unified Faith - Drawing Power From More Than One Deity

[Apupunchau]

Everyone has seen the cleric of this deity or the paladin of that but does one have to devote oneself to a single power to be granted define power. How does pantheistic worship work and where does dedicating oneself to a philosophy get its power from. Can those who tap into the divine do so without being shackled to one being? Scouring through some of the pathfinder books seems that outside of PFS its possible. And I take a fun look at some possible ideas and which deities they may be fueled by. The gods of nightmare seems like a fun group to play a cleric of.

Have used pantheistic divine characters in your game? As a Player? As a GM? Which deities have you bound together to represent what philosophies?

[dharkus]

oracles worship ideals rather than specific deities i think

[Fromper]

Oracles don't really have to worship anything. Their power is given to them by a deity, whether they like it or not.

Since this is in the campaign setting subforum, I'll point out that this doesn't work in canon for Golarion. Also, clerics in Golarion can't worship a philosophy. They have to worship a single patron deity, as do paladins, warpriests, and inquisitors.

The stuff about being a cleric of a philosophy in the Core Rulebook is there for games that don't take place in this campaign setting that might allow that. But in a home campaign, you can do whatever you want, even if you're playing in Golarion, so talk to your GM.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Semantics about what pantheism is and isn't aside, on Golarion almost any divine spellcaster can be pantheistic with the exception of the Cleric and Warpriest classes.

As Fromper stated, oracles receive their powers from a deity or god-like being involuntarily. They may worship a god or gods if they choose, regardless of whether that god is the source of their power or not. For example, one of the deities listed for the Outer Rifts mystery is Iomedae, not because she's giving demonic powers to people but because Outer Rift oracles tend to pop up near the Worldwound, where her faithful actively crusade, so such an oracle's powers are most likely from a demonic source, and they've come to worship the Inheritor as a means of saving their souls by turning the Worldwound's power against it.

This is the model paladins follow as well, if my memory serves: one LG or NG deity is powering the paladin, kind of acting like a divine sponsor, but does not necessarily demand worship from the paladin in return, as the paladin's dedication to their code is what earns that power. Thus paladins can be pantheists or even atheists (in the Golarion, Rahadoumi sense, anyway). Surprisingly, Inquisitors work this way too according to James Jacobs. I myself play a pantheist Inquisitor in a Carrion Crown campaign who worships Iomedae, Pharasma and the Empyreal Lord Andoletta as a kind of triune.

Druids, Rangers and Hunters, obviously, get their powers from nature, kind of like from the life-force of the world in a sense, and they may throw a god like Gozreh or Erastil or a powerful fey like one of the Eldest into the mix, but if I'm correct, the implication is that the god or fey isn't the one providing the actual power, and is just acting as a role-model for the character.

Finally Shamans get their power from a similar, yet more specific source: spirits. Sometimes this is basically like a Druid, the spirits in question being spirits that inhabit natural objects (the Shoanti are probably the best examples) but others include otherworldly beings like outsiders or the spirits of the dead. Again, while a Shaman certainly may worship a god or gods, that god or gods is not the SOURCE of the Shaman's spells and powers.

In summation, classes like the Oracle, Paladin and Inquisitor are sort of like "chosen ones," with a deity granting them power but not influencing the character's actions the way they would a Cleric or Warpriest, and other classes like Druids, Hunters, Rangers and Shamans get their powers from sources that are not gods, and worship of such gods is solely a matter of alignment and personal preference.

[Darthslaverus]

Getting back on topic, one of the many character I've created but haven't gotten around to playing yet is a devil-spawn Tiefling shamaness from Minata, who venerates her own personal pantheon of Earth-related deities (Stone is her main spirit), which includes:

Ayrzul, Elemental Lord of Earth (For his raw dominion over the element, as well as the secrets the earth holds)

Yamatsumi, Tian god of Mountains and Volcanoes (Representing both the destructive and renewing properties of earth)

Eldas, Empyreal Lord of Architecture and Masonry (Representing the earth's capacity to create, as well as its benefits to mortals)

and Irori (Something of an outlier due to not being especially affiliated with the element, but she subscribes to his message that every individual has their own unique path to enlightenment, and strives to emulate his strict discipline)

The character herself is LN, so with the exception of Ayrzul, she could probably identify with most of their followers. While she doesn't draw power from any of them, I would say she certainly derives inspiration from their respective teachings when trafficking with her spirits.