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Elves will understandably be fairly rare in SFS, but they've got a great jelly filling of flavor with their Gap betrayal and post-Gap history. Calistria is in the core rulebook as a minor deity as well, and the idea of playing as an elf bent on uncovering knowledge from the Gap with religious fervor for revenge is too good to resist. What better place to do so than among the Dataphiles in the Starfinder Society?
But then we hit a roadblock: minor deities from the core book aren't legal per the SFS guide. Only the core 20 are allowed. The elves are quite peeved at this religious persecution, and they are patient in their revenge.
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The rules are pretty clear (although what it means by a deity appearing in an AR isn't really clear:
"Characters can worship any deity or philosophy listed on page 482 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook, or any other source listed in the Additional Resources document. Characters with the priest character theme must choose as deity or philosophy whose alignment is within one step (on either the good-evil axis or the law-chaos axis) of the character’s alignment."
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And now comes the flood of PC Devotees to the Devourer.
The rules are pretty clear (although what it means by a deity appearing in an AR isn't really clear:
"Characters can worship any deity or philosophy listed on page 482 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook, or any other source listed in the Additional Resources document. Characters with the priest character theme must choose as deity or philosophy whose alignment is within one step (on either the good-evil axis or the law-chaos axis) of the character’s alignment."
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So, it's definitely that strict RAW that I'm hung up on here. I don't know if not allowing the minor deities was a conscious decision or an oversight, but I'd love to see the options opened up since they are included in the core rulebook.
Calistria especially has a great hook in Starfinder that I want to explore in ways that weren't really as relevant in Pathfinder.
It looks like you only have to select a legal deity to worship if you have the Priest theme. Otherwise, the Deity entry on your character sheet could be left blank, and you could claim (in character) to worship Calistria, Bob, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or anything else you want.
If you want to gain any mechanical benefits from worshiping Calistria, you will want to keep an eye open for future releases of the Additional Resources in case they open up Calistria as a legal deity (which would have to happen either before or at the same time that they offer any mechanical benefits for having Calistria as a patron deity).
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It looks like you only have to select a legal deity to worship if you have the Priest theme. Otherwise, the Deity entry on your character sheet could be left blank, and you could claim (in character) to worship Calistria, Bob, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or anything else you want.
That's not the reading I get at all. If legal deity selection was only for those with the priest theme the first clause in that part of the SFS guide wouldn't exist at all.
Beyond that, you can't just leave this section of your character blank and do what you want roleplay wise the character creation process is very explicit on this point, if you worship a deity you must note it during step 9 of the character creation process:
"Deity: Note the deity your character worships, if any. See page 482 for more information on religions and philosophies in Starfinder."
I was going by the statement that begins "Characters with the priest character theme must choose a deity or philosophy". That statement would imply that, if you don't have the Priest theme or a character option that is similarly restricted, then you don't have to pick a deity or philosophy at all -- so you can claim "None" as your choice for game mechanics purposes and then say whatever you like in character about your character's beliefs.
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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I assume the Devotion / Worship distinction from PFS carries across. You worship a deity if you follow them and get something in return. You are devoted to a deity if you follow them but get nothing.
You can only worship legal deities and must be within one alignment step. You can be devoted to anything that exists in the published books.
That said, some concepts (Such as my blind Shirren Groetus Worshiping Mystic with the Menacing Moon spell) will have to wait until "Starfinder Pact Worlds" comes out.
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you can claim "None" as your choice for game mechanics purposes and then say whatever you like in character about your character's beliefs.
Again, no, because you have to mark the deity you worship, if any, per step 9 of the character creation process. You can't backend around this step by putting none and then actually worshipping a deity in character. If you could what is the purpose of picking a deity at all in step 9.
Again, no, because you have to mark the deity you worship, if any, per step 9 of the character creation process. You can't backend around this step by putting none and then actually worshipping a deity in character. If you could what is the purpose of picking a deity at all in step 9.you can claim "None" as your choice for game mechanics purposes and then say whatever you like in character about your character's beliefs.
In Pathfinder, the purpose of picking a deity is to indicate which deity you count as the patron deity that you worship for game mechanical purposes.
In Starfinder, there are so far absolutely no game mechanical effects for worshiping a deity. I assume that that will change at some point (maybe after the Pact Worlds book is released).
In either game, you are free to say in character that you really like a particular deity even if you haven't taken that deity as your patron.
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This honestly looks like an oversight to me. Where's the 'FAQ' button so we can flag it for Thursty's review?
If only we had that for this forum! Still, better to submit a clearly worded proposal than whine, eh?
Proposal: I propose that the minor deities in the Starfinder core rulebook be opened up as legal character options as they are flavorful, they encourage a more diverse background for characters, and they are suitable for organized play in that they are all legal PFS deities. Several of them represent the primary racial deities of races that are available by boon.
Starfinder Society Developer
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Proposal: I propose that the minor deities in the Starfinder core rulebook be opened up as legal character options as they are flavorful, they encourage a more diverse background for characters, and they are suitable for organized play in that they are all legal PFS deities. Several of them represent the primary racial deities of races that are available by boon.
Agreed! I'll add this to the Guide Update List. Until then...
Official Errata: The minor deities on listed on page 493 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook are open for play.
Reminder: Characters with the priest character theme must choose as deity or philosophy whose alignment is within one step (on either the good-evil axis or the law-chaos axis) of the character’s alignment.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Yay! My blind shirren mystic worshipper of Groetus* will finally see the light of day! Or rather won't, because blind.
*unlike most Shirren, whose eyes are glittering faceted spheres, hers are pale and pockmarked moons... Menacing moon is going to be her primary offensive spell.