They are basically vengeful ghosts, however I see no reason why they should have to be evil. What about say, an innocent victim of a serial killer or something? I would think they would be neutral or even good and the PCs (assuming they are good) might team up with them to find the killer.
Revenants are willing to kill everything and anyone, including innocents, to get their target.
They are specifically driven by hatred, and nothing else.
Revenants are single minded in their obsession, ignoring all others in their set task. They are utterly devoid of compassion or logic, knowing only the hatred for its killer.
The two revenants I've encountered in Paizo APs say the same in their stat blocks, that they will kill whoever is between them and the target.
Ok, what if you wanted to make a non evil revenant like creature? Just use a ghost and set its "final rest" condition to "when their death is avenged"?
I'm pretty sure Paizo made all undead evil.
If you wanna make non-evil undead then sure, it's not likely to break anything.
Ghosts can be any alignment.
IIRC the original revenants in TSR's Fiend Folio were neutral the same alignment as they were in life. If you want to do the same it shouldn't break anything.
Why someone comes back as a revenant is not clearly defined. Obviously not every murder causes the victim to rise as a revenant. It is clear that they are completely driven by hatred and nothing else. To me that suggest that only certain types of people have potential to return as a revenant. Maybe the reason they are all evil is that only a person who tends towards evil can become a revenant. You may not have to have to be outright evil, but should be at least neutral with evil tendencies. A truly good person simply does not have that much pure hatred in them and will not return as a revenant. A good person could come back as a ghost, but not a revenant. This is idea does not have any basis in the rules, but that does not mean it could not be true.
As you have mentioned, a Ghost can be any Alignment but have you considered a Prana Ghost? They are technically Outsiders rather than Undead, can have any Alignment, generally have a more measured approach to achieving their aims and those aims can be regrets/justice rather than revenge.
IIRC the original revenants in TSR's Fiend Folio were neutralthe same alignment as they were in life. If you want to do the same it shouldn't break anything.
They have in fact been neutral in every iteration of D&D. The only places I've found where this isn't the case is in D20 modern (which replaced the alignment system with allegiances) and pathfinder.
In d20 modern they still end up sounding pretty "neutralish" as their allegiance changes to revenge and they lose any allegiances that would get in the way of that revenge.
Pathfinder seems to have inexplicably not only made them not True Neutral any more, but made them Lawful Evil. Which I agree doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
There was a module I ran for 2nd edition that featured a revenant that showed up several times. If the party didn't get in the way of his revenge (You know automatically attacked him just because he was undead) then he ended up being a powerful asset in the fight against the final boss who was the one the revenant wanted revenge on.
I always thought it was really cool that because of it's single mindedness, such a powerful undead could actually end up helping the party and was only an obstacle if the party viewed it as such and/or didn't take the time to understand its goals.
I sort of figured that a conscious creature that is traumatised and can only fixate on pain and suffering inevitably then evil.
I think there is the similar Broken template that affects things like angels.
I sort of figured that a conscious creature that is traumatised and can only fixate on pain and suffering inevitably then evil.
I think there is the similar Broken template that affects things like angels.
The goddess of revenge is CN. So, revenge isn't explicitly evil even by pathfinder standards.
I meant more that continuous pain breaks people, and continuous supernatural pain sustained beyond death would be indescribably traumatic.
Vengeance, especially by killing, is generally considered evil in Generic Western Norms. Justice is not. Cue any number of "are we killing 'em for the right reason?" moral quandaries.
I sort of figured that a conscious creature that is traumatised and can only fixate on pain and suffering inevitably then evil.
I think there is the similar Broken template that affects things like angels.
The goddess of revenge is CN. So, revenge isn't explicitly evil even by pathfinder standards.
Don't get me started on divine portfolios and alignment inconsistencies.