Will this character concept be disastrous?


Wrath of the Righteous

Dark Archive

So I had an idea for my Wrath of the Righteous character which I am planning on using in this week’s opening session. The GM thinks it is cool but concerning due to how some NPCs may interact with him. Hence, I wanted to run him past you to see what you folks would do with this character or point out obstacles he might face.

Marcellano is a LG cleric with the Channeler of the Unknown archetype whose father was a priest of Aroden in Cheliax. Although the god of humanity is long-dead, Marcellano’s father still clung to the old trappings, teachings, and methods, teaching his son about the faith of Aroden and the glories Cheliax knew before the Diabolists took over. It was at the age of 30 that Marcellano made a pilgrimage to Absolam, and it was there that he heard a strange voice beckon to him for the first time. The voice offered him power, guidance, and purpose, and Marcellano became convinced that Aroden was contacting him from some remote corner of existence.

Taking his bastard sword and eye-emblazoned shield to the Worldwound, Marcellano is determined to retrace Aroden’s steps, finish what his god had started, and ultimately reforge the faith in the hopes that it might bring Aroden back to Golarion.

Plan on going Hierophant/Archmage dual path and grabbing Divine Source so that my character can grant spells in the name of an allegedly-deceased god. Marcellano’s chosen domain is Void, and though he’s no slouch in melee his primary interest is BFC and Support. In time, I want Marcellano to build a following of Aroden loyalists which becomes a full religion by the end of the campaign.


Hmm. It's certainly not the most unreasonable concept for a Wrath character I've seen (granted, I've seen some pretty bad ones)...

I think at its base it's doable. You would just have to really agree with you GM (and possibly the other players) about where your powers are actually coming from and how it would roughly play out through the adventure. The biggest hurdle here I would think is how aggressively your character proselytizes Aroden, particularly vs other gods. Working with other worshippers is probably something that would work fine, so long as you don't actively impede them. I'm off the opinion that most of the Crusade is too pragmatic to care where your powers come from, so long as they help you fight demons. They might just view you as a strange curiosity in that case. And so long as you dismiss the naysayers without malice it shouldn't be too much of an issue. But if you spend all your time arguing with NPCs about it, or promote an argumentative stance among your followers? That's probably the thing the GM is worried about.

I also don't think it's a huge spoiler to say that this AP by default doesn't conclude with Aroden being revived, so there's something of an awkward question lingering there for everyone that follows you by the end. Are you now their god? Are you actively proclaiming that Aroden is using you as a conduit for his will? Is Aroden actually alive in this interpretation? You might just want to clear those things up with your GM so that you're on the same page, since it can suck if you go in with different understandings of the situation.

I think the path of least resistance is that ultimately your character settles on embodying the legacy of Aroden, regardless of whether or not he's dead. The fact that you have your powers at all can feasibly remain an unsolved enigma, as there's no shortage of those on Golarion. Perhaps it's an echo of Aroden's will, or Iomedae or Pharasma pulling some shenanigans for reasons beyond mortal comprehension. Perhaps it's pure random luck.

Another more comical alternative is people suddenly start thinking you're Aroden reborn somehow, which is funny but could also rustle a bunch of the more rigid religious folk in the adventure (of which there are quite a few). That one could actually cause problems of its not handled in the right way.

Tl;dr Communicate your intent clearly to the GM and other players. Make sure they know and are okay with what you're planning. Ultimately it's up to them to determine if the world of the adventure is cool with your concept.

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