This may sound dumb, but is there a deity of sidewalks?

[Reksew_Trebla]

Or something similar, anyways?

Some backstory. My dog loves sidewalks. So much so that when we go on walks, she refuses to walk along any pathway that isn’t the sidewalk. I started joking that her deity is the deity of sidewalks, so I thought I’d try to make a character like that.

[Dave Justus]

I don't think you are going to find anything that specific.

Generally you would be looking at gods with the travel domain to start with. Quite a few of them only have travel as a lesser concern to their main personality. Others are travel from an exploration setting or water or something else, not really traveling specific build up paths.

Sinashakti the emperyeal lord is fairly focused on traveling from one place to another, his followers forswear any permanent residence and that might be close.

Barzahk is a psychopomp that maintains the dead roads used by other psychopomps to get to the material plane, a bit more esoteric the 'sidewalks' but maybe similar enough.

That is the best I have.

[David knott 242]

Alseta is a deity of boundaries. Not sure whether that helps.

[blahpers]

Desna's big on travel but not so much for staying on the sidewalks. A community deity or one of their demigod or *-lord allies might work better.

[Yidhra, Goddess of Paradoxes]

I'm willing to pretend I am if I get hot dogs on Fridays.

[Agénor]

Lymnieris or simply Calistria are the deities of sidewalk-walkers, no?^^

[marcryser]

Hekate (Hecate) was originally the goddess of the moon and of pathways (especially if travelled at night).

[Reksew_Trebla]

So I like Barzahk and Alseta. Not sure which I’ll go with though.

[Wolf Munroe]

You might consider also Abadar, as he's god of cities, law, merchants, and wealth.

Sidewalks are a hallmark of cities, and, to some extent, I'd also say of merchants (shopping districts) and even wealth (as a display of wealth, they even have elevated parts of the roadside designated specifically for walking--such opulence!).

[Melkiador]

Going to second Abadar. His portfolio is very versatile.

[Loren Pechtel]

A god of sidewalks?

What is a sidewalk??? (I can't picture them existing in a society at that level of development.)

[Melkiador]

According to the internet, sidewalks are 4000 years old. As soon as you have streets in a city, you’ll have places you don’t want things like carts and horses going, but where people can easily mill about. And as soon as you have concrete, those places become sidewalks.

[Reksew_Trebla]

Ooh, Abadar works well. Alright, I’m going to go with Abadar.

Thank you all for the help.

[JiCi]

Oddly enough, we don't have a single deity for roads, paths and tracks...

[Melkiador]

The Abadar paladin code does say this:

Quote:

I am a protector of the roadways and keep travelers from harm. No matter their destinations or goals, if they are peaceable and legitimate travelers who harm no others on the road, I will ensure that they pass safely.

[Meirril]

Loren Pechtel wrote:

A god of sidewalks?

What is a sidewalk??? (I can't picture them existing in a society at that level of development.)

In any ancient city where they have a decent amount of rain, there would be wooden sidewalks that need to be replaced every few years. If a society has really advanced stone-working or brick-making industries sidewalks could be paved and elevated above the dirt/mud or cobblestone roads.

Sidewalks would be a hallmark of civilization. Villages wouldn't have them, and most towns would only have a few sidewalks. Though in places where they produce lumber, quarry stones or bake bricks they might produce sidewalks because it features the local product.

[blahpers]

Go visit Pompeii sometime. They had sidewalks and even crosswalks.

[Cavall]

So we arent even going to discuss the idea that Albert's dog take the star stone test?

Messed up.

I would have converted.

[Gygaxxor]

This was such a strange request I had to stop and read!
I love it!
Honestly, I would abandon the Pathfinder Gods and build your own simple Philosophy.

In eastern cultures it’s not uncommon to attribute a spirit or “god” to mundane things.
Try looking up Shinto or Shendao for some ideas, you can use the Pathfinder deities as a template if you want to flesh it out more. If you’re building a Divine Caster like a Cleric you’ll need to be more specific with Domains. Travel is obvious, but Lawful and Animal/Fur definitely comes to mind as well! Pathfinder is open to interpretation and it’s a perfect opportunity for you to push back and add to the world with something creative and this God of Paths is a great start. If we could look up stats on the human race, I’m pretty certain in the entirety of humanity not very many people have asked this question. That’s fantastic.

I’m picturing a Monk, Ranger, Druid or Cleric who tends a small lonely shrine, maybe at an intersection of pathways/sidewalks dedicated to the God of Sidewalks. Your daily devotion is walking the pathways, clearing it of debris and overgrowth, building detours when needed. A Tian native with an animal companion.

[Geruvurrda]

Or, pick a Pathfinder diety, like abadar, but personally insist on using sidewalks only, as a show of faith. Then find ways to conjure sidewalks, (or even the spell fabricate, just carry lime in a bag of holding, cast create water, and fabricate, poof! instant sidewalk)

But when you simply cannot use a sidewalk, you strap some cement slabs to your feat, or just carry a slab of cement, to show your piety.

Then it leaves it open to your gm, if he ever wants your diety to reward the... obedience :D

[Set]

Melkiador wrote:

Going to second Abadar. His portfolio is very versatile.

In Tian Xa, Abadar's even the god of *ditches,* so I'd default to making him the 'god' of pretty much any urban architecture / improvement, like shutters and gutters and cobblestones.

[Kobara]

This is more of a house rule than anything on the books, but what about a subdiety under Abadar's dominion? Like a Saint under the Catholic church (if I have that right?) I would think sub-cults exist for any major deity to address specific ideals.

[Set]

Kobara wrote:

This is more of a house rule than anything on the books, but what about a subdiety under Abadar's dominion? Like a Saint under the Catholic church (if I have that right?) I would think sub-cults exist for any major deity to address specific ideals.

Diving deeper into Abadar's churches, perhaps one of the high priests of one of the cities in which he's a big deal sponsored a series of sidewalks (mostly in the upper-class and temple districts...), so that the locals would not be in the (often-times muddy!) lanes of traffic for carts and horses and the like. He wanted to smoothen things up for ease of commerce, to keep the wagons full of goods going to market and the throngs of pedestrians from getting all up in each other's business (and yes, perhaps to keep his shiny white leather books and robe free from mud during the rainy season!), but is now remembered fondly by some, sarcastically by others, as 'the patron saint of sidewalks.'

A few countries over, even the worshippers of Abadar have never heard of this guy, but in [town X] he's a big deal. There's a statue and everything, in one of the city parks, and a memorial plaque in the temple of Abadar.

[Bloodrealm]

I agree that Abadar is definitely the one to go with. An extremely urban Lawful deity with the Travel and Protection domains and the Legislation subdomain. If anyone is the deity of sidewalks, it's him.

[Cevah]

I remember some old 2nd Ed ADND spells:
Hovering Road
Highway

/cevah

[Mark Hoover 330]

At level 1 the Cleric of the Sidewalk God could gain Expeditious Construction as a Domain spell. This spell is meant to make low walls, 3' tall by 3' wide by 10' long, 1 section per every 3 levels, but in the description it says "or other simple structure." What if the cleric creates a section of sidewalk, 5' wide by 6" tall by 10' long, for every 3 levels?

[Yomabo]

First of all:
Nice conversation

Second of all:
Maybe you follow a saint of Abadar, who died fighting for the rights of sidewalks. Christianity has a bunch of saints that are just plain weird.

Including but not limited to:
Saint Fiacre: Patron Saint of People with STDs.
Saint Polycarp of Smyrna: Patron Saint Against Dysentery and Earaches.
Saint Genesius of Rome: Patron Saint of Comedians.
Saint Drogo: Patron Saint of Unattractive People.
Saint Isidore of Seville: Patron Saint of the Internet.
Saint Barbara: Patron Saint of Fireworks.

[Mark Hoover 330]

How do saints work in PF? Or even religion in general?

Religion in PF:

The PF wiki suggests that Abadar doesn't have churches, he has banks. So is it a bank that's also a church, or a church that does money lending? Also the inner sea gods may be loosely bound into a group but it doesn't necessarily lay out a pantheon; in the fluff of one adventure path it is suggested that Erastilin have their own burial customs even though they have no Death domain and Pharasma is clearly established as the cannon deity of that portfolio.

If you worship Abadar, say like a patron deity of your city, and you're a cleric that gets your powers from him but you choose, say, Animate Dead as one of your spells for the day since its on your spell list... did Abadar give that to you? Like, did the king of merchants with nothing about necromancy in his portfolio just pull something out of his First Vault and imbue you with the ability to cast that spell for the day? Or does he do some horse trading with, say, Urgathoa. Or do you, the cleric, say prayers to multiple gods even though Abadar is your primary?

And then that brings me back to saints. Generally these are folks who were mortals that performed miracles in the name of their deity and were then raised to a level where they themselves are worshipped for specific reasons. I might pray to my deity every day, but when I get a cough I offer an extra prayer to one of his henchmen to fix my throat.

In that way, when you choose a patron deity to receive your spells from, do you AUTOMATICALLY gain access to all the saints in their employ? I'm guessing in PF a "saint" could also be extra-planar beings that serve the deity. Is this how you can have that one cleric Archetype where they get to pick a random Domain that has nothing to do with the cannon Domains of their patron deity?

If the above is the case, where you get a deity and all their associated "saints," do they form a little mini-pantheon? Consider that a cleric of Abadar COULD take an Archetype where they have the Protection and Animal domains, primarily venerating their patron deity as a sort of druidic defender of hunters. They might even worship a particular "saint" of Abadar who was himself a hunter and barterer who miraculously used trade to assuage war and performed miracles.

Would that be cannon, since the PC still worships Abadar and just took an Archetype to get Animal? Or would that be considered a "sect" of the main cannon? If it's a sect, could it be considered heresy or blasphemy and get an Inquisitor after the PC?

And finally, what is the physical organization of these deities? Like, IRL certain religions started in one part of the world and look a certain way there still, but then as they spread to other parts of the world they took on other aspects of the cultures they were brought to. Does that happen in a world where some rare people can literally cast a spell and go VISIT their actual patron deity?

I guess what I'm saying is, if worship of Sarenrae began among tribal desert wanderers, but then ages later it's thriving outside the decidedly medieval-Europe-inspired towns of, say, Varisia, would they STILL wear silks and dance with a scimitar? Like, maybe they have adapted Dervish Dancing with hand sickles (because farmers primarily worship the goddess of the sun here) and their garb is decidedly more Cossack-inspired.

To that end, who in the organization or the "church" of Sarenrae would decide that one group or another is "doing it wrong" and send an Inquisitor to end the non-cannon behavior? Is there, like, a holy-mother-church in Qadria (or whichever region of Golarion the Sarenites hail from originally) or is it more regional?

Phew, I'm sorry for that.

[Baba Ganoush]

Meirril wrote:

Loren Pechtel wrote:

A god of sidewalks?

...sidewalks could be paved and elevated above the dirt/mud or cobblestone roads.

Or below them- after significant flooding in Seattle, Washington, the streets were gradually raised one level, starting with the road, and people used ladders and bridges to cross the street. Eventually the sidewalks were raised to the level of the new streets as well; but in some places the underground sidewalk/building facade remains (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground)