I'm creating a Champion for an upcoming Age of Ashes campaign we're starting and, flavorwise, I'd like to make him a champion of Erastil. But the Champions have something called Deific Weapon, which states 'You zealously bear your deity’s favored weapon.'
Erastil's favored weapon is the longbow.
I was kind of hoping to make him more of a protector type, up close and personal with the enemies and protecting his squishier spellcasting allies. Plus, my champion's cause reactions only extend 15 feet. With a longbow, he'd have to be hanging back at least 30 feet to be a max efficiency.
So my question is, does Deific Weapon mean that the Champion has to mostly use their deities weapon? Or can he sword and board it without being the worst Erastil Champion ever?
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The Deific Weapon feature exists for two reasons:
1) To make it so that if your deity has a simple favored weapon and you want to use that weapon, it's somewhat less bad of an idea.
2) To make it so that if your deity has an uncommon favored weapon and you want to use that weapon, you have access to it.
"You zealously bear your deity's favored weapon" is just flavor explaining the ability. Champions do not need to use their deity's favored weapon for any reason. It's often not the best idea, and in the case of several deities, it actively works really poorly with your class features. You're proficient in all martial weapons, and can use any of those. It's perfectly fine, both in mechanics and flavor, for a Champion of Erastil to choose a melee weapon.
It's a roleplay issue, not one with set mechanical penalties. That said, as a GM I would take issue with not playing a champion along the lines of your chosen deity, and that includes using their chosen weapon whenever feasible. No, you don't have to take a longbow into melee, but if ranged combat arises, you had better not grab a crossbow. And I'd expect a champion of Erastil to regularly go for ranged combat. Similarly, if you pick a deity with a melee weapon, I'd expect you not to regularly use another one just because its damage die is better.
If you don't want to play like a champion of a particular deity, then don't play one in the first place.
Alignment is a similar issue, no fixed rules for when to change it for what actions, but still, as a GM I have certain ideas of what I expect of a Paladin or Redeemer. An yes, if they acted inappropriately, they would have to face their deity's displeasure.
But again, different groups will have different opinions, there are certainly those who consider only things with fixed penalties worthwhile and disregard everything else as mere flavor text.
It's a roleplay issue, not one with set mechanical penalties. That said, as a GM I would take issue with not playing a champion along the lines of your chosen deity, and that includes using their chosen weapon whenever feasible. No, you don't have to take a longbow into melee, but if ranged combat arises, you had better not grab a crossbow. And I'd expect a champion of Erastil to regularly go for ranged combat. Similarly, if you pick a deity with a melee weapon, I'd expect you not to regularly use another one just because its damage die is better.
This is how I view it as a GM also.
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For what it's worth, Pathfinder 1e NPC statblocks for paladins routinely feature them using weapons that aren't the favored weapon of their listed deity, even when the deity's favored weapon fills a comparable role. (E.g., Paladin of Torag with an axe, paladin of Iomedae with a mace.) It does not seem to be a baseline expectation at all that Paladins in Golarion strongly default to using their deity's favored weapon. (Although there's certainly some correlation.) It's obviously a GM's prerogative to do whatever they like, but in Golarion as presented in the printed material, paladins take full advantage of their proficiency with all martial weapons, and frequently use weapons that differ from their deity's choice even when there's no particular mechanical incentive to do so. (Clerics, who have more incentive to do so, are more likely to carry their deity's favored weapon, although this is also far from universal.)
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Deific weapons makes "using your deity's sacred weapon" not a strictly inferior choice you are nonetheless pressured to make for thematic reasons.
If you just want to use a good martial weapon, you're no less of a champion you just have a dead class feature.
Yes, the abilities primarily exist so that your deity choice doesn't totally suck when their favored weapon is a Simple one, otherwise off limits as is the case with Uncommon weapons, or when you're forced into using them by overzealous GMs.
It's a roleplay issue, not one with set mechanical penalties. That said, as a GM I would take issue with not playing a champion along the lines of your chosen deity, and that includes using their chosen weapon whenever feasible. No, you don't have to take a longbow into melee, but if ranged combat arises, you had better not grab a crossbow. And I'd expect a champion of Erastil to regularly go for ranged combat. Similarly, if you pick a deity with a melee weapon, I'd expect you not to regularly use another one just because its damage die is better.This is how I view it as a GM also.
;D
It's a roleplay issue, not one with set mechanical penalties. That said, as a GM I would take issue with not playing a champion along the lines of your chosen deity, and that includes using their chosen weapon whenever feasible. No, you don't have to take a longbow into melee, but if ranged combat arises, you had better not grab a crossbow. And I'd expect a champion of Erastil to regularly go for ranged combat. Similarly, if you pick a deity with a melee weapon, I'd expect you not to regularly use another one just because its damage die is better.
If you don't want to play like a champion of a particular deity, then don't play one in the first place.
Alignment is a similar issue, no fixed rules for when to change it for what actions, but still, as a GM I have certain ideas of what I expect of a Paladin or Redeemer. An yes, if they acted inappropriately, they would have to face their deity's displeasure.
But again, different groups will have different opinions, there are certainly those who consider only things with fixed penalties worthwhile and disregard everything else as mere flavor text.
Oh, I did get him a longbow, and I plan on having him be rather respectful of it and take very particular care of it. He's going to be a very quiet, earthy, common-sense type who very much prefers a simple existence spent protecting simple folk out in the middle of nowhere, and feels claustrophobic and out of place in crowded and noisy cities. I wouldn't mind him maining the longbow, but the other three players are going to be more ranged based, and I know that he's protective enough that he's going to prefer to be in front of them, and he can't do that with a longbow.
I just wanted to know if he would be breaking his tenants if he ended up using a sword and shield way more then his longbow. I'm glad to see that it's still doable.
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It's a roleplay issue, not one with set mechanical penalties. That said, as a GM I would take issue with not playing a champion along the lines of your chosen deity, and that includes using their chosen weapon whenever feasible. No, you don't have to take a longbow into melee, but if ranged combat arises, you had better not grab a crossbow. And I'd expect a champion of Erastil to regularly go for ranged combat. Similarly, if you pick a deity with a melee weapon, I'd expect you not to regularly use another one just because its damage die is better.
I'll point out there's a lot more to a deity than just their "favored weapon" line.
They actually have portfolios and edicts (none of which are "use my favored weapon"), and presumably prefer their servants be effective at carrying out those edits.
Imagine a champion who had lost one of their arms in the service of Erastil. Would you have them lose their status simply because they can't use a longbow with only 1 arm?
The first tenant of a good paladin is do not commit acts anathema to your deity. In the case of Erastil that means abandon your home in its time of need, choose yourself over your community, tarnish your reputation, or tell lies.
Standing 30 feet or more behind your allies with a longbow while they are taking the hits for you sounds suspiciously like choosing yourself over your community.
The 2nd tenant of a champion is includes "never knowlingly harm an innocent, or allow immediate harm to one through inaction when you know you could rasonably prevent it". Sometimes its easier to stop a swing at the innocent villager with retributive strike and shield warden instead of standing 100 feet away with a longbow unable to take any reactions.
I personally think a champion or Erastil using a 1-handed melee weapon and shield most of the time makes perfect sense. Especially if they have a low dexterity. In game the character doesn't get to pick their stats (thats done out of game by the player) and so you can't blame a champion for doing poorly with their deity's favored weapon, and deciding to use their most effective methods available to them to carry out their deity's real concerns.
Anyways, this all depends on the individual GM, and so talking with them is best, but I personally wouldn't see any issue with it at all.