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Hello,
I was wondering what the reason is for the new Alignment changes for clerics and gods?
I've noticed some clerics have as little as one alignment choice, while some have been opened up to four alignment choices for their god.
What is the reason for this?
It seems odd to have some with a lot of opinions while some have none.
Thank you,
Some gods more demanding than others :P
Just a lore. Restrictions could be frustrating, but breaking lore so much worse.
The reason is there wasn't really specific reasons for the old allowed alignments, so it's not about changing specific gods' lore.
There was just a general one-step rule, but Paizo decided there wasn't any fundamental reason that was needed VS deity-specific treament.
Dropping the general rule means specific rules for each deity must be written, some being identical to old general rule, some different.
Now the worship of each deity can be morally controlled based on specifics of that god's personality and anathema etc.
Some deities will be very focused on ideology which is closely tied to one or two specific aligments.
Others will have concerns less tied to specific alignment, and therefore compatible with more alignments.
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There were plenty of things in the old system that didn't make sense, such as non-evil worshippers of *really* evil things because Neutral is just one step away from Evil.
Likewise now a god who is all about law can require lawful followers, a god who is all about good can require good followers, etc.
Like under the 1-step rule you could be a chaotic good follower of Yog-Sothoth, which is totally bonkers. Bespoke alignments do let you do interesting things like Arazni being an evil Goddess who has good clerics.
There were plenty of things in the old system that didn't make sense, such as non-evil worshippers of *really* evil things because Neutral is just one step away from Evil.
Likewise now a god who is all about law can require lawful followers, a god who is all about good can require good followers, etc.
Like under the 1-step rule you could be a chaotic good follower of Yog-Sothoth, which is totally bonkers. Bespoke alignments do let you do interesting things like Arazni being an evil Goddess who has good clerics.
i disagree it makes absolute sense for a evil good of any alignment to want neutral follower for instance asmodeus would rpobably want to lead people to embrace his law aspects such as the hellknights of the godclaw so he can abuse that law later
it makes no sense for any evil god to bar neutral worshipers
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You cannot do the religious rites for Asmodeus without becoming an evil person. That, precisely, is the point. The ordinary people (or political figures) who will give lip service to the deity are one thing, but if you want the Big A to actually grant you divine power you've got to do the human sacrifices.
There are evil gods who allow for non-evil followers, but they aren't intended to be one of the primary Big Bads for the entire setting like Asmodeus is.
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I think Arazni is cool example of new "system"'s possibilities: Despite being NE herself, she "allows" CG worshippers. Is this reflection of her old mortal alignment, and/or of a latent potential for future alignment shift within her... or just alignment-agnostic correlation of sympathies with the themes of rebellion and self-liberation? Probably/maybe all of them, reflecting Arazni's internal conflict and dislike of her self and present condition, along with similar opinion about her followers, who she probably thinks could find a better deity to worship whether they are Neutral/Evil or Chaotic/Good. But the symmetry of that situation is what ties together the relationship, although it seems rather unstable and perhaps waiting for Arazni to take the next step and change more herself.
I mean, previously Nocticula granting spells to CN worshippers was considered unusual (and was a prelude to her redemption.) However, per the rules literally everybody in the Abyss was happy to grant spells to CN worshippers- Socothbenoth, Folca, Cyth-V'sug you name it.
There's evil that makes the pitch to people who aren't evil with aspects of their portfolio that are more appealing than horrific, but those are your Norgorbers and your Urgathoas not your really extreme evils.