Has anyone here ever played a NG cleric of Pharasma?

[Yqatuba]

If so, how would you play one? I was thinking like Abby or Ducky from NCIS maybe. I also imagine NG and NE Pharasmin clerics are pretty rare, and the vast majority are some kind of Neutral.

[SheepishEidolon]

I didn't, but after skimming Inner Sea Gods I'd make up the following concept:

1) A cold friendliness, as a compromise between the usual friendly behavior of NG creatures and the typical brusque Pharasmin behavior.

2) Offers typical services (midwifery, prophecies etc.) for free if the customer can't afford them.

3) Focused on hunting down undead (as they are usually evil) and their creators. It should be noted that even "just" controlling undead is frowned upon among Pharasmins, no matter the alignment.

Pharasma is the only Core deity that gives access to the Repose domain, so it's a good pick if you want to emphasize your choice. Healing fits a good character well, and it's not the worst domain to take.

[Yqatuba]

That makes sense. I was thinking maybe the NG clerics of a given church might have the job of comforting the dying and their loved ones. Does that make sense?

[Set]

Less focused on death, more focused on birth, perhaps. A cleric who's all about the midwifery, and leaves funerary concerns to another branch of the same clergy could be fun. They got dragged into adventuring because something was threatening local children (some of whom they'd personally delivered, and had a vested interest in), whose fates had not yet been written, and that's just not gonna fly. This knife's not just for cutting umbilical cords, child-napper!

The cleric could even have a strange sort of indifference to death, almost a studied disinterest (because 'they have people for that').

"Shouldn't you say some sort of last rites or something?"
"Not my job. They're in the Lady's hands now. I'm here for the living."

[Ryan Freire]

Yqatuba wrote:

If so, how would you play one? I was thinking like Abby or Ducky from NCIS maybe. I also imagine NG and NE Pharasmin clerics are pretty rare, and the vast majority are some kind of Neutral.

I mean....a midwife. IIRC thats a big part of her portfolio too

[PossibleCabbage]

NG I think would be at worst the third most common alignment for Pharasman clerics (behind N and LN). The Pharasmans that really don't make sense given their goddess's portfolio and priorities are the CN and NE ones. In fact, in PF2 you can't be an NE cleric of Pharasma at all.

There is, after all, nothing unkind or unfair about what Pharasma does. A Pharasman who emphasizes kindness in dealing with all aspects of the cycle of life would be pretty much all it takes to land in the "good" column. Remember, the Lady of Graves is also the goddess of birth and destiny.

[Ryan Freire]

PossibleCabbage wrote:

NG I think would be at worst the third most common alignment for Pharasman clerics (behind N and LN). The Pharasmans that really don't make sense given their goddess's portfolio and priorities are the CN and NE ones. In fact, in PF2 you can't be an NE cleric of Pharasma at all.

There is, after all, nothing unkind or unfair about what Pharasma does. A Pharasman who emphasizes kindness in dealing with all aspects of the cycle of life would be pretty much all it takes to land in the "good" column. Remember, the Lady of Graves is also the goddess of birth and destiny.

Also how many NE people given the power to would find it irresistable to meddle with the creation of undead.

[Yqatuba]

I guess I figured most NG people would find the death aspect unappealing (and probably be afraid of ignorant people thinking they're evil) while NE people would probably pick Urgathoa or one of the Horsemen instead.

[PossibleCabbage]

Her thing is not "death is good, do more death". Her thing is "death is part of life, just like everything else, and is due appropriate dignity." Like when you prepare the bodies for funerary rites, and give those rites for the people left behind (thus giving them comfort) that's pretty much a good thing to do isn't it?

[Neriathale]

I played a NG inquisitor of Pharasm for a while. The character’s ‘focus’ was dealing with undead, but she also did the midwifery and death doula side of things.

I imagine that in game, as in real life, there must be many people who see death as a ‘blessed relief’, rather than something to be afraid of. Helping them to die with comfort and dignity is part of the cleric’s job.

[Mark Hoover 330]

One possible outlook:

Living is hard, y'know? You're born screaming, ins shock and pain, and the mother who bore you shares that trauma with you. As you grow very real physical and emotional pain are inevitable. Finally, as you pass into the next world The Lady of Graves awaits you with your final judgment.

Life is pain and death is your only lasting reward in the end.

Such a bleak outlook though is not held by ALL Pharasmin.

Y'see, between birth and death, between the bookends of pain and judgment there is are endless possibilities of respite. Maybe you smile once in awhile, laugh over a pint with your mates, cry for those who've left this world before you or rage against the injustices of this life.

Perhaps you'll fall in love?

The point is this: life is for the living. Our lady weeps, not only for death of her dear ones but for the simple joy of all we do with our time. Sometimes the rain falls on sunny days too after all!

Let the dour nuns and warrior-clergy scowl over the righteousness of death; let the heart-weary midwives pray for the sanctity of a safe and painless birth. Our path is that of the living, the ebb and flow of river itself, regardless of how it starts or where it ends.

So take up a good knife, kissed by the Mother's grace. Dance under a fresh spring rain. Breathe deep and know that so long as there's air in your lungs and blood in your veins, you've yet more to do, more life to live.

Get after it ladies, for the water waits for none of us!

There are five Domains listed for Pharasma: Death, Healing, Knowledge, Repose and Water. All of these have a specific, mechanical advantage for a PC, but consider what each represents, their more metaphysical or philosophical implications.

Pharasma may have her grand high place in the cosmology of Golarion, but she's not just that one thing. One of her monikers is The Lady of Mysteries. Now that might just be a clever callback to Pharasma's prophetic roots prior to the death of Aroden but I like to think of it at once more simply and more profound.

Life unfolds, a mystery to nearly everyone. Even Pharasma herself can no longer clearly see every fated moment of a soul's journey. So between her aspects as the overseer of birth (or rebirth) and death, there is an entire life that is itself an enigma which can only be truly understood by the one who lives it.

So the Death domain, it's in the name; this likely isn't always the focus of NG worshippers. Repose too. But Healing...

To be alive is to recover from pain. Our scars, what we endure... it helps us become the people we will. Life grows OUT of pain.

Knowledge...

If we do not learn we stagnate, we die. Life is memory, history; the scars of our past informing our present and telling us what NOT to do in the future. So to be alive today is to remember our yesterdays and make different choices for a new tomorrow.

Water...

All things change. The water that rushes in the spring slows in the summer heat and turns to mist. The clouds of summer become autumn rain and winter's frost, only to rush back once more in the spring. When we weep for those that we've lost, our tears are not merely a selfish regret but a promise of love remembered and cherished. Grief becomes gratitude for the privilege we have already known and what may yet be in store. The cycle will turn, winter will become spring once more.

So these are a lot of fancy words, but how does it all translate to NG?

Well, NG is not caring for law or chaos, so long as the greater good is served. As the Wiki states:

NG wrote:

A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them.

So The NG worshipper of Pharasma is less concerned with dogma than others of her clergy. Following the orthodoxy is fine, but life is messy and sometimes our faith is open to a bit of... interpretation. They likely still won't violate the "creating or controlling the undead is verboten" rule baked into the religion as a whole, but they might see their patron less as a figurehead in the celestial cycle and more as a single mom trying to keep it all together.

The faith of a NG Phrasmin then is the belief that while life and death are inevitable, Pharasma herself doesn't send us to our final rest because of some predetermined schema or path that has been laid out before us. Order, or even the anarchy of it's absence, are not the Survivor's data set.

In the end, Pharasma turns the Wheel for us because of the life we lived. We are each a question, and she will ask us at the final Judgment. If we want to move on to good things, then the answer is simple: be good.

And so, I submit that NG is an ideal alignment for the ADVENTURING clergy in the Pharasmin faith. They are less bound by dogma, so traveling about and doing deeds is easy enough. Because of a focus on Good over Evil, they paint the greater faith in a positive light. While these upstarts might make the Inquisitors of the church pucker, what with flaunting the orthodoxy as the need suits them, these worshippers are far more likely to uplift the lay members of the Pharasmin in a way that dusty old rites and funerary dirges seldom do.

A NG interpretation of Pharasma and her worship is an interesting oxymoron. Think about it: NG specifically disassociates itself with order or absolutes, yet the biggest things Pharasma is known for are Birth and Death, the two most fundamental inevitabilities in life!

Finally, I agree with Set: the NG worshipper is focused primarily on life and the living of it. They're not there to perform the breathing and bleeding techniques before the ritualized cutting of the chord like the midwives; they're not there for the last rites and funerary services practiced over the dead.

The NG worshipper is concerned, as Pharasma herself is, with everything that happens in between.

So make it a Good life then. Look out for one another; stay your judgments since that's Her job after all. Be kind, smile through the tears, and lend your help to those in need. We're born out of darkness and fear, and in death our eyes close for the last time, so be the light that guides, and heals, and teaches, and shimmers off the waters of life's journey while you may.

[MrCharisma]

PossibleCabbage wrote:

NG I think would be at worst the third most common alignment for Pharasman clerics (behind N and LN). The Pharasmans that really don't make sense given their goddess's portfolio and priorities are the CN and NE ones. In fact, in PF2 you can't be an NE cleric of Pharasma at all.

I can see a NE Pharasman Cleric being a particularly zealous undead-hunter.

"I know there is a Vampire hiding in this orphanage ..."

*sets building on fire*

"The abomination has been cleansed from this plane of existence. Now I pray for the souls of the children."

[Sierra Heartward]

Yes?

[Insapateh]

I can see Larsa being Neutral Good.

[Tusk the Half-Orc]

Not a cleric, but Kepli Lindenbrook, my -01 PFS character is a NG Pharasman halfling jinx/oracle of time/librarian. He focuses on the Fate aspect of Pharasma’s portfolio, pushing out jinxes and debuffs in combat; even when he casts bless on his allies, his invocation is “In the name of the Lady of Graves, go forth and meet your fates!” He hates undead because they scare the socks off of him (and are horrible monstrosities of unlife), and gets really mad when bad guys mess up libraries and museums. He would probably be true neutral or LN if left on his own, but the Pathfinders he adventures with most often are all good-aligned and their value systems have rubbed off on him.

[Mysterious Stranger]

The way I look at it is that death transcends alignment. Death is neither lawful, or chaotic any more than it is good or evil. When people see an alignment in death, that is merely them projecting their own beliefs on a truly universal concept.

Pharasma is more than just a goddess of death; she is also a goddess of life. Which if you think about it makes since because they are both part of the same thing. Without life there can be no death. The fact that she is the goddess of two such vast concepts means she is not so much neutral as she transcends alignment.

Her clerics may serve an entity that transcends alignment, but they do not. Her clerics are still mortal and limited in ways that she is not. They are finite creatures worshiping an infinite being, and as such cannot fully understand her. Like any other mortal they are going to focus on what they do understand.. Even her clerics are only worshiping a small portion of her.

I think NG clerics of Pharasma are probably fairly common. Other than destroying undead she does not seem to have any iron clad doctrines. Even as the Lady of Fate she was not imposing her will on others, she merely knew what was going to happen. This does not seem to be a deity that would attract a lot of lawful followers. Looking at her domains I see little that would attract evil followers. Since she does not tolerate undead that leaves the most obvious evil death worshipers out. On the other hand she has a lot to offer a good follower.