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Ragathiel's Obedience requires
"Slay a proven wrongdoer in Ragathiel’s name. It is not enough for the sacrifice to have an evil heart or evil intentions; the sacrifice must have committed evil or unlawful deeds. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against spells and effects cast by evil creatures."
(1) Slaying a evil enemy in combat is counted, or have to slaying in a independent rite?
(2) "the sacrifice must have committed evil or unlawful deeds" , does it means Evil alignment is not enough, furthermore, the sacrifice must did or doing some evil in the scenario?
1) Slaying is slaying. Killing them in combat should suffice but...
2) Being a PROVEN evildoers means that they have had to have committed an intentional evil act. The proven part means that the evil action in question cannot simply be 'suspicion of' or 'rumored to have been'. The act must be something that is beyond doubt.
Personally, I see Ragathiel's Obedience to be something akin to an execution. I also happen to immensely dislike the deity because of how often players misuse the tenants.
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Also has a worthless obedience because of the shear rarity of qualifying enemies except in very specific campaigns (and even then you have to prove it beyond "they're in allegiance with the enemy").
To me, Ragathiel is one of those deities who is “Lawful Good because it says so on my character sheet” rather than Lawful Good because anything he does or encourages his followers to do is actually goodly. I’ve seen a few Ragathiel paladins in PFS and they were all terribly badly roleplayed.
To me, Ragathiel is one of those deities who is “Lawful Good because it says so on my character sheet” rather than Lawful Good because anything he does or encourages his followers to do is actually goodly. I’ve seen a few Ragathiel paladins in PFS and they were all terribly badly roleplayed.
As far as I am concerned, Ragathiel is everything that his alignment says he is. I think the issue comes down to the specific quirks of Ragathiel and his unique background. Ragathiel is more Lawful than he is Good. Ragathiel is everything terrifying about the Good alignment that has exhausted all patience at the forces of Evil and purely exists to bring righteous judgement without any of the mercy. Ragathiel is who comes after you when redemption is no longer an option. It has been withdrawn and all that is left is the consequences.
And that sort of thing is terrifying. Borrowing from real world mythology, Ragathiel is Wrath incarnate, in all of its Righteous fury.
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To me, Ragathiel is one of those deities who is “Lawful Good because it says so on my character sheet” rather than Lawful Good because anything he does or encourages his followers to do is actually goodly. I’ve seen a few Ragathiel paladins in PFS and they were all terribly badly roleplayed.
Paladin Code
The paladins of Ragathiel are shining beacons of furious resolve on the battlefield, and they are careful stewards of valor everywhere. These paladins disproportionately come from cultures that are typically hostile to paladin training, including those of half-orcs, hobgoblins, Gebbites, and the Nidalese. The tenets of Ragathiel’s paladins include the following affirmations.I will avenge evil wrought upon the innocent.
I will not give my word lightly, but once it is given, I will uphold a promise until my last breath.
Those proven guilty must be punished for their crimes. I will not turn a blind eye to wrongdoing.
Rage is a virtue and a strength only when focused against the deserving. I will never seek disproportionate retribution.
Redemption finds hearts from even the cruelest origins. I will strive not to act upon prejudice against fellow mortals based on race or origin.
Note his obedience and the paladin code: Detect evil doesn't help much for it. Being evil isn't a reason for killing him, it is having actually acted on the evil intentions.
So a paladin of Ragathiel that goes Detect evil - positive - murder him/her/it is playing his class and deity wrong.A paladin, inquisitor, or cleric of Ragathiel knows that Detect evil can fail to detect people that have committed evil acts and can detect people that have not committed evil acts as evil.
The 5th level commoner that dreams of torturing for years the guy that raped and killed his fourteen year old daughter detect as evil, while the level 4 noble that did the act doesn't.
The only troubling part is in the devotion where unlawful acts are equated to evil acts. But note that that is in the devotion, not the paladin code. So the deity feels very strongly against unlawful acts, but that doesn't allow paladins to act against people simply because they are unlawful.
I suspect you have met plenty of badly played paladins, but that isn't deity dependant, it is player dependant.
It can still be deity encouraged, or more accurately, the excuse said players use because also his lore doesn't quite follow those oaths. (Not that this isn't already off topic enough for a rules forum.)
Some deities just have really inconvenient obedience. This is generally a sign post for "this is going to be a weird PC" or "you should talk to the GM about it to come to some understanding beforehand".