Korada and Qi Zhong are both deities with an anathema to causing lethal damage to creatures. Korada, specifically, speaks about seeking and allowing for redemption. So how does that work for undead, more so for the mindless ones than those with a mind? It would seem that even nonlethal damage would destroy the undead as soon as it reaches 0 hp. Is redemption possible? Are there spells that would undo the creation of these undead without “killing” or causing lethal damage?
Your thoughts and insight will be most appreciated.
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Yep, there's no way to truly non-lethally damage the undead. And it does seem that devout members of their clergy would be pressed to avoid damaging the undead for fear of destroying them (even if mindless).
Undead are typically created from corpses, so undoing their creation would be simply killing them. Others like ghosts might need their souls put to rest through some sort of action taken on their behalf.
Redemption of the undead would be hard but there are definitely examples in-universe of undead that have resisted/fought-off their urges (good ghosts are a relatively common occurrence). Mindless undead would be pretty impossible to redeem, so I think both deities would have them be shepherded somewhere they can't hurt others or simply left alone.
Definitely hard deities for adventurers to worship where such creatures are common and should probably be discussed with a GM beforehand.
Remember that anathema applies to you, not your companions. Now if your companions break your anathema regularly you might wanna have a talk, but if they're breaking this anathema only in extreme situations, and for this anathama mindless undead attacking counts as an extreme situation, you should be okay.
Looking at Korada, as a GM I'd definitely rule that the intent is that those bound by his anathema don't do damage in any way: "Korada’s dedication to peace is such that he and his followers refuse to cause harm to their attackers, instead using their martial skills only to defend themselves."
Qi Zhong is a little harder. I'd definitely say he'd be fine with destroying mindless undead, but I'm not quite sure about others.
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Understanding the deities is important here.
Korada is a deity that "believes that although the tireless fight against wickedness is admirable, the ultimate triumph over evil will come in the form of redemption rather than destruction" (Gods & Magic). It's very clear that destruction can be the last resort for an irredeemable foe such as a mindless undead or an unrepentant intelligent undead.
Qi Zhong is a doctor deity with edicts of "relieve suffering despite personal difficulty, heal sickness and injuries" and an anathema of "Deal lethal damage to another creature (unless as part of a necessary medical treatment)." Undeath is NOT a healthy state. It disrupts the life/death cycle of a creature and corrupts the mind and soul of an intelligent undead. The creature is also (obviously) already dead. If there's no way to bring an undead back to life, then the best cure is destroying the undead in a way to ensure the soul passes on. This course of action follows the edicts (it relieves suffering) and doesn't commit an anathema (it's a necessary treatment).
In short: Damaging an undead should be fine for Korada as long as it's the last resort. Damaging an undead should be fine for Qi Zhong as long as it's intended to humanely end undeath.
Thanks for all the input everyone.
At the moment I like relating the anathema to the Hippocratic oath of doctors with divine backing and consequences. I also like Korada’s thinking that every soul they can redeem to the side of good grows their side by one and subtracts from the side of evil. Versus the constant death and zero-sum game play of both sides killing each other.
I think in home games much of what you all said would work well and I would agree with your arguments for mindless undead (and mindless constructs). I think society play may still be a sticky point and may require stricter adherence to the wording or an update by Paizo. Either way these characters could bring an interesting dynamic an story telling in the right game, possibly.
Again, thanks for the discussion. Be well.