| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
This is a hard question, because there's so many really good deities in Pathfinder. I think it's one of the best parts of the setting/worldbuilding.
If I had to pick just one it would be Sarenrae. I love sun gods and redemption gods so combining both into one package is a guaranteed win for me. Her backstory fighting Rovagug is also very badass.
I would give Sarenrae a favored spot on my list if only she actually did a good job of redeeming things. Both Shelyn and Desna seem to do better in that department -- not a huge number of examples, but at least they have done something. And then Sarenrae seems to have had a quite corrupt church up until 2nd Edition time.
There's a lot of honourary mentions as well. Caiden Cailen is such a cool concept as the "accidental god". Milani is a big one for me since I always love liberators of any kind. And ever since playing the Wrath of the Righteous CRPG I've been a big fan of Nocticula as well. And finally I have to mention Iomadae because I love Paladin gods.Cayden Cailean is indeed an accidental god . . . and if he had been described as Chaotic Neutral, I'd be fine with that, but he's described as Chaotic Good, yet he promotes drunkenness (although reportedly only up to a point, but still).
Agreed on Milani and Nocticula (hey, she partly redeemed herself), and even Iomedae (she seems to have undergone some redemption of her own after Wrath of the Righteousness).
Cayden specifically despises people who use alcohol to a harmful level, or who use it for evil.
He also isn't just the drunk guy; he's a liberator, a freer of slaves, a hero adventurer and a breaker of chains. Limiting him to the 'funny drunk man' is really missing the point.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There is a fairly substantial history of contention on these boards with some taking Cayden Cailean's fondness for alcohol very personally. Often it's based in a mischaracterisation of Cayden as the god of getting blackout drunk and developing a dependency, but some few seem to find an inherent contradiction between any amount of alcohol consumption and being a Good god (good god, y'all!), regardless how heroic their non-alcohol related aspects are.
Personally, I'm fond of recounting "There's a god who became a god by accident on a drunken dare" as one of the many things which delights me about the core pantheon of Golarion to newcomers (esp. compared to some rather more generic pantheons of settings I've dealt with in the past), but past that surface layer I confess I don't have that much interest in Cayden as a deity. Of course, that might be as much my perspective of him as it is any problem with him not being interesting enough.
I mean, Cayden is probably aware of all of the people who tragically lost their lives for nothing trying to follow in his footsteps. So there has to be a "please, don't follow my example- that was stupid and I was lucky" aspect of Cayden.
One thing about apotheosis is that you acquire a lot of perspective and time to think.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm pretty sure the origin of Cayden (in a meta way I mean) is for him to be the god of the old dnd "your party meet in a tavern" trope, like a representation of all these groups and characters that always check the tavern whenever they enter a city for the first time, that punch every racist and free every slave they can find, etc. All ascended gods feel a bit like incarnation dnd character tropes, and given how prevalent "the tavern" is in DnD, having one ascended god tied to the tavern and to alcool seems logical.
And then, once you have a god of tavern and alcool, a god meant to represent all of these boisterous groups that meet in a tavern, it's weird to have him not be good, because by and large, these groups were all good aligned. So even if alcool itself is a drug that can cause a lot of issue (and do cause a lot of issue), the ascended god of alcool had to be good, as a "stand in" for all of these groups.
I mean, Cayden is probably aware of all of the people who tragically lost their lives for nothing trying to follow in his footsteps. So there has to be a "please, don't follow my example- that was stupid and I was lucky" aspect of Cayden.
One thing about apotheosis is that you acquire a lot of perspective and time to think.
If he actually said that (canonically), my opinion of him would be less far down.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Milani is pretty handily my favourite. I don't normally like CG that much as an alignment, but Milani has this brilliant synthesis of Lawful Good and Chaotic Good belief and behavior. It really feels like she hasn't written off what she learned from her time as a follower of Aroden.
I really want to play a LG Milanite in a home game, though I may make her part of the PC's personal pantheon with Olheon and Eritrice.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Iomedae, Arazni and Milani all really need to come together at some point and hash out all the ways Aroden, the guy they used to serve and look up to, screwed over each of them - Arazni's fate is well known, and unlikely to be surpassed, but Iomedae was left holding the bag when he died, and I can't imagine that was easy given some of the baggage he left behind. Meanwhile, Milani as a deified half-elf must have raised some eyebrows at some point at Aroden being the patron of specifically humanity but making her a saint, especially given her embarrassment in the presence of the elven gods after renouncing them for Aroden. You could do some interesting stuff with a Pantheon incorporating those three as the Inheritors of the Last Azlanti, something like that.
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I have a lot of favorites even in just the LG category (best alignment represent!) but if I had to pick one it'd be Kelinahat, She of Ebon Wings. Unfortunately she's gotten very little lore and canonical attention but Heaven's spymistress is a very cool vibe and subverts a lot of LG stereotypes. Lawful Good has an affirmative vision of what a just society should look like and a lot/most of it doesn't involve crusades and holy war; deception, intrigue, espionage, politics, etc are tools in the toolbox for building a better world and it's cool that Kelinahat isn't afraid to use them. My "War for the Crown" inquisitor worships her and is one of my favorite characters I've made.
Honorable mention goes to Gruhastha, Angradd, and Ragathiel.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'd like to see this War for the Crown Inquisitor of Kelinahat in action . . . .
I have a lot of favorites even in just the LG category (best alignment represent!) but if I had to pick one it'd be Kelinahat, She of Ebon Wings. Unfortunately she's gotten very little lore and canonical attention but Heaven's spymistress is a very cool vibe and subverts a lot of LG stereotypes. Lawful Good has an affirmative vision of what a just society should look like and a lot/most of it doesn't involve crusades and holy war; deception, intrigue, espionage, politics, etc are tools in the toolbox for building a better world and it's cool that Kelinahat isn't afraid to use them. My "War for the Crown" inquisitor worships her and is one of my favorite characters I've made.
Honorable mention goes to Gruhastha, Angradd, and Ragathiel.
Kelinahat is interesting to me because she's the empyreal lord who the devils should hate the most. She knows their tricks as well as they do, and she can fight them on their level in ways that few others can.
Dranngvit, a God for my current finances.
Substitute finances with time, and you've got me.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Urgathoa and Zyphus.
Death is the antithesis of Adventuring. Sure, I failed the saving throw and died but I'm not letting my team down just yet! Momma didn't raise a quitter, but she did raise daddy after those kobolds got him.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Gorum, in his PF1 incarnation of the Will you fight ? deity. Who allowed for CG Clerics.
I loved Gorum from the start for his being Totally Not Crom. An uninterested god whose attention you might get, for good or bad, through glorious battle. And who could be seen as a role-model for self-sufficiency.
Even better after I mapped him to Marvel's Ares when the latter became a protagonist who was so wonderfully CN.
And yes, the Will you fight ? motto resonated with me. For all those who will prefer to go down with blazing guns than surrender.
I am sad this Gorum is no longer officially available.
I really really hope the removal/rework of alignment in Remastered reopens the door to good Clerics/Champions of Gorum.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I am a newcomer to Pathfinder and Golarion, having joined just a bit earlier than the larger 5e exodus, but I am a huge fan of world lore and I try to read just about anything (but I miss a lot since I am playing catch-up).
There are a lot of deities that I absolutely love and adore because they are fresh and are not just reimagining old tropes (others in this thread mentioned how it is so nice to have "death god who is not omnicidal" and "sun god who is not just wise old man who is law and order"), but there are also cool twists and changes too that keeps others feeling unique.
Last disclaimer, I have a lot of trouble connecting with the most popular deities. I still think they are cool and appreciate them, but I have a hard time planning characters with ties to like Cayden Cailean, Pharasma, Iomedae, etc. I love them and will fully use them in my DMing, but I don't like going the expected route for my characters. So I love them, but they are not my favourites.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Erastil: He just seems to be forest dad. I like the woodsy feel without coming off as "destroy all city folk" and I am also very community oriented in my philosophy so I appreciate him for this ideals and motivation.
I like that he's not Artemis/Ehlonna/Mielikki/Tanil, the archer goddess of the hunt and woodlands.
And ditto, not your dad's stern all-seeing sun god in Sarenrae or cranky sky father / pantheon head #362 in Gozreh. Mixing things up and getting away from the more common tropes is cool, so long as it isn't difference for difference's sake.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Erastil: He just seems to be forest dad. I like the woodsy feel without coming off as "destroy all city folk" and I am also very community oriented in my philosophy so I appreciate him for this ideals and motivation.I like that he's not Artemis/Ehlonna/Mielikki/Tanil, the archer goddess of the hunt and woodlands.
And ditto, not your dad's stern all-seeing sun god in Sarenrae or cranky sky father / pantheon head #362 in Gozreh. Mixing things up and getting away from the more common tropes is cool, so long as it isn't difference for difference's sake.
I feel that, even if it was difference for difference sake, Paizo authors are extremely good at developping the deities into real characters with their own story and personality.
^Seconding that. They definitely deserve some extra out loud appreciation for that. I just wish they hadn't been forced to take the edge off some things . . . .
|
|
I am a newcomer to Pathfinder and Golarion, having joined just a bit earlier than the larger 5e exodus, but I am a huge fan of world lore and I try to read just about anything (but I miss a lot since I am playing catch-up).
There are a lot of deities that I absolutely love and adore because they are fresh and are not just reimagining old tropes (others in this thread mentioned how it is so nice to have "death god who is not omnicidal" and "sun god who is not just wise old man who is law and order"), but there are also cool twists and changes too that keeps others feeling unique.
Last disclaimer, I have a lot of trouble connecting with the most popular deities. I still think they are cool and appreciate them, but I have a hard time planning characters with ties to like Cayden Cailean, Pharasma, Iomedae, etc. I love them and will fully use them in my DMing, but I don't like going the expected route for my characters. So I love them, but they are not my favourites.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
In PF1 I played a slightly heretic Cleric of Pharasma who, when she met undead, first asked for their help with her current quest (Command Undead) and would release them to the welcoming embrace of the goddess (aka destroy them with positive energy) once the party's task was done.
Not sure this PC could be built in PF2 though.
I feel it's always fun to create PCs devoted to well-known deities but who go against the stereotypes in not-so-subtle ways.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Damn, choosing would be too hard because there are so many. I'll try and divide it by my favorite phanteons.
Core Pantheon: Iomedae, hands down. With great background, inspiring lore and a really interesting take on the trope of paladin god. Shelyn is a really close second, with an honorable mention to Gorum.
Inner Sea: Naderi, great aesthetics, really inspiring, cool relations... My only problem is that her clerics are hard to fit in many adventures, but she's overall amazing. Honorable mentions: Besmara, Brigh and Milani.
Tian-Xia: Tsukiyo, but this is the hardest competition, with Lady Nanbyo, Shizuru and Hei Feng being all so amazing. This is the best phantheon of gods out of all.
Azlanti: Acavna and Amaznen were really amazing but they both died. So, I'll probably choose Scal, with Onos after him. Also great pantheon that doesn't get enough attention.
Mwangi: Grandmother Spider was a personal interest of mine in her 1e days, and the new focus of 2e only did her good.
Halfling: Yeah they only have 2, but Thamir Gixx is really amazing and I love everything about this dude.
Giant: Young and agressive, Urazra for the win here.
Archdevils: Really hard to choose here since they're all great, but I'll have to go with Mammon, then Mephistopheles.
Queens of the Night: Eiseth is probably the best deity in hell.
Horseman: The Oinadaemon, but if we count him out Szuriel.
Major Demon Lords: Abraxas.
Minor Demon Lords: Shivaska.
Nascent Demon Lords: Nightripper, with Sithud second.
Dead Demon Lords: Xar-Azmak, which I really love and mentioning because of the Rage of the Elements release.
Archon Empyreal Lords: Falanya, then Arqueros and Tanagaar.
Angel Empyreal Lords: Tolc. Honorable mentions to Pulura, Ragathiel and Vildeis.
Azata Empyreal Lords: Valani.