How I’m Handling Religion

I was hoping to have a post today about what to me is one of the more exciting additions to the game, but it requires some playtesting and that is not done yet. I’m not promising anything, but most likely next week we will have a brand new magic tradition along with new spells for it, and the following week a class that specializes in that tradition. If you’ve looked over the Dusk Veil character sheets, you can probably guess what it is.

In the interest of having a post this week, I’ve decided to talk about something I have been putting off but is continually asked about on message boards and social media: Religion.

I have had an internal debate since I first conceived Dusk Veil.  How should I handle religion? On the one hand, religion — or maybe more importantly, Gods— is a vital part of any Pathfinder game. Without it, you don’t have Clerics and other Divine casters.  On the other, Dusk Veil is analogous to our real modern world. A world that contains diverse religions that are near and dear to a lot of people.

The question then is how to handle religion in a way that doesn’t offend real practitioners of modern religions yet allows for the fantasy elements in our world. As far as I see it, there are two options. One is to create a pantheon of Dusk Veil religions that players can choose from, in much the same way Pathfinder (and most fantasy TTRPGs) do. The other is to leave it entirely open-ended and just let players decide for themselves how to create a Cleric or Paladin.

Constructing a whole pantheon appeals to the game designer in me. It’s fun to create new elements of a game world. It helps flesh out the setting and can even inform other design choices.  But in the end, I don’t know enough about real-world religions, and I worry that the risk of alienating people is too substantial. Instead, what follows is merely a guide to creating a character whose religion is an essential part of themselves.

Picking a deity as a cleric has several effects on your character.  The text under Deity states “Your deity grants you the trained proficiency rank in one skill and with the deity’s favored weapon. If the favored weapon is uncommon, you also get access to that weapon. Your deity also adds spells to your spell list.” This is the important part.  What we want to do is create what is essentially an entry for a deity, but allow the player to customize it.

Basically, what I recommend, is having the player choose what they feel best represents the religion of their character for all of these choices. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Simply pick four domains, the divine font, the divine skill, favored weapon, etc. 

As an example, I asked a friend who is a Pathfinder 2e player and considers themselves a practicing member of Judaism to create an entry.  It looked like this:

Divine Ability Intelligence or Wisdom
Divine Font Heal
Divine Skill Occultism
Favored Weapon Staff
Domains Change, Glyph, Knowledge, Vigil
Alternate Domains Luck

I will not make any comment on those choices to explain them, as I am not familiar enough to do so. But it’s a good example (other than the fact that she forgot to include spells). It’s honestly that easy. It took my friend 5 minutes.

If you would like to use a non-real-world religion, you can do that too. Just make it up.  If you would like something that fits with a particular ancestry, I suggest starting with the official deities of Pathfinder or even outright using them.

I know this post is a little light, but I hope it does clear up any confusion for players looking to create a divine character.  Next week, I’ll have a nice juicy one for you.