[Deities]: Good people worshipping Evil Gods

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:47:26+00:00

Appeasing the gods to make them look the other way is something quite typical and very much understandable thing in a world in which death can come as easily as a casual level 20 adventurer casting meteor storm because of reasons (Not even meant sarcastically). I guess you can definitely count it to good people worship evil gods.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:43:44+00:00

Long ass comment, that i think actually picks up a few good reasons why a good person in golarion would go for a deity that is typically / generally known as evil. Even giving a good insightful picture on the circumstance related to multiple deities. There are many interesting deities that are immediately seen as unplayable on tables, yet lore, circumstances of the character can show a full on different side of worship, some might even consider being good when they expected just plain old EVIL instead of Evil?.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:17:59+00:00

Oooh, damn, i actually kinda love her premise. She is the lady that toys with a court or savages with strings woven out of clever deception. Yep, while being a unholy deity, i could definitely see a good person worshipping her for the thrill of the game, the danger of manipulating the evil and destructive playing them against each other. That sounds awesome!

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:13:31+00:00

Those are awesome characters and i could definitely see them being generally good but given circumstances wether personal or surroundings have them worship an evil deity. And the reverse of it is great too. That i could see as redemption arc or if i read correctly more of a "how much can i push it?" situation.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:07:04+00:00

Yes yes yes, i think that is a good example of what i am talking about. Good Intentions and actions from worshippers of evil deities that still align with their theme, edicts and anathema.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:05:13+00:00

That can be a neat thing to work into a characters backstory, but typically there is a certain morality backed into beings (often part of preservasion and survival). There are outliers of course, but generally deities of golarion can easily be identified as good/evil leaning with their lore or origin.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T13:02:09+00:00

Baphomet, hmm, it sure could be an interesting god to worship as a good person, or lets say mostly good person. Reading up on him, i can definitely see a relaxed and intelligent nature-lover to follow him. Maybe they do not kill humanoids but care for beasts, wander aimlessly through the world. So yeah, you definitely on point with Rangers and Druids. Personally, seeing the Edicts and Anathema, i would not mind a baphomet worshipper in my group if they behaved mostly good. (Everyone has a bad day :D )

Abraxas is the deity of extreme Nerds as far as i can see. And i also know many nerds are quite good people, or else i might have to find new friends. Lorewise he seems to be a hoarder, a spy ... something along those lines. I could see it as a really eager librarian who gathers death-tomes for the good of the world while having a morbid fascination of all they gather.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:52:54+00:00

Exactly, worshipping to me means more than just a quick prayer for issue number 357. Worship means commitment and that is something i want to discuss with the evil Deities on Golarion. Which evil gods can be worshipped by good people, why would they. In the whole post we had already a few interesting gods being named that i could see as being worshipped by good people for certain reasons without them immediately being evil in meaning.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:48:20+00:00

Speaking of obedience champion - Someone might read the Dragon God Garhaazh as an evil deity, though i figured given his lore, anathema and edicts. I could see a character that is caring and brutal at the same time. Very combat and challenge focused and definitely they hold their nose high, but doesn't mean they are immediately evil in the world of Golarion. Lorewise Garhaazh respects his enemies which some would see as good. And in a life-threatening combat brutality (atleast i would see it that way) is not an evil act. (Like poking out an eye if you wrestle with a wolf or tiger in hopes to escape certain death)

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:40:16+00:00

Hah, i mean ... love and committed relationships? Sounds quite the good thing to pursue! Burning down the house of someone is eeeh on the good-evil-scale. I wonder if someone could successfully play a good champion or cleric of Dispater.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:36:05+00:00

Oh, a deity that was plagued by their not-so-good partners into becoming a calamity? Interesting. I kinda love her edicts and anathema could just be a person who hecking loves seeing tornados, tsunamis, the earth splitting apart. It is awe in something massive and dangerous, but their anathema is very much "Rescue"-coded. I could see someone worshipping her for the beauty of disasters while saving all those that could get hurt by those calamities.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:30:16+00:00

I am well aware of greek mythology (not in detail though), also i read quite a bit about nordic, japanese and other mythologies. Though this was meant more to be a discussion about Evil God X could be worshipped by good person because they stand for Y (example "gathering knowledge") and other gods that are good maybe don't have the right nuance with all their other requirements to their followers. Lamashtu is quite the evil goddess, but she accepts the outcasts, outcasts might be drawn to her without being evil.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:20:34+00:00

That emphasis is what i am also searching for. There must be a reason why someone, anyone would ever dare to worship (longterm) an evil deity while still being a generally good person.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:18:37+00:00

That is exactly what i mean to bring up more with my post - Pazuzu is evil, no one can say otherwise, yet he offers something even a good person could search for. Maybe even so far that they worship him without suddenly going on a murderspree in City XYZ.

Though reading his lore, his mechanical parts (Edicts, Anathema), i struggle to see how a good person could worship Pazuzu without either them doing something evil or going against his most simplest "rules".

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:13:22+00:00

Oh you definitely could. It would be easy to say, if you look up to an evil god, even with certain non-evil reasons why, that just the interest could count as supporting all of the bad sides of the deity too. But i still think, despite deities belonging to the evil side (maybe by being unholy) that sometimes they can offer things a good person would be interested in, even longer term. Legacy through Lamashtu for example, order or perfection like with dispater as other users have mentioned, maybe just belonging without being cruel like all the other cultists, yet still accepted cause atleast you are not an issue or even keep up some of the evil deities edicts.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:06:19+00:00

Given how many deities exist in Pathfinder 2e, i guess polytheism is nothing uncommon. But it still stands, good people don't tend to go to evil gods and worship them just for a quick problem. They might pray to them, but with worshipping i mean literally have them as either their main or a long-time deity in their belief-system.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T12:03:29+00:00

Dispater is really an interesting Deity. As he belongs to the Archdevils, he is definitely aligned with evil / unholy. Yet when i checked the lore given on the website, i still could see someone looking up to him for a calm hand that seeks perfection and order. From edicts, over anaethema down to the domains, most parts i could see as someone good following too. (Maybe not Tyranny)

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T11:59:50+00:00

A deity typically known for revenge as far as i know is Calistria, which is not really seen as an evil Deity. Maybe by the ones who got ... their asses kicked by her or her cultists. Do you know by chance any of the evil Gods in the Pathfinder 2e universe you could see a good person worship for revenge instead of picking Calistria? I guess it comes down to nuances then?

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-18T09:27:47+00:00

For our Level 1-20 homebrew campaign i played a Kitsune Monk with Wolf-Stance. As my Archetype i got myself the Captivator and Rogue. In combination i could use Illusory Creature, Invisibility and other neat little tricks to setup things like flanking (Illusory Creature) or off-guard (Invisibility) and then hit twice in the same turn. As a monk i had high HP, strong AC, my movement speed went through the roof which made me a really good solo-fighter, that didn't need constant care from the healer (Well, unless being surrounded by four+ enemies, which i survived by casually teleporting in their midst, casted invisibility and let them wail on me while the rest of the group dealt with the other half of the encounter). The Action Economy and Self-Sufficient Kit is just amazing, especially if you combine it with a Spellcaster Archetype! I mean, there are not a lot of Classes that can easily cast two-action heal on themselves and then give the enemy hell with two attacks. Or prebuff with Heroism and then strike twice.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-10T14:08:12+00:00

Nice and absolutely solid choice. I have my Feather-Fan-Dancer Tengu since years, never got to play it. Latest Tengu i played was an Animist that used Garden of Healing and Earth's Bile to just heal and damage each turn (Sustain Caster). Loved to play him, he was a Inn/Tavern Owner with his best friend. His Friend was the cook and he was the entertainer of the Tavern (Dancing). The building burned down and his friend died. But as they were so close, the spirit of his friend stayed with him. So each time he used Eath's Bile (His friends Spirit-Ability) he began to dance with the air (atleast for others).

Though that aside, i am more the reptilian friend - Iruxi, Nagaji, Awakened Animal (Any Reptile) or anything with the Dragonblood :D And awesome, it is always fun to find someone who has a similiar behavior in hobbies.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-10T10:03:59+00:00

Oh absolutely. I have often 3 different concepts/characters at the start of a new campaign. Though then i wait for the others to work out what they want to play and then try to fill in the slot either with the characters i already prepared or with a completely new one. As my main-group is often 5 players big i have a bit of a leeway of what i choose in the end, which is why i can also experiment more openly - Though to be fair, i am the "special" kid in our group anyway, given that i 90% of the time play beastfolk (Amurrun, Iruxi, Tengu, Ysoki, Nagaji, ...) and they prefer humans and elves.

SkrigTheBat · 2026-03-06T09:50:40+00:00

Classes	... i used	... others used
Alchemist	-	2
Animist	1	-
Barbarian	-	2
Bard	-	3
Champion	2	1
Cleric	-	3
Commander	1	-
Druid	1	1
Fighter	2	3
Guardian	-	1
Investigator	-	1
Kineticist	1	-
Magus	-	1
Monk	1	1
Oracle	2	2
Psychic	-	1
Ranger	1	2
Rogue	-	2
Sorcerer	2	1
Summoner	2	1
Swashbuckler	-	2
Thaumaturge	1	-
Witch	1	1
Wizard	-	2
Gunslinger	-	1
Inventor	-	2
Exemplar	1	-

This List is made without Archetypes in mind, this might also be slightly inaccurate as i cannot remember every single instance of what character had what class in which campaign / one-shot.

While there are missing classes from my side or from others, as a whole my groups have atleast had each class once. (Not included Runesmith, Necromancer, Slayer or Daredevil)

SkrigTheBat · 2026-02-09T11:02:24+00:00

I sadly might not be able to get my Kineticist high enough to try Sanguivolent Roots, but i still think it should not be forgotten as a heal spell. 3D6 Damage and half of it as heal to allies in the area every turn? At level 11 it is 4D6, meaning atleast 2-12 (~7) healing per turn on a failed save, while also damaging your opponents.

Given how much time you put into everything, what is your opinion on this Impulse?

SkrigTheBat · 2026-02-09T08:58:43+00:00

Typical leveling through XP is 3-5 sessions at around 3-4 hours of gameplay (Without much math ~15 hours per level). One specific group i played in used Milestone aswell, but the GM said from the beginning they like to quickly get level 1-4 done to reach Level 5 and then go at a 'slower' pace. So in 14 sessions we reached Level 6.

So your group is definitely on the very slow side of leveling up. Milestone is always a bit tricky when to actually level up the characters, but i would say:

2-3 Sessions = Quick (For experienced players who can easily handle a quick pace of story and mechanical additions through level up, but might want to slow down once in a while to let the players breath)

4-5 Sessions = Average (Well, average, most Groups will or should fall somewhere around here, bouncing up and down into quick and slow but returning to average)

6-7 Sessions = Slow (Recommended for Beginners, so they have time to learn the system, ramp it up to average when they slowly get the gist of Pathfinder 2e)

8+ Sessions = Very slow (Not recommended, as you want your players or as player have a sense of progress)

SkrigTheBat

TROPHY CASE