Are any classes *required* to have a deity? How does the PCs alignment match up with the deity's alignment?
I figure Clerics have to have a deity, but what about Paladins. Since Paladins mostly get their powers from the Oath, do they have to venerate a deity or will the Oath suffice? If I am playing a Paladin of NG alignment and I have to have a deity, am I limited to only NG deities?
Clerics: "As you create a cleric, the most important question to consider is which deity to serve and what principles you ant your character to embody." (Player's Handbook, p. 57)
Also, "If you're playing a cleric or a character with the Acolyte background, decide which god your deity serves or served [sic], and consider the deity's suggested domains when selecting your character's domain. (Player's Handbook, p. 293)
In my opinion, that means that clerics must choose a deity. Although deities have alignments listed in the PHB, there doesn't appear to be a rule in 5e that requires worshippers/clerics to be of any particular alignment. A Lawful Good cleric of Cyric (CE) would be … interesting.
Paladins: "Different paladins focus on various aspects of the cause of righteousness, but all are bound by the oaths that grant them power to do their sacred work. Although many paladins are devoted to gods of good, a paladin's power comes as much from a commitment to justice itself as it does from a god." (Player's Handbook, p. 82)
To me, this says that—unless you take the Acolyte background (see above)—paladins are not required to select a particular deity. Instead, it's their oaths that are more important. (Paladins can even have an evil alignment in 5e, though the PHB says it's "rare.")
If you do select a deity for your paladin, you are not restricted to NG deities. I'd look at ones whose domains are compatible with the oaths you want to set up (the PHB lists some deities that are commonly worshipped by paladins.)
I hope this helps!
It's also worth noting that, as an acolyte, a character could potentially be serving the church as an organization more-so than the god. I know this sounds like a silly distinction, but it means a lot. "Yeah I serve the temple of Pelor. No I don't really worship the guy. I mean, the church gives me food and shelter, so I help them out. The PEOPLE are what I care about; what the heck has Pelor done for me, anyway?" This can be a personal tie to the organization as a whole (like, "I serve ALL of the Roman Catholic Church") or just your local temple (as in "I'm really only loyal to the people at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Westershire. I feel comfortable doing things for strangers at those other places").
Though obviously other church members may be upset if they hear you say certain things, which may cause you to lose your "good standing" for your background benefit to function.
And obviously Clerics work slightly differently, since they are given their powers through a diety. Whereas an Acolyte is more a service and a position, than an actual class.
It is even more important to note that, in the Forgotten Realms, *everyone* is presumed to have a patron deity -- those who perish without having a patron are referred to as the Faithless, while those who pay lip service to a deity without actually following the deity's tenets are referred to as the False.
Both groups are judged by Kelemvor after death (this is Kelemvor's main function in the pantheon) and are suitably punished for their lack of faith. (The Faithless, as an example, have their souls absorbed into the Wall of the Faithless, which surrounds Kelemvor's City of Judgment.)
Granted, since most players don't play their characters in the afterlife, this may not mean much to you as a player. However, it means a lot to the character. While it is not an actual AL rule that Faithless or False characters cannot make use of raise dead or Faction Charity, such a ruling would be supportable based on the canon of the Forgotten Realms.
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Pauper
Certainly in a home game I would not allow a faithless PC to return from death short of a wish or a miracle (both involving a massive undertaking for the caster).
A Paladin that choses to use a holy symbol, instead of a component pouch, to cast spells would obviously need to have a patron deity.
In the case of alignment of the character and diety, a degree of difference is well within reason. A LN and NG character should not have any compatibility issues worshipping a LG deity, since the gods often have different aspects under their domain, and the character can easily focus on the good or lawful characteristics in their worship. Moving too much further away from that could often lead to conflicts in the tenants that must be followed.
Additionally, in the Forgotten Realms setting, druids and many rangers are devotees of a nature deity (Silvanus has clerics, druids, and rangers who all serve as his 'clergy'), though a ranger does not get the option to use a spell focus like a paladin, and settles with a component pouch to cast M spells.
Here is how I understand it:
Clerics have to choose a deity.
Anyone with the Acolyte background has to choose a deity.
Paladins who follow the Oath of Devotion should either choose a deity or group of deities. Oath of ancients can worship nature (the Old Religion), and vengeance paladins can serve souls of the slain.
Most other classes probably should, as most people have a little to a lot of religion in their lives, but it is not required.
Druids and totem barbarians shouldn't. They follow the Old Religion which is at odds with divine worship.
As for alignment, different DMs have different rules. The general rule most follow is you need to worship a god that is at most one alignment step away. So a NG cleric could follow a god of LG, NG, CG, or N.
My 2c:
All characters should pick some deity who they venerate chiefly. The other gods in the pantheon they show respect to, when the circumstances are appropriate.
Cleric- and Paladin-players should pick a deity whose characteristics match the way they are going to play ther character anyways. (So yes a playable Paladin of Bane is possible - one famous fictional one is young Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader.) If you are picking a deity based on his portfolio and associated spell powers, you are going to constrain your freedom of choice a bit.
Alignment tells how the rest of the world perceives you. It is also supposed to be a restraint on your (and your character's) conscience. You can claim to be a Cleric of Lathlander, but if you kill all the "heathens" you meet, people will treat you like you are CE regardless of your protestations to be LG.
Very setting dependent question, apart from Clerics (and perhaps even then in some settings... Darksun lacks Gods but has Clerics of the Elements).
Even the Acolyte background wouldn't require a 'God' per-se; just a religious organization. Could easily be a naturalistic or mystic organization without a diety... a mathematical mystery cult? Your 'Buddhism stand-in' temple?
Eric888 wrote:
Keep in mind that a fair amount of info in the Player's Handbook is a mash-up of many different campaign settings, and may not all be applicable to the Forgotten Realms. For instance, you wouldn't worship Boccob in the Realms, since Boccob is a Greyhawk deity and doesn't exist in the Realms. Similarly, the Old Faith is also a Greyhawk religion which doesn't really have a Realms analogue.
Since the campaign doesn't really enforce an outcome for not having a patron deity (for instance, ruling that raise dead doesn't work on Faithless or False characters), one could argue that this is mere semantics. Since I'd rather play in the Realms than in a generic Realms-flavored setting, I'll follow the spirit of the setting for my own characters, as well as informing players at tables I run what the setting assumptions are with respect to the gods.
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Pauper
Yes I realize the PHB discusses multiple setting; I was just clarifying, since this is an AL thread, that we are working exclusively with Forgotten Realms lore, where Druids not only worship a deity of the First Circle, they often outnumber clerics as those deities' main clergy. The statement I responded to (Druids and totem barbarians shouldn't [choose a deity]. They follow the Old Religion which is at odds with divine worship) may pertain to a homeade setting or Greyhawk, but definitely is not how Druids function in established Forgotten Realm's lore. In fact, each of the deities Druids worship in the FR often endowed the Druid with unique abilities (for example Druids of Mielikki could wear metal armor) - so selecting a deity that suited your Druid's dogma was crucial!
It is worth nothing that, as was posted previously, only Clerics and people with Acolyte background *have* to pick a deity in Adventurer's League. So, regardless of what setting AL takes place in, that is the rule of the campaign. AL is *not* Living Forgotten Realms, after all.
Undrhil wrote:
Sutekh1 wrote:
I hope when WoTC comes out with the official new cannon for Forgotten Realms, that they keep some gods dead like Myrkul and Azuth or make new ones. It's ok that they allows some gods to return like Helm, Mystra and Bhaal, but not all of them. This makes for a nice pregression in Forgotten Realm history.
Nozareem wrote:
My paladin is a follower of Siamorphe, the goddess of nobles and nobility.
This isn't an officially legal deity in AL (not listed in the back of the 5e PHB), but then again, paladins aren't required to have a god anyway. So for game purposes, I don't have a god, but for roleplaying purposes I'm a Siamorphe worshipper.
Mirtek wrote:
BRJN wrote:
My half-orc paladin venerates Gruumsh. And if anyone has a problem with that, well, they can say it to his face (please let him get to level 3 at least before you do though. 
).
Nozareem wrote:
Mirtek wrote:
Knight_Marshal wrote:
Nolwelen wrote:
Pauper wrote:
Pauper wrote:
I don't think 5e has a 'detect alignment' spell, does it? Even the Paladin's "divine sense" power merely points out specific types of monsters, not whether they are good or evil. Also, the Protection from Good/Evil spell protects from specific types of monsters, not alignment.
Nolwelen wrote:
Pauper wrote:
Nolweln,
The argument you are making - Determinism vs Free Will - is best offered in its own thread. And it has been, several times over, for each Edition.
Feel free to locate one and contribute to it. (With luck, you can find one that has not degenerated into a flame war.)
Thanks.
BRJN wrote: