Gods of Ardenest for Pathfinder 2e

 A new Ardenest campaign under a new system demands more work on the gods of Ardenest. And Pathfinder 2 is pretty involved. Adapting them for 5e, I only had to pick domains. But for Pathfinder 2, there are a lot of additional things to think about; most prominently, anathemas and cleric spells. It's good, though, it gives me some room to think about my gods, and flesh them out a bit more. I think it's been helpful! So below, nine gods for my future Pathfinder 2 campaigns.

Fayon (LG)

Edicts: Be brave, fight for justice, defend the weak

Anathema: Scorn a challenge you can win, fail to provide for the needy

Followers: LG, NG, LN

Divine Font: Heal

Divine Skill: Intimidation

Favored Weapon: Longsword

Domains: Ambition, healing, might, sun, fate, confidence

Cleric Spells: 1st True Strike, 2nd See Invisibility, 4th Fire Shield

Adreham (LN)

Edicts: Defend rightful rulers, building civilization, dominate nature

Anathema: Fight against a legitimate ruler, give alms to the undeserving, steal

Followers: LN, LG, LE

Divine Font: Harm or heal

Divine Skill: Society

Favored Weapon: Crossbow
Domains: Cities, earth, nature, wealth, perfection, family, tyranny

Cleric Spells: 1st Illusory Object, 4th Creation, 6th Dominate

Vaasa (CG)

Edicts: Defend the weak, reject tyranny

Anathema: Enslave a person, seek to dominate others

Followers: NG, CG, CN

Divine Font: Heal

Divine Skill: Survival

Favored Weapon: Whip
Domains: Air, water, nature, travel, freedom

Cleric Spells: 1st Gust of Wind, 3rd Lightning Bolt, 5th Control Water

Covellia (N)

Edicts: Seek out magical power and use it

Anathema: Hide knowledge, destroy magical items

Followers: Any

Divine Font: Harm or heal

Divine Skill: Arcana

Favored Weapon: Staff
Domains: Destruction, knowledge, magic, protection, truth

Cleric Spells: 1st Magic Missile, 2nd Magic Mouth, 3rd Levitate, 4th Blink, 5th Prying Eye, 6th Wall of Force, 7th Warp Mind, 8th Maze, 9th Foresight

Alexander (NG)

Edicts: Explore, respect nature, be kind to animals

Anathema: Cruelty to animals, abuse natural resources

Followers: NG, CG, CN, N

Divine Font: Heal

Divine Skill: Survival

Favored Weapon: Scimitar
Domains: Nature, moon, luck, travel, dreams

Cleric Spells: 1st Pass Without Trace, 2nd Animal Messenger, 4th Speak With Plants

The Sage (N)

Edicts: Find secrets, keep knowledge hidden

Anathema: Reveal a secret, intentionally harm an insect

Followers: Any non-good

Divine Font: Harm

Divine Skill: Deception

Favored Weapon: Short sword
Domains: Knowledge, undeath, darkness, earth, secrecy

Cleric Spells: 1st Illusory Disguise, 2nd Invisibility, 6th Mislead

Ryanna (CN)

Edicts: Demonstrate your strength, bravery above all

Anathema: Yield to anyone weaker

Followers: N, CG, CN, CE

Divine Font: Harm

Divine Skill: Survival

Favored Weapon: Greatsword
Domains: Confidence, freedom, fire, nature, moon, passion, perfection

Cleric Spells: 1st Color Spray, 3rd Haste, 4th Stoneskin

Kilmar (CG)

Edicts: Slay dopplegangers, adventure together, keep the peace

Anathema: Betray your companions, show fear, tarnish your reputation

Followers: CG, NG, CN

Divine Font: Heal

Divine Skill: Athletics

Favored Weapon: Longbow
Domains: Ambition, freedom, travel, might, zeal, luck

Cleric Spells: 1st Truestrike, 3rd Wall of Thorns, 5th Tree Stride

Søren (LN)

Edicts: Create beauty, free slaves

Anathema: Destroy art, senseless destruction

Followers: LN, LE, LG, N

Divine Font: Heal

Divine Skill: Select crafting

Favored Weapon: Waraxe
Domains: Creation, earth, family, might, protection

Cleric Spells: 1st Mindlink, 3rd Earthbind, 4th Creation

Ma'at, the Raven Queen

Ma'at is good and her worth is lasting.
She has not transgressed since the day of her creation,
whereas he who transgresses her ordinances is punished.
She lies a path in front even of those who know nothing.
Wrongdoing has never yet brought its venture to port.
It is true that evil may gain wealth but the strength of truth is that it lasts;
a man can say: "It was the property of my father."
-- The Book of Fayon, Canto III

Ma'at is the consort of Hades, and the first judge of the dead. When the soul of the deceased arrives at her court, she weighs it against a feather. If its misdeeds weigh it down so that it is heavier than a feather, the soul is sent to Hades. If the soul's deeds are loftier, so that it is lighter than the feather, the soul goes to the moon. It is the light of these souls that makes the moon luminous at night. Her throne is flanked by two kobolds, Andjet Green of Flame who refined the soul before it is weighed, and Xois Owner of Faces, who brings the souls to the left and to the right.

She is known as the Raven Queen due to her cloak of raven feathers. (Contrary to popular belief, the feather with which she weighs the soul of the dead is an ostrich feather). It is often said that when a person dies, if you listen closely, you can hear the flutter of ravens carrying away the soul. Naturally, ravens are also seen as a bad omen. As the judge of the dead, she is the guardian of the right order, and someone who is wise and virtuous is sometimes said to be raven-headed.

The greatest foes of Ma'at are the undead, and others who have cheated death. She is not opposed to resurrection magic for a good cause, but she delights in hunting down those who use it frivolously, particularly rulers. For this reason, most rulers shy from using resurrection magic after their death. She also despises creatures from the realm of nightmares, such as aboleths and beholders, because they do not belong to the natural order of Ardenest.

d30 Challenge: Favorite Deity

A bust of Fayon. (Actually Ptolemy II.)

So, I have to mention Fayon first. He's been the chief god of all of my homebrews, so has a lot of lore built up around him. His portfolio is justice, wise rulership, and barbers. As I mentioned the other day, he was a character of mine from the 80s who eventually, through the dynast path, became an immortal. There's a bit of backstory that I'm not going to reveal so I don't spoil my players, but there's one thing you might be wondering. Why barbers? Well, I've always liked the idea of having gods wandering around the setting, like Fizban, but never really liked the character. I played around with a few ideas, but I think I've stuck with the idea that he likes taking the form of a traveling barber. So there you have it.

I'd be remiss, though, if I didn't mention my favorite canonical deity, St. Cuthbert. When I first heard of him, I thought it was a fantastic idea. An old school Catholic guy wandering around Greyhawk? Sign me up! Plus, the idea of a god carrying around a cudgel is just great. As far as it has affected my campaign, it got me around a limitation on the number of deities. For a while, I've had a pretty hard cap of nine major deities. It's a good number to have -- enough for some diversity, but not so many you couldn't keep track of them. But then one of my players wanted to play an assassin, and I decided that the church should have an order of assassins. But it didn't fit the portfolio of any of the existing gods, so what to do? Well, that's how Saint Carino was born, the first known saint of Arden Est.