Faith and Religion

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The gods of Aldhaven seldom involve themselves in the affairs of men, remaining far distant from earthly things, assuming they exist at all. No mortal magic exists which can directly contact or influence the gods, though prayer is often answered and strong faith is rewarded with powerful magics interpreted as divine intervention.

Without faith, what is truth? The people of Aldhaven know the gods are real, because they believe that they are. Their faith is rewarded, and many know that they have felt the presence of the divine. Though there may be contradictions between beliefs, even among different sects of the same religion, that very faith reveals truths about the faithful and the world around them.

Open Game Content

Clerics and Religion

Clerics, Deities, and Domains

A cleric, or other divine spellcaster with access to domains, chooses domains based on religious organization rather than the deity that they worship. The trappings of religion affect the spellcaster and influence which aspects of their deity they can access. Some religious organizations worship a pantheon of related gods, allowing for a greater number of choices for domain selection.

If a cleric worships a deity but is not part of any specific sect, use the domain list from the most prominent sect related to that deity.

A cleric who chooses not to worship a particular deity can choose from any domain available; however, they are often viewed with suspicion or derision by others. It is usually assumed that the cleric is merely hiding their affiliation for some malicious purpose.

One exception is the four alignment domains: Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos. These domains can be chosen by any cleric of the appropriate alignment, regardless of their deity or religious affiliation.

Alignment and Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells

A cleric’s alignment need not match his deity’s alignment, but most religious organizations require their clerics to be a particular alignment or close to it as part of their doctrine.

Clerics are not restricted to casting spells of their alignment; however casting spells of an alignment will begin to shift the cleric’s alignment in that direction. A good character casting a spell with the evil descriptor will not lose his cleric powers, unless doing so breaks an oath he has taken. However, casting such spells may violate the tenants of his church, which risks censure and other forms of punishment.

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Organized Religions

Organized religion plays a larger part in Aldhaven than in most campaign settings. While it is possible for an individual to worship a specific deity directly and gain spells as a result, this is almost never the case. Clerics almost universally belong to an organized religion of some sort, from the largest world-spanning churches to the smallest, most secret of cults.

A cleric, or other spellcaster with domain access, selects their domains from those offered by their religious organization, regardless of which domains are offered by the deities worshiped by that organization.

For example, the Church of Light worships Solaron and Minrhet but only offers access to Glory, Joy, Life, Purification, and Sun domains rather than all domains controlled by those two deities. Different sects within the Church of Light may offer different domain access, depending on which aspects of the twin deities they venerate.

Religious Organizations

The following religious organizations can be found in the world of Aldhaven:

Church of Light