Help:Writing an article about a deity
The Gold-Fisted
Judge of the Gods
Master of the First Vault
God of the First Vault
Wealthy Father
Two-Headed Eagle
Azlanti period: The Scales and Streets
Law
Merchants
Wealth
Alternate: Creation, duty, metal, toil
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The term deity is used within PathfinderWiki to describe any greater being that has ascended in power to a point where it is worshipped and followed by other creatures. Deities can usually provide their divine followers, such as clerics, with spells or other abilities. This means the term deity, as a concept, would include gods as well as lesser beings such as demon lords, archdevils, etc.
Begin the article by using the {{Deity}} infobox template. If you're using the visual editor, add the template using the Insert menu, and fill in its fields. If you're using the source editor, visit {{Deity}}, copy the text from the usage box, paste this at the beginning of your article, and fill in the blanks.
The template automatically knows to display only the information that you fill in, so if you omit or leave any of the fields blank, they will not be displayed.
See the example template for Abadar on this page or the {{Deity}} template documentation. To provide references for the statements in your article, also refer to the policy on citing sources.
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Summary |
Sections
There are no hard-and-fast rules on what sections should and should not exist within an article, although there is some logic to the convention that has built up with the creation of many articles about deities. You might consider using, but are not forced to use, the following sections in your article, which are largely based on the deity articles found within the Pathfinder Adventure Path books:
- History
- The deity's background
- Home
- Where the deity resides and a description thereof
- Relationships
- Description of the deity's peers, allies, and enemies, and how the followers of the deity might react to worshippers of other deities
- Appearance
- How the deity manifests itself, and how it is depicted by its worshippers
- Emissaries
- Information about the deity's herald, how the deity might communicate to mortals, and specific entities associated with the deity that may, for example, be summoned via planar ally spells
- Church
- Information about the organizations formed to worship the deity: priests, followers, temples, organizations, holy texts, holidays, aphorisms, religious services, geographic centres, racial associations, monster associations, and subsects or heretical groups
- References
- Note any articles that comprehensively describe the deity, and add the {{Refs}} template
- Deity navboxes
- Add the appropriate navbox template to append a navigable list of other deities to the bottom of your page. There are many such navboxes, including (but not limited to):
{{Deities navbox}}
{{Powers of Hell navbox}}
{{Daemonic powers navbox}}
{{Demon lords navbox}}
{{Eldest navbox}}
{{Elemental lords navbox}}
{{Empyreal lords navbox}}
{{Dark Tapestry deities navbox}}
{{Psychopomp Ushers navbox}}
{{Qlippoth lord navbox}}
- For details on using these navboxes, especially {{Deities navbox}}, and lists of sources that populate them, see their documentation.
Categorization
Although the following list is not exhaustive, an article about a deity should generally be categorized according to the following category areas. To add a category to an article, place the category name at the bottom of your article using the following syntax:
[[Category:Vudran pantheon]]
Deity name
For each deity, add a category in the deity's name. This category serves as the root for subcategories of areas associated with the particular deity, such as followers, servants, or locations.
Using Abadar as the example:
[[Category:Abadar| ]]
The | symbol followed by a space indicates that category should be sorted separately and before anything else in that category. Use this sparingly, typically only for placing a subject in a category named after itself.
Power level
There is a hierarchy to deities worshipped on Golarion, and the deities should be categorized according to their status in this hierarchy. The list of possible power levels is located at Category:Deities by power level.
Categories are not exclusive, and a deity can be placed into multiple categories. For instance, Asmodeus is in both Category:Archdevils and Category:Major deities, because he is both an archdevil and a major deity.
If possible, avoid categorizing articles directly into Category:Minor deities unless they cannot be placed within any of its subcategories.
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Power levels are a significant detail in Pathfinder First Edition contexts, but are emphasized much less in Pathfinder Second Edition. If in doubt, or if there is no clear indiciation, add the deity to Category:Deities; this can always be changed later. |
Within power level considerations, there is also the Category:Dead deities for deities who have been slain or are otherwise no longer.
Building upon the previous example, Abadar is a major deity, and would be categorized:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]]
Alignment
Prior to the Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project, each deity had one of the nine alignments. Categorize them accordingly into a [[Category:(alignment name) deities]] category, or omit such categories if the deity has no mechanical alignment.
Building upon the previous example, Abadar is a lawful neutral deity, and would be categorized:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]] [[Category:Lawful neutral deities]]
Note that there are categories such as Category:Lawfully aligned deities, Category:Goodly aligned deities, Category:Neutrally aligned deities, etc. These "aligned" categories represent an entire axis of alignment; avoid adding deities to those categories.
Domain
Each deity is associated with a number of domains from which divine magic spellcasters, such as clerics, can choose. For every domain that a deity possesses, add a separate domain category. For lists of domain categories by edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, see Category:Deities by domain and Category:Deities by 2E domain. When a domain has the same name in both editions, Pathfinder Second Edition domains are suffixed with (2E).
Building upon the previous example, Abadar has the Earth, Law, Nobility, Protection, and Travel domains in Pathfinder First Edition and the cities, earth, travel, wealth, creation, duty, metal, and toil domains in Pathfinder Second Edition, and would be categorized thusly:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]] [[Category:Lawful neutral deities]] <!-- 1E categories --> [[Category:Earth domain deities]] [[Category:Law domain deities]] [[Category:Nobility domain deities]] [[Category:Protection domain deities]] [[Category:Travel domain deities]] <!-- 2E categories --> [[Category:Cities domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Earth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Travel domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Wealth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Creation domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Duty domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Metal domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Toil domain deities (2E)]]
Subdomain
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Pathfinder First Edition content |
Each Pathfinder First Edition deity also has associated subdomains from which their servants can choose. For every subdomain that a deity possesses, add a separate subdomain category.
Building upon the previous example, Abadar has the Defense, Fortifications, Inevitable, Leadership, Legislation, Martyr, Metal, and Trade subdomains, and would be categorized:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]] [[Category:Lawful neutral deities]] <!-- 1E categories --> [[Category:Earth domain deities]] [[Category:Law domain deities]] [[Category:Nobility domain deities]] [[Category:Protection domain deities]] [[Category:Travel domain deities]] [[Category:Defense subdomain deities]] [[Category:Fortifications subdomain deities]] [[Category:Inevitable subdomain deities]] [[Category:Leadership subdomain deities]] [[Category:Legislation subdomain deities]] [[Category:Martyr subdomain deities]] [[Category:Metal subdomain deities]] [[Category:Trade subdomain deities]] <!-- 2E categories --> [[Category:Cities domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Earth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Travel domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Wealth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Creation domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Duty domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Metal domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Toil domain deities (2E)]]
Mystery
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Pathfinder First Edition content |
Deities might also have associated oracle mysteries. For every mystery that a deity possesses, add a separate mystery category. For a list of mystery categories, see Category:Oracle mysteries by deity.
Building upon the previous example, Abadar has the Godclaw, Lore, Metal, and Stone mysteries, and would be categorized:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]] [[Category:Lawful neutral deities]] <!-- 1E categories --> [[Category:Earth domain deities]] [[Category:Law domain deities]] [[Category:Nobility domain deities]] [[Category:Protection domain deities]] [[Category:Travel domain deities]] [[Category:Defense subdomain deities]] [[Category:Fortifications subdomain deities]] [[Category:Inevitable subdomain deities]] [[Category:Leadership subdomain deities]] [[Category:Legislation subdomain deities]] [[Category:Martyr subdomain deities]] [[Category:Metal subdomain deities]] [[Category:Trade subdomain deities]] [[Category:Godclaw mystery deities]] [[Category:Lore mystery deities]] [[Category:Metal mystery deities]] [[Category:Stone mystery deities]] <!-- 2E categories --> [[Category:Cities domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Earth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Travel domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Wealth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Creation domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Duty domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Metal domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Toil domain deities (2E)]]
Pantheons and covenants
Pantheons and covenants are groupings of deities or other beings that have an affiliation that ties them together. This might be that they are predominantly worshipped by a particular ancestry, ethnicity, or culture of people, or the inhabitants of a specific place, such as the Category:Goblin hero-gods, Category:Elven pantheon, and Category:Vudran pantheon, respectively. For a list of existing pantheon categories, see Category:Deities by pantheon; if a relevant pantheon category doesn't exist, consider creating one, especially if other deities would belong to it.
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Pathfinder First Edition uses the terms "pantheon" and "covenant" generically. However, Pathfinder Second Edition specifically defines the term "pantheon", and the Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project added a mechanical definition of "covenant" to distinguish them from pantheons. See Divine Mysteries, pantheon, and covenant. |
Building upon the previous example, Abadar is one of the deities especially associated with worship in the Azlanti Empire, Taldor, Sandpoint, Tian Xia, and the Order of the Godclaw. He is also part of the Resplendent Court, Deliberate Journey, Offering Plate, and Urban Prosperity pantheons. He would be categorized thusly:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]] [[Category:Tian Xia deities]] [[Category:Azlanti pantheon deities]] [[Category:Order of the Godclaw pantheon]] [[Category:Resplendent Court pantheon]] [[Category:Sandpoint pantheon]] [[Category:Taldan pantheon]]</strong> [[Category:Lawful neutral deities]] <!-- 1E categories --> [[Category:Earth domain deities]] [[Category:Law domain deities]] [[Category:Nobility domain deities]] [[Category:Protection domain deities]] [[Category:Travel domain deities]] [[Category:Defense subdomain deities]] [[Category:Fortifications subdomain deities]] [[Category:Inevitable subdomain deities]] [[Category:Leadership subdomain deities]] [[Category:Legislation subdomain deities]] [[Category:Martyr subdomain deities]] [[Category:Metal subdomain deities]] [[Category:Trade subdomain deities]] [[Category:Godclaw mystery deities]] [[Category:Lore mystery deities]] [[Category:Metal mystery deities]] [[Category:Stone mystery deities]] <!-- 2E categories --> [[Category:Deliberate Journey pantheon]] [[Category:Offering Plate pantheon]] [[Category:Urban Prosperity pantheon]] [[Category:Cities domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Earth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Travel domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Wealth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Creation domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Duty domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Metal domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Toil domain deities (2E)]]
Home
Many deities have a divine realm, almost always in the Great Beyond, that they call home. Much like people, we categorize them as inhabitants of this realm.
Building upon the previous example, Abadar's realm is the First Vault in Aktun, a region of Axis, and would be categorized in Category:Aktun/Inhabitants and Category:Axis/Inhabitants:
[[Category:Abadar| ]] [[Category:Major deities]] [[Category:Tian Xia deities]] [[Category:Azlanti pantheon deities]] [[Category:Order of the Godclaw pantheon]] [[Category:Resplendent Court pantheon]] [[Category:Sandpoint pantheon]] [[Category:Taldan pantheon]] [[Category:Lawful neutral deities]] [[Category:Aktun/Inhabitants]] [[Category:Axis/Inhabitants]] <!-- 1E categories --> [[Category:Earth domain deities]] [[Category:Law domain deities]] [[Category:Nobility domain deities]] [[Category:Protection domain deities]] [[Category:Travel domain deities]] [[Category:Defense subdomain deities]] [[Category:Fortifications subdomain deities]] [[Category:Inevitable subdomain deities]] [[Category:Leadership subdomain deities]] [[Category:Legislation subdomain deities]] [[Category:Martyr subdomain deities]] [[Category:Metal subdomain deities]] [[Category:Trade subdomain deities]] [[Category:Godclaw mystery deities]] [[Category:Lore mystery deities]] [[Category:Metal mystery deities]] [[Category:Stone mystery deities]] <!-- 2E categories --> [[Category:Deliberate Journey pantheon]] [[Category:Offering Plate pantheon]] [[Category:Urban Prosperity pantheon]] [[Category:Cities domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Earth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Travel domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Wealth domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Creation domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Duty domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Metal domain deities (2E)]] [[Category:Toil domain deities (2E)]]
Unsure about categories?
If you have written an article and are unsure about which categories to apply, or simply want your categories reviewed by another chronicler, feel free to add the Please check categories category:
[[Category:Please check categories]]
This flags to others that the article's categories need checking or revision. Another chronicler should be along to help soon thereafter.
You can also ask for help in the PathfinderWiki Discord chat.
Lists of deities
For every new deity added to the wiki, if you are confident, you may directly edit {{Deities list}}, the centralized list of deities that populates Portal:Religion and navboxes related to deities and pantheons.
This template compiles lists of deities by groupings and status. Review its documentation and add deities to all of the appropriate lists. If no appropriate list exists, you can create a new list as a parameter in that template.
If you don't feel comfortable adding a new deity to this list yourself, you can also ask for help in the template's talk page or in the PathfinderWiki Discord chat.