Ilmater, the Crying God

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Alignment: Lawful Good
Domains: Good [Redemption], Healing [Medicine], Law [Honor], Strength [Resolve, Self-Realization].
Favored Weapon: Unarmed Strike.

Gentle and good-spirited, Ilmater is a quiet, even-tempered deity who willingly shoulders the burdens and tears of a long-suffering world. Although he is slow to anger, the wrath of the Broken Deity is terrible in the face of extreme cruelty or atrocities. He takes great care to reassure and protect children and young creatures, and he takes exceptional offense at those who would harm them. The Crying God appears as a man whose body has been badly mutilated by punishment on the rack, crisscrossed with marks of torture and having broken and ravaged joints. He is a god of atonement and redemption; it is said that He would even forgive and allow his sworn enemy Loviatar to repent if only she would. He advocates healing, patience, as self-perfection in order to better endure the sufferings of others.

Dogma: Help all who hurt, no matter who they are. The truly holy take on the suffering of others. If you suffer in his name, Ilmater is there to support you. Stick to your cause if it is right, whatever the pain or peril. There is no shame in a meaningful death. Stand up to all tyrants, and allow no injustice to go unchallenged. Emphasize the spiritual nature of life over the the material body.

For Deific Obedience

Obedience: Over the course of 1 hour, spend an equal amount of time practicing with a weapon or your unarmed strikes, and either wrapping red ribbons around your wrists and hands, or braiding it in a plait of your hair, while contemplating the mercies of the Crying God. Wear the ribbons or braid prominently when your obedience is complete and wear it for the rest of the day. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on all Heal checks.

Boons
1: Intercessor (Sp) command 3/day, paladin’s sacrifice 2/day, or pain strike 1/day
2: Choose one of these boons; once you have chosen it cannot be changed:

  • Righteous Fist (Su) For a number of rounds per day equal to half your Hit Dice, you can infuse your limbs with the power of pure good. Your unarmed strikes deal damage as if you were one size category larger, and gain the holy weapon special ability. Activating or dismissing this ability is a free action, and the rounds don’t need to be consecutive.
  • Merciful Reach (Su) Up to three times per day, when you can cast a conjuration (healing) spell with a range of touch, treat it as having a range of close instead. Further, if you have the paladin’s lay on hands ability and channel energy, you may channel positive energy by consuming only one use of your lay on hands ability rather than two.

3: Twice-Martyred (Su) Your deeds and faith have earned you the Crying God’s blessing to give your life for a worthy cause and still fight on, and he shelters you in your sacrifice. As an immediate action once per day, whenever a single creature within 300 feet of you is slain by an effect or hit point damage, you can redirect that effect or damage onto yourself. You gain no saving throw to reduce effects redirected in this manner. If the effect kills you, you are restored to life in 1d4 rounds, as per resurrection, but once this resurrection effect occurs, you lose the ability to use martyrdom for 1 year.

Paladin Code

Ilmater is the most forgiving of beings; it is thought he could even forgive Loviatar, Maiden of Pain, if she repented of her cruel deeds. Though he knows full well the atrocious and horrific acts that wicked creatures can do, he remains forever hopeful that evil beings can one day be turned to good, or otherwise destroyed. As is the Crying God, a paladin of Ilmater is ever gracious and patient, but he will not suffer evil to harm goodly folk in his charge.

Oath of the Penitent Knight: The tenets of the paladin’s oath involve, at their core, understanding and being a witness to said understanding of the true value of sacrifice, why to endure pain and suffering for the sake of others, and the importance of life. Paladins upholding these tenets must be willing to give even their lives for the good of others.

  • The only true way to win a fight is to never let it begin; I shall never be the aggressor, though I will be the defender to my last breath.
  • Life is sacred and invaluable. I will not take the life of another if I can help it; if I must do so, I will do so with respect and reverance to the fallen. If I may redeem a life, rather than destroy it, I shall offer mercy, so long as sparing said life brings no harm to others.
  • Pain and suffering are enemies of the sanctity of life. I must do all that I can to ease or end the pain of any who suffer; if I cannot allieviate their suffering, I shall partake willingly of it in their stead to bear witness to the Crying God’s mercy.
  • Death is the Ultimate Sacrifice. If I must give my life that an innocent life may live, I shall do so willingly, graciously, though not flippantly, as martyrdom is a last resort when all else has failed.

Oath of the Crusading Knight: The tenets of the Companions of the Noble Heart, however, reflect that their arm of the church is both more militant, and proactive, compared to many other knights of the Crying God. Theirs reflect their commitment to rooting out those who revel in pain, and meeting them with vindication.

  • I am not only a shield to those who hurt; I am also a sword. Those who revel in pain are a danger to innocent souls everywhere, therefore do I persue them to my dying breath.
  • Life is sacred and invaluable. I will not take the life of another if I can help it; if I must do so, I will do so with respect and reverance to the fallen. If I may redeem a life, rather than destroy it, I shall offer mercy, so long as sparing said life brings no harm to others.
  • Pain and suffering are enemies of the sanctity of life. I must do all that I can to ease or end the pain of any who suffer; if this means I must cut out the cancerous flesh to save the body, then it shall be done.
  • Death is the Ultimate Sacrifice. If I must give my life that an innocent life may live, I shall do so willingly, graciously, though not flippantly, as martyrdom is a last resort when all else has failed.

For Followers of Ilmater

Archetypes and Alternate Class Features: Ascetic Paladin† (Paladin), Broken One† (Monk), Companion of the Noble Heart† (Paladin, Warpriest), Disciple of Wholeness (Monk), Drunken Master (Monk, Order of St Dionysus), Knight of the Golden Cup† (Cavalier, Paladin, Warpriest), Martyr† (Paladin), Sacred Fist (Warpriest)

Specialty Priest: Painbearer† (Cleric)

Divine Fighting Technique: Ilmater’s Perfected Fist

Feats: Beacon of Hope, Bestow Hope, Hands of Valor, Ki Channel, Merciless Rush, Protective Channel, Steady Engagement,

Magic Items

* Note: From PFS#3-13 the Quest for Perfection, Part III: Defenders of Nesting Swallow:

Aura moderate transmutation; CL 5th
Slot neck; Price 3,600 gp; Weight —

This elaborate braid is made of strands of hair from a hundred martial arts masters. If the wearer has levels in monk, his fast movement and unarmed damage are treated as a monk of 2 levels higher. If the character is not a monk, he gains the fast movement and unarmed damage of a 2nd-level monk. This fast movement functions just like the monk’s fast movement class feature. These bonuses do not stack with those granted by other items or effects. In addition, as a swift action three times per day, a character with the flurry of blows class feature can use the Braid of a Hundred Masters to apply 1-1/2 times his Strength bonus on damage rolls for successful attacks made with flurry of blows. This ability must be activated before the damage from the attack is rolled, though it may be activated after the attack roll is made and before the damage roll. Once this ability is activated, its effect lasts for 1 round.

Construction Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, longstrider, stone fist; Cost 1,800 gp

Prestige Classes: Arcane Devotee, Champion of Ilmater, Divine Champion, Divine Disciple, Divine Scion (Unchained), Holy Vindicator (Unchained), Scar Seeker (Unchained).
*Requires still mind or Ki Pool.

Spells: Abstemiousness, Martyr’s Bargain, Martyr’s Last Blessing, Replenish Ki

Traits: A Shining Beacon, Battlefield Surgeon, Blessed Orphan, Centered, Envoy of Healing, Honeyed Words, Inheritor’s Immunity, Lover of the Law, Purity of Faith, Redeemed by Grace, Scarred by War, Sensing Imperfection, Strength’s Fanfare, Strong Willed, The Flexing Arm.

Unique Spell Rules

  • Alacrity can be prepared as a 2nd-level Paladin spell
  • Haste can be prepared as a 4th-level Cleric or Inquisitor spell
  • Martyr’s Last Blessing can be prepared as a 2nd-level Paladin spell
  • Stone Fist can be prepared as a 1st-level Cleric, Inquisitor or Paladin spell
  • Transformation can be prepared as a 5th level Inquisitor spell, or a 6th-level Cleric spell

Unique Summon Rules

Other Alternate Rules

  • Monks of Ilmater with access to the quivering palm ability may use it to render a target comatose for an extended period (lasting until the target receives a heal, restoration, or greater restoration spell) rather than kill, chosen at the time the quivering palm is activated.
  • Monks with the wholeness of body ability may use it on a willing creature as a standard action. The monk must touch the target, and it costs an extra Ki point, and the same target cannot receive this benefit more than once per hour.

Clergy and Temples

Misunderstood by most, pitied and even scorned by a vocal minority, the church of Ilmater yet has one of the largest and most faithful followings in Faerun. In a cruel world, the suffering, the sick, and the poor have come to rely only on the Crying God’s followers to provide succor to all. The church of Ilmater is widely loved by common folk in settled lands everywhere, and its clergy can count on generous support in their lifelong mission of healing. Those who cannot comprehend why anyone would willingly submit to the torments and cruelties that Ilmater’s faithful seem to welcome misunderstand the church. Among those who hate weakness, the church of the Crying God is seen as weak and foolhardy — cruel tyrants and powerful villains alike dangerously underestimate its members.

Ilmater’s priests understand that martyrdom is a distinct possibility to follow their calling, and they readily lay down their life that another might live. Fortunately, the Crying God teaches that the truly devout who are martyred saving other people from death or suffering may rise among those known as Twice-Martyred — perhaps even immediately, with all of their memories and experience intact. One such Twice-Matyred was Saint Sollars, the founder of the Order of the Yellow Rose.

Clerics of Ilmater pray for spells in the morning, although they still have to ritually pray to Ilmater at least six times a day. They have no annual holy days, but occasionally a cleric calls for a Plea of Rest. This allows him or her a tenday of respite from Ilmater’s dictates, to prevent emotional exhaustion or allow the cleric to do something Ilmater would normally frown upon. This custom is an established tradition that some leaders of the faith rely upon, sending their best fighting clergy out to do things that the church cannot otherwise accomplish (covertly removing a tyrant rather than confronting him openly, for example). The most important ritual is the Turning: It is the duty of every cleric of Ilmater to convince the dying to turn to Ilmater for comfort, receiving the blessing of the Broken God before they expire. As the veneration of Ilmater grows, even in death, his healing power becomes greater. Many clerics learn the Brew Potion feat so that they can help those beyond their immediate reach; indeed Ilmater’s specialty priests, the Painbearers, can create curative elixirs that surpass the strength of those any other priests can create. One group of Ilmatari monks, the Broken Ones, acts as defenders of the faithful and the church’s temples, as well as agents of punishment for those who cruelly harm others.

Temples of Ilmater are typically located in the countryside along major routes, serving as waystations for weary travelers. Most are named for an Ilmatari saint, of which there are many. Most are manors of a sort, with protective walls around at least a chapel, chapter house, stable, and garden. Many have facilities dedicated to the care of the sick and injured. Others contain libraries, monks’ quarters separate from the chapter house, or barracks for an affiliated knightly order.Many temples of Ilmater also house or sponsor institutions such as hospitals, refugee hostels, and orphanages.