Caelistis (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Character Creation

Creating a Character in Caelistis
Caelistis is a world where your character's affiliations and background can matter much more than their class or abilities. As such, a few things should be taken into consideration before your character is completely built. Which of the gods do they follow? How to the express this belief? Are they normal followers, or do they have a slight twist to how they believe their deity thinks? What is their opinion on arcane magic and heretics? What are their aspirations in their church? These questions and many more help define a character and the people around him as well. Making a fighter who uses a greatsword is a good inspiration, but making a confident strong-man who believes Ipos will reward those who dedicate their lives to physical fitness is a good way to define your character's goals and motives. When a character knows what he wants to do, a DM knows what the players want to do.

Choosing a Deity
The god your character worships controls a few factors about them. Their church affiliation (and their rewards for high affiliation points), where they live, and their outlook on life. The gods are intentionally vague in some points, and very specific in others. It's not unreasonable for your character to follow only some of a deity's beliefs the same way others do. The Church of Phenex is a prime example, as it is based around two sects that interpret their departed god's words in very different ways.

Choosing a Class
Your character's class may also be based slightly on their god. Many of the churches have favored classes. Caim, the God of Violence in Excess, favors Barbarians and their destructive potential. Naberius, however, favors the Bard as they have diplomatic techniques and subtlety, which they use to win over their enemies. Of course, it's not uncommon for followers of a god to be different classes than the few favored classes. For example, the rogue class has access to any skills that would synergize well with the Church of Naberius.

Keep in mind that non-divine spellcasters don't function in the society of Caelistis. While this is limiting, there are many classes that can replace a potential arcane caster. Sorcerers, for instance, are replaced well by Favored Souls, who cast magic similarly. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to play an arcane spellcaster, though. However, it would be extremely challenging to interact with the churches.

Choosing Skills
Many skills function differently in Caelistis than in other settings. For instance, the Knowledge (Religion) skill is much more important when it can be used to identify enemy sigils, many more types of creatures, and improves your standing with the church. People without ranks in this skill know the general dogma of the church they follow, recognize things as religiously significant, but usually don't know the workings of other churches and don't have the ability to instantly identify the god someone worships by their mannerisms or appearance.

If you're unsure as to what your character might know what to do, look at your church's organization. If they give bonuses to a skill, you may want to put points into it. Or if they give affiliation points for ranks in a skill, that could be a good choice as well.