Religion in Golden Skies

Religion and patron deities work a little bit differently in the Golden Skies setting. The primary difference is that, rather than pledging faith to a particular god or goddess, characters typically belong to a school of thought which has paths and sects to follow therein. Of the five major philosophies, three - Fangshi, Fojiao, and Wanmei - only have paths which align with an ideal, character alignment, and domain. The other two, Tengri and Jingzu, have something closer to traditional deity worship. Generally, due to religious syncretism, there is not a lot of discrimination on religious grounds. However, certain cultures may tend towards particular ideologies and view others with suspicion, and individual characters and NPCs may have their own private opinions about specific religious and philosophical views.

Characters may fall anywhere on the spectrum from rigidly adhering to their philosophical views to outright ignoring them as the player sees fit. However, NPCs will tend to respect someone who follows and lives by their ideals. Moreover, characters may elect to follow a different path at any time, though their character must have encountered the school of thought in a substantial way and they must meet the alignment (within one square from the philosophy’s) and mechanical prerequisites first. For instance, a lawful good fighter is free to switch to any other lawful good, lawful neutral, or neutral good school and path they have encountered, however a true neutral cleric of the forge domain can only change to a school and path they have encountered which is neutral-aligned and which possesses a forge domain.

For the sake of player enjoyment, it is entirely reasonable to flesh out additional philosophies/religions which would make sense thematically with the world and for the character in question. This is especially the case for combinations of alignment and domain that a player may wish to use but that is absent due to recurrent themes (e.g. Lawful-Trickery or Good-War). The list of philosophies and schools is purely to serve as a foundation for what is an impossibly complex and syncretic web of religious and philosophical tradition and dogma. Alterations and modifications are encouraged.

Finally, as a note on the how and why of assigning alignments to particular schools and philosophies, the traditional dichotomies of Good vs. Evil and Lawful vs. Chaotic are not used quite in their normal sense, or the sense that a player character might view their own alignment. Instead the following schema are used:
 * Good-Neutral-Evil represents an abbreviated spectrum of the general attitude towards a particular school of thought from an emic - that is, internal - perspective. Good paths are regarded by most people as laudable and venerable, Neutral is regarded as a respectable albeit safe/non-committal/self-centered path, and Evil is regarded as a path liable to lead to decadence or moral corruption. With exception to foreign religions, however, none of the schools are a path of absolute/irredeemable evil as conceived by Western theology. Additionally, the attitude towards certain religions/philosophies will differ depending on the cultural vantage point. For instance, while followers of Tengri will likely have a more nuanced attitudes towards the worship of certain gods and goddesses within their religion, the average citizen of the EHD is likely to view all of Tengri as morally-bankrupt barbarism, and missing the aspect of humanistic self-perfection that they expect from a “civilized” philosophy. Though there is some variance in how philosophies are viewed from culture to culture, for the purposes of alignment prerequisites, the natural perception of the religion in its "native" culture constitutes the definitive interpretation.
 * Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic represents an abbreviated spectrum of the general structure, rigidity, and/or narrowness of a particular path. Rather than an emic view, this typography typically represents a more etic or empirical view of how the religion is actually practiced, with Lawful paths holding a fixed view of what should guide an individual’s morality and actions, Neutral paths holding a flexible view that adheres to guidelines but permits adaptation, and Chaotic paths actively seeking to avoid definition or reification of their beliefs. Note, however, that this does not necessarily mean that a chaotic path foregoes moral and ethical standards, but rather treats them as objects of evolving understanding to be internalized and incorporated rather than chiseled into stone.

The Five Major Philosophies
The term "Five Major Philosophies" refers to the five philosophies present and politically relevant in the Empire of the Heavenly Dragon. While only one of them - Jingzu - is native to the EHD, the other four have become politically relevant as a result of conquest and osmosis, cross-cultural scholarly discourse, or deliberate importation for political aims. They are listed here with their native culture and the culture or political state who has adopted the philosophy most extensively.

The Two Minor Philosophies
The term "Two Minor Philosophies" refers to the two philosophies not present in the Empire of the Heavenly Dragon but which still hold political or cultural relevance to another state or society on its periphery. They are Jisshōshugi to the Sea Elves, and Kumo-Sūhai to the Drow. In addition to these two, foreign merchants bring with them other religions and schools of thought, but no cross-cultural communication with the Empire has become sufficiently advanced for scholarly inquiry.