Alignment

A faith will often demand that its priests belong to a specific alignment or a limited range of alignments. The DM determines this, usually basing the choice on the attributes and character of the god, force or philosophy in question.

But don't be too restrictive in this regard. Even if, personally, you're opposed to War, the God of War and his followers don't have to be Chaotic/Evil.

Alignment Guidelines for the Priesthood

Here are some general guidelines to go by:

The first, and most important, note is this: The gods usually do not insist that their priests be of identical alignment to the god. The alignment may not be so dissimilar that the priest cannot serve the god, but it does not have to be identical.

If the faith does not promote any sort of harm to living beings, or promotes benefits to living beings, then it probably excludes Evil alignments among the priesthood. If the faith allows for harm to living beings but does not promote wanton cruelty, then it can include Good, Neutral, and Evil priests. If the faith does promote cruelty, then it probably excludes Good alignments among its priests.

If the faith demands ordered thinking, strict obedience to laws, and unquestioning acceptance of policy, then it leans toward Lawful behavior. (Now, every faith requires rituals and devotions of its priests, but this isn't the same thing, and doesn't require any alignment choice.) If the faith demands more free-willed and spontaneous behavior, defiance of social conventions or restrictions, and so forth, then it leans toward Chaotic behavior. If it promotes neither approach strongly, then it can probably include Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic choices.

Here are some sample choices:

God of Love: This type of faith usually promotes no harm to living beings, and promotes the benefits of love; it often promotes free-willed and spontaneous behavior, but not strongly. Therefore, its priests will probably be required to be Good, and may be of Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic alignments, though the tendency is toward Chaotic. However, if the god is a god of passionate affairs and selfish love, regardless of who gets hurt, and if he promotes revenge on romantic competitors and ex-lovers, then the faith could well include Evil and Neutral priests, thus giving its priesthood the full range of alignment choices.

God of War: This faith generally allows for harm to living beings without promoting wanton cruelty; and warfare runs the gamut from carefully-reasoned strategy to wild, bloodthirsty battlefield chaos. Therefore, the faith probably places no restriction on the alignment of its priests. However, a specific god can be devoted to one aspect of war. For example, a god who promotes the bloody destruction of all enemies, including sacrifice of prisoners and innocents, will probably have an Evil priesthood. A god who is the god of military planning will probably have a Lawful, or Lawful and Neutral, priesthood.

Alignments of the Worshippers

Most faiths define various acts and types of behavior as evil and demand that their followers not perform those acts. Some few make those same definitions and demand that their followers do perform them. Almost no faiths demand that their followers belong specifically to Lawful or Chaotic alignments.

Therefore, most faiths require of their (non-priest) worshippers that they be anything but Evil. A very few faiths require instead that their worshippers be any sort of Evil (Lawful/Evil, Neutral/Evil, or Chaotic/Evil).

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