Can dragons be religious?

[Pharos]

Greetings everyone.
I've read a fair amount on pathfinder dragons and from what it says they don't put much thought or emphisis into religion or worship (Though good dragons revere Aspu, few are ones who would practice divine magic). Now this is understandable as they have immense power and arrogance.

However what if say a Bronze dragon(arguably the most humble)of whom hung out frequently with humanoids felt the desire to worship and follow a deity he believed suited his persona and ideals besides Aspu. I.e say his main desire in life was to snuff out evil where ever it may lie and protect the good from its malice, could he decide to worship Iomedae or Sarenrae?

Or say unlike most dragons he belived in living for the moment, travelling and having a good time. Could he prehaps be draw to Caydens views?
cheers.

 

[Tovec]

Sure, why not? If he found the teachings of a certain god more interesting or applicable than Aspu why not follow that god's teachings?

What would stop him from doing that? There are no rule saying dragons HAVE TO worship only the one deity.

Especially since this is the exception as opposed to the rule, I would certainly say YES the dragon could worship whomever he chooses for whatever reasons he chooses.

 

[Rampant]

Think about it from this perspective:

You're a priest, are you gonna tell a massive magical energy breathing reptilloid that he can't join your church?

If the dragon says he's a priest, that's enough ordainment for anyone who likes their skin.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Dragons are self-important and arrogant, but they respect power. Gods, as it turns out, have a lot of power. Dragons probably don't worship the same way humans do, but they are capable of worship.

 

[Aaron L]

Dragons, as beings capable of thought and possessing souls, are as capable of religious experience, worship of a deity, and divine magic as any other thinking creature with a soul, such as humans elves or dwarves.

Now, you're quite correct that dragons are very powerful and arrogant, and, as stated above, a dragon's worship of a deity could be very different from a human's worship of the same deity, but as long as they were sincere about it then there's no difference between a dragon and a human, and I can't imagine any god refusing a dragon's worship unless said deity really had something against dragons.

Now as a gamemaster you can do anything you want, of course, so don't let anything stop you from having a dragon worshiper, or even Cleric, of any god you wish, but I can understand if you're wanting to be true to the setting. Don't worry, you're fine. Yes, dragons are arrogant, but very few of them are SO arrogant that they wouldn't be capable of sincere worship of a higher power because they don't recognize any power higher than themselves.

Hell, if I recall correctly, back in 2nd Edition a lot of dragons got a daily Cleric spell allotment along with their Wizard spells. And I've read in many places about dragon Clerics of whatsisname and whoeveritis, not just restricted to any one god, so you're fine; there's a long history of religious dragons, my friend. You're covered!

 

[Rampant]

Being new to pathfinder i dunno how much their dragons resemble 3.5 dragons, but certain breeds would learn domain spells as part of their inborn spell casting. Furthermore there existed several prc's that allowed a dragon to switch his sorc casting to cleric casting.

 

[Dykstrav]

I can't think of any compelling reason why a dragon wouldn't revere a deity.

Considering the psychology of a dragon, however... They probably don't see a deity as a universal, immutable, eternal, mystical force of the cosmos (especially in the core Golarion world, where mortals could ascend to deity status). I highly doubt that a dragon would fawn and abase themselves over a deity in the same way that a devout human or dwarf might.

I'd imagine that a dragon would meditate on a deity's legends and try to emulate their deeds and personality. They'd probably look up to a deity in the same way that a college athlete views Michael Jordan or a student director might respect Steven Spielberg. More like a role model, an example of what is within the realm of possibility as the ultimate realization of potential, than as an all-powerful patron. Even if a dragon met a deity face-to-face, they'd probably treat them as a respected elder or sage than as something to be adored and obeyed unfailingly.

Just my two coppers.

 

[Qik]

For all the reasons already stated above, I too agree that there's nothing to prevent dragons from worshiping a deity given the proper conditions. I think Viktyr has it right, in that the ways in which a dragon's religiousness would manifest would be different from a humanoid's - the dragon would probably think of a deity more as a goal to shoot for than an unattainable power to devote one's self to - and therefore, deities like Irori would be more likely/appropriate than others.