The Drunken Hero ascended from mortal life on a drunken dare, becoming the god of ale, freedom, and wine. Cayden promotes freedom and encourages others to find their own path in life. He fights for just causes and delights in the best indulgences.
Edicts drink, free the enslaved and aid the oppressed, seek glory and adventure
Anathema waste alcohol, be mean or standoffish when drunk, enslave someone
Follower Alignments NG, CG, CN
Devotee Benefits
Divine Font
Divine Skill Athletics
Favored Weapon
Domains cities, freedom, indulgence, might
Cleric Spells 1st:
, 2nd: , 5th:Gods & Magic
Once a mortal human, Cayden Cailean is now one the few deities known as the Ascended. In his mortal years, Cayden was a sellsword of no small fame, known for his boisterous manner, skill with a blade, and fearless resolve. During a particularly rowdy night of drinking, a series of escalating dares led the wandering mercenary to attempt the Test of the Starstone. He emerged from the Starstone Cathedral 3 days later, laughing, a fully realized god. Divine responsibility did little to change Cayden’s attitude from what it was in his mortal life. He continues to crave adventure, drink, and pleasurable company while abhorring bullies, tyrants, and cowards.
Cayden has no formal churches or structured clergy, but simple shrines to him appear in almost every tavern and roadside inn. Many of his priests own such businesses and offer healing to patrons, some of whom may have been injured during a drunken brawl. While Cayden’s faith is a charitable one, Caydenites still seek payment for such services—at the very least, the injured party is expected to purchase a round of drinks for the house. Only in places where worshippers of the Accidental God are in direct opposition to the local powers, such as where a rebellion is forming under a tyrant’s nose, is his church out of the public eye. Caydenites can bring themselves to be quiet in the face of oppression only for so long, however, and once a rebellion reaches full bloom, the god’s silver tankard is often proudly displayed across every bar.
As a mortal, Cayden often found himself at odds with the work he was hired to perform and abandoned jobs that went against his conscience. This gave him a reputation for being unreliable among his more unscrupulous employers, but it garnered significant respect from clients with stronger morals. Legends tell of him taking contracts to free entire crews of slaves, undoing the operations of predatory business owners, and other rebellious deeds for the good of the common folk. His worshippers often involve themselves in similar matters: safeguarding the freedom and prosperity of working-class people, overthrowing tyrants, and helping the oppressed relocate to freer lands. His champions, in particular, embed themselves in nations with harsh laws and stir up rebellions—often from the back room of a tavern.
Members of Cayden’s faith also maintain many orphanages in urban areas, arranging them to receive funding from local pubs and other Cayden-friendly establishments. Not much is known about Cayden’s childhood as a mortal, but given his patronage of such houses, many have inferred that he spent at least some time in an orphanage when he was young. While the children in such orphanages are not expressly raised in the faith, most adopt the god’s teachings when they grow old enough to leave. These individuals often take the surname Cailean to honor him, adding to the number of gregarious rebels in the world.
While the consumption of alcohol is central to most of Cayden’s worship, drinking to excess and dependency on drink are seen as misuse of the Accidental God’s gifts. Clergy who develop such an addiction are encouraged by their community to take a large role in the faith’s other works, such as maintaining orphanages or supporting rebel efforts, and those who recover often work to assist others with their own recovery from alcoholism. Though being the god of alcohol is a popular aspect of Cayden Cailean, members of his faith often find personal freedom and rejection of tyranny just as appealing as a strong drink, and it is not uncommon for teetotalers to number among Cayden’s followers.
Cayden is not particular about who worships him, so long as they abide by the simple expectations of freedom, bravery, and enjoying a good drink. As such, he has followers from almost all ancestries. A good number of his worshippers are half-orcs, who find the casual tenets and welcoming nature of the faith to be a good fit for those who have been ostracized from more stringent communities. His followers are typically good natured, boisterous, and optimistic. Life simply holds too much to take in for anyone to spend it gloomy. Many adventurers find Cayden’s tenets to be a natural fit, taking jobs when they can and bucking cruelty wherever they find it.
Divine Intercession
Cayden sometimes hands out his blessings and communicates his ire at seemingly random opportunities based on his drunken whims. In particular, Cayden blesses the recently liberated to help secure their freedom. Cayden is also known to grant particularly trivial and harmless curses to those who disrupt revelry. These curses typically cause the disruptor to change in appearance, taking on a comical or farcical look. He is quick to lift these curses by dawn or for those who give in to the enjoyment of the evening and join the festivities.
Minor Boon: Cayden Cailean helps you recover from nights of carousing. While you still get drunk and otherwise experience the effects of alcohol normally, you are never hung over the next morning.
Moderate Boon: You share some of the bravery Cayden espoused during his ascension. When you roll a success on a saving throw against a fear effect, you get a critical success instead. If you have the fighter bravery class feature, when you roll a critical failure on a save against a fear effect, you get a failure instead.
Major Boon: An embodiment of freedom, you break fetters with ease. At the end of each of your turns, you can end one effect that is currently making you immobilized (including effects that make you immobilized by grabbing or restraining you) as a free action.
Minor Curse: Individuals who raise Cayden’s passing displeasure awake as if from a hard night of drinking and find that drink tastes foul.
Moderate Curse: Cayden has afflicted you with cowardice. Whenever you roll a critical success on a saving throw against a fear effect, you get a success instead, and each time you roll a failure on a saving throw against a fear effect, you get a critical failure instead.
Major Curse: Cayden curses you to suffer in the presence of drinking, making it hard for you to bear entering any tavern. Whenever any creature drinks alcohol within 100 feet of you, you suffer all negative effects from the alcohol (but only the alcohol) instead. This doesn’t apply if the creature gains any special effect from drinking alcohol.
Firebrands
As the god of bravery, freedom, and ale, Cayden Cailean teaches that every person should feel free to indulge in their choice of spirits, passion, and pursuits. The worship of Cayden Cailean epitomizes freedom, boldness in the face of overwhelming odds, and camaraderie among fellow revelers. In taverns, alehouses, and inns across any land, every drink could turn into a prayer to Cayden Cailean. Bravery from such prayerful drink and gathered people can stir wishful thinking into revolutionary fervor. While the oppressed often dream of rising up against their tormentors, their worry over the dangers of revolution normally drowns out such wishful thinking. But these dreams can quickly grow into action and calls for change becoming tinder for a spark—a spark that’s often ignited by Firebrands and like-minded adventurers looking not only for excitement but also an opportunity to test their mettle. More than one despot has fallen to the passionate indignation of mobs led by Firebrands invoking Cayden Cailean’s name. Tyrants and bullies harbor deep fear of the Accidental God and his followers.
Firebrands spend much of their time traveling in pursuit of freedom, strength (of both mind and body), and sustainable spirits. While some might think it a lonely life, revelry in the name of Cayden Cailean ensures they can always find excitement, as well as friends old and new, no matter how far they roam. Therefore, frequenting taverns and inns—the temples to the Daring God—takes up a significant portion of these adventurers’ lives.
Since Firebrands often use alehouses, inns, and taverns for both overt and clandestine meetings, it’s not uncommon for them to have safe houses, hidden rooms, or secret stashes within their favored establishments. These locations allow them to blend in while gathering information, recruiting, and spreading influence. When it’s time for action, Firebrands can usually count on the support of these establishments, sometimes even inspiring regular patrons who were unaware of the presence of Firebrands. Of course, the bravery that comes from numbers and Cayden Cailean’s liquid courage certainly helps inspire them to action.