Favorite diety and over all diety discussion (idk if it fits here but probably does)

[PostMortemCP]

Just want to know other d&d players favorite diety and why and overall discussion about them. Mine is We Jas because of necromancy reasons, and just though of something strange. Was We Jas based on Gary Gygaxs first wife? Recently found out his wife and daughters are red heads and I knew his eldest son was mainly a caster and in fact the Tenser, so was We Jas being lawfully neutral a deity of magic and death (as the legend states she had Ernest character die once because he was up past bed time) as a cheeky joke? After all the old TSR days where basically a family company

[2D8HP]

My two favorites are Tymora, goddess of good luck, from the Forgotten Realm, because I imagine dice as her "Holy Symbol", and Hecate, goddess of magic, from the 1980's Deities & Demi-Gods, because my 12 year old self found her super-fine, I mean DAMN!

[Vizzerdrix]

Cas, and Gond. I`m a big fan of revenge, and Gond does something wholly unique in D&D.

[JNAProductions]

Ecaflip. He's a great dad.
Iop. He's also a great dad.
Pandawa. She became a goddess by creating BOOZE!

[PostMortemCP]

Another deity I love is Lord Bane, use him with a cleric and the champion cleric alt class feature then go into entropomancer. Dropping Black holes on anyone who doesn’t submit to the Mighty Lord Bane.

[Khedrac]

Probably Humakt though I do like Vinga (Orlanth) and Yelorna.

I also have a soft spot for Krajalk because she provides the most useful spell for experienced characters despite being very definitely an enemy goddes.

[hotflungwok]

Grumsh One Eye, cuz you gotta be hardcore to be a real worshipper.

Loviatar, just for the way she attacked you.

Nnnrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr'k'k (sp?) from Deities & Demigods, cuz I always wondered how to pronounce it.

[Lord Torath]

Minor nitpic: "Deity" is another word for god. "Diety" makes me think of a weight-loss program. I almost reported the thread for spam before realizing it was just a misspelling.

I'm still trying to come up with a favorite D&D deity. I'd probably have to go with Paladine at this point. Fizban is just too funny!

[Spore]

Golarion's Irori. I love the irony of ascribing a whole school of philosophy devoid of gods to a god to fit D&D metaphysics. funnily enough he also has a variety of great domains for anyone striving to be a perfect cleric - so great for optimizers, which is another layer of meta fun about him.

His mantra basically screams: "I have 18 in all stats, I am just plain better than you."

[Man_Over_Game]

Ao. DnD God of Gods, but doesn't have clerics (or rather, he doesn't grant divine powers). His worshipper base is generally consisted of philosophers, thieves, historians, and a bunch of other mundane folk. The God of all Gods is worshipped by those who don't want power and don't gain power, and they know this, and he's still worshipped.

It has a lot of cool flavor, and most of my intellectual characters favor him.

[Max_Killjoy]

Most D&D pantheons don't impress me, for starters because of the alignment thing. If a deity is the "god of X", then its 'alignment' is "cares about X", not "chose a cosmic jersey color".


In the setting for the RPG The Lost Age, there's Murgo, goddess of learning, knowledge, science, and "esoteric magic" (magic based on empirical study, philosophical inquiry, and knowledge). She eschews worship entirely, does not grant spells or power, and responds to mortal inquiries with as many new questions as answers. She's basically the ungod of empiricism, and I can respect that a lot more than most deities.

[Hackulator]

Paladine, cause Fizban.

Also because he gave up his godhood so evil could be punished.

[Khedrac]

I'm still trying to come up with a favorite D&D deity.

Nothing in this thread specifies D&D deities (hence I chose some from Glorantha) so you can go for any deity you live - even those from novels...

[Son of A Lich!]

Can't go wrong with Asmo.

Worship him, use his blessings to achieve lichdom or some other form of sentient undead and get a nod of respect for bending the rules to your favor...

Until the Paladin comes around to finish you off and realize you have to pay compounding interest in Baator.

[Millstone85]

If I lived in FR, I would probably worship Lathander.

I would choose him because he is the most vanilla benevolent deity of the setting.

I also like the thing he has going on with Amaunator, where they are kinda sorta the same entity.

[hymer]

Wee Jas. Because how can you not adore a goddess of magic and death?
She's nicely nuanced and complicated, being vain, stern, motherly, and a supporter of society in general and the afterlife in particular. Her history and changes makes her feel like a historic deity, which is particularly nice in a pantheon that seems to be made for adventurers (probably because it was).

[Kaptin Keen]

If I absolutely had to pick one of the published deities, I'd go with Iuz, the Old. His story is pretty uninventive, but the imagery of his nation is pretty vivid. And I like the idea of a fat old cripple who is so powerful and so unrepentantly evil that everyone quavers at his mention. A real boogeyman, with his own small empire on the outskirts of civilization.

Otherwise, I have to admit I can't think of a single one who isn't cliché crap.

Maybe there are a few kinda-sorta halfway decent attempts at making something interesting. The ur-dragons of Eberron (Khyber and what not, I forget) have some things going for them, and the Dark Powers of Ravenloft aren't entirely a waste of print either, but all in all, I feel the publishers of RPG's are pretty crap at their jobs.

Is Sybarys one of the others?

Hey, just as an example of how crap the publishers are, they renamed Iuz from the Old to the Evil - as if, to avoid confusion that the guy who paved the road to his capitol with the skulls of his enemies, is evil, we'll put it in his name. Just to make sure you get it. It's just so goddamned pathetic it makes me cringe.

Um ... no offense, of course, to anyone who happens to disagree with my assessment of published works. I'm just ... really old =)

[Quertus]

So, first and foremost, any ascended PCs from my tables rate over any published deity in my book. I may come back with a senile half-list at some point.

After that, in alphabetical order, I suppose I'll say Arangee, Azuth, and Tzeentch.

Hecate, goddess of magic, from the 1980's Deities & Demi-Gods, because my 12 year old self found her super-fine, I mean DAMN!

Pics or it didn't happen.

Ecaflip. He's a great dad.
Iop. He's also a great dad.
Pandawa. She became a goddess by creating BOOZE!

Sources?

Ao. DnD God of Gods, but doesn't have clerics (or rather, he doesn't grant divine powers). His worshipper base is generally consisted of philosophers, thieves, historians, and a bunch of other mundane folk. The God of all Gods is worshipped by those who don't want power and don't gain power, and they know this, and he's still worshipped.

It has a lot of cool flavor, and most of my intellectual characters favor him.

I once ran a Cleric of AO. Yup, Cleric, no spells. Also, I rolled straight 1's for HP.

[Max_Killjoy]

For the actual D&Deities, one of our own -- LudicSavant -- has remarkably improved takes on several of them:

Nerull, the Reaper
Wee Jas, the Stern Lady
Olidammara, the Laughing Rogue
Erythnul, the Many
Hextor, the Scourge of Battle
Corellon Larethian, the Protector and Preserver of Life
Lolth, the Hunted
The Deep Ones

They're presented in a way that focuses a lot more on the people who worship them, and why, and how, and the competing beliefs about each deity. Unlike the published takes on the deities, you can understand why people might give veneration, supplication, and dedication to these deities.

[GentlemanVoodoo]

Auppenser from Lost Empires of Faerun was my favorite story wise. Kiri-Jolith from dragonlance was interesting on his association with minotaurs. On the same subject, the Labrynth philosophy introduced in 4th edition was also interesting for this race. The Kalashatar's path of light was also interesting and similarly the Blood of Vol from Eberron. Lastly was the Raven Queen though the fifth edition version did her no justice.

[2D8HP]

....Pics or it didn't happen.

Spoiler: As you requested

Show

[Velaryon]

My favorite is a character of mine that ascended to become a deity. His worshippers were the oppressed and enslaved, and he was particularly opposed to those who used magic for tyrannical purposes.

But of actual published deities, I've always had a soft spot for Shaundakul. He seems like just a chill old dude who likes to travel, and whose church is so loosely organized it barely qualifies as a church at all. Plus for his big holy day, he turns all his clerics to gaseous form and tosses them up into the wind so that they end up somewhere they've never been before. I just have to respect that kind of whimsy and "IDGAF" attitude.

[Pex]

Torm

A deity for the Righteous Heroes who don't need an operation on their posterior. Along with all the Goody Two Shoes stuff he's not a jealous deity and encourages cooperation with other faiths. Follow the Just Laws of course, but do what's Right. He forgives imperfection. As a bonus he satisfies a personal pet peeve as a player. The one thing in the universe he absolutely loathes is betrayal. The death penalty is appropriate punishment for a betrayer. Betrayal is an unforgivable sin.

Honorable Mention

Ilmater

Sentimental. I like his philosophy. He's the Really Nice one. I enjoy playing the saint occasionally, though I have managed to find ways for a warrior character to worship him such as my current barbarian. He is Passive Lawful Good to Torm's Active Lawful Good. They're a good team, pun intended.

Mask

I have great respect for the Shadow Lord, and it's all because of the many DMs I played with. He's the sneaky rogue deity worthy of his reputation, but every DM no matter the campaign always played him the same in one specific way. Whenever the world is Doomed (tm) in whatever manner and the deities/Churches start to take notice and action, Mask always sides with Team Good Guys. Every time. It could be self interest. If there's no world or society there's nothing to steal. In a Team Good Guy world his followers are only imprisoned for a time when caught. In a Team Evil Guy world his followers are executed. Personally I think it's the DM wanting to show shades of grey for the Good PCs. It makes the game world dynamic for foes to work together against a common enemy who is more of a threat to them than they are to each other. Either way, props to Mask.

[Quertus]

For the actual D&Deities, one of our own -- LudicSavant -- has remarkably improved takes on several of them:

Nerull, the Reaper
Wee Jas, the Stern Lady
Olidammara, the Laughing Rogue
Erythnul, the Many
Hextor, the Scourge of Battle
Corellon Larethian, the Protector and Preserver of Life
Lolth, the Hunted
The Deep Ones

They're presented in a way that focuses a lot more on the people who worship them, and why, and how, and the competing beliefs about each deity. Unlike the published takes on the deities, you can understand why people might give veneration, supplication, and dedication to these deities.

Have you ever read the 2e Forgotten Realms book Faiths and Avatars? It's the best source of useful information about D&D deities that I've read.

My favorite is a character of mine that ascended to become a deity. His worshippers were the oppressed and enslaved, and he was particularly opposed to those who used magic for tyrannical purposes.

But of actual published deities, I've always had a soft spot for Shaundakul. He seems like just a chill old dude who likes to travel, and whose church is so loosely organized it barely qualifies as a church at all. Plus for his big holy day, he turns all his clerics to gaseous form and tosses them up into the wind so that they end up somewhere they've never been before. I just have to respect that kind of whimsy and "IDGAF" attitude.

Hooray, another vote for ascended PCs!

Took me a minute to translate IDGAF.

[Max_Killjoy]

Have you ever read the 2e Forgotten Realms book Faiths and Avatars? It's the best source of useful information about D&D deities that I've read.

I have not... don't know if I've ever even heard of it.

Took me a minute to translate IDGAF.

"I Don't Got Any Figs" ?

[hymer]

"I Don't Got Any Figs" ?

Actually, it's I Am Celibate.

[Max_Killjoy]

Actually, it's I Am Celibate.

Um... yes.

That's the joke.

[Millstone85]

Hooray, another vote for ascended PCs!

So, there was this 4e-to-5e adventure called Murder in Baldur's Gate.

Take a guess regarding which video-game character canonically chose to remain mortal, who gets killed in this adventure, and whose efforts were ultimately for naught because daddy is back?

I wonder how many DMs run a version of the Realms where they did accept godhood.

[Quertus]

I have not... don't know if I've ever even heard of it.

Only book on D&D deities I've found that's worth reading, IMO.

Has things like dogma, holy days, religious garb, worship style / "church" style, etc - a lot of info from the PoV of the following, in addition to the gods' stat blocks / history / personality.

[Max_Killjoy]

Only book on D&D deities I've found that's worth reading, IMO.

Has things like dogma, holy days, religious garb, worship style / "church" style, etc - a lot of info from the PoV of the following, in addition to the gods' stat blocks / history / personality.

So about how characters, as "people" within the setting, interact with the religion and the deities as deities, rather than "gods as ultimate monster manual entries".