D&D 5E Divine Archetypes

[Howndawg]

Reading about Divine archetypes like the deceiver in the latest L&L made me do a little brainstorming. What archetypes would I like to see?

Here are a few suggestions:

The Healer: Associated with life and possibly the sun. Think Aesclepius, Pelor, the Franciscans. Wears light or medium armor and favors the quarterstaff. Gets abilities related to healing, sunlight, fighting undead, and pacifying opponents.

The Crusader: Associated with justice and fighting evil. Think Bahamut, Torm, Mithras. Wears the best armor and uses all weapons. Gets abilities related to smiting, protection, and fighting fiends.

The Scholar: Associated with knowledge and possibly magic. Think Thoth, Oghma, Ioun. Closest thing to a cloistered cleric or archivist. Gets abilities related to knowledge, divination, and dabbling in other forms of magic.

The Tempest: Associated with strength and storms. Think Zeus, Thor, Kord. Fights like the Crusader. Gets abilities related to lightning, thunder, and feats of strength.

The Artisan: Associated with crafting, metal, and fire. Think Hephaestos, Moradin. Decent weapon and armor selection. Gets abilities related to crafting, earth, and fire.

What do you think? Any ideas?

 

[slobo777]

Chaotic Shiny - Pantheon Generator

. . . semi-serious. You can get a wider view on how a pantheon might be described by taking a good look around.

I quite like the domains system, as it allows a DM to create their own thing. My own world has this (feel free to raid into your design/view):

Faiths of Archea

The table below summarises the major deities and their domains, by alignment:


Lawful Good

Cuvar: The Guardian, The Avenger
Good, Law, Protection, War

Korento Nebo: The Sun God, The Golden Dragon
Animal, Good, Law, Sun

Taivos: Mountain Lord, Earth Shaker, The Roots of The Earth, He Who Holds Up The Sky
Earth, Good, Law, Strength
​

Neutral Good

Caroban: The Shining Mage, Keeper of Mysteries, The White Witch
Illusion, Knowledge, Magic, Spirit

Mor Katkea: Earth Mother, Grain Goddess, Teacher of Agricolas
Earth, Good, Healing, Plant

Vir Covek: Noble Brother, Defender of All
Good, Harmony, Protection, Strength, Truth
​

Chaotic Good

Lua Prata: The Moon, The Silver Dragon, The Muze
Chaos, Good, Luck, Spirit, Travel

Nebeski: The Adventurer, The Brave Heart
Charm, Good, Strength, Trickery
​

Lawful Neutral

Laillinen: The First Wise Sister, The Goddess of Reason and Wisdom, The Patron Goddess of Guards
Harmony, Law, Protection, Spirit, Truth
​

Prastar: The Sage, The Lord of Spells, Patron of the Arcane
Fate, Knowledge, Law, Magic

Vafari: The Architect, The Weaver
Artifice, Earth, Fire, Law, Trickery​

Neutral

Villtur: The Wild, The Force of Nature
Air, Animal, Plant, Water

Viskipti: The Trader, Patron God of Truces
Charm, Harmony, Protection, Truth

Zmei: The Creator, Source of Everything, The Primal Dragon
All domains!
​

Chaotic Neutral

Kaveri: The Second Wise Sister, The Goddess of Love and Beauty, The Patron Goddess of Thieves
Chaos, Healing, Knowledge, Protection

Uthas Mar: Sea King, Lord of Storms, Patron of Lost Souls
Air, Chaos, Strength, Travel, Water

Varalica: The Trickster, The Speaker of Dangerous Truths
Chaos, Darkness, Luck, Trickery

​

Lawful Evil

Urok Andras: The Great Wyrm, The Tyrant, The Arch Devil
Darkness, Death, Evil, Fire, Knowledge, Law, Magic
​

Neutral Evil

Anobeithia: Witch of Despair and Depression, The Grey Soul
Death, Evil, Fate, Suffering

Chi Zenkai: The Bloody Destroyer, Warrior without Remorse
Destruction, Evil, Hatred, War

Damasu: The Deceiver, The Assassin
Evil, Illusion, Trickery
​

Chaotic Evil

Kado: The Mad God, The Warlock
Chaos, Evil, Madness, Spirit

Nalkus: The Great Maw, Patron God of Hunger and Desolation, The Consuming Wyrm, The Dark Void
Cold, Darkness, Evil, Hunger

Tenma The Arch Demon, The Corruptor, The Patron God Of Disease
Chaos, Disease, Evil, War
​

Most of these have guidelines for cleric behavior, but not "standard kit". Just a different view on what is important to my game world.

 

[Mattachine]

I like simple pantheons, and I love animistic/spirit-based religions.
Plenty of cultures don't have discreet deities, or have a mix of deities and spirits that are both important.

How about this mix?

Air: sky, weather, travel, storms

Earth: mountains, fertility, agriculture, earthquakes, the grave

Fire: fire, sun, forge, creation, destruction

Water: water, rivers, oceans, life, cycles, floods


Each element can represent good, evil, law, or chaos. Different aspects are called on by different worshippers or during different ceremonies.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

I just gave myself a headache looking up the Forgotten Realms pantheon and trying to figure out a distinct archetype for each of them.

Tyr: God of Justice
Torm: God of Justice, but Not Dead
Bahamut: God of Justice Again, But This Time Dragons Too
Helm: God of Justice and Presumably Helmets
Chan Cheng: God of Pseudo-Asian Justice
Zaltec: God of Pseudo-Aztec Justice
Lendys: God of Justice For Dragons Again, But Somehow Not Quite Like Bahamut
Clanggedin: God of Dwarven Justice, Which Is Not Only Blind But Drunk
Corellon: God of Elven Justice, Which Mostly Involves Stabbing Orcs
Gaerdal: God of Gnomish Justice
Arvoreen: God of Halfling Justice And Sounding Like A Car Repair Product

Good times for whoever is in charge of that splatbook!

 

[The Shadow]

I think the divine archetypes are a huge improvement over porting a given setting's pantheon into the core books. If they're broad enough, they should be of pretty general use. I wouldn't mind seeing a worked example or two of a more detailed deity, but I think this is a really positive move.

 

[gyor]

They don't appear to be calling the abilities these archetypes grant domains.

I'm dying to see the new cleric.

 

[gyor]

An undeath Archetype turning the character into a mummy would be cool.

 

[Wepwawet]

I like simple pantheons, and I love animistic/spirit-based religions.
Plenty of cultures don't have discreet deities, or have a mix of deities and spirits that are both important.

How about this mix?

Air: sky, weather, travel, storms

Earth: mountains, fertility, agriculture, earthquakes, the grave

Fire: fire, sun, forge, creation, destruction

Water: water, rivers, oceans, life, cycles, floods


Each element can represent good, evil, law, or chaos. Different aspects are called on by different worshippers or during different ceremonies.

I like the simplicity of this system. But it need some aditions like Radiant and Darkness (or just positive and negative energy) to express good and evil, as I see the 4 elements as very neutral, outside good/evil polarities.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Am I the only one a little sad to lose the 4e pantheon?

It had some issues (like cribbing deities from other worlds), but it was actually, IMO, a really good pantheon, with some definite thought put into the areas of control these deities have that weren't necessarily adventuring-related.

Yeah, it wouldn't really work for default 5e, I know. But still, I feel it needs to be praised.

Anyway, god archetypes have been a very well-studied area. Wouldn't be too shocked for them to crib right from real-world myths, or at leas some Joseph Campbell.

 

[GameDoc]

I'll be interested to see how this is implemented. One thing I liked about the domain approach was that a single deity might have different orders of clerics focused on different domains that fit that deity's overall theme. To me it gives player's more options in that it's easier to pick a small subset of domains that run counter to deity's portfolio and let players choose from the rest. For example, you might assume in a D&D setting fraught with conflict and supernatural threats, all deities but those that are specifically pacifist would have an order of War Domain clerics to protect their faithful.

If the new approach is for each cleric to pick a generic faith and then name it "in game" as the closest approximation provided in the setting, that seems more limiting. Unless we are going back to something more like 3e domains/2e spheres and each archetype has several associated with it.