Faerun - Trimming down the diety list

[Ciaran]

Yeah well some times you want to keep a few. I mean a N Kelvemor makes more sense to me.

Eh, you could always keep Kelemvor as a saint or spirit servant of Myrkul. Because a neutral god of the dead may make sense, but an evil god of the dead with evil minions dedicated to spreading death... now there's someone for your PCs to fight!

 

[ruleslawyer]

My trimdown:

1) Eliminate the racial pantheons. If you want 20-30 gods, there's no reason for the elves to have their dozen, the dwarves theirs, etc. I see no reason why goblins couldn't worship Bane as easily as Maglubiyet (they could even *call* him Maglubiyet, and have him look like a gigantic (hob)goblin).

2) Eliminate the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons. Well, not eliminate per se; just make the "god-kings" incredibly powerful (im)mortal beings rather than true gods.

3) Then the deities. I'd go with the following:

-Azuth (magic, arcane spellcasters)
-Bane (general LE)
-Bhaal (assassins, necromancers, gibbering death priests)
-Chauntea (farmers, common folk)
-Gond (craft, invention, artisans, tinkers)
-Lathander (sun, light, athletics, general NG)
-Malar (hunters, evil rangers & druids, barbarians)
-Mask (thieves, liars, shadows)
-Mielikki (good rangers & druids, guides, trackers, borderfolk)
-Oghma (knowledge, scribes, bards)
-Selune (moon, general CG)
-Shar (illusion, deception, darkness, liars, plotters, Underdark folk, general NE)
-Silvanus (nature, neutral druids, general N)
-Sune (love, beauty, art)
-Talos (violent aspects of nature, storms, general CE)
-Tempus (war)
-Tyche (luck, general CN)
-Tyr (justice, paladins, rulership, general LG/LN)
-Waukeen (trade)

For a death god, I'd say it depends on your choice of flavor. Either an uncaring, distant, cold deity (Jergal), an evil Grim Reaper-necromancer type (Myrkul), or a just-but-distant, solemn god (Kelemvor).

I suggest this lineup because it provides a balance of aligned deities, reasonably preserves the flavor of the Realms, and gives all character classes and standard archetypes a patron deity of sorts. I left out Mystra, though I think she's actually pretty central to FR, because Azuth seems a bit more of a traditional wizard patron.

I certainly don't think you need many evil deities. In a small pantheon, it's unlikely that there would be many evil deities... certainly not worshiped, anyway. To be honest, it surprises me that the Realms has as many evil deities as it is.

 

[Ciaran]

I certainly don't think you need many evil deities. In a small pantheon, it's unlikely that there would be many evil deities... certainly not worshiped, anyway. To be honest, it surprises me that the Realms has as many evil deities as it is.

Greenwood used a lot of swords & sorcery fantasy as inspiration for the Realms, and that stuff is jam-packed with evil deities of every description. The problem lies in looking at things as "pantheons" in the peculiar modern D&D sense. I mean, the Greeks had dozens and dozens of gods, few of which were actually independently worshipped or placated; they were just there. I see no reason why the Realms can't have a similar surfeit of minor deities. And extra evil deities help to explain why evil critters and schemers are everywhere!

 

[ruleslawyer]

Oh, I agree. My point is just that if you feel the "need" to trim down your pantheon, getting rid of the evil deities is actually more effective, since they're not likely to have core portfolios that are super-important to the world as a whole.

 

[Nightfall]

Agreed, a few evil gods is alright. Just as long as there are a near equal number of good ones too.

Cir,

Hey I like a N god of the dead since death isn't necessarily same as dead. Just one follows the other.

 

[Drowbane]

Another way to trim the deity list down is to assume that some gods are worshiped by different names and aspects.

Maybe Azuth, Deneir, Savras, Leira and Velsharoon are all aspects of Mystra and just different forms she uses in different lands or to expand her faith to those that might not acept her as Mystra.

Thats how I handle it. All those gods for different races but that otherwise share the same portfolios...? Yeah, they're just aspects of each other.

Of course, none of this is known or even suspect In Character... even suggesting it would be grounds for some sort of painful death.

 

[Remathilis]

Just look at the deities written up in the FRCS; they're the important ones. Cull the rest back to non-existance.

 

[prosfilaes]

I certainly don't think you need many evil deities. In a small pantheon, it's unlikely that there would be many evil deities... certainly not worshiped, anyway. To be honest, it surprises me that the Realms has as many evil deities as it is.

I can see a lot of discrete worship of evil gods; there might be no congregation as such, but almost everyone not completely on the straight and narrow may know who to go to to get a minor hex put on their enemy.

 

[Nightfall]

Evil deities serve a need just as much as good ones.

 

[Nyaricus]

Just look at the deities written up in the FRCS; they're the important ones. Cull the rest back to non-existance.

That's not true - just look at the elemental and seasonal gaps you leave. Faerun would have no patron of Air, Earth, or Water, or of winter, nor would there be a patron of music. I'm sorry, but that is a short-sighted line of thought. I am pretty sure that they are included in the FRCS because they are the big 'movers and shakers' in the plots of the current timeline in Faerun. This doesn't mean they are more important deities overall, just that they have important, world-altering plots which are in effect ATM.