Help me build a pantheon! (longish)

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

OK, here's the situation. I'm currently working on a new homebrew campaign world, probably the most ambitious one I've tackled yet. The basic idea is a semi-steampunk world of high magic and powerful, ancient civilizations. The kind of place Faerun was probably like thousands of years ago, when Netheril was at it's height, the dwarven nations hadn't been sundered, the forest realms of the elves were at their zenith, etc.

A theme I wanted to explore was the wide variety of gods worshipped by the people of this world. I want to make literally dozens, if not 100s of gods! The idea is that there are a few (10-15) "big guns", your gods of magic, war, the sun, etc. But there are dozens of lesser deities, demigods, ascended mortals, and patron saints, covering more esoteric portfolios. This is where I'm running into a brick wall. I'm just having a hard time coming up with all of these.

This is where all of you can help me out. Gimme some ideas. No reams of stats are necessary, you don't even have to name them if making up names isn't your thing (I know I have a hard time with that!). Just a good hook, some domains, an alignment, what kinds of worshippers they attract, etc.

Note: I'm trying to avoid too many evil gods, as I've already positioned the archdevils and demon lords as the prime evil players. If you've got a cool evil god, though, by all means post it. Also, I'm probably going to use the default racial deities for non-humans, like Corellon Larethian and Moradin etc.

Note #2: I'm using the domains from the PHB as well as domains from Forgotten Realms. Here's the list: Air, Animal, Cavern, Chaos, Charm, Craft, Darkness, Death, Destruction, Drow, Dwarf, Earth, Elf, Evil, Family, Fate, Fire, Gnome, Good, Halfling, Hatred, Healing, Illusion, Knowledge, Law, Luck, Magic, Mentalism, Metal, Moon, Nobility, Ocean, Orc, Planning, Plant, Portal, Protection, Renewal, Retribution, Rune, Scalykind, Slime, Spell, Spider, Storm, Strength, Suffering, Sun, Time, Trade, Travel, Trickery, Tyranny, Undeath, War, and Water.

Here's one to start, just to show what I'm looking for:

Jarciano, God of Gambling, Games, and Luck
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Domains: Charm, Luck, Trickery
Typical Worshippers: Gamblers, risk-takers, rogues, swindlers, barflies.

Thank you ENWorld, in advance!

 

[Henry]

I redirected this to Plots and Places, as you may get a better response there, but I also have a few samples to offer:

Valkutur, God of bloodlust and blind rage
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Domains: Evil, Hatred, Suffering
Typical Worshippers: insanely jealous lovers, bloodthirsty warriors

Jaiilo, Goddess of Dance and Song
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Domains: Charm, Luck, Chaos
Typical Worshippers: revellers, professional dancers, merrymakers

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Thanks for the move Henry, and thanks for the gods! Precisely the kind of thing I'm looking for.

 

[GuardianLurker]

Have you considered "raiding" the RL polytheistic religions for inspiration?

Creggen, God of the Hearth and Cooking
AL: LG
Domains: Craft, Fire, Family
Typical worshippers: cooks, bakers, housewives, etc.

Bannath, God/goddes of Lust
AL: CN
Domains: Charm, Cahos, Illusion
Typical worshippers: Oversexed teenagers, desparately immature middle-aged people

Trilt, God of Pickpockets
AL: CN
Domains: Trickery, Travel, Luck
Typical Worshippers: Pickpockets, beggars

Sanamda, Goddess of Artificers
AL: N
Domains: Craft, Spell, Knowledge, Metal, Magic
Typical worshippers: people who create magical/alchemical items

 

[starwolf]

Try these links.

Saints:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm

http://www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php

Shinto Kami:
http://quasisemi.com/myth/


Polytheistic Pantheons:
http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html

 

[Hob Marshmallowfoot]

Thank you much! Between the tow threads maybe we'll come up with enough bizarre deities to serve our respective purposes...