D&D 5E (2024) Let's make 5e specific setting, starting with a pantheon

[Zardnaar]

One god for each class seems enormously gamist, unless the setting is intended to have the existence of classes as a recognizable social pillar.

FR and Greyhawk basically did it

 

[Not a Decepticon]

My primary point is that, with the restrictions given by the OP...there are only 12 positions to be filled.
I don't think that works well with the idea of importing powers/immortals/dieties/gods from across all settings and editions of D&D.
I'm not sure that the OP has realized the corner that they've painted themselves into.

The ifea is once we run out of 12 core classes, we could start bringing up classes from 3rd party supplements, like Pugilists, Illigers, Beasthearts, Talents, Apothecaries etc.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Well you'll still have the evil gods.

You really can't have a class patron deity be evil. And making them outright good is a stretch outside of a few.

So you'd have maybe 10 neutral gods and two good ones just from there..

So you'll have to have nonclass deities or double up.

I mean I could totally see an evil deity bring patron of a class of ill-repute, we could always probide explanations how it eorks. In fact, I will make it my first submission

Name: Mephistotheles
Title: Lord of Contradictions
Domain: Ambition
Class: Warlock
People: Devil's Tongue Tieflings, Fallen Aasimars, Vampires
Backgrounds: Guild Merchants, Nobles, Rival Interns
Setting taken from: inyerplanar, so I will consider him Planescape rep
Additional notes: Mephistotheles is not formally worshipped by Warlocks, but he is so well know for being through and precise with contracts he forms and that he never breaks the word of his deal, even if he may exploit the wording. As such even good beings, when forming Warlock pacts, will turn to him with writing the deal or adjucating disputes between Warlocks and patrons. He enjoys privledge this gives him to the point he will draft a deal between two of his mortal enemies without screwing them over in any way. However, this association results in Warlocks, even those of Celestials, being seen as at least somewhat shady and facing mistrust.

 

[SkidAce]

FR and Greyhawk basically did it

Could add gods for "npc categories" i.e. god of peasants, god of nobles, god of merchants.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Every setting needs its bright stars shining in the dark.

• Name: Bahamut
• Titles: Lord of (the) Scales, The Platinum Dragon, King of Justice
• Domain: Solidarity (Bahamut represents good overcoming evil because mortals stood firm together)
• Followers
  • Background: Folk Hero (Bahamut smiles upon those who risk life and limb for innocent strangers)
  • Class: Paladin (Those for whom their word is a sacred bond are dear to Bahamut)
  • People (race/species/lineage): Metallic Dragonborn. (Also, honorable rulers, knightly orders, good dragons, philanthropists.)
• Setting taken from: "Points of Light"/"World of Nerath"/Dawn War Pantheon
• Additional information you want about this version of the deity:
  This version of Bahamut has a neatly-summarized doctrine which shows that, while Bahamut is both Good and Lawful, he is not a slave to evil laws. He commands:
  • Uphold the highest ideals of honor and justice.
  • Be constantly vigilant against evil and oppose it on all fronts.
  • Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order.
  The text notes that "Monarchs are crowned in his name", implying that the divine justice and scrupulous order he represents is held in sufficiently high regard that rulers invoke his name to beef up their legitimacy.
  Further, this Bahamut is notable for being the only one among his divine brethren, in the setting I'm drawing upon, who is actively trying to do something about the plight of the many souls who did not get an afterlife in that setting. That is, because of the damage to the Astral Sea during the Dawn War, many souls simply...can't go to their afterlife. They are stuck wandering the dangers of the Astral Sea for eternity. Bahamut has commissioned several divine asteroid ark-ships(!!!) to act as safe havens for these souls, regardless of their alignment, so long as they agree to play nice, more or less. Or, in brief, this is not a dragon who sits on his pile of gold--he's using it to help the universe at large, in a concrete, discernible way.

 

[Sorinth]

I no longer build pantheons for my homebrews, especially polytheistic ones. Instead, I focus on Religious Institutions, which function as the true “adventure engines” for PCs.


First, decide what type of religious structure exists in your world:
Polytheist – Many gods. Your deity could be a village god, trade patron, nature or war god—one of thousands. There are many temples, small shrines, and roadside altars. The religion is highly tolerant of new gods.
Henotheist – One divine “royal dynasty.” Your deity is a relative or aspect of this royal family of gods. There is a Royal Cult Temple and an elite priesthood; all clerics and sects owe fealty to the Royal Cult.
Duotheist – Two cosmic forces. Your god is aligned with one side. The institution may take the form of a philosophical school or militant order, with seasonal rituals to maintain balance between the paired sects.
Monotheist – One supreme being. Your deity is a saint, angel, or intermediary. The religion has a central hierarchy and elite priesthood, but is prone to schisms and heretical sects.
Animist – The world is full of spirits of the land, rivers, storms, or ancestors. Your deity is a powerful spirit, immortal entity, or even a dragon. There may be no central structure or formal priesthood.


Once the institution is defined, players can create their own gods by choosing:

• 1 Major Domain and 2 Secondary Domains
• Name and Symbol/Description eg Gruumsh One-Eye, Father of Orcs
• A statement of why the PC follows the god (tradition, family duty, personal vow, direct revelation, seeking power)

From there, the discussion expands (if required) to include:

• The PC god’s status in the religious institution and society (major diety, minor, demigod, messenger, aspect, servant, exile, enemy)
• One core myth/backstory
• PC devotions: morning prayer, ritual, offerings
• Priestly roles/sacraments: healer, scholar, warrior, judge, oracle
• Sacred sites and seasonal rites
• Core Tenets
• Common miracles (for channel divinity or divine intervention)

This approach allows me, as DM, to focus on the important elements: religious factions, heresies, and adventure hooks, while giving players freedom to shape the divine landscape.

But this also should change throughout the world, ie one society might be monotheistic, another might be polytheistic, etc...

In my worldbuilding I don't like having there to be an actual factual history of how the world was created, different people/societies will believe different things. Mechanically this means in part that spells like Commune are influenced by the caster's own beliefs, one caster might cast Commune and think/believe they are speaking to the spirit of the river, another might think/believe they are speaking with a celestial servant of a god, another might think/believe they are communing with a god or cosmic force. This way everything can remain fuzzy and contractions not only can but will exist because nobody actually has a proper understanding .

I think you generally start with a Animist baseline simply because there will be lots of minor sources of divine magic that can be interacted with. But it's down to an individual's belief whether they think they are interacting within the confines of an Animist world or whether it's actually part Polytheist/Monotheist/etc...


So if you aren't starting with how the world is created and all the divine stuff what do you start with? My suggestion is to focus first on the type of societies that you want to exist in the world, once you have that list you can then you can start placing in a world and decide how much of the world is even defined. Build out religious instituions as part of that society building wherever it's approriate. Some ideas of mine:

• A city state led by a Lich with divine magic. Necromancy is used everywhere and generally for the good of all. So zombies basically work as manual labourers on farm, ghosts act as librarians in the city's main library, carriages are drawn by skeletal horses, etc... The rich pay to be turned into intelligent undead like Vampires when they feel the time is right, the poor have to sell their body to be reanimated as zombies/skeletons after they die.
• A small kingdom that is a constitutional monarchy that takes the old idea of guilt/innocence in the eyes of "god" being proven by a trial by combat to an extreme. So anyone who is accused of a crime can fight in gladiatorial style games to prove their innocence, and whenever the king dies/steps down their's a huge set of gladiatorial games to decide the new king and basically even a peasant can challenge and win if they are good enough. Lawyers are basically gladiators who fight in their client's stead.
• A viking/pirate inspired island(s) where the line between pirate/raider and honest trader is basically non-existant and there are dozens of small/medium sized rulers that attack each other as much as anyone else and nobody can consolodate power. I like Dwarves having a prominant role in this place.
• A Tenochtitlan/Venice type of city built on water but with an underwater undercity of merman/tritons and other aquatic humanoids
• In terms of existing FR societies that off the top of my head I would re-use, a city state like Waterdeep/Skullport, the Thayan empire, Calimshan.