The New Core Pantheon

[Gold Roger]

Idle speculation time.

So, we know that 4E won't use the Greyhawk Pantheon 3.X used.

We also have the following quote:

"Greyhawk will not be default setting in core. We want to leverage the assets of the assumed parts of a D&D world – Mordenkainen, Bigby, Vecna, Llolth, Tiamat, Asmodeus, etc. However, we also want to call upon the great mythology that is more commonly known such as Thor, etc."

So, who do you think will make the jump into the D&D Core Pantheon?


I think the following are likely candidates:

Asmodeus: confirmed

Demogorgon: I hope he keeps beeing a demon lord, but if the lord of hell gets god-status, the prince of demons might as well.

Bahamut and Tiamiat: They've gotten a lot of spotlight in the late years of 3.5 and are after all the dragon gods.

Lolth: Extremely iconic and deeply ingrained with one of the most iconic villain races. I wonder if her portfolio and base of worshipers might be broadened.

Vecna: He's a very new god, introduced plainly for name recognition and to create a god from D&D mythos. Seems likely he'll stay.

Thor: Simply because he's been mentioned. Various real world Pantheons have been used in D&D since the early days. Other "classical" gods might make their way to the Core.

Racial Gods: I personaly would love to see them go, but they are still likely to be in.

 

[Treebore]

I think they aren't going to put any gods in the PH or DMG. I think they are going to require you to buy one of the settings books to get a pantheon, or to buy the 4E Deities book, which will be like all of the previous Deity books.

 

[Pedestrian]

I think it's unlikely Demo will get a promotion. Thematically, I see Asmodeus representing monolithic evil, one huge mass of bad, where Demo and the demons are the gibbering mass, the horde of discrete entities, more numerous, but easier to tackle individually.

Initially, I don't think Tiamat or Bahamat will be commented on, but will be mentioned for the dragons. Same with Lolth.

Vecna I am not so sure of.

If I were to hazard a guess, I suspect we'll get a selection of "high visibility" real world gods - so the Norse and Greek pantheons, for example.

 

[Sammael]

My prediction:

Artemis (forests, hunters, nature, elves)
Asmodeus (tyranny, oppression, lust for power, tieflings)
Bahamut (good dragons, nobility, chivalry)
Hades (death, the dead)
Hermes (travelers, good thieves, trade, halflings)
Isis (love, family)
Loki (evil thieves, trickery, lies)
Pelor (sun, healing)
Poseidon (water, sea, sailors)
Set (revenge, betrayal)
Thor (thunder, strength)
Tiamat (greed, evil dragons)
Tyr (justice, war)
Vecna (secrets, forbidden knowledge)
Vulcan (dwarves, craft, engineering, invention)

 

[hong]

I'd very much like it if they put more emphasis on pantheons, as opposed to individual gods. Thus you could be a follower of the "Norse religion", for instance, instead of a worshipper of Thor specifically (which makes little sense from a historical perspective).

Or they could get rid of elaborate pantheons and have three major gods: say Protector/Nurturer/Destroyer. Or Guardian/Avenger/Betrayer. Or something. Trinities are cool.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Idle speculation time.
Racial Gods: I personaly would love to see them go, but they are still likely to be in.

I would like to see them say gods are universal, but have different names/powers/facades among different races. And keep the number down to 21 or so. That is enough variety. Diety glut is really annoying.

 

[hero4hire]

I think they will probably list Spheres of Influence and then list possible Gods for each Sphere including real world ones. Each Sphere of Influence will have set abilites that the cleric will get as he levels up.

 

[cthulhu_duck]

Thor? Hm. I can't help but think of one campaign world that we know features Thor as a deity for a certain Dwarf Cleric.

I wonder if Banjo the Clown might make the list..

 

[Frostmarrow]

I think they should go with the gods with lots of personality regardelss of pantheon. When GMing Red Hand of Doom I didn't want to chose a setting since the module is a camapaign of its own. So I told the cleric that he could chose whatever god he wanted and that choice would impact on the story. He chose Thor, and he was a dwarf, so it was a snug fit.

There are religions in Elsir Vale and I changed the names of the gods to fit with the Norse pantheon. Substituting Pelor for Frey for example.

However, that didn't work right. Of course Thor worked like a charm but the truth is Pelor is a lot cooler than Frey and the Frey priests turned out rather bland. I should have stayed with Pelor.

I will probably burn in hell for saying this but I'd rather have Thor versus Vecna than Thor versus Hrugner.

 

[Jhaelen]

I think they will probably list Spheres of Influence and then list possible Gods for each Sphere including real world ones.

My guess, too. It's already possible to play generic clerics, which simply worship a certain concept / alignment, so there's no real need for a list of names.

Recommendations for spheres which go well together would be sufficient for me.