D&D General Who would you pick as the most iconic deities in the D&D game?

[Henadic Theologian]

The biggest named Deities in D&D are all real world Gods, it doesn't get bigger in D&D or RL then Zeus for example.

 

[Epic Meepo]

I'd say the OP nails it, except that Kurtulmak has to be there alongside Garl Glittergold. Those two are linked together and are only prominent because of their shared myth.

Would you say that Maglubiyet should also be included, given his eternal war against Gruumsh and the orcs?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Would you say that Maglubiyet should also be included, given his eternal war against Gruumsh and the orcs?

Not really. He's saddled with a terrible name -- when they said it in BG3, my wife and I actually burst out laughing -- and while WotC is now working on making his whole thing more interesting with the Feywild stuff, he's definitely a big step down in prominence from Gruumsh. (I would bet more than 90% of people reading this post know what happened to Gruumsh's other eye, in some versions of the myth, for instance.)

So a big deal D&D god, such as he is, but not the same iconic level.

 

[Epic Meepo]

Not really. He's saddled with a terrible name -- when they said it in BG3, my wife and I actually burst out laughing -- and while WotC is now working on making his whole thing more interesting with the Feywild stuff, he's definitely a big step down in prominence from Gruumsh. (I would bet more than 90% of people reading this post know what happened to Gruumsh's other eye, in some versions of the myth, for instance.)

So a big deal D&D god, such as he is, but not the same iconic level.

I mostly agree. Maglubiyet has a terrible name, probably tied for second worst name of any D&D deity (behind Blibdoolpoolp). And he's definitely second-tier to Gruumsh.

But isn't Kurtulmak equally a step-down in prominence from Garl Glittergold? Kurtulmak's only role in D&D mythology is getting hopelessly humiliated by Garl. He doesn't really do anything meaningful after he gets pranked.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I mostly agree. Maglubiyet has a terrible name, probably tied for second worst name of any D&D deity (behind Blibdoolpoolp). And he's definitely second-tier to Gruumsh.

Bilbdoolpoolp has some advantages, though: 1) her name is fun to say and it feels like a word being said underwater, 2) she features prominently in an iconic early adventure (lobster woman boobies are even featured in the art, at an impressionable age for many early players and DMs).

As far as I know, Mags only shows up in DM-facing content like deity books and monster books. Has he been featured in a major way in any popular adventures?

But isn't Kurtulmak equally a step-down in prominence from Garl Glittergold? Kurtulmak's only role in D&D mythology is getting hopelessly humiliated by Garl. He doesn't really do anything meaningful after he gets pranked.

Oh, the two are definitely tethered together. If Garl wasn't collapsing caverns on Kurtulmak or suspending him by his tail from the roof of a cavern, I don't know that Garl would be terribly iconic, either. (Can anyone remember the rest of the gnomish pantheon from The Gnomish Point of View without peeking? There was an evil mole god, I remember, who was cool, but I feel like he may have been deemphasized in later editions.) In my home campaign, we've done a lot to make his religion really cool, but that's 100% homebrew stuff, and not building on anything that TSR brought to the table, other than him being the trickster god of the gnomes.

 

[billd91]

St. Cuthbert was a pretty big deal back in the day. He even had an artifact named after him. I'm not sure he fares quite as well these days among players. They've probably got more Raven Queen in their heads thanks to Critical Role.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

St. Cuthbert was a pretty big deal back in the day. He even had an artifact named after him. I'm not sure he fares quite as well these days among players. They've probably got more Raven Queen in their heads thanks to Critical Role.

I agree with both of these points. (Also, the Raven Queen got 100% more writing than most D&D gods ever did, even before Critical Role got involved, which helps a lot.)

 

[billd91]

I agree with both of these points. (Also, the Raven Queen got 100% more writing than most D&D gods ever did, even before Critical Role got involved, which helps a lot.)

She did? The Greyhawk gods usually got quite a bit of text devoted to them in the Greyhawk setting books.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Let's say you're making a world-agnostic pantheon of deities, and you want to include all the big name deities of D&D. What deities would you include in that pantheon?

If I had to answer my own question, I'd probably start with the patron deities of the five longest-running playable nonhuman species:

1) Corellon Larethian (representing elves and half-elves)
2) Garl Glittergold (representing gnomes)
3) Gruumsh (representing orcs and half-orcs)
4) Moradin (representing dwarves)
5) Yondalla (representing halflings)

I would also include at least one dragon-themed deity on the list, possibly:

6) Bahamut
7) Tiamat

Can't argue with this, considering that the heads of the demihuman pantheons cross multiple settings in ways that, say Tempus or St. Cuthbert do not.

Bahamut, also being Paladine in Dragonlance, definitely deserves a place.

Bilbdoolpoolp has some advantages, though: 1) her name is fun to say and it feels like a word being said underwater, 2) she features prominently in an iconic early adventure (lobster woman boobies are even featured in the art, at an impressionable age for many early players and DMs).

It is very fun to say! I do get yelled at by my wife if she hears me doing my gurgling Kuo-Toa voice, though.

 

[Epic Meepo]

As far as I know, Mags only shows up in DM-facing content like deity books and monster books. Has he been featured in a major way in any popular adventures?

I did a quick internet search for adventures featuring Maglubiyet and didn't find any.

I did, however, discover that Maglubiyet is the Turkish word for "defeat" (as in, "failure to win"). As a result, I have changed my stance: Maglubiyet is one of the best names for any deity in D&D. Also, the Orcish language in any game I run will henceforth sound suspiciously like Turkish.

If Garl wasn't collapsing caverns on Kurtulmak or suspending him by his tail from the roof of a cavern, I don't know that Garl would be terribly iconic, either. (Can anyone remember the rest of the gnomish pantheon from The Gnomish Point of View without peeking?

Garl is iconic in the sense that he represents the iconic D&D stereotype of a gnomish illusionist. Another gnomish deity would be Nebelun, deity of invention. In fact, given the strong association between gnomes and tinkers in many player's minds, Nebelun might actually be more iconic than Garl.