[3.5] Why is D&D pantheon so incomplete?

[Fynzmirs]

When I was reading the chapter of PHB devoted to the pantheon, I realized how... RPGish it was. I mean, there are like 7 gods of war or fighting (5 with the War domain + Kord and Saint Cuthbert) and yet there is no single god who patronize fishermans, one who is responsible for the weather of all kinds and the only god of craftsmanship is the god of Dwarfs (like, really? Not a single human priest of the god of the middle class?). My question is - how to repair this pantheon? Are there gods from other sources than PHB that fills these gaps?

Which parts of the world should have it's own god?

As far I have:

fishermans
rain/storm
wind
winter
craftsmans
merchants
nobility
fertility
love
marriage
hunt
family
ambition


Any objections to this list?

PS: I want a possibly small but more complete pantheon. I don't want to use gods from real pantheons (so no Asgardians, Olympians or japanease spirits).

[hamishspence]

My question is - how to repair this pantheon? Are there gods from other sources than PHB that fills these gaps?

Which parts of the world should have it's own god?

As far I have:

fishermans
rain/storm
wind
winter
craftsmans
merchants
nobility
fertility
love
marriage
hunt
family
ambition


Any objections to this list?

PS: I want a possibly small but more complete pantheon. I don't want to use gods from real pantheons (so no Asgardians, Olympians or japanease spirits).
You could dig around on Wikipedia's Greyhawk deities lists.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhawk_deities

"Fisherman/sea merchant deity" (sailing, money, business) - Xerbo
"Fisherman/weather/storm deity" - Procan
"Weather deity" - Velnius
"Wind deity" - Phaulkon
"Winter deity" - Telchur
"Trade/merchant deity" - Mouqol
"love deity" - Myhriss
"family deity" - Berei

And so on.

[martixy]

It isn't incomplete. It's... obscure. The amount of gods that have sprung up over the years is ridiculous.

Between Greyhawk, Forgotten realms, Dragonlance, Eberron and a bunch of other settings, and within the span of 1e to 4e, there is a metric crapton of gods for everything.

The PHB just has the mechanically significant ones.

[Amdy_vill]

When I was reading the chapter of PHB devoted to the pantheon, I realized how... RPGish it was. I mean, there are like 7 gods of war or fighting (5 with the War domain + Kord and Saint Cuthbert) and yet there is no single god who patronize fishermans, one who is responsible for the weather of all kinds and the only god of craftsmanship is the god of Dwarfs (like, really? Not a single human priest of the god of the middle class?). My question is - how to repair this pantheon? Are there gods from other sources than PHB that fills these gaps?

Which parts of the world should have it's own god?

As far I have:

fishermans
rain/storm
wind
winter
craftsmans
merchants
nobility
fertility
love
marriage
hunt
family
ambition


Any objections to this list?

PS: I want a possibly small but more complete pantheon. I don't want to use gods from real pantheons (so no Asgardians, Olympians or japanease spirits).

that source is not that complete but you are right god are more focuses on fighting, magic and healing than in normal religions.

[Troacctid]

Greyhawk has a ton of deities that aren't covered in the PHB, but if you want a small, tight pantheon rather than a big, sprawling one, you might consider using the Sovereign Host and Dark Six from Eberron.

Then again, you have a pretty long list of things you want gods for. If you're amenable to a larger pantheon, you could use the Faerunian pantheon or the expanded Greyhawk pantheon.

[Pronounceable]

DnD has literally hundreds of gods. Forgotten Realms alone has over 100. Greyhawk may not reach that insanity but is no slouch. Most deities are overly specialized, dumb, redundant or a combination of those, but they're there. And that's not even counting all the archfiends, fey patrons, celestial paragons and whatnot that can all sub for gods in a pinch (aka old skool Lolth). You can accuse DnD of a lot of things but lacking in divinity isn't one. Mix and match those hundreds of choices until you get everything you want covered.

e: Trawling thru a couple of wikis cos why not
fishermans: Procan, Umberlee, Deep Sashelas, Xerbo
rain/storm: Talos, Umberlee, Gruumsh, Auril, Aerdrie Faenya, Sheela Peryroyl, Velnius, Beory, Phaulkon, Vogan
wind: Auril, Talos, Aerdrie Faenya, Velnius, Stronmaus
winter: Auril, Raven Queen, Nerull, Telchur
craftsmans: Moradin, Corellon, Gond, Laduguer
merchants: Waukeen, Vergadain, Mouqol, Zilchus
nobility: Siamorphe, Zarus
fertility: Chauntea, Beory, Luthic, Sheela Peryroyl, Sharindlar, Ehlonna, Merikka
love: Sune, Sheela Peryroyl, Mhyriss, Iallanis, Sharindlar, Hanali Celanil
marriage: Berronar, Luthic, Berei
hunt: Malar, Solonor Thelandira
family: Berronar, Sharindlar, Berei, Merikka
ambition: Raven Queen, Asmodeus, Bane, Cyric, Memnor

ee: vv Welp.

[Bullet06320]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20142407&postcount=1054

this covers it

[gkathellar]

Others have provided counterexamples, so I'll note why the PhB's deity list seems so barren in the first place: bear in mind that these are important deities who might be of specific interest to players and DMs. You've got your gods of nature, honor, athletics, trickery, magic, etc, because these are likely to appeal to new players looking for the book to roleplaying cues. You've also got a couple of evil gods who make decent background villains, or in some cases (like Hextor) can work with evil PCs without making them too evil.

Basically, the PhB's gods aren't a pantheon: they're Gods Of Interest.

[Psyren]

Cramming dozens and dozens of gods into the PHB/CRB would only serve to alienate the primary audience for a core book, i.e. people trying to learn the game and grow the hobby. Plenty of room for that stuff in the splats.

[Fynzmirs]

Wow... that's a lot.

This pretty much answers my question, but I also wonder whether there are any *important* chaotic neutral gods other than Olidammara?

[Psyren]

Wow... that's a lot.

This pretty much answers my question, but I also wonder whether there are any *important* chaotic neutral gods other than Olidammara?

I assume you're in the core setting (Greyhawk?) Or are you also interested in deities from Faerun, Dragonlance, and Eberron?

[Troacctid]

DnD has literally hundreds of gods. Forgotten Realms alone has over 100. Greyhawk may not reach that insanity but is no slouch.
Greyhawk has a good 200-ish deities by my count, and that's if you only count the ones explicitly attributed to the setting rather than deities like Iborighu, Zarus, Tem-Et-Nu, Tuilviel Glithien, and other setting-agnostic deities that arguably fall into Greyhawk as the "default" setting for 3.5.


Wow... that's a lot.

This pretty much answers my question, but I also wonder whether there are any *important* chaotic neutral gods other than Olidammara?
Here's all the ones I've found so far. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g7eqfWiBG63Y6OulrIfD0Glo5ugoviAM5PUUGN60Hto/edit#gid=0&fvid=1999949026 (under construction)

[Vizzerdrix]

Wow... that's a lot.

This pretty much answers my question, but I also wonder whether there are any *important* chaotic neutral gods other than Olidammara?

Turn away from the false gods! Follow the will of Gond! Master crafter and bringer of the sprocket! Tinker of the tea kettle!