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War_lord
2018-05-21, 06:44 AM
So I decided to draw all of the god for my new D&D setting from already existing official sources. And after coming across Zarus while looking gods up on the net, I decided it might be both fun and useful (in that also-rans have less D&D history baggage when players hear the name then say, Pelor.) to construct my human pantheon from more obscure gods. The problem is that since I started with 5th edition I don't have a collection of splat books from older editions to mine for that. So I was hoping people here might be able to point me towards more gods that got mentioned once or twice in Dragon Magazine or a forgotten 3.5 splat and then never got brought up again.

I've already lifted Zarus from 3.5's Races of Destiny and Saith the Lawgiver from the super obscure D&D basic Pelinore setting TSR UK's IMAGINE magazine put out before it was shut down for taking Dragon's sales and giving TSR's work bad reviews.

Khedrac
2018-05-21, 07:00 AM
You could do well to check out the Living Greyhawk Deities list (version 2) - some of the listed deities are really obscure.

Other ones I can add: Sobek and Mitras were statted for AD&D (1st) in Imagine 16 (Imagine was the UK equivalent of Dragon - it was published by TSR UK and repeated most of the official rules stuff from Dragon). A lot of early Dragon issues gave more info on Greyhawk deities, but they will all be in the LG Deity document.

Talyn
2018-05-21, 08:40 AM
I always liked the Red Knight, from the Forgotten Realms, who was a Lawful Neutral lesser goddess of strategy. Her holy symbol is a chess piece, which delights me. She was basically the war gods' intern, working for all of them at various times as she tried to build her own church in the Realms.

M Placeholder
2018-05-21, 09:13 AM
From Greyhawk, Wastri, the Demigod of Bigotry and Racism.

From the Birthright setting, Nesirie, the Goddess of the Waves (which she inherited from Masela, one of the dead gods in the setting), also she is the Goddess of Grief and rememberance of the dead.

jmberry
2018-05-21, 10:30 AM
Looking through my splatbooks, I found a few.

Setting-Neutral (these figures never belonged to any established setting, although one could argue for their inclusion in Greyhawk)

Aengrist, God of Civilization in the Wilderness (Frostfell)
Al-Ishtus, God of Desert Insects (Sandstorm)
Aurifar, God of the Desert Sun (Sandstorm)
Azul, God of Desert Rain (Sandstorm)
Haku, God of the Desert Wind (Sandstorm)
Solanil, Goddess of Oases (Sandstorm)
Tem-et-Nu, God of Desert Rivers (Sandstorm)
Urbanus, God of Cities (Races of Destiny)
Zarus, God of Human Supremacy (Races of Destiny)
Yeathan, God of the Dark Ocean Depths (Stormwrack)

Greyhawk (these gods neither appear in the 5E PHB, are a major force in the setting, nor have an iconic artifact named after them)

Allitur, God of Ethics
Atroa, Goddess of Spring
Beltar, Goddess of Malice
Bleredd, God of Metal
Bralm, Goddess of Industriousness
Cyndor, God of Time
Dalt, God of Doors
Delleb, God of Reason
Fortubo, God of Stone
Geshtai, Goddess of Oases
Jascar, God of Hills
Joramy, Goddess of Fire
Kurell, God of Jealousy
Lendor, God of Patience
Lirr, Goddess of Poetry
Llerg, God of Beasts
Lydia, Goddess of Music
Mayaheine, Goddess of Protection
Merikka, Goddess of Farming
Mouqol, God of Trade
Myrhiss, Goddess of Love
Norebo, God of Gambling
Osprem, God of Sea Voyages
Phaulkon, God of Birds
Phyton, God of Nature
Pyremius, God of Poison
Rudd, Goddess of Chance
Sotillion, Goddess of Summer
Syrul, Goddess of Lies
Telchur, God of Winter
Vatun, God of the Arctic
Velnius, God of Weather
Wastri, God of Bigotry
Wenta, Goddess of Autumn
Xan Yae, Goddess of "Mental Perfection" (i.e., Psionics)
Xerbo, God of the Sea
Zilchus, God of Money
Zodal, God of Mercy
Zuoken, God of Physical and Mental Exercise

Forgotten Realm (this figure appears in Lost Empires of Faerun - you can't get more obscure than a guy whose been inert for the setting's entire publication history)
Auppenser, God of Psionics

In addition, one could use the deities from Birthright or the Immortals from Mystara, as neither of those settings got official updates following the TSR-WOTC transfer.

M Placeholder
2018-05-21, 10:53 AM
On Wastri, the God of Bigotry (and he's also the God of Amphibians and Self Deception too), his form is that of an Anthropomorphic Toad.

Jay R
2018-05-21, 05:40 PM
By 1976, published D&D gods included the Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Celtic, Norse, Finnish, Hyborian, Melnibonean, Mexican and Central American, and Chinese gods.

Use any pantheon you like.

Beleriphon
2018-05-22, 09:34 AM
By 1976, published D&D gods included the Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Celtic, Norse, Finnish, Hyborian, Melnibonean, Mexican and Central American, and Chinese gods.

Use any pantheon you like.

I generally think its better to use deities that never had any real world analogues leaving you with Hyborian and Melnibonean.

LordEntrails
2018-05-22, 11:10 AM
I would look at Dieties & Demigods. Personally I like the 1E version, but never read the 3E version. You can get the pdf for $8.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=deities+demigods++&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

The Jack
2018-05-23, 10:34 AM
Now I might be a bit of an idiot throwing in a potentially irrelevant opinion, but you could totally do a real world pantheon without the cliche greek/scandinavian lot. Perhaps something Slavic or Pre-islam...


...and then totally take the credit for it when you've got this rich mythology nobody's ever heard of.

wumpus
2018-05-29, 02:25 PM
I would look at Dieties & Demigods. Personally I like the 1E version, but never read the 3E version. You can get the pdf for $8.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=deities+demigods++&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

I don't think it has Melnibone nor Hyperborea. It should have Lanhkmar as Leiber was broke and willing to do the writeup himself for a small payout.

Jay R
2018-05-30, 09:48 PM
I don't think it has Melnibone nor Hyperborea. It should have Lanhkmar as Leiber was broke and willing to do the writeup himself for a small payout.

That one doesn't. Melnibone and Hyborea are included in Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gods,_Demi-Gods_%26_Heroes) for original Dungeons and Dragons, published in 1976.

War_lord
2018-05-31, 04:29 AM
That one doesn't. Melnibone and Hyborea are included in Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gods,_Demi-Gods_%26_Heroes) for original Dungeons and Dragons, published in 1976.

Actually, the original 1980 printing of Deities and Demigods had the Cthulhu mythos and the Melnibone gods. The point of Deities and Demigods was to revise and expand supplement IV, which it replaces. They had gotten permission to use Melnibone from Moorcock and had used the Cthulhu Mythos because they believed it to be public domain.

But it turned out that Chaosium had licensed the rights to Melnibone from Moorcock and the rights to the Cthulhu mythos from Arkham House, and were threatening legal action. A deal was worked out where TSR could continue to use the material, and all they had to do was add a small credit to Chaosium at the start of the book. But someone at TSR decided they didn't want to acknowledge Chaosium's existence, whether out of anger or some belief that admitting other companies existed would damage D&D, and had the 20 or so pages removed. It must had been a very last minute decision, because at least some of that second printing still has incorrect page numbers and the credit to Chaosium for the use of Melibone and the mythos.

Incidentally, anyone who finds a good condition copy of that first printing up in their attic should know that it's a highly sought after collector's item and is worth quite a bit of money. I also want to note that Arkham House's copyright over the mythos is extremely tenuous and they've never provided any proof, instead relying on an army of Lawyers to stave off any claims. The Conan stuff is plagued with a similar rights squatter problem, which is probably why it didn't make it into Deities and Demigods. I believe that by 1980 it was clear that D&D was becoming a big deal and TSR knew they couldn't get around rights issues by their obscurity anymore.

GentlemanVoodoo
2018-05-31, 12:37 PM
Auppenser has been one I have always found interesting being a god of psionics. From 3.0 forgotten realms though the splat book he is from escapes me at the moment.

Joe the Rat
2018-05-31, 03:38 PM
Something I will do on occasion (which is pretty easy to spot in the official writeups) is take an existing deity from real-world or fantasy lore, file off the serial number signs and symbols, then run the domain or primary trait through a translator for new names.