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View Full Version : I am working on dieties for my homebrew world. Have I missed any portfolios?



Cyclops08
2019-12-07, 03:35 AM
Below is a list of deities by portfolio. I don't have names yet.
~~ with few exceptions there are no racial deities. the gods are the gods, all races venerate them (although they may have different names for them, like the barbarians will worship the same deity through different totems)

deities of the continental archipelago

The Lords of Creation.

This is a pantheonic faith that venerates primordials from the four elemental planes. Then primordials are not named, but are worshiped together as a whole.

This is a faith that venerates beginnings, inventors, great projects, and of course the elements. Temples always have one or more pinprick openings to the elemental planes

A pantheonic cleric can chose a domain from one the four elements. For example fire gets a free cantrip, the player chooses any of the fire based cantrips from arcane or divine sources. Further they can add their wisdom bonus to their chosen element’s damage. Many take the elemental adept feat.

I will need to come up with 4 elemental domains.
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Bane (I can't think of a better name at the moment)
This is a LE diety found in every kingdom. His clerics deny he is evil.

Bane is the diety of tyranny, the divine right to rule, obedience to your rulers, taxes, oppression of the masses, and the protector of kings and nobility, tax collectors.

His clerics prefer to be the state religion with all forced to worship there. While this is rarely the case, they act as it is and bully all they deem lesser than themselves.
Domains are War and Life.
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The rest: Am I missing anything?
~~ names will come later

Thieves, nonconformists, performers, rebels
Murder, assassination, revenge
Lies, madness, fear, the dark
Agriculture, harvest, bounty, beer
Law, the sun, peace through might
Storms, rain, weather, the seasons
The moon, love, beauty, art
Hedonism, wine, casinos, chance
Slaves, escape, freedom, justice, the oppressed
Travel, the stars, navigation, sailors
The sea, good fishing, ocean’s bounty, good folk of the sea
Tempest, waves, ocean storms, sunken ships, the evil folk of the sea, sharks, pirates
War, just and unjust, conquest, slavery
Good soldiers, guards, knights, protectors of the people
The Forge, creation, smiths, metal working
Magic
Song, bards, writing, libraries, universities, learning, music
Islands, home and hearth, comfort and safety, fire, families, marriage
Wilderness, springs, forests, fey folk, druids
The Hunt, rage, evil fey, evil druids, barbarians (through various totems), intelligent monsters
Dragons good
Dragons evil
Trade, money, banks, investments

Composer99
2019-12-07, 09:25 AM
I don't think you need to feel obliged to have a comprehensive list of typical D&D divine portfolios. As it is, I think you have a fine list of deities.

BerzerkerUnit
2019-12-07, 01:42 PM
Leaving obvious holes in the heavens can actually open up some powerful narrative options and justify the kind of perpetual conflicts common to a setting.

A missing god of money might result in an ascendancy of too many kinds of currency making the average coin worthless and conflicts over inherently valuable resources (land and people) are waged as nauseum.

“God Wanted” could be a very interesting launch pad for a campaign, climbing the Olympus equivalent and fulfilling quests to prove their worth.

brian 333
2019-12-07, 04:01 PM
Weaving
Crafting
Pottery
The Hearth, food, family, midwifery
Medicine and alchemy
Youth, sport, male beauty
Female beauty, passion, fertility
Stonework and statuary
Art (music, painting, prose, poetry, etc.)
Writing/recordkeeping. History

Cyclops08
2019-12-07, 06:38 PM
Now that I have had a day or two, I am missing at least two...
Death, eternal judgement, sweet release, eternal rest on the planes
and
the god of necromancy and the undead, avoiding eternal judgement through lichdom and vampirism. The Lord of the Necropolis.

AdAstra
2019-12-07, 07:24 PM
Gods of secrets are fairly prevalent in fantasy, and Harpocrates is a real-world example.

Gods of knowledge and gods of the night sky/stars are often a thing.

Seasons are often part of a god's portfolio, perhaps that of the harvest god.

Cyclops08
2019-12-07, 07:43 PM
Gods of secrets are fairly prevalent in fantasy, and Harpocrates is a real-world example.

Gods of knowledge and gods of the night sky/stars are often a thing.

Seasons are often part of a god's portfolio, perhaps that of the harvest god.
Hmm, I like a god of secrets. His portfolio would include spies and the secret police.

Breccia
2019-12-07, 08:40 PM
Light, darkness, and shadow. No, shadow and darkness are not the same thing.

Bear in mind, light is not inherently good and darkness is not inherently evil.

AdAstra
2019-12-07, 09:49 PM
Hmm, I like a god of secrets. His portfolio would include spies and the secret police.

There is an interesting juxtaposition there, where two components of a God's domain are in eternal conflict with one another (covert dissidents/spies and secret police). If gods in your setting derive power from worship, you have the issue of your followers trying to mess with/kill each other, but you're also receiving power from and distributing it to both sides, giving you some control over the conflict, and the influence that brings. If your gods are conduits of outside power, then this god could see this eternal game of cat and mouse as the perfect test, a way to hone their followers and ensure only the clever and ruthless survive, to take full advantage of the god's favor.