Optimum deity for cleric?

[redking]

I just stumbled upon this on a google search (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?303533-Best-Published-Deity-for-Clerics-(3-5)).


Sertrous is technically a demon lord/Elder Evil and not a god but clerics worshipping him can choose their domains freely as if they were clerics devoted to an ideal. This is an exception to the general rule that Elder Evils cannot grant divine power. Sertrous also gives Elder Evil bonus Vile feats at the same time. This makes him pretty much the most optimal being to worship for nongood clerics.

Also mentioned was worshipping a pantheon, like the Sovereign Host, which should give access to any of the domains in the relevant pantheon (assuming pantheonic worship is allowed). Are there any examples of pantheonic worship in FR or GH? Any ideas for optimum deities?

[Particle_Man]

I guess it depends on whether one is shopping for access to two domains not covered by some other god? Usually I hear Fharlanghn is a safe choice for the rather nice travel and luck domains, and for the ability to summon critters without worrying about their being opposite in alignment to one’s god.

[Akal Saris]

Nice find!

I'm not aware of any pantheonic worship in FR, but one could certainly work with a reasonable DM to worship a specific pantheon, such as the Seldarine (Elven deities) or Mulhorandi (Egyptian-inspired deities).

As for optimal deities, I've noticed that generally nature deities seem to get a lot of goodies. For example, the Initiate of Nature feat is quite good, as are Arrows of Ehlonna (for a cleric archer).

[Inevitability]

In a vacuum, Wee Jas. Pride, Magic, several other good domains, alignment prereqs flexible enough that you could get Good- or Evil-only stuff if you wanted to, and access to Ruby Knight Vindicator, straightforwardly the best divine gish prc in the game.

[Anthrowhale]

Mystra has:

Initiate of Mystra with the "I have magic and you don't" flavor with effective use of antimagic.
Qualification for Hathran with the "my spells are unstoppable" flavor with use of circle magic and "I can cast any spell!" flavor using Rashemi Spirit Magic.
Free metamagic in the church.
A natural path into Dweomerkeeper with "Spells have costs? What costs?" flavor.

[Tzardok]

Pantheonic worship in Faerûn is explicitely forbidden. Those who try are judged False after death.

Pantheonic worship in Greyhawk is technically possible, but the rules for it as stated in Deities and Demigods allow it only for "tight" pantheons, i.e. pantheons that are closely connected by a common mythology, family ties and/or a common ethos. The Greyhawk pantheon is a "loose" pantheon, i.e. multiple gods being worshipped side by side. So in Greyhwak you could be a cleric of the Elven pantheon or the Gnome pantheon or the pantheon of the Olmans, but not of the Greyhawk pantheon.

[Biggus]

Mystra has:

Initiate of Mystra with the "I have magic and you don't" flavor with effective use of antimagic.
Qualification for Hathran with the "my spells are unstoppable" flavor with use of circle magic and "I can cast any spell!" flavor using Rashemi Spirit Magic.
Free metamagic in the church.
A natural path into Dweomerkeeper with "Spells have costs? What costs?" flavor.


And (Greater) Anyspell.

Agreed that Mystra is the best if Initiate feats and Dweomerkeeper are available. Some others which are also good:

Corellon, Tempus, Waukeen, Hermes and Thoth all have great domains.

[Inevitability]

More Wee Jas propaganda: 3.5 developers have suggested (http://web.archive.org/web/20180303011039/http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/we/greyhawkdeities.html)extending the rune and spell domains to her as well, which didn't happen mostly because those domains got printed in FR books.

[hamishspence]

Pantheonic worship in Faerûn is explicitely forbidden. Those who try are judged False after death.

Which splatbook states this, and on what page? FRCS states that one cannot have more than one patron deity - but it doesn't state anywhere, as far as I can tell, that it's impossible to revere a pantheon strongly (but with one deity within the pantheon as the patron).

Indeed, it states that even clerics can revere many deities - its just that they always revere one deity slightly more than all the rest.

[Tzardok]

Which splatbook states this, and on what page? FRCS states that one cannot have more than one patron deity - but it doesn't state anywhere, as far as I can tell, that it's impossible to revere a pantheon strongly (but with one deity within the pantheon as the patron).

Indeed, it states that even clerics can revere many deities - its just that they always revere one deity slightly more than all the rest.

Pantheonic worship (in the way it is used in Deities and Demigods) means having the whole pantheon as your patron and drawing power from all of them. That is directly opposed to what the FRCS says:



All clerics in Faerun serve a patron deity. (In fact, most people in Faerun choose a deity as their patron.) It is simply impossible for a person to gain divine powers (such as divine spells) without one. You may not have more than one patron deity at a time, although it is possible to change your patron deity if you have a change of heart.

Sure, a cleric of, for example, Hanali Celanil, may pay homage to the other elven gods when doing something that falls into their protfolio, but she holds her patron above all others and doesn't gain access to their powers. If she tries, well, that's a betrayal of the bond between her and Hanali and causes her to be False. See also the Dark Moon Heresie described in Power of Faerûn, whose members try to worship Selûne and Shar equally because they believe them to be fragments of the same being and are judged False after death.

[hamishspence]

Dark Moon Heresy shows that it's possible to draw power from two deities - with the trade-off being "deemed False after death" (Power of Faerun).

It's also possible for a deity to intervene on the heretic's behalf to retrieve their soul from Kelemvor - but this generally requires somebody to be casting a miracle or wish spell - perhaps to convince the deity to make a one-off exemption?

[Thurbane]

When figuring optimum deities, you may also want to take into account their Initiate feats, and what they grant.

[redking]

Interestingly, worshipping Sertrous is an exception to becoming one of the false. From Elder Evils -


SERTROUS IN FAERÛN
Faerûn has a large number of deities, and even those who choose not to worship a deity have specific fates to look forward to in the afterlife. As part of the world-changing menace, those who worship Sertrous and do not venerate the gods do not travel to the Fugue Plane when they die. Although technically these souls are counted among the False, they escape punishment in the City of Judgment and pass directly into Sertrous’s realm in the Abyss to await his return. Worshipers of Kelemvor who know of this hold a special hatred for the Vanguard as a result. The entrance to the Serpent Reliquary is hidden far from traditional yuan-ti dwellings to minimize accidental discovery. This entrance is an out-of-place standing stone carved of deep purple porphyry protruding from a low mound of earth on the far side of the Lake of Tears from Castle Perilous. The standing stone has been the obsession of several bickering orc tribes for many centuries, although none of them know of the secret ritual that causes the stone to split apart, forming a shimmering archway that transports those who pass through into the Reliquary’s entrance.

Any thrall of sertrous homebrew out there?

[animewatcha]

Interestly if you went into psionic mantles or auras or something (divine mind, etc.), I would take Sertrous as 'allowing' for 'any mantle/aura' etc combination. Allowing for say good and evil to be taken at same time.