Quote Originally Posted by Destro2119 View Post
Mystra (from DnD 5e Forgotten Realms, but also part of 3e) is an interesting case since she is one of the only "God of all Magics"-type deities to have a NG alignment rather than an N one. This can be a polarizing element, as she actually IS obliged to screw around with the doings of other, more evil deities. Some decry her for this, as they believe that the prime deity of magic should be neutral so one side of the alignment chart isn't totally OP. They point to a rather egregious incident in a novel documenting Cyric's rule as a newly risen deity when she outright shut down Cyric's ability to use magic until he promised to stop doing something in Zhentil Keep. And frankly, I can't really blame them. Conflicts between deities are supposed to be intricate things, highly dependent on their mortal servants, and the ability to just yeet away the thing that gives them 90% of their powers is pretty low.
I thought Mystra got in big trouble with Ao in one of the editions for trying to deny Evil spellcasters access to the weave? Since ensuring the weave is stable and accessible is basically her only job, and Ao isn't shy about replacing deities when they aren't doing what he wants.

I am not a big fan of Mystra's NG alignment, either. Forgotten Realms set the precedent that Gods do not have full control over how they fulfill the duties of their station. This caused the Lawful Good mortal Kelemvor to become the Lawful Neutral God Kelemvor, because the duties of his station as the shepherd of the dead forced his hand, and alignment.

I don't see why Mystra is an exception to this, she maintains a power source that is routinely drawn upon to enable the worst kind of atrocities. You can't do that and continue to be Neutral Good.

Ahem. I also like Boccob the most. Nethys has a kind of flanderized insanity/duality theme that I don't feel is actually something that Wizards would care to pray to. Boccob is the ur-Archmage, who pursues knowledge at any cost and cares for little outside it. It's a simple archetype but one I think has endured for a reason.