Unusual Deity Personalities for their Portfolios

[White Blade]

So I've been thinking about a variety of deities and was wondering how to do deities differently than their portfolios are normally represented, if only to escape the cliche. For example, a God of Knowledge who is closer to the Indiana-Jones archetype of the explorer-adventurer than the old man with lots of book archetype. Does anyone else have any deities like this or any ideas like this?

[Flickerdart]

Pelor the Burning Hate, Sun God.

[hamishspence]

How about a Socratic god of knowledge?

"The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing"

[Amiel]

Wee Jas is both the goddess of vanity and a deity of death.

[Dust]

Olidammara, as played by Neil Patrick Harris.

[Armoury99]

Olidammara, as played by the Marquis de Sade.

[~LuckyBoneDice~]

I suggest adding a deep level of emotions and deep psychological scars.

Ask youself what the effects of becoming a god are on the mind, body, and spirit? For instance, is Bane a nut because he was as a mortal, or did his ascencion to godhood do that to him?

We love this idea, because all of the PCs are descendants/reincarnations of major deities. Our Elf Ranger is Correlleon reborn, and he developed a love/hate relationship with a Drow Priestess, who he had to choose whether to kill her or die himself. He regretfully killed her, and he has never been the same since.

[Aron Times]

Paladine's favored avatar is a senile and extremely powerful wizard named Fizban. It sucked when he chose his Valthonis (bishounen elf) avatar when he was depowered. I mean, a wandering Fizban would've been epic.

Google it.

[Toliudar]

Olidammara as a Raven-like trickster figure who is as much Athena as he is Loki.

Ehlonna as a vengeful nature-goddess who actively seeks to destroy those who don't belong in a natural setting - including aberrations, outsiders...dwarves.

Kord as your favourite WWE wrestler.

Lolth as a hearth and fertility goddess - what? Spiders are good luck, and are the archetypal home-building animal.

Obad-Hai as Buddha, advocating a freedom from desire as the path back to a natural state.

[Zach J.]

Olidammara, as played by Neil Patrick Harris.

My newest character I'm playing, a half-elf sorcerer, worships Olidammara. This is how I'm going to imagine he talks and sings. I love Batman: The Brave and the Bold. :)

[Yora]

A goddess of night and darkness who watches over the people while they are asleep and protects those who have to keep working at that time.

A deity of natural growth that burries entire civilizations under a flood of choking vines and lets roots grow from the ground to destroy buildings.

Death of the Endless, who witnessed the birth of the universe and will be the last being to turn off the lights at the end of times.

[Gensh]

In a campaign I ran, the god of black magic was actually probably the nicest out of the bunch. He was always feared because of the curse he laid upon the other gods when they bound his power, but after five thousand years, he just didn't care anymore. And then there was his kid, the exotic dancer...

[HenryHankovitch]

Lolth as a hearth and fertility goddess - what? Spiders are good luck, and are the archetypal home-building animal.

You could easily re-fluff her basically as a clone of Arachne--a weaver-goddess (or spirit) cursed by Athene/Corellan with a spider form for hubris or rebellion. Could be a sort of dark/fallen version of the fertility/hearth goddess.

When I made a D&D version of the Greek pantheon for my current campaign, I decided that Lolth would be referred to as Arachne by most humans; and that her story (rebelling and being cursed with a hideous form) had become muddled and twisted by human storytellers until it had become the myth of Arachne and her weaving contest.

[JonestheSpy]

How about the ruler of Hell being a just god who has his job because he wants to punish the wicked, not because he wants to destroy what's good?

He could even be merciful, wanting the evil to work off their karmic debt so they can then leave hell and ascend.

Oh, and Wee Jas should be played by Siouxie Sioux.

[mabriss lethe]

Ilsensine (mindflayer god) a la Zoidberg.

[AbyssKnight]

Sun God
Normally depicted as righteous or nurturing, associated with light and healing, hates undead, favored weapons tend toward maces, usually Good
Instead, the sun god is a merciless oppressor who wishes to burn all that comes under his blazing eye, lots of pain, blindness, and burning. Associated with a lot of evil fire creatures, favored weapon spear, javelin, or bow (to represent sun rays), probably Lawful Evil

Death
Normally a skeletal or ghoulish figure, the Reaper of Man, associated with undeath, favored weapon scythe, Evil
Instead, the calm and peaceful custodian of the Final Rest, focused on death being like an eternal slumber that should not be disturbed, weapon....staff?, True Neutral

Nature
Most commonly a figure of balance, frequently includes at least some elements of civilization being okay if they respect nature, not particularly violent even if not peaceful per se, usually more plant oriented, True Neutral to Neutral Good
Instead, The Beast, a ferocious primal hunter, never ending need to eat and mate, everything is either food or competition, more animal oriented, Chaotic Neutral to Neutral Evil to Chaotic Evil

Knowledge
Usually a bookish type, noncombatant, all about libraries and schools, knowledge exists in the mind, theoretical stuff, Lawful Neutral to True Neutral
Instead, knowledge as experience, the only way to know something is to do it, very active in the world finding new experiences, maybe True Neutral to Chaotic Neutral

[krossbow]

How about the ruler of Hell being a just god who has his job because he wants to punish the wicked, not because he wants to destroy what's good?

He could even be merciful, wanting the evil to work off their karmic debt so they can then leave hell and ascend.

Oh, and Wee Jas should be played by Siouxie Sioux.

Ptolus does that somewhat for the leader of the devils. He's a fairly just and good natured individual using evil, but trustworthy individuals to do the worlds dirtywork. Unfortunately, his lover/girlfriend is basically as evil and scheming as you can get.

Likewise, in Faerun, Kelemvor, god of the dead, was a really good guy, who rewarded the Just and brave, and punished the wicked and cowardly. Which, HILARIOUSLY, pissed off every single other god in existence, since Good triumphing over evil basically destroyed all their Prayer bases, as he was a god who actually cared about people rather than himself, and he was forced by them to become a dull, depressing True neutral god.

[Ravens_Wing]

Juiblex played by BOB from Monters Vs. Aliens

[AmberVael]

I'm seeing too many stereotypical inversions in this thread. How about I toss out a couple of ideas:

God of the Underworld: The God of the Underworld is a very reclusive individual who is jealous of his territory beyond belief. His clergy is very much a clique, composed only of the people he can stand and who manage to earn his interest and respect. His clergy are the shepherds of the dead, specifically in that they bring only the right people into his domain, using resurrection effects to release unwanted souls from the underworld... and slaying those who the god would find interest in.

Goddess of Knowledge/Wisdom: The Goddess of Knowledge is very much the caring friend and the wise mother. She knows because she listens and is unafraid to learn new things. She understands because she has watched over all of her children, and wise because of her worldly experience. She lends advice and gains the trust of others, and in turn they do the same for her.

[Set]

An evil god of Chaos, Glory, Strength and War, revelling in bloodshed and proving oneself in combat, with only strength mattering.

An evil god of Charm, Evil, Law, Mind and Nobility, focused on dominion and rulership and tyranny. A patron to slavers and enforcer of a rigid caste system, promoting the notion that the elite educated pure-blooded 'noble' caste are the unquestioning leaders, with divine right of kings and all that. (A high number of evil Aasimar among the clergy could showcase this regime!) The education limited only to the 'high-bloods' is seen as a sign of superiority, and even simple literacy might be forbidden to the lowborn, who attend elegant salons, to discuss matters of deep philosophy and heady naturalistic theory, served clean water (no alcohol! it clouds the mind!) by illiterate slaves whose mouths have been sewn shut, that they might not corrupt the discourse of their betters with rude uninformed commentary.

A good goddess of Chaos, Creation, Darkness, Good and Trickery, protecting the people by stealth and subterfuge, especially suitable for a world with a harsh cruel lawful Sun god. From the darkness, she comes, to hide her favored children away from the unforgiving sun. (Darkness gods are usually evil, but in a world overseen by the cruel eye of the Burning Hate, the protection, shelter and comfort of the merciful goddess of the night could be the only reason that mankind has survived his fiery retribution!)

A good god of Chaos, Good, Knowledge, Madness and Magic, associated with wine and secret information discovered through forbidden or dangerous means, perhaps through mind-altering chemicals or painful rites of initiation. Greater and greater acts of self-flagellation, bodily mortification, ingestion of ever more potent pharmaceuticals, etc. are required to reach the higher plateaus of enlightenment, although the practice of such arts on others is strictly forbidden, as 'an it harm no one, do as thou wilt' is the whole of their sacred canon. Their god is believed to spend eternity in a dreaming stupor, taking inspiration from each and every mind-altering act or substance taken by his followers, making it a sacred duty to spend at least some of each day in an altered state, to 'feed the god' new insights and perspectives (and pleasures).

An evil god of Artifice, Community, Evil, Law, and Protection, ruling through fear and oppression totalitarian tactics. A god of civilization, building communities, constructing cities (preferably fortified ones) and industry and labor (work makes freedom, as they say). Every aspect of life is covered by rules from a vast iron tome, and the laws and the punishments for breaking them are inscribed on every building, and on special obelisks in every community. (Most Artifice gods are dwarven gods, and LG, and most Community and Protection gods are hearth-goddesses and the like, making this a fun face turn.)

An evil god with the Animal, Destruction, Evil, Madness and Plant domains, representing the savage side of nature, destroyer of civilization, believing that it weakens mankinds primal strength.

An evil god of Chaos, Evil and Liberation, the ultimate proponent of freedom at any cost, hunting down any 'oppressor,' even an otherwise benevolent lawful authority. No act is considered evil, if it leads to the freedom of others, even if those 'freed' are left in an anarchic state that leads to banditry and horror, and the 'oppressor' was a benevolent monarchy that provided them with security, prosperity and national pride. (Liberation is usually associated with good dieties and anti-slavery powers, but this takes it ten steps beyond, where the followers of the 'God of Freedom' turn peaceful city-states into Road Warrior / Book of Eli-esque post-apocalyptic bandit's paradises, ruled by cannibals, rapists and people who don't bathe.)

An evil god of Luck, perhaps, like Istus, of the Greyhawk setting, one that grants both the Law (representing the orderly progression of fate and predestination) and Chaos (representing whimsy and mischance) domains could be neat. Chaos, Evil, Law, Luck and say, Trickery, could be an interesting combination, with the followers being divided into sowers of misfortune and ordainers of fate, tearing apart the structures, patterns and beliefs of others, while imposing their own tangled webs of intrigue and deception, to manipulate others to serve their own agendas.

A purely good god of Magic could be neat as well. Many settings have neutral or even evil magic gods, but few that are specifically chaotic and / or good. Chaos, Creation, Fire, Good and Magic could represent a Promethus like figure, who, against the will of the other gods (for which he/she was punished!) gave 'the gift of fire' to the mortal races. In this case, the gift of fire was the gift of sorcery, later refined into the practices of wizardry, and, in either case, something the other gods tried to stamp out in the early days (and there may still be theocratic kingdoms that strictly regulate, or even forbid, the practice of arcane magic as something blasphemously stolen from the gods!).

A serpent goddess of wisdom from beyond the grave, represented as a patron of naga, dragons, etc. Good, Death, Knowledge, Magic and Scalykind. Alternately, if she's seen as dwelling deep beneath the waves, a Midgard Serpent / Jormungandr-like figure, who shakes the earth as she dreams of the future, straddling the line between the worlds of the living and the underworld, she could have Good, Death, Knowledge, Scalykind and Water. She could even be a living personification of the river Styx, the demarcation between the living world and the spirit world, and her priests might subject themselves to doses of viper's venom, or dunk their heads underwater and struggle not to drown in the seeking of her hissed counsel.

An evil god(dess) of Healing (almost always associated with good) could be interesting as well, but ideas aren't springing to mind for those yet. It just doesn't feel quite right to me, unless the Healing god became corrupted by some other force, perhaps transitioning from a god of life and death (Healing, Repose, Strength, etc.) to a darker figure, after being forced to bring plague upon errant gods-defying mortals, and growing twisted by these dark deeds, becoming a vivisectionist and sower of contagion, ever seeking new ways to accomplish the divine charge to bring suffering to punish the mortal races, despite having long-since outlived that original rebellion against the gods. Perhaps even the original mortal races were immortal, and the great healer was charged to strip them of their agelessness, and to introduce disease and death to the world of man, and that inherent violation of the gods original nature caused an irrevocable change from good to evil.

[Jokasti]

iirc, the Sun God of Creation, the Exalted world, known as Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, and Ignis Divine, is actually seen as the blackness of space, with a hundred hundred stars and supernovas exploding on his person. However he normally takes a four armed golden shape.

[cupkeyk]

I don't know what book described the fall of Lolth. But I recall it saying that she was a goddess of weaving, fine arts, and fate.

My favorite would still be Malar, protector of children (and as a corollary pregnant women)

[Ogremindes]

Death of the Endless, who witnessed the birth of the universe and will be the last being to turn off the lights at the end of times.

First thing that came to mind.

[deuxhero]

God of treachery and assassination is also the god of the cycle of life, after the god that previously held the position split into love and lust and being the opportunist that he is garbed the forgotten domain before either could claim it.

[Set]

The god(dess) of 'do as I say, not as I do.' The diety is chaotic and evil in temperament, fickle, contrary, vindictive and filled with dissapointment in the mortal races (which generally manifests through disasters, plagues and contrary proclamations that lead to strife and discord). All priests are treated as if the god(dess) is Lawful and Good, and the god(dess) grants Good and Law among their domains, despite being neither lawful nor good. S/he holds higher standards for the worshippers than the diety imposes upon itself, and, like Zeus, would be mighty offended and smite the righteous crap out of any uppity mortal who suggested the s/he was petty or 'not following their own rules' since rules are for little people, not the gods! Very much based off of the Greek / Roman gods, who would be as likely to punish a faithful worshipper as reward a blasphemer! (Particularly in their incarnations in recent movies like Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief, or Clash of the Titans, where Zeus gets outmaneuvered into petty acts of mortal-killing and threats and even divine civil war by various punks, 'cause he's basically a giant moron.)

A dichotomous neutral celestial diety of both Sun and moon (represented by Darkness), Healing and Death and Weather. While the god's clergy are generally neutral in alignment, the god(dess) itself changes temperament (represented by ethical and moral alignment, being Good in the Spring, Chaotic in the Summer, Evil in the Autumn, Lawful in the Winter) and perhaps even gender and / or species with the seasons and the transition from night to day. The clergy who choose an alignment other than true neutral tend to be most active during their 'holy season' when the god(dess)es temperament most suits their own inclinations. Change is a sacred thing in this church, and every season, at the solstice or equinox festivals, each priest is expected to change their appearance (by dying their hair, decorating their skin, shaving their heads, etc.) in some way, with some churches and regions having fairly common options (dye hair red with henna in the autumn, then shave hair short and dye what is left white for the winter, etc.), and other priests having their own personal traditions (always wearing flowers in the spring, always dress in light blue fabric with cloth-of-gold trim during the summer and black leather with white furs during the winter, etc.).

[Ravens_Wing]

OH i like that second one Set thats a concept i may throw into one of my campaigns ( only with your blessing of course.)

heh here is another one God of Travelers who hates going anywhere. loves all the variations that different places provide but is too lasy to actually experiance them. Lives thru his worshipers eyes. like a woodsman who does nothing but sit at home and watches the outdoors network on tv.

[Excession]

Chaotic evil god of magic. Like to set fire to stuff? Enjoy blowing people up? Want to find out exactly how much power is required to corrupt? This is the god for you. Also because Mystra was a goody-two-shoes.

[Saintheart]

Death
Normally a skeletal or ghoulish figure, the Reaper of Man, associated with undeath, favored weapon scythe, Evil
Instead, the calm and peaceful custodian of the Final Rest, focused on death being like an eternal slumber that should not be disturbed, weapon....staff?, True Neutral

Welcome to the Forgotten Realms.

[BloodyAngel]

For an evil-type healing god/goddess/figure. Perhaps there is no way to heal people via magic in the literal sense, only tranfering wounds from one creature to another. A god or goddess of pain and suffering (traditionally evil) could be good aligned, and teach their followers to martyr themselves to save others by taking their wounds and illnesses onto themselves.

Alternately for evil healing's... perhaps an evil god of some sort has captive a good or neutral god that was a rival of his, and every time you heal a mortal, said god suffers that injury, wound and pain on his/her immortal form. Said god cannot die, but they can suffer eternally. Or maybe EVERY enemy or the like of said god ends up on his "plane of torment" and each of them is harmed whenever said evil god's followers heal another. Makes the innocent cleric heal-bot seem a bit more sinister.

"There you are, your shattered leg is all healed. Thank you for contributing to the eternal suffering of those who would stand against my dark master."

[Eldan]

A goddess of night and darkness who watches over the people while they are asleep and protects those who have to keep working at that time.

That was actually one of two halfling godesses at the time. Community, Darkness, Healing and Protection on her portfolio. The male halfling god had Sun, War and Travel.