Name me some gods

[TheThan]

Note: I'm not sure if this should go here or in the homebrewing section, since its mostly flavor related. if it's in the wrong forum will some kindly moderator please whisk it off to where it belongs.

I’m building a homebrew world, complete with its own pantheon of deities. Everything has gone smoothly with designing each god, choosing a portfolio, picking domains etc. however I have hit upon a small snag. I need to name them, and honestly I’m fresh out of ideas, I guess its DM’s block or something.

Let me explain my pantheon first, I decided to base off the idea of duality. For each driving force in the world, there is an opposite driving force, for example Life and Death, Good and Evil, Love and Hate and so on.

So does anyone have any ideas for names for the following gods? Oh I want to avoid the use of Greek/Roman gods as well as Norse gods. This is a general pantheon suitable for a typical humanoid civilization. These are the high gods that rule over the world.


Goddess of love:
Portfolio: love, family and communities
Alignment: good
Domains: community, charm, family, and lust
Favored weapon: quarterstaff

God of hate:
Portfolio hate, war, desolation
Alignment: evil
Domains: tyranny, destruction, war, and hate
Favored weapon: Flail

God of good:
Portfolio: good, healing, purity and protection.
Alignment: good duh
Domains: good, healing, purity*, Protection.
Favored weapon: war hammer

Goddess Evil:
Portfolio: evil, greed,
Alignment: Evil duh
Domains: evil, greed, Domination, and Suffering
Favored weapon: spear

Goddess Courage:
Portfolio courage, war, glory
Alignment: Lawful
Domains: courage, glory, strength, and nobility
Favored weapon: longsword

God of Fear:
Portfolio
Alignment: Chaotic
Domains: trickery, desolation, darkness, luck
Favored weapon: great axe

Goddess of life:
Portfolio: life, earth, growth, plants and animals
Alignment: Chaotic (Neutral)
Domains: creation, plant, animal, weather
Favored weapon: Cudgel (club)

God of death:
Portfolio: death, afterlife, undeath
Alignment: lawful (Neutral if you want to know)
Domains: Death, pestilence, Repose, Renewal
Favored weapon: Scythe

Note2: some domains are homebrewed.

[Variable Arcana]

Few options:

1) Straightforward:
The deity of love is called "Love", etc.
(think of "Lady Luck" and "Death" and so on...
perhaps with nicknames, like "The Grim Reaper")

2) Roughly word-based names..
E.g. Amaria and Spitos (Love and Hate)

3) Find a book of baby names and a random number generator...
E.g. Janice, Godess of Hatred and Eugene, God of Love

Largely, it depends on the feel you're going for... I like option 1, personally, with some nicely-chosen nicknames... Common folk might pray generically to the All-Father (God of Good) and The Mother (Goddess of Life) to protect them from the Temptress (Goddess of Evil) and the Dark Hunter (God of Death)...

[NecroPaladin]

I love making names, most have a basis (Ie: first name started as "Love" and "Flora") then I tweak em a bit, then more and more and more, by the letter and syllable, till they're unrecognizable...lessee, in order, the top of my head spouts...

Lorae

("Love and Florae")

Briggen DuKell

("Breaker (kinda augmented Germanic origin) of Kell," Kell drawn from "Hell")

Cruxe Edalen

("Cross" followed by...I dunno what Edalen is. It sounded regal)

Belia Veniris

(Belial was a biblical demon. Veniris was based roughly off of "Virile." I instantly thought of the whole "mother of all demons" thing, so that's probably where that came from.)

Halymnara

(Valkyrie+Halo+Scar (as in battle scar))

Faebian Naxus

(Fae being fairy, turned into "Phobia." Naxus was "Maxus" but sounds more insidious.)

Peleria

(Based veeeeeeeeeeery distantly on "Helen," "Pelt," and "Fertility")

Krant

(I wanted something short and blunt. "Krant" was once "Gate." As, gate of the underworld.)

Again, these drawn randomly from my mind, and the method detailed above can be quite helpful...Hrm, actually I need me some gods so I might use these even if you do.

[Nahal]

Love: Kati Sikhul
Hate: Chinkrango
Good: Pietas
Evil: Valethorn
Courage: Yorvik
Fear: Temeris
Life: Adun
Death: Marit

Combination of random and references, hope you like a couple of them.

[Jade_Tarem]

Life: Adun

Combination of random and references, hope you like a couple of them.

Cleric Battle Cry: "My life for Aiur!"

Love: Melii
Hate: Heriflec
Good: Arenaius
Evil: Silietra
Courage: Foros
Fear: Cysano
Life: Gian-anii
Death: Bos-ke-Cur

All just made up, out of the twisted depths of my mind, using the algorithm "that sounds good."

[Viscount Einstrauss]

Love: Sugar Melon
Hate: Gary Stu
Good: Rainbows the Clown
Evil: Puppy Kicker
Courage: Whi'skay
Fear: Stabby McAxeforface
Life: Ceepeear
Death: Emperor Angry Meltdown

[NecroPaladin]

Love: Sugar Melon
Hate: Gary Stu
Good: Rainbows the Clown
Evil: Puppy Kicker
Courage: Whi'skay
Fear: Stabby McAxeforface
Life: Ceepeear
Death: Emperor Angry Meltdown

I worship Stabby McAxeforFace from this point onward.

In the Name of his Dark Lordliness Stabby McAxeforFace, I will tear thee limb from limb! Have at you!

[Jade_Tarem]

Nevermind, VisE wins.

By the Power of Ceepeear, I return you to life!

[illathid]

Goddess of love: Philestia: the Virginal Courtesan

God of hate: Heraclidum: the Emperor Misanthrope

God of good: Logost: the Runefather

Goddess Evil: Lycantheria: the Wolfmother

Goddess Courage: Leonida: the Lioness Suzerain

God of Fear: Angsturm: the Sublime Shadow

Goddess of life: Arche: the Queen of the Cosmos

God of death: Maruthos: the Lord Inevitable

[NecroPaladin]

You're a bit off. All of these are great names (I love Logost and Arche), but Angstrum coulda been better. Observe:

Goddess of love: Philestia: the Virginal Courtesan
God of hate: Heraclidum: the Emperor Misanthrope
God of good: Logost: the Runefather
Goddess Evil: Lycantheria: the Wolfmother
Goddess Courage: Leonida: the Lioness Suzerain
God of Fear: Stabby McAxeForFace: the Dude what has and Axe for a Face
Goddess of life: Arche: the Queen of the Cosmos
God of death: Maruthos: the Lord Inevitable

Actually, I liked Angstrum too. But I just wanted to see what this Pantheon looked like.

[TheThan]

Wow lots of replies already, I like a lot of them, while some are a bit silly (still like them though), you’ve all been quite helpful, keep up the good work.
edit
i love the idea of nicknames, so if you could come up with some more that'd be great!

[illathid]

All of these are great names (I love Logost and Arche)

Yeah... I'm supposed to be writing a paper on pre-Socratic philosophers right now.

[Jack Mann]

Here are some nicknames.

Goddess of love: The Lady of Passion/Fidelity (depending on which aspect she appears as)
God of Hate: The Emperor of Malice
God of Good: The Warder of Heaven
Goddess of Evil: The Grasping Hand
Goddess of Courage: The Undaunted Lady
God of Fear: The Singer in Darkness
Goddess of life: The Primal Queen
God of death: The Final King

[Jannex]

Goddess of Love: Miara, with Eyes Like the Sea
God of Hate: Wernax, the Sunderer
God of Good: Illion, High Lord
Goddess of Evil: Crethea, the Dark Lady
Goddess of Courage: Indaris, Fire Ever-Blazing
God of Fear: Kordoss, the Unseen Hand
Goddess of Life: Alsira, the Breath of Morning
God of Death: He Who Waits

Just a few thoughts. Hope they're useful. If you want more epithets, I can see what I can do.

[daggaz]

Gods should not have last names. Ever. Thats for confused mortals who have a hard time tracking where they come from and who they are related to etc.. The titles are cool tho.

[Leon]

the one name to rule them all - Bob

[LCR]

"Kate"
"Isn't that a bit of a ... girl's name?"
"It's uhm, short for uhm, Bob"

[Fizban]

Not to rain on the parade, but I must object to fear being the opposite of courage, and suggest the even more obvious Cowardice. Plus they alliterize.

[Wehrkind]

Goddess of love: The Hearth Eternal
God of Hate: Bringer of Condemnation
God of Good: The Patron of the Clean
Goddess of Evil: The Golden Clutch
Goddess of Courage: The Shining Standard
God of Fear: The Unknown Certainty
Goddess of life: The Promiscuous
God of death: The Cold Magistrate

I am sort of looking at this from a Greek/Roman point of view. Your nicknames/cognomen will be very different depending on the culture(s) of your world. For instance, a more barbaric society might term them thusly:

Goddess of love: The Shepardess
God of Hate: The Frozen Wind
God of Good: The All Father
Goddess of Evil: The Five Eyed Crone
Goddess of Courage: The Spear Maiden
God of Fear: The Singer in the Darkness (Very nicely put JM.)
Goddess of life: The Verdant Hills
God of death: The Lurking Wolf (Alternately: The Grim Marshal, for a more Nordic feel)

[Wehrkind]

While Cowardice is the opposite of Courage as the human reaction to Fear, I think it might be better to say that Courage is the enemy of Fear, that which conquers it.

It might work to have the worshippers of Fear refered to as Cowards by most. It would be neat to have the in world etymology for "coward" be based on an invective for someone who follows "Fear".

[paigeoliver]

Instead of the gigantic pantheons of many campaign worlds you may want to consider a tiny pantheon instead. Or even a single deity.

In my campaign world almost EVERYONE worships Blocky. Imagine the modern world, take away the eastern religions and what do you have left? Why you have a whole bunch of different people who can't agree on how to worship the God of Abraham. Now imagine if all the evil races had their own take on him as well, and THAT is Blocky.

Clerics of Blocky in my campaign world can select any domains they want. But they can also expect that other clerics of blocky will see them as misguided, wrong, blasphemous, or heretical if they have the wrong ones.

Basically the entire pantheon of my campaign world can be summed up with the following list.

Gods seen as gods.

Blocky. (Very popular amongst all races, particularly humans and humanoids).
Garl Glittergold - Gnomes.
Moradin - Dwarves.
Yondalla - Halflings
Bahamut - Popular in eastern realms.
Tiamat - Popular in eastern realms.

Non-gods followed in a religious manner by some.

Ancestors - Barbarians like ancestor worship.
The elven pantheon - Seen as heroes only.
The rest of the demihuman pantheons. - Seen as heroes only.
Bob359 - A long lived free-willed construct. This guy predates all known history, and is still around. There are several orders of monks who strive to follow his examples, although he himself has never attempted to gather any worshippers.

Anyone else is either a dark cult or a teeny tiny little local god or goddess.

[Baalzebub]

God of Puppets: Banjo

No, seriously, I'd put only one god, whose name is god the one-and-all.

Or you can also divide it in two, Alfa and Omega. This is roughly for a campaing in which alignments are more like ideals instead of forces in the universe. Like Eberron.

[Reltzik]

Not much to help with nicknames. But the god of fear? His favored weapon should be armor/shield spikes.

(And his nickname should be "heart-stopper". I SO want to play a cleric of this deity.)

[hewhosaysfish]

What sort of theme are you trying to go for with the Fear god?
The Trickery and Darkness domains are evocative of the cold, creeping fear of something sneaking up on you, unseen in the darkness...
Where as, favoured weapon: greataxe makes me thing more of "He's huge and he's coming straight towards me", crap in your pants kind of fear. Or as Einstrauss so eloquently put it: Stabby McAxeForFace. Or should tht be McAxeInFace?

[Viscount Einstrauss]

No, no- any silly mortal can have an axe in their face. Usually this is because Stabby McAxeforface put an axe in their face. But when was the last time you saw a guy with an axe for a face? There's no second guessing this god. He is going to eat you with his axe face. And that's terrifying.

[Nahal]

Stabby McAxeforface's favourite weapon is either a battleaxe or greataxe. Preferably with serrations. In fact let's go with greataxe. Because nothing screams "psychotic" like a religious fanatic in spiked full plate and a serrated greataxe casting flamestrike.

The figure stands among the entrails of the villagers, his blackened armor drenched in blood. It's almost as though the plate is covered in metal fangs, a motif matched by the serrated edge of an axe the size of a small child. In between his laboured breaths, the priest of The Stabby One laughs maniaically, almost drinking in the sheer terror of those few survivors. He knows you are their last shred of hope, and so views it as his sacred duty to utterly purge you from this world. He turns to face you, and calls out to his Lord, the Bringer of Despair. He makes a few gestures as he does this, and then points at you. Your world becomes fire.

I also have ideas for others' favoured weapons:

Love: Whip: Sikhul's Lash. Cliche, but still perfect.
Hate: Warhammer: Hammer of Hate. Because fear already has an axe, and those are the two weapons best suited for savage beatings IMHO.
Good: Heavy Mace: Goldbrand (blatant ES rip, but cool name).
Evil: Heavy Flail: Castigator. Because it's a cool word.
Courage: Bastard Sword (or longsword): Price of Freedom.
Fear: Greataxe or Battleaxe: The Face of Terror.
Life: Quarterstaff: The Sacred Tree. Lame, but a start.
Death: Scythe: Harvest. Because someone needs to have a scythe.

[Viscount Einstrauss]

Don't forget the helmet! Many disciples of Stabby McAxeforface wear helmets adorned with a greataxe facing outwards over the faceguard. Their headbutts are legendary.

[Nahal]

I figured that was just a stylized part of the armor spikes bit

[Viscount Einstrauss]

Oh, it's certainly stylized. Lord Stabby does nothing that is not stylish. But it's also uniquely effective. A 1d12+1/2 strength crit x3 secondary attack that requires a concentration check to not be dealt half the damage in return upon using it. Many disciples prefer to use it as the finishing blow in order to get a bird's eye view of the slaughter. This pleases Stabby McAxeforface.

[GolemsVoice]

Reminds me of the WoW Tier 2 Warrior armor. Don't do it. It looks ridiculous.
But those are some really cool names.

Goddess of love: Amaress, Heart's Fire
God of Hate: Cathyl, The Black Passion
God of Good: Geron, Hope's Bastion
Goddess of Evil: Hathyla, Black Flame Within
Goddess of Courage: Valaria, Golden Horizon
God of Fear: Aeron, Chill of the Mind
Goddess of life: Liliarah, Fountai Of Life
God of death: The Final Truth