Help picking a diety for a cleric

[george moshingt]

Hey all, im about to start a game of dnd set in the forgotten realms. I have my build all set up and ready to go, im playing a half-elf twilight cleric (with a couple of levels of rogue)

So what i need now is to choose my deity. A bit of info, my twilight cleric is part of a religious order known as the shadowsworn. The shadowsworn are a priesthood loyal to their God, but with more loose interpretations.

Basically the priesthood is closer to assassins/mercenaries. Since death brings one to their chosen God, death is seen as a blessing rather than a curse so taking lives is no big deal. As such an individual can pay a "donation" to the order and a priest will carry out a service for them (thievery, assassination, guard, etc). Additionally each acolyte is recruited young and taught and trained to have good knowledge of each deity and religious order, so that they may blend into any they might need to.

I was considering:
- Kelemvor lord of the dead (for obvious death reasons)
- Cyric God of lies (for the pretending to be others aspect)
- Shannen Moonbow (lunar God for twilight domain, but with some ties to death)

Of course im open to any other suggestions, any help would be much appreciated.

[Schwann145]

Bhaal seems the best fit based on what you've described here. Maybe Mask.

[Unoriginal]

Bhaal seems the best fit based on what you've described here.

Agreed, or maybe Myrkul.

- Kelemvor lord of the dead (for obvious death reasons)

Kelemvor is a douche, but he's not the kind to grant powers to evil cultists.

[Aett_Thorn]

Shar may also be a decent choice, especially given the name of this group of yours.

[george moshingt]

i considered Bhaal, but overall he seems to murder centric. I envision them more as killing for profit, or necessity, while with Bhaal they seem to kill as a compulsion and ritual.

I do like Mask, seems similar to the reasons i was thinking Cyric, but less evil. I view the Shadowsworn as more neutral rather than evil.

[Unoriginal]

l. I view the Shadowsworn as more neutral rather than evil.

They're literally killing people for money while pretending to be from other religions to avoid getting caught.

[george moshingt]

They're literally killing people for money while pretending to be from other religions to avoid getting caught.

Thats only evil from a certain point of view however, they dont consider killing evil, just release and return to the gods. Essentially they follow their own code of ethics rather than the worlds code. That may make them criminals and killers, but not necessarily evil.
Assassins in 5e arent evil, theyre just not good aligned.

[Aett_Thorn]

Thats only evil from a certain point of view however, they dont consider killing evil, just release and return to the gods. Essentially they follow their own code of ethics rather than the worlds code.

So they might be Lawful Evil, but still evil. It doesn’t seem like they care who they kill, as long as the contract is fulfilled. They can justify their actions based on their belief, but they’re still objectively evil.

No good-aligned deity would touch these folks, and most neutral ones wouldn’t either. You might be able to find someone like Hoar willing to abide this from time to time, but most deities you’re looking at here will definitely be evil.

[loki_ragnarock]

Agreed.

This is a group of evil characters.

Shar is probably the best god for this.

[Naanomi]

For Profit? A particularly dark sect of Waukeen? She is neutral but explicitly supports at least some cases of smuggling, black markets, and the slave trade

[DragonIceAdept]

What about Jergal? He's got the death thing down, and he has a creepier aspect than Kelemvor.

[KorvinStarmast]

Thats only evil from a certain point of view

Thank you, Obi Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope.

Waukeen seems a good fit to me.

[Hairfish]

Thats only evil from a certain point of view however, they dont consider killing evil, just release and return to the gods. Essentially they follow their own code of ethics rather than the worlds code. That may make them criminals and killers, but not necessarily evil.
Assassins in 5e arent evil, theyre just not good aligned.

Evil characters rarely think of themselves as evil, they just <insert excuse from quoted list>.

Alignment is necessarily relative to a standard and D&D is fairly clear on what that standard is. By those standards, the organization you've described is evil.

[Joe the Rat]

I know this is slightly out of left field, might you consider our lord and savior Asmodeus? I have a pamphlet...

On a serious note, this feels like it could work as a darker aspect for Mask - your order engages in more than just murder for hire donations - thievery, et. al. was on there as well. A slightly darker renegade faction of the lord of thieves and trickery? seems legit.

[Merudo]

Kelemvor is a douche, but he's not the kind to grant powers to evil cultists.

When did he become a douche? I thought he did a much better job than the other gods of death before him.

[Naanomi]

When did he become a douche? I thought he did a much better job than the other gods of death before him.

That isn't a high bar... His story arch is basically become God of death, try to be Good Guy, realize you have to make moral sacrifices to be God of Death in this pantheon, almost screw things up badly fighting against that, consciously become Neutral (which still makes you better than all the previous guys)