# Deities from DnD 3.5E PHB **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748 "2005-08-12T16:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/1 "2005-08-12T16:22:28Z")
Quick question: Anyone know if there is a list of the deities from the PHB for DnD3.5E online somewhere? (Preferably w/ descriptions…) I couldn’t find one through google but maybe someone knows about such a page… -Kris ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/2 "2005-08-12T19:17:53Z")
I don’t have it, but it’s IIRC, it’s pretty much just the Norse and Greek pantheons with a handful of original deities and the ones from the player’s handbook. Why? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/3 "2005-08-12T19:19:27Z")
On a side note, they really paid no attention to the deities in question. Every one of them had to stuffed intothe alignment system. This made many of the Norse deities, who were actually a pretty congenial bunch (they were feisty troublemakers, too\< but didn’t mean anything by it), evil. Then they went out and screwed up the Greek pantheon. I wanted to go through and swap the alignments of all of their Greek deities. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/4 "2005-08-12T19:25:54Z")
Uh, bandit, Frylock just wanted the ones from the PHB. I’m not aware of any such online listing - I don’t think the System Reference Document covers it, as the deities’ names are not Open Gaming Content. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/5 "2005-08-12T19:33:31Z")
Indeed–there’s no RL deities (i.e., from real-world mythologies) in the PHB, and the ones in there aren’t open game content, so such a list would need to be carefully written in order to avoid copyright infringement (and, more importantly, OGL infringement, since the person writing the list would probably be voiding their right to use the OGL). Did you have a particular question? Maybe we can help you with something specific. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/6 "2005-08-12T20:34:59Z")
Sorry… what happened was, I had created a character using just the online SRD, and then I tried to join a PBEM game using that character whereupon the DM said he wanted me to pick a deity out of the PHB rather than the one I just made up for my character. (A neutral-neutral goddess over the magic and knowledge realms. Also my character’s background involved people who worship a lawful-good god over the sun and fire realms.) I don’t have a PHB, and before asking the DM to do the work of picking a deity for me (and risking that he would just decide it wasn’t worth the trouble keeping me in the game) I thought I’d see if I could look it up somewhere. But alas. Thanks anyway… Guess I need to not be a cheapskate and go buy the book. -Kris > [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Indeed–there’s no RL deities (i.e., from real-world mythologies) in the PHB, and the ones in there aren’t open game content, so such a list would need to be carefully written in order to avoid copyright infringement (and, more importantly, OGL infringement, since the person writing the list would probably be voiding their right to use the OGL). > > Did you have a particular question? Maybe we can help you with something specific. > > Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/7 "2005-08-12T22:02:04Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Thanks anyway… Guess I need to not be a cheapskate and go buy the book. Go to the store, flip through the PHB, pick out a diety, put it back on the shelf, and walk out. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/8 "2005-08-12T23:27:36Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Go to the store, flip through the PHB, pick out a diety… Do dietys help you get slim? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/9 "2005-08-12T23:58:43Z")
The fact that this question has to be asked is ridiculous, an example of the over-licensing of fantasy game content because of the money involved. But within the game context, if the rules say that you can be a cleric of Thor, something has to be defined as the set of characteristics for a ‘cleric of Thor.’ If you’re playing a tabletop or pen and paper game, your DM should have the book for you to use. If you are the DM you have to get a copy- what’s a DM without his reference materials? And to answer in another way, there are hunderds of online sources for gods and goddesses; their powers and characteristics, where they can be found, and who associates with them. Google the god’s name and discover. I also recommend the old D&D god books- Deities and Demigods from all editions, the Planescape campaign setting (my old favorite), and the Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms reference books. May the gods aid you in your quest for knowledge. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/10 "2005-08-13T00:20:06Z")
Sorry, I got confused between the Even Wizards of the Coast can’t sue someone for discussing their deities, especially since nearly all of them were inspired or blatantly rip off other sources. Fair use certainly goes that far. You want Boccab or Wee Jas. Both are gods of magic and favored by Wizards and Sorcerers. Boccab tends to be distant and unemotional, but is not as reclusive as Wee Jas. Boccab likes Knowledge, while Wee Jas tends to contemplate into deep mysteries. She has the Death domain, though she seems to have no real interests there. There are other gods, but most tend to be roguish or warrior types. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/11 "2005-08-13T00:51:48Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > You want Boccab or Wee Jas. Both are gods of magic and favored by Wizards and Sorcerers. Bocc **o** b. Facts to note: [Boccob](http://www.captaincursor.com/rpg/bin/view/Taliesin/Boccob) is Neutral. [Wee Jas](http://www.captaincursor.com/rpg/bin/view/Taliesin/WeeJas) is Lawful Neutral (tending toward Evil). (At least in pre-3.5 formats…I don’t have the new PHB and am going by things as they stood circa Planescape. Both Boccob and Wee Jas come from the original D&D campaign, the Greyhawk setting, and I believe come from different ethnic groups of Oerth (Wee Jas is Suloise but Boccob is of the Common Pantheon (basically, “the rest of the gods” after the Suloise, Baklunish, and Flannae pantheons are out of the way). Wee Jas is also the goddess of Death (not originally…she inherited the job) and so has a darker aspect than Boccob, who is not only a god of Magic, but also of scholarship and knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/12 "2005-08-13T02:31:43Z")
> [@](#): > > tending toward Evil Yeah, they took these out of the game. On a different note, what they did to St. Cuthbert was practically criminal. First, they stuff one of my saints into the books as a pagan God (how the heck is he a Saint there, eh?) Now, they decided they needed a Lawful Neitral deity, so he’s it. nevermind the fact is credo is Lawful Good, his tenets are Lawful Good, and he always was Lawful Good. Apparantly, they just didn’t want to have more than two deities of any one given alignment in the Player’s Handbook. :rolleyes: Rather than just make a new deity, they twisted an existing one. Yes, I know it was done by several groups of people in successive stages. Now, however, they a Paladin-style crusader of the Gods whose not even Good anymore. As I mentioned, they messed up all the deity alignments in Deities and Demigods. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/13 "2005-08-13T02:33:51Z")
To give a little more information on Boccob (quoted from _Complete Arcane_; a few sentences should fall well within fair use): > [@Complete Arcane](#): > > Boccob is a distant and aloof deity who rarely shows favor to his worshippers or acts against their enemies, but wizards admire the Archmage of the Deities for his intellect and meticulous nature … > > Wee Jas represents a darker approach to magic; while followers of Boccob seek arcane power as an end in itself, those who follow Wee Jas see magic as a means to achieving some measure of control over fate. The Witch Goddess favors those who have the strength to forge their own destinies … As for a Lawful Good sun god, that would be Pelor. Fire isn’t explicitly his domain, but he otherwise fits. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/14 "2005-08-13T03:45:04Z")
> [@Catalyst](#): > > As for a Lawful Good sun god, that would be Pelor. Fire isn’t explicitly his domain, but he otherwise fits. Was Pelor the god who took a darker turn around the time of the Greyhawk Wars whose followers started acting a lot like certain realworld religionists (Demihumans are evil creatures! Arcane magic is of the Demons!) or was it another god with a similar name and portfolio… No, never mind. It was Pholtus. Similar portfolio (god of Light). ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/15 "2005-08-13T13:09:24Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Was Pelor the god who took a darker turn around the time of the Greyhawk Wars whose followers started acting a lot like certain realworld religionists (Demihumans are evil creatures! Arcane magic is of the Demons!) or was it another god with a similar name and portfolio… > > No, never mind. It was Pholtus. Similar portfolio (god of Light). Honestly, I know next to nothing about the Greyhawk setting. I was actually kind of miffed that they decided to make it the “default” setting; I don’t think the core rulebooks should make more than passing references to official campaign settings. What I’d _really_ like to see is a revival of abandoned settings like Sigil and Athas (especially if they reverted the setting to before the sorcerer-kings all died). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/16 "2005-08-13T13:15:06Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Even Wizards of the Coast can’t sue someone for discussing their deities, especially since nearly all of them were inspired or blatantly rip off other sources. Fair use certainly goes that far. Sure–but if you want to use the Open Gaming License to publish your materials, you really really really need to be careful about any printed discussion of WOTC’s identity material (including their deities). Their OGL rules are much stricter than normal copyright laws, and if you break 'em, you no longer have permission to publish things within the constraints of the OGL, which means no D20 material. (IANAL and all that). That said, I don’t think a message on a board like this will be a problem; I was just explaining why you’re unlikely to find a website that gives even a summary description of each of the PHB gods. Boccob sounds like he’s your huckleberry, **Frylock** , and your people should worship Pelor. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/17 "2005-08-13T14:47:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Honestly, I know next to nothing about the Greyhawk setting. I was actually kind of miffed that they decided to make it the “default” setting; I don’t think the core rulebooks should make more than passing references to official campaign settings. Worse yet, they then don’t actually publish anything on Greyhawk. AFAIK, all they ever did was that 5-page gazeteer for 3rd edition. Toril (Faerun) is nice, and the high-magic setting actually fits the rules as presented for DnD v3/3.5. But it would be nice to expand on that, and there’s clearly a market for more and different settings. > [@](#): > > Sure–but if you want to use the Open Gaming License to publish your materials, you really really really need to be careful about any printed discussion of WOTC’s identity material (including their deities). True, but they don’t have any reason to complain. Helping players out and making mention of their works (without violating copyright on (a large scale) helps them out. Every little bit helps. Besides, people discuss their deities and identity material all the time online and off. And WotC is quite happy about it. Heck, “Which God Should I Be a Cleric of” is one of the most commonly asked and answered questions online, including their own boards. > [@](#): > > Their OGL rules are much stricter than normal copyright laws, and if you break 'em, you no longer have permission to publish things within the constraints of the OGL, which means no D20 material. (IANAL and all that). Doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer or not. They can shut anyone down, at any time, for any reason, with no appeal. The law doesn’t come into it. They set up a small legal structure unto themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/18 "2005-08-13T15:02:21Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Worse yet, they then don’t actually publish anything on Greyhawk. AFAIK, all they ever did was that 5-page gazeteer for 3rd edition. Aren’t you a D20 publisher, **bandit**? First, there’s the [Living Greyhawk Gazetteer](http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/867270000), a pretty hefty work set in the Greyhawk universe. Second, Greyhawks is the default setting for D&D 3E: unless a product specifically states otherwise, it is assumed to take place in Greyhawk. (Note that this holds true through such things as prestige classes based on Greyhawk deities, magic items based on Greyhawk’s history, and the like). > [@](#): > > Besides, people discuss their deities and identity material all the time online and off. And WotC is quite happy about it. Heck, “Which God Should I Be a Cleric of” is one of the most commonly asked and answered questions online, including their own boards. Exactly. Again, I was referring to why you won’t find a website with a summary of each god. > [@](#): > > Doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer or not. They can shut anyone down, at any time, for any reason, with no appeal. The law doesn’t come into it. They set up a small legal structure unto themselves. That “small legal structure” is also called a “contract.” And no, they can’t shut anyone down at any time: all they can do is prevent you from using their copyrighted material in the way that they let most people use their copyrighted material, if you don’t abide by their stringent restrictions. If you don’t use their copyrighted material, they can’t touch you. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/19 "2005-08-14T11:26:06Z")
[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) has the entire [Deities and Demigods](http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0786926546/ref=sib_rdr_zmin/103-3812042-7910246?p=S006&j=1#reader-page) book available for searching/viewing. I linked to the Table of Contents, which lists all the deities covered. If you want a description for a particular deity, you can search for his or her name and go to the relevant page. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748/20 "2005-08-14T11:32:18Z")
Wikipedia also has a [List of deities of Dungeons & Dragons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deities_of_Dungeons_%26_Dragons) with short, one-line descriptions for each. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deities-from-dnd-3-5e-phb/316748.md?page=2)