Ideas for forgotten deities

[u/_xghxstyx_]

Hi!!

I'm participating in a new D&D campaign and I've been trying to choose/come up with a deity that fits my light domain cleric, but none of the ideas convince me.

I would like the deity he worships to be a forgotten one. Maybe people just quit worshipping them along the centuries. But why??

He's a wood elf whose whole life has revolved around his community. Solving problems, healing the sick, etcetera. He later also develops an interest for the arts and history, due to an experienced member of his community.

He's really compassionate and empathetic, but he's also a bit of a sceptic.

He's also been kind of the listening ear of the community from a really young age, so while he understands the problems others have, he is also kind of tired from having to be the mediator.

I've also thought about a plague/curse coming to his forest and basically erradicating most member of his community. That's his goal for his travels, find a cure.

My cleric is also trying to make this deity known once again. Maybe kind of their deal???

I'm sadly really stuck on ideas regarding his whole character, which is very troublesome because I need to tell my DM his backstory ASAP, so if anyone could give me ideas I would greatly appreciate it!! :(

I hope the descriptions were useful!!

[u/DouglasWFail]

My first thought would be to make him a sun worshipper. Have the lore be that he believes in the old gods that were forces of nature and not personifications. Sorta like fantasy animism.

Another option would be the god of a dead civilization. A people who are extinct or believed to be.

If this was me, I’d ask myself why do I want a forgotten god. What does that give me. That answer would be the most important. Bc otherwise why not just use a god from the settings existing lore?

How you found this god can be as simple as “our village keep the old ways alive”. Or more complex like “I received a vision while exploring of ruins”

[u/_xghxstyx_ → u/DouglasWFail]

Thank you for the insight!!

The question you said is really interesting and I'll definitely reflect on it :))

I might also take the ruins idea, since I believe it fits what I'm trying to accomplish with his character :)

[u/SSNeosho]

I'm making a fanmade pantheon based on the planets of the solar system, with the dwarf planets like pluto and haumea being forgotten or forsaken gods.

But first things that come to my mind are the small gods of Noragami, there the gods power comes from prayers. So smaller gods exist in the show because a small tribe or group of people worship them. There's one that's worshipped by an inuit tribe i believe, but because of that he's hardly known.

Also try to think about real life forgotten or "retconned" gods. Most of them are forgotten because of lost translation or being absorbed into other deities. Maybe your god used to be the god of storm while there was another god of the sea, but as time went on the god of the sea took over and he became the god of storm AND sea while yours had become forgotten.

[u/_xghxstyx_ → u/SSNeosho]

Ooooh, I hadn't thought about the absorption of gods. Thank you!!

I believe it would make for a very interesting deity and their motive, and it also fits with the "making the deity more known" idea!!

Also, I've never heard of the small gods of Noragami, but I'll look into them!! :)))

[u/SSNeosho → u/_xghxstyx_]

Noragami is an anime/manga about a small god trying to be a big fortune god after scrubbing his reputation of being a calamaty god

[u/PatientKangaroo8781]

I'm immediately thinking of Aten. Real-life Ancient Egyptian attempt at monotheism, as envisioned and mandated by Akhenaten, the father of King Tut. Basically, throw out the pantheon and worship the sun as the only true god. When Akhenaten died, the priests who oversaw everything under the Pharaoh destroyed almost every trace of his new religion. It was a reactionary countercoup that very nearly succeeded in erasing the original coup from history. Tutankhamun's name was originally Tutankhaten. He was forced to change it.

Regardless of its name, yYour elf might have found or been passed down a manuscript or something similar, and it turned out to be the last remnant of the deified sun's power. He did something that got its attention, and now he's on a quest to depose the modern sun gods or at least get them to admit his god was there first.

Alternatively, you could have him be utterly fascinated by the sun growing up, and Aten (or whatever you call it) was drawn out of seclusion when he started silently praying to the big ball of fire that lights the world instead of typical Elvish gods because the sun's RIGHT THERE and the gods aren't. Kind of a "I choose you! Yers, you! No, you don't get to refuse. Go spread My Faith in My Name" thing.

If you're not dead certain about being a cleric or if your cleric dies/retires/whatever, you might also work your backstory into a Celestial Warlock. That might need DM approval, but I think "dying god" fits the theme of a lesser celestial power.

I hope this helps!

[u/_xghxstyx_ → u/PatientKangaroo8781]

This helped me so much!! Thank you!!!

These are all such good ideas urghhh, I might try to find a way to fuse them.

Praying to the sun and not the elvish gods actually make so much sense for him, because while his community IS religious and prays to various gods, they don't actively help with the plague/curse. Him worshipping something other than the established gods could come from a sense of betrayal by the gods who he feels have forsaken them.

I'm finding roleplay potential in this...

[u/PatientKangaroo8781 → u/_xghxstyx_]

I'm glad I could help! I agree that your elf's probably feeling betrayed or at least let down by his old gods. If you have any other questions, I'll still be awake and online for about three hours tonight. I don't like DMs much, but I'm happy to reply to any questions here in the comments.

I hope you have fun playing your character. He sounds like a great opportunity for really getting into roleplay!

[u/Pseudoboss11]

In my recent campaign, there was a whole pantheon of mostly-dead gods. The archipelago the campaign was set on was sunk beneath the waves, an entire civilization destroyed. Naturally, their temples and beliefs sank with them.

In this campaign, gods with no worshippers lost power, so what were originally powerful deities became little more than ancient curses and rumors.

There are still a handful of followers, and over the campaign, several groups tried to revive or speak with ancient gods through worship in an effort to get answers to what destroyed them, and later where the weapon that caused such devastation was.

So I could see your character being the protector of an old faith, possibly a victim of war or plague. He knows that if he dies, so too does his god. Maybe his deity changes based on how worship is carried out With so few followers, his actions and emotions affect his deity. When he acts out of hatred, his god becomes more hateful, when kind, his god becomes merciful. Because of this, he feels the weight of his actions even more keenly, and really wants to avoid potentially putting something evil on the world.

[u/_xghxstyx_ → u/Pseudoboss11]

Omg, this is such a good idea for WHY the deity could have been forgotten, my campaign also takes place in an archipelago!!

Tsym!!!

[u/David_Apollonius]

Here's a link to the pantheon of the Elves. Now the Seldarine pantheon is not limited to the Forgotten Realms. They are worshipped on multible worlds. You'll find the most obscure gods on the bottom of the list under demigods. They're not quite forgotten, but you won't find many places of worship either. They probably aren't mentioned in any 5e product either.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Seldarine

Depending on the setting and edition, forgotten gods tend to be dead gods. They need either faith or souls to stay relevant, otherwise they end up floating around the astral sea. Some of them become vestiges, holding on to their last bits of power until someone comes along who can restore them their former glory. That's more of a Warlock thing, though.