Many of the traditional D&D and Pathfinder gods are worshipped in my world, although several home-brew deities have a following as well. However, rather than worshipping individual deities, most people in the world venerate their local pantheon, and recognize the deities of other regions as well. Most gods have their own priests and temples, but some priests might represent a whole pantheon of deities - The Green is a good example of that.

The Three Sisters

• Sybel the Bounteous - the life mother, goddess of life and fertility – Mother of Creation
• Tia the Blessed - Creator of natural death, souls and the afterlife.
• Fortuna – Lady Luck and patron of Fate.

The three female over-deities, triplets whose origins are unknown, are all True Neutral. They are grand and well known to high priests across the world - however, they are distant. They do not have churches or priesthoods and do not grant spells to mortals, nor do they recognize mortal prayers, but are believed to be the patrons and creators of deities and similar powers (past and Present). They are believed to be served by every deity, power or psychopomp, who can grant domains – regardless of alignment. For Example (Lamashtu, the PF mother of Monsters, serves Sybel in much the same way as Ehlonna a 3e a goddess of Forest Fertility does).

There are many deities from 'traditional' (D&D or Pathfinder) pantheons that I like and incorporate in my games. These are deities, from those sources who feature prominently.

Wee Jas Weja - The priests of Wee Jas once conquered much of the world using portals that gave access to the Paths of the Dead. The Wangate Empire, named after the portals that were used to bring in undead monsters to pacify and control a region, ruled for centuries before it was overthrown. The aftereffects are still felt around the world. While there are few people who revere Wee Jas left in the world, they are a few, and (in most cases) they are still feared by the population at large..

The Green - The philosophies followed by nature lovers everywhere. While the detail charges from place to place, the core concepts of respecting the world, forests, animals and nature, in general, hold across the world. This philosophy can incorporate the worship of many different deities and spirits.

Official Deities - My take on deities from the 3.5 and PF pantheons - And the game world has grown up around them, However many of them are known by different names for some aspects of my writing.

Homebrew faiths designed, primarily, for background NPCs. Each pantheon worships a group of deities, rather than being dedicated to particular deity. Their priests are generally low level adepts, and may only cast very low level spells from the Adept spell lists. They are not good faiths for PC priests to follow. If you want a few, eclectic spells, see the quasi-deities

Note: (In an old version of the rules, spells below Level-4 are learned through ritual, and not specifically 'authorised' by the deity or their servants. These pantheons, follow ritual from different faiths - but they are cast devoutly and with the right motivation, so they are acceptable to the Deity in question - if not specifically authorised by them)

• The Wen Deities - The 'origin' deities for the Wen Barbarians.
• The Old Lords - The 'origin' deities for the peoples of The Hann Empire.
• The Cult of the Small Gods - The favoured deities of Sailors and Fisherfolk.
• Royal Ancestor Worship - Followed by the royal family of Porters Bar

The following are a group of bespoke deities and immortals, who have appeared in my games. Most are very minor deities, but they give the world a bit of extra flavour.

Some of these deities are associated with The Paths of the Dead - an RP description of that refers to one aspect of the Plane of Shadow. I borrowed this concept from a game that I played in many years ago when the character, who evolved into Gasgano, found a 'Book of the Dead' which allowed access to grey, colourless, passageways - filled with undead - that allowed fast travel around the world. I used the concept, slightly modified, when I was building death and resurrection systems for Neverwinter Nights persistent worlds, and have used the same concept here.

Demigods are true gods, capable of granting a selection of domains, and offer the full range of divine spells to their priests. They follow all the standard Pathfinder rules for deities.

• Takri - Pychopomp, and patron of navigators.
• Arth - The Hope for Lost Causes, patron of hermits and heroes.
• Maruma - The three-fold goddess - Maiden, Mother & Crone - patron of Women and Community.

Nature spirits are strange things, they aren't really gods, in the sense that they need worshippers and priests, but some of them can grant divine spells to their 'priests'. Examples of Nature Spirits, that can be treated as deities, are listed below.

• Shan - from Porters Bar and The Cult of the Small Gods, who has achieved quasi-deity status.
• Jack Butterfly - from Galinia, an immortal caretaker of the land, and proponent of The Green.
• Mawida, Rusina & Maria - worshipped as part of The Old Lords pantheon.

This does not conform with either the 3.5 or Pathfinder rules, but reverts (in some ways) to some of the earlier definitions. In some earlier versions of the game, lower level deities could not grant high level spells to their priests, Demi-Gods (for example) were restricted to granting 5th level spells and below. These Quasi-deities echo that by only being able to grant spells from the (standard) Adept spell list, and only have access to two domains.

They are well suited for NPCs and would also suit PCs who are not expected to reach high levels in their divine casting class. Some players might find the mix of spells, many of which are not available to conventional clerics, interesting.

• Way - A patron of travellers, who preaches that the journey is as important as the destination, and that it is the journey that will bring you salvation. Like other quasi-deities, Way only grants spells from the Paizo's Adepts spell list. However, her priests can be Adepts, Clerics or other 'divine' classes. (TN)
• Azan - Mistress of the Marketplace.
• Yarma - Patron of guards and warriors, wherever they might be.
• Shan - Master of the sea winds.

Nyym: The patron of street performers.

Very Much needs tidying up later.

No one really knows much about Nyyn, but one day, deep in the slums of a city, a shrine came into being. Somehow, it attracted followers, with a bit of charisma, from the local common folk. And before long, they were walking the streets, with simple marionettes, silly songs, bad jokes, dodgy juggling and other very minor street entertainment skills. Between them, they collected enough (via donations or very minor theft, scrounging) that they could maintain a small community around the shrine. It isn’t a good life, but it isn’t a particularly bad life either. Better than that of someone without a living or a community.

Over time, Nyym has grown. The original shrine hasn’t grown, but other, similar, shrines have grown up in other towns and cities. In some cities it is common to see the street performers, trying to amuse kids, tell bad jokes, embarrass young women (and men), and generally play the fool - all in return for a carrot, a copper or handful of chives. However, there is more to it than that, many of the entertainers are very minor priests of one sort or another, and may well cast a L0 or L1 spell, if they feel like it. While most spells are beneficial, they have less pleasant alternatives to fall back on … In some of the larger shrines, you can buy (prices negotiable) Clerical spell casting, scrolls and even potions.

Most ‘priests’ are pathfinder:npc_classes:adepts [JohnB's Games] Lay Preachers - but there might be one or two with other (lesser) adept classes.

Immortals are not gods, although they have some aspects of godhood. They do not grant spells to followers, but may be patrons of a particular philosophy or lifestyle.

• Gasgano - an immortal whose philosophies of self-reliance are followed by The Monks of The Amethyst Fist.