The legion of fictional deities in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game covers an extensive range of spheres of influence, allowing players to customize the spiritual beliefs and powers of their characters, and as well as giving Dungeon Masters a long list of gods from which to design evil temples and minions. Although the Greyhawk campaign world, when it was merely a home game, started with no specific gods, the value of having deities available for both players and game plot purposes was quickly realized. The number of deities has varied with each version of the campaign world that has been published, but for many years numbered a few dozen. It has only been since 1999 that the number of gods increased dramatically to almost 200, due to the volume of newly published material that was subsequently integrated into the campaign world.
When Dungeons & Dragons was developed in the early 1970s by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, one of the archetypal character classes in the original game was the cleric, a character who received divine powers from "the gods". However, when Gygax started to build his own campaign world called Greyhawk, one facet of culture that he did not address was organized religion. Since his campaign was largely built around the needs of lower-level characters, he didn't think specific deities were necessary, since direct interaction between a god and a low-level character was very unlikely. Some of his players took matters into their own hands, calling upon Norse or Greek gods such as Odin or Zeus, or even Conan'sCrom in times of dire need.[1] However, some of the players wanted Gygax to create and customize a specific deity so that cleric characters could receive their divine powers from someone less ambiguous than "the gods". Gygax, with tongue in cheek, created two gods: Saint Cuthbert—who brought non-believers around to his point of view with whacks of his cudgel[2] —and Pholtus, whose fanatical followers refused to believe that any other gods existed. Because both of these deities represented aspects of Good, Gygax eventually created a few evil deities to provide some villainy.[3]
In Gygax's serialized novella The Gnome Cache, which was set in Greyhawk, a shrine to St. Cuthbert (spelled "St. Cuthburt") is mentioned; this was the first published reference to a Greyhawk deity.[4]
Greyhawk deities and the folio edition
In 1980, TSR published Gygax's home campaign world as a 32-page folio, World of Greyhawk (known as the "folio edition" to differentiate it from later versions). However, Gygax did not include any details of the deities he used in his home campaign at this time.
Several adventure modules were quickly published to support the folio edition, and one of them, C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, featured the first deities designed specifically for a World of Greyhawk setting. The adventure was designed to introduce players to the Aztec-like Olman humans of the Amedio Jungle, a subject not covered in the folio edition. The Olman deities—largely drawn from Aztec culture—were Mictlantecuhtli, god of death, darkness, murder and the underworld; Tezcatlipoca, god of sun, moon, night, scheming, betrayals and lightning; and Quetzalcoatl, god of air, birds and snakes. However, Gygax did not acknowledge these deities in any of his work on Greyhawk, and TSR did not publish any further references or adventures using this setting, effectively "orphaning" the Olman culture. The Olman deities were not included in any versions of the Greyhawk campaign setting until they reappeared in 1999 in The Scarlet Brotherhood by Sean K. Reynolds and in 2005 in the extensive list of deities published for the Living Greyhawk campaign.[5]
Lacking any Greyhawk-specific deities in the folio edition, many Dungeon Masters using the World of Greyhawk setting borrowed generic deities from the just-published rulebook Deities and Demigods[6] for their Greyhawk campaigns. However, relief was in sight. In the August 1982 issue of Dragon (Issue 64), Gygax gave advice on how to adapt the 23 non-human deities from Deities and Demigods to the Greyhawk world,[7] and he included a description of the first non-human deity designed specifically for Greyhawk, Raxivort (god of the goblin-like xvarts). A few months later, Gygax then published a long and very detailed five-part article in the November 1982 to March 1983 issues (Issues 67-71) of Dragon that outlined a pantheon of deities custom-made for worship by humans in the world of Greyhawk. In addition to his original Greyhawk deities, St. Cuthbert and Pholtus, Gygax added 17 more deities:
Gygax also used the hierarchy of deities as set out in the just-published Deities and Demigods rule book: greater god, lesser god, demi-god. (Later, he would add two ranks below demi-god: quasi-deity, and hero-deity.) Although later versions of the campaign setting would assign most of these deities to worship by specific races of humans, at this time they were generally worshipped by all humans of the Flanaess.
Greyhawk deities in the boxed set: Four human pantheons
In 1983, the folio edition was replaced by the greatly expanded World of Greyhawk boxed set. Gygax was not only able to include the nineteen new gods from his previously published Dragon articles, he also included 31 new gods, for a total of 50 deities. However, although the material regarding the 19 original deities was reprinted in full, only three of the "new" deities were also given a full description: Raxivort (whose full description had been published in Dragon the previous year), Ulaa and Xan Yae. The remainder of the new deities were simply listed by name and sphere of influence.
All but one of these deities—Raxivort being the exception—was primarily a human deity. By his own admission, Gygax's vision of Greyhawk (and of D&D) was of a human-centred world.[13] In Gygax's original Dragon articles, he had made no mention of racial preferences for any of the gods; now the boxed set introduced four main human races: Suel, Oeridian, Bakluni and Flannae, and assigned most of the deities to be primarily worshipped by one or other of these races. The twelve deities of the Suel pantheon had been created by Len Lakofka, and he would subsequently publish a detailed five-part article on them in the July–November 1984 issues (#87–92) of Dragon. Most of the other gods were assigned to one of the three remaining pantheons, while a few were either declared common to all humans or of unknown origin:
In February–June 1982, a year before the release of the boxed set, Roger E. Moore had published five articles in Dragon (Issues 58–62) describing deities of the non-human races available to players (elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, half-orcs) suitable for any generic Dungeons & Dragons campaign. In Issue 71 (March 1983), Gygax indicated that these twenty-four deities were now "Greyhawk legal";[14] this increased the number of Greyhawk deities from 50 to 74.
In the March 1983 issue (Issue 71) was an article detailing four unique characters of Greyhawk. The first two "quasi-deities"—Heward and Keoghtom—had been created by Gygax as non-player characters (NPCs—characters designed to interact with players). The third, Murlynd, was a character that had been created by Gygax's childhood friend Don Kaye before Kaye's untimely death in 1975. The fourth, a "hero-deity" named Kelanen, was developed to illustrate the "principle of advancement of power".[15]
Heward, Keoghtom, and Murlynd were classified by Gygax as "quasi-deities," defined as "characters who have risen above the status of heroes, but who are not quite demi-gods." Other quasi-deities mentioned, but not detailed, included Daern, Johydee, Nolzur, Quall, and Tuerny. Kelanen was called a "Hero-Deity," defined as "one of the very powerful individuals who might, or might not, be a true deity."
With a few additions or deletions in subsequent versions of the campaign setting, the 50 human gods in the boxed set and most of Moore's non-human gods would form the core of Greyhawk deities for the next 22 years. However, Gygax's four quasi-deities would not be mentioned in any official Greyhawk material until 1998.
Greyhawk rises "From the Ashes"
Gygax, creator of the world of Greyhawk, was forced out of TSR at the end of 1985. For several years after his departure, there was little or no change to the world of Greyhawk, and the 1983 boxed set continued to be the campaign setting. Then in 1992, TSR released a new Greyhawk setting, From the Ashes. All of the human deities from the previous editions were kept, and one new demigod, Mayaheine, was added. However, only the 7 greater gods, 18 intermediate gods and 6 demigods were given a full text description; the 29 lesser gods only received a single line on a summary chart.
For non-human deities, the 24 from Roger E. Moore's Dragon articles were kept, and a further 9 goblinoid and giant deities were added from the Deities and Demigods rulebook. However, the non-human gods were also simply listed in the summary chart; their full descriptions could be found in Moore’s original articles in back issues of Dragon, in Unearthed Arcana, or the old Deities & Demigods rulebook. The sourcebook Monster Mythology, written by the same author as From the Ashes (Carl Sargent), was released earlier the same year, providing extensive details on these nonhuman pantheons for those without access to those earlier sources, as well as introducing many new nonhuman gods to the game. Deities introduced for the first time in Monster Mythology include the elven goddess Sehanine Moonbow, who is mentioned prominently in From the Ashes.
Altogether, "From the Ashes" increased the total number of deities to 92.
The overall departure of the Greyhawk campaign from Gygax's original world to the darker vision set out in From the Ashes was not well-received by the public, and TSR stopped publishing Greyhawk material in 1993. Several years later, financially strapped by a cash-flow crisis, TSR was bought by Wizards of the Coast (WotC), and the moribund Greyhawk setting was revived.
In the Greyhawk Player's Guide published in 1998, the list of deities was expanded, although only human deities (and one monstrous god, Raxivort) were mentioned on page 19. The book notes on page 18 that "this is not a comprehensive list, even for humans, and includes very few demihuman or humanoid gods." Page 62 mentions two dwarven deities, Moradin and Clangeddin Silverbeard, who do not appear on that list, and directed interested readers to Unearthed Arcana or Monster Mythology for details on those gods.
Deities added to the setting in the Player's Guide include Al'Akbar, Daern, Kyuss, Dalt, Jascar, Osprem, Vatun, Zodal, Johydee, Kelanen, Keoghtom and Murlynd. (The latter three were the "quasi-deities" described by Gary Gygax back in Dragon in 1983, and also appearing in the Glossography in the 1983 boxed set.) In addition to Raxivort, the lesser god of xvarts, a new elvish demi-god, Ye'Cind (music, Good), was added, bringing the total number of deities appearing on page 19 to 74. However, none of the gods were given any description, leaving players to search for background information on worshippers and ethos in older published material.
The following year, the sourcebook The Scarlet Brotherhood by Sean K. Reynolds introduced a new human race, the Touv, and the nine gods of their pantheon. In addition, the sourcebook also included the quasi-Aztec Olman pantheon that had been introduced in 1980 but never used in campaign material.
Third edition of D&D and Living Greyhawk
In 2000, WotC produced a new Third Edition of D&D, and made Greyhawk the default campaign setting for D&D—that is, unless a Dungeon Master specifically used a different campaign setting, it was assumed that his or her D&D game was set in the world of Greyhawk. Since Greyhawk was the default setting, the new gods were automatically added to the campaign pantheon. In addition, administrators of the Living Greyhawk shared world campaign that started in 2001 decided that every Greyhawk deity previously mentioned in any official source—human and non-human—as well as any god published by WotC in the future, would be a Greyhawk-legal deity. By 2005, this policy had almost tripled the total number of deities to 193; the list now covered every race found in the Greyhawk world, and almost every conceivable sphere of power was mentioned.[5]
In 2008, the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons changed the default campaign setting from Greyhawk to an undefined "World", sometimes referred to as the "points of light" setting. Most of the deities of the new default pantheon are new, but a number of deities from Greyhawk, such as Pelor and Kord, are also included.
To date, WotC has not produced any new material for the Greyhawk world since the introduction of the 4th Edition, leaving the following list of Greyhawk deities unchanged for the time being:
Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for Dungeons & Dragons—Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign predated it by about a year—the world of Greyhawk closely identified with early development of the game beginning in 1972, and after being published it remained associated with Dungeons & Dragons publications until 2008. The world itself started as a simple dungeon under a castle designed by Gary Gygax for the amusement of his children and friends, but it was rapidly expanded to include not only a complex multi-layered dungeon environment, but also the nearby city of Greyhawk, and eventually an entire world. In addition to the campaign world, which was published in several editions over twenty years, Greyhawk was also used as the setting for many adventures published in support of the game, as well as for RPGA's massively shared Living Greyhawk campaign from 2000 to 2008.
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Mordenkainen is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. He was created by Gary Gygax as a player character, only months after the start of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign and is therefore one of the oldest characters continuously associated with Dungeons & Dragons.
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Tenser is an archmage who strives to rid the Flanaess of evil. Tenser is a former member of both the Citadel of Eight and the Circle of Eight.
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The Free City of Greyhawk, also known as Greyhawk City and the "Gem of the Flanaess," is a fictional city-state in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Since the setting was originally published in a folio and then again in a boxed set that were both titled World of Greyhawk, the word "Greyhawk" is often used to describe the entire campaign world setting, although the proper name for that part of the world is the Flanaess. Sometimes the lands controlled by the Free City are also referred to as Greyhawk, though the proper term for the region is the Domain of Greyhawk.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Tharizdun is the god of Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity, and Cold. He originated in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting but has since also appeared in other settings.
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The lich is an undead creature found in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Liches are spellcasters who seek to defy death by magical means.
James Michael Ward III was an American game designer and fantasy author who worked for TSR, Inc. for more than 20 years, most notably on the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. He wrote various books relating to Dungeons & Dragons, including guidebooks such as Deities & Demigods, and novels including Pool of Radiance, based on the computer game of the same name.
Robert J. Kuntz is a game designer and author of role-playing game publications. He is best known for his contributions to various Dungeons & Dragons-related materials.
Lenard William Lakofka was an American writer of material for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Although never a formal employee of TSR, the company that published Dungeons & Dragons, Lakofka was an influential voice in the development of the game. He was one of the playtesters of the game as it was being developed, an editor of early manuscripts, wrote a widely-read monthly D&D magazine column and two official D&D adventures, and had his home campaign setting of the Lendore Isles incorporated into Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting.
The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting and the World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting are two closely related publications from TSR, Inc. that detail the fictional World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. Both publications were authored by Gary Gygax, and they were the first stand-alone offerings to provide detailed, comprehensive information regarding a D&D campaign setting.
Vecna Lives! is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, gnomes are one of the core races available for play as player characters. Some speculate that they are closely related to dwarves; however, gnomes are smaller and more tolerant of other races, nature, and magic. Depending on the setting and subrace, they are often skilled with illusion magic or engineering. Gnomes are small humanoids, standing 3–3.5 feet (91–107 cm) tall.
References
↑ Kuntz: "Before [Gygax] codified the gods there [were] Norse Gods... Robilar really only mentioned Odin once or twice; Mornard's Gronan as well as Ratners's Ayelerach both swore by Crom.""Robilar Remembers: Goddess of Luck?". Pied Piper Publishing. 2002-11-20. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
↑ Gygax: "St. Cuthbert was more of a joke than otherwise. Consider the advocacy of pounding sense into someone's head by dint of blows from a club.""Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part XII, Page 4)". EN World. 2006-08-23. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
↑ Gygax: "The development of anything akin to a logical pantheon of deities for the world setting took a considerable period of time to complete because we seldom dealt with such entities in play. St. Cuthbert and Pholtus were amusing to the players with cleric PCs so I spent time detailing them. The balance then followed as I brought into play evil deities to serve as villians [sic] and to frustrate the aims of the PCs.""Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part VIII, Page 5)". EN World. 2005-02-24. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
↑ Gygax, Gary (August 1976). "The Gnome Cache (Part II)". Dragon. No.2. Lake Geneva WI: TSR. p.6.
↑ Gygax, Gary (August 1982). "Greyhawk's World - News, Notes and Views of the Greyhawk World: Events of the Eastern and Southern Flanaess". Dragon. Vol.VII, No. 3, no.64. Lake Geneva WI: TSR. p.13.
1 2 3 4 Gygax, Gary (November 1982). "Deities and Demigods of Greyhawk, Part 1". Dragon. No.67. p.23.
1 2 3 4 5 Gygax, Gary (December 1982). "Deities and Demigods of Greyhawk, Part 2". Dragon. No.68. p.63.
1 2 Gygax, Gary (January 1983). "Deities and Demigods of Greyhawk, Part 3". Dragon. No.69. p.27.
1 2 3 4 5 Gygax, Gary (March 1983). "Deities and Demigods of Greyhawk, Part 5". Dragon. No.71. p.52.
1 2 3 Gygax, Gary (February 1983). "Deities and Demigods of Greyhawk, Part 4". Dragon. No.70. p.20.
↑ Gygax: "I do really think that unlimited demi-human races will absolutely obviate the humanocentric bases for a campaign world...unless the demi-humans are very few and far between. To have them as an integral part of the campaign world, one must have them limited in potential to something less than the dominant humans. As I wished to have include demi-humans commonly as PCs, NPCs, and in basically their own racial communities and state entities as well as amongst human societies, I limited their potential power so as to make human dominance a reasonable assumption for play." "Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part VII, Page 21)". EN World. 2005-02-17. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
↑ Gygax, Gary (March 1983). "New druid spells . . . naturally!". Dragon. No.71. Lake Geneva WI: TSR. p.5.
↑ Gygax, Gary (March 1983). "Greyhawk's World: Four Uncharacteristic Characters". Dragon. Vol.VII, No. 9, no.71. Lake Geneva WI: TSR. pp.19–22.
↑ In "From the Ashes", Beory's alignment was changed from Good to Neutral
↑ Pholtus was accidentally left out of the summarized list of deities in "From the Ashes", but was described fully in the "Atlas of the Flanaess" booklet that was part of the boxed set.
↑ Due to a typo the second "i" in "Sotillion" was dropped in this edition. "Sotillon" was repeated in all subsequent editions until the "i" was finally restored in the 2005 compilation of deities for the Living Greyhawk campaign.
↑ Wenta (autumn) was left off the summarized list of deities; however, since Sotillion (summer), Telchur (winter) and Atroa (spring) were still included, one can assume this was done in error.
↑ In the fourth supplement to the original D&D rules, Eldritch Wizardry (1976), Brian Blume invented two artifacts he called the Hand and Eye of Vecna (pp.43–44). [Gygax: "Brian blume (sic) was the creator of the Eye and Hand of Vecna, and nary a detail of those items did he ever reveal to me--beyond what appeared in print." "Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part I, Page 13)". EN World. 2002-09-16. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2009-08-28.] These were supposedly the only remnants of the evil lichVecna who had been destroyed long ago. Three years later, these artifacts also appeared in the Dungeon Masters Guide (1979). Over ten years later, in the adventure module Vecna Lives! (1990), written in support of The City of Greyhawk boxed set, Vecna was re-imagined as a demigod. Ten years later, in 2000, Wizards of the Coast released the last adventure to be written for D&D's 2nd edition rules, Die, Vecna, Die!, a three-part adventure tying Greyhawk to the Ravenloft and Planescape campaign settings. In the course of this adventure's plot, Vecna rose from the status of demigod to greater deity, before finishing the adventure as a lesser god. He retained the status of lesser deity into the 3rd and 4th editions of the game.
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