Deities of Greyhawk
The gods, goddesses, demi-gods, and deities of Flanaess are more distant than in other realms. The deities typically do to directly interfere with mortal affairs. They do not take on avatars and walk with mortals nor do they often speak directly with their followers.
Character Creation Tips:
Druids are focused around nature. Beory, Ehlonna, Obad-Hai, and Ulaa are great choices for nature followers. For Those seeking to create a Cleric of the War domain, may wish to choose Kord, Heironeous, or Trithereon. Those wanting the Trickery domain, Fharlanghn, Celestian, Olidammara, or Ralishaz would work well. Many of the gods would work for life domain. And for light domain one could follow St. Cuthbert, Pelor, Pholtus, or Celestian would work.
Beory (NG) Goddess of Nature
Beory is considered to be a manifestation of the Oerth itself. She does not care for anything else, and mortals or other deities only concern her if they threaten the Oerth. She is distant even from her own clerics, who wander the earth to experience the different parts of the world. They spend their time communing with nature and often associate with druids.
Boccob (N) God of Magic
Boccob teaches that magic is the most important force in the cosmos, and that balance between Law and Chaos, and between Good and Evil, should be preserved. Magic, according to Boccobite dogma, is an energy source of finite extant, and may eventually wane. Boccob promotes the research and creation of new spells and magical items, under the theory that this increases the amount of magic available to everyone.
Erythnul (CE) God of Envy and Slaughter
The chaos of battle is the sacred charge of the worshippers of Erythnul. In all the myriad forms of terror and suffering that war creates, there is a strange kind of unity. This is part of the reason that Erythnul is called the Many. Battle is a test of merit and strength and living and dying by the sword is the definition of the good life.
Celestian (NG) God of Stars and Wanderers
Celestian encourages his followers to wander far from home, just as the stars do. Astrology is as much a part of Celestian's faith as astronomy is, and his worshippers are encouraged to discover the secrets within the patterns of the stars and other celestial bodies. Celestians are required to aid travelers in need, but are permitted to charge for their services.
Though Celestians must pledge to wander, they may remain in one place for decades without receiving more than a gentle chiding from Celestian priests. Priests are expected to take their oaths much more seriously.
Fharlanghn (N) God of Horizons and Travel
Fharlanghn insists that everyone travel to discover and learn new things. He urges people to look to the horizon for inspiration. Fharlanghn is the patron of all those who travel long distances, whether on the surface or in the depths of the Underdark. His symbol is often seen in inns and stables across the continent. His followers include adventurers, merchants, and itinerants of all sorts.
Hextor (LE) God of War and Discord
The church of Hextor teaches that the world is a harsh, unforgiving place. The strong rule the weak, and power is the only reward worth having. Cruelty and mercilessness are necessary tools. Order must be forged from Chaos and law from anarchy, but order is meaningless without the will to enforce it. Tyrants are to be obeyed, and dissenters are to be oppressed or killed. Slaves must obey their masters.
Ehlonna (NG) Goddess of Woodlands
Ehlonna teaches that the animals and plants of the forests are gifts, and not to be stolen. She is often the goddess of rangers and druids and opposes hunters and those who would take from the land for fun or profit. Ehlonna is the patron of all good-aligned folk who love the forests. She is worshipped by hunters, trappers, foresters, rangers, woodcutters, and more. Brownies, elves, gnomes, and halflings are especially attuned to Ehlonna of the Forests and will willingly aid her.
Kord (CG) God of Strength and Courage
Kord's followers are urged to scorn cowardice and taught that the strong and fit should rule the weak. To Kord's faithful, a leader's best quality is bravery. Kord loves physical contests, and this inspires many barbarian tribes to use nonlethal sports as a method for resolving disputes. Because battle claims the weak and cowardly alike, there is nothing to lose by seeking battle; indeed, battle determines who is most worthy of life, and ensures a place at Kord's side after death. Those who flee from battle are often publicly excommunicated.
Incabulos (NE) God of Plague and Famine
Incabulos delights in and feeds on suffering, gaining power from illness, famine, nightmares, and other evils and woes. While some attempt to placate the Evilsent with prayers, this only delays the inevitable. Clerics of Incabulos are secretive and paranoid, fearing persecution by those who value their health and well-being. If they reveal themselves, it is only to strike greater fear in those already suffering. They enjoy torturing others and spreading disease and blight. They travel to lands to discover new diseases or to spread them. They wear garb of black and orange.
Heironeous (LG) God of Chivalry and War
Heironeous sees the world as a deadly place, filled with perpetual challenges and trials for those who battle for justice and defend the weak and innocent. His followers should always act with honor and chivalry, and to uphold justice. Danger is to be faced head-on, with calm and resolve. Those who defeat evil are rewarded with Glory, while those who uphold the tenets of the Arch-paladin are rewarded with Virtue. The Arch-paladin's teachings have been codified in a chivalric code known as the Heironean Code.
Istus (N) Goddess of Fate and Destiny
In the strange metaphysics of the worshippers of Istus, the multiverse is conceived of as an intricate mesh of interconnected threads, with everything connected to everything else. They are believers in predestination, although the threads of fate are sometimes slack enough that destiny can be altered in some small way. Because the future is for the most part foreordained, it can be permitted by those with the skills to perceive how the threads are linked. Clerics of Istus teach that acceptance of one's fate is the only honest approach; those who strive too hard against Fate will only meet their own foreordained ruins.
Nerull (NE) God of Death
Nerull's faithful believe they will be rewarded for acts of murder, for every living thing is an abomination in the eyes of the Reaper.
Nerull's clerics are feared throughout the lands as cold, calculating murderers. Named clerics of He Who Revels in the Slaying of the Living include Delglath, Jipzinker, Andrade Mirrius, Guiliana Mortidus, and Nezmajen. They are secretive and often solitary. When not in disguise, they dress in the same rust-red hue as the bones of their god.
Those who would become priests of Nerull must undergo an arduous initiation that climaxes in being buried alive for a time.
Obad-Hai teaches that one should live in harmony with nature, and that those who would damage the natural balance deserve swift vengeance. Obad-Hai's faith is colder and less compassionate than Ehlonna's, preaching death in balance with life. When followers of the Shalm hunt, they target the weak and sickly first.
Olidammara (CN) God of revelry and rogues
Olidammara teaches his followers to avoid predictability and routine, to delight in wine, to learn music, to seek out happiness, joy, entertainment, and the company of others. Olidammara advises his faithful to appreciate both the jokes they play and the jokes played on them. He also teaches that misery, temperance, and solemnity are the greatest poisons to the soul.
Pelorians believe that the life-giving sun is the best cure for all of Oerth's ills. Justice and freedom are brought about through charity, modesty, perseverance, and self-sacrifice. Pelor's priests teach that the truly strong don't need to prove their power. Pelorians strive to perform so many good acts that evil has no room in which to exist, though they will fight if necessary. Pelor is wrathful against the forces of evil, and is especially opposed to the undead.
Worshippers of Pholtus are called Pholtans. Some Pholtans claim that he set the sun and the moon in the sky and maintains them in their rigid procession to show all creatures the One True Way, a strict path which allows no deviation but absolutely assures rightness. Pholtus's clerics are most active in cities, where they seek to reveal the light to unbelievers. They act as lawyers, judges, and arbiters when they're not preaching about their god. They are never completely without light if they can help it. Magical light is preferred, but a candle or a piece of luminous fungus will serve if no other light is available.
Ralishaz teaches that Order does not exist; only Random Chance exists. Ralishaz teaches that insane people are the ones who are most in tune with the true nature of the universe.
Rao teaches that the greatest gift is reason, which leads to discourse, which leads to peace, which leads to serenity. For those who refuse to see reason and resort to violence first, action--governed by reason and wisdom--is required to restore the peace. Sometimes this action is violent, regrettably.
Rao's priesthood urges their followers to reject strong emotion for the calm and serenity of inner peace. Only when the foundations of law and good are threatened should they take to the battlements.
In the tenets of Saint Cuthbert's faith, some personal interpretation is permitted, but the essentials (obey the law, be good, and use common sense) remain the same. Those who fail at living up to the Saint's virtues are advised to turn to their communities for advice and support, and to pray to Saint Cuthbert to clear up their confusion
Tharizdun's doctrine is to destroy all and everything encountered (himself included), as he puts it:
The very threads of existence must be torn asunder, then burned, then the ashes scattered, until all is nothing and no one exists to remember existence.
Trithereon teaches that everyone deserves life and the right "to choose their own place in the world," and that slavery and tyranny must must be opposed and overthrown. The church should train the common folk to defend themselves and their possessions from those wishing to infringe on their freedoms. Those wronged have the right to seek vengeance, especially if no one else will aid them.
Each of Trithereon's churches has a different focus, due to the fact that the faith preaches individuality over any standardized doctrine, but every church is allied with its brethren.
Ulaa is worshipped by humans, dwarves, gnomes, and other benevolent races who dwell in hills and mountains. Her clerics protect mountains from those who would enter for the sake of greed or evil and instruct miners and quarrymen with timelost rituals they claim have been handed down from a civilization extinct more than 10,000 years.
Being a secretive cult, there are no real collections of Vecnan teachings. However, copies of the Book of Vile Darkness are highly prized by the cult for Vecna's role in that work's development. The Open Grave book offers the "Scroll of Mauthereign", which offers a twisted version of Vecna's history and tells his followers that committing evil acts is holy and righteous.
Wee Jas thinks of herself as a steward of the dead. Though she is a relatively benign death goddess, she has no problem with undead being created - as long as they are not reanimated against their will, and their remains are procured in a lawful manner. Wee Jas is unconcerned with questions of morality; if it can be done within the confines of the law, she will allow it. Jasidan priests teach that magic is the key to all things. Jasidan are expected to show respect towards their predecessors and the departed.