Appendix B. Deities

The information listed herein is primarily for the Dungeon Master’s use in creating, intensifying or expanding his or her campaign. No fantasy world is complete without the gods. Mighty deities who influence the fates of men and move mortals about like chess pieces in their obscure games of power. Such figures can be perfect embodiments of the DM’s control of the game. They are one of the Dungeon Master’s most important tools in his or her shaping of events.

The gods serve an important purpose for the players as well. Serving a deity is a significant part of AD&D, and all player characters should have a patron god. Alignment assumes its full importance when tied to the worship of a deity. The possibility of the invocation of divine wrath, should the player make a serious misstep, makes alignment conduct a much more vital concern.

Clerics can and should have a great influence on the course of an AD&D campaign. They are prominent members of society (much more so than the common fighters or the reclusive magic-users and thieves); they often have a close relationship with the populace, and are usually well-acquainted with local leaders. They are looked up to as masters of ritual and keepers of knowledge. In addition to this special relationship with men. a cleric has a special relationship with his or her deity, an affinity usually denied to other mortals. This makes clerics a special class indeed, a class with a lot of room for creative innovation on the part of experienced players.

The most important thing to remember about this book is that, unlike the other AD&D volumes, everything contained within this [section] is guidelines, not rules. [This section] is an aid for the DM, not instructions. We would not presume to tell a Dungeon Master how to set up his or her campaign’s religious system. Probably no facet of AD&D varies more from campaign to campaign than this, and that’s the way it should be. Many DMs will choose to use pantheons or systems other than the ones included herein or will alter the information presented. Feel free.

Avatars

The gods often visit the Prime Material Plane in avatar form to aid their worshipers or just to enjoy themselves. In one way or another, they influence the actions of all creatures on the Plane. This chapter provides a detailed look at the most influential deities. It describes their avatars, their clerics, and the special powers the deities use (and grant to their clerics) in the Prime Material Plane.

An avatar is a physical manifestation of a god created when a deity infuses part of its life force into a physical form. Greater deities have been known to use as many as three avatars at the same time. Lesser deities have never been known to use more than one. Demigods cannot use avatars. Deities usually create equipment to go along with the form. Only the most common avatar for each deity is listed here, but avatars of considerably greater power are known to exist.

Some deities keep several avatars on their home planes, in case one is destroyed. (Destroying an avatar does not harm a deity in any way, however.) When an avatar is destroyed, its equipment is usually destroyed along with it, but the deity might choose to leave it behind if doing so would serve its purposes.

Deities send avatars to the Prime Material Plane in order to influence, help, or instruct their worshipers. Many of the greatest heroes of any race of people or intelligent creatures were avatars sent to help that race. Each avatar will take great pains not to reveal that they are part deity. If an avatar dies, the body will vanish after several days. This body cannot be revived by magical means. Avatars usually appear in desolate areas and move towards the people they would protect.

The size of an avatar is always slightly larger than the normal size of a member of the race the avatar is sent to help.

Standard Divine Abilities

Unless otherwise specified, all gods and demigods [avatars] have the following special abilities, above and beyond whatever other abilities are listed:

Command. As the spell, but lasting 2 rounds for lesser gods and 3 rounds for greater gods. There is no saving throw vs. this divine ability.
Comprehend languages. As the spell, except the deity also gains the ability to speak or write the language in question.
Know Alignment. This ability enables the deity to detect the alignment of objects or creatures with no error.
Gate. [As the spell.]
Geas. As the spell, but with a range of 9”.
Quest. As the spell, but with a range of 9”, and no saving throw.
Teleport. This is an inherent ability which allows the deity to teleport from place to place or from plane to plane with no error.
True seeing. As the spell.

Divine Abilities for Greyhawk Gods

Greater Gods [and their avatars]

At-will—astral travel, comprehend languages (see Standard Divine Abilities), continual darkness, continual light, control environment*, cure blindness, cure deafness, cure disease, cure feeblemind [as heal], cure insanity [as heal], detect charm, detect evil/good, detect illusion, detect invisibility, detect lie, detect magic, ethereal travel, find traps, fly, geas (9” range), improved invisibility, improved phantasmal force, know alignment (see Standard Divine Abilities), levitate, mirror image, polymorph self, protection from evil/good (+3, 30 ft. radius), read magic, regenerate, remove curse, remove fear, resurrection, summon*, teleport (no error, see Standard Divine Abilities), tongues

8/day—dispel evil/good, dispel illusion, dispel magic

5/day—true seeing

3/day—cure critical wounds, gate, heal, holy/unholy word, polymorph other, restoration, shape change, symbol

2/day—anti-magic shell, command (no save, 4 round duration), death spell, quest (no save, 9” range), trap the soul, wish

1/day—globe of invulnerability, polymorph any object, time stop, vision

* Control environment. [Greater gods only.] This subsumes both control temperature and control weather. It actually allows the greater god to adjust the surroundings of his or her immediate environment to suit his or her desire, even if the change is radical. The area of control extends from a 12” radius to a 72” radius depending on how radical the change required is.

* Summon. A greater god can summon from one to six creatures of the same alignment as the god, and all of the same type, with the total hit dice of the creatures so summoned not to exceed 40.

Lesser Gods [and their avatars]

At-will—astral travel, comprehend languages (see Standard Divine Abilities), continual darkness, continual light, control temperature 10 ft. radius, cure blindness, cure deafness, cure disease, cure feeblemind [as heal], cure insanity [as heal], detect charm, detect evil/good, detect illusion, detect invisibility, detect lie, detect magic, ethereal travel, find traps, geas (9” range), improved invisibility, improved phantasmal force, know alignment (see Standard Divine Abilities), levitate, mirror image, polymorph self, protection from evil/good (+2, 20 ft. radius), read magic, remove curse, remove fear, summon*, teleport (no error, see Standard Divine Abilities), tongues

4/day—dispel evil/good, dispel illusion, dispel magic

3/day—cure serious wounds, resurrection, true seeing

2/day—anti-magic shell, gate, heal, holy/unholy word, polymorph other, symbol

1/day—command (no save, 4 round duration), death spell, minor globe of invulnerability, quest (no save, 9” range), restoration, trap the soul, wish

* Summon. The summon power of a lesser god can bring from one to three creatures of the same alignment as the lesser deity. Each must be of the same sort as the others summoned. No more than 25 total hit dice of creatures can be so called.

Demi-Gods [and their avatars]

At-will—astral travel, comprehend languages (see Standard Divine Abilities), continual darkness, continual light, control temperature 10 ft. radius, cure blindness, cure deafness, cure disease, cure feeblemind [as heal], cure insanity [as heal], detect charm, detect evil/good, detect illusion, detect invisibility, detect lie, detect magic, ethereal travel, find traps, finger of death, geas (9” range), invisibility, know alignment (see Standard Divine Abilities), levitate, mirror image, phantasmal force, polymorph self, protection from evil/good 10 ft. radius, read magic, remove fear, summon*, teleport (no error, see Standard Divine Abilities), tongues, wall of force

3/day—cure light wounds, raise dead, remove curse

2/day—dispel evil/good, dispel illusion, dispel magic, true seeing

1/day—anti-magic shell, command (2 round duration), gate, heal, holy/unholy word, limited wish, symbol

* Summon. For demigods, the summon power is limited to one or two creatures of not more than 20 total hit dice. Again, creatures must be of the same alignment and (if more than one is summoned) of the same type.

The above abilities all function instantaneously and at will, but not continuously. The gods sometimes manifest surprising abilities that are not otherwise noted, such as the power to change characters’ ability scores, grant wishes (or their opposites), or teleport others wherever they wish.

Exercise of such bonus powers falls entirely within the realm of the DM’s judgment.

Saving Throws

All gods and demigods have a saving throw in all categories of 2 (i.e., only on a 1 on a d20 will they miss their save). This is in addition to any other magic resistance, of course. Gods’ saving throw numbers are irreducible regardless of magical aids and adjustments.

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