Favorite Forgotten Realms Deities?

Oghma. For an insatiable curiosity shared by most of my PCs.

Eilistraee. She's like Corellon, but I prefer the Underdark setting.

Jergal. When three of the strongest mortals came before him in an attempt to usurp his power, he (out of boredom) simply steps down and starts a very, very interesting chain of events, apparently out of sheer whimsy. Woot.
I'm of the mind that he's actually True Neutral and uses the "Lawful" facade to discourage anyone who would think that the Lord of the End of Everything is anything more than a boring old scribe.

Shaundakul. God of wanderers and portals, most of my PCs revere either him or Oghma.

Leira. A dead power, sadly. Because when you think about it, knowing when people are lying or hiding something is about the same as knowing when people are telling the truth or speaking openly. The tricky part is when you need specific information, and that's up to your PCs diplomacy/intelligence/wisdom.

Edit: Gwaeron Windstrom->Shaundakul

 

Agree! Jergal is way of the Woot. Talk about going in style!

I personally always go with Auril. Being a fan of Winter myself, and therefore with everything Icewind Dale/Tundra/Frozen, I made her a mandatory choice for all my cleric or Ranger type of characters. And beside, one gotta love the way she climbed the ladder.

Eilistraee, simply for the reason that dancing naked under the moon with a bunch of nekkkid hot drows is of the good.
My Bard characters fancy her!

Shar; Cuz the Shadow Weave is cool! Too bad I never had the chance to play a Shadow-Magic Character.

And Bhaal for the frak of ti.
Simply because of him we had some really cool adventures with <charname> Bhaalspawn

 

Nice question, Beren!

A few of mine:
- Shaundakul: for representing that wanderlust
- Leira: obscure, but would be fun to play with
- Cyric: yes, he's maniacal, but I kind of like the crazed underdog against everyone
- Velsharoon: for being the archetypical Evil Necromancer
- Azuth: Mystra's underdog
- Lathander: for having an interesting overzealous/inquisition dark side

 

Kossuth: 'Cause we like to watch them burnsssesssss..........

Bane: Lord of Strife is always the Arch-Villian

Tempus: God Battle, need I say more?

Torm the True: Torm Rocks. Note when he stood up to Bane, Bane was a Greater God, Torm was a Demi-Power. Awesomeness.

Hoar: The Doombringer!

Moander: Because it seems like Moander never dies.

 

CHARNAME

 

Hmm, there are quite a few good ones, here are some of mine.

Jergal: Understated, old, powerful, mysterious... not half bad as god of death. Great for a necromancer or archivist.

Kelemvor: Another deity of death that works very well with Jergal, but with a more martial bent. Being a paladin of the god of death can be quite cool.

Mystryl: Other settings have deities of magic. FR has a deity that is the conscience of magic itself. The new incarnations are less cool, but still not bad.

Ilmater: One of the most altruistic deities, with a focus on not just stopping those who would hurt others, but helping those already hurt.

Selune: Oldest good deity in the realm, her influence is in many things, and who doesn't like a good full moon? As of Champions of Valor, she can also (finally) have paladins, too .

Sharess: Sure, everyone makes jokes about the clergy and temples, but everyone seeks them out at times. Yet underneath the hedonism and self-indulgement is a deity of war that made Set shake. Pussycats can be lionesses in disguise.

Mask: One of the best thief gods: sophisticated, ruthless, and cunning... if only he wasn't relegated to being Cyric's b...h.

Bane: old school lawful evil deity, and quite useful when you need to channel that Darth Vader vibe.

Beshaba: the concept of bringing someone their (well-deserved) bad luck can be incredibly cool if done right. That the goddess is so gorgeous people go insane from seeing her is an extra.

 

I'd have to go with Bane here

 

I have always liked that side of him. Also that halfling defending god type who begins with A, for pretty much the same reason.

 

Mieliki. Allways had a soft sport for the nature dieties, even though this one is just ripped off from norse mythology, though. (Mieliki being the finnish version of Freya).

 

Arvoreen? I thought it was a defender deity, but I don't remember it having a heresy-sniffing feel.

 

Gruumsh. He's a manly guy. Very earthy.

 

Lathander! I like spring and undeadbashing, hope and renewal. And I wonder what secret, risky plans he's got this time.

Hoar: Poetic justice. Payback time, mot#erf*%ker!
Auril: The Frostmaiden. I find icestorms, avalanches and glaciers far more interesting than fire and pools of lava...
Selune: The moon's always had something mystical.
Uthgar: Northern barbarian god with multiple totem aspects.
Mielikki: Forest dwelling lady, not in too deep as Silvanus.
Chauntea: A practical goddess to common, rural people.

Domains: Sun (!), plant, earth, travel, cold, renewal, retribution.
My perfect setting would take place in a cold, northern, rural place near the edge of society, close to a city and involve gnomes, giants, blighters, farmers, and lots of undead. (Think Icewind Dale or Winterfell/the Wall)

 

Lathander, Ilmater, and Tyr get points for actually having interesting portfolios you might get a decent moral code for. It's hard for me to roleplay good aligned clerics if I can't get a feel of their morality from their chosen god.

Silvanus is my personal favorite, simply because the idea of a giant tree god that is the ruler of all nature is just too awesome not to like.

Interesting side not on silvanus: I once looked him up and I get a result from the Nag Hamadi library, something called the Teachings of Silvanus. Being a part of Gnostic Christianity makes him ten times cooler.

 

Mystra. I always play mages first.

 

Jergal's nonchalance towards supreme power is super cool.

I'm very intrigued by Amaunator, the dead god from the Umar Hills temple. I think it'd be just like me to ally with someone who no longer had any power rather than with some entity who could actually be of use to me.

 

Amaunator has been ressurected for the 4th edition, I think.

 

Besides wasn't Lathander really Amaunator all along?

 

Could be. Not sure. I lost track of the forgotten realms when 4th came out and ruined it.
I do seem to remember both being sort of a sun-god, though. They had the same domains too, I think.

 

(I know nothing about 4E.)
AFAIK, Amaunator is much more Lawful than Lathander. Orderly and stern with a lot of rituals.
It seems to me that Horus-Re is much more like Amaunator than Lathander is.
It's an interesting thing, though, with the cults and heresy in the Morninglord's church and tales of Amaunator's comeback in a possible "Noon Cataclysm".