By Chris Stomberg
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In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, even gods have their own hierarchy. These are the major gods of D&D, ranked according to power.
Gods dominate the worlds of . It is nigh impossible to enter any civilized place without passing a church or temple. Holy men prostrate themselves before their gods in public, attempting to persuade others of their god's greatness. They do this for a good reason, as the power of a god is determined by the number of worshippers in their flock.
There are three different classes of gods in the various modules and planes that make up the D&D universe. These consist of the Core Powers from The Player's Handbook, gods that are known throughout Human cultures as found in Deities & Demigods, and some non-deities that have god-like powers and are worshipped as gods throughout the realms.
Every priest of every god will tell anyone that the god they worship is the greatest, most benevolent, and most deserving of praise, but that isn't quite true. It turns out that, even amongst the gods, there is a hierarchal structure. It starts with quasi-deities or hero deities that are often honorary mortals, moves from them up to demigods, then to lesser and intermediate deities, greater deities, and finally to the most powerful beings, Over-deities. How powerful they are is a matter of opinion and perhaps a greater understanding of the TTRPG universe.
Updated November 20, 2021 by Kristy Ambrose: Sometimes, it seems like there are as many deities in D&D lore as there are grains of sand in the plains of purple dust. Not all of them live on through the lore as all-powerful gods and goddesses. In fact, many of the deities on this list are living deities such as Lolth and Asmodeus. Some of the following deities are unknown to certain races and cultures and their legends and literature has been lost to time. In a universe filled with a wondrous variety of magic, monsters, and anything else the craziest DM has ever invented, which gods are the most powerful in D&D?
18 Ao
- Alignment: None. Ao has no alignment as he is above such things.
- Sourcebook: Faiths and Pantheons (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)
- Symbol: Various cults have different symbols, but followers often the Greek letters Alpha and Omega
- Titles: The Overgod, The Hidden One, The Watcher
Ao is the only Overgod known to the mortals of the Forgotten Realms. Some speculate that there may be other Overgods, but the truth of this speculation is unknown. What is known is that all deities and primordials of the worlds of Abeir and Toril are subject to Ao's dominion. His purpose is to ensure that every deity abides by the rules of the cosmos as well as their own divine portfolios. It is said that the strength of all of the other gods combined pales in comparison to Ao's might.
17 Shar
- Alignment: Neutral Evil
- Sourcebook: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2015)
- Symbol: A black disk with a purple border.
- Titles: Mistress of the Night, Lady of Loss, Nightsinger, Dark Goddess, God of Thieves, Mistress of Pain
Best known as the Mistress of Night, Shar, along with her twin sister Selune, was created from the primordial essence of the crystal sphere that contains the entirety of the Forgotten Realm's solar system. Shar and Selune split the forces of darkness and light between them, each taking domain over their chosen force.
In time, Selune's power would wane, as lesser gods fulfilled portions of her portfolio. Shar, on the other hand, remains as capable as ever.
16 Chauntea
- Alignment: Neutral Good
- Sourcebook: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2015)
- Symbol: Sheaf of grain, sometimes with a blooming rose.
- Titles: Earthmother, The Forest Mother, The Grain Goddess, Guardian of the Wilds and Deeps, Keeper of the Wild, Goddess of Bountiful Nature
Chauntea, also known as the Grain Goddess, is the god of growth. Along with Shar and Selune, she is one of the three most ancient gods. Chauntea is responsible for all life on the worlds of Abeir and Toril, as well as possible countless others.
The Forest Mother is generally worshipped by farmers, gardeners, and druids, but all who revere life in its myriad forms may claim to be her children. Chauntea is the manifestation of the earth itself. She loves nothing more than instructing the Earth's denizens on how the land can enrich them.
15 Mystra
- Alignment: Lawful Neutral
- Sourcebook: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2015)
- Symbol: A blue and white star.
- Titles: The Lady of Mysteries, The Mother of All Magic, Our Lady of Spells, The Mother of Mystery, Goddess of Magic
Mystra is likely the most complicated of all the gods of the Forgotten Realms. It comes as no surprise that she is the Goddess of Magic, but Mystra was not always the goddess of magic. She took up the mantle when the original goddess, Mystryl, sacrificed herself to protect the weave which gives Order to all magic.
Mystra is more lawful than her predecessor, and in her reordering of magical law, she outlawed the use of all spells above 9th level, introduced limited access to magic (spell slots), and made spellcasting harder to perform in every way.
Cyric actually managed to kill Mystra. She has since been replaced by the powerful wizard Midnight who took the name Mystra upon ascension to godhood.
14 Tyr
- Alignment: Lawful Good
- Sourcebook: Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (Cyclopedia of the Realms, 1987)
- Symbol: An image of balanced scales with a sword or war hammer.
- Titles: God of Justice, Grimjaws, The Maimed God, The Evenhanded, God of Justice, Wounded Tyr, The One-Handed, Blind One, The Eyeless One
Tyr is the Lawful Good god of justice and law. He is perhaps best known as the Maimed God, and for good reason. His right hand is missing and instead ends in a stump, and he wears bloody bandages over his eyes which were gouged out by Ao after Tyr's failure to protect the Tablets of Fate.
Those that are outside of Tyr's church regard the god as overly stern and obsessed with justice. He also metes out rigid punishments. However, Tyr really just wishes to make the world a better place by whatever Lawful Good means necessary.
13 Deep Sashelas
- Alignment: Chaotic Good
- Sourcebook: Demihuman Deities (Wizards of the Coast, 1998)
- Symbol: A blue dolphin and waves.
- Titles: Lord of the Undersea, The Dolphin Prince, The Knowledgeable One, The Sailor's Friend, The Creator
The Elf god of the sea, this understated and benevolent god is mostly unknown outside of the insular culture of the Sea Elves. According to their history, Deep Sashelas was their creator and continues to be their patron throughout the ages. He also holds a vast amount of knowledge regarding nature magic, which is why spellcasters and scholars interested in this discipline often seek him and the Sea Elves.
Deep Sashelas is peaceful but not neutral. He often opposes evil gods and other troublesome entities like Gorgons. However, he tends to tolerate or even associate with other deities that share his affinity for magic regardless of their alignment.
12 Silvanus
- Alignment: Neutral
- Sourcebook: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2015)
- Symbol: An oak leaf
- Titles: Oak Father, The Old Oak, The Forest Father, Treefather, God of Wild Nature
Where Chauntea is the mother of all things, Silvanus is the father. In a way, they are two sides of the same coin of life. While Chauntea is bountiful with her love for nature and all who want to understand it though, Silvanus is more wrathful.
He does not have patience for those who would speak of nature poorly. He also sometimes struggles with balancing the importance of nature among other things. Accordingly, those who value nature greatly, such as the elves, often worship the Forest Father.
11 Kossuth
- Alignment: Neutral
- Sourcebook: Faiths and Pantheons (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)
- Symbol: A single tongue of flame.
- Titles: The Firelord, Lord of Flames, The Tyrant-King, Tyrant Among Fire
Kossuth rules over all things fire, thus, he is aptly called the Firelord. Much like the flames over which he rules, Kossuth has little affection for anyone or anything, including his followers. However, this does not prevent him from rewarding those followers frequently.
Worship of Kossuth is incredibly hierarchical with worshippers organizing themselves through exhibitions of self-denial and regimented living. At the highest ranks, self-immolation is regarded as the ultimate display of fire's purifying spirit. In the modern Forgotten Realms setting, Kossuth is regarded by some as a primordial rather than a god.
10 Lathander
- Alignment: Neutral Good
- Sourcebook: Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (Cyclopedia of the Realms, 1987)
- Symbol: A road leading into a sunrise.
- Titles: The Morninglord, Commander of Creativity, Inspiration's Dawn, The Rose-and-Gold God, Bringer of the Dawn, Lord of Birth and Renewal, Patron to Spring, and Eternal Youth
Best known as the Morninglord, Lathander is the lawful good god of the dawn as well as creativity, birth, youth, vitality, and renewal. It may come as no surprise that Lathander and Chauntea were romantically connected for centuries.
Lathander and the Lawful Neutral god Amaunator have been confused as one and the same. But recent developments confirm that they are separate beings. Those who are sick, young, or venerate creativity worship Lathander happily.
9 Oghma
- Alignment: Neutral
- Sourcebook: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2015)
- Symbol: A blank scroll.
- Titles: The Binder, Patron of Bards, Lord of Knowledge, The God of Wisdom
If knowledge is power, then Oghma would be the most powerful god in the Dungeons & Dragons pantheon. Despite his relative lack of any divine power, especially when it comes to gods that command elements or rule over regions of the cosmos, Oghma is a favorite of storytellers, inventors, and scholars as well as mages. There's even a Bard subclass known as the Companions of the Silver Strings, fighting spellcasters who are prepared to lay down their lives in The Binder's service.
8 Bane
- Alignment: Lawful Evil
- Sourcebook: Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus (Wizards of the Coast, 2019).
- Symbol: A black hand held upright, with the thunb and fingers pressed together.
- Titles: The Black Lord, Lord of Darkness, The Black Hand, The Dark One
Bane is the lawful evil god of fear, hatred, and tyranny. He is feared by just about every other god in the pantheon, and rightly so. Even those gods who have worked alongside Bane before do not entirely trust him, for they know that his ambitions have no limit. Bane was actually slain by Torm during the Time of Troubles which he initiated after a failed attempt to steal the Tablets of Fate from Ao.
However, Bane was later reborn through the unwilling sacrifice of his only son. To everyone's chagrin, Bane had put a larva of himself in his own child's body. He used the body like a cocoon from which he eventually emerged. Thanks, son!
7 Cyric
- Alignment: Chaotic Evil
- Sourcebook: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd Edition(Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
- Symbol: A white, jawless skull on a black and purple burst.
- Titles: Prince of Lies, The Dark Sun, The Lord of Three Crowns, The Fateless, The Face Behind the Mask, The Most Mighty, The Mad One, The Dark Prince, The Prince of Madness.
Though currently imprisoned in the Supreme Throne for 1000 years, the exploits of the Prince of Lies, Cyric, earn him a coveted spot on this list. As alluded to, Cyric is the chaotic evil god of strife and lies. He is also the mastermind behind some of the most impactful events in the multiverse -- chief among them being the Spellplague.
Cyric has also killed multiple gods and is indirectly responsible for the severing of Tyr's right hand. Certainly, the multiverse is a more stable place without him but where's the fun in that?
6 Asmodeus
- Alignment: Lawful Evil
- Sourcebook: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2015)
- Symbol: Three inverted triangles forming a single triangle pointing downward.
- Titles: Supreme Master of the Nine Hells, The Lord of Nessus, The Lord of the Ninth, The Lord of the Ruby Rod, Lord of Lies, Prince of Evil, The Cloven, Old Hoof and Horn, The Archfiend, The Raging Fiend.
Asmodeus is a bit of a boring god in that he has all the basic evil hallmarks. He appears as a demon, lusts after power, and abuses others in order to achieve godhood. Serving as basically the overlord of the Nine Hells and prime Arch-Demon, he leverages Tieflings to influence the mortal realm.
The Raging Fiend wasn't always the infernal god with an entire race as his "worshippers". With the help of some evil wizards, Asmodeus turned most Tieflings into his own spawn, also known as "Infernal Tieflings." This in-flux of energy allowed him to use them to amass godlike power. After being the Faerunian deity of indulgence, he now calls himself, amongst many other names, the ruler of all devils.
5 Pelor
- Alignment: Neutral Good
- Sourcebook: Explorer's Guide to Wildemount (Wizards of the Coast, 2020)
- Symbol: A yellow or golden eight-pointed star.
- Title: The Dawnfather
The god of the sun and healing, Pelor also oversees the aspects of the changing seasons and agriculture. He's a relatively new addition to the D&D pantheon as one of the gods of Exandria, the realm in which Critical Role takes place.
Players in this campaign will come into contact with Pelor on several occasions and his visage is a dramatic one. He is typically clad in shining golden armor flanked by a white cloak, with only a blazing orb where his head and face should be.
4 Lady Of Pain
- Alignment: True Neutral
- Sourcebook: Planescape Campaign Setting, A DM Guide to the Planes (1994).
- Symbol: Unknown
- Titles: Her Serenity, The Bladed Queen, The Lady
Some of the most canonically powerful deities, such as Ao, also have very little modern literature on them. The Lady of Pain is another such godly character. She is the ruler of Sigil City who remains quite mysterious.
Anyone who tries to speak to her might find their skin bursting into bloody boils with just a mere glance from her. Moreover, she stops almost every entity from making moves on her realm from demons to devils, gods, and adventurers alike.
3 Primus aka The Prime Mover
- Alignment: Lawful Neutral
- Sourcebook: Planescape Campaign Setting, A DM Guide to the Planes (1994).
- Symbol: Seven interlocking cogs with some variation. There are six smaller ones and one large cog with a single blue and gold hand with one eye in the middle of the palm. Sometimes there is a shining star or several stars surrounding the eye or hand.
- Title: Unknown
Primus is, in fact, not a physical manifestation of a late 90s rock band. He was the not-quite-a-god-but-almost-as-powerful-as-one leader of the Modrons. He ruled over the Modrons and Mechanus as an immortal emperor. Not only did he wield absolute power in his realm, but all Modrons bowed to his every whim. He was immune to all magic and he used telepathy to instruct his minions.
However, Primus turned out not to be so immortal after all. During Orcus' mission to become a god, he ended up slaying Primus. Despite this, his mind sticks around as a vestige in the multiverse. In fact, Warlocks have the option of taking him as their patron provided they are of a Lawful Neutral alignment.
2 Orcus
- Alignment: Chaotic Evil
- Sourcebook: Out of the Abyss. Edited by Jeremy Crawford (Wizards of the Coast, 2015).
- Symbol: The Wand Of Orcus, a skull-tipped wand that could destroy any living creature.
- Title: Lord of the Undead, Prince of the Undead, Blood Lord, Lord of Specters, Master of Vampires, The Shadow That Was, The Goat-Horned Demon
Orcus is a dangerous demon lord for multiple reasons. Not only is he skilled with magic and physical strength, but he is overall . He is known mainly for two things: dethroning the Demogorgon as "Prince of Demons" and becoming a true god after starting a measly little life on the Prime Plane as a mortal. That's right — he started out as a mortal.
He controls the 113th layer of the Abyss known as Thanatos (also the Greek god of Death) that is riddled with undead minions. His worshippers include vampires, wanna-be liches, necromancers, etc. Players need to be wary of his special artifact — the Wand of Orcus. It can instantly murder any mortal touched and allows for no saving throws.
1 Lolth
- Alignment: Chaotic Evil
- Sourcebook: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd Edition (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
- Symbol: A spider.
- Title: Queen of Spiders, The Demon Queen of Spiders, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Queen of Darkness, The Dark Mother, Mother of Lusts, The Lady of Chaos, Weaver of Destiny, Weaver of Webs, The Weaver, Fleshcarver, The Spider Bitch.
Lolth is the wicked, capricious Drow goddess who favors selfishness, corruption, and betrayal. She also looks like a huge scary spider woman and rules a large portion of the middle Underdark. But she started as part of the lesser pantheon of Elven deities.
A quick synopsis of her sordid lore is that she plotted to murder her lover, the father of her twins, and Elven God Corellon. Then she absorbed a bunch of power, turned into a giant spider demon lady, and manipulated the Dark Elves (now Drow) into becoming this race of super cruel, petty, duplicitous slavers in the Underdark and also subjugates any and all who oppose her. It's a good life.
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