Religion in Forgotten Realms.

So here's the major deities of Forgotten Realms, with a basic description of their portfolio. I've included all the Greater Gods, with some of the more popular Intermediate Gods. This is just a taste, as I'm leaving out the Lesser Gods and the race-specific deities. If you want to revere a race-specific god, then you can flip through the FR book at character creation.

Don't sweat the alignment too much - I'm going to be using 4E alignment/deity rules, which is a little continuity-breaking, but whateves - I don't want to houserule anymore than necessary, as I feel I'm going to have my hands full just running core. I'll detail how they've changed alignment in 4E next post.

Bane (Greater) - aka the Black Lord, the Black Hand, the Lord of Darkness. Lawful Evil. Portfolio of strife, hatred, tyranny, and fear. Symbol is green rays squeezed forth from a black fist.

Chauntea (Greater) - aka the Great Mother, the Grain Goddess, Earthmother. Neutral Good. Portfolio of Agriculture, plants cultivated by humans, farmers, gardens, summer. Symbol is a blooming rose on a sunburst wreath of golden wheat.

Cyric (Greater) - aka Prince of Lies, the Dark Sun, the Black Sun. Chaotic Evil. Portfolio of Murder, lies, intrigue, deception, illusion. Symbol is a white jawless skull on black or purple sunburst.

Gond (Intermediate) - aka Wonderbringer, Lord of All Smiths. Neutral. Portfolio of artifice, craft, construction, smithwork. Symbol of a toothed metal, one, or wood cog with four spokes.

Helm (Intermediate) - aka the Watcher, the Vigilant One. Lawful Neutral. Portfolio of guardians, protectors, protection. Symbol is an eye with blue pupil on the front of an upright war guantlet.

Ilmater (Intermediate) - aka the Crying God, the Broken God. Lawful Good. Portfolio of endurance, suffering, martyrdom, perseverance. Symbol is a pair of white hands bound at the wrist with a red cord.

Kelemvor (Greater) - aka Lord of the Dead, Judge of the Damned. Lawful Neutral. Portfolio of death, the dead. Symbol is an upright skeletal arm holding the golden scales of justice.

Lathander (Greater) - aka the Morninglord. Neutral Good. Portfolio of spring, dawn, birth, renewal, creativity, youth, vitality, self-perfection, athletics. Symbol is a sunrise made of rose, red, and yellow gems.

Lolth (Intermediate) - aka Queen of Spiders, Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Chaotic Evil. Portfolio of spiders, evil, darkness, chaos, assassins, drow. Symbol is a Black Widow spider with a female drow head hanging from a spiderweb.

Mystra (Greater) - aka the Lady of Mysteries, the Mother of All Magic. Neutral Good. Portfolio of magic, spells, the Weave. Symbol is a circle of seven blue-white stars with red mist flowing from the center.

Oghma (Greater) - aka the Lord of Knowledge, Binder of What is Known. Neutral. Portfolio of Knowledge, invention, inspiration, bards. Symbol is a blank scroll.

Selune (Intermediate) - aka Our Lady of Silver, the Moonmaiden. Chaotic Good. Portfolio of the moon, stars, navigation, navigators, wanders, questers, good and neutral lycanthropes. Symbol is a pair of female eyes surrounded by seven silver stars.

Shar (Greater) - aka the Mistress of the Night, Lady of Loss, Dark Goddess. Neutral Evil. Portfolio of dark, night, loss, forgetfulness, unrevealed secrets, caverns, dungeons, the Underdark. Symbol is a black disk with a deep purple border.

Silvanus (Greater) - aka Oak Father, the Forest Father, Treefather. Neutral. Portfolio of wild nature, druids. Symbol is a green living oak leaf.

Sune (Intermediate) - aka Firehair, Lady Firehair. Chaotic Good. Portfolio of beauty, love, passion. Symbol is the face of a red-haired, ivory-skinned beautiful woman.

Talos (Greater) - aka the Destroyer, the Storm Lord. Chaotic Evil. Portfolio of storms, destruction, rebellion, conflagrations, earthquakes, vortexes. Symbol is an explosive lightning strike.

Tempus (Greater) - aka the Lord of Battles, Foehammer. Chaotic Neutral. Portfolio of war, battle, warriors. Symbol is a blazing silver sword on a blood-red shield.

Tymora (Intermediate) - aka Lady Luck, the Lady Who Smiles, Our Smiling Lady. Chaotic Good. Portfolio of good fortune, skill, victory, adventurers. Symbol is a silver coin with Tymora's face surrounded by shamrocks.

Tyr (Greater) - aka the Even-Handed, the Maimed God, the Just God. Lawful Good. Portfolio of Justice. Symbol is a balanced scale resting on a warhammer.

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So that's it. There's other ones, but those are the main racially-independent ones. If you're planning on being a cleric or paladin, it would be a good idea to become acquainted with the main gods and decide on the type of god you'll end up revering, if not picking one right away. Game-wise, it doesn't really affect the rules, but it may affect how the game progresses, story-wise.