The deities of other Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings, including those of the default (or "core") setting for the Dungeons & Dragons game, are not generally a part of Forgotten Realms. However, there is some overlap, especially among the deities of nonhuman races. Lolth, the principal deity of the drow in the Forgotten Realms, is specifically described as being the same deity as Lolth in other campaign settings. No mention is made as to whether other deities shared between Forgotten Realms and other campaign settings are intended to represent the same divine entity. But it is assumed they are, as in the case for some of the Finish Dieties or Tyr.
Overdeity
Lord Ao is the Overdeity of the Forgotten Realms. He alone can allow new deities to join the pantheons of Forgotten Realms. However, he does not have mortal worshippers or grant spells, interacting with mortals only during the most unusual of circumstances, such as the Time of Troubles. However, it is made clear that even Lord Ao has his own master at the end of The Avatar Series.
The Circle of Greater Powers consists of all the greater gods in the AD&D Forgotten Realms theological pantheon. Created by Lord Ao, the greater gods have a duty to preserve the balance between Chaos and Order. The Circle of Greater Powers have always come together to meet for important reasons such as the capture of Kezef the Chaos Hound for the preservation of the balance or for the trial of another god for not carrying out the duty under their portfolio such as the trial for Cyric the Mad.
The Faerûnian pantheon includes most deities worshipped by humans in Faerûn, the continent that forms the primary focus of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Many deities in this pantheon originated in separate human cultural pantheons which have since blended and combined, while others are mortals ascended to divinity or arrivals to Abeir-Toril from other worlds or settings through magical means.
Most people in the far eastern lands of Kara-Tur follow one of the two philosophical religions called "The Path of Enlightenment" and "The Way". In the island kingdom of Kozakura the worship of a large number of spirits collectively called "The Eight Million Gods" is predominant. The people of Shou Lung believe in the Celestial Bureaucracy headed by the
who is served by the Nine Immortals:
They in turn are aided by the Lesser Immortals, namely Jade Ladies, Rice Spirits, Moon Women, Spirit Warriors, Ladies of Compassion, the Lords of Karma and the Sages.
Maztica, across the Trackless Sea from Faerûn, has its own unique set of deities.
All deities in the Maztican pantheon have aspects that rule over related concepts and ideas. These aspects are worshipped as a large number of individual deities, including Micat, an aspect of Zaltec representing certain kinds of snake venom. There has been no published effort to list such aspects.
In the far northern lands of Maztica there are barbaric tribes that venerate Totems and alien gods. There is a few that are demonic and devil worshippers. These alien gods are pretty much the native american gods from the old 2nd Edition legend Lore book.
Worshipped almost exclusively in Mulhorand, Thay, and Unther, these deities came to Abeir-Toril when their worshippers were transported from another world. The members of the Mulhorandi pantheon are based on deities from Egyptian mythology.
Sharess was formerly a member of the Mulhorandi pantheon, under the name Bast. Now worshipped in wider Faerûn, she is considered a part of the Faerûnian pantheon.
The deities of Zakhara, to the southeast of Faerûn, differ from other deities in the Forgotten Realms because they do not have a precise portfolio. Instead, each Zakharan deity exemplifies a single characteristic or trait. One common faith in Zakhara is the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods, which is honoring every deity that has ever existed or will exist in the future rather than worshipping any one specific deity.
Additionally, there are an untold number of local deities and demigods, sometimes worshipped in an area as small as a few miles across. More prominent among those are:
Tiamat is also worshipped by dragons, but her human following in Chessenta places her in the Faerûnian pantheon.
Collectively, the drow deities are known as the Dark Seldarine.
Collectively, the dwarven deities (except Deep Duerra and Laduguer) are known as the Morndinsamman.
Collectively, the elven deities are known as the Seldarine.
Collectively, the giant deities are known as the Ordning
Collectively, the gnome deities are known as the Lords of the Golden Hills.
Collectively, the halfling deities are known as Yondalla's Children.
This is a addon for a player in my group who thought Kelemvor was a god of the death at the same time as midnight and cyric became gods. Will Kelemvor did not become a god until he defeated Cryic as a ghost ten years after the time of troubles. Here is a small part of Kelemvors story in how he became a god.
Ten years after the Time of Troubles, after Cyric murdered Bhaal and ascended to godhood, the first thing he wanted to accomplish was to have Kelemvor's soul so that he could gain an advantage over the new Mystra, his most hated rival, and whose portfolio over Magic he coveted. However, for ten years, Cyric and his church were unable to find Kelemvor's soul, every divination and spell they tried yielded nothing. Cyric suspected that there were traitors within his own church who fostered Kelemvor's soul. He later launched the Second Banedeath in 1368 DR, unleashing his Inquisition on Zhentil Keep, Yûlash, Darkhold, Teshwave, and the Citadel of the Raven to cleanse all Zhent holdings of non-Cyricist priests. Cyric also released Kezef the Chaos Hound from Pandemonium, and commanded it to trace Kelemvor's soul. Kezef ended up being trapped again by the God of Thieves.
Kelemvor's soul, was absorped into Cyric's sentient sword, Godsbane, in the moment he was killed on top of Blackstaff Tower. The sword was actually Mask, the God of Thieves in guise, who planned to bring Cyric's downfall and gain Cyric's portfolio over lies. Mask used Kelemvor's soul to gain the cooperation of Mystra, all the while planning a revolt in the City of Death against Cyric. With the help of Mystra, Torm, Oghma, and Cyric's own high priest Fzoul Chembryl (whose loyalty lay with the dead Bane), great chaos was caused in two of Cyric's most important bases of faith: Zhentil Keep, and the City of Death. A great number of Cyric's follower lost their faith, thus greatly weakening Cyric himself. Without the will to control the City of Death, dead spirits were freed and roamed about the City. In addition, Cyric's nightmare was freed from Dendar the Night Serpent, and the dream found Cyric, causing him to think that Kelemvor had somehow returned to life and to seek revenge. At that moment, Cyric, though a Greater Power, lost his mind, crushed his sword, which freed Kelemvor, and made his nightmare come true. The two fought, a dead soul against a god. Cyric's fear, indecision, and madness had became his defeat, and Kelemvor finally managed to overthrow Cyric's rule in the City. By the wish of all dead spirits and Denizens in the Gray Wastes, in 1368 DR Kelemvor became the new God of Death.
To be the Lord of the Dead is to be the judgment of the departed souls. In the novel Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad tm, being the new Lord Death, Kelemvor wished to clear all the corruptions in the Realms of Death brought by former Lords of Death. He reshaped the Bone Castle, a twisted citadel in the Gray Wastes where Jergal, Myrkul and Cyric had all ruled from, into the transparent Crystal Spire, its translucency representing that no more should Death be a frightening mystery. While faithful souls would be claimed by their respective deities, faithless souls and those with a false faith that his/her god did not want, are judged before the God of Death. Former Gods of Death would decide whether they were the Faithless, or the False. Either way, in the hands of Myrkul or Cyric, these souls eventually ended up being eternally tortured.
Kelemvor, however, was more lenient on those Faithless and False who were virtuous and honorable in life, while the ones who were cowardly or capricious were severely punished. Those souls being judged as noble, would be sent to the then merrier and heaven-like parts in the City of Death, such as the Singing City, or Pax Cloister, while for thieves and cowards there were hell-like parts of the City such as Acid Swamps.
As a result, honorable and brave mortals no longer feared death, and recklessly threw their lives away, trusting in Kelemvor's judgment rather the worshiping of other benevolent gods. The cowardly and crafty mortals became too fearful to do much, lest they die and find themselves before Kelemvor. This, in combination with Mystra's unjust granting of magic, favoring only those good, brought unintentional imbalance and robbed the other deities of potential worshipers. Being exposed by Cyric, Kelemvor and Mystra were accused by the Circle of Greater Gods of being guilty of Incompetence by Humanity.
Kelemvor wondered how he could judge the damned, when he himself failed his own personal judgment. He gradually came to realize that there is nothing human in being a god. To correct his mistakes, great changes were undergone in his realm, as well as in himself. The City of the Dead was changed to a gray world, not truly light, not totally dark, simply dull gray. Gone was the good and evil in the City, only indifference and silence remained. The once diamond-like Crystal Spire was also smoked the color of topaz. Kelemvor also rid himself of all signs of humanity in order to properly fulfill his duties, which means replacing the warrior-like human he used to assume with a darkly robed figure, his raven black hair turned to silver, his eyes became pupiless, his appearance aged, his armor tattered and black, and donned a silver death mask.
He then conducted the Re-evaluation, where all souls in the City were to be judged according to new criteria, then be sentenced to new places in the City. Souls being judged will not find torture, but neither will they find joy. They will exist with souls ethically similar to themselves.
During the process, Adon (Kelemvor and Mystra's mutual friend, as well the patriarch of Mystra's new church) was driven mad by Cyric's trickery, losing his faith in Mystra, and had died a faithless soul. Mystra came to Kelemvor and asked for Adon's soul, which Kelemvor steadfastly refused since Adon was now one of the Faithless, or perhaps even the False. This, along with Kelemvor's loss of passion, eventually caused the breaking up of their relationship.