Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tenebrous_Sage 11-27-06, 08:14 AM	Who is your favorite Deity of Magic and why is he/she your favorite. What, in general, makes a good deity of magic. Deities from any campaign setting welcome.
El_Machinae 11-27-06, 11:21 AM	Odin! He advocates strength, vigour, intelligence, and thought. As well, he's continuing to learn, himself. As well, by sponsoring Travel, he's able to collect lore from throughout the Planes.
Millenia 11-27-06, 12:47 PM	Isis! She's just, really, a badass goddess. She knows lots of magic, and even tricked Ra into telling her his True Name, thus giving her quite a bit of power. Additionally, according to some of the articles that I've read, her portfolio includes a whooooooooole lotta stuff. ^_^
starsheep 11-27-06, 06:57 PM	I've always had a weakness for Shar. Shadow Weave 4 lyfe!
Alpha_Moose 11-27-06, 07:40 PM	Any Norse god is awesome, and Odin is not one of those wimpy magic users who can't fight with a sword. But for the core pantheon I'd go Boccob. He just looks cool. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dd_gallery/dd1/Boccob_p61.jpg He's like the Fonz of the gods:ayyyy!:
leather_book_wizard 11-27-06, 07:49 PM	Yes, Boccob is awesome.Wee Jas is kinda cool too. I prefer the magic deities from he core pantheon.
Salla 11-27-06, 07:52 PM	Anubis. He looks cooler than Boccob (IMHO). I do wish he had more domains, but he's a perfect god to do the not-evil Necromancer concepts with since his priests don't create undead (with the exception of mummy guardians).
NyMpHoMaNiAc_FaNtAsIA 11-27-06, 08:59 PM	Wee Jas! Magic, death, vanity and complete obedience from your underlings. What else could you ask for? :)
Th_Ar_Al 11-27-06, 09:07 PM	Any Norse god is awesome, and Odin is not one of those wimpy magic users who can't fight with a sword. But for the core pantheon I'd go Boccob. He just looks cool. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dd_gallery/dd1/Boccob_p61.jpg He's like the Fonz of the gods:ayyyy!: Seriously Purple and Yellow??? He should be smart enough to know that makes him looks ridiculous (and fat). --- My favorite goddess of magic Wynna! (not very know) the god of magic, happines and sorceress with tiny little leather clothing
leather_book_wizard 11-27-06, 09:50 PM	Seriously Purple and Yellow??? He should be smart enough to know that makes him looks ridiculous (and fat). Boccob is the Uncaring.Therefore, he doesn't care if he looks ridiculous.;) BUT HE DOESN'T! Boccob rocks my socks! Jimmy cracked corn and Boccob doesn't care! I cracked corn and Boccob doesn't care! Hextor killed Heironious and Boccob doesn't caaaaaaaaaaaare!!! And that's the way it is!
leather_book_wizard 11-27-06, 09:54 PM	BY the way where is that Boccob pic from? I've never seen it before.
El_Machinae 11-28-06, 11:02 AM	Wee Jas! Magic, death, vanity and complete obedience from your underlings. What else could you ask for? :) Um ... a nicer boss?
NyMpHoMaNiAc_FaNtAsIA 11-28-06, 12:42 PM	Um ... a nicer boss? :heehee
Richmud 11-28-06, 04:14 PM	No love for the lich lord? Vecna's followers always make for great BBEGs. Plus his stray body parts are nice corruptive artifacts
JasonOrlandoHawk 11-28-06, 04:29 PM	1) Wee Jas: Check out the recent Dragon Magazine Article. 2) Boccob: Hey, Purple and Yellow are so cool! (Like I'm going to tell him any different! He's the God of Magic!) 3) Mystra: Magic + Good Alignment (Classic Fantasy Genre) 4) Odin: Doesn't appear in many of my games, but definately a solid contender. All others aren't really ranked in my mind.
SeptimusMagistos 11-28-06, 06:14 PM	Hermes. He was the other gods' delivery boy, but he helped mortals with their magic.
Alpha_Moose 11-28-06, 06:17 PM	BY the way where is that Boccob pic from? I've never seen it before. It's from the Deities and Demigods book. Most pictures from it are good, except Corellon. He looks, well, kinda girlish. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dd_gallery/dd1/Corellon_p63.jpg BTW, all these pics are from the main wizards website. Go into arts and maps.
Salla 11-28-06, 08:14 PM	It's from the Deities and Demigods book. Most pictures from it are good, except Corellon. He looks, well, kinda girlish. Cross-dresser. :)
leather_book_wizard 11-28-06, 08:16 PM	Lol.
Alpha_Moose 11-28-06, 08:24 PM	Cross-dresser. :) Cross-dressing prostitute; I mean look at how he's standing! It's sad because he is actually really powerful (DvR 19).
Tenebrous_Sage 11-28-06, 10:24 PM	Thank you all for your participation. I'm trying to get a feel for what types of things people think make a good magic deity. My reason, primarily, is to see how common my opinions about the various magic deities, with which I am familiar, primarily my opinions regarding Mystra and Boccob. I dislike Mystra as a god of magic (or, more truthfully, as THE god of magic) while I really like the feel of Boccob. What attributes do you think are important for a god of magic, specifically a deity primarily concerned with magic like Boccob and Mystra. How do you think spellcasters play into the role of a god of magic (i.e. the difference between Mystra and Azuth)? What about the flavor of magic itself? Do you like the idea that a deity is the source of magic (Mystra)? How about magic as universal energy, unrelated to any deity (Boccob)? What about magic as energy redirected from some other source (Dragonlance). Keep the ideas coming.
ripvanwormer 11-29-06, 12:00 AM	It's from the Deities and Demigods book. Most pictures from it are good, except Corellon. He looks, well, kinda girlish. He's supposed to. Corellon is male and female, both and neither.
Salla 11-29-06, 12:11 AM	Thank you all for your participation. I'm trying to get a feel for what types of things people think make a good magic deity. My reason, primarily, is to see how common my opinions about the various magic deities, with which I am familiar, primarily my opinions regarding Mystra and Boccob. I dislike Mystra as a god of magic (or, more truthfully, as THE god of magic) while I really like the feel of Boccob. What attributes do you think are important for a god of magic, specifically a deity primarily concerned with magic like Boccob and Mystra. How do you think spellcasters play into the role of a god of magic (i.e. the difference between Mystra and Azuth)? What about the flavor of magic itself? Do you like the idea that a deity is the source of magic (Mystra)? How about magic as universal energy, unrelated to any deity (Boccob)? What about magic as energy redirected from some other source (Dragonlance). Keep the ideas coming. I actually think of all gods as anthropomorphizations of belief. You may give it a name, but what you really worship is magic itself.
Deadhammer 11-29-06, 09:49 AM	Wait, the god of elves is David Bowie?! Right... I think a deity of magic should retain some form of neutrality. As magic itself is neither inherently good or evil, neither should its patron. I don't particularly like Boccob's "indifference" because here is a deity who is so obsessed with knowledge and lore, he really can't be bothered with the goings-on of mortals. Sure, it's nice that a god has a day job, but hey.
Orchomenos 11-29-06, 10:23 AM	I have a knack for the FR God of Undeads and Necromancy Velsharoon. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/fp_gallery/fp2/Velsharoon_p111.jpg Yes, he's a cheesy copy of Nerull and Myrkul. But his backstory is nice. He used a scroll made by the CE God of Destruction Talos to become a lesser god. But it was a trap laid by Talos, to create lesser gods who will gather some followers, after wath Talos would destroy this lesser god and keep these followers. But Velsharoon was crafty enough to ask protection from Azuth, the god of spellcasters. Thus, Velsharoon remains sitting between two chairs, using Azuth and Talos to protect him from each other...
Alpha_Moose 11-29-06, 11:17 AM	I'm trying to get a feel for what types of things people think make a good magic deity. Honestly, I just chose by the pictures. :P He's supposed to. Corellon is male and female, both and neither. Yeah, but it's still kinda creepy. Wait, the god of elves is David Bowie?! :rofl: Again, someone who's music I like a lot but when you see his picture...
El_Machinae 11-29-06, 02:30 PM	I waffle between prefering that the gods learn the magic and the gods are the magic. Odin's priests may look for magic, but they are mostly interested in figuring out how to make it do stuff.
The_Shaman 11-29-06, 08:16 PM	Seriously, no love for FR? I like Mystra (perhaps the old LN incarnation more) and Azuth. Ok, Azuth in F&P looks more than a little drunk and senile, but hey, after the trick he pulled on Savras the guy deserves respect ;).
edit13 11-29-06, 08:43 PM	If I were forced to worship one of the gods of magic, then it'd be Nuitari; primarily because I'm most knowledgeable about the Dragonlance pantheon, and that he's particularly un-god like [he seems much more like a kind of sentient planet <which is awesome> than a genuine god. <which, unfortunately, he is.>] And Nuitari over his brother/sister because I'm Chaotic Evil. Ideally, I'd rather have arcane magic be completely separate from the Gods, and represented more as a force of nature which can be harnessed by those with the ability, or, even better, as something born from sentient life itself. Personally, I feel that belief has little to do with arcane magic, and that spells themselves represent it's manifestation; there is no need for a god of magic, and the idea of there being a creature that rules over something as intimate as the expression of the mage’s ability to cast is abhorrent to me. My opinion is fairly biased however, as, I’m not a huge fan of gods in general. [Which, somewhat ironically, is what stopped me from reading Dragonlance.]
Tenebrous_Sage 11-29-06, 09:49 PM	That's one of the reasons I like Boccob edit13. He's not the source of magic; he's more like a guardian of magic.
ripvanwormer 11-30-06, 09:02 PM	Yeah, but it's still kinda creepy. You're not the only one creeped out by it (http://www.greyhawkonline.com/wogcomic/title/wogstrip96a.htm).
Tenebrous_Sage 11-30-06, 09:38 PM	You're not the only one creeped out by it (http://www.greyhawkonline.com/wogcomic/title/wogstrip96a.htm).:rofl:
Alpha_Moose 11-30-06, 10:08 PM	You're not the only one creeped out by it (http://www.greyhawkonline.com/wogcomic/title/wogstrip96a.htm). :rofl: Agreed.:heehee
Lina_Inverse 12-01-06, 06:11 PM	I'm not fond of most gods of magic. As too many of them don't really feel like gods of magic. None of there actions really scream out GOD OF MAGIC, all too often its god of knowledge, or even worse. None of them advocate magical advancement, and i don't mean magical research i mean advancement.
Tenebrous_Sage 12-01-06, 09:38 PM	Define advancement. I feel that research leads, inevitably, to advancement. Boccob's is also slightly preoccupied trying to stop magic from disappearing on Oerth altogether. He doesn't have much time to worry about anything else.
Anubis.c.k 12-02-06, 01:39 PM	what about the krynn gods of magic nuitari lunatari and solanari
leather_book_wizard 12-02-06, 03:43 PM	What about them? Lunitari is awesome, and so is Nuitari. Solinari is too good for my tastes.
El_Machinae 12-03-06, 03:41 PM	None of them advocate magical advancement, and i don't mean magical research i mean advancement. I have that problem too; are the gods researching magic themselves? They encourage their followers to research magic, but I would suspect that 99.999% of the magic that their high-level worshipers 'discover' are already known to the god. I mean, what's a 20th level wizard going to discover about magic that Boccob doesn't already know? For the same reason, what's a tinkerer going to invent that Gond hasn't already blue-printed and rejected? With a magic-entity, like Mystra, the worshiper feeds and evolves the substance of her being - benefitting her in the process.
mhacdebhandia 12-03-06, 03:56 PM	I like the Shadow, from the Eberron setting. There are actually two deities of magic: Aureon, god of law and learning, and the Shadow, which is literally Aureon's shadow torn off from the god long ago, and represents the darker side of magic. (To be fair, there's actually a third god concerned with the magic of artificers - Onatar, god of the forge.)
johnhansen 12-04-06, 02:56 AM	Hecate. Gotta love a three headed chick into undead and hell hounds.
Tenebrous_Sage 12-07-06, 02:06 AM	:bump:
Jedi Niyte 12-07-06, 02:02 PM	I'm not fond of most gods of magic. As too many of them don't really feel like gods of magic. None of there actions really scream out GOD OF MAGIC, all too often its god of knowledge, or even worse. None of them advocate magical advancement, and i don't mean magical research i mean advancement. I'm with you. This is just me, but I don't see magic as its own portfolio. Personally, if I were to create my own campaign world, I would make magic a hard science. Basically the manipulation of arcane formulae and transdimensional mathematics grants one the ability to control the natural forces of the universe: gravity, mass, space, time, etc., blah, blah, blah. You get the drift. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I see magic as mundane. Mystical, to be sure, but still mundane. Something not under the control of the gods. But that's just me. Your mileage may vary. :)
El_Machinae 12-07-06, 04:31 PM	Different gods of magic would respond differently to spells such as Mage's Disjunction, I'd think. A god like Mystra might want items to be disjoined, if she thinks those items are stagnating or (because of her alignment) being used for evil. This disjoining would then free up some of her energy. otoh, Vecna might want items devoted to him to be preserved and locked away - and the items of his enemies to be destroyed, but the magic not removed from the item (with a disjoining). Think about the One Ring (lotr): destroying the ring destroyed Sauron's essence that he put into it. But a disjoining might have freed up that essence for him to absorb.
Tenebrous_Sage 12-07-06, 10:53 PM	A lot of the difference between different gods of magic is due to the differences in the flavor (as opposed to mechanics) of magic in different campaign settings. For instance Mystra IS magic in the Forgotten Realms; while Boccob is more like a guardian, or Sheppard, of magic. I know, for instance, that magic is fading in Oerth (the world of Grayhawk), and thus Boccob's primary (and pretty much only) goal is to prevent it from fading while Mystra (being magic) is interested in promoting the growth of magic as that will add to her. @Jedi Niyte Gods are supposed to represent forces that are important to mortals. While many gods represent abstract concepts there are gods of more concrete things. If science came to be important enough in the world there would be a god to embody it.
SeptimusMagistos 12-09-06, 12:52 PM	I invented a god of magic Focon. He created magic so that he might levitate food to his mouth without ever getting up. Another deity took most of it off his hands eventually.
Tenebrous_Sage 12-18-06, 02:18 PM	:bump:
Adrez Nesnsid 12-20-06, 08:30 PM	Boccob is the Uncaring.Therefore, he doesn't care if he looks ridiculous.;) BUT HE DOESN'T! Boccob rocks my socks! Jimmy cracked corn and Boccob doesn't care! I cracked corn and Boccob doesn't care! Hextor killed Heironious and Boccob doesn't caaaaaaaaaaaare!!! And that's the way it is! :heehee ROTFLMAO:rofl: :rofl:
Adrez Nesnsid 12-20-06, 08:32 PM	what about the krynn gods of magic nuitari lunatari and solanari They're awesome.
Adrez Nesnsid 12-20-06, 08:36 PM	He's supposed to. Corellon is male and female, both and neither. The problem is that s/he doesn't look like a creature that is SUPPOSED to be hermaphoraditic, s/he looks like a bad transsexual
alchemyprime 12-23-06, 12:57 PM	I like one of my own, Aroil Arn. He was at first just a high level NPC when we played 2e, but I liked the character so much I made him a god in 3.5. He's our only god of magic for the greater good, but he's chaotic good, so he likes crewing his followers around a lot. Also, in my campaign at least, he's the only elf deity who cares about ALL the races equally. He accepts orcs as clerics too. That, and he wears blue. Purple's been ruined as a magic color in our campaign because our god of strength wears purple. Whenever a cleric of Petru runs into a cleric of Boccob, it gets pretty funny when they challenge each other.
leather_book_wizard 12-26-06, 06:24 PM	There are 2 gods of magic in my campaign. Oramial Moonblade and Burok Earthstaff. Oramial's LN and Burok's CN. It's weird because, even though Oramial's the scholarly book-worshipping type, his favored weapon is a sword and Burok, the muscular tough-guy's favored weapon is a quarterstaff.
Adrez Nesnsid 12-27-06, 07:47 PM	I like the Shadow, from the Eberron setting. There are actually two deities of magic: Aureon, god of law and learning, and the Shadow, which is literally Aureon's shadow torn off from the god long ago, and represents the darker side of magic. (To be fair, there's actually a third god concerned with the magic of artificers - Onatar, god of the forge.) Don't forget The Traveler, said to be the source of all (or nearly so) inspiration and new ideas.
Tenebrous_Sage 01-08-07, 03:23 AM	This thread shall live again! :evillaugh
Surgo 01-08-07, 04:02 AM	If Shar would be considered a goddess of magic, I'd have to go with her. Evil, but she just doesn't scream 'generic' to me like Wee Jas does. Also one of the originals.
Lankin the Mad Mage 01-08-07, 04:45 AM	Claiming that magic shouldn't have divinities attributed to it is strange, seeing that carpentry, shepherding, farming and shagging have their own gods. The most mundane of activities are always the ones that spawn the most deities, because normal people are the ones who do mundane things. Look at farlaghn. Walking is mundane as you get. As for gods of magic, I've recently fallen in love with Wee Jas http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dd_gallery/dd1/Weejas_p96.jpg There was recently a huge an wonderful article about her religion, her themes and opinions, her holy days and festivals, everything, in dragon mag. I liked that she felt like a real goddess, with a personality. she wasn't simply a collection of domains given a name, she was a person, and her religion had flavour. And it was cool. Vanity, death, respect. Not "bwahahaha, I'm EVIL!", but rather respecting the lives of those who have died, and being a responsible member of society. Oh, and power too, of course. As for advancing magic ad opposed to research? The heck? Look at Odin, one of the more ancient gods of magic. He never stopped researching, and that's why he was among the best magicians around. Hanging himself, asking the various creatures in the world to teach him stuff, giving away an eye to gain understanding. Magic has always been about secret knwoledge. The magicians were the people who knew how the universe really worked, and by that knowledge could infulence it. By that standard, boly further gathering of information can ever advance magic.
Tenebrous_Sage 04-15-07, 01:24 AM	It's been awhile, but I'm still interested in what you think about the deities of magic. I would like opinions on what makes a good god of magic. Which attributes are desirable and which aren't. Keep in mind that I'm talking about primary magic deities, whose portfolios revolve around magic.
Lina_Inverse 04-15-07, 02:27 AM	Define advancement. I feel that research leads, inevitably, to advancement. Boccob's is also slightly preoccupied trying to stop magic from disappearing on Oerth altogether. He doesn't have much time to worry about anything else. Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. A god of magic should be looking to spread magic, advance the understanding of it as a science, and in general try to make it utterly mundane.
Tenebrous_Sage 04-15-07, 02:30 AM	Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.;) Great username, by the way.
Phantom Llama 04-15-07, 06:53 PM	Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. I'd go further. Magic is technology.
Tenebrous_Sage 04-15-07, 09:03 PM	I'd go further. Magic is technology.Magic is closer to being science than technology.
Anti_Pseudonym 04-15-07, 10:16 PM	Hecate. Gotta love a three headed chick into undead and hell hounds. 3 headed? That would be . . . special. But this link to the D&D arts archive suggests otherwise: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dd_gallery/dd2/Hecate_p118.jpg Edit: I believe you're referring to the none D&D personification of Hecate: the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Three heads it is.
Phantom Llama 04-16-07, 04:49 AM	Magic is closer to being science than technology. The theory of magic is science. The application of magic is technology. After a fashion.
Tenebrous_Sage 04-18-07, 04:18 PM	The theory of magic is science. The application of magic is technology. After a fashion.Well yes, but in most settings magic has a much less significant impact on most people's day to day lives than technology in our world does. Anyway, what effect does this have, if any, on your views as to what makes a good diety of magic?
Alpha_Moose 04-18-07, 05:56 PM	Well yes, but in most settings magic has a much less significant impact on most people's day to day lives than technology in our world does. Anyway, what effect does this have, if any, on your views as to what makes a good diety of magic? A good deity of magic is one who looks at it from a logical approach, and not one like "You need to feel the magic, or something..." I think that's why I like Boccob as a magic deity. He's very analytical.