Pantheons/Genres Needing Representation

I know how you feel, that's among the many mythologies on my "this looks interesting but I can't find any comprehensive books on it" list.
Personally, I think the Dreamtime would mesh very well with the poor underdeveloped Beastlands, especially if you go with Rip's interpretation of the Beastlands from over on this thread:

Also from that thread-

There's never been a good representation of Yoruba deities and spirits, even if it's sort of blended in with Voodoun.

Interesting thread.

The Maztica campaign setting (a subset of Forgotten Realms) would probably have much that would interest you. There are 3 novels written by Douglas Niles which I read probably close to 20 years ago, but I recall them being of acceptable quality.

There is also a boxed set with lots of material regarding their gods - as they play such a vital part in day to day life - influencing their customs, their classes (Jaguar Knights, Hishnashapers, etc.) as well as plenty of other fluff and crunch.

Planescape probably avoided Central American and North American deities largely because the location of their realms was problematic in canon. 1st edition Deities & Demigods placed all the Central American gods on an "alternate Prime Material Plane" rather than in the Outer Planes where most of the action in the Planescape campaign setting takes place. 2nd edition Legends & Lore said that the Aztec gods lived in outer space, and could be visited by spelljammers. Quetzalcoatl was said in that book to live on the planet Venus. 1st edition scattered the North American deities all across the planes, many of them in the Inner Planes, while 2nd edition put them all in special demiplanes called the Upper and Lower Worlds (again, placing them largely outside of the planes used in the Planescape setting). Planescape always deferred to 2nd edition Legends & Lore, or to 1st edition Deities & Demigods in those cases where the two sources didn't conflict.

The deities of Maztica, by contrast, were explicitly all given realms in the Outer Planes. Qotal was indeed placed in Mount Celestia (in Jovar). Plutoq lives in Mechanus. Azul has a realm in Arcadia, Watil is in Elysium, Klitzi is in Arborea, Nula is in Ysgard, Eha is in Limbo, Tezca is in Pandemonium, and Zaltec and Tezca are in the Abyss. If Maztica had been a more popular campaign setting, Planescape adventures and sourcebooks probably would have made a lot more use of those particular gods.

I do think the Maztica method is better for Planescape, and it does imply the existence of Central American gods in some of Maztica's outer planar realms, if only because Mictlan (in Niflheim) should obviously be Mictlantecuhtli's realm, and Tlalocan in Abellio should obviously be the realm of Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlicue. Since Tlalocan and Mictlan are afterlives, of course they should be in the outer planes, but for whatever reason no one in the Planescape era contradicted the idea that they were somewhere on the Prime.

Alex Roberts and Skypti did some work incorporating the Aztec gods into Planescape's Great Wheel, however. Skypti complained about some of the changes Alex made to her original work, but whatever. Might be worth taking a look at. Note that it was apparently written without awareness of the Maztican precedents.

Xochipilli and Tlazolteotl appear in Tales of the Outer Planes on an unnamed "jungle world."

Myths of the fey, Jem? Interesting!

Actually, for me, put Faerie down as another mythology that never got enough screentime in Planescape, even though homebrewers seem to love it. I've personally made up some fluff for it, even though I never wrote it down...
Faerie was once it's own plane, parallel to the prime, like shadow or the border ethereal (or 4Es Feywild). But when the Queens started the civil war between Seelie and Unseelie, it broke apart and pieces of it were scattered across the planes, so that faerie realms can now be found everywhere from the outlands to the ethereal.

On the one hand I support the addition of previosly overseen pantheons, and that is what I tried to do on my previous work about Turkic nomadic religion. On the other hand when I look at the setting I see way too many human deities, and I think monstrous powers need a larger representation. One good way to do this is fuse certain monsters or monstrous humanoids with these pantheons, so their gods will serve a double purpose.
For some pantheons this is relatively easy. For example, I can say that Turkish Deity/Spirit Yersu also is the goddess of nature spirits, giving her a power base outside nomadic humans and a bit more fluff, while also making her interesting for non-nomadic encounters. Same thing, I can say that nomadic horsemen share a number of powers with Centaurs (whose historical origins lie in these cultures anyway).
For non nomadic powers, I think same could be done for certain Mesoamerican deities tying in with Draconic detities, deities of more advanced and civilized lizardmen, and Yuan-ti. The results; more interesting and complex powers and monstrous creatures.
Rakshasa tying into Indian Myth is a very good example, and should be expanded.
Another approach, which I also tried for Nomadic Powers, is to use them to enhance parts or places of the planes where they exist. We can easily place any pantheon on a layer of a plane that is not the first - seriously, we saw again and again just how deserted some planar layers are when compared to the first. In my unfinished work with nomads, I opted to have the petitioners travel on the 3rd layer of Arborea. This has the double benefit of making the layer less empty, and making the pantheon just a little more special. Plus; if I wanted, I can say this layer ties in to the *surface* of the 3rd layer of ysgard (normally an underground layer), and some wasteland in Beastlands, via border portals only the petitioners know. Which brings me to my last point:
Making the newcoming pantheons useful to the PCs in some way is just as important as adding them to the setting at all. Most pantheons currently in the game achieve this by including travel options; Yggdrassil, Mount Olympus, Celestial Beurocracy's palace of Justice in outlands, etc... For the Nomads, I did the same thing, but to preserve the nomadic flavor, I said that the nomads actually physically travel from plane to plane via a long route, using secret portals when they reach planar border areas, and they visit their respective realms and sites along this route. PCs can join in this eternal exodus for a time, help out defending and feeding the nomads, and drop off at the plane of destination. Roleplayable by: 1 - 2 random combat encounters, 1 - 2 social encounters in the tribe, and some storytelling.
In summary, to succesfully represent new pantheons, we can look at these 3:
1. tie- ins with existing creatures.
2. Using underdeveloped planar areas
3. Making it useful to the pcs.

Hope this is useful

I previously suggested the Yoruba deities which are closely tied with the Voodoun deities and Loa, but there's also other African pantheons that could do with a little more coverage.

I certainly have toyed with the idea of combining various progenitors deities of different pantheons into the 4e Primordials, and making those Primordials less "bad" as they've been depicted everywhere in that editions canon, with the exception of FR, which seems to be more balanced on that subject.

Also I remember that Mimir had an article on non-evil Orc Deities, could be something to elaborate more on, even though I tend to think of non-evil Orcs as being more Animists/Shamanic as opposed to religious.

One complaint that many had about the Humanoid deities before was their racial exclusiveness. So some more could be done on why a Goblin would follow Correllon, or why an Elf might worship Gruumsh.

On the other hand when I look at the setting I see way too many human deities, and I think monstrous powers need a larger representation. One good way to do this is fuse certain monsters or monstrous humanoids with these pantheons, so their gods will serve a double purpose.

I agree. I have developed an additional Zahkaran diety to better cover the Qorrashi Genies (can't remember his name, but he's a power of snow, cold, and mountain peaks, along with steadfastness and traditionalism)
The elven pantheon is pretty good-sized if you include the powers from Dragons 236 and 251, and I'm working a bit on the two from 236 of the Snow Elves.
The Raptorian pantheon is likely to count the aaracokra among their ranks, and Raven (the Amerindian deity) is SURELY beloved by the Kenku (and you can bet there will be Kenku in North and South Pchughstick Allele; they fit perfectly with the Amerindian portrayal of ravens as rogues and tricksters.) Thunderbird (the deity, not the creature) is surely worshipped by the Arrowhawks. I mean come on, he's perfect for them.
Sisiutl (the deity, not the creature) is likely worshipped by the Darfellians from Stormwrack along with a few other aquatic races. (Sisiutl is depicted in NW Amerindian mythology as a divine/gigantic rubber boa, whale, or a combination of the two, and is the favorite food of thunderbird. Yes, the NW Coast Amerindians believed that thunderbirds caught whales instead of salmon.)
When/if I really get into the Pchughstick stuff, I might contact some Chinook tribal webmasters about info. While, certainly it is D&D we're talking about here (and understandably the idea of their beloved cultural heroes and deities being adapted to a P&P RPG might seem a bit blasphemous), part of my intention, is to have historical commentary to go along with the in-game fluff and mechanics. Though certainly I am not the least bit related to the Chinook or other NW coast peoples, I admit that I still take a certain amount of pride in their stories and accomplishments, since they were the original people in the land I was born and have lived my entire life in (Portland, OR)
Also, I imagine that Syranita counts Raptorians among her worshippers, considering that her church also includes kenku and avariel.

For non nomadic powers, I think same could be done for certain Mesoamerican deities tying in with Draconic detities, deities of more advanced and civilized lizardmen, and Yuan-ti.
Goodman Games already took this route in Dungeon Crawl Classics 16.
There's also a Dragon article from 2E that depicts of the South African mantis gods as a divine thri-keen, who is worshipped by thri-keen at least as much (if not more) than he is worshipped by humans. (the mantis is a very sacred animal in Sub-Saharan Africa, and was also sacred to Egyptians.)
BTW, one of the 2E Dragon articles presents an African campaign setting based heavily on a series of fantasy novels that take place in a parralel Sub Saharan Africa.

I always thought the ancient, progenitor gods from the beginning of time were absent. I had a pantheon of gods known as the Primordials in my campaign. They were basically several progenitor gods from various religons. It's members were Kaos from Greek mythology, Ymir from Norse mythology, and Ogdoad from Egyptian mythology (technically eight gods in one). They are worshipped by the Cult of the Cosmic Egg.

Interesting you mention that, because Greco-Roman mythology has a race that preceded the Titanes: the Protogenoi. Many of them would translate into D&D as elemental powers (such as Thalassus). The reign of the protogenoi was thwarted when Chronus castrated Uranus, the king of the protogenoi, for his tyrrany (IIRC Uranus feared that his sons would overthrow him, so he either ate or imprisoned them, I don't remember which. This is a recurring theme among all three of the divine races in Greco-Roman mythology. ). The protogenoi include Nyx, Erebus, Gaea, Chaos, Uranus, and Anake.

I certainly have toyed with the idea of combining various progenitors deities of different pantheons into the 4e Primordials, and making those Primordials less "bad" as they've been depicted everywhere in that editions canon, with the exception of FR, which seems to be more balanced on that subject.

I hate this idea. Mainly because, if you look in the timeline I've made thus far, there is a bit of a gap between the first elemental god and the first flesh-based power, and the latter were primordial deities more akin to Ghaunadaur or an anthropomorphic seaweed mass, etc. than to most of the powers we have today. In fact, the first deities supplicated by mortals would have been arthropodic and brachiopodic, since those are the first advanced types of organisms that arose IRL. So you'd have gods of the trilobite men, gods of weird tentacled and spined creatures that look like an amalgalation of arthropod, brachiopod, and cephalopod, with maybe a bit of anthozoan thrown in for good measure.
Awesome.
Chances are these gods are long dead of course.
In addition, the Titans didn't arise until far, far later, and in Greco-Roman mythology they were preceded by the Protogenoi.

There are many monsters that lack patron deities. They include the Yeti (Frostburn, OA), Taer, Quaggoth (Monsters of Faerun, Drow of the Underdark), Crucian (Sandstorm, Miniatures), Glacier Dwarves, Abeil (MMII; obvious who they would worship on Greyhawk), Chitine (Monsters of Faerun), Ice Gnomes (Frostburn), Badlands Dwarf (Sandstorm), Shoal Halfling (Stormwrack), Wavecrest Gnome (Stormwrack, Alaghi (Monsters of Faerun), Gulgar (MMIII), Goatfolk/Ibixian (MMIII), Khaasta (Fiend Folio), Maanvaki (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20030822a), Meazel (Monsters of Faerun), Nycter (MMIII)
Tengu (OA), Tako (OA), Lhosk (MMIII), Selkie (Fiend Folio), Witchknife (MMIII), Yak Folk (MMII), Thri-Keen (MMII), Xeph (Expanded Psionics)
The Yeti definitely need a patron deity-- all they have right now are Auril and Cryonax. I believe there was a Yeti deity homebrewed in the Realms L Archives for 2E, so we might be able to use that.

The selkies worship their goddess Surminare.
The 3x selkie is entirely different from the 2E one. The 3x selkie more closely matches its mythological/folkloric origins-- it's a shapechanger that can switch between human and seal form.

Quaggoths worship Nerull.
What about Faerunian Quaggoths? This was why I listed them as being without a patron deity.

It's Dragon #241, in which he is called the Forgotten God and the God Without a Face. He's a neutral evil demigod said to have been cursed for rejecting the teachings of the Loregiver.

That would be the Mantis God of the Eternal Lotus, mentioned in the adventure Skull & Crossbows. Also known as the Celestial Mantis. This religion is said to be perhaps millions of years old.

The Expanded Psionics Handbook says "the thri-kreen strongly favor a druidic tradition instead of the myriad deities of other races." Thri-Kreen of Athas says "they have no gods or religious holidays of any kind," but that they revere nature and the elements.

The African god Cagn, also known as Kaggen or simply Mantis, is a divine praying mantis described in Dragon #215. Though he resembles a mantis, he's also a patron of nagas and birds.

The Faerunian god Jergal is also described as mantis-like, and some have theorized he was originally a thri-kreen deity.

That's a complicated issue, but basically, many of the beings that are considered "primal spirits" in 4th edition were considered gods in earlier editions. The list of primal spirits in "Realmslore: Sarifal" in Dragon #376 includes the Earthmother of the Moonshaes (considered in some other sources to be an aspect of Chauntea, though this was originally a retcon), the World Serpent (the original sarrukh deity in Serpent Kingdoms), Remnis (an eagle god in Monster Mythology), Quorlinn (the god of kenku), and Nobanion. The implication seems to be that many of the entities worshiped in the "beast cults" that have been part of the Realms since 1st edition are considered to be primal spirits in 4th edition. In 1st edition, many of them were considered to be demigods or lesser deities.

While the precise way that "primal spirits" were defined in Primal Power is new, it is actually close to the way that spirits were defined in the 2nd edition supplement Shaman (1995). Both supplements describe ancestor spirits and mention that if their descendants no longer believe in them, they can die. Both also describe the "spirit world" as not being a true plane that mortals can visit, but more a way of referring to the way spirits co-exist invisibly with the world of mortals. The various types of spirits - ancestral spirits, animal spirits, hero spirits, guardian spirits of places, and Great Spirits who represent vast natural phenomena like the North Wind, Fire, and Lightning - all have their parallels in 4th edition spirits. The basic idea of spirits - that they're personifications of the power of the natural world - is essentially the same in both 2nd and 4th edition. Where they differ is that Shaman reveals in the DM's section of the book that spirits are all actually born from mortal belief, reflecting mortal desires, fears, hopes, and terrors. Primal Power never states that, and suggests they might be as old or older than the world.

Planescape's On Hallowed Ground (1996, a year after Shaman) seemed to accept Shaman's definition of spirits. On page 34, Colin McComb suggests that spirits are created from mortal legends and eventually, buoyed by mortal worship, evolve into gods. This is different from 4th edition's take that primal spirits are approximately equal to the gods in power, and an entirely separate kind of entity (as different from gods as gods are from primordials, and more abstract and subjective than either) - but then, the definition of what a god is has changed between editions as well.

It's interesting to me that what 2nd edition's Legends & Lore book (1990) calls the "American Indian Pantheon" meshes very closely with what Shaman describes as "Great Spirits." If that book had been published four years later, I think it's likely that it might have followed Shaman's lead in defining those beings and the "Upper and Lower worlds" from which they hail. Certainly they're very close to 4th edition "primal spirits" as well.

So while it's broadly true that in the 3.x Forgotten Realms, divine casters need gods to grant their spells, I think that the beings labeled as "primal spirits" in 4e are what in earlier editions would either be classified as gods or as beings who might potentially evolve into gods, given more worship. It's also true that 3.x Forgotten Realms products provided feats that divine casters could take that allowed them to get spells from demon lords, devils, yugoloths, and even dead gods and blasphemous faiths (for example, the Servant of the Fallen feat in Lost Empires of Faerun, Disciple of Darkness, Scion of Sorrow, and Thrall to Demon in Champions of Ruin). So essentially, a 3.x Forgotten Realms character didn't need a god after all, but it was a little harder for them to gain divine spells from other beings (reflected by the need for a feat).

All that said, saying quaggoths worship "primal spirits" isn't very much more specific than saying they worship "the gods," so we're back at square one in deciding who they worship in the Forgotten Realms campaign. If they worship Nerull in the Greyhawk setting, it might seem likely that they worshiped his counterpart Myrkul. After Myrkul's death, it's conceivable that he is the "source of primal power" they're seeking out. They might be looking for remnants of their patron they believe has become part of the subterranean landscape. Another possibility is the Deep Winds, spirits of the Underdark described in Primal Power, which Underdark races look to for guidance and protection. In addition, ancestral spirits, location spirits, the Great Bear, and the Primal Beast might be particularly appropriate for quaggoths.

So while it's broadly true that in the 3.x Forgotten Realms, divine casters need gods to grant their spells
It was true in 2E as well, as stated in Faiths & Avatars.

It's also true that 3.x Forgotten Realms products provided feats that divine casters could take that allowed them to get spells from demon lords, devils, yugoloths, and even dead gods and blasphemous faiths
I'm well aware of that, as well as the feats to get spells from celestials in BoED, and Elemental Devotee (to get spells from Archomentals) in Denizens of the Inner Planes on this site.
Those beings are not abstract forces or personifications, however.

Also, I'm planning to make some of the nature spirits of NW Coast Amerindian mythology (such as the east wind) be aspects of Faerunian deities (East Wind would be an aspect of Auril, for instance, which yes, would be possible, since NW Anchorome has two mountain ranges that stretch down the western coast from the arctic.)

The Maztican gods represent the rulers of various aspects of reality; they're each supposed to have hundreds of lesser aspects representing more specific concepts.

Kukul is like Ometeotl (in that he's a creator-god).
Maztica is like Coatlicue (in that she's the mother-goddess).
Qotal is Quetzalcoatl, of course.
Zaltec is based closely on Huitzilopochtli.
Azul is Tlaloc, to the point of even living in Tlaloc's realm of Tlalocan.
Plutoq is perhaps like Itztli, god of stone.
Tezca is probably most like Tonatiuh.
Kiltzi is Chalchiuhtlicue.
Eha is most like Ehecatl.
Watil is like Chicomecoatl and/or Centeotl.
Nula is a combination of all Aztec animal deities. Keep in mind that she has a lesser aspect for every animal species. So she's at the same time the coyote god Huehuecoyotl, the turkey god Chalchihuihtotolin, the jaguar god Tepeyollotl, and the dog-god Xolotl. And she's all 4,000 rabbit deities.

This seems like a decent place to put a few "pantheons" that I've thought about but haven't had much of an idea on how to use, which are tightly tied to the Prime Material Plane:

*) The Four Creatures of feng shui: the White Tiger of the West, the Black Turtle of the North, the Green Dragon of the East, and the Red Phoenix (or Ho-o) of the South. Sometimes including a fifth, the Yellow Snake of the Center. Many non-Prime planes don't even have a consistent concept of North! Each is associated with an element, as well, suggesting clerical traditions to go with them. And, of course, green dragons are normally intelligent and evil in D&D...

*) The Zodiac: twelve rulers of the year (and a secret thirteenth). It would be a very curious phenomenon if multiple Primes had consistent constellations, and this pantheon of gods divides among them the elements, the year, the alignments, and all other functions of these worlds. Populations exalting them would have deep beliefs in astrological fate and cycles (Unity of Rings), and possibly significant industries of mages, especially diviners. Given that the figures themselves come from both Greek and Egyptian myths, but are relatively minor, you might even have an ecumenical "council" of those particular figures cultivating the worship of those worlds.

*) Human gods. The mythology of this world would hold that humans arose naturally, and later realized how to ascend to godhood -- some by personal enlightenment, some off the tribute-worship of subjugated empires. One country's Senate elects its representatives to the pantheon, and can demote them too. The deified humans hold perfectly normal, if small, divine realms in various Outer Planes, but their interests are primarily back home.

I changed my mind. The Maztican god Kukul corresponds to Mixcoatl, Coatlique's murdered consort and the father of most of the other major Aztec gods.

Being mythologically native to India, Tibet and Nepal, they could respect the Hindu pantheon. Himavat is the Hindu god of snow. More strictly, the yeti come from the Bon tradition, which is shamanic and thus doesn't have a lot of major gods, but rather many minor ones. The primary figure of veneration appears from a brief search to be the Tonpa (title) Shenrab Miwoche. Most of the sources on Bon are heavily syncretic with Buddhism.

Could also make one up.

-----

In times long past, the yeti, the wild men of the snowy places, trafficked with the spirits of the world and paid fair prices in sacrifice and prayer, and all was well. They had no gods, or if they did, their creator god had never bothered to make itself known. Or perhaps they made themselves from the wind and snows. The yeti do not tell such a story. They had their spirits.

When the other races came to the yeti, there was talk, and there was trade, and there was war, as such things go. The war went badly. The shamans of the yeti were driven back by the power of the gods of the other races. Beings such as Cryonax and the ice devils under Mephistopheles offered their protection, and some agreed, but for others the price was too high. The men of the snow discussed among themselves, and determined that they should have a god of their own. One old shaman, Lao, objected, still loyal to their spirits, but all others agreed.

They knew the art of the simulacrum, the making of bodies from ice and snow, though this would be a greater making than had ever been done before. The shamans labored long, a nine-mile body upon the side of the mountain at the navel of the world. They marked the mountain's seven chakra, and surrounded it in honor with the nine holy svastika. When it was done, it was a mighty yeti, every bit worthy of becoming the body of a god.

But there was the last obstacle: they must have a part of a god to copy. They summoned brave spirits, whose challenges were thrown back, and they summoned stealthy spirits, that were caught in their enemies' domains. The yeti puzzled over their failures, and the shamans demanded to know the reason for such ineptitude.

"Disagreement," the spirits replied. "Unless all the race of yeti upon this world are unanimous, we have not the strength to challenge these gods."

They came to the yeti who had paid tribute to devils, but these had no objection, for they hoped that their creation would be more subservient than devils. Of all the yeti, it was only stubborn old Lao who rejected the work. The wild men of the mountaintops pleaded with him, and invoked his reason, and tried to tempt him with the meat and strong drink of which he was fond, but all these he refused.

Finally, the people decided to break the obstacle, and slew him.

When Lao was dead, the yeti were unanimous, and the spirits were strong. They gave the yeti their god. The spirits ran to Lao, giving him their strength and their cunning and their lore. As Lao's blood flowed upon the body of the god, he entered into it, and became the protector-god of the yeti.

Lao is a NG intermediate deity, who offers the domains of Good, Cold, Protection, Illusion, and Yeti. His domain is in a particularly icy, windswept region of Shurrock. If he sends a servant in anger, it is likely to be a strong yeti warrior wielding a weapon that constantly drips blood, with one leg manacled to a svastika that appears on a convenient surface nearby. Once a year at the spring solstice, the yeti of a community gather to make sacrifices to Lao, of roast meat and strong liquor. The shamans of the community do ritual penance for the offense done to him at the god's birth, and request his protection for the coming year.