…for e.g.)
Awesome! Okay. So I feel that it’s a reasonable assumption that within a pantheon there may be, at most, one deity that is the most powerful, who acts as a balancing force for the others, to maintain the status quo. (Io for the draconic pantheon But! For all the other gods, what is it that limits their ability to affect the lives of mortals and the mortal world? What is it that limits their interactions with other deities?
Either gods are infinite or finite and if finite, what are their limits?— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 26, 2020
1)
I’ve created upwards of forty fantasy settings (as opposed to sf, alternate real-world, and so on) over the years, with very different pantheons, but in the Realms, Ao is the Overgod (setting limits and rules “above” the 2)
…pantheon), and within the pantheon, the most powerful deity is Mystra, as Toril is a magic-rich world and she IS the Weave, and until Ao forbade her and stopped her, used her ability to cut other deities off from the Weave…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 26, 2020
3)
…(that is, the ability to work magic).
So in the Realms, the gods are fallible (like the classic Greek and Roman gods, they have the same faults and flaws as many humans, though they have what to a mortal are “superpowers”). 4)
No deity is infinite, in the Realms or elsewhere, if there’s a pantheon” the existence of other deities by definition means that any one deity has limits. The Realms deities can perish or be slain (Mystra more than once, …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 26, 2020
5)
…Moander, and many others), can renounce their godhood or their portfolios (Jergal), go insane (Cyric), and often make mistakes or are deceived (even by mortals).
They are limited by their own brains (what they can conceive 6)
…and create), their own powers (perception and abilities), by other gods acting against them, by their very natures, by Ao, and by the structure of Toril and of the Planes of Existence. The gods are constantly warring with…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 26, 2020
7)
…each other for more power and influence, so at every turn one deity or another will run up against resistance. And some deities (Jergal, for instance) are VERY good at manipulating other deities.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 26, 2020