Kelemvor. He’s the Lawful Neutral god of death in the Forgotten Realms. It’s his belief that death is not to be feared, only respected and understood, and he definitely doesn’t like undead.
As Naivara has stated, Kelemvor is the go to grave domain deity for FR. If you don't mind more setting agnostic deities though, you have the Egyptian God of Judgement and Death, Anubis. You also have the Gods of the Underworld Osiris and Hades of the Egyptian and Greek pantheons respectively. Athreos is the God of Passage from the Theros Setting or The Undying Court is from Eberron. The Raven Queen is also a good option as the lady of Death, Fate, and Winter.
From the Grave domain blurb: "Deities of the grave include Kelemvor, Wee Jas, the ancestral spirits of the Undying Court, Hades, Anubis, and Osiris."
There's a whole bunch that haven't been mentioned largely, I think, because they're evil (though Hades is evil as well). Dragonlance only has evil-aligned Death deities, for instance.A lot will depend on your character's personality and outlook on life and death though. Kelemvor (Forgotten Realms) and Wee Jas (Greyhawk) are both LN, but whereas Kelemvor is very strict about the line between life and death and doesn't abide undead, Wee Jas doesn't mind undead at all (provided the whole thing is handled civilly, not through involuntary necromancy or graverobbing, for instance).
The Undying Court may not really be a good pick in my opinion, at least thematically. They're ancestral spirits (dead, full stop) that never passed on to the afterlife. To me that feels like an odd match for a Grave cleric. Your mileage may differ though.
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What would be a good god for a grave domain cleric?
Ask your DM. It does not help to list Gods when they may not even exist in that campaign.
This repsonse doesn't help either. Person is asking a question, it's pretty easy to give a real response and then throw the line at the end about "Your DM will have some answers as to what gods/pantheons are available in his world, so ultimately its his call, but here's a few suggestions"
I'd argue, as a loose interpretation of the subclass because of this line that essentially it could be any good or neutral deity, potentially lawful evil deities who aren't undead inclined: " Followers of these deities seek to put restless spirits to rest, destroy the undead wherever they find them, and ease the suffering of dying creatures. "
Most good deities really abide by this tenet. Neutral, its somewhat profile dependent and on the evil side you might find a few. On the good side as an example, you might get your powers from Lathander, but you aren't exactly a normal cleric of The Morning Lord. Other pious members of his sect might treat you different you aren't all about the Light and its blessing, but more about what happens when the Light leaves someone, and you represent the transition into "The Light".
The ones listed above are good one. If none of them suit your style, talk with the DM about a homebrew Grave domain god - maybe a mashup of different qualities of each with your personal twist on it. It doesn't need to be a widely accepted god.
(I know of a paladin who started a new order of La Vache Mauve that can only be seen when staring at the sun too long. The order currently has 1 certain member and possibly 2 more.)
I always liked the idea of a whimsical god of death. (Think "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" song from Monty Python's Life of Brian which is a song about death.) No such god exists, but to me, it makes perfect sense.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
What would be a good god for a grave domain cleric?
Ask your DM. It does not help to list Gods when they may not even exist in that campaign.
This repsonse doesn't help either. Person is asking a question, it's pretty easy to give a real response and then throw the line at the end about "Your DM will have some answers as to what gods/pantheons are available in his world, so ultimately its his call, but here's a few suggestions"
Seemed a fair point to me. A lot of interesting answers here, but zero of them exist in my campaign where the choices would be between Eidolon Amarok the Wolf or Eidolon Ouroboros the Worm.
Pantheons can be key to a given setting or campaign. Even if the setting is not so restricted, it's really important to know how the DM views the gods because they may have certain story items in place that make it waaay more interesting to be a cleric of Kelemvor than a cleric of Anubis.
Eberron - Undying Court, Restful Watch (Sovereign Host in general), Silver Flame (Say you’re a member of a Paladin order of the silver flame focused on fighting the undead.).
As already mentioned, the Grave domain is as much about preventing "undue" death as anything else, along with destroying undead and those who would abuse necromancy so it could be adapted to fit with just about any good aligned deity. A character might have a bit of a goth aesthetic, or they could be a solemn, straight laced "crusader for good" type, or give off therapist/counselor vibes; heck, those three things are by no means mutually exclusive and could all be used in the same character. Grave domain isn't intended to be "dark, edgy, lives in a mausoleum, and hangs out with zombies"; if that's what you're looking for you probably want the Death domain instead.
Gods that focus on life, protection, and healing would be good choices, or nature focusing on the aspect of death as a part of the natural cycle which should be respected as such. Chauntea, Bahamut, Helm, Pelor, St Cuthbert, Heironeous, Silvanus, Mielekki, Obad Hai, and Elhonna all come to mind, and any good or neutral aligned racial deity could probably also be a easy fit.
What would be a good god for a grave domain cleric?
All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
-Sun Tzu
The Art Of War
Kelemvor. He’s the Lawful Neutral god of death in the Forgotten Realms. It’s his belief that death is not to be feared, only respected and understood, and he definitely doesn’t like undead.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
As Naivara has stated, Kelemvor is the go to grave domain deity for FR. If you don't mind more setting agnostic deities though, you have the Egyptian God of Judgement and Death, Anubis. You also have the Gods of the Underworld Osiris and Hades of the Egyptian and Greek pantheons respectively. Athreos is the God of Passage from the Theros Setting or The Undying Court is from Eberron. The Raven Queen is also a good option as the lady of Death, Fate, and Winter.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
From the Grave domain blurb: "Deities of the grave include Kelemvor, Wee Jas, the ancestral spirits of the Undying Court, Hades, Anubis, and Osiris."
There's a whole bunch that haven't been mentioned largely, I think, because they're evil (though Hades is evil as well). Dragonlance only has evil-aligned Death deities, for instance.A lot will depend on your character's personality and outlook on life and death though. Kelemvor (Forgotten Realms) and Wee Jas (Greyhawk) are both LN, but whereas Kelemvor is very strict about the line between life and death and doesn't abide undead, Wee Jas doesn't mind undead at all (provided the whole thing is handled civilly, not through involuntary necromancy or graverobbing, for instance).
The Undying Court may not really be a good pick in my opinion, at least thematically. They're ancestral spirits (dead, full stop) that never passed on to the afterlife. To me that feels like an odd match for a Grave cleric. Your mileage may differ though.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Depends entirely on the setting. Odin can easily be a god of death in the right setting. So could Persephone.
This repsonse doesn't help either. Person is asking a question, it's pretty easy to give a real response and then throw the line at the end about "Your DM will have some answers as to what gods/pantheons are available in his world, so ultimately its his call, but here's a few suggestions"
I'd argue, as a loose interpretation of the subclass because of this line that essentially it could be any good or neutral deity, potentially lawful evil deities who aren't undead inclined: " Followers of these deities seek to put restless spirits to rest, destroy the undead wherever they find them, and ease the suffering of dying creatures. "
Most good deities really abide by this tenet. Neutral, its somewhat profile dependent and on the evil side you might find a few. On the good side as an example, you might get your powers from Lathander, but you aren't exactly a normal cleric of The Morning Lord. Other pious members of his sect might treat you different you aren't all about the Light and its blessing, but more about what happens when the Light leaves someone, and you represent the transition into "The Light".
Back on topic:
The ones listed above are good one. If none of them suit your style, talk with the DM about a homebrew Grave domain god - maybe a mashup of different qualities of each with your personal twist on it. It doesn't need to be a widely accepted god.
(I know of a paladin who started a new order of La Vache Mauve that can only be seen when staring at the sun too long. The order currently has 1 certain member and possibly 2 more.)
I always liked the idea of a whimsical god of death. (Think "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" song from Monty Python's Life of Brian which is a song about death.) No such god exists, but to me, it makes perfect sense.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Seemed a fair point to me. A lot of interesting answers here, but zero of them exist in my campaign where the choices would be between Eidolon Amarok the Wolf or Eidolon Ouroboros the Worm.
Pantheons can be key to a given setting or campaign. Even if the setting is not so restricted, it's really important to know how the DM views the gods because they may have certain story items in place that make it waaay more interesting to be a cleric of Kelemvor than a cleric of Anubis.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
You could add:
Thanatos, Hades, Hecate - Greek
Yama, Shiva, Kali - Hindu
Feyja, Hel - Norse
Meng Po - Chinese
Morrigan - Celtic
Osiris, Sekhmet, Apophis - Egyptian
Whiro - Maori
Mot - Canaanite
Adro - African
Crnobog - Slavic
Elrik - Siberian
Sedna - Inuit
Caotlicue - Aztec
Ahriman - Persian
Batara Kala - Javanese and Balinese
Ach Puch - Mayan
Shinigami - Japanese
Forgotten Realms - Kelemvor, Sehanine Moonbow (Elvish), Yurtrus (Orcish)
(I don’t know Forgotten Realms well).
Eberron - Undying Court, Restful Watch (Sovereign Host in general), Silver Flame (Say you’re a member of a Paladin order of the silver flame focused on fighting the undead.).
As already mentioned, the Grave domain is as much about preventing "undue" death as anything else, along with destroying undead and those who would abuse necromancy so it could be adapted to fit with just about any good aligned deity. A character might have a bit of a goth aesthetic, or they could be a solemn, straight laced "crusader for good" type, or give off therapist/counselor vibes; heck, those three things are by no means mutually exclusive and could all be used in the same character. Grave domain isn't intended to be "dark, edgy, lives in a mausoleum, and hangs out with zombies"; if that's what you're looking for you probably want the Death domain instead.
Gods that focus on life, protection, and healing would be good choices, or nature focusing on the aspect of death as a part of the natural cycle which should be respected as such. Chauntea, Bahamut, Helm, Pelor, St Cuthbert, Heironeous, Silvanus, Mielekki, Obad Hai, and Elhonna all come to mind, and any good or neutral aligned racial deity could probably also be a easy fit.