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Inspired by this fun thread, and maybe could have just gone there, but I figured it would constitute a derail.
Basically- slap up a new 20 Core deity pantheon- the only rules? Every alignment needs at least two entries, 20 entries total (no, Yoritomo rules are not permitted here), and if a god is in the existing core pantheon, then you have to leave it out.
My first 20, with some word for word repetition from my entry in the other thread-
CG (Alas, no Ashava this time, because Acavna has the moon on lockdown)
Black Butterfly- Goddess of Silence, distance, and space. My favorite Empyreal Lord (at least... my favorite today).
Pulura- Goddess of constellations (and we'll say stars since Desna's taking a powder), homesickness, and auroral displays.
Skrymir- God of riddles, wanderlust, and wit.
NG-
Arshea- Deity (Arshea doesn't pick male or female, I'm not about to do it for them) of beauty, freedom, sexuality, all that jazz. Could also fold love into the mix if one feels a need to make the pantheon "complete," but I kind of like leaving that post absent. Certainly, those who equate sexual attraction with love would treat Arshea in that fashion.
Jaidi- Goddess of agriculture, hard work, and self-sufficiency
LG
Aesocar- God of health, medicine, creation of life.
Zohls- God of truth, investigation, maybe knowledge as a broader sphere of divine influence. I dunno.
LN
Alseta- Goddess of doors, transitions, and years. May as well give her time while we're at it.
Thoth- God of magic, wisdom, and writing- he has to cough the moon up to Acavna, alas.
N
Feronia- Goddess of sacred fires, fertility, and wildlife. I don't now much about her, but that's a neat blend of concerns.
Grandmother Spider- Goddess of illusion, weaving, trickery, and family.
Ng- God of seasons, secrets, and wanderers.
CN
Acavna- Goddess of the moon, defensive battle, and companionship.
Bokrug- God of storms, water, and revenge.
CE
Nurgal- God of the Sun, war, deserts, and so forth. I like the idea of a categorically evil sun god, and he's the sole reason Moloch isn't in the lawful evil block- and I would have his faith appropriate as much of Moloch's stuff as made sense.
Dagon- God of the sea, sea monsters... Poseidon on an increased dose of outright monstrous evil.
NE
Scal- God of annihilation, catharsis, and purity.
Vorasha- God of incurable disease, poison, toxicity. Almost gave this to Apollyon, but the inclusion of poison and some of the style motifs give Vorasha an edge. Might also expand Vorasha to be a patron of assassins if bumping up to full deity status.
LE
Mahathallah- Goddess of death, fate, vanity. My favorite Queen of the Night- almost didn't make the cut because I was going to make Charon God of Death. She violates on my general rules of thumb about death deities (they should be at least partially neutral, in my noggin). But I really, really like her, so here she is!
Dispater- God of cities, prisons, rulership. It was him or Moloch, and Nurgal gives me a lot of what I want out of Moloch, so... He's also been consistently presented as a lawful evil deity you can actually believe people might venerate. Also boots Lissala, alas.
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Two days later, having another go. Another 20. Repeats need not apply.
CG
Elion- God of discovery and exploration. Colonization is only something I can put up with when nobody's already living there, so it'd be played down or excised from his areas of concern if he went Core- with all of the sentient species in the game, truly vacant land to colonize is going to be hard to find. Just like in the real world.
Ashava- Goddess of the Moon, dancers, lonely spirits, guidance in the night, and so on.
Milani- Goddess of devotion, hope, and uprisings.
NG
Soralyon- God of magic and guardians. Monuments have always been a bit of an odd corner case, but could probably be worked in there. I see him as working with Anubis and Ptah a lot in this lineup, despite some philosophical differences.
Dalenydra- Deity (gender is never specified that I know of) of battlefield healing, caregiving, and sanctuaries.
LG
Folgrit- Goddess of children, hearths, and mothers. A little bit of a homebody set of concerns, but really no worse than Shelyn's. Having the primary dwarf deity be a mother figure rather than an anvil-smacking forgefather is also fun. Making her a goddess who embodies the ties of family lineage and ancestral homes is also kind of nifty.
Andoletta- Goddess of consolation, respect, security. lawful good is hard for me to get excited about...
LN (Without the Egyptian/Osiriani options, this would bee a tough niche to fill- not a lot of Lawful Neutral options out there who aren't weird corner cases)
Anubis- God of the dead and the rituals surrounding death. Both judge and guardian of the dead. Charon misses another round!
Horus- God of rulership, the sky, and the sun.
N
Sivanah- Goddess of illusion, mystery, and reflections.
Ptah- God of craftsmanship, creation, architecture, metalworking.
CN
Yog-Sothoth- My favorite Lovecraft deity! God of gates, space, and time. Since Black Butterfly, Thoth, and Alseta won't be in this 20, he has a spot!
Bastet- Goddess of pleasure, cats, and secrets.
CE
Ragadahn- God of the sea, spirals, and (I guess!) Linnorms. I'd make him more a patron of evil draconic stuff in general if he went core. But, you know... Linnorms rock, so... My second chaotic evil ocean deity in a row! Hrm. Maybe next time I'll have to pick a nice one!
Ithaqua- God of cold, cannibalism, the wind. A nasty, nasty winter deity.
NE
Apollyon- God of disease. NEXT!
Ahriman- God of destruction, nihilism.
LE
Eiseth- Goddess of battle, revenge, wrath. She, alas, boots both Szuriel and Moloch from this core 20, but MAN do I like her style. Allows for a twisted take on The Morrigan, as well, if such is desired.
Belial- God of adultery, deception, and desire. Having my nastybad seduction deity be a lawful evil male is just... fun.
Mammon- God of Avarice, watchfulness, wealth.
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Since Golarion utilized the thassilion setting and it’s motif of sin runes, I figured I could create a core pantheon revolving around that. I also made a point to select gods that represent the virtues in opposition to the sins, as well as the minor sins, acedia and vainglory. However, since many of the virtues didn’t use the exact word in their area of concern, I head-canoned them “synonym” gods; their abilities would be weaker in comparison to the deities that had an exact virtue or sin.
LG
Apsu - God of Good Dragons, Leadership, and Peace. Starting off the list one of the setting’s Big Goods, Apsu. There were two other good deities in the running for peace, but they were a dwarven deity and an empyreal lord respectively, so I figured a draconic god would have it’s own niche. Unfortunately, he’a also a synonym god, which, while an ancient and mighty god, would dampen his powers a bit.
Lymnieris - Empyreal Lord of Prostitution, Rites of Passage, and Virginity. The first empyreal lord on the list, and a synonym god. He’d work with the archons and be a direct opponent to Verex. Since one of his areas of concern is so closely tied to the virtue of purity or chastity, I figured I could conflate that with Love.
NG
Dalendrya - Empyreal Lord of Battlefield Healing, Caregiving, and Sanctuaries. The second empyreal lord on the list was the closest god I could find that dealt explicitly with kindness, using a synonym - caring - for it to qualify. Since Dalendrya is an angel, she’s their representative. Possibly the weakest of the synonym gods due to her bottlenecked nature.
Khepri - Osiriani God of Freedom, The Rising Sun, and Work. The representative of diligence, Khepri is the god I chose to represent the agathions. Also, it’s not every day you see a good bug deity, even if he is a synonym god.
Kurgess - God of Bravery, Competition, and Sport. The representative of humility was a different decision because I decided to use the gloss definition for the virtue instead of a synonym. Regardless, I think it fits him because of how he encourages losing with grace. It was almost Trudd, but I decided to give the dwarven god role to Magrim. He’s also a synonym god.
Myr - Azlanti Goddess of Charity, Lineage, and Physical Perfection. One of the few deities that had an actual virtue in their area of concern, making her one of two good non-synonym gods. I think Myr would get along well with Kurgess due to his heritage by two core deities.
CG
Milani - God of Devotion, Hope, and Uprising. Not one of the core virtues, but I inducted her into my 20 because of her domain of hope. Since I also chose deities that utilized themes similar to the sin of acedia, I realized Milani would be a good counter. She’s the other of the two non-synonym gods.
Valani - Empyreal Lord of Change, Growth and Primal Forces. The last empyreal lord and representative pf the azatas, Valani was chosen as a representative of temperance as well as zeal (dude’s a volcano god, remember?). Considering the synonyms of change and growth, I would surmise that he would have a stronger ability to control his virtue than the other “synonym” gods, albeit marginally.
LN
Magrim - Dwarven god of Death, Fate, and the Underworld. The only god on this list that doesn’t have a vice/virtue motif, he was selected to give the dwarves someone to worship. He was also selected as a replacement death god for Pharasma, and as a mediator between the forces of good and evil. Originally, I was going to pick Mazludeh for that job, but then I’d have no LN deities! Due to his lack of virtues or sins, he’d be the weakest deity in the pantheon.
N
Naderi - Goddess of Drowning, Romantic Tragedy, and Suicide. The main representative of the sin of acedia. As the only true neutral deity on this list, she would also serve as a mediator, albeit one that could be easily swayed by all sides. Chamiaholom would seek to usurp her throne, along with possibly Sifkesh. Although a synonym god in her own right, her usefulness to everyone makes sure they keep her around.
CN
Tjasse - Giant God of Giant Birds, Mountain Peaks, and Pride. The last neutral deity is also the only non-evil god of a cardinal sin. This proud god would also serve as a representative of the giants, and would serve a a good overland foil against the short underworld dweller, Magrim.
LE
Eiseth - Night Queen of Battle, Revenge, and Wrath. The representative of Wrath, she considers her position in the 20 a tactical advantage and a strong point of contention against the qlippoth hordes. So much, in fact, that Rovagug’s allies would band together against her specifically.
Rahu - Asura Rana of Eclipses, Executions, and Gluttony. Gluttony’s god and representative of the Asuras. His ascension would give him a lot of clout against the traitor asura, Geryon, and would provide the sun god Khepri a good rival.
NE
Chamiaholom - Sahkil Tormentor of Domination, Hopelessness, and Mortality. I always found the sahkils to be under-represented; they don’t even have a variant tiefling to call their own. So out of pity, I decided to give Chamiaholom a role as a usurper of the undead, replacing Urgathoa, and an upstart representative of the sin of acedia. It could have been Sifkesh, but demons already have a representative in Jubilex and to be honest, she kind of squicks me out. Ozranvial was also a close contender as the representative due to him having despair as an area of concern. Regardless of who I selected, I’m still not sure whether I should relegate them as a synonym god or not. Let’s honest, how often do you hear “acedia” in modern conversation.
Fumeiyoshi - Tian Xia God of Dishonor, Envy, Graves, and Undead. The god of envy almost pulled double duty as the god of the Onis and the undead. It wasn’t until I decided to add the sin of acedia and give it to Chamiaholom when that changed.
Zaigasnar - Daemonic Harbinger of Body Modification, Destructive Vanity, and Pins. As the representative of the sin of vainglory, I would consider Zaigasnar the most powerful of the “synonym” gods on terms of his relative vice. His rank as a harbinger would also acquaint him with Laivatiniel and Slandrais, both harbingers with an emphasis on perverting love, allowing him to set them up against Lymnieris without the empyreal lord’s knowledge.
CE
Chaugnar Faugn - Great Old One of Blood, Patience, and Old Hill Countries. An interesting choice, as he is the only evil deity with a virtue instead of a vice. As a great old one, he would also possess abilities that could rival Apsu in general power, and with his virtue being more in focus than the dragon god’s he just might be the most powerful deity in the 20x
Jubilex - Demon Lord of Ooze, Poison, and Sloth. The demon representative, and, strangely, the only god that explicitly deals with sloth. I figured there might’ve been more deities that dealt with this one, like with Shax also having envy and Orcus dealing with wrath, but apparently not!
Thamir Gixx - Halfling God of Greed, Opportunity, and Thievery. It’d be fitting for Gixx to be on this list since he not only deals with a cardinal sin, but also served under a core deity that explicitly dealt with the same sin! This could give Gixx a significant edge on his other opponents. Him representing halflings was also a bonus.
Verex - Orc God of Lust, Pillage, and Plunder. While it would have been easy to associate Verex with the phrase “rape, pillage, and burn”, I decided to include him with a different interpretation in mind: he and his followers lust for power and blood, utilizing a strong sense of tactical acumen and economic prowess that is well hidden under their identity as a warband. As such, they are the least predictable deity in my 20.