Who Is the Most Neutral God in D&D?

Neutral gods in D&D come in different varieties. Some are ambitious and severe, but don’t truly embody evil, good, law, or chaos. Some are just indifferent to morality. Some dedicate themselves to maintaining a balance that they hold dear. And there are even rare ones who seem to transcend beyond the typical desires and motivations, reaching a sort of meta state.

The Forgotten Realms provides us a wealth of gods to examine, and those that are true neutral are just as interesting as those of any other alignment.

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

[MrDedGuy]

Mystra can’t go an era without getting slain by another god it seems. She’s on her third or fourth, if you include Mystrl, incarnation and people still want to stab her.

[Mare_Man]

Waukeen's weapon of choice is just the divine version of sticking a few rolls of quarters in a sock

[animefan]

Ah yes, Ao. Or as I like to call him, the DM

[greyingproductions]

To be fair to 5th editions lack of domains, they use them in a different way (mechanically) then earlier editions of the game. With the Subclass systems in place through 5e it makes sense for the gods to be condensed into their prime attributes so that their domain fits into a subclass the cleric wants to choose. Earlier editions had your god grant you additional weapons that you could use and informed the type of spells you could prepare while 5e has your god grant you a domain filled with abilities and domain spells for you to use.

[davidfarnham]

In the novels, there's a hint that Ao might report to someone even further behind. Not sure if that ever got expounded or remains a sneaky little hint that there might be someone even higher

[mathewfinch]

"With enemies, you know where they stand. But Neutrals? Who knows?"
"What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?"

[Nyo_Fight]

I can barely imagine how much you have to search through years of content and books to gather this information and put it all together and do this amazing work, congratulations and thank you for another very interesting video. shout out from brazil

[kylevidauri]

Hey no requests nor demands, but a solemn statement of: Ive watched your channel for over three years now, and Esper you truly are a grand teller of tales. Carry on.

[mungre]

I love Karsus. He made a helluva impact on the world... before turning into a super bleeding boulder ghost.

... Man, vestiges are wild, aren't they?

[SuperManuel]

13:28 I never expected to see one of my minis I shared on Reddit show up in a video. I am honoured XD

Speaking of wich, I really should update and improve that mini

[travisterry]

Gilean is one of the most neutral from dragonlance. I always thought the dispassionate observation and documentation of history was one of the most neutral things possible.

[idriseldritch]

Wow once again Esper goes above and beyond and thoroughly delivers on a whole category of the pantheon I completely forgot about!

[dimpledwonder]

That list of "true neutral" pop-culture characters is making me lose braincells. Tyrion, Snape, and Treebeard are NOT true neutral

[ShineDark]

Were Demon Lords a lot stronger in earlier editions? I can't imagine a 5e Demon Lord managing to imprison a full deity, like Graz'zt did with Waukeen.

[ChartreuseDan]

What is it that makes a god turn neutral? Want for power? Lust for gold? Or are they just born with a heart full of neutrality?

[Grinnar]

I just woke up, so this is gonna be a treat. Thanks Esper.

[Jessie_Helms]

I think I’m gonna take an existing character from my setting who’s nature is completely ambiguous but the party _knows_ there’s something more to him & give him a Silvanus makeover.

I intentionally hadn’t decided what he was yet, and I like this

[richardknowles]

Why not cover the Lady of Pain? Even though she is not technically a god (even punishes those who attempt to worship her as this could eventually turn her into a true god, which she apparently doesn't want), she is still divine somehow and Sigil is effectively her godly domain. She seems to be the epitome of True Neutrality along with an expression of what pain and suffering is caused by the clash of all the alignments across the planes. According to her origin story, she was daughter of another god, but didn't want to be a god so took a dip in the River Styx to forget her divinity. So she really does have divine origins.

[eduardodeleon]

Ravdnloft does have religions that no one talks about, but there is also mystara a setting where Mortals can ascend to godhood

[ironlnd]

Well done, enjoyed thoroughly! Next video: the most good aligned god? :)