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I'm creating a 5e character and looking at deities, Shaundakul would be perfect for me. However, there has been no mention of him since 3e so I'm not sure if he's a valid deity for my fifth edition character.
Is there any official word on Shaundakul? If he's not an option, does anyone have a recommendation for a seafaring chaotic neutral barbarian who grew up on sea and likes exploration?
There is no official word on the Forgotten Realms lesser deity Shaundakul in 5e. He has not been mentioned in Realms materials since 3e, but has never been confirmed as dead.
As far as Shaundakul in 5e, the closest to an official word is probably Realms author Erik Scott de Bie's long-running (nearly 3 years now) two-part thread, "One Canon, One Story, One Realms (5e)," on the Candlekeep forums seeking "to create an all-inclusive vision of the setting that is open to all eras, and even all editions of the game." Shaundakul is mentioned at several points, but there has been no confirmation as of yet that he will be included in 5e published Realms material.
If your 5e campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms, Umberlee, goddess of the sea, would probably be your best bet and is listed in the Player's Handbook on page 294. Historically, she is a chaotic evil intermediate power (i.e., one step above Shaundakul in godly ranking). Her portfolio in 3e was oceans, currents, waves, and sea winds. Since there is nothing more than a list of deities in 5e right now, you may want to look to earlier editions for more thorough descriptions of Umberlee. For example, the 4e Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide describes her as:
The Queen of the Deeps is a harsh mistress, largely uncaring of her mortal worshipers' pleas for mercy when one of her storms whips the seas of Toril into a killing frenzy. Still, hardly a soul steps aboard a ship who doesn't whisper at least a cursory appeal to her in the hope that her random mercies fall their way.
Her waveservants rely on the scattered alms of terrified sailors for a minimal living, preaching the majesty of the uncaring ocean and the inherent hopelessness of anyone who dares set to sea. (FRCG, p. 78)
She can also be found on page 254 of the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and page 173 of 2e's Faiths & Avatars.
As OP noted, Selûne is another excellent choice found in the 5e PHB. In 3e, she was an intermediate power whose portfolio included the moon, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, and good and neutral lycanthropes. Then, she transitioned to a greater goddess in 4e and is listed as goddess of the moon in the 5e PHB. For more information on Selûne from previous editions see page 76 of the FRCG (4e), pages 248-249 in the FRCS (3e) and F&A (2e), pages 133-138.
Selûne also seems like a good option.
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– Michael Stum♦
Jan 6 '15 at 20:53
This is not intended to be a full answer, more like an addendum to the others that give you more specific advice. Nonetheless, I think this is as crucial as anything else here:
You're not going to play in the official Forgotten Realms in the strictest sense of the expression. Only devs and writers working for Wizards do that. (Well, in case you're one of them, what the heck are you doing here asking us? :D)
What you're going to play in is a "mirror", an instance of the FR as interpreted and adapted by your DM (and you, the players, of course... but primarily your DM.) This mirror will stay true to the official FR to a degree, of course -- how close is up to the DM and you, though.
So, your primary authority on this question should be your DM, who will be able to tell you whether a specific god is available in the FR you are going to play, independent of edition.
Sure, you can ask for a specific god, and the DM may welcome your wish and suggestion, but it's not carved in stone that anything available in the official books is also available in your game (unless your DM said that... but even so the DM will specify which edition of the world's description / campaign setting you're going to use primarily.)
Shaundakul disappeared during the Spellplague, yet his temples and clerics were still around during the 4e times, according to the D&D Lair Assault module named The Temple of the Sky God.
The Second Sundering brought almost all the old deities back; even some of those that were missing during the AD&D 2e era got resurrected. So it would be surprising if Shaundakul were not around in 5e. Perhaps it was an oversight that he is not mentioned in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Or perhaps Wizards is planning to come up with a module to bring him fully back.
Yet, Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood is mentioning Shaundakul in his tweets. For example, in a series of tweets describing the settlement of Torsch, he mentions that "Waukeen, Shaundakul, and Tymora have the busiest shrines". Likewise, on a question about 5e-era Luskan, he lists "Umberlee, Auril, Mask, Leira, Valkur, Tymora, Shaundakul, Loviatar, and Talos" as the deities "most worshipped / propitiated" in that city.
So we can conclude that at least the worship of Shaundakul is alive and kicking in the 5e era.
