Father of Gods and Mortals
Greater Deity
Symbol: Fist filled with lightning bolts
Home Plane: Olympus
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Sky, air, storms, fate, nobility
Worshippers: Everyone
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Air, Chaos, Good, Nobility, Strength, Weather
Favoured Weapon: Shortspear
The king of the gods, Zeus (zoos), appears as a mighty male human standing about 15 feet tall. He has white hair and a long, white beard. He wears a white tunic and carries his shield, Aegis, which bears the likeness of the head of the first medusa. A white celestial giant eagle is always at Zeus’s side.
Zeus is one of the six children of Cronus and Rhea, and led the other gods in revolt against their tyrannical father (after liberating them from Cronus’s belly). He has many minor titles, including Averter of Ills, Bountiful, Contriver, Counselor, Descender, Dusty, Friendly, God of Oaths, Gracious, Guide of Fate, Highest, Hospitable, Hurler, King, Orderer, Purifier, Saviour, Strong, Supreme, Thunderbolt and Warlike.
Zeus is married to Hera, but his amorous encounters with other women (both divine and mortal) are infamous. He is the father of a tremendous number of deities and exceptional mortals, including the deities Ares, Hephaestus, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Hermes, Hercules and Athena, a large number of lesser divinities (such as the Muses and the Graces), and a large number of mortals, most of them adventurers of heroic stature.
As ruler of the pantheon, Zeus is in control of events in the universe. His church teaches that nothing happens anywhere without Zeus’s consent. Every blessing or curse that falls on mortal heads happens by the will of “the gods”, which primarily means Zeus, though the other Olympian deities often contest his decisions. Zeus is rather fickle in his administration of justice in the universe, he plays favourites, and his favourites change on a whim. However, Zeus cares for mortal life, much like a rather distant father cares for his children. He almost never sends destruction without some cause, real or imagined. The mortal lot, Zeus’s clergy teaches, is simply to accept whatever Zeus sends their way, for good or ill.
Zeus’s clerics enjoy a position of prestige among the clergy of the Olympian deities. As Zeus is king of the gods, so are they rulers among clerics. No Olympian clerics care much for church hierarchy, but when your patron is the head of the pantheon, you tend to get a little more respect.
Zeus’s clerics wear white tunics, and lead monthly sacrifices in his grand temples. His temples are found in every settlement where the Olympians are worshipped, and even the smallest towns boast grand and impressive structures to honour the king of the gods.
Note: The favoured weapon, halfspear has been removed, as it no longer exists in 3.5.
Source: Deities and Demigods (Page 101)