[RPG] Which D&D deity’s religious practices and beliefs are the most comprehensively detailed in official published material

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I've been reading a lot of Brandon Sanderson lately, and the thing I love most about his worlds, aside from the magic systems, is the treatment of religion. The characters have personal beliefs that interact with a societal set of belief systems in a very believable way that also impacts their lives on a daily basis. The Austrism religion from Warbreaker colors every aspect of the characters' lives who follow it, whether they are rejecting the religion or embracing it. The debates between Shu-Dereth and Shu-Korath in Elantris are fascinating. These are full world views, not quirks.

To contrast, in my experience with D&D most cleric/paladin players don't actually play their religion very much, or if they do, it's reduced to very simple concepts… for example: St. Cuthbert is the patron saint of hitting monsters with big hammers, worship of Pelor involves charity and self-sacrifice… these are surface level things, quirks, but it's all I've ever encountered in D&D thus far. More commonly, religion takes a major backseat to the character and the game.

Obviously it doesn't have to if we don't want it to. But… my question is, if I want to play a character where religion is a very big part of their lives, in a more Sanderson kind of way, what religion in a published D&D setting has the most detail that I can play with? Where can I find details about it to flesh out my character?

Best Answer

There have been some decent sourcebooks focusing on D&D religions in the past, such as Faiths and Avatars and Deities and Demigods, but to explore D&D religions, it might be more appropriate to read D&D novels. Actually, particularly for the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance settings, a multitude of world building novels touch and detail deities and their priests. Some examples are:

The Cleric Quintet by Salvatore details the adventures of the cleric Cadderly Bonaduce, and constructs a lot of the lore around Deneir's religion.
The Avatar series of five books details the Time of Troubles when the Forgotten Realms deities walk amongst mortals, and the subsequent rise of Midnight (Mystra), Kelemvor and Cyric to godhood.
The Lady Penitent trilogy pits priestess of Lolth against those of Eilistraee, with a complex background involving other drow deities like Vhaeraun and Kiaransalee. (Various Drizzt novels are also great in detailing Lolth's religion, as mentioned in another answer.)
In the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, a powerful wizard is trying to challenge Takhisis and assume her place in Krynn's pantheon of gods. The story also provides a background on the Cataclysm that occurred as a result of the actions of the Kingpriest, the theocratic ruler of Istar.

Finally, I suggest searching for the word "heresy" in the Forgotten Realms wiki, and have a look at the articles that you find that way. The various schisms in the religions had actually helped me in building my own Forgotten Realms and fleshing out the role of clerics, allowing me to come up with satisfactory answers to questions like "Which magic deity would be a good fit for a specific witch-hunting cult?" on the rpg.se.