Even Shar has nothing against the power of agriculture (Seriously though: these are the top 3 FR gods in terms of RAW power)
This is because gods in that universe derive power directly from the number of people woeshipping them, right? So, yeah, the goddess of farmers makes sense as one of the most powerful, because there are a ton of farmers out there.
I’m not particularly familiar with the FR pantheon, but I would imagine a god/dess of death would prove quite powerful, particularly if people don’t just pray to them during a funeral rite, but also as an homage to deceased ancestors. Also, a deity of trade (which I’m pretty sure FR has—is it Waukeen?), as trade is very important and there are doubtless plenty of merchants and trade guilds.
While I think this is definitely true, there does seem to be a notable exception to that in Bahamut and Tiamat, right? They're both pretty powerful deities, but unlike other deities, their own races don't actively worship them.
There's probably some obscure lore in there that I don't know, I suppose.
Well, think about it. Agriculture is civilization. Farming enables cities, specialization, and large-scale cooperation. Without it, we're tribal hunter-gatherers.
I love "obscure" gods being ridiculously powerful in some specific regard. This has roots in reality; the Roman god Janus was seen as the bridge or portal to all other gods and was thus invoked first in all religious ceremonies, even before Jupiter himself.
An army is pretty worthless if you can't feed them
Makes perfect sense to me. In Japan one of the most reverred gods is Inari, the god of rice.
'cuz people need to eat.
I mean, in practice, in modern Japan, Allah is probably the most referred deity, but if you stick to the Shintō ones then yes it's definitely Inari.
To be fair nearly every Race depends on farmer
Mystra: "I'm I a joke to you?"
A joke that keeps being told with slight variation.
I mean, think about how many farmers have turned into level 20 John Fighterman. She's got an army of level 20 souls who can all attack 8 times in the first couple rounds each.
I see you've left out Kurtulmak - a grave error.
I mean yeah it makes sense. Agriculture is the foundation of sedentary civilizations; in a medieval world like FR the vast, vast majority of people would be farmers; and without food everything else just falls apart.
Goddess?