Back in the day when I had a regular AD&D gaming group, I an games where each deity was aspected by alignment, and each aspect was represented by an immortal Avatar. The deity would have their primary alignment and portfolio (i.e. Neutral Good god of healing and wisdom) and the NG Avatar would basically have the name and appearance of that god and in overall power would be like a Demigod. The other Avatars would have some of the portfolio abilities of the god but would be progressively lesser in power (i.e. the Neutral Evil Avatar would be the weakest, as the opposite of NG, and have a different name from the god). Again, all the Avatars were immortal - if they were killed, they would just appear again somewhere else randomly, and all of the Avatars roamed the world as NPCs. and could interact with the PCs and sometimes even join the party (the lesser ones, naturally, and the PCs would not be aware of their Avatar-ness).
Example:
Makaan is the Neutral Good god of healing and wisdom and has 9 Avatars:
Makaan - Immortal,- Neutral Good Human Priest, can heal pretty much anything at will, is amazingly wise, and is normally found in the primary Cathredal devoted to Makaan. Can grant wishes and do most of the stuff associated with the actual god Makaan. Most folks believe he IS Makaan.
Maria of Calamsham - Immortal, Lawful Good Elf Paladin, seems to just be a really powerful /adventurer known for being wise. Folks have no idea she is an Avatar of Makaan.
Grimtosh the Barbarian - Immortal, Chaotic Good Half-Orc Barbarian, frequently misunderstood warrior. Has a nasty temper, but always means well - when he's around pestilence and disease seem to fade relatively quickly
and so on down to:
Galadriel - Immortal, Chaotic Neutral Human Wild Mage - definitely insane, but largely harmless. She doesn't really demonstrate any kind of wisdom and is the kind of character to toss a fireball in a crowded corridor to get the monsters and end up hitting most of the party as well. She will often hurt people by accident, but feel kinda bad about it later. This one I normally played for humor - she tries to make things better, but her idea of better is not always. . . better. She will not deliberately harm the party, but will frequently do so by accident (i.e. Party tries to sneak past guards, Galadriel says out loud "Do you think they can hear us?").
Radadash - Immortal, Neutral Evil Gnome Rogue - He's always looking out for himself and is an administrator in a mid-size city. He believes in graft and corruption and can easily manipulate others into his point of view (talks people into courses of action that may or may not benefit them, but definitely benefit him).
