Modified rules for deities.

[Clistenes]

I was reading some threads about deities and the planes, and as always, I was wondering why aren't deities more influential, given the enormous power gap between them and everybody else.

The non-direct interference pact works for the Prime Material, but, why aren't gods managing everything in the Planes? Why do mortal groups like the Harmonium, for example, have so much influence when compared to the gods themselves?

So I thought that maybe a new rule putting a limit to the god's power could give a reason for that. Gods would have the same power level as in Deities & Demigods while in their own Divine Realms (which would be much bigger than what was written at Deities & Demigods, reaching even infinite size for Greater Deities), but when stepping outside of them, it would get reduced:

While staying outside of their Divine Realm but in the Plane of their alignment, they would be at their Avatar power level, as described in Deities & Demigods. Their Avatar divine ranks would, however, get halved (rounded down) when stepping into a Plane that is one step from their own alignment, and halved with every other step they are from home.

Take Moradin, for example; he would be:

Divine Rank 19 while in his Divine Realm.
Avatar power level (Divine Rank 9) while outside his Divine Realm but in Mt. Celestia.
Divine Rank 4 while in Arcadia.
Divine Rank 2 while in Mechanus.
Divine Rank 1 while in Acheron.
Divine Rank 0 while in Baator or further from Mt. Celestia.

Also, while stepping outside the Outer Planes, he would lose all Divine Ranks.

That wouldn't be a flaw of the deities' power, but the consequence of a covenant between deities. Deities are so powerful that, when they enter a layer not of their own alignment, they force a shift of that layer's alignment, causing chaos in the Planes, unless they dampen their own divine power.

A deity CAN step outside of their Divine Realm in full power, but that would be considered an act of war, so they do so only when they intend to declare war on ALL the layer's or Plane's local deities.

So...what do you think about this? How would it affect the game/campaign?

[AuraTwilight]

That's incredibly silly and makes deities pretty much incapable of Divine Intervention.

Gods are already kept from being able to stomp over everything by a Cold War-esque arms race prevention. The only thing keeping evil gods from wiping out everyone is the good gods staying their hand, etc.

[Clistenes]

This would affect evil gods too.

I was thinking of a way to explain why the gods don't have more influence over the Planes. You would think that, by now, they would have already parcelled the whole Outlands into nice plots instead of restraining themselves to lord over their Divine Realms.

[AuraTwilight]

This would affect evil gods too.

So does my idea. It's the setting default. :3


I was thinking of a way to explain why the gods don't have more influence over the Planes. You would think that, by now, they would have already parcelled the whole Outlands into nice plots instead of restraining themselves to lord over their Divine Realms.

Because the planes are infinite. No matter how big all the gods make their realms, they'll still never hold even a sizeable minority of the planes under their influence. They are just too large and ineffable, and the planes get larger still with each soul.

[Mnemnosyne]

This would affect evil gods too.

I was thinking of a way to explain why the gods don't have more influence over the Planes. You would think that, by now, they would have already parcelled the whole Outlands into nice plots instead of restraining themselves to lord over their Divine Realms.
The planes are infinite. The gods' powers are finite. The gods already have realms as big as their powers allow them to have. There will always be land outside and between and around their realms, because the planes are infinite.