Deity builds needed

[M@XIM]

I created a homebrew world and I want the Deities to be former Adventurers from another world that came to this world and received a power up in the same sense that Superman is super strong because he lives on Earth. I want each deity to be 20 levels of something (multiclass is fine/encouraged) with a little extra to make them God-like. Most of them will be Neutral or Evil (too much power). They're not intended to be unbeatable, but I do want them to be very optimized and different from one another. There needs to be seven of them.

So.. this should be kind of fun.. give me 7 distinctive 20 level character builds to bother my players with.

I have a few in mind I'll post shortly, but I want to see what you guys come up with first!

Thanks!

[rhouck]

I want each deity to be 20 levels of something (multiclass is fine/encouraged) with a little extra to make them God-like

A little extra like a few of the Epic Boons listed in the DMG? (i.e., so "extra" things that any PC could theoretically attain) Or abilities that are truly unobtainable within the normal rules of the game?

[M@XIM]

A little extra like a few of the Epic Boons listed in the DMG? (i.e., so "extra" things that any PC could theoretically attain) Or abilities that are truly unobtainable within the normal rules of the game?

Depends on how strong they start off. I think giving each one a special ability that is unobtainable would set them apart better. My group is level 8 so it'll be awhile before they can hope to challenge one of these deities. I plan to give them a subtle buff when the time comes as well. I'm just looking for 7 distinct optimized builds that I can add a little flare to.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'd suggest that for actual deities, rather than demigods, you include legendary saves (1, 2, or 3 per day) in the kit of your deity like 20ths.

Other suggestion: as "deities" they need to be "the thing in a pure form" or the avatar of a given class. no dips. I'd skip clerics altogether. At lvl 20 they'd be calling on themselves for divine intervention? :smallbiggrin:

Lvl 20 Rogue
Lvl 20 Warrior (fighter)
Lvl 20 Druid
Lvl 20 Wizard (Sorcerer may be the better choice)
Lvl 20 Barbarian
Lvl 20 Bard
Lvl 20 Ranger (archer)

These give you some core archetypes: the tricky rogue(or the assassin), the valiant warrior(or death riding a pale horse), the care taker of the land (or nature in opposition to man), the power of magic, the wild/chaos (I'd suggest half orc for the barb), song (or deception), archery / hunter(or the wild hunt). You can mix and match good, neutral, evil with any of the above.

Others may have better suggestions. I'll leave the builds to the folks who enjoy doing that as a hobby.

PS: I understand your multi class stated preference, my answer focused more on their role as "deity" than just "hellacious challenge."

[Ninja_Prawn]

I actually have a character sheet that would be perfect for this (in my opinion). It's based on a character that appeared in a novel I wrote a few years ago - the 5e rules turned out to be perfect for describing her abilities. I'll post it when I get home.

[Giant2005]

A Storm Sorcerer that has the ability to cast any spell as a Lightning spell and unlimited reactions would be pretty nasty.
Give him Hellish Rebuke via Magic Initiate and the boon to cast it infinitely and whenever he is attacked, the attacker will take 2D10 (save for half) +sorclevel in damage and everyone else within 10' will take sorclevel/2 in damage.

[Ninja_Prawn]

So, I just noticed that you wanted optimised deities... well Sophia is totally unoptimised, but I actually think you could make that work. Especially given her alignment. She might decide she wants to usurp one of the other deities, but need the PCs' help to do so because she's not as strong as they are.

Anyway... here she is:


Sophia's Character Sheet (https://www.dropbox.com/s/1xcrb9576bf31b5/Sophia.pdf?dl=0)

An extract (https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8bz1k9nh36mph4/Extract.docx?dl=0) from the novel that should shed some light on her personality. In combat, she prefers to fight with her sword and the Shield and Haste spells. She only uses other magic when pressed. Her version of PW:K works by teleporting each molecule of the target to a random location. She dresses in flowing black robes with dramatically flared sleeves and always wears a hooded cloak.




Sophia's character sheet is basically legal (I may have tweaked a few things... it was a while ago when I wrote it); her stats were rolled 'legitimately'. To bring her up to the level of 'Goddess', she'll need a bit of a boost. The following item and spells are canon-compliant, but may be horribly unbalanced.

Also, the ethnicity and languages are from my own setting. Feel free to customise.


The Thrice-Cursed Amulet of Sophia Voidwalker (Unique wondrous item, requires attunement by a spellcaster with at least 18 Intelligence)

This amulet, which has three large amethysts hanging from it, has 7 charges. When you cast a spell of first level or higher, you may expend a number of charges equal to that spell's level in order to amplify the spell, as per the Sorcerer's Empowered Spell metamagic (using Intelligence instead of Charisma).
The amulet regains 1d6 charges at sunset every day.


Sophia's Spatial Displacement
4th-level Conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous

You send a blast of chaotic energy towards your target, ripping it apart on a molecular level. Make a ranged spell attack against a creature or object within range. On a hit, a creature takes 8d10 necrotic damage; a tiny object is ripped apart and its constituent parts scattered across the Astral Plane. If a larger object is hit by this spell, 2.5 cubic feet of the object is scattered across the Astral Plane while the rest is untouched.


Sophia's Temporal Displacement
8th-level Transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You warp the temporal reference frame around yourself, dislocating yourself from the flow of time and enabling you to act with impossible speed. Until the spell ends, your speed is tripled, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, you automatically succeed on Dexterity saving throws and you gain two additional actions on each of your turns. Those actions can only be used to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Hide or Use an Object actions.

When the spell ends, you can't move or take actions or reactions until after your next turn, you gain one level of exhaustion and you are permanently aged by one year.




Sophia is intended to be fun for the DM, as well as the players. When she first appears, it should not be obvious that she is a Goddess, as she is small, unassuming and dresses fairly plainly. Then, her unpredictable personality comes out; she is liable to become involved in all manner of shenanigans. Finally, in combat, she's got more AC than you'd think for an unarmoured full-caster (Haste + unlimited Shield = 26) and good saves across the board (except Cha, which should be made clear to the players via roleplaying).

[1Forge]

I'd make them level 20 in their class, then give them 20's in all but 1 stat. Then give them epic boons, and the ability to cast any spell (the fighter would still be able to do diety stuff this way) Then give them trance instead of sleep, make them not need phisical things to live (like food and water) And give each one really OP weapon. I'd also make them impossible to kill entirely (unless you have powers close to theirs), but you could cripple them for eaons.

An example of something similar i did: The Dungeon masters avatar lvl 1: 20 in all stats but str (10 in str) then 15 for AC and 100 health (health was bound to phylactery-like thing) Then i gave him the ability to auto resurrect till his PHB (phylactery) was destroyed. He had a staff that cast 20th level magic missile, and a flail that caused as much damage as every dice rolled and added together. This guy was designed as a challenge for my party of 3rd level guys (because the book was easy to find) He knew all wizard spells to top.

[vcremasco]

(sorry, english is not my first language)

Some ideas:


Wild Elf Ranger 20 (Beastmaster) - LN
The Pale Hunter is the merciless man who leads the living into the death realms. His dogs can smell the dying through the planes and he is a terrible enemy to the Undead.

Bloodhounds (Special): The Pale Hunter can create/control spectral Bloodhounds that "hunts" the dying and lead them to the other life. There is no "book of the dead" with your name scribed in it. If you are dying, they will know, and they will "gently help" you in your passing.

Beastmaster's pet: The Pale Hunter has twin Human Barbarians (lvl 10 each) Werewolves as "pets". They act in the same round of the Pale Hunter and receive all (if any) benefits of a normal Beastmaster's pet.




Human Warlock 20 (Old One, pact of the Book) - LE

Bearer of all knowledge:her book of shadows has all the spells available through the planes. You developed a new spell? Great, it appears on her book. For flavour, it could be an artifact and the players could go in a quest to steal it, but the book is NE and extremely intelligent.




Human Sorcerer 20 (Favored Soul) - CN
Religious fanatic, crazy, he think he is LG, but is far away from it. Don't like undead's either.

Place here some nova power and a little bit of mind controlling (Religious fanatic, remember?).




Changelling** Bard 20 (Lore I think) - CN or CG

The typical Coyote who is a trickster bastard!

Place here powers for illusion, mind controlling...

*Please WW, don't suit me!
**From Unearthed Arcana



I have more ideas (including a Storm domaing who is a Druid with a Blue Dragon "Moon Circle form", who mates with every female in the world to produce Half-Dragons), but I need to do other stuff right now. As soon as I have some time, I will reply again.

[1Forge]

wait why does she live in mystery if she knows everything?

[Ninja_Prawn]

wait why does she live in mystery if she knows everything?

That is a mystery that only She can know the answer to!

[Kane0]

As I theoried in another thread:

Champion Fighter 3 / Assassin Rogue / Storm orGavored Soul Sorcerer 3 / Fiend Tome or Bladelock 11
Spell sniper and warcaster feats

Deific Benefits: Improved stats (Cha, Con and Dex especially), a feat or two, legendary saves, maybe some epic boons (extra sorcery points and applying sneak attack to spell attacks are good choices).

True to the mindset of the average adventurer, this build is a cobbled together bunch of classes to maximise a single trick and min/max as much as possible. The array of frontloaded abilities give a combination of power and versatility, and his trick is Eldritch Blast. Tome gives utility to avoid one trick pony syndrome and blade gives baseline melee ability for emergencies.

Also to consider:
-Melee assassin/fighter nova build
-Mystic theurge (cleric/wizard) with casting epic boons, bonus points for necromancy or divination focus
-minionmaster of some kind (Epic boon, more summon spells at once)

[vcremasco]

That is a mystery that only She can know the answer to!

She Who Lives in Mystery knows everything, mysterious or not, but no one knows how she got this power. That is the ultimate mystery! :smallbiggrin:

More ideas that I am working for my campaign:


Dragonborn Druid 20 (Moon Circle) - LE

Lord of Storms, father of blue dragons. Place an Ancient Golden Dragon as his enemy and you can retire Tiamat and Bahamut.

Make a lair for him. A great desert or an island.

Plot for this guy: for some unknown reason (maybe She Who Lives in Mystery knows...) he hates every living being other than Dragonborns and Half-Dragons (childish trauma, brain damage, or whatever), so he shapechanges in various different forms and copulates with whoever crosses his sight... He will fill the world with blue half-dragons/dragonborns and hunt all the living through eternity.




? Druid 20 (Land Circle) - N

Baobab (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Baobab) was long ago another kind of creature. He changed to a plant-like living being and now he lives all over the globe (or place your favorite world shape here).

As he is everywhere, he can awaken trees and shrubs to interact with mortals. Elves and fey people could worship him, even with him giving a sh*#t to them.




Warforged* Paladin 20 (Oath of Devotion, why not?) - LG (I know you asked for N or E gods, but at least one could be good...)

This... thing, was projected to protect mankind. Take a look on this guy:
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Relic-Warforged-Avenger-293344797

Creepy, I know. But he swore protect humanity at all costs. Give him weapon artifacts and you are good to go.

*Unearthed Arcana




Minotaur* Fighter 20 (Battle Master)

His name means "Admiral" in arabic (I think... thanks google!). He has an airship, a huge sword and dozens of warriors in his ship. Maybe he could be this guy: http://monstersandbeasts.blogspot.com.br/2011_04_01_archive.html

*Unearthed Arcana


For powers:
To maintain the gods defeasible by players, give to they 5 boons and I think it could work (Boon of recovery is a plus);
Gives them 5 legendary actions, including legendary saving throws;

[Gnomes2169]

wait why does she live in mystery if she knows everything?

Because knowing everything =/= losing her empathy. And she knows Everything. Every family torn apart, every innocent butchered in the most recent genocide, every stillborn child, every orphan who screams into their pillow, every destitute person who whispers in a broken voice that it is not fair, the feeling of every blade that slices flesh and bone as it plunges into someone's heart, the drop of every tear and the shattering of every broken love. She knows all of the pain, sorrow, suffering and horror that happens in the world, she knows how it feels and how it bends and breaks every mortal it afflicts.

And she cannot turn it off. She cannot stop knowing or feeling or experiencing, because she is all knowledge. She cannot grow numb because to truly know it she must know the weight of each failure. She cannot retreat into madness because she must understand every anguish. She does not have the choice to ignore it because she always knows. And she cannot take her own life because then her purpose for being would be invalidated.

So all she can do is sit, and learn, and suffer every single day of her immortal life. How could she not be miserable?

...

You know, when I started writing this response, this was just going to be a lighthearted, joking thing.

...

My mind went to a dark place...

[Kane0]

-Snip-

For what it's worth though, that is a very compelling depiction.

[ruy343]

snip

However, bear in mind that this god of knowledge might also have the ability to experience the joy and happiness that people experience, in addition to the sadness and pain that they feel. However, perhaps this god has chosen to stop registering the good things in the world to drive her to do something about the evil in the world, leading her on a sort of idealistic crusade that is as much evil as it is good in its execution. Perhaps she feels that she alone should be the judge of others' deeds, and she gets carried away with it, enforcing her judgments by the sword, rather than through reason. Perhaps a vengeance paladin would describe this sort of attitude?