Becoming a god!

[ImSAMazing]

Hey Playgrounders,

For a game I am going to DM in, for that game I have a question:
In the Forgotten Realms you can become a God by gaining enough followers. Is there any documentation how many followers you need to be called a Deity? How many to be a Lesser Deity? Maybe a Demi-God?

[MrConsideration]

This works purely through DM fiat as far as I know. Agree something with your players as an end-goal for the campaign.

[Envyus]

Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul killed a lesser god and stole his divinity as part of their prelude to godhood. (They needed a spark of devinity in order to fight the greater god Jergel who they were planning on stealing the power of.) Jergel just gave them his portfolio's anyway allowing them all to become Greater Gods. (Except for Bhaal who became an indeterminate one.)

[Ouranos]

Well, doubt they'll have anything official for 5th for quite some time, but I think good ol Deities and Demigods may have had listings for that, or at the very least guidelines you could go off of.

[MaxWilson]

Hey Playgrounders,

For a game I am going to DM in, for that game I have a question:
In the Forgotten Realms you can become a God by gaining enough followers. Is there any documentation how many followers you need to be called a Deity? How many to be a Lesser Deity? Maybe a Demi-God?

42 * (e^Πi)

[Naanomi]

In FR you can become a Demi-God with enough worshipers (how much is enough has a lot of variables) but to get higher you generally need some Divine support... A sponsor, some stolen Godstuff, a powerful divine artifact... And you have to get Ao's thumbs up which generally means you can't be trying to be the God of something that 'your pantheon' already has a God of... No double dipping!

[Yorrin]

From 3.0's "Dieties and Demigods"

Divine Rank 1-5 (demigods) have from a few hundred to a few thousand worshipers
Rank 6-10 (lesser dieities) have from a few thousand to tens of thousand worshipers
Rank 11-15 (intermediate dieites) have hundreds of thousands of worshipers
Rank 16-20 (greater dieites) have millions of worshipers

Just to give you a rough idea.

[Zevox]

From 3.0's "Dieties and Demigods"

Divine Rank 1-5 (demigods) have from a few hundred to a few thousand worshipers
Rank 6-10 (lesser dieities) have from a few thousand to tens of thousand worshipers
Rank 11-15 (intermediate dieites) have hundreds of thousands of worshipers
Rank 16-20 (greater dieites) have millions of worshipers

Just to give you a rough idea.
The Forgotten Realms-specific Faiths & Pantheons (also 3e) gives that same set of numbers - albeit with the caveat that each "may receive veneration or respect from many more."

This does not mean that just getting a few hundred worshipers will automatically make you a demigod, though. There is no hard and fast point where something like that happens - and in general, ascending to godhood in the Realms would likely also require the consent of the setting's overgod, Ao.

[Atalas]

The Forgotten Realms-specific Faiths & Pantheons (also 3e) gives that same set of numbers - albeit with the caveat that each "may receive veneration or respect from many more."

This does not mean that just getting a few hundred worshipers will automatically make you a demigod, though. There is no hard and fast point where something like that happens - and in general, ascending to godhood in the Realms would likely also require the consent of the setting's overgod, Ao.

Or something to the effect that allowed Cyric to go from mortal to god. I believe he used the avatar form of Mask to slay a few mortal gods and absorb their portfolio's? But then that was the Time of Troubles where Ao was letting all sorts of things happen to teach the gods a lesson. Things get crazy in the Realms.

[Naanomi]

Technically Ao doesn't care if you become a Demi-God 'on your own', it is beneath his interest level most of the time. Only when you try to get higher than that does he take an active hand (and even then not always, if you fit his criteria already)

[Zevox]

Or something to the effect that allowed Cyric to go from mortal to god. I believe he used the avatar form of Mask to slay a few mortal gods and absorb their portfolio's? But then that was the Time of Troubles where Ao was letting all sorts of things happen to teach the gods a lesson. Things get crazy in the Realms.
Not quite. As far as Cyric slaying gods using Godsbane (which yes, was Mask's avatar at the time) goes, he did, but only one: Bhaal. Of the other gods whose portfolios he took over, Bane was killed by Torm, and Myrkul by Midnight. Cyric gained nothing directly from killing Bhaal, and only became a god at the end of the Time of Troubles because Ao chose to have him become one, as a replacement for those three slain gods (at the same time as he chose Midnight to ascend as a replacement for the first Mystra).

[Araal]

From what I understand, the whole "earning XP" thing could be considered part of the process of becoming a deity. You kill something, you absorb some of it's essence, becoming more powerful and eventually attaining godhood. Of course, this is aided by having worshipers, so from a mechanical standpoint... maybe allow levels above 20, but they are only able to progress if they have a certain number of followers?

[McNinja]

You need a bit of divinity in the first place; a demigod could amass enough followers to gain divinity status, but some rando off the street couldn't. The only mortals who became gods were basically given their divinity and portfolios by other gods.