How to kill the Gods?

[RumoCrytuf]

Heyo Playgrounders,

My current character (also my namesake) has the extremely ambitious goal of destroying the Gods. All of them, no matter what Pantheon, must die. How would one go about this? Do they have weaknesses? Some way to overpower them?

[jaappleton]

Uhmm.... Ok.

First of all, good luck with that. :smalltongue:

But for actual advice? I mean, that's quite a tall order. Tiamat can be killed, I know that. But you're trying to kill EVERYTHING? Off the top of my head... The Wish spell, maybe. Possibly some way through the Deck of Many Things, though that can just as easily kill you.

[Pazerniusz]

Kill or convert everyone who could pray or worship him.
Make him take mortal form like in "Time of Troubles".
To be honest in D&D e5 players don't kill gods, players prevent them from summoning their avatar or kill that avatar if he is weak.
Demigods are the easiest to kill from all god-like creatures, they could be even considered dead if you destroy their avatar.

[Douche]

If the campaign is centered around that, the DM will provide you with the plot hooks to kill the Gods. Otherwise, you're just going to look like a douche when you keep trying to derail the campaign & force everyone else to do what you want (mass religious pogroms, apparently)

[Coffee_Dragon]

Left earlobe. Works every time. It's too easy. If your DM claims there's some problem with it, scream "YOU'RE CHEATING" at the top of your lungs, throw a pencil and storm out of the room.

[jaappleton]

Are Gods in D&D like Freddy Kreuger? If nobody believes they exist, they stop existing?

[Shining Wrath]

Not possible in 5e with bounded accuracy. For starters, PHB says that deities can prevent anyone they don't want around from using Gate to reach their presence and / or their planes. If you can't get near them, you can't kill them.

[tieren]

Found the church of scientology and convert all of the true god's followers.

[Contrast]

Your goal is unachieveable.

To be clear, that isn't necessarily a problem (lots of people try to do things which they cannot realistically achieve, no reason to not play one of them). I'm playing a character in a game (in another system) right now whose goal is to merge human consciousness and create a god. Not gonna happen and is well beyond the scope of the game but I get to have fun in the mean time.

I suggest setting your character some shorter term goals. Killing the gods is no simple proposition - if he doesn't have a plan then he needs time to come up with a plan. So the first step is how to become immortal. Or have him study planar connections, divine magic and teleportation magic - if you can sever the planes so the gods cannot get to this plane then does it matter that they're still alive if they can't get here? Or study the history of the gods and divine magic in an effort to try to hoard, steal, trick or wrestle away enough divine energy to start on the road to godhood himself.

A lot of the specifics of this will depend specifically on your setting and how your DM is running it so this is really a conversation you need to have with your DM. Just remember that your starting point going in should be the expectation that your character won't get to achieve this as you're going well beyond shooting for the stars here :smalltongue:

[JackPhoenix]

Generally, you'll need to get them to 0 hp and have them fail 3 death saves. How you do that is up to you.

Seriously, that question is so setting and campaign dependant there's no easy answer... ask your GM if it's even possible. In Eberron, you can't kill gods, because it's not even clear if they exist at all, in other settings, it may be the matter of eliminating faith in them, or just physical assault

[Naanomi]

All of them throughout the entire cosmology? Basically... destroy the entire multiverse is about the only way; the Gods and the worshipers that sustain them are in every corner of existence.

[Pazerniusz]

Are Gods in D&D like Freddy Kreuger? If nobody believes they exist, they stop existing?
Without worshipers they will slowly lost their godly domains, and with them powers and become lesser beings. Most likely other gods will snatch their domain and add them to their portfolios. In most cases domains are shared by gods, because nobody can't get full grip on them.

[Naanomi]

Without worshipers they will slowly lost their godly domains, and with them powers and become lesser beings. Most likely other gods will snatch their domain and add them to their portfolios. In most cases domains are shared by gods, because nobody can't get full grip on them.
Although there are a small number of Gods that don't require worship (most notably Anubis)

[PiggDaddy]

Are Gods in D&D like Freddy Kreuger? If nobody believes they exist, they stop existing?

Sorta, it depend upon the setting obviously. However, in the Forgotten Realms, the default setting for 5e, gods can have their power limited if they have no followers. 5e gods have essentially limitless power when compared to mortals, so they can't be killed under by one under normal circumstances, but all the gods are at the mercy of Ao the creator god, who can strip their power or make them mortal if he pleases. This is what happened in the time of troubles when Ao banished the gods from their reals, forcing them to roam the Material Plane as their physical avatars. The easiest was to strip a god of its power is to destroy their fallowing, if no one worships the god then Ao will likely relive them of their domain.

[Envyus]

Well for starters assuming default lore and you going to just kill them. You would have to go to the gods domain and kill them there. Anywhere else and they can reform at their domain. This is ignoring that gods are at their strongest in their domains and have total power over it.

Secondly this only applies to lesser gods. Greater Gods are beyond the reach of mortals. They can only interact with mortals through avatars which are at a similar power level to lesser gods. Though the avatar's destruction has no effect on the greater god.

So if you tired to kill Tiamat. You would have to go to the first layer of the Nine Hells and go over to her domain while avoiding all the devils and minions of Tiamat that would try to kill you. Eventually through some miracle you may arrive at Tiamat and her five consorts. (An ancient chromatic dragon of each type.) Tiamat is at her max power here and can simply warp you out of her domain if she did not feel like killing you. But likely you would simply die.

[Asmotherion]

Well, having all their believers deny them apparently makes them fall into a catatonic state similar to sleeping. Wile you can destroy a god's avatar you can't really destroy the god himself, as this would just result in the god returning to his own plane. The most prominent way is to usurp them by stealing their divine spark. This used to be possible by killing the Avatar in it's home plane before it could re-create itself, if I'm not mistaken. As of now, 5e does not have specific rules on usurping gods, thus only a DM can allow you to do so if he choses to. Killing an avatar is normal, however do expect great power levels and a minimum CR 30 for greater and perhaps 25 for lesser deities. To have an Idea look at Tiamat's full form stats. Expect this kind of resistances.

[Naanomi]

Sorta, it depend upon the setting obviously. However, in the Forgotten Realms, the default setting for 5e, gods can have their power limited if they have no followers. 5e gods have essentially limitless power when compared to mortals, so they can't be killed under by one under normal circumstances, but all the gods are at the mercy of Ao the creator god, who can strip their power or make them mortal if he pleases. This is what happened in the time of troubles when Ao banished the gods from their reals, forcing them to roam the Material Plane as their physical avatars. The easiest was to strip a god of its power is to destroy their fallowing, if no one worships the god then Ao will likely relive them of their domain.
Though even Ao only has control over the Gods in Forgotten Realms, Gods of other worlds are not under his preview... and there is some degree of doubt as to whether all worlds are overseen by an Overdiety the way Forgotten Realms are (though at least some others are explicitly so)

[Laserlight]

Heyo Playgrounders,

My current character (also my namesake) has the extremely ambitious goal of destroying the Gods. All of them, no matter what Pantheon, must die. How would one go about this? Do they have weaknesses? Some way to overpower them?

There's really no remotely plausible way to do this. Oh, you might be able to talk your DM into making up a Two Handed Dagger of Godslaying and a Cloak of Fiat Invisibility and such, but your bragging rights will be "Look what my DM allowed" rather than "Look what my character can do."

However, there's no reason you can't play a character who wants to accomplish this. Perhaps he kills priests and destroys altars (bear in mind this might affect your ability to get healed, resurrected, etc). Or he gets into theological arguments with everyone. Maybe he'll join every cults he can, and try to cause schisms, or incite religious wars.

[Sigreid]

If you're in Forgotten Realms, just wait for every other Tuesday. I'm sure one or more of them will be dead.

[rollingForInit]

Is that what the campaign is about? If so, there will be many plot hooks for it. Find the ancient relic forged from the bones of a Primordial that is the mortal bane of Tymora. Trick Tyr into blessing your weapon with divine might so that you can strike down Bane in his divine realm. Conspire with Shar to murder all Chosen of Mystra, to weaken the goddess to the point that she can be killed. Help Eilistraae subvert the worship of Lolth, to weaken the spider goddess until she's weak enough to be slain in combat. Unite all the Archdevils of hell into an unholy alliance with all the demon lords in an effort to murder Asmodeus. And do about a thousand of those epic quests.

That's the kind of stuff you'd need, at least with gods like those in the Forgotten Realms.

If the point of the campaign is not to kill the gods, you're not going to be able to just kill the gods. If the DM doesn't want gods to be killable, they'll blast any puny 20th level character into molecules with an annoyed sigh.

[Whyrocknodie]

Reduce them to zero hit points. Job done.

Next question?

[Envyus]

Well, having all their believers deny them apparently makes them fall into a catatonic state similar to sleeping. Wile you can destroy a god's avatar you can't really destroy the god himself, as this would just result in the god returning to his own plane. The most prominent way is to usurp them by stealing their divine spark. This used to be possible by killing the Avatar in it's home plane before it could re-create itself, if I'm not mistaken. As of now, 5e does not have specific rules on usurping gods, thus only a DM can allow you to do so if he choses to. Killing an avatar is normal, however do expect great power levels and a minimum CR 30 for greater and perhaps 25 for lesser deities. To have an Idea look at Tiamat's full form stats. Expect this kind of resistances.

Lesser Gods are all going to be around CR 30. Greater God Avatars around the same level. As the actual thing can't be interacted with by mortals.

[Temperjoke]

Alright, first off, it requires a huge amount of DM willingness and cooperation. Otherwise, it won't happen, no matter what. There is no official way (yet) in 5e for a mortal to kill a god.

Now, that aside, there are several thoughts on the subject (again, requiring DM willingness and cooperation):

1. Special Weapon - this could be some weapon created as a safeguard against rogue deities (ones that decide to destroy reality, for example), although the only thing that would be a necessary property is the power to bypass their divinity (since technically a god could choose to be invulnerable); it wouldn't even need to harm the god directly, just it's presence could be enough

2. Divine Assistance - Another deity chooses to assist you, giving you access to the planes, maybe blessing you to negate some of the other gods' immunities. This god could be hoping to benefit from the fall of other gods. It could even be something like a Great Old One (as in the Warlock patron), they're certainly of a power level able to provide this sort of support.

3. Weaken them - typically, Gods derive power from worship so theoretically if one starts removing their followers (conversion by words or sword), that could force the god(s) to make a move against the attacker. They would probably send more powerful followers first, continually escalating until the only option would be to face the player directly.

Once again, all of this requires your DM's assistance. Without it, all you're doing is disrupting the game and being a problematic player.

[Idkwhatmyscreen]

Are we including the Elder Gods like cthulhu? Cause you cannot kill them, ever. Heck they won't even notice that you tried to killed them. (and they ooze madness)

If we are not then you best bet would be to try and get an Elder God to destroy the gods for you, That involves somehow getting one to go to where the gods are and hopping that they decide to crush the them for you. Again you have no way to influence these beings and cthulhu is just as likely to play checkers with the target as it is to smash it

[Naanomi]

Are we including the Elder Gods like cthulhu? Cause you cannot kill them, ever. Heck they won't even notice that you tried to killed them. (and they ooze madness)

If we are not then you best bet would be to try and get an Elder God to destroy the gods for you, That involves somehow getting one to go to where the gods are and hopping that they decide to crush the them for you. Again you have no way to influence these beings and cthulhu is just as likely to play checkers with the target as it is to smash it
An elder entity from the far realm may be able to take out a God, but not all of them. When they come into our reality, eventually the outer planes will 'translate' them and transform them into something fitting our reality. That is how the Aboleth Goddess Piscaethces 'the blood queen' came into being. The Gods are weak in the face of such forces, but the force of the Outer Planes collectively is strong

[jaappleton]

Well... With this whole scenario, isn't there one being that may or may not be a God, with power greater than any God, that can never be taken out?

Where does the Lady of Pain fit into this scenario?

[Naanomi]

Well... With this whole scenario, isn't there one being that may or may not be a God, with power greater than any God, that can never be taken out?

Where does the Lady of Pain fit into this scenario?
I... suspect if you took out the Outer Planes entirely that she would go down with it. Hard to say though. Beings like Ao (and his boss) might also be beyond that as well

[jaappleton]

I... suspect if you took out the Outer Planes entirely that she would go down with it. Hard to say though. Beings like Ao (and his boss) might also be beyond that as well

I was always under the assumption that she existed only in Sigil, could never leave Sigil, and her power was absolute there. And it was simply impossible to ever destroy Sigil, in any way.

It's its own... thing. And it's not even definitive if she IS a God, but her power is greater than nearly any of them.

[Naanomi]

I was always under the assumption that she existed only in Sigil, could never leave Sigil, and her power was absolute there. And it was simply impossible to ever destroy Sigil, in any way.

It's its own... thing. And it's not even definitive if she IS a God, but her power is greater than nearly any of them.
In her domain her power is absolute, but there was a period where Sigil definitely didn't exist, so it (and she) is definitely a creation of this Multiverse. That is why I assume (perhaps falsely) that she wouldn't survive the fall of the multiverse as a whole (which of course has happened before)

[Deleted]

I feel like you should play another edition of D&D...

[Laurefindel]

Heyo Playgrounders,

My current character (also my namesake) has the extremely ambitious goal of destroying the Gods. All of them, no matter what Pantheon, must die. How would one go about this? Do they have weaknesses? Some way to overpower them?

1) become a god
2) plot for a few millenniums
3) bring about the end of the multiverse

*perhaps* that might work...

[StrikingViking]

You all are rambling like that insane wizard on the coast. He babbles on about how "there are terrible gods who control our every action with magical dice". Crazy talk, I tell ya

[Lawful Good]

Im surprised no ones referenced Old Man Henderson yet.

[The Shadowdove]

Even at epic levels you will need legendary items and the ability to attune to more than possible.

The only way to kill them is to make allies with similarly equipped demigod threat level players and then cross your fingers.

There are a lot of gods. Many gods have allies. Most of them are intelligent enough to prepare against a bunch of deicidal adventurers.

You'll also need constant deathward. As instant death abilities exist not only among deities but their potentially tens of thousands of lesser minions. You'll need mind shielding items or abilities as well.

You'll likely need plenty of items to ward from extreme elements as well. In preparation for domain deities who will no doubtedly turn their extradimentional homes on other planes of existences into uncompromisingly unbreakable fortresses of death.

In order to keep them from ganging up on you, as deities often make alliances with other gods and godlike creatures, you'll have to also find some way to set them at each other's throats.

Rendering them incapable of returning to any other bodies once you slay them is likely to be another task you'll have to set about preparing for.

And you'll have to do that for many of them. As they are likely possessing of godlike intelligence and the ability to prepare for their potential Demise. Not to mention any number of legendary items or artifacts at their disposal.

First steps might be to find ways to disrupt the weave of magic, put a damper on the strength they gain through worship, establish a way of gaining godlike abilities yourself(which also may hypocritically include becoming a god through worshippers and taking up a portfolio), and rendering the deities all mortal somehow.

You got this though. No ambition is too big or too ridiculous. That doesn't mean they aren't ridiculous at all, and that they may contain any sense of the resourcefulness and capability of the gods, or in fact more than a fraction of a percentage of being successful.

The trick in getting powerful and knowledgeable enough to know anything about these deities and to thwart all of these schemes is difficult without metagaming as well.

Your dm is basically going to have to be the most incredibly generous person in the world, as any one characters or party of characters is going to struggle against even a god without an abundance of minions, items, and allies at their disposal.

They'll have to craft situations that cater to the player's desire to be a godslayer, instead of the reality of them actually being able to slay multiple deities before become such a nuisance that they're hunted themselves.

[Squiddish]

In the forgotten realms, you can't. If killing all gods includes Ao, you are doomed to failure, because you can't kill Ao. If it does not, he'll be annoyed. There are a few things that could happen then, including you being retroactively removed from reality, you being vaporized and the pantheon restored, and you being forced to preside over everything (less fun than it sounds). Regardless, this character is gone. And if you (somehow) beat Ao, you then have to beat the DM. This is FR canon, Ao answers directly to the DM.

[Deleted]

You all are rambling like that insane wizard on the coast. He babbles on about how "there are terrible gods who control our every action with magical dice". Crazy talk, I tell ya

Are you sure that he's a wizard? I'm pretty sure he's a cleric...


Cleric's healing powers come from various Gods, while he himself is an atheist (http://8bittheater.wikia.com/wiki/Cleric)

[Naanomi]

And if you (somehow) beat Ao, you then have to beat the DM. This is FR canon, Ao answers directly to the DM.
He answers to 'a luminous being' who some interpret as the GM, but isn't definitively called out as such. It may be just another tier up the divine ladder, or a monotheistic supreme being, or one of the Eldest/Old Ones from the old immortals material (which may be of course veiled references to GMs themselves)

[Deleted]

He answers to 'a luminous being' who some interpret as the GM, but isn't definitively called out as such. It may be just another tier up the divine ladder, or a monotheistic supreme being, or one of the Eldest/Old Ones from the old immortals material (which may be of course veiled references to GMs themselves)

Let'sjust call it the DM so we don't have to go all DBZ...

[Naanomi]

Let'sjust call it the DM so we don't have to go all DBZ...
It is a defensible position that Overdeities (of which there are two confirmed and one suspected examples in cannon... FR's Ao, Kyrnn's Highgod, and *maybe* Ptah from the Egyptian pantheon, given his ability to make Anubis something beyond a God in his duty to protect the bodies of dead Gods) answer only to the GM or game designer; but that leaves the status of the shapers of the greater Cosmos (Those 'Eldest' in the immortals material, or Old Ones) unknown... I prefer to view the Luminous Being as this class of entity.

Then again, it was a common conceit in the immortals boxed set days that the GM was the Overdeity (like Ao, called the 'hierarch' there), and the Eldest/Old Ones were the game designers

[Deleted]

It is a defensible position that Overdeities (of which there are two confirmed and one suspected examples in cannon... FR's Ao, Kyrnn's Highgod, and *maybe* Ptah from the Egyptian pantheon, given his ability to make Anubis something beyond a God in his duty to protect the bodies of dead Gods) answer only to the GM or game designer; but that leaves the status of the shapers of the greater Cosmos (Those 'Eldest' in the immortals material) unknown... I prefer to view the Luminous Being as this class of entity.

Then again, it was a common conceit in the immortals boxed set days that the GM was the Overdeity (like Ao, called the 'hierarch' there), and the Eldest were the game designers

Either way doesn't matter to me, I just don't want it to get more and more complicated at any point causing the "shonen" effect (where things don't really change, the power level just goes up).

[Naanomi]

Either way doesn't matter to me, I just don't want it to get more and more complicated at any point causing the "shonen" effect (where things don't really change, the power level just goes up).
Since we are just trying to kill the Gods, the only way higher beings matter is if we think they'd interfere... which I don't think the would; if we stayed off the Prime. Overdeities appear to only have power on the worlds they administrate, not in the larger cosmic setting. The beings above them have allowed the cosmology to be completely destroyed before and didn't intervene. So long as the would-be Godslayer stays out of the Crystal Spheres it is a non-issue

[stollfy]

Make a world-sized Bag of Holding, swallow up Toril and put a portable hole in it. And then make a few star-sized Sphere of Annihilations in the other planes. Should wipe out everything soon enough.

[JellyPooga]

Are we including the Elder Gods like cthulhu? Cause you cannot kill them, ever. Heck they won't even notice that you tried to killed them. (and they ooze madness)

If we are not then you best bet would be to try and get an Elder God to destroy the gods for you, That involves somehow getting one to go to where the gods are and hopping that they decide to crush the them for you. Again you have no way to influence these beings and cthulhu is just as likely to play checkers with the target as it is to smash it


An elder entity from the far realm may be able to take out a God, but not all of them. When they come into our reality, eventually the outer planes will 'translate' them and transform them into something fitting our reality. That is how the Aboleth Goddess Piscaethces 'the blood queen' came into being. The Gods are weak in the face of such forces, but the force of the Outer Planes collectively is strong

Psh...Cthulhu gets a lot of press, but he's small time. The Great Old Ones (like Cthulhu and presumably Piscaethces) are among some of the more...conceivable mythos entities by mortal standards and are treated as Gods because they're powerful by that standard. But they're not Gods (let alone Elder Gods). The Outer Gods like Daoloth and Azathoth exist in a state so divorced from anything we might call reality, whether by the standards of the Inner or Outer Planes or even the Great Wheel as a whole (including the Far Realms), that the notion of them being bound by or changed by those realities has no more meaning than killing them does (hint; it ain't happening, bub).

So yeah, want to kill all the so-called Gods of the Great Wheel? Summon yourself an aspect of Azathoth and let it consume all of reality as you know it in irritation, like a human might swat a mosquito. Quite how you get enough of the attention of the Demon Sultan for it to bother with the proverbial galactic fly-swat is probably the subject of a Plane-spanning campaign and might well involve the ritual sacrifice of a few gods, so there's a bit of gameplay to be had with this plan! It's not perfect though; you end up dead (well, erased from all existence) and you still haven't killed all the Gods...just the ones that were inhabiting your corner of reality.

[Shining Wrath]

Ultimately, the gods of any campaign are creations of the DM and perform the will of the DM. Therefore, the most effective way to kill them is to stop playing in that campaign. :smallsmile:

[Naanomi]

The Far Realm is not the Lovecraft mythos; though it is inspired by it. In the mythos, the higher order of beings is unconcerned with and largely unaware of such trivial things as us. In the larger DnD cosmology, creatures of the Far Realm are just as impacted by and abhorred by their presence in our existence as our we are in theirs.

In the mythos it is a concern of scale... they are so much 'above' us that our reality can't cope. In DnD it is an issue of compatibility... our existence and theirs is so alien to each other that both react negatively to the exposure to the other. Very few creatures from the Far Realm want contact with ours (just like very few creatures from our world want contact with theirs). There is evidence that the 'big players' on their side close up breaches (in their own way) just like the Gods try to do here.

And in any case, the Eldest/Old Ones that oversee the Overdeities explicitly have power over the denizens of the Far Realm (and of all other cosmologies in the Deep Shadow and so on), including the Temporal Energy Plane and the cosmologies before and after the current one. Because, as mentioned, it was likely intended that they represent the game creators.

[Deleted]

Ultimately, the gods of any campaign are creations of the DM and perform the will of the DM. Therefore, the most effective way to kill them is to stop playing in that campaign. :smallsmile:

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSK5r5qnsQ9YITOL3ihw6PXoG87N3WPo mJbf7lWWjXjA5sTw0vI

[RumoCrytuf]

If the campaign is centered around that, the DM will provide you with the plot hooks to kill the Gods. Otherwise, you're just going to look like a douche when you keep trying to derail the campaign & force everyone else to do what you want (mass religious pogroms, apparently)

Yes, that's something I should mention. This is my character's personal goal. When looking at why he trying to do this, it's almost laughable given the spectrum of what he's trying to accomplish. It's a bit lengthy, and still not completely finished, but still laughable.

[Sigreid]

Yes, that's something I should mention. This is my character's personal goal. When looking at why he trying to do this, it's almost laughable given the spectrum of what he's trying to accomplish. It's a bit lengthy, and still not completely finished, but still laughable.

Should he succeed, don't forget to have him cry his rage to the multiverse that the gods have abandoned him.

[RumoCrytuf]

Should he succeed, don't forget to have him cry his rage to the multiverse that the gods have abandoned him.

Haha. Don't worry, I won't.

[Maxilian]

Slay Orcus, take command of his realm, delete his name from existance and wait for him to come back with a Edgy name and kill every other God with Power God: Kill


Note: This is basically part of the plot of the Eternal Stair Case adventure

[Cl0001]

You could empower the book of vile darkness

[tieren]

You apparently need the following:
1. A golden Compass
2. Lots of Dust
3. An armored polar bear

[Unoriginal]

The question you have to ask yourself is: what IS a god?

I don't know how your DM defines gods, but in baseline DnD gods are special Outsiders who have some kind of "spark of divinity", which means they are powerful AND immortal. Some mortals or other beings managed to acquire such a spark, others just had it inherently. And while some powerful entities but can do things like granting other beings divine magic, it doesn't make them gods per se.

Note that gods aren't necessarily the most powerful beings nor the oldest. The Aboleth in particular are so old they remember when the gods showed up. However, the only way to truly beat a god is to possess a spark of divinity yourself, or have an item imbued with said spark.




Psh...Cthulhu gets a lot of press, but he's small time. The Great Old Ones (like Cthulhu and presumably Piscaethces) are among some of the more...conceivable mythos entities by mortal standards and are treated as Gods because they're powerful by that standard. But they're not Gods (let alone Elder Gods). The Outer Gods like Daoloth and Azathoth exist in a state so divorced from anything we might call reality, whether by the standards of the Inner or Outer Planes or even the Great Wheel as a whole (including the Far Realms), that the notion of them being bound by or changed by those realities has no more meaning than killing them does (hint; it ain't happening, bub).

So yeah, want to kill all the so-called Gods of the Great Wheel? Summon yourself an aspect of Azathoth and let it consume all of reality as you know it in irritation, like a human might swat a mosquito. Quite how you get enough of the attention of the Demon Sultan for it to bother with the proverbial galactic fly-swat is probably the subject of a Plane-spanning campaign and might well involve the ritual sacrifice of a few gods, so there's a bit of gameplay to be had with this plan! It's not perfect though; you end up dead (well, erased from all existence) and you still haven't killed all the Gods...just the ones that were inhabiting your corner of reality.


Azathoth isn't that kind of being. If you go by Lovecraft, even Azathoth isn't that unfathomable. It is a powerful being, sure, on an universal scale, but on the other hand a math student could hang out at its endless ball of grotesque dancers and pipers without much troubles.

[Deleted]

The question you have to ask yourself is: what IS a god?

I don't know how your DM defines gods, but in baseline DnD gods are special Outsiders who have some kind of "spark of divinity", which means they are powerful AND immortal. Some mortals or other beings managed to acquire such a spark, others just had it inherently. And while some powerful entities but can do things like granting other beings divine magic, it doesn't make them gods per se.

Note that gods aren't necessarily the most powerful beings nor the oldest. The Aboleth in particular are so old they remember when the gods showed up. However, the only way to truly beat a god is to possess a spark of divinity yourself, or have an item imbued with said spark.






Azathoth isn't that kind of being. If you go by Lovecraft, even Azathoth isn't that unfathomable. It is a powerful being, sure, on an universal scale, but on the other hand a math student could hang out at its endless ball of grotesque dancers and pipers without much troubles.

So, get the all spark and you win? Gotcha.

[Herobizkit]

The Greek gods were immortal but had weaknesses.

The Norse Gods are doomed to die in Ragnarok.

There are stories of mortals finding a piece (spark, whatever) of the divine and turning it against its creators.

3x had the Epic Level Handbook and Deities and Demigods with specific scenarios where killing a god is possible.

Pathfinder has rules for Mythic Heroes, playing more-or-less demigods with Divine power that they can nurture and grow.

Ultimately, it's up to the DM. As always. But my thoughts would be, unless you're going the Greek route, you'd have to BECOME a deity in order to even be allowed (long-term) in the same PLANE as they are... and then you're going after them on THEIR turf.

Killing a specific god would be a great goal. Replacing them, an even better one.

[Unoriginal]

So, get the all spark and you win? Gotcha.

Kek no

It's like saying that you can win against the world boxing champion because you can breath.

Gods are old. They have access to ridiculously large amount of servants, followers, ressources and knowledge. Even mid-tier ones sometime have whole species at their orders.

For a being such as Tiamat, it would takes a whole party of heroes at the peak of mortal might to cause her a slight inconvenience.

[Deleted]

Kek no

It's like saying that you can win against the world boxing champion because you can breath.

Gods are old. They have access to ridiculously large amount of servants, followers, ressources and knowledge. Even mid-tier ones sometime have whole species at their orders.

For a being such as Tiamat, it would takes a whole party of heroes at the peak of mortal might to cause her a slight inconvenience.

Idk man, should I trust you or Mr. Bay? His movies were quite clear about that all spark.

[Naanomi]

Killing a God, doable by a truly epic mortal in the right circumstances. Killing a pantheon or all the Gods worshipped on your own Prime? Unlikely, but it is a big Cosmos... it's been nearly accomplished before... but generally by beings older and more powerful than you can conceive of... and never when leaving that world in a decent shape afterwards. (Slightly easier if you just want the Gods gone from your world, not destroyed per se).

But all Gods, everywhere? Good luck, there are unfathomable forces interested in keeping the Wheel as a whole turning; and trashing all of existence is going to draw heavy fire from almost all sides. Maybe your best bet is to help free one of those beings that has made a run of wiping out all of creation before and let them have another go at it?

[Sigreid]

Killing a God, doable by a truly epic mortal in the right circumstances. Killing a pantheon or all the Gods worshipped on your own Prime? Unlikely, but it is a big Cosmos... it's been nearly accomplished before... but generally by beings older and more powerful than you can conceive of... and never when leaving that world in a decent shape afterwards. (Slightly easier if you just want the Gods gone from your world, not destroyed per se).

But all Gods, everywhere? Good luck, there are unfathomable forces interested in keeping the Wheel as a whole turning; and trashing all of existence is going to draw heavy fire from almost all sides. Maybe your best bet is to help free one of those beings that has made a run of wiping out all of creation before and let them have another go at it?

It does, however, make for an excellent windmill to tilt at. You might even get somewhere if one of the evil deities decides to use you as a weapon.

[Zene]

He answers to 'a luminous being' who some interpret as the GM, but isn't definitively called out as such. It may be just another tier up the divine ladder, or a monotheistic supreme being, or one of the Eldest/Old Ones from the old immortals material (which may be of course veiled references to GMs themselves)

Preeetty sure it's turtles all the way down.

[Naanomi]

Preeetty sure it's turtles all the way down.
Could be, we are already at or near the edge of comprehensibility though so much past where we 'know' is pretty meaningless... Overdeities are in complete control of one Campaign Setting Prime, their bosses are in charge of one default Cosmology, their bosses oversee all possible cosmologies... if there is something past that it truly lies beyond mortal ken

[Herobizkit]

Preeetty sure it's turtles all the way down.I get it!! Thanks, Google! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down)

[Shaofoo]

How to kill a god?

Ask your DM.

Your DM controls everything, even if you can create the cheesiest of cheese with infinite Simulacrum Wish engines and endless undead in vast amounts of demiplanes the DM can just go "Yeah but he kills you because he is a god and nothing happens to him because he is a god". There are no stats for a god so there is no precedence as to what are the limits to a god.

There is nothing that binds gods to anything or that they even have to follow the same rules and restrictions as you.

If the DM doesn't want you to kill the gods then you won't no matter how hard you try because he can create rules as he sees fit because gods are not part of the rules. Heck you aren't even guaranteed to even see them or meet them at their level much less even get the chance to do something to them.

[Sigreid]

Ok, looking at the old Deities and Demigods, you could try to do it this way. First, you start slaughtering the gods worshiper and destroying/defiling their sacred sites. Do this while gaining a following of people who truly worship you as the master of that god's domain so you gain demigod status. As faith in you grows, and theirs diminishes, your power will grow and theirs will wane. Eventually you will may be able to seize their kingdom and bury them.

This is, of course, all dependent on the DM going along with it and you surviving their follower's and minions attempts to kill you and bind your soul to a fate of eternal suffering for your audacity making you a cautionary tale for ages to come.

[Sans.]

1. Find a Wizard in epic levels.
2. Get them to research an epic-level Mass Disjunction, capable of affecting all the different planes of the multiverse.
3. Get them to cast it.
4. The multiverse is a magic item, so it could be permanently turned into a normal item.
5. The gods are part of the multiverse, so they could lose their magic.
6. Stab the gods in the back with a catatonic Rogue.

[EvilAnagram]

I imagine that after the first time it becomes routine. Kratos went from 1/game to all/game.