Paradoxes to Test the Gods

[Morof Stonehands]

Hello all! In an upcoming campaign, I will be using an item as a plot piece. The item is called Fulver's Conundrum, from AEG's Relics book. Basically it is a book that allows you to write in some information about a deity, and it has a paradox for that deity to try to solve. While it is stuck trying to figure out this paradox, you ascend in the deity's place, and if the deity gives up, you permanently become a god with the former's portfolio/domains.

While the paradoxes themselves are not critical information for the game, I was interested in seeing what the community could think of for ideas for deity-specific paradoxes for the standard D&D pantheon.

[Gildedragon]

Well Boccob's paradox might come from the separation between arcane - divine - psionic... Or the nature of vestiges

Hieroneus: anything contrived to make a paladin fall; from a trolley problem to "aid evil but rightful authority or an illegitimate but good group"

[Inevitability]

Gruumsh: what is better, an orc who has turned against his creator and now slaughters every other orc he encounters, or an orc who lives a life of discipline and nonviolence amongst his tribe?

[ATHATH]

Gruumsh: what is better, an orc who has turned against his creator and now slaughters every other orc he encounters, or an orc who lives a life of discipline and nonviolence amongst his tribe?
Obviously the latter, as having a loyal ally who can still perform utility tasks (possibly even military planning, depending on the tenets of his nonviolence) is better than adding a PC into the world who hates your guts.

[Karl Aegis]

Why can't we use guns if you are wielding guns right now?

[Gildedragon]

Asmodeus or some other LE type that likes wagers and souls:

I'll give you my soul: if my next statement is false, you return my soul to me, if it is true you will keep it. You will give me back my soul or all the souls you hold.

[Aleolus]

Asmodeus isn't technically a god according to 3.0/3.5, so he doesn't qualify for the conundrum. Plus, that's. not quite how the conundrum works, it demands the god accomplish a task related to its portfolio, such as a god of strength creating a stone so heavy he cannot lift it.

For Pelor: Create a light so bright even you cannot gaze upon it

[Inevitability]

Asmodeus isn't technically a god according to 3.0/3.5, so he doesn't qualify for the conundrum. Plus, that's. not quite how the conundrum works, it demands the god accomplish a task related to its portfolio, such as a god of strength creating a stone so heavy he cannot lift it.

For Pelor: Create a light so bright even you cannot gaze upon it

The whole 'Create X so Y you cannot Z X' group only works if a deity is supposed to be the supreme master of X, Y and Z.

Pelor, for example, may be the god of light and brightness, but not of 'gazing upon stuff'. He should have no trouble creating a light too luminous for him. Similarly, a god of strength is not a god of creation, and should be able to lift whatever his limited powers of creation can bring forth.

[Gildedragon]

Asmodeus isn't technically a god according to 3.0/3.5, so he doesn't qualify for the conundrum. hence and the like.

Plus, that's. not quite how the conundrum works, it demands the god accomplish a task related to its portfolio, such as a god of strength creating a stone so heavy he cannot lift it.
Also the paradox is in them finding a way to not lose... Alternatively one could just have a "You will give me back my soul as a result of this statement" as the paradox.
Either way one is gunning for a soul-collecting sort with a legalistic bent... Nerull might do in a pinch, but since he's N and with trickery as a domain, he might not.

[Pleh]

This... is kind of lame. What I mean is, no god worthy of the title should ever actually have a problem with a paradox in their major domo.

Either they turn out to not be a god, just a super powerful being, or they just answer the paradox. It's not too unlikely the mortal would be mentally incapable of understanding the answer.

[Aleolus]

The lore of Fulvers Conundrum explains how it works, I just dont remember off the top of my head

[Celestia]

Could [setting]'s god of magic create a spell so high level that s/he can't cast it?

[Elysiume]

The lore of Fulvers Conundrum explains how it works, I just dont remember off the top of my headI don't have the book, but I found some posts from people online about it.

I'm reminded of a little thing called Fulver's Conundrum. It appears in a sourcebook for 3.5e, simply titled "Relics." It is a giant book, each cover the size of a door. Within it, from cover to cover, is a mathematical formula that disproves the gods. The second the formula is completed with the mathematical disproof of an individual god, that god appears before the writer and is forced to do a task designated by the writer to justify his existence. If they are given a task that they can't do, such as having the God of Strength create a stone even he couldn't lift, he is stripped of is power and it is given to the one who completed the book, until such a time as the God achieves the task.
Or, you could utilize Fulver's Conundrum. It's an Ancient Relic, which can deprive a deity of their divine powers. To understand it, anyone trying to use it must first undergo a full year of uninterrupted study, followed by a DC 35 Int check, or go insane as if affected by a permanent Confusion spell. If you succeed, you can complete the Conundrum, which allows you to trap one deity, through creating a paradox calling into question their own existence. A deity trapped by the Conundrum has to accomplish one seemingly impossible task, based on their own nature. For instance, an omnipotent deity's task might be to create a boulder that even he cannot lift. While a deity is trapped by the Conundrum, whoever trapped the deity gains a divine rank equal to the Deity trapped, as well as it's portfolio and the ability to grant spells to their worshippers. Essentially, when you trap a deity with Fulver's Conundrum, you take that deities' place, until they accomplish their task. If they voluntarily forfeit the test, then the deity becomes a mortal, and the mortal who trapped the deity with it permanently takes that deities' place.

[animewatcha]

Could Fulver's Conundrum be used to explain the Dark Moon Heresy? In that Shar and Selune (right deity?) grab more followers by being two sides of the same coin?