statting gods

[Alpha Saiyan]

I want to know if yall got any tips for statting gods. Im looking to write up an old character who ascended to godhood. Now i believe godhood should make you more powerful but i know not how to do so. For example in 3.5 kord thevgod of strength had strength in the 40s, nowbi can see that since hes always been a god. But my character ascended so how should i handle this?

[Mike Miller]

The Deities and Demigods book has guidelines on that. AFB now so no specifics

[ColorBlindNinja]

I want to know if yall got any tips for statting gods. Im looking to write up an old character who ascended to godhood. Now i believe godhood should make you more powerful but i know not how to do so. For example in 3.5 kord thevgod of strength had strength in the 40s, nowbi can see that since hes always been a god. But my character ascended so how should i handle this?

The SRD has updated versions of the rules presented originally in Deities and Demigods.

Divine Ranks and Powers (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/divineRanksPowers.htm)

Divine Abilities and Feats (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm)

I'll warn you right now; some of the options available for gods are laughably bad.

Probably the worst is Divine Celerity. You can Haste yourself of a couple rounds!

Or, you can take Alter Reality and give yourself a permanent Haste. :smallsigh:

[Remuko]

For ability scores its recommended to use a "deity stat array" to get ability scores.

35, 28, 25, 24, 24, 24 arrange as desired

The usual +1 per 4 HD
+1 per divine rank.

[ColorBlindNinja]

For ability scores its recommended to use a "deity stat array" to get ability scores.

35, 28, 25, 24, 24, 24 arrange as desired

The usual +1 per 4 HD
+1 per divine rank.

Did you get that from somewhere, or is it a house rule of some sort?

Edit: Somewhere = D&D book of some sort.

[martixy]

The SRD has updated versions of the rules presented originally in Deities and Demigods.

Divine Ranks and Powers (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/divineRanksPowers.htm)

Divine Abilities and Feats (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm)

I'll warn your right now; some of the options available for gods are laughably bad.

Probably the worst is Divine Celerity. You can Haste yourself of a couple rounds!

Or, you can take Alter Reality and give yourself a permanent Haste. :smallsigh:

Hm. You're right. That ability is abysmal.

Perchance, do you know of anyone who has tried to fix/modify these abilities to something worthwhile for a god?

I imagine for Divine celerity the fix to be "Extra round of actions a number of times equal to divine rank."

[ColorBlindNinja]

Hm. You're right. That ability is abysmal.

There's an epic feat that does the exact same thing. In fact, a number of Divine Salient abilities have epic feats that are identical. Why you would take those Salient abilities when there are epic feats that replicate them, I'll never know.


Perchance, do you know of anyone who has tried to fix/modify these abilities to something worthwhile for a god?

Sadly, no. But like most things in 3.5 if you know what options are good and which are bad, you can build yourself a pretty powerful character.

Divine Splendor kills any mortal (that is a person without divine ranks) without any save or any other checks.

Alter Reality is incredible, allowing you to replicate any spell and make them permanent.

Supreme Initiative is basically, "I always go first!"

Finally, Divine Rejuvenation means that you can't die unless a higher rank god kills you.


I imagine for Divine celerity the fix to be "Extra round of actions a number of times equal to divine rank."
Sounds like Time Stop on steroids.

[martixy]

Sadly, no. But like most things in 3.5 if you know what options are good and which are bad, you can build yourself a pretty powerful character.
I was trying to avoid that part. But I suppose it would be an interesting, if mostly pointless exercise trying to come up with a few abilities that fit these power levels.


Sounds like Time Stop on steroids.

Kinda the point. :)
Also less counterable - can't counterspell or stowaway it.

I think the concept behind 5e's legendary action is somewhat similar actually...?

[ColorBlindNinja]

I was trying to avoid that part. But I supposed it would be an interesting, if most pointless exercise trying to come up with a few abilities that fit these power levels.

I know a lot of people like the gods to be nigh unstoppable compared to PCs, so I thought I'd mention it.


Kinda the point. :)
Also less counterable - can't counterspell or stowaway it.

I think the concept behind 5e's legendary action is somewhat similar actually...?

True. I believe that Alter Reality isn't a spell and thus wouldn't be subject to counterspells or stowaway.

[Absol197]

For ability scores its recommended to use a "deity stat array" to get ability scores.

35, 28, 25, 24, 24, 24 arrange as desired

The usual +1 per 4 HD
+1 per divine rank.

I, too, would be very interested in where the divine ability score array comes from. I have a .pdf of Deities and Demigods, and I can't find it anywhere, and I've been looking. The array as I previously had seen it was 35, 29, 25, 24, 24, 24. Do we have a source on it?

[Remuko]

I, too, would be very interested in where the divine ability score array comes from. I have a .pdf of Deities and Demigods, and I can't find it anywhere, and I've been looking. The array as I previously had seen it was 35, 29, 25, 24, 24, 24. Do we have a source on it?

I cant find it. I typed it off the top of my head having remembered reading it in my physical copy of my book which I no longer have (i gave it to a friend) so its possible the numbers were off. I tried looking thru my pdf but my search feature doesnt work on my pdf reader so i had to search manually and couldnt find it. I'm 90% sure the stat array is real though and the +1 per 4 HD is standard rules as well. I don't think theres any RAW for the +1 to an ability score per divine rank though, but it always made sense to me.

[lbuttitta]

I cant find it. I typed it off the top of my head having remembered reading it in my physical copy of my book which I no longer have (i gave it to a friend) so its possible the numbers were off. I tried looking thru my pdf but my search feature doesnt work on my pdf reader so i had to search manually and couldnt find it. I'm 90% sure the stat array is real though and the +1 per 4 HD is standard rules as well. I don't think theres any RAW for the +1 to an ability score per divine rank though, but it always made sense to me.
I heard the same thing from some other source. I think I found it online. But I know the +1/4 HD is a rule.

[Thalantyr]

Well, you can take a look at Immortal's Handbook - Ascension if you dare.

[hamishspence]

I cant find it. I typed it off the top of my head having remembered reading it in my physical copy of my book which I no longer have (i gave it to a friend) so its possible the numbers were off. I tried looking thru my pdf but my search feature doesnt work on my pdf reader so i had to search manually and couldnt find it. I'm 90% sure the stat array is real though and the +1 per 4 HD is standard rules as well. I don't think theres any RAW for the +1 to an ability score per divine rank though, but it always made sense to me.

I would guess it's in one or more of the following:

The online web enhancement for the book
The "update to 3.5" pdf for the book
Online FAQ for the book
Online errata for the book
Dragon Magazine's FAQ for the book.

[Calthropstu]

I have never been a fan of statted dieties.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Well, you can take a look at Immortal's Handbook - Ascension if you dare.

Don't do it! You may never recover your sanity! :smalleek:


I have never been a fan of statted dieties.

Why not? I think it's useful to have rules for things in case the PCs ever interact with them.

I could easily see a high level group getting bored with whatever new plot crumb the DM dropped and instead decide to go kill Pelor. :smallamused:

[Calthropstu]

Don't do it! You may never recover your sanity! :smalleek:



Why not? I think it's useful to have rules for things in case the PCs ever interact with them.

I could easily see a high level group getting bored with whatever new plot crumb the DM dropped and instead decide to go kill Pelor. :smallamused:
Because PCs shouldn't be able to decide "let's go kill pelor."

[ColorBlindNinja]

Because PCs shouldn't be able to decide "let's go kill pelor."

Why not?

Killing gods is a time honored tradition in storytelling, especially in RPGs.

Edit:

As I said in an earlier post, it's not hard to build gods to be nigh-unstoppable if it suits you.

[Alpha Saiyan]

Whats wrong with the immortals handbook?

[ColorBlindNinja]

Whats wrong with the immortals handbook?

Are we talking about Ascension or the Bestiary?

Ascension: Lacks the flexibility that Deities and Demigods offers. Has a lot of copy/paste for the abilities that gods get. Furthermore, while it does have solid rules for how you gain Divine Ranks, many of the abilities granted allow gods of a higher rank to effortlessly smack down lower rank ones. Deities and Demigods has this problem to a degree, but I remember it being more pronounced in Accession. To be fair, I haven't read it in about two years or so.

Bestiary: Glyphstone described it best: it's not rules, it's the result of monkeys with boxing gloves punching on calculators and then human editors assigning names and abilities. The Neutronium Golem is probably the silliest example, but there are plenty of others.

Edit: On the flexibility point; Deities and Demigods offers several options for the DM to decide how gods function, while Ascension gives you one choice.

[Alpha Saiyan]

Thanks for the assistance. I was mostly looking for ability scores which ascention did at least a half decent job on. As for the other stuff ill prolly reconfogure it to work with my setting as its my own head cannon mixed with canon elements from 3.5 and pathfinder. How hard could it be

[Tainted_Scholar]

Edit: On the flexibility point; Deities and Demigods offers several options for the DM to decide how gods function, while Ascension gives you one choice.

Mainly this. Gods have always been more of a part of the setting's cosmology than just another monster or class. Creating your own setting goes hand in hand with creating your own pantheon, as a result the more flexible ruleset of Deities and Demi-Gods is more ideal for DMs who want to make their own Gods.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Thanks for the assistance. I was mostly looking for ability scores which ascention did at least a half decent job on. As for the other stuff ill prolly reconfogure it to work with my setting as its my own head cannon mixed with canon elements from 3.5 and pathfinder. How hard could it be

I will agree that Ascension actually gave decent rules about what the different tiers of godhood do. Deities and Demigods was frustratingly vague about that.

I will also add that both books screw up the D&D Cosmology with a bunch of original stuff. It's mostly just confusing. :smallfrown:


Mainly this. Gods have always been more of a part of the setting's cosmology than just another monster or class. Creating your own setting goes hand in hand with creating your own pantheon, as a result the more flexible ruleset of Deities and Demi-Gods is more ideal for DMs who want to make their own Gods.

I agree 100%.

Edit: One other oddity about Ascension is that if you gain a certain number of Divine Ranks, you become a plane of existence. :smallsigh:

On the flip side, the highest tier of immortals are called time lords. :smallwink: