rferries
2017-10-09, 05:30 AM
I'm sure this has been done before (and better), but here's a very unoptimised path to godhood using epic rules.
Rules
1. PC with minimum reasonable non-epic items (tome of leadership and influence +5, cloak of charisma +6, rod of spellcraft +30, and that's it).
2. PC of minimum level to get Legendary Commander (27th).
3. PC with point buy allowing starting Charisma of 18.
4. All followers are assumed to be NPC classes in equal proportion (adept, aristocrat, commoner, expert, warrior) rather than NPCs with PC class levels, or even of NPC classes of PC's choice (so can't go for 100% adepts).
The PC
27th-level venerable human Favoured Soul, looking to become truly divine to escape death by old age.
Abilities
Charisma (for Leadership): 18 + 6 (leveling up) + 5 (tome) + 6 (cloak) +3 (venerable) = 38 (+14) total
Intelligence (for Spellcraft): 10 (dump stat early in her career) +3 (venerable) = 13 (+1) total
Skills
Diplomacy 30 ranks
Knowledge (religion) 30 ranks
Spellcraft 30 ranks
Feats
Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Epic Skill Focus (Spellcraft)
Leadership, Epic Leadership, Legendary Commander
Epic Spellcasting
Bonus Item: rod of spellcraft +30
Leadership Score
+2 for stronghold (prereq for Legendary Commander), other modifiers (fairness, etc.) ignored for simplicity.
27 (levels) + 14 (Charisma mod) +2 (stronghold) = 43
Cohort
25th level (no stronghold bonus), a cleric acolyte with Epic Spellcasting (so can contribute epic spell slot)
Adepts by Level
1st: 1300 /5 (1 out of every 5 NPCs is an adept) x10 (Legendary Commander) = 2600
2nd: #1st-level followers /10 = 260
3rd: #2nd-level followers / 2 = 130
4th: repeat above = 65
5th: .... = 33
6th: .... = 17
7th: .... = 9
8th: .... = 5
9th: .... = 3
10th: .... = 2
11th: .... = 1
Total Spell Slots (that can be contributed to epic spellcasting)
Assuming all adepts have base Wisdom 13 from the nonelite array, that they put all points into Wisdom when levelling, and that adepts of 8th level are at least middle-aged so they can use their 3rd-level spell slot)
1st: 2990 x -1 = -2990
2nd: 124 x -3 = -372
3rd: 11 x -5 = -55
Epic: 1 (from cohort) x -19 = -19
Total Mitigating Factor: -3436
Favoured Soul's Spellcraft as mitigation: 30 (ranks) +1 (Intelligence) +13 (feats) + 30 (rod) +10 (take 10) = - 84
-3436 - 84 = -3520 to work with
So, develop an epic spell with the armour, fortify, transform, transport, and ward seeds that grants divine rank 0 (or even 1!). It'll be permanent of course (Spellcraft DC x 5). However, even without other mitigating factors (increasing casting time up to 200 days, burning XP from self or others, etc.) you should easily be able to develop and cast one with a DC less than 3520.
Rules
1. PC with minimum reasonable non-epic items (tome of leadership and influence +5, cloak of charisma +6, rod of spellcraft +30, and that's it).
2. PC of minimum level to get Legendary Commander (27th).
3. PC with point buy allowing starting Charisma of 18.
4. All followers are assumed to be NPC classes in equal proportion (adept, aristocrat, commoner, expert, warrior) rather than NPCs with PC class levels, or even of NPC classes of PC's choice (so can't go for 100% adepts).
The PC
27th-level venerable human Favoured Soul, looking to become truly divine to escape death by old age.
Abilities
Charisma (for Leadership): 18 + 6 (leveling up) + 5 (tome) + 6 (cloak) +3 (venerable) = 38 (+14) total
Intelligence (for Spellcraft): 10 (dump stat early in her career) +3 (venerable) = 13 (+1) total
Skills
Diplomacy 30 ranks
Knowledge (religion) 30 ranks
Spellcraft 30 ranks
Feats
Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Epic Skill Focus (Spellcraft)
Leadership, Epic Leadership, Legendary Commander
Epic Spellcasting
Bonus Item: rod of spellcraft +30
Leadership Score
+2 for stronghold (prereq for Legendary Commander), other modifiers (fairness, etc.) ignored for simplicity.
27 (levels) + 14 (Charisma mod) +2 (stronghold) = 43
Cohort
25th level (no stronghold bonus), a cleric acolyte with Epic Spellcasting (so can contribute epic spell slot)
Adepts by Level
1st: 1300 /5 (1 out of every 5 NPCs is an adept) x10 (Legendary Commander) = 2600
2nd: #1st-level followers /10 = 260
3rd: #2nd-level followers / 2 = 130
4th: repeat above = 65
5th: .... = 33
6th: .... = 17
7th: .... = 9
8th: .... = 5
9th: .... = 3
10th: .... = 2
11th: .... = 1
Total Spell Slots (that can be contributed to epic spellcasting)
Assuming all adepts have base Wisdom 13 from the nonelite array, that they put all points into Wisdom when levelling, and that adepts of 8th level are at least middle-aged so they can use their 3rd-level spell slot)
1st: 2990 x -1 = -2990
2nd: 124 x -3 = -372
3rd: 11 x -5 = -55
Epic: 1 (from cohort) x -19 = -19
Total Mitigating Factor: -3436
Favoured Soul's Spellcraft as mitigation: 30 (ranks) +1 (Intelligence) +13 (feats) + 30 (rod) +10 (take 10) = - 84
-3436 - 84 = -3520 to work with
So, develop an epic spell with the armour, fortify, transform, transport, and ward seeds that grants divine rank 0 (or even 1!). It'll be permanent of course (Spellcraft DC x 5). However, even without other mitigating factors (increasing casting time up to 200 days, burning XP from self or others, etc.) you should easily be able to develop and cast one with a DC less than 3520.