Bringing back a dead God

[Gamezdude]

A God has been previously killed by a mortal on the material plane with a weapon created by the gods themselves. (the only type of weapon that can kill a God)

The death of the God can affect the material plane, so the PCs will know, the God is dead...or mortally wounded.

Any ideas how to revive a dead/mortally wounded God through mortal means? I don't think Pratchets belief system would work here.

[Particle_Man]

An epic spell or item, perhaps? If only one weapon can kill a god maybe only one staff of resurrection can bring a god back?

[ShurikVch]

Firstly: is there something from that deity? (Descendants, personal magical items, etc) Getting access to a sliver of their divinity would be invaluable!

Then, try to get some artifacts to sacrifice in the ritual (In the Dead Gods, Quah-Namog - in process of resurrecting Orcus - sacrificed the Book of Exalted Deeds, Holy Sword, Mace of Disruption, Talisman of Pure Good, White Robe of the Archmagi, and three elves)

[Psyren]

Did the deity themselves expect to die? Seems like the kind of thing a god would have a plan for.

Since this is a plot problem, What roles are the PCs expected to play here? Are they trying to bring the deity back? Did they help kill it in the first place? Are they indifferent or unwitting pawns?

[Biggus]

A healing item created by a god seems the logical answer.

[unseenmage]

Wrap a buff Warforged in human skin then use Teleport Through Time to send it back (naked) to stop the events from ever happening?

[Morof Stonehands]

Have a large number of the clergy of the dead god’s faith sacrifice themselves to give the spark of life back to the god.

Does the dead god have a soul? Would it go to another plane of existence, or be in the care of a god of death? Adventure to find and reclaim it! Bargain with the god of death for it!

[Quertus]

Wrap a buff Warforged in human skin then use Teleport Through Time to send it back (naked) to stop the events from ever happening?

Lol. I can just picture him telling the deity, "come with me if you want to live". :smallbiggrin:

[AthasianWarlock]

Well from a game play perspective they are monsters (outsiders) just like anything else. A true ressurection should do it, or a deity with life domain unless their soul is trapped somehow.

[Particle_Man]

Isn’t there an epic monster that is basically an undead god?

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Isn’t there an epic monster that is basically an undead god?

Yes, at least one version of the Atropal is described as a (un)dead god. It also looks something like a giant, rotten fetus.

[DarkSoul]

Yes, at least one version of the Atropal is described as a (un)dead god. It also looks something like a giant, rotten fetus.Stillborn god, but yes, that's the atropal from the epic level handbook.

Rather than worshippers sacrificing themselves, it could require a large number of new converts. The surge in belief in the dead god could being it back to at least demipower status.

[hamishspence]

The Hunefer (also from Epic Handbook) is basically a mummified, undead god or demigod.

[Eldan]

This depends a lot on your cosmology, of course, but in addition to what's already been said:

In the standard D&D cosmology, the corpses of dead gods lie in the Astral Plane. They turn to stone and are large enough to build cities on (they are in fact one of the very few stable substrates in the astral) and bleed very magically active blood. They are guarded by Anubis, the former psychopomp of the Egyptian pantheon, who has turned into a new and unique kind of creature. No one quite knows what he is, but it seems even other gods fear him and he stops anyone from messing with the gods.

Just to give you a few ideas for adventure seeds.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Firstly: is there something from that deity? (Descendants, personal magical items, etc) Getting access to a sliver of their divinity would be invaluable!

Then, try to get some artifacts to sacrifice in the ritual (In the Dead Gods, Quah-Namog - in process of resurrecting Orcus - sacrificed the Book of Exalted Deeds, Holy Sword, Mace of Disruption, Talisman of Pure Good, White Robe of the Archmagi, and three elves)

Specifically, extrapolating the procedure used in the Dead Gods module, the way to resurrect a god is basically thus:

1) Find a priest of the dead god able to cast true resurrection and gather a large number of its worshipers.
2) Get a major artifact or relic created by and/or infused with the essence of the god. (A descendant sire by the god's avatar, Chosen invested with the god's power, or similar being will also suffice.)
3) Assemble as much magical mojo as you possibly can, either related to the god to be used to aid it or opposed to the god to be sacrificed for it; this includes, but is not limited to, spellcasting followers, antithetical creatures, minor artifacts, investments of power by allied gods, and so forth.
4) Find the god's corpse on the Astral Plane and bring the priest and all the other components to it; the worshipers can stay in a Material Plane temple or other place of power, so long as they have a way to coordinate with the priest.
5) Have the priest and worshipers perform a ceremony to bring the god back, where the priest casts true resurrection on the corpse while destroying the artifact to release its power and the worshipers meditate intensely on the god's worthiness of worship and their desire for it to return to them.

This procedure gives you a bunch of adventure hooks for the PCs:

1) If the god has no priests of sufficiently high level, the PCs could try to find/buy/loot an item of true resurrection.
2) If you decide the god doesn't have enough worshipers left (maybe most of them left after it died), they could try to convert new people to the faith.
3) If you want things to be more player-driven, you can leave the question of exactly what kind of magical mojo would be best here an open one and let the PCs decide what kinds of people/items/etc. to go after.
4) The god's corpse can be guarded or hidden by all sorts of powerful critters the PCs would need to kill/lure away/bargain with/otherwise deal with.
5) Other creatures might be attracted by the release of power in the ritual and need to be fought off.

And so on and so forth.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Wrap a buff Warforged in human skin then use Teleport Through Time to send it back (naked) to stop the events from ever happening?


Lol. I can just picture him telling the deity, "come with me if you want to live". :smallbiggrin:

I expect said warforged will declare "I'll be back" just before his departure... in a thick Austrian accent.

Anywho

I'mma guess a heightened revive outsider spell isn't gonna cut it. Honestly sounds to me like a McGuffin quest to me. Perhaps seek the heart-blood of another dead god mixed with the contents of a newly minted philosopher's stone so that you can perform a ritual on the god's body after constructing the ritual altar per the ancient manual that had to be recovered from the forbidden wing of Boccob's library?

The god's heartblood is at the bottom of a "dungeon" on the astral; the body of a dormant god (not humanoid) that is all but forgotten, yet still lives. The PCs must navigate its innards, dealing with some of the new residents along the way, until they reach the heart. Bottle it in something like an iron flask.

For the philosopher's stone, they must complete a boon for an elder titan (ELH), one of only a handful of creatures that still knows the secrets of crafting such marvels.

As I mentioned, the instructions for the construction of the ritual altar are hidden in a wing of the god of magic's library that's forbidden to mortals. The PCs must deal with the guardians and the absolute -maze- of stacks as they look for the right scrolls... that are the size of a horse and made of spun gold and the silk of radiant devastation spider. It weighs a couple tons and its contents cannot be copied for plot reasons (make up something that sounds good).

Final surprise; when the ritual is completed (the altar ingredients being sufficiently exotic to require a minor side-quest to find a vendor, maybe tie in an enemy organization) the altar bursts into sacred fire (fire resistancec does not apply) that spreads accross the -entire- surface of the god being revived and will do, let's call it 40d6, damage to every creature and object there on. The magical energies roiling through and off of the god are terrifically disruptive to normal magic; immediate dispel checks at CL 30 to every active effect and item. Wild-magic trait and inhibited magic for teleportation spells and effects within a mile of the god until the event ends. The PCs must flee accross the terrain as the flames roil and nip at their heels until they can successfully activate some kind of flight measure or teleport away to a safe distance. You can deus ex any deaths by having the god revive anyone killed in this final event. It's more for the last shot of drama than an actual challenge.



Any of that strike you as a good start?

[Eldan]

I like that, but don't go with Boccob's library. Go with Chronepsis, the dragon god of death, time and knowledge. He's much more fun than Boccob to steal a book from. In the Dwarf Fortress sense. Or Illsensine, the Illthid god, if you want real fun.

[Kelb_Panthera]

I like that, but don't go with Boccob's library. Go with Chronepsis, the dragon god of death, time and knowledge. He's much more fun than Boccob to steal a book from. In the Dwarf Fortress sense. Or Illsensine, the Illthid god, if you want real fun.

That's fine. It's just an outline and I defaulted to Boccob because magic god -> magic ritual. Chronepsis or Vecna could work just fine. Could just as easily sub in a god of life, death, or renewal for that matter too.