Power/Role/Scale:DnD3.0/3.5 Deities vs. Mystara Immortals/Old Ones vs Far Realm

[Schattenbach]

I'm quite curious about how the three compare to each other in terms of sheer raw power, the role they serve in their respective setting/cosmology as well as the actual metaphysical scale their existence operates at.

#DnD3.0/DnD3.5 deities includes everything from Deities and Demigods deities basic up to various Grayhawk/Forgotten realms/Ravenloft/Planescape/etc. entities that could reasonably be classified as deities (including overdeities and deific beings like the Lady of Pain or The Serpent). As this is also, besides discussion of narrative role and cosmological implications, a powerscaling thread, most lore from at least 2e up to DnD3e/DnD3.5e is applicable as long as it can be assumed to still apply in DnD3e/3.5e. Obviously none of that 4e Spellplague/Primordial/etc. nonsense.

#Mystara Immortals/Old Ones includes the whole Mystara Immortal group that was somewhat officially abandoned as well the somewhat mentioned Old Ones.

#The Far Realm (as portrayed in DnD3e/3.5e) and its various entities is somewhat ambiguous in its role, with it being somewhat similar to Warhammer’s Warp or to Dreamworlds in that it is a place where normal rules don't strictly apply but it doesn't mix all that well with normal reality.

Any thoughts or insights about that?

[Tzardok]

First I'd like to call attention to afroakuma's Planar Question thread, (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?616081-afroakuma-s-Planar-And-Other-Oddities-Questions-Thread-VIII) where we discuss topics like this since, like, eight threads ago. Questions like this came up before, but I don't exactly remember where. A short rundown of the scale:

It's difficult to connect Mystara and the Great Wheel, but there are shared concepts (for example the Draeden) which imply that both are in some way the same thing, maybe reflections. If that is the case, the Old Ones are the creators of the Great Wheel. Immortals and deities are roughly on the same tier, and probably also reflections.

Overgods are probably the emissaries and/or servants of the Old Ones and supervise Material worlds. They are above deities, as seen by Ao's abilities to just make gods mortal, make mortals gods and ressurrect dead gods.

The Lady of Pain can and has killed gods with ease. Mystaran Immortals would be just as easy for her. Her power compared to Overgods is unknown; their areas of duty have no overlap. Edit: if you forced me to bet on wether the Lady or overgods are more powerful, I'd go with the Lady. Rule of thumb: The Lady is always the bigger fish.

Edit: We don't know where the Serpent is. It has been theorized as anything between "Vecna's hallucination, has no power outside of his mind" and "primordial entity on the same tier as the Lady". I like afro's headcanon that it is a vestige.

The Far Realm is anti-reality. What connection it has to the Old Ones (if any), is unknown. Far Realm entities can be of differing power tiers, but at least two are on the same scale as deities: Piscaethces the Blood Queen was "translated" into an Intermediate deity by her imprisonement in the Great Wheel, and Mak Thuum Ngatha is worshipped as a deity and grants spells like one.