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View Full Version : Solution to Stat Block Deities - Divine Tiers



ArlEammon
2008-12-13, 01:49 PM
SO, I was thinking that since the word "diivine" is so loosely thrown around in D&D that maybe having many different tiers of gods would be an answer to the problem of having to stat the gods down and then having them slaughtered like sheep.

First Divine Tier =
Petitioners
Petitioners are creatures created through pure divine power. These creatures are commonly CR 8 creatures, reaching up to be as powerful as the aspects of Asmodeus and Demogorgon. This type of "Divine" has enough power to convince mortals they are gods, and grant minor spells (compared to gods). They typicaly have a rank of 0, or lack on altogether. The most powerful of these creatures may cast spells from up to a couple of domains at will, instantaneously without material component, and have outrageous attribute scores.

Second Divine Tier =
Greater Heralds
Celestial paragons such as Asmodeus(in earlier editions) are known as "heralds". Beings with astounding power even greater than that of most Celestial paragons, yet still not as powerful as half gods. They have as many domains as demigods, and may even have a divine rank of 1. (with 1 divine salient ability instead of 2.) Greater Heralds have even more outrageously high ability score than Petitioners can Plane shift at will, and even have some spells not in their domain spell list to use as spell like abilities at will.


Thrid Divine Tier =
Demigods
These creatures are considered half divine. They have four domains.... and even Petitioner servants like Heralds. Demigods have one to five divine ranks.... and enough power to be considered in the 80-85 challege rating scale. Under normal or even slightly abnormal circumstances, even half-gods should not be messed with. However, if you really want to mess with one, you can simply avoid the demigod in question and keep foiling his evil plans!

Fourth Divine Tier =
Mature gods
Matures gods typically have 4-5 domains.... and may even have second tier gods as servants/champions of their cause. These are still lesser gods, but by the time they have matured into mighty forces of the universe, there is no stopping them. Once killed, they revert into mighty second tier Divines, watching over their cults, religions/whatever. Should the spirit be beaten in battle, they do not die, but simply become unable to act out of their own power. Usually there is something that a Fourth divine tier god can do in order to restore power to itself, through its followers actions. 6-10 divine ranks are usually what these mighty creatures possess as indicators of their divine strength.

Fifth Divine Tier =
Divine Seniors
These are the Intermediate and Greater deities. They contain 11-19 divine ranks. Other than that, they are the same as core deities. These gods are typically widely spread throughout entire universes, and are well known.

Sixth Divine Tier =
Masters
These are creatures, typically, of extreme bent even for greater gods. Not only may they command respect from other greater gods, or their enemies,but they may also command respect from Overgods. The Masters, if, extremely desperate, may have the power to overthrow Overgods through brilliant(even for a Master) cunning.

Seventh Divine Tier =
These things are not to be messed with. The Q Continuim would shudder at the sheer magical strength an Overgod possesses. Yeah sure John Delancie knows God, but he wouldn't like him when he's angry.

bosssmiley
2008-12-13, 05:23 PM
Six tier division of divine power. Created beings in tier 1, lords of creation in rank 6. Sounds kinda like the BECMI "Wrath of the Immortals" set-up to me. That's a good thing though.

A lot of the titles you use already have uses in D&D, so - given that there's a long-standing tradition in D&D of stabbing gods in the face and pulling hero poses on them as they bleed out - here's an alternative divine rank set-up for consideration (hat tip to Upper_Krusts's "Immortals Handbook (http://www.immortalshandbook.com/freestuff1.htm)").

Servants of the Divine - no divine ranks
These are the rank and file of the divine order. Central casting offers these guys by the score. Petitioner - souls of the departed (lantern archons, lemures, dretches, larvae, animal spirits, etc.)
Proxy - servants of the gods (Archons, Devils, etc.)
Herald - especially favoured and powerful servant of the gods (Angels, class-levelled Outsiders, Aspects, etc.)
Names of Might - DvR 0-5
These are guys who have graduated into the epic landscape and retired from active adventuring. If you're sufficiently hardcore you can kill these guys and take their shineys, but it's the stuff of end-games to do it. Hero-Deity - mighty culture heroes of whom legends are still told (King Arthur, Barbarossa)
Demigod - semi-divine heroes favoured of the gods (Hercules, Yamato, Lemankainen)
Godling - minor/specialist portfolio, local influence (Juiblex - fungus, St Cuthbert - fortitude and common sense. This is the rank at which the various demon lords, archdevils, archomentals and lesser Elder Evils hang out)
The Powers that Be - DvR 6-20
The prime movers of the D&D world. You can knock on their door looking for a fight, but (pace "Planescape") unless you pack Divine Rank yourself they'll just wish you out of existence. Lesser God - narrow portfolio, regional influence (Deep Sashalas - Sea Elves, Gond - technology)
Intermediate God - wider portfolio, wide influence (Elhonna - forests)
Greater God - broad portfolio, universal influence (Pelor - Sun, Nerull - Death)
Those Who Frame the World - DvR 21+
The sort of guys who either capitalised or are only referred to indirectly in conversation. They do not do house calls to your backwater. Overgods - "In the beginning..." (the High God, Ao, etc.)
Primal Beings - their activity sets the cosmos in motion (Ananke, Ahriman and Ormazd, the Circle of Three, etc.)

Beyond this stage it all gets a bit meta. Upper_Krust wrote about the Wall at the Boundary of the World, behind which is hidden the Akashic Record which sets out the laws of the universe. The Akashic Record in turn was derived from the original work of the ultimate progenitor: the Cosmic EGG. :smallwink:

MythMage
2008-12-14, 05:18 AM
Of course, what you can do in the above listing by bosssmiley depends on where you set the upper bar for mortals in your setting and just how you stat your gods. If you use Deities and Demigods and consider mortals only to go up to level 30 or so, for example, that scale holds.

Over at Dicefreaks, we assume the greatest mortals in the multiverse to be 50 HD. We also stat the gods in a more gameplay-friendly manner than the effectively you-lose-if-you're-mortal setup of Deities and Demigods. This leaves us with a set of limits mostly comparable to what bosssmiley just described, but it's possible to take down a lesser god above 40th level and a weak intermediate god at the very end of mortal potential, 50th level. Of course this won't affect most games, but this leaves gods reachable to mortals in a way reminiscent of 1e and certain myths. Note, though, that for most gods defeating them in combat won't accomplish anything long-term since they come back unless killed by another Power, but that's where artifacts and such come in - if the DM wants their PCs doing something so drastic. :)