Here comes a test, I've written up some guidelines for how I want gods to function in my campaign and wanted to share them with you guys. The topic for Legends & Lore Show this week are Quasi Deities so I thought it was about time I got this published here as an inspiration for the discussion and see what you like about me publishing more other type of Greyhawk content besides maps from time to time.
These rules are intended to be seen as guidelines to inspire your worldbuilding and ideas for campaigns and not as hard coded. This is also draft and not refined and tested. This is a first to see you you find more than my maps interesting and want to see more of this type of content for use in your games.
The reason behind this is that I felt a need to figure out how the gods came to be, how they wield their powers and how to get rid of them. For example what is the true story of Tharizdun. Whit these guidelines we can make him an ancient lord who rose to power thousands of years ago and and ascended to divinity, or he could be the first god of death feared by scared mortals hearing his name whispered as the one to be afraid of or else... Or he could have risen from Hell itself and conquered souls throughout the multiverse.
Ideas for how Tharizdun was brought down can also be deduced using these rules. If he was a Tier 8 God his enemies needed to seek out his avatars and kill them first, then conquer and destroy his realm. If he was a Tier 9 God they needed to also hunt down every single priest of Tharizdun and kill them to destroy him, and if he was a supreme being they needed to hunt down and kill every creature that feared or worshipped him. Maybe even everyone who know about him, the most powerful gods can hide in the minds of people as long as they are revered in some form. So to truly destroy Tharizdun even the ones that defeat him might have to kill themselves to make sure he doesn't come back.
Gods can be created in two different ways in my campaign, by ascension or by emergence.
These are creatures who become powerful first by using natural means the same way characters do. The other part needed is for the creature in question to be worshipped, feared or both by others. If the influence over others this way is strong and persistent over time this creates the conditions for a possible start of a divine career.
We have examples of this in Greyhawk from Vecna to Zagyg and St Cuthbert.
Sometimes the devotion, or fear, comes first and the object for the devotion are a natural phenomena like the sun, a volcano or nature in general. If the devotion is strong and consistent, over time that creates a ground for a divine phenomena to emerge in the area. This usually takes far longer than an ascension, and can span over thousands of years.
Examples of deities that emerged in most of the deities of the Old Faith like Beory, Pelor and Obad-Hai. I also want to include the Earth Dragon of the Pomarj as a recent still ongoing case of an emerging deity.
Worshippers a divine being have promoted to receive powers from them, like spells and other special abilities. Examples are clerics, paladins, witches, warlocks.
Creatures who have reached enough abilities and power to start the journey to godhood
Creatures who have acquired worshiping followers willing to devote their life to follow the whims of the hero even from a distance, or caused enough persistent fear in a large group of creatures, or gained divine promotion or a combination.
Agents: Promote an agent per month
Special Abilities: No need for food or water, cast 1st level magic at will
Senses: Perceive the world through a praying single worshiper as a action, as long as they are on the same plane. Also Gain Aura Sense
Representation: Normal or create a phylactery and live as a single avatar
Mortality: Maintaining current age as long as they can are worshipped/feared. Killed by by phylactery destruction or normal means.
Expanded their worship beyond their core group to cover a whole culture, region of the world or plane. Your worshippers are now organized in some form and some form of priesthood of divine agents is taking shape.
Agents: Can promote an agent per day
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 30 feet, cast 2nd level magic at will
Senses: Perceive the world through a divine agent at will, as long as they are on the same plane. Gain one special sense
Representation: Normal or create a phylactery and project a single avatar
Mortality: Maintaining current age as long as they are worshipped/feared. Killed by by phylactery destruction or normal means.
Secure a dominant influence over a large group of creatures, recognition from other deities or minor influence over a part of the natural world.
Agents: Delegate agent promotion to subordinates
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 60 feet, cast 3rd level magic at will.
Senses: Perceive the world through any creature bearing your symbol, as long as they are on the same plane. Gain or expand one special sense.
Representation: Normal or create a phylactery and project a single avatar.
Mortality: Exist ageless as long as they are worshipped/feared. Killed by by phylactery destruction or normal means.
Defeat a divine opponent and/or significantly expand your reach, establish permanent places of worship.
Agents: promote up to 10 agents per day
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 120 feet, cast 4th level magic at will.
Senses: Constantly perceive the world through all your permanent places of worship. Gain one special sense, or extend the range of a sense.
Representation: Distributed phylactery and single avatar projection.
Mortality: Killed by by phylactery destruction.
Hold on to your power for far more than your natural lifetime.
Agents: promote up to 100 agents per day
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 500 feet. Cast 5th level magic at will.
Senses: Notice every time you name is spoken, on the same plane you are currently on. Gain one special sense, or extend the rage of a sense.
Representation: Distributed phylactery and double avatar projection.
Mortality: Killed by avatar and majority of phylactery destruction.
Recruit worshipers that hold divine power, and expand your presence beyond your plane of origin, and/or acquire at least a million levels of followers.
Agents: promote up to 1000 agents per day
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 1,000 feet. Cast 6th level magic at will.
Senses: Your senses now extend into neighbouring planes.
Representation: Distributed phylactery and triple avatar projection, plus simultaneous projection into all permanent areas of worship.
Mortality: Killed by avatar and complete phylactery and temple destruction.
Establish a permanent hold on one of the outer planes, inner planes, transitory planes or a create a demi plane of your own.
Agents: ascend one divine being per year
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within a mile. Cast 7th level magic at will.
Senses: Use the senses of any of your worshippers at will.
Representation: Area phylactery and project up to four avatars on your plane of presence, plus simultaneous projection into all permanent areas of worship.
Mortality: Killed by avatar, phylactery area, and temple destruction.
Secure and defend a significant part of a plane, recruit other gods to your cause
Agents: ascend two divine beings per year
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 5 miles. Cast 8th level magic at will.
Senses: Use the senses of all of your agents simultaneously.
Representation: Area phylactery and project up to five avatars on your plane of presence and neighbouring planes, plus simultaneous projection into all permanent areas of worship.
Mortality: Killed by avatar, realm, and temple destruction.
Combine forces with other gods and/or control a whole plane of existence
Agents: ascend three divine beings per year
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 10 miles. Cast 9th level magic at will.
Senses: Use the senses of all of your worshippers simultaneously.
Representation: Mind phylactery in agents and project up to five avatars on any plane of presence and neighbouring planes.
Mortality: Killed by avatar, realm, temple, and agent destruction.
Conquer more than a plane, slay another major god or persist for a very long time.
Agents: ascend a divine being per month.
Special Abilities: control environmental conditions within 100 miles. Cast 9th level magic at will.
Senses: Use the senses of all of your worshippers simultaneously.
Representation: Mind phylactery in worshippers and project up to six avatars on any plane of presence and neighbouring planes.
Mortality: Killed by avatar, realm, temple, agent and worshipper destruction.
Avatars take 10+10 years per divine tier to bring back if killed.
If a divine being looses all its avatars it can only form again after 100 years per divine tier. The powers of the reconstituted deity depends on what remains of its holdings, agents and worshippers. If they are also gone, the god is effectively extinct. There might be some old temple or artifact hidden away that make it possible for the god to reemerge again. This explains booth the need for remote hidden temples with artifacts and a thorough hunt to try and cleanse the world of them.
Special senses divine being can acquire are, Moonsight, Darkvision, Ethereal Sight, Shadow Sight, Truesight, Life Sense, Arcane Sense. the are the ones I have come up with so far there might be more!
Divine being can use not only their avatars as a base from which to sense things but also their places of worship, which is one of the main reasons that temples often include features like towers, high domes and such. It makes it possible for the deity to keep an eye of a larger area. Also a reason to build temples on hills. Scrying works in a similar way in my campaign, which is why a lot of wizards reside in towers.
