I'm really not trying to troll here, I'm actually quite interested in what CRs you put the deities and demon lords in your campaign, and how you deal with the god's not smashing the demon lords/ archdevils?
IMC I generally put the avatars of deities in the 20-25 CR range, and the planar lords in the 25-35 CR range. The planar lords aren't exactly more powerful however, as you have to take into account that a deity can summon many avatars, and have powers related to their deity level. I've only had one campaign reach a point where they actually challenged a planar lord, namely Mephistopheles, as part of a long term plot at level 31. I wrote up the encounter fully expecting the PCs to die at the archdevils hand, but they managed to scratch out a victory with one PC left at little more than 50 hps.
With respect to the god's killing demon lords: I've always viewed the god's as less of a physical being, and more of a manifestation of a belief or thought that can create avatars to carry out physical tasks. The god's lives rely on them having followers, because if no one believes in them the manifestation ceases to exist. In this way, there power is also controlled by the amount of followers that they have.
Unfortunately for the gods the planar entities such as tanar'ri, celestials, and baatezu are more resistant to following the gods. They more often than not follow their respective lords, and the will of the plane they are attuned to. The gods rarely gain powers from planar beings. Mortals on the other hand are quick to lend their services to a power.
Hextor wouldn't begin a war with Asmodeus, not because Asmodeus is a physical threat, but because the hordes of devils that Asmodeus controls could quickly and easily overrun the worlds that his followers call home. A mass genocide of Hextor's followers would quickly and effectively cripple the god. The priestly magic given by Hextor would be little defense against an army of beings dedicated to war and killing since the beginning of time.
So that's my explanation of how things work IMC, what about yours?
IMC I generally put the avatars of deities in the 20-25 CR range, and the planar lords in the 25-35 CR range. The planar lords aren't exactly more powerful however, as you have to take into account that a deity can summon many avatars, and have powers related to their deity level. I've only had one campaign reach a point where they actually challenged a planar lord, namely Mephistopheles, as part of a long term plot at level 31. I wrote up the encounter fully expecting the PCs to die at the archdevils hand, but they managed to scratch out a victory with one PC left at little more than 50 hps.
With respect to the god's killing demon lords: I've always viewed the god's as less of a physical being, and more of a manifestation of a belief or thought that can create avatars to carry out physical tasks. The god's lives rely on them having followers, because if no one believes in them the manifestation ceases to exist. In this way, there power is also controlled by the amount of followers that they have.
Unfortunately for the gods the planar entities such as tanar'ri, celestials, and baatezu are more resistant to following the gods. They more often than not follow their respective lords, and the will of the plane they are attuned to. The gods rarely gain powers from planar beings. Mortals on the other hand are quick to lend their services to a power.
Hextor wouldn't begin a war with Asmodeus, not because Asmodeus is a physical threat, but because the hordes of devils that Asmodeus controls could quickly and easily overrun the worlds that his followers call home. A mass genocide of Hextor's followers would quickly and effectively cripple the god. The priestly magic given by Hextor would be little defense against an army of beings dedicated to war and killing since the beginning of time.
So that's my explanation of how things work IMC, what about yours?
