Immortals Handbook - Ascension Discussion

[S'mon]

Hi Alzrius mate!

U_K, if you're getting on the internet via S'mon's computer, why don't you log into your own EN World account? It's not like you can only log onto "Upper_Krust" from your home computer.

I can't remember my password offhand and I don't want to go requesting an email, then if Simon wants to use it he has to sign back in and so forth. Just a convenience - only for a week anyway.

That said, I've got both of the books you mentioned. I didn't have much reaction to Gawds & Demigawds mechanics, since I never played 1E. That said, I enjoyed the fluff, since it presented a much more "realistic" presentation of gods who exist in a multi-pantheon universe. It has them dealing with other members of their pantheon, other pantheons, shared effects across the world and the planes, etc. I really enjoy that, as it helps create a more cohesive feel for the world.

Perhaps I'll get more out of it if I spend a bit more time with it. But definitely a poor man's Deities & Demigods.

As a note, I think the reason for the divine levels being altered is given in the beginning. Something about a huge multiversal cataclysm that shook things up across all the pantheons, causing a large number of deities to lose worshippers/power and let other gods pick it up.

Well to an extent, why republish if you just regurgitate the stats, so I can see a small sense in changing some. But even those who do change status totally keep the exact same powers they had at their previous status.

As for Lore of the Gods...I didn't like most of their mechanics, as they made only a few changes to the Divine SRD (nothing worthwhile, and just enough changes to alter things without having anything stand out). But what really got me was the fluff information on the gods was all presented from a mythological standpoint. There's no evidence whatsoever of things being a "unified universe" like in the HackMaster book. To a degree, this is acceptable, but they ignore even significant events in D&D, like archdevils, demon princes, etc. who'd be players at the divine level - a good example is your write-up of Surtur, since it gives a sufficient nod to planar politics without becoming mired in it. LotG failed hard in that regard.

I think its more mythological inspired rather than game-centric.

...which, come to think of it, makes me want to see Gods & Monsters that much sooner.

The problem with Gods & Monsters vs. one of the above books is that it takes me something like 6+ pages to detail a single deity. Whereas Lore of the Gods had one per page and Gawds & Demigawds has about 4 per page.

Ideally I'd like to be able to have it maybe one deity per page, but thats impossible with 3E.

 

[S'mon]

Hiya mate!

Very quick question: should the Great [Ability Score] epic feats increase the ability score by only 1, or by 2?

By 1 point. I know I sort of suggest 2 points in terms of fluid scores and so forth but I just think its unworkable for ability scores which were smack dab in the middle of being fluid/static anyway, so slow is their natural increase.

 

[S'mon]

Hello again!

Since an immortal's built-in "immortality" is basically just a combination of six epic feats (Haleness, Hibernate, Incorruptible Body, Inedia, Insomnious, and Terrene Body), you could probably say it's worth a single divine ability, and an immortal without that immortality would have a divine handicap (getting himself a bonus divine ability slot in exchange). But what about an immortal's immunity to natural effects? Is that roughly worth a divine ability, or is it perhaps worth two divine abilities?

I wanted to make some characters without the immortality and without the immunity to natural effects (I know that you can only have one divine handicap, but I'm ignoring that rule for character concept), and I just wanted to know how many bonus divine ability slots a character would get for giving up these two things.

Immortality is of course made up from those 6 feats, hence its worth 1 divine ability.

Immunity to natural effects and grant spells (dante) I honestly cannot remember offhand. Both seem to hover around a Divine Ability but I may have built one or both into the divinity templates as +0.5 though. Grant Spells is really ambiguous as it doesn't actually give the immortal any net gain.

 

[dante58701]

It'd be interesting to see the divine template abilities broken down into individual divine abilities. Then a person could easily stick them together in any manner of their choosing.

 

[S'mon]

Howdy dante mate!

It'd be interesting to see the divine template abilities broken down into individual divine abilities. Then a person could easily stick them together in any manner of their choosing.

They are broke down to the bone in Ascension. I can't keep breaking them down as subsequent templates add new/different abilities.

This stuff is pretty simple to work out. Just subtract the new stuff from the old stuff and the difference has to be the answer.

 

[dante58701]

A bit off topic, but I need an opinion on this and am unsure where to post it. I'm intending to use this for a deity of evil, fear, madness, and music.

Horrendous Resonance [General]
All your bardic music effects affect aberrations.
Prerequisite: Bardic music class feature, Blasphemous Utterance, Perform (any) 15 ranks, Sickening Sonata, Undertones of Heresy (or Dark Speech).
Benefit: You can extend the effects of Blasphemous Utterance and Sickening Sonata so that they influence aberrations.
Normal: Aberrations are usually immune to Blasphemous Utterance and Sickening Sonata.

Or...would Music of the Gods suffice to counter the blanket immunity all aberrations have to it?

On that note...if you kill a deity in an open cosmology, do you acquire it's portfolios? Or is that strictly for closed cosmologies?

Example a deity specifically kills a deity in order to acquire a portfolio. Is this possible if that was the deity's intent?

 

[S'mon]

Hi dante mate - Krust here!

A bit off topic, but I need an opinion on this and am unsure where to post it. I'm intending to use this for a deity of evil, fear, madness, and music.

Horrendous Resonance [General]
All your bardic music effects affect aberrations.
Prerequisite: Bardic music class feature, Blasphemous Utterance, Perform (any) 15 ranks, Sickening Sonata, Undertones of Heresy (or Dark Speech).
Benefit: You can extend the effects of Blasphemous Utterance and Sickening Sonata so that they influence aberrations.
Normal: Aberrations are usually immune to Blasphemous Utterance and Sickening Sonata.

Or...would Music of the Gods suffice to counter the blanket immunity all aberrations have to it?

I think Music of the gods should cover that already, albeit giving the Aberrations a +10 save.

On that note...if you kill a deity in an open cosmology, do you acquire it's portfolios? Or is that strictly for closed cosmologies?

Example a deity specifically kills a deity in order to acquire a portfolio. Is this possible if that was the deity's intent?

In an open cosmology there can be multiple gods with the same portfolio. In a closed cosmology there are only two (a double in effect) portfolios for everything.

If you have multiple same portfolio deities (as in an open cosmology) it doesn't work to pass one portfolio on after death.

 

[dante58701]

Thanks Krusty, that's what I figured. I just wasn't entirely sure.

Another couple of sidenote...

The Pseudonatural Template, shouldn't it grant All-Around Vision, or does Far Realm control all those extraneous eyes?

How close are we to the first installment of monsters...I'm just itching to unleash some upon the party. It's hit level 120 and needs some Epic Scaries to finish the PCs off (or prepare them for the next horrors you unleash).

 

[S'mon]

Hiya mate!

Thanks Krusty, that's what I figured. I just wasn't entirely sure.

Another couple of sidenote...

The Pseudonatural Template, shouldn't it grant All-Around Vision, or does Far Realm control all those extraneous eyes?

Well I didn't design the Pseudonatural Template and I can't recall offhand the various nuances thereof. But its possible some of those eyes could be for show, rather than fully functioning orbs of sight.

How close are we to the first installment of monsters...I'm just itching to unleash some upon the party. It's hit level 120 and needs some Epic Scaries to finish the PCs off (or prepare them for the next horrors you unleash).

I presume you mean the first installment of the monsters portion of Gods & Monsters?

Sadly we are (at least) a few months from its surfacing. Though I suppose I could put together an early beta and then get some help on that one before an actual release...hmmm.

 

[Alzrius]

Sadly we are (at least) a few months from its surfacing. Though I suppose I could put together an early beta and then get some help on that one before an actual release...hmmm.

I'm up for it if you are, U_K.