Things that just bother me when it comes to D&D.

[ForeverSlayer]

Oftentimes I am told I think way too much about things and they may be right, but there are somethings in D&D that I just can't understand that really irk me.

Fighting Gods, Primordials, and other power beings: This is one thing that just bugs the hell out of me. How come it takes eons for a being, who wields the power of creation and the ability to shape the cosmos, to get to a certain level of power, while it takes humans, elves, dwarves,halflings etc may be less than a year or two, just killing things, to achieve, practically, the same level of power? And, the game ends up condensing the creature into a few powers to put it in line with a PC to be able to kill it. Where did those powers of creation and cosmos shaping go?

Maybe it's also the whole "experience point" system I have a problem with, who knows?

Are there other aspects you have a problem with?

 

[RangerWickett]

Gods are like lions, or dinosaurs. They are terrifying and powerful, but they can never learn to be more than what they were created as.

Humans have minds and technology, and with enough time and work we can figure out how to slay lions, and even travel through time and poach dinosaurs. I mean, c'mon, why do you think they really went extinct?

 

[cimbrog]

It's about narrative, mostly. The world may be full of other adventurers or it may not be, but the PCs are the ones chosen by fate to be the big damn heroes of their time. Everything is statted out with that in mind - that at the end of the day they are to be within striking distance of the PCs' story arc.

The problem comes when the players exploit this knowledge. I just had one of the players announce they'd be fine visiting the ancient lich wizard prince's tower that no one ever returns from because they've got plot immunity...

 

[S'mon]

The problem comes when the players exploit this knowledge. I just had one of the players announce they'd be fine visiting the ancient lich wizard prince's tower that no one ever returns from because they've got plot immunity...

I find that the occasional near-TPK really helps with that kind of attitude.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Personally, I address that in a couple of ways.

The deities didn't create the universe. My deities are usurpers.

There's been a general downward trend in individuals' power since the times of creation for purely entropic reasons. Where once there were a few near-perfect beings floated in a vacuum, now their essence has dispersed into that space, populating it with many creatures of lesser power.

The deities are supremely confident. Overconfident.

The killing of a deity also almost invariably involves artifacts and similar aid of divine-level power.

I think a rare deicide can be justified under those circumstances.

 

[RangerWickett]

I think it'd be a fun setting where the gods are just 10th level, and everyone who thinks they get magic powers from worshipping them are just casting spells the same way wizards would. Commune isn't some sacred connection to your deity; it's just a very limited sending that lasts longer but only goes to a single person. And he's probably making up half his answers and trying to sound cryptic so no one blows his cover.

 

[outsider]

How come it takes eons for a being, who wields the power of creation and the ability to shape the cosmos, to get to a certain level of power

Is that actually true? I'm no expert on mythology, but I am under the impression that most gods/powerful supernatural beasties were either "born this way", or came into their power relatively quickly, then became pretty static as far as their powerlevel goes.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

It was a mistake to ever give gods stat blocks. This is also why I favor level caps, or at least mortal limitations on abilities, skills and bonuses.

 

[Sekhmet]

In the D&D cosmos, you have Lesser Gods, Greater Gods, and Over Gods.
The overgods were the creators, who granted power to the greater gods to govern, and lesser gods to lead by example.
All of the present gods are previously mortal men and women who acquired some level of power and found their way to divinity, rather than just being appointed. Most became demigods, and then worked their way up from there.
There are never any new overgods.

/a brief summary of deities and demigods

 

[winemaker81]

Personally, I address that in a couple of ways.

The deities didn't create the universe. My deities are usurpers.

There's been a general downward trend in individuals' power since the times of creation for purely entropic reasons. Where once there were a few near-perfect beings floated in a vacuum, now their essence has dispersed into that space, populating it with many creatures of lesser power.

The deities are supremely confident. Overconfident.

The killing of a deity also almost invariably involves artifacts and similar aid of divine-level power.

I think a rare deicide can be justified under those circumstances.

This is basically my view of the situation. The current gods did not create the multiverse, they're just currently the biggest guys-n-gals on the block. IMC killing anything major requires some serious mojo and may have repercussions.

Regardless of what the game rules may allow, it's up to each DM to decide how they want things to play out.