GOD RULES: Player's Guide (5e) Previews/Discussion

[ApollyonFall]

Oh, I was under the impression that each of the grand purviews were at an equal albeit very high level. The mention of a wheel made me think each balanced/counteracted each other. To clarify, the Lord of Sovereignty would be DR 35-38 under this system. In that case what would the originators theoretical scale be in comparison?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Oh, I was under the impression that each of the grand purviews were at an equal albeit very high level.

No they are not equal. Realistically Time is one dimension beyond the gods and each new Grand Purview is one dimension beyond the past.

The mention of a wheel made me think each balanced/counteracted each other.

Poetically it is a cycle. Realistically it's more of a ladder.

To clarify, the Lord of Sovereignty would be DR 35-38 under this system.

Well there could be multiple Lords of Sovereignty and any of the others.

Yes the Supreme Being (the Games Master) is Divine Rank 30 (a 9D Being), but the 'hypothetical' Intelligent Designers (10D beings) and Executive Officers (11D beings) are beyond them.

In that case what would the originators theoretical scale be in comparison?

The remaining power of the Originator is Divine Rank 38, but its original power would be the only 12D Being and likely Divine Rank 42.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Ahead of tomorrow's update, two minor mechanics I have been back and forth with (how to best implement): one is the ability to add extra attacks to characters via Divine Boons, the other is whether it not to change Action Surge or keep as is.

For example, adding one extra attack is a +100% boost to some classes but only a +25% boost to Fighters.

Should an Epic Boon be able to grant a single extra attack - that sounds okay in isolation, but once you enable higher tiers it's very easy to abuse - even if we deny multiple such books from stacking.

For instance, let's say we allow +1 attack per tier of boon. That would mean a Tier 4 boon (achievable with an ability score of 30 and the right purview) grants +4 extra attacks! If we allow that to be multiplied with Action Surge and it's 16 attacks.

That could be viable for a Demigod who could be dealing 24d6 with each +3 greatsword attack for around 1600 damage.

A lot of this gets immediately fixed if we treat Action Surge exactly like a one round non-magical Haste effect (which would itself stack with Haste).

However, the last thing I ever want to do with these rules is nerf characters - although Action Surge is one of a small handful of things where I am just thinking it's probably the best option for immortal level play.

Any thoughts on this?

Keep Action Surge as is and work Divine Boons around it...or turn Action into a Haste-style boost?

 

[ArcanistDragonborn]

Personally, I think Action Surge should be all-or-nothing, where all melee characters/melee-focused Purviews should have access to it at full power, not just fighters, or go with what you were thinking, and make it a 1 round haste effect for everyone. Personally, I'm fine either way, but the idea of 24d6 Greatsword strikes w/ Action Surge is very tempting for me and my DPS obsession.

Hopefully everything is going well on your end,

-Arcane

 

[Upper_Krust]

Personally, I think Action Surge should be all-or-nothing, where all melee characters/melee-focused Purviews should have access to it at full power, not just fighters,

Well I am sure the Classes all get their own unique features which should hypothetically make all Level 20 characters balanced.

or go with what you were thinking, and make it a 1 round haste effect for everyone.

It does simplify all the scaling.

Personally, I'm fine either way, but the idea of 24d6 Greatsword strikes w/ Action Surge is very tempting for me and my DPS obsession.

i would not even consider that an exploit. Just a basic build. Which does give me slight pause for thought when we factor in Action Surge.

Hopefully everything is going well on your end,

Got the Purviews completely fixed. Not the Grand Purviews yet though - those I think are the last 'headache' - everything else is smooth sailing.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Apologies for not posting this already, the latest update has the Einheriar as a Divine Rank 1 Hero-deity Level 20 Champion Fighter. Worth noting there is a slight flaw in the Stat-block, the Einheriar should only have a +3 axe, not +4.

Divine Rank 1 gets 3 Legendary Items of their choice but I forgot I increased the rarity of weapons by one rank.

So a +3 weapon (which deals 4 dice of damage, or 8d6 for Greatswords) would be Legendary instead of Very Rare.

So this Einheriar was designed to be the simplest possible implementation of the Divine Ranks. Technically it does not list 'every' ability there are a few minor War Purview features (such as use a Bonus Action to maximise the next melee attack) - but at the same time I did add the six (Combat) Reactions, so its not losing effectiveness; I just made it more of a usable 'monster' stat-block than a PC one.

As ever, let me know what you think?

 

[ArcanistDragonborn]

Hey U_K! I was wondering, what are some good monsters/foes/NPCs to have as the masterminds pulling the strings of massive Illithid/Neh-Thalggu empires, and what DR would be the best range for those threats to be?

Hope all is well,

Arcane

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey U_K!

Hey Arcanist amigo!

I was wondering, what are some good monsters/foes/NPCs to have as the masterminds pulling the strings of massive Illithid/Neh-Thalggu empires,

Depends on what Challenge Rating you want and what alignment you want.

I plan to detail 8 new factions in the God Rules: Epic Campaigns book who directly oppose immortals. Some oppose religions, some hunt gods, some challenge pantheons, some require multiple pantheons to team up to stop them.

One of my favourites is the Illuminati. I already mentioned their elite 'unit' the Were-gods, also that they are led by seven Illuminati Cardinals who are very cool 'Schemer' types.

In typical Krusty fashion I actually designed 16 Factions, but only have room for 8 in the book.

and what DR would be the best range for those threats to be?

Every DR is likely to have masterminds from all manner of different factions and planes.

Hope all is well,

Everything going good again. Should finish chapter 5 within a week or so. Then just the last of the Epic spells and a clean up week before release.

 

[DungeonExplorer]

Hi Krusty how Is It going? I was wondering something, will you make some Angels like Solars or even the Powers (as in Powers in the angelic hierarchy) which in my opinion would be stronger than a Solar since I view the Solar as an Archangel?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Krusty how Is It going?

hey there buddy!

I had eye surgery on Thursday. All went well. Vision still blurry as I type this though, so taking a few days off until I can work at the computer again.

I was wondering something, will you make some Angels like Solars or even the Powers (as in Powers in the angelic hierarchy) which in my opinion would be stronger than a Solar since I view the Solar as an Archangel?

I suspect I will do eventually.

In the short term I will likely have my revised Solar in the God Rules: Epic Heroes book (formerly known as the Player's Guide). It's only CR 20 but a bit tougher than the official version(s). This is included because I have an epic spell called "Squad of Solars" Level 14 spell if I remember correctly.

At this juncture it's still too early to say if I will revisit all the epic angels I had in the Immortals Handbook: Epic Bestiary within the God Rules: Epic Bestiary. However, I will at least have a few. Was reading the Demon Rush manga, and loved one of their Angel designs. Perfect for a revised Elohim.

I do have plans for higher dimensional angels and fallen angels, but at the same time I don't necessarily want to get caught up doing an angel for each Divine Rank - even though I have the angels mapped out all the way up.

I just think, there are a lot more important (and arguably more interesting) monsters I have planned and I don't want to devote large parts of a Bestiary book to angels. But I am planning 120 monsters in the God Rules: Epic Bestiary, so you can expect a few in there such as the Elohim, Malakim, Kyriotates, etc. Even if I plan to change their names to be more flavourful (with the "real names" still being mentioned in the text somewhere).

I do have 4D Angels of Barzakh = Sinistrals, 5D Angels of Byss = Golgothans, 6D Angels of Tehom = Oneshim (Punishment Angels), 7D Angels of Muzaloth = Daynals, 8D Angels of Kuvachim = Mazzarot (Reflectivators) etc. Some of those are good, some evil, some complicated.I

So plenty of ideas for the angels, but exactly when and where they will show up is still up in the air.