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

[Upper_Krust]

Random question; I have been wondering what the power level of a 20th level spell would be?

20th level spells are for when you want to affect an entire planet or things of that magntude.

ie. Blow a planet up, Control every mind on a planet, Teleport a planet, etc.

Also a planet basically approximates to a single planar layer (I know people say they are hypothetically infinite, but occupied space is typically about the same size as a planet or less).

A full PLANE would be more akin to a galaxy (in around spell levels 27-29).

As I have perviously come across homebrew that would allow for a upcasted spell of that level. And the spell preview furthered the question, as presumably they would be even crazier then the ones we've seen so far.

In terms of damage dice you are looking at around 800 @ 20th level spells.

Planets (by my rules) have around 3000 HP*, but Damage Threshold 1500*.

*If I remember correctly - might be 4000/2000.

The way I have it structured, 15th level spells are the maximum a mortal can Overcast** so you have a few crazy cult "Doomsday" scenarios (like Fimbulwinter, Radiation Zone) in those 14th & 15th level slots.

19-20th-level spells are in around your high immortal tier spells (if the immortal engages in a bit of Overcasting) so its more planetary scale effects.

**I did move Karsus Avatar (not the name in the book obviously - I use some obscure occult term) to 18th though, we can presume he was effectively a Demi-deity in terms of personal power.

Initially I was thinking the old, 10th/11th/12th level spells would be 10-11/12-13/14-15 in my system. But Volcano fits as a 16th level spell (a Super-volcano variant is 17th), so it did not feel right to have Karsus Avatar as a mere 14th-15th level spell. So as a rule of thumb each 'old-school' spell level above 9th = +1-3 spell levels in my system - needs some testing but that's probably the simplest and easiest conversion rule.

 

[therealselah]

I love how cleanly the system seems to map on certain assumptions around damage, scale of what is threatened/impacted, etc.

 

[Upper_Krust]

I love how cleanly the system seems to map on certain assumptions around damage, scale of what is threatened/impacted, etc.

Well its only been 7 years in the making...imagine what I could do with another seven years amigo.

Working on the epic spells chapter and I was thinking well if spellcasters are capped at Level 20 in 5e, how exactly can we 'model' the likes of Mordenkainen and Elminster, etc.

Today it just hit me that I can simply overlap Divinity with Spellcaster Age, meaning 300 year old Mordenkainen would be effectively Divine Rank 2 (CR 20), Elminster at over 1000 years old, would be equivalent to Divine Rank 3 (CR 24). But given they do not court worship I created a quick table for how to apply a sort of generic Wizard template based on age (rather than necessarily need to get your hand's dirty with Divine Boons and Purviews).

Of course, this being me I took things to extreme levels, so you have everything from Atlantean/Antediluvian casters, to casters from the beginning of time, casters who exist when all stars have burnt out and even casters who exist after all Black Holes have dissipated...and then a few beyond that for good measure. I don't have space to detail these characters beyond the table itself, but I am sure I will get to it in a future book.