Becoming a God question

[Willie the Duck]

On a related note, BECMI also had a rule about how, if you became an Immortal (i.e. a god; that edition didn't use the term due to the Satanic Panic) of the highest tier, and willingly gave up your immortality to become a 1st-level mortal again, then if you managed to become an Immortal and reach the highest tier of immortality for a second time, you essentially transcended the game system itself, with your character becoming an "Old One" and crossing the Dimensional Vortex, which even the Immortals couldn't breach.

I don't know if anyone ever legitimately did that, but it's awesome to consider.

On Dragonsfoot back before Frank Mentzer's most recent foibles someone came and reported to him that they had done so. He congratulated them and talked a little bit about the immortal rules (from his perspective, the framing as immortals was also because he wanted them to be more like Superman/Marvel Thor-type gods than what AD&D gods already were becoming). The general consensus behavior at the time was roughly analogous to the person who posts about their character with stats 18/18/17/16/16/14 -- people cautiously around asking what special decisions the campaign has, and talking around not really buying it.

In retrospect, I'm not sure why it's so implausible -- excepting motivation*. Just like starting over at 1st for the Polymath routes to immortality, you still know the game world, your DM's nuances, and so forth*, and might possibly have allies looking after you** as you level back up (DM/Immortal sponsor call). Unlike the Polymath route, there's no rules stating that one must lose your character knowledge as well. So if you figured out how to get to level 36 at least once (more if you did take the Polymath route to immortality the first time), there's no good reason you couldn't do so again.
*despite a strong fondness for BECMI, I'll be the first to say that there's a lot more 'up' to go in advancement past the point where the advancement actually feels meaningful. You can rule countries at level 10 and cast all the spells at level 18 (of 36).
**also, BECMI has no max # of times or failure chances for being raised from the dead, so you can even die quite a few times in the attempts.
***and taking you on adventures that will level you up one-level per session.

 

[overgeeked]

Not D&D, but it has a D&D connection. Tom Moldvay, of B/X fame, wrote another RPG called Lords of Creation. It’s a multi-genre RPG where PCs start in various genres and eventually come together. As they level they gain power until ultimately they become gods of their own universe.

 

[Daraniya]

I have always enjoyed "The Primal Order" idea of ascension... by Level 17-20, the players should be the paragons of virtue to normal people... people will follow them, perhaps start praying to them instead of their 'normal' gods. As the system discusses followers= power for the gods, I figure at Level 19.9, enough people believe in their supra-normal capabilities ("they are like the gods!") and a critical mass of people (maybe even cults start up to worship them openly) funneling 'thoughts and prayers' toward the PCs ignites a divine spark, making them a demigod (level 0). works the same for evil, except more cultists...lol

 

[Blue Orange]

This is actually a major subgenre in East Asian fantasy literature (known as 'cultivation fantasy'), and influenced modern LitRPG. Get good enough at manipulating qi, and you can become an immortal.

Xianxia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Goes back at least as far as the Ming dynasty novel Investiture of the Gods, where 365 Zhou dynasty heroes get entered into the register of gods.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I touched on the topic here-

D&D General - What if God was One of Us? Divinity in Early D&D & Greyhawk

Some days, you feel like the Count in Sesame Street. Five! Five Greyhawk-adjacent threads! Muahahahahahahahaha! I was asked very nicely in another thread to post about the mythos of Greyhawk. Which is a fascinating topic that deserves a lot of interest! But in my opinion, the most...

www.enworld.org

If you're looking for a specific source in 1e, you should start with the brief bit in Deities & Demigods called "Divine Ascension."

 

[Ramaster]

To put people in context here, I'm not looking into these rules with the intent of actually using them. This dive was in regards to a character idea I had for a person whose background involved being about to attain immortality via these methods and, when it came time to be "brought back to level 1" was brought back in a different world alltogether (i.e. the new campaign).

Therefore, the preparations they had made to climb back up to max level were rendered useles and they were left with a lot of very in depth knowledge/connections to a world that it's not the one they were living on.

I just wanted to gather some facts to flesh out the concept a little more/make it more true to the original rules

 

[Mark Hope]

There is also a section on divine ascension in AD&D's Deities and Demigods (aka Legends and Lore) that presents a slightly less arduous approach, which may be worth a look:

DIVINE ASCENSION
As study of the various mythologies will show, it is remotely possible for mortals to ascend into the ranks of the divine. However, there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled before such a thing could happen.

First, the character in question must have advanced to an experience level that is significantly above and beyond the average level of adventure-type characters in the general campaign. (This includes all such non-player types as military leaders, royal magic-users, etc.) For example, if the average level of characters in a campaign, both player and non-player, is around 5th level, then a candidate for ascension should be something like 9th or 10th level. If the average level is something like 15th, then a character would have to be in the realm of 25th-30th level!

Second, his or her ability scores must have been raised through some mighty world-shaking magic to be on par with the lesser demigods. (Should such an act be lightly considered, remember that a Wish spell is the most powerful magic that mankind can control, and such an average increase in abilities would literally take the power of dozens of wishes! Each use of that spell weakens the caster and ages him 3 years into the bargain, so they are not easy to come by.)

Third, the personage must have a body of sincere worshipers, people convinced of his or her divinity due to their witnessing of and/or belief in the mighty deeds and miracles which he or she has performed (and continues to perform). These must be genuine worshipers, honest in their adoration or propitiation of the person.

Fourth, the person in question must be and have been a faithful and true follower of his or her alignment and patron deity. It is certain that any deviation will have been noted by the divine powers.

If all of the above conditions have been met, and the character has fulfilled a sufficient number of divine quests, then the character's deity may choose to invest the person with a certain amount of divine power, and bring the character into the ranks of the god's celestial (or infernal) servants. This process of ascension usually involves a great glowing beam of light and celestial fanfare, or (in the case of those transmigrating to the lower planes), a blotting of the sun, thunder and lightning, and the disappearance of the character in a great smoky explosion. Characters thus taken into the realms of the gods will serve their patron as minor functionaries and messengers. After several centuries of superior service and gradual advancement, exceptional servants may be awarded the status of demigod, which includes having an earthly priesthood and the ability to grant spells (of up to 5th level) to the demigod's clerics.

Naturally, ascension to divinity effectively removes the character from the general campaign, as the person will become a non-player member of the DM's pantheon. The section on DUNGEON MASTERING DIVINE BEINGS applies in general to the summoning of these characters as well, as their patron deity has more important jobs for his or her servants than to continually send them when called to interfere in worldly matters.

 

[Voadam]

To put people in context here, I'm not looking into these rules with the intent of actually using them. This dive was in regards to a character idea I had for a person whose background involved being about to attain immortality via these methods and, when it came time to be "brought back to level 1" was brought back in a different world alltogether (i.e. the new campaign).

Therefore, the preparations they had made to climb back up to max level were rendered useles and they were left with a lot of very in depth knowledge/connections to a world that it's not the one they were living on.

I just wanted to gather some facts to flesh out the concept a little more/make it more true to the original rules

I've done a similar thing to play a recurring character in different campaigns on different worlds and even in different systems.

Having a high level character be level drained and go through a rift into a new world allows you to play that character with their history and characterization as a now low level character.

Also being an AD&D magic user or a 3e wizard and going to someplace new without your spellbook it works narratively to have to build yourself up again from nothing, close enough that mechanically being low level works narratively. Similarly for any caster going to a new world where magic works differently it can explain your experienced familiar character starting from low level as a martial or new caster class.