Custom divine abilities, portfolios, etc.

[S'mon]

Hi Adslahnit mate!

I think the only balanced way of doing this is really to have the revived immortal drop a permanent divine status (with appropriate loss of divine abilities* and ability scores from the template) but possibly keeping their class levels and Hit dice as before.

*potentially even losing this ability.

 

[EarthSeraphEdna]

Divine Handicap: ANATHEMA (EX)
The concentrated faith of others can prove especially harmful or fatal to you.
Penalty: Any enemy capable of turning or rebuking undead can now make turning checks against you, as if you were an undead creature. Your turn resistance is ineffective against this kind of turning, so your effective HD is unaffected by turn resistance. An enemy that normally rebukes undead instead makes turning checks, not rebuking checks, against you.
You do not apply your divine bonus to your spell resistance against divine spells. Your base spell resistance against divine spells is thus equal to your HD + 10, before any other modifiers to your spell resistance.

Is this fairly balanced for a divine handicap, or should the penalty be lessened a little?

 

[WarDragon]

I'd say it's either too weak (for NPCs) or far, far too strong (for PCs). A PC trying to Turn anything is a losing proposition after level 10, at the very latest, because HD scale so much faster than CR. That same disconnect means that any enemy with turning can turn any turnable PCs effortlessly.

 

[EarthSeraphEdna]

I'd say it's either too weak (for NPCs) or far, far too strong (for PCs). A PC trying to Turn anything is a losing proposition after level 10, at the very latest, because HD scale so much faster than CR. That same disconnect means that any enemy with turning can turn any turnable PCs effortlessly.

How would you balance it then? I still want the immortal to be turnable by anybody with turn/undead.

 

[WarDragon]

No idea, honestly. The discrepancy is so big, you basically need to pick one group to balance it for, and ignore the other.

 

[S'mon]

Hey guys, Krust here!

How would you balance it then? I still want the immortal to be turnable by anybody with turn/undead.

I think part of the problem may simply be with turning itself (which is somewhat black and white when dealing with single targets).

Maybe something turned (at those levels) takes a divine penalty (equal to 1d4 plus your Cha mod?) on all rolls. The penalty is reduced 1 point for every subsequent round. Anything with a HD less than the penalty is destroyed. Overlapping applications simply use the highest total and do not stack.

Just brainstorming out loud as it were.

 

[EarthSeraphEdna]

Cosmic Ability: DIMENSIONAL HAVEN (SU)
You can briefly float above reality itself, making you impervious to all forms of attack.
Prerequisites: Dex 70, Self-Concealment 50%.
Benefit: As a free action, you can continuously float above reality while still maintaining a conscious grip on it, rendering you immune to all conceivable attacks, be they physical, magical, or otherwise. You can still make your own attacks normally in this state, and you can leave this state as a free action. You may float above reality for a number of rounds per day equal to your divine rank, though these rounds need not be consecutive.
Special: You can gain this cosmic ability multiple times. Each time it is taken, the number of rounds per day in which you can float above reality is increased by your divine rank.
eg. A lesser deity with Dimensional Haven x2 could float above reality for 16 rounds per day.

Any suggestions on how to make this more balanced?

 

[dante58701]

I'd personally take away the ability to attack others and make the duration indefinite.

It makes little sense to be able to attack others and not be attacked in kind.

Unless...you made a cosmic ability that could overcome this ability entirely.

 

[WarDragon]

Cosmic Ability: DIMENSIONAL HAVEN (SU)
You can briefly float above reality itself, making you impervious to all forms of attack.
Prerequisites: Dex 70, Self-Concealment 50%.
Benefit: As a free action, you can continuously float above reality while still maintaining a conscious grip on it, rendering you immune to all conceivable attacks, be they physical, magical, or otherwise. You can still make your own attacks normally in this state, and you can leave this state as a free action. You may float above reality for a number of rounds per day equal to your divine rank, though these rounds need not be consecutive.
Special: You can gain this cosmic ability multiple times. Each time it is taken, the number of rounds per day in which you can float above reality is increased by your divine rank.
eg. A lesser deity with Dimensional Haven x2 could float above reality for 16 rounds per day.

Any suggestions on how to make this more balanced?

As-is, it might be balanced as a Transcendent (and the flavor certainly fits that, as well). Otherwise, drop the ability to attack others while it's active.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey guys!

As-is, it might be balanced as a Transcendent (and the flavor certainly fits that, as well). Otherwise, drop the ability to attack others while it's active.

Agreed. Its way overpowered as a cosmic ability. You are basically giving the deity invincibility, its like switching on "God-mode".