Demigods as player characters [or: It's All Greek to Me]

[blackshirt5]

I might go for number 4 and develop a pseudo-Greek/Roman/Egyptian/Norse/Celtic...screw it, a mixed pantheon and a new world, have a smaller number of 'full' gods and then the PCs and a lot of other demigods. Yes, that'd definitely be cool; now to just figure out how I'm gonna run it.

Mix in some Conan the Cimmerian there too, create really monstrous, hideous 'gods'; maybe start the PCs off at (relatively) low levels, so that I can toss them onto the Prime to take on cults of opposing demigods or minor gods to try to weaken their enemies.

Ya know, the longer I talk about this, the more I wanna run it.

 

[blackshirt5]

Actually, I might just wait until the Immortal's Handbook comes out and run it with that and the ELH, although if I get really impatient I might use a mixture of ELH and FCtF, with the Arcana Unearthed material mixed in.

 

[JPL]

Mix in some Conan the Cimmerian there too, create really monstrous, hideous 'gods'; maybe start the PCs off at (relatively) low levels, so that I can toss them onto the Prime to take on cults of opposing demigods or minor gods to try to weaken their enemies.

Ya know, the longer I talk about this, the more I wanna run it.

Yeah, man. The Greek myths have gotten sanitized over the centuries --- but this was gritty stuff. This was greed and barbarism and killing your father and lusting after your mother. I think an element of swords-and-sorcery would be perfectly at home.

Jason and Odysseus and Achillies weren't all about spreading truth and justice and saving the villagers...they wanted the fortune and glory.

Stepping up the monsters a notch works fine. The cthonic deities surely have their offspring, too. And the Titans are still out there, too --- if the gods are so much greater than the demigods, then what about the Titans, from whence sprang the gods?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi JPL mate!

Hmm. What's the ECL of a demigod, anyway?

+30 under my auspices.

I have 88 Divinity Templates outlined (of which Demigod is the fifth); though only the first 20 or so are fully statted.

To be true to the genre, you almost have to just shrug and say, yes, Hercules is better than you. Probably more fun, though, to assume that there are occasional mortals like Odysseus [or Xena] who can hang with the big boys.

This would certainly be true of the relationship between deities and mortals of the same level but I have things impeccably balanced so you can easily set epic mortals or monsters against the gods and make it challenging both ways if you so want.

Is there some sort of mechanic in Deities for stealing the essence of another divine being when you slay them? You could throw in a little "Highlander"...maybe some demigods are trying to climb the ranks into true godhood?

I have a number of mechanics for exactly this sort of thing in the Immortals Handbook, in essence divinity from power - in fact this is one of the two main mechanics (the other being divinity from glory).

Stepping up the monsters a notch works fine. The cthonic deities surely have their offspring, too. And the Titans are still out there, too --- if the gods are so much greater than the demigods, then what about the Titans, from whence sprang the gods?

I have Divine; Cosmic; Omnific and Metempiric offspring covered.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi blackshirt5 mate!

Actually, I might just wait until the Immortal's Handbook comes out and run it with that and the ELH, although if I get really impatient I might use a mixture of ELH and FCtF, with the Arcana Unearthed material mixed in.

I appreciate the interest - I'll try and get the Immortals Handbook ready as soon as possible after the Epic Level Handbook enters the SRD.

 

[JPL]

Here's what I figured out on the drive to work:

Two setting ideas I've been kicking around a Conan-type sword-and-sorcery
setting and a Greek mythology/epic setting where everyone plays a demigod.
And I've been trying to figure out if the two are actually compatible.

And here's the biggest difference: the sword-and-sorcery hero, like Conan,
is always free, always in control of his own destiny. The Greek hero, even
the son of a god, felt the hand of fate a lot more strongly [often expressed
as the gods medddling with things, but that's the same thing as fate ---
powers beyond your control controling what happens]. So although I have no
particular need for deep thoughts in an RPG, the big question presented here
is, can a man ever truly be the master of his own destiny?

Anyway...sort of a classical Bronze age thing, pre-cataclysm Atlantis,
warring city states along the Mediterranian, Celtic/Viking pagans to the
North, great corrupt exotic empires to the South and East, cults devoted to
dark alien deities, multiple meddling pantheons with a tendency to knock up
pretty mortals, and heroes with the power of the gods and the hearts of
mortals...perhaps with a destiny, or perhaps with whatever destiny they make
for themselves.

 

[Voadam]

Hi blackshirt5 mate!



I appreciate the interest - I'll try and get the Immortals Handbook ready as soon as possible after the Epic Level Handbook enters the SRD.

Epic level rules from the 3.5 DMG are currently in the srd. I'm not sure if that is all we are going to get.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Voadam!

Epic level rules from the 3.5 DMG are currently in the srd.

Indeed, the basics are (and a few feats), but none of the other aspects.

Primarily I want the full feat list among a few other things.

I'm not sure if that is all we are going to get.

Approximately 2-3 weeks according to WotC for the ELH. *Fingers crossed*