An example of Min/Maxing
I think trading in for divine abilities is fine. It makes for more flexibility, though I think it should be limited to selecting divine abilities you can normally select and one tier higher. Thus an immortal could select cosmic abilities, while a sidereal could select transcendental.
This way it keeps people from abusing the optional rule.
This demon makes use of the optional rule since they typically shun items anyways. Not every creature wants or needs items and must be able to contend with beings who do use them.
Divine abilities generally cannot be changed once selected, except in the most extreme circumstance.
Artifacts can be changed as often as a person wants, allowing for total flexibility.
This means that one god could put away an item and snag his friends item for a day. In a way...artifacts are more unbalancing.
So while divine abilities may be stable, they also disallow a deity to take options that might save their life.
I would personally disallow any PC, who eschews artifacts, to use any artifacts in the future, unless they either sacrifice divine abilities (permanently) or accept a boost to their challenge rating and level adjustment. Both of which are detrimental.
A higher challenge rating gives enemy gods more experience if they kill you and a level adjustment makes it harder to climb in levels, almost as if the artifact were sucking away the experience from you.
Harlequin Demon
Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Demon, Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 50d20+1,500 (2,500 hp)
Initiative: +20 (+8 Dex, +8 divine, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 90 ft. (18 squares)
Armor Class:101 (+30 deflection, +8 Dex, +8 divine, +30 luck, +15 natural), touch 86, flat-footed 93
Base Attack/Grapple: +50/+66
Attack: Slam +66 melee (1d6+16)
Full Attack: 2 slams +66 melee (1d6+16)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Alter reality, divine aura, malaclypse, spell-like abilities, spells
Special Qualities: Acid immunity, cosmic abilities, damage reduction 25/epic and good or epic and lawful, demon traits, divine abilities, divine traits (lesser deity), fast healing 25, fire immunity, fortune's body, fortune's soul, godly realm, grant spells, immortality, immunities, inner eye, inscrutable mind, learned spell immunity, legendary charisma, legendary constitution, legendary intelligence, legendary wisdom, malaclypse, maven, omnicompetent, outsider traits, portfolios (evil and luck), regeneration 25, sorcerer abilities, spell-like abilities, spell resistance 68, true seeing, virtual size categories 1
Saves: Fort +95, Ref +73, Will +86
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 26, Con 70, Int 52, Wis 52, Cha 70
Skills: Maven/Omnicompetent: All skills +71 plus ability modifier.
Feats: Alertness, Combat Casting, Dark Speech, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quicken Spell, Silent Spell, Still Spell
Epic Feats: Automatic Metamagic Capacity (x2), Epic Spellcasting, Ignore Material Components, Plastic Soul, Sixth Sense, Subtle Body
Divine Abilities: Harlequin demons possess the following divine abilities:
- Acid Immunity (Ex): Harlequin demons are immune to acid.
- Demon Traits: Telepathy (Su): Harlequin demons can communicate telepathically with any creature within 600 feet that has a language.; Immunities (Ex): Harlequin
demons are immune to electricity and poison.; Resistances (Ex): Harlequin demons have cold resistance 25.
- Fire Immunity (Ex): Harlequin demons are immune to fire.
- Fortune's Body (Ex): Harlequin demons add their Charisma modifier as a luck bonus to their Armor Class.
- Fortune's Soul (Ex): Harlequin demons add their Charisma modifier as a luck bonus to their saving throws.
- Inscrutable Mind (Ex): Harlequin demons are immune to all all mind-affecting spells and effects.
- Learned Spell Immunity (Su): Harlequin demons can adapt to a spellcaster's spells. They can only be affected once by the same spell cast by the same spellcaster.
- Malaclypse (Su): Curses do not work on harlequin demons. When a curse targets a harlequin demon, or even if harlequin demon uses a cursed item, up to eight enemies, of the
harlequin demon's choice, within the harlequin demon's divine aura suffer the effects of the curse instead of the harlequin demon.
- Omnicompetent (Ex): Harlequin demons know all skills as class skills. Furthermore, as they are Maven, they also possess maximum ranks in each skill.
- Regeneration (Su): Harlequin demons take normal damage from weapons that are both epic and good-aligned or both epic and lawful-aligned, and from spells or
effects with the good or lawful descriptors.
- True Seeing (Su): Harlequin demons can see through all illusions, as per the spell true seeing, at will. Harlequin demons are always on the lookout for such treachery and are
assumed to always have this ability active. Caster level 58th.
Cosmic Abilities: Harlequin demons possess the following cosmic abilities:
- Alter Reality (Su): Harlequin demons are masters of their environments and can manipulate the fabric of reality. Once per round as a free action they can duplicate any spell of a
level equal to 9 + number of automatic metamagic capacity feats. This ability can also duplicate any epic spells of a DC equal to their spellcraft check +20. Caster level 58th.
The save DCs are Charisma-based.
- Inner Eye (Ex): Harlequin demons can bend fate to their will and always gain the best possible dice rolls in any given situation.
- Legendary Charisma (Ex): Harlequin demons are incredibly charming, possessing twice the charisma one would expect.
- Legendary Constitution (Ex): Harlequin demons are incredibly durable, possessing twice the constitution one would expect.
- Legendary Intelligence (Ex): Harlequin demons are incredibly devious, possessing twice the intelligence one would expect.
- Legendary Wisdom (Ex): Harlequin are far wiser than they seem, possessing twice the wisdom one would expect.
Environment: The Infinite Layers of the Abyss
Organisation: Solitary, double act, or troupe (3-12)
Challenge Rating: 60
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 51+ HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +90
Harlequin demons seem to have painted faces and wear harlequin suits. Though, the truth is, this appearance is actually their true naked form and when slain a harlequin demon vanishes, leaving nothing behind. It is the rare harlequin demon that actually carries anything on it's person or even wears clothing. They are malicious entities manifesting as human harlequins and playing grim games with the fortunes and souls of mortals. Varying wildly in aesthetics, each is quite unique in it's appearance, personality, and tastes.
Harlequin demons do not like to use artifacts, unless they happen to be cursed. As such things are exceedingly rare, their creation makes use of optional rules regarding additional divine abilities to keep them on par with other beings of equal power that regularly make use of artifacts. Should a harlequin demon acquire an artifact or even artifacts, as a rare few undoubtedly will, adjust their challenge rating and level adjustment accordingly.
Harlequin demons also possess a number of cosmic abilities, instead of a slew of lesser divine abilities. These abilities represent the harlequin demon's innate understanding of existence and how to manipulate it to better suit their purposes. These cosmic abilities are not in nature, rather they are learned intuitively by newborn harlequin demons as they mature and approach their full power. It is fortunate for all of mortality that these mischievous, and often times deadly, demons are not more common.
Harlequin demons often mate for life and produce many offspring that are either abandoned or raised by their fickle parents. A newborn harlequin demon is far less powerful than the adolescent harlequin demon represented here, having only one fifth the hit dice and divine stature equivalent to a mere disciple. If abandoned a newborn harlequin demon matures into a horrid harlequin abomination called a giggling toe snatcher (evil and madness portfolios), otherwise they mature normally.
Harlequin demons, like most demon, are telepathic. Though they prefer to learn the languages of those around them.
Harlequin demons are about 6 ft. tall and weight about 440 pounds, due to their incredible muscular density.
Combat
Harlequin demons use whatever attack method will most amuse them and embarrass their opponents. Possessed of a staggering array of extraordinary, spell-like, and supernatural abilities, they are easily more than a match for most opponents.
A harlequin demon's natural attacks are considered chaotic-aligned, evil-aligned, and epic, for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Divine Traits: Harlequin demons are essentially lesser deities and a such add a +8 divine bonus to: armor class; attack rolls; checks (ability checks, caster level checks, skill checks, turning checks); difficulty class (for any special abilities, spell-like abilities, spells); initiative; saving throws; and spell resistance. They also possess the following traits:
Lesser Deity Traits: Harlequin demons are lesser deities and as such possess the following traits:
- Divine Aura: Medium range (100 ft. +10 ft. per Hit Dice/Level).
- Divine Senses: The senses of a harlequin demon are ten times superior to that of the base creature.
- Godly Realm: The size of a harlequin demon's godly realm is equal to the radius of it's divine aura multiplied by the number of years it has ruled over the area. Within that area
it can impose a divine penalty to any or all characters (even more powerful deities) equal to it's divine bonus. In this case -8.
- Grant Spells: Harlequin demons can grant spells of any level.
- Immortality: A harlequin demon does not age, requires no air to breath, no food or drink, nor sleep.
- Immunities: A harlequin demon is unaffected by natural effects such as: ability damage, disease, natural elements (cold, drowning, fire, lava, lightning etc.), poison and so forth.
They can still be affected by magical cold, magical disease, magical fire, etc.
- Maven: Harlequin demons have maximum ranks in each skill they know.
- Portfolios: Harlequin demons possess the Evil and Luck portfolios.
Outsider Traits: Harlequin demons have darkvision (60 ft. range). They cannot be raised or resurrected.
Sorcerer Abilities: Harlequin demons possess potent natural magicks, functioning as sorcerers of half their Hit Dice. Their caster level is equal to their Hit Dice +8 (+8 divine bonus; see Divine Traits). As their spell selection varies wildly, it is impossible, and would be misleading, to present a standard spell selection for them.
Spell-like Abilities: At will - aid, blasphemy, break enchantment, commune, create undead, damnation, desecrate, dispel good, dream, epic spell reflection, eternal freedom, etherealness, freedom of movement, geas/quest, greater dispel magic, greater teleport, hellball, magic circle against good, magic jar, miracle, mislead, moment of prescience, protection from energy, protection from good, sending,spell turning, summon monster IX, tongues, unholy aura, unholy blight; 8/day - wish. Caster Level 58th (40 + Divine Bonus). The save DCs are Charisma-based.
