Killing Deities

[Thanael]

Yes. Specifically, Mask's aspect of Intrigue, which at the time was part of his portfolio. None of which changes the main point of my statement, which is that it equaled hand-waving by the DM. There is no way in the rules to guarantee you get something like that; the DM would have to set it up as part of the story.

I generally find that actually killing deities for good is a matter of the DM allowing it and/or not playing the deity to potential, even in the case of 30th level characters.

I whole heartedly agree.

And i want to add that the crunch/stats of most deities are all more or less wanting. Kurtulmak could wipe the floor with Asmodeus, yet the flavour clearly suggests this cannot happen. Dicefreaks went a long way toward better deity and archfiend stats, stats that reflect the flavor and interelations between those cosmic beings. But in the end for PCs to fight a deity directly is more or less a matter of DM hand waving and/or error, it should be impossible unless the PCs themselves are entering (quasi-)deityhood already.

 

[Jhaelen]

Hi:

An old question, but I was curious if anyone has been able to kill an actual deity in 3.0/3.5e. If so, how?

Greywanderer

Nope. Killing gods has never been an option in any of the games I played in (and I like it that way).

 

[Achan hiArusa]

I use Epic Gods. I take the stats and rules from the Wrath of the Immortals, the Primal Order, 1st Edition Dieties & Demigods, 2nd Edition Legends & Lore, and 3rd Edition Dieties and Demigods (and possibly 4e when it comes out) and roll them together. If the players can ever get to the point where they could kill them, they can try. Set was a major foe in one of my games and combining everything together he was 50th level + 15 divine ranks. I still have him somewhere in my closet in an old notebook.

 

[green slime]

Anything that happens in the game, happens because the DM allows it to. Thus stating that Gods are only killed because the DM allows it to is just restating the obvious.

The real question; is it fun? Does it make for a good game? Did the players enjoy themselves? Did it make sense in the context of the story, with the characters, and their development?

To hell with the rules details. The rules are only a framework with which to have fun.

Gods have other things going against them:
1) Other gods (and there are a lot of them hoping/wanting some other divinity to fail)
2) Hubris: "I'm IMMORTAL! (and I can make a wish as a free action every round)"
3) The gods presented in the DDG or whatever other supplement are not the JHWH or the Biblical "God": Omnipresent & Omniscient.
4) The gods should be more akin to the Greek mythos: petty, bickering, envious, vicious, devious, unpleasant, and entirely fallible.

If they don't know everything, and aren't everywhere, then what they don't know can and will indeed hurt them. Because they all do have enemies working against them 24/7/365 across the entire Omniverse.

 

[Tetsubo]

You can't kill Gods in my campaigns.

The fact that D&D deities even have actual stats is absurd. They are GODS.

Want to get rid of a god? Undermine his/her church.

But the God themselves can't be killed by a mortal.

And gods don't just let anyone join their ranks.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

I honestly don't think its absurd. Maybe its too many comic books where gods are just other superheroes or my belief that there is only one omnipotent being and everything else is finite. The ancient gods died in legends, they've died in the D&D canon, and they sometimes die in my games. I generally run my vampire elders in WoD as more god-like than I run dieties in D&D.

 

[Runestar]

It really depends on what you want gods to be in your campaign. Are they really just extremely powerful (but ultimately mortal) entities? If so, then it would be possible to slay them (how likely however, is another question).

It is like statting up Thor at cr66 (hypothetically). He would be a TPK for most parties, but if your PCs could somehow get to lv66, then yes, they can (and should) mop the floor with him.

 

[Kask]

4) The gods should be more akin to the Greek mythos: petty, bickering, envious, vicious, devious, unpleasant, and entirely fallible.

That would make them unkillable, even by other gods. That's why the Titans were imprisoned, Zeus & crew couldn't kill them.

 

[moritheil]

Anything that happens in the game, happens because the DM allows it to. Thus stating that Gods are only killed because the DM allows it to is just restating the obvious.

Yes, but as this is a rules forum, people generally ask for ways to do things within the rules, and supporting text to back it up. My point above is that there's no way to guarantee that you get to do this within the rules.