NEW Immortals Handbook - Ascension thread

[Upper_Krust]

Hi dante mate!

LOL!!!

New question...I know STACKING the divine templates over existing dragons would be inappropriate since they already include some of the template mechanics. Unless these abilities are all intended to be purely racial.

But what about OVERLAPPING...kinda adding the divine templates...then tweaking ever o slightly to fill in the holes since a lot of divine abilities were not incorporated into the dragons but were later incorporated into the gods.

The dragons are missing a lot of abilities, but stacking the divine template would make them too powerful. So I was thinking an overlapping might be more amenable.

In particular the Night Dragon has this problem. As a great wyrm is has a severe lack of abilities that a Divine Rank 60 dragon should have. Perhaps an errata file to cover these issues?

I don't mind people giving divinity to non-epic dragons but the epic and cosmic ones as you well know already have the bulk of that in-built.

If the Night Dragon is weak at Great Wyrm (?) then thats a problem with the balance, but I can't imagine its too far out of whack. I'll have a look at it over the weekend.

Oh...I know you told me...but the Abiding ability...I forgot what it's for and exactly what it does.

It means it does permanent damage....which is quite powerful.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hello again!

That's weird I downloaded the new book and only got part 1.

Nothing weird about it. I am in the processes of reformatting the Appendices into the Gods & Monsters book. When that has some semblance of being complete I'll start adding it to the updates.

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

Hi Ltheb matey!
...
Great idea.

Wouldn't it be 1000 QP per year though?
...
Hey thats Thrin's portfolio so I had to let the dials go up to eleven.

Your example says 2000 years, but references the table of divine age. So many 0's, I guess I lost track of what exactly I was looking for.

And yes, If I were writing Ascension, I'd do the same thing for my namesake. You'd see the double magic portfolio gaining all manner of ridiculousness.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey WarDragon mate!

Fecundity... what did that even do, just for the sake of my curiosity?

Fecundity made the plant life grow, neutralised poison in water and just generally made everything peachy and lush within your divine aura.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hiya mate!

Ahhh! Resonance! Finally! At last I have some news on this Deal to give my player who sold his soul to Nexus. It actually will be possible for him to get out of the bargain and be able to come back from the dead again- all he needs to do is figure out how to get 1000 Quintessence (plus Nexus's likely-exorbitant interest rate of course) and pay the god off.

Glad I could (finally) oblige.

Apertures look, to me, a great deal like Epic versions of WotC's existing "Magical Location" concept- most books they've done recently have a few listed near the back. This is, of course, a good thing, since it gives us potential for the Apertures doing something other than/in addition to merely granting divinity to a creature.

Well its not like I hadn't been talking about them for years.

Soul Objects- well, anyone want to take a stab at what Sauron's Portfolios are, now that we can look at the One Ring in a new light?

Lesser God maybe? I dunno. I am sure there are people better versed in LotR lore than I.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Strife dude!

can anyone explain to me how one makes a soul object?
maybe im missing something here...

it seems as if you can simply transfer Quintessence in to an existing artifact of yours...

so if i want to make an item that imparts 10000 QP to the wielder,
it would cost me 100000QP in the construction of said item, but do i need to spend money,
what is the market value of the item?

You need to build the item (same as creating an epic item), then charge it with quintessence on a 10 gets you 1 effeciency rate...and thats basically it.

I'll have a look over the text for the next update, and try and make it more obvious.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

Ltheb and Dante - I'll get to answering your posts later tonight/early tomorrow...I'm off out shortly.

 

[mercucio]

UK,

Is possible to bond with more than one aperture at a time? Say you are a native of Assiah and find/take control of Apertures to Yetzirah, Briah, Atziluth, and the Abyss.


EDIT: Another thought. I'm working on a demi-deity of Destruction & Time (really Etermity), who is an aspect of an entity I call the Phoenix Shadow, and elder one imprisoned on the Negative energy plane (and perhaps not surprisingly enough their is a Phoenix entity of elder one status imprisoned/sleeping in the PEP).

I want this deity, Jibril, to have a lesser version of the cosmic Annihilating [Effect] power. As a cosmic ability Annihilating [Effect] deals 1d6 permanent damage per HD of the deity. Since a Cosmic Ability = 6 divine abilities, would a lesser divine version that deal 1 point of permanent hit point damage per HD of the deity be balanced? Also note that in the game I plan on running a limited wish heal 7 permanent damage per use, and that deity healing using its limited wish or wish SLA to heal itself of permanent damage does not have to expend any XP.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Ltheb mate!

I am not even going to attempt to categorize Sauron or Morgoth, since I haven't read more than the Lord of the Rings Trilogy + The Hobbit. (I know, I should read the others) Someone else more authoritative can do this.

Well if we assume the previous King of Gondor was in and aroun 20th-25th-level (?) you would have a case for

Oh, U_K, I was talking with one of my players about the update, and he wondered if, in the current game, they were to become deities. I thought about it, and since the Quintessence rules are near done, that I might use them. After some quick calculations based on the 2-session intro adventure, all of the players stand to earn 5 to 7 worship points. (Though I have some questions regarding the 'in the name of...' section, see below)

Okay, cool!

Now, the PCs have just reached level 7. (Except the minotaur, who is still paying off his ECL. I think he finishes next level) I do plan to incorporate a few Outsider encounters (will be tough opponents, sure to give a small bit of Quintessence) and I have an adventure I was just planning that, ironically, works perfectly with your aperture rules.

Heh - I must be doing something right.

I don't plan on the players gaining any divinity levels above Prophet, but only time will tell. (perhaps by the end of the game they might have enough QP to become Hero-deities; I foresee them being ~25th level by then.)

Nice starting point. Although the divinity templates are set up for as low a level as possible, I think epic level or thereabouts is a good yardstick for hero-deity+.

Anyways, U_K, I have a couple of questions.

Fire away matey, and apologies for the delay.

1 - With the Worship Point system, at the end "in the name of..." what about characters who don't follow a specific religion/deity? (not irreverent, but either undecided or uncaring) What % of the WP do they gain?

Thats a very good question. Personally I think they would gain 100% but remember some of the factors about being of different religions - they would always count as different.

2 - While the topic of Artifact construction is still in the works, I would guess, would it be a fair guideline (for now) that creating an artifact should require expending ~1/12th-1/24th of one's quintessence? I likely will make them undergo some quest to create even a single artifact. Something specific to the item, similar to a portfolio trial. (for true artifacts; the status of having one is good enough in my book.)

1/10th is the simplest method, but I think 1/12th is the most accurate.

3 - What does a Lich taste like? (assuming the negative planar shock doesnt kill or paralyze you) (Don't answer this question. Its 1 AM here, and I am quite tired and I couldn't think of a third question.)

I dunno, but the idea for a Lich Lick spell just entered my head.

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

U_K! Thanks for the info. The whole 'count as a different religion' thing might not have occurred to me. (I forgot the worship system is less perceptual, and more spiritual; IE You can't 'cheat')

Its also a good thing you noted earlier that Apertures are 1000 Qp/Year, not 1 QP/year. (I almost thought giving 7-8th level characters the chance to access a 20 year old aperture would be appropriate! )

As for the game, It looks to be shaping up pretty good. My players know of Ascension, but I don't think I have explained anything in detail to them. So in the event one decides, 'hey, I have 1000 Qp, I'm gonna go become a god!' then I think it best they know the ramifications of that, and all the benefits, and penalties, it implies.
In other words, once I reveal to them their amassed QP, I will explain to them the process, and what exactly that means. (Huge benifits, but a level adjustment that will virtually ensure that they won't level for months, and their portfolios will restrict their actions somewhat. I plan to enforce the demeanor changes a bit, so picking Peace as a portfolio would be 'unwise' for the party Assassin-type)

As for the lich lick thing, Could be a higher level version of Ghoul Touch (also damages and/or inflicts other nasty conditions that the paralyzed victim can't communicate to the healer). By the way, the next time I get to play a paladin, I intend to 'smite evil lay on hands' the first lich I come across. And by 'lay on hands' I mean run up and lick 'em. Why? Because I don't think an ancient, evil undead genius will be able to respond to such a ridiculous tactic. I think it instead will be the lich who will be paralyzed out of sheer confusion!

 

[Upper_Krust]

UK,

Hiya mate!

Is possible to bond with more than one aperture at a time? Say you are a native of Assiah and find/take control of Apertures to Yetzirah, Briah, Atziluth, and the Abyss.

Thats a very good question. I'd say its possible, just not probable. Also you would only gain the total QP, not Divine Ranks.

EDIT: Another thought. I'm working on a demi-deity of Destruction & Time (really Etermity), who is an aspect of an entity I call the Phoenix Shadow, and elder one imprisoned on the Negative energy plane (and perhaps not surprisingly enough their is a Phoenix entity of elder one status imprisoned/sleeping in the PEP).

PEP?

I want this deity, Jibril, to have a lesser version of the cosmic Annihilating [Effect] power. As a cosmic ability Annihilating [Effect] deals 1d6 permanent damage per HD of the deity. Since a Cosmic Ability = 6 divine abilities, would a lesser divine version that deal 1 point of permanent hit point damage per HD of the deity be balanced?

No, but maybe 1 point/2 hit die would be balanced.

Also note that in the game I plan on running a limited wish heal 7 permanent damage per use, and that deity healing using its limited wish or wish SLA to heal itself of permanent damage does not have to expend any XP.

Definately a 1/2 then.