D&D 4E Poll: 4E god stats

[Aust Diamondew]

I didn't really like how they did gods in 3e, so I think working from the ground up would be a good idea.

I can see the use for giving gods stats, in most mythologies most gods aren't all powerful and all knowing and will occaisonally square off against mortals.
That said most true gods (not half gods, demigods etc) should be able to out match even a level 30 PC, except at stuff they suck at (like the god of war ain't so hot when it comes to origami).

God rules shouldn't be in the core books though.

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

I'm aware of gods being wounded by mortals (Greek myth), but deicde?

Can anyone point to any mythological examples?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Give 'em stats. There are examples of gods in legend and myth being wounded, and if they bleed, they can be killed. I learned that from Conan.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

What are divine powers compared to salient divine abilities? What are proxies exactly? (I've read about them before.) I can't vote without these definitions.

IMO deities should not directly interact with PCs and so they don't need stats At the very least, most deities should not be statted up; a "powered down deity" who "fell to Earth" would need stats, but they're really following the outsider rules rather than deity rules.

 

[Sundragon2012]

I guess it really depends on the setting.

I would as a default go with stats for avatars and manifestations. Avatars can be preposterously powerful, like the gods in the 3e Deities and Demigods, while manifestations could be more like archfiends in power. The true forms of the gods themselves should be beyond stats.

Only PC in munchkinland are going to be able to legitimately fight a god's true form on its own plane in its own domain and make it through the improbably difficult gauntlet of challenges necessary to even reach said deity.

Lets just say that a party of epic level characters wants to attack Tiamat's true form. These characters would have to first fight off literally hordes of abashai, various other devils and chromatic dragons before ever meeting Tiamat face to face. Then she, fresh and ready to fight would tear apart any number of PCs who would most certainly have greatly diminished resources by this time. IMO only a DM who really softballs the PCs will ever see a god actually fall in battle to a group of PCs especially in its own domain.



Sundragon

 

[Patlin]

I can see the use for giving gods stats, in most mythologies most gods aren't all powerful and all knowing and will occaisonally square off against mortals.

I have no problem with this for some campaigns. If you're channeling greek or norse mythology, maybe you need stats for gods. If you're drawing from medieval europe, though, the prevalent mythology doesn't support squaring off against the divine. Combine that with the following saying, and I find I prefer dieties as well as their stats to be entirely theoretical.

"If it has Stats, you can kill it."

 

[Upper_Krust]

Howdy delericho!

While I agree that that would be the best solution, I really doubt the market would support two books on the core deities. Which brings us back to the question of whether to stat up the gods in the one book that is published, at the expense of other material.

I don't know about that (and why would such a book only revolve around the core deities?).

I mean 3rd Edition had both Deities & Demigods and the Epic Level Handbook. What I propose would merge those two tomes.

 

[babomb]

I'm not sure how my views fit your poll.

I would prefer the following for *all* deities in 4e:

NAME
Background/Mythology
Beliefs
Worshippers/Clergy

That's it. No stats at all.

I'll have what he's having.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Stats are for avatars and aspects.

That's in the poll, under "minions".

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Give 'em stats. There are examples of gods in legend and myth being wounded, and if they bleed, they can be killed. I learned that from Conan.

You mean from Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer.