The Immortals Handbook

[Upper_Krust]

Hi all!

Okay, with a bit of luck this should hopefully be the last pre-release Immortals Handbook thread.

For those of you who don't know what the Immortals Handbook is (though the title is a bit of a clue) here is some pre-release information:

APOTHEOSIS (Immortals Handbook Section One)

"Gain Glory and Godly Power!

Uncover your immortal destiny and gain strength from the worship of souls and the harvest of spirits.

This supplement contains:

• The Worship Point System; which determines the relationship between religion and divinity.
  Full rules for divine ascension.
  Full rules for divine intervention and Avatars.
  14 Divinity Templates (with examples), from Disciples to Time Lords.
  46 Portfolio Templates, from Air to Wisdom; and includes rules for creating your own portfolios.
  48 Epic Feats.
  128 Divine Abilities.
  64 Cosmic Abilities.
  32 Transcendent Abilities.
  16 Omnific Abilities.
  8 Metempiric Abilities.
  Immortal Character Sheets.
  Iconic Immortals.

GRIMOIRE (Immortals Handbook Section Two)

"Awesome Artifacts and Ancient Wisdom!

Unlock the secrets of the gods and discover power without limitation.

This supplement contains:

• Alternative Epic Magic rules.
  6 types of magic.
  64 True Dweomers.
  8 Domains.
  16 Domain Spells.
  Full rules for artifact creation.
  64 Weapon Special Abilities.
  32 Armor and Shield Special Abilities.
  64 Magic Items.

BESTIARY (Immortals Handbook Section Three)

"Behold Beasts from Beyond Imagination!

Unleash the most powerful collection of monstrous forces ever assembled and teach humility to even the mightiest immortals...

This supplement contains:

• 64 truly epic monsters ranging from CR 20 to 20,000; including the majestic Seraphim, dreaded Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the awesome World Flayers.
  8 monster templates (with examples); such as the Amidah; Devastator and Legendary Animal.
  Guidelines on how to design your own monstrous creations.

CHRONICLE (Immortals Handbook Section Four)

"Create Campaigns of Cosmic Magnitude!

Unravel the very fabric of the multiverse and explore how and where gods live...and die.

This supplement contains:

• Guidelines on how to create pantheons, populate the planes and generally develop your own cosmos.
  Guidelines on how to create divine realms (with examples).
  Organisations both Mortal and Immortal; such as the Technomages and the Legion of the Damned.
  8 Prestige Classes; including the Baba and the Dweller on the Threshold.
  Expanded Core Classes.
  Iconic Enemies.
  Campaign advice and adventure ideas.
  Adventure: "Jacobs Ladder."

Disclaimer: note that some of the above elements may be subject to minor changes in the final release.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Immortals Handbook

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Immortals Handbook?
A: The Immortals Handbook is a body of work that expands; explains and outlines all aspects of using deities within a campaign.

2. Is this a d20 product?
[A: Yes. As well as presenting a plethora of new material it seeks to marry ideas from Deities & Demigods and the Epic Level Handbook.

3. Is this a standalone game?
A: No. It requires the Core Rulebooks and the Epic Level Handbook. Deities & Demigods is compatible but not necessary.

4. Who is publishing it?
A: The publisher will be announced before the release.

5. Will this be an electronic product, a print product or both?
A: Initially the book will be released as four electronic products (Apotheosis; Grimoire; Bestiary and Chronicle); which will then be conjoined as a print product.

6. Where should we expect to see it?
A: The pdf will be available from websites such as www.rpgnow.com

7. When should it be finished?
A: The first pdf should be available shortly.

8. Why has it taken so long?
A: Aside from multiple expansions and numerous revisions throughout its inception it was decided last year that the work, which was already compatible with the core rulebooks would benefit a greater audience if it was fully compatible with Deities & Demigods and the Epic Level Handbook. As such we have been forced to wait until this material entered the SRD, though during this time the work has been further developed and refined.

9. I’ve played in immortal campaigns before (Amber RPG; D&D Immortals; Primal Order) - how is this different, or better?
A: The key difference between this work and previous material on the subject is that the focus is not solely on the gods themselves, but rather, the relationship between mortals and immortals.

10. I don’t really want to run an immortal campaign - why should the Immortals Handbook interest me?
A: Firstly, the bulk of the material could just as easily bless any Epic campaign. Non-epic campaigns will also find a wealth of ideas helping them develop their worlds religions from both divine and mundane perspectives.

11. I’ve heard you are making some changes to the core rules just what are they and why are you making them?
A: The only major change to the core rules are revisions to the Challenge Rating/Encounter Level Rules.
Some of the dynamics of divinity itself have been changed, and a number of divine abilities have been redressed from how Deities & Demigods presents them.

12. Are the changes optional or required?
A: The changes are optional, but strongly advocated.

13. What support can we expect in the future?
A: There is already a wealth of support material planned; including the Immortals Index which details Pantheons.

14. What are your main inspirations/sources?
A: Primarily religion; mythology and the occult. Though certainly comic books; fantasy literature; movies and roleplaying games have also proved inspirational.

15. Shouldn’t gods be beyond stats?
A: If the Gamesmaster so wishes. However many Gamesmasters prefer to use deities in a more physical (rather than ephemeral) capacity.

16. Is the system modular, if so, to what degree?
A: Practically the entire body of work is modular.

17. Will it be easy to incorporate into an existing campaign?
A: Yes, with minimal effort.

18. Do you have methods to convert existing gods from my campaign to fit your new and expanded rules?
A: Yes, however to avoid copyright issues I must be circumspect in how I outline such conversion.

19. I have heard about some weird stuff like Cosmic Abilities and Esoteric Divine Abilities, what are those and are they easy to add to existing gods?
A: Cosmic Abilities are the powers attributed to Sidereals (also know as Cosmic or Over-deities) who could be described as the gods of the gods.
The term Esoteric is applied as a prefix to abilities beyond the power of deities to manifest in and of their own power. Immortals who gain Cosmic Abilities do so through esoteric means.

If anyone else has any questions I'll edit them into this list.

 

[Revenge of the Bjorn]

Whoa, somebody sure savors savvy...err...well...alliteration. Well I tried hard and that's what counts.

And post 666 came and went on the old thread with no warning or fanfare? I'm ashamed at all of you.

 

[CRGreathouse]

64 truly epic monsters ranging from CR 20 to 20,000; including the majestic Seraphim, dreaded Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the awesome World Flayers.

What's the CR distribution like here?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Woo Hoo! ENWorld is letting me post again (otherwise I would have had the FAQ up five hours ago). Give me a moment for that. While I am here...

Hey Bjorn mate!

Whoa, somebody sure savors savvy...err...well...alliteration. Well I tried hard and that's what counts.

And post 666 came and went on the old thread with no warning or fanfare? I'm ashamed at all of you.

True, we should be ashamed of ourselves...I could have posted Lucifers stats, but I guess those will have to wait for the Immortals Handbook.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Its still taking me minutes to post and reload the page.

Hey CRGreathouse mate!

What's the CR distribution like here?

Well *goes and has a look* out of the 64 only 9 are above Greater Gods (approx. CR 200) in power. There is a fairly even spread between Hero-deity type power and Greater Deity type power but its hard to give exact numbers since the Dragons cover a decent spread.

 

[Anabstercorian]

Release date! RELEASE DATE!!!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Anabstercorian mate!

Release date! RELEASE DATE!!!

The first rule of the Immortals Handbook thread is never talk about the release date.
The second rule of the Immortals Handbook thread is NEVER TALK ABOUT THE RELEASE DATE!




...soon. But I imagine not soon enough.

 

[Golem2176]

Thanks UK! I am really looking forward to seeing the final product!

 

[Impeesa]

Every time I read the ToC I want it more and more. You have a nice 'powers of 2' thing going there, I see.

--Impeesa--