D&D General The purpose of deity stats in D&D.

[cranberry]

Greek mythology, at least, begs to differ on that. Lots of drama there.

Yes, that's where it comes from. I just don't care for it.

It's one thing for the gods to interfere/intervene with mortal affairs, and another to see them hanging around Olympus acting like the characters in a reality show.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes, that's where it comes from. I just don't care for it.

It's one thing for the gods to interfere/intervene with mortal affairs, and another to see them hanging around Olympus acting like the characters in a reality show.

YMMV, I guess. Greek-style drama is what I want out of a pantheon more often than not.

 

[Upper_Krust]

That's the thing. IMO, it shouldn't be interactable.

I understand that's your opinion, but it doesn't help facilitate cool battles and interesting stories does it. Much more interesting IMO to stick with the side that does have the cool interactions and exciting epic moments.

What's the point of being a deity if you're just a little stronger than the most powerful mortals.

Well it depends on the power of the deity doesn't it. A hero-deity might be slightly more powerful, a quasi-deity more powerful still, a demigod more powerful again and so forth.

I mean using your logic what is the point of a Player Character being Level 2...its only slightly more powerful than Level 1.

I know it's popular, but I never cared for the notion that the gods are driven by human-like needs/motivations, their immortality being the only distinguishing factor. The gods are not immortal soap opera stars, IMO.

The Gods of Greek Mythology certainly are.

OT: And speaking of superheroes - as you might imagine, I'm not a fan of Thor and the other Asgardians being downgraded from gods to aliens with technology.

MCU nonsense, hopefully ignored by the vast bulk of the actual comic run.

 

[Upper_Krust]

You mean this Thor?

View attachment 387622

Yes, the same one who also survived at the heart of the Sun.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Simplicity as a primary goal is my problem with modern official D&D, so it's unlikely I will share that view. I'd rather have as many rules as are needed to model a concept to a good degree of accuracy (subjective I know), and just add them to the table game as and if desired.

I agree, but when rules are applied they should be simple and concise. As I mentioned, high/epic level D&D is already complex enough that its always a factor in any "Top 5 Problems with Epic Tier D&D". So no point compounding things.

And no, I expect sponsorship by a deity is a more common method of divine ascension than epic ritual, but the latter has the benefit of not leaving you beholden to anyone.

I think we can go even simpler than that I mean did every Gygaxian Hero/Quasi-deity necessarily have a Sponsor? I think a Sponsor might quicken the process but I don't see it as a necessity. I mean it wasn't necessary when adopting the 4E Demigod Epic Destiny.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The gods are not immortal soap opera stars, IMO.

~looks askew at the Greek pantheon~

 

[cranberry]

~looks askew at the Greek pantheon~

Well of course. People have been attributing human characteristics to gods since forever. "god made man in his image"...

It's the height of human hubris to think they are at or nearly on par with beings who created the planes of existence. - even in a small way, such as appearance.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Well of course. People have been attributing human characteristics to gods since forever. "god made man in his image"...

It's the height of human hubris to think they are at or nearly on par with beings who created the planes of existence. - even in a small way, such as appearance.

Yeah, especially when we're clearly better.

I don't know about you, but one of us needs the other to believe in them and it ain't us.

 

[Lanefan]

Well firstly, you would be ignoring the 60+ years of Marvel continuity which has included and involved hundreds if not thousands of deities within its stories; not least the Mighty Thor himself and if we use that character as a parallel to D&D, where he is seen as an Intermediate Deity we can gauge the power of many of the gods and higher powers within Marvel.

I only know the movies, so for me it's just 15+ years.

I'll admit, though, I did forget about Captain Marvel. Her powers are getting more toward the deity level.

Secondly, as I originally noted, interaction is more fun and exciting; especially when its hand on. Avengers Endgame (and other stores) are proof of that.

When a deity is on a "whole different level that cannot be challenged" the story just ends right there and then.

Not at all. The story simply changes to something other than challenging deities directly.

And sure, Avengers Endgame had everything nicely balanced to make for a good fight in the moment. However, fight opponents is not the role I see deities filling. Minions, maybe, but even they are immortal.

Also, the way I see deities, their plots and plans usually span many millenia where played campaigns maybe span a few years. Hence, the deities mostly leave the day-to-day stuff to mortals to deal with, and that's where the PCs might come in handy.

But when divine power transcends but is not wholly divorced from what precedes it, then it becomes a more visceral component of the story/adventure/game.

Only if you see the deities as potential direct opponents in battle.

Me, I want there to always be a (much) bigger fish than the PCs or any other mortals can ever become within a typical campaign. That's the deities' role.

 

[Lanefan]

YMMV, I guess. Greek-style drama is what I want out of a pantheon more often than not.

Me too, but I also want those deities to be stupendously powerful if-when they need to be, and outright unkillable by mortals.