What CR should a god be?

[dead]

Your Epic level characters will be so powerful one day that they're gonna want to bash a god and steal its loot. So what CR should a god be?

I think they're around CR 40 in Deities & Demigods. That is: 20 HD of Outsider and 20 character levels. (I notice that some mortals that have attained godhood don't get the 20HD of Outsider. That would suck.)

But once your PCs have clobbered all the gods, then they'll wanna keep going. What's the CR of the Overgod?

Has anyone battled a god like you'd battle a monster in 3E yet?

 

[Angcuru]

I think any god should have CR *insert infinity symbol* when dealing with mortals. It's a GOD. As in "I don't like you, so you explode like a blood sausage. I control reality and you are real, so boom, you die." The Overgod doesn't have a CR, never should have one. A mortal going against, Ao for example, would be like a dust mite going up against a gigantic super-enormous deadly thing of death + a billion. But that's just me. And honestly, they shouldn't get an opportunity to fight gods to begin with, since once a god with it's omniscience etc. etc. discovers that this dude might be a potential threat, that dude is going to experience a good hard smiting.

 

[resistor]

I think they're around CR 40 in Deities & Demigods. That is: 20 HD of Outsider and 20 character levels. (I notice that some mortals that have attained godhood don't get the 20HD of Outsider. That would suck.)

Oh lord no. The ELH itself contains divine spells for characters of much higher level than 40. And anyways, the nigh-omnipotence of divine rank has got to add SOMETHING to the CR beyond the HD.

 

[Eltern]

I'm thinking this is not a troll, for some reason, so I'll answer.

Generally speaking, I am in Angcuru's camp, that gods are gods, and they are beyond mortal ken. As such, when I saw 3e D&Demigods with -those- kinds of stats I nearly puked :\ However, I do think that there are varying levels of godhood, and the stat/rules of that might need to be addressed. Most specifically I am talking about things like _DEMI_gods and how mortals achieve godhood (Vecna). I expect that the majority of the time rules for accension and the like are DM-designed things, but then again, it might be neat to have a spot of rules describing Highlander like power-stealing when you manage to kill a demigod.

 

[tenkar]

Killing gods was a first edition kinda thing, where they and the named demons and devils were just there as high level cannon fodder. I remember stumbling across Asmodeous in a 10' x 10' sometime before the first Unearthed Arcana was released. Was I ever that young?

Your players MIGHT have a chance to kill a god's avatar, but even that should be real close no matter what their levels. Break out a tasaraq (sp?) and use templates to find challenges for your players. The god's should be always out of reach (in my humble opinion)

 

[heimdall]

My gods are kept untouchable. If they were able to be touched by really powerful mortals, self-preservation would kick in and said mortals would be snuffed out before becoming a challenge. The Lich-Queen of the Githyanki is a good example of this line of thinking, devouring any poor sap that rises above 16th level.

 

[Umbran]

I'm another in the "gods are not an appropriate challenge for PCs" camp. The powers of epic level characters may seem godlike compared to most mortals, but that's but a seeming. I figure a god is the kind of entity that can make a world. PCs simply cannot touch that kind of power.

If I choose to run a game in which the PCs take on gods, the CR is irrelevant, really. That kind of conflict should be a show-stopper. Once you've pulled that trick, you really cannot top it, so it probably ought to be a campaign ender. So, teh number of XP you get afterwards is probably moot.

 

[dead]

But in mythology, haven't some mortals risen to the power levels of gods and kicked some godly butt?

Didn't Hercules do something like this? I'm not sure.

So maybe power levels for gods isn't such a silly idea?

 

[heimdall]

But in mythology, haven't some mortals risen to the power levels of gods and kicked some godly butt?

Didn't Hercules do something like this? I'm not sure.

So maybe power levels for gods isn't such a silly idea?

Heracles wasn't completely mortal. Remember, he had the strength of the gods because of who daddy was.

 

[dead]

I'm thinking this is not a troll, for some reason, so I'll answer.

Nope, no trolling here. I truly find the Deities & Demigods facinating. I'm amazed WotC released it at all. I'm just wondering what ramifications this *official* ruling on D&D gods would have on campaigns.

Also, I *think* in the history of mythology, gods have died by mortal hands. So perhaps CR for gods isn't as silly as it sounds.

Also, PCs are gonna want to become divine one day, so do they have to fight a god to do it?

Or were you asking about Troll gods?