D&D 4E What happens to dead gods in 4e?

[RangerWickett]

What's the canon result of a god dying in 4e? I know a lot of stuff is sort of ignored from previous editions, but in Forgotten Realms a lot of gods were killed off. In the 4e cosmology, do they have souls drifting off somewhere? Does the Raven Queen keep them in tombs? Do they just die completely? Do their bodies linger? Is their energy absorbed, Highlander-style, by whoever kills them?

 

[Riastlin]

As best as I can recall, what happens is "whatever the DM decides happens". In other words, I don't think it really says.

We know that the Raven Queen supposedly defeated Nerull and took over his role of god of the afterlife, but I don't think there is much else said. I know that there is at least one corpse floating around the astral sea with "odd" stuff often happening around it but that's about it.

The issue of domains is particularly tricky since domains didn't exist until Divine Power (or PHB II can't recall off the top of my head). For my money, I personally think that the death of a god is big enough that the effects probably should be determined by the DM.

Thinking a little harder about it, we know that in Forgotten Realms, all heck broke loose when Mystra was offed, per the novels anyway, but that could have as much to do with the Weave as anything.

 

[On Puget Sound]

Well, the githyanki built a city on one's body. There is another race that is collecting fragments of their dead god to put it back together. So it appears there is a physical remnant.

 

[D'karr]

What's the canon result of a god dying in 4e? I know a lot of stuff is sort of ignored from previous editions, but in Forgotten Realms a lot of gods were killed off. In the 4e cosmology, do they have souls drifting off somewhere? Does the Raven Queen keep them in tombs? Do they just die completely? Do their bodies linger? Is their energy absorbed, Highlander-style, by whoever kills them?

In most aspects it's been left entirely up to the DM to decide what to do with them. In LFR, for example, the story has been that remnants of the dead god Moander have corrupted certain areas around Myth Drannor. Several adventures deal with this corruption. Divine Power and Primal Power have side notes that give "stories" of the death of gods and the consequences, for example the winter domain being the Raven Queens due to the defeat of Khala.

I think it's better to leave that in the realm of DM adjudication. That way all of the situations you mention can be used for different circumstances and the DM can create more as he sees fit.

 

[MerricB]

It's tremendously difficult to kill a god.

However, in E3: Prince of Undeath, Orcus may well kill the Raven Queen. Upon doing so, he gains control of the power and kingdom of Death - with amusing results for the world.

To kill the Raven Queen, Orcus required a shard from the Heart of the Abyss.

Cheers!

 

[Riastlin]

However, in E3: Prince of Undeath, Orcus may well kill the Raven Queen. Upon doing so, he gains control of the power and kingdom of Death - with amusing results for the world.

Cheers!

Amusing to whom? The DM or the PC's?

 

[Squire James]

I don't remember anything in particular in 4e literature (unless the Astral Sea book says something about it). I kind of favor the god's realm being destroyed (unless some other god is around and is willing to take the slack) and the god's corpse floats in the Astral Sea - the more powerful the former god, the bigger the corpse. So someone like Thor, who is mostly depicted as simply a rather muscular human, might have a corpse big enough to found a settlement in. Perhaps gathering these corpses is why the Githyanki (or some similar sinister astral race) still hang around the Astral Sea...

 

[keterys]

At the end of WotC's Scales of War AP, the PCs kill Tiamat and I want to say remove Greed from the world, or similar.

But yeah, in general it's whatever the DM wants. Go nuts

 

[Ryujin]

It's tremendously difficult to kill a god.

However, in E3: Prince of Undeath, Orcus may well kill the Raven Queen. Upon doing so, he gains control of the power and kingdom of Death - with amusing results for the world.

To kill the Raven Queen, Orcus required a shard from the Heart of the Abyss.

Cheers!

And The Raven Queen killed her predecessor, Nerull the Reaper, to obtain power over death. She and Corellon defeated Lolth, from whom she captured the domain of Fate. She fought alongside the other gods against Khala, the god of winter, and stole the domain of Winter from her.

When gods die, they're gone. Their power passes on to another; the victor of the battle. In that way the domain continues, with the new master of that domain possibly absorbing power from that domain's worshippers as well.

 

[pippenainteasy]

Thinking a little harder about it, we know that in Forgotten Realms, all heck broke loose when Mystra was offed, per the novels anyway, but that could have as much to do with the Weave as anything.

I think Mystra is an exception; all hell always breaks loose when the goddess of magic dies. When most other gods die the biggest effect is typically clerical spells sputtering.