Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rex42x57 01-29-08, 02:36 PM	Looking for suggestions for PC ascension aside assuming a retired deities job, or killing a god. Any thoughts on perhaps being mentored by a god and then being invited into a pantheon? I'm open for ideas. I'm leaning towards a War/Vengeance/Retribution type deity.
Lord Karsus 01-29-08, 04:28 PM	-Hmm...Well, there's always the ol' "claiming a portfolio no one else has", and the classic "gathering enough actual worshippers to make you a deity".
Janusunaj 01-30-08, 02:57 AM	Perhaps an artifact.
Tovec 01-30-08, 09:55 PM	Looking for suggestions for PC ascension aside assuming a retired deities job, or killing a god. Any thoughts on perhaps being mentored by a god and then being invited into a pantheon? I'm open for ideas. I'm leaning towards a War/Vengeance/Retribution type deity. There are only a few ways I've ever heard/seen/read of a mortal (PC) assuming divinity. First, you already said, is by killing a god and assuming its power somehow. Second, kind of said, is just assuming the power outright, already super-powerful. Third, gift from higher authority. Such as a more powerful deity (or deity substitute) in order to make a new pantheon (mini or full). Fourth, cosmic reorder, when the universe kills the gods and you gain their powers which grow. Fifth, finding secret hidden knowledge and gaining divinity through that. Sixth, one mortal at a time. Having mortals you know worship you, then others and then just grow. I've seen most of these, I find that the outright gift versions are the worst. If a mortal is going to ascend they should be the catalyst for it, they want it more that way.
M-bark 01-31-08, 10:25 AM	Sixth, one mortal at a time. Having mortals you know worship you, then others and then just grow. So kind of like the way Aoskar did according to Planescape Survival Guide. (Dunno if it really was the way he did it in official material.)
Frieza-Prexus 01-31-08, 11:58 PM	I'm currently running an ascension campaign that's around 17th level with one PC already having assumed divinity. The most important thing we found was starting with a good setting and a good premise as to why ascension is even on the table as a goal. To this end, I decided to run my campaign in a homebrew world that was for want of a better term the backwoods of the cosmos. Being a young world all of the gods were relatively weak. I set the 9 gods with an average DvR of 5-6 and a single at 9. Long story short, those wily rascals the Yugoloths saw an easy mark in these weak redneck town gods. They set out across the multiverse invaded and killed them stealing their essence in order to create a Scepter of the Sorcerer Kings (Old FR artifact than can blast the heck out of deities) for use as an insurance policy should any other deities of other worlds cause them some trouble. With his dying breath the last god alive sealed the world shut Dark Sun style and so the surviving invaders were trapped in the world with no living gods. Enter the PC's who are born into a devastated world that has had absent gods the last few hundred years. They begin gaining power and once they learned what happened they did what any self respecting adventurers would do: They made a power grab for themselves. So now the PC's are battling the invaders trying to break the scepter (because if they were gods it'd blow the hell out of them so this gives them a reason to not ascend asap and instead fight back first) Story reasons aside you need some concrete requirements and make them clear to the players *out of character,* but you also need to have some abstract and roleplay requirements such as gathering followers etc etc. Depending on how they act certain cosmic events or portfolios will naturally aid or be attracted to them In my campaign our three concrete requirements for ascension are: 1. Two ability scores 2 points above the racial maximum. For humans this means two scores at 20. For elves an 18 Con 22 Dex or 20 in any other. Magic items do NOT count, but wishes do. 2. You must be a leader of your peers and kin. (Leadership feat) *warning* I found out that this one is dangerous when you have 8 PC's plus 8 cohorts running around it REALLY slows things down. Consider alternate feats or making leadership be followers only, but give them more followers to compensate or whatever works for you. Also, depending on the nature/portfolios sought different feats might work. If you're a gunning to be the merchant deity mercantile background from PGtF is a viable substitute. 3. You must undertake 2 quests (1 per level at most) to achieve the divine spark. Note- This is old style questing where you get a reward at the end in addition to having finished the quest, but NO XP while on a quest. This makes the players balance multiple quests over their careers. Once all 3 requirements are met the character gains a divine spark and is considered a quasi deity (D&DG) Be sure to alter the template to not just give a ton of abilities immediately, but space them out over steps and ranks. We divided level of divinity into steps with ranks coming every few steps. Each quest (1 per level) AFTER divine spark equals one more step. Every step a new immunity, HP, speed bonus or whatever you want is gained just be sure not to go too wild with things. We made ours into 10 steps capping at rank 6 ( I think it's 6 I'd have to read our story binder and it's at the game room atm) Once a player has achieved step 3 they gain their first divine rank and have the *option* to shed their form and ascend at will becoming an NPC. Alternatively, if they want more ranks/steps they can keep questing as a super buffed up mortal. Once a player gets to rank 1 they can select a domain and when they ascend that is their domain an no one elses. We had a big race to grab the Magic domain which the cleric of the magic god ultimately grabbed for himself. Others saw a niche and filled it like the assassin/master thrower took trickery, luck, and death (one of the best played evil bastards I've ever seen, he even had the uber good sun god cleric fooled) Ultimately, it has been very rewarding. We intended this campaign to be a good bit on the high-powered campaign side and have run Tomb of Horrors and we intend to do Labyrinth of Madness. It's been a lot of fun, and the conflict between PC's as they compete for domains has been interesting. And the shenanigans the only evil character pulled in order to get the Death, luck, and trickery domains are the stuff of legend. While everyone else fights for the Good and neutral stuff he was raking in the "cosmic deeds" to buy the most hilariously evil things I've ever seen.