Gods, Demigods and Liches in Dungeons & Dragons

[@HeckaLives]

Acererak: *Has opportunity to ascend to godhood* Acererak: "How about I just build some dungeons with god fetuses instead."

[@thorney0921]

Astinus of palanthas is gilean

[@davidwoek3041]

Haha, big Ace is a wierd one.

[@whitefox3189]

At this point you'll have an easyer time becoming a God than a Demi-God. #1 Karsus Avatar. Most famous method. Would have worked on any other Deity. So if you manage to become good enough at Magic on a plane where Mystra has no influence, you could replace a god. That or time travel to Karsus, pop an Anti-Magicshield, steal spell and use it on Not Mystra. #2 Sponsored by another God #3 Kill a God in their domain. #4 Conquer a layer of the Abyss and become it's ruler #5 Through the use of certain Artefacts. I think that how Graz'zt, the Prince of Pleasure gained godhood.

[@jcrase]

My favorite way to become a god - get Kuo toa to worship you XD

[@aaronwilliams8887]

And you turn into a giant mutated God with three heads and the body of a rock. If you are lucky. ;) Definitely a fun adventure though.

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

Or get bards to sing praises about you.

[@theblankfacegamer333]

I am trying to figure out a campaign of Kuo toa trying to get people to worship their god almost as if they were Jehovah's witnesses. Not sure if they should be the villain or the players.

[@jcrase]

@@theblankfacegamer333 From my impression, most of the time when they create a god it is in the face of an extreme threat or danger. So that might be an interesting lead into the actual villain.

[@texteel]

oh god yes :D

[@C_Bat]

I mean...... Matthew Mercer has managed to become a God/Lich Hybrid by DMing Critical Role.

[@nerdyguygamer]

You know Matt Mercer's Vecna is a lich/God hybrid

[@MythosTheSophist]

I'm pretty sure he is just Destiny of the Endless

[@XavierMcQueen]

We’ve been playing in my current campaign for about 6 years and in the past year we’ve all ascended to Godhood. I thought that would be the end of it but my boss ass DM kept it going with a cosmic war of the Gods where existence itself is on the line. Our party of 4 has split into two and we’re on opposite sides. After 6 years in real life, the end of the campaign is near. It’s going to end with a fight between the 4 PCs, who spent over 100 years fighting together as mortals. I’m so excited for it, also a little sad it’s finally coming to an end.

[@JannaMontana_]

Tell me how it works out

[@noahbrandt1]

Pls inform how it ends

[@MythosTheSophist]

We *HAVE* to know

[@XavierMcQueen]

I’ll be sure to let you guys know when it’s over

[@km1dash6]

When the story ends, you can always use that as a backdrop for a new story. Sounds exciting.

[@Nyrufa]

Actually, D&D released a book in the past that specifically laid out how to become a Demigod, but the process was so difficult, it was essentially impossible to do without the DM just handing you the achievement. The steps involved 1 - Being twice the max level recommended for the campaign. 2 - Convincing an already existing deity to sponsor you. 3 - Getting no less than 5 people to devoutly worship you as a divine being. And 4 - performing a feat worthy of godhood. If you successfully managed to achieve all of this, there would be a small chance that your patron would summon you to the higher / lower planes and make you an immortal servant of theirs. Then after an undefined period of servitude, you get promoted to Demigod!

[@doc4319]

The level part is excessive but other than that seems reasonable

[@arashparthian_112]

@@doc4319 the 5 devout worshipers is easy if you kidnap orphans or somthing

[@doc4319]

@@arashparthian_112 that's fine being level 40 is crazy

[@mynameisd2849]

Whats the name of the book?

[@Nyrufa]

@@mynameisd2849 Deities and Demigods. Has a cover with some guy choking a dragon.

[@jesternario]

In my last 2nd edition campaign, one of my players convinced a small group of goblins that he was their god (thanks to a nat 1 on his part and a nat 20 on my part, remember 2nd edition ability mechanics) and then watched them and protected them. The thing about goblins, they spring up like mad. Take a group of 12 and in a year they're around 200. So the universe started looking at this guy being literally worshipped by an ever growing tribe of goblins and started giving him power.

[@jerkchickenblog]

jesternario interesting but I hope this was based on far more tests and details than just one crit/fail roll.

[@jesternario]

​@@jerkchickenblog Well, he was trying to convince them to just give him all their stuff. When one of them said "who died and made you god," He replied with "I AM your god." He rolled a nat 1 (crit success) and I rolled nat 20 for the goblins (crit fail), so they thoroughly believed him. They went on with the dungeon, and I ruled that the still enamored goblins went off to spread the word of their new god while the PCs were gone. This led to a second and third adventure where the goblins asked him to come and prove his divinity to some non-believers that were trying to squash this upstart cult, which he nailed thanks to his quick thinking and more than a little help from the party illusionist. These two events, followed by a couple more minor incidents, were enough to catapult his number of worshipers, and in my setting, once you some 20,000 or so legitimate worshipers convinced in your divinity, the cosmos starts taking that and feeding you divine energy. Which is why deities need worshipers to begin.

[@m.k.2455]

Step 1: Reach Level Twenty Step 2: Gain Boon of Immortality by Stealing the Essence of A God. Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit Step 5: Regret

[@thegradyfiles]

Step 6: religion(optional)

[@draxthemsklonst]

"Using Athena's shield, Hermes' winged sandals and Hades' helmet of invisibility, Perseus was able to evade Medusa's gaze and decapitate her." Wikipedia's Perseus article describing epic level playstyle.

[@InquisitorThomas]

Epic level to beat a cr 6 monster?

[@draxthemsklonst]

@@InquisitorThomas That's the baseline stats for a general starting point. Minimum CR6, with no adjustments; a noob, beginner, etc. You believe THE Medusa (from where the name of the race comes from) is just another generic medusa/gorgon?

[@zeusdemi6858]

Huh, I didn't know he used Hades' Helm. ... Why did Hades give Zeus' kid his Helm?

[@Gangrel442003]

@@zeusdemi6858 Because Zeus told them to loan their items to Perseus. Also, in addition, Hermes gave Perseus a sword that could cut through Medusa's skin to behead her. And Athena gave him a sack to not only hold her head in, but also possessed the ability to nullify the poisonous properties of her blood.

[@MrVigilantmonkey]

Time to take notes, and finally reach immortality.

[@defensivekobra3873]

The mood

[@defensivekobra3873]

@Charles Hull liches and demigods are not the same, but close enough i guess

[@defensivekobra3873]

Also the clone spell costs Only 400 gp to learn for a wizard and gives you infinity retries at life, or if you are broke and cannot afford 3000 gp for every backup copy, the 450 gp worth wish spell can replicate clone for free

[@jcrase]

@@defensivekobra3873 yeah, but sometimes things go wrong and you have another Manshoo war on your hands XD

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@jcrase No idea what that means but shure

[@tyleremery7088]

I once saw a player try to convince a smurf-like civilization that he was a god... using minor illusion.

[@scottmclarty2400]

Keep seeing all of these D&D guys talking about Dragonlance in their interviews. Wish they would go ahead and put out some official Dragonlance 5e material.

[@joluoto]

Dragonlance is the setting I think it's least likely toget official 5E support, just because they know they can't make the setting right without Weiss and Hickman.

[@jeffrey4562]

Lmao

[@jeohranalfhir8366]

@@joluoto do you still feel the same way with all of the dragon-themed UA coming up?

[@joluoto]

@@jeohranalfhir8366 No, Weiss and Hickman are writing a series of new Dragonlance novels, even though they had to launch a lawsuit against Wizards of the Coast because they tried to break their contract. But that whole debacle aside, with new Dragonlance novels coming from Weiss and Hickman it does make sense for a 5E Dragonlance.

[@jeohranalfhir8366]

@@joluoto okokok, I'm know basically nothing about the lawsuits and stuff but I'd love a Dragonlance 5e guide, so... I'll just hope :)

[@monosito59]

"If you can fail with open eyes, you learn more about yourself and about the world" Damn thats a good line.

[@felixrivera895]

Using Lichdom to become a demi-god is the basic idea that if you wait around in the multiverse long enough you'll get hit by a miracle

[@Bluecho4]

Of course, when you accept undeath, certain miracles or paths to ascension start to close off to you.

[@felixrivera895]

@@Bluecho4 none the less all you need to do is wait, terrorize a few civilizations, and gather cult with empty promises of power

[@aqure9]

Is the recent string of videos a hint at epic level play.

[@Greatermememan]

Let's pray

[@InquisitorThomas]

Max K Pray? What are we a bunch of Clerics? We use Wish, the greatest feat of arcane power!!!

[@joshuaehl1481]

oh, nice! that or a Gods and Demigods compendium

[@InquisitorThomas]

Yeah, a nice book with some more race, subclass, and monsters would be nice.

[@Abelhawk]

Oh snap, I didn't think of that! I hope so!

[@defensivekobra3873]

Is this why the "Epic boons" exist? You just become op after a while

[@brettfincher374]

Had a Catfolk character that followed Fharlanghn, traveled the world telling stories and spreading his religion. Near the end of the campaign he had his own massive following of worshipers leading to his demigod status while making his god an even higher level god in the pantheon.

[@PezzaTheFlezza]

Shards from Cosmere are my favourite God-system from fiction. Vessels, Intent, combined with the 3 Realm cosmology and all the mystery behind the Shattering create such interesting characters and magic. The power having its own agenda, influencing the thinking mind that wields it is shown at its best in Ati/Ruin, where Ati was described as “kind and gentle”, but having held Ruin for thousands of years turns him into a genocidal maniac who justifies his actions as the natural progression of entropy.

[@toffeecrisp2146]

I think it's also the intent of his shard, preservation, that prevents him from allowing him to fulfill his promise to Ruin, that if Ruin joined him in creating Scadrial, Preservation would allow Ruin to destroy it sometime later. The very nature of the preservation shard, prevented Ati from allowing Ruin to make good on his part of the bargain. Hence, holding Ruin in captivity. Lest he destroy what they both created, as had been agreed between them.

[@Vespuchian]

I might use that example of a Chaotic Evil narcissist trying to cheat their way to lichdom/immortality in a future game. Perfect guilt-free villain for players to really dump on.

[@theblankfacegamer333]

My favorite idea was a narcissist who believed the great old ones choose him to do their bidding and "cleanse the world" when in fact they just were in the right place at the right time for this domino effect to occur.

[@Jaclyn531246]

The distinction between sci fi and fantasy is such an interesting point to make. The pursuit of truth vs. fact is so so true and also why I gravitate towards fantasy settings too.

[@johnmoller9738]

In Mystara you can undertake one of the Four Paths of Immortality to become a Mystarian Immortal (a.k.a. a god).

[@TitaniaBird]

My most favorite character I ever played was a (4E) Star Pact Warlock who ended up becoming a demigod. How? Well, despite the fact that she hated the gods in general due to being a cult survivor (or maybe because of it), she caught the eye of Selune, who granted her the warlock abilities she used throughout the campaign. This made it rather ironic when she found out that she was granted a seed of divinity, but once the shock wore off, she accepted it. She eventually ascended to demigodhood, becoming a demigoddess that oversees astronomers, Star Pact Warlocks, and those who protect others from cults. In the Astral Plane, her role was as justicar of the gods; she made sure the gods suffered some punishment for letting their followers become destructive cults. And then people started following the newly-discovered Lady Darkstar, and she got a Cleric who fought in her name.

[@daemonxblaze]

4th was my first and still is my fave. It's for people who want their characters to be able to do virtually anything -epic- or crazy even at lower levels of play. Also bigger numbers. Like play a bugbear barbarian and use over sized weapons. Suddenly Hit: 3[W]+STR mod can be a minimum of 20 damage...at first level.

[@saranova613]

Ok I love her concept, and if someone were to make a Cleric of her, what domains would she be? I'd love to make a Cleric of this character.

[@TitaniaBird]

@@saranova613 Knowledge or Justice, mostly. (Also, you have no idea how much I'm geeking out about you saying that.)

[@killfacebalor2474]

@@TitaniaBird you should post a video explaining the character and Link it here. There may only be for five people who create clerics to her, but the more we know, the easier and more immersive it will be :)

[@TitaniaBird]

@@killfacebalor2474 I may do that, though with my lack of editing skills, it'll probably be vlog style.

[@Bluecho4]

Fantasy, to me, is about the Romantic idea that there are limits to our mortal logic and knowledge. That there is "more between heaven and earth than is dreamt of in our philosophy". Magic is based on Emotion and Symbolism, where a spell being cast can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be; the important bit is _wanting_ it to work, and having the artistry to manifest that desire. (Of course, I also see Magic-as-Art and Magic-as-Science to not be a hard dichotomy, but a spectrum; Wizards treat Magic more as a Science, Druids or Bards more as an Art). With the "divine" casters, that their magic is based on Wisdom is telling. It means they do what they do because of their intuitive understanding of transcendent truths, which cannot necessarily be enumerated or put into words. Clerics accomplish this through prayer or philosophy; those that worship gods use their teachings to better themselves spiritually, in order to inspire the kind of wisdom that allows for spellcasting. Druids do a similar act, just with the natural world; Rangers, being basically demi-Druids, follow the same path. Even Monks can achieve powers (including spellcasting) by way of meditation and an understanding of themselves, both physically and spiritually. As for seeking divinity or demi-divinity, I tend to think that it either happens to the person because of outside forces, or because the mortal followed a path to transcend their mortal limits. There's only so far a Fighter can get by mundane training, just as a Wizard can only get so far by study and knowledge. There's a threshold that must be passed, and not just any path can be used. These paths are mysterious, and perhaps idiosyncratic to the particular mortal. Even if the path wasn't deliberately obscured by those who follow it, one method of achieving Enlightenment may not work for someone else. It's something that a person must seek for themselves, gathering bits of lore or insight, following leads, and pushing limits.

[@rashkavar]

In some ways, knowledge is power. A character who's been around for millennia while being immortal is going to have considerable mastery in whatever they like doing, especially if you assume no age related infirmity because they're immortal. A manipulative person will be astonishingly good at reading people and bending them to their whims, a swordsman will be a remarkably good swordsman, a glassblower will be able to make the finest glass the world has ever seen, etc. Doesn't necessarily translate to combat potential - I'm not sure how glassblowing experience could translate to combat skills, outside of possibly blowgun range benefits.

[@MisterSmith00]

The Unearthed Arcana "Oath of Heroism" (now Oath of Glory, I suppose), seems like it would be the sort of character to aspire to godhood. "I have been divinely selected to become a living myth; it is my destiny, and all before me is a challenge to that end...etc."

[@KayamaAi]

The party monk became a god when she killed an ancient blue dragon with only her fist

[@fushideanu6806]

quivering palm, I assume?

[@The_Gelatinman]

Isn't that how monks usually would kill a dragon?

[@KayamaAi]

@@The_Gelatinman our monk is special. She grapples things and throws them. So punching a dragon to death was unexpected, even for me as the DM.

[@kingmasterlord]

1:20 someone who can never be truly powerful but can't die either? sounds like the embodiment of sass to me. "Don't sass me boy!" "Or _what?"_

[@sirken2]

I like that idea of just being so good at your job you transcend.

[@cameronpearce5943]

I like the somewhat terrifying idea that Lichdom is a trap, and that becomes of the apathy and stagnation that comes with undeath, kinda like a vampire, lichs can’t grow as individuals. No matter how brilliant they are or how much knowledge they amass they won’t be able to achieve their goals (barring if they were already able to do so in life). I mean how long has Larloch been working on his portal network, you’d think he’d be able to get it working after so long a time

[@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199]

well the key difference is that liches still have there soul, unlike vampires, hence the corruption of their emotion, liches problems most often spawn out of A. the horrifying implications of their creation neccecitating a not great person to even try it and B. time disconnecting them from humanity

[@HSuper_Lee]

@@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199 I would probably go with some explanation of, even though they have a soul, they've destroyed their brain, which is the organ that allows a soul to change over time. So all a lich is is basically a ghost that can still inhabit their original body. But just as ghosts are incapable of growth and development due to not having a brain, liches aren't either.

[@Daisychain00]

My favorite character I ever played ended up being a growth stunted deity named Creed. When I began playing him, he was a "cambion", but we used the winged tiefling race to keep things balanced. He was a paladin for Asmodeus, who he was the kid of, and had recently escaped from a cult to Asmo that were doing less than savory things to him just cause they knew he couldn't die. Fast forwards a few months, last session of the campaign, we fight Asmo, who has come to slap his kid silly. We beat him, eventually, and Creed learns he never was half human. Hes essentially a science experiment to see if reality collapses when a demon/devil hybrid comes into existence. Turns out no, and his parentage (Asmodeus and Jubilex in a dark blender) is so powerful that he's destined to eventually rise to the power he is owed and completely take over both the Abyss and the Nine Hells. Hell of a thing for my DM to close on.

[@arcojin-carlosh.9435]

Had an character in a similar situation once, but he was just a "snack" that Asmodeus made someone prepare, without knowledge, in exchange for a powerful pact, and most of his history was written retroactively by my DM and other players actions(The Tiamat Paladin was sent by the Dragon Queen herself to kill my character, that needed a believable reason). The character was Tiefling Ranger, descendant of a forgotten legend, with elven blood. He was almost bred into a apex mortal (he had really high stats, literally lvl 1 with 20 char, just because it could be there with the racial buff). His childhood was almost a game of hide and seek in a orc fortress, trying to stay alive he eventually fled and came across a caravan that adopted him, years later he starts working in Baldur's Gate until a drunken duke gives him and a group of locals titles for lordship in the lower city (the end of our first campaign), the paladin in the group finally tries to kill him, but somehow he disappears in the shadows (he became a gloom stalker by talent, not training) and kills the paladin. Then a lot of minor things happen, mostly with some baldurians acknowledging him as a reasonably fair lord, and eventually yuan-tis start kidnapping people in the outer city, the local tieflings go for him requesting help, eventually the groups discover who did and they took the people. At this point a, about lvl 11 party, discovers a yuan-ti pyramid near the mountains and a Anathema, after a little effort and a race against the cult of the dragon wanting the divine powers of the anathema, the party killed the anathema, and each of them became something close to a demigod, with only the ranger and the cleric becoming actual demigods because the wizard, who was always locked somewhere reading, and the bard, who was hated to death by some people, didn't "knew" enough people to have a fount of worship

[@dakotastein9499]

my friend and i created a setting where all the players were once powerfull gods that had thier powers stolen from them,and were on a quest to reclaim thier godhood. in this setting,instead of standard classes the characers "Domains" where there classes,and they could freely pick class features,spells and abilities from classes ascociated with thier domains. for instance the God of war could freely pick stuff from any "fighter based" class.

[@tideoftime]

6:00 -- some people forget (at least, those who were playing around 40 years ago... >checks expiration date on the bottom of my foot< lol) that that's how clerics were back in Basic/Redbox+ back in the day. Clerics, as written, didn't worship deities as such but simply were so devoted to an ethos/set of beliefs that they channeled power via that faith (similar to how Paladins now work in 5E). (And, of course, an equally "hard" thing for some old-school DMs to grok is that in 5E metaphysics it isn't that gods imbue the spells into the cleric/character but rather shows them *how* to develop/change them; should a cleric fall out with their deity, they still retain the spells that have in their minds/souls -- as well as recover their slots normally -- *but* don't have the ability to change their spells sans divine guidance/intervention, nor advance them any further. At least, until/unless they reconcile with their deity or become a cleric of another entity... ;) )

[@2ny424]

One of my old characters is currently locked in a pyramid tomb, sucking the energy out of a giant army of inactive undead dragons and other nasty stuff. I reckon in a few hundred years he might have a chance at godhood.

[@nexus1g]

"All the yahoos who don't have the magical skill but are going to try to sacrifice a thousand people." -Karlat Jhareg

[@jonasboel2473]

i like to think that there's a lot more rotation in the evil demigods, as an evil person *would* kill a demigod to throw off the balance and make room for another, while good people don't try to take the spot of their demigods.

[@pancakesoup1853]

I run both my groups through a tweaked version of Krynn much much later on. It’s just too good of a setting and so great to hear. They just discovered Xak Tsaroth!

[@FluffieXStarshine]

I've had it happen once, it was the elevated champion. Due to how she was played, her compassion and her staying true to her path I had a monk who was made into a god. And then had a later campaign where I was allowed to have a champion of her lol so she now has a Paladin and a Seeker Warlock under her. Trying for a cleric one day maybe.

[@Guxie91]

I really love this series. Wish one day i could work in such an amazing industry!

[@nerdyguygamer]

In the D&D universe pretty much every God that exists was a mortal at one point. Asmodeus was once a low devil, The Raven queen (death goddess) was a legendary mortal woman, Orcus was a mortal who ascended. One of the factions in Sigil is the godsmen, who believe that we all have the potential to become gods and they are right! Wizards write in the fabric of reality more and more as they gain in power. Gods are fueled by their worship and use this power like magic to shape reality like a wizard.

[@chillchameleon2518]

If you play an Aasimar Divine soul sorcerer and reach Lvl 20 that makes you a Demigod

[@deadairdungeon5472]

Don't forget a level 20 mystic also comes really close to being a demigod... :)

[@steveaguilar7510]

DeadAir Dungeon yeah but mystic is what most players call OverFuckingPowered

[@deadairdungeon5472]

@@steveaguilar7510 That is precisely why I consider them to be the closest to being demigods. ;)

[@CarboKill]

I'm literally playing Aasimar divine soul sorcerer in my current campaign, what am I missing?

[@zacharyrodriguez4348]

How about a celestial warlocks at level 20?

[@trexdrew]

Get Kuo Toa to worship you is definitely on the list. Other way a player did it last campaign was to wish Mythrian’s Ring be teleported to their Magnificent Mansion because almost all his power was put into it and he gained a portfolio of his because tbh he was dumb as hell to even make one that powerful. It basically ended the campaign (we were close to the end) but it was done. Problem was as soon as he put it on he immediately could sense the thoughts and gained the powers all at once and it took a month or a little more to get acclimated to that and stop screaming...

[@DaveButtons]

“Why be a king 👑 , when you could be a god 😇?”

[@KrausHaus0]

one of my games had a “quasi mortal”, a young god who is limited to its human form, and another had a hex blade warlock who ripped a divine spark from an elder god

[@cameronpearce5943]

I have a wizard who became as damn near close to godhood as she wanted to be without giving up her humanity (functionality immortal, smart to the point of being borderline omniscient, and having thirteen bodies operated simultaneously by her one mind) She’s now a high level NPC in my friends game who either deals with cosmic threats or help farmers and other would-be heroes save the village before setting off on a quest. Also they teach a math class in the settings major city.

[@defensivekobra3873]

Wholesome i guess, but so they got the clone spell or something?

[@marcperez2598]

@@defensivekobra3873 my first guess is Simulacrum and Clone Shenanigans, maybe with modify memories. I once used Soulcage and, reasoned that since the Soul can give information, that soul can be edited for information. So I cast Detect Thoughts first to try it out. It worked. So I cast Modify Memories and Encode Thoughts enough to give the Soul a copy of all my life's memories and erase/wrote down all of its own(I didnt give it those). Then I Cast Planar Binding on it and the next day cast Clone on me and my DM made me role and Arcana Check to see if I could make a Clone of me and use this soul instead, keeping my arcane information but using another's soul for it. That worked and I repeated that like 8 times so I had like 9 Clones of me,all with Simulacra, who were just edited Clones using others souls, operating a council secretly from my DM's fantasy setting of Chromistal, in his made capital of Anaburin(this Norse inspired country) as this secret lawful neutral force for change to prepare the mortal realms for the great fight against the Abyss. So its possible in multiple ways

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@marcperez2598 interesting use of a soul.... I like you

[@cameronpearce5943]

@@marcperez2598 right on the money :)

[@nicholasschoonbeck6866]

If you've ever read the great series Thieves' World, a series of short stories written about a certain city & the same characters, but by different authors - they have a character named Tempus who is the chosen of a God & it gives him Wolverine's healing factor but that's about it -

[@feylights166]

I love stories involving gods, both the remote and more "human" ones. Faith works a bit differently in the Realms, I think, because the gods are very real and active. But of course, mortals don't know all the mysteries of the gods, either.

[@thewatcher7140]

I had one character of mine known as Ashen Greycastle, The Undead / Kind of the Damned Legion. He became a lich around level 15 as he had all of the requirements met for Lichdom. He was a former royal guard for the queen but he was banished as he was a necromancer which didn’t break his moral code of never harming anyone unless given reason. This character of mine trapped gods, beings beyond gods, and anything that threaten his reality or time-line. As he’s become a god of gods. He’s grown wiser than Odin, and stronger than Zeus. He’s proven regardless of Wish spells, he will never stop ending. I told my DM when we were wrapping up and everyone made a ending for their characters, I stated this, “My character will outlive the life to reset the cycle and watch.” So then me as the new DM. Ashen known as “A” to many who know of him, he became a wanderer in the background and the party at first didn’t know of a cloaked figures, then one of them pieced it together and started to do research as all texts of before were gone, all text of Ash were gone. So this cleric of life commanded the new gods, her goddess of wisdom to answer her on who was the wanderer in black. The goddess explained everything. So my party were about to end the campaign until the Wanderer appeared and offered them godhood in exchange they remain loyal servants. They all refused and fought a dragon god king and won. So while my character become more than powerful. He never lost sight of who he was. He was a mortal who became immortal and who became God of All. But I just hope one day my group unbans me from being a necromancer.

[@pranakhan]

The gold box Path of the Immortals was the best supplement ever released on this topic, and is the template for old school DM's (like myself) who wish to explore this narrative territory

[@raymondlugo9960]

I had that box. Deities & Demigods explains ways too for AD&D...1st Edition

[@GUNDAMURX73]

A lot of mentions of Mordenkainen lately... could the famed wizard be making an appearance soon?

[@AAron-gr3jk]

he makes an appearance in Curse of Strahd adventure module

[@UndeadGary]

@@AAron-gr3jk wait really? My party never encountered him while playing that adventure. Guess our DM decided not to include him or we didn't go to him.

[@JasonTheFavorite]

You have to kinda seek him out or get lucky

[@LilacMage]

Omg! You just solved one of my greatest problems with my current campaign. Truth vs fact! I am going to use that!

[@JeremiahMcCoy]

There is a description of how to make a lich in previous editions. The standard ritual is an innately evil act. Blood of innocents killed with phase spider poison is on the list. Also there is a solid chance of failure.

[@luckmaker6250]

The path to being a demi-god lies through sucking up to your DM

[@TheSlackerNamedJack]

So If an adventurer meets three dragons, 10 liches, and a gnoll on their journey...

[@laughingmack7727]

In our DM's universe, a mortal could become a demigod by any diety who decides they meet their personal criteria. A mortal could only become a full fledged God by devouring a diety, marrying one, fusing with one, or receive such status by the Limping God. ( He had many titles due to being a part of every race's pantheons and being more powerful than the DM).

[@krzysztofpiwowarski4359]

Why do they keep referring to the Dead Three as demigods? Why would Bane choose to give up the power he had? I get that Bhaal and Myrkull may not be as powerful upon their return, but nerfing Bane makes no freaking sense...

[@christophermendez4322]

After a few years with my warlock he didn’t become a god/demigod but he took on a role/position that he certainly feels a god should be having instead. He found a place called the Multiversal Library filled with an endless amount of books detailing past/current/future adventures from different parties. He took on the role as the Librarian and every now and then he invites parties that are dealing with infighting. He gives each of them a different party member’s book and makes them experience each other’s backstories to bring the party closer as friends.

[@abletheabove1679]

Comment to remind myself of this later

[@christophermendez4322]

@@abletheabove1679 comment to remind you to come back to this later haha

[@whodat8048]

What books were they talking about around 2:30 mark. They mentioned that those two trilogies were great?

[@David-id6jw]

The Dragonlance Chronicles, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. [Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, Dragons of Spring Dawning] Those were the first major D&D novels that really sparked people's interest. After that is The Legends Trilogy [Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, Test of the Twins]. There's also the prequel novels, The Soulforge and Brothers In Arms, that get into Raistlin's backstory.

[@whodat8048]

@@David-id6jw awesome man, I'll definitely take a look. Thank you I appreciate the information

[@alannash2778]

"Success often blinds us to growth" ...well at least I have that going for me :p

[@sovest555]

Fantasy is about truth and its relativity, yes, but also fate...which can ALSO be relative, as there is the trope of reshaping fate to more desirable ends as well.

[@radyoung779]

Good to know we weren't too far off when my 28th lvl Necromancer (2e) became a demigod.

[@bronsonkim6652]

That was such a great definition to the difference between Sci-fi and Fantasy

[@noghost7195]

In a campaign im playing right now if you kill a God(gods could be killed depending and how and what gods there are) you become a godkiller which means you took the "title/power" (the power could be weaker depending what gos it is)of the god you killed(it could be a passive ability) for instance my gunslinger background was that he ended up killing Ares (a lower level god in this campaign)by dumb luck and taking his title of god of war and has abtily to during combat you can call upon your title and get a health boost and damage boost for a minute while in combat(once per every long Rest) but he also has a passive ability to make people around him get angry and fight for no reason

[@tobiWan_9090]

I have a feeling this guy really likes Mordenkainen

[@ravenartistofficial]

My current D&D character is a Goddess incarnate. The Moon Goddess, Rehtaeh, decided she was tired of ruling over a lifeless planet. So she had her Sister-Goddess make her a body that would hold her so she could see what it’s like to be a creature on Earth.

[@valasafantastic1055]

I personally like BOTH. Knowing the How/why and having it fantasy. So I also tend to also create half science fiction half fantasy settings and incorporate real science into fantasy and have tech and magic and magi-tech. I like and prefer knowing the answers more often than not. BUT keeping it on an emotion artistic level more than not. I think I need to understand and have it make 'sense' to me BUT the players and characters don't always know, the DM is better off knowing. Great thought provoking video, thanks.

[@scarletjester7831]

My brother became a god but tricking his god. He got his god to reward him a ring that binds his characters soul to it and can not break, he later placed a enchantment that makes only the hand that placed it can remove it. The final boss of the campaign was, thanks to the DM, was trying to rival the gods as a rushed end campaign fight, while the boss was dying, he took his ring and put it on the ring finger of the boss. The DM told him to roll for, rolls 20, asked to roll AGAIN, rolls 20. His soul transfers to the boss, now his powers and the boss remained, brother then says "I then burned my old body", the DM narrated it, he then said "now the ring can never be removed" the hand that placed was burnt to ashes. The DM ended the campaign, saying the only things that could rival his character are the In-Game Gods, someone in the party wanted to go for it, but unfortunately, next week had to start new character sheets for the new campaign

[@dreamingforward]

In my telling, gods begin at LVL100, only because the character becomes bored by mortality and the normal planes. They must give up their body and gain the influence over the realms. Demi-gods can occur no earlier than LVL50 and are generally managed by the non-corporeal gods of LVL100 and above (even though they generally don't know it -- early demigods tend to be very proud of themselves). Poseurs begin as early as LVL20, but there's really no lower bound for poseurs, is there. Once they lose their corporeality, their ability scores take on new meaning: STR for example (which isn't useful without a body) becomes +DAM modifiers for those who serve you, etc.

[@jrwise100]

I hope these talks turn into a series !!

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

So ate we to expect new gods and demigods in 5e to introduce ascension to godhood? Not a D&D player, but I am interested. Wouldn't be surprised if King Lorgru from Many Arrows manages to become a demigod and eventually a god whose whole intent is to orcs free will and acts as a god of good orcs and orc civilization. Yet I wonder if Ilneval orc god of war strategy might offer Lorgru demigodhood in order to advance his iwn goals. Yet new demigods of other races woukd be cool too.

[@primeemperor9196]

In my campaign, when a mortal believes themself powerful enough, they can challenge a god to Deus Proelium. (God Battle) They then battle 1v1 against that god. If they win, they take the place of that god and their name. The world itself also has physical consequences when fhis happens. For example, if Mors, the god.of death, is defeated, the world may see a period where death and disease is much less common while the new Mors gains his strength.

[@iamweapon]

Happy to see Mearls back doing videos...

[@demo0831]

My Idea is that a person becomes a god when they completely embody a concept or idea more than anyone ever has before them

[@kaiceecrane3884]

That is how I think if it

[@jerkchickenblog]

Demo 0 this may make them a paragon of that idea, but doesnt it seem to leave out those that transcend mortality despite not being "of or about" some one thing? Im far more interested in transcendent dramatic characters than "one-note" (overly simplistic description, please grant me for argument's sake) avatars of an ideal. Not saying your idea doesn't allow for these more "mixed" personality type demi-gods but it seems they'd be more rare?

[@demo0831]

@@jerkchickenblog I understand where your coming from its just that to me it makes it more intresting that someone does not only hold an ideal but embodies it to its fullest

[@Frnkwlf]

Any 5e chance for Dragonlance? Need this released

[@nickalvarez8790]

3:53 The God of Overactive Thumbs

[@MeTaLISaWeSoMe95]

My world has Gods but the Gods are more like super powerful mages and sorcerers who are just so far beyond the ordinary. They can die and are certainly *human* in more ways than one. Also most of them in my campaign are assholes too.

[@goldtoothslair3052]

You know I always have a question could a another kobold become a god or just a demigod I mean you do have the one kobold God but he is trapped in an endless maze but what if another kobold became so powerful when he be considered as a demigod and let's say he decided to choose a path of good could he somehow lead the kobold to a more good nature? This is a question I wonder.

[@christianwhite8877]

I have a question theoretically if a dnd character could drain celestial energy (from a celestial familiar or a dead God or a angel or some other source) could they eventually become a god or demigod? (Assuming nothing stoped them from draining the celestial energy from there source)

[@TwoGoblinsInATrenchCoat]

I imagine personally that yeah, if a PC hangs around in the world for a long time, gaining power, getting into higher levels, they could transcend their station in the cosmos. But that's just my opinion, and every GM should come to decisions in that vein on their own.

[@johnsalkeld1088]

I like this idea of clerical magic

[@nicrose3164]

I am playing a barbarian berserker who is a descendent of Odin. Would he be considered a demi god?

[@thedragonknight5194]

My lv 20 wizard, Horus Morat Phantem, after turning himself into the most powerful lich ever existed, hunted down the mightiest wizards of each arcane tradition(Evocation, Necromancy, Abjuration, Transmutation, Illusion, Enchantment and Conjuration) and turned their souls into soul gems, then turned these soul gems into philacteries for himself, which added his two-and-a-half lives worth of arcane knowledge even more knowledge from the best wizards of each arcane tradition. With all this knowledge, he was essentially a god, the first god in 400 Eons, (In my universe, all the gods are dead)

[@midnightgreen8319]

Seems that many have forgotten about Mystara. Wrath of the Immortals

[@actually_a_catt]

Dragonlance was my choldhood my dad raised me on those books i started reading them in 4th grade hahaha

[@mbrsart]

Ooooo, this food for thought is just what I needed. I'm going to have two powerful immortals vying for power, and the party is supposed to help one elevate to lesser godhood. One is demonic, and the other is an anomaly in the system of the multiverse, kind of like the One from the Matrix.

[@johnstuartkeller5244]

AD&D had pretty specific rules for becoming a deity. That didn't make it easy. And, of course, there is the God-Trap. Thanks, Xagyg ...

[@zackaryw8407]

I'd like to think that if a fantasy character gets to like level 40 or 50, and essentially becomes the VERY best of their class (and maybe with a small bit of extra magic added), then they can be classified as a straight-up god.

[@taylorfranke8211]

So is it kind of up to the DM of how you can become a demigod?

[@SergioXavierJr]

There is a way, in D&D to a good char try to become a kind of god? Or every showd ways are for evil chars, like the Leach retual?

[@Titan360]

I don't know. Somebody who can't die but isn't powerful can still be stuck or imprisoned somewhere. I'd be leery of ever going underground or even in a large building if I were them and I really thought forward what a landslide would mean... Quicksand and other natural hazards would also be a problem...

[@TheThrashKing92]

LOVING all the content!

[@CidGaius]

AO: sorry, we already have 6 gods of magic, how about god of toenails? AO: No? Shame. No one ever wants that portfolio.

[@GoblinLord]

honestly I just like the idea of making a REAL demigod, as in, historical mythic demigods, you know, just proficient/advantaged physically, Heracles just had an insane strength score AND was proficient in a lot of things, making him tough, his demigod blood kind of just made him get there sooner, same with other heroes, they were just....innately good at things there was only 1 demigod with magic that was innate to him, and that was a special case: Dionysus, when he was young, he was mortal, mortal mother and father was Zeus, but, he actually was a reincarnation/partial revival of the Dead chthonic god Zagreus, son of Persephone and Hades, so he had the soul/heart of a dead god, the body and blood of this half divine nature, in a way making him 2/3 god pretty much all level 20 characters are basically Heracles level anyways, Heracles though is more like level 25 (using Epic Levels even though those aren't a thing in 5e I don't think)

[@chocolateshogun2511]

If your character doesn't acknowledge the gods, can they become a demigod? I'm being serious. For example: say your a Barbarian (good or evil) and you've been stacking bodies for years. Slaying beasts throughout the realms. Basically, killing demigod level threats at Lvl 20. Is there an actual pathway? If you're a mortal doing this, have no fear of demigods, or even gods, what would be the pathway? I guess they could slay a demigod and take their place. But, once again, being a mortal, I've already beaten a demigod, am I more powerful now still being a mortal?

[@anna-thealittek9662]

there is the story of how three murder hobos became gods of death/destruction and the like by beating the former gods and taking their divine spark. cyric i think.

[@joshuabonesteel2303]

Hell I think you should just become god of the hunt. Get some rangers and barbarians to pray to you or something.

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

Not to mention bards. Hiring bards and telling them of your exploits is a guaranteed way to gain followers.

[@kingmasterlord]

hey what about being a patron of lost and rejected souls? All the people that die in the phlogiston, the ones that get made into that wall instead of getting an afterlife? god of the forgotten. you could totally just mantle up with enough power, ain't nobody claiming that sphere.

[@SSSyndrome214]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[@weniswarrior666]

don't clerics lose their spells if they turn to an alignment that contradicts their deity?

[@stormbreaker3027]

I'd wish 5e had a sub for fighters to be a dreadnought, because I'd love to make a legendary dreadnought demigod that's a guardian of the world.

[@Greatermememan]

I want to be a god

[@reeven1721]

About the secrets to Lichdom and them being kept in order to keep awful people from making a mess of them... why do the Chaotic Evil gods care, actually? Couldn't Beshaba, Cyric or Talona tell any Wizard who asks "yeah, here's how its done, now try it for the lulz"? One thing D&D could crib from Pathfinder: they may have Lichdom under wraps as well, but they do have a clear four steps plan on how to become an immortal Demon in Lords of Chaos: Book of the Damned Vol. 2. It's the same "sacrifice innocents and eat babies" fare as everyone seems to think Lichdom involves, so it should be right up most murder hobos' alley ;)

[@scarletjester7831]

I had a bard that ascended to Godhood through magical items and clever play, stole a magic item from a cult that would cast a permanent enthrull spell over a large(near city size) area of effect, one time use item, creatures needed to make a save throw. Used it on a Fey Forest my party found, had a Arch Fey failed the check and nearly half the Fey Forest. After the Civil War, i used the survivors to gather contracts owned by me, others for warriors/assassins. The party was not to happy about it, but it was the usual "Trickster Pricks" Fey we're all used to, so it didn't take long for them to get use to a controlled army that, if left to their own devices, could've hurt innocent people. That was what I said to get them to stop complaining about it, the truth was i wanted a army that was good at getting anywhere and getting anyone at a moment's notice, but using evil magic items on things nobody will miss, or be happier to see "gone" or "dealt with" helps

[@AvinashArora0]

Todd can you just set up a wider camera that includes you and the interviewee in the shot please

[@jerkchickenblog]

Avinash Arora not a bad idea and coukd break things up a bit. Also makes us feel a bit more "in the moment" to see both's reactions / expressions. (I'm sure you've considered it)