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Divine Rank FAQ

Started by Anastasia, April 13, 2018, 04:45:46 PM

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Anastasia

I'm sure this'll be needed for at least Eb and Cor, and quite possibly the rest of you at some future date. This is a work in progress. Please don't post here.

1. What is a rank check?

I'll just quote from the document directly, as this is important to understand.

Rank Checks: A rank check is used to determine results between two deities attempting to influence reality or compete against each other. A rank check is 1d20 + divine rank + strata bonus (if any).

When making a rank check against another deity, a deity adds her divine rank as well as a +4 strata bonus for every divine strata which she is higher than her opponent. The different strata are quasideity, demigod, lesser deity, intermediate deity and greater deity. For example, if a rank 9 lesser deity and a rank 12 intermediate deity were to make opposed rank checks, the lesser deity would roll 1d20+9 (base 9) and the intermediate deity would roll 1d20+16 (base 12 + 4 strata bonus). If a rank 18 greater deity were to make a check against a rank 5 demigod, the greater deity would roll 1d20+30 (base 18 + 12 strata bonus) and the demigod would roll 1d20+5 (base 5).

Greater deities do not maximize rank check rolls, nor can any deity take 10 on a rank check. Rank check rolls cannot be affected by any known magic, though certain salient divine abilities can temporarily affect them. This is usually a penalty to the deity under a certain situation.

2. How many salient divine abilities do I get?

From the divine rules topic: A deity has a base of three salient divine abilities, plus one for each of her divine ranks, as well as additional salient divine abilities reflecting its status: demigods receive one bonus ability, lesser deities receive two bonus abilities, intermediate deities receive three, and greater deities receive five.

Additionally, a deity made trade excess base domains in for salient divine abilities. I've never used this personally, but it is an option in the rules. I'm also going to rule you need a minimum of three, so this is more of an in the future sort of option.

Spoiler: ShowHide


   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Divine RankNumber of Salient Divine Abilities
15
26
37
48
59
611
712
813
914
1015
1117
1218
1319
1420
1521
1624
1725
1826
1927
2028


3. What are the big mechanical bonuses divine rank gives?

There's a lot, but let me summarize the big ones. This may not be fully inclusive, so go through the topic carefully to get everything.

Spoiler: ShowHide


- Outsider type with any appropriate alignment subtypes.
- Maximum hit points per hit die.
- Boosted speed as according to a table based on size, see the divine rules for this table.
- A natural armor bonus of 15 plus divine rank that overlaps with preexisting natural armor.
- Charisma modifier to armor class as a deflection bonus.
- Divine rank to armor class as a divine bonus.
- Divine rank to all attack rolls as a divine bonus.
- Any weapon a deity wields is considered an epic weapon to defeat damage reduction, as well any natural weapons they have.
- Alter reality, which is an at will wish/limited wish. See the divine rules for more information.
- The domain powers of any domains they have, and are able to use it a number of times a day equal to their divine rank.
- A bushel of SLAs related to their domains as well as greater teleport and possibly greater plane shift.
- Damage reduction that varies by rank, see the table in divine rules.
- A divine aura that has various effects on other creatures.
- Immunity to aging and it's related effects, cannot die from age. Do not need to eat, sleep or breathe.
- Immunity to two types of energy of the deity's choice.
- Can only be permanently slain by an opposed rank check in your home plane.
- Immunity to polymorph, petrification, form altering, energy drain, ability drain, ability damage and mind affecting. A rank check can overcome these immunities. They are also immune to disease, poison, stunning, sleep, paralysis, death effects and disintegration. Again, a rank check can overcome these immunities.
- Spell resistance equal to 15 + HD.
- Charisma modifier as a resistance bonus to saving throws.
- Divine rank as a divine bonus to saving throws.
- 10 + divine rank enhancement bonus to all ability scores.
- Divine rank as a bonus to all ability checks, skill checks and caster level checks. This includes initiative checks.


4. Since a rank check can overcome divine immunities, does this mean that other immunities can be overcome like this?

No. If a deity is immune to something through another source, that source cannot be overcome with a rank check. For example, a deity who is also a 3rd level paladin is immune to disease through divine health, this immunity cannot be overcome by a rank check.

5. How do prayers work?

A deity automatically deals with any prayers, hearing them and responding as desired. It's automated by design, the Incarnations build divine ranks so that deities can function without adding tons of multitasking to things besides prayer management. Generally only important ones are mentioned in character, with routine ones being handled off screen.

6. What is a custom SDA?

A custom SDA is an SDA that refers to the deity in question and is the apex of what they represent. These are the deity's personal tricks, the greatest manifestations of what they are. A custom SDA mentions the deity in question by name, rather than referring a generic deity.

7. How many custom SDAs can a deity have?

A deity can have up to 1 custom SDA, with an additional 1 at DvR 6, 11 and 16 for a maximum of 4 for greater powers. Note: A few situations are grandfathered in before this rule applied.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

#1
Deific Gifts

Note: For the sake of this, mortal means anyone without divine rank. A servant means anyone who serves a particular deity - a paladin, a cleric, a favored soul or simply a pious character.

One of the most potent uses of alter reality is to reward mortals that please a deity. This allows the deity to hand out direct, personal benefits for those souls who please them, at the deity's discretion. This covers non material gifts, the sort of benefits you can't just buy, such as new abilities, untyped ability score bonuses, spell-like abilities and other such things. A deity can use other means if they wish to reward someone with material gains, such as gold, land or noble titles. Those are beyond the scope of this article, as are other immaterial things, such as the deity's gratitude. This isn't the only way a deity can reward creatures. Additionally, this covers permanent gifts. Temporary gifts aren't covered here.

1. The mortal must have done something to advance or protect the deity's cause or interests. These benefits can't be given out for no reason, there has to be something justifying it. This is an Incarnation-build limitation into alter reality after a few deities pushed it too far early on. It can be something simple, like protecting a servant of the deity or unwittingly helping the deity's interests, but it must be something. A deity has a sense if a person qualifies or not. Mechanically, this means asking the DM, who will provide you an answer. Additionally, only one reward per qualifying situation.

2. The reward must be in line with the mortal's natural power. Generally, the reward should be equal to a single encounter's treasure appropriate for the mortal's level. For example, giving a 1st level commoner a permanent +2 competence bonus to Profession (Farmer) checks is reasonable for level 1 (the equivalent of a 50 gold masterwork skill boosting item).  For a 20th level paladin, the ability to cast holy sword as an at will SLA may be more suitable, or something grander yet. This is approximate, so there's a bit of leeway and fudging involved. Giving a mortal too rich a present that they can't handle overwhelms them, resulting in permanent hit point loss and possibly death.

3. Rewarding the servant of another deity requires permission the deity the mortal serves. This isn't set in stone as a rule, but it is understood that violating it is extremely bad manners. It's the sort of thing that invites a reprisal and is rarely ignored. Depending on the situation, the deity may use alter reality to contact the other deity or simply ask them in person at a later date, depending on how pressing the circumstances are. Further, the servant's deity may attempt to prevent an unwanted gift from being given, this is resolved as a divine rank check between the two deities. If the deity giving the gift wins, the gift is given as normal. If the servant's deity wins, the gift is prevented and wasted. A mortal who has a gift blocked in this manner cannot be given another gift from that same deity for one year. 

4. Ability score boosts have special rules. A mortal cannot benefit from more than a +2 total gain to ability scores from deities per 10 levels (+2 at 1-10, +4 at 11-20, ect). This limit is raised by two for a deity rewarding their servants and worshipers. Going past this tends to lead to permanent hit point loss and possibly death, as the mortal simply isn't able to withstand it. Each gift can only raise an ability score by at most two.

5. Templates can be given instead (and often are in part to give bigger stat boosts than the above rule allows). A mortal must have at least enough hit dice to pay the level adjustment of the template if they retrained and still have at least one hit die free. Thus, a 3rd level ranger could have a +2 level adjustment template safely. Ignoring this leads to the same permanent hit point loss and possible death as described above. As for determining the price of a template relative to a reward, each point of level adjustment should count for five levels. Generally, a +1 template is appropriate for a 5th level character, a +2 template a 10th level character and so on. A template can be given out in pieces, slowly given as multiple smaller rewards (Mystra did that with the half celestial template for Alicia in B1, for example to circumvent this limit.

6. Deities have no concept of things such as level or hit dice, but can sense what a mortal can withstand and what they can't. Doing so is automatic when a deity wishes to give a reward. In game terms the player is told OOC what level the character is so that they can choose a suitable gift.

7. Certain templates and powers ignore these rules, but are given based on worthiness instead. For example, Queen Morwel can hand out the eladrin hero template regardless of hit dice. These are special situations and usually tie the mortal to the deity more directly. There's usually a flavor justification to them as well. In that case, the character is joining Queen Morwel's dream and supporting it, and in turn the power of Queen Morwel supports them.

8. In the event a mortal is rewarded many times, there are practical limits to how many rewards a mortal can withstand. This is the mortal's hit dice + 3, though it is an extremely rare thing for a mortal to even come close to this limit. Most deities are reasonably sparing with this, often preferring other ways of rewarding those who aid them. Some do prefer this method, it's a choice that varies and is up to the deity.

9. Rewards are a reflection of the deity and should fit the deity's interests, portfolio and alignment. Examples are provided below.

10. Finally, the direct servants of deities are usually awash in the power of the divine. For example, Latha has her sun based powers and Donald his luck powers. You generally can't reward them often as they're considered nearly full already. It's not off the table in a suitable situation, but for balance reasons I'd rather not have it be anything but a rare treat. Rewards to your direct allies are 1 per 3 levels. The proxy template being left on them fills up any remaining chances for bonuses - it's already a big boost. An occasional dip into being a proxy doesn't trigger this, but someone being a full time proxy triggers this.

As for other PCs in this game (Moore, Tryll, Alyssa), I'm going to ask you not to use this on them. The simple truth is that it's a huge power imbalance there, and I don't think there's a good way to resolve this reasonably. NPCs are one thing, but I don't think there's a reasonable way to do this PC to PC. For the sake of them, assume that the deity they serve would rather do it themselves, so please let that lie. Include the NPCs of their node in this ban as well.

Examples of various deific gifts

1. An untyped bonus to an ability score.
2. A template.
3. A spell as a spell like ability.
4. A bonus to a type of roll (attack roll, caster level check, a particular skill check, ect).
5. A bonus to hit points.
6. A new ability, a class ability or other such thing. Spellcasting is not a valid pick.
7. A bonus feat.

Note: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/treasure.htm#usingTheTreasureTable Has average treasure in gold value for the level of the encounter.  This is a guideline, as not every reward neatly maps to a gold piece value.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

#2
Summary of Increasing Bonuses When Divine Rank Rises

Congratulations, you've gained a higher divine rank. This boosts several things and abilities, so enjoy this summary to quickly and efficiently level up your character. This only applies on gaining divine rank 2 or higher. DvR0 and DvR1 both add many new things and you should be following the divine rules section in those cases anyways. This is meant for incremental increases. Likewise, when going up a strata (from demipower to lesser power, for example), you will gain more than incremental increases, so check the divine rules carefully.

- Your enhancement bonus to ability scores rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR1 to DvR2's enhancement bonus increases from +11 to +12. It's suggested to deal with this one first, as it's by far the most complicated adjustment.
- Your divine bonus to armor class rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR4 to DvR5's divine bonus increases from +4 to +5.
- Your divine bonus to attack rolls rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR8 to DvR9's divine bonus increases from +8 to +9.
- Your divine bonus to saving throws rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR 3 to DvR 5's divine bonus increases from +3 to +5.
- Your divine bonus to checks, including skill checks, ability checks (including initiative) and caster level checks rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going form DvR12 to DvR 13's divine bonus increases from +12 to +13.
- Any domain powers from your domains that can be used a number of times a day equal to your divine rank rise to match your new rank. For example, a deity going from DvR11 to DvR13 and with the celestial domain goes from being able to smite evil 11 times a day to being able to smite evil 13 times a day.
- The DCs for divine SLAs rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR1 to DvR 2 sees an increases of 1 to the DC of divine SLAs.
- Your divine aura's radius increases to match the new divine rank. The increase varies on divine rank, so see that table in the divine rules.
- The saving throw DC to resist your divine aura rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR 6 to DvR 9 sees an increase of 3 to the DC of their divine aura.
- Your number of salient divine abilities rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR3 to DvR4 gains 1 new divine salient ability.
- Your number of proxies rises to match your new divine rank. For example, a deity going from DvR7 to DvR8 goes from 7 proxies to 8 proxies.

When you go up a divine strata, you gain additional abilities above and beyond this. For the sake of this, this covers going from DvR5 to DvR6, DvR10 to DvR11 and DvR15 to DvR16.

- If going from lesser power to intermediate power, increase alter reality's power from limited wish to wish.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, add greater planeshift to your SLAs.
- For each strata gained, increase your damage reduction by 5 points. For example, a demipower rising to lesser power status increases their damage reduction by 5. Also see the rules on combining damage reduction, in case other types of damage reduction are in play, as this will interact with that.
- Your divine aura's radius changes in increment. If going from demipower to lesser power, the radius changes from 10ft per divine rank to 100ft per divine rank. If going from lesser power to intermediate power, the radius changes from 100ft per divine rank to 1000ft per divine rank. If going from intermediate power to greater power, the radius changes from 1000ft per divine rank to 1 mile per divine rank.
- The time it takes you to reform if slain decreases. If going from demipower to lesser power, it decreases from 12 hours to 6 hours. If going from lesser power to intermediate power, it decreases from 6 hours to 3 hours. If going from intermediate power to greater power, it decreases from 3 hours to 1 hour.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, you gain the following new immunities: Deities of rank 6 or higher are immune to effects that imprison or banish them. Such effects include banishment, binding, dimensional anchor, dismissal, imprisonment, repulsion, soul bind, temporal stasis, trap the soul, and turning and rebuking. Note that this does not cover normal channel energy, which works on a deity as normal.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, you may now always take 10 on any check (such as an ability check, skill check or caster level check). This does not include attack rolls or any other dice roll, only checks.
- If going from lesser power to intermediate power, you now always get a result of 20 on any check (such as an ability check, skill check or caster level check).  This does not include attack rolls or any other dice roll, only checks.
- If going from intermediate power to greater power, you now always get the best possible result on any dice roll with the following exceptions. You do not automatically get critical hits, make an attack roll to check for a critical threat. Any instance where a natural roll of 20 would grant automatic success and this success is needed for you to succeed (such as making an attack roll of 1d20+101 vs an armor class of 143). Any instance where a natural roll of 20 would grant you benefits above and beyond automatically passing the dice roll. You do not automatically succeed on percentile miss chance rolls. You do not automatically succeed on rank checks. Any other roll the DM deems this does not apply to.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, the maximum gold piece value of any item you create rises from 4500 gold to 30000 gold. If going from lesser power to intermediate power, the maximum gold piece value of any item you crease rises from 3000 gold to 200000 gold. If going from intermediate power to greater power, the maximum gold piece value of any item you create rises to 400000 gold.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, the number of remote locations you can sense at rises from 2 to 5. If going from lesser power to intermediate power, the number of remote locations you can sense at rises from 5 to 10. If going from intermediate power to greater power, the number of remote locations you can sense at rises from 10 to 20.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, the time it takes to create an avatar decreases from 1 year to 6 months. If going from lesser power to intermediate power, the time it takes to create an avatar decreases from 6 months to 1 month. If going from intermediate power to greater power, the time it takes to create an avatar decreases from 1 month to 1 week.
- If going from demipower to lesser power, you gain an additional salient divine ability. If going from lesser power to intermediate power, you gain an additional salient divine ability. If going from intermediate power to greater power, you gain an additional two salient divine abilities. These stack with the normal salient divine abilities you can from going up in divine rank. See the table in the first post if you are unsure about the number of salient divine abilities you should have.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

#3
Known Divine Ranks:

From both stat blocks that are posted and gameplay.

Yemimah: 1
Zquujaj: 1
Ty-h'kadi: 2
Empress Sulia: 3
Kulcak: 3
Zaaman Rul: 3
The Red Knight: 4
Sharess: 5
Mammon: 5
Bel: 6 (Formerly)
Malcanthet: 6
Glasya: 6
Eldath: 6
Eblis: 7
Barachiel: 7
Domiel: 7
Erathaol: 7
Renbuu: 8
Shaundakul: 8
Belial: 9
Lliira: 9
Auril: 10
Imix: 10
Gwynharwyf: 12
Ilmater: 13
Faerinaal: 13
Pistis Sophia: 14
Raziel: 14
Sealtiel: 14
Dispater: 15
Mephistopheles: 15
Orcus: 16
Selune: 16
Lathander: 18
Asmodeus: 20
Queen Morwel: 20
Shar: 20
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

#4
Divine Seed List

Held

-

Expended

The Infinite Stair's Divine Seed. Charges: 3/3. One charge to Queen, one to Marie and one to Latha.
Ysgard's Divine Seed. Charges 3/3. One charge to Marie, one charge to Latha, one charge to Jessica.
Zaphkiel's Divine Seed. Charges: 3/3. One charge to Elle, one charge to Cresiel, one charge to Emily.
Io's Divine Seed. Charges: 3/3. One charge to Jessica, one charge to Kascha, one charge to Moore.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Iron Dragoon

#5
Worked up the following, just for tracking and organization. If anyone wants to claim a target or suggest someone's node might be a good fit for one, please do so. If I missed anything, please point it out so I can fix it:

"Within Carceri lies another, jailed within the First Prison," Zaphkiel goes on, "The Guardian is the prison itself, and holds far more than merely the seed. Pandemonium holds one, sealed within the Askaral Tomb deep within a forbidden portal. In the Abyss lies one as well, in the hands of a Guardian already known, who will confess to it if pressed properly." Is the answer to that, "There may be yet others, but as of yet we have no found signs of them."

Carceri- Team Moore
Abyss- Team Siera
Pandemonium- Already taken by Bel and Gathgorian

"In Hades lies a seed, which is entombed within the Last Monument. The Guardian there does not manifest, but instead controls a great tribe of yugoloth cultists, who all worship at the Last Monument and pray for death, suffering and agony for all. They are wrapped in anathemic secrecy and hidden by the will of the Oinoloths, none of which have seen fit to do anything but contain them."

-Team Asmodeus and Seira teamup

"As for Acheron and Gehenna, there are seeds but we have not found them yet," Zaphkiel continues, "Precious little is known of them. For Baator, you have already seen that divine seed," A look to Alicia. "Asmodeus also extends an invitation to any of you who are willing - to come before the Serpent's Throne within nine days and he will discuss sharing this seed with you as well as with his chosen."

-Not claimed/Asmodeus' maybe?

"There is one in Mechanus - within the broken ruins of Primus. All but inaccessible to use at the current time, and the Guardian there is a fearsome lion. Likewise, the seed in Limbo rests within the Spawning Stone, and it would be nigh impossible to reach without a confrontation with Ssendam. Both are difficult and will require the greatest skill and ability to obtain."

-Not claimed

"The seed in Arcadia is different - it is outside of the bounds of Arcadia entirely," Zaphkiel says, "You must break out from the limits of Arcadia and seek the seed there."

-Team Moore (and a last moment Kascha cameo!)

"Next is the seed in Ysgard - which is held in the lair of the Jormugandr. In an area the Jormugandr is highly territorial over, and tolerates no other creatures there but itself." Zaphkiel says, "The Guardian there wears the form of Jormugandr when it chooses to take a physical form. This will be a deep challenge, but at least one that the nature of Ysgard tempers."

-Moore claimed.

"For Arborea, the divine seed lies within the Womb of Arborea, the deepest of the Hidden Layers." Zaphkiel continues, "An ocean there, born of Morwel's tears, forms the core of that place. Deep in the ocean the divine seed rests. The Guardian there takes two forms. He takes the form of one of the leShay, though Morwel knows him and knows it is but an illusion. The other is of a forty nine eyed celestial, who has wings that bear forty nine mouths that speak holy truths. In this he pretends to be a Seraph, though never before Morwel. This seed has three charges. It will not be the hardest, more if you have Morwel's blessing to investigate, and discover a way to protect yourself from joining the cycle of rebirth."

-Team Seira

A slight nod, "Next is the Beastlands. I know not where the seed is there, neither myself or my counterpart has found it. We have found traces of it, and we believe it would lie deep within the Beastlands. This will be a matter of investigation, and will likely be one of the last pursued by any side."

-Team Alyssa and Jessica teamup

"The one that lies within Elysium. It lies buried before the Empyrean Gate.  You must find a way to reach that seed safely and deal with the Arch Angels who protect the Gate. The Guardian of that seed maintains no form, but will intervene if you come close to it. This will be no easy task, though not as difficult as a few others."

-Cresiel mentioned/tentatively Moore's node.

"I do not believe this one to be difficult. Next is Bytopia's. It now rests in the Memorial there," he explains, "The sorrows of Bytopia must be faced, and what was lost must be remembered and mourned. The Guardian there takes the form of a gnome. This one will be difficult, as Bytopia itself will resist you."

-Team Alicia

"The next is at the Ordial Gate in the Astral Plane. I know less of this one, save that no traveler in the Astral Plane can reach it. Originally, the Ordial Gate was meant to be a connection another transitive plane, one we ultimately did not use in favor of the Infinite Stair. The Incarnation of Balance changed it, so that I am not certain how to reach it now, only that it will be one of the hardest seeds to obtain due to this."

-Team Alyssa

"Next is one in the Deep Ethereal, at the Heart of Dreams," Zaphkiel continues. "I believe it to have three charges, and any who seek it must be able to master and defeat any dream they can imagine. Reality will become a matter of dreams there, and dreams shall oppose you to the last. The Guardian there takes the form of a blindfolded gorgon. This one will not be easy, but nor will it be as difficult as the most challenging seeds."

-Team Seira
This is not the greatest post in the world, no... this is just a tribute.

Corwin

#6
Remaining known seeds:
Gehenna
Mechanus

Ongoing quests:
TBA

Claimed seeds:
Io - Seira/Alicia/Moore
Infinite Stairway - Team Alicia
Celestia - Seira/Moore/Alyssa
Ysgard - Team Alicia
Arborea - Team Seira
Bytopia - Team Alicia
Arcadia - Team Moore (and a last moment Kascha cameo!)
Deep Ethereal - Team Seira
The Beastlands - Team Alyssa and Jessica teamup
Pandemonium - Alicia/Sulia/Queen Already taken by Bel and Gathgorian
Abyss - Team Seira
Carceri - Team Moore
Astral - Team Alyssa
Limbo - Alicia/Sulia/Queen (and a benefactor cameo)
Hades - Team Asmodeus and Seira teamup
Baator - Team Asmodeus and Seira teamup
Elysium - Team Moore
Acheron - Team Alyssa
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake