My campaign has gone from 1-14 so far and several of the over-arcing plots involved preventing cultists or avatars from enabling evil gods from breaking into the material world. So far, so good.
My plans for the final Act were for the PCs to discover that there is a demigod/avatar of Vengeance that is stalking through the Planes, killing or enslaving lesser deities and stealing their power. Several of the PCs actually think that 'gods suck' so the theme fits pretty well. They've named the campaign the 'God-Killer Campaign' because of all of the plans they've foiled.
Here's the question: How can a demi-god or avatar of a greater being actually move an army around slaying lesser deities and avatars to steal their power without greater beings finding out/getting involved? My idea was for them to capture a minor deity whose powers include remaining hidden from other deities early on but that sounds heavy-handed when I read it now.
Any thought on how I can pull this off? We haven't started back up again (THANKS COVID!) but I want my ducks in a row before we start up.
I don't know if it's still a thing, but because of how the various pantheons of D&D are aligned, every deity/god/demi-god has allies and enemies. Your BBEG doesn't have to hide, they just have to blame the attacks on somebody else.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
I don't know if it's still a thing, but because of how the various pantheons of D&D are aligned, every deity/god/demi-god has allies and enemies. Your BBEG doesn't have to hide, they just have to blame the attacks on somebody else.
I was thinking of something like that. She's a goddess of vengeance and since most people who pray for Justice are really praying for Vengeance I thought she might co-opt the followers of Justice for a start.
Make them a god of time, and perhaps try to find some trinket which will protect your players from their effects. That way, gods which the players remember have suddenly never existed.
Alternatively, have the evil god have been banished to the begining of time, and have them be doing all sorts of nastiness there which is affecting the current gods.
another option is to have them be the god of trickery, and they are leaving false clues, perhaps even implicating the party, causing the gods to summon them to answer for their crimes (which they will know nothing of!).
Make them a god of time, and perhaps try to find some trinket which will protect your players from their effects. That way, gods which the players remember have suddenly never existed.
Alternatively, have the evil god have been banished to the begining of time, and have them be doing all sorts of nastiness there which is affecting the current gods.
another option is to have them be the god of trickery, and they are leaving false clues, perhaps even implicating the party, causing the gods to summon them to answer for their crimes (which they will know nothing of!).
The only thing that can kill a god's avatar is another god's avatar. The real things can only be forced into stasis when people stop worshiping them for long enough. Player characters never really approach being Demi-gods, and unless you specifically want to tailor your game to God Slaying, it's simply impossible to ever kill a god.
The only thing that can kill a god's avatar is another god's avatar. The real things can only be forced into stasis when people stop worshiping them for long enough. Player characters never really approach being Demi-gods, and unless you specifically want to tailor your game to God Slaying, it's simply impossible to ever kill a god.
Yeah, part of the backstory is that one of the lesser deities (a goddess of Vengeance) is looking to take over some new turf. The problem is that she can't fight a greater deity or she'll get slaughtered. She can find one that's about her level but even if she wins she'll be vulnerable to the same thing from someone else. This is one of the reasons the deities don't fight each other very often.
I don't expect the party to kill a god...their goal is to stop a demi-god from being manipulated into killing a god.
You can have the minor deity working in cahoots with a powerful demonic entity or evil deity to mask its interaction - something like Gabriel and Satan in Constantine.
The goddess can have a plan to slay the evil being as soon as the deal is done, using the players in some way to help her - maybe through a McGuffin or just employing them to help - just to betray them in the end.
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My campaign has gone from 1-14 so far and several of the over-arcing plots involved preventing cultists or avatars from enabling evil gods from breaking into the material world. So far, so good.
My plans for the final Act were for the PCs to discover that there is a demigod/avatar of Vengeance that is stalking through the Planes, killing or enslaving lesser deities and stealing their power. Several of the PCs actually think that 'gods suck' so the theme fits pretty well. They've named the campaign the 'God-Killer Campaign' because of all of the plans they've foiled.
Here's the question: How can a demi-god or avatar of a greater being actually move an army around slaying lesser deities and avatars to steal their power without greater beings finding out/getting involved? My idea was for them to capture a minor deity whose powers include remaining hidden from other deities early on but that sounds heavy-handed when I read it now.
Any thought on how I can pull this off? We haven't started back up again (THANKS COVID!) but I want my ducks in a row before we start up.
Thanks in advance.
I don't know if it's still a thing, but because of how the various pantheons of D&D are aligned, every deity/god/demi-god has allies and enemies. Your BBEG doesn't have to hide, they just have to blame the attacks on somebody else.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I was thinking of something like that. She's a goddess of vengeance and since most people who pray for Justice are really praying for Vengeance I thought she might co-opt the followers of Justice for a start.
Thanks for the tip!
Make them a god of time, and perhaps try to find some trinket which will protect your players from their effects. That way, gods which the players remember have suddenly never existed.
Alternatively, have the evil god have been banished to the begining of time, and have them be doing all sorts of nastiness there which is affecting the current gods.
another option is to have them be the god of trickery, and they are leaving false clues, perhaps even implicating the party, causing the gods to summon them to answer for their crimes (which they will know nothing of!).
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I like this...
The only thing that can kill a god's avatar is another god's avatar. The real things can only be forced into stasis when people stop worshiping them for long enough. Player characters never really approach being Demi-gods, and unless you specifically want to tailor your game to God Slaying, it's simply impossible to ever kill a god.
<Insert clever signature here>
Yeah, part of the backstory is that one of the lesser deities (a goddess of Vengeance) is looking to take over some new turf. The problem is that she can't fight a greater deity or she'll get slaughtered. She can find one that's about her level but even if she wins she'll be vulnerable to the same thing from someone else. This is one of the reasons the deities don't fight each other very often.
I don't expect the party to kill a god...their goal is to stop a demi-god from being manipulated into killing a god.
You can have the minor deity working in cahoots with a powerful demonic entity or evil deity to mask its interaction - something like Gabriel and Satan in Constantine.
The goddess can have a plan to slay the evil being as soon as the deal is done, using the players in some way to help her - maybe through a McGuffin or just employing them to help - just to betray them in the end.