Hey all! I'm gonna be playing in a Theros campaign here soon, and my character wants to ascend to become equivalent to the gods (real original, I know lol). While I'm not expecting to necessarily ascend until the epilogue after the campaign is done, I was wondering if you all had any ideas for character progression in terms of ASIs, feats, magic items, etc. that could thematically fit for this vibe!
My character is a Level 1 Leonin Oathbreaker Iconoclast named Xior (STR: 17, DEX: 11, CON: 17, INT: 9, WIS: 10, CHA: 15) with the Lucky Feat already.
There are two (used to be three) gods we know were once mortal: Xenagos, Phenax, and Athreos. Pick one, and follow their path to godhood.
Xenagos was a planeswalker - by all accounts a very powerful satyr, known for holding the most wild revels. He set about becoming a god by performing a number of unspecified “mystic rituals” which brought Nyxborn entities into the mortal realm, which turned gods against each other as they blamed one another. An army sent by Mogis was sent to destroy, but were thwarted. The victory celebration, however, was pivotal for Xenagos’ ascension, possibly because he harnessed the wild thoughts of the partiers to make them believe he was a god. In Theros, after all, belief is one of the major factors in godhood. (EDIT: Xenagos was killed by Elspeth, a champion of Heliod. This method is somewhat ill-advised unless you can keep yourself safe from god-killing weapons.)
Phenax was once a mortal, trapped in the Underworld by his own death. However, he separated himself from his identity, gaining the ability to leave the Underworld without detection by Athreos. He became the first Returned, and his cheating the normal laws of reality in this way probably gave him the idea of how to become a god. How exactly is unknown.
Athreos was the first mortal to die. You know, ever. The gods realized he would be the first of many and appointed him as the god of the River crossing. He’s currently searching for five specific coins, which he hopes to obtain through the tithes he demands each soul pay. He may grant exception from death if you bring him one of these, or perhaps something even greater. Or, even better, you might offer to the gods to replace him once he obtains all five of these.
That's super cool, all great ideas! I may actually research some of these in future sessions!
I was really curious, tho, about the mechanical side of things, what y'all's thoughts are about building a character the feels like a demigod or something similar at level 20 with their various abilities and spells
Pretty much any character is demigod-level powerful at level 20. It’s pretty baked into the system. Really, though, check with your DM, they’re going to be the making the decisions about if/how a mortal becomes a god. Also check about your class. Oathbreakers are meant to be NPCs, that’s why they’re in the DMG. And it’s a bit tricky to be one at level 1. You don’t even swear your oaths, technically, until level 3, so it’s really hard to have broken them already at level 1.
Yea, we're flavoring it as the power I get from tapping into whatever "divine" power there is outside the gods. And the ascending piece is really just a bit of flavor that I'm prepared to have in the "sunsetting" portion after the campaign is over.
My question more ties into abilities that gods/divine beings have that even 20th level characters don't get from their class/subclass. Specifically, I am DMing Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden for a different group of players, and a severely power-depleted Auril has a series of statblocks in the module. I was curious if there were any character choices (ASIs, feats, magic items, etc.) that would lend themselves to the divine flavor so that as I'm playing, it really feels like I'm gathering the abilities of a god. Like the cloak of the mountebank for teleportation, or items that grant magic resistance (since a bunch of monsters get that ability but I don't think Oathbreaker gets it)
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Hey all! I'm gonna be playing in a Theros campaign here soon, and my character wants to ascend to become equivalent to the gods (real original, I know lol). While I'm not expecting to necessarily ascend until the epilogue after the campaign is done, I was wondering if you all had any ideas for character progression in terms of ASIs, feats, magic items, etc. that could thematically fit for this vibe!
My character is a Level 1 Leonin Oathbreaker Iconoclast named Xior (STR: 17, DEX: 11, CON: 17, INT: 9, WIS: 10, CHA: 15) with the Lucky Feat already.
There are two (used to be three) gods we know were once mortal: Xenagos, Phenax, and Athreos. Pick one, and follow their path to godhood.
Xenagos was a planeswalker - by all accounts a very powerful satyr, known for holding the most wild revels. He set about becoming a god by performing a number of unspecified “mystic rituals” which brought Nyxborn entities into the mortal realm, which turned gods against each other as they blamed one another. An army sent by Mogis was sent to destroy, but were thwarted. The victory celebration, however, was pivotal for Xenagos’ ascension, possibly because he harnessed the wild thoughts of the partiers to make them believe he was a god. In Theros, after all, belief is one of the major factors in godhood. (EDIT: Xenagos was killed by Elspeth, a champion of Heliod. This method is somewhat ill-advised unless you can keep yourself safe from god-killing weapons.)
Phenax was once a mortal, trapped in the Underworld by his own death. However, he separated himself from his identity, gaining the ability to leave the Underworld without detection by Athreos. He became the first Returned, and his cheating the normal laws of reality in this way probably gave him the idea of how to become a god. How exactly is unknown.
Athreos was the first mortal to die. You know, ever. The gods realized he would be the first of many and appointed him as the god of the River crossing. He’s currently searching for five specific coins, which he hopes to obtain through the tithes he demands each soul pay. He may grant exception from death if you bring him one of these, or perhaps something even greater. Or, even better, you might offer to the gods to replace him once he obtains all five of these.
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That's super cool, all great ideas! I may actually research some of these in future sessions!
I was really curious, tho, about the mechanical side of things, what y'all's thoughts are about building a character the feels like a demigod or something similar at level 20 with their various abilities and spells
Pretty much any character is demigod-level powerful at level 20. It’s pretty baked into the system.
Really, though, check with your DM, they’re going to be the making the decisions about if/how a mortal becomes a god. Also check about your class. Oathbreakers are meant to be NPCs, that’s why they’re in the DMG. And it’s a bit tricky to be one at level 1. You don’t even swear your oaths, technically, until level 3, so it’s really hard to have broken them already at level 1.
Yea, we're flavoring it as the power I get from tapping into whatever "divine" power there is outside the gods. And the ascending piece is really just a bit of flavor that I'm prepared to have in the "sunsetting" portion after the campaign is over.
My question more ties into abilities that gods/divine beings have that even 20th level characters don't get from their class/subclass. Specifically, I am DMing Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden for a different group of players, and a severely power-depleted Auril has a series of statblocks in the module. I was curious if there were any character choices (ASIs, feats, magic items, etc.) that would lend themselves to the divine flavor so that as I'm playing, it really feels like I'm gathering the abilities of a god. Like the cloak of the mountebank for teleportation, or items that grant magic resistance (since a bunch of monsters get that ability but I don't think Oathbreaker gets it)