Homebrew Ascended Avatar Species Details
Seeing if I can create this as a species, and we can add our class info to the species after.
Ascended Avatar Traits
"Deity" is a broad term encompassing any supernatural being, male or female, that is believed to be divine and worthy of worship or reverence. Deities are often associated with specific domains or areas of influence, such as nature, war, love, or the afterlife.Ability Score Increase
Maximize the 3 most relevant ability scores; all other scores become 24 unless they were already higher. All of a deity's ability scores can be increased to 30, instead of 24.
Speed
Base land speed increases by 60 feet, and stacks with any other movement increases granted by feats, or by your class. You are granted flight at 60 feet, and have the ability to hover. If you already have a fly speed, increase fly speed by 60 feet instead. You are granted a swim speed of 60 feet. If you already have a swim speed, increase swim speed by 60 feet instead.
Languages
As an ascended avatar, you gain the ability to know all languages fluently (read and write, speak, and comprehend when they are spoken). In addition, you gain telepathy to a range of 1000 feet.
Alter Reality
As an action, the ascended avatar can alter reality by its will alone. This ability functions similar to Wish but with a far grander scope and scale, in theory the avatar can do almost anything. Alter Reality can be used only once per long rest. The limitations of alter reality include, but are not limited to:
- Ending the world. The ascended avatar cannot destroy an entire plane of existence by simple force of will alone, nor can the avatar simply annihilate other deities. However, an avatar could potentially destroy upwards of an entire city in mere seconds, though other deities may prevent the ascended avatar from doing so.
- Become more powerful. The ascended avatar cannot use Alter Reality to gain levels in other classes or arbitrarily make itself stronger in ways that don't make sense for that avatar. For example, a deity of undeath is immune to necrotic as described in Divine Resilience because it makes sense for that deity, it would not make sense for that same deity to will itself to be immune to radiant damage as well. Likewise, an ascended avatar can grant and gain templates this way but only so long as it makes sense for that avatar. A god of life and the sun cannot use this feature to transform others into constructs with the mechanized template.
- Alter/travel through time. The ascended avatar cannot travel through time to the extent it would be able to create potential time paradoxes. It may alter time in a similar fashion to Wish, however, with a scope of 1 minute instead of 1 round.
- Create artifacts. An ascended avatar can create any tier of magic item, though it cannot create anything equal to or greater than an artifact using this ability.
In short, alter reality can do anything that would make reasonable sense for that avatar to be able to do. A god of nature granting his follows a blessing of lycanthropy is completely reasonable, a god of blacksmithing doing the same is not. Ascended Avatars and deities are often hesitant to be overzealous with this ability and use it sparingly to avoid creating conflict with other deities. If the Crusader God starts turning all of his paladins into solars, what's stopping the God of Slaughter from turning all of his followers into balors? Regardless of their interests, deities understand that absolute conflict would bring about the end of all things and as such would leave them nothing to rule over.
Aura of Divinity
Every creature within 500 feet of the deity and that is aware of it is subject to one of two effects depending on the creature's relationship with the deity. While under the affects of the Aura of Divinity, a creature is aware that the deity is in fact a deity. The deity can suppress or resume this aura as a free action.
- Aura of Power. All hostile creatures in the aura make attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws with disadvantage
- Aura of Shielding. The Deity and all allied creatures have advantage on all saving throws. Additionally, if an affected creature would take half damage on a successful save, it takes no damage and half damage on a failed save. All allied creatures excluding the deity also gain the benefits of a bless spell while in the aura.
Divine Being
The ascended avatar's creature type is either Celestial (good), Fiend (evil), or Abberation (neutral), and will match the alignment of the mortal you once were.
Divine Nature
The ascended avatar does not need to eat, breath, or sleep. Additionally, an ascended avatar gains the benefit from a long rest in 1 hour, and a short rest in 10 minutes.
Divine Power
The ascended avatar is immune to being charmed, exhausted, frightened, or poisoned. In addition, any spell or effect created by another ascended avatar bypasses the damage and condition immunities and resistances of non-deity or ascended avatar creatures.
Divine Realm
Each ascended avatar has a Divine Realm connected to the Ocean of Infinity (the astral plane) in a similar manner to how a Demiplane is connected to the Ethereal Plane. From the outside, these realms appear as massive opaque bubbles shimmering faintly. A Gate spell cast directly on the bubble while touching it can force an entryway into the avatar's realm, otherwise an ascended avatar can choose whether or not a creature can enter its realm. While in its realm, an ascended avatar has no restrictions on its Alter Reality feature as long as the effects by that feature only target beings in the realm and the target isn't another deity or artifact. The exact size, shape, atmosphere, flora, and flow of time in the realm is determined by the ascended avatar (note: the flow of time has no bearing on the 30 days an avatar cannot leave its realm should it be slain, the 30 days must pass in the material plane specifically).
Divine Resilience
An ascended avatar is immune to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical weapons that aren't at least Very Rare in rarity unless those attacks come from another ascended avatar or deity. Any resistances the ascended avatar had while they were mortal become immunities, and it gains any number of new resistances or immunity that would make sense for the avatar (for example, an avatar of magic is likely immune to Force damage and an avatar of undeath is likely immune to Necrotic damage)
Divine Wrath (Mythic trait, recharges on a short or long rest)
If the ascended avatar is reduced to 0 hit points, it doesn't die or fall unconscious. Instead its divine energy explodes outwards, and every hostile creature to it must succeed a DC 30 Constitution saving throw, taking 60d6 radiant damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. The avatar then regains all of its hit points.
Grant Spells
Ascended avatars may grant spells to clerics and, as appropriate, an ascended avatar may or may not also grant spells to paladins, druids, and rangers. Avatars can, as an action, see the area surrounding a creature they grant spells to as though by the scrying spell (no save). Alternatively, avatars can view areas strongly dedicated to them (anything that would be viable as a sanctuary for Word of Recall) in the same fashion. Avatars can only view one area or creature at a time.
Heightened Senses
An ascended avatar has True Sight out to a range of 300 feet and can see through objects as though wearing a ring of x-ray vision out to a range of 60 feet.
Innate Spellcasting
Ascended avatars can cast the following spells, requiring no material components. The spellcasting modifier is Charisma:
- At will: Any Cleric spell of 3rd level or lower (cantrips as a 20th level caster). Some avatars may also be able to cast Druid, Paladin, or Ranger spells. Among these include plane shift and divine word.
- 3/day each: Any Cleric spell of 6th level or lower. Some avatars may also be able to cast Druid, Paladin, or Ranger spells.
- 1/day each: Any Cleric spell or 9th level or lower. Some avatars may also be able to cast Druid, Paladin, or Ranger spells.
Legendary Resistance
If an ascended avatar fails a saving throw, they may use one use of legendary resistance to succeed instead. Legendary resistance resets at the end of each long rest.
Legendary Actions
Ascended avatars have access to 5 legendary actions. These actions depend on the avatar, but typical examples include:
- Attack. The avatar makes a single weapon attack
- Move. The avatar moves up to its speed without provoking attacks of opportunity
- Teleport. The avatar teleports to a space it can see or visualize within 1000 feet of it.
Limited Magic Immunity
Ascended Avatars are immune to spells or magical effects of 7th level or lower unless it wishes to be affected. Spells and effects created by other ascended avatars, deities, and artifacts bypass this immunity.
Magic Weapons
All weapon attacks made by an ascended avatar are considered magical.
Natural Armor
An ascended avatar has AC 30, unless another source makes it higher.
Natural Weapons
An ascended avatar may or may not have natural weapons depending on its form. The exact nature of these weapons is dependent on the avatar, but typically an attack from an avatar should deal approximately 50 points of damage per hit. An example of this would be 7d12 + 10, which deals 55 points of damage on average.
Regeneration
An ascended avatar regains 30 hit points at the start of each of its turns.
Restoration
If an ascended avatar dies, its divine energy is returned to its divine realm where it instantly reforms. It cannot leave its divine realm for 30 days after being slain; these days are counted using the passage of time on the Prime Material plane. If an avatar dies in its divine realm, its energy condenses into a large sphere of raw divine energy. Any creature that enters or otherwise absorbs this sphere either becomes an ascended avatar or is destroyed utterly (only the absolute mightiest of beings can handle such intense power, at your option a DC 35 Constitution saving throw can be made where legendary resistance cannot be applied). The ascended avatar cannot be resurrected without the means of an incredibly powerful ritual. A ascended avatar that slays and absorbs the essence of another typically gains some of that avatar's unique abilities.
Shapechanger
An ascended avatar can use an action or bonus action to change its shape into that of any other creature of any size, or back into its true form, which may also be any size the avatar wishes. The avatar's statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form.
Supreme Durability
Regardless of its size or class, all of an avatar's hit dice become d20s and each hit die is considered maximum. The ascended avatar also gains anywhere from 10 to 30 additional hit dice (averaging 20). More hit dice should be given to tougher, martially focused avatars, while less should be given to the more fragile or magically focused ones.
Supreme Magic
An ascended avatar with spell slots from its mortal class(es) have an unlimited number of 3rd level and lower spell slots. Otherwise it has 4 times as many additional spell slots as it would normally have.
Supreme Martial
An ascended avatar with the extra attack feature makes triple as many attacks as normal.
Unique Abilities
Every ascended avatar is unique, and as such, may have unique abilities relevant to their talents. An avatar of magic may have a stronger version of the supreme magic feature. An avatar of war might have unique abilities that allow it to cleave through armies with ease. The exact nature of these unique abilities is up to you and the DM, however they should be approximately equal to another avatar's unique ability (either one major benefit or a variety of smaller benefits are both applicable.) Some examples may include:
- Otherwordly Presence. The avatar is permanently under the effects of Glibness and has advantage on all Charisma checks.
- Exemplar of Magic. The avatar has an unlimited number of spell slots of 6th level and below. It has triple the number of remaining spell slots.
- Divine Judgment. The avatar knows if another creature is lying or otherwise being deceitful towards it.
- Godly Trickster. Nothing can determine that the avatar is telling a lie or being deceitful. The avatar is immune to all forms of true seeing unless it wishes to be affected.
- Unstoppable. The avatar gains advantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws when its hit points are at or below half. The avatar is immune to instant death such as Power Word Kill or Disintegrate. When the avatar takes damage that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it must succeed a DC 5 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save the avatar is instead reduced to 1 hit point. The DC increases by 3 each subsequent use.
In the event of a contradiction, such as the one created by Divine Judgment and Godly Trickster, both effects cancel out. Thus, the avatar with Divine Judgment would roll Insight versus the Godly Trickster's Deception to determine the outcome.