User:ScryersEve/ImmortalsHandbook/DivinityItself
Divinity Itself
In the Immortal's Handbook, divinity is represented as a template that can be added to any sentient creature, each divine status a separate one. Certain powerful creatures and monsters might get some of the bits of the appropriate divine template -- most likely the divine bonus to all die rolls and select divine abilities as special attacks/qualities -- and are effectively the divine status equal to their divine bonus. These aren't actual gods, they're just mighty enough to threaten them.
Mortals
You and me. Also mythological monsters of the mortal/physical realm/prime material plane, like werewolves, vampires, and (non-epic) dragons.
Undergods/the weakest of "true" immortals
From mortals directly imbued with slivers of divinity such as [real] prophets and Egyptian pharaohs, to beings descended from a mortal and an immortal parent (Jesus, Hercules), to extraplanar/extradimensional beings that live in/originate from the same place as gods (demons and angels, einherjar and valkyries), to those few mortals powerful enough to battle these beings, on the precipice of apotheosis themselves.
Immortals/Gods
"True" gods, like Athena and Zeus, Thor and Odin, Set and Osiris. This rank also includes monsters and other beings singularly powerful enough to challenge or even defeat an immortal, like Jormungandr the Midgard Serpent, or extremely-powerful, at-minimum Class 50 mutants like the Silver Surfer and the Hulk. Note that in the Kosmos, greater deity status is limited to the top dog in a major pantheon, such as Zeus and Odin. All major gods under them are intermediate, and all less-than-major gods under that are lesser, etc.
Sidereals/Overgods
The primordial architects who shaped the multiverse into being; they are typically the embodiments/"consciousnesses" of planar layers (Elder Ones), entire planes (Old Ones), or dimensions that compromise a given reality/universe as described above (First Ones). They are assumed dormant until something threatens the cosmic balance (such as an un-being escaping from the void, or attacks from another reality altogether).
Should they be permanently slain, the planar layer, plane, or dimension they "represent" collapses in on itself, killing all immortals and other lesser beings within. Should an immortal acquire overdeity power, a new planar layer is born on whatever plane their godly realm resides. Other immortals will seek to imprison the new elder one within the new layer, AKA "itself", since something of that might could threaten the cosmic balance should its power be allowed to grow further.
These status's also describe beings more powerful than any single god or even an entire pantheon (or its previous generation of gods, or the eventual destroyers of said pantheon), like the Olympian Titans and Surtur (Elder One-equivalent), or cosmic gods like Galactus (Old One-equiv), or things even more powerful like the Celestials (First One).
Eternals/Aeons/Evergods
Near-sentient universes, fully-sentient universes, and sentient multiverses. They are: Demiurges (time lords who were "sundered" into its component dimensions [First Ones], when they re-awaken they compete with all Sidereals for universal dominance; if defeated the demiurge merely goes dormant once more, the resulting universal chaos is left to the remaining Sidereals to deal with), Time Lords (what a Demiurge becomes as soon as it absorbs the last Sidereal and is finally "whole" again; if a time lord is "killed" it is merely sundered into its fundamental dimensions [entropy, matter, spirit, etc.] it becomes a dormant demiurge, where Creation happens again), and High Lords ("combined" Time Lords; Time Lords and High Lords absorb each other to become more powerful, and bear different nicknames: Monad, or Time Lord of a single universe, Duad, or High Lord with two universes "inside" itself, Triads, or "triple-universes", etc).
These status's also cover beings of power greater than any Sidereal, such as Samael, Abraxas, and Ptah (Demiurge-equivalent), abstract entities like Death and Eternity, the Q, ridiculously huge mecha, entire existences unto themselves like Dabbat the World Beast and Yggdrasil the World Tree (Time Lord), or beings composed of multiple realities like Tetragrammatron or those more powerful than any mere time lord like Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet (High Lord).
Supernals/The Supreme Being
Self-explanatory. Examples: the Christian God and the power Thanos had in The End.
Also, this status includes retired supreme beings known as lipika (librarians/custodians of Aravoth), beings directly subordinate to the Supreme Being more powerful than any aeon (the Living Tribunal), or other beings superior to any eternal and all other supernals except for the Supreme Being (Thanos with the Heart of the Universe).
The Akashic Records/The Great Library
The omniversal DNA which can be used to write/rewrite anything in all creation; only the supreme being itself can access the Akashic Library. Time Lords devour each other to gain enough power to break through Kuvachim and enter the Akashic Library, where they hope to slay all lipika and de-throne the Supreme Being so they can wear that mantle.
Note: even though the Supreme Being -- with its direct access to the Records -- is for all intents and purposes omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, a High Lord that manages to penetrate Kuvachim deals with the Supreme Being on equal footing. Of course, all but the mightiest High Lords are eclipsed by the least of lipika, so for the most part any being that can break through Kuvachim (which is a feat in and of itself) are swiftly dealt with for their impertinence without drawing the slightest attention or even notice from the Supreme Being.
Table of Divinity
And because this is an RPG site, to make this page seem legit, here's one of those ubiquitous tables. Slightly different from Deities & Demigods: each status has a fixed rank (though creating a new one "between" pre-existing ones is easy). Abominations are born with the power of quasi-deities (though could always grow in power) and are perversions of their immortal parent's portfolios. The scorned star-spawn of sidereals are called entities (born with the power of greater deities), cosmic cysts that bedevil the body of the demiurge with their presence, who are corruptions of the dimensions themselves. Anomalies are extra-cosmic abominations (born with the power of first ones) superfluous to the cosmos, twisted interpretations of infinite aspects of reality.
| Divine Class | Divine Status | Divine Rank | Approx. HD* | Approx. ECL* | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undergod** | Disciple (Chosen of...) | 1 | 6-10 | 9-15 | Enkidu, Morgan Le Fay, Minions of Set, night hags |
| Prophet (Herald of...) | 2 | 11-15 | 17-25 | Moses, Skirnir, Valkyries, trumpet archons | |
| Immortal or divine power | Hero-deity (Champion of...) | 3 | 16-20 | 26-35 | Hunapu, Raiko, Stoneribs, titans |
| Quasi-deity (Proxy of...) | 4 | 21-30 | 34-50 | Cu Chulainn, Gilgamesh, abominations, solars | |
| Demi-deity | 6 | 31-40 | 51-70 | Handmaidens of Morrigan, Hercules, Tvashtri, Syzygy (brood lord of time) | |
| Lesser Deity | 8 | 41-60 | 67-100 | Hecate, the Norns, malakim (nebulous deva), maskim (former rulers of Baator) | |
| Intermediate Deity | 12 | 61-80 | 101-120 | Ares, Indra, Thor, kyriotates (celestial deva), | |
| Greater Deity | 16 | 81-120 | 134-200 | Dagda, Odin, Zeus, cogents (world flayers), entities (sidereal abominations) | |
| Sidereal or cosmic power | Elder One or Daitya (giant god) | 24 | 121-160 | 201-280 | Apsu, Kronos, Mahisha, Surtur, cherubim (supra-galactic deva) |
| Old One or Secundadeian | 32 | 161-240 | 267-400 | Algol, Chthon, Erebus, Nyx, seraphim (universal deva) | |
| First One or Chioh Ha Qodesh | 48 | 241-320 | 401-560 | Aditi, Chaos, Metatron, Sin, Tamas, Zurvan, anomalies (eternal-level abominations) | |
| Eternal or transcendental power | Demiurge (Stage I) | 64 | 321-480 | 534-800 | Abraxas, Ptah, Samael, Yao |
| Demiurge (Stage II) | 96 | 481-640 | 801-1120 | Same as before, but bigger. | |
| Demiurge (Stage III) | 128 | 641-998 | 1067-1638 | Same, but even more biggerer. | |
| Time Lord (Monad) | 200 | 999-1998 | 1665-2998 | Anthropos, Dabbat, Yggdrasil, Forgotten Realms | |
| High Lord (Duad) | 400 | 1999-2998 | 3331-4998 | Tetragrammatron (Tetrad), Domodon-Doxomedon (Ogdoad), Logos (Heptadecaduad) | |
| Supernal or omnific power | Supreme Being | Highest*** | Highest*** | Highest*** | The Dungeon Master |
| Akasha or metempiric power | Akashic Memory | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | The DM's books and notes, character sheets |
- * usual HD or level range for gods that advance with class levels; can be much higher than this, especially for monstrous deities
- ** mortals with a minor touch of the divine below even hero- or quasi-deities, or weak outsiders
- *** discounting the Akasha
Adventure Ideas
Some creatures and characters contain one or more adventure ideas in one or more of the following level/ECL bands (rough estimate, especially the firs three:
- Low Level (1-6): Suitable for the least to the greatest of almost all mortal beings.
- Mid Level (7-12): Legendary heroes/villains of "superhuman" capabilities worthy of songs and tales lasting their lifetimes tenfold, and the least disciples.
- High Level (13-20): Mythical heroes/villains with reputations rivaling that of the gods, and disciples and the least prophets.
- Low Epic (21-40): Perhaps the greatest power mortals can hope to achieve, prophets, and hero-deities.
- Mid Epic (41-80): Quasi-deities and demideities.
- High Epic (81-120): Lesser and intermediate deities.
- Low Cosmic (121-240): Greater deities and elder ones.
- Mid Cosmic (241-320): Old ones.
- High Cosmic (321-640): First ones and the least aeons (stage I demiurges).
- Low Transcendental (641-960): Stage I demiurges and some of stage II.
- Mid Transcendental (961-1280): Stage II and few III demiurges.
- High Transcendental (1281-1920): Stage III demiurges and time lords.
- Low Omnific (1921-5120): Time lords and high lords (duads).
- Mid Omnific (5121-10240): Triads, tetrads, and pentads.
- High Omnific (10241-20480): Sextads, heptads, ogdoads, nonads, and decads.
- Low Metempiric (20481-40960): Non-Supreme-Being supernals.
- Mid Metempiric (40961-81920): Theoretical optimization.
- High Metempiric (81921-163840): Invitation for Smite Player (Fu).
This is assuming approx. ECL from the above table; certain deities could be very high level but only command a low amount of divinity, especially for those who've fallen on hard times in terms of mortal worship. Most rare could be beings who are not divine (or an equivalent "power source" like being undead, fey, or otherwise beyond the racial might of most mortals), but instead derive all their power from class levels.
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