Warring Powers
When gods fight, mortals die. For this reason, it can be difficult to consolidate the power of gods and how they interact with the world around them. This is especially true when two powers are fighting against each other, and their champions are fighting alongside them. These rules are an attempt to codify how the gods, primordials, demigods, and more fight alongside their warriors.
What are Powers?
Powers is a generic term for any being of great power like a primordial, demigod, elder evil, daemon, deity, or any other being of great and immense capacity.
Powers in Play
When this situation arises during a game, its important to know how it works as well as the process for how the two powers interact with each other. The keywords for dealing with powers are:
- Power Points. The powers each have a Power Die they roll to determine how many points they have at the start of the round. These Power Points can be used on Defense, Offense, Special Attacks, or other purposes, per the DM's discretion. These points can be saved for future rounds, but powers start combat at 0 points.
- Power Die. This is the die each power rolls at the start of each round. The die is based on how powerful the being is, as well as any external factors that might increase or decrease their power like powerful artifacts or abilities.
- Health. The total health a power has. While this number appears low, it can roughly be estimated as 100 hit points per point of health.
- Defense. This determines the power's natural defense against attacks. A power can temporarily increase their Defense by spending Power Points at the start of the round, this increase only lasts for the round. Most powers will have a Defense of 0 or 1, while the most powerful powers may have 3 or even 4.
- Offense. This determines the power's striking force against Defense. A power has 0 Offense at the start of a round and can only increase it by spending power points, this increase is temporary and lasts for the round.
- Special Attacks. These are the miscellaneous abilities a power can spend their Power Points on at the start of a round. Many of them mimic spells or abilities, and their DC is based on the individual's power.
Process
At the start of every round, a power rolls their Power Die and gains a number of Power Points equal to the roll. The power then decides how many Power Points they wish to spend on their Defense and Offense, they can then spend any additional points on the options highlighted in the Special Attacks section, or another ability per the DM's discretion. Some powers may have additional options available to them if they have unique abilities or specific portfolios.
It is recommended that the DM controls one power, and the players control any remaining powers.
Steps
- At the start of the round, each power rolls their Power Die secretly. They then gain a number of Power Points equal to the result and choose where to spend them.
- The power can spend their points on their Defense, Offense, and then any Special Attacks.
- Once all powers have chosen their results, they then reveal their Defense and Offense total to each other in a step referenced as the Offense/Defense stage.
- Each power subtracts their opponent's Offense from their total Defense, and then take any remaining damage to their health.
- Once Offense/Defense is over, Special Attacks take place.
Multiple Powers
If there are more than two powers fighting, the powers must decide where they are striking this round. They can split their Offense up to hit different powers, or decide to only target one power this round. A power's Defense is the same for any attack made against them by another power.
Creating a Power
These individuals of immense ability are far above the ability of mortals, and even if mortals were able to fight one, they couldn't fully kill it without the help of another power.
- Intermediate Demigods. Archfiends, archfey, and demon princes make up this ranking. They are typically as powerful as an empyrean, or weaker, and have some control over their world, forcing it to bend to their will, though in a limited range to up to a few hundred miles at a time. These individuals are more likely to interact with mortals and not have as large of a following of worshipers.
- Greater Demigods. Powerful archfiends, archfey, demon princes, lesser primordials, and others make up this ranking. They are not as powerful as the gods, though if enough of them worked together they could take one down. They might oversee an entire layer in the Nine Hells or Abyss, or oversee an Elven Court like the Summer Court.
- Lesser Powers. The lowliest of the gods and primordials, these individuals are incredibly powerful, as they have to be. They are the first ranking of powers that can give access to 9th-level spells to their priests and their influence can be felt across the multiverse, no matter how weak. Lesser powers have temples dedicated to them, but not many and their worshipers aren't that spread out. Often times, this power only has a presence on a singular Material Plane world.
- Intermediate Powers. Most of the gods and primordials fall into this category, large numbers worship them and their temples can be found on a large number of worlds. Their presence can be felt across the multiverse, if not instantly, at least very quickly. Elder evils often fall into this category.
- Greater Powers. The most powerful individuals in the multiverse. For the gods, their presence is felt on thousands of worlds. Elder evils and primordials who achieve such power are horrifying and devastating on the worlds, with many such primordials being locked away in prisons during the Dawn War and these elder evils locked out of the multiverse since when the planes were formed.
Guidelines for Powers
| Power Level | Power Die | Health | Defense | Range | DC | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate Demigods | 1d4 | 15 | 0 | 75 ft. | 21 | Archfey, Archfiends, Demon Princes, Empyrean, Powerful Lich |
| Greater Demigods | 1d6 | 25 | 0 | 125 ft. | 23 | Head of the Court Archfey, Archfiends & Demon Princeses of a Layer |
| Lesser Powers | 1d8 | 50 | 1 | 250 ft. | 25 | Lesser Gods and Primordials |
| Intermediate Powers | 1d10 | 75 | 2 | 500 ft. | 28 | Gods, Primordials, Elder Evils |
| Greater Powers | 1d12 | 100 | 3 | 1,000 ft. | 30 | Leader of Pantheons, Ancient Elder Evils, First Primordials |
Adjusting Statistics
Not all powers have the same abilities, and may have different abilities than others, even those who share the same portfolio. Domains that a god oversees can also augment their abilities with a few examples provided below. A power can only gain the benefit of one domain per encounter.
| Domain | Augment |
|---|---|
| Arcana | When Offense/Defense is revealed, the power can force the opponents' results to switch (Recharge 6). |
| Death | When the power raises undead with its Special Attack, it can target 1 additional corpse or pile of bones per point spent. |
| Forge | All creatures of the powers' choice within range have resistance to fire damage. |
| Grave | All creatures of the powers' choice within range deal additional damage to undead equal to the powers' Power Die. |
| Knowledge | Before revealing Offense/Defense, the power can see the opponent's Offense/Defense first (Recharge 6). |
| Life | The power regains an amount of Health equal to their Power Die (Recharge 6). |
| Light | Any fire or radiant damage from a Special Attack deals an additional die of damage. |
| Nature | The power can reroll a Power Die if they spend all their points on their Offense this turn (Recharge 6). |
| Order | All creatures of the powers' choice within range can grant themselves the result of a 10 on one ability check, attack roll or saving throw until the end of the round after they roll a d20 but before they know the result of the roll. |
| Tempest | Any thunder or lightning damage from a Special Attack deals an additional die of damage. |
| Trickery | The power can move Power Points from Offense to Defense, or Defense to Offense after Offense/Defense are revealed (Recharge 6). |
| War | The power increases their Offense or Defense by 1 until the end of the encounter. |
Special Attacks
Powers are not simply restricted to devoting their Power Points to fighting a rival power, but can spend these points at the start of the round to use a Special Attack. These attacks are often based on spells or other effects, and some powers may have additional options or restrictions, per the DM's discretion.
- Diseased. 3 points / All creatures of the power's choice within range must make a Constitution saving throw or become diseased. A diseased creature is poisoned for 1 minute. They can repeat the saving throw at the end of their turn, ending the effect early.
- Divine Bane. 1 point / All creatures of the power's choice within range must make a Charisma saving throw or be under the effects of a bane spell until the end of the round. No concentration required.
- Divine Bless. 1 point / All creatures of the power's choice within range are under the effects of a bless spell until the end of the round. No concentration required.
- Heavenly Flames. 2+ points / All creatures of the power's choice within range must make a Dexterity saving throw or take fire damage equal to power's Power Die and become on fire. At the start of the creature's turn, they take an additional amount of fire damage equal to power's Power Die until they take an action to extinguish the flames. On a successful save, a creature takes half damage and isn't on fire. For every additional point the power spends, the initial damage increases by 1 die.
- Hold the Masses. 2 points / All creatures of the power's choice within range must make a Wisdom saving throw or be under the effects of a hold monster spell until the end of the round. No concentration required.
- Mass Cure. Varies / The power can heal an amount of hit points equal to 10 x the points spent, divided as they choose among any number of creatures within range.
- Mass Inflict. Varies / All creatures of the power's choice within range must make a Wisdom saving throw or take an amount of necrotic damage equal to the power's Power Die times the number of points spent. On a successful save, a creature takes half damage. A creature's hit point maximum is decreased by the necrotic damage taken.
- Protection. 2+ points / All creatures of the power's choice within range are under the effects of a protection from energy spell until the end of the round. No concentration required. For every additional point the power spends, the creatures are protected from an additional damage type.
- Radiance. 3+ points / All creatures of the power's choice within range must make a Constitution saving throw or take radiant damage equal to the power's Power Die and be blinded for 1 minute. A blinded creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of their turn, ending the effect early. On a successful save, a creature takes half damage and isn't blinded. For every additional point the power spends, the number of damage die is increased by 2.
- Raise an Army. Varies / The power targets a number of humanoid corpses or bones equal to their Power Die times the number of points spent within range. They rise up as a skeleton, if a pile of bones, or a zombie, if a corpse, and roll for initiative. They remain until destroyed and follow their creator's orders (no action required).
- Slow. 1 point / All creatures of the power's choice within range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be under the effects of a slow spell until the end of the round. No concentration required.
Characters & Powers
Mortals can target a power, though their attacks rarely do enough to actually harm them. All powers have a natural immunity to non-magical attacks and effects, as well as immunity to key damage types based on their power. Almost all gods are immune to Radiant damage, Primordials are immune to their elemental damage, Elder Evils are immune to psychic damage, and so on.
If a power is the target of a spell or effect, their Armor Class is equal to their DC and they are assumed to automatically succeed on any saving throw originating from a mortal, though they may have an avatar that has a lower Armor Class, DC, and can fail saving throws while fighting mortals. Most powers who are fighting each other will manifest an avatar to help fight a rival faction's mortals while the powers solely focus on each other.
Avatars
Avatars are the physical manifestations of a power's will, these individuals are often given sent out into the world to directly move events without the power having to appear themselves and devote their undivided attention to the issue. Avatars are used to fight mortals, grant boons, or any other task a power doesn't wish to spend their whole attention focusing on.
During two fights between gods, they typically want to focus solely on the power they are fighting and so will create an avatar that can focus on fighting mortals and distracting them from harming a power. To create an avatar, a power must invest a number of it's health into the avatar, though this doesn't decrease the power's health. The avatar gains 100 hit points per health invested into it, and only if the avatar is defeated does the health of the power get decreased by an amount equal to what it invested.
This means that if a power creates an avatar with 300 hit points, they invested 3 of their health in the avatar. This health is linked to the avatar and if the avatar is reduced to 0 hit points, the power suffers 3 damage to its health. If the avatar is pulled back before it is reduced to 0 hit points, the power's health is accordingly. If a power's health is reduced to 0, the avatar remains standing until it is reduced to 0 hit points.
Most avatars are CR 18 for Intermediate Demigods, and increase in CR by 2 per power level of the power.
Most mortals will have to be content with destroying the avatar of a power, not the actual power itself. Most powers who have their avatars destroyed or killed regenerate after a few hours, weeks, or years.
Damaging a Power
A mortal must deal 100 points of damage on their turn in order to reduce a power's health by 1. For every additional 100 points of damage, they further reduce the power's health by 1.
Being Attacked
A power is not assumed to be attacking characters, but rather fighting another power. If they decide to target something else, they instead spend their Offense points on a single creature of their choice. Each point in their Offense deals 100 damage to the target of their attack, and they can not split this attack up on multiple creatures. This attack automatically hits. A creature who dies from this divine intervention has their soul destroyed and can not be brought back by any means.
For this very reason, its important for adventurers to only take on the powers when they have the backing of another.
Killing a Power
Powers can only be destroyed, and killed, by being reduced to 0 health and by the act of another power, or extremely powerful artifact. If they are reduced to 0 health and it is not the act of a power or artifact, they simply regenerate after a few hours, days, or years, depending on how powerful they are, the amount of worship they hold, and other factors per the DM's discretion.
If a power wishes to kill another power, they must reduce their rival to 0 health and then claim the power's portfolio and worship. This is a mysterious process that can take days to years to accomplish, which can be expedited by the help of other powers. Sometimes, in order for an especially powerful being to be killed, a power who oversees death and life must be involved to permanently seal away a power from life.
Some powers who have been destroyed and killed have come back to life through the power of undeath. In these rare circumstances, it can be even harder to destroy them and may require artifacts, pantheons of gods, and more to destroy them once and for all.
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