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Table of Contents
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The Cataclysm Handbook
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Just as spellcasters, warriors, and mythic characters can take on a variety of shapes and traits across various stories, deities can be similarly varied in how they are capable of interacting with the world. In certain settings or campaigns, it may be common for deities to descend to earth and walk amongst mortals. In other settings, the gods may be more distant, perhaps not taking physical form or struggling to communicate their intentions to mortals. In other worlds, the abilities of gods may be asymmetrical, with certain deities having the power to warp reality in manners that others cannot. To account for these distinctions, this book introduces divine traditions to help GMs codify the roles and capabilities of deities within their setting.
One potential application of divine traditions is in conjunction with the walking god template, enabling a more nuanced construction of a deity’s physical manifestation in the setting for the purpose of use as an ally or enemy in a campaign. However, it is not necessary that the walking god template be used with divine traditions, and is quite possible for divine traditions to be implemented in a setting where the gods have no more stats than a simple number designating their effective mythic rank.
A divine tradition is composed of divine boons and divine drawbacks. For every two divine drawbacks a deity possesses, they may select a single divine boon. Certain GMs may wish to grant certain divine boons to all deities in a setting or category or allow deities to select a divine boon for every divine drawback they possess. Divine boons and divine drawback marked with a * apply specifically to gods which are created with the walking god template and may not be appropriate for unstatted gods.
Divine Boons
Additional Domains
The deity gains 2 additional domains and 2 additional subdomains, or 4 additional subdomains and no domains. This boon can be selected multiple times.
Divine Arcana*
The deity gains a number of talents equal to half their mythic tier and treats these talents as if they were tied to a domain for the purpose of the domain mastery ability (reducing their spell point cost). This boon can be selected multiple times.
Domain Specialty*
For every domain the deity possesses, they gain the domain abilities of a cleric of a level equal to twice their mythic tier. When creating sphere effects from spheres associated with their domains, the deity is considered to have a caster level equal to their Hit Dice.
Form of Awe*
The deity’s true form is deadly for mortals to look upon. This functions as the mythic presence universal path ability, save that is always active and does not require mythic power to use. The DC of the effect is increased by 5 and any creature affected by the form of awe is affected by the Deadly Vision Mind sphere advanced talent (DC equal to the DC of the form of awe).
Item Creation
A number of times per day equal to their mythic tier, the deity can create any magic item as a full-round action. In addition, they can create unique artifacts in a lengthier process which could take anywhere from minutes to years.
Pantheonic Cabal (Dominion)
The god shares their pool of Divine Specie with a number of other gods within a group called a Pantheon. Each god which is a member of a Pantheon gains one additional Divine Specie for every two members of the Pantheon (so a god being a member of a Pantheon of 12 gods would have 6 additional Divine Specie). However, no god which is a member of a Pantheon may reallocate their Divine Specie without the unanimous approval of all other gods within the Pantheon. The total number of gods in a Pantheon cannot exceed twice the mythic rank of any member of the Pantheon (meaning that even the most powerful Pantheon cannot have more than 20 members).
Personal Region
The deity gains a personal region as a demiplane or as a section of an existing plane. This region acts as a demiplane created with the Create Demiplane advanced warp talent, save that it can be of any size. A personal region typically manifests outside of existing space and so does not usually overlap with existing territory (unless an area is of special significance to the deity). If a deity is slain outside their personal region, they reform inside their personal realm but are incapable of leaving for one hundred years. A deity may only possess one personal region but may revise its traits however it wishes and open portals to it at any time.
Project Avatar
A deity may project an avatar of themself in a location where an immensely significant event corresponding to their portfolio is taking place or where a powerful incantation or spell made specifically to summon the avatar is performed. The avatar has the same stats as the deity, save that it cannot use any abilities which require the expenditure of mythic power and does not possess the divine providence ability. An avatar also loses the immortal ability if the deity originally possessed it. This reduces the avatar’s CR by an amount equal to half their mythic tier. If a deity does not have stats, an avatar should be a creature with a CR between 20 and 30. A deity cannot have more avatars at a time than their mythic rank (or 10, if a deity is not given stats), and cannot create an avatar for one year if an avatar is destroyed. A deity senses everything their avatar senses.
Unimpeded Power*
A deity may cause any sphere effect they create that is affected by the domain mastery ability to have a duration of permanent. In addition, they can render such effects immune to dispelling by non-mythic creatures.
Divine Drawbacks
Diminished Defenses*
The deity possess certain vulnerabilities, lacking two of the following immunities if they would otherwise possess them: ability damage, ability drain, aging, banishment, death effects, disease, divinations, energy drain, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, petrification, poison, polymorph, sleep, stunning. The deity can also lose their spell resistance, damage reduction, or unassailable power ability in place of one immunity. They can also lose their divine aura or divine constitution ability in place of two immunities. This drawback can be selected multiple times, each time selecting two additional immunities or the equivalent.
Diminished Gifts
The deity cannot use or grant spells or spell-like abilities of a level greater than its mythic rank. Characters who draw power from the deity cannot have a caster level from their class levels which is greater than twice the diety’s mythic rank. If this drawback is taken a second time, the deity lacks the domain mastery and portfolio sense abilities, as a result losing the ability to grant spells to worshipers.
Hoarded Power (Dominion)
The god cannot share their powers with others. They cannot join a Pantheon and cannot give their Divine Specie to other creatures. This also prevents them from using the Security Protocol ability.
Imperfect Dominion*
The deity loses the divine providence ability.
Incomprehensible
The deity’s form and mentality are alien to mortal minds to the point where their actions and intentions cannot be followed. The deity lacks the truespeech ability and cannot use portfolio sense to communicate with creatures. In addition, whenever the deity attempts to directly communicate with non-deities (by speaking, writing or other means), there is a 10% chance per mythic rank that their words are misinterpreted or simply not understood. A DC 20 Wisdom check made by the creature being communicated to reduces this chance to 5% per mythic rank.
Outer Power*
The deity’s type changes to outsider with alignment subtypes corresponding to their alignment and the extraplanar subtype. This does not alter the deity’s Hit Dice, saving throws, proficiencies, or skills.
Restricted Realm
The deity’s power is confined to one or more specific structures, countries, nations, planes, or worlds which are designated as its realm. Creatures which gain spells or class features from that deity can only replenish these abilities inside the deity’s realm. In addition, the deity themself cannot leave this realm, only being able to project avatars outside of the realm if they possess the Project Avatar boon (if a deity is forced outside their realm, they lose power and function as an avatar of themself so long as they are outside their realm). This drawback can be selected a second time. If a deity possesses this drawback twice, the deity’s followers cannot use associated class features and divine spells outside the realm and not even the deity’s avatar can move beyond their realm without being destroyed.
Complex rituals may be able to expand a deity’s realm or allow for temporary activity outside of it.
Divine Specie
In some settings, the gods may be eternal and unchanging beings, their portfolios being forces of existence inextricably tied to them. However, there may be some settings where gods can die or change, perhaps having their portfolios move between members under certain circumstances. In such a world, it may make sense to codify certain elements of deific power as resources which can be exchanged. Divine Specie are units of divine power which are designed for such commerce, corresponding directly with how much power and influence a god wields.
Typically, a god possesses a number of Divine Specie equal to their mythic rank + their number of domains (gods without stats should be assigned a mythic rank between 1 and 10 corresponding to their total following or desired level of power). These initial Divine Specie have already been allocated to the god’s mythic ranks and domains, and reallocating them would cause the god to lose a rank or domain for each Divine Specie that is used elsewhere.
Reallocating Divine Specie
The act of reallocating Divine Specie between different benefits can be easy or strenuous for a god at GM discretion. It may make sense for gods to reorient their powers as they wish or to undergo extensive processes of change, depending on the style of the world. The changing of domains in particular may have far-reaching ramifications for a setting.
In addition to reallocating their Divine Specie between different benefits, a god can give away Divine Specie to other gods or even non-gods. When a god gives away or loses Divine Specie that it has allocated, they lose any benefits they had paid for using that Divine Specie (this usually results in a god losing a domain or mythic rank when they give away Divine Specie). Decreasing a god’s pool of Divine Specie below 0 causes them to lose their godhood completely, transforming them into a non-deity creature or killing them (At GM discretion, gods may not be able to willingly decrease their rank below 1 by giving away Specie).
A god can give one or more Specie to a mortal in order to lift them up to divinity. Bestowing godhood on a mortal requires giving them 2 Specie (at least one of which requires the deity to give up a domain) plus an additional Specie for every domain beyond the first that they are given. If a mortal becomes a Walking God, they lose all mythic ranks that they possessed prior to godhood and gain the Walking God template. If they become a god that is not physically manifested in any way, they start at mythic rank 1 and possess 1 domain unless given additional domains beyond the first.
Divine Specie Benefits
Divine Specie can be allocated by a god to magnify their power in a variety of ways. Presented below are a few samples of how gods might use Divine Specie. Each benefit can be selected any number of times.
Divine Boon: The god gains a divine boon of their choice. This benefit costs 2 Specie.
Expanded Domain: The god gains an additional domain or two additional subdomains. If the Divine Specie allocated to pay for this ability comes from another god (either an active god or a dead one), the giving god must have given up or lost the chosen domain or subdomains to transfer the Specie.
It is important to note that the transfer of domains between gods may have more impact than just altering their individual power. A god’s domains are often intrinsically bound to universal phenomena, so shifting control of an element such as Death, Magic, or Sun between ideologically-opposed entities could have far-reaching effects which extend across a setting. Similarly, a god might find their own identity and philosophy altered when they gain a new domain.
Negate Drawback: The god loses one drawback of their choice for as long as they have a Specie allocated to this benefit. Multiple Specie can be allocated to this benefit, each one suppressing a differing Drawback. Drawbacks that count as multiple drawbacks cost the same number of Specie to negate. The Hoarded Power drawback cannot be negated through this benefit.
Increase Rank: A god can allocate 1 Specie to increase their mythic rank by 1. When increasing their rank in this way, the god does not gain additional domains for increased mythic ranks
Security Protocol: A god can allocate a Specie towards some method of preservation in the event of their death. Such methods may include investing part of their essence in a magical item, creating a simulated version of themself in an isolated demiplane, or splitting up their divine power among a number of descendants or followers. If the god dies, they live on through their Security Protocol and can be returned to life if certain circumstances are met. These circumstances do not necessarily come to pass and can always somehow be impeded or tampered with. A god cannot be returned to life until at least 100 years after their death. When a god returns to life, any of their Specie (and thus domains) which were transferred to other gods return to them. Up to 4 Specie can return to the returning god for every 1 Specie allocated to the Security Protocol. Specie allocated into a Security Protocol is not redistributed when a god dies unless the Security Protocol is irreparably compromised.
Sources of Specie
Specie is generally considered to be a very finite resource. Although certain extreme circumstances may create Specie, these instances are so cosmically rare that even most gods will only increase their Specie through exchanges or conflicts with other gods. Presented below are several options by which Specie might be acquired within a setting.
Initial Allotment: A cosmic force, plane, or arbiter overdeity may be the source of all Specie in a setting, allocating it among various gods based on unknown or undisclosed processes. This Specie may be moved among the gods as they see fit, but nothing they do will result in the generation of new Specie. It is possible that this force can redistribute Specie on its own accord, potentially demoting gods to lower ranks or even stripping them of their divinity.
Claim from Dead God: When a god is killed, any Specie it possesses is divided amongst other beings. Typically, at least half of this Specie goes to whoever is responsible for the god’s death, although a god may choose to bequeath the remaining Specie among other deities. A god who does not bequeath their Specie to another being typically retains their Specie when they die, although they cannot use it for any purpose.
It is said that the pinnacles of mortal magic can forcibly draw Specie from a dead god or even a still-extant god. However, such rituals are immensely difficult, require impossibly rare components, and may even take years to perform. What’s more, gods may utilize their extensive power to keep this information from mortals at any cost.
Relevance: As beings of belief, gods may shift in power based on the importance of their faiths and their areas of concern in a setting. Substantial changes in the setting’s society, environment, or composition can cause gods to gain or lose Divine Specie. For example, an ecological disaster which causes widespread drought might create Divine Specie for a god whose area of concern includes deserts or thirst, while the collapse of a powerful empire could result in its associated gods losing Divine Specie. What events ultimate determine the gain or loss of Divine Specie should be left to GM discretion, but changes in relevance should generally coincide with monumental moments in the history of the god’s area of concern or faith.
Sample Divine Specie God
The following is a sample god with Divine Specie accounted for in her description
Sohnae, Dean of Avarice
Alignment NE
Areas of Concern Plunder, Spells, Stolen Secrets, Teaching
Domains Evil, Knowledge, Magic, Travel
Subdomains Arcane, Education, Exploration, Thievery
Favored Weapon Dagger
Symbol a dragon head within a cauldron
Sacred Animal(s) cuckoo
Sacred Color(s) Blue, silver
Effective Mythic Rank 2
Divine Boons Personal Region, Project Avatar
Divine Specie 10 (4 divine boons (personal region, project avatar), 4 domains, 2 ranks)
The Death of a God
Due to their immense power, it is quite rare for a god to actually be killed. It does happen, however, and certain consequences are to be kept in mind for such a cosmic paradigm shift.
When a god dies, any domains which are not allocated to other gods are left uncontrolled, which can cause them to behave erratically and dangerously (failure to claim the Weather domain, for example, could result in strange storms or dramatic climate shifts). Magic effects created by the god will also fail or potentially go haywire.
In some remote corner of the multiverse, the god’s corpse will often materialize in some way. If this corpse can be found, it is possible through elaborate and exhaustive magic to one day return the god to life, although this often requires the introduction of Divine Specie from another source.
Levels of Divinity
The Detect Divinity ritual from Ultimate Spheres of Power outlines 6 categories of deity, those being Demigods, Fallen Gods, Lesser Deities, Intermediate Deities, Greater Deities, and Overdeities. The rules in The Cataclysm Handbook did not acknowledge this distinction mechanically, but such distinctions can be clarified as follows.
Demigods: Demigods are any characters who do not possess the walking god template but are still capable of granting spells to worshippers. Examples include mythic characters with the divine source mythic path ability, demon lords, archdevils, and creatures such as conqueror worms.
Fallen Gods: Fallen gods are deities that have died or otherwise lost their divinity. If these creatures possess the walking god template and remain alive, they possess no mythic ranks and lose the Domain Mastery, Mythic Outpouring, Portfolio Sense, and Powers of Faith abilities
Lesser Deities: Lesser deities are Gods or Walking Gods with a number of effective mythic ranks ranging from 1 to 3
Intermediate Deities: Intermediate deities are Gods or Walking Gods with a number of effective mythic ranks ranging from 4 to 6
Greater Deities: Greater deities are Gods or Walking Gods with a number of effective mythic ranks ranging from 7 to 10
Overdeities: Overdeities are more akin to physical laws than actual deities and may not even be sentient. They do not directly grant spells to followers and are unlikely to even notice mortal affairs, but may wield influence over other deities or the construction of divinity itself. This is not to say that Overdeities are wholly untouchable forces, but rather that their coercion or alteration would require steps beyond what even most gods are capable of.
U: Part of Ultimate Spheres of Power and does not need to be bought separately from that book