As I’ve been working my way through the different domains in the Gods of Wandrossa campaign setting, it occurred to me that I might be spinning my wheels on the wrong stuff. After doing a few surveys over on Patreon, I got a couple ideas for totally revamping the system for gods.
Instead of tying gods to Domains as their subclasses (which can always increase), why not make the “powers” the domains, and make the subclasses into the five chief directions of alignment. That way the powers give plenty of flavor (and I don’t have to create a bazillion of the damn things and suffer from the law of diminishing returns) and can help shape the gods themselves. Plus, I’d like them to be in a “tree-system” which is always fun, ie you gotta have A before you can B, and A and B before you can get C, etc.
Since the alignments have been the same since second edition or so, I figure making the five chief ideologies: good, evil, law, chaos, and neutrality into subclasses won’t penalize anyone too much for “picking the wrong one” early on.
So without any further ado, here is how the Gods and their ranks will play out. Of course, if it sucks, I can always change it back.
Gods of Wandrossa
| Rank | Might Bonus | Features | Powers Known | Power Slots |
Slot Level
|
| 1st | 2 | Godly Alignment, Domain Powers | 2 | 1 | 1st |
| 2nd | 3 | Godly Alignment feature, Chosen One (one) | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| 3rd | 3 | – | 4 | 2 | 2nd |
| 4th | 4 | – | 5 | 2 | 2nd |
| 5th | 4 | Chosen One (two) | 6 | 2 | 3rd |
| 6th | 4 | Godly Alignment feature | 7 | 2 | 3rd |
| 7th | 4 | – | 8 | 2 | 4th |
| 8th | 5 | – | 9 | 2 | 4th |
| 9th | 5 | – | 10 | 2 | 5th |
| 10th | 5 | Divine Location | 10 | 2 | 5th |
| 11th | 5 | Chosen One (three), Epic Power (6th) | 11 | 3 | 5th |
| 12th | 6 | – | 11 | 3 | 5th |
| 13th | 6 | Epic Power (7th) | 12 | 3 | 5th |
| 14th | 6 | Godly Alignment feature | 12 | 3 | 5th |
| 15th | 6 | Epic Power (8th) | 13 | 3 | 5th |
| 16th | 7 | – | 13 | 3 | 5th |
| 17th | 7 | Chosen One (four), Epic Power (9th) | 14 | 4 | 5th |
| 18th | 7 | Godly Alignment feature | 14 | 4 | 5th |
| 19th | 8 | – | 15 | 4 | 5th |
| 20th | 8 | Omnipotence | 15 | 4 | 5th |
Godly Alignment
Choose your alignment, selecting one moral aspect (Evil, Good, or Neutrality) and one ethical aspect (Chaos, Law, Or Neutrality). Each aspect of your alignment is detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you alignment powers and other features when you choose it at 1st rank. When you gain ranks as a god, you gain two additional benefits at 2nd level, and again at 6th, 9th, 14th, and 18th level based on each aspect of your alignment. For example, if you are a lawful good god, you gain benefits at 2nd level for both law and good. True neutral gods take the benefits of neutrality twice.
Divine Powers
Your divine status grants you incredible powers which you can use to change and modify the world of Wandrossa and beyond.
Power Slots
The Gods of Wandrossa table shows how many power slots you have. The table also shows what the level of those slots is; all of your power slots are the same level. To use one of your domain powers of 1st level or higher, you must expend a power slot. You regain all expended power slots at the end of a 20-year cycle (the 1st of each month).
For example, when you are 5th rank, you have two 3rd-level power slots. To use the 1st-level power slot miracle, you must expend one of those slots, and you use it as a 3rd-level power.
Powers Known of 1st Rank and Higher
At 1st level, you know two 1st-level powers of your choice from the divine powers list.
The Powers Known column of the God table shows when you learn more divine powers of your choice of 1st level and higher. A power you choose must be of a level no higher than what’s shown in the table’s Slot Level column for your level. When you reach 6th rank, for example, you learn a new divine power, which can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level.
Additionally, when you gain a rank, you can choose one of the divine powers you know and replace it with another power from the divine power list, which also must be of a level for which you have power slots.
Prerequisites
In addition to level requirements, some domain powers have prerequisites that you must meet. For example, the 3rd-level power firestorm requires you to know at least 2 other powers from the fire domain.
Might
Starting at 1st rank, your divine nature allows you to harness the forces of the multiverse. Your access to these forces are represented by a Might score. Your divine rank determines your Might score, as shown in the Might column of the God table.
When you take an action or use one of your divine powers, you apply your might to the check (if applicable).
Chosen One
Starting at 5th rank, you gain a chosen one, a special follower that acts as your proxy on Wandrossa. Choose one of the following types of chosen ones: high priest, merchant prince/princess, politician, sage, or warlord. Each day, you can use your bonus action to move one or more of your chosen ones to any location of your choice. The new location must be in the same region or in an adjacent region. The overdeity provides the stats for your chosen one.
At 5th rank, you gain another chosen one, and again at 11th and 17th rank. Each time you gain a chosen one, you can replace one of your current chosen ones with a chosen one of a different type.
Divine Location
At 10th level, you create a divine location that serves as your followers’ hub, workplace, fortress, and grand temple. The location can be any type of structure of your choosing such as a dungeon, jungle temple, pirate ship, or anything else that is appropriate to your divine nature (at your OD’s discretion). You must place the divine location on a non-water hex at least 12 miles (2 hexes) away from any other locations.
Your divine location has the following stats:
- Your location is managed by a CR 14 legendary creature of a type of your choosing.
- The DV of the location is equal to the CR of the creature that manages it.
- The location has 22 areas with 16 encounters (created by the Overdeity).
- As long as your Divine Location is standing, you gain an additional 250 followers at the end of each day.
If you are destroyed or demoted to 9th level or lower, your location turns to ruins.
Epic Power
At 11th rank, your connection to the multiverse imbues with you an epic power. Choose one 6th-level power from the divine powers list as this epic power.
At higher levels, you gain more epic powers of your choice that can be used in this way: one 7th-level power at 13th level, one 8th-level power at 15th level, and one 9th level power at 18th level.
You can use this feature to use an epic power once without expending a power slot. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until the start of a new 20-year cycle (1st of the month).
Omnipotence
At 20th level, your power and influence know no bounds. You can take two actions per day. Your first action occurs at the time you declare it. However, if your second action is declared within six hours of your first, it is counted as having been declared six hours after the first instead of the time it was actually declared. If this would cause the action to be declared after the daily cut off time, the action is lost.
Godly Alignments
At 1st level, a god gains the Godly Alignment feature. The god chooses two aspects: one ethical aspect and one moral aspect. The following alignment options are available to a god.
Ethical Aspect
There are three ethical aspects for you to choose from: Chaos, Law, and Neutrality. Choose one. Your choice grants you features at 1st rank and again at 2nd, 6th, 14th, and 18th rank.
Chaos
Gods of chaos have little regard to what the other gods expect of them. They follow their whims, holding their personal freedom above all else.
God of Disorder. At 1st rank, during the daily resolution phase, you gain 50 followers for each settlement that has one of your temples in it that is under the effects of civil unrest.
Sew Discord. At 2nd rank, you can use your daily action to create chaos. Choose one settlement that contains one of your temples. That settlement’s satisfaction score is reduced by an amount equal to your might bonus.
Anarchy. Starting at 6th rank, when a settlement that contains one of your temples comes under the effects of civil unrest it does not suffer a penalty to its DV.
Pandemonium. At 14th rank, civil unrest can open a door to your followers. As an action, choose a settlement that is under the effect of civil unrest. You destroy a temple of your choice. After you use this ability, you can use the build temple action as a bonus action. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until the start of a new cycle.
Improved Sew Discord. At 18th rank, you can sew discord in a settlement that does not contain one of your temples.
Law
You act in accordance of pantheonic tradition or your own personal code and often do what is expected of you.
God of Order. At 1st rank, during the daily resolution phase, you gain 10 followers for each settlement that contains one of your temples that is not under the effect of civil unrest.
Law and Order. At 2nd rank, you can use your daily action to squelch uprisings. Choose a settlement that contains one of your temples that is under the effects of civil unrest. The settlement’s satisfaction score becomes 10.
Iron Rule. At 6th rank, your presence in settlements automatically improves morale. At the start of the daily resolution phase, a settlement that contains one of your temples that is under the effects of civil unrest increases its satisfaction score by 2. This amount increases to 3 at 11th rank and 4 at 17th rank.
Model of Discipline. At 14th rank, your organized nature gives you an edge over other the other gods. After you declare a daily action, you can use your bonus action to have your daily action count as having occurred at the start of the day instead of the time it was declared. If more than one god uses this feature on the same day, the actions are organized among those gods in chronological order with all other actions following theirs. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until the start of a new cycle.
Improved Law and Order. At 18th rank, when you use your law and order feature the target settlement’s satisfaction becomes 15.
Neutrality
You steer clear of ethical issues and don’t take sides.
Domain Investment. At 1st rank, select a power domain. Whenever you use a power from that domain, you gain 50 followers. In addition, you learn one 1st-level power of your choice from that domain.
Remote Temple. At 2nd rank, you can build a remote temple. When you take the build action, you can build a temple in a hex that does not contain a settlement. You can only build one remote temple per region and you cannot build your remote temple within 12 miles (2 hexes) of another location. Your remote temple can only have 1 level and its DV is equal to your might bonus. The maximum number of levels that your remote temple can have increases to 2 at 5th rank, 3 at 11th rank, and 4 at 17th rank.
Once you use this feature to build a remote temple you can’t use it again until the start of a new cycle.
Domain Majesty. Starting at 6th rank, when you use one of your domain investment powers that employs your might, you gain a +1 bonus to your might. This bonus increases by 1 at 11th rank (+2) and again at 17th rank (+3).
Regenerate. At 14th rank, you can use your daily action to recover an expended power slot. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until the start of a new cycle.
Domain Grandeur. At 18th rank, you can use a 1st level power from your domain investment without using one of your power slots. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until the start of a new cycle.
Moral Aspect
There are three moral aspects for you to choose from: Evil, Good, and Neutrality. Choose one. Your choice grants you access to additional powers as you gain levels in this class.
Evil
You do whatever you can get away with, without compassion or qualms. The following powers are added to the list of powers that you know in addition to those normally offered by your rank.
| God Rank | Power |
| 1st | massacre |
| 3rd | create fiend |
| 5th | curse |
| 7th | enslave |
| 9th | taint |
Good
You do your best to help others–deities, followers, or otherwise–according to their needs. The following powers are added to the list of powers that you know in addition to those normally offered by your rank.
| God Rank | Power |
| 1st | miracle |
| 3rd | create celestial |
| 5th | peace |
| 7th | deliverance |
| 9th | bless |
Neutral
You steer clear of moral questions and focus solely on your own interests.
Domain Investment. At 1st rank, select a power domain. If you chose Neutrality as your ethical alignment, you can select the same domain again or a different domain. At 1st rank, you learn one 1st-level power of your choice. At 3rd rank, you learn a 2nd-level power of your choice; at 5th level, a 3rd-level power; at 7th level, a 4th-level power; and at 9th level, a 5th level power. The powers you choose must be from the domain you chose.
Next: Domain Powers
Okay, now that I’ve realigned the God Class so that it reflects a god’s alignment instead of its domain, this leaves the powers completely open to cool effects that align with the type of god that you want to be.
For example, a lawful evil god of fire would get the benefits of being both lawful and evil, but also have powers from the fire domain. As that god gained levels, it can gain more fire powers (since it will have the prerequisites to do so) or switch it up.
This way, no god is limited to just one domain. Of course, if you specialize in a single domain, your high-rank powers will be much more potent.
See you in the follow-up.
Art by Wizards of the Coast.