User:Average/Dieties
Here's were there's some new mojo.
D&D now knows how to run gods (and goddesses). They should be considered characters above level 100 or so. Below that, are demi-gods, generally strong characters trying to be gods or virtuous younger gods on their path to immortality.
The thing with real gods is, once they get to that level, the issues of people bore them, so they're out there forming large agendas of civilization and beyond. ...like maybe making a school of wizardry filled with the best of the land. These issues work on the scale of decades, or if very high level: centuries or even eons. They're immortal (as long as no other gods kill them), so they have all the time in the universe.
As such, they move whole armies, without them even knowing they're being a player in the large drama of dieties -- either because the god/desses made their bones or through their piety and loyalty. They may also employ clerics to write scripture or holy items to guide the masses or inspire classes like herbalists and druids to write poetry and such. Evil "dieties" manipulate the heart, giving false intuition or exploiting your desire for treasure and fame, so that you work for them, even if against yourself. You see, using loyalty is something of the characters free choice, but using their ignorance and weaknesses is not. But, they get to either better themselves or get used up completely. This is how your speaker here got to be where he is.
Dieties can replicate equipment and animals at will, if they have the mana and the knowledge of their identity and/or construction. The quality and quantity depends on several factors. It can be living beings or equipment. If the former, they cannot pre-form their minds. If equipment,...
What happens is that the universe spins into motion to create those items and then the items get to the PCs or NPCs in time. The efficiency (items made per day) of this depends on their total accumulated Piety (PTY)-- how many levels of people put their faith in that god. Add the total levels and the total PTY of those who put their faith in that god. If the total of levels is greater than the total of PTY, then (that many or prize LEVELs) items can be made per day. If no one has any faith in that god, nothing happens. The effectiveness of the creation (how intricate, beautiful, or powerful) depends on the accumulated ASM scores. Again, like efficiency, but add the total of ASM scores, they could churn out a highly-prized item (high ASM scores) one a day or several lessor ones. The time for delivery to that player (or NPC) in the game universe is a factor of the amount and number of loyal followers if their dieties who are opposed to the existing order, or if positively aligned then simply the total DEX of everyone who believes in that god. Pretty neat, eh?
Gods can develop these abilities (PTY, ASM, and DEX) by setting up nice shrines (for PTY), making challenges that create disabililies elsewhere (raises ASM score somewhere else), or striking fear in the people (increasing DEX). The morality of these effects have not been tested nor measured, but then these are the gods -- they are tested and measured by the amount of value they add to the realms, eventually it self-corrects. "Eventually" to the gods might be an eon as large as the universe itself.
Different dieties also set up different campaigns. The Tiamat campaign, for example, could be attributed to a trickster god Loki, because there's no way your going to defeat Tiamat, it's about 100x bigger than your party. The Abyss campaign by the dark-elf, who shall remain unnamed until he chooses.
There is also the god of coinage: Loki. Loki will make custom-made gold pieces and such to cities and leaders loyal to him. Otherwise you will have to build the skillset to engrave and smelt coins. He only asks that 10% be spent on the greater good of the realms: either better trade routes, better conditions for people, greater protection for the good-aligned creatures the gods have made.
