Cosmic Entity: A cosmic entity is a creature possessing the [Cosmic] subtype. Cosmic entities do not fail anything on a natural 1*. Cosmic entities are immune to ability damage, ability drain, death effects, disintegration, energy drain, mind affecting, paralysis, possession and transmutations. These immunities can be overcome with an opposed rank check. The attacker and the cosmic entity roll rank checks, adding any bonus they may have. Cosmic entities do not have strata bonuses, nor do gods when dealing with cosmic entities. If the cosmic entity wins, the attack is wasted and the immunity holds. If the cosmic entity loses, the attack ignores the immunity, although the cosmic entity is still entitled to any save or limitations the effect has. For instance, a god that overcomes Baal’s immunity to ability damage will still find that his poison has no effect on the Lord of the First, as Baal is immune to poison.
*Assuming you do not use Alternate World's exploding dice rule.
Cosmic entities can often bend layers of their home planes to their will. A demon cosmic entity that can do this is known as a demon prince. A devil cosmic entity that can do this is known as a Lord. A daemon cosmic entity that can do this is known as an altraloth. There are other cosmic entities, such as slaad lords, tome archons, guardinal paragons and more. Some of these can control their planes, some of them cannot.
For the purposes of those that can control their layer, it is generally done so with the power of a greater god, over as much territory as the cosmic entity lays claim to. This is simply the default however, planar layer control fluctuates. When cosmic control over a layer overlaps with divine control over a divine realm, an opposed rank check is made to determine whether the cosmic control prevails.
A cosmic entity's natural weapons and spell-like/supernatural effects are treated as epic weapons/spells for the purposes of damage reduction, regeneration and incorporeality.
Promotion (Ex): Archfiends can promote lesser fiends into greater forms at will. If the creature in question does not possess the proper HD for the new form, the archfiend receives a number of negative levels equal to the difference. The archfiend must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ HD + Con modifier) after 24 hours for each of these negative levels or they become permanent level loss.
Gods: A deity is a creature that possesses the [Divine] subtype.
The following changes are made from Deities and Demigods. Greater deities do not maximize every roll. Intermediate deities do not get auto-20s. All effects that read “unless the deity is a higher divine rank” call instead for an opposed rank check to determine success.
Gods are built using Gestalt rules in addition to divine rules. They do not possess outsider hit dice.
1/2 DvR+Con modifier for base natural armor
10+DvR+HD for Spell resistance.
2 xDvR for energy resistance, rounded to the nearest 5.
HD+DvR for SLA caster level.
10+DvR+Cha+spell level for SLA DC
Gods are assumed to have Alter Reality (DDg version, not DF) for free. They may only use it in accordance with their portfolio. They are assumed to have Alter Size and Form for free as well.
Godly avatars are identical to the deity with DvR 0.
When creating magic items by virtue of their godhood rather than magic, gods have an effective caster level equal to their HD + DvR.
Basic Rules:
Damage Reduction: Certain damage reductions require a higher enhancement bonus than +1 or +6. If you do not want to use this variant, ignore the prefix. For the purpose of penetrating damage reduction, a bane weapon does increase the enhancement by +2 and a dread weapon increases the enhancement by +4. Using the power of a defending weapon does not change a weapon’s enhancement for the purpose of damage reduction.
Magic: +1
Greater Magic: +3
High Magic: +5
Epic: +6
Greater Epic: +8
High Epic: +10
Certain damage reduction also requires a more powerful enchantment than ‘holy’ or the other +2 alignment enchantments. This is noted by the prefix ‘major’. A weapon with the +7 enchantment ‘alignment power’ is required to penetrate such damage reduction. In addition, a caster using align weapon at 30th level or higher can cause a weapon to penetrate major alignment damage reduction. A creature of 30 HD or more whose weapons are treated as a particular alignment for overcoming damage reduction also penetrates major alignment damage reduction.
Energy Resistance: Applies per attack, not per round.
Regeneration: If an effect is treated in a particular manner for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, it is also treated in that manner for the purpose of overcoming regeneration.
Spells:
Metamagic: Using metamagic does not change the casting time of spontaneous casters.
Holy Word: Holy word, blasphemy and related spells offer a save to higher level characters. Creatures of 21st level and higher can make a Will save against the ‘killed’ effect. Creatures of 26th level and higher can save against the paralyzed effect. Creatures of 31st level and higher can save against the blinded (secondary) effect. Creatures of 36th level and higher can save against the deafened (initial) effect. The save is calculated as normal for a 7th level spell.
Spell-like Abilities: While spell-like abilities (and psi-like abilities) do not require material components, focuses or XP costs, optional XP costs are required to be paid. For instance, miracle does not require an XP cost when used at a base power level. If the creature uses the miracle at the higher power level, it must pay the 5000 XP as normal. If the creature uses wish as a spell-like ability to make a magic item, it must pay the ‘twice the normal XP cost’ portion of the XP. This applies only to creatures who naturally have spell-like abilities and does not override any rules about creatures who artificially gain spell-like abilities.
Corrupt/Sanctified Spell-like abilities: A creature with an innate spell-like ability that is a corrupt spell or sanctified spell does not pay the corruption/purity costs.
Epic Spell-like Abilities: A creature takes no backlash damage, pays no XP and requires no ritual casters for Epic Spell-like Abilities. That said, designers should consider the power level of the epic spell without mitigation before allowing them an epic spell as a spell-like ability.
Epic Spell-like abilities use the following formula to determine their effective spell level. Spellcraft DC/10 + 7 (Minimum 10)
Enhancement bonuses/magic items: No caps exist on creating magical items. A character can only benefit from an enhancement bonus equal to or less than their own ability score. Example: Algor the barbarian has a 20 strength. He can use a belt of giant strength +24 but will only gain a +20 enhancement from it (bringing his total Strength to 40).
Fortification
Light - 25% protection vs criticals and related effects. +1
Can go on any armor, including non armor such as bracers of armor.
Moderate - 50% protection. +3.
Can go on medium or heavier armor.
Heavy - 75% protection. +5.
Can go on heavy or heavier armor.
Epic - 100% protection. +7.
Can only go on armors heavier than heavy armor.
Heavy materials - admantine, dis iron, duminite, gold, platinum.
Exotic armors - battle plate, dendritic, dwarven stone plate, mammoth leather, mountain plate
These armors or armor made from these materials count as one step heavier than their actual classification for the purpose of fortification. Thus, a suit of adamantine chainmail counts as heavy armor, while mammoth leather is considered medium. Although totally useless for ought but trivia, combining a heavy metal with a heavier armor does indeed count as two categories higher, such as adamantine mountain plate.
Note that fortification only prevents the additional damage taken from a critical hit. It does not stop certain effects (like the additional damage from a flaming burst weapon) from activating. Fortification does not protect against vorpal weapons.
Calculating Hit points:
Average: Used for non-unique or unspectacular entities.
Sickly: (Avg – 1) Used for specifically weaker unique entities
Elite: (Avg + 1) Used for ideal and impressive unique entities
Heroic (Max – 1.5) Used for spectacular unique entities (Note: Heroic d4 is 3.5, only exception in the pattern)
Max: Used for divine or cosmic entities.
Natural 20s or 1s
If you roll a natural 20, roll again and add 20. (Successive natural 20s are added as well, so if you roll 3 20s in a row and then a 12, you've "rolled" a 72)
If you roll a natural 1, roll again and subtract 20. (Successive natural 1s are subtracted as well, so if you roll 2 1s in a row and then a 17, you've "rolled" a -23)
If you follow a natural 20 with a natural 1 or vice versa, you stop rolling immediately and assume a roll of natural 10.
No auto hits, no auto misses.
Epic
- BaB progresses without adding iterative attacks. No epic attack bonus.
(If you insist on using epic attack bonus, it only counts from class levels and ignores racial HD and LA entirely.)
- Number of iterative attacks is calculated from your best 20 HD, not your first.
- A creature can take epic feats once its HD exceed 20.
- Designers should make every reasonable attempt to avoid giving epic feats to 20+ HD creatures with CR < 21.
Epic Death Threshold: A creature of 21HD or greater uses its HD total to determine how many hit points it can lose past 0 before it dies. A creature that falls below 0 hit points is still dying and unconscious unless it has some effect (such as Diehard) that mitigates those effects.
Epic Massive Damage: Creatures of 21HD to 40 HD must take 100 points of damage in a single blow to risk death from massive damage. Creatures of 41HD to 60 HD must take 150 points of damage and so on.
A death from massive damage Fortitude save is equal to 15 + 1 per 2 points of damage past the massive damage threshold. Thus, a 10 HD creature taking 64 points of damage in a single blow must make a Fortitude save DC 22.
Contested Rulings:
Billions (or even thousands) of damage vs Common Sense: Common sense. The gods will send allexi to deal with these things. All the gods. At the same time.
Invulnerability vs Common Sense: Common sense. No Mario Super Stars in Alternate world. If you aren’t in some sort of danger, there is no challenge. If there is no challenge, there is no XP.
JD’s Divinity vs Common Sense: He became an immortal under his own mystic power. Sorry, haters. Been done before, could be done again.
Keen vs Improved Critical: they stack
Pelor vs Good Alignment: No one is certain, even in Alternate world.
Super speed vs Crybabies: It doesn’t need to be balanced and PCs don’t need to get it.
Ward vs MDJ: A ward seed against mage’s disjunction nullifies the disjunction effect. No effect on the ward.
New/Revised Salient Divine Abilities
Salient Divine Abilities
Saves against salient divine abilities are calculated as follows. 20 + ½ deity’s HD + DvR + ability modifier.
Alter Reality
Prerequisite: Cha 29
Benefit: As a one round action, the deity can duplicate the effects of any spell of a level equal to 9 + DvR. The effects are extraordinary in nature and ignore spell resistance. Caster levels where applicable are equal to the deity’s DvR.
The deity can render a magical or supernatural effect permanent. This requires 10 minutes of rest per level of the effect times number of subjects effected, 10 minutes per total Hit Dice of creatures affected, or 10 minutes per 10 foot cube affected. (Use highest value)
The deity can create temporary, non-magical objects that last for one day per rank. These items can weigh no more than 50 pounds per divine rank nor have a volume exceeding 10 cubic feet per divine rank.
The deity can create temporary magic items or creatures that last one hour per rank. These items or creatures can weigh no more than 100 pounds per divine rank nor have a volume exceeding 20 cubic feet per divine rank. Creatures can have class levels equal to the deity’s divine rank or own class levels, which ever is higher. A deity creating creatures must rest for 10 minutes times CR times total HD created. A deity creating magic items must rest for 1 minute per 1000 gold pieces of value.
The deity can reshape a landscape, creating any type of terrain the deity can imagine. Each 10-foot cube of material to be reshaped requires 1 round of effort and the deity must rest for one day per 10-foot cube shaped after the work is completed.
Annihilating Strike
Prerequisite: Divine Rank 11, base attack bonus +20, Str 25
Benefit: Any creature taking damage from a deity’s weapon or natural weapon attacks must make a Fortitude save (DC 20 + ½ HD + DvR + Str modifier) or be immediately slain. This is not a death effect. A deity can also destroy a 10 foot cube of nonliving matter per divine rank with this ability. This ability requires a successful rank check to work against a divine or cosmic being.
Call Creatures
Prerequisite: None
Benefit: The kind of creature the deity can call is noted in the deity’s description. Each creature called can have no more Hit Dice than one half of the deity’s plus the deity’s divine rank, and the deity cannot have more creatures serving it at any given time than the deity has divine rank.
Destroy Weapons:
Prerequisite: Penetrable damage reduction
Benefit: Weapons that have their damage reduced by the deity’s penetrable damage reduction suffer that damage.
Divine Might:
Prerequisite: None
Benefit: When a creature that has an effect that allows it to ignore partial or half damage on a successful save saves against the deity’s attacks, the creature suffers minimum damage instead.
Divine Right:
Prerequisite: None
Benefit: The deity gains a save against no save effects. If the effect is a spell, the DC is 20 + spell level + modifiers. If the effect is supernatural or extraordinary, the DC is 20 + ½ HD + Con or Cha modifier. The DM determines the most appropriate save type for the effect.
Divine Toughness
Prerequisite: Con 35
Benefit: The deity gains a number of hit points equal to its divine rank x its hit dice.