The deities of Krynn: A question

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Jun 18, 2004 16:22:28
It seems stupid to think we won't be seeing one, but I feel the need to ask anyways: Will we be seeing a deities sourcebook, with stats for the gods, new spells for clerics and druids, and new prestige classes?

--it would be a logical and cool next supplement, I'd think NB
#2

zombiegleemax

Jun 18, 2004 16:25:34
Stats for the Gods? I certainly hope to hell not.

If that were to happen, I think I'd not play DL any more.
#3

hatrel

Jun 18, 2004 16:34:32
There have nearly always been stats on the gods and their Avatars. Most likely, they will be expanded on in the Holy Order of the Stars, due out next year.
#4

marius4

Jun 18, 2004 16:36:38
Holy Orders of the Stars is a DL divine sourcebook slated for 2005. Should have much of what you are looking for, though I'm not so sure about actual deity stats.
#5

zombiegleemax

Jun 18, 2004 16:40:15
Originally posted by Ashaman Nash
Stats for the Gods? I certainly hope to hell not.

If that were to happen, I think I'd not play DL any more.

Why not? Raistlin beat all the gods in a future that nearly came to pass; so, unless a mere mortal archmage was also statless, the gods of Krynn kinda need limitations and statistics, don't you think?

--it's a very Christian concept that gods have no limits to their power NB
#6

marius4

Jun 18, 2004 17:19:37
of course, when the stats are Clr 20/Ftr10/Pal10 and such, are they really "limitations?" hehehe. i see your point though. however, i would think they might avoid statting the DL deities as a point of campaign flavor, as opposed to an official stance that krynnish deities have no limitations.
#7

zombiegleemax

Jun 18, 2004 18:16:00
If they don't stat them out for reasons of campaign flavor, I'd understand that. However, realistically, the gods of Krynn have stats and, most important of all, can be beaten by mortals of sufficient magical power. Raistlin did it (but then was prevented from doing it by his past self). The last Istarian Kingpriest certainly shook the pantheon up, enough for them to nuke Krynn. We can only assume certain mortals make the gods of Krynn very nervous...

--right now, that'd be the remaining dragon overlords NB
#8

zombiegleemax

Jun 18, 2004 20:04:37
can be beaten by mortals of sufficient magical power

Eww. I just...don't like that. I never read this happening, and am very glad I did not.

What is a god? If it's just a powerful being that others worship, then why is there a specified pantheon? Wouldn't Malys then RIGHTFULLY be considered a god?

I just don't like any mortals being able to come against the gods, considering they were created by them....
#9

zombiegleemax

Jun 18, 2004 20:53:12
Well it was more sophisticated than simply casting a 9th level spell at the right spot. He basically used the rules that governed the Gods and their predictable natures to game the system. One could go off on philisophical, or even mathmatical tangents. But it really was clever.
#10

Nived

Jun 18, 2004 20:56:13
God can be battled against, gods can be defeated.

It would be very difficult and as a DM I probably wouldn't let any of my players do it. Unless the player was a particularly talented role player and there was a good damn reason and it served a purpose, otherwise well... rule 0 says you lose.

However the gods have been battled by mortals on Krynn...

SPOILERS mmmmmmmmmmm spoilers


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Two very specific examples of a mortal going up against a god are thus.
First would be Huma, the legendary knight who first weilded the mighty Dragonlance. He fought Tahkisis herself on the mortal plane, and won. Now mind you Tahky just crossed the barrier from the abyss and was weakened by the journy, but Huma with the Dragonlance fought and wounded Tahkisis terribly. He hurt her, and she had never before knew pain, she had never been hurt. Its said he may have been able to kill her (Kaz urged him to) but the shattered knight instead made her swear to take her dragons from the world and banished her to the abyss, never again able to cross the planes as easily. Sure the battle left Huma's body so shattered he died almost as soon as the dread queen departed... but he did win.

Raistlin in the legends trilogy became obsessed with becoming a god. If he walked into the Abyss itself, Tahkisis' home plane he would be able to battle her, and maybe, just maybe defeat her, and kill her. In so doing he wouldbe able to steal her divine essence and become a god. We were never privy to this battle because in the true timeline it never happened, Raistlin was stopped from fighting the dark queen. However in an alternate future Caramon and Tas inadvertantly visited they saw the effects to the world if Raistlin had won. Everything would be destroyed, all life on the face of Krynn gone. Raistlin reigned over a dead world.
#11

quentingeorge

Jun 18, 2004 23:37:21
There's also the alternate Krynn in "There is another shore you know, on the other side..." where the Kingpriest has made himself the one god of Krynn, and reduced the other deities to impotent mortals.
#12

zombiegleemax

Jun 19, 2004 7:46:16
I think gamers like Ashaman Nash are getting their Christianized notions of gods mixed up with the way pre-monotheist gods were viewed in the Really Real World.

In the Really Real World, for example, gods weren't omnipotent or omniscient. They were just superhumans that lived forever. They could be tricked by mortals, injured by mortals, and even, if the circumstances were right, killed by mortals. If you went back in time, and started claiming that the gods of the pagan peoples were invincible, undefeatable, and immune to trickery and deceit by mortals, you'd be laughed at.

--real world mythology is chock full of mortals getting the best of gods NB
#13

zombiegleemax

Jun 19, 2004 7:59:07
in my opinion, gods can only be matched by other gods, or, if necessary, part-gods.

(IMHO raist beat the gods by outsmarting them, not outfighting)
#14

marius4

Jun 19, 2004 8:10:34
Originally posted by Nero's Boot:
I think gamers like Ashaman Nash are getting their Christianized notions of gods mixed up with the way pre-monotheist gods were viewed in the Really Real World.

I think you can make your point without criticizing another poster, don't you? Actually, any number of posters who may be "like Ashaman Nash." Some people like the idea of divine stats, others don't, but it's primarily about opinions on fantasy, not about real world religion.
In the Really Real World, for example, gods weren't omnipotent or omniscient. They were just superhumans that lived forever. They could be tricked by mortals, injured by mortals, and even, if the circumstances were right, killed by mortals.

Again, while Krynn isn't the real world, your point regarding polytheism and godly limitations is a very interesting one. It seems like you are asserting that if the gods didn't have limitations, they wouldn't have been threatened by Huma or Raist/Fistandantilus, right? I don't think anyone has disagreed so far, per se, it's just that some don't want those limitations quantified in game rules. They'd rather DMs use their own tools (e.g., Deities & Demigods) to make their own stats rather than have an official stance (houserules not withstanding) effectively "cut out" the mystery and possibilities.
#15

zombiegleemax

Jun 19, 2004 8:39:17
I thank the people at WIZARDS owed it to use to give us a complete Pantheon in DEITYS AND DEMIGODS sourcebook. They put in the Greek and Asgardian and Egyption Pantheon of Gods.
Why not put in Pantheons for DragonLance, Forgotten REalms, and so on?

It would only need a few pages of a book, would have made all the books more 'wanted' by players of different RPG Campaigns. I mean, you open the book, you read the Asgardian Pantheon first, the DragonLance Pantheon of gods next (along with a disclaimer that Tiamat and Bahamat are not intended to be Takhsis and Paladine, but can be if the DM wants them too), and after you are done reading the DragonLance Pantheon, next comes the Egyptian Pantheon.

Probably no more then about 5-10 pages, as the DragonLance Gods are relatively short in number (21 right?) I do believe the original DEITIES and DEMIGODS had dozens of Greek Gods in it, so why not with DragonLance?
#16

theredrobedwizard

Jun 19, 2004 8:55:58
You have a quasi-valid point, DJS.

What you are forgetting is that if WotC did put the DL and FR gods into D&DG that they wouldn't make nearly as much money with books like Faiths and Pantheons.

And remember kids, just because Sovreign Press puts stats out there doesn't mean you have to use them.

Again, I really don't understand this "OMG TEH GODXORS CNAT HAEV STATZ!!1! TEHY B TEH GODZ!!" thing going on.

This is Dragonlance. The Gods aren't perfect, they're like the Greek Gods... fallable, fickle, and prone to being smacked silly by crazypowerful mortals.

Huma and Raistlin have both done it. If you don't like Gods that can be killed by very powerful mortals, well I think that you may be playing the wrong setting.

-TRRW
#17

wolffenjugend_dup

Jun 19, 2004 11:12:59
I thought Raistlin and Huma battled the Takhisis on the Material Plane, upon which Takhisis was MUCH weaker than her true god form. It's not a fair comparison.

I would rather have it that the gods are indestructable by mortals. The gods' avatars on the Prime can be defeated, but unless a mortal becomes a god him/herself, then they stand no chance.

And I really don't want to see stats for the gods just so some munchkin can brag about how his 100th level character smoked the Queen of Darkness in one round. I mean, come on, Dragonlance is better than that.
#18

zombiegleemax

Jun 19, 2004 13:41:05
Actually, Huma fought Taky on the Material Plane(and, with her great reduction in power, she was only equal to about a level 50 character. Nothing major there.). Raistlin, on the other hand, went right up in the Abyss, and was all, "SHABAM!" and Taky was all "Ow!" and then she died. And, then he said "SHABAM!" 6 more times down there, before he made his way to the Hidden Vale and the Dome of Creation, each where he said "SHABAM!" 7 times. But then, that was stopped from happening.
#19

iltharanos

Jun 19, 2004 15:28:12
Originally posted by Jacen Solo 5007
Raistlin, on the other hand, went right up in the Abyss, and was all, "SHABAM!" and Taky was all "Ow!" and then she died. And, then he said "SHABAM!" 6 more times down there, before he made his way to the Hidden Vale and the Dome of Creation, each where he said "SHABAM!" 7 times. But then, that was stopped from happening.

:heehee

Just the thought of Raistlin saying Shabam made me laugh for half a minute. It's just such a funny image in my mind that I'm still chuckling as I write this.

SHABAM!
#20

zombiegleemax

Jun 19, 2004 15:33:51
Any idea when the source book on the Holy Order of the Stars is supposed to be out??
#21

marius4

Jun 19, 2004 16:47:56
I know for sure 2005, but I'd guess sometime in Spring since they've got a lot on their plate at SovPress. No wait--SHABAM! says Raistlin. It's coming out next month!
#22

raggart_knug

Jun 19, 2004 23:07:11
Originally posted by Jacen Solo 5007
Actually, Huma fought Taky on the Material Plane(and, with her great reduction in power, she was only equal to about a level 50 character. Nothing major there.). Raistlin, on the other hand, went right up in the Abyss, and was all, "SHABAM!" and Taky was all "Ow!" and then she died. And, then he said "SHABAM!" 6 more times down there, before he made his way to the Hidden Vale and the Dome of Creation, each where he said "SHABAM!" 7 times. But then, that was stopped from happening.

Actually, Raistlin succeeded by luring Takhisis back to the Prime Material plane through the portal in the Tower of High Sorcery. He knew he could not fight her on her own terms.

Once he decided not to go through with it and he remained on the Abyss ... the Taky was all, "SHABAM!" and Raistlin was all "Ow!" and then he died.
#23

zombiegleemax

Jun 20, 2004 1:27:27
Well, in the same manner, the books are very clear what Raistlin was up against when he faced Takhisis in the the Abyss: Namely every possible imagined Demon, Dragon, Dark Cleric, etc, etc that was at the DragonQueen's disposal at that point Raistlin faced in the Abyss and destroyed or defeated pretty much all of them, to the point that Takhisis herself had to rise up and face Raistlin.

It is possible the 5 Ancient Wyrms that are Takhsis's consorts were destroyed by Raistlin.

It is also possible that Raistlin had to face Sargonnas, Morgion, Chemosh, Zeboim, and Hiddukel in some form as well, although back when the TWINS trilogy were written, I think the only acknowledged gods were Paladine, Mishakal, Reorx, Gillean, and Takhisis.
#24

zombiegleemax

Jun 20, 2004 22:29:13
Originally posted by Raggart_Knug
Once he decided not to go through with it and he remained on the Abyss ... the Taky was all, "SHABAM!" and Raistlin was all "Ow!" and then he died.

Taky would never be all "SHABAM!", she'd be all "RAAAAAGH!", and *THEN* Raistlin would be all "Ow!" and then he would die.
#25

green_cloaked_sorcerer

Jun 20, 2004 23:23:26
Personally I love how on Krynn the Gods aren't invincible, kinda reminds me of watching Hercules and Xena, and those were always the fun worlds i'd love to be in. I don't fully understand wanting Gods beyond invinciblity, its almost like whats the point, just say ok only one God he knows everything and controls everything and u can never touch him... besides, even in Christianity God wasn't invincible, Jesus was technically God and he still died, all be it he could come back, but well he is a God.

As it is you all mention Huma And Raist, but come on people you gotta give props to the one man who was able to defeat somthing more powerful than all the Gods put together... and the people who helpped him. As much as I don't like him give props to Tas, he defeated Chaos- Father of all and Nothing, if there is anyone i'm scared to see the stats for its him, but even then he wasn't invincible. *raises a drink* so here is to Rabbitslayer the knife that defeated Chaos!


GCS