The Immortals are Explorers
by HåvardWhile some Mystara DM's seem to prefer to have their Immortals as less powerful than gods/deities in other settings, I have mostly been content with the attitude in Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure that the Immortals in many ways are gods by another name. This fits well with the power levels as explained in the D&D Immortal Rules Set (Gold Box) as well.
Using the titles as presented in the WotI rules set I use the following comparison in power levels:
Over Deity -- Full Hierarch
Greater Deity -- Hierarch/Eternal
Intermediate Deity -- Empyreal/Celestial
Lesser Deity -- Temporal/Initiate
Demigod -- Exalted
While gods in other settings sometimes are mortals who have ascended to godhood, Immortals who have never been mortal are the exception rather than the rule.
One trait among Immortals that is less common for deities in other settings though is that the Immortals are quite often explorers. The Multiverse still has mysteries that are unknown to many of them. And there are mysteries beyond the multiverse that are unknown to all. Immortals are less meddlers in the lives of mortals, but moreso active in the shaping of events that are beyond the understanding of the mortals bound to the Prime Plane. Perhaps this is because they were themselves once adventurers daring to look beyond the life of their home village?
What are other ways this explorer nature of the Immortals can affect the Inner and Outer Planes surrounding Mystara?
Is this continuous search for understanding mysteries the ultimate essence of Mystara?