Chapter One
The Cause of Death Basically, a god can die in one of two ways: by violence or through the loss of all worship or reverence. Obviously, the death of a god by violence does not happen often. These are cosmic beings of vast, almost incalculable power. In just about every case, it takes a god to kill a god. Rumors abound of mortals so epically powerful, wielding artifacts of such might, they can challenge the gods themselves. Most likely these are simply legends. A deity might bestow power into a mortal, or into an artifact wielded by a mortal, to enable the mortal to stand against a god, but such power eventually would consume the mortal. In any event, it is theoretically possible that a god could fall in battle or fall victim to murder. Myths tell of titanic battles of the gods, and in those battles, some gods fall. Other legends relate to divine betrayals and murders, or heroic tales of a deity giving his life for some important cause or to perform some cosmic task. Violence bringing an end to a god causes an upheaval that disrupts the fundament of the universe. This sudden loss is felt by the thousands and millions of the deity’s worshippers and servants. It causes an abrupt break in the flow of power to the clerics pledged to him. On the other hand, the death of a god due to a lack of reverence is slow and agonizing. It can take millennia, and when the end comes, it is usually a surprise to no one. Few, if any, clerics are cut off from their power source, because almost by definition the deity has no clerics left. When determining which scenario to choose for your own campaign, consider whether you want the event to be a shocking one or the end to an inevitable chain of events. It is easy to foreshadow the death of a god losing worshippers, as the PCs see the crumbling ruins of temples and empty shrines. It is dramatic to have the PCs suddenly discover a well-known deity is
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no more, with thousands of wailing worshippers hysterical at the loss of the object of their faith.
Example Death Situations DMs have to decide exactly Key Terms how their deities will sucCorpus Dei: The god’s bodily remains cumb. Here are a few very (see page 9) basic ideas of how to set up Demiurge: The semi-sentient imprint or reflection of a god’s existence in the world, a death in a plot or story. which remains even after death • A number of evil Divinity Spark: Bits of loosed divinity fused gods together fall into a larger mass (see page 24) upon a member of Energy Well: Self-sustaining power source arising from the release of energy at a their own dark cabal god’s death (see page 25) and destroy him, so Godsblood: Thick liquid that appears folthey and their serlowing a god’s demise (see page 27) vants can feed upon Godflesh: The deity’s stonelike flesh (see page 29) the power released. Loosed Divinity: Bits of the god’s divine • A normally innocuous energy that remain near the site of death minor deity learns a (see page 22) terrible secret and is Token of the Demiurge: A magical item silenced before she that confers granted powers from the demiurge upon the character can spread the word. A god whose wor• shippers were wiped out as a part of a genocidal purge quickly diminishes in power and dies. • A heroic god of good alignment gives his life sealing a terrible breach in the universe that threatens to tear all of creation inside out. • An ancient god, imprisoned on some faraway plane for millennia, commits suicide rather than continuing to live in chains. • Mortals of epic power, supported by the gods of good, defeat a minor evil god in his own dark, otherworldly fortress. • Two gods, enemies forever, die with their hands at each other’s throats in a final, climactic battle.
Post Mortem What happens when a god dies? Is there an afterlife for divinity? Some great reward or eternal punishment for immortals? This book does not actually attempt to answer such questions, at least not definitively. Certainly the answer to these questions should address whether a god can be resurrected or brought back as an undead being. A few suggestions of what happens to the consciousness or spirit of the god include the following: • Gods are reincarnated, born again later as new, very different deities. • Gods are reincarnated, born again as mortals—regular people, or powerful creatures like dragons. • Gods have their own special uber-heaven and uber-hell, where they are rewarded or punished.
