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D&D Deity Abilities

Yeah been awhile since I happened upon that particular thing too, if you find it, wouldn't mind being sent a scan or two. Feel free to add the key as you like.
 
A few other things of note before I sift through Dead Gods before bed. It's just some stuff courtesy of 5th to add to Orcus' page (because I have stuff about him on hand).

  • Orcus can temporarily negate healing/Regenerationn (Chill Touch).
  • Orcus can stop time (Time Stop)
 
Alright, noted.
 
Will post relevant quotes tomorrow, but I'll mention right now that Last Word Orcus/Tenebrous is more OP than I remembered.

The book mentions that Primus either couldn't or wouldn't answer Tenebrous' question of the location of his wand, so Tenebrous essentially just said "die" and completely killed him. He then became the "new Primus" before he could be properly replaced.
 
Which has a few implications, including permanent Mid-Godly Regen negation and negation of every single type of Immortality depicted in the blog. oof.
 
After a bit of consideration, gonna leave the Orcus key addition to Azzy, as he has the source material that justifies it. That said, the other revisions are done, for now. Later we'll have to figure out all abilities unique to each individual deity.
 
The deities are, currently, just about where they need to be on this wiki. Most of their most notable abilities are on their page, aside from some magical hax and the resistances we need to sort out.
 
I'm glad they're finally getting updated. Will compile a list of quotes from Dead Gods later on in order to help finish up Orcus' page.
 
Should I lock the profiles again, or do some of them still need to be updated?
 
I do not know. What are his qualifications?
 
He's also probably smarter than Gond, a technology god and said technology includes "progress level nine" technology which has time travel and spatial manipulation
 
Gond's offical (3e) intelligence score is 40 , which isn't much lower than Vecna's rating.
 
I suppose that "At least Extraordinary Genius, possibly Supergenius (More intelligent than Gond, the god of technology)" might be fine.
 
She's aware of events across the multiverse (If anyone in the multiverse tries worshipping her she kills them) and should be comparable to Ao
 
That's not really nigh-omniscient since even Demigods can feel/realize when people are worshiping them. If she was then she would've realized what Vecna was doing and would permanently destroy anything remotely related to Asokar.
 
Actually I think they would have nigh-omniscience, at least when in regards to their spheres of influence, since they can get knoweldge weeks in advance of any event that affects that sphere of influence.
 
In terms of Vecna, he only gets an idea what happens in his sphere after the event has occured. You need to be a greater god to get an idea of what's happening weeks in advance.
 
You can use that image if you wish, yes.
 
As promised, quotes from Dead Gods relating to Orcus/Tenebrous.

  • Two things here. First, Orcus is again said to rule multiple layers (which lines up with other stuff from the time as well as later 5e lore). Second, Kiaransalee had to kill Orcus via treachery and surprise. Even though Orcus had lost his edge and become careless, she still didn't take him head-on.
"It all started long ago, when a minor demipower named Kiaransalee first stood against the tanar'ri lord. See, Orcus ruled a layer of the Abyss (some say multiple layers), and his realm was filled with the undead over which he held sway. Planewalkers unfortunate enough to have stumbled into Thanatos -- but lucky enough to have given it the laugh -- described it as an endless, ghoulish reverie. At least, they did at first. Over the eons, however, the realm grew as fat and inattentive as the Abyssal lord himself. No one had ever challenged the mighty Orcus, and he began to lose the dark edge that'd helped him rise to a position of power in the first place. His actions were careless, and his realm became a place of cold, quiet, undead languor.

That's when Kiaransalee, a drow goddess of vengeance, made her move. She'd somehow been slighted by the tanar'ri lord. To this day, no one really knows the nature of the offense, or even if it was greivous or minor. Some folks rattle their bone-boxes that Orcus's actions caused her to remain only a demipower among the drow when she'd had a chance to suplant Lolth. Others say that the crime was trivial. To Kiaransalee, the details hardly mattered. She conspired against Orcus and eventually slew him through treachery and surprise, quickly usurping his realm and position."

  • After being reborn as Tenebrous and gaining the power of the Last Word, the former demon lord searches out the Greater Deity known as Primus. Not liking what Primus has to say, Tenebrous speaks the Last Word and completely kills him.
"In his search for knowledge -- specifically, the dark of his lost wand -- Tenebrous journeyed to Mechanus and confronted the lord of the modrons, Primus, the One and the Prime. Primus couldn't or wouldn't answer to the undead lord's satisfaction, so Tenebrous spoke the Last Word and slew the supreme modron, just as he'd done with the others he'd visited."

  • After this, Tenebrous becomes the new Primus, supplanting the god's position before any of the natural members of Mechanus could. This is part of why I think his durability for this key might also need to have a "possibly/likely 2-A", but I'll go more in depth on that, soon.
"Unbeknownst to anyone, the shadowy, undead lord then assumed the role of the master of all modrons, filling the void of command before Primus could be replaced from the ranks below."

  • Tenebrous/Orcus can mind wipe people.
"At that point, the PCs return to Chapter I and play out the adventure until they catch up to Chapter IX again -- apparently, they'd already done all of those things but somehow lost their memories of them. (Perhaps Tenebrous wiped their brain-boxes clean so the sods wouldn't remember that he was trying to restore himself to full power.)"

  • Tenebrous murders a deity whose essence is quite literally made of knowledge.
"When a power dies, the side effects and repercussions are many. Maanzecorian was a god of knowledge, and wisps of his essence scatter from his dying form. On Gehenna, where Tenebrous stands over the murdered corpse, the Abyssal lord is bathed in eons of collected secrets and bits of chant. Even on the other side of the portal (perhaps because of the presence of two of Maanzecorian's proxies), the PCs are deluged by random bits of knowledge flowing to the Outlands and into their brains."

  • Back to the Primus point I mentioned earlier, Tenebrous didn't just replace Primus as commander of the modrons. He became the new Primus, which tainted his being. Considering beings of Mechanus that aren't deity level gain Primus' state of existence when they become him, this ties into my thoughts of adding a "possibly/likely 2-A" to Tenebrous' durability.
"Ever since the Great Modron March, Tenebrous just had to wonder at his own thinking at times. It had become so...orderly. The years he spent as Primus had tainted him, and that was something he'd never forgive nor forget. He vowed that the modrons would be among those who would suffer his wrath. Yet so many others held higher positions on the 'list.'"

  • Furthermore, when a promoted secundus replaced Primus later on, it literally just became Primus, powers and all, which would further point to those powers at least temporarily transporting to Tenebrous.
"Primus, rule of the modrons. He's quickly replaced by a promoted secundus."

  • Tenebrous beat Maanzecorian on his own, ripping the knowledge he needed out of the god before finishing him off with the Last Word. Considering Maanzecorian was an Intermediate Deity and Tenebrous' own strength was supposed to be less than Orcus' in his prime, that's pretty impressive. Also of note here is that Orcus being only High 6-A outside of his own realm is crazy. Here he is in a deity's domain, lesser in raw power than he was as his old self, and he still gets what he wants before he even uses the Last Word out of spite. High 6-A should be an Aspect, or something.
"During this march, the modrons uncovered the dark of many subjects, and Tenebrous gathered information on a level beyond even his greatest hopes. His focus was narrowing. Through the modrons, he learned that the Wand of Orcus rested somewhere on the Lower Planes, and that it had been hidden away after his demise by two drow slaves.

Finding the pair, however, proved difficult. Maanzecorian, the illithid keeper of secrets, knew that one of the slaves still dwelt in Kiaransalee's realm. Tenebrous ripped that knowledge from its mind before he uttered the Last Word and destroyed the essence of the illithid god. Its entire Gehennan realm boiled away upon the deity's death, but Tenebrous escaped before he himself was consumed."

  • More confirmation Orcus controlled multiple layers of the Abyss. With this knowledge, his base form might just have to be flat out 2-C.
"Once, great and mighty Orcus ruled multiple layers of the Abyss, all filled with teeming cities of undead and tanar'ri. His palace in the layer of Thanatos was second to none in loathsome grandeur, yet he created Tcian Sumere as a last-ditch retreat should things ever go terribly wrong."

  • Orcus has no true physical form. Already noted on his profile, but this acts as good justification for demon lords being non-corporeal.
"Eons ago, Tenebrous (then called Orcus, of course) was a simple tanar'ri who ascended to power, becoming first an Abyssal lord and eventually a deity in his own right. His method of attaining godhood is dark (such a secret would be worth all the jink in Sigil), but one thing's for certain -- when Orcus gained true immortality, he gave up his physical form forever."

  • Confirmation (which is given multiple times throughout the story) that if Orcus/Tenebrous had his Wand, he could survive having the Last Word just fine. This also further confirms that normal Orcus > his Tenebrous self in terms of power when not accounting for the Last Word.
"It was here that Tenebrous found (or rather, will find -- remember, this is set in the past) the Last Word, which enables him to slay any to whom he speaks it. However, since dying and returning to life, the blood's no longer quite divine enough to wield such might, and the knowledge of the word is devouring him. Only by finding the Wand of Orcus can he regain enough of his former power to survive."

  • Yet another thing that could point to the Last Word granting Tenebrous potentially 2-A durability. He goes after Tomeri, a Greater Deity, and basically smashes all of her shit before offing her. Tenebrous believes the situation would have been the death of him if he didn't have the Last Word.
"Sweet Tomeri, goddess of wisdom and love -- even as he destroyed her home and slew her servants and lovers, she did not get angry. Her cool, calm demeanor would've been the death of him had he not wielded the power of the Last Word. Her demise was certainly...pleasurable, but all the more because Tomeri, of all the deities he'd confronted, offered the greatest challenge. And the only reason for it, Tenebrous believed, was that she knew how to keep her wits about her."

  • A description of what happens if the players fail to stop Tenebrous from getting his hands on the Wand. He slaughters Kiaansalee, scares off other deities, and brings chaos to the multiverse. It isn't until an entire gathering of Greater Deities learn the true nature and history of the Last Word that they're able to combine their power to counter it. We might want a key for this "Orcus/Tenebrous with the Last Word and Wand of Orcus", as well. He essentially becomes stronger than every other normal deity in the multiverse and is effectively invincible until the Last Word gets nullified.
"Otherwise, Tenebrous is victorious. He destroys the characters, reclaims his wand, and regains his former position of power, free to bring untold evil and chaos to the multiverse. Kiaransalee is doomed, and for a time it seems that no other deity dares to oppose Tenebrous for fear of falling to the Last Word. This should shake up a Planescape campaign -- or indeed any AD&D campaign that involves planes -- considerably.

Eventually, a gathering of greater gods will learn the history and nature of the Last Word and devise a means to oppose or nullify its power. Stripped of his stolen magic, Tenebrous will no longer have complete mastery over the multiverse. The berk'll still be a threat, but he'll no longer be invincible."

  • When I first read this, I thought "Oh, I guess Last Word Orcus is actually High 2-A". However, this is just an illusion created by the "dead" Tenebrous' perception manipulation.
"Suddenly, everything grows blurry, and you have the well-known sensation of magical transportation, as if you were teleported away. After a few seconds, the world reforms around you. The scene is familiar -- but unbelievable.

You stand in the City of Doors, yet somehow you realize that you've also been catapulted into the future. The burg you once knew so well has become a charnel house. Bodies lay strewn about streets red with blood. And in the middle of the carnage is a sight that makes your mind reel.

A huge, bloated fiendish figure -- the very god whose body you walked upon in the who-knows-how-distant past -- stands amid a number of slain foes. You see among these corpses great beings whose images once decorated temple halls: Zeus, Thor, Paladine, Mystra, and more. Most incredible of all, the ram-headed fiend holds above his head the last of his enemies, her body broken and sagging;

The Lady of Pain.

Sigil is dead. The multiverse belongs to Tenebrous."

  • However, despite this not upgrading Tenebrous or the Last Word, I think it's actually a very solid reason for why the Lady should just be "Likely High 2-A" or flat "High 2-A" with no 2-A low-end. Why? There are three things the player characters can realize to break them out of the illusion. Most notably, one of them is that even with the Last Word, Tenebrous can't ever hope to kill the Lady of Pain. You simply cannot beat her in a fight. This isn't just treated as the PCs perception of her, but a straight up fact that helps snap them back to reality.
"Naturally, this scene isn't real. The PCs are still on the Astral, still on Tenebrous's body. But some spark that yet flares within the rocky corpse has reached outward and, on a subconscious level, altered the perceptions of the heroes (much as the visages did in the past). 'Course, many canny bloods will realize that this horrid scene can't be real, and the Rule of Threes dictates why. First of all, a body can enter Sigil only through a portal -- no other means of magical transportation works. Second, gods can't get into the Cage, so Zeus and the others couldn't possibly lie at Tenebrous's feet. And third, the Lady can't be beaten in a simple brawl."

  • Tenebrous' perception manipulation and illusions cause actual harm.
"When the heroes find the building that Quah-Namog's hiding in, though, their troubles really begin. Tenebrous throws down the Lady's broken body and goes after the party. Because the berk isn't real -- and because the true Tenebrous is the one creating the current scene -- the PCs can't hurts "faux Tenebrous" in any way. But each round, he can strike at and automatically hit one character, inflicting 4d10 points of damage. Unfortunately, these wounds are real and lasting -- they won't disappear when the altered perception evaporates."


I think that's all, for now.
 
Good abilities for Orcus. I might have to try to get Dead Gods to see if it has abilities for the other deities.
 
The lady's power when restricting her own power is 2-A so she does not accidentally destroy the multiverse, which is why boosted vecna is 2-A for resisting her. If unrestricted she's High 2-A.
 
@Mr. Bambu

It has some stuff, but most of the deity-related stuff is about Orcus/Tenebrous. Maanzecorian has some neat stuff about being actually made of knowledge itself, but he dies pretty much instantly.

@Zachary

Those should be keys, then. Especially if her unrestricted self was called her "true form" (which I'm pretty sure it was). Just make it something like "At least 2-A | High 2-A".
 
@Azzy We already have their ability to affect conceptual beings (like those made of knowledge, for example), but yeah, a lot of that is super good backing/new abilities.

I'm also cool with a new key for LoP.
 
Guess I'll post the revision aspect of the stuff I posted above here for easy viewing.

The Lady of Pai

  • Profile split into two keys. Something like "Restricted | True Power". Considering this restriction is entirely placed upon the Lady by herself, she should technically also have another form of immortality granted by her "other self".
Orcus/Tenebrous

  • Orcus' "Outside of his realm" key needs to be renamed. Tenebrous, who is stated to be weaker than his former self without the benefit of the Last Word, was still described as being stronger than mortals could actually become, and was capable of fighting with an Intermediate Deity in their own realm. I don't know what the High 6-A stuff scales to, but maybe just rename it "Aspects"?
  • Orcus' second key should probably just be called "Base" or "Orcus" or something.
  • Orcus needs a third key called "Tenebrous, with the Last Word". This key should have Orcus' normal AP (to a slightly lesser degree in terms of raw power, as Tenebrous is not as powerful as he was as Orcus), with an additional "2-A with the Last Word" or "At least 2-A with the Last Word". His durability should be his base form's durability with an added "possibly 2-A" for reasons I mentioned in my quote dump. This third key would also have an added weakness of "Without his former divinity, the Last Word will eventually destroy him".
  • He likely also needs a fourth key for the bad ending listed in Dead Gods, as this is the primary outcome the last half of the adventure is spent trying to prevent, likely just called "With the Last Word and Wand of Orcus". This key should just be "2-A" or "At least 2-A" (whichever of the two is decided upon for the Last Word) all around, as he was described as literally invincible to all the multiverse's other deities and had made the power of the Last Word his own by retreiving his Wand. This form loses the weakness of his previous key, but should gain "If the Last Word is nullified, he will return to his original level of power".
Minor Possible Tier Change

  • Dead Gods confirms multiple times that Orcus had control over multiple layers of the Abyss. This may be enough to just change him (and beings who scale to him) to flat 2-C, but if we want to take the safe route and keep him where he is, that's probably fine, too.


I can make all necessary changes when things are agreed upon.
 
I am personally fine with Azathoth's suggestions.
 
I'm cool with them. We've seen a lot of evidence for 2-C, just not for the pages we had. Dead Gods cements Orcus being 2-C.

Go for it Azzy.
 
Tell me here when I should lock the pages again.
 
Cool. Will do. Though quickly before that, this post will be things related purely to profile aesthetics.

  • We should probably swap Vecna's current picture with this, if we're going strictly by official art. Say what you will about 4e, but I heavily prefer Vecna's more distinguished look to the one where he's literally just a floating skeleton in some torn rags.
  • Might be nice to add a gallery to Orcus' page. The guy has some notable art differences in each addition, along with an entirely different form in Tenebrous.
  • Mordenkainen needs a new profile picture. Seriously, just google "Mordenkainen". There are plenty of pictures of him available that show more than the side of his face.
 
I think that Vecna's new image looks better, so feel free to replace the old one.
 
That'd be a good image for Vecna, yeah. 4e had awesome art, just bad ideas to go along with the art.
 
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