I have an idea for a warlock of a fragment of Mystral the first goddess of magic. The divine shard contains the chaotic aspect of Mystral and wishes to be reborn so the warlock acts as a vessel in exchange for access to 10th, 11th, and 12th level spells at 18th, 19th, and 20th level respectively.
I created something similar for my homebrew world. If the Divinity is complete eventually it'll reform in to a new god of the same domain. If it's a fragment of Divinity is shattered (the way to completely kill a god) then if a compatible being devours it and assimilates it, they gain some power npc may become demigods if a pc they gain feats or epic boons (depending on their lvl). If not compatible they die just like that no saving throws. They can get power from it but there's a 97% chance of dying
My favorite "noisy cricket" was a failed "Ring of the Ram" that worked - but it didn't violate Newton's laws, so "every action is opposed by an equal and opposite reaction". My party outsmarted the curse & gave it to a gnome theif who used it to "yeet" himself up cliffs to ledges & up walls to balconies.
@Ian Robertson the shape of the shard is up to the DM's discretion it could be shaped like an eggplant, a star, an ... thematically Crenshinibon could be equated to a divine shard it even does similar things to the wielder's body, hell a divine shard can corrupt a user, personally I'm head-canoning that Errtu helped by giving this court of liches a divine being's corpse that he personally helped slay. And It DOES draw its power from the sun in a twisted joke made by the seven powerful liches who willed it into being, but since this abomination they created was powered by the sun which is a deadly laser it obliterated their bodies.
@Ian Robertson technically speaking the shard wasnt actually destroyed, it was converted into a dracolich's phylactery and making it a truly dark object of evil. so in effect the priest cadderly did an oopsie, but ya know when you mess with powerful objects big gears start spinning.
Wow. Just wow. Yes I cant think of one. Just one of my characters that would begrudgingly use this to ascend into godhood. But he would also make plans. Clone is form, and before full ascension he would send a shard or as much of his personality into the clone and basically start over at level 1 but with the knowledge and experience of a 20th + level character, things would come to him in dreams. Lots of deja vu moments. Running into a old friend that's new to him. Oh what rp gold!!!!
AJ - I want to give you an update on my paladin. He was doing well. Level 6. But then he got mind controlled by a Lamia and started hacking up his fellow adventurers. So they had to put him down. 😔 It was so sad end to a great warrior of Torm.
Was listening to a new aj video enjoying a hot bath..when an ad disrupted my moment of tranquility.."Want to get away" the ad said..that's exactly what I was doing as a hastily hit the skip button
@@AJPickett I regret my decision and now have to ask. Can I teleport inside and back out to get the Shard? If I cannot teleport then should I get an Umberhulk or Purple Worm to make me an exit route outside the Tarasque? These are the questions that will save us from a bad decision.
The retributive strike when breaking a staff of magi would pale in comparison. The very fabric of reality would be altered, not to mention the crater of impressive size.
So, let me get this right... you are leaving everything about the game solely in the hands of Wizards of the coast and their parent cooperation, Hasbro? *devilish grin*
I am going to use the shit out of this. And I have just the god and champaign to use it. When Eilietraee died to her own blade as it was swung by The Lady Penitent she left this shard as the fraction of her power that was lost during this dark time. When Mystra died at the hands of Helm the new Mystra returned Eilistraee to her previous form this shard remained. My players, who are going to help Eilietraee defeat Lolth by finding the Crescent Blade, will stumble across it. Eilistraee, in her benevolent and loving ways, will cut her own shard into 4 and tell the party to use them and nurture the now shards of a shard of her power to ascend so they may defeat Lolth together. It will be harder to ascend with them considering they are now forths of a fraction but they will use them as the Chosen of the Dark Dancer.
Well technically speaking divine beings could bless someone's bloodline the same way an evil one could curse them. Could just say you had such and such ancestor who was either a champion or very devoted to their diety and as such said diety blessed their bloodline. Could also just be a random thing like my ancestor witnessed x diety use some power and they absorbed some of that divine magic by accident.
@@goolabbolshevish1t651 Imagine being a champion who saves the world, sees friends go, and is rewarded by none other than the gods themselves... only for your blessed bloodline to be graced with a sorcerer who accidentally fucking kills someone before they can completely control their magic. Not sure why that's where my mind went, I think it's just funny.
Lol just thought of it. DIE VECHNA DIE campaign, if your party beats Vechna. Id6 rounds later, this little marble pops out of the wall that Vechna was pulled into the portal and defeated. Dub it "the True Eye of Vechna" And I will let the DMs take it from here. But Vechna said he would make it back one way or another. So here's another.
'You shell find the shard before it awakens' says the seer at the circus. Shrugging Amell the sniper put his hands into his pocket 'well what does the shard look like?' Taking his hand out holding a clear gem. 'Like that.'
Okay but imagine a Player Character intentionally allowing the Divine Shard to consume them in order to use the act of Ascension itself as a last-ditch Hail-Mary attack.
Imagine the cosmic fallout if said character did this in the midst of a Blood War battlefield, like Avernus. Would it devastate the legions of devils and demons? Would it change the landscape of the lower planes? Would it bring up the character as a new force of evil in the cosmic order, or as a benevolent force inside the lower planes? Would that level/domain become their native plane? Could Avernus become home to an oasis for good, or would the plane quickly corrupt the new god? So much to consider...
Lots of cool possibilities here. Seems like there's no guarantees the divinity within is even inherently humanoid, imagine finding one of these and it's a remnant of one of the gods of the lost creator races or even the far realm.
If a layer of the abyss made from the corpse of a dead god was ever healed, it might become one of these? You might be walking the dunes in the planes of dust or salt and see a glitter on the horizon? edit: Could you use one to heal an abyssal layer? edit2: These would have to sell for a nice amount on the soul trade...
Sounds like a back up plan by the local Overgod/ Equivalent to make sure deific balance is maintained. Since invariably thats who that soothsayer just happens to be. In a very roundabout internship to full employment package fail the old one returns.
Planning to use this as the peak of the netherese city in Icewind dale, a hag (the banshee from LMoP) asked my party for find it, once they get it back to her she will unlock it's arcane cage, reveal the gem, a destructive fight breaks out between the hag and a set of fiends looking to use this power they've just detected leaving the party in this battle crater, shard in hand. I don't know what god the gem should come from, Karsus, a mote of his research residing within this city, an uber-powerful magic jar effect after his destruction or a piece of Mystryl caught by his folly, still eager to gift the power of the weave to mortals with no limit, helping drive another arcane ascension to godhood. Perhaps the gem is dim within it's cage till Auril has been defeated, that being the entity to drive her into owlbear from, a failed capturing completed with her defeat, then activating the city and being a beacon to help guide the players their. Or no god at all, some other arch-mage of Netheril had formulated a way to ascent to godhood and for whatever reason didn't manage it, either wiser than Karsus, scared to let go of their earthly possessions and the consequences on their psyche, preparing safeguards before Karsus broke the weave, perhaps trying to find Ostoria and the Necklace of Ulutiu to provide enough cooling to fuel this immense experiment and all it's safe guards.
An idea just popped into my mind. Imagine a just absorbed person being sent to another plane where they need to face of with the old dead god in a duel. If the god win they get resurrected, if not the newely absorbed person become a new god. A third possibility could be that they simply call of the duel where the old god offer to take over the newcomers mortality. From the point of view of the people around they see someone dissapear just to be replaced by another person. This person that just recently was a long dead god but now, willingly a very much living and indeed mortal, all divinity gone.
The initial description sounds like a weaponized Silmaril. For RPing flavor, I think I'd start adding impulses from the original god after the first failed save. Naturally the impulses would have escalating saving throws based on failures. Even a similarly aligned god could have different priorities and tendencies...
I like the rebirth of an old god plot hook. Take a setting with a lot of dead gods, and drop one of these in there. No one can identify the shard, but a good aligned character in the party feels a certain connection to it. Then, as the shard grows and ascension approaches, watch to the party's horror as what they thought would be a noble act of sacrifice to bring back a long dead force of good instead incarnates the slain greater god of evil and darkness, using the good aligned PC as fuel for it's return, annihilating their soul and destroying their legacy. Then, next campaign has the PC's looking for something to stop this deity of darkness incarnated on the mortal plane. Something like the Tarrasque, a rival deity, an 11th level spell, Zargon the Returner, or even all of the above perhaps?
I wonder what a Divine Soul Sorcerer would feel, being capable of both Arcane and Divine Magic? (They are also a Charisma-based class) Had a scary shudder of an Idea, 3 shards attune to a character!
I feel like a fun way to to use this item is to create a cult that identifies one of the players as the "Choosen One" to become their one true god, but with a portfolio that the player hates. Then as they follow the player around, they worship everything they do as some lesson mired in mystery and interpretation. Whether or not they've accurately found their savior is of course up to how the table plays out.
This sounds like a great item for a character to carry around unknowingly, maybe because it's a family heirloom passed down for generations by the last priests of the dead god. Maybe it's been passed down unused for so long that the priests' descendants forgot why they were keeping it, and the character just thinks it's a really really really rare rock. Until they attune to it, of course.
Like you said, this is a cool way to retire a character. You could even make that character a new religion in your next campaign taking place however many decades of centuries later😂
Just max out Charisma first as a Paladin and be awake dawn (or play a race that doesn't need sleep)... Your minimum Charisma save is 15 by level 9. All the benefits with none of the fear of awakening an evil god.
I can picture after an a celebration of EPIC proportions after using the Divine Shard to defeat the BBEG of the campaign the holder transforms into Bilious, the OH GOD! of hangovers the next morning.
What happens if the gem fails to consume the host. That person lives their full life and dies of old age? Depending on which kind of God it was I might willingly fail those saving throws.
Currently playing thru a 'Restore the Gods' arc, and boy oh boy my Monk would be looking at this thinking "We are currently looking for a God of Balance right now..."
Once again AJ kicking it out of the park with the story prompt inspiration! Imagine a divine shard popping up after the death of a god and the rebirth mechanic is a way for the multiverse to keep the domains of that previous god taken up. You could give the PC a couple bonus abilities that are related to that god's domains as you come closer to full awakening past the point of no return.
I wonder what would happen if a evil cleric like say a Ixitxachitls found it? Would they see it as a blessing from demogorgon? Would they renounce their evil way of worshipping demogorgon? Would they see it as some sort of evil magic by the false gods? 🤔 Also excellent video aj! Love seeing the new things in the DM Guild!🧙♂️
@@AJPickett or maybe they could use it to become a Ultra super vampire Ixitxachitls!🧛♂️ Also do vampire Ixitxachitls get hurt by Divine spells? If so they're playing one dangerous Russian roulette game!
If it looks like a stone it must have the consistency of air. If it looks like gas, it must have the consistency of stone. And all kinds of temperatures at the same time.
Okay, give me a chaos magic artificer who hunts shards down and finds the people who are destined to attune to the shards along as bait to contain these keys to godhood.
It just struck me that you haven't done a wereraven video yet as I am so used to searching aj picket (subject name) haha well I guess I'm requesting a video.
This sounds interesting. Just imagine a character has become one with the divine shard and they roleplay the new deity as a demigod. Depending on the deity you could see a character's mannerisms change. For example an orc whose a wild soul barbarian who become a god of justice and literally lashes out at evil characters and decides to make other orcs his worshippers.
I can see this item being a piece of a god who willingly removed a piece of themselves and hurled to a safe location to preserve their essence incase of their possible demise or potentially looking for a worthy vessel to use as a champion for their cause. Imagine, after the body is consumed, your mind is now in a golden palace hall with you looking face to face with said god. Depending on the character/god in question you could be given a choice. 1.Let yourself become an aspect of the deity's will and be a champion 2.Get a free pass in becoming a part of the god's collective consciousness (Like in your video about practitioners) 3.Use your body as a starting model for their newest potential avatar and have you as the pilot until they need to take control temporarily, kinda like a workaround to obtaining more avatars than a specific deity should own depending on their status as a Quazi, lesser, intermediate, or greater deity. Kinda like how Tiamat stole another dragon god's avatar and used it as her second one. But that one is dedicated to combat. witch was destroyed in the Tiamat adventure so now she's down one of her avatars and the one she has left isn't suited for combat (i mean it is, just not a CR 30 avatar). The difference here is that the Devine shard created avatar created has another person piloting it when the god is not using it. This for me would be an interesting thing to see in a campaign later on. Honestly number 3 is my favorite. what's your opinion on it?
Rogue to Party's Mage: Hey... Lookie here, I found this amazing crystal! I don't wanna put it down and can't stop staring at it, but I think it's got some magic writing on it... Is it magic? Is it Cursed? .... What's it say? (mage takes it from reluctant rogue, mumbles, then casts a cantrip) Oh. (hands it back promptly) Oh? OH what? What does it say? Hm... Well, I would tell you to put it back, but... But? BUT WHAT? WHAT DOES IT SAY!!!??? (gently chuckles to self) um... "Property of Osiris"
This is almost a perfect item for what I offers in terms of fun, storytelling, and mechanics, and its just to tantalizing for a player to not use it. Like he said no player is going to hear all the things they get from the shard, and the chance to become a god and not jump at it.
Stuff like this is why even though I grew up poor I always managed to keep all the basic books and even some extras for every edition from 2nd to 3.5 (I literally know nothing about 4th edition other than a lot of people seemed to not like it) BG3 has been bringing those feels back and this video has just convinced me that I want to go buy all the 5th edition books I can afford and probably all of them eventually lol
My current campaign is about the players assembling the First Hymn, the divine song of creation used at the beginning of time. If they succeed, godhood is their reward.
I hate to tell you this A.J. but the volume of video's released is reducing your Sub base, because your awesome and release multiple videos a week the youtube algorithm suggest your videos to viewers even that haven't subbed. Basically the odds of missing one of your videos are low, if the chances of missing videos was higher/the gap between videos was greater you would end up with more subs. Messed up concept I know, but It seems true.
I apologize if I missed this in the video. The gem is very difficult to analyze naturally, but is there any means of determining which godly essence is inside the shard? Becoming a god is normally the highlight of a character's career, but I would feel terrible if my 20th level paladin was consumed and became the next Lord of Murder. Also, can you willingly fail the save each morning to fuel the gem and complete apotheosis as fast as possible? If so it would make a great final adventure. You have one week to stop Obox-ob (or your own favorite evil entity) from ascending to godhood, cutting down the overmatched diabolic defenders like wheat from the scythe, and drowning the Multiverse in buzzing, chittering death.
I'd like to hear how you achieved God hood! I drew from The deck of many things and drew any 3 question cards asked where torm was king as a human and what was his name then where could I find a Large greatsword holy avenger of torm. It's in his dogma in the faiths and pantheons from 3r
Ok what I wanna know is...Which of your characters became a deity!?! How? Of What? My players had a campaign where their characters ascended into godhood to fight a collection of invading demon lords (lead by Eshabala) and you can tell a lot about their personalities based on which portfolios they chose. So I'm really curious how your ascension went.
Belchimeral, a Psion character (also an Illumian from 3.5 edition) he died something like 3-4 times before he hit level three (once from randomly looking under a rock, where a poison spider bit him and killed him on the spot), eventually, he helped save the town of Salushen, and the nation and then the world, the last chapter saw the characters take the path to godhood, where he became Bel, a god of psionics, among other things, he remained a part of the pantheons of future campaigns in that world, which ran for several years.
@@AJPickett Sounds like an awesome character! Well mainly I just love psionics and Illumians. (I'll never forgive WoTC for killing the mystic) But that does sound like a super satisfying character to have played and have referenced. Hopeful you'll have another character like that someday soon! Also...I can't stop imagining Belchimeral being sued by Bel of Avernus for copy right
it's literally a divine spark, so long as the one using it is powerful enough to not get burned out they should only ever get bumped up to demi/lesser god status.
Does make me think; Perhaps such an item can be reskinned as a piece of the Shard of Ultimate Evil. Rather than ascend you to Godhood, it instead just consumes you. (Or maybe you're transformed into some uber-powerful Demon, either is fun.)
@@AJPickett Huh...scrolled through the entire comment section and didn't see the joke when I went to post. Then again, I do tend to overlook comments. Oh well.
Another great item that will probably have to be at least part of the story line, and I cant imagine it being anything less then session consuming when it matures.
When Anubis has exhausted his patience with tampering his charges, a plan forms, and he gives you the "gift" that you seek. However, the gift, he recieves is the release of one dead god and allowing the cosmic war to continue.
My campaign has a lot to do with time-travel and the scope of the gods across the multi-verse. In it there's a known myth about the creation of the multi-verse revolving around a game of marbles played by the gods. The chaos of this game of marbles creates the Astral Sea. These thirteen magic marbles are also referred to as Thrones and they're the source of authority in the universe. The origin of these marbles isn't known. In my campaign some time-travel shenanigans threaten to collapse the multi-verse, all due to the experiments of a mortal with god-like intellect. This character has had two minor experiments in my setting that resulted in great cataclysms. The locations of these experiments are largely avoided and those that come out of them are never the same. The players are going to explore both of these locations, and I'm thinking that one of the would be a great place for something like this to have been "created". I'm thinking it's an unintended side effect of what happened there with the folding of time (there's a time loop there that connects several places in the timeline), and it would be interesting if it were somehow connected to the origin of these magic marbles.
