Godhood

Between the God Ancestors and the entity known as Talos Stormcrown, there have been stories of Mortalkind ascending to a throne of Divinity. Despite mortal-kind's points of view on the matter, it is still a point of debate. How does one ascend to godhood?

The path to godhood is not a single road, but one of many paths; many ways. Each way is different for each person, and no one way is better than another, it is simply what is possible and the chosen path of those that wish to ascend. The path, regardless of the chosen steps, is known as the Task of Ascension and is often a very dangerous and tedious route. A creature must first establish a connection to the divine by tethering themselves to the planes, and then they must somehow obtain a divine spark and hope their form can withstand the transition. The process is a two-step one.

First, to become an Unknown: To become a god, the first step, and by far the easiest, is to become an Outsider.

Being connected to the energy of the planes -- body and soul -- is to be an Outsider. These creatures range from the Angelic to the Fiendish; Dremora, Imps, Xivkin, Auroran, etc.; creatures who are tethered to the essence of the plane from which they originate. There are several ways to become an Outsider, from class features, swapping bodies, dying and being ferried to the afterlife and then resurrected, or contracting bizarre, inter-planar diseases. But, for those who have not been born or made into an outsider, there exists a Ritual of Transfiguration that grants the outsider type to those who undergo it.

Second; once you are an Outsider, the ways to rise to godhood become numerous.

1. Find and Kill a god.
   The most direct way is to find and kill another god, stealing their Divine Spark as they perish. Killing a god is never easy, but if you manage to successfully kill the god, then within 1 minute of their passing, you can attempt to absorb their divine spark into yourself. This is an ultra-violent process that blasts you and the surrounding area with a massive amount of super-charged energy. This is a very risky and dangerous method but by far the most direct.
2. Genocide.
   Do you want to be a dark god? They say everyone has a little bit of divine spark in them, so if you kill everyone and everything, you can gather the individual sparks and forge for yourself a new spark. This vile method requires the mass death of many creatures all at the same time within the space of a week, with a spark focus to house the wandering souls of the dead before they depart for the afterlife.
3. Worship.
   The far kinder and more gentle means of godhood is earning your worship yourself. You must have the complete, fanatical devotion of a great mass of willing and not mind-controlled people gathered in a week of mutual fervent prayer following whatever dogma you see fit, with a spark focus to gather the prayers. The synchronized efforts of hundreds to millions of worshipers are enough to charge the device.
4. Bestowed Godhood.
   Rarely, you may parley a favor from the gods and they will grant you godhood as a gift. This method, while both rare and unpredictable, is the safest, as there is never a threat of explosion. Deities are reluctant to gift divine rank, as they lose it from their own power.
5. Ambrosia.
   The food of the gods; rare even amongst the divine. The consumption of ambrosia was typically reserved for divine beings, as it is attributed to have vast healing and regenerative abilities, and was known to bestow base divinity to those who partook of it. This delicacy appears as a type of solid gold fruit, varying from apples and grapes to other similar types of fruits. When split open, these fruits seep out a thick, glowing golden syrup which is often distilled by deities into a divine drink known as "Soma"
6. Artifacts.
   Some artifacts of immense power that were used, and sometimes even created, by the gods may yet hold remnants of their divinity through mere contact. These items may even be spark focuses themselves or, when adorned or used by a creatures, could even bestow a Divine rank of power upon them so long as it is in their possession. Such items could be an Ancient Crown of a beloved King, a Magnificent chalice that once touched the lips of a god, or an Extravagant Sword that once drew a divine's ichor from their holy body.

Once you receive a Divine Spark, you undergo an Apotheotic Ascension, a metamorphic state in which a being is considered both mortal and divine at once. Upon a successful Ascension, you acquire a Godspark, and you being to raise through ranks of Divine Power.

A Divine Spark focus is an object that is required in order to house the essence of divinity that allows one to become a god. While not all ascensions have a spark focus used, it definitely makes the process of absorbing a Divine Spark easier -- as attempting to inherit raw divine power by oneself with no medium would be akin to swallowing a star and hoping their body does not get consumed by the unbridled force.

A Divine Spark focus does not always need to be used for Ascension to Godhood. Some societies and Empires have utilized the Spark Focuses to maintain massive structures or spells for Eons. Some have even been passed down as sacred artifacts for generations. These Spark Focuses are always massively expensive and the more power they're meant to hold the more costly they are.

A Divine Spark is the essence of what makes a deity divine. It represents the consolidated energy of belief and spiritual resonance in a physical manifestation. To behold a Divine Spark in the flesh is akin to staring into a star that bears with it a heartbeat that threatens to deafen and blind you.

If souls could be considered the flame of a creature's being, a divine spark would be more similar to a star. So great is the innate energy of a spark that if those who are unworthy come into physical contact with it, they may find themselves bodily and spiritually torn asunder by its grandiose power.

Regardless of whether one can physically maintain a divine spark within their being all those that attempt to absorb one undergo the state of Apotheotic Ascension as their bodies attempt to cope with the fluctuating raw power inside of them -- at the end of which, their form will try its best to maintain that power without perishing.

Apotheotic Ascension

Immediately after absorbing a divine spark, you are subjected to the fluctuating raw power of the spark, regardless of how you came across the spark.

As your body attempts to cope with the amount of pure energy inside it, you begin your transformation into godhood. You are still able to move, take actions, use abilities, and cast spells until Round 5. This process lasts 30 seconds (5 rounds) with each round exhibiting a different effect.

Round 1

The energy fluctuations inside you start to manifest physically, striking out at the surroundings from your soul, and making it difficult to get near you.

• The surrounding area within a 20-foot radius becomes difficult terrain. This difficult terrain follows you. You also deal Maximum damage on all attacks.
• You gain resistance to all damage.

Round 2

Your spirit begins to glow intensely, and you feel your insides burning as if your soul had been lit on fire.

• You begin to emit an aura of multi-chromatic energy which deals 27 (5d10) Aetheric Damage and 27 (5d10) Force Damage to all creatures who end their turn within 20 feet of you.

Round 3

Your mind begins to evolve in the way it perceives reality and your vision briefly expands to see the horizon stretch out into the Ethereal and Astral planes, bearing witness to the spirits and beyond into all other planes.

• Your vision falls under the following effects temporarily, for 200 feet, as your mind feels the life energy in all things
• 200 ft. Blindsight
• 200 ft. Darkvision
• 200 ft. Tremorsense
• 200 ft. Truesight

Round 4

Your body begins to feel the rippling energy of the spark leech into your core and you begin to feel your mortal form burn away into something more. Screaming is probable at this point.

• Your skin begins to crack like glass and raw energy bursts forth from those cracks. As an action, you can force all creatures within 20 feet of you to make a DC 20 Dexterity save as bolts of energy arc from you. On a failure, 52 (5d20) Aetheric Damage and 52 (5d20) Force Damage is dealt, or half as much damage on a success. If this damage reduces a creature to 0 HP, a silver cord connecting them to the divine plane is severed. Their body is disintegrated. They can only be restored to life by a Wish or a spell of equal or greater power.

Round 5

Your whole being freezes as the energy inside you comes to an overwhelming final build-up. You immediately lose the ability to move, take actions, use abilities, or cast spells.

• You ascend into the air 150 feet, phasing through any object or barrier in your way until you reach an open area.
• You begin emitting an intensely bright light, which casts bright light in a 100-foot radius and dim light for an additional 100 feet. This light dispels all darkness, natural or magical.
• You begin emitting an extremely thunderous high-pitched ringing, as your energy hits a critical point. This is audible for 1,000 feet.

Critical Point

All effects of Apotheotic Ascension now stop and then explode outwards from the individual. They now roll for Divine Spark Absorption... and pray they succeed.

After having a taste of divinity, your body, mind, and spirit now attempt to hold onto that energy permanently inside itself. Many fail, but those who don't will walk away as something more than themselves.

There are a few different rolls that can be made based on how the spark was absorbed.

Killing a god -  You and the fallen god must make a special level contest.

Both you and the slain god roll a contest. (d20 + character level + highest mental ability score modifier + divine rank)

Utilizing a Divine Spark Focus in the midst of absorbing a spark from a fallen deity grants you advantage on this roll.

Genocide or Worship - When absorbing a Divine Spark created from mass worship or genocide, you must make this special level check. (d20 + Half your Character level vs. d20 + the Divine Rank of the Spark +5)

Divinely granted power, or power gained through divinely blessed artifacts does not go through the process of Apotheotic Ascension and does not require rolls at this point.

For these rolls, any special effect or ability that allows you to reroll dice can only be used once by either party and when both parties use such abilities at the same time, they cancel out.

On a failed save, you explode and die in a massive energy-based explosion that levels all structures, natural and otherwise, and kills everything within a 1,000-foot radius of you.

• 210 (20d20) Aetheric Damage plus 210 (20d20) Force Damage. Triple Damage to all structures and objects in the radius. The area then becomes subject to an Anti-Magic Field for an amount of years equal to a d20 per Spark attempted to be absorbed. An area of 1,000 feet beyond the Anti-Magic Field is under the effects of Wild Magic.
• The spark and all souls associated with it become lost to the hungry void. You can only be resurrected by a Wish or greater spell.