I love how you call out people who "get threatened by make believe", absolutely love it. Never stop making content, AJ!

How fitting that even some of the gods aren’t invulnerable to the power of the Natural 1. Makes you feel a bit better about rolling one...

"though shalt not traverse this blessed paradise wearing CROCS on thine feet" -torm 15:43

How to become a Greater Power: Step One: body the Elemental Evil Campaign Step Two: body a homebrew campaign Step Three: have your daughter kidnapped by idiots trying to die Step Four: cut off a winged elf's wings to show that you mean business and demonstrate clearly how little chill you possess Step Five: further demonstrate that you have 0% chill by discovering the plot to sacrifice your daughter to a god Step Six: take exception to this Step Seven: visit your father on the Elemental Plane of Fire and receive many gifts Step Eight: dismantle a cult and its manga incarnations in its entirety across the prime material plane (this may or may not involve the slaughter of everyone in a country as a part of the process) Step Nine: break a demigod's legs and steal an item which allows you to access Sigil Step Ten: find a way to the infinite stairs and butcher even more people Step Eleven: rescue your daughter from the cult, t-pose for dominance with a greater god Step Twelve: return home with your friends, daughter and a shit load of loot Step Thirteen: your female elf nymphomaniac rogue must go solo and end up pregnant with a purple tiefling Step Fourteen: adopt the little tiefling as your granddaughter because you love kids Step Fifteen: the greater god you got on over on because he wasnt expecting you to go as hard as you did out of the gate because he's an arrogant ass steals away your adopted tiefling granddaughter Step Sixteen: lose your fucking mind Step Seventeen: go back to Sigil Step Eighteen: raise all hell in Mount Celestia Step Nineteen: "kidnap" an angel who has had more than enough of your shit to break into the realm in which the god physically resides Step Twenty: engage the god in combat Step Twenty-One: roll like the One Above All himself to grapple said god while enlsrged Step Twenty-Two: realize you have no way to put the god down permanently available while your hands are busy grappling the god Step Twenty-Three: get enlarged even further to colossal plus size in your spellcaster's turn Step Twenty-Four: decide to eat the now smaller God because you have -3000% chill Step Twenty-Five: crit confirm three times to successfully eat the God Step Twenty-Six: have a brief audience with Ao where you directly are being judged for your actions and deeds but are smart enough to not say a single damn thing Step Twenty-Seven: have Ao acknowledge your complete lack of chill Step Twenty-Eight: explode with the force of several hundred stars going super nova all at once because you ate a god and of course it's not actually dead Step Twenty-Nine: decide that this isnt going to kill you and basically use force of will circa mtg like your a planeswalker before the Sundering and tell the god currently trying to destroy your very essence "no your mom gay" Step Thirty: remind your DM that because of prior events you just have an improved critical 15-20 is a crit, show him your character sheet where he signed off on the series of feats as you crit confirm that you didn't die Step Thirty-One: best the greater God in a metaphysical contest of wills and make it look as easy as an adult boxing a toddler for real because of your improved critical Step Thirty-Two: succeed in battering the greater God into submission Step Thirty-Three: kill the god Step Thirty-Four: assume the God's profile and get a little something else added to your new godly profile by Ao Step Thirty-Five: send a physical avatar home to your wife with your grand baby in arms Step Thirty-Six: realize that your character is just Asura from Asura's Fury at this point because your DM kind of had to make you broken because you were the only tank through Elemental Evil when we were running it during adventure league Step Thirty-Seven: retire that character and that whole time period Step Thirty-Eight: wait for you DM to create another campaign Step Thirty-Nine: make a new character that is a paladin for your old character who is now actively doing godly things Step Forty: be granted the ability to enlarge and eat creatures to regain spell slots and up to 1/2 of your maximum health back once a week.

I'm christian and I have absolutely zero problem with there being Gods in fantasy or any other genre for that matter. Honestly if anything my faith makes me appreciate such stories all the more and gives me great inspiration when coming up with my own Gods when dabbling in fantasy writing myself. I also really love dark stories which criticize religion and attempt to deconstruct faith cause it's just posing questions I've already asked myself a million times over, dark souls is probably my favorite of such works of art.

Gotta love how the gods have all these broadly defined powers, and yet they can't see in the dark unless they have darkvision.

Real life lore is much more frightening, complicated, & messy than D&D. I'm so sorry you've had to make your first statement in the beginning of this episode. If anything, our world is going through it's own "time of troubles". And all of this is a celebration of what this one small world produced over a period of 300,000 years of oral history, myths, & traditions (out of the 4.5 billion years of known existence). Keep it going my friend. Great job. I know our ancestors would be proud you are keeping story telling to a whole new level now.

the mythology and gods are always an exiting aspect of DnD... i remember when i played in a God campeign (we were gods that were de-throned and became mortal,on a quest to regain our former power).

The relationship between Ao and the the gods seems like the relationship between Eru and the Ainur in lord of the Rings.

Skimming the comments, there's some irony in how adding that disclaimer to avoid offending people seemed to mostly just end up offending a whole other group.

You really should continue this series. There's not that much in-depth videos on the Deities themselves. Pretty sure videos on Tyr, Bane, Lloth, Mystra and Cyric by themselves would be popular viewing.

Love that disclaimer dude! awesome channel, love your content

Ao is what is known as a true immortal information found in wrath of the immortals box set . Ao is a lesser immortal and sphere of creation .

I like the idea that the Demi powers all have the ability to create and utilize avatars but they don't all know that. It gives you a moment in your campaign when a very powerful entity can be like. Wait! What? I can do that awesome!

Please do more ECOLOGY videos like this!!! It is amazing and one of the most entertaining videos you have made! although all your videos are very entertaining so this is saying something!

always fascinating. you really rocked this, AJ. my little group has been playing three-and-a-quarter years now. we spent the first year in our homebrew version of 5e planescape, and then jumped ship and have been playing in Monte Cook & Bruce Cordell's Cypher System since then, though the group often travels back to a kind of "home base" location in planescape. in addition to largely playing Cypher System's "The Strange" multiverse, we are using Bruce Cordell's rules from "Gods of the Fall," so the players are on track to becoming gods themselves. so it's really fun and imaginatively inspiring to hear your take on how gods work in the Realms.

Been going through everyone's diety related videos while I design my own pantheon. This is the best exploration of the concepts and design philosophies of the topic on KZfaq. You are a treasure and I appreciate your work.

I'd love to see a video on every god, especially mystra.

I've always been kinda confused how deities work in the Ravenloft setting since the Dark Powers kind of negate the gods but let clerics and paladins keep their powers? Raistlin technically became greater than the gods in the Dragon Lance setting. Killing all of them and becoming the one and only diety.

The best disclaimer ever! Thanks for the depth of information you provide to DND.

Wow. I love your "move on my friend" sentiment at the start. You sound like a decent fellow, this was an awesome video! Thank you!

Hey AJ. I really appreciate the work you put into the content you provide. I draw heavily on it for the games I DM. Keep up the great content.

Best opening statement in a video ever. Good job my friend

They had to make the deities that broken because they KNEW players would slaughter all of them if it were possible.

It's easy to reskin gods based on real life samples, but making something new entirely is an incomprehensible task for me. It's like grasping at vines.

This is a much needed video

Damn man you have some great, thorough videos. My favorite is Tharizdun.

AO is a manifestation of the Divine of the Realms. He is Their collective Id.

When you have to apologize and explain yourself before anyone even complained, you know the world is fucked.

02:14 is a really good explanation of the planes! Liked and subbed just for that, naturally the rest of the video was great as well. :D

I just stumbled upon your channel and I was mostly Dragonlance and you have helped me catch up with Forgotten Realms. I am sorry you had to make the caveat on the video, but I find it well researched but not boring.

I dunno, you manage to kill a demigods avatar "Thats it, that mortal is getting hit with SMITE right now! Take me a whole Me-damn year to make another one". Probably going to be a bit annoyed at least.

Love this video! Would you ever do a power tier list? I mean a list of monsters/actual characters and rank them on their power? Maybe a top ten?

Loved the choose your own adventure option at the beginning lol

I'm eager for the next part in this series, if it hasn't been abandoned

God dammit I love your videos. You sir are awesome, thank you for all your work and efforts, I love the way you explain these topics!

My new favorite video and KZfaqr.

20 years ago, I had my own rules of divine ascension in Loom of Magus, the rules set by Loom of Magus's creators, the Loom Dragons. I had one divine level below demi-power, the initiate. I based (more inspired than actually based) a lot of my rules on the D&D Immortal Set with a more gradual climb to power. Two levels were used to determine what station you can ascend to, Divinity (feat based level, like a divine reputation meter) and Worshipper Populous (level determined by # of worshippers). Your first avatar, your first form, was the body you ascended in... gear and all. You can create other avatar forms, but construction takes time and costs power. The special levels of immunities and special powers are not automatic, they can be purchased based upon your next station and acquired power... and what you are willing to pay to enhance your being with. Your home realm is granted automatically (or stripped automatically) based upon your station. As an initiate, you are merely an enhanced character... could die if you have too few worshippers and are killed... dying with your "avatar" as most of your "divine being" is actually in that avatar, not yet having a realm. You are much easier to raise from the dead though. Now, if I re-enter AD&D as a DM with Godplay, I got to re-write all my rules... I don't know if I should groan or cheer.

So a gods power is simply based on how many people worship them? This technically means I can become a God! Oh good day!

Very awesome video AJ.

Did you guys ever go over how the Chosen worked out? Where the various gods were hiding their power from Ao?

Note to Self: Do not wear Crocs while traversing the Outer Planes. ;)

Can’t wait to hear more about the gods and primordials but I’m really wanting to hear about the rankings in more depth.

The intro disclaimer seemed well-intentioned but a bit poorly executed. I like your videos quite a lot, been really delving deep for lore here. I wonder if there was some outcry on one or a few of your other videos that made you make such a disclaimer. The analogy of different planes of existence being like different frequencies in the same medium is very fascinating! And the analogy for the existence of gods was very helpful. I quite like this video. Thank you.

Thanks for everything you have made a video on, but I can't wait for cleric's, the two closest you've gotten to it is well worlocks and will this, anyways it would be fun to see a cleric/ worlock that wants to serve both loyly, but one is the druid God of storms and the other is a spell-Weaver, as a result the player has to run errands for both and has to make both get along, like an inter planner diplomat or ambassador... + They get cool pawers from both 😄.. Tell me if you like the idea AJ 😉

Is there any rule against literally creating ideal worshippers to sustain you? Like cultivating a psychic prayer garden of mortals.

Gods might be immortal, but Oko can turn them into 3/3 elks.

I wanna know more about the slaad god tbh

The Great Unknown > The Luminous Being > AO > Greater Powers > Intermediate Powers > Lesser Powers > Demi-Powers > Quasi-Powers > Epic Level Characters > Characters of Level 20 and below. Or is it Quasi-Powers > Demi-Powers? 🤔

Such great analogies for what it would be like to be a god.

No! They’re all real! Elfstar told me so!

Hey AJ, great video! You got me thinking & wondering. Where does the Dark Sun Campaign fit in to all this? Did you ever notice in the D&D cartoon. When the Dungeon Master is explaining to Presto how magic works in this world or realm. That if you produce water here you are taking it from somewhere else in the world. Thats how it works in Dark Sun Campaign. To me, they are in the Dark Sun Realm. My favorite deity is the fumbling, bumbling, stumbling Fizban from the Dragonlance books. What a shock it was to find out he is the top deity of that realm. Thanks AJ & have a great day.

It's interesting because my belief systems are impacted positively by DND. Personally. Like an extra pantheon of understanding.

I love how u use magic cards for you art!!!

Thank you good video

I remember thinkng that the priest of Ao was surprisingly underwhelming considering that he is the god of gods and the king of kings.

That we are in a time where you had to put a disclaimer on is fucking sad, but understandable in these times..

Ao is in fact the DM. He can turn off the gods and the PCs, at his will.

Hey there AJ,you should do a video on the Ethereal Dreadnaught!

Could you make a video about the Eberron God's? It's mainly info about the Traveller I'm after. Any info on him seems to be on short supply. Hopefully you'll have better luck researching him than me.

AJ thanks again for the great content, is Loth a lesser, intermediate, or greater deity? Thanks again AJ

I would love to see some sources in your videos. Number one to read deeper into an interesting subject, and number two, because the lore isn't totally consistent over editions, and I am not totally sure for which edition(s) your lore videos are valid.

Fantastic

Well said ol chap, truly its only a game so I don't want pelor worshiping fools to place your righteous judgement on me for sacrificing 7 chickens to nerull so I can increase my chances of rolling natural 20s next time I play

Lolomg the need to have a disclaimer at the beginning says a lot a out the state of the world.

So there are contradictions in the lore, which signal to me that the lore is just that, lore. As GMs, this is inspiration, but not cannon. Here's a few interesting thoughts: was Umberlee created with the ocean, before the ocean, or after the ocean? If before, are the gods necessary for the thing to exist, and what happens if the god dies? If after, are the gods even necessary? Are the gods people, and if so do they have free will? Can they go against their own portfolio, or are they infallible regarding their own nature? Can Tyr, god of Justice, do something unjust, and if so are they really people? Is there a difference between Torm, who was mortal, and Ilmater who wasn't? People change with experience, so do the gods change? Why don't chaotic evil gods spread their faith in other gods territory if they don't really care about divine law? What happened to the gods from other pantheons (like the Norse or Hindu gods) during the Time of Troubles since they had nothing to do with the Tablets of Fate? A lot of these questions go unanswered, and if you don't think about them the entire system can fall apart.

@AJ Pickett can you point me to the source image at 6:09?

I'm Christian DM and a lot of my friends are too. I didn't know much about D&D's deities and allowed one of my friends to play a Christian Monk. That was a mistake. Any religious roleplaying felt blasphemous as I as the DM had to speak for God. That and when he started sharing his faith to lizard folk they just beat in combat it just felt wrong rolling to see what happened. Luckily that was a one shot to test the waters. I learned that real word religion doesn't belong in D&d. From now on I will always brief new players on the disconnect between the players and their characters. Just like writing a character in a book.

Where are my brothers and sisters of the the triad?!

So it's still possible to kill a god technically

So where do demigods rank amongst angels in power? Is it safe to assume that all Divine powers I'm more powerful than angels?

As a DM, I disagree on "a Deity can cast ANY spell" like...a God of combat casting antimagic field?? YIKES Otherwise, I've added this video to my favorites, and hope one day to absorb much of it if not all!

Perkins recently said the dead three are stranded mortal on the PMP. Descent may mention Baal, can we get an update what seems like a De facto new type of God? My campaign is based on myrkul and I'm hoping nothing directly opposes the lore I'm generating. Cool channel I share vids all the time to educate players on background lore

In the inner,outer planes and on the etheral or asteral planes I've read there are no limits to the number of avaters most powers can have

Ao is the Dungeon Master

gOOD INTRO

AJ Pickette are you familiar with Primal Order that Wizards of the Coast made in the early 1990s? I found it very useful supplement for Gods in Fantasy games. They also had a few supplements that had some creatures that were good inspirations as well.

So what's the amount of followers required for each level?

Can they be seduced???

I Wish Only The Best For You

Where is the picture at 20:25 from? (The angel-solar-deity.) Please & thank you.

I think it would be fun to be a demigod, creating your own avatar, chilling with other gods just to make sure you have a good base, start on your avatar, and get to work making friends and allies to use as pseudo followers, kindly of like a religious passive income. "Look I'm not asking for much, just looking for some faith or two and hook me up with my buddies here and we'll help you out as well right? Just some small quick and easy prayers and rituals that are a one-way relationship no strings attached and if it works for you then it works! Feel free to bail and come back as you need, just be sure not to mess with other gods without first consulting the small contract I've set in your brain and/or talisman and boom no mess no fuss. Easy right?"

I read a really good trilogy about some mortals who took up the deity one of them was named cyric the other two was a man and woman really good character developement. They had to adjust even the way they rewarded believers because good was basically going martyr to guarantee a good afterlife creating an imbalanced system.

"So here is the first concept behind gods in the realms: I found Zip Recruiter!"

This video should be called ecology of the dungeonmaster! 😉

wow... 2 minutes to avoid some offended stranger, this is not a sign of a healthy society

Wouldn't it be cool to have a player character who could take power and kill many gods and create a realms wide battle to stop him/her from wiping out all them

What about Mask appearing in physical form to Erevis?

wait does that means Vecna got a permission from AO to become a god ? What about karsus during the folly ? And does that demiliches or other immortal's quest for godhood is doomed to fail unless they find a way to convince AO ?

Hey! You did a video a while back about the feathered serpent god that created Toral and was killed by his brother. It was a snippet in another video but I can't remember or find it. Can you help a brother out?

Any chance of the discussion of the Time of Troubles appearing?

question on ascension of gods and mortals. We know mortals are able to ascend to lower levels of godhood by great acts of power and such but if how you worded and explained the workings of the multi-verse and planes of existence as limited and bound to harmonic frequencies would it be possible "lore wise: for a mortal to travel to these other planes and realities and absorb the frequencies of their own souls on those planes thus taking the fragmented power of their own creation on multiple realms to ascend to an over god position like AO?

Love the intro. Lol.

We really need sources for all this stuff.

What if Io is just the DM. Anyone think about that?

Quasi-deities "don't" need his blessing to bestow spell to their priest?

I am creating a campaign where no magic exists. Only deities (divinity, sleight of hand, and nature) and technology. The PC’s have to figure out how to deal with a continent of various humanoids and humans with a myriad of gods as they confront a technologically advanced, and also deity-worshipping, humanoid race bent on domination, cultural, resource, and racial. So, thank you for this video!

As someone who follows the cult of Mielikki, I would like to say I am deeply offended by this video. How DARE YOU say my goddess is part of a FICTIONAL setting? (Sorry, just felt like I had to, this being 2021)

if one wishes to play as Ao, is it possible? or forbidden?

If gods can reproduce, why aren't we up to our eyeballs in them?