Minor Deity Core v2.01
Table of contents
In times of evil, a hero always rises.
Blessed is each hero, indirectly or directly.
Overview
Average Height: Depending on template Race
Average Weight: Depending on template Race
Life span: Effectively immortal
Skin colors: Depending on template Race
Hair colors: Depending on template Race
Play a Minor Deity if you want…
- …To serve the Goddesses in a more direct manner.
- …To deliver mysterious guidance to mortals.
- …To assist your group from the sidelines.
- …To live inbetween the mortal and the divine sphere.
Vulnerability: Dark
Bonuses:
- Choose a different race. You are both a Minor Deity and a member of the chosen race, having both races’ bonuses and vulnerabilities. If the chosen race’s Vulnerability is Dark, choose any other type of elemental damage. You become vulnerable to the chosen element on top of being vulnerable to Dark.
- Choose Power Servant, Wisdom Servant, or Courage Servant. That choice is permanent. You gain additional racial bonuses depending on the chosen Aspect. You temporaily lose access to the racial bonuses of your chosen aspect, and Feats, Techniques and Spells that have Minor Deity as a requirement, whenever and as long as the sum of your Traits in either one of the non-chosen Aspects is higher than the sum of your Traits in the chosen Aspect.
- If you are a Power Servant, you are a Natural Climber and gain “Eldin’s Flames” for free. You may perform “Song of Awakening” and “Song of Soul” as if you have learned it and if you do, you may use Civilization for determining your Musical Power.
- If you are a Wisdom Servant, you are a Natural Swimmer and gain “Faron’s Tide” for free. You may perform “Song of Blooming” and “Song of Discovery” as if you have learned it and if you do, you may use Arcana for determining your Musical Power.
- If you are a Courage Servant, you can glide under your own power, but you are not a Natural Glider, and gain “Lanaryu’s Storm” for free. You may perform “Song of Birds” and “Wind’s Requiem (Minor only)” as if you have learned it and if you do, you may use Nature for determining your Musical Power. Note: If your chosen race is a non-Natural Glider, for example Fairies, you may become a Natural Glider if your GM allows it.
Description
The lands of Hyrule are partially covered in the blessings of Guardian Deities, powerful servants of the Golden Goddesses and the lands themselves, protecting the settlement or landmark assigned to them and making sure its inhabitants will always have enough resources to ensure a peaceful day-by-day life. But sometimes, the forces of evil challenge a Guardian Deity’s sanctuary. And sometimes, those forces are too much for them, leaving them with no choice but either to retreat or, more commonly, to relinquish their immortality to greatly boost their blessing one last time, hoping that a hero shall appear and drive evil away before the blessing wanes.
Most Minor Deities are created when a Guardian Deity sacrifices themselves. Their fleeting essence is split up in multiple pieces before those fragments create shells resembling members of the mortal races. Each fragment retains a part of the Guardian Deities’ memories and knowledge, although not much of their powers. As those Minor Deities travel the world in search for a hero or for something that can help the land they blessed, their powers grow, but they also develop individual personalities. Some Minor Deities are even capable of going against the will of the original Guardian Deity (although very rarely to the point they ally with the forces of evil). For the most part though, one Minor Deity will eventually rise above the others and reach a threshold where the fragments of the other related Minor Deities vanishes from their bodies. That one Minor Deity will return to their homeplace and be reborn as the new Guardian Deity while the other Minor Deities, now without essence, become just like regular mortals sans the ability to procreate.
In more unusual cases, a living Guardian Deity implants a part of their power into their most loyal servant as part of an important mission said servant must undergo. While they would never call themselves that, those are Minor Deities too. Once the important mission has been accomplished, the servants get to keep that part of the Guardian Deities’ power as a blessing and may even become unique Guardian Deities themselves if desired. However, few servants pursue that possibility.
The rarest of Minor Deities are formed spontaneously out of nothing. This usually happens when a new settlement is built that needs protection or when those Minor Deities born out of a Guardian Deities’ sacrifice fail to become the Guardian Deities’ rebirth, either because their personalities clash with the rebirth or because they have been successfully hunted by the forces of evil.
Playing a Minor Deity
Depending on how they came to be, Minor Deities initially tend to be either knowledgable but distant and cold or naive but curious. As they develop a personality, they become as multi-faceted as the mortal races. An exception are servants-made-Deities, since they already had a personality before.
Gaining more knowledge about their own powers and their fate as a potential new Guardian Deity, paired with the eventual realization that they will outlive their friends and loved ones they may make on their travel, is an integral part of a Minor Deities’ existence. This can temper their will to fulfill their destiny further or make them want to give up on their supernatural heritage and seek to be as mortal as their surroundings. While a Minor Deity can indeed reject their essence, this should be reserved for the end of the campaign. No matter if they lose their essence or make their final steps towards becoming a Guardian Deity, expect a bittersweet ending for that character’s career and for the group as a whole either way.
When adventuring, Minor Deities can use their inherent ability to traverse difficult landmarks and perform songs inherent to them to help their group in a myriad of ways, even if the group already has a bard. Due to their commitment to traits from their chosen Aspect, they can cover a wide area of expertises and always perform decently in combat, dungeoneering, social challenges, knowledge challenges and crafting as long as it fits their niche. Of course, that means they will always underperform outside of their chosen Aspect, so a Power Servant will not always hit, a Wisdom Servant will not always activate additional effects of Spells and a Courage Servant, while hitting a lot more often, will not deal as much damage. In other words, Minor Deities can both be the backbone of a group and a hindrance if they are forced to perform well with traits outside of their Aspect. In addition, a Minor Deity can tap into the bonuses of both being a Minor Deity and their chosen race, which, combined with being the before-mentioned backbone of a group, makes them surprisingly flexible in unique ways.
Lastly, remember that a Minor Deity has a strong tie to a specific settlement or location, so whenever the group visits it, you can expect to be able to get a wide variety of assistance because its inhabitants already know the character well and tend to like them.
Characteristics: Introspective, Mystical, Friendly, Exalted, Distanced, Unsure, Pondering, Self-conflicted
Minor Deity Names usually take one of the more common names of the race they imitate to not attract unwanted attention. They would never give themselves a name based on the Guardian Deity whose essence they inherited, as they see said name as a title to earn.
Names: See template race’s entry.
Techniques & Spells
Eldin’s Flames
6 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Minor Deity
Cost: 6 Hearts (Bind)
Use Requirement: There is an open fire (torch or better) within 3 squares of you.
Range: Burst 2 or Line 6
Effect: The affected area becomes blessed by you. All enemies that move into or end their turn in the affected area receive (Combat) Fire damage. If you receive damage, Unbind the Hearts Bound in this effect and end said effect.
Faron’s Tide
6 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Minor Deity
Cost: 6 Magic (Bind)
Use Requirement: There is mostly clean water within 3 squares of you.
Range: Burst 2 or Line 6
Effect: The affected area becomes blessed by you. All enemies that move into or end their turn in the affected area receive (Willpower) Water damage. If you receive damage, Spend the Magic Bound in this effect and end said effect.
Lanaryu’s Storm
6 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Minor Deity
Cost: 6 Stamina (Bind)
Use Requirement: There is natural wind within 3 squares of you.
Range: Burst 2 or Line 6
Effect: The affected area becomes blessed by you. All enemies that move into or end their turn in the affected area are knocked back to the nearest unoccupied square not affected by this and knocked Prone. Mini-Bosses and Bosses are instead Slowed as long as they are in the affected area. If you receive damage, Spend the Stamina Bound in this effect and end said effect.
Feats
Guardian Deity Aspirant, Power
6 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Civilization 6, Minor Deity, Power Servant
Effect: You may use a Standard Action to transform into a Guardian Deity for the duration of one scene or encounter, increasing your Size to Huge but also becoming Cursed for the duration. You can’t do this again until you take an Extended Rest. If you become Helpless while transformed, you return to your normal form.
When acquired, choose one Weapon Enchantment (if you choose Elemental Weapon, also choose a single Element to apply). This choice is permanent and cannot be changed later. While you are a Guardian Deity, you can become On Fire or end being On Fire as a Free Action and are not affected by the negative effects of being On Fire. Further, when you transform into a Guardian Deity, choose a single weapon an ally wields or carries in their belt or pack. It gains the chosen Weapon Enchantment at the Weapon’s Rank, in addition to any Enchantment it might already have (if it’s the same enchantment, they don’t stack; take the higher Enchantment Rank). That Enchantment is lost once you return to your normal form.
Guardian Deity Aspirant, Wisdom
6 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Arcana 6, Minor Deity, Wisdom Servant
Effect: You may use a Standard Action to transform into a Guardian Deity for the duration of one scene or encounter, increasing your Size to Huge but also becoming Cursed for the duration. You can’t do this again until you take an Extended Rest. If you become Helpless while transformed, you return to your normal form.
When acquired, choose one Armor Enchantment. This choice is permanent and cannot be changed later. While you are a Guardian Deity, you can become Hard to Hit or end being Hard to Hit as a Free Action. Further, when you transform into a Guardian Deity, choose a single piece of armor an ally wields or carries in their belt or pack. It gains the chosen Armor Enchantment at the Armor’s Rank, in addition to any Enchantment it might already have (if it’s the same enchantment, they don’t stack; take the higher Enchantment Rank). That Enchantment is lost once you return to your normal form.
Guardian Deity Aspirant, Courage
6 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Nature 6, Minor Deity, Courage Servant
Effect: You may use a Standard Action to transform into a Guardian Deity for the duration of one scene or encounter, increasing your Size to Huge but also becoming Cursed for the duration. You can’t do this again until you take an Extended Rest. If you become Helpless while transformed, you return to your normal form.
When acquired, choose one Elixir’s special property from the Boosted Traits, Combat Prowess, Resist Damage and Resist Weather categories each. These choices are permanent and cannot be changed later. While you are a Guardian Deity, you are a Natural Glider and can become Electrified or end being Electrified as a Free Action. Further, you can use a Minor Action to give the effect of one of your chosen special properties to an ally. The special property’s Rank is equal to the highest Rank of any weapon or armor currently equipped by the ally. You can use each special property only once per scene or encounter and each ally can only benefit from one effect at a time that way. If an ally already has the same type of effect from food or an elixir, they don’t stack; take the higher special property Rank. All effects granted that way are lost once you return to your normal form.
Guardian Deity Ascendant
3 Tokens
Requirement: GM Approval
Learn Requirement: Arcana 9, Civilization 9, or Nature 9; any Guardian Deity Aspirant feat
Effect: You no longer become Cursed when transforming into your Guardian Deity form and you may choose to remain in your Guardian Deity form while Helpless.
Guardian Deity Affiant
6 Tokens
Requirement: GM Approval
Learn Requirement: Any Guardian Deity Aspirant feat
Effect: You may transform into a Guardian Deity twice before you need to take an Extended Rest.
Voice of the Goddesses
3 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Any Guardian Deity Aspirant feat
Effect: While in your Guardian Deity form, your ability to perform songs as if you have learned them includes “Command Melody” if you are a Power Servant, “Future’s Fugue” if you are a Wisdom Servant, or “Farewell to Gibdos” if you are a Courage Servant.