Deity's Corpse

[DontEatRawHagis]

In a possible encounter for my players they will be coming across the body of the God of Murder. Ironically they have been murdered. (Assume that it my setting Gods are just high powered humanoids that pretend to be gods).

How could I embellish the scene of the God of Murder being killed without outright saying this is what looks like when a god dies?

For instance I want them to see this and say wow something important happened here. And have it a bit more interesting to look at than the standard wanderer murdered in the forest.

[BioCharge]

I believe the Book of Vile Darkness has something on the matter:

Spoiler: Book of Evil Darkness: Chapter 2, pg. 36

Show

DARKNESS LIKE THE WORLD HAS NEVER
SEEN BEFORE
Generally unique in all the world, such an event scars the
nature of reality. Such a scar will probably never heal. The
worst of all fell events might include the following.
• An act of genocide.
• The birth of an evil god.
• The murder of a god, demigod, or legendary hero of light.
Darkness like the world has never seen before shows its
effects in the following ways.
Creatures: Severe psychological trauma and physical
changes are likely in the wake of such powerful evil. Possible
changes include the following.
• Creature has a faint greenish glow.
• Creature is sickened.
• Creature takes a –2 inherent penalty to one ability score.
• Creature’s touch causes minor pain, dealing 1 point of
damage.
• Animals avoid the presence of the creature if possible.
• Creature gains Evil Brand as a bonus feat, whether desired
or not.
• Creature is horribly mutated physically, gaining Willing
Deformity as a bonus feat.
• Creature’s blood becomes acidic; it is immune to damage
from its own blood.
• Creature’s body breaks out in boils that ooze poison.
• Creature gains the corrupted template (see Chapter 8).
Locations: The site of an evil this horrific is forever
marred. Such a vortex of evil might demonstrate some of the
following properties.
• An unhallow spell spreads throughout the area. Dispelling
the unhallow effect only suppresses it for 1d4
rounds.
• A befoul or despoil spell spreads throughout the area.
• The landscape changes significantly, often forming a
huge rift or crater or draining a large body of water.
• Weather patterns change forever; overcast skies, cold
winds, and rain dominate.
Objects: An object exposed to such evil may have one of
the following taints.
• Touching the object causes pain, dealing 1 point of
damage.
• Object becomes an evil artifact.
Detect Evil: Detect evil always indicates a strong evil aura
surrounding a place where a dread event happened or an
object was exposed to it. Creatures involved have a slight
evil aura clinging to them for 1d10×10 days afterward.

Just give it a massive area that has these effects, and that should be pretty epic.

[sktarq]

depends on where in the campaign universe the corpse is and what size it is. a massive semi fossilized mass floating in the depths of the Astral plane has different options than a forgotten ambush site in the catacombs under a metropolis vs a temple made to hold the fallen's corpse.

[Leviting]

Just remember how Atropal Scions are formed, aka: Chunk of God Flest

[DontEatRawHagis]

I believe the Book of Vile Darkness has something on the matter:

Spoiler: Book of Evil Darkness: Chapter 2, pg. 36

Show

DARKNESS LIKE THE WORLD HAS NEVER
SEEN BEFORE
Generally unique in all the world, such an event scars the
nature of reality. Such a scar will probably never heal. The
worst of all fell events might include the following.
• An act of genocide.
• The birth of an evil god.
• The murder of a god, demigod, or legendary hero of light.
Darkness like the world has never seen before shows its
effects in the following ways.
Creatures: Severe psychological trauma and physical
changes are likely in the wake of such powerful evil. Possible
changes include the following.
• Creature has a faint greenish glow.
• Creature is sickened.
• Creature takes a –2 inherent penalty to one ability score.
• Creature’s touch causes minor pain, dealing 1 point of
damage.
• Animals avoid the presence of the creature if possible.
• Creature gains Evil Brand as a bonus feat, whether desired
or not.
• Creature is horribly mutated physically, gaining Willing
Deformity as a bonus feat.
• Creature’s blood becomes acidic; it is immune to damage
from its own blood.
• Creature’s body breaks out in boils that ooze poison.
• Creature gains the corrupted template (see Chapter 8).
Locations: The site of an evil this horrific is forever
marred. Such a vortex of evil might demonstrate some of the
following properties.
• An unhallow spell spreads throughout the area. Dispelling
the unhallow effect only suppresses it for 1d4
rounds.
• A befoul or despoil spell spreads throughout the area.
• The landscape changes significantly, often forming a
huge rift or crater or draining a large body of water.
• Weather patterns change forever; overcast skies, cold
winds, and rain dominate.
Objects: An object exposed to such evil may have one of
the following taints.
• Touching the object causes pain, dealing 1 point of
damage.
• Object becomes an evil artifact.
Detect Evil: Detect evil always indicates a strong evil aura
surrounding a place where a dread event happened or an
object was exposed to it. Creatures involved have a slight
evil aura clinging to them for 1d10×10 days afterward.

Just give it a massive area that has these effects, and that should be pretty epic.

This is exactly what I am looking for thank you. :)

The deities in my system range from larger than life to Halflings sized depending on how they used magics on themselves.

[sktarq]

This is exactly what I am looking for thank you. :)

The deities in my system range from larger than life to Halflings sized depending on how they used magics on themselves.

That's nice...and the god of murder in question?
also where?
how long ago?
has another god taken the portfolio yet?
do the faithful/former faithful know of this place?

[DontEatRawHagis]

That's nice...and the god of murder in question?
also where?
how long ago?
has another god taken the portfolio yet?
do the faithful/former faithful know of this place?

Homebrewed.

Where? In it's temple in the woods.

How long? About a couple of weeks.

Portfolio? Domains are up for grabs as well as positions. There are only allowed to be 13 Gods and Devil Lords.

The Faithful are still there... dead.

[sktarq]

Okay so we have a temple in the woods where everyone is dead. One of the dead being the corpse of the god-whom I'm going to run an an assumption that is no larger than large size. well I could see all kind of fun stuff. Animals being hyper aggressive as the idea of killing and murder infuse the area (not nessesarily to the PC's-just watch what happens to the PC's paranoia when the local deer kill the baby birds and a rabbit tries to attack scorpion or something) When describing scenes include the other characters (including other PC's) pointing out vulnerabilities - exposed backs, where the carotid artery is on someones neck, finding their hands on their own weapons. . . possible rage effects, bonus free and surprising metamagic effects on spells from the gods domains, possible interference with other divine magic, the divine symbols of the of the dead priests either don't radiate magic when they should or have caught the last of the gods power and are far more powerful than they should be, perhaps everything here is now poisonous-endlessly poisons when used for murder. The corpse itself is a physical manifestation of a feedback loop of a concept and could pull off pretty much anything you want. Tries to suck anyone's soul down into death perhaps or generates a random geas to murder X, or tries to but always fails, The corpse could also be ground down to make a poison that could be either the path to replacing the god or just the ultimate killing tool-one dose DC 100 20 Con damage four saves to cure every round or something equally stupid. Visions of death, rage, passions, and anything else the god had in his portfolio would be highly appropriate too. The whole area could also have issues with possibilities of suppressing ability scores (Con to make killing easier, Wis to reduce impulse control), slowly causing the characters to die (the place itself is trying to kill them), animate the shadows to stalk the party but they can't land an attack perhaps (since the god of murder is death). . . now using all the above would be overkill but I hope I helped with you own brainstorming.

[NichG]

I've had places like this in my current campaign. The gimmick I use is that the death of the god rips that god's portfolio out of the area where they died, leaving things related to it functioning weirdly and in a sort of twisted/reversed manner.

So for the god of murder, maybe its a location where nothing can die except from old age/natural causes. Wounds are still suffered, and if you suffer wounds that would kill you then they stop healing, but your life simply does not end until you reach your allotted time... or until you leave the area. Worse yet, this applies to things like microorganisms too, so everything is covered with molds and bacterial slicks, as if the area is bursting with life (but close examination will reveal that e.g. the trees have been utterly cored by their parasites and yet for whatever reason have not yet fallen down or died).

As the PCs approach, they see a couple of bodies bearing battle wounds fallen in a gently curved line, denoting the boundary. There are signs that a few of the bodies have been dragged into the area ahead. Deeper in, they might discover a band of mercenaries stuck in the zone with their enemies. Both sides bear the marks of horrible battle wounds, but there's an uneasy truce. They quickly discovered that if anyone who isn't healing leaves, they die on the spot, and most of them have progressed beyond the point where healing magic works on them, so they've been stuck in a sort of un-life within the zone's confines. Perhaps, more cruelly, only 20-30% of them are that injured, and the rest are staying out of duty and because they know/suspect that the other side will snipe them down with archer fire once they set foot outside of the zone.

So the corpse of the god of murder has surrounded itself with an eternal murder-in-progress that cannot complete itself and return to peace, because murder itself has left the world. The god's last mark on the world was to make people suffer all the more for his absence.

[Dorian Gray]

The players can sense the hatred within all the trees in the entire forest. Every tree in that place is sentient and malevolent, hating humankind. Every single tree. And the barrows of the ancient kings that lie nearby are defiled and inhabited by Barrow-Wights. Evil things – and only evil things – flourish in this new domain. The branches of trees scrape away at the cloths of the PCs as they try to walk through the forest. The paths change, sometimes misleading the players, sometimes becoming more rocky and dangerous. No animals are heard, or perhaps they have no fear of humans any more- after all, compared to a dark god, adventurers aren't exactly scary. The river overflows its banks, turning the lower areas into a muddy mire. Any time the PCs try to sleep, they find themselves sinking into the mud and are at risk of drowning. The hilltops are stripped of all vegetation and dashed by harsh wind and hail, and strange beasts prey on anything that leaves the cover of the trees.

Or, perhaps, the area is greatly improved. The sun shines, butterflies dance, and fruit blossoms out of season. Life, in all its forms, is rejoicing, and the land is growing at full tilt. The paths are all gone, covered by vines. A tree that was twenty feet tall when the players went to sleep stands at fifty feet tall when they wake, and the PCs are covered in a thick dusting of pollen. Wolves hunt deer without abandon, and the deer don't even seem to notice. Phantom laughter is heard through the trees. Honeysuckle vines visibly grow downwards, obscuring any vision past fifty feet or so, and the scent of nectar is so strong that you can literally taste it. Two days into their journey, the PCs rest in a clear grove of wildflowers, surrounded by sturdy oak trees, but when they leave the trees are elm, and the stars are in different parts of the sky. And the keen-eyed elvish ranger spots, through the thick verdigris, a fair maiden bathing naked in a clear pool...

[With a box]

few possible broken things players can try to do with a body.
1. resurrect him
2. cast simulacrum or Ice Assassin for get a powerful Deity under control

[LokiRagnarok]

Another thing to consider may be how the death of the deity affects the whole world. The god of murder is dead. Murder used to happen everywhere (maybe even among gods of the past if that suits your setting). Their domain is basically unlimited.

Maybe as long as the portfolio isn't claimed, the area spreads outward through the world or is duplicated on other planes. In true Someone Has To Do It manner, the PCs must make sure this stops. (At this point, I would expect someone from the party tries to become the new god.)

The other gods? Well, they are probably busy bickering among themselves who gets to take the portfolio (or on the flip side, maybe noone wants to have it for various reasons. For example, your local deities of life, honor and peace would probably want nothing to do with it. The deity of nature and wild animals may not care about the concept of murder, considering it not part of their domain.) They might be taking their time, thinking in different time scales - what's a year to a god? Meanwhile, chaos ensues in the human world.

(Edit: Or, the other gods are horrified. Someone is going around, killing those of their ranks. They have a vivid interest in finding and destroying whatever or whoever that was. I believe the some of the last epsisodes of either Xena or Hercules feature such a situation.)

There is also the question: Who or what is powerful enough to kill a god and what are their motivations?

Another area effect may be that whoever tries to commit murder or a killing dies instead as they try to commit it. Trying to poison your enemy? Well, the poison somehow got in your chalice. Stabbing an enemy? Your hand with the knive glides along their armor, comes around and you eviscerate yourself. Trying to throw your enemy down a cliff? You slip and fall to your own demise instead.

Magic Missile? You may have to make a special provision for that one :D

This post got way longer than I anticipated. Hope it could be of some help.

[Graypairofsocks]

Just remember how Atropal Scions are formed, aka: Chunk of God Flest

I thought it was: Chunk Of Atropal Flesh.

[Leviting]

I thought it was: Chunk Of Atropal Flesh.

Yeah, I misread. Just finished Libris Mortis yesterday, I had seen the God Flesh thing on the forums somewhere earlier

[Graypairofsocks]

Yeah, I misread. Just finished Libris Mortis yesterday, I had seen the God Flesh thing on the forums somewhere earlier

Speaking of which: Don't eat raw deity corpse.

[Leviting]

Do I need to cook it first or something?

[DontEatRawHagis]

Speaking of which: Don't eat raw deity corpse.

Crap now I have to worry about my players eating the corpse of a god...

[Geostationary]

Crap now I have to worry about my players eating the corpse of a god...

Eating their heart is always a classic way of assuming their mantle.

[TheCountAlucard]

(Assume that it my setting Gods are just high powered humanoids that pretend to be gods)

What's the difference?

[Sith_Happens]

What's the difference?

Creature type, at the very least.

[Another_Poet]

(Assume that it my setting Gods are just high powered humanoids that pretend to be gods).

Well then I guess it would just look like a dead humanoid? Possibly with a cool mask or some great magic items on it?

I can respect storylines where the gods are just pretenders, but then almost by definition they should end up being disappointing and surprisingly unimpressive. The big reveal isn't that there's hundreds of miles of magical pollution, it's that it was just some dude behind a curtain all along.

If the story has gods that are the spirits of natural forces, then the corpse of one could be a supernova or the extinction of a species. If they are creator beings, a whole lifeless plane might exist where one died. But if they're just Level 200 badasses... *shrug* kick some dirt over them I guess.

[LokiRagnarok]

If you reallyreally want to, you can probably homebrew a feat one can only take at an absurdly high level or a ritual or whatever which does something cool, but also causes <whatever effect you go with> upon death of the character.

Such as:
Natural Incarnation
You forcefully bind a a force of nature to your soul, granting you the powers associated with it.
If you die, the force violently leaves your body, angered by the captivity.

[DontEatRawHagis]

The results were mixed when they finally found the shrine. I meant it to inform the players that Gods could die in my setting, but it ended with 90% of the party leaving the Shrine of complete silence(everything in the shrine made no noise). The party Assassin stayed behind and after a bit of directing from me started asking questions of the dead God.

Like Who killed her and what happened. Could they do anything to help. And I didn't realize that the players may want to help her but I hadn't thought of any way they could.

The Assassin wanted to find her stolen last words, which aren't physical. Her throat was slashed so she could not say her last words.

They have since left the shrine behind.

Thank you guys for the help. The unearthly nature came across very well to them. There was a lot of features of the area they didn't get to see.

[The Oni]

If the god of murder was merely killed, in a battle or duel perhaps, that'd be a big ****ing deal. But if the god of murder was *murdered*? Oh hell yeah. This is some Mythender **** right here. You just killed a *concept.* With itself. Now things get weird.

Spoiler

Show

I'd have anyone in the area of effect who's murdered (save for the god) come back 1d3+whatever days later. The wound(s) in question never heal(s), but neither does it impede the victim. The victim is exactly him or herself, in mind and body, except that they possess an uncontrollable compulsion to hunt down their killers and a supernatural ability to discern their direction, and become increasingly unhinged as a result as time goes on. They carry the effect with them and inflict the same on anyone THEY kill - both the target and anyone who might prevent them from hunting the target.

If the players don't put a stop to it you end up with a scenario not unlike an Elder Evil's manifestation - wherein mortals become immortal revenge-machines more or less carving eachother to pieces forever, and those who haven't been killed yet live in constant terror of being made into one.

And if you want to make things even more inconvenient (for the gods), keep in mind that this scenario means those afflicted by said curse never pass onto their respective afterlives - depriving them of their followers' souls, possibly forever.

[Slipperychicken]

If it were up to me, I'd say that whoever murders the god of murder takes up the mantle as the new God of Murder.

[TheCountAlucard]

I'm still curious as to the reason behind the distinction.