Becoming a God question

Ramaster · May 21, 2024

Hey all!

I've a question regarding becoming a God.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that, in older editions of D&D, one could become a God by getting all the way up to level 20, then voluntarily choosing to go back to level 1, and then climbing all the way back to level 20 again.

However, I've done some searching and I can't for the life of me find ANY reference to this on the internet.

Therefore I come to you, wise adventureres and seekers of divinity: Is this true or just some BS I'm misremembering?

If it IS true, a link to the rule or at least a mention of which book I can find it in would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Mark Hope · May 21, 2024

That's from the BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, Immortals) edition of the game and is one of the routes to immortality (the Polymath). There are three others that don't require this - but all require you to reach the highest level in your class (which can be up to 36th). Rules for this are in the Master's boxed set (DM's book) and the Rules Cyclopedia.

aco175 · May 21, 2024

Ramaster said:
I seem to recall reading somewhere that, in older editions of D&D, one could become a God by getting all the way up to level 20, then voluntarily choosing to go back to level 1, and then climbing all the way back to level 20 again.

I seem to recall this for becoming a bard, but maybe only to level 5 or 10 in each of the 4 base classes.

AnotherGuy · May 21, 2024

aco175 said:
I seem to recall this for becoming a bard, but maybe only to level 5 or 10 in each of the 4 base classes.

1st Edition Bard - what were they thinking

Alzrius · May 21, 2024

On a related note, BECMI also had a rule about how, if you became an Immortal (i.e. a god; that edition didn't use the term due to the Satanic Panic) of the highest tier, and willingly gave up your immortality to become a 1st-level mortal again, then if you managed to become an Immortal and reach the highest tier of immortality for a second time, you essentially transcended the game system itself, with your character becoming an "Old One" and crossing the Dimensional Vortex, which even the Immortals couldn't breach.

I don't know if anyone ever legitimately did that, but it's awesome to consider.

AnotherGuy · May 21, 2024

Alzrius said:
On a related note, BECMI also had a rule about how, if you became an Immortal (i.e. a god; that edition didn't use the term due to the Satanic Panic) of the highest tier, and willingly gave up your immortality to become a 1st-level mortal again, then if you managed to become an Immortal and reach the highest tier of immortality for a second time, you essentially transcended the game system itself, with your character becoming an "Old One" and crossing the Dimensional Vortex, which even the Immortals couldn't breach.

I don't know if anyone ever legitimately did that, but it's awesome to consider.

If the above wasn't enough it had to be attaining the highest tier of immortality in a different sphere to your first.

Mark Hope · May 21, 2024

aco175 said:
I seem to recall this for becoming a bard, but maybe only to level 5 or 10 in each of the 4 base classes.

Yep, something like that. You started as a fighter, then between level 5 and 8 changed class to a thief. Then between level 5 and 9, take up tuition under a druid, at which point you start advancing as a bard. You gained some druid spells, and a bunch of bard abilities - charm, legend lore, inspiration, counter-charm and so on. They were a pretty cool class - precursor to prestige classes really - but we only ever saw one or two in our games because they were hard to qualify for

Alzrius · May 21, 2024

Mark Hope said:
They were a pretty cool class - precursor to prestige classes really - but we only ever saw one or two in our games because they were hard to qualify for

It's a long way to the top if you want to rock 'n' roll.

Mark Hope · May 21, 2024

Alzrius said:
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock 'n' roll.

I've never seen this before. This is awesome

Ramaster · May 21, 2024

Thanks a lot for the prompt replies!

The info I was looking for was indeed the one from the Rules Cyclopedia and its even MORE BONKERS than I thought XD.

Let me show you a snippet. After you aquire an Immortal Sponsor (in itself, a very difficult task!) you have to meet with them and this happens:

After that, you meet the immortal sponsor again and this happens:

So you may have gone on epic quests for YEARS of real-life time only to have the DM roll a 1 on a d10 and have everything thrown away just like that. Truly a game on a bygone era. SUPER inspiring and imaginative stuff, though!

Becoming a God question

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aco175

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