So, I'm planning the next session for my campaign. In our Campaign, Faluzure, the God of Decay and Death, is a giant wolf instead of a dragon. A demigod named Konrad-- the son of Faluzure-- is absorbing and killing off gods, causing a catastrophic event. Faluzure begged the Goddess of light and creation to create a son--wanting to feel happiness, she granted his request--so this made him very sad and broken. Konrad--in my plan--is going to kill and absorb his own father's energy and power.

To make this an emotional death--its a death between a father and son-I'm going to have them go through a dungeon/ temple that has been corrupted by evil (In legends of Zelda style) with Faluzure--so they can get to know him a bit.

How would I do that, saying that Faluzure is a god? and that he has no defined size? Also-- he's a god, would they be able to get to know him?

Hey Guys, So, I'm planning the next session for my campaign. In our Campaign, Faluzure, the God of Decay and Death, is a giant wolf instead of a dragon. A demigod named Konrad-- the son of Faluzure-- is absorbing and killing off gods, causing a catastrophic event. Faluzure begged the Goddess of light and creation to create a son for him--wanting to feel happiness, she granted his request--so this made him very sad and broken when Konrad started doing this.

Konrad--in my plan--is going to kill and absorb his own father's energy and power.

To make this an emotional death--its a death between a father and son-I'm going to have them go through a dungeon/ temple that has been corrupted by evil (In legends of Zelda style) with Faluzure--so they can get to know him a bit.

How would I do that, saying that Faluzure is a god? and that he has no defined size? Also-- he's a god, would they be able to get to know him?

@TaylorSpaulding He can have any features you want, so of course the players can get to know him! D&D divinity is such that I think one of the key practical questions is: Is Faluzure actually in that location, or might it be an avatar?

Ok, that's awesome! I've been trying to brainstorm this, because its suppose to be a big session. I've been trying to figure out how I would be able to make it a hard dungeon for the players; saying they have the help of a god. I was thinking since it's been currupted; Faluzure doesnt recognize the layout; but yet again wouldn't Faluzure--since he's a god--be able to do anything.

So i've been trying to figure out, ways maybe his abilities are lowered a tone while he's in the dungeon, just so its still hard for the players; you know what I mean? Any ideas?

ton not tone

I think you're brushing up against a question that D&D doesn't usually answer: "what does it mean to be a god?"

So he's doing all he can to hold them off and also doesn't have full knowledge of what is happening in/with the dungeon

D&D uses pop culture polytheism, which means it's got a lot of Christian monotheistic influence on the nature of divinity--specifically the idea that a god must be supremely knowing and supremely powerful, which is not true of many Beings we'd call "gods" in English but which come from other faith traditions.

The problem with d&d’s gods is that if they are all omnipotent and omnipowerful, who wins in a fight?

That's true. So its possible he only has a few abilities; making it even out.

Maybe some sort of spell is drawing his energy?

(I'd also caution against TRPG plots which hinge on PCs watching NPCs do things. It's not only hard to get effective investment, PCs are also notoriously bad at sitting around watching without interfering.)

Yeah, this sounds like the pitfall of introducing an NPC just to take them away in attempt to make the players feel sad

That's what I want to stray from, responding to BESW.

yeah thats true

I dont want the players to just use faluzure to get through the dungeon; I want them to work to get through it like in a Zelda game

How much does the party know about the ongoing deicides?

A lot, at least from what they have learned; what I've noticed from past sessions is that the party members tend to use the NPCs to solve things for them.

Could you elaborate about the Zelda reference? What aspects of Zelda dungeon design are you trying to reproduce here?

the temples and its puzzles; and connections to different rooms. How you as link kind a find and solve your way through it. Usually you don't have any help with that in the game.

It may be too typical for what you're after, but the most common mortals-with-deities structure is along the lines of: deity exists but can't do X (for whatever reason); deity interacts with mortals who undertake X

The easiest twist on that for your purposes might be for Faluzure to not understand everything that's happening, and that failure of understanding leads to his destruction (whether by Konrad or anything else)

Ok, I see what your coming at. That sounds awesome! The party members also tend to kill off NPCs or hate them forever if they are not helpful enough too.

@TaylorSpaulding If they have an actual god with them, it might be a little jarring for the god to be no use in helping them get through the dungeon. Why is he there again?

In D&D there are all kinds of reasons a god may not be able to handle things themselves: they can't or won't go to a location on the Prime Material Plane in person (hence their endless priests and avatars), they're mystically bound, they're immersed in something that opposes them (which might be a good fit for your corrupted dungeon)

There's a very gimmicky but potentially interesting conceit from a couple editions back, that a god's supernatural perception and understanding is limited to those things directly related to their portfolio. If it's not within their domain, they're as clued in as any mortal.

Ok! To answer your question Mark wells... I'm actually trying to figure that out. the reason he is there is to develop the character with the party members, before he is killed by his son.

Personally I find that a bit twee and pat, but it's got some interesting implications if you're okay with leaning into it.

or the god I mean

Do you have a set number of sessions you want that story arc to cover? Is it all meant to be in this one dungeon?

Yeah, It's called Campaign Rebirth... which is about 9 sessions.

So, I guess its time to eat; I'm gonna get back on later. Thank you for your amazing Ideas so far!