Hel — Ruler of the Dead Below & Keeper of Niflheim

Hel — 5.5e / 2024

Granted Domains & Spells

Hel — Pathfinder 1e

Divine Package

• Divine Status: Intermediate Deity
• Divine Rank: 15
• Alignment: Neutral in the current campaign treatment
• Areas of Concern: death, lawful custody of souls, old age, sickness, cold and release conditions
• Domains: Death, Repose, Ice, Fate, Law
• Suggested Subdomains: Ancestors, Souls, Judgment, Undead
• Favored Weapon: unarmed strike or touch in the current campaign treatment

Hel — D&D 3.5e

The deity-scale Divine Rank 15 build below is retained from the earlier Palindrome/Dicefreaks material. Its Neutral Evil alignment, necromancer/pale-master class structure, undead graft and related mechanics are legacy game design rather than claims about the medieval source tradition. The later Divine Rank 0 avatar block has been removed rather than used as a substitute for Hel herself.

Alter Reality

– Hel can use the wish spell with regard to her portfolio, save for the replication of other spells. This ability costs Hel no XP, and requires a standard action to implement. Hel may alter her size between Tiny and Gargantuan and create avatars.

– Divine Immunities: Ability damage, ability drain, acid, cold, electricity, fire, death effects, disease, disintegration, energy drain, mind-affecting effects, Paralysis, poison, sleep, stunning, transmutation, imprisonment, banishment.

– Domain Powers: Rebukes fire creatures/commands cold creatures 15/day; casts evil spells at +1 level; may make a death touch 1/day that kills beings with fewer than 30d6 hp

– Spell-Like Abilities At will: animate dead, blasphemy, cause fear, chill touch, chill metal, cone of cold, control weather, create undead, create greater undead, death knell, death ward, desecrate, destruction, dispel good, magic circle against good, ice storm, Obedient Avalanche, polar ray, protection from good, slay living, sleet storm, summon monster IX (evil monsters only), wail of the banshee, wall of ice, unholy aura, unholy blight. Hel uses these divine domain abilities at caster level 25th, except for Evil spells, which function at caster level 26th. The save DCs are 37 + spell level.

Arm of Hel (Unique Salient Divine Ability): Any spell that channels positive or negative energy to either inflict or cure that is cast at Hel is instead absorbed harmlessly by her necrotic left arm. For every ten points of damage absorbed by her dead arm in this manner, she may add 1 point of damage per level to any inflict spell that she in turn casts within the next 12 rounds.

Frigid Grasp of the Grave (Unique Salient Divine Ability): As a result, Hel may repeatedly strike with her own chill arms as if with a weapon, giving her the ability to make successive strikes although at a –5 penalty. Her unarmed strikes additionally do 3d6 points of cold damage.

Additionally, should Hel successfully grapple a being, they take 7d6 points of cold damage each round that she is in physical contact with their body. Should a target of Hel’s be reduced to 0 hit points they must make a Fort save DC 55 or else freeze solid in place as the spell flesh to ice. Creatures frozen solid in this manner may only be brought back to life through the casting of ice to flesh by a good-aligned deity of higher divine rank than Hel.

Whispers of the Unquiet Dead (Unique Salient Divine Ability): Hel may fill an area in a 150 foot radius around her with the whispers of the dissatisfied dead, forever unable to escape from her realm. All within hearing must make a Will save DC 47 or else be driven permanently insane from the experience as the spell insanity. Hel may unleash the Whispers of the Unquiet Dead 15/day, and each use of her Whispers lasts for 15 rounds.

– Possessions: Hel wears the Adamant Ring, which is believed to have been a gift to her from her father, Loki, in the intervening time after she was cast into Niflheim and before Loki himself was imprisoned by the rest of the Aesir. The Adamant Ring is a white double band of adamantine formed into a complex knot, with the beginning and the end of the knot being designed in the shape of a serpent’s head devouring it’s own tail as a symbol of her brother, Jormungandr. The Adamant Ring functions as a ring of spell turning against all divine spells cast by clerics of the Aesir and provides her with a +15 profane bonus to all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks when dealing with Giants from her own pantheon. This bonus has been included in her statistics. The Adamant Ring is a minor Artifact.

Other Divine Powers
– As an intermediate deity, Hel gets a result of 20 on any check if she is required to make one at all and treats a 1 on an attack roll or saving throw normally and not as an automatic failure. She is immortal.

– Senses: Hel can see (using normal vision or Low-Light Vision), hear, touch, and smell at a distance of 15 miles. As a standard action, she can perceive anything within 15 miles of her worshipers, holy sites, objects, or any location where one of her titles or name was spoken in the last hour. She can extend her senses to up to five locations at once. She can block the sensing power of deities of her rank or lower at up to two remote locations at once for 8 hours.

– Portfolio Sense: Hel senses the death of any mortal in a manner that shall bring them to her halls of the dead 15 weeks in the past.

– Automatic Actions: Hel can use any skill related to her portfolio, such as Knowledge (religion) to identify undead as a free action if the DC for the task is 25 or lower. She can perform up to ten such free actions each round.

– Create Magic Items: Hel can create any kind of magic item worth less than 200,000 gp if it can be used to control or summon the dead, or can be used to spread the chill of the grave among the living.

Clerical Spells (0th-15th level) (Sp): Spells/day: 6/9+1/9+1/9+1/8+1/8+1/7+1/7+1/6+1/6+1/3/3/2/2/2/2 Hel casts her Clerical spells at 30th level and at 45th level for the purposes of Spell Penetration. Saving throws against Hel’s clerical spells is DC 25 + spell level. The saving throw DC’s are Wisdom-based. Hel may cast 8 epic spells/day with a maximal Spellcraft DC of 108. Hel may additionally rebuke undead 15/day, and command 300 HD of undead creatures. Hel’s rebuking roll is 1d20 plus +20, and her roll to dispel turning is 2d6 plus +44.

Typical Clerical Spells Chosen: 0th level: create water, inflict minor wounds, No Light(x2), read magic, mending.

• 1st level: curse water, Deathwatch(x2), doom, inflict light wounds(x3), obscuring mist(x2), cause fear *.
• 2nd level: Augury, Inflict Moderate Wounds, Sap Strength, shatter, extended Sorrow(x2), undetectable alignment, Wave of Grief(x2), death knell *.
• 3rd level: bestow curse(x2), blindness/deafness, Eyes of the Zombie(x4), extended Wither Limb, Wrack, animate dead *.
• 4th level: discern lies, divine power, dimensional anchor, divination, empowered love’s pain(x2), sending, extended Vile Lance, ice storm *.
• 5th level: enlarged consumptive field, forbidden speech, extended imbue with spell ability, Fell Drain inflict critical wounds(x2), maximized inflict light wounds(x2) (mass), true seeing, slay living *.
• 6th level: banishment, Forbiddance, greater dispel magic(x2), harm, Fell Drain inflict moderate wounds (mass), maximized inflict moderate wounds, (mass), create undead *.
• 7th level: heightened dimensional anchor, enlarged harm(x2), inflict serious wounds(x3) (mass), Wretched Blight, destruction *.
• 8th level: antimagic field, dimensional lock, Earthquake, extended energy ebb, extended ethereal jaunt, maximized inflict serious wounds (mass), polar ray *.
• 9th level: enlarged antimagic field, astral projection, extended evil weather, gate, maximized inflict critical wounds (mass), soul bind, wail of the banshee *.
• 10th level: heightened harm, heightened Imprison Soul,
• 11th level: heightened wail of the banshee
• 12th level: empowered, maximized energy drain(x2).
• 13th level: enlarged, Fell Drain, maximized inflict critical wounds(x2) (mass).
• 14th level: heightened wail of the banshee(x2).
• 15th level: extended, heightened (to 14th level) energy ebb, heightened Imprison Soul.

epic spells known: animus blizzard, demise unseen, epic counterspell, momento mori, servants of the void, soul scry, superb dispelling, word of death

* Domain Spell.

Necromancer Spells (0th-14th level) (Sp): 4/8/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/6/3/2/2/2/2 Hel casts her Necromantic spells at 29th level and at 44th level for the purposes of Spell Penetration. Saving throws against Hel’s Necromantic spells is DC 24 + spell level. The saving throw DC’s are Intelligence-based. Hel’s prohibited school is Enchantment, and all of Hel’s spells are cold-substituted, quickened, and stilled.

Typical Necromantic Spells Chosen:

• 0th level: mage hand(x2), ray of frost, touch of fatigue.
• 1st level: Bestow Wounds(x2), chill touch(x2), ray of enfeeblement, True Strike(x2), unseen servant.
• 2nd level: Mirror Image, Resist Energy(x2), Sap Strength, spectral hand(x3), Wither Limb.
• 3rd level: clairaudience/clairvoyance, Curse of the Putrid Husk, fireball, haste, slow, vampiric touch(x2).
• 4th level: enervation(x2), Fell Drain lightning bolt(x2), phantasmal killer, Psychic Poison, wall of ice.
• 5th level: corrupted ice storm, mirage arcana, night’s caress, extended solid fog, Soul Shackles, telekinesis, Wall of Force.
• 6th level: Fell Drain cone of cold(x2), freezing sphere, greater dispel magic(x2), corrupted, energy-admixted lightning bolt, corrupted, enhanced lightning bolt.
• 7th level: enlarged acid fog, corrupted chain lightning, energy ebb, empowered fireball (delayed blast), project image, scrying (greater).
• 8th level: cold-admixted chain lightning, extended energy ebb, evil weather, heightened eyebite, maze, Trap the soul.
• 9th level: mage’s disjunction, corrupted horrid wilting, imprisonment, empowered polar ray, wail of the banshee, wish.
• 10th level: empowered energy drain, enhanced horrid wilting, extended time stop.
• 11th level: empowered, heightened (to 10th level) energy drain, maximized, empowered horrid wilting.
• 12th level: heightened energy ebb, enhanced, empowered horrid wilting.
• 13th level: maximized, enhanced horrid wilting, corrupted, maximized polar ray.
• 14th level: corrupted, enhanced, maximized polar ray, empowered, heightened (to 10th level), maximized energy drain.

Deathless Vigor (Ex): Hel gains a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves except against effects that also work on objects.

Tough as Bone (Ex): Hel is immune to disease, nonlethal damage, and stunning.

Undead Graft (Su): Hel’s prosthetic left arm is a hideous and nearly skeletal monstrosity which grants her a +4 bonus to her Strength score. Her graft allows her to deliver horrible touch attacks three times a day. She must decide that she is using this attack before making the attack roll; a failed attack roll still expends that use of the ability. Each time she makes a touch attack with this ability, she can select from any of the effeects described below. The save DC for her touch attacks is 32.

Paralyzing Touch: Any living creature except for an elf that Hel touches must succeed on a Fort save or else be paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds.

Weakening Touch: A living foe hit by Hel’s touch attack takes 1d6 points of Strength damage (no save). A creature reduced to Strength 0 dies.

Degenerative Touch: A living foe hit by Hel’s touch attack receives one negative level (no save) and must make a Fort save 24 hours later to avoid losing the level permanently.

Destructive Touch: A living foe hit by Hel’s touch attack must succeed at a Fort save or else take 1d6 points of Constitution drain.

Deathless Master’s Touch: A living foe up to one size category greater than Hel must succeed at a Fort save or die. A slain creature automatically animates 1 round later as a zombie and is under Hel’s control as if she had animated it. undead created using this power do not count against her HD total for controlling undead.

Deathless Mastery (Ex): Due to Hel’s half-mummified and degenerate body, Hel is immune to Paralysis, sleep effects, death effects, critical hits, ability drain, energy drain, and physical ability damage.