Salient Divine Abilities (SDA)

A salient divine ability (SDA) is like a feat – it gives a deity a new capability or improves one that the deity already has.

Deities & Demigods
By Rich Redman, Skip Williams, James Wyatt

A deity has one salient divine ability for each divine rank the deity has, plus additional salient divine abilities reflecting its status: Demigods receive one bonus ability, lesser deities receive two bonus abilities, intermediate deities receive three, and greater deities receive five.

Some salient divine abilities have prerequisites. Usually, the deity must have all the listed prerequisites to have the ability. A divine rank of 1 is a prerequisite for all salient divine abilities.

The most common salient divine abilities are described here. A few deities have unique salient divine abilities that are described in the deity’s individual entry.

Using Salient Divine Abilities:

Using a salient divine ability is a standard action unless otherwise noted in the ability description.

Using a salient divine ability does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Salient Divine Abilities and Antimagic:

A salient divine ability functions normally within an antimagic field, and is never subject to Spell Resistance.

SALIENT DIVINE ABILITIES DESCRIPTIONS

Here is the format for salient divine ability descriptions.

Ability Name Description of what the ability does or represents in plain language.

Prerequisite: A minimum divine rank, minimum ability score, another salient divine ability, a minimum base attack bonus, a feat a skill, or some other condition that a deity must have in order to acquire this salient divine ability. This entry is absent if a salient divine ability has no prerequisite. An ability may have more than one prerequisite. All salient divine abilities have a minimum prerequisite of divine rank 1. Quasi-deities (rank 0) have no salient divine abilities.

Benefit: What the ability enables the deity to do. If a deity has the same ability more than once, its benefits do not stack unless indicated otherwise in the description. In general, having a salient divine ability twice is the same as having it once.

Notes: Additional facts about the ability that may be helpful when using the ability in play or when you are deciding to give the ability to a deity you are creating.

Rest: Some abilities require the deity to rest afterward. If no rest is required, the entry is absent. A resting deity can engage in light activities such as talking or walking at half speed. When attempting anything more strenuous than that, the deity can only take partial actions and suffers a –6 penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks.

The deity cannot use another ability that requires rest until its current rest requirement is fulfilled. Any time the deity spends performing strenuous activities does not count toward the required rest time.

For example, during a visit to the Material Plane, Ra uses the Create Greater Object ability to create a masterwork mighty composite longbow (+4 Strength bonus) worth 800 gp. Ra must rest for 70 minutes. If Ra were to spot his enemy, Apep, coming his way, Ra could fight or flee, but the time he spent doing either activity would not count toward the necessary 70 minutes of rest.

Suggested Portfolio Elements: This entry gives one or more portfolio elements that are associated with the salient divine ability in question. The information is provided as guidance for DMs who want to design their own deities and should not be taken as a rule.

For example, the suggested portfolio elements for Annihilating Strike are death, justice, vengeance, and war. More often than not, a deity that has this ability will also have one or more of those elements in its portfolio. However, a deity without any of those elements in its portfolio can still have the Annihilating Strike ability, as long as it meets the prerequisites.

SIZE CATEGORIES IN THE D&D GAME

Salient Divine Abilities Table of Creature Size and Scale

Size Category	Attack and AC Modifier	Special Attacks Modifier1	Hide Modifier	Height or Length2	Weight3	Space4	Natural Reach4	Carrying CapacityMulitplier
Tall	Long	Biped	Quadruped
Fine	+8	−16	+16	6 in. or less	1/8 lb. or less	1/2 ft.	0 ft.	0 ft.	×1/8	×1/4
Diminutive	+4	−12	+12	6 in.–1 ft.	1/8 lb.–1 lb.	1 ft.	0 ft.	0 ft.	×1/4	×1/2
Tiny	+2	−8	+8	1 ft.–2 ft.	1 lb.–8 lb.	2-1/2 ft.	0 ft.	0 ft.	×1/2	×3/4
Small	+1	−4	+4	2 ft.–4 ft.	8 lb.–60 lb.	5 ft.	5 ft.	5 ft.	×3/4	×1
Medium	+0	+0	+0	4 ft.–8 ft.	60 lb.–500 lb.	5 ft.	5 ft.	5 ft.	×1	×1-1/2
Large	−1	+4	−4	8 ft.–16 ft.	500 lb.–2 tons	10 ft.	10 ft.	5 ft.	×2	×3
Huge	−2	+8	−8	16 ft.–32 ft.	2 tons–16 tons	15 ft.	15 ft.	10 ft.	×4	×6
Gargantuan	−4	+12	−12	32 ft.–64 ft.	16 tons–125 tons	20 ft.	20 ft.	15 ft.	×8	×12
Colossal and Colossal+	−8	+16	−16	64 ft. or more	125 tons or more	30 ft.	30 ft.	20 ft.	×16	×24

This modifier applies to the bull rush, grapple, overrun, and trip special attacks. Biped’s height, quadruped’s body length (nose to base of tail) Assumes that the creature is roughly as dense as a regular animal. A creature made of stone will weigh considerably more. A gaseous creature will weigh much less. These values are typical for creatures of the indicated size. Some exceptions exist.

Salient Divine Abilities
Ability	Prerequisite
Alter Size	–
Alter Form	Alter Size
Shift Form	Divine rank 6, Alter Size, Alter Form
Shapechange	Divine rank 11, Alter Size, Alter Form
True Shapechange	Divine rank 16, Alter Size, Alter Form, Shapechange
Alter Reality	Charisma 29
Annihilating Strike	Divine rank 11, Base attack bonus +20, Strength 25
Arcane Mastery	Spellcaster level 1st, Intelligence 29, Spell Mastery
Spontaneous Wizard Spells	Divine rank 6, Spellcaster level 1st, Intelligence 29, Spell Mastery, Arcane Mastery
Automatic Metamagic	Spellcaster level 1st
Avatar	Divine rank 6, Charisma 29
Banestrike	Base attack bonus +20
Battlesense	—
Call Creatures	—
Clearsight	Divine rank 6, Wisdom 29
Command Plants	—
Control Creatures	—
Create Object	Divine rank 6, Intelligence 29
Create Greater Object	Divine rank 11, Intelligence 29, Create Object
Divine Creation	Divine rank 16, Intelligence 29, Create Object, Create Greater Object
Divine Air Mastery	Air domain
Divine Archery	Base attack bonus +20, Dexterity 29, Point Blank Shot, Far Shot
Divine Armor Mastery	Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium)
Divine Bard	Bard level 20th
Divine Battle Mastery	Fighter level 20th, Combat Reflexes, Intelligence 13, Dexterity 13, Dodge, Expertise, Mobility, Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack, War domain
Divine Blast	Charisma 29
Mass Divine Blast	Divine rank 6, Charisma 29, Divine Blast
Divine Blessing	Selected ability score 40
Divine Celerity	Dexterity 29
Free Move	Dexterity 29, Divine Celerity
Divine Dodge	Dexterity 29
Divine Druid	Druid level 20th
Divine Earth Mastery	Earth domain
Divine Fast Healing	Constitution 29 orfast healing
Rejuvenation	Divine rank 11, Divine Fast Healing
Divine Fire Mastery	Fire domain
Divine Glibness	Charisma 29, Bluff 40 ranks, Trickery domain
Divine Inspiration	—
Divine Monk	Monk level 20th
Divine Paladin	Paladin level 20th
Divine Radiance	Good alignment, Sun domain
Divine Rage	Barbarian level 20th
Divine Ranger	Ranger level 20th, Wisdom 25, Wilderness Lore 40 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 30 ranks
Divine Recall	—
Divine Rogue	Rogue level 20th, Dodge, Improved evasion, Defensive roll
Divine Shield	Charisma 29
Area Divine Shield	Divine rank 6, Charisma 29, Divine Shield
Divine Skill Focus	23 ranks in selected skill
Divine Sneak Attack	Rogue level 20th, Crippling strike
Divine Spell Focus	—
Divine Spellcasting	Spellcaster level 20th
Divine Splendor	Divine rank 16, Charisma 26
Divine Storm	Divine rank 11
Divine Water Mastery	Water domain
Divine Weapon Focus	—
Divine Weapon Specialization	Base attack bonus +20, Divine Weapon Focus with selected weapon
Divine Weapon Mastery	Fighter level 20th, War domain
Energy Burst	—
Energy Storm	Divine rank 11
Extra Sense Enhancement	Wisdom 29
Extra Domain	Divine rank 6
Extra Energy Immunity	Divine rank 6 Resistance to energy type selected
Footsore	Travel domain
Frightful Presence	Charisma 24
Gift of Life	—
Life and Death	Divine rank 6 Gift of Life or Hand of Death
Mass Life and Death	Divine rank 16 Life and Death Gift of Life or Hand of Death
Grow Creature	—
Hand of Death	—
Increased Energy Resistance	—
Increased Damage Reduction	Constitution 29
Increased Spell Resistance	—
Indomitable Strength	Strength 40, Strength domain
Instant Counterspell	—
Instant Move	Divine rank 6, Dexterity 29
Irresistible Blows	Weapon Focus, Improved Critical
Irresistible Performance	Perform 40 ranks
Know Death	—
Know Secrets	—
Lay Curse	—
Lay Quest	—
Life Drain	Death domain
Master Crafter	23 ranks in at least two Craft skills
Mind of the Beast	—
Possess Mortal	Charisma 29
Power of Luck	Luck domain
Power of Nature	—
Power of Truth	—
See Magic	Magic domain
Speak with Creatures	—
Stride	Travel domain
Sunder and Disjoin	—
Supreme Initiative	Dexterity 29, Improved Initiative
True Knowledge	Divine rank 11, Intelligence 40, Bardic knowledge or lore, Bard or loremaster level 10th, Knowledge domain
Undead Mastery	Divine rank 16 Cleric level 17th
Undead Qualities	—
Wave of Chaos	Chaos domain
Wound Enemy	Base attack bonus +20

Alphabetical Order