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I've always been fascinated in how fantasy books and games have portrayed deities/gods/powers. I loved the idea of a semi-structure pantheon of deities, so you can imagine my delight when Faiths & Avatars for the Forgotten Realms came out. And again with Deities & Demigods for 3.x. But there was always something missing that I could never put my finger on, maybe it's just me ...
I also love the idea that Paizo doesn't want to stat out their deities (yet, anyway), but have given us Heralds to play with in Inner Sea Gods. But I still want to know who's more powerful in a general kind of way. So here's my thinking. If you're going to stat out deities do it in a general why so you get a fell of their powers, Divine Rank works well here with abilities and powers that scale based on it. As well as grouping the deities with special rules for each group.
Greater Powers (16 - 20)
Deities of this status/tier are amount the most powerful, either the ruler(s) of a pantheon or it's leaders. Greater powers can have up to 20 avatars at a time, taking 1 day to create.
Intermediate Powers (11 - 15)
While greater powers are the leaders within a pantheon, intermediate deities are the generals. They either lead on behalf of a greater god or have enough power to lead on their own. Intermediate powers can have up to 10 avatars at a time, taking 1 week to create.
Lesser Powers (1 - 10)
The most numerous of the gods, lesser powers are generally worshipped in the umbrella of a greater and intermediate deities dogma. Though some have enough power to stand on their own. Lesser powers are only entitled to exclusivity in their portfolios once they attain a higher divine rank than 5. For this reason there is often more infighting between them than those of higher status, they will often seek out and server intermediate or greater deities, or band together, in exchange for protection. Lesser powers can have up to 5 avatars at a time, taking 1 month to create.
Vestiges (0)
I love the idea that a deity can "die" but not necessary be killed (at least by PCs), and this is where they belong. They can still grant special abilities and spells but it's extremely difficult and rare. Under very special circumstances can a vestige power manifest an avatar and only 1 at a time.
Avatars
An avatar is a physical manifestation of a deitie's power used when a more direct approach is required. An avatar's capabilities is related to the divine rank of the deity that created it in the form of Salient Divine Abilities per divine rank, plus bonus SDAs based on Divine Rank: Vestiges +1, Lesser +2, Intermediate +3, Greater +5. They are also limited in the maximum number of class levels they can have: Greater 60, Intermediate 50, Lesser 40, Vestiges 30 (maybe 40, not sure yet). Avatars are not limited to alignment and class restrictions and treat all classes as favoured. The get maximum hit points per level have DR 10 + Divine Rank/magic and a sleuth of other special qualities.
Demigods
Demigods are generally the offspring of deities similar to a half-celestial but more powerful. Like mortals they lack a Divine Rank but it's a lot easier for a demigod to ascend because of their divine natures. Mortals just have a harder time of it.
Quasi Powers
This is a catch all category that includes powerful entities that have learned to grant powers to others, such as some angels, celestials, demons, devils and the like. They don't have avatars in the strict sense of the word, but manifestations with their own (limited) capabilities. Titans can also fall into this category being semi-divine themselves.
So what do you think?