5e: Avatars of the Gods — Valkur, God of Sailors and Naval Warfare

Next in line for my treatment of statblocks for powerful entities is Valkur. The party in my game have had no direct contact with members of Valkur's church as yet (that they know of, anyway). Yet naval power is by no means alien to the game, and it's possible Valkur is involved somehow. After all, the joint Tethyrian and Lantanna expedition had to cross the waters to reach Osse, bringing with them a small fleet of ships. Recent reinforcements in light of the threat of the Aeree-Quor have included three powerful warships from Lantan. Like the Red Knight, Valkur is also a god of battle and both of them are exarchs of Tempus (also known as Kord in our version of the Realms)—they are known allies.

Let's touch on that term "exarch" for a minute: it's a very hazy term that means he is one step below a patron god in the divine hierarchy. But that isn't as clear-cut as you might think. In the Realms, an exarch themselves could be a a demigod or other type of lesser deity, an archangel, or even a mortal granted great power as one of the patron deity's "chosen". "Exarch" isn't exactly a useful term in defining an entity's actual power, therefore. For my purposes I'm assuming that the Red Knight and Valkur are both lesser deities who were once mortal, that were raised up to their divine status by and are loyal to Tempus/Kord.

And what do these statblocks mean when they describe the gods as "avatars"? In the Realms, an avatar is the physical manifestation of a deity when they walk the mortal world. The avatar is usually significantly less power than the deity would be in their true divine form, but still very powerful for all that. The deity still has much of their divine might at their fingertips, and can continue to grant spells to their divine worshippers all over the world. But an avatar can be slain. Usually, this isn't a problem, for the avatar is a mere vessel through which the deity interacts with the mortal world. The death of the avatar does not mean the death of the deity.

In the Time of Troubles, however, the gods have been forced to walk Toril in their avatar forms. In this time period, the avatar and the deity are one and the same, and slaying a god in their avatar form may well result in their permanent death and the sudden availability of their divine portfolio.

As such, many of the deities are presently lying low, at least in as much as it is possible for them to do so. Yet Tempus and his exarchs are gods of action! I can't see them not getting involved in world events, one way or another.

Valkur (Avatar)

Medium divinity (avatar), chaotic good

Armor Class

20 (+3 studded leather armor)

Hit Points

744 (48d20 + 240)

Speed

60 ft., swim 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20	20	20	20	20	20

Saving Throws

All +14

Skills

All +14

Damage Resistances

bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities

poison, psychic

Condition Immunities

charmed, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, stunned

Senses

true sight within line of sight, tremorsense 120 ft.

Languages

All, telepathy within line of sight.

Challenge

30 (155,000 XP)

Freedom of Movement.

Valkur ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can't reduce his speed or cause him to be restrained. He can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled.

Godly Magic.

Valkur's spellcasting ability is Charisma (Save DC 22). He can reproduce the effects of any spell, requiring no material components, but is limited by the number of spells he can cast per long rest:

At will: Any 5^th-level or lower spell.
4/long rest: Any 6^th-level spell.
3/long rest: Any 7^th-level spell.
2/long rest: Any 8^th-level spell.
1/long rest: Any 9^th-level spell.

Godly Mastery.

Valkur adds his proficiency bonus to all ability checks.

Godly Resilience.

Valkur adds his proficiency bonus to all saving throws. He does not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, but can do any of these if he wishes. Magic cannot put him to sleep, and he cannot be polymorphed or scried unless he wishes it. His maximum hit points cannot be reduced (such as by a wraith's Life Drain ability).

Inhuman Speed.

Valkur may spend a bonus action to dash or disengage.

Legendary Resistance (3/long rest).

If Valkur fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Call the Tides.

Wherever he is, Valkur can summon great waves that dash boats, batter enemies, and submerge the land. As an action, Valkur reproduces the effects of the tidal wave spell (see the Elemental Evil Player's Companion), except that the area of the wave is twice as big. After the wave spreads across the land, it submerges a 60-foot radius circle centred on the midpoint of the original tidal wave in shallow water, which remains until Valkur no longer wills it, and counts as difficult terrain.  

Wave Walker.

Valkur is permanently considered to be under the effect of the water walk spell, though he can always choose to submerge himself if he wishes. While he is in or atop the water, or on a waterborne vessel, Valkur has advantage on all attack rolls, all saving throws, and any ability checks he makes pertaining to sailing, swimming, or other water-related activities.

Actions

Multiattack.

Valkur makes five attacks with his cutlass.

The Captain's Cutlass (scimitar).

Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d6 +5 +2 magical) slashing damage. The Captain's Cutlass ignores resistance to slashing damage and has all the properties of a scimitar of speed (DMG pg. 199) and a weapon of warning (DMG pg. 213). In addition, it deals an extra 2d10 radiant damage to any creature with a natural swim speed.

Legendary Actions

Attack.

Valkur makes an attack with the Captain's cutlass or another melee weapon.

Detect.

Valkur makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.

Move.

Valkur moves up to half his speed.

Godly Resistance (costs 3 legendary actions).

At the end of histhird legendary action, Valkur regains one use of Legendary Resistance.