Community

Jan 8, 2013 -- 9:29PM, A-koss wrote:

A lot of Jon's suggestions sound pretty good.

1. Both sexes - yes.
2. Mouths and legs - yes. Though perhaps with the greater celestials their feet never touch the ground unless bound. Ever floating gracefully just off the ground. I wouldn't mind if they had a slightly ethereal quality to them.
3. Weapons - vary them. Some may prefer spears, maces or gleaming rapiers... Celestials are individuals too.
4. Appearance - you certainly want to give them each race their own signature appearance, however they decide to go about it.

Just a couple of thoughts on naming - I've never been that partial to "Angel", I've always prefered the term "Celestial". Angel just sounds a little too... light and fluffy.

And I don't think we need to add the term Deva after Planetar and Solar. Believe me, those names rock on their own and don't need any other qualifiers.

And then if there is only one "Deva" left... just call it a Deva.

If I could edit my comment on the page (can I?)...  Anyway, I pretty much dig this.  But, since I love adding a boat load of eldritch weirdness, I went celestials to feel less human.  Make their faces less detailed (as mentioned before), perhaps make legs a possibility, but not needed.  Not their appearance awe inspiring and terrifying at the same time.  As for equipment?  No need for specifics.  Maybe add a little "divine" aesthetic value, but that's probably it IMO.

Angels are one of those things where I have to wonder why have sexes at all? These are divine being that probably don't reproduce the same way that mundane humanoids do. I get the desire to give them sexes because that makes them more familiar easier to identify with, but considering that these are supposed to be divine being and not necessarily something that we're supposed to be able to fully identify with, I think that a sexless, androgynous form would be the most appropriate. That said, angels also seem like the sort of creature that have some control over how they manifest for moral eyes, so it's possible that they may select forms that we typically consider more masculine or more feminine without actually having any sex themselves.

A good example of this is probably Shardminds from 4E. They were sexless, but because they had some control of their visual presentation, they sometimes appeared masculine, sometimes appeared feminine, and sometimes appeared androgynous, depending on their own aesthetic preferences or how they want the humanoids that they are interacting with to treat them (exploiting gender biases and expectations, etc.).

Also, I hope that they are very careful in Next about this whole trend of using lighter skin tones for creatures that are pure and good and darker skin tones for creatures that are tainted and evil. It doesn't exactly send a good message.

If Solars are really on the level of Demon princes, I think that there shouldn't be a single form they take. While they probably won't be as morphologically divergent as demon princes, if solars are specific unique individuals then I think it's okay if they don't all, for example, share a skin color, at the very minimum. Demon Princes aren't two dozen photocopies of the same pit fiend. At least let Solars vary in pigmentation, size, movement modes, spellcasting ability, stuff like that. Maybe some solars have feet, some have "tails", whatever. No wings, lots of wings. Maybe some are mounted. Maybe some have faces and others don't.

There's certainly tradition behind the idea the angels are more... consistant than demons or devils. They're typically just successively larger and more powerful versions of the same basic thing. (Either an angelic wingaling dude or 4e's celestial spirit designs.) I still think there's space for more diversity once you get to a tier of creatures that are supposed to be powerful, unique individuals.

I love the idea that angels are a good place to go a little more wild with weapons (and, while not mentioned directly, armor.) I like the idea that an angel's weapons and armor are sort of part of it, more manifestations of the wrath or protection that the angel brings with it and less "Here, Gabriel, you can use this +1 Defending Greatsword." An angel doesn't have to worry about whether its weapon is practical and well-balanced any more than it has to worry about whether its wings are large enough to hold a creature of its size and build aloft, because it's not swinging a piece of metal, it's delivering justice or wrath.

Jan 9, 2013 -- 12:22AM, Lesp wrote:

If Solars are really on the level of Demon princes, I think that there shouldn't be a single form they take.

I threw something similar into the comments suggesting that angels should look entirely what the viewer interprets them as.  Doesnt' do the art department a lot of good, but there is no reason they should look primarily human, or even humanoid for that matter.  Perhaps the better method would be to have their appearance reflect the power they worship.

Bahamut likes his 7 gold dragons, Moradin would have dwarfy angels, etc etc.