RPG Blog Carnival: "Dragons, Gods and other Powerful Beings" - Angels and Demons

 

Damn, been a bit since the Carnival caught my eye/awareness. OK. Let's play. 

Thesis statement: Demons are Tools. Angels are Weapons...

A note: I'll be leaning hard on other researchers and presenters for this one, as I'm not a smart man. As anyone who's read my blog can attest. 

To start at the end: A bit of a review from my recently-completed OSE campaign. As in many campaigns, the acts and deeds of the PCs affect the world. And draw the attention of powerful entities, whether a mortal faction, or the immortals who watch the world. And certainly, the PCs got the attention of Khador, a goddess of law, as they strove against the minions of her Chaos-borne sibling. But Khador was only glimpsed in visions, perhaps as a dream channeled through a relic sword, or after the final battle, as she shed her raiment and strode towards the dawn, a rejuvenated goddess of Spring... 

But who really shook the PCs? This thing.

source

Yeah, it's an avatar for the Lawful side of things.

The demon bound by the Sea Dwarves? Not so much. Mostly just pay for the work to get done to spec and on time. As long as you can handle it throwing shade. "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!? I WAS NAPPING!" "Don't you people write anything down?"

This guy

Let's take a step back, and walk through a little myth and religion. 

I leaned heavily on judeo-christian myth (and the sister/predecessor myths that it cribs from) for some elements of my campaign. 

Ever wonder why every time an angel appears to someone in the Bible, its first words are, "Be not afraid?"

Because these are celestial beings. Massively powerful denizens created by the deity and resident of the spheres surrounding that deity. They predate those mortals who walk the earth. They were created as messengers, watchers, and, as necessary, soldiers and deliverers of vengeance - both against the mortal and immortal. They are in no way human. They have no free will, no passion, no creativity. No emotions or empathy. They may not even be able to be perceived by human senses (see any number of "Biblically Accurate Angel" articles and images). They are Alien.

And as they cannot really comprehend us, neither can we comprehend them. Nor do we care to. When they appear, Bad Things Tend To Happen. Kicked out of The Garden. Cities erased by heavenly fire. Silent wings spreading plagues. Ok, sure, they let a few prophets and a certain young woman know that important things were afoot, but those were the angels that didn't get the Cool Flaming Sword. 

So yeah, when our heavenly friend (above) showed up, half the party immediately fainted. Later, it dropped in and burned a city to glass, purging and cauterizing its Chaos corruption in no uncertain terms. And with no concern for collateral damage.

Weapons.

A couple of discussions of said topic:

Demons? They are passion and ambition. Although not possessing true free will, they still have a modicum of freedom. Even if they are constrained. For they were created from angels in which something cracked. 

Angels? No bargaining. Demons? They live for it. Although the mortals and the demonic are not on the same plane of existence, passion and ambition link them.

Let's see what you want. What you're willing to pay. And how I may twist that agreement. Demons are the ultimate contract lawyers. But still that call to power and deeds is what attracts the mortals who attempt to harness them. Perhaps I'll be the lucky one who doesn't really pay in the end... 

But there are devices and magics to call demons, to bind them, to utilize them. After all, that passion can be leveraged. Summoning circles, incantation bowls, powerful rings. They keep a demon in, or out. So King Solomon was gifted a ring that could bind the most powerful demons and compel them to reveal their names. Accordingly, the demons were used to perform miraculous deeds and raise the temple.

Tools.

Reproduction incantation bowl w/ Lilith

Don't even think about trying such a cheap trick with an angel. They will walk through it and burn you to glass. If they even acknowledge you at all. After all, only the divine can communicate with angels, command them.  

And now, a word from Esoterica:

So a little rumination on beings celestial and diabolic. Those things that aren't quite gods, but who traverse between their planes and the mortal world for the purposes of masters. Perhaps how to approach them in the game. Or a seed to twist some tropes. Have fun.