Biblical Angels as OSR Monsters

In recent months I have found out that many biblical angels are not as normal looking as most might think and often look more like demons or eldritch beings. After reading their descriptions I decided that they would make for interesting encounters in my D&D campaign world and used the Old School Essentials ruleset to create the following...

Cherub

The Cherub or Cherubim are the guardians of a god's domain. They are described as having four wings covered in eyes all around. Two cover their body and the other two are for flight. Their heads have the face of a man at the front, a face of a lion on the right, a face of a bull on the left, and the face of an eagle on the back. The Cherub has stiff legs with calves hooves instead of feet as well as 4 hands on each "side" of their body. The bible describes that they only travel in straight lines without turning.

Cherub

Armour Class: 5

Hit Dice: 36

Attacks: 4 x weapon (1D8 or by weapon +1)

THAC0: 5

Movement: 90' (30')

Saving Throws: D2 W2 P2 B2 S2

Morale: 12

Alignment: Law

XP: 14,500

Number Appearing: 1 (1d4)

TT: T (A)

Flight: Cherubim have the ability to fly on command.

Walking the straight and narrow: Cherubim can only move in a straight line and will not turn.

Covered in eyes: Almost impossible to sneak up on.

Mundane damage immunity: Can only be hurt with magical weapons.

Magic Powers: Can use each one up to three times per day.

• Bless
• Create food and drink: For 12 humans and mounts for one day.
• Illusion: Visual and audial. No concentration required. Remains until touched or dispelled.
• Know Alignment

Seraph

The Seraph or Seraphim fly around heaven singing a god's praises to any and all. However there is a reason why they are called the "Fiery Ones" as they have been heard of purifying the masses in love or in fire. The Seraphim have six wings. Two cover their face, two cover their feet, and two are for flight. They carry a flaming sword in their hands symbolizing the fiery purification that they bring. They are the guardians of a gods throne.

Seraph

Armour Class: 2

Hit Dice: 36

Attacks: 2 x flaming sword (2d4) or 1 x wings (1d10)

THAC0: 5

Movement: 90' (30')

Saving Throws: D2 W2 P2 B2 S2

Morale: 12

Alignment: Law

XP: 14,500

Number Appearing: 1 (1)

TT: T (H)

Flight: Seraphim have the ability to fly on command.

Mundane damage immunity: Can only be hurt with magical weapons.

Magic Powers: Can use each one up to three times per day.

• Bless
• Create food and drink: For 12 humans and mounts for one day.
• Illusion: Visual and audial. No concentration required. Remains until touched or dispelled.
• Hold Person
• Know Alignment

Living Creatures

The Living Creatures are angels that have the body of a man and can have the face of a man, a lion, a bull, or an eagle. They have 6 wings covered in eyes like the Seraphim but they do not cover anything. They are up in status with the Seraphim however I'm going to knowingly change this to create a more interesting gameable creature. They are rarely seen in the prime material but when they are, their goal is to spread their religion and their deities influence.

Living Creatures

Armour Class: 8

Hit Dice: 3 +4

Attacks: 1 x weapon (1D6 or by weapon)

THAC0: 16

Movement: 60' (20')

Saving Throws: D12 W13 P14 B15 S16

Morale: 12

Alignment: Law

XP: 125

Number Appearing: 1 (1)

TT: I

Mundane damage immunity: Can only be hurt with magical weapons.

Covered in eyes: Almost impossible to sneak up on.

False Pacifism: Will not fight unless no one else can see it.

The feeble flock: The Living Creature has 3d10 small herd animals that will follow their commands no matter what, even if it would mean death for the animal.

Magic Powers: Can use each one up to three times per day.

• Bless
• Create food and drink: For 12 humans and mounts for one day.

Angels

Angels are the most fickle of a god's children. They are what you most think about when you hear the word angel. They appear as a man or woman with beautiful looks but other than that they look completely ordinary. Angels are the most like mankind and although they are only messengers they often find themselves mixed in human affairs.

Angel

Armour Class: 6

Hit Dice: 5

Attacks: 2 x weapon (1D6 or by weapon)

THAC0: 15

Movement: 120' (40')

Saving Throws: D10 W11 P12 B13 S14

Morale: 8

Alignment: Any

XP: 175

Number Appearing: 1 (1)

TT: T

Flight: Angels have the ability to fly on command.

Active, Passive, and Meta Plots

About a year ago a purchased a role-playing game from Free League by the name of Mutant Year Zero and something towards the back of the book caught my eye. There was a section called The Path to Eden which elaborates on what they refer to as the books meta plot that is critical to answering one of the worlds critical questions. Where is the fabled land of Eden and does it even exist? With this it gives you tools to allow the players to find clues to answer the question that almost everyone in the books setting has asked themselves at one point. However this plot is not often central to the main point of the campaign and is often in the background of many campaigns ran using this book, provided that the players are the one guiding the story along. This got me thinking as someone who is always looks for ways to improve the structure of my campaigns regardless of the system and stuck out to me as a tool that to my knowledge isn't often talked about in the RPG sphere of influence. With that being said allow me to elaborate on how these could be integral assets to your campaigns and could be used to breathe life into all worlds that gamemasters create.

There are three different types of plots that I use in my games. Active, Passive, and Meta.

Active Plots

Active plots are actively pursued by the player characters by the players themselves. These can range from clearing a witch out of a misty bog, trying to bring peace between two waring faction, or finding the materials to build a monument to a highly respected individual. These are the plots that are player facing and are those that you provide your plot hooks for. The goals that these plots present may change over time but the defining feature is that they can be actively pursued.

Meta Plots

Meta plots are often a way for a game designer to insert a cannon story into there games over multiple products. Most of us don't have our own product line but that doesn't mean that we can't use them. Meta plots in a gamemasters world are those that are out of player control for the most part. A two rival kingdoms fighting over territory, a lower demon plots to rise through the ranks of the underworld, or the simple interaction between many different factions that operate in the same places are examples of the Meta plot. These stories affect the campaign world in major way and change something about them. Now this isn't to say that your player characters can't or shouldn't be able to interact with these event, which is quite the opposite, just that these are plots that will change your campaign world whether or not your players get roped into them. A good example for a system that creates something like this wonderfully is the faction rules in Kevin Crawford's, Stars Without Number.

Passive Plots

Passive plots are similar to meta plots but have a key difference. They are not completely obvious to the players. Passive plots are used as an answer to a question about the world around them that can't be answered with research or pursuit. Almost like the cold cases of the Rpg plot they are advanced as the players stumble onto clues to the answer. They can be expanded upon slightly but they should lead to a dead end or another plot thread entirely. However the passive plot should culminate into one "finale" that should be able to be pursued by the players. The final point should tie everything together and answer most of the questions brought up but not all.

I know that my writing can be confusing and I may not have made my idea entirely clear so in a future post I'll be writing up an example of a passive plot.