Setting

sacred groves.Ophanim serve Loki (when he is in favor with the Asgardians) and Frey.The memunim,grigori,and principalities take orders from Odin the All-Father,master ofhidden knowledge and chiefofthe gods.The greatest parasim would ride celestial horses descended from Sleipnir,Odin’s eight-legged steed. Malakim serve all Norse gods,for all ofthem have a martial bent (save Baldur),but are devoted to Sifand Tyr in particular. Cherubim and seraphim aid Heimdall in watching Bifrost the rainbow bridge and any other sites ofgreat importance,while Heimdall’s dynamis watch over important mortals.

In a Heliopolic campaign (where the Egyptian gods are dominant),ophanim,seraphim,and kalkydrim serve Ra and Seker (with fallen ones paying homage to Set).The grigori obey Thoth.The hashmalim and dynamis serve Osiris,as do erelim (see “Variant Angels” in Chapter Two:Angels).Most malakim and parasim serve Anhur and Horus.Memunim serve Bast,Ptah,and Thoth. Cherubim serve Bast,ofcourse,more feline and less humanoid than in other campaigns,with Bast having her own ranks ofcatriding parasim.Principalities serve Ra on a permanent loan from Ptah.Dynamis serve Anubis,Nephthys,and Osiris.

Angels can even play an active role in a campaign with no deities or where people do not believe in gods.Angels can serve elemental forces,with dynamis,grigori,and principalities serving air;cherubim,malakim,and parasim serving earth;kalkydrim,ophanim,and seraphim serving fire;and hashmalim and memunim serving water. Angels can be utterly mysterious and incomprehensible to beings with no knowledge ofdivine magic,as strange as an aboleth or ravid is to a human peasant.

In other words,don’t let traditional depictions ofangels keep you from creating new and unusual themes and uses for angels.By their nature they are something other than physical,and while their common physical forms can help define them,those forms do not have to limit how you perceive them.

Angels in a Modern Setting

While presented for use in a fantasy d20 System campaign,these rules can also also apply to a modern-day or futuristic campaign.In those situations,angels understand technology as well as common folk do,although angels who have spent decades or centuries in places far from the Material Plane might be unaware oftechnological advances that occurred while they were away.Some angels might jump at the chance to use modern technology.Ophanim and parasim would love riding motorcycles,cherubim would enjoy using modern security devices to track and guard,and no malakim would want to travel without a +1 holy shotgun. Other angels would feel indifferent to modern technology,and some might refuse to use it altogether,such as stuffy hashmalim who see technology as promoting chaos and destruction.New types ofangels might exist, such as angels ofthe Internet,and some angel abilities might have different effects,such as a hashmalite’s hashmal burst disrupting electronic devices instead ofsimply dealing damage.However,this book can be used as-is in a modern game with no changes.And of course,any changes and updates you choose to make available to angels will find their way into the hands offiends,as well.