Angels and epic destinies
Filed under D&D 4E Preview on April 30, 2008
Keywords: 4E, angels, Dungeons and Dragons, epic destinies
There has been a parade of great 4E previews on WotC’s website this week. While many of the excerpts posted to date have left me feeling uneasy about one aspect or another of Dungeons & Dragons’ latest incarnation, I’ve been impressed with each and every entry from the Monster Manual. The excerpt on angels is no exception.
Like the demons and devils, the folks at Wizards has reimagined the role of those good-aligned planar beings known as celestials. As much as I like the outcome of the new angels, and am salivating at the chance to pit some players against a contingent of angels of battler and valor, what really impressed me about this excerpt was the glimpse at the process of the change: the how and why the R&D folks did what they did.
First, they identified a deficiency in the monster. PCs are most often heroes, and celestials were the ultimate “good guys.” This resulted in a little-used monster.
Second, they went back to the roots of the mythos. In previous editions, celestials where the opposites of devils and demons in the Great Wheel, and served good-aligned deities exclusively. Evil deities lacked such minions, though demons and devils might form temporary alliances. However, that model of cosmology–and alignments–was not carried over to 4E. Celestials where the D&D equivalent of angels, spiritual beings who acted as messengers for God (the word “angel” literally translates to “messenger”). By moving the monster back toward its roots, WotC filled an obvious vacancy in monster roles. That’s good design.
WotC sneaked another excerpt in with the Dragon entry on epic destinies for 3.5. I’ve never played or DM’d a campaign where the players went past level 20. Most of my groups never stuck together beyond what would be the paragon tier in 4E. Epic levels in 3E/3.5 scared me. I’d heard horror stories of the math involved, about the struggle to keep encounters challenging. It sounded like a powergamer’s paradise, and I’m a storyteller DM.
Epic destinies appear right up my alley. I’m interested in playing a post-20 game for the first time. I thought the mythic shadow destiny concept was a little weak compared to the others, but they all add some good, fluffy depth to the powerful crunch of the epic levels.
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