Angels & Demons, a medieval Christian Mythos Campaign? (Need help!)

[Irysangel]

Has anyone ever done one of these?

I'm currently trying to pull one together and finding it hard to find good sources. What I'm looking for: Books/websites/info on angels and demons in general, names, places, etc. Without having to rummage through a bazillion weirdo books in regards to Satan or right wing religious zealots telling stories about how their puppy barked at an angel once, so they must exist, etc.

Am I making sense here? A friend told me that he once found a book that detailed all the important hierarchies (and names) of the seven heavens, as well as a detailed listing of hell & fallen angels.

My players are really geared up to play a campaign like this but I don't know where to begin. I've hit the used book-stores and the websites but everything I've found is either fluffy Uber-Christian or devoted to Satan and evil etc, which is really not what I'm looking for....

Any help would be appreciated. I figure if anyone can ferret out a decent source, it's the folks on here.

Toodles!
/Irys

 

[jhilahd]

Have you tried the Catholic Churches website. They have listings of the Angelic (choirs) hosts and such, and may even have reference to the dark side as well.

Hitchcocks list of biblical names helps too. I found that one on the In Nomine webpage at www.sjgames.com

Hope this'll help.

-Jhilahd

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[The Serge]

For information on Catholic mythology's Heavenly and Hellish hierarchies, I would recommend the following:

Gustav Davidson's A Dictionary of Angels. It has an excellent description of the Angelic Chiors and a list of the Fallen Angels, including Lucifer.

Angels A to Z by James R. Lewis and Evelyn D. Oliver complements Davidson's book very well.

Two books that expand on the subject matter, bringing in the non-Christian god parallels are Dictionary of Ancient Deities by Patricia Turner and Charles R. Coultier and Dictionary of Gods and Goddess, Devils and Demons by Manfred Lurker.

For Devils and Demons alone check out J. Charles Wall's Devils: Their Origins and History and Leonard R.N. Ashley's The Complete Book of Devils and Demons.

I would also strongly encourage that you read Milton's Paradise Lost. It gives "personality" to Lucifer, Michael, and other agnelic beings.

 

[Corey II]

Try
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/

It is a very extensive online Catholic encyclopedia.

 

[dave_o]

Olde Schoole.

Uhm. How about Dante's Inferno, Paradisio, and Purgatory?

 

[Desdichado]

Green Ronin's Legions of Hell has most of this info, as well as a complete yet concise bibliography at the end.

 

[Irysangel]

Awesome! I had no idea that there were already settings out on this type of game. I'll def. run out and grab these!

You guys are great.

 

[Desdichado]

Awesome! I had no idea that there were already settings out on this type of game. I'll def. run out and grab these!

You guys are great.

Uh, thanks, I guess.

Those aren't settings, though, those are just books, most of them several hundred years old. Legions of Hell is a great resource for D&D, but it's really just a monster book, not a setting book. It's got good info, though.

 

[Dust]

In Nomine

While it takes many liberties with "history" in regards to Christian angelology, I'd recommed checking out Steve Jackson Games' In Nomine for a great example of a fully fleshed out hierarchy of Angels and Demons. It has choirs, archangels and demon princes, and lots of great ideas for how they interact. While it is based around players taking the part of the angels and demons, and while that idea doesn't translate all that well to d20 in any conversion I've seen, it does provide a great setting.

 

[Uller]

...right wing religious zealots telling stories about how their puppy barked at an angel once, so they must exist, etc.

One shouldn't assume that everyone on the boards holds your world view...many people around here are quite religious and probably don't appreciate being called zealots or right wing (in fact many left wing people hold a belief in angels and sentient good and evil). So perhaps if you weren't slinging around insults you might get some more useful answers...

That said...I heard the Quran has a detailed listing of the Heavens and Hell and the residents thereof.