D&D 5E Dragon + Issue 26 is out

lkj · Jun 22, 2019

gyor said:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Asura

In Hinduisms while at times it can refer to evil spirits, it's abit more complicated then that. For example I think the Rig Veda references the Indra as an Asura, and that was written back when Indra was a lot more popular then he is now.

Asuras is D&D are basically similar to Angels, but more Chaotic to the Angels Lawful inclinations,
serving Gods of Good (and some times Chaos). They see Devas as rivals.

There were a type of more powerful Asuras I believe and at the top an Asura general.

I could see WotC merging the Asura into Angels, a type based on the passions of a God, where Devas would be the thoughts of a God

It's be an interesting twist if instead of a Solar, Planetar, or Deva, Zariel was a Asura Angel, so falling from not just good to evil, but from choas to lawful as well.

Oh, for sure. It's complicated (like many aspects of Hindu lore). But, on average, asuras tend to be adversaries and serve as the 'bad guys' more often than not. Anyway, I don't have any problem with the use in D&D. I had just missed it.

AD

Sword of Spirit · Jun 22, 2019

In the previous editions that had asuras, angels could be of any good alignment. Now that angels are exclusively LG, there is plenty of room in 5e to bring back CG asuras as their own thing without creating any redundancy. (I actually like the "redundancy" in Planescape cosmology, because the distinctions in theme and feel were interesting and meaningful in the setting, but I understand how some people prefer it simpler.)

dave2008 · Jun 22, 2019

Wow, these just keep getting better and better (or at least longer). A lot of content in this issue. I also apprecitate the downloads of the old dragon mag articles on Hell ("The Nine Hells" & "The Hells Revisited").

gyor · Jun 22, 2019

Sword of Spirit said:
In the previous editions that had asuras, angels could be of any good alignment. Now that angels are exclusively LG, there is plenty of room in 5e to bring back CG asuras as their own thing without creating any redundancy. (I actually like the "redundancy" in Planescape cosmology, because the distinctions in theme and feel were interesting and meaningful in the setting, but I understand how some people prefer it simpler.)

They could be of any alignment in those editions, but they acted lawful like not being able to lie.