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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tyler Do'Urden" data-source="post: 1133634" data-attributes="member: 4601">Recently I was reading a text about Tibetan Buddhism, in which the author (Robert Thurman) advanced a controversial theory about the conquest of Tibet- that Mao Zedong was an incarnation of Vajrapani, the Thunderbolt-Wielding Bodhisattva  (think "angel of death") who tried to destroy Tibet in order to prevent another ruler from doing it first (and thereby condemning the whole world to a dark age).  While, as an agnostic, I find this theory rather cranky and ridiculous, it did provoke a few thoughts regarding the use of celestials and angels in campaigns.It is often said that we cannot understand the ways of gods or celestials, and all too often, me and others in my group are confounded as to how to use them in our campaigns.  Angels seem to have little to do with human (or other mortal) existence in most campaigns.  It seems the only time they ever pop up is if they are summoned by a PC, have been corrupted to the side of evil, or show up to oppose a fiend.  Whereas fiends and infernal creatures seem to be quite busy in the mortal world, and take a very activist approach to things, celestials in D&D campaigns seem to be aloof- perhaps a little too aloof.Angels in hebrew myth (as well as devas in hindu myth, and bodhisattvas in Buddhism) aren't all sweetness in life- they can often have a terrible, wrathful aspect as well, and operate at a level considerably beyond that of human concerns.  But how to show this in a game?  And, how does one do this without breaking the alignment system?  (In a setting like Arcana Unearthed, with no alignments, such a premise would be much easier to pull off)...</blockquote>

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