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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 1066697" data-attributes="member: 5137">This one's a little different - written with GM Voice instead of Setting Voice. So it's not really about anything specific, but rather just the general approach I've tried to take with things up to this point.Monsters: Divine ServantsWhen I was originally working on the idea for Theralis, I knew that I wanted the gods to be accessible. I wanted divine events to be part and parcel to the adventurer's life, and for the gods and their servants to feel like a natural part of the setting.Thelanna, high priestess of Allas in the city, speaks to the higher celestial servants of the Sun Goddess on a daily basis. She has friends in the celestial hierarchy, and more than a few rivals. In the same way that Greppa has certain lantern archons that he has become familiar with, so too has she spent time developing relationships with particular Devas and other such beings, and even the occasional direct Audience with Allas Herself.Hydras are the manifest result of deific lust, giant spiders are the literal drops of blood from an ancient dwarf-god now bound in the infernal pit, the grape-mashing ceremony at the Olympiad pleased Dianas enough that wine-related trade has been strong the past several years. The PCs can look out their window and see the fruits of the gods' presence in the world. They can look at their war and know that the gods have a powerful hand in it.So I needed to think about the divine servants.I wanted to represent the gods as being BIG, these immense forces, a kind of cultural tide that shoved mortals hither and thither. You can't do that with a Deities & Demigods style stat block for the god's avatar. You need a whole support network of shock troops, diplomats, advisors-to-mortals, social engineers, prayer-answerers, and so on.For 4+ months of weekly games, Greppa was summoning lantern archons, little puffballs of light, to help him in innumerable ways. They teleported vast distances to pass messages, or to bring wine or equipment from home, they translated ancient languages, and spoke with an earth elemental on his behalf. They connected Greppa with Allas.It wasn't until he summoned one to translate texts lost to Theralis, searching for information about things Allas had hidden, and the cute little puffball asked "What are you doing?" that Greppa saw, for the first time, the leash that Allas had slipped upon him. And he began to wonder if he could even trust his loyal friend Uripedas... because Uripedas was a creature of Allas, a celestial sunhawk that occasioned to serve in Her armies when She called. And I did similar things everywhere. The priests of Allas in each city they went to were in touch with the others, and had a servant or two on hand who aided them in each thing.For another example, Xeras' presence was felt in the lightning birds at the mining colony, and one of Her most powerful servants sits with the orc ancestors. Lesser servants of Xeras fight alongside the Broken Knuckle warbands, and ball lightning-like lantern archons maintain communication over vast distances for the Broken Knuckle army... and keep warband leaders in line over those same distances. If Xeras were to remove Her influence, the Bukkenahk would likely collapse, and so, bit by bit, they move in the direction She wants.There is a reason that Theralis does not allow priests to be on the Council, or advance beyond Captain in the military!Okay, I'm getting carried away with specifics <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />. The point is that I decided the best way to represent a god was through the presence and activity of His/Her servants, both mortal and celestial. When one thinks about Microsoft, for example, one doesn't think of what Bill Gates is doing with his day, but the cumulative effect of the actions of all of the employees. So I went for a similar feel in Theralis.For purposes of figuring out how I wanted to structure it, however, I went for a somewhat anarchic approach. The gods of primitive cultures are often portrayed as (essentially) highly admired bullies. So as I thought about celestials, I treated them as members of a gang. A very large gang <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.Lantern archons, in some form or another, were part of every gang. They were the brats and kid brothers, who ran messages, checked mail, and did a hundred other minor little jobs. The ability to teleport without error and speak/read any language, combined with the low intelligence, made them the perfect day-to-day operatives.Xeras' lantern archons look like ball lightning; Allas' lanterns look like puffballs of light; Luccas' lanterns look like reddish puffballs; Corvidae's lanterns look like shadowy, intangible ravens; Dianas' lanterns look like tiny pixies in grape leaves. But they all have the same stats and purpose.Above that level, however, I wanted the gods to be unique. So I stopped worrying about whether the creature was in the Celestial section of the MM I or not.Example: Xeras has a servant that looks like a 9-ft tall, handsome human dressed in flowing robes. His hands and eyes crackle with lightning, and he can transform into lightning instantly and streak away through the sky to some other place. The stat block? A troll who does electrical damage with its claws instead of normal damage, and has some celestial-like abilities (such as teleport) and a prettier face.Example: Luccas has servants who are associated with Her wolf aspects. They are humanoid, but with the massive heads of black-furred wolves. They are awesome hunters and pack-fighters, and savage Her foes for Her. Hound archons, redescribed and modified slightly for the Infernal Pit.Example: Allas has a servant of light that looks like a six-armed, chalk-skinned woman with glowing blue eyes and the lower body of a glowing serpent. If you're thinking a re-described marilith (with holy abilities instead of unholy), you've got the idea <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />.In general, I've tried to make sure that there are servants who can:0) Come down to Mortal Land (at great cost) and kick SERIOUS butt.1) Work with leaders of state, persuade people, etc.2) Lead armies of #4.3) Heroes who lead the charge / shock troops.4) Grunt troops.5) Aides to priests / advisors on religious authority.6) Espionage and fostering discontent.7) Lantern archons.-seasong</blockquote>

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