Celestials!
Perhaps the least common monster type (tied with oozes, maybe), they
nonetheless play a key role in the roles of certain players and in
stories featuring the gods. They’re one of the monster categories that I
wish were better fleshed-out, and I’m here to take a crack at it!
Normally, I do these in batches of five, but give that there are only
eight RAW Celestials in D&D 5e thus far, I figure I’d do four, then
four for the next post! I will provide a summary of the creature, then offer two
different interpretations of the creature—an ‘earthly’ interpretation
for placing the creature in a normal fantasy world, and a ‘heavenly’
interpretation that is tied to the celestial heavens. This doesn’t
necessarily mean one interpretation will be more grounded than another!
Earthly
Let us begin by asking a question; why would a flying horse be as intelligent as a human and understand four languages? There are plenty of valid answers, but I have one that I personally find quite elegant—a Pegasus grazes upon dreams as a normal horse grazes upon grass. It is rare to see a Pegasus not because they are uncommon, but because they only ever touch the ground to drink water or have their young. They sleep amongst the clouds and graze far above population centers. The only large creatures that would ever be near them would be potential predators, so they are extremely skittish around anything larger than a bird. Due to their skittishness, one could only be kept as a mount if it were captured at birth, but there is the additional problem that they will quickly starve to death unless they can graze in the skies which they call home. When a Paladin calls upon a Pegasus to be their mount, they call upon the power of their oath—the only dream so potent it can convince a Pegasus to willingly land and be mounted! This version of the spell would imply that the mount is called, not summoned. In this interpretation, Nightmares would happen when a Pegasus is poisoned by too much ill-will in dreams. Such Nightmares would be a dangerous phenomenon that would add additional chaos to a terrible event like a war or natural disaster. Such an encounter could be a good way to give a low-level party something useful to do when a terrible event beyond their abilities occurs.
Heavenly
Do pets go to heaven? It’s a long-asked question, and the Pegasus could be part of the answer. If good-aligned humanoids can rise to heaven, perhaps their mounts can do so as well? Many humanoids have close relation with horses—the two species depending on each-other for survival. Such a symbiosis could extend to the heavens. You could treat Pegasi as basically horse angels, potentially giving your paladin’s mount a long history the moment it’s summoned! Perhaps the Paladin’s mount is was once the servant of a great knight that served their order, and now returns to serve again. You could vary up their languages and say the languages they know were learned in service to the knights they fought with when they were alive. You could even make celestial versions of tressym and blink dogs if you don’t want to leave cats and dogs out of the fun! A potential quest could involve a Pegasus trying to get the party to lay the ghost of the knight it once served to rest—a task made more difficult because the Pegasus cannot speak! If horses can go to heaven, can they go to hell? A Nightmare might be a mount that ‘betrayed’ their rider during a time of great strife, by balking at danger and trying to flee or refusing to obey critical commands, leading to their death. It may also simply be a loyal mount of an evil rider, willing to follow them into hell itself if that is where they travel.
Earthly
Couatls are as old as the world—created along with it, with missions to match their age. They are capable of breeding, but rarely do, for they have no purpose besides their mission. They have a variety of abilities that allow them to mask their presence and know the unknowable and will use them for impossible lengths of time if necessary. The society I imagine of them is a group of individuals as old as time that all know each other well, each willing to assist the other if it would not detract from their own mission. They blend into society, like changelings or doppelgangers, but instead of living large off stolen identities, every action is taken with their created purpose in mind. They only breed when they feel they need to have offspring to fulfill their mission, which may make for an interesting way to introduce Aasimar characters, if you accept that the Couatl could breed while shapeshifted. While Couatls might not be humorless (and indeed may be quite jovial in the right context), they are entirely mission focused, with an eye for the long game. A location a Couatl was supposed to protect may end up conquered, and if it cannot be retaken, the Couatl may wait centuries for the group inhabiting it to move on. They may end up assisting with their end, if they can manage it. If it is overtaken by monsters, the Couatl will play the ‘mysterious person in the corner of the tavern’ for as long as it takes in order to round up a group to restore the place to balance. This could make them long-term allies of the party that cleared it out, as they are not dishonorable creatures, and a lifetime to a humanoid is but a moment to a Couatl. However, if a person or group earns their ire, beware, for the long-term planning of a Rakshasa may be crueler, but it has nothing on the cold calculus of a creature whose lifetime is equivalent to the world it lives on.
Heavenly
The Couatl is the humblest of the agents of heaven, but it has its place. While other angels act as the messengers, warriors, and mouthpieces for their deities, the Couatl has a dirtier job that is no less important—the spy. These agents of the divine may not be able to smite their foes with a single blow, but they are immune or resistant to nearly all forms of detection. These creatures would be sent down to the worlds their gods oversee to accomplish tasks that a mighty smiting angel either cannot be spared for or simply could not accomplish. The missions of these divine spies vary based on the deity. A nature deity may command their agents to infiltrate a logging company to encourage sustainable forestry. A life deity may have a Couatl attempt to preempt a conflict before it begins in earnest. A war deity may infiltrate a city guard to either start a war, or simply encourage proper professionalism amongst its forces, depending on the deity’s preferences. A trickery deity would likely favor these humble but clever servants over their mightier angelic ones, sending them across the world to spread confusion and mischief. Couatls like this make great starter mentors and great starter villains, as whatever their mission, their capabilities for direct action are limited, forcing them to find agents in the field who can do the dirty work that the Couatl simply cannot do alone. Whatever their agenda, their intelligence and cunning are significant, allowing their plans to be both complex and reliable. A ‘low-priority’ area between two rival deities may be home to two dueling Couatls who may not even know of the other’s presence, utilizing catspaws and minions to accomplish tasks and spending much of their time donning various disguises. These sort of spy games would be a great challenge for a low-level party that favors social interaction over dungeon crawling.
Earthly
Unicorns of this type may have a celestial origin, but they are creatures of the firmament like any other. They are the masters of their territory, and beasts, monsters, and humanoids alike challenge them at their peril. Unlike an apex predator, the unicorn does not hunt from its domain. It instead is a browser (unlike its grazing horse cousins) that eats the finest of its domain, leaving the rest to the others who reside in it. A unicorn will tolerate no predators in its domain, and if faced with stiff competition from other herbivores, will use its keen mind to find the greatest threat to the ecosystem, whoever it may be. It will then use its great skill in battle and magics to ensure that the threat is exiled, peacefully if possible. The unicorn is like few other creatures this way—it is an apex herbivore that dominates whatever environment it chooses for its home. It is known to tolerate humanoids that it believes it can trust, especially those of a trusted bloodline, but is always wary of betrayal and predation. Unicorns are unaging and rarely breed, but when they do, such courtship rituals can take decades, as the two celestial beasts gradually intertwine their territories, eventually merging them to raise their family, then separating again when the task is finished.
Heavenly
These unicorns are divinity untamed—untouched by practicalities and compromise. Unicorns will seek out those who share their purity of heart and purpose, those who have been untouched by the evils of the world and have not been forced to compromise their behavior in the face of practical realities. A good deity’s unicorns may seek out the ‘pure of heart’ in a traditional sense—those who are pure good. Such people are often children, or those others would label sheltered or naïve, but the unicorn senses a similarity of heart. These unicorns will protect and serve these people if their hearts remain pure. For those gods who are not traditionally ‘good’, what qualifies as purity can be quite strange and interesting. A nature deity’s unicorns may prefer someone whose love for nature is more Thoreau and less hunter-gatherer. A treachery deity’s unicorns would prefer a wannabe supervillain over a veteran assassin. A warrior deity’s unicorns would likely prefer a warrior-in-training over an experienced one. Whatever their allegiance, these unicorns display untempered passion for whatever aspect they focus on, fighting fiercely to protect any who represent that pure ideal and fighting to keep that pure idea pure. It is a losing battle, but most know this, rarely staying with a single person for long periods of time.
Earthly
Indeed, the Ki-Rin shares many mechanical traits with dragons. Many have dragon-like physical characteristics as well. In fact, if you’re willing to bend some rules (and I always am), the Ki-Rin could be a ‘radiance dragon’, acting as a counterpart to a Shadow Dragon, if you wish to make such things independent entities. If you so desire, you can give the Ki-Rin a breath weapon equivalent to a dragon, dealing something like 10d10 radiant damage in a 60-foot cone. You can keep the Ki-Rin’s description as-is or change it to something more draconic, depending on flavor. If we are to take an alternate character interpretation of these creatures like the posts I made about dragons, it could be said that the Ki-Rin hoards valor. They can create illusions with their major-image ability that immortalize heroes they find worthy and can bestow powerful boons upon them in life. Indeed, they can even raise the dead, and may do so if they believe that their preferred ‘lost cause’ has failed where they could have succeeded. Such Ki-Rin may be compassionate about their gifts or may few such mortal affairs as a mere game to be played for amusement—it varies from creature to creature. They would still reside amongst the clouds, hunting monstrous creatures who they consider too craven or underhanded to be worthy of life.
Heavenly
This version of the Ki-Rin leans more into the horse element. The gods seem to love their horses—we’ve talked about both the Pegasus and the Unicorn, but neither seem worthy of carrying a deity. The Ki-Rin, on the other hand, seems as though they would be so worthy. The Ki-Rin has both the divine power of a cleric of that deity as well as the physical speed and power to physically carry them. As both the steed and number one fan of their deity, a Ki-Rin steed will go out of their way to promote the virtues and myths associated with their god. Their lairs would likely be either near the holy places of their god or one-and-the same. While gods are busy ruling their heavenly homes, Ki-Rin have wanderlust, and will travel across the world to impose their god’s message upon the world. If you’re interested in comedy, you could have them be a little too obsessed with their deity. Woe betide one who slays a Ki-Rin, for many gods will never stop hunting you for such an insult. An exception may be a god who savors battle, for their Ki-Rin may be willing to hurl themselves into a deadly fight, with the knowledge that they will likely be resurrected, and even if not, it shall be a worthy death. Despite their blind spot for their deity, a Ki-Rin is ancient and wise, and will often be sent to help someone who calls out for aid from a deity that respects them. Their physical and divine powers are more than enough to solve most mortal problems, and even if not, they have friends in high places.
That's all for this week! I hope you folks find this useful and I hope it’s as fun to read as it was to write!
(Originally published here on July 25, 2019)
The Pegasus: Just A Flying Horse?
The Pegasus is the most ‘common’ of these ethereal and godlike creatures, possessing no special abilities compared to a horse besides intelligence and flight. If you have a high-level paladin or some other way to access the spell amongst your PCs, you’ll encounter it if they choose to take it as their steed when casting the Find Greater Steed spell. Otherwise, it exists in your world at your leisure.Earthly
Let us begin by asking a question; why would a flying horse be as intelligent as a human and understand four languages? There are plenty of valid answers, but I have one that I personally find quite elegant—a Pegasus grazes upon dreams as a normal horse grazes upon grass. It is rare to see a Pegasus not because they are uncommon, but because they only ever touch the ground to drink water or have their young. They sleep amongst the clouds and graze far above population centers. The only large creatures that would ever be near them would be potential predators, so they are extremely skittish around anything larger than a bird. Due to their skittishness, one could only be kept as a mount if it were captured at birth, but there is the additional problem that they will quickly starve to death unless they can graze in the skies which they call home. When a Paladin calls upon a Pegasus to be their mount, they call upon the power of their oath—the only dream so potent it can convince a Pegasus to willingly land and be mounted! This version of the spell would imply that the mount is called, not summoned. In this interpretation, Nightmares would happen when a Pegasus is poisoned by too much ill-will in dreams. Such Nightmares would be a dangerous phenomenon that would add additional chaos to a terrible event like a war or natural disaster. Such an encounter could be a good way to give a low-level party something useful to do when a terrible event beyond their abilities occurs.
Heavenly
Do pets go to heaven? It’s a long-asked question, and the Pegasus could be part of the answer. If good-aligned humanoids can rise to heaven, perhaps their mounts can do so as well? Many humanoids have close relation with horses—the two species depending on each-other for survival. Such a symbiosis could extend to the heavens. You could treat Pegasi as basically horse angels, potentially giving your paladin’s mount a long history the moment it’s summoned! Perhaps the Paladin’s mount is was once the servant of a great knight that served their order, and now returns to serve again. You could vary up their languages and say the languages they know were learned in service to the knights they fought with when they were alive. You could even make celestial versions of tressym and blink dogs if you don’t want to leave cats and dogs out of the fun! A potential quest could involve a Pegasus trying to get the party to lay the ghost of the knight it once served to rest—a task made more difficult because the Pegasus cannot speak! If horses can go to heaven, can they go to hell? A Nightmare might be a mount that ‘betrayed’ their rider during a time of great strife, by balking at danger and trying to flee or refusing to obey critical commands, leading to their death. It may also simply be a loyal mount of an evil rider, willing to follow them into hell itself if that is where they travel.
The Couatl: The Snake Among Us
I would best describe a Couatl as a ‘starter angel’, though they are not true angels. They possess many of the traits associated with true angels but are only CR 4. For those interested in using them as enemies—be warned! They are totally immune to non-magical weapon damage, have high AC, and put creatures asleep on a successful attack. Against an unprepared or weapons-heavy party, they hit far above their weight class, so tread carefully! Another place you are likely to see them is if you have a high-level cleric in your party—the 7th level spell Conjure Celestial will normally conjure a Couatl.Earthly
Couatls are as old as the world—created along with it, with missions to match their age. They are capable of breeding, but rarely do, for they have no purpose besides their mission. They have a variety of abilities that allow them to mask their presence and know the unknowable and will use them for impossible lengths of time if necessary. The society I imagine of them is a group of individuals as old as time that all know each other well, each willing to assist the other if it would not detract from their own mission. They blend into society, like changelings or doppelgangers, but instead of living large off stolen identities, every action is taken with their created purpose in mind. They only breed when they feel they need to have offspring to fulfill their mission, which may make for an interesting way to introduce Aasimar characters, if you accept that the Couatl could breed while shapeshifted. While Couatls might not be humorless (and indeed may be quite jovial in the right context), they are entirely mission focused, with an eye for the long game. A location a Couatl was supposed to protect may end up conquered, and if it cannot be retaken, the Couatl may wait centuries for the group inhabiting it to move on. They may end up assisting with their end, if they can manage it. If it is overtaken by monsters, the Couatl will play the ‘mysterious person in the corner of the tavern’ for as long as it takes in order to round up a group to restore the place to balance. This could make them long-term allies of the party that cleared it out, as they are not dishonorable creatures, and a lifetime to a humanoid is but a moment to a Couatl. However, if a person or group earns their ire, beware, for the long-term planning of a Rakshasa may be crueler, but it has nothing on the cold calculus of a creature whose lifetime is equivalent to the world it lives on.
Heavenly
The Couatl is the humblest of the agents of heaven, but it has its place. While other angels act as the messengers, warriors, and mouthpieces for their deities, the Couatl has a dirtier job that is no less important—the spy. These agents of the divine may not be able to smite their foes with a single blow, but they are immune or resistant to nearly all forms of detection. These creatures would be sent down to the worlds their gods oversee to accomplish tasks that a mighty smiting angel either cannot be spared for or simply could not accomplish. The missions of these divine spies vary based on the deity. A nature deity may command their agents to infiltrate a logging company to encourage sustainable forestry. A life deity may have a Couatl attempt to preempt a conflict before it begins in earnest. A war deity may infiltrate a city guard to either start a war, or simply encourage proper professionalism amongst its forces, depending on the deity’s preferences. A trickery deity would likely favor these humble but clever servants over their mightier angelic ones, sending them across the world to spread confusion and mischief. Couatls like this make great starter mentors and great starter villains, as whatever their mission, their capabilities for direct action are limited, forcing them to find agents in the field who can do the dirty work that the Couatl simply cannot do alone. Whatever their agenda, their intelligence and cunning are significant, allowing their plans to be both complex and reliable. A ‘low-priority’ area between two rival deities may be home to two dueling Couatls who may not even know of the other’s presence, utilizing catspaws and minions to accomplish tasks and spending much of their time donning various disguises. These sort of spy games would be a great challenge for a low-level party that favors social interaction over dungeon crawling.
The Unicorn: Only the Pure of Heart
The Unicorn is one of the lowest CR monsters with lair effects, though it lacks lair actions and legendary actions. This suggests that unicorns should be used as location-specific creatures, and much of the Monster Manual lore suggests this. As such, the unicorn makes a great creature to include in a hexcrawl game, where monster lairs and locations are of major significance.Earthly
Unicorns of this type may have a celestial origin, but they are creatures of the firmament like any other. They are the masters of their territory, and beasts, monsters, and humanoids alike challenge them at their peril. Unlike an apex predator, the unicorn does not hunt from its domain. It instead is a browser (unlike its grazing horse cousins) that eats the finest of its domain, leaving the rest to the others who reside in it. A unicorn will tolerate no predators in its domain, and if faced with stiff competition from other herbivores, will use its keen mind to find the greatest threat to the ecosystem, whoever it may be. It will then use its great skill in battle and magics to ensure that the threat is exiled, peacefully if possible. The unicorn is like few other creatures this way—it is an apex herbivore that dominates whatever environment it chooses for its home. It is known to tolerate humanoids that it believes it can trust, especially those of a trusted bloodline, but is always wary of betrayal and predation. Unicorns are unaging and rarely breed, but when they do, such courtship rituals can take decades, as the two celestial beasts gradually intertwine their territories, eventually merging them to raise their family, then separating again when the task is finished.
Heavenly
These unicorns are divinity untamed—untouched by practicalities and compromise. Unicorns will seek out those who share their purity of heart and purpose, those who have been untouched by the evils of the world and have not been forced to compromise their behavior in the face of practical realities. A good deity’s unicorns may seek out the ‘pure of heart’ in a traditional sense—those who are pure good. Such people are often children, or those others would label sheltered or naïve, but the unicorn senses a similarity of heart. These unicorns will protect and serve these people if their hearts remain pure. For those gods who are not traditionally ‘good’, what qualifies as purity can be quite strange and interesting. A nature deity’s unicorns may prefer someone whose love for nature is more Thoreau and less hunter-gatherer. A treachery deity’s unicorns would prefer a wannabe supervillain over a veteran assassin. A warrior deity’s unicorns would likely prefer a warrior-in-training over an experienced one. Whatever their allegiance, these unicorns display untempered passion for whatever aspect they focus on, fighting fiercely to protect any who represent that pure ideal and fighting to keep that pure idea pure. It is a losing battle, but most know this, rarely staying with a single person for long periods of time.
The Ki-Rin: Horse Dragons with Rad Pads
The Ki-rin is the most powerful creature on this list, possessing both strong physical attacks and the powers of an 18th-level cleric, along with legendary actions and lair abilities. They are basically a unicorn, but amped up to 11, with the addition of a fly speed. They can be treated much as an adult or ancient dragon, as powerful creatures capable of shaping the fates of nations if they so desire.Earthly
Indeed, the Ki-Rin shares many mechanical traits with dragons. Many have dragon-like physical characteristics as well. In fact, if you’re willing to bend some rules (and I always am), the Ki-Rin could be a ‘radiance dragon’, acting as a counterpart to a Shadow Dragon, if you wish to make such things independent entities. If you so desire, you can give the Ki-Rin a breath weapon equivalent to a dragon, dealing something like 10d10 radiant damage in a 60-foot cone. You can keep the Ki-Rin’s description as-is or change it to something more draconic, depending on flavor. If we are to take an alternate character interpretation of these creatures like the posts I made about dragons, it could be said that the Ki-Rin hoards valor. They can create illusions with their major-image ability that immortalize heroes they find worthy and can bestow powerful boons upon them in life. Indeed, they can even raise the dead, and may do so if they believe that their preferred ‘lost cause’ has failed where they could have succeeded. Such Ki-Rin may be compassionate about their gifts or may few such mortal affairs as a mere game to be played for amusement—it varies from creature to creature. They would still reside amongst the clouds, hunting monstrous creatures who they consider too craven or underhanded to be worthy of life.
Heavenly
This version of the Ki-Rin leans more into the horse element. The gods seem to love their horses—we’ve talked about both the Pegasus and the Unicorn, but neither seem worthy of carrying a deity. The Ki-Rin, on the other hand, seems as though they would be so worthy. The Ki-Rin has both the divine power of a cleric of that deity as well as the physical speed and power to physically carry them. As both the steed and number one fan of their deity, a Ki-Rin steed will go out of their way to promote the virtues and myths associated with their god. Their lairs would likely be either near the holy places of their god or one-and-the same. While gods are busy ruling their heavenly homes, Ki-Rin have wanderlust, and will travel across the world to impose their god’s message upon the world. If you’re interested in comedy, you could have them be a little too obsessed with their deity. Woe betide one who slays a Ki-Rin, for many gods will never stop hunting you for such an insult. An exception may be a god who savors battle, for their Ki-Rin may be willing to hurl themselves into a deadly fight, with the knowledge that they will likely be resurrected, and even if not, it shall be a worthy death. Despite their blind spot for their deity, a Ki-Rin is ancient and wise, and will often be sent to help someone who calls out for aid from a deity that respects them. Their physical and divine powers are more than enough to solve most mortal problems, and even if not, they have friends in high places.
That's all for this week! I hope you folks find this useful and I hope it’s as fun to read as it was to write!
(Originally published here on July 25, 2019)
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