Hark! The Herald Angel

[clavis123]

Today's inhabitant of Heaven is the Herald Angel, who delivers messages to the mundane world. They are also the last hope of those who foolishly entered into pacts with Devils, and need to find some way to avoid eternal damnation.
HERALD ANGEL

NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1-4

SIZE: Medium

HD: 9 (d8)

MOVE: 60', 120' (fly)

AC: 24

ATTACKS: 1 Trumpet Blast (see below)

SPECIAL: Magic Weapons To Hit, Deepvision, Electricity Resistance (Full), Immune to Poison and Emotion-affecting Magic, Sound Trumpet, Bardic Abilities, Incredible Charisma, Gift of Tongues, Virtue of Charity, Covenant of Charity, Immune To Sonic Magic, Spell Resistance 15, Spell-like Abilities

SAVES: M+P

INT: Genius

ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good

TYPE: Extraplaner

TREASURE:

XP: 4700+9

When Heaven has important messages for the mundane world, the task of delivering them falls to the Herald Angels. From the initial revelations of new religions, to announcing the birth of future saints, The Herald Angels form a vital link between the material plane and spiritual powers of Good.

Physically, a Herald Angel's natural form closely resembles an ordinary, albeit attractive, human. Their skin tone, hair, and eye colors can be any possible to humans. A nimbus of soft, golden light surrounds the being's head, the physical manifestationt of the Virtue of Charity. Sprouting from the Angel's back are a pair of slender, colorful wings shaped like those of a swallow or martin. Herald Angels tend to be garbed in rich, colorful robes. Each carries a long, silver trumpet, but no obvious weapon. When not in their natural form, Herald Angels prefer to appear as doves, or other non-predatory birds.

Herald Angels represent the clever side of Goodness. They prefer to trick and embarrass Evil people and creatures, letting them bring about their own downfall rather than fighting them directly. They are the authors of many schemes of salvation, often cooperating with Angels of Mercy to cause morally ambiguous people to perform righteous acts in spite of themselves!

It is said by many sages that the scheming Pact Devils who buy souls at lonely crossroads were once Herald Angels who became consumed by the vice of Greed. Herald Angels are known to take a particular interest in undoing the work of Pact Devils, going to far as to help those have damned themselves (by signing the Devil's Black Book) to find tricky ways out of their contracts. Even more than the Pact Devils, however, the Herald Angels despise and oppose the Cosmic Archons who attempt to impose their pitiless law upon the mundane world. Most Angels dislike Arcane magic intensely, but Herald Angels will frequently ally themselves with good-aligned Wizards to order to subvert and undo the plans of the Archons. Although both Lawful and Good, Herald Angels stress that Goodness must inform the Law for the Law to be legitimate.

It is said that their sense of humor and love of tricks makes Herald Angels welcome in the Otherworld of the Fairy Folk. Certainly, Herald Angels seem to have more tolerance for the the morally ambivalent ways of the Fairy Folk than do other Angels.
Combat: Herald Angels never carry obvious weapons, and prefer not to engage opponents in actual combat. If attacked by determined opponents, Herald Angels will generally seek to first Teleport into the air (or another safe place), and sound their Trumpet. Even when combat starts, herald Angels will first employ their non-lethal abilities, escalating to deadly powers only when the enemy proves unwilling to cease hostilities. If the Herald Angel is fighting with non-angelic allies, they will forgo sounding their trumpet in order to use their bardic abilities to inspire their compatriots.
Sound Trumpet: A Herald Angel can sound their trumpet in a special manner once a round to create any of the following effects:
Shout - as the spell from a 9th Level caster. Affects all non-Angelic creatures in a 100' radius.
Stun - for 1 round. Non-Angelic creatures in 100' radius cannot move or act unless they make a Constitution Saving Throw (Challenge Level 9).
Raise Dead - as the spell cast by a 9th Level Cleric. Once per day.
Bardic Abilities: Herald Angels have all the Abilities of a 9th Level Bard, including the Ability to Exalt, use Legend Lore, Fascinate, and Exhort Greatness.
Incredible Charisma: Herald Angels have effective Charisma scores of 20, and enjoy a +4 bonus on all relevant Saving Throws or SIEGE checks.
Immune To Sonic Magic: In addition to the normal Angelic immunities to mind-affecting magic, Herald Angels are immune to the effects of any spell or spell-like ability manipulating sound, including such spells as Shout, and Silence. They are naturally immune to any of the effects from their own (or any other Herald Angel's) trumpet.
Gift of Tongues: By touch, a Herald Angel can bestow the ability to speak and understand any language (as the per the spell Tongues). The Gift of Tongues lasts for a full week. Anyone with True Sight who views a person possessing the Gift of Tongues will see a small flame (like that of a candle) burning atop the gifted person's head.
Virtue of Charity: The Presence of a Herald Angel within100 feet automatically undoes any magically-induced greed, reveal all magically or mundanely disguised treasures for what they really are, and causes rogues and thieves to glow (as the spell Faerie Fire).
Covenant of Charity: Herald Angels are willing to enter into Covenants with creatures willing to donate all their excess wealth to the poor. The petitioner must agree to keep only fund sufficient to maintain their own health and safety. In practice, this means living on no more than 5 silver pieces a day. All other treasure, wealth, and property must be given, or otherwise used, to benefit the lowest and poorest classes of the petitioner's society. In return, the Angel bestows complete immunity to all illusions, and all mind or emotion affecting magic. Most interestingly, people within a Covenant of Charity can freely cheat any Infernal bargains. The recipient will get whatever benefit they seek, but the Devil's terms (such as the loss of a soul, or a Geas to perform some evil act) become completely unenforceable. Naturally, anything obtained in this way must be used solely for the benefit of the less fortunate, or else the protection of the Covenant of Charity is voided. Anyone in a Covenant of Charity should naturally be aware that they are marked for death by the Pact Devils.
Spell-Like Abilities: One at a time, at will: Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Detect Magic, Discern Lies, Detect Thoughts, Discern Location, Message, See Invisibility. Once per night they can send a Dream. In common with all Angels, a Herald Angel can also use Improved Invisibility, Know Alignment, create Light, Polymorph Self, perform feats of Prestidigitation, and Teleport Without Error, all at will. They can roam the Ethereal and Astral planes; speak, write and and understand all forms of communication; and can see perfectly regardless of illumination. Once per day a Herald Angel can Summon either another Herald Angel, or a Guardian Angel (who, like all Summoned creatures, cannot Summon more Angels themselves), Unless otherwise noted, all spell-like abilities have an effective caster level of 9.
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The Engine of Oracles: Creations For Gaming
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[Go0gleplex]

what? no mention of newspaper?
another nice piece...
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The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

[ssfsx17]

I may have missed this from one of your previous angels, but: would this angel happen to be one of the types who will wrestle you, until you decide to listen to his message?
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[serleran]

I'd allow seven of these, each armed with a trumpet, vial, and scroll....
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Serl's Corner

[ssfsx17]

serleran wrote:
I'd allow seven of these, each armed with a trumpet, vial, and scroll....

That's the backstory to Ruins & Radiation, eh?
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[serleran]

No. Not the default one, anyway. I don't like real-world religions getting in my game(s), so I always adapt and change aspects significantly so it's "familiar" but not "replicated."
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[clavis123]

ssfsx17 wrote:
I may have missed this from one of your previous angels, but: would this angel happen to be one of the types who will wrestle you, until you decide to listen to his message?

Actually, I plan on giving the upcoming Warrior Angels enhanced grappling abilities, as well as the power to paralyze body parts by touch.
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