.Cherubim and Dominion Feats
An Anger of Angels Preview

These sections offer two previews from the new Anger of Angels sourcebook by Sean K Reynolds. First is the cherubim, one of 11 angelic races featured in the book. Secondly, check out the new concept of dominion feats, including three samples.

Cherubim
The Guardians
Cherubim are Heaven's sentinels, sharp-minded and vigilant. They are known for their ability to notice things that do not belong, and their many duties include watching over heaven's pathways and destroying demons whose efforts would overthrow the natural order in the world. Cherubim are symbols of nobility and strength, just like the lions they resemble.

The singular form of cherubim is cherub. An informal plural, "cherubs," is in common use.

Personality: Cherubim are patient, observant, and protective. They think nothing of standing in one place for eight hours, unmoving, making sure that what they guard remains undisturbed. When not working, they enjoy polite conversation, studying old lore, and long runs in the open air. Cherubim are wary of strangers except angels known to serve the same cause as they do, and they despise oathbreakers and those who shirk their accepted duties. It is said that the first cherubim arose from the tears the archangel Michael shed over the sins of the faithful, and the cherubim do not dispute this origin. Cherubim in humanoid shape prefer tall, noble forms with an aura of strength and quiet menace. They're often mistaken for monks or paladins, depending upon their garb.

Physical Description: Cherubim are leonine creatures with humanlike faces (some more so than others) and small wings. Their front paws function as well as human hands. Their manes may be long, short, or absent, and any color, including some that do not appear in nature (such as fiery red, starlight blue, or moonlight white). Some cherubim are lean, dark, and pantherlike, and a few very old ones resemble bulls rather than lions. When readied for battle, cherubim sometimes wear armor, but most don at most a shoulder harness to hold a few key items. They are not averse to using necklaces, bracers, or similar items that suit their form and complement their coloration. Cherubim, like most angels, are immortal, not dying except through violence. When slain, a cherub's body runs like molten gold, eventually leaving behind only a single braid of golden hair.

Cherubim are sometimes depicted as plump, winged children, but they insist that such images are either a mistake on the part of the artist or the result of a deliberate deception by fiends intent on embarrassing them.

Relations: Cherubim prefer to listen rather than talk, and are patient enough to sit through the most rambling story. These traits endear them to dwarves, who would rather work in silence than chat, and gnomes, who tell long yarns. Cherubim's dedication to duty gains them the respect of elves, though their staid nature is contrary to the more free-willed elven or halfling personality. When disguised in mortal society, cherubim are guardians, stewards, or officers of the law.

Alignment: Cherubim are always good. Because their sense of loyalty and duty runs strong, most are lawful, but some can get creative in interpreting their orders. As even the most chaotic benign deities have things or people that need protection, a few chaotic cherubim do roam the planes.

Religion: Cherubim serve whatever deity or archangel created them, although the happiest are those who serve powers of protection, vigilance, and guardianship. They rarely change whom they serve, although sometimes they are lent to their patron's allied or subservient deities. Few free cherubim exist, as they are more comfortable within a known hierarchy.

Language: Cherubim speak Celestial. Like most angels, they can communicate as if using a tongues spell. From frequent encounters with fiends of different kinds (usually fiendish attempts to enter a site the cherubim guard), they also know a few key words in Abyssal and Infernal, mostly threats and suggestions as to where an unwanted visitor should put foreign objects.

Names: Cherubim are most often named for protection, guardianship, wisdom, and great cats in their creator's favored language, followed by a suffix indicating "of god." Examples are Barachel ("that bows before God"), Belshazzar ("master of the treasure"), Chephirah ("little lioness"), Engannim ("protection"), Er ("watchman"), Ishmerai ("keeper"), Laish ("lion"), Nimrah ("leopard"), Samaria ("watcher on the mountain"), Sharezer ("overseer of the treasury"), and Shemer ("guardian").

Adventurers: Cherub adventurers prefer duties relating to guardianship, such as protecting a village, caravan, or important person. They accept hunting down threats to their charges as part of their protective duties. They gain status among their peers by great feats performed while on duty, such as single-handedly holding off a force of demons while a ceremony of consecration is being performed or spending an extremely long time at a particular post.

Cherub Racial Traits

• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence: Cherubim are strong, tough, and intelligent.
• Medium Size: As Medium creatures, cherubim have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Cherubim base land speed is 40 feet and base fly speed is 40 feet (average).
• 4 Outsider Hit Dice (d8): Cherubim are 4 HD creatures. Elite cherubim (including all adventurers) gain maximum hit points on their first Hit Die, rolling all other Hit Dice normally (including Hit Dice from class levels). A cherub's base Hit Dice give him a +4 base attack bonus, two feats, skill points, and a base +4 bonus for all three saving throw categories. Most cherubim choose Iron Will and Weapon Focus (claw) as their feats.
• Extraplanar Subtype: Cherubim are native to Heaven and outer planes of good.
• Good Subtype: Cherubim are creatures of innate good, even if they serve nongood deities or are themselves not of good alignment. A cherub's natural weapons, as well as any weapons he wields, are treated as good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
• Outsider Skill Points: Because of their outsider Hit Dice, cherubim start with 7 x (8 + Intelligence modifier) skill points. They may purchase ranks in Balance, Concentration, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion), Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot as class skills. All other skills are cross-class.
• +4 racial bonus to Listen, Move Silently, Search, and Spot checks: Cherubim have keen senses and the focus of a hunting animal.
• Natural Armor +5: As angelic guardian lions, cherubim have tough flesh.
• Damage Reduction 5/Magic: As beings of pure spirit made flesh, cherubim are difficult to harm with mundane weapons.
• Resistances (Ex): Acid, cold, and sonic resistance 5.
• Claws: A cherubim has two claw attacks that are natural weapons. Each claw attack deals 1d4 points of slashing damage.
• Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a cherub must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with a claw attack. The cherub can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the cherub wins the grapple check, he establishes a hold and can rake. Thereafter, he has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or to simply use his claw to hold the opponent (-20 penalty to the grapple check, but the cherub is not considered grappled). In either case, each successful grapple check he makes during successive rounds automatically deals claw damage and allows another rake attempt.
• Rake (Ex): A cherub that establishes a hold can make two rake attacks (+6 melee) with his hind legs for 1d4 points of slashing damage plus Strength bonus.
• Roar (Su): Once per day a cherub can loose a terrifying roar in a 30-foot-long cone. All creatures except angels within the cone must succeed at a Will save (DC 12 + Cha modifier) or be shaken for 1d6 rounds.
• Spell-Like Abilities: At will—comprehend languages, detect evil, detect undead, light, magic fang (self only), read magic. 1/day—see invisibility, shield other. Caster level 4th; save DC 10 + cherub's Charisma modifier + spell level.
• Heavenborn Traits: Speak with any creature that has a language as though using a tongues spell cast by a 14th-level sorcerer (always active), immunity to electricity and petrification, +4 racial bonus to Fortitude saves against poison, low-light vision, darkvision 60 feet.
• Automatic Language: Celestial
• Favored Class: Cherub. A multiclassed cherub's favored class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
• Level Adjustment: 7

Dominion Feats
Dominion feats represent a powerful concept in the universe, or one of particular relevance to a deity, such as fire, repentance, rage, knowledge, and so on. An angel with such a feat is considered an expert on that concept or particularly devoted to serving it. Such angels are called dominion angels.

Angels with a dominion feat use the name of that feat as part of their own name and title. For example, upon earning the Angel of Hope feat, the angel Phanuel is thereafter known as "Phanuel, Angel of Hope." Though the title itself is mostly an honorific, it does carry stature among angels. Angels concerned with something relevant to a particular concept are known to seek out an angel with that dominion for advice, mortals sometimes pray to a dominion angel for help, and so on. Angels with the same dominion recognize a certain kinship with each other that crosses bound or free status and even different patron deities.

Angels may have more than one dominion feat. Michael, for example, is an Angel of Sanctification and War, while Raphael is an Angel of Healing and Light.

All dominion feats give an angel a special ability (usually a spell-like ability) with a limited number of uses per day. The caster level of the ability is equal to the angel's total Hit Dice. The angel can exceed this limit if she accepts a temporary negative level (see the "Temporary Negative Levels" sidebar) for each additional use. (Some particularly powerful dominion feats allow extra uses of their powers if the angel with the feat accepts two or more negative levels.) The special abilities that allow extra uses and the cost for each use are listed in the Extra Use line of the feat description.

This negative level cost comes from an angel's association with the concept of her dominion feat. The angel is promoting her dominion at the expense of herself. No magic or other effects can prevent the angel from gaining a temporary negative level when she decides to accept one. The temporary negative level affects the angel even if she is somehow made immune to negative levels.

Here are three sample dominion feats.

Angel of Confusion [Dominion]
You intervene in mortal lives, sowing confusion to thwart those who mean well but are misguided without actually harming them.

Prerequisites: Angel, 8 HD

Benefit: You get a +4 sacred bonus to saving throws against compulsion effects. Once per day, you can use a benign form of confusion as a spell-like ability. The ability is equivalent to the spell of the same name except that all "attack nearest creature" or "attack caster with melee or ranged weapons" results are treated as "flee away from caster at top speed."

Mehuman ("true" or "faithful"), Angel of Confusion, was present at the fall of the Tower of Babel.

Extra Use: Benign confusion, one temporary negative level.

Angel of Inevitable Consequences [Dominion]
You are an agent of fate. You ensure that the certain mortal actions occur regardless of other circumstances.

Prerequisites: Angel, nonchaotic alignment, 6 HD

Benefit: You gain a +1 insight bonus to saving throws. Once per day, you can invoke your power of inevitable consequences, giving a creature a -10 penalty to one attack, check, or saving throw. Activating this supernatural ability is not an action. (You can use it when it is not your turn.)

Extra Use: Inevitable consequences, one temporary negative level.

Angel of the Balances [Dominion]
You are a balancing force against both chaos and law, dispensing justice and mercy equally.

Prerequisites: Angel, nonchaotic and nonlawful alignment, 6 HD

Benefit: For effects that affect creatures differently depending upon their ethical alignment (chaos, neutrality, law), you are treated as the alignment most advantageous to you. For example, order's wrath damages neutral or chaotic creatures but does not harm lawful creatures, so the spell affects you as if you were lawful and does not harm you. Conversely, chaos hammer harms neutral or lawful creatures but not chaotic ones, so the spell treats you as if you were chaotic and does not harm you. This ability works even if you are struck by two (or more) opposing effects in the same round.

Once per day, you can smite chaos or smite law in the manner of a paladin using smite evil-add your Charisma bonus to the attack roll and your total Hit Dice to the damage. You choose one of the two smites at the time of this ability's use, and it has no effect if you use it against the wrong type of creature. For instance, if you use smite chaos on a lawful creature, it does not suffer damage as if you had used smite law.

Zehanpuryu'h ("this one sets free"), Angel of the Balances, is a great angelic prince, the advocate general of heaven. He is known as the weigher of inerrable balances.

Extra Use: Smite chaos or smite law, one temporary negative level.

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