D&D MONSTER RANKINGS - CELESTIALS

[@bray2964]

Just started the video, can't wait to see how you'll rank all 5 of them

[@ColorsAndWhatnot]

This needs to get pinned

[@theyonlycomeoutwhenitsquiet]

Thank the gods for the inclusions from the other books

[@jensenjorgensen1493]

Wait why is it an hour video

[@corinnebloom7005]

A really interesting part of Descent into Avernus is that Zareil's stat block changes into that of a Solar after her redemption. Just a thought

[@MrDavidKord]

And have players with poor rolls, apparently. Seriously, though, don't run the final encounter with Zariel as a social interaction with a roll. If they make the right argument, have Lulu with them, etc., just give them the win. There's nothing more disappointing than failure after such a long journey. The game should end in Zariel's defeat unless they lose to her in combat or choose to be her servants. Loss isn't gritty, it's tragic. Failure happens, but it always strikes me as odd when DMs seem to be proud of it.

[@jamesfragomeni8039]

looking back in 1rst and 2ed Bel was the one that took Zareil out have have here imprisoned in his bronze citadel to this day

[@archmagemc3561]

@@MrDavidKord In my DoA we managed to get a DC 30 persuasion check, but yeah thats kinda lame. DM also had us try to fight her before that check, and uh.... yeah shes not tuned for level 12 characters. Sure you could cheese her with Dimensional Shackles, Force Wall/Cage, and Sickening Radiance, but she does hurt. xD

[@louiesatterwhite3885]

​​@@archmagemc3561i have to ask how you have forcecage as a level 12 character. 7th level spells are locked to level 13. And yeah, you arent supposed to fight her at level 12, at all. She is CR 26

[@alexbarn3841]

@@archmagemc3561she shouldn’t be tuned for level 12-13s lol, she’s an archdevil, she should be able to lay the smack down on 20th level characters.

[@Bl4ckDr4co]

Esper: "Pegasi are smart enough to start a culture." Me: "Do you want My Little Pony? Cause that's how you get My Little Pony!"l

[@devin5201]

He wants pegasi to have buildings, imagine that, a bird-horse building it's own cage.

[@MegaPokefan97]

Make them all sound like Christopher Walken

[@jamescampbell2353]

@@MegaPokefan97 cursed. I love it

[@MegaPokefan97]

@@jamescampbell2353 Check out this video if you haven't seen the show kzbin.info/www/bejne/apq6hpd3i95-m7c&ab_channel=poprox101

[@sherminatoranalysis3429]

I’ve actually seen some good mlp homebrew content

[@lawaern3474]

Regarding the Pegasus. Aren't there plenty of intelligent DnD creatures that have little to no society? I think it makes a lot of sense here; horses are associated with freedom, as is flight. Society brings structure, and reduces freedom. As natives of a chaotic good plane, wouldn't they seek freedom, and strive against any restriction to it?

[@MrDavidKord]

Also, there's no proof that society even improves life. Why would a being that lives off grass and lives to run and fly even create a building?

[@christianlangdon3766]

@@MrDavidKord I mean aside medicine general knowledge and life expectancy. Plus there wouldn't be way for you to test or know your options without a society.

[@TheMightyBattleSquid]

@@MrDavidKord You have to be reeeeeeeeeeeal ignorant to hold that opinion more than 5 seconds.

[@MrDavidKord]

@@christianlangdon3766 Life expectancy went WAY down for people living in urban centers for thousands of years. Modern medicine has improved life expectancy, but during our hunter/gatherer days our life expectancy was in the early 70s. People underestimate what organic food, 3 hour maximum work days instead of 8-12 (HUGE stress level differences), constant light physical activity paired with some heavy activity when hunting, very little bacteria/disease considering VERY low population density, and almost 0 conflict comparatively between humans themselves, all of these things made for comparable standards of living to modern times. Many anthropologists actually consider the agricultural revolution to be the greatest human tragedy.

[@MrDavidKord]

@@TheMightyBattleSquid You have to be average levels of ignorant not to know this argument. See my statement about anthropologists considering the agricultural revolution to be the greatest human tragedy.

[@dicengameplay1995]

I love how strongly and clearly the soul and emotions of a bard comes through in these videos. You sir have a penchant for storytelling, even when not telling a story.

[@quincykunz3481]

As an MTG player, I would guess that aurelia has flaws corresponding to the parts of the colors she isn't supposed to embody. She has red and white, which symbolize vigor and selflesness, but she lacks blue, green, and black, which represent thoughtfulness, natural harmony, and pragmatism. I'd personally play her as a zealous idealist, with enough divine power to deflect attention from the fact that her commands, while theoretically righteous, aren't tactically efficient or socially unifying. As you've said before, however, the rankings are based on what is given in the texts, not the mind.

[@browncoatebberon7121]

I think she's a struggling egotist, or a self-aware one. Stuck in a "no matter how hard I try to be selfless and right, I always subconsciously do it for the praise and ego-lifting clout that comes with doing the right thing." I can't remember where I saw this but there is something out there that has a bad person start doing good deeds and it nets him a "good high", he craves better highs and tries to do good and while it stokes his ego, unlike the first time when he did the good deed without expecting anything he can't get the feeling back. I think she's similar, in other words.

[@RiotKurhein]

What was written in Guildmaster's Guide sounded more like propaganda than anything else.

[@2g33ksgamingttv3]

You also have to factor in the fact that Ravnica is a hive of rancid beurocracy and outright conflict is beyond rare, especially for Aurelia as the leader of the Boros Legion, so now you have this hot-headed and peerless warrior queen tangled in a beurocratic nightmare. It is a treasure trove of role playing opportunities

[@TheBerchie]

*Esper uploads a new ranking video* Me: “Hell, it’s about time....”

[@esperthebard]

I know, I know

[@theyonlycomeoutwhenitsquiet]

@@esperthebard I give thanks to the appropriate deity for your offering of gracious benevolence. May the gods smile upon you, and grant you blessings for your workmanship.

[@talscorner3696]

Remember to open the visor, eventually!

[@dragonfire810]

@@esperthebard could you do “ Ranking Monsters : Crossbred Hybrid Creatures” it has Uruk Hai, Troglodytes, Half Orcs and Skeksis Video:kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYeso3qFg8h2q5Y

[@notorious.scoundrel]

I missed the monster rankings, Esper is definitely one of my favorite D&D KZbinrs

[@shadow8928]

always imagined a planetar's ranged attacks to be arcs of light pulsing out with each swing of the blade.

[@devin5201]

Yeeeeah anime sword lasers for the win!

[@orgixvi3]

You're thinking of a pulsar.

[@Mrikeepgettinmoneyagain]

Or straight up psionic blasts from the palms

[@Ghost_in_the_Rain]

I kept waiting to see the Deathpact Angel on this ranking, and was not disappointed by her placement. Truly one of the coolest creatures ever devised for D&D

[@ardabaser1349]

Fighting a Death Pact Angel inside a giant cathedral with thousands of ghosts everywhere would be one of the most amazing and also terrifying experience of all times. Imagine that the party kills the angel multiple times in a single round, yet she keeps, coming, back. They see entire families indebted to the angel get blown into oblivion, yet the Angel is looking at most slightly annoyed at the idea of losing perhaps a few dozens eternal servants, for she has thousands and thousands more. It would be the equivalent of trying to kill Alucard from Hellsing. Also playing Nocturne in c sharp minor during the part of the fight in which the Angel starts dying and reviving like a flickering flame would be gorgeous.

[@freedfalchion9860]

Yay! Been waiting on a Ranking vid from you for awhile! No other DnD 'talkabouter' (davvy chappy's term, not mine) has the same vernacular and articulation for description and visual vastitude like you do, Esper. You deserve so many more views than you get! :D

[@stavros2956]

This made my day, truly a miraculous video.

[@dracowolf3212]

I can just imagine an aasimar being descendant of a coatl will make you look more like a dragonborn instead

[@619Slipk]

Loved that when you started saying that the religion in D&D is overlooked and the existence of gods is kinda left aside the artwork on the screen was from the card "Godless Shrine" XD Very flavorful

[@philleW12]

And the Bard has returned

[@aaroncoffman7267]

“Pegasi need a society” Have you heard of the tails of equestria tabletop rpg by chance?

[@Skybot437]

Oh, so Kirin's an actual eastern myth, ok. I thought Monster Hunter just slapped electricity on a unicorn and called it a dragon. Good to know.

[@Red-in-Green]

That Death Pact angel feels like a warlock patron. She just does.

[@caracal429]

It's so good to have you back with rankings. I have waited for this day for a very long time. Like, maybe even five months!

[@esperthebard]

Thank you for your patience, I've been in a whirlwind of busyness. But hopefully I'll get back to more regular uploads now.

[@The_Sharktocrab]

Ravnica is a huge place, theres plenty of room to hide from the small amount of archons

[@xandolf2852]

This doesn't really tackle the core of the issue he highlighted. What if I wanted to run a city in Ravnica that had archons? There goes any hope of crime related intrigue I could want. In fact, not even crime, but any hope for political intrigue involving deception, squandered because of concepts like the archon and their (what basically amounts to near) mind reading, which seem cool on the surface, sure, but fall apart under further scrutiny.

[@The_Sharktocrab]

@@xandolf2852 not really but ok

[@The_Sharktocrab]

@@xandolf2852 so do you ban the detect thoughts spell at your table because that presents a similar issue doesnt it?

[@keonprs5800]

your comparing a 2 level spell CR 14 legendary creature. they might cause a similar issue in the senesce of mind reading, but its more what its attached to that's the problem.

[@The_Sharktocrab]

@@keonprs5800 you're actually highlighting my point that all it takes is a 2nd level spell to do the same thing, and there are way more wizards who can cast this 2nd level spell than archons, in an ecumenopolis what's more

[@DrLipkin]

I want more chaotic good Celestials in 5e. I like to imagine that somewhere in the Upper Planes there is a vault of the heavens, where a majority of the chaotic good celestials have been locked away by the lawful good celestials that consider them to be too dangerous to be allowed free. I'm picturing a being that seeks to alleviate suffering, delivering painless mercy kills to mortals that are grievously ill or injured, regardless of if they may have recovered with proper care. I'm picturing a celestial muse that gifts mortal artists, inventors, and visionaries with divine inspiration, giving away secrets that the angels would rather horde for themselves. I'm picturing a a being that devours cursed objects, locations, and individuals to prevent such curses from spreading or causing harm, but showing no mercy to the innocent victims that have already been afflicted. I like the idea of chaotic good celestials having noble goals, but order shattering results.

[@jacobnoelle8428]

Here hope they add more celestials in a new addition book like "a travelers guide to the upper planes"

[@DrLipkin]

@@jacobnoelle8428 I want more celestials and oozes.

[@jacobnoelle8428]

@@DrLipkin do you can homebrew? If so then can you share with me? And if not. Than can I use your ideas in my homebrew?

[@DrLipkin]

@@jacobnoelle8428 I don't have any statblocks made, but feel free to use my ideas.

[@sephikong8323]

I want some more Eldritch type celestials, it is not because you serve goodness that you are beautiful, the divine sphere is also something far beyond our own comprehension, and for those who see farther into these creatures than the horror that is cursing their eyes, their hearts will be blessed by their magnificence Basically : Be bot afraid

[@dougpridgen9682]

Desire for adulation by others is insecurity and dependence, not traits of one with a secure sense of self or ego. Not sure how a radiant idol can be egoistic yet simultaneously insecure. Those traits seem mutually exclusive.

[@kroes1687]

Your voice is so soothing. Great for storytelling.

[@basementmadetapes]

Your take on the spiritual aspect of gathering to play is on point 💯

[@jackwalls6551]

They do have a Pegasus society. Its called My little Pony

[@madkarl4052]

Darn too happy to see a new ranking vid from the Bard, you made my day... I was just watching an old one last night saying to myself how cool it'd be to have new stuff to enjoy. Thank you so much and Happy new Year !

[@esperthebard]

Happy New Year!

[@jarlbregadan914]

1:00:20 A well written and well placed Deus Ex Machina can be actually awe inspiring and memorable. Like Aragorn sailing down the Anduin on the corsair ships, unfurling the livery of Elendil and bringing with him the might of Pelargir. A moment of exultation just when all seems lost.

[@jackstefan8639]

The solar was the first monster I fell in love with and saw the narrative potential of and has remained one of my favorite monsters.

[@phkun4435]

love how you phrased "the almighty and sacred technique of... parry" just love it

[@internetcatfish]

Since you brought it up, I'd say that the closest D&D comes to actual religion is the exploration of the mind, both conscious and unconscious. The soul, mind, and body are all inseparably linked; what harms one harms the others and vice-versa. Of the three, the soul is the most difficult to understand because it can't be observed except through its effects on the person's life. The body is a physical object and the mind is made observable in the form of art and language. Role playing games can be used to explore the soul, since they present problems representative of real issues. A well made character is representative of a facet of the human mind and soul. To explore these characters is to explore their creator.

[@EzraeL91]

Will we ever see a tier list of monsters from non-offical manuals, like, for example, the Kobold Press ones? PS: Great video

[@esperthebard]

Those books are cool in their own ways, but lots of their monsters have problems with their stats, sometimes swinging wildly more powerful than the design approach of 5E.

[@Spiceodog]

@@esperthebard I think kobald press does just about as good as official material in terms of balancing ( besides the astral star dragon thing). Maybe instead of the usual tier list you could make a top 20 from each book

[@jackservans6906]

You should check out Mordenkainen’s Fiendish Folio for inspiration. It’s a great beastiary of weirder but better developed monsters.

[@benweiderman446]

A lovely hour long Esper video. This is exactly what the doctor ordered!

[@wendigo1619]

i only use things in dnd books as templates for what is essentially a game homebrewed from the ground up, but your rankings are cool and really entertaining

[@TheIdealofGreed]

51:40 Or you could make campaigns as the smaller, gritty people among the grand scale, like soldiers in the army of these titans. For example, the Booster Gold episode of the Justice League tv series, I think it was called "The Greatest Story Never Told"(?)

[@joshwhite1562]

Hollywood comments are so accurate haha. I will never forget being 12 years old and watching Fellowship of the Ring in theaters, being just blown away, and having so much excitement for the next movie. Now days I just see whats already out and which one the wife and I think sucks the least. Oh and the D&D stuff here was good too. 👏🏻

[@squashedeyeball]

36:32 "Bowses? What's bowses, precious?" Another epic list! Time and time again, you are a proof to how great d&d can be at the right hands. 55:09 the glorious days of ToB... Back when I played 2E, we had an evil campaign with the goal of hunting down good divine beings. It was promising. But alas, after a few sessions it went down the "Who cares about the game, there are snacks!" pit.

[@ericjimenez4360]

agreed on your point of aurelia, she actually only became like this when she was pretty much told off by Gideon during RTR (return to ravnica). She was actually a zealous warrior believing in bathing ravnica in war to bring it to peace, hence why she took the mantle from Feather (the guild leader before her who she felt was to "peaceful") in combat, locking feather in a detention sphere. She def had a dark side which she had to move through which would be great for a point of conflict in a campaign.

[@Yvädastra]

There is an Empyrean that was cursed to live as a rabbit or some other small creature in Descent Into Avernus, and the players can form a potion to cure it of its curse, though it is written to immediately return to the Upper Planes after its restoration.

[@EskayRogue]

The Deathpact could be perfect for a Dark Celestial Warlock, where you may start off the campaign playing another "decoy" character who is then killed to introduce your warlock, as he had his vendetta fulfilled by the angel. Could be super interesting

[@BasicBraining]

Posted on your KS hoping for an update soon, but this is even better!

[@hoi-polloi1863]

A thought about the radiant idols. You might say they didn't rebel and fall; instead, they were *pushed* out of Heaven by the big dogs, because they failed to live up to the ideals they are supposed to represent. You can DM them as being somewhere on the spectrum between being penitent and desperately trying to win forgiveness; or on the other hand you could play them as being not so far on their spiritual journey, wandering around lost and hurt (and maybe a little resentful), amassing their cults to show their superiors that they can too be exemplars.

[@minhtoannguyen5810]

It had been a while. Welcome back.

[@Tarrasuge]

Ha ha ha love the starting pray! My second favorite of your tier list so far!

[@brunoborello8309]

Currently playing in a 5e campaign, we are level 8, and my character is an Aasimar (sort of homebrew) Oath of Glory Paladin. As I flavored my character all around becoming a champion of the good aligned gods (he wants to become an Archangel as his ultimate objective), I sort of obliged my DM to make me and my party interact more with celestials. We also reflavored my Aasimar Guide so he could talk to me not only in dreams, but whenever he chose to. And, weirdly as you say, my Guide cannot currently speak to me because he is occupied fighting against some form of evil serpents. That's everything I know for now, but apparently the Angels in my campaign's world actually do something! This is why I love my DM.

[@christopherbravo1813]

sounds like Ahriman is making his move at last.

[@jimslim4227]

Archon of Falling Stars: Was about to fall into the sun (a star). Sometimes names are just that simple Esper.

[@StevenMichaelCunningham]

13:40 considering shedding...

[@BKMiller1970]

The sun is a star... That is the connection

[@abnegazher]

Kirin's Real World Lore: *Its legend was born when an Asian Explorer managed to see an GIRAFFE for the first time and tried to understand what it was.*

[@elainesanderson1128]

As I played in my first campaign, I learned that I am really repulsed by what I call the ‘generic evils’. It bothered me that so many of the games I watch involve delving into these areas but never seem to want to explore the opposite realms. I started to look up lore online about Mt. Celestia and discovered the lore about the lantern archons, the lowest level of spirits, the ones that started to climb the Mount but had failed and tumbled to the base where they wait as a simple soul, for the opportunity to try again. They can be given the choice to be do a task, which they do with eagerness as part of their soul journey. They may regain a body, or they can be celestial spirits in Spiritual Weapon spell. If they are killed, they have given their life for goodness sake and would move up a bit on Mmt. Celestia. I think that maybe those ones from Ravnica, like the Archon of Falling Stars, etc. may have originated in this way. Maybe they accepted the offered path which may have taken them away from Mt. Celestia and realigned them. Anyway, I am going to make use of the Archon Lanterns to bring in more low level NPC creatures imbued with celestial goodness to try to balance out the hordes of evils.

[@insanekirby1]

21:00 “She has something of a Mary Sue effect going on.” …Yeah. She’s an angel. Maybe Ravnica angels are all supposed to be flawed like people, but it doesn’t sound like it.

[@MeisterYoda900]

Great Video ! I was thinking about making an angel the villain of my next adventure. This angel would love humans too much. It discovered, that good souls would be better of in paradise and go on to kill them. I thought about it trying to kill our paladin, but we'll see, what's going to happen.

[@ryanflorian2047]

you can also give this angel fallowers these fallowers find good hearted pure people to sacrifice or even have them quest to resurrect a fallen god only for it to be a Chichimec that goes on a rampage

[@elmsigreen]

I'm currently playing a Celestial Warlock who's Patron is an Empyrean and our party has been tasked with stopping the Raven Queen's newest offspring which is also an Empyrean. So personally I have a lot of experience with Empyreans in DnD. They are basically Demigods so if you want to create a story that features the offspring of gods then Empyreans are perfect for that.

[@rangerecho]

It would be great to see a Cleric ranking soon, even if it might take two or three videos

[@gabler7992]

or a druid one

[@esperthebard]

I'm working on the paladin currently, though I plan to get around to cleric, druid, and all of them really.

[@lawaern3474]

43:12 I think that such a curse would have its own specification like. "Only returning the staff of Zarkheim to it's rightful place at it's masters side shall end this curse." The Deva's ability is a general rule, these curses or effects would be exceptions.

[@enxman7697]

It's not that the Deva isen't cunning, he don't bring bows because his pride put him in battle by direct means

[@Master_E444]

My personal favorite Celestials are the Empyrean, Deathpact Angel, and Ki-rin in that order. I think the Empyrean is honestly quite easily able to be altered to fit with their Parents or even go against them if their going through their rebellious phase. I made a Faction in a homebrew setting called the Celidna Coalition with to the Titular leader, Celidna, being an Empyrean sent by one of the head gods to ensure their parent's worship was properly maintained. Other Empyreans were included like a Son of the Resident God of Death for a symbolic Angel of Death and a Daughter to the War God for some Amazon Theming. I specifically remember statting out the third one there and giving her a Weapon specifically meant to be able to transform into a Sword, Spear, and Bow and giving them a few smiting spells and martial equipment. I remember reading the sidebar with the Deathpact Angel's ability with Indentured Spirits to let them sacrifice themselves to revive the Angel and I just had in image in my head of a 20th Level Fighter who'd been scorned by the Angel going all out just as the Angel was a step from death and landing all their attacks to both Kill the Angel and all their Indentured Spirits. Maybe they choose to do it as a way to free the spirits from what is essentially their post death spiritual imprisonment The Ki-rin is a very icon Eastern Creature and I think is, in my mind anyway, the next step up the ladder for Unicorns. They're like fully matured Unicorns who're experienced the world and reflected upon it enough to gain the wisdom and peace of soul needed to get promoted higher. I know this isn't exactly how it's supposed to work, but it's just how I imagine it

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

Don't know what you're talking about Esper, The Arkon's of Theros are like a third of the whole fuckin book. they ruled over man in the Age of Trax claiming to fight off other monsters but humans remember them as tyrants, the heroes Kynaios and Tiro overthrew the Arkon Agnomakhos and the rest of the Archons. Ther is even information on how it affects the books and plays in Theros! how it affected the Leonin once loyal to them, and they're part of the lore of the hundred handed ones. Sure the line of text right above the stat block is small but in all seriousness they're like every 5 pages in this book it's difficult to read this book and not make a campaign around these guys there's more lore about them in this book than there is lore about mindflayers in Volos.

[@genocidegames8423]

In reference to how much the divine tends to act upon the mortal world, I would pose a question. In this case, what are the gods opinions on how much they should be involved with mortals, or even interact with them at all. One one hand, being too present would just turn everything into a divine dystopian battleground, which could be a nightmare scenario for some, and let's not get started with the various IRL holy wars. Others might feel if they go for more of a softer approach, mortals would be bound to destroy themselves or go off the deep end one way or another, not to mention attacks from the outer plains like demons and the such. others more on the neutral alignment will believe mortals can take care of themselves and would rather just retire, in a sense. Finally, those on the more evil alignments just want to exploit said mortals for personal gain or amusement, if not nuke existence to recreate everything per jrpg final boss fair. I can easily imagine a sort of divine counsel arguing about this for years even.

[@goldenbrigain7031]

the beings of light have an allure to them for me that's a lot more interesting than 78% of the monsters in D&D. Aurella seems fine to me. She's exactly what any angel is: a being of pure good. In the same way a demon is a crazy living blight on everything that exists that obliterates everything there is, she's a beacon of unwavering mercy for the potential for peace in all things, and equally unwavering fury for everything that would corrupt and attack that potential. The reason why there's so many monsters in Ravnica is the same reason why there are so many more monsters that for some reason love humanoid flesh in D&D and video games and most modern literature point-blank. Interestingly, many more than there are creatures of forces of good. It's a fucking Tabletop game made for people to have fun killing monsters. It's the same reason that stupid attack on the lower planes by the forces of good failed and reduced their numbers and that absolutely asinine excuse of a concept called the 'balance' exists. It's the same reason why the giants and the dragon's civilization's disappeared so totally and why no ancient race made of super beings that can live for several hundred thousands of years and accumulate knowledge and power at a much faster and more prominent rate than humans is ever as powerful as they damn well should be. YOUR PARTY is supposed to take care of HER job. The entire reality exists to jerk off the players by making them the center of attention and having them be the world-saving super heroes. In order for a bunch of humanoid creatures in a land filled with mythical existences of far more eminent power and intellect to be the one's that save the day, the world has to be fucked up on a level you don't see outside of people's most embarrassing nightmares.

[@charlottewalnut3118]

The Overgod of DND Makes it almost impossible for any outside plain beings to get to the material dimension on their own. So that’s why devils demons and angels need help to get to the material plane.

[@shadowlord1418]

The overgod of dnd is the dm

[@crownprince76]

Maybe because Pegasi like other tribal cultures believe that living freely, simply and according to the cycles of nature is the most perfect way to live? This thought process has or was always the hardest for western cultures to grasp. Example the cuckoo bird was considered simple and stupid. Why? Because it lived in harmony with its environment having no predators.

[@Torthrodhel]

The phrase "that's the press release" can solve a lot of overperfect lore, whether it be overperfectly good, evil, natural, or whatever. Just imagine that's what the creature tells everyone, or wants everyone to think. And the reality is... much more akin to the character of someone who'd have that kind of intense desire to be seen as perfect. Someone who doesn't properly recognise how disbelieved it would be, or someone with followers largely blinded to any fault in leadership. Maybe even someone who thinks perfection is attainable or desirable. Plenty of faults you can squeeze out of characteristics like that. It's a good fudge for underwritten stuff.

[@christopherbravo1813]

or maybe that's just how humans want to perceive them, because we hate objective evil and objective good.

[@Torthrodhel]

@@christopherbravo1813 whatever makes it more interesting for your games. :) if it works it works

[@christopherbravo1813]

@Pinko Slink well, we're not talking about real life, we're talking about D&D where the entities are explicitly stated to be good and evil.

[@christopherbravo1813]

@Pinko Slink a society of evil tends to be backwards and possess poor living conditions.

[@christopherbravo1813]

@Pinko Slink so you wouldn't mind living in a mud hut for all of your life?

[@fdragon77fk]

So the falling stars bit has to do with the fact that all enchantment creatures (including that archon) are made of a magical material that is basically the night sky and thoughts mixed. So its falling stars because it has to do with nyxborn entities and the enchantment creatures of nyx are made of starry skies.

[@TheIdealofGreed]

21:48 First impression of Auriella give me an Angel Jasmine vibe. Future Radiant Idol?

[@zoesequeira5388]

Aurelia lives up to her reputation in the stories. She runs herself ragged trying to make sure every soldier comes back from every mission. She doesn't fight as often as she would like because she's stuck in a managerial position. She doesn't try to help all the poor, she focuses on the legion. She tries to help others too, but the legion comes first, especially since she's restrained by the other guilds. Also, overly politically correct? Is that because they have characters that look like people like me? Is it the black characters that make magic overly politically correct? Or the LGBTQ ones?

[@DamienZshadow]

I came to see the tier but I stayed for the questions and suggested lore.

[@boitata2617]

One explanation I saw as to why gods rarely send angels is because angels don't understand mortals. Sending an angel to deal with cultist, is not only cruel, it is dangerous, if the angel so much imagines the nearby village was supporting the cultist they will destroy the village. Also angels are very vunerable to corruption, the first devils were born out of angels that were fighting the demmons, pegasus can be turned into nightmare, and even Empyreans can turn evil, maybe they are kept at the upper planes to make sure such corruption doesn't happen more often. Although the fact that there's never been fiend that seeks or found redemption or purification is weird, even if only for the selfish reason of not expending the rest of their existence in the lower planes.

[@dungeonpastor8295]

I find it strange that esper has no problem with completely evil creatures but mocks a perfectly good one.

[@charlottewalnut3118]

I’ve seen plenty of people who like a defect is perfectly evil but I’ve never seen a single person who I could ever describe is perfectly good to be fair

[@shadowlord1418]

Its easy to be evil its hard to be good

[@joedominguez8064]

Deathpact Angels art really captivated me when I first saw it, the art has been the main draw of magic for me since I first started playing

[@MegaPokefan97]

Your ideas for Pegasus Society reminds me of the Horse from Dave the Barbarian. Alas, what tragic irony. No thumbs!

[@Deal101]

Finally!!!!!! Finally!!!!!😭 missed your monsters ranking videos ❤️

[@BlazingAzureTheta]

I really don't like how there seem to be so few angels compared to devils or demons. So my reasoning with my games is that devils and, to a lesser extent, demons will take any mortal soul into their ranks, but celestials will only allow true heroes to become angels. Weaker heroes become devas, etc. That also explains how angels can fall, because they still retain some semblance of their mortal flaws.

[@janhendrik1227]

Lol why do you know it's my b-day? A welcome gift :D

[@wudenbachs]

Hap birf

[@esperthebard]

Happy Birthday Jan!

[@janhendrik1227]

@@esperthebard Thank you ^^

[@LordofDragns]

By the Lord of Light, I have awaited this!

[@ThePandaOfYourMind]

I think it is fitting for a guy calling himself a bard, to have a really pleasant way of speach to listen to.

[@samuelbattershell3413]

Honestly, I wasn't expecting so many in A Teir, I was expecting more in C Teir

[@Boomitsmagic]

ty for the upload !!

[@LAYOTAM444]

Epser whar about holiphants??? Pure lovable beings!

[@quincykunz3481]

On your point made during the Solar entry, something like "how can DMs balance or highlight smaller, mortal stories with the presence of many cosmic titans?" I think these is something to be said of stories and games set "in the footprint of titans" as it were. Settings where cosmic conflict is regular may develop bunkers and sirens that protect them from the natural disaster-like battles above. The smuggler's guild pays for rumors and patterns people find in the patrols of the local angels, helping them operate in blind spots, with only the uniformed, desperate, or examples being caught in thier paths. A cosmic force doesn't have to steal the spotlight, but instead can flavor a setting by adding to culture. Good cosmic horror and sci-fi stories are often about being a small fish in the same lake as a leviathan.

[@THENOCK1366]

Esper when are you gonna show my monks some love with a ranking video

[@pupstarproduction15]

i am really happy for this . i always hat a spot for celestials and as a new dm its nice to see the different "monster". i always wonder why there are no player celestials. i guess asimar is the clossest

[@PhoenixThunderheart]

Your breakdowns of the Archons make me want to use one as a DM PC for a level 20 one shot.

[@SgtTeddybear66]

This is the best way to explain Evil vs Good and our appeal to it; Evil is exciting and interesting at first, but when you look deeper, you realize it's nowhere as good as it seems and actually quite horrible for all involved. Good is relatively uninteresting at first, but when you look deeper, you realize there's an infinite richness to it that is abundant. As for Dnd, Celestials do lack though

[@Aligariusful]

The lore in the book for Aurelia is a little lacking. Her web-fiction on the MTG site actually helps define it more.

[@talscorner3696]

That initial prayer was class ^^

[@Nobody-zl3kk]

About Aurelia being just the word "perfection" but with wings and a face, just write that into your setting as propaganda, i'm not joking here, she's the "Almighty-perfect leader of the legion" it makes perfect sense that all tales of her talk of her exploits and embelish it as if she had no flaw, the Boros in Ravnica have an entire prison in the sky just to avoid being restricted by Azorius law for crying out loud! they are militaristic, ruthless and overall give the vibe that they are 'bout to impose martial law at any second now, it makes perfect sense if Aurelia's description is literally just propaganda! they have all the characteristics of the military of a dictatorial regime and of course they would want their glorius leader to be regarded in near divine status

[@esperthebard]

That's a great idea, that Aurelia's reputation for being perfect is just propaganda.

[@sephikong8323]

Honestly, this somehow reminds me of the Sternritter in Bleach, these seemingly pure angelic beings that have a dark underbelly of being a ruthless militaristic organization that draws heavy inspiration from the third reich that rever their leader as an absolute god who then abuses his power and their trust in return. That's a combination I really really dig and want to see more of, more angelic beings that fall more into the grey area with a heavy case of power abuse and jingoism

[@helixxharpell]

Now that the al--go--rytherium is working, Esper's videos are near the top of my feed. 😉👍🏻

[@rayruckus4446]

My last DM Sean had a Divine gate like effect between the higher and lower planes. No matter how powerful a character is if it doesn't have a mortal soul it can't pass into or out of these realms except through sigil.

[@nordicwarrior1309]

I wish you would add more books from dnd 5e with in your tiers vids

[@TheStandardBearer]

The intro cinematics for Diablo 3 is a good fit for these type of scenarios and beings.

[@jimtruefl]

I thoroughly enjoy these ranking videos, especially the artwork you find. Amazing work. I have an answer for you on the lack of angels’ actions on the material plane: interference. They cannot influence or otherwise deny free will of mortals. The same limitations devils have in reverse. They also have no free will of their own, which is what separates them from mortals. Gives you amazing story to work with in that interplay and why so many angels become fallen angels.

[@christopherbravo1813]

I don't think it makes sense for angels to not have the ability to make decisions, since a lot of them don't serve gods and there is no singular Creator giving them their directives.

[@leifcatt]

The America's indigenous peoples have great lore but their tech was advanced stone age which kind of limits what they can do. I imagine them with druid like shaman, people of nature types. Like wild elves, except human. But unlike a lot of stone age tribal peoples, they created great empires, cities and temples and were expert farmers and potters. The spirit and magic realms of these peoples are fantastic and really need more attention, I totally agree with you there Esper.

[@grobanlover292]

I always try to analyze Esper's analysis to find structural differences or problems between this grading system, and how D&D treats its monsters. I think Esper tends to be biased towards monsters that are at least CR 10+, since WotC often puts more complicated mechanics and longer lore blurbs into these monsters.

[@devin5201]

A pegasus society? You mean Cloudsdale?

[@Spiceodog]

@esper you should try going through tome of beasts 1 and 2. I found tome of beasts 2 incredible! I think out of 400 or so monsters, it might have had about 300 that were high B tier or or better

[@matthewcrawl6734]

The reason why so many legendary creatures do not have legendary resistance is because they have magic resistance . If a creature has both they sort of shaft spellcasters to a point where its not fun to fight and as such 5e strays away from stacking multiple defensive abilities.

[@WiIhelmScream]

Little sad you mention nothing of the Tome Archons form 3E, but still a good video even though i rolled my eyes for that "Every Edge Lord Wet Dream Angel" at the end.

[@browncoatebberon7121]

In regards to Aurelia, I think that's how she wants to be seen and that's how she presents herself to the world at large. At least in the older generation of Ravinca (When I still played Magic), they were deeply flawed and while they tried to do the right thing, their arrogance was pretty high, which was used against them to show just how blind they were. When proved otherwise it was with anger or basically stunned them to inaction. She's probably the same way, she's wound to tight and ignoring the 'outliers' that don't represent the whole of something, she'll probably snap at some point, like the fallen angel (Zariel?), though she may not , probably not, abandon her position.

[@NagolM]

i am happy that my favourite one made #1