Angel, Seraphim, Flame of Perfect Mercy
Wreathed in living flame and crowned with six burning wings, the Seraphim descends from the stars to purge worlds in blinding, celestial fire.
A Seraphim appears as a towering, radiant being engulfed in living light. Six massive wings orbit around it in complex, slow-turning spirals, their feathers glowing with shifting runes that hum with sacred resonance. Its form is humanoid only in outline — composed of translucent, star-streaked energy shaped like sculpted fire. Its eyes are white-gold stars, calm and infinite, burning with empathy and power. Where it steps, reality brightens — shadows flee, and corrupted matter crumbles to ash.
Behaviour:
Seraphim are deliberate and serene, speaking rarely but always with weight. Their voices are chords of divine harmony — songs that heal, bless, or command silence. Though feared by those with dark hearts, they are known among celestials as “the Mercy Before the Flame.” A Seraphim rarely intervenes directly unless cosmic order is endangered, preferring to warn, teach, or empower others to act — but when it must descend, it does so with unstoppable grace.
Habitat:
Seraphim dwell in the Upper Planes, most often in the Radiant Chorus — a sanctum-city of infinite light within the Plane of Elysium or sometimes the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia. There, they remain in deep meditation, attuned to the pulse of mortal suffering and the vibrations of planar stability. Their presence anchors regions of pure goodness — places where cruelty cannot exist, and where evil recoils in pain.
Modus Operandi:
When summoned or drawn by imbalance, a Seraphim manifests as a burning corona streaking from the sky. It first offers mercy — a chance for redemption, surrender, or purification. Only when refused does it act with precise devastation. Its arsenal includes beams of radiant flame, sanctifying winds that dissolve corruption, and harmonic waves that purge evil without harming innocents. It fights like a healer mending a wound — carefully, purposefully, without rage — but without hesitation.
Motivation:
The Seraphim serves the Principle of Sacred Harmony — the belief that life, order, and compassion must prevail even when painful choices must be made. It seeks not domination or vengeance, but cleansing and restoration. Its mercy is immense but not naive: it sees through lies and will not spare those who exploit the good-hearted. To a Seraphim, even destruction can be an act of love — the final mercy for something too far lost.
Seraphim 5e
Seraph 5e
Seraph 3.5
Seraphim
Huge Celestial (Avatar), Lawful Good
Challenge 28 (120,000 XP) • Proficiency Bonus +9 • Mythic
Armor Class 26 (natural armor, divine shielding)
Hit Points 690 (60d12 + 300)
Speed 40 ft., fly 120 ft. (hover)
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 (+10) | 22 (+6) | 30 (+10) | 26 (+8) | 30 (+10) | 32 (+11) |
Saving Throws Str +19, Dex +15, Con +19, Wis +19, Cha +20
Skills Insight +19, Perception +19, Religion +17
Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities Radiant, Fire, Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses Truesight 240 ft., Passive Perception 29
Languages All, Celestial, telepathy 500 ft.
Divine Rank 2
Innate Spellcasting (Divine)
The Seraphim’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 28, +20 to hit). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: light, greater restoration, flame strike, zone of truth, detect evil and good, holy aura, guiding bolt (9th-level)
- 3/day each: sunbeam, firestorm, mass heal, true seeing, banishment, blade barrier, dispel evil and good
- 1/day each: wish (to restore or heal only), plane shift, miracle of mercy (see below), prismatic wall, divine word
Divine Traits
Blazing Form. The Seraphim sheds bright light in a 300-foot radius and dim light for another 300 feet. This light counts as sunlight and dispels magical darkness. Undead and fiends that start their turn within the bright light take 40 radiant damage.
Perfect Mercy. When the Seraphim reduces a creature to 0 hit points, it may choose to render the creature unconscious and cleansed of magical corruption rather than kill it.
Eyes of Judgment. The Seraphim perceives a creature’s alignment, last spoken lie, and the most recent morally significant decision it made.
Actions
Multiattack. The Seraphim makes three Solar Brand attacks and may cast one spell.
Solar Brand (Melee Spell Attack): +20 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target.
Hit: 54 (8d10) radiant damage plus 18 (4d8) fire damage. The target must succeed on a DC 28 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn. Fiends and undead make this save with disadvantage.
Harmonic Pulse (Recharge 5–6). The Seraphim releases a wave of divine resonance in a 90-foot radius.
Each creature of its choice must make a DC 28 Constitution saving throw:
- On a failure: 72 (12d12) radiant damage, deafened, and cannot cast spells with verbal components until the end of their next turn.
- Creatures reduced to 0 hit points by this effect are vaporized in radiant fire.
Sanctifying Light (1/day). The Seraphim calls down six 10-foot-radius pillars of celestial light within 300 feet.
- Each hostile creature in a pillar must make a DC 28 Dexterity saving throw, taking 100 radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
- Each ally in a pillar instead regains 60 hit points, ends all conditions affecting them, and gains resistance to all damage until the Seraphim’s next turn.
Mythic Trait: Flame of Last Mercy (1/Day)
When the Seraphim is reduced to 0 hit points, it does not die. Instead, it erupts in a pillar of celestial fire, restoring itself to 350 hit points. While this form lasts (1 minute):
- All damage dealt becomes pure radiant, ignoring resistance and immunity.
- Solar Brand becomes a ranged spell attack (range 120 ft.).
- It may cast mass heal and sunbeam as bonus actions.
When the form ends, it cannot use this trait again until restored by divine intervention.
Legendary Actions
The Seraphim can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature’s turn. It regains all spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Radiant Step. The Seraphim teleports up to 120 feet and emits divine light. All hostile creatures within 20 feet must make a DC 28 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of their next turn.
- Judgment Gaze (Costs 2 Actions). The Seraphim targets one creature within 240 feet. That creature must make a DC 28 Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed with awe until the end of its next turn.
- Heal the Faithful. One allied creature the Seraphim can see regains 60 hit points and ends one condition affecting it.
Regional Effects
The Seraphim’s presence alters the region within a 12-mile radius. The effects last while it remains and fade 1d10 days after its departure or destruction:
- Endless Day. The area is bathed in eternal daylight. Magical darkness cannot persist.
- Aura of Peace. Creatures of good or neutral alignment cannot be frightened or charmed.
- Burning Judgment. Evil-aligned creatures, fiends, and undead take 10 radiant damage per minute while in the area.
- Whispers of Redemption. Creatures that sleep in the region experience visions of their moral path and the possibility of forgiveness.
Miracle of Mercy (9th-level Divine Invocation)
Casting Time: 1 action • Range: 120 feet • Components: V, S • Duration: Instantaneous
You channel a fragment of cosmic mercy. Choose up to 10 creatures in range:
- Evil-aligned creatures must succeed on a DC 28 Wisdom saving throw or be overcome with divine truth. On a failure, the creature is blinded, incapacitated, and stunned for 1 minute. It perceives nothing but radiant visions of those it has wronged.
- Good and neutral-aligned creatures are fully healed, end all conditions, and gain resistance to all damage for 1 minute.
- Fiends and undead that fail the save are disintegrated in radiant fire (no save on a critical fail).
D&D 5E Epic Monsters: Seraph
D&D 5E – Epic Monsters: Seraph | EN World | Dungeons & Dragons | Tabletop Roleplaying Games
Also known as a saraph, in Christian angelology the seraphim have the highest rank, they’re in the middle in Judaism, and only rarely appear in Islam. These six-winged angels fly around the Throne of God crying “holy, holy, holy” in a cycle of self-nullification as they ascend to the heights of the heavens for revelations, fall in the immensity of what they learn, and ascend anew in a perpetual, tireless, energetic existence.
Seraph​
Large celestial, lawful good
Armor Class 15
Hit Points 133 (14d10+56)
Speed 20 ft., fly 120 ft.
STR​ | DEX​ | CON​ | INT​ | WIS​ | CHA​ |
14 (+2)​ | 20 (+5)​ | 19 (+4)​ | 17 (+3)​ | 14 (+2)​ | 15 (+2)​ |
Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +8, Wis +6
Skills Perception +6, Religion +7
Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
Damage Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities fire
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened
Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Celestial
Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)
Angelic Weapons. The seraph’s weapon attacks are magical. When the seraph hits with any weapon, the weapon deals an extra 10 (3d6) radiant damage (included in the attack).
Divine Knowledge. The seraph adds its proficiency bonus (+4) to and has advantage on Intelligence checks.
Flyby. The seraph doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy’s reach.
Innate Spellcasting. The seraph’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence. The seraph can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: commune, detect good and evil​
3/day each: legend lore​
Magic Resistance. The seraph has advantage on saving throws made against spells and other magical effects.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The seraph attacks three times with its wings.
Wings. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) radiant damage.
REACTIONS
Fast Reactions. The seraph can take 3 reactions each round, but never more than one reaction against the same creature.
Holy Rending. When the seraph hits the same target with a second or third wing attack on its turn, it can use its reaction to deal an extra 14 (4d6) force damage. The target makes a DC 15 Strength saving throw or it is knocked prone.
Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker the seraph can see hits it with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.
Seraph

This creature resembles a towering, muscular, regal human of unrivaled beauty. A pair of white-feathered wings sprout from its back, and its entire body is limned in flame. Its four arms wield two radiant greatswords.
The seraphim are the greatest of angels, rivaling (and often surpassing) the Celestial Paragons of the archons, eladrin, and guardinals. Only four seraphim are known to exist at a given time. As the elite of the angelic hosts, seraphim take their orders directly from their deity, and likewise, their word is the word of a god.
Seraphim spend most of their time attending to the greatest deities of good-aligned pantheons. Rarely do their actions bring them to the Material Plane. Seraphim are also called “angels of love, light, and fire”.
A seraph is 12 feet tall and weighs 1,500 pounds.
Angels speak Celestial, Infernal, and Draconic, though they can speak with almost any creature because of their tongues ability.
Originally Posted by Shade of the En World forums.
Angel, Seraph | |
Large outsider (Angel, Extraplanar, Good) | |
Hit Dice | 44d8+440 (638 hp) |
Initiative | +7 |
Speed | 30 ft. (6 squares), Fly 60 ft. (good) |
Armor Class | 46 (-1 size, +7 Dexterity, +30 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 39 |
Base Attack/Grapple | +44/+63 |
Attack | +5 holy power greatsword +64 melee (3d6+27/17-20 plus 1d6 on a critical hit and DC 47 Fort save or die) or slam +58 melee (2d8+15) |
Full Attack | +5 holy power greatsword +64/+59/+54/+49 melee (3d6+27/17-20 plus 1d6 on a critical hit and DC 47 Fort save or die) and +5 holy power greatsword +64/+59/+54/+49 melee (3d6+22/19-20 plus 1d6 on a critical hit and DC 47 Fort save or die) and 2 slams +58 melee (2d8+15) |
Space/Reach | 10 ft./10 ft. |
Special Attacks | Holy power, holy terror, master of divine magic, smite evil, summon angels |
Special Qualities | Change shape, damage reduction 20/epic and evil, Darkvision 60 ft., immunity to acid, cold, mind affecting spells and abilities, and petrification, localized omniscience, Low-Light Vision, protective aura, regeneration 20, resistance to electricity 10 and fire 10, Spell Resistance 40, tongues |
Saves | Fort +34 (+38 against poison), Ref +31, Will +36 |
Abilities | Strength 40, Dexterity 25, Constitution 30, Intelligence 30, Wisdom 32, Charisma 34 |
Skills | Balance +60, Concentration +57, Diplomacy +65, Escape Artist +54, Gather Information +59, Heal +58, Hide +50, Intimidate +59, Jump +21, Knowledge (religion) +57, Knowledge (the planes) +57, Listen +58, Move Silently +54, Search +57, Sense Motive +58, Spellcraft +57 (+63 scrolls), Spot +58, Survival +11 (+17 following tracks, +17 on other planes), Tumble +54, Use Magic Device +59 (+65 scrolls), Use Rope +7 (+13 bindings) |
Feats | Cleave, Combat Expertise, Devastating Critical (greatsword), Empower Spell-Like Ability (blade barrier), Great Cleave, Greater Multiweapon Fighting, Improved Critical (greatsword), Improved Multiweapon Fighting*, Multiweapon Fighting, Overwhelming Critical (greatsword), Perfect Multiweapon Fighting, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (heal), Superior Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus (greatsword) |
Environment | Any good-aligned plane |
Organization | Solitary, pair, or host (3-4 plus up to 44 HD of lesser angels) |
Challenge Rating | 27 |
Treasure | No coins; double goods; standard items |
Alignment | Always good (any) |
Advancement | 45-66 HD (Huge), 67-72 HD (Gargantuan) |
Level Adjustment | — |
COMBAT
Seraphs are true paragons of the angels. They are a force to be reckoned with in battle, capable of smiting evil with numerous strikes of their holy power greatswords. Seraphim can call upon nearly all known divine magic on a whim.
A seraph’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as epic and good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Change Shape (Su): A seraph can assume the form of any Small or Medium humanoid.
Holy Power (Su): Any melee weapon wielded by a seraphim is treated as a holy power weapon. When a weapon of holy power strikes an evil target, this power erupts forth and deals +3d6 points of bonus holy (good) damage to the target, and the target gains one negative level (Fortitude DC 44 to remove 24 hours later). On a successful critical hit it instead deals +6d6 points of holy (good) damage and bestows two negative levels (or +9d6 and three negative levels if the critical multiplier is x3, or +12d6 and four negative levels if the critical multiplier is x4). The save DC is Charisma-based.
Holy Terror (Su): Evil creatures viewing a seraph for the first must succeed on a DC 44 Will save or cower for 1d6 rounds, as the seraph appears as a great flaming serpent. Even on a successful save, an evil creature is shaken for 1 round. A creature that succeeds on its Will save remains immune to that seraph’s holy terror for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Localized Omniscience (Su): Seraphim continuously use arcane sight, detect evil, detect snares and pits, detect thoughts, discern lies, and true seeing as the spells (caster level 20th), except all function to a range of 120 feet.
Master of Divine Magic (Sp): At will, a seraphim may use any core divine spell from the cleric spell list or the Fire, Glory, Good, or Sun domains as a spell-like ability, as long as it is not opposed in alignment. A seraphim may use any spell on the cleric spell list from a non-core source once per day (at the DM’s discretion); these spells are rarer in the cosmos. The saving throw DC for such abilities is 21 + spell level (10 + spell level + seraphim’s Wisdom bonus). Seraphs tend to favour spells such as blade barrier, holy aura, holy smite…
Protective Aura (Su): Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel. Otherwise, it functions as a magic circle against evil effect and a lesser globe of invulnerability, both with a radius of 20 feet (caster level 44th). This aura can be dispelled, but the angel can create it again as a free action on its next turn. (The defensive benefits from the circle are not included in its statistics block.)
Regeneration (Ex): A seraph takes damage from evil-aligned weapons and from spells and effects with the evil descriptor.
Smite Evil (Su): Once per day a seraph can make a normal melee attack to deal extra damage equal to its Hit Dice against an evil foe.
Summon Angels (Sp): Once per day, a seraph can automatically summon a total number of Hit Dice of angels equal to its own Hit Dice total (44 HD for a typical seraph). For example, a seraph could summon 2 solars (22 HD), or it could call one solar (22 HD), one astral deva (12 HD), and one monadic deva (10 HD). This ability is the equivalent of a 9th-level spell.
tongues (Su): A seraph can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level 44th). This ability is always active.
Feats: In combination with its natural abilities, a seraph’s Multiweapon Fighting feat allows it to attack with all its arms at no penalty.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #35 (1980).