D&D Astrology with Ryven Cedrylle: Air Signs

In the last installments of D&D Astrology, we looked at the Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius and the Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.  Today we’ll look at the Air Signs:  Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.

A quick review (skip the italics if you want to get right to the signs and classes!):

Your Sun sign is really a lot like your D&D character’s class. Take the Wizard, for instance. You’ve got four implements to choose from and some of those implements, like the Orb and the Tome, have different variants. Between your choice of implement, powers, skills, feats and gear, rarely are two Wizards going to be identical!

Still, telling someone that you play a Wizard gives them a sense of what your character can do as well as his or her strengths and weaknesses. So it is with your Sun sign. It would be silly to think that any two Librans or any two Scorpios are going to be exactly the same. We are all some mixture of the Signs, with 10 or more planets describing various aspects of our personalities and lives. However, knowing that someone is a Libra or a Scorpio can give you a basic concept of what this person is about and how you might interact with them.

“Well Ryven” you say, “if Sun signs are so much like D&D classes, why don’t you tell me which class is like which sign?” Your wish is my command! Over the course of the next few articles, I’ll be matching up classes with signs so that the next time you open up a dating profile and see a zodiac sign staring you in the face, you can make your Arcana check with a +2 competence bonus and see how that personality base might be showing itself to you in the rest of the profile.

Gemini

Writing and communication is the bread and butter of being a Gemini. People who have heavy Geminian influences always have something to say – and usually more than just one something! Gemini is also known for being fast. He thinks fast, moves faster, and no one multi-tasks like a Gemini. He may also be playful or a constant joker. The best things about Gemini are his intelligence and wit.

In previous editions of D&D, Gemini had some trouble picking a class because there wasn’t really anything that truly encompassed the breadth of his interests and still allowed him to be involved at all time. 4th Edition has remedied that, however, in its rewrite of the Bard.

First, the Bard relies on Charisma and usually Intelligence, which are Gemini’s signature abilities. The Bard tends to be the party “face” – the one who does all the Bluffing and Diplomacy – with a full complement of Rituals to help him! Furthermore, he gets to be tricky about his attacks with powers like Misdirected Mark and has a corner on time and speed-altering abilities like Haste.

Finally, if that weren’t enough, only the Bard can take more than one multiclass Feat, satisfying that Geminian tendency to do four or five things at once. If Gemini is more interested in talking with his weapon, he might try on the Pursuit Avenger or the Aerialist Rogue. Gemini has a quick wit and an even quicker blade.

Libra

Libra is the Scales, which should give some sense of his personality. Libra is all about duality – balance, partnership, intimacy and evaluation. He is often credited with having dominion over a lot of seemingly unrelated concepts that make much more sense when viewed in this manner. Libra governs law and justice, the balance of the individual versus the collective and punishment versus forgiveness. Libra governs love and relationships, the balance of one person’s needs against another’s. He also rules artistic expression, the balance of the artist’s concept against the viewer’s tastes as well as the relative worth of one piece of art against another. The best things about Libra are his ability to see both sides of nearly any situation and talent for balancing opposing forces.

At the gaming table, Libra loves “pets” and so gravitates toward the Beastmaster Ranger and almost any build of Shaman. Both of these classes require the player to consider the positioning and relationship of two creatures on the field and create opportunities for teamwork between them. If he’s really brave or feeling some Gemini leanings, Libra may choose a Summoning Wizard as well. Another class that appeals to Libra is the Rogue, again because of the necessity to have a “flanking buddy” on the field in order to use his Striker class feature. Finally, a character who has an Arcane Familiar in active mode regularly or cranks up Diplomacy through the use of backgrounds or Feats is probably getting his Libra on. Libra is the character who doesn’t necessarily want to fight up front, but has already lined up assistance just in case things get hairy.

Aquarius

Eccentric, rebellious and inventive, the one thing that makes Aquarius stand out is, well, everything. Aquarius can’t stand to be just one of the crowd. He must walk his own path, march to his own drummer and generally run counter to the mainstream. In his own way, Aquarius is brilliant, but undiscovered or discredited. Despite this, Aquarius is very social. Astrologer Kelly Lee Phipps says that “Aquarians love everyone, but don’t care for anyone in particular.” Aquarians tend to be well-networked and tech-savvy, but have few close friends. They may also have streaks of contrariness for its own sake. The best things about Aquarius are his imaginative thinking and ability to engage things holistically.

Aquarius looks at the Psion and is immediately in love. First, there’s the power point system. Psions have no encounter powers, instead augmenting their at-wills (of which they get several) with power points to make them more effective. This aberration in the system is just the sort of thing that Aquarius loves to do. He’s also a big fan of irony, so the Psion’s ability to confuse enemies into attacking each other on a consistent basis is appealing.

If the Psion isn’t available for whatever reason, expect Aquarius to pick up a Wildsoul Sorcerer (the random resistance mechanic is unique and the Chaos Bolt can really upset the game’s inherent economy of actions) or an assaulting Swordmage (lots of teleporting, immediate interrupts and a few ‘hit your ally’ type powers). He may also try out an Artificer for the gadget flavor, but may find the underlying mechanics unsatisfying. Aquarius is the unpredictable character, full of weird tricks and rules exceptions that will be horribly impressive but make your head explode at the same time.

About Today’s Guest Writer: Ryven Cedrylle is an astrologer, a gamer, a devoted husband, and a Christian.  Visit him at Christian Astrology.  The final installment of this series, Water Signs, will be coming soon, so stay tuned!