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Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)
A Leveled Up Bestiary
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<blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8864344" data-attributes="member: 6915329"><p>Who guards the ioun stones? The monsters from this article, that’s who. All elementals from the Plane of Mineral, the creatures depicted in this issue’s Dragon’s Bestiary are all very alien, and some of them are designed to look a lot like viruses and bacteria.</p><p></p><p>The first of these monsters isn’t that complex. It’s the <strong>shard</strong>, a living crystal shard. That’s it. It’s kind of a basic monster—it just kind of flies at you and stabs you—but sometimes, that’s what you want in an opponent.</p><p></p><p>The art is credited to both the article’s writer, Matthew Hardenrader, and to Tom Baxa. It all looks like it could have been drawn by the same person, but only one of the pieces is signed (by Baxa). Do they just have similar art styles, or did Hardenrader send in roughs and Baxa finished them?</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]270087[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"><span style="font-size: 22px">Shard</span></span></strong></p><p>The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #174</p><p>Created by Matthew P. Hardenrader</p><p></p><p>A minor mineral elemental, a shard resembles a quartz pillar between 4 to 10 feet long. They are colorful entities, each one a single color, part cloudy and part transparent. Shards consume only the positive energy of light, which can be found in abundance on certain parts of their plane.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Gemfriend. </em></strong>Shards love gemstones and hate to see them harmed or broken in any way. A cut and polished gemstone is fine—shards even prefer such things—but one ground into dust (such as for wizard’s components), or a large one cut into several smaller gems, is enough to make a shard very angry. Shards will gladly watch gemstones for very long periods of time.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Legends and Lore</span></strong></p><p>With an Arcana check, the characters can learn the following:</p><p></p><p><strong>DC 10.</strong> Shards are minor elemental creatures. They are often summoned to serve as treasure guards.</p><p></p><p><strong>DC 15.</strong> These elementals are harder than diamond, so hard that a nonmagical weapon can easily shatter upon striking it.</p><p></p><p><strong>DC 20.</strong> Shards are pack creatures and can be found in found in huge groups on the Plane of Earth. They only travel to the Prime if summoned.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Monster Encounters</span></strong></p><p><strong><em>Terrain:</em></strong> Elemental Earth, caverns</p><p></p><p><strong>CR 3-4</strong> shard</p><p></p><p><strong>CR 5-10</strong> 2-3 shards</p><p><strong><em>Treasure: </em></strong>3d4 carnelians, citrines, or onyxes (50 gp each), 2d4 ambers, garnets, or tourmalines (100 gp each)</p><p></p><p><strong>CR 11-16</strong> 4-5 shards</p><p><strong><em>Treasure:</em></strong> 3d4 amethysts, garnets, or tourmalines (100 gp each), 2d4 aquamarines or spinels (500 gp each), and 1 emerald (1,000 gp)</p><p></p><p><strong>CR 17-22</strong> 6-7 shards</p><p><strong><em>Treasure. </em></strong>3d6 peridots, spinels, or topazes (500 gp each), 1d4 sapphires (1,000 gp each), 1 ruby (5,000 gp)</p><p></p><p><strong>Signs</strong></p><p>1-2. Clusters of gemstones growing out of a wall.</p><p>3. A shattered melee weapon.</p><p>4. tiny scraps of colorful crystal.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Behavior</span></strong></p><p>1-2. Sunning itself.</p><p>3. Watching some gemstones do nothing obvious.</p><p>4. Guarding a hoard of gemstones.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"><span style="font-size: 26px">Shard</span></span></strong></p><p><strong>Medium elemental</strong></p><p>Challenge 3 (700 XP)</p><p><strong>AC</strong> 16</p><p><strong>HP</strong> 44 (8d8+8; bloodied 22)</p><p><strong>Speed</strong> 0 ft., fly 40 ft.</p><p></p><p><strong>STR</strong> 15 (+2) <strong>DEX</strong> 10 (+0) <strong>CON</strong> 13 (+1)</p><p><strong>INT</strong> 6 (-2) <strong>WIS</strong> 12 (+1) <strong>CHA</strong> 11 (+0)</p><p></p><p><strong>Proficiency</strong> +2</p><p><strong>Maneuver DC</strong> 12</p><p><strong>Damage Resistances</strong> lightning</p><p><strong>Damage Immunities</strong> poisoned, radiant; nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing weapons that aren’t adamantine</p><p><strong>Condition Immunities</strong> blinded, deafened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, unconscious</p><p><strong>Senses</strong> blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 11</p><p><strong>Languages</strong> understands Terran but can’t speak</p><p><strong><em>Magic Resistance. </em></strong>The shard has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.</p><p><strong><em>Pack Tactics. </em></strong>The shard has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the shard’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitated.</p><p><strong><em>Radiant Absorption. </em></strong>Whenever the shard is subjected to radiant damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the radiant damage dealt.</p><p><strong><em>Shatter Weapon. </em></strong>If a nonmagical weapon makes a successful attack against a shard, the Narrator should roll a d4. On a 1, the weapon shatters after dealing its damage.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Actions</u></strong></p><p><strong><em>Multiattack.</em></strong> The shard makes two slam attacks.</p><p><strong><em>Slam. </em></strong><em>Melee Weapon Attack:</em> +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. <em>Hit: </em>11 (2d8+2) slashing damage. If the shard moves at least 20 feet straight towards the target before the attack, the target must make a DC 12 Strength saving throw, falling prone on a failure.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Bonus Actions</u></strong></p><p><strong><em>Color Spin (1/Day, When Bloodied). </em></strong>The shard spins rapidly in place and emits brilliant colors. Each creature within 5 feet of it must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 6 (1d8+2) slashing damage on a failed save or half as much on a success. Additionally, each creature within 15 feet must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Combat</span></strong></p><p>Shards attack with little finesse, simply flying at a creature and slashing it repeatedly, then backing off and doing it again. Upon being bloodied, a shard will use its Color Spin and then flee.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"><span style="font-size: 18px">Variant: Giant Shard</span></span></strong></p><p>A giant shard is Large sized and can weigh several tons. It is CR 6 (2,300 XP) and has 104 (16d10+16; bloodied 52) hit points. Its Slam attack inflicts 20 (4d8+2) slashing damage.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Faolyn, post: 8864344, member: 6915329"] Who guards the ioun stones? The monsters from this article, that’s who. All elementals from the Plane of Mineral, the creatures depicted in this issue’s Dragon’s Bestiary are all very alien, and some of them are designed to look a lot like viruses and bacteria. The first of these monsters isn’t that complex. It’s the [B]shard[/B], a living crystal shard. That’s it. It’s kind of a basic monster—it just kind of flies at you and stabs you—but sometimes, that’s what you want in an opponent. The art is credited to both the article’s writer, Matthew Hardenrader, and to Tom Baxa. It all looks like it could have been drawn by the same person, but only one of the pieces is signed (by Baxa). Do they just have similar art styles, or did Hardenrader send in roughs and Baxa finished them? [ATTACH type="full"]270087[/ATTACH] [B][COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)][SIZE=6]Shard[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B] The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #174 Created by Matthew P. Hardenrader A minor mineral elemental, a shard resembles a quartz pillar between 4 to 10 feet long. They are colorful entities, each one a single color, part cloudy and part transparent. Shards consume only the positive energy of light, which can be found in abundance on certain parts of their plane. [B][I]Gemfriend. [/I][/B]Shards love gemstones and hate to see them harmed or broken in any way. A cut and polished gemstone is fine—shards even prefer such things—but one ground into dust (such as for wizard’s components), or a large one cut into several smaller gems, is enough to make a shard very angry. Shards will gladly watch gemstones for very long periods of time. [B][SIZE=5]Legends and Lore[/SIZE][/B] With an Arcana check, the characters can learn the following: [B]DC 10.[/B] Shards are minor elemental creatures. They are often summoned to serve as treasure guards. [B]DC 15.[/B] These elementals are harder than diamond, so hard that a nonmagical weapon can easily shatter upon striking it. [B]DC 20.[/B] Shards are pack creatures and can be found in found in huge groups on the Plane of Earth. They only travel to the Prime if summoned. [B][SIZE=5]Monster Encounters[/SIZE] [I]Terrain:[/I][/B] Elemental Earth, caverns [B]CR 3-4[/B] shard [B]CR 5-10[/B] 2-3 shards [B][I]Treasure: [/I][/B]3d4 carnelians, citrines, or onyxes (50 gp each), 2d4 ambers, garnets, or tourmalines (100 gp each) [B]CR 11-16[/B] 4-5 shards [B][I]Treasure:[/I][/B] 3d4 amethysts, garnets, or tourmalines (100 gp each), 2d4 aquamarines or spinels (500 gp each), and 1 emerald (1,000 gp) [B]CR 17-22[/B] 6-7 shards [B][I]Treasure. [/I][/B]3d6 peridots, spinels, or topazes (500 gp each), 1d4 sapphires (1,000 gp each), 1 ruby (5,000 gp) [B]Signs[/B] 1-2. Clusters of gemstones growing out of a wall. 3. A shattered melee weapon. 4. tiny scraps of colorful crystal. [B][SIZE=5]Behavior[/SIZE][/B] 1-2. Sunning itself. 3. Watching some gemstones do nothing obvious. 4. Guarding a hoard of gemstones. [B][COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)][SIZE=7]Shard[/SIZE][/COLOR] Medium elemental[/B] Challenge 3 (700 XP) [B]AC[/B] 16 [B]HP[/B] 44 (8d8+8; bloodied 22) [B]Speed[/B] 0 ft., fly 40 ft. [B]STR[/B] 15 (+2) [B]DEX[/B] 10 (+0) [B]CON[/B] 13 (+1) [B]INT[/B] 6 (-2) [B]WIS[/B] 12 (+1) [B]CHA[/B] 11 (+0) [B]Proficiency[/B] +2 [B]Maneuver DC[/B] 12 [B]Damage Resistances[/B] lightning [B]Damage Immunities[/B] poisoned, radiant; nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing weapons that aren’t adamantine [B]Condition Immunities[/B] blinded, deafened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, unconscious [B]Senses[/B] blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 11 [B]Languages[/B] understands Terran but can’t speak [B][I]Magic Resistance. [/I][/B]The shard has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. [B][I]Pack Tactics. [/I][/B]The shard has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the shard’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitated. [B][I]Radiant Absorption. [/I][/B]Whenever the shard is subjected to radiant damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the radiant damage dealt. [B][I]Shatter Weapon. [/I][/B]If a nonmagical weapon makes a successful attack against a shard, the Narrator should roll a d4. On a 1, the weapon shatters after dealing its damage. [B][U]Actions[/U] [I]Multiattack.[/I][/B] The shard makes two slam attacks. [B][I]Slam. [/I][/B][I]Melee Weapon Attack:[/I] +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. [I]Hit: [/I]11 (2d8+2) slashing damage. If the shard moves at least 20 feet straight towards the target before the attack, the target must make a DC 12 Strength saving throw, falling prone on a failure. [B][U]Bonus Actions[/U] [I]Color Spin (1/Day, When Bloodied). [/I][/B]The shard spins rapidly in place and emits brilliant colors. Each creature within 5 feet of it must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 6 (1d8+2) slashing damage on a failed save or half as much on a success. Additionally, each creature within 15 feet must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn. [B][SIZE=5]Combat[/SIZE][/B] Shards attack with little finesse, simply flying at a creature and slashing it repeatedly, then backing off and doing it again. Upon being bloodied, a shard will use its Color Spin and then flee. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)][SIZE=5][/SIZE][/COLOR] [B][COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)][SIZE=5]Variant: Giant Shard[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B] A giant shard is Large sized and can weigh several tons. It is CR 6 (2,300 XP) and has 104 (16d10+16; bloodied 52) hit points. Its Slam attack inflicts 20 (4d8+2) slashing damage. [/QUOTE]
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