Today’s entry in Mythological Figures is the dragon-slaying martyr and patron Saint of England: Saint George!
Saint George here is like a super myth with serious fans all over the western world and even a little beyond. There’s argument over where and when he originates, and on top of that there are multiple cultures with different interpretations of him--is he a protective saint or a prophet? He’s best known for two particular things: slaying a dragon (despite several saints being attributed the story before he even shows up) and being tortured (which of course gets longer and happens more the longer time goes along).
Design Notes: Once I realized how many different things Saint George is to so many places across the world, I decided that a badass holy mounted dragonslayer should be the design goal and went after it with the cavalier fighter and then a touch of paladin (for smiting) and a big investment into cleric, choosing the protection domain because that appears to be one of his saintly things. Could he have gone 100% paladin? Yes I suppose so but then he wouldn’t be quite so good on a horse and any party worth their salt would pick out his shtick after a round or two. This way at least there are some surprises and he can get away with some downright saintly stuff (like hallow). CR Statisticians: he came in at a 9.2 on the DMG charts but a 10.8 in the Blog of Holding rubric so I settled onto 10.
For GMs that plan to use this fellow I’d drop some things from the statblock to make it handier (just jot down his Background, Turn Undead CR 1, and Divine Sense) and use him as a reluctant antagonist--someone that can definitely help the party but only for a time, ultimately abandoning or betraying them in order to achieve a greater and more important goal.
Saint George
Medium humanoid (human), lawful good fighter (cavalier) 6/cleric (protection) 8/paladin 2
Armor Class 19 (breastplate, shield, defensive fighting style)
Hit Points 144 (8d10+8d8+64)
Speed 30 ft., 60 ft. on mount (riding horse)
Saving Throws Str +8, Con +9
Skills Animal Handling +7, Athletics +8, Intimidation +7, Perception +7
Tools gaming set +5, vehicles (land) +5
Senses passive Perception 17
Languages Common
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
Background: Military Service - Rank. Saint George commands respect from his time serving in the army. Soldiers loyal to the same forces view him as their superior, and Saint George can use his influence to temporarily requisition simple equipment or horses, possibly even gaining entrance to military fortresses and outposts.
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). On his turn, Saint George can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.
Blessed Healer. When Saint George casts a spell of 1st level or higher that restores hit points to a creature other than him, he regains hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
Channel Divinity (2/Short Rest). Saint George can channel his divine energy to fuel one of two magical effects.
Divine Sense (2/Long Rest). As an action, until the end of his next turn Saint George knows the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of him that is not behind total cover. He knows the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence he senses, but not its identity. Within the same radius, he also detects the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.
Divine Smite. When Saint George hits a creature with a melee weapon attack, he can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 3d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.
Feat: Charge. After Saint George uses his action to Dash, so long as he moves 10 feet or more in a straight line he can use a bonus action to immediately either shove a creature or make a single melee weapon attack. On a hit he either pushes the target up to 10 feet away from him or deals +5 extra damage.
Lay on Hands (10 points/Long Rest). As an action, Saint George can touch a creature and restore a number of hit points to it, up to the maximum amount remaining in this pool. Alternatively, he can expend 5 hit points to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it.
Mark of Challenge (1/Long Rest). Saint George may choose to mark a creature when he hits it with a melee weapon attack. This mark lasts until the end of Saint George’s next turn, he dies, becomes incapacitated, or another creature marks the target. A marked creature has disadvantage on attack rolls targeting creatures other than Saint George while it is within 5 feet of him. In addition, Saint George can use a bonus action on his turn to make a melee weapon attack with advantage when a marked creature deals damage to someone other than him. On a hit, he deals 2 extra damage to the marked creature. Once Saint George has made this special mark and used it to hit creatures a total of three times, he cannot do so again until he finished a long rest.
Saddleborn. Saint George mounts or dismounts a creature with only 5 feet of his movement (not half his speed), has advantage when making a saving throw to avoid falling from his mount, and lands on his feet when he falls off his mount and falls less than 10 feet as long as he’s not incapacitated.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On his turn, Saint George can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+6 hit points.
Spellcasting. Saint George is a 9th level spellcaster that uses Wisdom or Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15; +7 to hit with spell attacks). Saint George has the following spells prepared from the cleric and paladin spell lists:
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. Saint George attacks twice.
Lance. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d12+3) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage. This attack roll has disadvantage if the target is within 5 feet.
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage or when wielded with two hands 8 (1d10+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage.
REACTIONS
Devoted Shield. Saint George can use his reaction to disrupt the attack of a creature he can see when it attacks a target other than him that is within 5 feet of Saint George. The attacker has disadvantage on the attack roll.
Saint George here is like a super myth with serious fans all over the western world and even a little beyond. There’s argument over where and when he originates, and on top of that there are multiple cultures with different interpretations of him--is he a protective saint or a prophet? He’s best known for two particular things: slaying a dragon (despite several saints being attributed the story before he even shows up) and being tortured (which of course gets longer and happens more the longer time goes along).
Design Notes: Once I realized how many different things Saint George is to so many places across the world, I decided that a badass holy mounted dragonslayer should be the design goal and went after it with the cavalier fighter and then a touch of paladin (for smiting) and a big investment into cleric, choosing the protection domain because that appears to be one of his saintly things. Could he have gone 100% paladin? Yes I suppose so but then he wouldn’t be quite so good on a horse and any party worth their salt would pick out his shtick after a round or two. This way at least there are some surprises and he can get away with some downright saintly stuff (like hallow). CR Statisticians: he came in at a 9.2 on the DMG charts but a 10.8 in the Blog of Holding rubric so I settled onto 10.
For GMs that plan to use this fellow I’d drop some things from the statblock to make it handier (just jot down his Background, Turn Undead CR 1, and Divine Sense) and use him as a reluctant antagonist--someone that can definitely help the party but only for a time, ultimately abandoning or betraying them in order to achieve a greater and more important goal.
Saint George
Medium humanoid (human), lawful good fighter (cavalier) 6/cleric (protection) 8/paladin 2
Armor Class 19 (breastplate, shield, defensive fighting style)
Hit Points 144 (8d10+8d8+64)
Speed 30 ft., 60 ft. on mount (riding horse)
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
16 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 11 (+0) | 14 (+2) | 14 (+2) |
Saving Throws Str +8, Con +9
Skills Animal Handling +7, Athletics +8, Intimidation +7, Perception +7
Tools gaming set +5, vehicles (land) +5
Senses passive Perception 17
Languages Common
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
Background: Military Service - Rank. Saint George commands respect from his time serving in the army. Soldiers loyal to the same forces view him as their superior, and Saint George can use his influence to temporarily requisition simple equipment or horses, possibly even gaining entrance to military fortresses and outposts.
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). On his turn, Saint George can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.
Blessed Healer. When Saint George casts a spell of 1st level or higher that restores hit points to a creature other than him, he regains hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
Channel Divinity (2/Short Rest). Saint George can channel his divine energy to fuel one of two magical effects.
Divine Protection. As an action, Saint George chooses an ally within 30 feet that he can see. Within the next minute, the first time the target is hit by an attack, the creature that attacked the target takes 2d10+8 radiant damage.
Turn Undead. As an action, Saint George presents his holy symbol and speaks a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead within 30 feet that can see or hear him must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. When an undead of CR 1 or lower fails its saving throw the creature is instantly destroyed. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from Saint George as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of him. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Turn Undead. As an action, Saint George presents his holy symbol and speaks a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead within 30 feet that can see or hear him must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. When an undead of CR 1 or lower fails its saving throw the creature is instantly destroyed. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from Saint George as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of him. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Divine Sense (2/Long Rest). As an action, until the end of his next turn Saint George knows the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of him that is not behind total cover. He knows the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence he senses, but not its identity. Within the same radius, he also detects the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.
Divine Smite. When Saint George hits a creature with a melee weapon attack, he can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 3d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.
Feat: Charge. After Saint George uses his action to Dash, so long as he moves 10 feet or more in a straight line he can use a bonus action to immediately either shove a creature or make a single melee weapon attack. On a hit he either pushes the target up to 10 feet away from him or deals +5 extra damage.
Lay on Hands (10 points/Long Rest). As an action, Saint George can touch a creature and restore a number of hit points to it, up to the maximum amount remaining in this pool. Alternatively, he can expend 5 hit points to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it.
Mark of Challenge (1/Long Rest). Saint George may choose to mark a creature when he hits it with a melee weapon attack. This mark lasts until the end of Saint George’s next turn, he dies, becomes incapacitated, or another creature marks the target. A marked creature has disadvantage on attack rolls targeting creatures other than Saint George while it is within 5 feet of him. In addition, Saint George can use a bonus action on his turn to make a melee weapon attack with advantage when a marked creature deals damage to someone other than him. On a hit, he deals 2 extra damage to the marked creature. Once Saint George has made this special mark and used it to hit creatures a total of three times, he cannot do so again until he finished a long rest.
Saddleborn. Saint George mounts or dismounts a creature with only 5 feet of his movement (not half his speed), has advantage when making a saving throw to avoid falling from his mount, and lands on his feet when he falls off his mount and falls less than 10 feet as long as he’s not incapacitated.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On his turn, Saint George can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+6 hit points.
Spellcasting. Saint George is a 9th level spellcaster that uses Wisdom or Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15; +7 to hit with spell attacks). Saint George has the following spells prepared from the cleric and paladin spell lists:
Cantrips: guidance, light, sacred flame, spare the dying
1st-level (4 slots): cure wounds, divine favor, guiding bolt, shield of faith; <omitted>, protection from evil and good
2nd-level (3 slots): augury, enhance ability, spiritual weapon; aid, protection from poison
3rd-level (3 slots): daylight, dispel magic, revivify; protection from energy, slow
4th-level (3 slots): death ward, divination; guardian of faith, resilient sphere
5th-level (1 slots): hallow
1st-level (4 slots): cure wounds, divine favor, guiding bolt, shield of faith; <omitted>, protection from evil and good
2nd-level (3 slots): augury, enhance ability, spiritual weapon; aid, protection from poison
3rd-level (3 slots): daylight, dispel magic, revivify; protection from energy, slow
4th-level (3 slots): death ward, divination; guardian of faith, resilient sphere
5th-level (1 slots): hallow
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. Saint George attacks twice.
Lance. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d12+3) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage. This attack roll has disadvantage if the target is within 5 feet.
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage or when wielded with two hands 8 (1d10+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage.
REACTIONS
Devoted Shield. Saint George can use his reaction to disrupt the attack of a creature he can see when it attacks a target other than him that is within 5 feet of Saint George. The attacker has disadvantage on the attack roll.
