Anyone fooled by gargoyles anymore?

[Quickleaf]

I think gargoyles work best when...(a) they are presented in a thematically appropriate way for the adventure setting, and (b) their threat is foreshadowed but not immediate.

For example, PCs venturing into Byzantine-like ruins have heard warnings about the "Lions of Tomorrow" from a sage/manuscript. They pass the statues without incident. Later they learn a rival wizard has an evil party of adventurers exploring the ruins as well. When the PCs pass back thru arch the lion-drgon statues guard the wizard is there and speaks command word "Arise lions of Tomorrow!" while wielding a magical rod. This awakens the sleeping gargoyles.

Oh, and about the "players smashing gargoyles on site" issue, take a line from the Witcher 2 video game and have gargoyles explode in a shower of steaming stone when destroyed

 

[Empirate]

God, I hate Gargoyles in Witcher 2! Ugly freaks deal a loooot of damage...

 

[delericho]

Include lots of gothic statues that are not gargoyles, and then don't have any of them be gargoyles for a good great long time.

This.

Or, have a bunch of traps that trigger when the PCs disturb the (entirely normal) statues in the dungeon. Or have the statues hold tresures that are destroyed if the statue is destroyed.

Or, place your gargoyle statues in rooms where there are other, more pressing things for the PCs to deal with - if the PCs are busy fighting for their lives, they're likely not to bother with smashing those statues until they're done.

 

[pemerton]

I think it's fair game not to mention the statues to the players if the gargoyles succeed at a Disguise (or Stealth, or whatever skill/ability is appropriate in your ruleset) check. This is part of making Perception/Insight valuable skills.

 

[Empirate]

I think you could get away with vague descriptions like "you stumble into what looks like a depraved sanctum of the Evil One, lavishly decorated with vibrant paintings depicting scenes of debauchery, grotesque monstrous statuary, choir benches carved from bone, gobelins stitched with hellish landscapes, and a wrought-iron altar with a floating skull hovering in the air over it".
Are there really that many players who'd instantly latch onto the "grotesque monstrous statuary"? The point is to bury the gargoyle bit under a bunch of red herrings.

OR you could have the paintings exert a sinister influence via Symbol of Persusion, the choir benches be soulsucking traps, the gobelins be portals to the Abyss, the altar be an unholy artifact, and the floating skull be the Demilich cult lord, but that's probably overkill and will just result in PC paralysis (literally and figuratively...)!

 

[Alzrius]

Include lots of gothic statues that are not gargoyles, and then don't have any of them be gargoyles for a good great long time.

This is a good idea in theory, but in practice it's one of those things that players just seem to add to their "standard routine" for adventures. E.g. when they enter a room with gargoyle-like statues, they'll smash them as a matter of course. It doesn't cost them anything in-game but a few minutes, some noise, and that's that.

I say, the next time the PCs smash a statue or two, that night have Goliath and the rest of the clan show up at the PCs camp, looking for revenge.

 

[N'raac]

Well, the first answer is the one everyone has hit upon - if every statue turns into a threat, the PC's will smash every statue. I had a player once comment on "What a strange and novel thing we have iscovered - an inanimate skeleton. Why, I have never before seen such a thing!"

How easy is it to destroy a stone statue? What are you using? Your magic Longsword? That should be good for the blade, don't you think? It will take a while, and it will make lots of noise. Hmmm...maybe if I were a Gargoyle, I'd want a few statues of my kind for adventurers to kindly destroy so as to alert me to their presence, making it easier for me to sneak up on them.

 

[darjr]

This is a good idea in theory, but in practice it's one of those things that players just seem to add to their "standard routine" for adventures. E.g. when they enter a room with gargoyle-like statues, they'll smash them as a matter of course. It doesn't cost them anything in-game but a few minutes, some noise, and that's that.

I say, the next time the PCs smash a statue or two, that night have Goliath and the rest of the clan show up at the PCs camp, looking for revenge.

Other than wandering monsters or nearby ones and the occasional trap I think many players will get bored and stop doing it.

 

[Alzrius]

How easy is it to destroy a stone statue? What are you using? Your magic Longsword? That should be good for the blade, don't you think? It will take a while, and it will make lots of noise. Hmmm...maybe if I were a Gargoyle, I'd want a few statues of my kind for adventurers to kindly destroy so as to alert me to their presence, making it easier for me to sneak up on them.

It's as easy as having at least one person in the party with a bludgeoning weapon. Likewise, wear-and-tear on weapons isn't really part of the game rules, so it's not a factor here (e.g. most players will be annoyed if the GM begins selectively enforcing wear-and-tear to try and modify the PCs' behavior). And as for the issue of silence...I don't think that's really an issue for most parties, simply because the element of surprise is gone after the first fight anyway; the clash of steel on steel, the boom of fireballs and lightning bolts, etc. all makes stealth a non-starter. Heck, even the time element is minor, since most adventures don't take place on a timer anyway.

Other than wandering monsters or nearby ones and the occasional trap I think many players will get bored and stop doing it.

Why would they get bored? It only lasts as long as it takes for the following exchange:

Player: "We smash all of the stone statues in this room."

GM: "Okay. It takes several minutes, but you manage to severely damage them, knocking off heads and limbs and things. What do you do next?"

That's a conversation that lasts, what, six or seven seconds?

 

[darjr]

Player: "We smash all of the stone statues in this room."

GM: "Okay. It takes several minutes, but you manage to severely damage them, knocking off heads and limbs and things. What do you do next?"

That's a conversation that lasts, what, six or seven seconds?

And they'd have to do it EVERY time like a robot. And it'd occasionally attract unwanted attention. I do see your point where there would be players that won't care and push that like a button EVERY TIME. I don't think that's most of them.

Also it seems that you wouldn't put any consequences on it. I would.

I mean if they did that in 'The God That Crawls' it would be a TPK.