Anyone fooled by gargoyles anymore?

[darjr]

I'm sure this is a bad idea, but it just occurred to me and I had to share.

Have every gargoyle statue they attack turn into a gargoyle. And the ones they don't just stay as statues.

 

[Gomer212]

Good stuff guys. Some interesting encounter suggestions here that I can use. Thanks.

 

[Sunseeker]

Apply the Gargoyle behavior to other statues. Beautiful ones, big ones, little ones. Keep them initially out of reach. How many gargoyles do you find right next to an entrance? How many do you find on a rooftop? Part of the intimidation factor of a Gargoyle is the fact that people know it's something to be afraid of, but they can't do anything about it.

Come up with new ways for gargoyles to exist. Instead of them simply being a stand-alone statue, have them be like Han Solo in carbonite, only half-way out of a stone wall. This makes them both more difficult to destroy, and it blurs the idea in people's minds of what a gargoyle should look like. Use more resilient materials, have gargoyles made of metal or wood or gems. Have lots of "trick" statues, big ones, small ones that are easy for players to spot and destroy, setting off the real ones hiding out of sight.

Also remember that how much visibility your players have is very important. Supernatural darkness is going to be necessary to subdue any natural or supernatural light they might conjure. You want players to literally run into the gargoyle before they even know it's there.

Or you could use something a little more intimidating:

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Use some statue monsters that aren't gargoyles. Or put things like mimics and animated bushes around the statues. While PCs focus on the statues, they get taken out by the other creatures.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Make them look like angels...or any other kind of thing. IOW, make them distant cousins of Mimics. Each gargoyle is somewhat formless until adulthood, when it takes on the form of a kind of statuary it has seen.

That's a pretty solid change.

 

[Rune]

Consider the lore related to gargoyles. Their design and construction has a specific purpose: to ward away evil spirits.

That being the case, go ahead and describe that gargoyle as hideously as possible. Then, when the PCs preemptively smash it, have a nasty wraith or shadow jump out of the wall and attack them from behind.

If they still don't get the hint, do it to them the next time, too. And so on.

Then, one day, long after they've decided to let the gargoyles do their jobs in peace, you can have one attack the PCs. In revenge for all of the fallen gargoyles that have gone before.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Make the subjects of the statues the player characters, and have the PC's take damage when the statues do.

 

[Empirate]

Make the subjects of the statues the player characters, and have the PC's take damage when the statues do.

Or, to go one step further, have a Medusa encounter, but alter petrification slightly, so that the affected PCs remain aware of their surroundings. A few weeks later, another group of adventurers enters the room...

 

[Lord Zardoz]

I'm sure this is a bad idea, but it just occurred to me and I had to share.

Have every gargoyle statue they attack turn into a gargoyle. And the ones they don't just stay as statues.

I actually like that idea. Just make it known to the players in advance.

How to justify: Gargoyles are a creation of a god, Art and Architecture. Random destruction of priceless works of art has caused the god of Art to take measures to protect the art. Smashing statues in an area that is properly consecrated is known to cause the statues to rise up and and attack.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Quartz]

Another option would be to have some of the statues change to people when broken. Dead people.