DarkRainbowFiend
Explorer
"Dire Damage" lol.
Level Up (A5E) A Leveled-Up Bestiary: Volume Two
- Thread starter Faolyn
- Start date
Faolyn
(she/her)
There's always at least one typo, right?
Faolyn
(she/her)
And now the last of the guardians for this article. This time it’s the rope guardian. You really can make a golem or guardian out of anything, can’t you? Rope guardians are surprisingly powerful for being made out of glorified string.
Like the previous mud guardian, this one can be altered a tiny bit to create a whole new type of creature. This time, I turned it into a proper variant, since it needs more than just a change of typing: it's the hangman, an undead created out of a person who was hanged to death.
Rope Guardian
The Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #302
Creature by Eric Cagle; art by Marc Sasso
Made entirely out of twisted and braided coils of rope, these guardians normally have a form that looks vaguely humanoid, although they sometimes create a “tail” to move on rather than “legs.” Inside the loops of rope that form their heads, a pair of uneven balls of white energy float, serving as eyes. Rope guardians are often used as assassins, for they have the ability to unravel and re-bundle themselves so they look like coils of completely normal and unremarkable rope.
Rope Guardian Encounters
Challenge Rating 5-10 Rope guardian
Treasure: Use the treasure under Guardian Encounters in Monstrous Menagerie.
Challenge Rating 11-16 Hangman and zombie knight
Rope Guardian
Size type; Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
AC 14 (natural armor)
HP 147 (14d10+70; bloodied 73)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR 22 (+6) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5)
INT 5 (-3) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 2 (-4)
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 18
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances magical bludgeoning and piercing damage
Damage Immunities poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Rope Form. While the guardian is motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal rope.
Unravel. As an action, the guardian can become a heap of tangled ropes that fills a 10-foot square. While in this form, it can’t move or take any actions or bonus actions, other than to spend 1 round to return to its normal form. If it remains in tangled rope form for 10 minutes, it regains all lost hit points.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian attacks twice with its slam.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10+6) bludgeoning damage.
Strangle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one Medium or smaller creature. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 18. Until this grapple ends, the guardian automatically hits the target with its strangle attack, can only make one slam attack, and the target can’t breathe.
Bonus Actions
Rope Whirlwind (1/Day; When Bloodied). The guardian extends a number of ropes and spins rapidly making a Slam attack against each creature within 10 feet of it.
Variant: Hangman
In many cultures, condemned criminals are executed by hanging, and angry lynch mobs have hanged many people. Sometimes, the hanged person’s spirit remains trapped in the rope, animating it as a hangman in order to get revenge on those who are responsible for their death.
In some cases, the hangman’s original corpse animates as a zombie knight and the two work in concert to achieve their revenge. If the original creature had a CR higher than 3, use the zombie template on the original creature instead of the zombie knight. This zombie’s Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are equal to the hangman’s.
The hangman is undead, has a fly speed of 20 ft., has Intelligence 8 (-1) and Charisma 14 (+2), and has the following new traits:
Unquiet Spirit. If reduced to 0 hit points, the hangman returns after one month. It can be put to rest permanently only by burning the rope into ash and casting remove curse on it or by resolving the unfinished business that keeps it from journeying to the afterlife.
Turn Resistance. The hangman has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Like the previous mud guardian, this one can be altered a tiny bit to create a whole new type of creature. This time, I turned it into a proper variant, since it needs more than just a change of typing: it's the hangman, an undead created out of a person who was hanged to death.
Rope Guardian
The Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #302
Creature by Eric Cagle; art by Marc Sasso
Made entirely out of twisted and braided coils of rope, these guardians normally have a form that looks vaguely humanoid, although they sometimes create a “tail” to move on rather than “legs.” Inside the loops of rope that form their heads, a pair of uneven balls of white energy float, serving as eyes. Rope guardians are often used as assassins, for they have the ability to unravel and re-bundle themselves so they look like coils of completely normal and unremarkable rope.
Rope Guardian Encounters
Challenge Rating 5-10 Rope guardian
Treasure: Use the treasure under Guardian Encounters in Monstrous Menagerie.
Challenge Rating 11-16 Hangman and zombie knight
Rope Guardian
Size type; Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
AC 14 (natural armor)
HP 147 (14d10+70; bloodied 73)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR 22 (+6) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5)
INT 5 (-3) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 2 (-4)
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 18
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances magical bludgeoning and piercing damage
Damage Immunities poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Rope Form. While the guardian is motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal rope.
Unravel. As an action, the guardian can become a heap of tangled ropes that fills a 10-foot square. While in this form, it can’t move or take any actions or bonus actions, other than to spend 1 round to return to its normal form. If it remains in tangled rope form for 10 minutes, it regains all lost hit points.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian attacks twice with its slam.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10+6) bludgeoning damage.
Strangle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one Medium or smaller creature. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 18. Until this grapple ends, the guardian automatically hits the target with its strangle attack, can only make one slam attack, and the target can’t breathe.
Bonus Actions
Rope Whirlwind (1/Day; When Bloodied). The guardian extends a number of ropes and spins rapidly making a Slam attack against each creature within 10 feet of it.
Variant: Hangman
In many cultures, condemned criminals are executed by hanging, and angry lynch mobs have hanged many people. Sometimes, the hanged person’s spirit remains trapped in the rope, animating it as a hangman in order to get revenge on those who are responsible for their death.
In some cases, the hangman’s original corpse animates as a zombie knight and the two work in concert to achieve their revenge. If the original creature had a CR higher than 3, use the zombie template on the original creature instead of the zombie knight. This zombie’s Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are equal to the hangman’s.
The hangman is undead, has a fly speed of 20 ft., has Intelligence 8 (-1) and Charisma 14 (+2), and has the following new traits:
Unquiet Spirit. If reduced to 0 hit points, the hangman returns after one month. It can be put to rest permanently only by burning the rope into ash and casting remove curse on it or by resolving the unfinished business that keeps it from journeying to the afterlife.
Turn Resistance. The hangman has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
DarkRainbowFiend
Explorer
weren't there puzzle golems (puzzle guardians in this case) in the same issue, or are you waiting till later to convert it?
Faolyn
(she/her)
I'd forgotten about that one. It should be next up!
DarkRainbowFiend
Explorer
since the puzzle golem can go up to large size, maybe make variants that can go up to titanic (who i imagine being the elite version of the gigantic variant). The web golem/web guardian is also a thing from that issue as well.
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Faolyn
(she/her)
Yeah, I really didn't like the web golem.
For the super-duper puzzle golem, the easiest way to do that is to throw the squad template on them again! They'd be Huge and have the ability to split into the Large versions, who would also be able to split into the Small versions.
Edit: Nevermind. It's going to have to be elite, because doing it as a second squad template literally took them off the charts--I think they would have ended up with a CR of 35 or so.
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Faolyn
(she/her)
One more guardian from this article, and this one is on the weird side because it’s the puzzle guardian. It’s a group of eight bitty stone guardians that form one great big (well, Large) guardian--and then two of those larger ones can form an elite Huge guardian. This seems like a job for the squad template!
Puzzle Guardian
The Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #302
Creature by Eric Cagle; art by Marc Sasso
Puzzle guardians are actually conglomerate constructs, each formed out of eight separate pieces. Each piece is carved from a single block of hard stone, and carefully formed to fit with one another, like a complex, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Individual pieces are small, only a few feet tall, but are capable fighters and protectors. However, as a group, they form a single, towering construct. They are frequently used as bodyguards, since they are nearly as strong as stone guardians and their ability to form large bodies and then split again into many smaller bodies gives them an edge that most guardians lack.
Creators often decorate their puzzle guardians so that they form a single image when in completed form. Single-piece puzzle guardians will not willingly move more than 50 feet from each other, and prefer to be much closer together.
Rebuild. As long as one single-piece puzzle guardian remains at 1 hit point or more, it can rebuild its completed puzzle form. It must use pieces of rubble the other single-piece puzzle guardians, along with other pieces of stone to fill in the missing pieces. The process of rebuilding itself takes one day per single-piece guardian it must make. It can’t create “backup” puzzle pieces or a new complete puzzle guardian; it can only replace the pieces they’re missing.
Single-Piece Puzzle Guardian
Small construct; Challenge 1 (200 XP)
AC 17 (natural armor)
HP 34 (4d6+20; bloodied 17)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5)
INT 3 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 1 (-5)
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 14
Damage Immunities Poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Pack Tactics. The guardian has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one other single-piece puzzle guardian is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) bludgeoning damage
Bonus Actions
Merge (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). If the guardian is within 10 feet of at least four other single-piece puzzle guardians, it can merge into a completed puzzle guardian, which has full hit points.
Completed Puzzle Guardian
Large squad of Small constructs; Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
AC 17 (natural armor)
HP 170 (20d6+100; bloodied 85)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5)
INT 3 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 1 (-5)
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 16
Damage Immunities Poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Area Vulnerability. The completed puzzle golem takes double damage from any effect that targets an area.
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Squad. The guardian is composed of 5 or more single-piece puzzle guardians. If it is subjected to a spell, attack, or other effect that affects only one target, it takes any damage but ignores other effects. Because the single-piece puzzle guardians are stacked on top of and clinging to one another, it can’t share its space with other creatures or move through an opening large enough for a Small creature without squeezing.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (5d8+4) bludgeoning damage, or half damage if the squad is bloodied.
Shoving Blow (Recharge 6). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., all creatures within 5 feet. Hit: 22 (5d8+4) bludgeoning damage, or half damage if the squad is bloodied, and if the target is a Medium or smaller creature and the guardian is not bloodied, the target must make a DC 16 Strength saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away from the guardian.
Bonus Actions
Split (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). The guardian can split into eight single-piece puzzle guardians, each of which has full hit points.
Variant: Impossible Puzzle Guardian
Most puzzle guardians consist of eight single-piece puzzle guardians, but a few are more complicated than that. Called impossible guardians, after similar overly-complicated and almost impossible to solve jigsaw puzzles, they consist of a single, tremendous completed puzzle guardian, which can split into eight complete puzzle guardians, each of which can split into eight single-piece puzzle guardians.
The impossible puzzle guardian is an elite monster, equivalent to two CR 10 creatures (11,800 XP). It has 340 (40d6+200; bloodied 170) hit points, is Huge, and has the following trait:
Elite Recovery. At the end of each of its turns while bloodied, the puzzle guardian can end one condition or effect on itself. It can do this even when unconscious or incapacitated.
The guardian has the following bonus actions, which replaces Split:
Merge (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). If a completed puzzle guardian is within 10 feet of at one other completed puzzle guardian, it can merge into an impossible puzzle guardian, which has full hit points.
Split (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). The guardian can split into two complete puzzle guardians.
Puzzle Guardian
The Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #302
Creature by Eric Cagle; art by Marc Sasso
Puzzle guardians are actually conglomerate constructs, each formed out of eight separate pieces. Each piece is carved from a single block of hard stone, and carefully formed to fit with one another, like a complex, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Individual pieces are small, only a few feet tall, but are capable fighters and protectors. However, as a group, they form a single, towering construct. They are frequently used as bodyguards, since they are nearly as strong as stone guardians and their ability to form large bodies and then split again into many smaller bodies gives them an edge that most guardians lack.
Creators often decorate their puzzle guardians so that they form a single image when in completed form. Single-piece puzzle guardians will not willingly move more than 50 feet from each other, and prefer to be much closer together.
Rebuild. As long as one single-piece puzzle guardian remains at 1 hit point or more, it can rebuild its completed puzzle form. It must use pieces of rubble the other single-piece puzzle guardians, along with other pieces of stone to fill in the missing pieces. The process of rebuilding itself takes one day per single-piece guardian it must make. It can’t create “backup” puzzle pieces or a new complete puzzle guardian; it can only replace the pieces they’re missing.
Single-Piece Puzzle Guardian
Small construct; Challenge 1 (200 XP)
AC 17 (natural armor)
HP 34 (4d6+20; bloodied 17)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5)
INT 3 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 1 (-5)
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 14
Damage Immunities Poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Pack Tactics. The guardian has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one other single-piece puzzle guardian is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) bludgeoning damage
Bonus Actions
Merge (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). If the guardian is within 10 feet of at least four other single-piece puzzle guardians, it can merge into a completed puzzle guardian, which has full hit points.
Completed Puzzle Guardian
Large squad of Small constructs; Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
AC 17 (natural armor)
HP 170 (20d6+100; bloodied 85)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5)
INT 3 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 1 (-5)
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 16
Damage Immunities Poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Area Vulnerability. The completed puzzle golem takes double damage from any effect that targets an area.
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Squad. The guardian is composed of 5 or more single-piece puzzle guardians. If it is subjected to a spell, attack, or other effect that affects only one target, it takes any damage but ignores other effects. Because the single-piece puzzle guardians are stacked on top of and clinging to one another, it can’t share its space with other creatures or move through an opening large enough for a Small creature without squeezing.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (5d8+4) bludgeoning damage, or half damage if the squad is bloodied.
Shoving Blow (Recharge 6). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., all creatures within 5 feet. Hit: 22 (5d8+4) bludgeoning damage, or half damage if the squad is bloodied, and if the target is a Medium or smaller creature and the guardian is not bloodied, the target must make a DC 16 Strength saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away from the guardian.
Bonus Actions
Split (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). The guardian can split into eight single-piece puzzle guardians, each of which has full hit points.
Variant: Impossible Puzzle Guardian
Most puzzle guardians consist of eight single-piece puzzle guardians, but a few are more complicated than that. Called impossible guardians, after similar overly-complicated and almost impossible to solve jigsaw puzzles, they consist of a single, tremendous completed puzzle guardian, which can split into eight complete puzzle guardians, each of which can split into eight single-piece puzzle guardians.
The impossible puzzle guardian is an elite monster, equivalent to two CR 10 creatures (11,800 XP). It has 340 (40d6+200; bloodied 170) hit points, is Huge, and has the following trait:
Elite Recovery. At the end of each of its turns while bloodied, the puzzle guardian can end one condition or effect on itself. It can do this even when unconscious or incapacitated.
The guardian has the following bonus actions, which replaces Split:
Merge (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). If a completed puzzle guardian is within 10 feet of at one other completed puzzle guardian, it can merge into an impossible puzzle guardian, which has full hit points.
Split (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). The guardian can split into two complete puzzle guardians.
Faolyn
(she/her)
The next planar dragon is the arboreal dragon, which is, of course, from Arborea—although they really should be from the Feywild. Or the Dreaming, in Level Up. There’s not much to say about them. They’re set up as fairy-tale dragons, but are too nice to be the typical fairy-tale dragon. They’re more like the friendly dragon from a children’s book. Only sometimes drunk.
Arboreal Dragon
Planar Dragons, Dragon Magazine #321
Creature Edward Bonny; art by Marc Sasso
More often found in the Dreaming than anywhere else, arboreal dragons are beautiful fey creatures. Many people believe that they are gigantic faerie dragons, and while this isn’t true, the two consider each other to be cousins. Arboreal dragons are serpentine in appearance. They lack the horns, spikes, and ridges that other dragons have, and instead have large, leaf-like ears that taper into very long points, almost like an insects antennae. Their wings are gossamer and their shimmering scales constantly change color. Their eyes are pure black, and whenever they move, they leave a trail of sparkling mist in their wake. Arboreal dragons have an almost fragile appearance, although in reality they are quite sturdy.
Party On! The fey folk enjoy revelries, and arboreal dragons are no different. They often take on a humanoid or faerie form in order to attend plays and fetes—and in fact are rarely found in their true form, excepting those occasions when they need to fight or be impressive for some reason. They are exceedingly fond of wine, song, and the attentions of amenable creatures of other species and gladly indulge in such joys whenever they can.
Romantics. Arboreal dragons have a strong love of epic tales, especially those featuring knights in shining armor who set out to defeat great evil or for the sake of their ruler or nation, and those of people who go on quests to find, or at the behest of, true love. But even better than tales are when it happens in real life. Should an arboreal dragon encounter someone who is on a true noble quest, they will stop at nothing to aid them—anything that allows the story that is unfolding to have a happy ending. There are few things that upset the dragon more than a story that ends in tragedy.
Dreaming Dwellers. Arboreal dragons live amongst the fey folk in the Dreaming and rarely travel to any mortal realms, save to planes where animals and plants dominate. They are protective of their domains, but not fanatically so. If a foe seems too powerful to fight, the dragons will back off—and then engage in underhanded tactics and guerrilla warfare against them. All but the youngest of these dragons have the ability to lay a powerful curse on their targets, turning them into animals. This curse is often permanent, and many of the beasts that roam the dragon’s territory used to be people. The dragon can recognize these former foes by sight and will never actively harm them—the point of the curse is to make the creature live its life as a lowly animal, after all—but they also don’t prevent other creatures from harming them.
That said, arboreal dragons revel in personal freedom and hate creatures who would try to control or enslave others, or who demand conformity—against such creatures, an arboreal dragon will fight to its last breath.
Climate/Terrain: Temperate; Dreaming, forest, grassland, hill, Plantasia, swamp, Veskrollo, Xyclione
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or History check, the characters can learn the following:
DC 10. Known to be honorable, arboreal dragons never lie. However, they’re fey creatures, and so very often twist the truth.
DC 15. These dragons exhale a burst of glass-sharp thorns, although they are better known for their ability to turn their foes into animals, sometimes permanently. Strangely, whenever they move, they leave trails of quickly-dissipating glitter in the air.
DC 20. Arboreal dragons are rarely found in their true form, as even young dragons learn how to change into humanoid or faerie form. In such forms, they can usually be found among other fey, engaging in amusements.
Arboreal Dragon Encounters
Challenge Rating 1-2 arboreal dragon wyrmling
Treasure: 40 gp, 400 sp, turquoise earings (25 gp), dust of sneezing and choking, potion of heroism
Challenge Rating 3-4 arboreal dragon wyrmling with 1d6+2 goblins or blink dogs; arboreal dragon wyrmling with 1d4+4 pixies or sprites
Treasure: 110 sp, 3,000 cp, garnet ring (25 gp), embroidered silk handkerchief (25 gp), hat of disguise, magic pocket mirror
Challenge Rating 5-10 Young arboreal dragon; arboreal dragon wyrmling with 1d4 horned taurics
Treasure: 230 pp, 700 gp, 3 moonstones (50 gp each), carved ivory statuette of a forest spirit (250 gp), silver necklace with alexandrite pendant (250 gp), focusing mirror, potions of gaseous form and giant strength, wand of magic detecting
Challenge Rating 11-16 Adult arboreal dragon; young arboreal dragon with 1d4+2 faerie dragons, goblin bosses, or satyrs
Treasure: 130 pp, 600 gp, 4 topazes (500 gp each), 5 grams of gold dust (250 gp), large tapestry depicting a fey festival (500 gp), chess set where the pieces are made of magical living wood (500 gp), +2 scimitar made of magical wood, censer of controlling air elementals
Challenge Rating 17-22 Ancient arboreal dragon; adult arboreal dragon with fey knight, green hag, or minstrels; adult arboreal dragon with knight
Treasure: 3 vials of faerie dragon euphoria gas, ioun stone of protection, oil of slipperiness, spellcasting symphony (harp of harmony), vial of beauty
Challenge Rating 23-30 Ancient arboreal dragon with faerie noble; ancient arboreal dragon with 2-3 fey knights; ancient arboreal dragon with holy knight
Treasure: gold and electrum birdcage with a singing clockwork bird inside (2,500 gp)
Challenge Rating 31+ Great wyrm arboreal dragon with archfey or knight captain
Treasure: 20 pieces of jewelry that resemble stained glass (50 gp each), platinum crown set with a star sapphire (5,000 gp)
Signs
1. Very large, exotic flowers in brilliant colors; with a DC 15 Perception or Investigation check, the flowers subtly turn to “watch” passers-by.
2. Sparkling fog.
3. The laughing of fey folk
4. Living trees grown in the shape of dancing fey-folk
5. A line of small hoof prints that turn into footprints and eventually into draconic prints
6. A plant grows from a seed to a friendly, flowering awakened shrub in just moments.
Behavior
1. In fey form and off to a fey party. Will invite the party, if they are nice.
2. Approaches the party while shapechanged to ask a riddle. There are no wrong answers, but the quality and creativity of the offered answer will determine how the dragon responds to the party
3. On the trail of a fiendish incursion
4. Reading an epic story and hoping to discuss it with someone
5. Making literal moonshine out of actual moonlight
6. Tending its garden
Lair Features
The save DC for the following effects is 13 + the dragon’s proficiency bonus. Choose or roll one or more of the following lair features:
1. Illusions befuddle creatures trying to navigate the lair. When a creature tries to reach a specific location in the lair or leave it, it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it ends up back where it started a few minutes later.
2. The lair is filled with magical plants that slowly shuffle about, blocking or creating passageways and herding adventures towards specific areas. Once each hour, travelers must make a group Perception check; on a failure, they miss the trees picking their pockets and stealing from their packs, and each character loses 50 gp worth of gold and small objects.
3. The lair has several large, gnarled trees in it. As an action, the legendary dragon that is within 5 feet of one of these trees can teleport to another gnarled tree in its lair.
4. The dragon’s lair is home to numerous faerie knights. At the beginning of each round of combat, roll a d6. On a 5-6, 1 faerie knight arrives to defend the dragon, acting on the dragon’s initiative. The faerie knights fight until killed or until the dragon instructs them to stop.
Names
Dewglimmer, Indred, Nannog, Torlynth, Winterbloom
Ancient Arboreal Dragon
Legendary Gargantuan dragon (fey); Challenge 22 (41,000 XP)
AC 20 (natural armor)
HP 370 (20d20+160; bloodied 185)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
STR 26 (+8) DEX 16 (+3) CON 26 (+8)
INT 18 (+4) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 22 (+6)
Proficiency +7; Maneuver DC 23
Saving Throws Dex +10, Con +15, Wis +10, Cha +13
Skills Arcana +12, Insight +10, Perception +10 (+1d6), Performance +13, Persuasion +13, Stealth +10
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 23
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan, two more
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Legendary Resistance (3/day). When the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. When it does, it sheds some of its scales, which turn into leaves and flower petals. If it has no more uses of this ability, its Armor Class is reduced to 18 until it finishes a long rest.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite attack, it can Spit Thorn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (4d10+8) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8+8) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8+8) bludgeoning damage, and the dragon pushes the target 10 feet away.
Quarterstaff (Humanoid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d6+8) bludgeoning damage, or 12 (1d8+8) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
Beastly Curse (1/day). The dragon targets any number of creatures it can see that are not fey and are within 60 feet of it and forces them to make a DC 21 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature is magically polymorphed into a Tiny beast for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the creature fails three saving throws, the transformation is permanent until the creature is targeted by a remove curse.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw, taking 66 (19d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Spit Thorn. The dragon targets a creature within 60 feet, forcing it to make a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 22 (4d10) piercing damage on a failure or half as much on a success. A creature that fails its save is also poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, taking 11 (2d10) poison damage on a failure and ending the effect on a success.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid, fey, or beast, or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Spit Thorn, Breath Weapon, Tail Attack, or Wing Attack except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its quarterstaff.
Faerie Speech. The dragon speaks magical words to a creature within 60 feet that can hear and understand it. That creature must make a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the dragon until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Werelight. The dragon can shed dim light to a 30-foot radius, or extinguish the glow.
Reactions
Tail Attack. When a creature the dragon can see within 10 feet of the dragon hits it with a melee attack, the dragon makes a tail attack against it.
Legendary Actions
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Roar. Each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet that can hear it makes a DC 21 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, it is frightened for 1 minute. A creature repeats the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. When it succeeds on a saving throw or the effect ends for it, it is immune to Roar for 24 hours.
Wing Attack. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet makes a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its fly speed.
Awaken The Forest’s Wrath (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon magically animates a Large or larger plant within 60 feet. The plant is immobile, but otherwise is treated as an awakened tree. Creatures other than the plant and the dragon treat the ground within 15 feet of the plant as difficult terrain, as surrounding roots conspire to trip and grasp moving creatures. The plant remains animated for 1 hour. The dragon can only have three plants animated in this fashion at a time, and if it uses this action to animate a fourth plant, the plant that has been animated the longest returns to normal.
Variant: Dragon Spellcaster
Some dragons develop the ability to innately cast spells. A dragon spellcaster’s spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components. Each age category knows its own spells and those of younger age categories:
Young Adult (save DC 15): At Will: dancing lights, shillelagh; 3/day each: faerie fire, phantasmal force
Adult (save DC 17): 3/day each: conjure fey, true polymorph
Ancient (save DC 21): 1/day each: dominate monster
Ancient Dragon Variant: Arboreal Great Wyrm
The dragon is an elite monster, equivalent to two CR 22 monsters (82,000 XP). It has 740 (40d20+320; bloodied 370) hit points and the following trait:
Blossoming Spring. When the dragon is first bloodied, it immediately recharges its breath weapon, if it is not already available. Flowers grow from every nearby plant and hundreds of butterflies appear and surround the dragon’s foes, fluttering madly in their faces, and wild fey laughter is emitted from every corner. Until the end of the dragon’s next turn, each of the dragon’s foes is blinded and deafened.
The dragon has the following additional legendary actions, which it can only use while bloodied:
Elite Recovery. The dragon ends one negative effect currently affecting it. It can do so as long as it has at least 1 hit point, even while unconscious or incapacitated.
Mortal Terror (Gaze). A creature within 120 feet makes a saving throw against Roar, even if it has already successfully saved within the past 24 hours.
Dragon Breath (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon uses its breath weapon.
Regrowth (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon recharges its breath weapons.
*
Adult Arboreal Dragon
Legendary Huge dragon (fey); Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)
AC 18 (natural armor)
HP 250 (20d12+120; bloodied 125)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
STR 22 (+6) DEX 16 (+3) CON 22 (+6)
INT 16 (+3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 19 (+4)
Proficiency +5; Maneuver DC 19
Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +11, Wis +7, Cha +9
Skills Arcana +8, Insight +7, Perception +7 (+1d6), Performance + 9, Persuasion +9, Stealth +8
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan, two more
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Legendary Resistance (3/day). When the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. When it does, it sheds some of its scales, which turn into leaves and flower petals. If it has no more uses of this ability, its Armor Class is reduced to 16 until it finishes a long rest.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite attack, it can Spit Thorn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8+6) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+6) bludgeoning damage, and the dragon pushes the target 10 feet away.
Quarterstaff (Humanoid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d6+6) bludgeoning damage, or 10 (1d8+6) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
Beastly Curse (1/day). The dragon targets any number of creatures it can see that are not fey and are within 60 feet of it and forces them to make a DC 17 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature is magically polymorphed into a Tiny beast for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the creature fails three saving throws, the transformation is permanent until the creature is targeted by a remove curse.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Spit Thorn. The dragon targets a creature within 60 feet, forcing it to make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 16 (3d10) piercing damage on a failure or half as much on a success. A creature that fails its save is also poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, taking 5 (1d10) poison damage on a failure and ending the effect on a success.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid, fey, or beast, or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Spit Thorn, Breath Weapon, Tail Attack, or Wing Attack except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its quarterstaff.
Faerie Speech. The dragon speaks magical words to a creature within 60 feet that can hear and understand it. That creature must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the dragon until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Werelight. The dragon can shed dim light to a 15-foot radius, or extinguish the glow.
Reactions
Tail Attack. When a creature the dragon can see within 10 feet of the dragon hits it with a melee attack, the dragon makes a tail attack against it.
Legendary Actions
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Roar. Each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet that can hear it makes a DC 17 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, it is frightened for 1 minute. A creature repeats the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. When it succeeds on a saving throw or the effect ends for it, it is immune to Roar for 24 hours.
Wing Attack. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet makes a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its fly speed.
Awaken The Forest’s Wrath (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon magically animates a Large or larger plant within 60 feet. The plant is immobile, but otherwise is treated as an awakened tree. Creatures other than the plant and the dragon treat the ground within 15 feet of the plant as difficult terrain, as surrounding roots conspire to trip and grasp moving creatures. The plant remains animated for 1 hour. The dragon can only have three plants animated in this fashion at a time, and if it uses this action to animate a fourth plant, the plant that has been animated the longest returns to normal.
*
Young Arboreal Dragon
Large dragon (fey); Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
AC 16 (natural armor)
HP 152 (16d10+64; bloodied 76)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 16 (+3) CON 18 (+4)
INT 14 (+2) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 17 (+3)
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 16
Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +8, Wis +5, Cha +7
Skills Arcana +8, Insight +5, Perception +5 (+1d6), Performance +7, Persuasion +7, Stealth +7
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite attack, it can Spit Thorn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d10+4) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage.
Beastly Curse (1/day). The dragon targets up to 4 creatures it can see that are not fey and are within 60 feet of it and forces them to make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature is magically polymorphed into a Tiny beast for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the creature fails three saving throws, the transformation is permanent until the creature is targeted by a remove curse.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 38 (11d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid, fey, or beast, or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Breath Weapons except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its greatsword.
Bonus Actions
Werelight. The dragon can shed dim light to a 5-foot radius, or extinguish the glow.
*
Arboreal Dragon Wyrmling
Medium dragon (fey); Challenge 2 (450 XP)
AC 15 (natural armor)
HP 45 (7d8+14; bloodied 22)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR 14 (+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 14 (+2)
INT 12 (+1) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 15 (+2)
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 12
Skills Perception +2, Stealth +5
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d10+2) piercing damage.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 15 (4d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Arboreal Dragon
Planar Dragons, Dragon Magazine #321
Creature Edward Bonny; art by Marc Sasso
More often found in the Dreaming than anywhere else, arboreal dragons are beautiful fey creatures. Many people believe that they are gigantic faerie dragons, and while this isn’t true, the two consider each other to be cousins. Arboreal dragons are serpentine in appearance. They lack the horns, spikes, and ridges that other dragons have, and instead have large, leaf-like ears that taper into very long points, almost like an insects antennae. Their wings are gossamer and their shimmering scales constantly change color. Their eyes are pure black, and whenever they move, they leave a trail of sparkling mist in their wake. Arboreal dragons have an almost fragile appearance, although in reality they are quite sturdy.
Party On! The fey folk enjoy revelries, and arboreal dragons are no different. They often take on a humanoid or faerie form in order to attend plays and fetes—and in fact are rarely found in their true form, excepting those occasions when they need to fight or be impressive for some reason. They are exceedingly fond of wine, song, and the attentions of amenable creatures of other species and gladly indulge in such joys whenever they can.
Romantics. Arboreal dragons have a strong love of epic tales, especially those featuring knights in shining armor who set out to defeat great evil or for the sake of their ruler or nation, and those of people who go on quests to find, or at the behest of, true love. But even better than tales are when it happens in real life. Should an arboreal dragon encounter someone who is on a true noble quest, they will stop at nothing to aid them—anything that allows the story that is unfolding to have a happy ending. There are few things that upset the dragon more than a story that ends in tragedy.
Dreaming Dwellers. Arboreal dragons live amongst the fey folk in the Dreaming and rarely travel to any mortal realms, save to planes where animals and plants dominate. They are protective of their domains, but not fanatically so. If a foe seems too powerful to fight, the dragons will back off—and then engage in underhanded tactics and guerrilla warfare against them. All but the youngest of these dragons have the ability to lay a powerful curse on their targets, turning them into animals. This curse is often permanent, and many of the beasts that roam the dragon’s territory used to be people. The dragon can recognize these former foes by sight and will never actively harm them—the point of the curse is to make the creature live its life as a lowly animal, after all—but they also don’t prevent other creatures from harming them.
That said, arboreal dragons revel in personal freedom and hate creatures who would try to control or enslave others, or who demand conformity—against such creatures, an arboreal dragon will fight to its last breath.
Climate/Terrain: Temperate; Dreaming, forest, grassland, hill, Plantasia, swamp, Veskrollo, Xyclione
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or History check, the characters can learn the following:
DC 10. Known to be honorable, arboreal dragons never lie. However, they’re fey creatures, and so very often twist the truth.
DC 15. These dragons exhale a burst of glass-sharp thorns, although they are better known for their ability to turn their foes into animals, sometimes permanently. Strangely, whenever they move, they leave trails of quickly-dissipating glitter in the air.
DC 20. Arboreal dragons are rarely found in their true form, as even young dragons learn how to change into humanoid or faerie form. In such forms, they can usually be found among other fey, engaging in amusements.
Arboreal Dragon Encounters
Challenge Rating 1-2 arboreal dragon wyrmling
Treasure: 40 gp, 400 sp, turquoise earings (25 gp), dust of sneezing and choking, potion of heroism
Challenge Rating 3-4 arboreal dragon wyrmling with 1d6+2 goblins or blink dogs; arboreal dragon wyrmling with 1d4+4 pixies or sprites
Treasure: 110 sp, 3,000 cp, garnet ring (25 gp), embroidered silk handkerchief (25 gp), hat of disguise, magic pocket mirror
Challenge Rating 5-10 Young arboreal dragon; arboreal dragon wyrmling with 1d4 horned taurics
Treasure: 230 pp, 700 gp, 3 moonstones (50 gp each), carved ivory statuette of a forest spirit (250 gp), silver necklace with alexandrite pendant (250 gp), focusing mirror, potions of gaseous form and giant strength, wand of magic detecting
Challenge Rating 11-16 Adult arboreal dragon; young arboreal dragon with 1d4+2 faerie dragons, goblin bosses, or satyrs
Treasure: 130 pp, 600 gp, 4 topazes (500 gp each), 5 grams of gold dust (250 gp), large tapestry depicting a fey festival (500 gp), chess set where the pieces are made of magical living wood (500 gp), +2 scimitar made of magical wood, censer of controlling air elementals
Challenge Rating 17-22 Ancient arboreal dragon; adult arboreal dragon with fey knight, green hag, or minstrels; adult arboreal dragon with knight
Treasure: 3 vials of faerie dragon euphoria gas, ioun stone of protection, oil of slipperiness, spellcasting symphony (harp of harmony), vial of beauty
Challenge Rating 23-30 Ancient arboreal dragon with faerie noble; ancient arboreal dragon with 2-3 fey knights; ancient arboreal dragon with holy knight
Treasure: gold and electrum birdcage with a singing clockwork bird inside (2,500 gp)
Challenge Rating 31+ Great wyrm arboreal dragon with archfey or knight captain
Treasure: 20 pieces of jewelry that resemble stained glass (50 gp each), platinum crown set with a star sapphire (5,000 gp)
Signs
1. Very large, exotic flowers in brilliant colors; with a DC 15 Perception or Investigation check, the flowers subtly turn to “watch” passers-by.
2. Sparkling fog.
3. The laughing of fey folk
4. Living trees grown in the shape of dancing fey-folk
5. A line of small hoof prints that turn into footprints and eventually into draconic prints
6. A plant grows from a seed to a friendly, flowering awakened shrub in just moments.
Behavior
1. In fey form and off to a fey party. Will invite the party, if they are nice.
2. Approaches the party while shapechanged to ask a riddle. There are no wrong answers, but the quality and creativity of the offered answer will determine how the dragon responds to the party
3. On the trail of a fiendish incursion
4. Reading an epic story and hoping to discuss it with someone
5. Making literal moonshine out of actual moonlight
6. Tending its garden
Lair Features
The save DC for the following effects is 13 + the dragon’s proficiency bonus. Choose or roll one or more of the following lair features:
1. Illusions befuddle creatures trying to navigate the lair. When a creature tries to reach a specific location in the lair or leave it, it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it ends up back where it started a few minutes later.
2. The lair is filled with magical plants that slowly shuffle about, blocking or creating passageways and herding adventures towards specific areas. Once each hour, travelers must make a group Perception check; on a failure, they miss the trees picking their pockets and stealing from their packs, and each character loses 50 gp worth of gold and small objects.
3. The lair has several large, gnarled trees in it. As an action, the legendary dragon that is within 5 feet of one of these trees can teleport to another gnarled tree in its lair.
4. The dragon’s lair is home to numerous faerie knights. At the beginning of each round of combat, roll a d6. On a 5-6, 1 faerie knight arrives to defend the dragon, acting on the dragon’s initiative. The faerie knights fight until killed or until the dragon instructs them to stop.
Names
Dewglimmer, Indred, Nannog, Torlynth, Winterbloom
Ancient Arboreal Dragon
Legendary Gargantuan dragon (fey); Challenge 22 (41,000 XP)
AC 20 (natural armor)
HP 370 (20d20+160; bloodied 185)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
STR 26 (+8) DEX 16 (+3) CON 26 (+8)
INT 18 (+4) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 22 (+6)
Proficiency +7; Maneuver DC 23
Saving Throws Dex +10, Con +15, Wis +10, Cha +13
Skills Arcana +12, Insight +10, Perception +10 (+1d6), Performance +13, Persuasion +13, Stealth +10
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 23
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan, two more
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Legendary Resistance (3/day). When the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. When it does, it sheds some of its scales, which turn into leaves and flower petals. If it has no more uses of this ability, its Armor Class is reduced to 18 until it finishes a long rest.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite attack, it can Spit Thorn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (4d10+8) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8+8) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8+8) bludgeoning damage, and the dragon pushes the target 10 feet away.
Quarterstaff (Humanoid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d6+8) bludgeoning damage, or 12 (1d8+8) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
Beastly Curse (1/day). The dragon targets any number of creatures it can see that are not fey and are within 60 feet of it and forces them to make a DC 21 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature is magically polymorphed into a Tiny beast for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the creature fails three saving throws, the transformation is permanent until the creature is targeted by a remove curse.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw, taking 66 (19d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Spit Thorn. The dragon targets a creature within 60 feet, forcing it to make a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 22 (4d10) piercing damage on a failure or half as much on a success. A creature that fails its save is also poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, taking 11 (2d10) poison damage on a failure and ending the effect on a success.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid, fey, or beast, or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Spit Thorn, Breath Weapon, Tail Attack, or Wing Attack except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its quarterstaff.
Faerie Speech. The dragon speaks magical words to a creature within 60 feet that can hear and understand it. That creature must make a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the dragon until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Werelight. The dragon can shed dim light to a 30-foot radius, or extinguish the glow.
Reactions
Tail Attack. When a creature the dragon can see within 10 feet of the dragon hits it with a melee attack, the dragon makes a tail attack against it.
Legendary Actions
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Roar. Each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet that can hear it makes a DC 21 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, it is frightened for 1 minute. A creature repeats the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. When it succeeds on a saving throw or the effect ends for it, it is immune to Roar for 24 hours.
Wing Attack. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet makes a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its fly speed.
Awaken The Forest’s Wrath (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon magically animates a Large or larger plant within 60 feet. The plant is immobile, but otherwise is treated as an awakened tree. Creatures other than the plant and the dragon treat the ground within 15 feet of the plant as difficult terrain, as surrounding roots conspire to trip and grasp moving creatures. The plant remains animated for 1 hour. The dragon can only have three plants animated in this fashion at a time, and if it uses this action to animate a fourth plant, the plant that has been animated the longest returns to normal.
Variant: Dragon Spellcaster
Some dragons develop the ability to innately cast spells. A dragon spellcaster’s spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components. Each age category knows its own spells and those of younger age categories:
Young Adult (save DC 15): At Will: dancing lights, shillelagh; 3/day each: faerie fire, phantasmal force
Adult (save DC 17): 3/day each: conjure fey, true polymorph
Ancient (save DC 21): 1/day each: dominate monster
Ancient Dragon Variant: Arboreal Great Wyrm
The dragon is an elite monster, equivalent to two CR 22 monsters (82,000 XP). It has 740 (40d20+320; bloodied 370) hit points and the following trait:
Blossoming Spring. When the dragon is first bloodied, it immediately recharges its breath weapon, if it is not already available. Flowers grow from every nearby plant and hundreds of butterflies appear and surround the dragon’s foes, fluttering madly in their faces, and wild fey laughter is emitted from every corner. Until the end of the dragon’s next turn, each of the dragon’s foes is blinded and deafened.
The dragon has the following additional legendary actions, which it can only use while bloodied:
Elite Recovery. The dragon ends one negative effect currently affecting it. It can do so as long as it has at least 1 hit point, even while unconscious or incapacitated.
Mortal Terror (Gaze). A creature within 120 feet makes a saving throw against Roar, even if it has already successfully saved within the past 24 hours.
Dragon Breath (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon uses its breath weapon.
Regrowth (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon recharges its breath weapons.
*
Adult Arboreal Dragon
Legendary Huge dragon (fey); Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)
AC 18 (natural armor)
HP 250 (20d12+120; bloodied 125)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
STR 22 (+6) DEX 16 (+3) CON 22 (+6)
INT 16 (+3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 19 (+4)
Proficiency +5; Maneuver DC 19
Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +11, Wis +7, Cha +9
Skills Arcana +8, Insight +7, Perception +7 (+1d6), Performance + 9, Persuasion +9, Stealth +8
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan, two more
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Legendary Resistance (3/day). When the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. When it does, it sheds some of its scales, which turn into leaves and flower petals. If it has no more uses of this ability, its Armor Class is reduced to 16 until it finishes a long rest.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite attack, it can Spit Thorn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8+6) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+6) bludgeoning damage, and the dragon pushes the target 10 feet away.
Quarterstaff (Humanoid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d6+6) bludgeoning damage, or 10 (1d8+6) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
Beastly Curse (1/day). The dragon targets any number of creatures it can see that are not fey and are within 60 feet of it and forces them to make a DC 17 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature is magically polymorphed into a Tiny beast for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the creature fails three saving throws, the transformation is permanent until the creature is targeted by a remove curse.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Spit Thorn. The dragon targets a creature within 60 feet, forcing it to make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 16 (3d10) piercing damage on a failure or half as much on a success. A creature that fails its save is also poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, taking 5 (1d10) poison damage on a failure and ending the effect on a success.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid, fey, or beast, or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Spit Thorn, Breath Weapon, Tail Attack, or Wing Attack except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its quarterstaff.
Faerie Speech. The dragon speaks magical words to a creature within 60 feet that can hear and understand it. That creature must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the dragon until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Werelight. The dragon can shed dim light to a 15-foot radius, or extinguish the glow.
Reactions
Tail Attack. When a creature the dragon can see within 10 feet of the dragon hits it with a melee attack, the dragon makes a tail attack against it.
Legendary Actions
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Roar. Each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet that can hear it makes a DC 17 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, it is frightened for 1 minute. A creature repeats the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. When it succeeds on a saving throw or the effect ends for it, it is immune to Roar for 24 hours.
Wing Attack. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet makes a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its fly speed.
Awaken The Forest’s Wrath (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon magically animates a Large or larger plant within 60 feet. The plant is immobile, but otherwise is treated as an awakened tree. Creatures other than the plant and the dragon treat the ground within 15 feet of the plant as difficult terrain, as surrounding roots conspire to trip and grasp moving creatures. The plant remains animated for 1 hour. The dragon can only have three plants animated in this fashion at a time, and if it uses this action to animate a fourth plant, the plant that has been animated the longest returns to normal.
*
Young Arboreal Dragon
Large dragon (fey); Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
AC 16 (natural armor)
HP 152 (16d10+64; bloodied 76)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 16 (+3) CON 18 (+4)
INT 14 (+2) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 17 (+3)
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 16
Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +8, Wis +5, Cha +7
Skills Arcana +8, Insight +5, Perception +5 (+1d6), Performance +7, Persuasion +7, Stealth +7
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite attack, it can Spit Thorn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d10+4) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage.
Beastly Curse (1/day). The dragon targets up to 4 creatures it can see that are not fey and are within 60 feet of it and forces them to make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature is magically polymorphed into a Tiny beast for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the creature fails three saving throws, the transformation is permanent until the creature is targeted by a remove curse.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 38 (11d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid, fey, or beast, or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Breath Weapons except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its greatsword.
Bonus Actions
Werelight. The dragon can shed dim light to a 5-foot radius, or extinguish the glow.
*
Arboreal Dragon Wyrmling
Medium dragon (fey); Challenge 2 (450 XP)
AC 15 (natural armor)
HP 45 (7d8+14; bloodied 22)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR 14 (+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 14 (+2)
INT 12 (+1) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 15 (+2)
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 12
Skills Perception +2, Stealth +5
Damage Immunities acid, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, unconscious
Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan
Chaotic Good. The dragon radiates an aura of Chaos and Good.
Forest Mastery. The dragon isn’t hindered by difficult terrain caused by natural or magical plants.
Speak with Plants. The dragon can communicate with plants.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d10+2) piercing damage.
Briar Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon breathes razor-sharp thorns in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 15 (4d6) piercing damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails its save also has its speed by half until it spends an action picking briars the off of it.
Faolyn
(she/her)
We’re done with the Bestiary but not with guardians quite yet. Issue #302 also had a Silicon Sorcery article for Neverwinter Nights, a game which (let’s say it all together) I’ve never played. From there, we get the glyph guardian (the description often uses glyph golem, but the actual creature is called a guardian). This is a template that can be applied to any construct and so, in the tradition of 5e templates, I’ll give you both the template and an entemplated guardian as well.
I can’t actually find out anything about glyph guardians from the game—there’s nothing with an even remotely similar name on the NWN fandom wiki I looked at. OK, I admit I only looked under the “constructs” section, so maybe these things were in a different categories. Maybe these guys were more inspired by the game then actually in it?
Since templates in 5e and LU never seem to increase the CR of the final creature, I decided to make the glyph guardian into an elite creature. It makes it pretty powerful but why not? It has to be, considering that it’s bound to an area it can’t leave. It may have a ranged attack, but it’s still at risk of being attacked from outside its area.
Glyph Guardian (Template)
Silicon Sorcery, Dragon Magazine #302
Creature by Clifford Horowitz
Also known as seal or portal guardians, glyph guardians are a form of guardian that has been set to guard a particular area. They are bound to that area and unable to leave it, but many guardian creators view this as an acceptable trade-off; the glyph guardian may not be able to do wide patrols, but they are extremely powerful nevertheless.
Glyph guardians resemble normal guardians, but are completely covered with arcane runes that glow with mystical energy. Some say that these runes are the true construct and the guardian is merely the chassis that carries them around.
“Glyph guardian” is a template that can be placed on any construct. It retains all of the statistics of the base creature except as noted below.
Elite. The glyph guardian is an elite creature, the equivalent of two creatures of its normal CR. It has double the normal Hit Dice and hit points and grants double the normal amount of XP. A glyph guardian retains all the statistics of the base creature and gains except as noted below.
Elemental Energy. The glyph guardian is enchanted with one of the following energy types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. Whenever the term “elemental energy” is used in the template, it refers to that particular damage type.
Bonded Area. The glyph guardian is mystically tied to its domain and cannot leave it or be forcibly removed from it. The domain’s area can be any size that will fit into a 1,000-foot-diameter square.
Bursting Blow. The glyph guardian’s melee attacks inflict an additional elemental energy damage, as follows:
CR 4 or lower: 4 (1d8) elemental energy damage
CR 5 – 16: 9 (2d8) elemental energy damage
CR 17 – 30: 13 (3d8) elemental energy damage
CR 31 or higher: 18 (4d8) elemental energy damage
Calm. If the base creature had a chance to go berserk when being bloodied, it loses that trait.
Immunities. The glyph guardian is immune to its elemental energy type.
True Seeing. The glyph guardian gains truesight to 60 feet.
Action: Guardian Ray. One creature within 120 feet that the glyph guardian can see must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + the guardian’s PB + the guardian’s Constitution modifier). On a failure, the target takes elemental damage depending on the base creature’s CR:
CR 4 or lower: 14 (4d6) elemental damage
CR 5 – 16: 21 (6d6) elemental damage
CR 17 – 22: 28 (8d6) elemental damage
CR 23 or higher: 35 (10d6) elemental damage
In addition, the creature takes 3 (1d6) ongoing elemental energy damage, and is slowed until the end of its next turn. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the ongoing damage on a success.
Action: Teleport. The glyph guardian can teleport itself, its creator, and up to 50 pounds of objects anywhere within its Bounded Area.
Bonus Action: Elite Recovery. The glyph guardian can end one condition or effect on itself. It can use this action as long as it has 1 hit point, even when unconscious or incapacitated.
Reaction: Stasis Blow (Recharge 5-6). When the glyph guardian makes a successful melee attack or attack with its Guardian Ray, it may use its reaction to envelop the target in an amber glow. The target must make a Constitution saving throw or be restrained as the glow begins to place it in stasis. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of its turn, ending the effect on a success and becoming incapacitated on a failure. While incapacitated, its move is 0 and it is unconscious. It remains in stasis for 2d12 × 5 hours. This effect can be ended with a dispel magic, but the caster succeed on an ability check, with a DC equal to the saving throw DC that was calculated for this effect.
--
The following uses an iron guardian as the base creature
Iron Glyph Guardian
Large construct; Challenge 14 (11,500 XP) (doubled for elite)
AC 20 (natural armor)
HP 420 (40d10+200; bloodied 210)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 24 (+7) DEX 12 (+1) CON 20 (+5)
INT 3 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 1 (+5)
Proficiency +5; Maneuver DC 20
Damage Immunities cold, fire, poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Fire Absorption. When the guardian is subjected to fire damage, it instead regains hit points equal to the fire damage dealt.
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian makes two sword attacks.
Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 29 (4d10+7) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) cold damage. If the guardian scores a critical hit, it inflicts an additional 18 (4d8) cold damage.
Guardian Ray. Ranged Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (6d6) cold damage, and the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 3 (1d6) ongoing elemental energy damage and is slowed until the end of its next turn. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the ongoing damage on a success.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5-6). The guardian exhales poisonous gas in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 45 (10d8) poison damage on a failure or half as much damage on a success.
Teleport. The glyph guardian can teleport itself, its creator, and up to 50 pounds of objects anywhere within its Bounded Area.
Bonus Actions
Elite Recovery (When Bloodied). The glyph guardian can end one condition or effect on itself. It can do this even when unconscious or incapacitated.
Reactions
Deflection. When missed by a ranged attack by a creature the guardian can see, the guardian redirects the attack against a creature within 60 feet that it can see. The original attack must reroll the attack against the new target.
Stasis Blow (Recharge 5-6). When the glyph guardian makes a successful melee attack or attack with its Guardian Ray, it may use its reaction to envelop the target in an amber glow. The target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be restrained as the glow begins to place it in stasis. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of its turn, ending the effect on a success and becoming incapacitated on a failure. While incapacitated, its move is 0 and it is unconscious. It remains in stasis for 2d12 × 5 hours. This effect can be ended with a dispel magic, but the caster succeed on an ability check, with a DC equal to the saving throw DC that was calculated for this effect.
I can’t actually find out anything about glyph guardians from the game—there’s nothing with an even remotely similar name on the NWN fandom wiki I looked at. OK, I admit I only looked under the “constructs” section, so maybe these things were in a different categories. Maybe these guys were more inspired by the game then actually in it?
Since templates in 5e and LU never seem to increase the CR of the final creature, I decided to make the glyph guardian into an elite creature. It makes it pretty powerful but why not? It has to be, considering that it’s bound to an area it can’t leave. It may have a ranged attack, but it’s still at risk of being attacked from outside its area.
Glyph Guardian (Template)
Silicon Sorcery, Dragon Magazine #302
Creature by Clifford Horowitz
Also known as seal or portal guardians, glyph guardians are a form of guardian that has been set to guard a particular area. They are bound to that area and unable to leave it, but many guardian creators view this as an acceptable trade-off; the glyph guardian may not be able to do wide patrols, but they are extremely powerful nevertheless.
Glyph guardians resemble normal guardians, but are completely covered with arcane runes that glow with mystical energy. Some say that these runes are the true construct and the guardian is merely the chassis that carries them around.
“Glyph guardian” is a template that can be placed on any construct. It retains all of the statistics of the base creature except as noted below.
Elite. The glyph guardian is an elite creature, the equivalent of two creatures of its normal CR. It has double the normal Hit Dice and hit points and grants double the normal amount of XP. A glyph guardian retains all the statistics of the base creature and gains except as noted below.
Elemental Energy. The glyph guardian is enchanted with one of the following energy types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. Whenever the term “elemental energy” is used in the template, it refers to that particular damage type.
Bonded Area. The glyph guardian is mystically tied to its domain and cannot leave it or be forcibly removed from it. The domain’s area can be any size that will fit into a 1,000-foot-diameter square.
Bursting Blow. The glyph guardian’s melee attacks inflict an additional elemental energy damage, as follows:
CR 4 or lower: 4 (1d8) elemental energy damage
CR 5 – 16: 9 (2d8) elemental energy damage
CR 17 – 30: 13 (3d8) elemental energy damage
CR 31 or higher: 18 (4d8) elemental energy damage
Calm. If the base creature had a chance to go berserk when being bloodied, it loses that trait.
Immunities. The glyph guardian is immune to its elemental energy type.
True Seeing. The glyph guardian gains truesight to 60 feet.
Action: Guardian Ray. One creature within 120 feet that the glyph guardian can see must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + the guardian’s PB + the guardian’s Constitution modifier). On a failure, the target takes elemental damage depending on the base creature’s CR:
CR 4 or lower: 14 (4d6) elemental damage
CR 5 – 16: 21 (6d6) elemental damage
CR 17 – 22: 28 (8d6) elemental damage
CR 23 or higher: 35 (10d6) elemental damage
In addition, the creature takes 3 (1d6) ongoing elemental energy damage, and is slowed until the end of its next turn. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the ongoing damage on a success.
Action: Teleport. The glyph guardian can teleport itself, its creator, and up to 50 pounds of objects anywhere within its Bounded Area.
Bonus Action: Elite Recovery. The glyph guardian can end one condition or effect on itself. It can use this action as long as it has 1 hit point, even when unconscious or incapacitated.
Reaction: Stasis Blow (Recharge 5-6). When the glyph guardian makes a successful melee attack or attack with its Guardian Ray, it may use its reaction to envelop the target in an amber glow. The target must make a Constitution saving throw or be restrained as the glow begins to place it in stasis. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of its turn, ending the effect on a success and becoming incapacitated on a failure. While incapacitated, its move is 0 and it is unconscious. It remains in stasis for 2d12 × 5 hours. This effect can be ended with a dispel magic, but the caster succeed on an ability check, with a DC equal to the saving throw DC that was calculated for this effect.
--
The following uses an iron guardian as the base creature
Iron Glyph Guardian
Large construct; Challenge 14 (11,500 XP) (doubled for elite)
AC 20 (natural armor)
HP 420 (40d10+200; bloodied 210)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 24 (+7) DEX 12 (+1) CON 20 (+5)
INT 3 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 1 (+5)
Proficiency +5; Maneuver DC 20
Damage Immunities cold, fire, poison, psychic; damage from nonmagical, non-adamantine weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, fatigue, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Fire Absorption. When the guardian is subjected to fire damage, it instead regains hit points equal to the fire damage dealt.
Immutable Form. The guardian is immune to any effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The guardian has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack. The guardian makes two sword attacks.
Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 29 (4d10+7) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) cold damage. If the guardian scores a critical hit, it inflicts an additional 18 (4d8) cold damage.
Guardian Ray. Ranged Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (6d6) cold damage, and the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 3 (1d6) ongoing elemental energy damage and is slowed until the end of its next turn. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the ongoing damage on a success.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5-6). The guardian exhales poisonous gas in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 45 (10d8) poison damage on a failure or half as much damage on a success.
Teleport. The glyph guardian can teleport itself, its creator, and up to 50 pounds of objects anywhere within its Bounded Area.
Bonus Actions
Elite Recovery (When Bloodied). The glyph guardian can end one condition or effect on itself. It can do this even when unconscious or incapacitated.
Reactions
Deflection. When missed by a ranged attack by a creature the guardian can see, the guardian redirects the attack against a creature within 60 feet that it can see. The original attack must reroll the attack against the new target.
Stasis Blow (Recharge 5-6). When the glyph guardian makes a successful melee attack or attack with its Guardian Ray, it may use its reaction to envelop the target in an amber glow. The target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be restrained as the glow begins to place it in stasis. The creature may make a new saving throw at the end of its turn, ending the effect on a success and becoming incapacitated on a failure. While incapacitated, its move is 0 and it is unconscious. It remains in stasis for 2d12 × 5 hours. This effect can be ended with a dispel magic, but the caster succeed on an ability check, with a DC equal to the saving throw DC that was calculated for this effect.
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