Why would it be a surprise, if no one ever sees a gargoyle in D&D world that's not a monstrous gargoyle? The natural thing would be for attackers to them fire on them at a distance and take them out.
If every chest adventurers found was a mimic, no one would ever be fooled by them.
I thought about how many gargoyles of a location were determined by the GM, and that while I have a mechanism to create a gargoyle, not every single statue becomes one?
@Corinnguard , I will have to follow this up, but as for favourite character period, that's easy, it's Macbeth. I wish they could make that sequel series in the Gargoyle universe.
Oh and can they put them in the MCU already?
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Habitat & Distribution
Though many think of gargoyles as guardians of ancient cathedrals and wizard towers, the truth is far broader and stranger. Gargoyles form wherever
emotion, architecture, and ambient magic intersect, meaning that their habitats are defined less by climate and more by
psychic and symbolic pressure. They are creatures of
place before they are creatures of
stone.
Below are the primary environments where gargoyles appear, along with the reasons these sites generate living stone.
Urban Strongholds
Typical Sites:
- cathedrals & temples
- civic halls & palaces
- wizard towers
- fortifications & city walls
- historic plazas
- universities & medical colleges
Why Gargoyles Form Here:
Cities concentrate
emotion,
memory, and
myth. The stone soaks up centuries of prayers, curses, triumphs, and tragedies. When these impressions ferment within a structure blessed by magical design, a gargoyle may precipitate like a mineral deposit in a sacred artery.
Behavioral Notes:
Urban gargoyles often develop a strong sense of territory or stewardship, patrolling rooftops, bell towers, or plazas. Many scholars claim gargoyles born in cities feel “responsible” for the community below—even if the locals have forgotten they exist.
Ruins & Fallen Places
Typical Sites:
- abandoned fortresses
- toppled temples
- cursed cities
- battlefields strewn with shattered monuments
Why Gargoyles Form Here:
When a place steeped in past purpose collapses, its emotional residues warp. Ruin-born gargoyles are shaped by
unresolved grief, lingering fear, deliberate desecration, or collective memory of violence.
They are the most common encounter type for adventurers.
Behavioral Notes:
Feral, silent hunters that blend seamlessly into rubble and broken statuary. They retain fragments of their old function—standing sentry over things long forgotten.
Sacred or Haunted Landscapes
Typical Sites:
- stone circles
- sacred groves with ancient menhirs
- mountain shrines
- sites of miracles or tragedies
- petrified forests
Why Gargoyles Form Here:
Natural stone infused with divine, fey, or elemental forces can “remember” events strongly enough to sprout gargoyles without any built architecture. These gargoyles resemble rough-hewn idols or weather-carved effigies.
Behavioral Notes:
These gargoyles are often wise, oracular, or spiritually attuned. Some act as guardians of holy sites; others simply observe from perches no mortal dares reach.
War-Torn Regions
Typical Sites:
- siege walls
- scorched battlements
- craters and trenches lined with broken stone
- mass graves marked by statuary
Why Gargoyles Form Here:
Extreme emotional trauma—fear, rage, desperation—etches itself into stone. When reinforced by battlefield magic, this can give rise to
War-Born Gargoyles, brutal constructs of sorrow and fury.
Behavioral Notes:
Aggressive and restless. They wander the ruins of war long after armies withdraw, seeking either an enemy or a purpose.
Arcane Laboratories & Magical Colleges
Typical Sites:
- wizard schools
- alchemical facilities
- medical academies with anatomical grotesques
- laboratories filled with failed experiments
Why Gargoyles Form Here:
Magical residue saturates the stone. Humors, arcane runoff, transmutation spells, and psychic echoes of study or suffering all contribute to gargoyle genesis.
Behavioral Notes:
Curious, esoteric, and sometimes unsettlingly articulate. Their forms may bear exaggerated organs, arcane runes, or symbolic features tied to medical or magical study.
Remote Natural Formations
Typical Sites:
- cliff faces shaped like beasts
- mountain ranges with mythic reputations
- caves with fossilized remains
- stone shaped by wind into architecture-like shapes
Why Gargoyles Form Here:
Natural stone can resonate with myth. When a mountain resembles a slumbering giant or a cliff face evokes a screaming skull, ambient belief alone may be enough to create a gargoyle.
Behavioral Notes:
Solitary, territorial, and difficult to distinguish from the landscape.
Rarity
Despite their fame, gargoyles are
not common. Their formation requires:
- strong architectural identity or
- intense emotional pressure or
- concentrated magic or
- powerful mythic symbolism
Thus, while any world may have gargoyles, only a handful typically exist in any given region—unless a magical disaster, divine intervention, or ancient architect created them deliberately.
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Fountain-Born Gargoyle — CR 3
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 60 (8d8+24)
Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
STR 14 (+2)
DEX 14 (+2)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 7 (–2)
WIS 12 (+1)
CHA 8 (–1)
Saving Throws Con +5
Skills Stealth +4, Athletics +4
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks.
Damage Immunities poison; acid (weathered stone)
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Terran, Aquan; understands but rarely speaks
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Traits
False Appearance (Statue or Fountain)
While the gargoyle remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an inanimate stone fountain ornament (spout, basin sculpture, decorative figure).
Creatures have
disadvantage on checks to identify it unless they have
stonecunning,
Wateraffinity, or similar features.
Living Fountain
The gargoyle’s body constantly circulates water. It can:
- breathe underwater
- ignore difficult terrain caused by water
- never dehydrate
Hydrojet Reservoir
The gargoyle holds a pressurized internal water chamber.
It can use
Hydrojet Spray twice before needing 1 minute submerged in water to recharge both uses.
Aquatic Camouflage
While partially submerged in a fountain, stream, pool, trough, or sewer outlet, the gargoyle has
advantage on Stealth checks.
Actions
Multiattack
The gargoyle makes two attacks: one with its
Bite and one with its
Claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d10+2) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d8+2) slashing damage.
Hydrojet Spray (Recharge by Soaking)
Ranged Weapon Attack: 30-ft line, Dex save DC 13.
Creatures in the line take
10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be
pushed 10 ft and
knocked prone.
This is the decanter-of-endless-water-inspired moment: a sudden torrent blasting foes off ledges or away from the gargoyle.
Geyser Burst (Recharge 5–6)
The gargoyle blasts the ground with a downward jet and launches itself 20 ft straight up or 30 ft horizontally without provoking opportunity attacks.
It can make one
Claw attack at any point along the jump.
This gives it dynamic mobility and lets it behave like a living fountain spout.
Bonus Actions
Water Veil
The gargoyle shrouds itself in a thin layer of mist and spray.
Until the start of its next turn, attack rolls against it have
disadvantage if the attacker is more than 10 ft away.
Reactions
Splashback
When a creature misses the gargoyle with a melee attack, the gargoyle can spray its attacker with a burst of water.
The attacker must succeed on a DC 13 Dex save or take
4 (1d6+1) acid damage (from mineral-laden water) and have their weapon or hands
soaked, granting disadvantage on their next grapple attempt.
Tactics & Personality
Battlefield Role
- Controller/Skirmisher
- Pushes enemies into hazards, fountains, moat edges, pits
- Harasses groups with line attacks
- Retreats into water to recharge jets
Disposition
- Often guardians of holy sites, noble estates, or ancient bathhouses
- Regard adventurers disturbing water features, sacred pools, or decorative runoff as defilers
- Can be reasoned with if they believe intruders aren’t vandals
After him, I had a liking for the Heraldic Gargoyles in the London clan and Zafiro.
I would be very happy if it used as part of a remake of the cartoon series.
