Brendan Byrd
Explorer
Hmmn. That could be a tasty interaction...intruders enter area...little chat with the local ankhegs:
"DINNER'S HERE!!!"
D&D General Gargoyles need to be redone.
- Thread starter Shades of Eternity
- Start date
"DINNER'S HERE!!!"
Corinnguard
Hero
Hehe. I wonder if a Gargoyle would see treasure as food. 
Think of all the coins dropped into a fountain that's near a Gargoyle's home. "Thanks for the free food and drink!"
Think of all the coins dropped into a fountain that's near a Gargoyle's home. "Thanks for the free food and drink!"Brendan Byrd
Explorer
Treasure = CandyHehe. I wonder if a Gargoyle would see treasure as food.
ETA: Historical Alchemy was notorious for converting gold into lead.
And with the Alchemical and Humour links, treasure = yummy isn't such a reach.
"Biological-Stone Reproduction: The Humour Cycle
Unlike constructs, gargoyles possess interior “organs” formed of alchemical liquids that mimic the Four Humours—but in their own peculiar way:
- Flame Humour — rage, courage, vitality
- Glass Humour — memory, reflection, illusion
- Mortar Humour — devotion, protection, social bonds
- Ink Humour — knowledge, secrecy, runic magic"
cp = toffee
sp = hard candy
gp = chewing gum (side effect: gilded fangs)
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Shades of Eternity
Legend
These special dietary talks have amused me greatly. 
Temples try to treat gargoyles like constructs; gargoyles insist they are people.
Nobles want gargoyles to be predictable; gargoyles resist being used as statues with schedules.
Gargoyles respect knowledge, but despise being treated as specimens.
Gargoyles can be helpful, but their mere presence unsettles workers who see them as reminders of mortality turned to stone.
Gargoyles often rebel against draconic tyranny, leading to spectacular rooftop battles.
Gargoyles cannot smell or sense undeath easily—making some undead (like wights or vampires) their most dangerous foes.
Gargoyles tolerate this with exhausted dignity.
Gargoyle, Cathedral-Born
Medium Elemental, Lawful Neutral
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30)
Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (glide capability; cannot hover)
STR 16 (+3)
DEX 14 (+2)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 8 (−1)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 12 (+1)
Saving Throws Wis +4, Con +5
Skills Perception +4, Religion +2
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities radiant
Damage Vulnerabilities thunder
Condition Immunities petrified
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Terran, Celestial, understands Common but rarely speaks
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Traits
False Appearance (Statue).
While motionless, the gargoyle is indistinguishable from a stone statue or sacred ornamentation (angelic figure, grotesque, sentinel carving).
Creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) checks to discern its true nature.A creature with stonecunning automatically succeeds.
Stone Sleep (Diurnal or Nocturnal).
When its chosen trigger occurs (commonly sunrise), the gargoyle turns to inert stone. While in this form:
Radiant Veins.
The gargoyle sheds faint, holy glimmers when agitated. It has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Guardian’s Oath.
The gargoyle is magically bound to protect a structure or sanctum. It gains advantage on attack rolls and saving throws made within 120 feet of its bonded site.
Actions
Multiattack.
The gargoyle makes two attacks: one with its Claws and one with its Radiant Spit (or two Claw attacks).
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
Radiant Spit. Ranged Spell Attack: +4 to hit, range 30 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8) radiant damage. If the target is undead or fiendish, it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom save or be blinded until the end of its next turn.
Sanctified Glare (Recharge 5–6).
The gargoyle’s stained-glass eyes ignite with radiant sigils. Creatures of the gargoyle’s choice within a 15-foot cone must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw.
On a failure:
Reactions
Warden’s Intercession.
When a creature within 5 feet attacks a cleric, paladin, or creature designated as a "protector," the gargoyle imposes disadvantage on the attack roll.
Description & Lore
Architectural Echoes
A cathedral-born gargoyle’s skin resembles the style of the sacred structure—Gothic pinnacles, rose-window fractals, ribbed vaulting, or smooth marble lines.
Scent of Sanctuary
These gargoyles radiate an aura of calm; animals often sit near them, and holy symbols placed on or near them glow faintly.
Why They Attack
Using Cathedral-Born Gargoyles in Play
They make excellent:
Relationships With Other Factions & Creatures
How gargoyles fit into the social, political, and monstrous fabric of a typical fantasy world.Gargoyles & Civilized Factions
Churches, Temples, and Sacred Orders — “The Oldest Employers”
Temples are simultaneously the greatest creators, caretakers, and sometimes victims of gargoyles.- Positive:
- Many temples see gargoyles as divinely ordained protectors, sculpted to watch over holy sites.
- Some Orders of Paladins ritualize the “Awakening of the Watcher,” where a new gargoyle is blessed and integrated into the temple’s defenses.
- Clerics of Vigil, Light, Knowledge, or Protection domains often form pacts of mutual guardianship with gargoyle clans.
- Negative:
- Zealous or corrupt clergy may try to “own” gargoyles, treating them as indentured guardians.
- Gargoyles grown from temples desecrated by war often harbor bitterness toward the religion that abandoned them.
Temples try to treat gargoyles like constructs; gargoyles insist they are people.
Nobility, Militias, & Urban Government — “Stonework is Infrastructure”
City rulers appreciate gargoyles’ usefulness—gliding scouts, silent watchers, and literal rooftop patrols.- Positive:
- Gargoyles serve as night guards, eliminating rooftop thieves and flying pests (stirges, imps).
- Nobles may grant gargoyles partial citizenship or “limited personhood” in exchange for protection.
- Some cities hire gargoyle clans as a stoneworker militia, able to perch silently and strike at invaders.
- Negative:
- Nobles fear gargoyle autonomy; laws may forbid them from gathering in groups (to prevent rebellions).
- Governments often demand they wear sigils or crests to prove loyalty—something many gargoyles interpret as branding.
Nobles want gargoyles to be predictable; gargoyles resist being used as statues with schedules.
Universities, Arcanists & Mage Guilds — “Alchemical Curiosity”
Gargoyles shaped by medical colleges and wizard towers fascinate the magical elite.- Positive:
- Scholars treat gargoyles as living case studies in geomancy, alchemy, and elemental life.
- Arcane researchers may collaborate with gargoyles, documenting humor-core anatomy and stone sleep cycles.
- Golemcrafters admire gargoyles as the “natural evolution” of construct magic.
- Negative:
- Some arcanists feel entitled to dissect or harvest pieces from gargoyles (“purely for research”).
- Wizards often assume gargoyles are elementals or constructs and treat them accordingly.
- Magical experiments can warp newborn gargoyles into unstable variants.
Gargoyles respect knowledge, but despise being treated as specimens.
Guilds, Merchants, & Laborers — “Stonework Solidarity”
Gargoyles have a complex relationship with the working class.- Positive:
- Stonemasons view gargoyles as honorary colleagues and admire their intuitive geological knowledge.
- Blacksmiths may collaborate with gargoyles to create metal-reinforced armor, fused into their bodies.
- Courier and messenger guilds sometimes hire gargoyles for sky-route deliveries (gliding, not flying).
- Negative:
- Miners fear gargoyles, believing them to be omens or guardians of forbidden tunnels.
- Labor guilds distrust them for “taking jobs that could go to the living.”
Gargoyles can be helpful, but their mere presence unsettles workers who see them as reminders of mortality turned to stone.
Gargoyles & Other Monsters
Orcs, Gnolls, & Other Savage Humanoids
Savage tribes treat gargoyles as:- Threats (if defending a structure)
- Honored trophies (broken heads become totems)
- Useful allies (in rare, mutually respected truces)
Drow, Duergar & Deep-Dwelling Societies
Gargoyles of subterranean origin strike uneasy alliances with the Underdark.- Drow: seek to enslave gargoyles as immobile watch-beasts.
- Duergar: admire gargoyle craftsmanship but covet their mineral cores.
- Derro: attempt horrific experiments to “improve” them.
Dragons — “The Makers of Monsters & Movers of Stone”
Dragons—especially earth, blue, or shadow dragons—sometimes create gargoyles intentionally.- Positive:
- Dragons see gargoyles as useful minions or guardians of hoards.
- Some gargoyles treat dragons with reverence as ancient stone-singers.
- Negative:
- Gargoyles despise being treated as disposable statues.
- Dragons occasionally cannibalize gargoyles, seeing their mineral bodies as magical nourishment.
Gargoyles often rebel against draconic tyranny, leading to spectacular rooftop battles.
Undead — “Opposites of Creation”
Undead and gargoyles clash instinctively.- Stone sleep emits life resonance, which undead loathe.
- Gargoyles see undead as blasphemous distortions of memory and architecture.
- Zombies and skeletons ignore stone-sleeping gargoyles until too late.
Gargoyles cannot smell or sense undeath easily—making some undead (like wights or vampires) their most dangerous foes.
Constructs, Golems & Elementals
Gargoyles straddle the categories of creature and construction.- Golems see gargoyles as rivals—proof that stone can be alive without enslavement.
- Earth elementals treat gargoyles as distant kin, but consider them soft, fragile, and contaminated by mortal emotions.
- Animated statues sometimes imprint on gargoyles, following them like confused younger siblings.
Fey, Hags, & Tricksters — “Beautiful Stone, Beautiful Secrets”
Fey creatures love gargoyles.- Their emotional cores resonate with fairy magic.
- Hags try to harvest their humors for alchemical potions.
- Archfey may recruit gargoyles as stone-faced storytellers.
Gargoyles tolerate this with exhausted dignity.
Aberrations — “Alien Carvers”
Gargoyles regard aberrations with one universal emotion: revulsion.- Mind flayers see gargoyles as “inedible but irritating stone guardians.”
- Beholders love using gargoyles as living turret platforms unless the gargoyles rebel.
- Aboleths cannot dominate them directly, but can rewrite the memories of the stones they are tied to, creating horrific “Recarved Gargoyles.”
Gargoyle, Cathedral-Born
Medium Elemental, Lawful Neutral
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30)
Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (glide capability; cannot hover)
STR 16 (+3)
DEX 14 (+2)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 8 (−1)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 12 (+1)
Saving Throws Wis +4, Con +5
Skills Perception +4, Religion +2
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities radiant
Damage Vulnerabilities thunder
Condition Immunities petrified
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Terran, Celestial, understands Common but rarely speaks
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Traits
False Appearance (Statue).
While motionless, the gargoyle is indistinguishable from a stone statue or sacred ornamentation (angelic figure, grotesque, sentinel carving).
Creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) checks to discern its true nature.A creature with stonecunning automatically succeeds.
Stone Sleep (Diurnal or Nocturnal).
When its chosen trigger occurs (commonly sunrise), the gargoyle turns to inert stone. While in this form:
- It is incapacitated and immobile
- It regains 10 hit points
- It is treated as an object with AC 17 and resistance to all damage except thunder
Radiant Veins.
The gargoyle sheds faint, holy glimmers when agitated. It has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Guardian’s Oath.
The gargoyle is magically bound to protect a structure or sanctum. It gains advantage on attack rolls and saving throws made within 120 feet of its bonded site.
Actions
Multiattack.
The gargoyle makes two attacks: one with its Claws and one with its Radiant Spit (or two Claw attacks).
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
Radiant Spit. Ranged Spell Attack: +4 to hit, range 30 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8) radiant damage. If the target is undead or fiendish, it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom save or be blinded until the end of its next turn.
Sanctified Glare (Recharge 5–6).
The gargoyle’s stained-glass eyes ignite with radiant sigils. Creatures of the gargoyle’s choice within a 15-foot cone must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw.
On a failure:
- Take 14 (4d6) radiant damage
- Are frozen in awe, reducing speed to 0 until the end of their next turn
- Take half damage, no speed reduction
Reactions
Warden’s Intercession.
When a creature within 5 feet attacks a cleric, paladin, or creature designated as a "protector," the gargoyle imposes disadvantage on the attack roll.
Description & Lore
Architectural Echoes
A cathedral-born gargoyle’s skin resembles the style of the sacred structure—Gothic pinnacles, rose-window fractals, ribbed vaulting, or smooth marble lines.
Scent of Sanctuary
These gargoyles radiate an aura of calm; animals often sit near them, and holy symbols placed on or near them glow faintly.
Why They Attack
- A sacred site is defiled
- A relic, bell, or altar is threatened
- Adventurers are mistaken for grave robbers
- Demons or undead are nearby
- A violated vow awakens them from stone sleep
Using Cathedral-Born Gargoyles in Play
They make excellent:
- Temple guardians
- Paladin allies
- Plot devices (they remember centuries of prayer and whispers)
- Boss fight lieutenants in divine or anti-undead arcs
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Corinnguard
Hero
If your Gargoyles were introduced into the Forgotten Realms setting, how would they be viewed by the PHB species and how would they view the PHB species in turn? 
Brendan Byrd
Explorer
Talc = candy floss
Chalk = marzipan
Tin = salted caramel
Glass = peanut brittle
...
Chalk = marzipan
Tin = salted caramel
Glass = peanut brittle
...
