Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunders
Most Anticipated Tabletop RPGs Of The Year
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Holy Grotesques- good gargoyles
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DreadPollock" data-source="post: 1143974" data-attributes="member: 14278"><p>I'm a bit of a gargoyle enthusiast. I've done some research on the topic of gargoyles in mythology and come up with some stuff. I should point out that I'm not really a fan of the show. I saw a couple episodes, thought they were alright, but that's it- I don't know it well.</p><p> Personally, I like the idea of a gargoyle being a good character- a defender of the innocent from demons and devils. I imagine them being celestial spirits animating the statues atop churches, castles, and parks. The idea that they have to be 'badder' than the bad guys they fight makes them an interesting force against them. So, here's my new monster:</p><p></p><p>The Holy Grotesque</p><p></p><p>This creature basically replaces the MM gargoyle. As a set of statistics, I like the MM gargoyle, but here's the changes I'd make:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They are now Medium Outsiders (Earth, Good). This means it's attacks are considered aligned as good.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Its damage reduction is now vs. evil, not magic</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Add the ability <em>Frightful Presence (Su)</em> as described in the MM, pg. 309 This ability should have a bonus vs. infernal beings, perhaps +4 or higher?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They can Detect Evil (Sp) at will, as a 1st level cleric.</li> </ul><p></p><p>This should add +1 or +2 to the LA, and the CR.</p><p></p><p>Basically, the role of the Grotesque is to perch atop a building where it can observe the coming and going of good people where they might be in danger of infernal attackers. That usually means holy places, or where particularly good items or people are housed. They spend the vast majority of their time inanimate, maintaining a vigil over the area. When they detect the presence of supernatural evil (they usually don't bother with lesser evils), they will spring into action and attack. When they're done, they simply fly back, perch, and continue to wait. They're not much for words, but they speak, and often pick up a lot of religious knowledge from listening to the sermons.</p><p></p><p>Their origin can either be explained in your campaign as direct appointees of the gods, or the result of divine magic cast by clerics. Or, you could leave them mysterious. They can either be living beings that immitate statues, or as I prefer- they must be carved as stuatues, and then later become animate by some means.</p><p></p><p>As characters, they could either be advanced as monsters, or levels in Paladin would be appropriate.</p><p></p><p>They are celestial, but probably don't get along with the prettier celestials, to which they can't relate as easily. They're the grunts of the heavenly army, and also seen as a bit of an 'experimental' soldier by others.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, that's a rough draft. Any ideas or other commentary is welcome.</p><p></p><p>DreadPollock</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DreadPollock, post: 1143974, member: 14278"] I'm a bit of a gargoyle enthusiast. I've done some research on the topic of gargoyles in mythology and come up with some stuff. I should point out that I'm not really a fan of the show. I saw a couple episodes, thought they were alright, but that's it- I don't know it well. Personally, I like the idea of a gargoyle being a good character- a defender of the innocent from demons and devils. I imagine them being celestial spirits animating the statues atop churches, castles, and parks. The idea that they have to be 'badder' than the bad guys they fight makes them an interesting force against them. So, here's my new monster: The Holy Grotesque This creature basically replaces the MM gargoyle. As a set of statistics, I like the MM gargoyle, but here's the changes I'd make: [list] [*]They are now Medium Outsiders (Earth, Good). This means it's attacks are considered aligned as good. [*]Its damage reduction is now vs. evil, not magic [*]Add the ability [i]Frightful Presence (Su)[/i] as described in the MM, pg. 309 This ability should have a bonus vs. infernal beings, perhaps +4 or higher? [*]They can Detect Evil (Sp) at will, as a 1st level cleric. [/list] This should add +1 or +2 to the LA, and the CR. Basically, the role of the Grotesque is to perch atop a building where it can observe the coming and going of good people where they might be in danger of infernal attackers. That usually means holy places, or where particularly good items or people are housed. They spend the vast majority of their time inanimate, maintaining a vigil over the area. When they detect the presence of supernatural evil (they usually don't bother with lesser evils), they will spring into action and attack. When they're done, they simply fly back, perch, and continue to wait. They're not much for words, but they speak, and often pick up a lot of religious knowledge from listening to the sermons. Their origin can either be explained in your campaign as direct appointees of the gods, or the result of divine magic cast by clerics. Or, you could leave them mysterious. They can either be living beings that immitate statues, or as I prefer- they must be carved as stuatues, and then later become animate by some means. As characters, they could either be advanced as monsters, or levels in Paladin would be appropriate. They are celestial, but probably don't get along with the prettier celestials, to which they can't relate as easily. They're the grunts of the heavenly army, and also seen as a bit of an 'experimental' soldier by others. Anyway, that's a rough draft. Any ideas or other commentary is welcome. DreadPollock [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Holy Grotesques- good gargoyles
Top