Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kilsek of Sheverash 11-14-03, 08:50 PM	What are the best guardian-like monsters out there besides Golems? I'm looking for higher level ones (CR 10+). My favorite so far is actually the Helmed Horror out of the Forgotten Realms MM. Getting immunity to three spells plus magic missile can really upset the party, especially when they're fireball, firebrand, and disintegrate :) Plus each of their great swords has a special ability, different every time - flaming, shock, wounding, and so on. Fun to run as a DM. Any other suggestions?
Riznar 11-14-03, 09:20 PM	Ropers are pretty scary... I wonder if you can Greater Magic Fang on their strands if that helps keep them from being sundered
Edymnion 11-14-03, 10:39 PM	Zombie Elder Treants are always good. Huge dead trees that suddenly reach out and grab you are the last thing the PCs would ever expect. And the best thing is that you can describe the tree however you like, and the players will think you're just getting fancy with room description when you tell them about the huge dead tree with whithered limbs in the middle of the room.
Dackad 11-14-03, 11:16 PM	Skeleton Warriors Blackstone Gigants Caryatid Column Crypt Thing
Kain's avatar 11-14-03, 11:36 PM	Spectator Beholders are neat, though not really strong enough for higher level adventures.
Adrez Nesnsid 11-14-03, 11:55 PM	How about a group of those Film of Night (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/re/re20021028a) monsters from the old Twisted Wood random encounters article.
Zeed 11-15-03, 02:20 AM	hmm....Deep Spawn could be kinda cool..the problem is keeping them from eating you >.^ but then...you'd just come back as a spawn....retaining all your abilities but none of the memories... shrugs~ but who's really worried about being gobbled up by a giant orby thing that can spawn any creature in existance ^.^ simply by eating it
Vaalingrade Ashland 11-15-03, 03:08 AM	Trolls whose mother was a 1/2Red/black dragon :devil: Failing that.... you can go wrong with a juvenile black dragon with a ring of invis and a vested intrest in your survival.
cwslyclgh 11-15-03, 05:41 AM	I am partial to summoned demons or Devils, and Death Tyrants.
Arilou_skiff 11-15-03, 07:17 AM	Personally, I prefer bound elementals. Fill a Room with water until it reaches the PC's to their necks or so. Place a Water elemental in the water. Enjoy!
demilichmonkey 11-15-03, 01:13 PM	wow, I was planning on posting this exact topic, but I'm looking for something specific. Maybe you guys could help me out too while your at it. I wasnt a gaurdian monster with a CR of 5-7. I want it to be something that could hide or otherwise be somewhere else until something is triggered, and then it'll appear or be summond.
(Psi)SeveredHead 11-15-03, 01:29 PM	I like elementals too - especially if I can dominate them or get a rod of magic circle (not continuous, just maybe 3/day or something like that).
count mikail 11-15-03, 02:15 PM	Guardian? If you want a body guard the runic guardian would do very nicely. CR 10. It can take a punch and deliver one as well. It has fast healing and takes 75% of the damage delivered to the one it is guarding. Nasty. Banshees are nice guardians for tombs and stuff (however they are not so good for the flowers you have just planted there). If you like earthworms guarding you dungeon, use some demonic magic on it and (it had better be some nasty and really potent demonic magic) pooofffhhh.... you have a fiend worm. You had better have some massive walls though because it might escape. If you want to guard some sacret area, you could use a spirit of the land. Very good. And what about a blackstone giant (it is not a golem, it is a construct) CR 18. This thing can be used as a body guard or a guardian of a sacred site. Very nasty.
Mordenkainen's Rubber Duck of DOOM 11-15-03, 03:19 PM	A good weak guardian would be the Shadow Asp from the Fiend Folio. It's CR 1, but it spawns Shadows from people killed before. And they can go incorpereal for a little bit, so you can do that "Hide" thing, say, for isntance, if the PCs step on a pressure plate which causes a noise of similar in the room with the Shadow Asp(s), who then go Incorpereal at the sound of the noise. So, to make CR 10+, you could place tons of Shadow Asps. Each bite deals 1d6 Str damage, so a lot of them would be a very mean force to contend with.
Dragoninawheelchair 11-15-03, 04:34 PM	Colossal Animated Objects - O look there are two gaint statues next to those doors, what nice decorations, I'll just walk up and open them. *SQUISH* If it's a tall animated object it has a reach of 30ft. :D That and make him outta adamantine and watch your players squirm. Mummies - slap a couple of fighter, ranger, blackguard, or whatever type of class levels you want and the PC's with love being stabbed by an assassin Mummy hiding in the darkness of a tomb. Skeletons/zombies - It great fun to have a dragon skeleton in a duegon because then all the PC's start to tweek out thinking it's a Dracolich. Outsiders - some how trapped, bargained with to guard for a certain amount of time, or befriended by the inhabitant or creator of the what is being guarded. Personally I like dogs since they are man's best friends. Hell hounds, howler, shadow mastiff, or Yeth hound can be effective. Demons or Devils can be a nice guardian as well. A pair of advanced kytons, maybe rogue levels, waiting to ambush in a room of chains could be amusing. If imprisioned against their will they may be willing to let the party go through, one of those great fight or roleplay type encounters. Dragons - If given a large amount of treasure and space a dragon might make an entrance his lair if he is brought offerings now and again. Bodak - mmmm....death gaze. Ghost - a jealous adventurer that died before he could complete his quest now haunts the enterance to the room he never reached. Gargoyles - Waiting over head in a large hall or something, swooping down to harass the PC's. I personally enjoy the fiendish template on them. Naga - They can make interesting opponents, I have to say they are unused by most DM's. Advance them a bit and slap a template on them and it's a nice encounter. Hope that helps ya, those are all from MM. Tell me if you have MM2 or Fiendish Folio and I'll add more.:cool:
JustKim 11-15-03, 05:04 PM	Guardian daemon, Tome of Horrors. CR 7 before applying the monster of legend template and advancing it to 20+ HD. Nothing says class like a demonic watchdog for your pile of treasure.
Xavim 11-15-03, 11:41 PM	The solution to your problem has already been presented. Demons and Devils. In staggeringly large amount. With Elementals thrown into the mix for effect.
SSj3goblin 11-16-03, 12:55 AM	A clone of the adventurers? THAT would be cool and unexepected!
Ramses III 11-16-03, 01:46 AM	my favorite was a guardian naga -- they can cast cleric spells as arcane spells on their sorcerer list, so have it know create food and water so it doesn't starve... it has an advantage over heroes in that good ones will be reluctant to kill it (it's lawful good) and their holy weapons are no good against it. With spells, its bite and constrict, and the ability to spit poison, it is versatile enough to make a good "boss fight." Outsiders of any kind also make good guardians, as they need neither food nor sleep. Again I suggest good ones... archons and angels make for really dramatic fights, especially if there's a paladin in your group of heroes... consider a holy quest to gain an artifact to defeat your BBEG, only to find that an astral deva has been charged to make sure said artifact is never disturbed, or not until some prophecy has been fulfilled....
Dackad 11-16-03, 03:55 PM	Originally posted by demilichmonkey wow, I was planning on posting this exact topic, but I'm looking for something specific. Maybe you guys could help me out too while your at it. I wasnt a gaurdian monster with a CR of 5-7. I want it to be something that could hide or otherwise be somewhere else until something is triggered, and then it'll appear or be summond. Caryatid Column. You can find it in either the Fiend Folio or Necromancer Game's Tome of Horrors. The FF is CR 6 and the ToH version is CR 3. It's a nasty bugger. It can appear as a column or pillar of stone and when the right conditions are met, it turns into a statue of a woman with a +2 Bastard Sword. Weapons that strike it have a chance of breaking as well. For other guardians, I kinda like Oozes and molds, but that's just my inner old school DnDer coming out. :D Demons and Devils make great guardians as well.
Kain's avatar 11-17-03, 03:12 AM	Originally posted by demilichmonkey wow, I was planning on posting this exact topic, but I'm looking for something specific. Maybe you guys could help me out too while your at it. I wasnt a gaurdian monster with a CR of 5-7. I want it to be something that could hide or otherwise be somewhere else until something is triggered, and then it'll appear or be summond. Spectator beholder from Magic of Faerūn is CR 6, and a very interesting encounter. ;)
Yen-Lo-Wang 11-17-03, 03:32 AM	Originally posted by Riznar Ropers are pretty scary... I wonder if you can Greater Magic Fang on their strands if that helps keep them from being sundered That's just plain mean...I like it!:smirk: Spirit Nagas make good guardians. Cast sorceror and cleric spells and has a charming gaze to turn the party's fighters into it's best friends. A favorite of mine is the Mohrg. Paralyzing touch and anything it's killed becomes a zombie under it's control for armies of low level flunkies!
kafit 01-30-04, 01:12 PM	I have always liked the thought of Hydras as guardians. All those heads biting, and make it a learnian hydra for added evil!
Whatwereyouexpecting 01-30-04, 03:57 PM	I like "unexpected" things such as: 1. A small, yellow electric rodent that can talk 2. Kobold lich with levels as a cleric 3. Golems with the "life essences and experiances" of monks (Golem+monk levels) 4. Skum with the half celestial template and levels as a wizard. 5. Portion of a body part enlarged and animated(Hand, foot, toe ect.) 6. Sentient water 7. Brick golems that burst out of the walls when the people come in.
The Ethereal Wickerman 01-30-04, 05:06 PM	Originally posted by Whatwereyouexpecting I like "unexpected" things such as: 1. A small, yellow electric rodent that can talk 2. Kobold lich with levels as a cleric 3. Golems with the "life essences and experiances" of monks (Golem+monk levels) 4. Skum with the half celestial template and levels as a wizard. 5. Portion of a body part enlarged and animated(Hand, foot, toe ect.) 6. Sentient water 7. Brick golems that burst out of the walls when the people come in. These ideas are the best so far, do you mind if I build on this mate...:) 8. Mummified giants of any kind, if mummies are scary imagine an 18 ft. one!. 9. Moonrat of Legend/animal lord of rats 10. Incarnate Rogue Eidolon (a faceless, twicthing, savage monstrosity) 11. Feral Windghost (being trapped inside cramped caverns, it has just about enough room to fly, and over the years they have become insane) 12. Phantom Fungus-symbiont-Needlefolk 13. Mongolian Death Worms (well, its in the d20 menace manual)
Lord Tarran 01-30-04, 05:29 PM	For a person: Advanced Runic Guardian Treasure: Anything with a burrow speed and spring attack Place: Werewolf. For more information read the story thread through the link in my sig.
Sweet Steph 01-30-04, 06:35 PM	Personally, I'm partial to hydras, hell hounds, and guardian nagas. Then again, there's nothing that catches the PCs off-guard like a delver cooperating with a medusa.
primemover003 01-30-04, 09:23 PM	Mirror of opposition... Face yourself...
paintedmask2 01-31-04, 05:25 PM	Mimicks are always a nasty surprise, especially if you avoid the cliche where they appear as a chest. I've always liked the idea of a mimick taking the form of a ladder... wait for several party members to be halfway up before activating the stickyness...