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cyberkevvideo · 5 years

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Throne of Night Theory Builds Extras Part 1: The Half-God’s Guardian

A little over three years ago, I wrote up my theory build on the half-god prince that was supposed to be part of the extra adventure funded by the Kickstarter as it hit all of the checked boxes, and beyond.

I got to thinking last night that by himself, he’s not that large of a challenge. Yes, he has his shadow minion and can call on a horned devil, but that by itself doesn’t seem like a huge threat. Then I wondered, what if he was gifted a protector? He is a prince after all. At the very least it’d be another attendant. Then I remembered my suggestion for Way of the Wicked about making a wood golem into a phylactery golem, and though, why not reuse that? If Gary can reuse the lich template, I can reuse a template too.

So I did a quick revision of the stone golem, added the phylactery guardian template from Necromancers of the Northwest, and revised it so that it had some of the abilities of the stone guardian from Tome of Horrors Complete.

I freely admit that this combined build for both this golem and the lich, this is probably well beyond the scope in scale that Gary thought of. Or it could be way under. For all I know this was supposed to be an epilogue adventure post Star Spawn, and it should be CR 30 or something. Like a mythic lich level 20 spellcaster that can summon a bunch of creatures as a standard action. That’s the joy of theory builds. You just never know.

For space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus.

EDIT: Like other parts I’ve released, I promise to clean up the stats later and make it look more pretty. For now I’m posting this as-is.

While I have no indication that there’d be anything beyond the lich being here, Michael did do art of the lich’s phylactery.

And he also drew a “final” picture of the lich dying. Seemingly, the drow spellcaster is stealing the essence? of the lich, and becoming one himself. I’d be curious how that works.

With the golem added in with the lich, the total CR is 19. Depending on the level of the party, this could be an average challenge or an epic challenge.

STONE PHYLACTERY GUARDIAN (CR 15; 51,200 XP) Variant modified stone golem phylactery guardian N Large construct Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, see invisibility; Perception +1 DEFENSE AC 32, touch 12, flat-footed 29 (+3 Dex, +20 natural, –1 size) hp 147 (18d10+48); fast healing 10 Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +7 Defensive Abilities light fortification (25%), negative energy conduit; DR 15/adamantine, good and bludgeoning; Immune construct traits, magic; Resist cold 10, fire 10, electricity 10 OFFENSE Speed 20 ft. Melee 2 slams +26 (2d10+16) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks channel master, improved spell storing, slow STATISTICS Str 32, Dex 16, Con —, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 1 Base Atk +18; CMB +30; CMD 43 Feats Power AttackB, ToughnessB SQ controlled, find master, guard, lich’s phylactery, powerful blows (slams), ring link, shield other, temporary shell SPECIAL ABILITIES Aligned Strikes (Ex) A phylactery guardian’s natural weapons are treated as evil-aligned and magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Channel Master (Su) A phylactery guardian that is using its temporary shell special ability can channel its master’s paralyzing touch special attack through its slam attacks. This ability only triggers once per round, regardless of the number of attacks a phylactery guardian makes. Controlled (Ex) A phylactery guardian that has the berserk special attack cannot go berserk as long as its master is within 30 feet, or as long as it is using its temporary shell special ability. Find Master (Su) As long as a phylactery guardian and its master are on the same plane, the phylactery guardian can locate its master’s precise location. Guard (Ex) If ordered to do so, a phylactery guardian moves to defend its master. All attacks against its master take a –2 penalty when the phylactery guardian is adjacent to its master. Immunity to Magic (Ex) A stone golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below. --A transmute rock to mud spell slows a stone golem (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds, with no saving throw, while transmute mud to rock heals all of its lost hit points. --A stone to flesh spell does not actually change the golem’s structure but negates its damage reduction and immunity to magic for 1 full round. Improved Spell Storing (Sp) A phylactery guardian can store a number of spells that are cast into it by another creature; one spell of 5th level or lower and one spell of 4th level or lower. It “casts” these spells when commanded to do so or when a predefined situation arises. Once these spells are used, the phylactery guardian can store other spells (or the same spells again). Lich’s Phylactery (Su) A phylactery guardian serves as and contains a lich’s phylactery. The destruction of the phylactery guardian doesn’t guarantee the phylactery’s destruction; the phylactery must be destroyed separately. If the phylactery guardian is completely disintegrated, the phylactery has a 50% chance of being disintegrated with the guardian. Negative Energy Conduit (Su) Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal phylactery guardians, and are affected by positive energy (such as a cure spell) in the same way it affects undead and, as such, are harmed by positive energy. Ring Link (Su) A stone guardian is linked to a magic ring. The construct will never attack any creature that wears this ring, nor any creatures within 10 feet of the ring-wearer, unless one of those creatures attacks the guardian first. Shield Other (Sp) The phylactery guardian’s master can activate this defensive ability as a standard action if within 100 feet of the phylactery guardian. Just as the spell of the same name, this ability transfers to the phylactery guardian half the damage that would be dealt to its master (note that this ability does not provide the spell's AC or save bonuses). Damage transferred in this manner bypasses any defensive abilities (such as immunity or damage reduction) the golem possesses. Slow (Su) A stone golem can use a slow effect, as the spell, as a free action once every 2 rounds. The effect has a range of 10 feet in a burst centered on the golem and a duration of 7 rounds, requiring a DC 19 Will save to negate. The save DC is Constitution-based. Temporary Shell (Su) The lich whose phylactery is at the core of the phylactery guardian can use the guardian as a temporary body after the lich has been destroyed, while he is waiting for his body to be reformed with his rejuvenation ability. This functions as the spell magic jar, except that it functions on the phylactery guardian even though it is a construct, it does not require a “jar,” as the phylactery guardian has no spirit to displace, it lasts until the lich’s body is restored with its rejuvenation ability, it has no range, and the lich cannot “die” as a result of using this ability.While the lich is using the guardian as a temporary body he is capable of speaking, as well as casting and preparing spells (albeit with 25% arcane spell failure due to the rigid movements of the golem body). If the lich’s phylactery is destroyed while it inhabits the phylactery guardian’s body, the lich is still destroyed as normal.

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