Guardian Monsters - Listed and Considered

There are a great number of guardian monsters to help spice up the role playing. Guardian-type monsters are a regular feature in dramatic fantasy fiction, so even new players will relate to plot hooks predicated on guardian monster intervention.

Lord of the Rings, for example, is essentially a guardian-monster-initiated adventure (Gandolf being the guardian monster). The Gandolf example is apt, as many guardian monsters do have polymorph powers, so could assume the likeness of mankind.

Guardian Animals

For low-level campaigns, dealing with the local dangers of the heath and forest, some of the best guardian monsters you can use are Grims and Moondogs. The great thing about the Grims and Moondogs is that they are elusive and mysterious, so the players would probably think they were part of the evil at first.

Grims take the form of black dogs, black cats, or black owls. The Harry Potter series used the "Grim plot hook" to great effect in book 3, when Harry kept seeing a large black canine stalking him in the shadows (which ended up being his guardian Sirius Black, of course).

Guardians of Specific Places

Some guardians are encamped in a specific locale, working to disrupt and contain some evil from breaking out.

Naga (guardian-types) would be well-used here. From their description it seems clear they would not be likely to be "roaming" guardians. I could see them patrolling a Yuan-Ti infested jungle, or the area around an evil temple...

Foo-Dogs and Foo-Lions are also described as guardians with powerful anti-evil powers. They are described as chaotic, so would not make good long-term disciplined guardians, but they could be brought in as excellent shock troops in the battle against evil.

Opinicus also appear to be well-suited to a role as guardians of some specific location. They are especially equipped to deal with undead and demons, so they would be prone to be found guarding the approaches to dangerous areas full of such creatures, such as the forest around a vampire's castle or the mountains around lich's lair, for example.

Wandering Guardian Monsters

The Agathion, Baku, Ki-rin, Lammasu, Hollyphant, and Shedu are the classic wandering guardian monsters. They are all described as "roaming" guardians, seeking out and containing evil wherever they can find it.

Most of them can polymorph into human form. I imagine they would maintain some kind of contact with locals on the ground, gathering their information. Naturally, such contact would tend to be with influential druids, clerics, magic users, or psionic warriors.

Dragon Guardians and Dragon Wars

Another creative idea would be to use a dragon, or even Bahamut the Platinum Dragon, as a guardian. His description clearly describes his regular wandering. No doubt he is gathering intelligence and keeping tabs on rising evil, ready to intervene if necessary. I would imagine he would be especially vigilant against dragon problems, particularly related to his evil arch-nemesis Tiamat.

I can imagine lots of plot hooks involving a "War Among the Dragons". Imagine the poor people caught in the middle of those battles. Of course, the good dragons would seek out the help of powerful humans of good alignment to assist in their battle. The evil dragons would perhaps have some evil humans on their side, and let us not forget the Githyanki-Red Dragon alliance...

You gotta admit, campaigning a Dragon War would be pretty freakin epic.

Good old-fashioned Guardian Angels

The ultimate guardian monsters are probably the "guardian angels" statted out in the 1e MM2 as Devas, Planetars, and Solars. If you are doing a "human-centric" campaign, these would be perfect. Perhaps especially if you are doing a "war of good vs evil, angels vs devils" type scenario. Solars are so ridiculously over-powered, they would have to be used against Demon Lords and such.

Guardian Monster Random Table

Or maybe you just need a guardian animal to bail your players out of a tight spot or severe challenge. Here you go, in random tabular form:

01-20 Grim

21-30 Moondog

31-38 Naga, guardian

39-46 Foo-creature (75% dog, 25% lion)

47-53 Opinicus

54-60 Hollyphant

61-67 Agathion

68-74 Baku

75-81 Ki-rin

82-88 Lammasu (25% Greater Lammasu)

89-95 Shedu (25% Greater Shedu)

96-97 Dragon (10% Bahamut)

98-99 Deva

00 Planetar (25% Solar)

H is for Hollyphant - A to Z psionic monsters

Little tiny elephants with glowing-golden fur and golden wings. If you are good, you will have an overwhelming desire to pet them and do whatever they say. If you are evil, you will want to puke and run. That's the Hollyphant!

As far as campaign integration, they are lawful good "messengers and helpers". When you study their powers, they seems to be especially designed for wars against the undead, or against demons/devils.

Thus, they might show up to help the PCs in some hopeless battle against supernatural evil. I consider them a nice "bail out" or "special ally" monster, for when PCs are in way over their heads.

The use of "bail out/special ally" helpers is a nice way to allow your PCs to embark on adventures that are not "level-appropriate". I am a big fan of throwing PCs into the deep water, having them feel overwhelmed and harried by superior forces. You know, just like every good drama-conflict scenario we see in the movies.

Who is On Top - Good or Evil?

Think of the Transformers, for example. In the real thing, Optimus Prime is the alpha dude. But in the movie, Megatron was the alpha. Beating him would require some superhuman effort, something really clever and brave. This was the basic structure of Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars, too.

How much fun is it if you can just walk into the bad guy's lair and smack him around like your bitch? I guess that is the "Superman" model of adventuring. Since Superman is the alpha dog, the bad guys have to be the ones sneaking around and trying to survive on the sly, using their guile against superior power.

In D&D gaming, for the purposes of dramatic tension, I think it should be the opposite. That is how it is set up in my AZ Adventures milieu: a dawn of civilization environment, in which humans have to struggle to hang on. Wandering out of your fortified settlement means you are in extreme danger. Greater forces constantly threated to overwhelm you.

Integrating Helpers/Allies into the Adventure

Aside from the "last minute rescue" scenario in which the "bail out" monster shows up to prevent a TPK, the Hollyphant could also be used in a "pilgrimage to potential ally" manner as well. Like: we know a Hollyphant lives up in the mountain vale over there on the edge of the horizon, let's go see if we can find him and get his help for that war against the forces of evil who are trying to wipe us out...

Maybe the Hollyphant would come looking for the PCs! "Friends, there is a great evil approaching. I need your help to turn the tide and rid the land of this grave danger..." Nice plot hook, I would think. It would give the players a nice feel for "pawns in a larger war" dilemma. In this case, the Hollyphant would be mainly used "off-stage", controlled by the DM, popping into the PCs awareness only every so often.

Or, maybe against a high level evil opponent, such as a Demon Lord, the Hollyphant would actually join the expedition. Certainly, he would be there for any kind of "climactic battle". Maybe you could even give your players the Hollyphant as a resource to be used, like a "loaner" character to be played. You gotta admit, it would be fun to play one of these critters.

HD 8+8

attacks: two tusks (1-3/1-3 dam.)

Magic resistance: 60%

INT: genius

Psionic Ability: 201-300

attack/defence modes: All/All

Psionic Powers:

4 minor (choose from): clairaudience, clairvoyance, invisibility, molecular agitation, object reading, precognition, sensitivity to psychic impressions

2 major (choose from): body control, energy control, mind bar, molecular manipulation, molecular rearrangement, telekinesis, shape alteration

Special powers:

permanent globe of invulnerability (to 1st-4th level spells)

immunity to disease and poison

immune to non-magic weapons

at will (16th level):

banish (beware of potential backlash!!!)

bless

detect evil (2" rad.)

light

teleport

etherealness/astral travel

limited telepathy

3x per day:

Trumpet blast - as Horn of Blasting, Drums of Deafening, or Sun-Sparkles (8d6+8 dam. from positive energy particles on undead or devils/demons)

2x per day:

cure serious wounds

protection from evil (1" foot rad.)

1x per day:

flame strike

heal

raise dead

gate: lesser (70%) or greater (30%) good creature

[lesser: hollyphant, baku, lamassu, opinicus, shedu;
greater: deva, greater lamassu, greater shedu, ki-rin, phoenix]