False Appearance. While the Tomb Guardian remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an inanimate statue.
Illumination. When in motion, the Tomb Guardian sheds bright light of various different colours depending on it's mood and the emotions of those around it, in a 30-foot radius and dim light in an additional 30 feet.
Intruder's Bane. A hostile creature that touches the Tomb Guardian or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage.
Keen Hearing and Smell: The Tomb Guardian has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Spellcasting. The Tomb Guardian is an innate spallcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It can cast the following spells:
At Will: Control Flames, Create Bonfire, Dancing Lights, Friends, Produce Flame,
Twice per day (each): Command, Suggestion
Multiattack. The Guardian makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage.
Description
Timeless Statues. Much like Gargoyles, Tomb Guardians are often mistaken for harmless, if not a tiny bit peculiar looking statues who stand at the point of entry for many of the tombs, dungeons and crypts that litter the vast landscape of the world. When adventurers enter the sites that they guard, these creatures generally burst into colourful flames as a warning to go no further with selfish intentions. It is only when this warning goes unheeded that the layers of silt, stone and sediment that blankets these beasts begin to crack, and the guardian fully awakens, to defend its master’s resting place.
All Dogs Go to Heaven. Ancient Tomb Guardians are essentially beautifully carved and decorative statues, given life through the relationship between a pet and their master. When a dog owner passes away, many cultures will carve statues of their pets to allow them to take their friend with them into the next life. In such cases, the dog’s spirit when it passes on is so pure that it will transform into a heavenly guardian and is able to manifest its will to look after its former master by possessing these dog-like tribute statues. When they do so, they cause orbs of spiritual fire to dance around their bodies, burning any who have ill intentions for their master’s burial site.
Fetch. Tomb Guardians spend much of their eternal afterlives devoted to watching over their old masters and can get quite bored, so if a new traveller ventures into their tomb, they will sometimes become overwhelmed with puppy-like excitement! This tends to result in them manifesting their telepathic abilities to command a new visitor to play fetch with them or to pat them. This game may go on for all eternity if an adventurer is unable to break free of the creature’s control!
Good Boi. Tomb Guardians use their telepathic abilities to read the mood of a room, predicting if someone is a friend or a foe; if they have come to pay their respects and leave the tomb as they found it, or if they intend to steal or cause damage. The flames that it produces change colour to display this intention reading; shining in cool greens and blue tones if they detect someone friendly, or warmer, colours like crimson and purple if an intruder approaches. Those who the guardian deems friendly, cannot be hurt by the creature’s spiritual fire, but those who seek to do wrong will be burned to a crisp!
Arcane Forge. This creature was created during a live stream on our youtube channel called Arcane Forge. There, I illustrate creatures and talk about the lore and mythology that goes into D&D, please check us out if you want to see more or help me to create more creatures like this one!
This creature in particular (nicknamed Snowdrop) was inspired by an ancient statue present in the V&A museum in London, thanks to The Last Biscicorn (Nancy) on our Discord server who shared the idea.
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