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Shards: Habitat: Any Thac0: 12 Frequency: Uncommon # Appearing: 10-100 (50-300 in lair) AC: 5 Move: 13' Hit Dice: 3 % in lair: 20% Treasure type: - # Attacks: 2 Damage: 1-4/1-4 Special Attacks: - Special Defenses: - Magic resistance: standard Int: High, for animals Size: M |
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Shards are long, snakelike creatures. They have a single claw at the end of their tail, and a head at the other. There is no visible
mouth, just rows of teeth protruding from where it should be. They are about 8' long uncurled, and are about 10" across. They move
by means of a magical field that allows them to hover 1'-3' above the ground, with their claw poised over their head like a scorpion's
tail. They are highly social creatures, and seem to share a sort of hive-mind. They gain strength in numbers - +1 hp and +1 to hit
for every additional 40 present. They are highly adaptable, and have been found living everywhere from forests to caves, from the bottom
of the sea to inside a volcano. | ||
Balrogs:
Thac0: 4
Frequency: Very rare
# Appearing: 1
AC: 0
Move: 20'
Hit Dice: 16 + 5
% in lair: 95%
Treasure type: -
# Attacks: 3 (sword/sword/whip)
Damage: 4-32/4-32/2-20
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: +2 or better weapons to hit
Magic resistance: standard
Int: High
Size: L
Balrogs are elder demons who reside in the depths of the earth. The following quote is from The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It describes them better than I can.
"What it was could not be seen: It was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it and go before it.
It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped across the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs."
It is also said that one of their kind may have been the first of the Guardians.
On every successful hit with the whip, there is a 10% chance each of stunning or binding the target for 1 round.
Irréal:
Thac0: 2
Frequency: Unique
# Appearing: 1
AC: -5
Move: 20' (see below)
Hit Dice: 8 + 5
% in lair: 95%
Treasure type: -
# Attacks: 2 (claw/claw)
Damage: 4-32/4-32
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: +4 or better weapons to hit
Magic resistance: standard
Int: High
Size: M
Irréal is a malevolent spirit of magic, and the second Guardian. He had lain dormant for centuries, but has now returned to feed again since magic is once again readily available. He is thought to be hiding in some place with a high concentration of magical energy.
Irréal is capable of travelling both astrally and ethereally, and can 'teleport' (to some extent) while on the physical plane. Being made entirely of magic, Dispel Magic does 1d8 damage to him for every level of the caster. On a successful attack with his claws, he can absorb half of the damage dealt to heal himself by that amount.
Chaos Dragon:
Thac0: 2
Frequency: Unique
# Appearing: 1
AC: -3
Move: 10' (fly 40', B)
Hit Dice: 25 (200 hp)
% in lair: 80%
Treasure type: see below
# Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite)
Damage: 1d10/1d10/3d8
Special Attacks: Breath weapon
Special Defenses: see below
Magic resistance: standard
Int: High
Size: 90' long not counting tail
The Chaos Dragon is another of the guardians, having recently awakened. He makes his lair in a dormant volcano on Wildlands Island, as this is the only place where he can find prey big enough to fill his appetite. However, he has been sighted as far away as Makaan and Quelimain.
Lair: The volcano he lives in is riddled with natural tunnels and shafts dug by previous residents. Many of said previous residents had their quarters trapped to prevent intruders, and at least one elementalist wizard made his lab there. The dragon sleeps (and keeps his extensive treasure hoard) at the bottom of the main shaft. The shaft is magically capped with a barrier of solid rock (effectively impossible to break through), and opens with a command word known only to the dragon. Treasure: The dragon keeps an immense collection of assorted coins and jewels, but notably fewer magic items than other dragons of similar stature. There are anywhere from one to ten thousand of any given coin type but platinum, 1d100 random gems and precious stones (no more than 10% of which will be worth over 600 gp), no pieces of art, and 1d6 random magical items (at least one of which is a scroll). If the dragon is killed, seriously wounded, or otherwise unable to protect his hoard when some adventurous PC's find it, the coins have been enchanted to coalesce into a humanoid form and attack (treat as a steel golem). If there are any magical weapons or armor in the hoard, the golem will make use of the best of each.
Special atk & def: The Chaos Dragon's breath weapon does 8d8 damage, and can emulate any evil dragon type but green (frost, acid, fire, or lightning). He takes half damage from fire and lightning sources, and all physical damage is reduced by 1d6. In the event of a fire- or lightning-elemental physical attack, the player chooses which to count it as before attacking. Finally, whenever fighting outdoors, the dragon can alter weather within a 1-mile radius randomly as follows:
| Roll (1d4): | Effect: |
| 1 | Dry lighting storm. No rain, characters on high ground have 50% chance of being struck for 2d8 damage. |
| 2 | Heavy rain. Mild acid deals 1d4 per round to all characters within area of effect. |
| 3 | Giant hailstones. All characters have 1 in 6 chance every round of being struck for 2d4 |
| 4 | Firestorm. Small meteors rain from the sky, striking every character,
every round, at THAC0 14, for 2d6 damage. Flammable structures, etc. have a 40% chance per round of igniting. |
Omega:
Thac0: 1
Frequency: unique
# Appearing: 1
AC: -4
Move: 20' (fly 40', C)
Hit Dice: 30 (240 hp)
% in lair: 0%
Treasure type: -
# Attacks: 4 (claw/claw/bite/tail)
Damage: 8-32/8-32/3-30/8-64
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: See below
Magic resistance: 90%
Int: High
Size: 40' tall, 70' long not counting tail.
The last of the Guardians, Omega is a beast of incredible proportions. At first, it appears somewhat like a reptilian centaur of sorts. The main body is about 70 feet long, not counting the immense tail. It is squat, with six powerful legs emerging from the sides and an enormous maw on the front. Emerging from the top of that face is the 30' upper torso, with two large, clawed arms and another spiked head. Two sets of giant wings retract into the back of the main body, and a third pair retracts into the upper torso. The entire body is covered with plating capable of absorbing all but the most powerful attacks, including magic. It requires +3 or better weapons to hit, and takes ½ damage from all physical and magical attacks. Whenever it successfully resists magic, it absorbs one charge per spell level. The lower head is capable of breathing fire in a 30' cone, doing 1d4+1 damage for every charge stored. This does not expend any charges. If all stored charges are actually expended, the upper head releases 1 explosive flame ball per charge. These strike randomly in a 30' radius, doing 4d10 damage each. Charges can be stored without absorbing magic at a rate of 2/turn. Omega also regenerates 1d8 hp per round. It can also take advantage of its incredible size to simply crush a character. Any character who is crushed by Omega takes 4d8 initially, and a further 1d10 per round until freed. However, it takes a combined strength of 70 and a successful strength check for everyone involved to hold Omega up long enough for someone to escape.