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Crossroads Guardian

Crossroads Guardian Creature7

Rare N Medium Fey

Senses Perception +19; recognize hero

Languages Sylvan; tongues

Skills Arcana +16, Diplomacy +20, Medicine +17, Nature +19, Performance +16, Occultism +16, Lore (associated with the guardian’s need) +20, Religion +17, Society +16, Survival +19

Str +5, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +5, Wis +6, Cha +7

Items chain mail, greatsword

Bound A crossroads guardian is bound to the site of its creation, but it can leave so long as it remains within 100 feet of the object it is guarding or individuals under a geas to fulfill the guardian’s need. If it strays farther than 100 feet, it vanishes and reappears within 1 day at the site of its creation.

Recognize Hero A crossroads guardian knows the name, lineage, and significant history of everyone who speaks to it. If that individual has two or more identities, the crossroads guardian knows all those identities and which one is most true.


AC 25; Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +19

HP 115, primal purpose

Primal Purpose A crossroads guardian can’t be permanently destroyed while its need remains unfulfilled. If killed, it reforms within 1 day near the object it guards, near someone under a geas to fulfill its need, or at the site of its original appearance. Once the guardian’s need is fulfilled, the crossroads guardian dissipates naturally within a week unless it finds a new quest.


Speed 25 feet, swim 25 feet

Melee [one-action] greatsword +18 (versatile P), Damage 1d12+11 slashing plus 1d6 mental

Primal Innate Spells DC 25; 7th plane shift, 4th obscuring mist (at will), solid fog; Constant (5th) tongues

Rituals DC 25; geas (doesn’t require secondary casters and can target a willing creature of any level)

About

When a village is threatened by a horde of bandits but there’s no one to help, when a monastery’s divine relic must be guarded but the last monk is on their deathbed, when the world can be saved only through the use of an artifact no one alive remembers, nature responds by creating a crossroads guardian, a naturally occurring entity of primal magic. Every crossroads guardian exists to satisfy a particular need-usually a quest that must be carried out, helpless individuals who must be saved from harm, or an object or location which must be guarded.

Although they often appear at actual crossroads, a crossroads guardian can materialize anywhere there is a community, from a giant metropolis to a lizardfolk village in a remote swamp.

Some crossroads guardians are martial beings-defending a mystic fountain against all intruders, for example-but most are helpers and assistants, guiding heroes through the wilderness to where they’re needed. A guardian is a skilled warrior and can defend a location, but when its purpose involves a quest, or the need is so great that the guardian isn’t up to the task alone, the guardian must persuade others to voluntarily accept their quest.

Once a crossroads guardian has fulfilled its purpose, it either shifts to satisfy a new need or quest-often changing its alignment and abilities as well-or else slowly vanishes, returning to the raw primal magic from which it was formed.

A crossroads guardian is always at least partially neutral, but can gain additional alignment traits from the community or task whose need prompted the guardian’s creation. They can also have different innate spells and abilities uniquely suited to their specific need.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Bestiary 3 (Second Edition) © 2021, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Logan Bonner, James Case, Jessica Catalan, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Katina Davis, Erik Scott de Bie, Jesse Decker, Brian Duckwitz, Hexe Fey, Keith Garrett, Matthew Goodall, Violet Gray, Alice Grizzle, Steven Hammond, Sasha Laranoa Harving, Joan Hong, James Jacobs, Michelle Jones, Virginia Jordan, Tj Kahn, Mikko Kallio, Jason Keeley, Joshua Kim, Avi Kool, Jeff Lee, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Philippe-Antoine Menard, Patchen Mortimer, Dennis Muldoon, Andrew Mullen, Quinn Murphy, Dave Nelson, Jason Nelson, Samantha Phelan, Stephen Radney-Macfarland, Danita Rambo, Shiv Ramdas, Bj Recio, Jessica Redekop, Mikhail Rekun, Patrick Renie, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Simone D. Sallé, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Sen.H.H.S, Abigail Slater, Rodney Sloan, Shay Snow, Pidj Sorensen, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Tan Shao Han, William Thompson, Jason Tondro, Clark Valentine, Ruvaid Virk, Skylar Wall, Andrew White, and Landon Winkler.

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