I hope you enjoy the athenaeum sentinel, and I should (really!) be back on Friday with a new monster. Thanks for reading!
No tomes for you! Rowf!
This otherwise
unassuming dog’s eyes glow green, as if they could pierce through to a creature’s
very soul.
Athenaeum
Sentinel CR 5
XP 1,600
N Small magical beast
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., know
alignment, low-light vision; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 14,
flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, +1 size)
hp 51 (6d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +5
Immune charm,
compulsion, fear; SR 16
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +11
(2d6+6 plus trip)
Special Attacks
final word
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 19
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 22 (26 vs. trip)
Feats Alertness,
Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative
Skills Acrobatics
+11 (+15 to jump), Intimidate +10, Perception +14, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft
+16; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics,
+8 Spellcraft
Languages Common,
Elven; tongues
SQ bardic
knowledge +3, blast sanctum
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Blast Sanctum (Su) If an athenaeum sentinel is caught within the area of a damaging spell or spell-like ability and the caster fails to penetrate the sentinel's SR, the effect is negated as if countered.
Final Word (Su) When
an athenaeum sentinel dies, it affects all creatures within 40 feet as if
targeted with the sentinel’s choice of dictum,
holy word, or power word stun (CL 13th, save DC 21). If the sentinel chooses power word stun, the effect cannot
exceed 150 total hit points and stuns creatures with the fewest hit points
first.
Know Alignment (Su)
An athenaeum sentinel automatically knows the alignment of any creature it can
see.
Athenaeum sentinels were bred by mages who valued the dogs’
loyalty and infused them with magical abilities that allow them to drive off intruders
and protect the repositories they protect from harm. Sentinels prefer to
convince trespassers to leave peacefully, but they prepare for mayhem from
chaotic or evil creatures. Their partners—the highly intelligent athenaeum
sentinels do not regard them as “masters”—receive a warning akin to the alarm spell when athenaeum sentinels
confront intruders and when they die. Unless the sentinels wish to inflict
maximum damage to evil or chaotic opponents upon their deaths, they usually
resort to power word stun on dying to
hold their foes long enough for their partners to arrive and mete out whatever
justice they wish to.
Because athenaeum sentinels spend much of their time around
books and other documents, they have inherently absorbed considerable
knowledge. While protecting their libraries, they use this knowledge to
determine the best choice for their invader bane ability. Gaining a sentinel’s
trust, especially convincing it that no harm will come to its protected materials,
allows characters to ask it questions, for which it will provide answers to the
best of its ability. Athenaeum sentinels released from duty find adventurers
with whom they can share their wealth of knowledge and for whom they can act as
protectors.
