Graven Guardian

As constructs go, graven guardians are relatively low level and affordable, making them common in temples, tombs, and other sacred sites.  Graven guardians can be especially useful for PCs who are investigating ancient ruins—a graven guardian’s visage, chosen weapon, and domains might offer clues as to the nature of the deity to whom these ruins were once sacred.

A respected nobleman dies bleeding in the street.  Across the city, the fox- and owl-headed graven guardians (with the Death and Repose domains) outside the Temple of Quiet Night bear short swords dripping with his blood.  Did the nobleman trespass on the temple grounds?  If so, why…and how did he traverse the city without being seen in his bloodied state?

The ruins of a city have been found in the rocky hills of Kern.  Graven guardians stand in front of important buildings—mostly spear-holding female figures of the Earth, Knowledge, Law, or Protection domains.  One site, however, hosts an ox-headed, peacock-winged statue of Madness and Sun.  The site supervisor will pay a fortune to those who can overcome or fool the guardians and reveal more about the wonders inside each building.

A priest enchants a graven guardian to honor his deity, yet it comes to life wielding a different weapon that that of the faith.  Is this a sign, or did someone subvert the ritual?

—Pathfinder Bestiary 3 140–141

Want to pick graven guardian domains randomly or on the fly?  Grab some d10s and roll twice on this chart:

Graven Guardian Domains

d%                Result

01–03            Air

04–06            Animal

07–09            Artifice

10–12            Chaos

13–15            Charm

16–18            Community

19–21            Darkness

22–24            Death

25–27            Destruction

28–30            Earth

31–33            Evil

34–36            Fire

37–39            Glory

40–42            Good

43–45            Healing

46–48            Knowledge

49–51            Law

52–54            Liberation

55–57            Luck

58–60            Madness

61–63            Magic

64–66            Nobility

67–69            Plant

70–72            Protection

73–75            Repose

76–78            Rune

79–81            Strength

82–84            Sun

85–87            Travel

88–90            Trickery

91–93            War

94–96            Water

97–99            Weather

00                  Bonus domain; roll twice more on this chart ignoring subsequent rolls of 00.

You can also use the same chart to come up with new deities.  Just roll on the above chart two, three, or even four times and see what you get.  Then roll on the below chart for your new deity’s alignment:

Deity Alignment

d10       Result

1            LG

2            NG

3            CG

4            LN

5            N

6            CN

7            LE

8            NE

9            CE

0            Deity has multiple aspects of differing alignments; roll twice more on this chart ignoring subsequent rolls of 0.

Don’t stress if your rolls appear to conflict with each other; instead, think of it as an opportunity for invention.  An evil deity with the Sun and Repose domains might be a vengeful desert god who punishes both tomb defilers and the undead.  A deity with the domains of Good and Evil might be a god of balance or a mad god with a split personality.  A deity with the Nobility and Protection domain might be a patron of lords and cavaliers, while one with the Charm and Protection domain might be a domestic power of hearth and home or a patron of town criers, bards, or seductive servants.  The dice deliver the result; you get to craft the story.

Finally, backlog alert: Ettin entry is up, which finishes up the letter E for us.