Crimson Worlds

Crossroads Guardian

4 min read

columns: 2
forcecolumns: true
layout: Basic Pathfinder 2e Layout
source: "Pathfinder Bestiary 3"
name: "Crossroads Guardian"
level: "Creature 7"
rare_03: [[Rare]]
alignment: ""
size: "Medium"
trait_01: [[fey]]
modifier: 19
perception:
  - name: "Perception"
    desc: "+19; "
languages: "Fey; tongues"
skills:
  - name: "Skills"
    desc: "Arcana: +16, Diplomacy: +20, Medicine: +17, Nature: +19, Occultism: +16, Performance: +16, Religion: +17, Society: +16, Survival: +19, Lore (Associated with the Guardian's Need): +20"
abilityMods: [5, 4, 3, 5, 6, 7]
speed: 25 feet,  swim 25 feet
sourcebook: "_Pathfinder Bestiary 3_"
ac: 25
armorclass:
  - name: AC
    desc: "25; __Fort__ +14, __Ref__ +13, __Will__ +19"
hp: 115
health:
  - name: ""
  - name: HP
    desc: "115, primal purpose"
abilities_top:
  - name: ""
  - name: "Items"
    desc: "[[Equipment/Greatsword|Greatsword]], [[Equipment/Chain Mail|Chain Mail]]"
  - name: "Bound"
    desc: "  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 [[Spells/Geas|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."
 
  - name: "Recognize Hero"
    desc: "  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."
 
  - name: "[[Bestiary Ability Glossary/Constant Spells|Constant Spells]]"
    desc: "  A constant spell affects the monster without the monster needing to cast it, and its duration is unlimited. If a constant spell gets counteracted, the monster can reactivate it by spending the normal spellcasting actions the spell requires."
 
abilities_mid:
  - name: ""
  - name: "Primal Purpose"
    desc: "  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 [[Spells/Geas|Geas]] to fulfill its need, or at the site of its original appearance.\n\nOnce the guardian's need is fulfilled, the crossroads guardian dissipates naturally within a week unless it finds a new quest."
 
attacks:
  - name: ""
 
  - name: "**Melee** `pf2:1` Greatsword"
    desc: "+18 (versatile p)\n__Damage__  1d12 + 11 slashing 1d6 mental"
 
  - name: "Primal Innate Spells"
    desc: "DC 25, attack +17; __7th __  _[[Spells/Interplanar Teleport|Plane Shift]]_; __4th __  _[[Spells/Mist|Obscuring Mist (At Will)]]_, _[[Spells/Solid Fog|Solid Fog]]_\n__Constant__  __(5th)__ _[[Spells/Truespeech|Tongues]]_"
 
  - name: "Rituals"
    desc: "_Geas (Doesn't Require Secondary Casters And Can Target a Willing Creature of Any Level)_"
 
  - name: "Rituals"
    desc: "  DC 25; _geas_ (doesn't require secondary casters and can target a willing creature of any level)"
 
name: Crossroads Guardian
creatures:
  - 1: Crossroads Guardian

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.

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