Tombsworn, Immortal Guardian – Steal this Monster

The entire temple had smelled of must, a constant on your journey to the final tomb. Around one corner you can finally see the tomb door, when from all around forms of guardians spring to life. You await the smell of rot that accompanies undead, and when it never comes, you fear.

The Tombsworn are more closely related to ancient orders than a race of monsters. They represent groups so devoted to their deity that they are selected to serve a single purpose on their god’s behalf for eternity. In order to accomplish this goal, the deity imbues each one with a small piece of their own divinity, forever changing them into immortal guardians.

Depending on where the Tombsworn serve, their appearance may change little from their mortal lives. Those who stay under ground, slowly grow an unearthly pale, so they may first appear as ghosts. Some live under extreme conditions, their hair and skin developing its own layer of ash from heat, or a slick layer of frost from colder climates. Those with highly trained senses may notice an odd, radiant glimmer around their eyes.

Nature 12: The creature you see before you was once a mortal creature, but left that life behind long ago. They still may experience the same strengths and weaknesses of their former race, though your gut tells you to trust that only so much.

Religion 17: The Tombsworn are former mortals imbued with a divine essence by their god. Gone are their mortal needs, they serve one purpose with all their will. This divine connection to their deity allows them to feed off certain energies and channel it back into their attacks.

Religion 23: Due to their immortal nature, Tombsworn slain on the material plane reappear in their deity’s realm. Depending on the nature of the god, their destruction can sometimes signal a new wave of immortal enemies. Some Tombsworn have reportedly gone rogue after defeat, hounding those who bested them in an effort at redemption.

In Combat: The Tombsworn Defender picks a spot in combat and acts as a wall using Defender’s Stand and Opportune Sweep, to knock down any that try to slip behind his line. The Tombsworn Bolter takes full advantage of this protection to reign down as much damage as possible, making use of cover when they can.

Encounters: The Tombsworn group naturally with other allies of their gods, as well as other guardians. They pair well with angels, elementals, and constructs. Due to their natural intelligence, they are easily able to command lesser creatures, and take advantage of advanced tactics.

Note to DMs: These are just two examples of potential Tombsworn. While these two were built to be useful both together, but in situations where one specific spot needs to be defended, I encourage you to customize your own.

Divine Refocus should have fire swapped for another element that better represents your god. Make sure you include this flavor in the way your Tombsworn are described. Necrotic Tombsworn may be surrounded by wisps of shadow, and Cold Tombsworn may be those frost slicked creatures mentioned before.

The other quick customization option comes from adopting existing humanoids. If you’re using the WotC Adventure Tools I suggest selecting a Heroic Level humanoid, adding Divine Refocus, and then leveling the creature up.