OMG, I just finished my session and won possession of a SHIELD GUARDIAN!!!

[Bilbron]

I didn't even know these were a thing, and unknowingly won it from a noble in a game of Dragonchess where I threw down a natural 20. OMFG!!!

Giddy? Oh yeah, tingles, baby.

Oh goodness, they can store and cast a spell? And I already have a Spell Gem, and 2 levels away from Arcane Abeyance. Now I gotta start thinking up 4x concentration spell combos...

[Amdy_vill]

I love Shieldies I was in a game where I had 2 and they're awesome.

[Zhorn]

Nice one! Congrats!

Our previous DM included those in a plot thread about a group of wizards constructing them for un uprising, but every time we got close to securing one and/or the amulet, we were road blocked with "oh it's broken and not working" "this one's incomplete and you don't know how to finish it" or outside of the action economy "the wizard teleports it away".

Cool on your DM for letting you have it :smallbiggrin:

[Amdy_vill]

Nice one! Congrats!

Our previous DM included those in a plot thread about a group of wizards constructing them for un uprising, but every time we got close to securing one and/or the amulet, we were road blocked with "oh it's broken and not working" "this one's incomplete and you don't know how to finish it" or outside of the action economy "the wizard teleports it away".

Cool on your DM for letting you have it :smallbiggrin:

I hate things like this. as a dm it's just bad gameplay. don't ever give yo bad guy something you don't want the players to have.

[Bilbron]

Nice one! Congrats!

Our previous DM included those in a plot thread about a group of wizards constructing them for un uprising, but every time we got close to securing one and/or the amulet, we were road blocked with "oh it's broken and not working" "this one's incomplete and you don't know how to finish it" or outside of the action economy "the wizard teleports it away".

Cool on your DM for letting you have it :smallbiggrin:

Very cool of him! It actually came out of nowhere after we were schmoozing this local noble and he was crushing my party in Dragonchess and talking smack (my party loves Dragonchess). I happen to have proficiency with Dragonchess but have never played with my party because they can't even beat my Paladin's horse most games (no kidding), and they didn't know I had proficiency in it. He wanted to bet and put up his blingy amulet, and then I rolled the natural 20, so I thought I'd won a nice little payday. But when I put the amulet on the frickin' Shield Guardian came out from the next room, and I was like "Dude!!!!"

Oh my, as a CR7 creature I can Polymorph it into a Giant Ape! And it won't complain!

[Unoriginal]

Very cool of him! It actually came out of nowhere after we were schmoozing this local noble and he was crushing my party in Dragonchess and talking smack (my party loves Dragonchess). I happen to have proficiency with Dragonchess but have never played with my party because they can't even beat my Paladin's horse most games (no kidding), and they didn't know I had proficiency in it. He wanted to bet and put up his blingy amulet, and then I rolled the natural 20, so I thought I'd won a nice little payday. But when I put the amulet on the frickin' Shield Guardian came out from the next room, and I was like "Dude!!!!"

Oh my, as a CR7 creature I can Polymorph it into a Giant Ape! And it won't complain!

What did you bet in exchange for the noble to agree to put such a prize on the table?

[Bilbron]

What did you bet in exchange for the noble to agree to put such a prize on the table?

He really wanted to play me because I was refusing him all night (it's kind of my thing to refuse to play Dragonchess), and I wouldn't drink his wine either. So finally he bet the amulet against me drinking a bottle of wine, so I figured I may as well break my little bit and take him on, since I'm poor and the amulet was blinged out.

[Kane0]

Nice! What spells do you have to load into it?

[Sigreid]

Use it smartly. It's way to valuable of a tool to lose it by having it recklessly plunging into danger.

A tip, buy yourself a rickshaw or something of that nature. Let it do your walking for you with a back that can carry some extra/heavy supplies and tools.

[Bilbron]

Use it smartly. It's way to valuable of a tool to lose it by having it recklessly plunging into danger.

A tip, buy yourself a rickshaw or something of that nature. Let it do your walking for you with a back that can carry some extra/heavy supplies and tools.
For sure! I'm gonna bling it out and be sure to Polymorph it if it ever gets low on HP.


Nice! What spells do you have to load into it?

8th level wizard, here's my book atm:

1st: Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Absorb Elements, Catapult, Shield, Sleep, Grease, Color Spray, Jump, Fog Cloud, Magic Missile, Comprehend Languages, Find Familiar, Identify, Detect Magic, Alarm, Unseen Servant, Floating Disc, Gift of Alacrity

2nd: Misty Step, See Invisible, Hold Person, Rope Trick, Dragon’s Breath, Mirror Image, Alter Self, Blur, Crown of Madness, Gust of Wind, Invisibility, Knock, Magic Weapon, Phantasmal Force, Spider Climb, Magic Mouth, Fortune’s Favor

3rd: Blink, Dispel Magic, Gaseous Form, Major Image, Protection from Energy, Slow, Tongues, Tiny Servant, Sleet Storm, Hypnotic Pattern, Counterspell, Water Breathing, Phantom Steed, Leomund’s Tiny Hut, Glyph of Warding, Haste

4th: Polymorph, Blight, Fabricate, Fire Shield, Hallucinatory Terrain, Locate Creature, Phantasmal Killer, Stone Skin, Stone Shape, Dimension Door, Summon Aberration

Definitely will be fun to think about what to store in it. Happy to hear suggestions! First instinct is to put a Polymorph in there with contingency protocol to trigger when it gets to like 30 HP or below or some such, so it can replenish HP and retreat if necessary.

[Unoriginal]

He really wanted to play me because I was refusing him all night (it's kind of my thing to refuse to play Dragonchess), and I wouldn't drink his wine either. So finally he bet the amulet against me drinking a bottle of wine, so I figured I may as well break my little bit and take him on, since I'm poor and the amulet was blinged out.

So a noble bet his thousands-of-gps-worth, makes-all-typical-wizards-jealous, powerful-and-tireless bodyguard just for the chance if playing a game and sharing a drink with your character?

I'd be expecting a trap or that noble's family to disown him for such a major screwup.

[Bilbron]

So a noble bet his thousands-of-gps-worth, makes-all-typical-wizards-jealous, powerful-and-tireless bodyguard just for the chance if playing a game and sharing a drink with your character?

I'd be expecting a trap or that noble's family to disown him for such a major screwup.

Well, if you have like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark level money, you tend to look at that sort of thing differently, I'd suspect, given marginal utility.

But yes, that's what happened, what can I say? He had a massive bonus to his Dragonchess roll and was crushing everyone, and was drinking heavily, and stuff happened... wouldn't be the first time such a sad story has been told, lol. You know what they say, never start a land war in Asia, and never make a drunken bet with a Deep Gnome with a Shield Guardian on the line...

[Zhorn]

Well if they had been drinking 'all night' then it would be feasible that the noble was drunk enough to lose any inhibitions against wagering something so valuable.
Yes it was an extremely lopsided wager, but OP's given enough details that we needn't try to pick apart the story.

[Unoriginal]

Well, if you have like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark level money, you tend to look at that sort of thing differently, I'd suspect, given marginal utility.

But yes, that's what happened, what can I say? He had a massive bonus to his Dragonchess roll and was crushing everyone, and was drinking heavily, and stuff happened... wouldn't be the first time such a sad story has been told, lol. You know what they say, never start a land war in Asia, and never make a drunken bet with a Deep Gnome with a Shield Guardian on the line...

Oh not saying that it's uncommon for a fool and his bet money to be parted away.

I'm just saying this is kind of like Bruce Wayne betting the Batmobile. Or Tony Stark betting one of his power armors. And I'm expecting the noble's future to be short yet packed with sharp implements, unless this is a trap for you and/or your party.


Maybe you could check if the noble's family has anything even better to give in exchange for not having the reminder of such an humiliation get constantly paraded around. Would have to be pretty big to be worth a Shield Guardian, but if they're willing they can probably do it.

[Galithar]

Oh not saying that it's uncommon for a fool and his bet money to be parted away.

I'm just saying this is kind of like Bruce Wayne betting the Batmobile. Or Tony Stark betting one of his power armors. And I'm expecting the noble's future to be short yet packed with sharp implements, unless this is a trap for you and/or your party.

Maybe not. You're comparing things that are very important to those people and what they do against something that could have been a flashy "look at me" impulse buy. It could be like Iron Man losing one of those nice cars he totally destroys making his armor in the first movie!

[Kane0]

1st: Tasha’s Hideous Laughter

2nd: Misty Step, Hold Person, Gust of Wind, Invisibility, Phantasmal Force

3rd: Dispel Magic, Counterspell, Haste

4th: Polymorph, Dimension Door, Summon Aberration

Definitely will be fun to think about what to store in it. Happy to hear suggestions!

These would be my picks depending on how you intend on using it. I personally probably wouldn’t use it as a primary attacker or frontline meatshield, but then again my party has plenty of martials already. An extra concentration slot in the party is great, plus it has a built in warding bond and regeneration.

Also, make sure to check in with party members if they have good spells to load into it.

[AttilatheYeon]

So a noble bet his thousands-of-gps-worth, makes-all-typical-wizards-jealous, powerful-and-tireless bodyguard just for the chance if playing a game and sharing a drink with your character?

I'd be expecting a trap or that noble's family to disown him for such a major screwup.

It's written into the module that he bets the players his shield guardian as a way to maybe get it into the players hands.

[Sigreid]

For sure! I'm gonna bling it out and be sure to Polymorph it if it ever gets low on HP.



Personally, I would just keep an eye on it's hitpoints. If it starts to get low, have it retreat for a few rounds for that 10hp regeneration to get to work for it.

[Unoriginal]

It's written into the module that he bets the players his shield guardian as a way to maybe get it into the players hands.

Which module?


Maybe not. You're comparing things that are very important to those people and what they do against something that could have been a flashy "look at me" impulse buy. It could be like Iron Man losing one of those nice cars he totally destroys making his armor in the first movie!

Possible, but given how powerful and expensive a Shield Guardian is that noble would have to be ridiculously rich and powerful for this to be the case. So I'd say it's more likely the "noble screwed up badly" thing.

[AttilatheYeon]

Which module?



Possible, but given how powerful and expensive a Shield Guardian is that noble would have to be ridiculously rich and powerful for this to be the case. So I'd say it's more likely the "noble screwed up badly" thing.

Spoilers
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OotA

[Bilbron]

Which module?

This is a homebrew campaign but pretty obviously he meant for us to acquire it, the whole noble thing came out of nowhere as we were hanging around killing time as we waited for a big feast that evening. I suspect one of the others was intended as the owner but the dice were in my favor. We also only have 1 front line guy (all-Cleric party) so something like this will help us out with battle formations and such.

It's unusual for this campaign as we rarely get loot (we're mostly on the run and not turning over lairs). I hadn't added a magic item in months (and in fact I was supposed to acquire an Amulet of Health this session, but when I went to the merchant my party members had found who had it for sale, he'd been robbed by Titivilus wearing my form so I had to deal with local police, etc.).

[AttilatheYeon]

This is a homebrew campaign but pretty obviously he meant for us to acquire it, the whole noble thing came out of nowhere as we were hanging around killing time as we waited for a big feast that evening. I suspect one of the others was intended as the owner but the dice were in my favor. We also only have 1 front line guy (all-Cleric party) so something like this will help us out with battle formations and such.

It's unusual for this campaign as we very rarely get loot (we're mostly on the run and not turning over lairs). I hadn't added a magic item in months (and in fact I was supposed to acquire an Amulet of Health this session, but when I went to the merchant my party members had found who had it for sale, he'd been robbed by Titivilus wearing my form so I had to deal with local police, etc.).

Ah my bad. That's exactly how you get the shield guardian in OotA.

[Unoriginal]

This is a homebrew campaign but pretty obviously he meant for us to acquire it, the whole noble thing came out of nowhere as we were hanging around killing time as we waited for a big feast that evening. I suspect one of the others was intended as the owner but the dice were in my favor. We also only have 1 front line guy (all-Cleric party) so something like this will help us out with battle formations and such.

It's unusual for this campaign as we very rarely get loot (we're mostly on the run and not turning over lairs). I hadn't added a magic item in months (and in fact I was supposed to acquire an Amulet of Health this session, but when I went to the merchant my party members had found who had it for sale, he'd been robbed by Titivilus wearing my form so I had to deal with local police, etc.).

Sounds like a great moment.

Have you checked if the noble and/or the Shield Guardian weren't Titivillus under a disguise or working for him?

[Sigreid]

Ah my bad. That's exactly how you get the shield guardian in OotA.

Well....I can't speak for this DM, but when I DM it's largely home brew but I often steal bits and pieces out of modules as low effort set pieces.

[Bilbron]

Sounds like a great moment.

Have you checked if the noble and/or the Shield Guardian weren't Titivillus under a disguise or working for him?

Oh, definitely, I'm pretty paranoid about Titivilus after what he did to me last time (easily knocked me to zero after a campaign of being untouchable, so I'm RPing a healthy fear of the guy with nightmares and all that).

[KorvinStarmast]

4th: Polymorph, Blight, Fabricate, Fire Shield, Hallucinatory Terrain, Locate Creature, Phantasmal Killer, Stone Skin, Stone Shape, Dimension Door, Summon Aberration

Definitely will be fun to think about what to store in it. Happy to hear suggestions! First instinct is to put a Polymorph in there with contingency protocol to trigger when it gets to like 30 HP or below or some such, so it can replenish HP and retreat if necessary. An alternate pre load is Dimension Door, which IIRC allows the SG to take one large sized (or smaller) creature (your PC) with him to get out of danger.

You can also bring one willing creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. The creature must be within 5 feet of you when you cast this spell. Something to consider, though a Polymorph into King Kong has coolness written all over it.

[Bilbron]

An alternate pre load is Dimension Door, which IIRC allows the SG to take one large sized (or smaller) creature (your PC) with him to get out of danger.
Something to consider, though a Polymorph into King Kong has coolness written all over it.

I don't think you can put a DD in a Shield Guardian because you "must cast the spell on the Guardian" and you can't target another creature with DD. It works a bit differently than RoSS or Spell Gems.

[KorvinStarmast]

I don't think you can put a DD in a Shield Guardian because you "must cast the spell on the Guardian" and you can't target another creature with DD. It works a bit differently than RoSS or Spell Gems. Hmmm, I see what you mean. Oh well, King Kong it is! :smallbiggrin:

[Keravath]

A party in one of my games had one but shortly after they acquired it they were attacked by a Roc while crossing a bridge and the Roc randomly selected the shield guardian as its target (I think the odds were 1/4 and the die roll was open).

It hit the guardian and grappled it carrying it off the bridge. Several characters attacked the Roc so it dropped the shield guardian down the 700' chasm (which the guardian survived). A character flew out to engage the Roc but was grappled but since they were a moon druid they changed into a small flying creature and escaped the grapple ... however after losing its new prey the Roc decided to pursue the shield guardian since the characters on the bridge were hurting it.

Unfortunately, 700' was even out of range for the Sharpshooter, so the Roc finished off the shield guardian and carried it away to its lair. However, it was close since the Roc had less than 20 hit points by the end after the last hit by the shield guardian.

Shield guardian: RIP

[Bilbron]

A party in one of my games had one but shortly after they acquired it they were attacked by a Roc while crossing a bridge and the Roc randomly selected the shield guardian as its target (I think the odds were 1/4 and the die roll was open).

It hit the guardian and grappled it carrying it off the bridge. Several characters attacked the Roc so it dropped the shield guardian down the 700' chasm (which the guardian survived). A character flew out to engage the Roc but was grappled but since they were a moon druid they changed into a small flying creature and escaped the grapple ... however after losing its new prey the Roc decided to pursue the shield guardian since the characters on the bridge were hurting it.

Unfortunately, 700' was even out of range for the Sharpshooter, so the Roc finished off the shield guardian and carried it away to its lair. However, it was close since the Roc had less than 20 hit points by the end after the last hit by the shield guardian.

Shield guardian: RIPOMG, tragic... many tears that night, I'm sure :-(

[Unoriginal]

A party in one of my games had one but shortly after they acquired it they were attacked by a Roc while crossing a bridge and the Roc randomly selected the shield guardian as its target (I think the odds were 1/4 and the die roll was open).

It hit the guardian and grappled it carrying it off the bridge. Several characters attacked the Roc so it dropped the shield guardian down the 700' chasm (which the guardian survived). A character flew out to engage the Roc but was grappled but since they were a moon druid they changed into a small flying creature and escaped the grapple ... however after losing its new prey the Roc decided to pursue the shield guardian since the characters on the bridge were hurting it.

Unfortunately, 700' was even out of range for the Sharpshooter, so the Roc finished off the shield guardian and carried it away to its lair. However, it was close since the Roc had less than 20 hit points by the end after the last hit by the shield guardian.

Shield guardian: RIP

Now I'm imagining an Artificier equipping a Shield Guardian with rocket boots, Iron Giant style.

[Sigreid]

A party in one of my games had one but shortly after they acquired it they were attacked by a Roc while crossing a bridge and the Roc randomly selected the shield guardian as its target (I think the odds were 1/4 and the die roll was open).

It hit the guardian and grappled it carrying it off the bridge. Several characters attacked the Roc so it dropped the shield guardian down the 700' chasm (which the guardian survived). A character flew out to engage the Roc but was grappled but since they were a moon druid they changed into a small flying creature and escaped the grapple ... however after losing its new prey the Roc decided to pursue the shield guardian since the characters on the bridge were hurting it.

Unfortunately, 700' was even out of range for the Sharpshooter, so the Roc finished off the shield guardian and carried it away to its lair. However, it was close since the Roc had less than 20 hit points by the end after the last hit by the shield guardian.

Shield guardian: RIP

I think I know that encounter. In our case my wizard was grabbed by the stupid bird and flew off with him. I cast Wall of Force in front of him, so he hit it like a bird flying into a skyscraper window and we both fell 700'. I barely survived (well and truly knocked out and only a few HP of damage from sudden death), the rest of the party was able to finish off the Roc.

[Warder]

A party in one of my games had one but shortly after they acquired it they were attacked by a Roc while crossing a bridge and the Roc randomly selected the shield guardian as its target (I think the odds were 1/4 and the die roll was open).

It hit the guardian and grappled it carrying it off the bridge. Several characters attacked the Roc so it dropped the shield guardian down the 700' chasm (which the guardian survived). A character flew out to engage the Roc but was grappled but since they were a moon druid they changed into a small flying creature and escaped the grapple ... however after losing its new prey the Roc decided to pursue the shield guardian since the characters on the bridge were hurting it.

Unfortunately, 700' was even out of range for the Sharpshooter, so the Roc finished off the shield guardian and carried it away to its lair. However, it was close since the Roc had less than 20 hit points by the end after the last hit by the shield guardian.

Shield guardian: RIP

That same roc picked up one of our party members instead, and we were in no shape to fight anything after the temple, let alone a roc. We were down two PCs after that quest. :smalleek:

[Nickplatino]

Amazing! i didn't know it existed :smallsmile: