Sphinx (Androsphinx)
Celestial · no Crown (Sacred)
T4d10Major
Lion-bodied riddlers of deserts, androsphinxes guard tombs, their roars shaking sands with riddles of fate.
Tier 4 · Role Major · Pool Vigor 6 / Vitality 8 · AC 14 · ATK +6 · Save DC 17 · Dmg d10
| Stat | Score | Mod | Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Mind | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Sense | 8 | -1 | -d3 |
| Heart | 14 | +2 | d4 |
| Cunning | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Fate | 20 | +5 | d10 |
Passives
Spellcasting (riddle-sung divinity)
The androsphinx speaks in oracular verse; its riddles and roars are prayers to the desert stars, working divine magic without gesture out to 120 ft. Immune to thought-reading and has advantage on saves against spells.
Legendary Resistance (2/day)
When it fails a save, it can choose to succeed instead.
Maneuvers
Riddle Master
Poses a riddle. Each enemy who hears it and cannot answer must pass a Mind save (DC 17) or stand pondering, dazed for 1 round.
Banishment
Pronounces a verse of unbelonging. One creature within 30 ft makes a Fate save (DC 17) or is cast into a harmless demiplane until the start of the sphinx's next turn, losing its actions.
Declarations
Declared in the enemy tactical window and resolved at the start of its next turn. Any Vitality it loses first forces the disruption roll: on a 1 the telegraph is lost.
Sundering Roar
The sphinx roars and the sands shake. Every enemy within 120 ft must pass a Heart save (DC 17) or take 4 damage, be knocked prone, and be frightened for 1 round; on a success, 1 Vigor damage.
Tactics
GM tactics
Poses riddles before combat begins. Those who answer correctly may pass; those who fail meet Riddle Master and then the Sundering Roar. Banishes the one enemy it cannot simply outlast. Fights with ancient patience.
Running it
Rules
- Shield of Tier + Heart mod over a Vitality pool of 2 x Tier. Full Vigor at combat start; at the start of its turn it rolls 4 exploding d4s and regains 1 Vigor per 4. Dead at 0 Vigor and 0 Vitality.
- A hit rolls d10. A crit rolls two: 2d10.
- Crits on a natural 16+ (Cunning 18).
- Two or three attacks in a normal turn: multiattack is the threat scaler, and one swing a round makes it a mook.
- Any Vitality lost while a telegraph is pending forces its disruption roll; on a 1 the telegraph is lost.
- Checks morale at one-third Vitality: Heart save against the party leader's presence, or GM judgment.
- NPCs never take wounds.