Sphinx Guardian

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Sphinxes stand tall and proud over their domains. With the body of a gryphon and the head of a humanoid, any who behold a Sphinx know that they are witnessing a creature of true majesty. Sphinxes are known as neutral arbiters of disputes, lovers of riddles and brain teasers, and guardians over noteworthy landmarks. Sphinxes guard points of magical power, crypts of fallen heroes, and other similar locations. Generally, a Sphinx will only let a creature explore these sites if the creature proves itself worthy. This will usually take the form of a contest of riddles.

A Scholarly Species

Sphinxes love knowledge and hoard books as prized possessions. Many Sphinxes memorize whole collections of books, becoming invaluable repositories of knowledge. Others pursue magical practice. Sphinxes take naturally to arcane and psionic magic in particular, but are capable of learning any of the Five Sources.

Riddle Me This

Sphinxes are perhaps best known as master riddlers. Clever heroes might seek to engage a Sphinx in a contest of riddles. When this happens, you can use the following rules to determine the outcome of a riddle contest.

1. Set the Parameters

First, determine what happens if the Sphinx wins or if the other creature or creatures win the contest. The Sphinx is magically capable of enforcing such conditions as long as they only affect the involved creatures, the Sphinx, or a physical area that the Sphinx controls. The win and lose rewards will vary based on the temperament of the Sphinx. Examples include:

• If the creature wins, it regains 10 SP, but if it loses, then it loses 10 SP.

• If the creature wins, then it may ask the Sphinx any question about historical events, but if it loses, then it must give the Sphinx 100 sc worth of books.

• If the creature wins, it may enter the crypt that the Sphinx guards, but if it loses, then the Sphinx gets to eat the creature.

2. Hold the Contest

A contest of riddles might consist of the Sphinx posing one or more riddles to the creature(s), or the Sphinx and creature(s) one or more posing riddles to one another. Depending on what your gaming table finds interesting, you can hold the contest of riddles in one of two ways. You can actually hold a riddle contest, posing riddles to one another until someone can’t figure out the answer. Alternatively, you can role-play the riddles and leave the outcome up to a roll of the dice. If you use this approach, the involved creatures each make an AWR, INT, or CHA check. They can argue for different skills to be applicable based on their circumstances. The DC is the Sphinx’s INT/ History roll, but it rolls 2d20 and uses whichever is higher. If one or more creatures facing the Sphinx succeed on the roll, then they win the contest.

Sphinx Guardian
Monster Level: 20
Large. Monstrosity
STR	DEX	END	AWR	INT	CHA
5	0	6	6	6	2
	Ref: 10	Fort: 16	Ant: 16	Log: 16	Will: 12
Armor Rating 16			Resist Magic 3 Immune Psychic
Hit Points 200			Senses Darkvision 30 ft
Speed 30 ft, Fly 30 ft			Traits Immutable, Iron Will, Steel Mind, Unerring Mind, Vigilant
Features
Scholar. The Guardian Sphinx has +10 in one skill of its choice with the Knowledge tag, and +4 in all other skills with the Knowledge tag. Keen Insights. The Guardian Sphinx always knows when a creature is lying or trying to obfuscate the truth. Riddle Me This. The Guardian Sphinx may challenge one or more creatures to a contest of riddles (see the sidebar). Guardian’s Magic. Using INT, the Guardian Sphinx can innately cast the following arcane spells. (At Will) Circle of Warding, Death Ward, Locate Magic, Locate Creature, Mask, Minor Illusion, Sense Magic (3/Rest) Contest Spell, Glyph of Seeing and Casting, Major Illusion (1/Rest) Gateway
Actions
The Sphinx Guardian can take FIVE of the following actions, or take the same action five times.
Move. The Sphinx Guardian can move up to its speed. Claws. Reach 5 ft, Natural Weapon. +6 vs AR. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) sharp. Admonish. Ranged 30 ft Natural Weapon. +4 vs WILL. Hit: The creature is Staggered until the end of its next turn. Engage. The Sphinx Guardian chooses a creature within 5 ft of it to become Engaged. Minor Spell. The Sphinx Guardian may cast one of its at will spells.
OR the MONSTER can take TWO of the following actions, or take the same action twice...
Move. The Sphinx Guardian can move up to its speed. Claws. Reach 5 ft, Natural Weapon. +6 vs AR. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) sharp. Admonish. Ranged 30 ft Natural Weapon. +4 vs WILL. Hit: The creature is Staggered until the end of its next turn. Minor Spell. The Sphinx Guardian may cast one of its at will spells.
...AND take the following action.
Major Spell. The Sphinx Guardian can cast an expendable spell.
Reactions
Engage (1/Turn). When an Engaged creature tries to move out of the Sphinx Guardian’s reach, it can make a Claws attack. If it hits, it deals damage and the creature’s speed becomes 0. Contest Spell (1/Round). The Sphinx Guardian may innately cast Contest Spell if it is available.