Gargoyle

//Alternative name; Golem//

Carved with great care and intent, Gargoyles are a race of living statues born to serve and guard their masters' property and selves. They are grotesque humanoids made out of stone, wood, metal, or other tough but workable materials crafted into shapes of fearsome monsters, meant to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies and to shink sharp teeth and claws into their flesh. Their sole purpose was to act as guardians and while many Gargoyles still serve this purpose, Gargoyles who have found themselves without masters or purpose have eventually found freedom and standing as an actual race of thinking beings. These Gargoyles venture out into the world to find purpose, or cling tightly to their territories in hiding away from the world.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A gargoyle is composed out of a magically altered material that is as pliable and malleable as flesh, but as tough and cold as stone. A Gargoyle's skin takes on the texture and appearance of the material used to construct the statue that the Gargoyle is born from. Additionally, all Gargoyles have some hair adhered on to their bodies, as required by the ritual to create a Gargoyle.
Generally, most Gargoyles are made to resemble humanoids and are built accordingly. Some are constructed to be more bestial and quadrupedal, while others may even be built into the construction of a building, completely immobile save for the occasional front limbs that they can grasp and attack with. These forms of Gargoyles are treated heavily as traps or guard dogs, and are given much less agency than the Gargoyles that are humanoid and mobile.
Aside from the variance in body plans, many Gargoyles are given many details to make their forms look tough, elegant, and terrifying. Some will have scale-like designs or plating. While others may have spikes, horns, spines, wings, tails, or other features that make their appearance more fearsome. They are usually custom tailored for the tastes of the person that they are being made for. More mass-produced Gargoyles will look plainer with less detailing, while specialized Gargoyles designed for a wealthy king might look extremely ornate with immaculate detailing.

Genetics and Reproduction

Gargoyles are an entirely artificial race and are majorly created and born from the ritual that creates them. This ritual requires the reagents of an ample amount of hair and/or fur, a humanoid or bestial carved statue made out of either wood, stone, or metal, and a ritual circle made out of crushed sulfur, snow orchids, and Iridrite. This ritual must be performed at an elevated position exposed to the moonlight of a full moon rising. The person or people performing the ritual must then begin chanting the required chant for the ritual

Form of (stone/wood/resin/crystal/metal), cold and empty, yearning for life. I grant you the knowledge of life, of breathing and thinking; of (two specified languages) and your newfound master(s) ; (name(s) of the person or people the Gargoyle is to aid)
Birth and creation Strength and mind Become a beast of these attributes and rise from your slumber!

─── The Gargoyle Creation Ritual, translated from the Arcanus language

The statue then becomes infused with magical life, becoming a gargoyle with a blank slate for a mind that only knows languages as specified by the chant. They are then free to be taught and trained what they need to know to perform the task that they were created for; usually as guardians or soldiers for armies.
However, some sects of freed or independent Gargoyles have started performing the ritual themselves to create more of their kind, free from being bound to a master or as war machines. Some Gargoyles of these groups see it as their own way of giving birth, and often do an altered ritual as a pairing with their mates to create their own children that grow into adult Gargoyles.

Growth Rate & Stages

The majority of Gargoyles are created as fully formed adults, but some groups of free Gargoyles have altered their creation ritual to create their own children that start as eggs and grow into adults over the span of 1 & ¾ of a year.

Ecology and Habitats

As they were created to guard structures, their general design makes human made locales ideal for Gargoyles. Winged Gargoyles may fly and glide from the high towers of a castle to quickly reach other buildings and rooftops. While all Gargoyles make use of their sharp claws to easily scale rugged or sheer terrain such as stone walls with ease.

Biological Cycle

Gargoyles need not sleep, nor do they age. They may erode over time, but this process is extremely slow and it ends up countered by their hibernation that regenerates their forms. This Hibernation acts as a sleep that leaves them frozen in the position they fell asleep in, and makes them indistinguishable from regular statues. During this state, they are able to regenerate all wounds to their body barring the removal of limbs or large chunks taken out of their body.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Gargoyles are usually not named by their masters with few exceptions. When a Gargoyle finds independence, they may not even pick up a name. But those that do will usually take a name from the language or languages they know, or make up a simple name based on words they know, such as Cragclaw or Flamesoul.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Most races and cities see Gargoyles the same as mindless monsters or servants and soldiers built to only serve. More lenient and accepting regions may give them more credit and treat them as sentient beings. But this does not stop people from fearing them and reviling Gargoyles.

Lifespan

Gargoyles live for as long as their form persists. There are reports of some Gargoyles that have lived hundreds of years.

Average Height

3 feet to 9 feet tall

Average Weight

200-600 lbs.

Average Length

3 feet to 13 feet

Gargoyle

Ability Score Increase +2 Str, +1 Con, -2 Dex

Size Medium

Speed 25 ft. movement, 20 ft. climbing speed

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Darkvision

Magic enables perfect eyesight for Gargoyle-kind so that they may act as perfect sentries and guardians through all times of day. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.

Animated Anatomy

As an inanimate object given magical life, you do not have the same anatomy of fleshy creatures, nor do you require the same needs to function.

• You do not need to eat or rest, nor are you able to consume any sustenance.
• You are immune to disease
• You do not require sleep and may function without disadvantages if you chose not to sleep. This does not prevent magic spells from putting you to sleep.
• Healing magics do not work on your form, instead you may only heal by the Mending cantrip for 1d4 + your Constitution modifier.

Stoneskin

With a form made out of a hard material such as stone, metal, resin, crystal, or hardwoods that is further enhanced by the magics that give you life, your skin is much harder to pierce. Magic has created a new kind of 'flesh' for your form that has the same texture of the material you were born from, but blessed with pliability of living tissue and the strength of granite. You have a +1 bonus to AC and are resistant to cold, necrotic, and poison damage. However, your body is weak to strong forces and you receive a disadvantage to rolls against bludgeoning damage dealt to you. You are unable to equip heavy armor, however, because of how specialized your form is for fighting.

Terrifying Claws

A Gargoyle's sharp claws are able to dig deep into stone, allowed them to easily climb difficult terrain. You have a climbing speed of 20 feet when climbing any surface that is not slippery or loose. They can also use their claws for an unarmed strike, dealing 1d4 piercing damage + your Strength modifier.

Powerful Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Stonesleep

Gargoyles do not truly sleep. Instead, they are able to regenerate their forms through a magic based hibernation. You are able to rest for an hour to restore 1d4 worth of health without spending a hit die, or you may hibernate for 8 hours with the same effects of a Long Rest. When you are hibernating, your form is reverted to its base material and you are unable to react or wake up quickly during your sleep. Interrupted rest causes you to suffer a disadvantage on Initiative rolls and saving throws for 30 seconds. If you are damaged while hibernating, you are forced awake and unable to rest for a period of 3 hours.

Constructed Features

You have been given a feature to your form by your constructor that enables you to accomplish new functions. They may range from wings, a variance in size, or an unusual material makeup. Choose one of the following

• Wings: You have large, strong wings that can lift yourself off of the ground with the aid of magically generated winds sourced from yourself. You gain the ability to fly, with a movement speed of 35 feet as long as you are aerial.
• Organic Inclusions: The material you were made out of- such as amber or stone with fossilized fragments- contained traces of life that has long passed. Somehow this has you more attuned to nature and life itself. Choose a proficiency in two of the following: Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, or Nature
• Small Form: You were constructed to be smaller than the average medium humanoid. As a result, you are treated as a Small creature with all of the same advantages and disadvantages to your size. Additionally, you are light and gain an advantage to stealth rolls.

Languages. Common, 1 language of your choice