Monster Monday: Armored Grave - This Armor Shall Serve as My Epitaph

Today's Monster Monday is the armored grave, a knight buried in his armor, its once-gleaming plates now bursting at the seams with hard-packed grave dirt and the putrescence of decay. These are the tanks of the low-level undead world.

Buried in their armor, these ritually-prepared undead take on a new body of hard-packed grave dirt, granting them an additional layer of protection. Compared to ordinary skeletons and zombies, armored graves are invulnerable, unstoppable death machines.

Just to kick things up a notch, an armored epitaph is a slightly stronger armored grave which has Intelligence and feats and which isn't staggered.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

This rusting suit of plate armor is packed to bursting with grave dirt

Armored Grave  CR 3

XP 800

NE Medium undead (earth)

Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 22, touch 9, flat-footed 22 (+9 full plate, -1 Dex, +4 natural)

hp 22 (4d8+4)

Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +4; channel resistance +4

DR 5/--; Immune cold, critical hits, undead traits

Resist electricity 5, fire 5

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee greatsword +6 (2d6+4) or slam +6 (1d6+4)

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 9, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 10

Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 15

Feats Toughness^B

SQ staggered, susceptible to earth magic

Susceptible to Earth Magic (Ex)

Certain spells with the earth descriptor affect an armored grave differently:

·       Soften earth and stone removes the Staggered special quality and reduces the armored grave’s natural armor by -2 for 1d4+1 rounds.

·       Transmute mud to rock paralyzes the armored grave (bypassing the undead’s normal immunity to paralysis) but increases its damage reduction to DR 10/-- for 1d4 rounds.

ECOLOGY

Environment any

Organization solitary, pair, or squad (3-6)

Treasure standard (full plate, greatsword, other npc gear)

This undead abomination consists of the corpse of a warrior buried in a full suit of plate armor, practically bursting at the seams with grave dirt and putrescence. In most cases, a body must have been buried for at least a year in its armor for it to be raised as an armored grave, making them a relatively rare addition to a necromancer’s collection. But packed with necrotic earth and sheathed in metal, these undead are a formidable force, able to withstand far more powerful blows than a typical skeleton or zombie.

Armored Epitaph (CR 4): An armored epitaph must be intentionally created and tended to for one year before being raised as undead. The deceased’s epitaph is ritually carved into the breastplate of the armor as if it were a tombstone. The armored epitaph gains one HD and an Intelligence score of 11, and loses the Staggered special quality. A typical armored epitaph has a masterwork greatsword, +1 full plate, and the feats Power Attack, Cleave, and Weapon Focus (greatsword).

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• A distinct clanking sound can be heard emanating from the buried catacombs of the ruined knight's chapel.
• All the guests were surprised to see Sir Antony arrive at the feast, especially since Sir Antony was killed in battle two years ago.
• As the PCs delve into the death cult's lair, they face a horde of zombies backed up by a row of skeleton archers and fortified by several hulking armored graves.

-your putrescent d20 despot