Resilient statues given life and a 3rd party playable species for the Eberron setting.
Gargoyles are statuesque humanoids that have literally been carved from stone and imbued with life. Many have horns and wings, but this does not have to be the case.
Their stone form grants Gargoyles a large amount of resilience with improved AC and some damage and conditions resilience. Despite their fearsome appearance, Gargoyles aren’t necessarily fierce themselves. The original statues were crafted to invoke fear, but the life imbued into them isn’t necessarily evil.
The Gargoyle is one of several 3rd party species released in Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone from legendary Eberron creator, Keith Baker. Below I dig into capabilities, optimisations and tactics for a Gargoyle character.
Is a Gargoyle the right species for me?
Choose a Gargoyle if you want to…
- Be more resilient
- Discreetly act like a statue
- Want feats that can grant flight and/or improved unarmed strikes
A Gargoyle might not be for you if…
- You naturally get a better AC
- Have little use for subtlty
Gargoyle traits
| Creature Type | Elemental |
| Size | Medium |
| Speed | 30ft |
| Traits | Darkvision, elemental nature, false appearance, sentry’s rest, stoneskin |
| Resistances | Poison, poisoned, petrified |
| Proficiencies | None |
| Darkvision | Yes |
| Innate spellcasting | None |
| Book found in | Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone |
Tactics
The best thing about a Gargoyle is their resilience. If you might ordinarily struggle for a decent AC or intend to be a dexterity build, that stoneskin can be really helpful.
Stoneskin AC: The base 13 AC from stoneskin is better than the 12 studded leather gives meaning if you’re a dexterity build, this will give +1 AC (and it’s free). Classes without armor proficiency (like sorcerers and wizards) will benefit even more from this and can save spell slots on mage armor. It’s no good if you’ve opted for a strength build and need heavy armor anyway though. The same goes for classes with unarmored defense like monks and barbarians who should be achieving a similar or higher AC through this, though some builds may benefit at lower levels.
Statue stealth: The fact you can be indistinguishable from a statue could easily fool the not too perceptive. Just be careful where you choose to imitate a statue. In the middle of a street or warehouse probably isn’t the usual spot for a statue.
Resilient: If the AC boost wasn’t enough, Gargoyles are also resistant to the very common poison damage and poisoned condition. They’re also immune to rarer but more inconvenient things like disease, dehydration, magical sleep, suffocation and petrification. All of this makes them fairly tough, especially with petrification featuring more often in Frontiers of Eberron as a mechanic
Unique feats grant extras: If you want flight or powerful unarmed strikes (or even better AC) then Gargoyles have unique feats not available to any other species that grant these things. They are; hewn for battle and wings of stone.
Choosing a class for your Gargoyle
Below I’ve scored how well each class works with a Gargoyle:
Artificer⭐⭐⭐
Barbarian ⭐⭐⭐
Bard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cleric ⭐⭐⭐
Druid ⭐⭐⭐
Fighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Monk ⭐⭐⭐
Paladin ⭐⭐⭐
Ranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rogue ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sorcerer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Warlock ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wizard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
*Star ratings scored out of 5
Best classes for a Gargoyle
Your best Gargoyle classes are those that can fully take advantage of their stoneskin. These are dexterity builds that don’t already get access to better AC in another way. Beyond this, improved resilience is great for anyone and even their minor stealth capabilities are going to be at least decent on any dexterity build.
I’d say the below classes are your best options:
A special shout out goes to sorcerers and wizards who can save spell slots and spells known on mage armor as they don’t typically have armor proficiency.
Worst Gargoyle classes
There’s no such thing as a bad Gargoyle class. Everyone enjoys some extra resilience. There’s just some classes that benefit less from some features (like stoneskin).
About Gargoyles
Appearance
Gargoyles were once statues carved to appear fearsome, mostly be Goblins. They were granted life, but retain the hardened stone skin and statuesque appearance, often having sharp teeth, horns, claws and even wings.
Personality
Many Gargoyles are quite satisfied remaining very still. The primary question for them is why move at all? They don’t age or require nourishment for instance. Different Gargoyles have different reasons to move which can often come down to 4 reasons:
- Seekers: Are curious and want to see new places.
- Guardians: Devote themselves to protecting someone or something.
- Movers: Find pleasure in movement itself, often becoming scouts or soldiers.
- Thinkers: Spend their time philosophising and pondering questions. While in deep thought, they are often mistaken for statues.
How to roleplay a Gargoyle
I’d consider your motivation for movement. Which of the 4 groups do you fit into, or are you motivated by something else (or even a combination of factors). This will largely help you work out how to roleplay a Gargoyle.
Remember as well that you are fairly ageless and don’t need to concern yourself with many of the functions of mortals like eating or breathing. This may cause you to have a calmer, less urgent outlook on things.
Gargoyles possess similar attributes to other non-fleshy species like Warforged and Autognome, but there’s enough distinguishing them that they also make an interesting take on a new species. What do you think of the Gargoyle? Let me know in the comments below.
