Inspiration
Today, I’m starting an undertaking that I’ve had in mind for a bit. I really like the advice given in The Monsters Know What They’re Doing for Fifth Edition, but lately I’ve been playing Pathfinder Second Edition far more than I’ve played Fifth Edition. Pathfinder has its own Bestiaries with its own monsters and their own stats. So I thought I’d apply the same thinking used there to how Pathfinder put the stats together.
I’ve also been listening to a lot of the Monster Man Podcast. And the catchphrase is correct: monsters are great.
Based on the username I’ve been using in games since college, I’ll term this The Squishy Mage’s Field Guide. My plan is to discuss monsters from the Pathfinder 2 bestiaries, and how I think they might be most interestingly used tactically in your games. The order I’ll add things is likely to be based more on what comes up in my own games than a specific organizational scheme.
Image by Boris Hamer
Skeleton Guards
My last game involved a lot of undead, so I thought I would start with them and what sort of purposes they might be turned to by the spellcasters who create them.
Skeleton Guards represent the easiest to create form of skeletons. The original identity of the bones don’t matter, just that there are enough of them. They have no initiative of their own, only the instructions implanted in them by their creator.
Skeletons have a couple traits that affect gameplay.
Undead
Skeletons are of course undead creatures. In Pathfinder 2, this means that they are instantly destroyed if their HP reaches zero, that they are damaged by positive energy, and that they are healed by negative energy. They cannot be healed by actions with the “Healing” trait like treat wounds.
Mindless
Skeleton Guards have no individuality, no personality, no mind. They cannot be affected by abilities with the “Mental” trait.
Stat Spread
Skeleton Guards have a high dexterity and good strength. Their constitution and mental stats, as we might expect are lacking.
Skeleton Guards are good for jump scares, the monsters you hide right on the other side of the door for player characters to stumble into.
Resistances and Immunities
Skeleton Guards are resistant to Piercing, Slashing, Cold, Electicity, and Fire.
They are immune to death effects, disease, mental effects, paralysis, poison, and the unconscious condition. Basically, they’re immune to effects that you would think rely on a functioning biological body to take place.
Attacks
For the most part the attacks of the Skeleton Guard have equal chances to hit. The only attack that changes the math is the Claw attack which has the Agile trait and can be more easily used for a second attack.
With their bow for range, and the sword and claw for melee, Skeleton Guards are equally good at all ranges.
Special Abilities
I’m going to write separately about the Skeleton Abilities but don’t forget to add them, even to our Level -1 friend the Skeleton Guard. These abilities really differentiate what purposes the Skeletons might have been designed for by their creators.
A Blazing Skeleton might be a stationary guard, but I can tell you that in our first Pathfinder 2 session, the Explosive Death ability really made an impression on my players and drove home the fact that fighting monsters needs to be done in a smart way. The Screaming Skull is also a fun touch to a creepy encounter.
Tactics
Skeleton Guards are likely going to be placed to guard a place, acting as ambush attackers when player characters enter.
This may change a bit based on what Skeleton Ability you assign to them.
Licensing
This post relies on information from the Pathfinder Second Edition Bestiary, copyright 2019, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Alexander Augunas, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Eleanor Ferron, Leo Glass, Thurston Hillman, James Jacobs, Jason Keeley, Lyz Liddell, Ron Lundeen, Robert G. McCreary, Tim Nightengale, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Chris S. Sims, Jeffrey Swank, Jason Tondro, Tonya Woldridge, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.
Used pursuant to the Open Gaming License v 1.0a
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