Guardian Shade

Medium undead, lawful good

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points 136 (16d8 + 64)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8 (–1)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	10 (+0)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +7
Skills Insight +10, Intimidation +11, Perception +10
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks; fire, lightning, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages All languages spoken by host
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Emerge from Host. A guardian shade normally dwells inside its host, but it can emerge as a move. Once it emerges, it can act independently. It can merge with its host as a move.
• Incorporeal Movement. The guardian shade can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

ACTIONS

• Icy Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) cold damage.
• Life Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an equal amount to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.

ABOUT

A guardian shade is the ghost of a warrior whose life was dedicated to protecting sacred places or holy individuals. Upon death, these warriors are given the option by the gods, spirits, or the shamans of their nation to continue serving as protectors. A guardian shade created in this fashion dwells alongside another’s spirit inside their body and emerges to aid its host when danger threatens. While guardian shades are usually devoted to the defense of the helpless and the sacred, some evil shamans capture the spirits of wicked warriors and bind them to their own unholy folk — ancient priests, evil chiefs whose bodies have wasted away, weak-bodied sorcerers, and the like. These evil guardian shades are rare and might abandon their hosts if facing destruction.