Shrine Stone

Large construct, neutral

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 76 (9d10 + 27)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	8 (-1)	16 (+3)	4 (-3)	6 (-2)	1 (-5)

Saving Throws Constitution +5
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 8
Languages understands Common but can’t speak
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Special Traits

• Wake. Whenever a creature comes within 60 feet of the animated shrine stone’s guard post and the creature does not demonstrate the appropriate sign to the shrine stone, the construct activates and attacks the creature. To discover the required sign, a creature must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check. If the shrine stone has activated and is shown the sign, it will return to its guard post. Drawing the sign on the ground requires an action and is sufficient to pacify the shrine stone.

Actions

• Multiattack. The shrine stone makes two slam attacks.
• Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft.; one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, becoming incapacitated until the end of the shrine stone’s next turn on a failed save.

About

While some druids protect their sacred shrines with only a single defender, multiple guardians and multiple types of guardians keep shrines safe from various kinds of attacks.

The outermost perimeter is typically defended by mushroom guardians or stone guards, since they can ward off benign animals and relatively weak raiders. From there it depends on the individual druid’s ability and the availability of natural resources. Shrine stones typically protect locations deep within a forest. Many druidic holy sites make use of the natural foliage and create vine protectors. Those druids adept at summoning elementals call upon water hounds to defend sacred locations near lakes or the sea.