Throne Archon (CR 15)
Large Outsider (Archon, Extraplanar, Good, and lawful)
Alignment: Always Lawful good
Initiative: +11 (+7 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Senses: darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Listen +20, and Spot +20
Languages: Tongues SA
AC: 40 (-1 size, +7 Dex, +12 natural, +12 +4 full plate), touch 16, flat-footed 33
Hit Dice: 14d8+42 (105 hp); DR: 10/evil
Fort +12 (+16 against poison), Ref +16, Will +12
Speed: 40 ft., (30 ft. in full plate armor)
Space: 10 ft./10 ft.
Base Attack +14; Grapple +24
Attack: Large +1 vorpal greatsword +21 melee
Full Attack: Large +1 vorpal greatsword +21/+16/+11 melee
Damage: +1 vorpal greatsword 2d8+10/17-20
Special Attacks/Actions: Penitentiary gaze, spell-like abilities
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 24, Con 17, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 22
Special Qualities: Aura of menace, channeling, immunity to electricity and petrification, low-light vision, magic circle against evil, outsider traits, SR 30, teleport
Feats: Improved Critical (greatsword); Improved Initiative; Power Attack; Weapon Focus (greatsword); Words of Creation
Skills: Concentration +20, Diplomacy +25, Heal +20, Intimidate +31, Knowledge (history) +21, Knowledge (religion) +21, Knowledge (the planes) +21, Listen +20, Search +21, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +21, Spot +20, and Survival +3 (+5 following tracks or on other planes)
Advancement: 15-29 HD (Large); 30-42 HD (Huge)
Climate/Terrain: Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia
Organization: Solitary or court (1 throne archon plus 1d4 sword archons and 1d4 owl archons)
Treasure/Possessions: Double standard
Source:
Book of Exalted Deeds
Any weapons a throne archon wields are treated as having the good and lawful alignments for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Penitentiary Gaze (Su): Any non-lawful good creature within 30 feet of a throne archon that meets the creature's glowing blue eyes must succeed on a Will saving throw (DC 23) or temporarily fall under its influence. Such a being becomes filled with remorse over the distance his life's actions have taken him from the ideals of law or goodness (even if such distance would ordinarily make him proud). The intensity of the remorse (and the relevant game effect) varies depending upon the creature's alignment. Compare the victim's alignment to the chart below, adding any game effects that apply. This ability's save DC is Charisma-based.
The victim is free to act (even to attack the throne archon) while under the effects of the penitentiary gaze. The effects persist each round until the victim makes a successful Will saving throw. Throne archons can disable or enable this ability as a free action. The gaze cannot be disabled during the same round in which it was enabled (and vice versa).
Law/Chaos Axis
Neutral: The victim is beset by religious visions in which angelic legions berate him for straying from the true path of law and goodness. As a result, he becomes fatigued.
Chaotic: Blistering mental hellscapes scald the victim's consciousness, causing so much psychological damage that the victim becomes exhausted.
Good/Evil Axis
Neutral: Pangs of self-regret over past evil deeds result in blood-red psychosomatic blisters and boils. The victim takes 10 points of damage.
Evil: The victim's guilt and misery creates a psychosomatic meltdown that results in painful rashes and explosive skin abrasions. The victim takes 20 points of damage.
Spell-like Abilities: At will - atonement, break enchantment, bless weapon, blessed sight, cure critical wounds (DC 20), detect evil, discern lies (DC 20), greater dispel magic, hallow, mark of justice, neutralize poison (DC 20), restoration (DC 18), see invisibility, sending, vision of heaven (DC 17); 3/day - banishment (DC 22), death ward (DC 20), dictum (DC 23), divine favor, find the path (DC 22), heal (DC 23), heroes' feast, holy sword, raise dead, greater restoration (DC 22), righteous smite (DC 23), shield of the archons, true seeing (DC 21); 1/day - resurrection. Caster level 14th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Aura of Menace (Su): Will save DC 25.
Channeling (Sp): Throne archons can invest mortals with their power. See Channeling in Chapter 2 BoED: Variant Rules for details about this process.
Skills: Throne archons command the cities of the Seven Heavens and to mete out justice to mortals and petitioners alike. They enjoy a +8 racial bonus on Intimidate and Sense Motive checks.
Archons never attack without provocation. They avoid harming other good creatures if they can, using nonlethal spells or subdual attacks if possible. An angry archon can be wrath incarnate, however.
Archons prefer to meet a foe head-on if it is prudent to do so. If outmatched, they do what they can to even the odds (often employing hit-and run tactics or standing off and engaging a foe with magic before moving into melee).
Archon Traits: An archon possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creatures entry).
Darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision.
Aura of Menace (Su): A righteous aura surrounds archons that fight or get angry. Any hostile creature within a 20-foot radius of an archon must succeed on a Will save to resist its effects. The save DC varies with they type of archon, is Charisma-based, and includes a +2 racial bonus. Those who fail take a -2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until they successfully hit the archon that generated the aura. A creature that has resisted or broken the effect cannot be affected again by the same archon's aura for 24 hours.
Immunity to electricity and petrification.
+4 racial bonus on saves against poison.
Magic Circle against Evil (Su): A magic circle against evil effect always surrounds an archon (caster level equals the archon's Hit Dice). (The defensive benefits from the circle are not included in an archon's statistics block.)
Outsider Traits: An archon cannot be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected (though a limited wish, wish, miracle, or true resurrection spell can restore life). Darkvision 60 ft.
Teleport (Su): Archons can use greater teleport at will, as the spell (caster level 14th), except that the creature can transport only itself and up to 50 pounds of objects.
Tongues (Su): All archons can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level 14th). This ability is always active.
Extraplanar Subtype
A subtype applied to any creature when it is on a plane other than its native plane. A creature that travels the planes can gain or lose this subtype as it goes from plane to plane. This book assumes that encounters with creatures take place on the Material Plane, and every creature whose native plane is not the Material Plane has the extraplanar subtype (but would not have when on its home plane). An extraplanar creatures usually has a home plane mentioned in its description. These home planes are taken from the Great Wheel cosmology of the D&D game (see Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide). If your campaign uses a different cosmology, you will need to assign different home planes to extraplanar creatures.
Creatures not labeled as extraplanar are natives of the Material Plane, and they gain the extraplanar subtype if they leave the Material Plane. No creature has the extraplanar subtype when it is on a transitive plane; the transitive planes in the D&D cosmology are the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, and the Plane of Shadow.
Good Subtype
A subtype usually applied only to outsiders native to the good-aligned Outer Planes. Most creatures that have this subtype also have good alignments; however, if their alignments change, they still retain the subtype. Any effect that depends on alignment affects a creature with this subtype as if the creature has a good alignment, no matter what its alignment actually is. The creature also suffers effects according to its actual alignment. A creature with the good subtype overcomes damage reduction as if its natural weapons and any weapons it wields were good-aligned (see Damage Reduction).
Lawful Subtype
A subtype usually applied only to outsiders native to the lawful-aligned Outer Planes. Most creatures that have this subtype also have lawful alignments; however, if their alignments change, they still retain the subtype. Any effect that depends on alignment affects a creature with this subtype as if the creature has a lawful alignment, no matter what its alignment actually is. The creature also suffers effects according to its actual alignment. A creature with the lawful subtype overcomes damage reduction as if its natural weapons and any weapons it wields were lawful-aligned (see Damage Reduction).