Gargoyles are fast, thick-skinned, aggressive blitzers which charge into action on four legs and are to some degree the evil counterpart of stone knights (not in the DK 2 sense) as they can turn to stone and become near invulnerable. Sadly, however, when this happens they can't attack, move or be moved. The Gargoyle is resistant to cold. Freeze attacks will have little effect. They are weak against fire (when not in stone form).
Gargoyles are mortal rivals of all undead creatures and tend to fight. They are very proficient in fighting all undead creatures. Although they can't banish Vampires like Monks can, Gargoyles somewhat delay the re-spawning of those they kill.
Gargoyles love fighting and violence above all else and are regularly attracted to combat pits. Gargoyles also spend a lot of time in Guard Rooms and, much like warlocks in the library, start fights with those they don't deem worthy. Invariably, if an undead creature is dropped in the same guard room as a Gargoyle than there is fighting.
The Gargoyle is a mid-to-late game creature.
Health: Medium-High
Attack: Medium-High
Armor: Medium
Defense: Medium-Low
Accuracy: Low
Speed: Medium-High / High
Dexterity: Medium
Intelligence: Medium
Training Speed: Below Average
Wage: High
Fighting Style
Gargoyles are fast blitzers that use claw attacks, gutting tusks if they have them, and headbutts. They will charge straight into the fray of any fight. They don't suffer cowardice, but will turn to stone if their health drops below a certain point.
Prospective Skills
Level 1 - Melee
Level 1 - Turn to Stone
Allows Gargoyle to becomes nearly invulnerable to harm in exchange for not being able to attack or move. Gargoyles will use this if they sink below a certain health. They cannot be moved by hostile imps and cannot turn back when the land under them has been claimed by another power. When in this form he shrugs off randomly 85-95% of the damage dealt from the majority of creatures and 30% of the damage dealt by Horny and the LotL. In addition, 50% of the damage dealt by the Archlich, 90% from Vampires and 100% of the damage dealt by Skeletons and Ghosts because of his stronger immunities verus undead creatures.
If slapped whilst in friendly territory and in stone form, they will snap out of it, un-solidifying and rejoining the fight/going back to the lair. If they regain full health (from Self Heal) whilst in stone form and there are no other enemies around they will un-petrify and head back to dungeon.
If knocked out when this ability is active, they un-solidify and can be taken to the prison. They can be tortured into service, but are immune to becoming ghosts or skeletons.
Level 2 - Protect Self
This spell reduced the damage sustained in battle, though it cannot be used together with Turn to Stone. Whilst its effects a minor compared to Turn to Stone, it allows freedom of movement and the creature to go on fighting. This ability is more effective against the undead.
Level 6 - Heal Self (Passive)
Extremely weak compare to most heal abilities, this is in constant effect whilst petrified, increasing the need to deploy either a superior creature or many lesser creatures to take the Gargoyle down. This also means that a single weakling Troll or thick-skulled Bile Demon couldn't bash away at a petrified Gargoyle for ten minutes before killing him. Active effort in deployment is required to crack their shells, either deploying a uber-powerful creature like a Horned Reaper or significant manpower in lesser creatures.
Level 8 - Fear of Death
A fear ability that works exclusively against those who aren't scared by much else, the undead. This is effective against ghosts, skeletons and vampires.
Obtainable by, Attractable by
Gargoyles can be obtained via temple, editor, portal or torture. It is attracted by a Graveyard of any size, a 3x3 Guard Room and 5x5 Training Room. Its temple recipe is as follows:
HatesDragon + Orc = Gargoyle
-Fire
-The Undead (Skeletons, Ghosts, Vampires etc.)
Loves
-Violence (Combat Pits & Training by association)
-Guard Rooms
Hang-out Group/Behavior in Dungeon
Gargoyles are very social creatures, but hang-out mostly with other Gargoyles. They will occasionally make friends with the more vicious or pack-orientated dungeon creatures but prefer their own company. They hate undead.
They of course spend their time around Training Rooms, Guard Rooms and Combat Pits. If unhappy they will sulk in the Lair or Temple.
If struck in stone-form on enemy ground their hunger and sleep timers stop and their happiness is fixed until they can recovered. Gargoyles in stone-form on friendly territory can still get hungry and tired, but due to high endurance that their species naturally possess they can go for extremely long times without being bothered by hunger or lack of sleep. This also makes them excellent guards, second only to skeletons in the focus they apply to their tasks.
Gargoyles in stone-form in friendly territory can be slapped out of it.
History/Story
The Gargoyles once lived in hunting packs in the underground wilds. They were hardy creatures that were very territorial. Long ago a Keeper set up shop near a particular nest. Using fire they subdued the local population.
His warlocks, looking for a faster and more effective way to reinforce walls, began experimenting on the local population who were, as previously said, hardy and seemed to have minor healing abilities.
The experiment was a major success and the Gargoyles were awesome. Unfortunately when in stone form they were immune to the fire which previously had been their weak-point. Using their speed and new ability to their advantage, the Gargoyles overran the Keeper and his warlocks and all their research was lost.
Having major advantages over the wild gargoyles, the rebel gargoyles eventually were the only ones left thanks to survival of the fittest and several Keeper incursions.
Lair
The Gargoyle Lair is a low, crumbling-looking pillar base (Medieval styled). When sleeping Gargoyles curl up and turn to stone on-top making them invulnerable to the usual lair disputes as long as they remain in stone form which means that if they are sleeping off battle damage they won't fall prey to lair enemies easily.
Appearance, Information, Description
Gargoyles are thick-set four-legged creatures with extremely hardy skin and lethal gutting tusks. They also have the benefit of, despite their muscular bulk, of being extremely powerful runners, if not very agile.
Another of the Gargoyles natural gifts is high endurance which means they are bothered by need of food and sleep far less often than most creatures and are second at focusing on tasks only to skeletons. Their territorial instincts combined with this make them great guards.They are extremely protective of the dungeon and often spend time guarding.
Thanks to magical interference many years ago the Gargoyles also have the ability to turn to stone for unlimited amounts of time and become nearly invulnerable to harm from most creatures, though they cannot attack or move.
They are guardians against spirits and as such have a deep loathing for all forms of undead and may fight. They are also probably the best counter to undead armies and are very effective against them. Despite their hatred of the undead, Gargoyles usually align themselves with the Keepers because of their fondness for violence.
They have hard thickened bone plates across much of their forehead which absorb much of the impact of their charging. Once in close proximity, having already charged, they will either bring up the gutting tusks or continue trying to headbutt the opponent depending on the type of opponent and whether they are liable to be weaker against blunt or bladed... as an example they will attempt to gut the bile demon, but will headbutt the skeleton.
They don't appear in the Overworld because the light would kill them. This is a side-effect of the magic experiments preformed on them which effectively bonded them with the dungeon in a way that no other creature is. They literally became part of the the dungeon in the reinforcing experiments and the residual echo of power of the portal gems is still enough to fry them should they venture above ground. The have an extremely complex magical tie to the dungeon which also physically manifests in their inability to revert from stone form on the land of an enemy dungeon.
It isn't unusual to see neutral Gargoyles guarding abandoned forts or in small nests, living wild in remote parts.
Their behavior resembles that of the wild boar, rhino and bull. As such they are hot-headed and never take insult or impingement on their territory lightly.
Key Notes
-Survivors (Troublesome to kill)
-Blitzers
-Ultimate counter to the Undead
-Extreme focus on assigned tasks, second only to Skeletons
Images
The Tomb Raider gargoyle is one of my inspirations
WftO Concept Art, by Monsterbaby, from further back in thread.
Suggestions
Traps & Doors
Mirror Trap
Glass Door
Arrow Slit/Loophole
Creatures
Gargoyle
Savage
Gremlin
Creature Spells
Bat Swarm
Specials
Trophy Specials