Garl Glittergold, The Watchful Protector

The Avatar of Garl Glittergold

Medium humanoid (gnome, avatar), lawful good

Armor Class: 27 (divine trickery)
Hit Points: 540 (40d8 + 360)
Speed: 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	24 (+7)	28 (+9)	27 (+8)	26 (+8)	30 (+10)

Saving Throws: Dex +16, Int +17, Wis +17, Cha +19
Skills: Arcana +17, Deception +19, Insight +17, Perception +17, Persuasion +19, Stealth +16
Damage Resistances: radiant; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities: poison, psychic
Condition Immunities: charmed, frightened, poisoned, stunned
Senses: truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 27
Languages: all, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge: 30 (155,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus: +9

Traits

Divine Trickery. Attack rolls against the avatar have disadvantage unless the attacker succeeds on a DC 27 Intelligence saving throw at the start of its turn. A creature with truesight succeeds automatically.

Aura of Wit. Hostile creatures within 60 feet have disadvantage on saving throws against the avatar’s illusion and enchantment effects. Allies in the aura have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

Innate Spellcasting. Garl’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 27, +19 to hit with spell attacks). He requires no material components.

At will: charm person, disguise self, invisibility, minor illusion, prestidigitation, Tasha’s hideous laughter, vicious mockery
3/day each: command, confusion, dominate person, greater invisibility, major image, mislead, polymorph
1/day each: mirage arcane, project image, true polymorph, wish

Arumdina, Sentient Weapon. Arumdina communicates telepathically with the avatar and creatures he chooses within 60 feet. The axe cannot be surprised and grants the avatar advantage on initiative rolls.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the avatar fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. The avatar has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Prankster’s Protection (Mythic Trait; 1/Day). When the avatar is reduced to 0 hit points, ten duplicates appear in unoccupied spaces within 60 feet and he exchanges places with one of them instead of dying. All conditions affecting him end, and he regains 270 hit points. An attack or spell that targets only him targets a randomly determined duplicate instead. A duplicate has AC 20, 1 hit point, and immunity to all conditions. The duplicates vanish when the avatar is reduced to 0 hit points again.

Actions

Multiattack. The avatar makes three Arumdina attacks.

Arumdina the Justifier. Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (3d8 + 12) slashing damage plus 22 (5d8) radiant damage. The target must succeed on a DC 27 Charisma saving throw or be unable to speak a deliberate lie until the end of its next turn.

Mocking Gesture (Recharge 5–6). One creature within 60 feet that can see and hear the avatar must succeed on a DC 27 Wisdom saving throw or fall prone and become incapacitated with laughter for 1 minute. It repeats the save at the end of each turn and whenever it takes damage, ending the effect on a success.

Compelling Charm. One creature within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 27 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed for 1 minute. It repeats the save whenever it takes damage and at the end of each turn.

Garl’s Blessing. One ally within reach gains 30 temporary hit points and advantage on saving throws for 10 minutes.

Reactions

Witty Rejoinder. When a creature within 60 feet makes an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check, the avatar forces it to reroll the d20 and use the lower result.

Protective Jape. When an ally within 30 feet is hit by an attack, the avatar forces the attacker to reroll and use the lower result.

Deflecting Glitter. When a ranged attack targets the avatar, the attacker must succeed on a DC 27 Constitution saving throw or the attack misses.

Legendary Actions

The avatar can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Attack. The avatar makes one Arumdina attack.

Fey Step. The avatar teleports up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.

Cutting Remark. One creature within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 27 Charisma saving throw or take 27 (6d8) psychic damage and have disadvantage on its next attack roll.

Commanding Jest (Costs 2 Actions). Creatures of the avatar’s choice within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 27 Charisma saving throw or follow one brief command until the start of his next turn. A creature that acts directly against the command takes 27 (5d10) psychic damage.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the avatar uses one lair action. It cannot use the same option two rounds in a row.

Glittering Light. Light fills a 20-foot-radius area within 120 feet. Hostile creatures there must succeed on a DC 27 Wisdom saving throw or be blinded until the end of their next turns.

Illusory Trick. A perfect illusion of one creature or object no larger than a 30-foot cube appears within 120 feet until initiative count 20 on the next round. Physical interaction reveals it.

Protective Aura. Up to three allies within 120 feet gain resistance to all damage until initiative count 20 on the next round.

Wrong Way Around. Up to three hostile creatures within 120 feet must succeed on a DC 27 Intelligence saving throw or move up to their speed along routes the avatar chooses without entering obvious hazards.

Mythic Actions

The avatar can take 3 mythic actions per day, using one option at a time. It regains spent uses at dawn.

Mass Mockery. Each hostile creature within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 27 Wisdom saving throw or fall prone and become incapacitated until the end of its next turn.

Commanding Jest. One creature within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 27 Charisma saving throw or use its next action to attack a creature of the avatar’s choice.

Golden Double (Costs 2 Actions). The avatar replaces up to two destroyed duplicates created by Prankster’s Protection in unoccupied spaces within 60 feet.

Introduction

Garl Glittergold, the Watchful Protector, leads the gnome pantheon and governs luck, humor, cleverness, and protection. He treats wit and laughter as practical defenses against fear, pride, and despair.

His followers include craftspeople, storytellers, guardians, and tricksters. Their riddles and pranks carry warnings, reveal vanity, and teach communities how to recover from hardship. Garl’s old enmity with Kurtulmak makes kobold schemes a frequent concern of his clergy.

The avatar manifests when gnome settlements face annihilation or an enemy builds a plan too rigid to survive ridicule. He begins with misdirection and a chance to withdraw. Beneath the jokes stands a guardian who never wagers the lives of his people for amusement.

Gnomish hearth-tales remember the prankster and the commander as the same god. One tale ends with a tyrant’s cavern collapsing beneath him; the next shows Garl defending his people by finding the flaw in an enemy’s plan before battle begins.

Physical Appearance

The avatar is a sturdy adult gnome with a warm golden beard and eyes like faceted gemstones whose colors change from moment to moment. Layered teal and burgundy traveling finery is reinforced for battle. Small illusion lights follow him like the last sparks of a firework.

He carries Arumdina the Justifier, an intelligent mithral-steel battleaxe whose blue center glows before either of them speaks. Its edges cut stone as readily as armor, and the axe can pour restorative power into its bearer once each day. Garl’s grin changes from playful to watchful the instant another creature is placed in danger.

Roleplaying the Avatar

Garl uses humor to test judgment, interrupt fear, and make pride visible. The jokes stop being harmless when someone threatens a community under his protection.

Answer boasts with a question whose obvious answer embarrasses the speaker.
Explain a serious warning through a short story or practical joke.
Let Arumdina interrupt with the sharper observation.
Praise an enemy who laughs at their own mistake and changes course.
Drop the smile entirely when a defenseless creature is threatened.

Use in a Campaign

The Impossible Burrow

Garl hides a threatened settlement inside a chain of illusions and asks the party to find the one route an enemy could still exploit.

Kurtulmak’s Counterprank

A kobold relic reverses every trick used against it, forcing Garl’s faithful to abandon familiar tactics.

The Protector’s Riddle

The avatar will defend only one of two communities unless the party finds the false assumption built into his choice.

A Joke Taken for War

A royal court interprets a gnomish warning prank as an assassination attempt and prepares collective punishment.

Lairs

Garl’s lairs reward observation and adaptability. False routes expose intruders without killing them, protective illusions redirect attacks, and physical hazards become obvious once someone stops assuming the first answer is correct.

The Golden Hills

Rolling divine country hides workshops, burrows, and doors that open only after the visitor gives an honest laugh.

Watchful Workshop

Every tool can become an alarm, decoy, or emergency exit without ceasing to serve its ordinary craft.

Hall of Better Ideas

Failed inventions and abandoned plans animate to demonstrate why an intruder’s strategy will not work.

The Laughing Gate

A fortified entrance redirects force against empty illusions while defenders move through disguised side passages.

Shared References

Open a reference for its canonical description and related entries.