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Cell Guard

The Cell Guard was once the jailer of The Split Seam. It died with its keys locked around its fingers, still trying to keep prisoners from the concealed southern passage. The scratching in the north cell is often attributed to a captive, but may be the guard testing whether anyone is listening.

Monsters
Medium undead · CR 1/4 · Uncommon

Cell Guard

A dead jailer bound to a dungeon post, compelled to punish anyone who breaks the silence and approaches its hidden exit.
AC13
HP11/11
CR1/4
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Combat

AC 13 · HP 11 · CR 1/4

Cell Guard

Medium undead (undead), lawful evil
Armor Class13 (patched leather and iron mask)
Hit Points11 (2d8 + 2)
Speed
Walking 30 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
SkillsPerception
Damage Resistances
Necrotic
Immunities
Poison damage,
Poisoned condition
Weaknesses
Radiant damage
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft.,
Passive Perception 10
Languages
Understands the languages it knew in life but cannot speak
Challenge1/4
Hit Dice2d8 + 2
Proficiency Bonus+2
Undead Nature. The Cell Guard does not need air, food, drink, or sleep.
Silent Jailer. The Cell Guard cannot speak. It can hear and understands the languages it knew in life.
Postbound. The Cell Guard knows the location of any secret door within 30 feet that it was assigned to guard.

Actions

Iron Keyring. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 () bludgeoning damage.
Answering Scrape (Recharge 5–6). The Cell Guard scrapes its keyring along stone in a 10-foot line it can see within 15 feet. Each creature in the line must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll before the end of its next turn. A creature that cannot hear the scraping is unaffected.
Role
Low-threat undead sentry and dungeon atmosphere
Built for
Suitable for a party of 1st-level characters as a minor encounter or a supporting foe.

Gear

  • Jailer’s keyring (Keys, No monetary value)A heavy ring of iron keys, including one that fits the north cell and one that opens the secret door.
  • Jailer’s uniform (Clothing, Worthless)A cracked uniform coat with a rusted badge bearing an illegible number.

Notes for the game master

Custom undead creature designed for Challenge Rating 1/4.
The Cell Guard's keyring attack is a custom attack using a ring of keys as a club.
Answering Scrape is a custom feature and does not require concentration.

Tactics

  1. Opening

    It waits for a spoken word, then steps out from the north cell and attacks the nearest speaker.

  2. Mid-fight

    It tries to keep foes in the aisle, using its keyring to strike whoever moves past it and its scraping to unsettle clustered opponents.

  3. End of the fight

    If badly hurt, it backs toward the patched southern wall and uses the cramped aisle to make pursuit difficult.

  4. Retreat

    The Cell Guard does not flee while its post remains intact. If reduced to 3 hit points or fewer, it retreats through the secret door if it can reach it.

How it fights

Use the facing cells and narrow aisle to restrict movement.
Strike whoever speaks or approaches the patched southern wall.
Use Answering Scrape against a group before closing with the nearest target.

Who it attacks first

A creature trying to reach or examine the secret door
The first creature to speak after the scratching stops
A creature attempting to open a cell

Works well with

A narrow corridor or cell door makes it harder for several characters to engage the guard at once.
A hidden prisoner or another dungeon occupant can create a second threat while the guard holds the aisle.

How to beat it

Ranged attacks can exploit the Cell Guard's poor defenses without entering the narrow aisle.
Keeping quiet prevents its trigger from revealing its position, though it does not stop it from seeing intruders.
A creature that cannot hear is unaffected by Answering Scrape.

Ways to avoid a fight

A character who speaks calmly and shows a badge, key, or other sign of authority can attempt a DC 12 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) check to delay the guard for 1 minute.
A character who inspects the patched wall and succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check finds the secret door's outline and hidden latch.

Ecology

A gaunt jailer in a rust-stiff uniform, with a ring of keys fused into the fingers of one hand. Its face is hidden behind a narrow iron mask scratched from the inside. It stands in the cramped aisle between two facing cells, perfectly still until someone speaks.

Behavior

It listens from the north cell. Scratching there stops whenever anyone speaks, then begins again when the corridor falls silent. It attacks those who approach the patched southern wall or enter its aisle.

How it lives

The Cell Guard is an undead remnant tied to a particular prison post. It needs no food, drink, or air, and remains dormant when no one enters its assigned passage.

Lair

The Split Seam: two narrow cells face one another across a cramped aisle. A secret door at the south end is disguised as a patched wall. Scratching from the north cell stops whenever anyone speaks.

Habitat
Dungeon

Signs that it is near

Scratching from the north cell that stops whenever anyone speaks
A line of fresh gouges at keyring height along the aisle walls
A cold iron smell and a faint clatter of keys with no visible source

Tags

undead,
jailer,
dungeon,
custom

Lore

The Cell Guard was once the jailer of The Split Seam. It died with its keys locked around its fingers, still trying to keep prisoners from the concealed southern passage. The scratching in the north cell is often attributed to a captive, but may be the guard testing whether anyone is listening.

What drives it

Keep the cells sealed and prevent anyone from reaching the secret door.

After the fight

When the Cell Guard falls, its keys clatter toward the south wall. The scratching from the north cell resumes, even if no one is there.

“It died with its keys locked around its fingers, still trying to keep prisoners from the concealed southern passage.”
From its lore

Variants

A version with a heavy cell-door shield has AC 15 and 9 hit points, but loses its keyring attack.
A silent postbound remnant leaves the same scratching signs but only attacks when someone touches the patched wall.

Hooks

Plot hooks

The keyring opens the secret door, but one key also unlocks a cell containing a prisoner who insists the guard was not always dead.
The scratching stops even when no one speaks, suggesting something in the north cell has learned to hold its breath.
A missing person’s name is scratched into the inside of the Cell Guard’s iron mask.

How to use it

Place it between the two narrow cells, with the north cell's scratching as an eerie warning.
The south patched wall conceals a secret door. The Cell Guard tries to prevent characters from finding or reaching it.
For a tense investigation, let the scratching stop at every spoken sentence before the guard appears.

Treasure

The keyring contains the cell keys and the key to the secret door.
A rusted badge or a scrap of an old prison roster may identify a former prisoner.

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