Archon, Lantern

Archons are celestials from the plane of Celestia. They have charged themselves with the protection of the plane, and also consider themselves guardians of all who are innocent or free of evil. They are the natural enemies of fiends (creatures of the lower planes), particularly demons.

Archons speak Celestial, Infernal, and Draconic, but can speak with almost any creature because of their tongues ability.

Lantern archons appear as floating balls of light that glow about as brightly as a torch. They are friendly but weak.

Archons never attack without provocation (though their overwhelming lawful goodness often makes them easily provoked). They avoid harming other good creatures if they can, using nondamaging spells or weapon attacks that deal nonlethal damage if possible. An angry archon can be vengeance itself, however, no matter what the foe’s alignment is.

Archons generally prefer to meet a foe head-on if it is prudent to do so, but if outmatched, they do what they can to even the odds (usually by employing hit-and-run tactics or standing off and engaging a foe with magic before moving into melee).

A lantern archon has little reason to get within melee range. It usually hovers just close enough to bring the enemy within its aura of menace, then blasts away with its light rays. Lantern archons prefer to concentrate on a single opponent, seeking to reduce enemy numbers quickly.

Aura of Menace (Su): Will DC 12 negates. 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 the 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.

Light Ray (Ex): A lantern archon’s light rays have a range of 30 feet. This attack overcomes damage reduction of any type.

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.)

Spell-Like Abilities: At will—aid, detect evil, continual flame. Caster level 3rd.

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.

Saves: +4 racial bonus on saves against poison.