Sandalphon, the Hand of God
Colossal Outsider (angel, extraplanar, good, lawful)
Hit Dice: 56d8+1229 (1652 hp)
Initiative: +17 (+9 dex, +8 Superior Initiative)
Speed: 160 ft. (32 squares), Fly 480 ft. (Good)
Armor Class: 57 (-8 size, +10 armor, +21 natural armor, +14 Wis, +9 Dex, +1 dodge), touch 26, flatfooted 47
Base Attack/Grapple: 56/137
Attack: Unarmed strike +92 melee (10d8+43+3d6 (holy)+2d6 (axiomatic) 19-20/+9d6 (holy) +1d6 and 3 negative levels)
Full Attack: Flurry of Blows +92/92/92/87/82/77 (10d8+43+3d6 (holy)+2d6 (axiomatic) 19-20/+9d6 (holy) +1d6 and 3 negative levels)
Space/Reach: 40 ft./40 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, spell-like abilities, Wrath of God
Special Qualities: Blindsight to 200 ft, damage reduction 35/epic, anarchic, and evil, darkvision to 60 ft, Godly Aura, Hands of God, immunity to ability damage, ability drain, acid, cold, instant death, mind-affecting, polymorph, and sonic, low-light vision, outsider traits, regeneration 20, resistance to fire and electricity 20, spell resistance 69, telepathy 1000, tongues
Saves: Fort +55, Ref +39, Will +44
Abilities: Str 96 (+43), Dex 29 (+9), Con 60 (+25), Int 24 (+7), Wis 38 (+14), Cha 20 (+5)
Skills: Appraise +7, Balance +70, Bluff +5, Climb +102, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +5, Disguise +5, Escape Artist +68, Forgery +7, Gather Information +5, Heal +73, Hide -7, Intimidate +64, Jump +156, Knowledge (Religion) +66, Knowledge (the planes) +66, Listen +73, Move Silently +9, Ride +9, Search +66, Sense Motive +14, Spot +73, Survival +73 (+75 on the Planes or to follow tracks), Swim +102, Tumble +70, Use Rope +9 (+11 for bindings).
Feats: Awesome Blow, Cleave, Combat Brute
1, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike), Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike)
Epic Feats: Dire Charge, Infinite Deflection, Legendary Wrestler, Overwhelming Critical (Unarmed strike), Reflect Arrows, Spellcasting Harrier
2, Superior Initiative
Environment: Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia
Organization: Solitary (Unique) or with Metatron)
Challenge Rating: 42
Treasure: See possessions
Alignment: Lawful Good
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -
Standing before you is a massive figure of heroic proportions. A brilliant light radiates from his skin of polished bronze, which shines in the corona. Four gleaming silver wings arch from his broad back, each covered in feathers that look to be as sharp as razors and as strong as iron. His body is draped in a loose tunic of white cloth, and a kilt of the same material reaches down to just above his knees. Even for his great size, his power is obvious; with great muscles that bring to mind a god of strength bulging from his mighty arms. Despite his bulk he moves with great grace; his feet barely seeming to touch the ground as he moves. His handsome face shows grim determination as he surveys you; as if determining your fate. For a second you can see the piercing gaze of an eagle, the strength of an ox, and the nobility of a lion in his features before he turns away.
The heavens are a place of war. Certainly this war is done in just cause; to defend beings all across the cosmos from the ravening hordes of the Tanar’ri, the traitorous and malevolent forces of the Yuguloths, and above all else the fearsome legions of the Baatezu; but the hosts of the upper planes are always at war nonetheless. This has lead to a great deal of angels who are great warriors and fierce fighters, seasoned in a thousand battles, but there is one who even Michael, the King of Heaven, will acknowledge as his superior in combat. This is Sandalphon.
Sandalphon is the mightiest angel in Celestia and the personal champion of the mysterious entity who rules the holy peak. He is known as the Hand of God in this role, quite a literal title due to his mighty fists and unparalled unarmed fighting ability. It is he who has slain more fiends than any other, who broke the spine of the Dark Titan Paelogios, who cast down Baalzebul, Belial, Appolyon, Eblis, and countless other mighty angels who had fallen from grace.
He is among the oldest of angels, created at the same time as his brother Metatron; minutes before Michael, Gabriel, Zadkiel, Uriel, Chamuel, Raphael, and Jophiel; and many years before the common angels and archons. His great age makes his exact origins unknown, but it is said that he and Metatron are two halves of the being they serve. Unlike Primus and Asmodeus, who are avatars of incomprehensibly powerful beings of pure law, Sandalphon and Metatron are the embodiments of their virtuous brother’s body and mind. As such, they are tied together closer than any two beings; each feeling everything that the other does and sees.
It is rare for Sandalphon to deal with mortals, since even the blackest of villains are far beneath his notice. On occasion he is beseeched by mortal champions for strength and courage, and usually grants it through his Miracle spell-like ability. Otherwise though, he is mostly consumed with battling fiends and traveling the outer planes to keep the peace; he knows that it is likely that he would inadvertently cause much destruction were he to go to the Material Plane due to his huge size. This is why he is rarely summoned into the Material Plane, since few casters possess the resources to summon him into a structure that he would actually fit in and a ritual of the complexity needed to summon such a powerful creature could not be practically done outside.
He is on good terms with the majority of the Celestial Nobility, having repulsed fiendish attacks from their planes on multiple locations. In particular he is close allies with Uriel, since both of them take great pleasure in righteous battle. He is more distant towards most non-Lawful Good angels, but will not hesitate to help them if they call; Oberon and Titania are both particularly inscrutable to him. Neutral outsiders are dealt with much more rarely and his opinion of them is often dependant of their position on the ethical axis. Since they are not enemies or allies he rarely has any reason to interact with them; although Metatron occasionally heads diplomatic missions to Primus. He hates all fiends, in particular demons; but is experienced enough to know that the real threat lies with the devils. Their sense of purpose and organization means that they are the primary attractors of fallen angels, and Sandalphon never misses a chance to punish the Fallen. His hatred of demons means that he will kill them if he gets the chance, but the petty scope of their evil makes them uncommon targets and ensures that he has no real personal hatred of any Demon Lords. He has a sort of grudging respect for Alastor, who he has fought to a draw on multiple occasions, and seeks above all to destroy Beelzebub, who led the rebellion that produced so many of the Fallen.
Sandalphon appears as a massively muscled giant with bronze skin. Unlike the gross musculature of his rivals in strength though, he is perfectly proportioned and resembles a classical statue rather than a hulking monster. Like all of the great angels, he has four wings at ninety degree angles allowing him to fly with great speed and maneuverability for such a large creature. He does not carry any weapons, trusting in his mighty strength to be enough to crush his foes, and wears only a white surplice that always remains clean despite any limbs snapped and bodies pulverized around it. Sandalphon is 98 feet tall and weighs more than a thousand tons due to his extreme muscle density.
Combat:
Sandalphon greatly enjoys combat with fiends and will not hesitate to enter the fight, pummeling and smashing everything in his way. He casts Spell Immunity, Haste, and Mind Blank on himself before the fight and then charges into combat; opening with Holy Word and Greater Dispel Magic. Anything stunned by Holy Word is easy prey for him to attack with his Flurry of Blows, those outright killed by it were in no danger of hurting him. If surrounded, he uses Awesome Blow and his flight to disengage; obvious spellcasters are grappled and crushed as soon as possible.
If reduced to less than half health, he teleports out and uses Heal to restore himself back to full. He then summons Solars to assist him and goes back into the fight with Greater Invisibility and Kinetic Control going. If truly pressed, he summons Metatron and uses his Wrath of God ability on the most dangerous opponent. If the two of them are unable to win, they retreat back to Celestia to recover and plan a second assault; nobody has ever lasted long enough to warrant this.
Call Angels (SU): As a standard action Sandalphon can
call angels. He may attempt to
call up to three times a day, 3 solars, 7 planetars, or 14 of any lesser angel or archon. Since they are
called rather than summoned they may summon other angels or archons as they wish. Once per day, he can
call his brother Metatron or any of the Seraphim.
Godly Aura (Su): Like all Angels, Sandalphon possesses a protective aura that shields himself and others from harm. As befits an entity of his stature though, the aura is much more powerful. It provides a +8 deflection bonus to his AC and a +8 resistance bonus to his saves along with the effects of a Globe of Invulnerability to a radius of 40 ft at caster level 49. The bonuses provided by the Aura are not factored into his statblock.
Hands of God (Ex): Sandalphon’s legendary unarmed ability reflects his title of the Hand of God. All of his natural weapons are incorporated into a fighting style similar to a mortal monk’s but far more deadly. Instead of natural weapons, he has the unarmed strike ability of a 20th level monk of Colossal size. In addition, like a monk, he adds his Wisdom modifier to his Armor Class. His fists are treated as if they have the Holy Power, Axiomatic, and Ghost Touch abilities and as if they were made of adamantine and cold iron. This is an Extraordinary ability and as such functions even in anti-magic zones. Finally, he can crush the life from those that he grapples. Once he has established a pin, he deals an additional 14d10+61 damage per round that he maintains the grapple.
Regeneration (Ex): Sandalphon takes damage from epic evil weapons, and from spells or effects with the evil descriptor.
Smite Evil (Su): 7/day Sandalphon can Smite Evil. This works like the Paladin ability of the same name, adding 5 to his attack role and 56 to his damage.
Spell-like Abilities: At will-
detect evil, detect magic, dimensional anchor, dispel evil, greater dispel magic, greater teleport (Self plus 500 pounds), haste, heal, holy word, improved invisibility, mind blank, plane shift, spell immunity; 3/day-
miracle, power word kill, storm of vengeance; 1/day-
kinetic control, intensified crushing hand. Caster Level 49th. Saves are 24+spell level. The save DCs are Wisdom-based.
Wrath of God (Su): 1/week Sandalphon can fully unleash his divine power with a blow. This hit deals an extra 77d10 points of divine damage that cannot be resisted or stopped in any way. Once he has carried out the blow, his fists lose their enchantments and he is exhausted for the next day.
Possessions: Sandalphon wears the Bracers of Heavenly Power, which combine the effects of Bracers of Relentless Might and Bracers of Armor +10. The size bonuses they provide are not capped at size Colossal.
Lore:
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Religion) or Knowledge (The Planes) may know of Sandalphon. When the character makes a skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
| DC | Lore | |
| 66 | Sandalphon is the strongest being in the Heavens, if not all the planes, and is the personal champion of a mysterious entity who reigns at the top of Celestia | |
| 71 | Sandalphon spends much of his time doing battle with creatures from the lower planes and claims to be the twin brother of another giant angel named Metatron | |
| 76 | Sandalphon is one of the oldest living beings in the universe, having been present at the creation of Mount Celestia, and predates the entirety of the Heavenly Choir | |
| 81 | Sandalphon and Metatron are two halves of their master, who was sundered during the creation of the Upper Planes. Sandalphon is their master’s strength and courage. | |
Plot Hooks:
One of the party members has somehow earned the ire of Sandalphon, they must evade him while the rest of the group seeks an audience with Metatron to protest his brother’s aggression
Sandalphon has chased a fallen angel down to Baator but became the prisoner of Asmodeus. The King of Hell is willing to strike a deal for his release, but who knows what he will ask in return.
1 From Complete Warrior
2 From the Draconomicon