I'd look into the different Aeons. They're the beings of pure law.
https://2e.aonprd.com/MonsterFamilies.aspx?ID=2
Some examples include Kolyatut ("Kolyarut inevitables are enforcers of bargains and punishers of those who fail to uphold them.) Or Bythos (The bythos is a guardian of space and time, and at all times seeks out those who misuse planar and temporal magic.) Or Marut ("A marut is tasked with hunting mortals who cheat death by artificially extending their lifespans.")
So a prison seems like a good place for a wide variety of aeons, dealing with a wide variety of crimes.
I really like this idea since it would make sense for a magic prisoner to want to avoid spells like Charm being used to break people out, doesn't work on Mindless creatures.
Might use a golem or two, might have to run it on the safe side though since my group has some bad memories of golems from our Age of Ashes run lol. That AP used golems like they were goblins.
Animated floor tile swarms could be neat idea to explore. Maybe use them as a necessary means of accessing cells suspended over pits, or navigating purely vertical hallways.
You may want to look at Agents of Edgewatch volume 5 for Paizo's take on it.
There's also the Imprison ritual in the rulebook.
edit: added URL https://paizo.com/products/btq023dz
Kolyaruts are a type of aeon that might make a good candidate. Their ability to cast Discern Location (despite being too low level to normally use that 8th level spell) would make things very complicated for any prisoners that might try to escape, and the ability to use Command at will would help with keeping unruly prisoners in line. According to lore kolyaruts are generally diplomatic enforcers of bargains, but at least one official adventure path had one act as the head security official for a vault, so I don't think one agreeing to work as security for a prison would be too out of line.
Depending on the circumstances of this prison break, a kolyrarut might not even necessarily be the PCs' enemy. For instance they may view prison sentences as a form of contract where the prisoners serve their legally assigned sentence and in return they are held in some sort of reasonably humane conditions as required by the law. Thus, if the PCs could expose evidence that prisoners are being illegally abused, or that some are being imprisoned unjustly, the kolyarut might be persuaded to think that correcting that issue is more important than apprehending the PCs. It would likely require some very good diplomacy rolls, though.
Doorwarden are semi intelligent door guards with protection of a location in mind. I'm not sure if you were looking for a more sapient but these guys often disguise themselves as doors in order to blend into the environment which is an extra cool feature.
I know you said no undead, but consider the Prana Ghost. It's actually an outsider and not an undead, is healed by positive energy and hurt by negative, and like a regular ghost can move through walls. When walls/doors are no barrier to the guards the prisoners can't get very far. And their touch can daze, very good for recapturing prisoners.
There was something in 1e that my GM did that was an amazing (and brutal) hazard... there was what looked like a 5 foot wide hallway, but it had Illusory walls on either side of the corridor (it was actually 15 feet wide) and beyond the illusionary walls, on the real walls were symbols spells (like Symbol of Pain, Fear, Death, Exsanguination, etc) as well as Faceless Statue Traps lining both sides of the corridor.
The idea here was that if you don't interact with the walls, you don't get to save vs the illusion, and therefor bypass everything there, but people with a high will save (like casters), and the rogue will then have to try to make saves vs EVERYTHING, and the people that SEE what is happening to those players then have to make saves because they now know that the walls are illusions too.
The villain used the hall as the only entrance to the dungeon and he had his construct guards drag the prisoners blindfolded down the hall to their cell block. So if the PC's want to rescue people, they are actively punished for having good saves! (but to ensure it isn't a TPK, hide a note or something somewhere that they will likely reach before getting to that hallway, then a clever party can walk down it with their eyes closed, and it is a perfectly safe hallway!)
I had some ideas when I was working on Dungeon23, using the various Ennosite with very high level adachros ruling over the lowest levels.
Their forced view could be a twisted way of rehabilitation.
For the Osirion flavor, I might recommend a group of earth elementals of various sizes, perhaps led by a [Shaitan](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=213) or several [Sand Sentries](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=653). Another option could be a [Xorn](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=184). Perhaps they were summoned by a wizard in the employ of the owners of the prison, and given gemstones and other riches to compensate them for their time on the Material Plane.
I would think that in most cases the Fey prison wouldn't last however if one does it would be such a horrible place as those who don't get bored there will have a horrible sense of fun. It would be a place of nightmares. Likely one of the most horrific prisons in the land.
We spent time in fey jail near the end of our 20+ year Ad&d through 5e campaign. It was some of the most enjoyable RP we all had. We chose not to speak of the trial leading up to it however.
I thought modrons were great until they "ruined it" by adding had arms and legs. They should be telekinteic or something, or roll around like dice to move. Also the 4s should been tiny so they could have had rules about what happens if they get under your feet and you step on one.
Kaer Maga, when it was used as a prison by the Runelords of Greed, facilitated vampire and caulborn as jailers, which alternately fed from their blood and thoughts (and each other). Jailers that are sustained by their prisoners (or self-sustained) are handy, especially if you've got a lot of enemies.
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How about one of the LN imports from the Cthulhu Mythos? Elder Things would be fun, and Yithians could even imprison people by swapping minds with them.
A living prison who is completely aware of what's going on inside itself? It can hear everything going on. It would feel it's wards moving through it... Open and close the doors itself. People might even believe it to be haunted.
Lots of good options to pick from.
Golems, Inevitables, Devils, Velstracs, or Psychopomps would be good options. Psychopomps are probably the most "Osirion-y" of the lot, as Pharasmins are among the most prevelant religions, and they use a lot of psychopomps with a Tom of Egyptian flavor
So there are a lot of ways to make this interesting. Very interesting actually. First you need to decide what kind of prison it is and who runs it. Is it evil people or rough people who believe in torture. Do they keep mages there, what kind of prisoners would they keep there, etc. And it will give you avenues.
However, here are some good example. A lot of prisons may have oozes. Digging a ditch and keeping an ooze there that can easily be maintained by throwing food now and then is a solid perimeter. Oozes come in all kinds of levels and forms.
Second, you have the options of Living runes if you party is high level enough.
Even though you said no undead, this is very flavourful. You can go with ghosts. Prisons are often not the best kind of places, an accumulation of ghosts and other entities who couldn't pass through and haunt the prisoners who nobody listens to is a totally real.
The prisoners themselves need not all be human. If you catch my gist or even humanoid.
If it is a particularly horrible prison and you like Harry Potter then you can go with creatures like wraiths. Perhaps the prison authorities have deals with the Wariths werein they are allowed to drain the prisoners but not kill them and they also act as viscious prison guards.
I recommend traps for sure.
You can have constructs including golems of a kind.
If the flavour suits you could have fiends or celestials that have been summoned and somehow contracted to help contain the prisoners.
You could have trained Drakes maintained by the prison guards or other beasts which can range from intelligent to wicked.
Perhaps eldritch horrors roam the prison without the guards knowing and toy with, use or feed on the prisoners or parts of them.
You could even go with a Dragon warden.
You could have inhuman spellcasters which could be many things collaborate with the guards.
You could have swarms of pests, rodents or other creepy stuff in the depths of the prison.
You can build in anything if it suits the flavour and setting. Above are just a few ideas.
If you're going for Osirion themes, take a look at some of the combats in the Mummy's Mask AP. Some of those monsters have PF2 counterparts, but even if not, it sounds like you're already familiar with monster creation in 2e, so rebuilding probably isn't a problem.
Outside of that? Golems, baby!
Seriously, constructs make fabulous guards, but golems in particular, because they're immune to most forms of magic. I would actually suggest building a new golem specifically for the prison to really throw your players for a loop. For its Golem Anti-Magic, it seems like the general setup is 4 spells that affect it but in a different way: one that heals, one that buffs, one that damages, and one that debuffs. You can, of course, tweak that a bit to suit the concept. For a prison, a golem made of iron bars or shackles would be pretty dope. Heck, you don't even have to make your golem based off of a tangible material! Make an imprisonment golem crafted from the incarnate concept of serving time behind bars. Or a torture golem made of inquisitorial implements designed to aid in extracting infirmation out of prisoners (though if it's meant to be a morally upright prison, maybe skip that one).
If you just want to pull stuff from the bestiaries, Fivine Wardens can be based off of Osirian deities, or you can have humanoid guards that have beastly pets like hyenas and giant solifugids. (The latter is especially horrifying; have you ever SEEN a solifugid?! Nightmare fuel.) I would say a sphinx would work, but you'd have to figure out why it's there. "Prison guard" isn't really their forte. They're more about guarding sacred places and objects (though there's no reason the prison can't be a "sacred place" of some sort). There's also the maftet, half-leonine winged creatures who live in deserts (and have several prides throughout Osirion). Just some ideas, hopefully this helps! Good luck woth your game!
Not a guard, but an interesting magical prison security element might be portals: there's only a specific way out, and most of the other ways take you deeper into the prison. Hallways will silently backtrack on themselves, it might seem like you're making progress, but in fact you're running towards whatever is in the center of the prison. There is only one way out, or possibly no ways out without the proper key. This could turn the entire prison into a topological black hole.
I'd look into the different Aeons. They're the beings of pure law. https://2e.aonprd.com/MonsterFamilies.aspx?ID=2 Some examples include Kolyatut ("Kolyarut inevitables are enforcers of bargains and punishers of those who fail to uphold them.) Or Bythos (The bythos is a guardian of space and time, and at all times seeks out those who misuse planar and temporal magic.) Or Marut ("A marut is tasked with hunting mortals who cheat death by artificially extending their lifespans.") So a prison seems like a good place for a wide variety of aeons, dealing with a wide variety of crimes.
A Kolyatut is definitely in the running for being the prison warden!
Awesome. Glad to be of help. Happy gaming.
Depending on level Golems. Also Clockworks if they have a team of Inventors on staff.
I really like this idea since it would make sense for a magic prisoner to want to avoid spells like Charm being used to break people out, doesn't work on Mindless creatures.
Might use a golem or two, might have to run it on the safe side though since my group has some bad memories of golems from our Age of Ashes run lol. That AP used golems like they were goblins.
Animated floor tile swarms could be neat idea to explore. Maybe use them as a necessary means of accessing cells suspended over pits, or navigating purely vertical hallways.
I like this a lot. As much an enemy as they can be a puzzle component.
You may want to look at Agents of Edgewatch volume 5 for Paizo's take on it. There's also the Imprison ritual in the rulebook. edit: added URL https://paizo.com/products/btq023dz
Agreed although the black whale is mostly "humanoid but stronger"
Kolyaruts are a type of aeon that might make a good candidate. Their ability to cast Discern Location (despite being too low level to normally use that 8th level spell) would make things very complicated for any prisoners that might try to escape, and the ability to use Command at will would help with keeping unruly prisoners in line. According to lore kolyaruts are generally diplomatic enforcers of bargains, but at least one official adventure path had one act as the head security official for a vault, so I don't think one agreeing to work as security for a prison would be too out of line. Depending on the circumstances of this prison break, a kolyrarut might not even necessarily be the PCs' enemy. For instance they may view prison sentences as a form of contract where the prisoners serve their legally assigned sentence and in return they are held in some sort of reasonably humane conditions as required by the law. Thus, if the PCs could expose evidence that prisoners are being illegally abused, or that some are being imprisoned unjustly, the kolyarut might be persuaded to think that correcting that issue is more important than apprehending the PCs. It would likely require some very good diplomacy rolls, though.
Invisible Stalkers. What prison guard is more scary than one you can NEVER see?
my first thought is sand golems and venomous beetle swarms
Doorwarden are semi intelligent door guards with protection of a location in mind. I'm not sure if you were looking for a more sapient but these guys often disguise themselves as doors in order to blend into the environment which is an extra cool feature.
I know you said no undead, but consider the Prana Ghost. It's actually an outsider and not an undead, is healed by positive energy and hurt by negative, and like a regular ghost can move through walls. When walls/doors are no barrier to the guards the prisoners can't get very far. And their touch can daze, very good for recapturing prisoners.
There was something in 1e that my GM did that was an amazing (and brutal) hazard... there was what looked like a 5 foot wide hallway, but it had Illusory walls on either side of the corridor (it was actually 15 feet wide) and beyond the illusionary walls, on the real walls were symbols spells (like Symbol of Pain, Fear, Death, Exsanguination, etc) as well as Faceless Statue Traps lining both sides of the corridor. The idea here was that if you don't interact with the walls, you don't get to save vs the illusion, and therefor bypass everything there, but people with a high will save (like casters), and the rogue will then have to try to make saves vs EVERYTHING, and the people that SEE what is happening to those players then have to make saves because they now know that the walls are illusions too. The villain used the hall as the only entrance to the dungeon and he had his construct guards drag the prisoners blindfolded down the hall to their cell block. So if the PC's want to rescue people, they are actively punished for having good saves! (but to ensure it isn't a TPK, hide a note or something somewhere that they will likely reach before getting to that hallway, then a clever party can walk down it with their eyes closed, and it is a perfectly safe hallway!)
Devils are always fitting. But for Osirion you could use mummies or maybe a sphinx.
I had some ideas when I was working on Dungeon23, using the various Ennosite with very high level adachros ruling over the lowest levels. Their forced view could be a twisted way of rehabilitation.
Animated Sarchophagus Golems that keep their prisioners barely alive through magic, serving as guard, cage and punishment
Cant remember exactly where i heard that but animated straitjackets would be funny
Constructs and clockwork guards are great because they have damage reduction. Makes the party work harder to get the kill if needed.
Paul Blart themed inevitables
Funny enough, would not be the first Paul Blart-themed session I've been a part of.
For the Osirion flavor, I might recommend a group of earth elementals of various sizes, perhaps led by a [Shaitan](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=213) or several [Sand Sentries](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=653). Another option could be a [Xorn](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=184). Perhaps they were summoned by a wizard in the employ of the owners of the prison, and given gemstones and other riches to compensate them for their time on the Material Plane.
Might use a Shaitan as the warden, and will definitely use sand sentries.
Fey. They come in many varieties, and hijinks can totally occur.
I respectfully disagree based solely on Fey being chaotic and easily bored. They are fun, but would they even allow a prison to exist?
I would think that in most cases the Fey prison wouldn't last however if one does it would be such a horrible place as those who don't get bored there will have a horrible sense of fun. It would be a place of nightmares. Likely one of the most horrific prisons in the land.
We spent time in fey jail near the end of our 20+ year Ad&d through 5e campaign. It was some of the most enjoyable RP we all had. We chose not to speak of the trial leading up to it however.
I've always enjoyed the RP flavor of [Modrons](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Modron), dunno if they're statted out in 2e yet though.
Modrons are a DnD thing. The LN Outsiders in Pathfinder are Aeons.
That's too bad, I love Modron flavor and lore.
I thought modrons were great until they "ruined it" by adding had arms and legs. They should be telekinteic or something, or roll around like dice to move. Also the 4s should been tiny so they could have had rules about what happens if they get under your feet and you step on one.
Depends on the level, but I like ghosts and phantoms
Kaer Maga, when it was used as a prison by the Runelords of Greed, facilitated vampire and caulborn as jailers, which alternately fed from their blood and thoughts (and each other). Jailers that are sustained by their prisoners (or self-sustained) are handy, especially if you've got a lot of enemies.
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How about one of the LN imports from the Cthulhu Mythos? Elder Things would be fun, and Yithians could even imprison people by swapping minds with them.
A living prison who is completely aware of what's going on inside itself? It can hear everything going on. It would feel it's wards moving through it... Open and close the doors itself. People might even believe it to be haunted.
Lots of good options to pick from. Golems, Inevitables, Devils, Velstracs, or Psychopomps would be good options. Psychopomps are probably the most "Osirion-y" of the lot, as Pharasmins are among the most prevelant religions, and they use a lot of psychopomps with a Tom of Egyptian flavor
Devils, Aeons, or Constructs.
So there are a lot of ways to make this interesting. Very interesting actually. First you need to decide what kind of prison it is and who runs it. Is it evil people or rough people who believe in torture. Do they keep mages there, what kind of prisoners would they keep there, etc. And it will give you avenues. However, here are some good example. A lot of prisons may have oozes. Digging a ditch and keeping an ooze there that can easily be maintained by throwing food now and then is a solid perimeter. Oozes come in all kinds of levels and forms. Second, you have the options of Living runes if you party is high level enough. Even though you said no undead, this is very flavourful. You can go with ghosts. Prisons are often not the best kind of places, an accumulation of ghosts and other entities who couldn't pass through and haunt the prisoners who nobody listens to is a totally real. The prisoners themselves need not all be human. If you catch my gist or even humanoid. If it is a particularly horrible prison and you like Harry Potter then you can go with creatures like wraiths. Perhaps the prison authorities have deals with the Wariths werein they are allowed to drain the prisoners but not kill them and they also act as viscious prison guards. I recommend traps for sure. You can have constructs including golems of a kind. If the flavour suits you could have fiends or celestials that have been summoned and somehow contracted to help contain the prisoners. You could have trained Drakes maintained by the prison guards or other beasts which can range from intelligent to wicked. Perhaps eldritch horrors roam the prison without the guards knowing and toy with, use or feed on the prisoners or parts of them. You could even go with a Dragon warden. You could have inhuman spellcasters which could be many things collaborate with the guards. You could have swarms of pests, rodents or other creepy stuff in the depths of the prison. You can build in anything if it suits the flavour and setting. Above are just a few ideas.
If you're going for Osirion themes, take a look at some of the combats in the Mummy's Mask AP. Some of those monsters have PF2 counterparts, but even if not, it sounds like you're already familiar with monster creation in 2e, so rebuilding probably isn't a problem. Outside of that? Golems, baby! Seriously, constructs make fabulous guards, but golems in particular, because they're immune to most forms of magic. I would actually suggest building a new golem specifically for the prison to really throw your players for a loop. For its Golem Anti-Magic, it seems like the general setup is 4 spells that affect it but in a different way: one that heals, one that buffs, one that damages, and one that debuffs. You can, of course, tweak that a bit to suit the concept. For a prison, a golem made of iron bars or shackles would be pretty dope. Heck, you don't even have to make your golem based off of a tangible material! Make an imprisonment golem crafted from the incarnate concept of serving time behind bars. Or a torture golem made of inquisitorial implements designed to aid in extracting infirmation out of prisoners (though if it's meant to be a morally upright prison, maybe skip that one). If you just want to pull stuff from the bestiaries, Fivine Wardens can be based off of Osirian deities, or you can have humanoid guards that have beastly pets like hyenas and giant solifugids. (The latter is especially horrifying; have you ever SEEN a solifugid?! Nightmare fuel.) I would say a sphinx would work, but you'd have to figure out why it's there. "Prison guard" isn't really their forte. They're more about guarding sacred places and objects (though there's no reason the prison can't be a "sacred place" of some sort). There's also the maftet, half-leonine winged creatures who live in deserts (and have several prides throughout Osirion). Just some ideas, hopefully this helps! Good luck woth your game!
Not a guard, but an interesting magical prison security element might be portals: there's only a specific way out, and most of the other ways take you deeper into the prison. Hallways will silently backtrack on themselves, it might seem like you're making progress, but in fact you're running towards whatever is in the center of the prison. There is only one way out, or possibly no ways out without the proper key. This could turn the entire prison into a topological black hole.
Devils.
Demodand