Guard Villagers

Villages generate with groups of six guards, each carrying either an iron sword or a crossbow. Players can craft new guards by crouching and right clicking a nitwit or unemployed villager while holding a sword or crossbow. Guards gossip with villagers, and those with a high enough reputation, the Hero of the Village effect, or a conversion by the player will open their inventory to the player.

Right clicking a guard opens its inventory, where armor and weapons can be swapped. The offhand slot accepts a shield, which the guard raises to block attacks, or food and potions, which it uses when health is low. Crossbow guards with a shield cannot kick enemies while blocking. Patrol and follow orders control where guards stand or whether they accompany the player, with follow available under the Hero of the Village effect. Ringing a village bell under that effect lets nearby guards follow as well.

The mod also changes villager behavior: baby villagers get larger heads, witches attack villagers, illagers attack animals during raids, villagers fear polar bears, clerics heal low-health guards and villagers with regeneration potions, and smithing villagers repair golems and guard equipment. Golems float on water. Many of these changes can be toggled in the config. Installation requires Forge or NeoForge. Running client and server, the release is published under a custom license that is not open source, with files for 1.20.1 and newer releases.