Sleepwalkers
These dangerous golems are the creation of Homayoun Bey, the ruler of this chapter of the Brotherhood. They appear to be humans with glowing red eyes, wearing red caftans and pantaloons and wielding saw-edged scimitars. The golems were named Sleepwalkers by the peasants of the Valley of the Mist because of their slow, shambling golem-strides and their tendency to bump into things and knock furniture over. Though Homayoun wanted to name them Flame Sentinels, the peasants’ name stuck.
Sleepwalkers are essentially minor flesh golems with a few alterations. Each has flaming oil as its blood, which gives the creature a slightly luminescent, orangish skin tone. If slain, the golem bursts into flame and disintegrates, but this does not harm bystanders unless someone is directly touching the golem when it is destroyed. In this case, the victim suffers 2d8 hp damage, with a save vs. spell for half damage. Though skinny, a Sleepwalker is incredibly strong, equivalent to a Strength of 19. Each golem bears a saw-edged scimitar which it uses in battle, causing 1d8+1 hp damage plus its Strength bonus of +7. While the jagged edges on the sword give it an additional point of damage, it weakens the blade and any attack roll of 1 indicates the sword has shattered. If disarmed, a Sleepwalker may punch once per round for 1d2+7 points of damage.
If the Sleepwalker has a weakness, it is its stupidity. Complex instructions are inevitabley bungled, for the golems may be trusted with only the simplest and most repetitive of taks. The Sleepwalker has the usual vulnerability to lightning and is not healed as normal flesh golems are. However, because of their fiery blood, they are resistant to fire, receiving a +4 bonus to flame-based saves, with damage reduced by four points per die, to a minimum of 0 points per die.
Sleepwalkers: Int semi-; AL N; AC 5; MV 9; HD 7; hp 49 each; THAC0 14; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8+8; SA Strength equivalent to 19; SD immune to mind-affecting spells, fire resistance; ML 20; XP 1,400.
Originally appeared in Dungeon Magazine #63 (1997).