Converting Monsters from Dungeon Magazine

[freyar]

It did seem like we were going through golems pretty fast...

2HD and Medium, I guess. Dex should be 8 or 9 to account for the -1 to init.

Should we call these something different since there are other wooden and wood goelms? Like "cheese-press golems" or something?

Immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire. Keep that separate or wrap that into a normal immunity to magic? To be honest, I think the only other immunity beyond normal construct immunities is magic missile (I assume gases means poison), so we could do just as well to have immunity to magic missiles and similar spells.

Seems like it should have protection from arrows.

Looks like DR X/magic. Want to stick with that? It's reasonable at 2HD.

Should they treat their slams as secondary attacks or improvised weapons or something to account for that -2 to hit?

 

[Shade]

2HD and Medium, I guess. Dex should be 8 or 9 to account for the -1 to init.

That sounds about right.

Should we call these something different since there are other wooden and wood goelms? Like "cheese-press golems" or something?

Yep. Maybe simply "press golems"?

Immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire. Keep that separate or wrap that into a normal immunity to magic? To be honest, I think the only other immunity beyond normal construct immunities is magic missile (I assume gases means poison), so we could do just as well to have immunity to magic missiles and similar spells.

Yeah, I could see simply immunity to cold and force, vulnerability to fire in this case.

Seems like it should have protection from arrows.

Looks like DR X/magic. Want to stick with that? It's reasonable at 2HD.

We could go that route, or simplify it to DR x/magic and bludgeoning or slashing.

Should they treat their slams as secondary attacks or improvised weapons or something to account for that -2 to hit?

I like the usual secondary attack route, like some animals.

i.e. *A camel’s bite is treated as a secondary attack and adds only half the camel’s Strength bonus to the damage roll.

 

[Cleon]

Here's one of the last unconverted golems...

Oh grief, not another golem!

I'd be glad when we finish them so we can do some other types of creature.

 

[Shade]

Oh grief, not another golem!

I'd be glad when we finish them so we can do some other types of creature.

I believe we've about exhausted the true golems, and I'm growing a bit tired of constructs myself. Now that we've whittled down the unconverted constructs list significantly, I'm ready to move on. My next target: magical beasts.

 

[Cleon]

It did seem like we were going through golems pretty fast...

2HD and Medium, I guess. Dex should be 8 or 9 to account for the -1 to init.

How about using a Medium Animated Object for the basic stats, but switch 2 points from Dexterity to Strength and maybe increase the Wisdom?

Should we call these something different since there are other wooden and wood goelms? Like "cheese-press golems" or something?

I'd go for "Wooden Press Golem"

Immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire. Keep that separate or wrap that into a normal immunity to magic? To be honest, I think the only other immunity beyond normal construct immunities is magic missile (I assume gases means poison), so we could do just as well to have immunity to magic missiles and similar spells.

Seems like it should have protection from arrows.

Looks like DR X/magic. Want to stick with that? It's reasonable at 2HD.

Should they treat their slams as secondary attacks or improvised weapons or something to account for that -2 to hit?

Doesn't the "These fists do 2-12 hp damage (instead of the regular 1-8 hp) when used as weapons, but the golems are clumsy and have a -2 to hit." makes me think this is a clear case of an Oversized Weapon.

So, maybe the "press" is the equivalent of an oversized Large heavy mace (2d6 damage, -2 attack).

 

[Cleon]

Yeah, I could see simply immunity to cold and force, vulnerability to fire in this case.

How about force resistance 5, which would be enough to block standard magic missiles but leave more powerful force effects like mage's sword as an effective attack?

We could go that route, or simplify it to DR x/magic and bludgeoning or slashing.

If we use an Animated Object as a template it would have hardness 5 for being wood, in which case slapping DR 5/magic on top would satisfy me.

 

[freyar]

How about using a Medium Animated Object for the basic stats, but switch 2 points from Dexterity to Strength and maybe increase the Wisdom?

Sounds reasonable.

I'd go for "Wooden Press Golem"

Works for me!

Doesn't the "These fists do 2-12 hp damage (instead of the regular 1-8 hp) when used as weapons, but the golems are clumsy and have a -2 to hit." makes me think this is a clear case of an Oversized Weapon.

So, maybe the "press" is the equivalent of an oversized Large heavy mace (2d6 damage, -2 attack).

I think that's bringing in too much in the way of extra mechanics. The secondary attack route should work pretty nicely.

How about force resistance 5, which would be enough to block standard magic missiles but leave more powerful force effects like mage's sword as an effective attack?

Is there such a thing as force resistance? It's not a usual energy type, is it?

If we use an Animated Object as a template it would have hardness 5 for being wood, in which case slapping DR 5/magic on top would satisfy me.

That could work, though it's a bit unusual. Shade, what do you think?

 

[Shade]

Yeah, no need for oversized weapon, since it is effectively a natural attack.

I'm not sure "resistance to force" is a standard energy type. Find me an official precedent, and I'll go for it.

Ditto for the hardness and DR combo. While I can accept hardness as a SQ here (since animated objects have it), it might get wonky when combined with DR. Why not "DR 5/magic and bludgeoning or slashing" (or "DR 5/bludgeoning or slashing and magic" if you prefer)?

 

[freyar]

I'm not entirely seeing the DR /bludgeoning or slashing other than as a general thing for wood (and I think we'd need some parentheses in that DR!). No one else likes protection from arrows as something a little different?

 

[Shade]

That's fine. I just find 3.5 protection from arrows a bit annoying, since it essentially just gives DR anyway (although limited to ranged weapons, which makes little sense). That was why I thought the bludgeoning and slashing, to rule out arrows and bolts. Also, it is redundant if we give them a blanket DR x/magic. But I can live with prot arrows (no limit), assuming we drop the /magic component from the standard DR (which makes perfect sense by golem standards).