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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 4970174" data-attributes="member: 13966">Constructs are usually HIGHLY magical.  <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/golem.htm" target="_blank">Golems</a> are so extremely magical that most other magic can't even work on them.  Otherwise, Fireballs could still melt golems of any sort the same as anything else, and Disintegrate spells could obliterate them the same as anything else.Although iron golems and a few others are given a partially-mechanical look in 3.X books, they're still extremely magical and powered by magic.  And golems are all animated by bound Earth elementals, or Water elementals in the case of Nimblewrights but they're in Monster Manual II, not the SRD.  Magic is usually described as a requirement in their creation, through rituals and transmutations of material.  And constructs typically require some high-level arcane and divine spells to create, like Animate Objects, Limited Wish, Resurrection, Antimagic Field, etc.  Even <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shieldGuardian.htm" target="_blank">Shield Guardians</a> can't be created without at least 15 levels of wizard or 16 levels of sorcerer as well as 3 levels of cleric, just to meet the spell prerequisites, in addition to the three item prerequisites (Craft Wondrous Item and Craft Magic Arms & Armor are prerequisites for Craft Construct).Homonculi are made through ritual and an infusion of the caster's blood and such, though they can be made by mid-level arcane casters with the right feats and spells.  Animated Objects are, of course, simply made through the Animate Objects spell (which is divine) and maybe an arcane Permanency or maybe a Miracle emulating Permanency.  Those are the only core Constructs besides that one demonic spider construct called a Retriever I think.Automatons from MM2 are mechanical aside from their Shadow-magic quasi-intelligence, so they're at least close enough to something an artificer might be able to create, but have no construction details in the book so I have no idea how they're supposed to be made in the first place.  Clockwork horrors are magically-powered, have magical abilities, and are self-replicating destructive machines coordinated by a more powerful clockwork horror (as described in Dragon Magazine).  Boguns are basically nature-spirit animated piles of druid stuff, bronze serpents are animated in a ritual by a 16th-level arcane caster requiring some high-level spells, dread guards are animated suits of armor with similar creation prerequisites to bronze serpents despite being much weaker and simpler, juggernaughts have magical abilities and require high-level magic to create, rogue eidolons are magical tools of Tharizdun's cult, and runic guardians are highly magical but similar to shield guardians in function.So most constructs are too magical for a mere dabbler in magic to create and animate them.  Only automatons are close enough to pure mechanical form, yet have no creation methods listed for some reason.  Eberron's Artificer class has no real allusions to being an actual, technological artificer, and has access to only rudimentary mechanical skills (Open Lock and Disable Device IIRC), while focusing entirely on magical artifice and magic item crafting.  The Gnome Artificer prestige class from Magic of Faerun only dabbles in magic at upper levels (using Shadow magic to make some partly-magical partly-technological devices work), and that's what I based this Artificer class on.  Gnome Artificers are technological geniuses.</blockquote>

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