Amber Golem

[Sixten]

This is a conversion of the OD&D amber golem to 3.5E. OD&D golems were significantly less tough that 3rd Edition, having none of the tremendous magical immunities and so on. This one is even more different because it's intended to be agile and fast.

I really have no good feeling for how to assign market value or caster level to golems. I've sort of guessed, based on the standard MM golems, but suggestions are welcome.

Golem, Amber

Large Construct
HD: 8d10+30 (74 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +4 natural), 10 touch, 13 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+15
Attack: Claw +10 melee (1d8+5)
Full Attack: 2 claws +10 melee (1d8+5), bite +4 melee (2d4+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, see invisibility, tracking
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +3
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 12, Cha 3
Skills: --
Feats: --
Environment: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 9-12 (Large), 13-16 (Huge)

Amber golems resemble giant cats, usually lions or tigers.

Combat

See invisibility (Ex): Amber golems can see invisibility (as the spell of that name).

Tracking (Ex): Amber golems are faultless trackers. They are treated as though they possessed the Track feat, and make Spot checks instead of the usual Survival checks to trace a creature's passage. Amber golems receive a +10 racial bonus to Spot checks.

Construction

An amber golem’s body is assembled from pieces of raw amber worth a total of 1,000 gp. Creating the body requires a DC 13 Craft (gemcutting) check or a DC 13 Profession (jeweler) check.
CL 8th; Craft Construct, geas/quest, limited wish, polymorph any object, see invisibility, caster must be at least 8th level; Price 20,000 gp; Cost 11,000 gp + 760 XP.

 

[Sixten]

No love on this one, huh? :\

Does anyone know of a source for information on assigning proper construction details to 3.5E golems? (I'm aware of Encyclopedia Arcane: Constructs, for example, but they sort of cooked up their own system, and I'm not sure how compatible it is.)

 

[Shade]

Unfortunately, no. The golem construction costs have baffled me since 3.5 hit. You'd think that the Craft Construct feat would make it clear, but sadly, it does not.

I think you're on the right track. Although it's not an exact science, I usually compare the golem's composition and HD to a similar WOTC-designed golem and try to come up with something close (which you did). The flesh golem is probably the closest to your amber golem in HD.

 

[Sixten]

The golem construction costs have baffled me since 3.5 hit. You'd think that the Craft Construct feat would make it clear, but sadly, it does not.

Actually, the way all of the costs and XP break out make a lot more sense now (or at least, the relationships are not too hard to figure out). But they're based on the market price of the golem. And that, while it scales with power, doesn't seem to be directly based on, say, HD or CR.

 

[Sixten]

The golem construction costs have baffled me since 3.5 hit.

The values do work out the way that the Craft Construct feat describes, it's just that the MM golems have the additional complication of the cost of their raw materials.

MP = Market Price, MC = Materials Cost
Cost = 1/2 MP + MC
XP = (MP - MC) / 25

So, for the clay golem, for example:

Market Price = 40,000 GP
Materials Cost = 1,500 GP
Cost = 1/2 MP + MC = 1/2 (40,000) + 1,500 = 21,500 GP
XP = (MP - MC) / 25 = (40,000 - 1,500) / 25 = 1,540 XP

But those starting values, like I said, appear to be judgement calls on the part of the designers.

 

[Devon]

Do you have a copy of EA: Constructs to play with?

- Devon

 

[Devon]

Here's what I came up with after toying around with "EA: COnstructs":

Creating the golem costs 53750 gp, including 650 gp for the body. Assembling the body requires a successful Craft (gemcutting or other appropriate skill) check (DC 13).

The creator must be 12th level, and able to cast arcane spells. Completing the ritual drains 1075 xp from the creator, and requires the Craft Golem feat, as well as the spells: limited wish, geas/quest, see invisibility, polymorph any object.

I would add some spell to add the tracking ability. The costs are an amalgam of the wood golem (for its relative weakness) and the shell golem (for its intricacy).

Hope this helps.

- Devon

 

[Garnfellow]

The values do work out the way that the Craft Construct feat describes, it's just that the MM golems have the additional complication of the cost of their raw materials.

MP = Market Price, MC = Materials Cost
Cost = 1/2 MP + MC
XP = (MP - MC) / 25

So, for the clay golem, for example:

Market Price = 40,000 GP
Materials Cost = 1,500 GP
Cost = 1/2 MP + MC = 1/2 (40,000) + 1,500 = 21,500 GP
XP = (MP - MC) / 25 = (40,000 - 1,500) / 25 = 1,540 XP

Based on this, I think there's an error in the cost calcs for the iron golem:

An iron golem’s body is sculpted from 5,000 pounds of pure iron, smelted with rare tinctures and admixtures costing at least 10,000 gp. [SNIP] Price 150,000 gp; Cost 80,000 gp + 5,600 XP.

Market Price = 150,000 GP
Materials Cost = 10,000 GP
Cost = 1/2 MP + MC = 1/2 (150,000) + 10,000 = 85,000 GP

If I had to guess, I bet the designers plugged in the weight of the iron (5,000) instead of the price (10,000) into the cost equation.