Completed Creatures Index & Current Conversions

[AnderNGmx]

Its still a living being. If we follow the 2e version in the magazine, he needed to focus more as the creature was sadly called a golem when its just another bizarre mix-grill mutation used mostly as a guard by the illithids, then many other creature designs that just get golem on the title while they are clearly not, will be considered as such. It did not get all the golem immunities in 2e even if you consider it a construct, it just got some of them. And there is no golem that can change shapes, its not like its sitting on a couch it takes another form, or its so rare i have yet to find one. Other than this, it did not get an official version in Lords of Madness and some more art of it, which sucks.

 

[Cleon]

Its still a living being. If we follow the 2e version in the magazine, he needed to focus more as the creature was sadly called a golem when its just another bizarre mix-grill mutation used mostly as a guard by the illithids, then many other creature designs that just get golem on the title while they are clearly not, will be considered as such. It did not get all the golem immunities in 2e even if you consider it a construct, it just got some of them. And there is no golem that can change shapes, its not like its sitting on a couch it takes another form, or its so rare i have yet to find one. Other than this, it did not get an official version in Lords of Madness and some more art of it, which sucks.

Firstly, I'll refer you to my previous post that the original MC entry has no support for Nyraala Golem's being mutated living creatures. They're clearly artificial beings made by combining tissues from other lifeforms.

There are multiple golems which are constructed like that, the classic example being the Flesh Golem. There are even golems that have living components (such as the plants incorporated into a Chia Golem) and still have the Construct type. An extreme example of that is the Maggot Golem, which is entirely made of living creatures (fly maggots) but its official 3E stats in Dragon #339 makes it a construct with standard construct traits apart from needing to consume flesh to sustain its composite creatures' lives.

Besides, as mentioned above the fungus in the Nyraala Golem is described as "inactive" so it does not have to be truly alive. It could be a pseudo-imitation of life, life the pieces of dead humans that make up a Flesh Golem.

As for changing shapes, there are official golems with that ability. The Hangman Golem (aka Rope Golem) can unravel itself from a vaguely humanoid form to a pile of ropes, which is pretty much the same as the Nyraala Golem's transformation ability. Similarly, the majority of Mystaran Rock Golem transform into "irregular rock formations" until they are activated, and those that don't usually resemble caryatid columns when inactive. Speaking of which, the monster version of the Caryatid Column is a Stone Golem variant in 2E and is a construct with the ability to change shape.