Converting Monsters from Dungeon Magazine

[Cleon]

Well, that would work, but it might happen too rarely to be worth it. What about if it releases a burst of sonic energy if it's struck with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon (piercing ones hitting it in the wrong fashion to "ring" it)?

Shall we combine the two?

Ringing Retribution (Ex): If a Brass Golem is struck by an attack that does sonic, piercing or bludgeoning damage it resonates with destructive energy, doing sonic damage to everything within a 20-foot burst (DC X Fort save for half damage). The reflected damage equals half the damage rolled for the attack before the golem's DR or magic immunity is applied. The golem's ringing retribution functions even if the attack does not inflict any damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

 

[freyar]

I like that!

 

[Cleon]

I like that!

Why thank ye kindly!

Shall we talk about stats now.

It's basically halfway between a SRD Stone and Iron golem, so I'm thinking...

Large 16HD Construct
=>BAB/Grapple +12/+26, Saves +5 Fort, +4 Ref, +5 Will
Full Attack: 2 slams +21 melee (2d10+10)
Abilities: Str 31, Dex 9, Con --, Int --, Wis 11, Cha 1
Special Qualities: breath weapon
Special Qualities: Construct traits, darkvision 60 ft., damage reduction 12/adamantine, low-light vision, resist fire and cold X [15?], slowed by lightning, vulnerability to darkness

Breath Weapon (Su): 10-foot cube of noxious gas lasting 1 round, once every 1d4+1 rounds. All living creatures within the cloud must succeed at a DC18 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Slowed by Lightning (Ex): Electrical attacks do minimum damage to a brass golem (1 point per die) but slow the golem (as per the slow spell) for 1d4 rounds with no saving throw.

Vulnerability to Darkness (Ex): Any spell with the Darkness description will render a golem helpless for 1 round if it fails a Fortitude save.

 

[freyar]

Do we want to combine the resistances, slowed by lightning, and vulnerability to darkness into the more traditional immunity to magic?

I'd prefer to keep DR to a round number, ike 10 given the likely CR. But overall, I like the abilities.

 

[Shade]

Ringing retribution looks great!

Definitely a big "YES" to combining into immunity to magic and a standard DR amount.

The other stats look good.

 

[Cleon]

Do we want to combine the resistances, slowed by lightning, and vulnerability to darkness into the more traditional immunity to magic?

Well I suspect it'll be a matter of differing opinion...

I prefer the resistances and vulnerabilities, funnily enough.

I'd prefer to keep DR to a round number, ike 10 given the likely CR. But overall, I like the abilities.

But 12 is a rounder number than 10, because it has far more factors.

 

[Shade]

Since we've essentially made them midpoints between the stone and iron, we might as well have 'em follow the formats of the other two. Plus, you're currently outvoted 2-to-1.

Added to Homebrews.

What to do with the "half damage from cold and fire"? I'm fine with leaving those outside the immunity to magic as resistance to energy x, but if we want to get creative and move them into immunity to magic that works for me as well.

 

[Cleon]

What to do with the "half damage from cold and fire"? I'm fine with leaving those outside the immunity to magic as resistance to energy x, but if we want to get creative and move them into immunity to magic that works for me as well.

You mean something like:

Immunity to Magic (Ex): A brass golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.

A magical attack that deals electricity damage slows a brass golem (as the slow spell) for 3 rounds, with no saving throw.

Magical cold and magical fire deals half its cold or fire damage to the golem. e.g. an ice storm that does 10 bludgeoning and 7 cold damage would do 3 points of damage to the golem (half the 7 points of cold damage).

If a brass golem is targeted by or within the area of a spell with the darkness or shadow descriptor, the golem is rendered helpless for 1 round unless it succeeds on a Fortitude save.

That'd be alright by me.

 

[Shade]

I wasn't thinking a direct translation, but it gets the job done.

Updated.

Advancement: x

A brass golem is 10-1/2 feet tall and weighs around x pounds.

Any other abilities before getting to CR?

 

[freyar]

I'd be fine with breaking resistances out, but this looks good.

17-24 HD (Large), 25-48 HD (Huge) following the iron golem?

I think we're good with abilities, and I'll leave the weight to Cleon.