Deploying Golems In The Campaign

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Deploying Golems In The Campaign

Do you like Golems? How do you use them in your campaigns? I think that Golems can be excellent additional muscle and defenders for evil forces, but also, player characters can build and deploy Golems with great effect. The Runic Guardian from MM2 seems to be an excellent choice for both player characters and villains alike. It also seems that animal Golems can be used with good effect as well, like Granite Tigers, Obsidian Baboons, Jade Panthers, or Marble Elephants.

What do you think?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Murrdox]

On of the most evil things I ever did in my campaign was have my PCs encounter a Flesh Golem made by a Necromancer with a fetish for children.

The Flesh Golem was made out of children parts, and spoke in a little girl's voice.

 

[Ruined]

I'm a big fan of golems in my games. Considerable strength, single-mindedness, they're very tough opponents.

I do like the thoughts of using them as more than just guardians (something I was guilty of for a while). There have been great ideas for guardians that I've picked up over the while. In Planescape, there was a shop that specialized in materials for portal keys and spell components. The keepers were gemstone and bonechip golems that waited in barrels on the ground floor, ready to surprise would-be thieves. Good stuff.

I also intend to make use of golems in an upcoming siege. Imagine flying in and dropping off three or four stone golems to tear down the foundations of an 'impregnable fort' before the main assault force arrives.

Needless to say, I also love elementals...

 

[blackshirt5]

They haven't seen much use yet IMC, but I love golems. I can't wait to be able to order EA: Constructs, to put even more variety into my campaign with them.

 

[Tonguez]

Haven't used them much but the city of Al-Qahira has, perched at its highest point, a gargantuan statue of its founding hero astride his horse with his lance held high . The Statue is a Golem which comes to life whenever the city is threatened and its lance is magical and can shoot lightning bolts over a mile. I've also used the ideas of SG-1's 'replicators' as golem spiders

I also like the way the Golems were used on the PS2 game Summoner - down in the sewers as maintenace workers. Then of course there's the 'free' Golems of Ankh-Morpork

 

[Olive]

I also like the way the Golems were used on the PS2 game Summoner - down in the sewers as maintenace workers. Then of course there's the 'free' Golems of Ankh-Morpork

I reckon that golems are a wee bit to expensive to be used as maintenence workers.

but there's that spell in savage species which gives golems intelligence. That's a nice idea.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

The best scenario I've run in recent years had the players shipwrecked on an island owned by a (now dead) mage. The mage had been experimenting in building an iron golem and had used his apprentice's spirit as the power source for the creature. It had gone berserk and killed the mage just a couple of days before the players showed up.

Now the party was trapped on an island (average level 6) with a psychotic iron golem marauding about. The party had to figure out what had happened and then figure out how to deactivate the golem - since direct combat would have been suicidal.

They managed it too, with only one player death - the gnome rogue fumbled during the final action, just before they could use the deactivation device, and got squished. Golem toe jam.

It was a great scenario, lots of atmospheric stuff, with the golem's foot steps echoing through the forest as it approached, the half destroyed magical laboratory and the wizards empty manor house.

Equal parts Frankenstein, Predator and the Island of Dr Moreau.

 

[s/LaSH]

I've used precisly one, and the PCs are having great difficulty disposing of it. (I think the best way is to feed it to the sharks, but they might come up with something weirder.) As it currently stands, they had to pass a corridor lined with swinging-blade traps to get to it, then they accidentally activated the golem and fought a desperate holding action while the thief re-activated an entire corridor of swinging blade traps and then attempted to lead the golem back through it.

Sadly, it's a clay golem. I'm waiting for them to discover precisely what this means.

 

[CCamfield]

Ooooh, yeah.

Has anyone read Ash: A Secret History?

It's got war golems. Among other things, I recall them (catching and?) throwing catapult stones.

They'd also be a natural for pulling seige towers into place, moving and manning rams to smash down doors, etc.

NoOne - that's a very nice scenario idea!

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Ooooh, yeah.

Has anyone read Ash: A Secret History?

It's got war golems. Among other things, I recall them (catching and?) throwing catapult stones.

They'd also be a natural for pulling seige towers into place, moving and manning rams to smash down doors, etc.

NoOne - that's a very nice scenario idea!

Thanks - the party liked the scenario.

And yes I've read Ash - possibly one of my all time favourite spec fiction books - total recommendation. The battle scenes where they tow war machines and wade into the enemy really makes me think about what it would be like to have to face a golem. They don't feel pain or fear and would just keep on coming until you smash them apart - like zombies, only made of steel or stone.