How much do oversized golems cost?

[Jürgen Hubert]

Are there any "official" rules on how much golems that have more hit dice (and are larger) than "standard" golems cost?

(I am specifically wondering about stone golems that are one size category larger than norma stone golems...)

 

[Trine]

Someone in the creatures forum found a common link between all of the golem pricings. I believe the cost of a stone golem was 10000 gp + 5000 gp/hit die. This is the same for iron golems too. Flesh and clay golems both cost 5000 gp + 5000 gp/hit die. I think that's what they are. Those do work, but I'm not sure if it's official or not.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Of course going strictly by the book, the price of the golem is fixed regardless of hit-die.

 

[mkletch]

I would do it proportionally to the hit-die increase. If it has double the HD, then double the cost.

However, I am a big fan of reverse engineering otherwise unpublished mechanics. That is cool, and I will use it in the future if it ever comes up.

-Fletch!

 

[Celebrim]

And I would do it proportional to the CUBE of the hit die increase.

That is, if you want to build a 22 HD Clay Golem (twice the normal HD), it would cost eight times as much.

EDIT: Ok, after looking at the Golems I see that it is not so simple.

Take the 22 HD Clay Golem. An 11 HD Clay Golem costs 60,000 g.p. including 30,000 for special ceremonial vestments. Those vestments need not be any more costly no matter how big the Golem you are making is. And while the Body clearly needs to be more expensive, the cost of the body is only 1500 g.p. It suits me that the ceremony is only proportional in cost to the square of the HD. So, purely as a suggestion, the cost of a 22 HD clay golem would be 30000 + 1500x8 + 28500x4 = 156000 g.p. (and 6240 xp), and the cost of a 33 HD clay golem would be 30000 + 1500x27 + 28500x9 = 327000 g.p. (and 13080 xp).

That should prevent 54 HD iron golems (yikes!) from roaming around your campaign world unexpectedly since 300000 gp (triple the usual cost) isn't impossible to come by for characters of high enough level to contemplate such things.

 

[Xeriar]

And I would do it proportional to the CUBE of the hit die increase.

That is, if you want to build a 20 HD Clay Golem (twice the normal HD), it would cost eight times as much.

Myself, I think that the amount of money thrown around for golems and magic items is already ludicrous, and reduce accordingly.

40,000 GP for a dread guard! No freaking way! Those are the things you're supposed to have armies of like in all of the bad movies...

 

[Celebrim]

"Those are the things you're supposed to have armies of like in all of the bad movies... "

And the lesson we learn from this is?

 

[Jay Lofstead]

The Mongoose constructs book goes into those kinds of changes in quite a bit of detail (I don't have mine near me right now). If you want to do a lot, take a look at the book.

They reverse engineered the construct costs and then built a system around them for a lot more variety.

 

[GuardianLurker]

"Those are the things you're supposed to have armies of like in all of the bad movies... "

And the lesson we learn from this is?

That the evil necromancer wizards (if there is such) don't apparently build up their spell books.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Myself, I think that the amount of money thrown around for golems and magic items is already ludicrous, and reduce accordingly.

Maybe, but for my setting, I am trying to justify the D&D economics, not change them...