Interesting Objects to Animate?

[Garnfellow]

My PCs are planning a raid on the laboratory of an enemy wizard who is known to specialize in making constructs. One of the rooms has an animate objects trap that will suddenly make the room’s contents come to life.

Here’s my dilemma: what would be some interesting things to animate? The PCs are fairly high level, so I am looking at either 1 Colossal animated object, 3 Gargantuan, or 6 Huge objects, probably all made of stone. My first thought was a single Colossal statue of a chimera or sphinx. A cool visual, but way too obvious. In fact, I think any kind of massive statue would be too obvious.

So what would be some cool (and BIG) stone objects to animate in a wizard’s lair? I’m drawing a complete blank here.

 

[diaglo]

well the obvious door that looks like a maw/mouth


a column or three


a pedestal


an altar


a toupee/ mullet/ merkin


an army of brooms and buckets

 

[mythusmage]

I was thinking items at the other end of the scale. Fine and tiny items. Innocuous items. An army of toy soldiers for instance. Or a swarm of iron gnats, programmed to swarm the foe and chew away his armor, clothing, and equipment. Ever try to tumble with your pants around your ankles?

If you must have very large stone items, try a crane or derrick for lifting heavy objects in the form of a stone arm. Intruders get smashed.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hand of Evil]

From SRD
Transmutation
Level: Brd 6, Chaos 6, Clr 6
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets: One Small object per caster level; see text
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You imbue inanimate objects with mobility and a semblance of life. Each such animated object then immediately attacks whomever or whatever you initially designate.
An animated object can be of any nonmagical material. You may animate one Small or smaller object or an equivalent number of larger objects per caster level. A Medium object counts as two Small or smaller objects, a Large object as four, a Huge object as eight, a Gargantuan object as sixteen, and a Colossal object as thirty-two. You can change the designated target or targets as a move action, as if directing an active spell.
This spell cannot animate objects carried or worn by a creature.
Animate objects can be made permanent with a permanency spell.
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Curtains/Tapestry can be very large and attack could be grapple, then you have to deal with entanglement, darkness, lack of air.

Needles/nails - swarm but nailing the players foot to the floor is always fun.

Ropes, nuff said

 

[Garnfellow]

well the obvious door that looks like a maw/mouth

a column or three

I do love the idea of a gnashing doorway; another cool visual . . . shades of Tomb of Horrors. But I worry that might be too obvious, also. Maybe a huge fireplace? Yeah . . .

Columns are also cool.

 

[Garnfellow]

I was thinking items at the other end of the scale. Fine and tiny items. Innocuous items. An army of toy soldiers for instance. Or a swarm of iron gnats, programmed to swarm the foe and chew away his armor, clothing, and equipment. Ever try to tumble with your pants around your ankles?

If you must have very large stone items, try a crane or derrick for lifting heavy objects in the form of a stone arm. Intruders get smashed.

Hope this helps.

I've got another encounter developed that's a unique swarm of Tiny constructs, so I think I'm good there. (It is a very cool idea, no? Boz has a neat construct swarm in the Tome of Horrors that first got me thinking along those lines.)

Now the arm-crane thing . . . that really hits a chord with me.

In one of the laboratory rooms, I had envisioned the PCs finding a stone slab with an unfinished construct on it . . . fashioned like a Large, buffed-out version of the enemy wizard. (The wizard is researching a spell that would allow him to transfer his consciousness into the body of this construct.)

So imagine this scene: a large assembly room, complete with a big stone slab, fireplace, and big stone derrick overhead shaped like an arm. On the slab lies this adamantine figure.

The PC's are immediately ready for the figure to come to life, but instead the fireplace, derrick, and slab animate and attack.

Oh, I think we're almost there . . .

 

[alsih2o]

I had good success with an animated chandelier.

Anchored to the ceiling, able to grpple and slam, with a big ol' chain. really messed up some folks.

 

[GreyShadow]

If it's anywhere near a meal time, a silver platter full of custard pies.

 

[schporto]

Heck animate the lab itself. I mean the room/walls/door/everything as 1 thing. Colossal construct gives you 40/80/15 ft to play with. That should be a decent enough size room or 2. Cuz nobody likes getting smacked with a door.
-cpd

 

[Hand of Evil]

I do love the idea of a gnashing doorway; another cool visual . . . shades of Tomb of Horrors. But I worry that might be too obvious, also. Maybe a huge fireplace? Yeah . . .

Columns are also cool.

Floor tiles...