Portable holes, golems, and crushing your enemies (literally)

[Femerus the Gnecro]

My friend and I were debating last night about several things, all of which ended up being mashed together into a somewhat odd tactical maneuver. However, we couldn't reach an agreement about many of the points.

So, I have questions.

1. Could a flesh golem be the subject of an animate dead spell, and if so, would it gain the abilities/immunities of both a flesh golem and an undead creature?

2. Could petrify be used on specific pieces of the aforementioned undead/flesh golem to give it a kind of stone armor?

3. Could said golem (or any golem of appropriate size) be transported around via a portable hole, and if so, what would be the best way to get the golem OUT of the hole when you needed to?

4. If a wizard used mage hand to spread the portable hole on the ceiling, the golem would fall out. However, would this damage the golem as much as it would the hapless enemy located below, or would the enemy take the crushing damage from the golem while the golem only took 1d6 per 10 ft of falling height? I ask this because I'm not certain whether standard falling damage applies to a construct, or whether there are different rules for dropping heavy objects (like a 5000 pound stone golem).

Your input will be useful! Thanks.

-Femerus

 

[Bonedagger]

1) Don't think so. It's made from different creatures so far as I remember and that would probably screw the spell up.

2) No (Well yes. But it would be kinda like having your leg turned into stone. Not very practical- Actually I think the spell would just turn the entire golem to stone).

3) a)If it fits. (It doesn't need to breath) b) ...Place the hole on a wall and ask it to crawl out?

4) Don't have the rules right here.

 

[Mr.Binx]

Q: Could a flesh golem be the subject of an animate dead spell, and if so, would it gain the abilities/immunities of both a flesh golem and an undead creature?
A: You can make either zombies or skeletons via Animate Dead. The spell description states that each can only be created from a "mostly intact skeleton or corpse". So the answer to this question would be no.

Q: Could petrify be used on specific pieces of the aforementioned undead/flesh golem to give it a kind of stone armor?
A: It is feasible that this might be possible during creation of the golem, but not possible afterwards. Why not just make an Iron Golem or have the Flesh Golem fitted for some full plate?

Q: Could said golem (or any golem of appropriate size) be transported around via a portable hole, and if so, what would be the best way to get the golem OUT of the hole when you needed to?
A: This can be done as long as the golem does not exceed any of the limitations of the portable hole (6'x6'x10'). Turning the portable hole upside down is a bad idea since everything in the portable hole may want to fall out. Just let Mr.Golem walk or climb out.

Q: If a wizard used mage hand to spread the portable hole on the ceiling, the golem would fall out. However, would this damage the golem as much as it would the hapless enemy located below, or would the enemy take the crushing damage from the golem while the golem only took 1d6 per 10 ft of falling height? I ask this because I'm not certain whether standard falling damage applies to a construct, or whether there are different rules for dropping heavy objects (like a 5000 pound stone golem).
A: First off, Mage Hand is not a good idea with which to do this. Have you ever tried unrolling a 6'x6' piece of cloth across a ceiling with one hand? Try it and good luck to you. Second, falling objects are discussed on page 89 of the DMG and taking falling damage is described on page 112. The golem would cause the apropriate damage as listed on page 89 to anything it landed on, then the golem would take normal falling damage as listed on page 112 minus any damage reduction.

Hope this helps!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

You can only petrify living creatures, and flesh golems aren't alive. Furthermore, you can only petrify something with a Con score (and golems don't have a Con score).

You cannot use Animate Dead on constructs.

 

[DM_Matt]

And the advantage that this has over imply putting a big ol' rock in the portable hole is......

 

[Floraeon]

The golem could do stuff that a rock can't, like fetch coffee or dance a happy dance.

 

[Femerus the Gnecro]

"And the advantage that this has over imply putting a big ol' rock in the portable hole is......"

that a big ol' rock can't climb or walk out of the hole.

-F

 

[Mr.Binx]

The rock won't do your bidding and clean up the big gorey mess you just had it make.