Purchasable Ranks
This page covers the general rules. Buy one of the following:
Create Golem
Playtest 3.2 / 4th EdSkill Rules & Full Description
The pinnacle of alchemical mastery is the art of golem crafting. By means of the Create Golem skill, the character is able to animate a golem to serve his needs. Golems are a type of construct bound to the will of their creator. They can operate somewhat autonomously, following and remembering the verbal commands of their creator, or the creator can transfer their consciousness into the golem and control it directly.
The character must gather the needed components to create the golem before starting to animate the golem. In the case of flesh golems, the alchemist has the required skill to sew the golem together. Wood and stone golems require someone with the appropriate craftsman skill to fashion the golem. The alchemist needs to find someone with Rank 2 of either the Weapon Smith or Armor Smith skill to create the husk needed to animate the golem.
The creation process ends with the alchemist transfusing all of their blood to the golem thereby delivering a Killing Blow to the character. The alchemist may be healed appropriately. The character will lose a number of Body Points equivalent to the level of golem created until the golem is destroyed. The Body Points must come from the creator and not a potion or spell. This creates the link between creator and golem. The golem must be created in the Alchemist Guild or an equivalently outfitted laboratory.
Should the golem be destroyed, the creator will know it instantly (or as soon as a marshal can tell the player) and will experience pain as the Body Points return.
Golems cannot invoke rituals or spells on their person or in any item, but they can benefit from passive constant effects like the damage from an enchanted weapon, the armor points from a Ritual of Armor, or the strength from a Ritual of Strength. The link between golem and creator allows a golem to carry and wield items that are attuned to the creator as if the golem were also attuned. This follows the normal rules for items attuned to multiple characters. If the golem is destroyed the item will behave as normal for that type of attunement. An exception is items attuned by a curse, these cannot be transferred between golem and creator.
Golem Creation Table
| Rank | Golem | Creation Time | Production Points | Reagent Tags | Major Component | Minor Component |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wood | 10 min | 40 | 100 | Knot of Wood from Mistwood Tree | Carved Wood Statue Made from Material Worth 5 silver pieces |
| 2 | Flesh | 20 min | 50 | 200 | Copper Heart (25cp) and 400 points of Lightning Damage | Embalmed Parts from 4 Creatures |
| 3 | Stone | 30 min | 60 | 300 | Stone from the Heart of a Bed of Lava | Carved Stone Statue Made from Material Worth 1 gold piece |
| 4 | Iron | 40 min | 70 | 400 | Essence of a Level 5 Fire Elemental | Forged Iron Statue Made from Material Worth 2 gold pieces |
| 5 | Steel | 50 min | 80 | 500 | Saliva of a Red Drake | Forged Steel Statue Made from Material Worth 3 gold pieces |
| 6 | Mithril | 60 min | 90 | 600 | Fire Ruby | Forged Mithril Statue Made from Material Worth 100 gold pieces |
Two whole, un-dissected, destroyed golems of the same type can be substituted for the minor component.
Autonomous Golem Behavior
The golem has no free will and will obey the commands given to it to the fullest extent of its ability. While the golem is robotic in nature, it does understand the intent of the commands given to it, understanding the will of the creator. It is able to remember any number of commands. The golem however is unable to make rational choices. If the golem is ordered to: “Kill anyone who attacks me,” the golem will attack a person who gives a friendly slap. The golem cannot be ordered to “Attack anyone who steals something from this room,” but can be ordered to “Attack anyone who takes anything from this room they did not come in with.” In the latter case the golem will attack a character even if the alchemist gives them something to take with them. The golem can never speak. They can make gestures if commanded, but because they cannot reason they have no ability to communicate a thought of their own.
The golem can never be made to harm the creator, and similarly the creator cannot order the golem to strike them self. The golem can be ordered to listen to the commands of someone else, but the creator’s command will always override anyone else they have given control of the golem to.
To use a golem in this autonomous mode the player must find a volunteer to play the golem. Any player can volunteer their own time to play the golem, but they cannot make it part of their NPC duty without a Plot Marshal’s approval. However, if a Marshal has foreknowledge that a golem is present in someone’s room and they send out a group to specifically engage that area, they should send an extra NPC to play the golem.
Inhabiting a Golem
A golem’s creator can temporarily transfer their consciousness into one of their golems, allowing them to control the golem directly and circumvent the limitations of the golem’s autonomous thinking. While inhabiting the golem the character’s abilities will be replaced by those of the golem, except that they can still speak and use the following skills if they have them: Alchemy Lore, Autopsy, Demon Lore, Herbal Lore, Identify Alchemy, Identify Component, Literacy, Sorcery Lore, and Read Magic. While inhabiting the golem they cannot invoke spells or rituals, but they can benefit from passive constant effects like normal. Rituals, curses, active alchemies, and spells on the character’s body do not transfer with them to the golem, and they do not transfer from the golem to the character when finished. Heroic Boons will not be usable by the golem unless they note so specifically.
To use this ability the character must touch the golem and will their consciousness into it. The character cannot be doing anything else while they transfer, which takes as long as it takes to change costume and leave behind any items that will not be going with the golem. While the character inhabits a golem their body is unconscious and cannot be awoken by any means. The player leaves behind their character card and marshal notes explaining their state, and takes over playing the golem. The marshal note should say to alert a plot marshal if the character’s body is moved to a new location or harmed.
To stop using this ability the character must return to their body and touch it. The character cannot be doing anything else while they transfer, which takes as long as it takes to change costume and leave behind any items that will be staying with the golem. The character will awaken with full memory of what they experienced while inhabiting the golem. If the character finds that their body was killed while they were away they may choose to touch it and transfer back anyway or remain in the golem until the end of the event. If they transfer consciousness back to the dead body they can choose to dissipate or remain as a corpse.
If the golem is destroyed while inhabited the player must leave any in-game items behind and put on a white headband to go out-of-game. They must return to their character’s body then change costuming and resume playing their character like above. If they don’t know where the body is they should find a plot marshal to help them locate it.
If the alchemist is inhabiting their golem at the end of an event the character’s consciousness will be forced to return to their body at that time. If the golem has no orders otherwise it will attempt to return to where the character last transferred to the golem. See a plot marshal to determine the golem’s, and possibly the character’s, fate.
Golem Statistics — Special Rules
Golems have a modified death count. If reduced to 0 Body Points the golem has 1 minute to be healed by their specific element damage from spells or thrown Elemental Pool. They do not require a Heal Mortal Wound or a Life effect to be healed regardless of what dropped them to 0 Body Points. Effects that reduce a death count’s length have no effect on a golem. If they do not receive healing within that minute they are destroyed.
If the Golem is reduced to 0 Body Points by eldritch damage, or struck with it while in their death count, then the golem is destroyed.