Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Construct Handbook

3.70/5 (based on 6 ratings)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Construct Handbook
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We Have the Technology!

Mortals have been obsessed with replicating life through metal and magic, and from their great labors have come all manner of constructs. The secrets to creating these marvels are usually reserved for the powerful and skilled, but now they are finally revealed! Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Construct Handbook opens the book on the powerful knowledge to create constructs and reveals never-before-seen clockworks, golems, and robots. Within these pages, you'll find:

  • Information on how to build a construct, as well as new modifications for your constructs.
  • Archetypes for characters who assemble or fight constructs, such as the construct caller, who builds constructs from planar energies.
  • New magic items that assist with both the creation of constructs and their destruction.
  • More than a dozen new constructs of all types, including clockwork goblins, gladiator robots, sand golems, and the powerful and enigmatic automatons.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Construct Handbook is intended for use with the Pathfinder campaign setting, but it can be easily adapted to any fantasy world.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-989-9

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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PZO92104


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3.70/5 (based on 6 ratings)

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So this book is great bestiary and construct gm tool :D

5/5

I really love Automatons. Hopefully they won't disappear after this book, I want to see those in 2e! Not just flavor wise, they are also mechanically pretty tough. I also really like all the customization options and templates for constructs. I'm not good with words, but I've gotten great use out of this book


Kill your PCs -- with SCIENCE!

5/5

...or horrible robots with chainsaws, which is a decent proxy for science.

So, this is a GM-focused book, but with a bit of PC material. The first three chapters are fairly quick, covering general construct construction, archetypes, and magic items. By and large, this section is decent but not exceptional. A few good archetypes (I particularly like the Construct Caller Summoner and the Voice of Brigh Bard), some interesting items (an Automaton Core is a minor artifact with actual methods for PCs or NPCs to get, if they're not very nice), and a bunch of golem manuals.

The meat of the book is the fourth and final chapter, which occupies 2/3rds of the page count. And this has some beauties.

First up are the Automatons, which are my new favorite thing in Pathfinder. Short version, in ancient days the Jistka Imperium was waning, and so as a way to preserve it some of the elders of the Imperium started uploading their citizens minds into thaumaturgical robots. Thus you have the living constructs known as Automatons, ranging from the adorable and familiar-grabbable Familiar Automaton to the mountain-shredding CR 20 Master Automaton. These guys have everything. Imposing stat-lines, gorgeous art, fascinating backstories, oodles of plot-hooks... you want it, you got it.

There are a bunch of new robots, golems, and clockworks. The stand-out here is the CR 17 Gladiator Robot, which is what happens when you give a hyper-effective killing machine a chainsaw and a directive to please the crowd. This thing is basically a slasher movie villain, and thus awesome. At the other side of the spectrum is the Clockwork Goblin, which is small and silly and kind of adorable.

Finally, there are templates, a half-dozen of them. Golems wreathed in caustic mist, constructs haunted by ghosts, constructs with artificial psychic minds, constructs with someone else's brain stuffed into them, commando constructs (as scary as they sound), hilarious malfunctioning recycled constructs, and the most awesome, steam-powered mechanical dragons.

Allow me to repeat: steam-powered mechanical dragons.

Conclusion: This is a GM book primarily, though a few of the archetypes are nice for a PC. It is a very good GM book, useful if you want any kind of constructs in your game.


Automantions, Clockworks, Golems, and Robots...Oh My!

4/5

Not what I was expected but interesting non the less. I really like the automations, too bad they came around so late in 1e's life time. The book is more a min-bestiary + players companion then a campaign setting book but I could always use more monsters so that is okay with me.


A year late and not really worth the wait

1/5

I was incredibly excited when this was announced last year, as I love constructs and playing characters who make them, however this was mostly a letdown.

Most of the archetypes are just terrible, some like the Paladin one are unbelievably bad, trading away class abilities do something the altered/ruined smite already does. The Wizard one trades away all bonus feats among other things, in return for...a bonus feat. And +50% cost/time to every construct they ever make. Truly amazing.

The bard archetype however I will say was very interesting, though it's weird they gave bards the new way to reanimate constructs.

Alchemist can now kill themselves as an immediate action, so that's great. 1 con drain to heal a homunculus 1d6HP per drain. Phenomenal.

Additionally, in combat healing of constructs is still at the same awful level it's always been at. Fast healing 5,and 10 minutes of greater mending. Have fun.

Hurray.

The one good thing to come of this book are some of the new Templates for constructs, but most of the interesting ones are priced high enough as to mostly be DM territory. Steam was great though, as was the repaired one.

Somewhere between 1-2 of 5 stars, but we round down in Pathfinder.


Flavorful if not Accessible to Players

3/5

This book is...ok.
More of a GM's book than a PC's

While it presents a number of construct related character options, it doesn't really make coructs any more accessible for PCs; you still need to be quite high level and exorbitantly rich to really get into them.
Those who thought they would finally be able to march their golem army like the necromancer's shambling horde or the conjurist's heavenly legion are going to be disappointed.

A good chunk of the book focuses on Shory constructs.
An interesting bit of lore, but one ultimately tied to artifacts, making following in the Shory's footsteps a thing that serves best as a campaign focus rather than a PC option in any existing Adventure Paths.
That said, they are pretty cool.

The character options for construct flavored characters are...well, lukewarm.
There are better options in a number of preexisting books.

All in all, good for a GM or if you REALLY want to make a golemmancer.
If you have a casual taste in constructs, I can't really recommend.


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Silver Crusade

You're the one claiming these things aren't player material because they're not immediately and always accessible.

Silver Crusade

8 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Corvus, there is plenty of player-friendly material in Campaign Setting books which does at no point require you to eat a half-baked corgi atop the Hollow Mountain. Heck, some of those books essentially double as splatbooks. Aquatic Adventures is a great example.

And having setting-themed options in CS books is ... exactly the same as having them in Player Companions, and I somewhat don't see you running around bemoaning that you can't pick something from a Player Companion book because in your interpretation that requires you to fulfil any non-existent requirements.

It seems like you're now trying to make a mountain out of a molehill because you don't want to admit that you weren't exactly correct in your earlier statements. It's OK, that'll pass once you grow older. Hopefully.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Umm, you do realize you are being overly defensive again? I mean, you are ganging up on me since you think I'm complaining about something ._.

James Jacobs said earlier that reason why this is in campaign setting line and not player companion line is because its meant to be geared towards GM tools and not player material. I was confused about why if that is the case people keep expecting player material in CS line until someone pointed out there are several CS book with clearly player intended material and I noted while that is weird, I don't consider all forms of player material(such as one in Occult Realms) means book is intended for players to read. That said Inner Sea Magic/Combat/Intrigue is clearly mostly intended for players since its mostly archetypes/feats/spells.

Silver Crusade

CorvusMask wrote:

Umm, you do realize you are being overly defensive again? I mean, you are ganging up on me since you think I'm complaining about something ._.

James Jacobs said earlier that reason why this is in campaign setting line and not player companion line is because its meant to be geared towards GM tools and not player material. I was confused about why if that is the case people keep expecting player material in CS line until someone pointed out there are several CS book with clearly player intended material and I noted while that is weird, I don't consider all forms of player material(such as one in Occult Realms) means book is intended for players to read. That said Inner Sea Magic/Combat/Intrigue is clearly mostly intended for players since its mostly archetypes/feats/spells.

JJ's not the boss of my campaign; if I want to make NPC-intended archetypes available for my players to fuel their complaints about being underpowered I can do it, and I can even waive the entry requirements if I feel like it!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

-Because they didn't read that post by Mr. Jacobs.
-Because campaign setting books can and do give player options.
-Because they really want stuff for constructs.
-Because the ideas they are saying are not for just this product.
-Because people like to dream.
-Because they are board.
-Because it is something to talk about that related to subject of this product.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

You know, if you aren't willing to talk in good faith, just tell me I'm being annoying :P

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
CorvusMask wrote:
You know, if you aren't willing to talk in good faith, just tell me I'm being annoying :P

You're not being annoying, you're just being young. It's sometimes synonymous, sometimes it's not.

You'll grow to be a great butterfly some day. But until then, we'll be grumpy about you going caterpillar all over the panorama every now and then. :)

Scarab Sages

Erik Mona wrote:

Basically this book had a lot of issues in development that caused it to "miss" its window. This is very, very, very difficult to claw back from, as all of our dev resources are already slated to be working on the _next_ thing, so we've got to find our time in bits and pieces.

It's in the mix, and we WILL release it, but I can't tell you exactly when right now (it'll be in 2018). We're in the midst of a developer hiring frenzy that will no doubt help a lot.

That's disappointing, since, apparently, my campaign setting subscription can't actually start for some reason till it comes out.


Your subscription can't start without it? What do you mean?


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

That is a known bug. If you let the Customer Service people know, they can fix that for you.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Personally, I've never understood the assumption that the campaign setting line is a "GM line." As long as the book is about a specific part of the Golarion setting, it's keeping it's promise.

Likewise, I was just as confused about the complaints the player companion line used to get for NOT containing setting specific material, seeing how the promise that line makes is just for player options on a certain subject.

(CorvusMask, this isn't directed directly at you, per se. I see this "argument" come up darn near every time it's pointed out that the CS line does quite often have player options to offer.)

Scarab Sages

I have to ask the question now, since given recent posts, it seems increasingly likely, was this pushed back to be part of Pathfinder 2.0, and if it was, where do I cancel my subscription again?


This book doesn't seem like the obvious choice for a setting-specific book to start off Pathfinder 2nd Edition, to be honest.

Also, as far as we know, the release date for this book is November, 2018 with Pathfinder 2nd Edition being released summer '19.

As for how to cancel your subscription, get in touch with customer service via the Customer Service section of these forums, by mail, or by phone.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Baron Iveagh wrote:
I have to ask the question now, since given recent posts, it seems increasingly likely, was this pushed back to be part of Pathfinder 2.0, and if it was, where do I cancel my subscription again?

I am pretty sure that this is a late 1E product rather than an early 2E product. It is way too early to announce any 2E products other than those associated with the playtest that starts in August of this year.

Paizo Employee Managing Developer

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Baron Iveagh wrote:
I have to ask the question now, since given recent posts, it seems increasingly likely, was this pushed back to be part of Pathfinder 2.0, and if it was, where do I cancel my subscription again?

This is very much not the case. This book was never intended to be part of Pathfinder Second Edition, which doesn't release until summer of 2019. This book will be out well before then and is for the current version of Pathfinder.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I like flumphs, even though they inherently try to stop the "Cosmic Evils" I advocate. besides, they make useful remarks on forums.


Can you guys please answer this request?

"Will we finally be able to pilot a construct? Like, a "weak" wizard climbing into his iron golem to fight the PCs with both the golem's physical prowess and his spellcasting abilities?"

Paizo Employee Creative Director

3 people marked this as a favorite.
JiCi wrote:

Can you guys please answer this request?

"Will we finally be able to pilot a construct? Like, a "weak" wizard climbing into his iron golem to fight the PCs with both the golem's physical prowess and his spellcasting abilities?"

That's not a part of this book.

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
JiCi wrote:

Can you guys please answer this request?

"Will we finally be able to pilot a construct? Like, a "weak" wizard climbing into his iron golem to fight the PCs with both the golem's physical prowess and his spellcasting abilities?"

You could already do that from Ultimate Combat/Magic couldn't you?


Rysky wrote:
JiCi wrote:

Can you guys please answer this request?

"Will we finally be able to pilot a construct? Like, a "weak" wizard climbing into his iron golem to fight the PCs with both the golem's physical prowess and his spellcasting abilities?"

You could already do that from Ultimate Combat/Magic couldn't you?

Yeah... but not as you expected...

You can modify a construct so it can become a breastplate... that's it... You can also modify a construct to get a limb... but only for a Small or Tiny construct...

So... no... you cannot wear an Iron Golem like an armor suit... or modify it to get a powerful gauntlet.


Construct creatures that turn into weapons, armor, and mundane items would be interesting. Maybe some that turn into vehicles since we have ones that turn into buildings.


I checked Amazon and this book was announced for July. This is still saying November/December. Is their date just a placeholder date like the Nov/Dec here, or is this finally on the way?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Dragon78 wrote:
-Because they are board.

Flat, wooden, and splintery? :-)

Silver Crusade

JiCi wrote:
Rysky wrote:
JiCi wrote:

Can you guys please answer this request?

"Will we finally be able to pilot a construct? Like, a "weak" wizard climbing into his iron golem to fight the PCs with both the golem's physical prowess and his spellcasting abilities?"

You could already do that from Ultimate Combat/Magic couldn't you?

Yeah... but not as you expected...

You can modify a construct so it can become a breastplate... that's it... You can also modify a construct to get a limb... but only for a Small or Tiny construct...

So... no... you cannot wear an Iron Golem like an armor suit... or modify it to get a powerful gauntlet.

Yes you can, it has the same stats as a Breastplate but it doesn’t turn into one, you are wearing it, the only limiter is that it has to be the same size as the wearer. So you can get powered armor, not mechs.


Rysky wrote:
JiCi wrote:
Rysky wrote:
JiCi wrote:

Can you guys please answer this request?

"Will we finally be able to pilot a construct? Like, a "weak" wizard climbing into his iron golem to fight the PCs with both the golem's physical prowess and his spellcasting abilities?"

You could already do that from Ultimate Combat/Magic couldn't you?

Yeah... but not as you expected...

You can modify a construct so it can become a breastplate... that's it... You can also modify a construct to get a limb... but only for a Small or Tiny construct...

So... no... you cannot wear an Iron Golem like an armor suit... or modify it to get a powerful gauntlet.

Yes you can, it has the same stats as a Breastplate but it doesn’t turn into one, you are wearing it, the only limiter is that it has to be the same size as the wearer. So you can get powered armor, not mechs.

I still see several problems with this mecanic though:

- The armor's AC caps at +6, that's it. I understand that this would require balancing, but... let's face it, you kinda expect to get at least half of the construct's natural armor for yourself.

- The wearer cannot use the construct's abilities, whether be ability scores, natrual attacks, resistances, speeds, special attacks, etc.

- The construct has to be of the same size as the creator... which kind rules out golems unless you apply the Young template prior to creation. Medium constructs are actually rare.

- The armor remains under the creator's control. That hinders in many ways, such as not everyone can use it or the creator is often ill-fitted for combat. So unless you're a cleric, alchemist, magus or experimenter vigilante, you're not going to benefit much from a construct armor. That would have been another story if the armor granted you a Base attack bonus equal to your total Hit Dice, like Constructs have.

Ok, fine, so it's akin to powered armors, but being able to hijack a construct would have been nice to get... especially after 10 years of Pathfinder.


FYI guys, the description AND the artwork has been updated. And I LOVE BOTH! :D


Quantium Golem vs Adamantine Golem, nice.


And poor Anora is caught in the middle!!!


Is this book EVER coming out? I've been waiting a YEAR.

Paizo Employee Developer

6 people marked this as a favorite.

It's very close! The November 14th date is correct, so look forward to it very soon!

Contributor

Hmm, wonder if there'll be wyrwood stuff in here!


I almost forgot about this one.

Liberty's Edge

Closing in. so soon. i almost can taste the content.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Got my "shipping soon" email! EEEEEE--!

Silver Crusade

No sneak peaks from this? I'm so excited for the content.


Halloween isn't even over yet Marcus...

Dark Archive

Can somebody name the constructs and their CR?


6 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Automaton, Champion CR 10
Automaton, Familiar CR 2
Automaton, Master CR 20
Automaton, Sharpshooter CR 15
Automaton, Stalker 5
Clockwork Goblin CR 3
Clockwork Gunslinger 7
Clockwork Priest 11
Clockwork Songbird CR 1/2
Command Construct (Template)
Energized Golem (Template)
Enlightened Construct (Template)
Golem, Dragonhide CR 16
Golem, Inubrix CR 14
Golem, Sand CR 9
Haunted Construct (Template)
Hell Engine (Template)
Recycled Construct (Template)
Robot, Gladiator CR 17
Robot, Repair Drone – Repair Robot CR 2
Robot, Repair Drone – Octopod Mechanic Drone CR 11
Runeplated Construct (Template)
Soulbound Construct (Template)
Steam-powered Clockwork Construct (Template)


Are there new construction point abilities for animated objects?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

For anyone wanting to pick up this Handbook as a resource to assist with creating fun and interesting constructs as a player, there are a couple options that can be described as satisfying in this book.

  • There is a really amazing archetype option for Unchained Summoners.

  • There is a Clockwork / Construct focused Wizard, though it seems more focused on fighting Constructs than building them.

  • They have a couple interesting magic items and a pretty hefty entry on Golem Manuals.

  • They added a couple new construct modifications that can be used along with the rules in Ultimate Magic. Most of them are actually pretty nice, though expensive.

  • They added some new Construct Templates, one of which I was actually really happy to see.

  • Other than that however most of the options in this book focus on fighting constructs rather than creating them.

    There's some lore bits in this book as well that was interesting to read.

    All in all definitely not the book that I was hoping for but a welcome addition to my collection.

  • Liberty's Edge

    Cool. Hope to get my hands on this+ the martial artist book soon.


    Thanks for the info guys.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

    Holy heck it's shipped! Time to break the rules about using the computer at work...


    3 people marked this as a favorite.

    I very much enjoyed the Bestiary section. The Clockwork Songbird and Familiar Automaton, especially.


    Zaister wrote:

    Automaton, Champion CR 10

    Automaton, Familiar CR 2
    Automaton, Master CR 20
    Automaton, Sharpshooter CR 15
    Automaton, Stalker 5

    Could anyone go further into the automatons flavor? They seem to be a new constraint subtype! What are they exactly?

    And I heard I would really like the steam powered clockwork template.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    The Gold Sovereign wrote:
    Zaister wrote:

    Automaton, Champion CR 10

    Automaton, Familiar CR 2
    Automaton, Master CR 20
    Automaton, Sharpshooter CR 15
    Automaton, Stalker 5

    Could anyone go further into the automatons flavor? They seem to be a new constraint subtype! What are they exactly?

    And I heard I would really like the steam powered clockwork template.

    They're already available as avatars, strangely.


    anything useful for "Constructs as PCs"?

    Sovereign Court

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Souls At War wrote:
    anything useful for "Constructs as PCs"?

    Sadly, no.

    Sovereign Court

    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    I generally liked this book. I was hoping for options like ways for your character to become a construct over time--piece by piece. Or something that lets you merge with a construct similar to the Synthesist Summoner. Of the archetypes included, there are a bunch of bad ones, a few moderately interesting ones, 1 that is horribly written as to be contradictory (at least, it seems that way) and a couple that are actually pretty good. The Construct Saboteur gives some good options for rogues.

    The shining star is the Voice of Brigh bard, though. It's 12th level ability lets you use bardic performance to heal and control any construct that has been deactivated/killed--healing it of HP equal to your level per round. While performing, you can give it orders and it must obey you. If you manage to heal it to full, it must follow your orders for 24 hours. After that, it returns to its original programming. What a fun option for a construct heavy campaign like Iron Gods! (and, yes, I'm playing in one of those at present, so I really want to find a way to switch characters) It's unfortunate that you don't get this amazing ability until 12th level, though. I think a better option would be gaining this at 5th or 6th level in such a way that you're limited to a round per level of control. Then, upon reaching 9th level having it switch to a minute per level maximum. And at 12th level increasing it to an hour per level. Possibly changing it to 24 hours or a day per level when you hit 15th. I think all of that would drive home the significance of Brigh as patron of constructs. Oh well, it's still bound to be fun for anyone that gets to play it at high enough level.


    3 people marked this as a favorite.

    Haven't had a chance to read the book yet, only glanced at it, though I do really like the automations. I will read it thoroughly when I get my physical copy.

    Automations

    spoiler:
    They are intelligent constructs with a living core that can be removed safely with a lot of time and skill(spellcraft). I am not sure if all or only some are extraplanar.

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