March of the Golems


Advice


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So, my friend is going to be running a game where the culmination is going to be a war between a bunch of different factions that exist on the island.

I want to break off from the factions, and my first option was going to be a necromancer, but then I thought, "What about a Golem Maker?" I am now very interested to see what people have to make an effective Golem creator.

Obviously he is going to be a spellcaster, but apart from that, what options do people know about. Please keep to Paizo material.


Thing about war is that mass combat rules aren't very good (at least according to most reviewers) and if memory serves your troop type and its special abilities don't matter as much when you toss it into said mass-combat rules. I believe that an Iron golem is just a walking CR, and the enemy enchanter who shouldn't be able to do ANYTHING to it is also just a walking CR who has an even chance of beating it.

I could be wrong on that, and for all I know you'll be using some other brand of combat rules anyway, but it's something you will want to look into.

Anyways...

Crafting constructs requires Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, and Craft Construct. It also requires an UNGODLY amount of money. Golems are super-duper expensive, more so if you make them shield guardians (and you generally do).

Personally, I prefer Animated Objects. They are cheaper to build, their modular design means you can give them special movement types or make them for specific purposes (like a helicarrier, or a burrowing transport), and hardness if often better than DR.

Ultimate Magic (paizo product) has more options for building and modifying constructs as well as a handy list of prices and types for everything that was out before bestiary 2 or 3 (don't remember). There are more constructs to look through but you will have to sort those by source yourself, I am lazy.

Now then, class doesn't matter that much. Crafting is based on spellcraft checks, and while a wizard is better (higher int bonus) a cleric automatically knows all cleric spells while a wizard does not. Lacking a spell because you do not know it or because it is not on your spell list means increasing the craft DC by 5, and I am not sure which class is more likely to NOT have the spells you want for all construct types.

Leadership is good, since an apprentice of a different class can shore up missing spell types and just craft his own stuff. Additionally, followers can be useful "pilots" for constructs that aren't very smart. A giant stone man that is hollow inside can hold a warrior giving it orders of what to attack and where to go. A flying metal bird can get a really lousy ranged attack with a 20' range increment on it's own, or it can have a non-magical ballista strapped to its belly and fired by a warrior riding on it for (often) greater effect. To say nothing of giving one of the riders a wand of Make Whole to effect in-combat healing.

Finally, because you'll be needing LAUGHABLE amounts of money, you'll want to look into ways of getting that money, and discussing with the GM whether that is allowed and what you can do with it. Ironically it is much cheaper to hire a band of 20 CR 11 mercenaries for several years than build 2 CR 11 Iron Golems.

Also, there's a fun trick where you take an Iron Golem, give him a cursed cloak of immolation, and watch him burst into flame. The fire constantly heals him, and can at least theoretically damage others.


The main problems with Golems are their costs and the investment in Feats, Skills and Levels that is required. boring7 Already gave most of the good advice, so I'll just add this little tidbit:
Crafting skills are more easily cranked up with Traits, Feats and Spells than the Spellcraft skill.

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