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It looks like while a character can get craft construct at level 5, he cannot successfully make a construct until much later.
So I've got this level 5 Wizard (human) with 20 int. Actually went and got Craft Wondrous Item at lvl 3 (who wouldn't?!) and for the sheer amusement factor, Craft Magical Arms and Armor and yes, Craft Construct with my bonus wizard feat.
However the rules for crafting constructs are quite ... scattered. I'm not looking into making golems, just construct animated objects.
Half the rules are in Animated Objects in the bestiary and the rest, including the information on price and components, didn't show up until Building and Modifying Constructs in Ultimate Magic.
Making construct animated objects is the easiest... but even they require:
Requirements: Craft Construct, animate objects, permanency; Skill Spellcraft or appropriate Craft skill (established earlier as CL 11)
So, the check to make the construct starts at 16, (CL 11 +5). I'm not meeting the CL requirement, so +5 again, to 21. I don't have permanency yet, as it's a level 5 spell, +5 to 26. And I can never get animate objects as a spell, since it's not on the wizard's list so +5 again to a total of 31.
Doesn't appear to matter how big or small the animated object is, it's (right now) a DC 31 spellcraft to make it.
My spellcraft right now is a base +13 (+5 int, 5 ranks, +3 class skill bonus). So to pull off making a construct, I'd have to roll an 18.
Did I do this correctly? It's that hard? If so, any clever ways to get my wizard safely into the take 10 category so I can craft my terracotta foo dogs? Right now, I'm resigning myself to first making an arcane tool kit (wondrous item, competence bonus to spellcraft) to get the job done.
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An item that gives +8 to Spellcraft will cost you 3,200 to make. May I suggest a monocle?
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Also, if your GM allows third party products such as WotC's stuff, perhaps he'll allow SGG's Engines of Destruction.
It has Ceramic Soldiers with these requirements:
Requirements Craft Construct, haste, shatter, creator must
be at least 5th level; Skill Craft (pottery) DC 15; Cost 1,500
gp
There are plenty of mid level constructs you could make. Carrion Golems, Scarecrows, Homonculi, and Soulbound Dolls.
Sadly all those are both thematically and functionally stuff I don't want to make. Thank you for the suggestion although.
An item that gives +8 to Spellcraft will cost you 3,200 to make. May I suggest a monocle?
Indeed.
I would have made it a 'tool kit' of sorts so that it could only be used for crafting, for no other reason than to make it self limiting. Bonuses to spellcraft are so powerful I feel a little cheap making a more multipurpose tool.
Likewise I tend to avoid 3rd party stuff and try to figure out vanilla ways of doing it. Terracotta constructs fit the theme (Jade Regent) and the material is roughly as durable as wood (the base material a construct is assumed to be made of is wood of something of similar hardness).
I have a pot of magnificent pigments, so I fully circumvent pretty much any craft check with a paint check instead.
So I'm taking it that my calculation is correct. It is rather difficult. Time to do some Arcane Assisted Crafting.
CL 11 isn't a requirement unless its in the requirement line.
CL 11 isn't a requirement unless its in the requirement line.
The requirements say "Spellcraft or appropriate craft" but doesn't say whats the DC. All other constructs end up having the DC CL+5, so I assumed that the CL would be a requirement...
However... Homunculus don't have CL as an actual requirement. So hmm...
In which case the check still starts off as 16... +10 for the missing 2 spells for a DC26. Meaning I'd only need +3 to get in the safe area. heheheh.
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Given what the average construct costs in gold to craft, I'd say crafting them is the realm of the mid-to-high levels. I wouldn't expect a PC to seriously attempt it until level 7 or 8, and he likely wouldn't be "cranking them out" until level 12 at least. Just look at the average treasure progression compared to the cost of a construct-- are you giving up your headband of intellect and potions budget for a few levels to do this?
At level 10, you'll be able to succeed on a 13, and that's if you don't get permanency (I forget what level folks get that one at) or any other of the crafting prereqs. Plus, you can always hire an NPC to cast a specific spell, so you could just have a wizard cast Animate Objects for you if you have the extra gold.
The requirements say "Spellcraft or appropriate craft" but doesn't say whats the DC. All other constructs end up having the DC CL+5, so I assumed that the CL would be a requirement...
Nope, thats just there to let you know what skill you have to use to enchant the golem.
Yep. DC 26 is pretty easy to hit when you can take 10 and possess Skill Focus (spellcraft).
Heck, your character has two feats left. Take Skill Focus (spellcraft) and Magical Aptitude and you could pull off animated object construction even with a less than optimum intelligence.
are you giving up your headband of intellect and potions budget for a few levels to do this?
?!
Having even a couple of animated construct foo dogs is so worth a few potions and one or two minor wondrous items. Plus the money I'm saving the party by enchanting arms, armor, and making wondrous items- it's more than enough to fund a few medium ones.
And come on. This is way too cool. I can make robots at level 5.
@Raving Dork: my first 2 feats were Point Blank and Precise Shot. Something I do not regret at all, especially since I picked up a mostly full CL 7 wand of scorching ray at level 3. The whole crafting construct nonsense came about rather whimsically at level 4 when I realized I could do it. If I had planned from the start, Skill Focus and Magical Aptitude would be the way to go- or the Arcane Builder discovery from Ultimate Magic swapped in there. Plus I could have picked a spellcraft boosting trait.
For now, crafting a quick a +3 monocle 'o spellcraftin' for a modest 450 gp will get me underway.
Honestly, for Craft Construct, what you should be doing is building normal horses. Seriously. If you build all your party construct horses, they end up costing, if I remember correctly, about 2K gold. That's 2K gold for a zero upkeep automaton that looks like a real horse, but never eats, never gets tired, never get's sick. Hook them up to a wagon and take turns driving and you can continue 12 to 16 hours a day easily instead of 8. Good if you're crossing large distances. Also good for any mounted fighters, as you can bump up the HD and leave the rest of the stats alone, and give him a much more survivable mount. Tack on the fact that even if he's 'destroyed', you can salvage a lot of the parts for a new one, and you've got something way better than any mount you could get for the same gold.
And creating these normal animal constructs is not difficult, since they generally have a low CR (see ultimate magic).
Well fine, don't believe me. :)
: I looked over the magic item crafting rules and was unable to find an explicit statement on this question: Does creating a magic item require the creator to be of the same or higher caster level of the item itself? This doesn't seem to square with the CLs listed for specific magic items; for instance, a Belt of Giant Strength +2 has CL 8th, but the only spell required in its creation, bull's strength, has a minimum caster level of 3. Am I missing anything here?
A: (Official FAQ 8/18/2010) Though the listed Caster Level for a pearl of power is 17th, that caster level is not part of the Requirements listing for that item. Therefore, the only caster level requirement for a pearl of power is the character has to be able to cast spells of the desired level. However, it makes sense that the minimum caster level of the pearl is the minimum caster level necessary to cast spells of that level--it would be strange for a 2nd-level pearl to be CL 1st. For example, a 3rd-level wizard with Craft Wondrous Item can create a 1st-level pearl, with a minimum caster level of 1. He can set the caster level to whatever he wants (assuming he can meet the crafting DC), though the pearl's caster level has no effect on its powers (other than its ability to resist dispel magic). If he wants to make a 2nd-level pearl, the caster level has to be at least 3, as wizards can't cast 2nd-level spells until they reach character level 3. He can even try to make a 3rd-level pearl, though the minimum caster level is 5, and he adds +5 to the DC because he doesn't meet the "able to cast 3rd-level spells" requirement. [Source]
-That should drop your DC down into the doable range.
Honestly, for Craft Construct, what you should be doing is building normal horses. Seriously. If you build all your party construct horses, they end up costing, if I remember correctly, about 2K gold. That's 2K gold for a zero upkeep automaton that looks like a real horse, but never eats, never gets tired, never get's sick. Hook them up to a wagon and take turns driving and you can continue 12 to 16 hours a day easily instead of 8. Good if you're crossing large distances.
Twelve to sixteen hours a day? Take turns driving? Build yourself a clockwork halfling to take care of all of that for you. If speed is a higher priority than cargo, ditch the wagons and use hippogriffs.
Once you start going down this rabbit hole, you'll discover that it never ends. The low-level stuff is fun and awesome, but what you can do at higher levels is insanely broken.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Honestly, for Craft Construct, what you should be doing is building normal horses. Seriously. If you build all your party construct horses, they end up costing, if I remember correctly, about 2K gold. That's 2K gold for a zero upkeep automaton that looks like a real horse, but never eats, never gets tired, never get's sick. Hook them up to a wagon and take turns driving and you can continue 12 to 16 hours a day easily instead of 8. Good if you're crossing large distances.Twelve to sixteen hours a day? Take turns driving? Build yourself a clockwork halfling to take care of all of that for you.
Once you start going down this rabbit hole, you'll discover that it never ends.
"*yawn* I'm staying in tonight. Simaculum! Take the clockwork adventuring party out and have them clean out that warren for me. Better take the clockwork accountant too. I have a date with that lock of hair from the queen..." :-)
Nah. Using high-level magic for holodeck porn is boring. I mean, sure the PC's having fun, but he's fictional and everyone else is just bored and a little creeped out. I'm talking about stuff that lets a single character build his own adventuring party from scratch and use it to take over the campaign world. At the upper end, we're talking about Tippyverse.
Just as an example, a clockwork juvenile bronze dragon costs about the same as four rings of sustenance and has create food and water as an at-will spell like ability. In addition to being a dragon. Once he gets 2nd level spells, he can use make whole for self-repairs. He's an incredible special mount and party member, of course, but he's a real game-changer when you leave him at home to defend your castle and feed all your peasants.
I guess my idea of 'broken' didn't include allowing the party to travel overland for 24 hours a day nonstop. That's like allowing them to travel three times as far!
Are we serious? Offscreen stuff with their construct investments is fantastic. Gives the players a cool factor and doesn't swing the delicate balance of combat.
...though I admit I don't see where you can make a 'construct brass dragon'
Once had a suit of full plate which was enchanted into an animated object. I would wear it as normal, but it had standing orders to administer healing potions to me whenever I lost consciousness to damage.
Saved my life SO many times!
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This is a friggin cool construct to build IMO.
Once had a suit of full plate which was enchanted into an animated object. I would wear it as normal, but it had standing orders to administer healing potions to me whenever I lost consciousness to damage.
Saved my life SO many times!
That's pretty cool. How did you track its damage?
Well fine, don't believe me. :)
But I am believing you... You're right.
Caster Level is not a requirement for crafting an animated object. It does still have a skill check, either spell craft or appropriate craft- which the DC is for some reason left blank. All the other constructs checks end up being the CL of the construct +5, so I just connected the dots.
But an actual Caster Level isn't a requirement- which is why the final DC dropped from 31 to 26 (since I didn't need a +5 for not meeting the CL requirement).
Honestly, for Craft Construct, what you should be doing is building normal horses.If you build all your party construct horses, they end up costing, if I remember correctly, about 2K gold.
I have actually considers this- but making a large construct, shall we say lions for the cool factor, is a little over 6k. But yes, I was considering it but that'll take a bit more money. Part of why I thought construct would be awesome is precisely because they don't get tired, hungry or bored. It's part of a caravan, so robo-pulling animals is a big advantage, and they're a little more flexible in use than just animating the wagons (huge constructs).
@Viktyr Korimir
Constructs are mindless and by their nature rather limited instruments. A construct 'adventuring party' would miss all the hidden stuff and fall into every trap. Making a construct of an animal doesn't give it all the capabilities and natural cunning of that animal. What's this about making clockwork dragons that function just like dragons? Constructs are great, and I think it's fantastic that I can pull off making some (and some decently impressive ones) this early, but they're still just tools. They don't have the ability to understand and properly execute complex tasks on their own initiative.
That's pretty cool. How did you track its damage?Once had a suit of full plate which was enchanted into an animated object. I would wear it as normal, but it had standing orders to administer healing potions to me whenever I lost consciousness to damage.
Saved my life SO many times!
Never had a need to as no one ever attacked it.
I imagine we would have taken the higher of the plate's hit points or the animated objects hit points, that, or just used the animated objects hp.
I guess my idea of 'broken' didn't include allowing the party to travel overland for 24 hours a day nonstop. That's like allowing them to travel three times as far!
It isn't construct mounts that are broken. Those are just awesome, and priced very reasonably for what they're capable of.
Constructs are mindless
Next time you think to correct me, make sure you're right. The word "most", by definition, means "less than all", and Mindless is not part of the Construct creature type.
What's this about making clockwork dragons that function just like dragons?
...though I admit I don't see where you can make a 'construct brass dragon'
“Clockwork creature” is a created template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature that is not an ooze. The template specifically does not remove any abilities from the base creature and it modifies the base creature's ability scores-- including Intelligence-- in a specific way. There is no part of this that I am interpreting or extrapolating or even misusing. The description of the template itself says that this is exactly what it is supposed to do.
I'm not saying that Craft Construct is a bad feat, or that Clockwork is a bad template. I'm saying that it's one of the many rough spots in the rules where-- using it exactly as intended-- you can accidentally jump the rails. It's great for TO, but you have to be careful how you use it in actual play.
I guess my idea of 'broken' didn't include allowing the party to travel overland for 24 hours a day nonstop. That's like allowing them to travel three times as far!It isn't construct mounts that are broken. Those are just awesome, and priced very reasonably for what they're capable of.
Constructs are mindlessNext time you think to correct me, make sure you're right. The word "most", by definition, means "less than all", and Mindless is not part of the Construct creature type.
What's this about making clockwork dragons that function just like dragons?...though I admit I don't see where you can make a 'construct brass dragon'“Clockwork creature” is a created template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature that is not an ooze. The template specifically does not remove any abilities from the base creature and it modifies the base creature's ability scores-- including Intelligence-- in a specific way. There is no part of this that I am interpreting or extrapolating or even misusing. The description of the template itself says that this is exactly what it is supposed to do.
I'm not saying that Craft Construct is a bad feat, or that Clockwork is a bad template. I'm saying that it's one of the many rough spots in the rules where-- using it exactly as intended-- you can accidentally jump the rails. It's great for TO, but you have to be careful how you use it in actual play.
That template is from Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary from 2004. There are no official clockwork templates, as far as I know.
Constructs are mindless and by their nature rather limited instruments. A construct 'adventuring party' would miss all the hidden stuff and fall into every trap. Making a construct of an animal doesn't give it all the capabilities and natural cunning of that animal. What's this about making clockwork dragons that function just like dragons? Constructs are great, and I think it's fantastic that I can pull off making some (and some decently impressive ones) this early, but they're still just tools. They don't have the ability to understand and properly execute complex tasks on their own initiative.
Most constructs are mindless -- nothing about the construct type though specifically states they have to be, should be or must be however.
Homunculus
Lawgiver
Mask Golem
Retriever
Soulbound Doll
Are all examples of non-mindless constructs.
Base price for a construct is the CR of the construct squared multiplied by 500 gp.
So an Adult Brass Dragon construct (CR 11) has a starting price of 11^2 * 500gp, or 60,500 gp.
Now, it get's it's first special ability for free. So let's count up the special abilities of an Adult Brass Dragon :
Fire Breath (Line, 12d6)
Sleep Breath
Desert Wind
At will—endure elements
Spell 3rd (5/day)—hold person (DC 18)
Spell 2nd (7/day)—see invisibility
1st (7/day)—alarm, protection from evil, shield
0 (at will)—detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation
Now, I've removed the things that require a sentient mind to use (like tongues and charm person), hold person just paralyzes them. Mage hand is a small tractor beam, detect magic, alarm, shield, see invisibility all can be used as preprogrammed abilities. Same with endure elements.
So, the first ability is free. The next two add +1/2 CR, and the rest add +1 CR. So that's +6 CR total. So our price becomes :
17^2*500gp = 144,500 gp for a construct Brass Dragon that can breath flame every 1d4 rounds, can breath sleep breath every 1d4 rounds, can kick off a desert wind, can endure elements and see invisibility and cast some minor spells in a pre-programmed way. That's not an unreasonable price for that level of construct. Again, this is not a sentient construct, just something you can put in a room to guard treasure and give it pre-programmed actions.
mdt -- you forgot flight, and multiple attacks -- if done as an animated object (which I would suggest) some of this can be handled with CP too -- which would help keep the costs down a little bit.
mdt -- you forgot flight, and multiple attacks -- if done as an animated object (which I would suggest) some of this can be handled with CP too -- which would help keep the costs down a little bit.
Ah, flight yes, that's a special ability. Multiple attacks, I don't think so. I think that's included as part of the base CR.
But the flight though, that needs to be added.
So 162,000 gp. Again, not bad.
Also, if you're putting this in a sealed room, then there's no need for the flight, and you can make the wings ornamental.
That template is from Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary from 2004. There are no official clockwork templates, as far as I know.
That's true. I picked it up from the PF OGC site and assumed it was on the same level of "official" as Dreamscarred. In any case, I consider Green Ronin to be of consistent enough quality to merit inclusion.
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It looks like while a character can get craft construct at level 5, he cannot successfully make a construct until much later.
So I've got this level 5 Wizard (human) with 20 int. Actually went and got Craft Wondrous Item at lvl 3 (who wouldn't?!) and for the sheer amusement factor, Craft Magical Arms and Armor and yes, Craft Construct with my bonus wizard feat.
However the rules for crafting constructs are quite ... scattered. I'm not looking into making golems, just construct animated objects.
Half the rules are in Animated Objects in the bestiary and the rest, including the information on price and components, didn't show up until Building and Modifying Constructs in Ultimate Magic.
Making construct animated objects is the easiest... but even they require:
Requirements: Craft Construct, animate objects, permanency; Skill Spellcraft or appropriate Craft skill (established earlier as CL 11)
So, the check to make the construct starts at 16, (CL 11 +5). I'm not meeting the CL requirement, so +5 again, to 21. I don't have permanency yet, as it's a level 5 spell, +5 to 26. And I can never get animate objects as a spell, since it's not on the wizard's list so +5 again to a total of 31.
Doesn't appear to matter how big or small the animated object is, it's (right now) a DC 31 spellcraft to make it.
My spellcraft right now is a base +13 (+5 int, 5 ranks, +3 class skill bonus). So to pull off making a construct, I'd have to roll an 18.
Did I do this correctly? It's that hard? If so, any clever ways to get my wizard safely into the take 10 category so I can craft my terracotta foo dogs? Right now, I'm resigning myself to first making an arcane tool kit (wondrous item, competence bonus to spellcraft) to get the job done.
knock off +10 by purchasing a scroll of the missing spells... most of them should be on your list and those that are not, can be used via umd (you or your party rogue)
knock off +10 by purchasing a scroll of the missing spells... most of them should be on your list and those that are not, can be used via umd (you or your party rogue)
The quote is specifically from Craft Wonderous Item, but it also appears for every other magic item creation:
If spells are involved in the prerequisites for making the item, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) but need not provide any material components or focuses the spells require. The act of working on the item triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the item's creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from the caster's currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)
And Ultimate Magic says this about creating constructs:
Crafting a construct takes 1 day per 1,000 gp in the item's base price, excluding any special material costs. This process is identical to the process for crafting a magic item, including the rules for accelerating creation and handling interruptions.
So you would need one scroll for every day it takes to create the golem. That gets expensive really fast.
Next time you think to correct me, make sure you're right. The word "most", by definition, means "less than all", and Mindless is not part of the Construct creature type.
My bad. I meant to say animated objects (which is what I've been talking about making) and got lazy. And I probably should have phrased it as "no real will of their own" so people don't freak out if I accidentally use a keyword.
And I guess I should also apologize for not knowing about a 3rd party non-official 'clockwork' template that lets me build a clockwork Tarrasque for 21,600 gp.
Next time you think to correct me, make sure you're right. The word "most", by definition, means "less than all", and Mindless is not part of the Construct creature type.My bad. I meant to say animated objects (which is what I've been talking about making) and got lazy. And I probably should have phrased it as "no real will of their own" so people don't freak out if I accidentally use a keyword.
And I guess I should also apologize for not knowing about a 3rd party non-official 'clockwork' template that lets me build a clockwork Tarrasque for 21,600 gp.
I'd like to point out that the Advanced Bestiary is one of the highest regarded books from 3.5's era.
My bad. I meant to say animated objects (which is what I've been talking about making) and got lazy. And I probably should have phrased it as "no real will of their own" so people don't freak out if I accidentally use a keyword.
Honestly, most of the time when I'm a jerk it has more to do with me being a jerk than anything someone else did. If you can get past me being a jerk, my point was that just because constructs don't really have free will doesn't mean that they're any more incompetent or helpless than mortal characters who submit themselves entirely to some cause or another.
And I guess I should also apologize for not knowing about a 3rd party non-official 'clockwork' template that lets me build a clockwork Tarrasque for 21,600 gp.
That paragraph shouldn't be read in the same tone as the first one. The first paragraph was me responding to you treating me like an idiot-- the second paragraph was me responding to you and Kain asking me where I got the idea that you could make construct dragons. I was actually trying to be helpful there, and I assumed you just hadn't seen the rules I was talking about.
Oops, forgot about this one. This is an official paizo clockwork thingymabobber.
Also, you'd need to be level 30 to make a clockwork tarrasque.
At which point, you have better things to do with your time and money.
the second paragraph was me responding to you and Kain asking me where I got the idea that you could make construct dragons. I was actually trying to be helpful there, and I assumed you just hadn't seen the rules I was talking about.
Which I appreciated, btw. Knowing that it is a GR thing rather than a Paizo thing does tend to explain the broken possibilities a bit better though.
I don't think I'd keep any Su or Sp abilities on a clockwork construct.
My bad. I meant to say animated objects (which is what I've been talking about making) and got lazy. And I probably should have phrased it as "no real will of their own" so people don't freak out if I accidentally use a keyword.Honestly, most of the time when I'm a jerk it has more to do with me being a jerk than anything someone else did. If you can get past me being a jerk, my point was that just because constructs don't really have free will doesn't mean that they're any more incompetent or helpless than mortal characters who submit themselves entirely to some cause or another.
And I guess I should also apologize for not knowing about a 3rd party non-official 'clockwork' template that lets me build a clockwork Tarrasque for 21,600 gp.That paragraph shouldn't be read in the same tone as the first one. The first paragraph was me responding to you treating me like an idiot-- the second paragraph was me responding to you and Kain asking me where I got the idea that you could make construct dragons. I was actually trying to be helpful there, and I assumed you just hadn't seen the rules I was talking about.
Dude (or dudette?), I was actually being sincere for the first part. I used the blanket term constructs when I really meant to only be talking about crafted animate objects. Even that not standing, most are still without true minds of their own. I was pretty much agreeing with you that they were great for menial and brute work, so as beasts of burden constructs as a whole were well suited. I disagreed with the ability to use constructs to substitute for an actual adventurers. Baring that clockwork template, and I'll get to that, animate objects are pretty drone like. The other constructs are risky to employ (like homunculi), extraplanar constructs that I don't see someone making normally, or weird stuff like soul bound dolls which I also don't see being employed.
Likewise, I was being serious when I asked about your proposed construct juvenile dragon. Using only Paizo pathfinder resources, I couldn't produce a dragon-like construct even remotely close to that price. I was genuinely curious how you did it.
Now, my reaction when you presented an unofficial template that let's you turn any living thing into a construct, keep all the abilities, and only costs 800 gp x CR (+2 from the template), was fully and unrepentantly sarcastic. Those crafting rules are fantastically broken. There is a very good reason increasing power for basically all other magical item/constructs is exponentially more expensive and not linear.
Come on, do you seriously not find it funny that if you allowed that template, you could make a clockwork Tarrasque for 21-ish grand? Sure, as Cheap points out your CL would have to be 30. You don't meet the requirement, so the DC 20 armor and weapon-smith checks go up to... DC25. And that, that is glorious.
Anyway
The Consensus so far as to crafting Animate Objects
A level 5 caster with craft wondrous item, craft magic arms and armor, and craft construct can make crafted, non-dispellable animate objects with a DC 26 check.
The base is DC 16, +10 for not having the 2 spells permanency and animate objects. Caster Level of the animate object is not a requirement, but does set the base DC (CL+5 as it is for all other constructs).
This means that a reasonably intelligent caster with a bit of a spell craft boost from one or two feats, magic item, or crafting discovery can safely take 10 to make animate objects at level 5.
The price to make an animate object is based off of its CR. All animate objects get construction points which allows for some fantastic customization.
The part that people might disagree with me on
The initial CR of animate objects, and how many construction points they get, is based off of size. While you can increase the construction points an animate object gets (and thus its CR and size), you cannot bring down the cost of an animate object of a certain size below the starting cost for one of such size. (so you couldn't make a large AO and not spend any CP to lower the cost, to say, make a cheap 'horse' or 'ox.')
The part that people are quite likely to disagree with me on
The Advanced Beasiary published by Green Ronin contains a clockwork template that can be applied to any living creature, and thus make it manufacturable by craft construct. It is not from Paizo, and the template creates constructs considerably more powerful than those that can be made using only official books, at a far cheaper price.
Something Pretty Cool
Paizo's clockwork template can be applied to any construct, and reasonably enough to ones you make. The template is in a campaign book, so legit. Clockwork constructs are faster, but take 50% more time and gold to make and have vulnerability to electricity, and of course need to be winded.