GM advice needed: Craft Construct


Advice


I'm running Rise of the Runelords (in case that becomes relevant). I have a player taking the Craft Construct feat. His intent is to make several golems and constructs to both protect the town of Sandpoint and to bring a few on adventures.

My fear as a GM is that he will make too many and it will overpower the party. Since we have only 2 PCs, they have a lot of extra money. I don't want to short them on wealth to slow him down as they DO need a power boost right now.

Are there any limits already in the game for how many constructs you can control at once like there are with undead? If there are not, are there any suggestions for keeping this from getting away from me?

If I can't think of something else, I know I can talk to the player and just ask him to reign it in.

Thank you.


I haven't done Rise of the Runelords but I have played a construct crafter. I wouldn't worry about it too much--they are super fun for the crafter, and with just two PCs, your crafter won't be hogging game time from four-five other people while running their golem army. And they are expensive as heck, and can be destroyed permanently. There is no hard limit on numbers, but they are still a risky investment. Imagine the intensity of the game as the golem representing many thousands of GPs starts to get near 0 HP: it's awesome. They also don't level with your players, so their power will gradually erode, requiring new creations (and more expense).

As for keeping it fun for you, a lot depends on how you run them--are they mostly GM controlled after getting directives from the player, or does the player use them as extra characters, making most of their decisions? If the second, you might see if the crafter would be OK with also making a magic wondrous item gift that let the other player control a golem or two while adventuring, or let them have the option to invest some of their wealth into a golem of their own (helpfully made by the crafter).

Also, making a golem to defend the town = the ultimate classic use of a golem. I like it.


Since they are a 2 person part him having pets is a good way to keep encounters balanced. Also constructs in general give very little bang per your buck compared to most other purchasable pets. The biggest restrictions on making constructs is time. I don't know much about Rotr but 1 month off for crafting is pretty rare and that is for a medium tier construct. Another thing is that if the other player doesn't have a wealth sink and spends everything on stats the golem will start feeling noticably lower power


Good points parrot and Dastis. The other player is a druid and has an animal companion.

They are about to have 1 month "off". There will be events going on in there that will disrupt their plans a little.

He is going to be making mostly the mindless kind, but a few intelligent ones. I plan to run those as the GM.

I'm less worried now that you reminded me that they get left behind in power so fast.


powerdemon wrote:
are there any suggestions for keeping this from getting away from me?

It takes time. Don't let him sit for several weeks with access to endless amount of gold.

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