Cadaver golem from Heroes of Horror

[Waldham]

Hello

Quote:

Additionally, the golem can acquire certain extraordinary and supernatural abilities, if it takes body parts from members of the proper classes or races. It can only have one such ability at a time and can choose when assimilating parts if it wishes to keep its current ability or gain the new one.

What means exactly ?

For example, the cadaver golem takes the tongue from a dusk giant, it gains only the cannibalize ability but not the rend ability.

And the heart of a troll, it gains the regeneration ability.

Or it can't have the regeneration and the cannibalize at the same time ?

Can a fiend of possession possess a cadaver golem with possess object or possess creature ?

Thanks for your future help.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

The ability does seem unclear: do they get only a single ability or skill for the entire golem, or do they get one ability per body part?
Personally, I think they meant only one ability in total.
I don't think it would be entirely overpowered to allow one ability per body part, at least if you don't mind increasing the CR of the creature a notch or two to account for multiple powerful abilities.

In any case, two things are clear:
1. A body part gives only one ability and one skill. You couldn't not gain Regenerate and Rage from a troll Barbarian, for instance, you would have to choose which
2. The golem would not gain rend from taking the tongue - rend is an ability that uses only claws, and thus against the general idea of the Assimilate ability.