What exactly are golems immune to?

[Hannibhaal]

An occurrence a while ago in a game begged the question of what exactly is it that golems are immune to. The information given in the manuals is contradictory and I was unable to find any sufficient response from Wizards.

After digging through the Monster Manuals, I was left with the following 2 essential questions:

1) Are golems immune to spells or spell-like abilities that do not allow spell resistance?

2) Are golems immune to supernatural abilities?



The monster manuals are contradictory both between themselves and within each manual. Below are each monster manual's stated rules on this ability. Read it if you need to.

Monster Manual 1
The generic entry for all golems says "Immunity to Magic" grants "immunity to most magical and supernatural effects, except when otherwise noted."
However the entry for each specific golem says that it is "immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance."

Monster Manual 2
MM2 lists the ability under the different name of "Magic Immunity." The generic entry lists "most magical and supernatural effects, except as noted below." The individual golem entries say the golem is "immune to all spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural effects, except as follows."

Monster Manual 3
MM3 is the most internally inconsistent. The generic entry for "Immunity to Magic" says that golems have "immunity to magical and supernatural effects that allow spell resistance. Exceptions are noted." This is nonsensical, however, as supernatural abilities do not allow spell resistance.
The specific golem entries are different among themselves, with the Alchemical, Hangman, and Mud golem entries listing "all spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural effects that allow spell resistance" like the generic entry, the Gloom golem lacking an individual entry entirely, and the Prismatic, Shadesteel, and Web golems listing "any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance."

Monster Manuals 4 and 5 grant immunity to spells and spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance.



Any thoughts would be welcomed as well as pointers to any official response that I missed.

[137beth]

1)No. In 3.0, they were, this was a change in the conversion to 3.5. Immunity to magic is better described as "SR Infinity".
2)Since Supernatural abilities do not allow for spell resistance, no, as per answer (1).

[RedMage125]

An occurrence a while ago in a game begged the question of what exactly is it that golems are immune to. The information given in the manuals is contradictory and I was unable to find any sufficient response from Wizards.

After digging through the Monster Manuals, I was left with the following 2 essential questions:

1) Are golems immune to spells or spell-like abilities that do not allow spell resistance?

2) Are golems immune to supernatural abilities?



The monster manuals are contradictory both between themselves and within each manual. Below are each monster manual's stated rules on this ability. Read it if you need to.

Monster Manual 1
The generic entry for all golems says "Immunity to Magic" grants "immunity to most magical and supernatural effects, except when otherwise noted."
However the entry for each specific golem says that it is "immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance."

Monster Manual 2
MM2 lists the ability under the different name of "Magic Immunity." The generic entry lists "most magical and supernatural effects, except as noted below." The individual golem entries say the golem is "immune to all spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural effects, except as follows."

Monster Manual 3
MM3 is the most internally inconsistent. The generic entry for "Immunity to Magic" says that golems have "immunity to magical and supernatural effects that allow spell resistance. Exceptions are noted." This is nonsensical, however, as supernatural abilities do not allow spell resistance.
The specific golem entries are different among themselves, with the Alchemical, Hangman, and Mud golem entries listing "all spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural effects that allow spell resistance" like the generic entry, the Gloom golem lacking an individual entry entirely, and the Prismatic, Shadesteel, and Web golems listing "any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance."

Monster Manuals 4 and 5 grant immunity to spells and spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance.



Any thoughts would be welcomed as well as pointers to any official response that I missed.
Monster Manual 2 is 3.0, MM3+ are 3.5e, and of course the MM1 was redone in 3.5e.

So anything exclusive to the MM2 that contradicts the 3.5e sources should be disregarded, and it means that golems are immune to anything that allows SR (except as noted for individual entries. Essentially, they have Spell Resistance of "no".

They are NOT immune to spells and SLAs that do not allow for SR, these are effective anti-golem spells.

Supernatural abilities that replicate spells follow the rules regarding those spells, including SR. Supernatural abilities that do not replicate spells, unless they specify otherwise, do not allow SR.

[Jack_Simth]

Monster Manual 2 is 3.0, MM3+ are 3.5e, and of course the MM1 was redone in 3.5e.And there's an editing error in the golem header in 3.5 (an update error - or more specifically, the lack thereof). The Golem Header references "Immunity to Magic" which stops Supernatural abilities as well - however, none of the golems actually have that wording. The header is a holdover from 3.0. However, they updated the specific entries for the various golems, and specific trumps general, so the golems effectively have infinite SR, and do NOT ignore Supernatural abilities anymore.