3.P - Cursed Constructs as Magic Items

[unseenmage]

What happens to constructs when they become cursed magic items?

Am asking for suggestions for both the fluff and crunch side of things.
How would you DM it, how have you seen it DMed, how does pop culture handle it, etc.

In PF specifically, what happens to robots?
In 3.P, what about normally free-willed constructs?

[unseenmage]

One supposes that Bestow Curse in some form or another could come into play.

As could/would the construct simply not obeying its master.


I caught myself wondering what cursed homunculus familiars and cursed warforged would be like.
Disgruntled? Mad? American Psycho?
Or just denilitated to uselessness by some mechanical pdnalty or anothr?

[Jormengand]

You Summoned Me?

The first thing to be aware of is that constructs are creatures, not magic items and definitely not objects (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/glossary&term=Glossary_dnd_creature&alpha=). You probably know this, but that means that cursing them isn't something that you can really do. That said, intelligent items "Can be considered creatures" and are even treated as constructs, so there's certainly precedent for a construct being an item.

If we're going down this route, we have to ask "What does it mean for an item to be cursed"? About four times out of five, cursed items aren't deliberate curses, but mistakes or imperfections. About one time out of ten, a curse is something a little like a mark of justice, to keep you in line (See requirement (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/cursedItems.htm#requirement) to swear fealty to a particular noble for the item to function). Some of the "Drawbacks" of cursed items include being usable as a heater, air-con, hair-growth formula or sex reassignment surgery (assuming they meant "Character's sex changes." Changing a character's gender is too weird for me to think they really meant that). That is, cursed items tend to be items with some kind of odd side-effect. Specific cursed items are an exception: while some (Bracers of Defenselessness, Boots of Dancing that function as some kind of epic boots outside of combat, gauntlets of fumbling out of combat, etcetera) are potentially useful, they're quite clearly specifically designed to harm the user.

Assuming that you want to make a rule for a general cursed golem, the question is how could this golem have gone wrong? If you want to make specific cursed golems, the question is who made this golem and why do they want it to kill or harm the user?

Now, let's have a read of how golems can go wrong:


The animating force for a golem is a spirit from the Elemental Plane of Earth. The process of creating the golem binds the unwilling spirit to the artificial body and subjects it to the will of the golem’s creator.

When a clay golem enters combat, there is a cumulative 1% chance each round that its elemental spirit breaks free and the golem goes berserk. The uncontrolled golem goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living creature or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach, then moving on to spread more destruction. Once a clay golem goes berserk, no known method can reestablish control.

When a flesh golem enters combat, there is a cumulative 1% chance each round that its elemental spirit breaks free and the golem goes berserk. The uncontrolled golem goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living creature or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach, then moving on to spread more destruction. The golem’s creator, if within 60 feet, can try to regain control by speaking firmly and persuasively to the golem, which requires a DC 19 Charisma check. It takes 1 minute of inactivity by the golem to reset the golem’s berserk chance to 0%.


"What the hell? Crystal, stand down! That means "Stop", you idiot! Crystal, stop! Grubwiggler, something's wrong! She's not following orders!"

"Yes, I see. I suppose that's one of the dangers of making a golem self-aware... Emotions are tricky. You can't really sort out the ones you want from the ones you don't. That's why clients generally pay me a great deal of money to provide them with minions that don't have any. If you were willing to pay me extra to craft a golem that gives up the main benefit of employing a golem, who was I to argue? Also, I was curious to see what would happen. Now I know."

So, we know what can go wrong with golems, because they already have a built-in mechanic for that. We also know that a golem that has emotions will probably try to kill you. We also know that cursed items have a possibility for intermittent functioning - entirely reasonable for a golem - or having some kind of drawback or danger; perhaps a golem that, when it died, actually released the earth elemental who is probably out for your blood, or a golem whose magic resistance doesn't work properly, or a golem that is missing a sense or doesn't understand commands properly. There's loads of possibilities, but the main point is that if a golem is cursed, it's probably not because someone deliberately cursed it just to watch the world (or subset thereof) burn.

[unseenmage]

Thank you Jorm for such a well thought out and explained response. :smallsmile:

As far as Constructs being magic items, theres some precedent in that the feat requisite in their creation is an item creation feat, a dubious WotC article (which contradicts itself on the issue; TWICE), and a couple other sources i cannot for the life of me recall.

I tend to just refer to the whole thing as the 'Constructs as Magic Items Rules Interpretation' and warn folks that using its cheese requires DM approval.


Clay Golems betserk quality would seem to be a premade built in curse. Decinitely an example of the eldmental going haywire.

In our games one can build any construct via prices based on CR. As such another 'curse' comes to light. What happens when a PC builds an Inevitable, a Warforged, or a Clockwork Horror?

These constructs explicitly have free will and so get up off the crafttable and promptly do what any creature of their kind would do. Which usually ends poorly for everyone involved.
Is it a curse? Maybe. It certainly isnt usually what the creator intends. (Though now im definitely including a mage who suicides via golem mishap in my next session.)


Hmm. In vein with the idea of reversed item utility perhaps controlled golems get free will/berserk mode, magic immunities become magic vulnerabilities, bonus hp becomes damage that cannot be healed, etc.

The more specific the special trait the more creative we can get one presumes.

[Gildedragon]

Looking at the list of curses and getting ideas:

Golem that does the opposite of what is ordered to do.
Golem that only functions if their master is nearby.
Golem that will only function if first treated in a ritual manner (washed, cleaned, bathed in blood...)
Golem that will only obey certain types of masters (Alignment, Sex, Race). What happens if given to a master that doesn't match the alignment might be interesting.
Golem that, if ordered, has a psychic backlash that forces master to make a save or be harmed in some way (mental ability score damage)
Golem's master needs to make a particular oath for the golem to obey them
Golem only understands a certain language
Golem's elemental containment is faulty: radiates positive or negative energy at dangerous levels, or radiates energy damage corresponding to the spirit bound inside.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Golems that get a to-hit penalty equal to twice their base attack bonus?

A lot of golems already have a cursed part, it's called a 'berserk' function (flesh, clay, alchemical...).