Craft Construct, Homunculus, and other questions

[Equinox90]

Hey, I'm playing an artificer and I'm level 4 currently. I'm looking to build a combat companion but I really want a construct that can wield weapons, so generally a humanoid.

So my questions break down as such:

1) When using Craft Construct to make a Homunculus, does it get created at 1HD or whatever its monster entry is? Am I then locked out of improving it afterwards? Or can I use Craft Construct to make a 6HD homunculus and then I'll have to wait until level 9 to improve it beyond that due to the HD-2 rule that Craft Homunculus has?

2) How do templates effect a constructs cost? I know there are almost no construct templates but if I applied a simple template to a humanoid and then applied Effigy to it, I could craft it correct? I know people cheese this but I'm looking to use it just to bring a construct up to snuff.

3) Is it worth investing in a Homunculus as a combat companion or is that just asking for disappointment?

4) What creatures would you suggest (low HD) for an Effigy Humanoid that would work as either a "Rogue" type or an Archer type?

5) What do you consider to be essential for a construct crafter? In regards to magic items, feats, or class levels.


All content is available as long as the DM can review it first and he gets to pass judgement on whether or not its allowed.

Thanks for your help!

[Venger]

Hey, I'm playing an artificer and I'm level 4 currently. I'm looking to build a combat companion but I really want a construct that can wield weapons, so generally a humanoid.

So my questions break down as such:

1) When using Craft Construct to make a Homunculus, does it get created at 1HD or whatever its monster entry is? Am I then locked out of improving it afterwards? Or can I use Craft Construct to make a 6HD homunculus and then I'll have to wait until level 9 to improve it beyond that due to the HD-2 rule that Craft Homunculus has?

2) How do templates effect a constructs cost? I know there are almost no construct templates but if I applied a simple template to a humanoid and then applied Effigy to it, I could craft it correct? I know people cheese this but I'm looking to use it just to bring a construct up to snuff.

3) Is it worth investing in a Homunculus as a combat companion or is that just asking for disappointment?

4) What creatures would you suggest (low HD) for an Effigy Humanoid that would work as either a "Rogue" type or an Archer type?

5) What do you consider to be essential for a construct crafter? In regards to magic items, feats, or class levels.


All content is available as long as the DM can review it first and he gets to pass judgement on whether or not its allowed.

Thanks for your help!

1) by default, it's created with the listed number of HD provided in its monster entry. if you want one with more HD for whatever reason, they'll give you a formula to calculate the additonal cost. Yes, you can't add more hd on by gluing more metal on there.

2) templates are applied after you build it and do not affect cost. if you wanted a humanoid effigy, you could cast it if you have the money, but its combat stats will kind of suck.

3) no

4) what is your HD cap and are there any restrictions on what sorts of monsters you can pick? effigies are mindless, so unless your gm approves rudimentary intelligence, it won't be able to take class levels

5) any generalized minionmancy tips will apply: have good buff spells and items that beef up your guys and focus on having a small number of powerful guys rather than hordes of crappy ones so you can make a difference in combat and don't take forever with your initiative.

[Equinox90]

4) what is your HD cap and are there any restrictions on what sorts of monsters you can pick? effigies are mindless, so unless your gm approves rudimentary intelligence, it won't be able to take class levels.


We are level 4 currently. So that would be a HD cap of 6 for me at the moment. The group is progressing steadily and the campaign shows good signs of continuing for awhile. I expect we will easily hit level 12 and above. But I'm more than happy to have a good 6-10 HD progression monster and then reset with a new one later.

My DM may be open to rudimentary intelligence. He has a "If you can explain it and have a way to do it, you can try it" philosophy. So I bet I could find a way to make it work.

[Venger]

We are level 4 currently. So that would be a HD cap of 6 for me at the moment. The group is progressing steadily and the campaign shows good signs of continuing for awhile. I expect we will easily hit level 12 and above. But I'm more than happy to have a good 6-10 HD progression monster and then reset with a new one later.

My DM may be open to rudimentary intelligence. He has a "If you can explain it and have a way to do it, you can try it" philosophy. So I bet I could find a way to make it work.

That's cool. In that case, you could have a roguish type. Check out whisper gnome in that case, it's pretty good, although unfortunately as I mentioned, effigy does cause it to lose most of its special powers.

[Equinox90]

Well I meant any kind of humanoid or monsterous humanoid. Anything with arms really. Doesn't have to be a core race or playable race. In fact, I don't think I can use races unless they are "Monster races" and have a progression listed under their Advancement? Current?

If it says Advancement by level, then I can't upgrade it as the Effigy Template doesn't override that, unless I'm mistaken.

And by rogueish I just mean a sneak attack guy. If any humanoids have Sneak Attack as a special attack

[Venger]

Well I meant any kind of humanoid or monsterous humanoid. Anything with arms really. Doesn't have to be a core race or playable race. In fact, I don't think I can use races unless they are "Monster races" and have a progression listed under their Advancement? Current?

If it says Advancement by level, then I can't upgrade it as the Effigy Template doesn't override that, unless I'm mistaken.

And by rogueish I just mean a sneak attack guy. If any humanoids have Sneak Attack as a special attack

ok, so you mean humanoid colloquially and not as a game term, got it. so like an aasimar or something would be kosher (though don't use them, they're not useful for this)

I don't know what you're talking about regarding advancement, the effigy template imposes no such restriction.

Specific trumps general. I don't see anything in effigy about improving monsters via adding hit dice. Talk to your gm about a generalized cost. the formula says 1000gp/80xp per HD, so just extrapolating from there sounds fine.

if you wanted your guy to advance by gaining class levels in things such as rogue, then he'd need an intelligence score, hence rudimentary intelligence. from that point, he'd level up like a pc does. if you just want to give him more construct hd, then just buy them.

marrulurks have a racial sneak attack ability and are monstrous humanoids, but unfortunately effigy makes you lose it. they do keep discriminating hearing, though, which is useful for a scout type monster.

[Equinox90]

What I mean is that, unless Im mistaken, if I craft a 6HD Creature and its advancement entry is listed as "Class level" instead of "7-11 (Small), 12-16 (Medium)" or something similar, then I can't use it. Since it'll be locked in at HD6.

But maybe I could talk to my GM about generalized advancement.

I started looking at Choker. As they would be cheap to make and feel fairly useful. No sneak attack but good combat use through trickery.

[Venger]

What I mean is that, unless Im mistaken, if I craft a 6HD Creature and its advancement entry is listed as "Class level" instead of "7-11 (Small), 12-16 (Medium)" or something similar, then I can't use it. Since it'll be locked in at HD6.

But maybe I could talk to my GM about generalized advancement.

I started looking at Choker. As they would be cheap to make and feel fairly useful. No sneak attack but good combat use through trickery.

You're not creating that creature from whole cloth, though. You're making an effigy of it. Effigies, being mindless, can't possibly advance by class level by default. While rules for extra HD don't exist, the printed entry gives you a formula, so since your gm seems reasonable, he'll probably let you extrapolate.

Even if you have rudimentary intelligence, the monster you've created isn't a halfling or marrulurk or whatever, so its rules aren't relevant. If a monster has an intelligence, it can take class levels if your GM allows it, or if you don't care about class features, just pay for more HD to get its numbers higher.

choker's quickness is a staple in optimization, but an effigy doesn't keep it.

[Equinox90]

I think you've gotten lost here. I've never once mentioned I've wanted class levels nor have I said I wanted a way to take them.

I'm am saying that I was under the impression that the only monsters worth crafting are ones with HD Advancement listed. Otherwise they don't progress, RAW atleast.

[Coidzor]

I think you've gotten lost here. I've never once mentioned I've wanted class levels nor have I said I wanted a way to take them.

I'm am saying that I was under the impression that the only monsters worth crafting are ones with HD Advancement listed. Otherwise they don't progress, RAW atleast.

By default, without DM permission, you can only advance a crafted construct up to the maximum in the Advancement section of its monster entry.

As an Artificer, you get a class feature that changes things so that any variety of homunculus you make will have a maximum HD cap that is based off of your level instead of the construct's monster entry.