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Dancing_Zephyr
2008-05-09, 08:49 AM
I was reading the golem entries when I found something very odd. I can’t speak of the clay or flesh golem having not worked or dealt with large quantities of either of them, but the stone and iron golems' weights seem off.

The iron golem weighs 5000lbs and is 12 feet tall. That’s a lot of iron, but a large car weighs about the same amount. A car is not really meant to stand up to combat with swords even of the mundane variety. A car also is made of steel, which is less dense than iron. Wouldn't this mean that the iron golem's "skin" is thin?

The stone golem has the same problem. In my yard we have a sandstone rock. It weighs more than a ton (2000lbs, which is the weight of a stone golem, who stands 9 feet tall). I can hardly see a humanoid shape 9 feet tall being made out of that little material, considering that stone golems are supposed to be sculpted to resemble armoured soldiers.

Am I off here, or is my thinking legitimate?
Also, should golem be capitalized?

bosssmiley
2008-05-09, 09:00 AM
The iron golem weighs 5000lbs and is 12 feet tall. That’s a lot of iron, but a large car weighs about the same amount. A car is not really meant to stand up to combat with swords even of the mundane variety. A car also is made of steel, which is less dense than iron. Wouldn't this mean that the iron golem's "skin" is thin?

The stone golem has the same problem. In my yard we have a sandstone rock. It weighs more than a ton (2000lbs, which is the weight of a stone golem, who stands 9 feet tall). I can hardly see a humanoid shape 9 feet tall being made out of that little material, considering that stone golems are supposed to be sculpted to resemble armoured soldiers.

Am I off here, or is my thinking legitimate?

Quick bodge GM answer: iron golems are hollow. Stone golems...errr...would you believe they're made partly of pumice? :smallamused:


Also, should golem be capitalized?

Not AFAIK. We're talking about a golem, or some golems, not The Golem.

senrath
2008-05-09, 09:00 AM
Unless I'm mistaken, you're off by about 1000lbs when you say that large cars weigh the same as an Iron Golem (from what I understand large cars are very roughly around 4000lbs). Cars also aren't made of solid steel, unless they're a DeLorean, they're typically made out of a lighter material.

Galdor Miriel
2008-05-09, 10:19 AM
A stone golem would have a density 2.5 - 3 times that of a person, an iron golem would have a density of 6.8 - 7.5 times that of a person.

If you scale the volume by height to the power 3 that means that.

One 9' tall stone golem takes up the space of (1.5*1.5*1.5) 3.375 people, so should weigh as much as 8.4-10 people ~ 1520-1800 lbs.
1 12 foot tall iron golem takes up the same space (volume) as 8 people, so should weigh as much as 54-62 people ~9700-11160 lbs.

This analysis clearly shows that the stone golem is a little light, but not that far off and the iron golem must be hollow to some degree.

Hope that clarifies things for you, and it is a bit more scientific than talking about cars, which I hesitate to point out were not considered to be part of the fabric of the D&D universe, though a magic metal vehicle of foul smelling vapours would be a kick ass item that I was surprised was not included in the MIC.

Galdor

NEO|Phyte
2008-05-09, 10:57 AM
I'm inclined to agree with the hollow iron golems, as there's some art that fairly clearly shows them as such.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/tob_gallery/99665.jpg

Dancing_Zephyr
2008-05-09, 01:50 PM
I understand that the iron golem is hollow, but it still seems to me to be very little iron for a creature of that size.

senrath
2008-05-09, 02:04 PM
I understand that the iron golem is hollow, but it still seems to me to be very little iron for a creature of that size.

Don't forget the magic involved. Magic explains everything :P

Devils_Advocate
2008-05-10, 05:49 PM
Well, rather than being completely hollow, an iron golem presumably contains some sort of plates, rods, and/or other structure that reinforce its skin/armor and make it more difficult to collapse. And some parts of its armor may be thicker than others.