[D&D 3.5] Guides to Constructs/Effigies/Golems?

[Coidzor]

Was just wondering if there were any compendiums of information, analysis, and/or thought on the subject for the discerning hordeficer or other individual wishing to use construct minions.

Edit: Well, I found this Mechonomicon as a sort of compendium of constructs. But the changeover of the Wizards Boards hasn't been kind to it.

[Lhurgyof]

Don't think there is... Artificer and Effigy master seem obvious, and there's the feat that turns your familiar into a construct.

[Coidzor]

Actually what provoked this topic being created was mostly reading through Complete Arcane for Warlock stuff and then noticing Effigies and wondering what the best Effigies to make were.

[awesomessake]

Was just wondering if there were any compendiums of information, analysis, and/or thought on the subject for the discerning hordeficer or other individual wishing to use construct minions.

Edit: Well, I found this Mechonomicon as a sort of compendium of constructs. But the changeover of the Wizards Boards hasn't been kind to it.

If it's stuff on constructs you're looking for you might want to check out Dragonmech if you can find it. There's alot of good stuff on constructs in those books, and even a wizard specialization called the "Constructor" which focuses on creating magical constructs.

As for artificers, Magic of Eberron has alot of juicy artificer options in it.

Don't know alot about Effigies though...

[Snake-Aes]

Don't know alot about Effigies though...

They are lifelike golems. An effigy creature is basically a template that can be applied to a bunch of creatures.

[Thurbane]

Make an Effigy Human, cast Awaken Construct on it, then send it back in time to kill your enemies.

[Coidzor]

Make an Effigy Human, cast Awaken Construct on it, then send it back in time to kill your enemies.

I'll be back.

[Hague]

Effigies are awesome. The best effigies to make are the ones with lots of abilities that work together. The sample Lion effigy is an easy example with the ability to open combat with a full-attack charge. Try to make your effigies designed so they are strong against a particular type of attack that the opponent would believe was effective against the original type. For instance, an effigy with fire resistance that looked like a forest troll.

[Coidzor]

Dear Lord.

Template Stacking.

ION: What are some good things to Effigize without going into crazy template stacking land?

[Fizban]

The best things to effigy are those with few special abilities but high strength and lots of natural attacks: your basic bruisers. In core the best options are dragons and hydras, depending on your caster level and thus how many hit dice you can work with. Hyrdas get lots of attacks very fast and have virtual pounce, but huge size means they can't follow you everywhere, so I might shy away from them. A medium dragon has 5 natural attacks and a large one has six, both with impressive natural armor and high strength on the gold and red, and the of course there's the flight speeds. You can get up to 17 hit dice while still at large size on a gold dragon, enough to last most of your career and still be able to follow you inside. As always with constructs, you'll need to talk to your DM about being allowed to upgrade them instead of replacing them every level. It's not very hard to justify adding another head to a hydra or more armor to a dragon, so the only barrier is that there's no listed rule for upgrading constructs like there is for magic items.

With a caster level less than 7 or 8 you can't get those dragons... but then you don't have enough money to craft anything until level 5 or 6 at the absolute earliest. Outside of core there's not much that can beat dragons except more dragons. You might try a dire cat of some kind if you want pounce, but the only non-core one you might consider is the Smilodon for it's improved criticals.

One monster of special note, however: the Rukanyr, from Fiend Folio. It has 10 natural weapons, 15 natural armor, and 21 strength for 7 hit dice. The thing is a monster even without the 3 different special attacks and fast healing it normally has, and the effigy template will give it damage reduction and even more strength to replace them. Keep that thing repaired and buffed with spells, drop it into position with a little Benign Transposition, and watch the DM weep. Heck, it even has a climb speed, so it can just drop on people.

[Lhurgyof]

Chwidencha? Whatever the spider is with a million legs.

[Coidzor]

Chwidencha? Whatever the spider is with a million legs.

12 HD Aberration from Fiend Folio?

Skittering Charge: Charge doesn't have to be in a straight line.
Magic Strike: Attacks count as magic for overcoming DR.
Pounce: On a charge, makes a full attack.
Imp. Grab: On successful claw attack, attempt to start a grapple as a free action, doesn't provoke. (Any size)
Impale: On successful grapple check, deal an extra 1d6+9.

Pretty fun. Be even tastier if Magic Strike and Skittering Charge survived The Effigizing.

[Snake-Aes]

12 HD Aberration from Fiend Folio?


Pretty fun. Be even tastier if Magic Strike and Skittering Charge survived The Effigizing.

Anything that isn't based on Constitution survives the effigy template, as far as I recall.

[Coidzor]

Anything that isn't based on Constitution survives the effigy template, as far as I recall.

Depends on if it's a special quality or a special attack, I think. All special qualities are lost explicitly; all supernatural special attacks, SLAs, and extraordinary special attacks based on constitution are lost explicitly; all extraordinary special attacks based that don't allow a saving throw or have the saving throw based on STR or DEX are explicitly retained. Unless there's errata I need to read on the template.

I think it might be an attack though, come to think of it.

[Snake-Aes]

Ah :| that's correct.

[Coidzor]

^: I've been percolating on the matter for a bit and kept the book close a hand. Been reading it off and on all day.

Hmm, does the Dustform template from Sandstorm have any details about creating them, or is it just a creature generation template for DMs and people who want to do the Incarnate Construct infinite loop for infinite strength?

[Ormagoden]

Was just wondering if there were any compendiums of information, analysis, and/or thought on the subject for the discerning hordeficer or other individual wishing to use construct minions.

Edit: Well, I found this Mechonomicon as a sort of compendium of constructs. But the changeover of the Wizards Boards hasn't been kind to it.

Luckily it's also available here, in much better format.

[Coidzor]

I was hoping it was posted on BG.

Thank you.

Edit: ...Unfortunately it appears to still be incomplete and lacking in commentary even on BG.

[Lhurgyof]

12 HD Aberration from Fiend Folio?


Pretty fun. Be even tastier if Magic Strike and Skittering Charge survived The Effigizing.

I just thought it'd be cool to fight a metal mass of spider legs. It does have many natural attacks, which makes it viable to the template.

[Coidzor]

I think I'd go for a dungeonbred 12-headed hydra instead.

Although... It would keep its Improved Critical and Weapon Focus on its claws... As well as the Magic for purposes of overcoming DR strike if it would retain it. So it is still pretty sweet. Would have to stay large though, since its improved grab would be largely useless if it only worked on Small or smaller creatures rather than medium and down.

I don't think Combat Reflexes counts as a feat that improves a creature's attacks, so the hydra effigy would lose its monstrous AoOs, anyway...

Since Effigies get Speed: As base creature, that means they retain all movement modes, right?

What gets burrow with a useable hole left in its wake with the best Size/HD value for Effigizing?