Basal Golems?

[ComatosePhoenix]

Back in 1996 a Real time strategy game called Blood and Magic was released under the AD&D license while the game did use monsters and terminology from the original RPG there was little resemblance. regardless the game was quite fun. However while most units were taken from Dungeons and Dragons or general mythology there was one genuinely original creature. The Basal Golemn,



This weird looking blue dude that could be created out of magical essence at a blood forge.

Now Basal Golems interest me because they were never used again in any of the monster manuals or expansions, I don't think I have ever seen proper stats for this creature which is a shame because they are actually pretty interesting.

The primary use of basal Golems is to generate mana, now mana doesn't exist in normal D&D games and it shouldn't, but the general idea of a minion that lets a caster draw from its power instead of the caster's own is perfectly reasonable. In order to provide this power the Golem takes the form of pyramid and cannot move.

The second use of Basal golems is their ability to transform into virtually anything permanently. There is the obviously mundane use of transforming a golem into a more combat capable form such as an armed soldier or monster, but the more interesting use is that with enough golems you could build solid structures like castles, houses, dungeons.

Now how do these processes work? From an RP perspective I figured that a basal golem could become a perfect clone of any creature. This process would take a significant amount of time represented in game by the golem transforming into a metapod (lolwut) and slowly converting to a new form. compare this to transforming into a wall or castle which was instantaneous provided that there were enough golems.

There were other tradeoffs to transforming the golems, once a golem transfromed it could no longer turn into its magic generating pyramid form, additionally a golem transformed into some kind of caster has no actual magic and draws its abilities from its creator.

Anyway I like these guys, and I was wondering if anyone had some idea of how to implement them into a game without being horribly broken. Obviously they are strictly the toys of a high level mage, and probably more suited to the secret weapon of a BBEG than an adventurer. but I still find them cool and still am very confused as to why the concept was never looked at again.

[LordErebus12]

does it cocoon (soft shell made up of collected materials) or chrysalis (hardened shell made straight from the creature)?

[ComatosePhoenix]

does it cocoon (soft shell made up of collected materials) or chrysalis (hardened shell made straight from the creature)?

I'd say Chrysalis based on the other powers of the creature, however I think its worth pointing out that a metapod looks more like a stasis chamber than a proper cocoon.



also I just realized these graphics are just about perfectly sized for virtual tokens.

[ezkajii]

Here's what I threw together. I don't have details on crafting said golem because I'm not well-versed in item crafting costs and so forth.

Basal Golem
Large Construct
Hit Dice: 24d10+30 (150hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 40ft
Armor Class: 24 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +14 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 23
Base Attack/Grapple:+18/+27
Attack: Slam +23 melee (1d8+5)
Full Attack: 2 slams +23 melee (1d8+5)
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 10/adamantine, darkvision 60ft, immunity to magic, low-light vision, object polymorphing, spellsource
Space/Reach:10ft/10ft
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +8
Abilities: Str 20 Dex 12 Con -- Int -- Wis 10 Cha 1
Skills: --
Feats: --
Environment: Any
Organization: Single
Challenge Rating: 17
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 25-47HD (Large), 48-72HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: --

A hulk of briliant blue stands before you, illuminated by the steady glow of its eldritch power. Its form is generally humanoid, though its eyes lack the luster of intelligent beings. Suddenly, with single-minded fervor, it rushes toward you.

This golem is crafted out of special rare materials, and though it serves as a capable combatant in its own right, it is more useful to its creators for its spellsource ability. Its skin is of mottled topography, but evenly lit with a soft blue light. It moves determinedly, pausing briefly between each action as if to punctuate its efforts.
Basal golems typically weigh around 400 pounds and reach heights of 10-12 feet.

Combat

Basal golems fight with their fists in their base form, but are more commonly used by their creators as backup sources of arcane power or as an intermediate step in obtaining some other creature or object.
Immunity to Magic (Ex): A basal golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature: Any spell of the polymorph subschool cast on a basal golem paralyzes it for 1d6 rounds. Exposure to an antimagic field slows it (as the spell) for as long as it is exposed and deals 1d6 damage each round. If it is targeted by an imbue with spell-like ability spell or effect, it is hasted (as the spell) for 1d6 rounds. Finally, any dispelling effect (including disjunction), in addition to functioning normally, deals 1d4 damage to the golem per the level of the spell in question.
Object Polymorphing (Su): If commanded to by its creator, a basal construct can begin a process of metamorphosis. (It never takes this action autonomously.) It coats itself in a thick protective resin which instantly hardens into a dark red-gray chrysalis; while so entombed it cannot move or take any actions, but gains DR 20/adamantine and magic and its natural armor increases from 14 to 24 (new AC 34/10/33). When it emerges, it is affected as if by a polymorph any object spell, changing into a creature or object of the commander's designation (decided when this transition first begins), except that the HD of any target creature must not exceed the basal golem's own HD, and that multiple basal golems who are adjacent to one another can use this ability in synchronization with one another to greater effect. For each additional basal golem in the chrysalis, the duration factor increases by one. Thus it is possible to combine many golems together to create great structures such as castles or ballista permanently. The metamorphosis initiates as a full-round action, and takes a number of minutes to complete equal to 10 minus the duration factor total (see the spell description).
Spellsource (Su): The basal golems body was crafted from arcane energies, but was not fully infused with them, and thus can be used to store additional spell energy which can be later retrieved. The golem's body acts as a ring of spell storing, except that it can store a number of spell levels equal to its hit dice, and that the stored spell levels can only be retrieved by a spellcaster who created or currently owns the golem. Retrieving a spell from the golem stuns it for 1 round.

Edit: the whole 'not moving while being tapped for mana' thing.