Golem

Golem
Height	5'2" - 8'0"
Weight	100 - 600 lbs depending on primary material
Size	Medium
Base Speed	20 ft
Appearance	Features: Humanoid. Some have extra arms and legs. Made out of Plant, Clay, or Bone mixed with stone.
Lifespan	Maturity: One Year Lifespan: Unknown

Formed of clay and stone, formed of sticks and bones, the lifeblood of a golem flows as magic from the Five Sources. An arcane spark, a divine gleam, a primal mark, an occult scream, or a psionic soul resides within.

By sculpting a humanoid form and then binding it to a magical source, a golem is born. While animated objects are not very uncommon, true golems – which can act and reason independently of their creators – are relatively rare.

The exact process by which individual casters assemble golems depends upon the source of their magic and their personal expertise. A golem’s physical and magical composition typically affects the golem’s specific capabilities and personality.

A Golem's Creator

With rare exception, a caster is only ever able to create one golem in their lifetime due to the intense amount of magical energy that goes into creating life from inanimate matter. This often means that a golem and its creator share an intense bond, either as great friends or terrible adversaries (as in the case of poor Viktor Shelley, who created the first golem).

When making a golem, consider who created you. Typically, a caster will want to keep a golem around for protection or companionship. If this is the case, how do you feel about your creator? Are you friends, or is your relationship more like that of a parent and child or an employer and hired hand? Do you want to remain with your creator or set out to live your own life?

Alternatively, sometimes the creation of a golem is a process that a caster is not yet prepared for, and the process kills the caster, propels them into another plane of existence, or some other dramatic fate.

Perhaps your creator is another member of your party. Remember that the process of creating a golem usually requires a tremendous capacity for magic, but also exacts a high toll, so it is easy to justify your creator being only the same level as you from a mechanical standpoint. Perhaps your creator has lost much of their magical ability and hopes to reclaim it over the coming years, even if they will never again be able to create another golem.

Golem Traits

Height: 5’2” - 8’0”

Weight: 100 - 600 lbs (depending largely upon the physical materials that comprise them)

Size: Medium

Base Speed: 20 ft

Appearance: Typically made of plant matter, clay, or bones, with some stone to offer additional support/protection as needed. Golems usually look humanoid otherwise, though some might have additional arms or legs.

Lifespan: Golems are born with the sentience of a human child and learn rapidly. After they have been sentient for a year, they are capable of reasoning akin to a human adult of the same INT score. Thus far, no golems are known to have died naturally.

Golem Features

Golem Starting Features

At level 1, you get the following features as a golem. You also gain additional features based on your primary material and life source.

Feature	Description
Magically Constructed Nature	You do not need to eat, but must drink, breathe, and sleep like any other creature. You might speak with your MC about what specifically you need to drink: perhaps you survive on olive oil, petroleum, low-viscosity lava, or some other unusual fluid.
Unique Composition	Make two choices that reflect the materials that you are made of and how you were created. Choose your primary material and life source and gain bonus 1st level features based on your selections.

Primary Material

Choose whether you are primarily constructed out of plant matter, clay, or bone. This choice grants you the following benefit:

Material	Feature	Description
Bone	Vestigial Life	Your body recalls that it once lived as some kind of mortal. When you receive magical healing from another creature, you regain +2 HP.
Clay	Oozing Movement	Gain the Oozing Movement ability. Oozing Movement (1/Rest). Spend 2 AP to cause your body to melt into an oozing substance the consistency of putty for a number of rounds equal to your END+1. You may squeeze through areas as small as 1 inch. While using this ability, you cannot make attacks or interact with objects. You may end this form early, costing no AP. If this ability ends while you are in a space smaller than you could normally fit, you immediately reform in the nearest unoccupied space and take 1d10 blunt damage.
Plant Matter	Minor Photosynthesis	When you Recoup in nonmagical sunlight, you gain Shield HP equal to your END.

Life Source

Choose whether your creator used the Arcane, Divine, Occult, Primal, or Psionic Source to awaken Essence within you.

Source	Description
Arcane	Fundamental magic courses through you. Learn two cantrips from the Arcane Source. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END.
Divine	Your connection to divinity manifests in the ability to heal. Gain the Holy Vestige ability. Holy Vestige (1/Rest). Spend 2 AP to restore HP equal to 1d6+END to a creature that you touch.
Occult	You were made through strange and esoteric means. Learn one ritual from the Occult Source. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END.
Primal	The generative power of the Everwilds swells from within. Learn two chants from the Primal Source. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END.
Psionic	Your Essence is particularly adept. Learn one spell with the manifestation tag from the Psionic Source. This does not cost SP for you to cast. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END.

All Golem Features

You gain an additional feature at the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 29th levels. Choose from the following features.

Feature	PreReq	Description
Arcane Explosion	Life Source - Arcane	Choose one spell from the Arcane Source that costs 4 or fewer SP. You may cast this spell without spending SP once per Rest. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END. If you do not know this spell, this is the only way you can cast it until you learn it.
Bludgeon	Incompatible: Razor	Your dominant hand grows in size and/or strength and can be used as a weapon with the stats of a club.
Dark Power	Life Source - Occult	Choose one chant from the Occult Source that has the dark power tag. You may cast it once per Rest. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END. If you do not know this spell, this is the only way you can cast it until you learn it.
Divine Glimmer	Life Source - Divine	Choose one spell of your choice from the Divine Source that costs 5 or fewer SP. You may cast this spell without spending SP once per Rest. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END. If you do not know this spell, this is the only way you can cast it until you learn it.
Essence Alteration	Life Source - Psionic	Choose a second spell from the Psionic Source with the manifestation tag. Each time you Take a Rest, choose which manifestation you have active for the day.
Frenzy of Life	Vestigial Life	After receiving magical healing from another creature, you also deal +2 damage on your next hit.
Hardened Form		While you are not wearing armor, your AR and physical defenses increase by +2.
Invocation	Life Source - Primal	Choose one invocation from the Primal Source. You may cast it once per Rest. Use your magic attribute. If you do not have one, use END. If you do not know this invocation, this is the only way you can cast it until you learn it.
Major Photosynthesis	Minor Photosynthesis	When using your Photosynthesis ability, add 1⁄2 your character level to the amount of Shield HP you regain.
Multimatter		Gain one of the following features that you did not choose at 1st level: Minor Photosynthesis, Oozing Movement, or Vestigial Life.
Razor	Incompatible: Bludgeon	Your dominant hand grows spines or a bladed edge and can be used as a weapon with the stats of a Scimitar.
Iron Lungs		You no longer need to breathe.
Rock-Hard Reinforcement		While you are not wearing armor, gain Resist Physical 3 when attacks target your REF or FORT.
Hygroscopy		You no longer need to drink.
Silent Sentinel		You no longer sleep in the traditional sense, but instead remain completely motionless for 6 hours in order to rejuvenate yourself. During this time, you are Unconscious, but you retain visual and auditory awareness of your surroundings.
Transmutable Clay	Oozing Movement	Regain all expended uses of your Oozing Movement when you Recoup.