202394-Sample.Pdf

Sample file J ABLE 0 F C0NT ENT8 Introduction ... ... ...... 4 Doppleganger Golem ....... 49 For the Dungeo n Master .................. 4 by Steve Miller The Concise Golem ........................ 4 A Tru ly Twisted Tale ........... .......... 51 Aggregate Golem . .. .. .... 6 Gestalt .. ... ... ... .... .... 56 by Ed Stark by John W. Mangrum Sickness Among Us ........................ 9 Best of Bot h Worlds ....................... 59 Angelique .. .. .. .... 14 Living Armor . .. ......... 64 by Thomas M. Reid by Peter Adkison Lady Lost. .............................. 17 Behind the Beholder ...................... 66 Automatic Man ............. 20 Lucre ................ 69 by Dave Gross by Stan! Seepage ........ ....... .............. 2 1 A Heart of Gold ............... .......... 72 Azen wrath . ........ ...... 28 Lumina .... .... ......... 77 by Lucien Soulban by Cindi Rice The Lesser of Many Evils ........ .. ......... 30 Graven Images ....... ...... ........... 79 Chaperone ................ 36 Min 'kins .................. 83 by Miranda Horner by Harold Johnson Cat-and-Mouse Games .................... 38 Wandering Hands ......................... 85 The Left Hand Offends .... ....... ........ 87 Alexandre du Cire . ....... 42 by William W. Connors Transient Golem .. .......... 91 Waxing Horrifi c ...................... .. .. 44 by David Wise Smoke and Mirrors ................. ... 94 Sample file Sample file l mR0DUCTI0N belies their clumsy appearance. To heighten surprise , f 0R_ J'«P PuN:~}:l0N: l\1ASJ'p"R._you might accentuate a golem 's apparent difficulty in walking and talking normally-unti l need drives the ■ he essence of life and the wonders of its creature to demonstrate its true agility. creation have intrigued scientists Finally , the Created usuall y enjoy superhuman th roughout the ages. Most satisfy resiliency. The key factor here, in game terms, is themselves with simple debate and regeneration. A golem with the base Constitution score scholarly research. A few, however , of 20 regai ns 1 hit point each hour (six turns) , and manage to viola te the laws of Nature and grant life to higher rates of regene ration are common. As van creatures they've assembled from unliving parts. In the Richten points out, some golems hyp er-regenerate: pages tha t follow , yo u'll discover thirteen beings of such After being reduced to O or fewer hit points , they regain unnatural origin. The y are called the Created. Unlike 10 points per round until completely healed. (They can ordinary golems , each is a unique, fully deve loped rise up to fight again at O hps , but most prefer to wait character. And all are waiting to jo in your campaign . until fully restored.) A high Constitu tion score conveys extra hit points upon a character , but regeneration is the key to the golem 's respective ability. The lesson for heroes: Golems are much easier to defeat than destroy . Mental Traits: A golem 's intelligence generally reatu res in this product complement matches the brain used in its construction, with a slight ,:a~w1 materia l in Van Richlen 's Guide to th e reduction in the score. However, great wit and utter Created, a RAvENLO~ sourcebook. While stupidity are rare. Further , most go lems are less you can run the upcoming adventures intelligent than their creators , no matter whose brain without that book, the information it has been "borrowed. " Extraordinary Intelligence scores contains will enhance your understanding of the (low or high ) normally serve only to explain some Created and help you fine-tune each golem to suit your feature of the golem 's personality or abilities. Wisdom personal campaign . For convenience, key concepts and Charisma are likewise of lesser importance to a from van Richten 's notes are covered below. golem 's makeup. Both scores are typically low, reflecting the creature 's lack of life experien ce and a l3~slc Affrfbutes tendency to be ugl y and ill tempered. RAvENLOFTgolems tend to be hardy. Although some individuals stray pretty far from "the norm," the 0ther Common Affributes following base statistics serve as a useful benchma rk: As van Richten himself points out , there is no such thing Strength 19, Dexte rity 18, Constitution 20 , Intelligence as "the usual " when it comes to children of the night 9-19 , Wisdom 2, Chari sma 6. These values apply to and the golems in this book cer tainly prove that. flesh golems , but the reasoning behind them gives Nonethe less, some abilities are common enough among insight into the general attributes of all Created. the Created to be deemed standard. As a group , these Physical Traits : Th e Created can offer plenty of qualities establish the "nature of the beast ," defining surp rises in combat. The trick is to exploit your heroes' what makes it a golem. You are encouraged to use these preconceptions about a golem 's physica l prowess by stereotypes against the hero~s at every opportunity. confronting them with "a golem of different co lor." Biologica l Conce rns: Golems do not age or require Most of the Created boast superhuman strength. oxygen as a rule. (That can be espec ially important in Either throug h magical powers or through the exacting the context of spellcasting.) Nutritional requirements demands of construction , they have become more than vary between creatures, but if a golem doesn 't need to the sum of their parts (physica lly speaking). A golem 's eat or drink a spec ific substan ce from time to time , bareha nded attack inflicts 2d8 damage at Strength 19, there 's a good chance it requires vi rt ually no adds an extra point of damage for every additional poi nt sustenance at all . Moreover, golems are effectively of Strength through 22 , and infli cts 3d8 at Strength 23. immune to poison and disease. Many also enjoy an Clearly , golems are much stronger than they appear immunity to certai n weapons , and gain a +4 bonus to that 's part of their mo rbid appeal. You can take advan saving throws against physical damage . tage of this tra it by describing a creature that looks as if Zeitgebers: Many golems have an Achilles ' heel that it might fall apart in a gust of wind; then surp rise the van Richten calls a zeitgeber (TSIGHT-gay -ber ). It's a heroes with its astounding feats of strength. On the other particular stimulus that triggers a response over which hand , some golems do suffer from poor construction. So the golem has no control. Triggers and their effects are "well -informed " heroes mig ht meet a muscle-bound as unique as the golems themselves. For example, a Samplebehemoth and retreat , never suspecting their foe actu zeitgeber may lead to viofilelence or catatonia , a frenzied ally has the strength of an emaciated kobold. retreat or a complete shift in personality. Usually, a Similarly , the Created often possess a dexterity that golem has only one zeitgeber. Never random , it reflects lNTR..0DUCTI0 N something about the monste r's maker or the way in attack more brutal. Indeed , it's hard to name a physical which it was created. Obviously , discerning a gole m 's quality possessed by gol ems that does not also belong zeitgeber gives heroes a powerful advantage in deal ing to another creatu re. In the end , what mak es the go lem with the creature. Classic examples of zeitgebe rs include both fasci nating and terrify ing is its psyc hol ogy and that music, which hypnotizes the golem; cold weather , which of its creator. To bring out the natural hor ror of a go lem , induces sleep or hibernation ; and fire , whic h enrages. you can gear your adventu re toward the creatur e's Telepat hic link to the Creator: The process of tragic perspective, or focus on the creator's obsessio n creating a golem forges a mental bond betwee n "par ent instead. and child " that cannot be severed. In most cases , the Tragedy: Wh at goes on inside the mind of a golem? telepathic ability resides sole ly with the gole m , although It didn 't want to be crea ted, and even if it began its new the link occasiona lly goes both ways. In essence, this is life in blissful innocence , so much fur ther is its how go lems tra ck their makers : seeing what they see, inevitab le fall from joy. Its creator is almost assured ly heari ng wha t the y hear, and knowing what the y th ink . insane , and his or her mortality almost guarant ees flaw s Magic: Van Richt en's Guid e to the Created dictates a in the construction process. With rare except ions, the numb er of wizard and priest spells that have creature can not remain good, for everyone it meets will unexpected effects upon golems. Space co nstrain ts consider it a monste r and treat it acco rdin gly. prevent this material from being repeated here. For When running a golem scenario, portray the creature deta ils, yo u'll have to cons ult the good doctor 's treatise. as a victim as much as an aggre ssor. As its actions grow If you lack that resource , you can rely on a little increasingly violent, its torment of the creator more common sense to estimate the possible effects of a cru el, its crime s more abhorrent , find ways to remind the give n spel l. For exampl e, fire-based spells tend to be heroes that no one suffers more than the golem itself. extra effective against flesh golems , but they cause little Better yet, win their sym path y for the creature and then damage to creatures mad e of metal. betray it with heinous acts. Convince the heroes to do Extraordinary Abilities: You may wish to spice up the "the right thing" for the creature, then bring recrimina golems in this book by adding or exchanging a few extra tion s from the creator and its victims for helping it.

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