Stone Golem

Stone Golem (Heavy; CR 12)

Neutral - Large - Construct

Lore:	Know (Arcana)
22		39
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

19

Perception:
29	+19
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Tremorsense 60 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 30 ft.

Defense

AC

32

Man Def

34

Monster Health
578	289	22
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+14
Refl:	+9
Will:	+9

Strong Against:

• DR 22/-, bypassed by Adamantine weapons
• (Heavy Role) Immunity (partial 3): Heavies are immune to the first three conditions applied to them during an encounter. If a fourth condition is applied to a heavy, it is resolved normally. A 'condition' is defined as any non-instantaneous harmful effect applied to the monster, other than damage, but is most commonly one of the defined Status Conditions (but it doesn't have to be). Statuses related to damage (such as injured, bloodied, staggered, dying, or dead) are not 'conditions', and cannot be negated or avoided with this ability.
• (Construct 1) Immune (no effect): diseases (infected, diseased, blighted), poisons (tainted, poisoned, blighted), ability damage (dilution, damage, drain), and essence damage (suppression, omission, destruction)
• (Construct 2) Immune (no effect): bleeds (bruised, bleed, ruptured), fatigued, exhausted
• (Construct 3) Immune (no effect): magical sleep (drowsy, sluggish, asleep), paralyzed, stunned
• (Construct 4) Immune (no effect): any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Large
10 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+19

Man Off

+20

Action

1

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Stone Stomp +19 (3d10+24/x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  plus: 1 Bleed
• 1x Stone Punch +19 (3d6+10/x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 2x Stone Stomp +19 (3d10+24/x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  plus: 1 Bleed
• 2x Stone Punch +19 (3d6+10/x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 2x Stone Bolt +19 (3d10+24/x2)
  as spindling (physical, rare)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 4x Stone Bolt +19 (3d10+24/x2)
  as spindling (physical, rare)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Siege Damage:

• 1x Stone Slam +19 (1d6+1)
  

Statistics

28

STR

14

DEX

—

CON

6

INT

16

WIS

18

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 19
• All other skills: 14 (no ranks)

Languages: Fluent in the language of its creator, rarely speaks unless commanded to or to answer questions posed by its creator or owner

Feats:

• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Monsters with this feat make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round instead of one.)

Special Abilities

Avalanche (Ex) Standard Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as a standard action, a Stone Golem may move up to its speed while stamping hugely and furiously. While using Avalanche, a Stone Golem may move through enemy spaces but it may never enter the same space twice and must end the Avalanche in an unblocked, unoccupied space large enough to fit it without squeezing. Any enemy creature whose space it overlaps (even if not completely) during this movement is attacked once with Stone Stomp (see above). Avalanche does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Smashing Kick (Ex) Swift Action 1/Enc

Once per encounter as a swift action, the Stone Golem may attack one, two, or three enemies that are both adjacent to it and to each other. It makes a melee touch attack against the target(s) at 1d20 + 23 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die). If it hits, it does no damage, but instead Pushes them directly away from it for 2d6 squares as forced movement. If the Pushed victims hit a solid obstacle (wall, pillar, generally any object large enough to block a square) then the victims take a number of d6's of bludgeoning (physical, common) damage equal to the number of squares of forced movement they have remaining when they reached the obstacle, and the obstacle suffers 1 point of durability damage per each square of remaining movement. (Note that obstacles made of stone or metal, or reinforced with stone or metal, can ignore this damage, since it is the equivalent of a Sunder maneuver without a Sunder (Quality) weapon.) For example, if a pesky Fighter is adjacent to a Stone Golem, blocking its advance upon the rest of the party, the Stone Golem may use Smashing Kick to push the fighter away. If the Smashing Kick rolled eight squares of movement, then the Fighter would be pushed eight squares away, as forced movement. If the Fighter was Pushed into a square filled by a wooden wall after five squares of this Push, then they would take 3d6 points of bludgeoning (physical, common) damage and inflict 3 points of durability damage to the wall. If the wall becomes Broken by these Sunders, the victim continues moving past it! It is possible to get cannoned completely through walls and buildings this way. As always, a character may elect to fall prone to end forced movement.

Strength of Stone (Ex) Always On

Stone Golems, as Constructs, are made things and thus not a natural part of the world. The seething magics which animate them make them hard to affect with many effects, and thus Stone Golems have Spell Resistance. If they are targeted by any spell or spell-like effect, their attacker must first succeed on a Caster Check against a DC of 31. If the attacker fails to equal or exceed the DC, the effect does nothing to the Golem, and the spell or effect is wasted (as is the action used to cast it). If the attacker succeeds on the check, the spell or effect is resolved normally.

Shatter (Su; Heavy Role) Auto Upon Death

When a Stone Golem is reduced to zero hit points for the first time, it is not destroyed. Instead, the magics which form its body are briefly disrupted, so that its stony body bursts into fragments. All enemies within a 15 foot radius (3 squares) of the Stone Golem take 3d8+17 points of piercing (physical, common) damage and are Pushed 3 squares, as the Golem flies into fragments. A Fort save against a DC of 22 reduces this damage by half, but the Push is not reduced. Any further damage inflicted upon the Golem is ignored until the beginning of its next turn, when the disrupted magics re-assert themselves. The Stone Golem re-forms in its space, has its hit points reset to half its normal value (289 hit points) and it fights on. If the space the Golem was formerly occupying is now blocked or threatened by one or more enemy creatures, the Golem will instead reform in a place anywhere within the radius of its explosion, even if only one square of its space falls within this radius. Note that after Shatter has been triggered, the magic which empowers the Golem is unstable and erratic. This makes the Golem considerably less durable, but much faster. After using Shatter, the Stone Golem loses its DR and SR, but its Walk speed is doubled, it gains a point of Armor Class (see above), and it gains an additional Stone Stomp attack (see above) during full attack actions.

Stone Golem

This creature possesses the Heavy role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.

This monster frequently has the Heavy role, but may be set to other roles if desired.

Stone golems are constructs, magically animated killing engines with a surprisingly capable, albeit limited, form of intelligence. Given the massive stone construction of a Stone Golem, you might expect these deadly devices to be slow and ungainly. In fact, a Stone Golem is certainly a bulky contraption, but it is freakishly mobile and maneuvers around the battlefield as if it was expressly designed to be there.

Which is actually true. Lesser Golems are primarily guardians, and with their uncanny senses, Stone Golems are fantastic guardians in their own right. But Stone Golems are usually built to serve as battlefield implements, siege-breakers and storming engines, meant to win battles while enduring the most brutal combat conditions imaginable. As a result of this expanded role, Stone Golems are able to make limited decisions, like deciding if a foe is a combatant or not, based upon appearance and behavior. Most Stone Golems are given a comprehensive list of orders, and they are able to sort through these varied commands to perform in ways almost scarily capable.

Of course, like all Golems, a Stone Golem is perfectly obedient to its creator or owner, and will follow rules it is given. Unlike lesser grades of Golems, a Stone Golem is actually able to grasp in some dim way the spirit of any orders it is given, rather than simply following the letter of the command. This grasp makes a Stone Golem a much more dangerous opponent, and its incredible combat abilities simply serves to drive that point home.

Combat Tactics

Stone Golems have tremorsense, and are used as guards for that reason. However, Stone Golems are even better as massive heavy attackers. They are able to maneuver around the battlefield with impunity using their Avalanche ability. Even better, every Stone Stomp attack that lands, on top of terrible damage, inflicts a 1 point per round Bleed condition. This is only minor damage, but it hampers the ability of opponents to grant healing during the combat.

Typically a Stone Golem will move up as close as possible to their enemies, then use Avalanche to move right over top of them, forcing them to adapt their tactics to a foe suddenly 'in the backfield'. Stone Golems will always spend their action point to get off a second Avalanche at some point in the battle, often in the first or second round. Stone Golems will work to give as many foes a bleed condition as possible, and will typically keep using Avalanche until at least one Bleed is running.

Stone Golems will usually target their Smashing Kick ability at the most heavily armored foes on the battlefield, looking to knock them out of position or simply inflict damage. Stone Golems will deliberately aim Smashing Kicks to drive tough foes into walls or other hazardous terrain if they are able to. Once they have used Avalanche at least twice, Stone Golems will usually switch tactics and start taking full attacks on foes, targeting prone, flanked, and lightly armored foes in preference, unless no foes have a Bleed. Once they switch to melee mode, a Stone Golem will use five foot steps to keep as many foes as possible at a distance and attack with their reach, forcing foes to close in and suffer attacks of opportunity with Stone Stomp. If a party manages to shed all Bleed conditions, the Stone Golem will immediately start using Avalanche again to land as many Stone Stomps and Bleeds as possible.

After a Stone Golem has used their Shatter ability, they lose their Damage Reduction and Spell Resistance as the magics that bind them together start to disintegrate. However, they become MUCH faster as a result. They will alternate between using Avalanche's with their new sixty feet of move and taking full attacks with an extra Stone Stomp bonus attack until they are destroyed. While they seem to have a limited form of sentience when it comes to picking among their various orders, Stone Golems are quite mindless and have no fear or any other emotions, and will fight to destruction without hesitation.

Out of Combat

Stone Golems are the real deal, and are the first serious construct muscle that is both reliable and not made out of dead people. As a result, Stone Golems are found in a lot of places, such as heavy artillery for a town garrison, guards in a warlord's stronghold, a bodyguard for the mayor, a child's really dangerous toy, etc. Stone golems can also be found 'in the wild', typically being ancient things made for a duty long, long forgotten. Such 'wild' stone golems can be completely unpredictable, as they seek to obey commands that may refer to landmarks or buildings that are long ago destroyed.

Military commanders treasure stone golems for their reliability, durability, and ability to break sieges. If a commander can maneuver a stone golem into contact with a foes' defenses, that can be the end of the matter, and stone golems are even durable enough to take a few hits from countering siege weapons.

Rewards

XP: 38,400 (Heavy role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 25,750 gp.

Weight: 240 lbs.     Volume: 9.6 cu. ft.

• Stone Golem internal structure is more complicated than you might think, and various salvaged bits of rock, crystal, and metal can be very valuable.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 8	Nothing Found
9 - 12	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
13 - 15	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
16 - 18	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
4 - 7	4 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
8 - 11	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
12 - 15	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
16 - 18	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
4 - 5	4 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
6 - 8	4 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
9 - 11	4 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
12 - 15	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
16 - 18	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
19 - 20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)