Steel Golem

Steel Golem (Heavy; CR 18)

Neutral - Large - Construct

Lore:	Know (Arcana)
38		51
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

28

Perception:
40	+30
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

• Lore Notes: If basic lore check is failed, identifies as an Iron Golem

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

44

Man Def

42

Monster Health
1,494	747	34
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+20
Refl:	+15
Will:	+15

Strong Against:

• DR 34/-, bypassed by Adamantine weapons.

• ER 18/-

• (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.
• (Mindless) Immune (no effect): all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, fear, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• (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)
• Up to once per round, if damaged with Sonic (energy, common) damage, gains a Standard action usable as a free action during its next turn. (See "Resonance" below.)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Large
10 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+27

Man Off

+32

Action

1

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 2x Shearing Strike +27 (5d8+26/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Sundering Strikes, plus: Tetanus (see below)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 4x Shearing Strike +27 (5d8+26/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Sundering Strikes, plus: Tetanus (see below)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 2x Razor Shards +27 (5d8+26/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)
  plus: Sundering Strikes, plus: Tetanus (see below)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 4x Razor Shards +27 (5d8+26/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)
  plus: Sundering Strikes, plus: Tetanus (see below)

Siege Damage:

• 1x Boring Strikes +30 (1d6+2)
  

Statistics

36

STR

18

DEX

—

CON

—

INT

18

WIS

20

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 30
• All other skills: 25 (no ranks)

Languages: Understands Common and up to three other languages, but is mute

Feats:

Special Abilities

Clangorous Ring (Su)

Whenever a Steel Golem is struck hard enough to inflict physical damage of any sort, its form gives off a deafening, ear-shattering, "clang". This is a sonic-based ability that can trigger multiple times in a round, and has several effects. If the Steel Golem is set as a guardian, then the loud sound is likely to alert any enemies within a large distance that it is engaged in combat. Details are left to the Game Master. All enemy creatures within 100 feet of the Golem when Clangorous Ring is triggered must make a Fortitude Saving throw against a DC of 28 or be Deafened and Distracted, as well as suffering 5d8+26 points of Sonic (energy, common) damage. This is a triggered free action for the Golem, and the effects and saving throw act as interrupts. If the Fort save is made, then the damage is halved and you may negate either the Deafened or the Distracted, but not both. Creatures that are deaf are immune to all effects of Clangorous Ring.

Tetanus (Ex, Disease)

Tetanus is a painful, paralyzing disease than is often caused by getting a scratch or other injury from a dirty, rusty, steel blade. Steel Golems are carriers for this illness, and all of their physical attacks require you to make a saving throw up to once each round in any round when you take any physical damage, or else contract the disease. Tetanus    (Injury vector; Plagued intensity) Save: Fort DC 29;     Frequency: 1/day for 3 days Effect: 1d4+1 points of DEX drain per interval. Fruition: Victim is Paralyzed. Fruition Duration: Permanent until removed.

Sundering Strikes (Ex)

All physical attacks made by the golem may trigger a free action Sunder attempt, up to once per round per enemy struck. Sundering Strikes cannot be triggered by the golem's Clangorous Ring ability, however. After a successful attack, as a free action, the golem may roll a Maneuver Offense check (D20 + 30) versus the enemy's Maneuver Defense. If successful, the enemy suffers one unaimed Sunder attempt.

Clashing Arms (Ex)

As a standard action, a steel golem can scrape its arms and weapons together, making a horrific metal-on-metal screech. This inflicts 5d6+17 points of Sonic (energy, common) damage on all creatures within 50 feet of its space. There is no saving throw against this ability, although being Deaf or within an area of magical silence renders victims immune. Note that this ability DOES activate the Resonance ability (see below) of other Steel Golems, but not the Steel Golem using Clashing Arms.

Resonance (Su)

Up to once per round, when subjected to Sonic (energy, common) damage from any source (even including other Steel Golems; see Clashing Arms above), the Steel Golem gains a Standard Action it may use as a free action in its next turn.

Ping of Death (Ex)

The first time a Steel Golem is reduced to zero hit points in a combat, it is not destroyed. Instead, a deep, hidden flaw left over from the quench used to create it is finally revealed. When reduced to zero hit points for the first time, the Steel Golem freezes in place, ominous clicks and pings sounding within it, its massive form giving slight twitches as internal stresses build, and build... Until the start of its next turn, the golem is completely unaffected by all damage or effects that target or include it (including any beneficial effects). At the start of its next turn, as a free action, it is riven with a thousand shattering cracks from top to bottom, and pieces of its body explode in every direction in a razor-storm. All enemy creatures within 50 feet of its space suffer 5d10+41 points of slashing (physical, common) damage, and this triggers its Sundering Strikes ability as well. The Steel Golem is then reset to half its normal hit point value (747 hit points), all conditions (good or bad) are removed, and it fights on. Creatures in the target area may make a Reflex save, DC 28 to reduce this damage by half. After Ping of Death, the Steel Golem loses the use of its DR and its Clangorous Ring power, as its damaged body no longer resonates. However, due to the jagged sharp edges and cracks all over its weapons, it now inflicts a Bleed 18 with every successful hit that deals physical damage. As always, Bleed does not stack.

Reversal of Fortune (Ex; Heavy Role) Auto Upon Death

The first time in an encounter that a Heavy is reduced to zero or fewer hit points, it falls prone, apparently dead. But this is a ruse. When this occurs, the Heavy becomes immune to all damage and effects. However, it may not perform any actions (such as attacks of opportunity) until this immunity expires. At the beginning of its next turn, any conditions the Heavy is currently suffering under (such as Prone) are immediately cleared, and its hit points are set to half its normal maximum (747 hit points). Furthermore, the Heavy may immediately Slide up to 8 squares (40 feet) as a free action, after which its immunity to damage expires. As forced movement, this Slide does not provoke attacks of opportunity, but even if it did, the Heavy is immune to all damage and effects until after the slide is completed. It must perform this Slide before any other actions during its turn, and the immunity expires at the beginning of its turn even if it chooses not to Slide first. The Heavy is killed for good the second time its hit points are reduced to zero or less.

Steel Golem

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

Steel Golems are massive things, although usually not as bulky as an Iron Golem. It is very possible to confuse a Steel Golem with an Iron Golem by sight, although if you can get close enough to give one a tap with a hammer, Steel Golems produce a fine, clear tone, while Iron Golems produce more of a dull, muddier sound.

Granted, getting close enough to tap a steel golem usually means its either guarding you, its decided your presence is okay according to its programming, or it is already trying to kill you....

Steel Golems are completely mindless, as are many constructs, but they have a very, very sophisticated set of instructions, befitting their higher standards of construction. Sadly, unlike basic Stone Golems, and Iron Golems, Steel Golems are often vanity projects, a statement of their Creator's skill and artistry. As a result, they are often quite ornate in decoration, and that same elaborate care is usually lavished on their instructions. This means that Steel Golems do not have much in the way of predictable actions, and are likely to switch from one course of actions to another with no easily predictable pattern.

When used in households and the like, this makes Steel Golems very useful indeed. But in military situations, when a general needs a sturdy siege-breaker, he doesn't want it to suddenly hare off at a right angle to the battle plan and start a flanking maneuver. As a result, Steel Golems built for armies tend to be a lot more straightforward than ones built for the commercial market.

Of course, there is no way of knowing how a Steel Golem is constructed, unless you're the owner, maker, or a survivor of its attack.

Due to the complexity of their instructions, many Steel Golems have 'gone rogue', as they begin stringing together instructions in ways their maker never expected them to.

Steel Golems are made of fine, clean, high-grade steel, and lots of it, as they weigh several tons. They are extremely durable, as you might expect, and while their form is widely variable (there have been steel golems in the shape of huge dogs, fanciful three-legged coal scuttles, horses and carts, and fake-clockwork maidens, just to name a few) they tend to have a few common powers. Their strikes are reputed to shatter weapons and armor with ease, they throw clouds of razor-sharp steel fragments, they ring when struck in a very distracting way, and there are reliable reports that they can infect you with tetanus.

Combat Tactics

Steel Golems have extremely complex instruction sets. As a result, they are likely to attack their nearest foe, or target the heavily armored for sunders, as their most likely action.

But, they are also likely to use Clashing Arms when there are two or more other Steel Golems to be affected. In general, if three Steel Golems are in combat, the one that is least engaged in the threat axis of the battle will use Clashing Arms to damage their foes and buff the other Steel Golems with a Standard Action.

Steel Golems almost always save their Action Point until after their Ping of Death, and then use it to make another melee attack, to try and spread Bleeds as widely among their foes as they can. In all cases, surviving a battle with Steel Golems will usually leave the victors battered, bleeding, broken, and suffering from Tetanus, so Steel Golems are sometimes deployed in staggered fashion, so you have to fight them several times in succession.

Depending upon the circumstances, Steel Golems may attempt to withdraw from a combat, shielding a given unit, or they may fight to destruction without hesitation.

In all cases, their Clangorous Ring power requires then to suffer physical attacks, and as such, they will push to the attack aggressively, assuming they are not ordered to shield and/or retreat.

In practice, a Steel Golem's instruction set is so byzantine, and their powers so diverse and wide-spread, predicting their next action can be incredibly difficult. A Reason check can puzzle out, usually, their Makers intentions, but the exact pathway they are likely to take to get there? Difficult to know.

Out of Combat

Steel Golems are seriously heavy-duty firepower, and as a result, are used as guards by the wealthy, or occasionally by the military. Few things drive home your status like having a pair of custom-built Steel Golem bodyguards escorting you around.

Of course, given the complexity of their instructions, this is not without risk. Steel Golems have been known to mis-interpret such things as receiving a gift as an attack. Or, hilariously and horribly, there are many ribald stories of golems becoming confused by love-making, which we can hope are tall tales, but fear are not.

Rewards

XP: 307,200 (Heavy role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 135,778 gp.

Weight: 360 lbs.     Volume: 14.4 cu. ft.

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)