Stone Golem

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Stone Golem (CR 12)

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.

GENERAL

CR 12 Hit Dice 17

XP 38,400 (heavy role included)

N, Large, Construct

Init +5; Senses tremorsense 60 ft., Perception +18

DEFENSE

AC 32, touch 22, flat-footed 27 (+7 armor, +5 dex, +5 natural, +5 deflection)

hp 498 (Heavy Role included)

Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +12

Aura: -

SR: 22

Special Defenses: DR 15/Adamantine

Immunities:

• all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• disease, poison, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain
• death effects, necromancy effects, sleep effects
• nonlethal damage
• paralysis, stunning, fatigue, exhaustion
• any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weaknesses: Cannot heal damage on its own, but can be repaired via Make Whole, Greater Make Whole, Field Repair, the Creator feat and a workshop, or Transmute Rock to Mud.

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Space / Reach: 10 ft. / 10 ft.

Single Melee Stone Stomp +20 (4d8+26/x2) + Bleed 1/round

Full Melee Stone Stomp +20 (4d8+26/x2) + Bleed 1/round, 2x Stone Punch +20 (4d6+8/x2)

Ranged Stone Javelin +20 (4d8+23/x2), range increment 30 feet, max range 150 ft

Full Ranged 2x Stone Javelin +20 (4d8+23/x2), range increment 30 feet, max range 150 ft

Special Attacks Avalanche, Shatter, Smashing Kick

Action Points 1 (heavy role included)

STATISTICS

Str 28, Dex 14, Con -, Int 6, Wis 16, Cha 18

Base Atk +12; CMB +19; CMD 28

Feats Combat Reflexes (EFFECT Up to three Attacks of Opportunity per round)

Skills -

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

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Avalanche (Ex)

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 a clear space large enough to allow it without squeezing. Any enemy creature that it moves over during this movement is attacked once with Stone Stomp (+20 to-hit (4d8+26/x2) + Bleed)). Avalanche does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Smashing Kick (Ex)

Once per encounter, as a swift action, the Stone Golem may attack one, two, or three enemies that are both adjacent to it and each other. It makes a touch attack against them at +15 to hit. 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 damage equal to the number of squares of forced movement they have left when they reached the obstacle, and the obstacle suffers a number of Sunders equal to the squares of remaining movement. 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 solid wall after five squares of this Push, then she would take 3d6 of bludgeoning physical damage and inflict three Sunders to the wall. If an obstacle is Broken by these Sunders, the victim continues moving! It is possible to get cannoned completely through several walls and buildings this way. Note that as always, a character may elect to fall prone to end forced movement.

Shatter (Su)

When a Stone Golem is reduced to zero hitpoints 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 three squares of the Stone Golem take 6d6+21 points of damage and are Pushed three 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 out of its debris, has its hit points re-set to half its normal value and it fights on. If the space the Golem was formerly occupying is now blocked by opponents or otherwise rendered hazardous, the Golem will reform in a place on the battlefield which grants it an advantageous position, typically to perform another Avalanche or a full attack.

Note that after Shatter has been triggered, the Stone Golem loses its DR and SR, but its move speed is increased to 60 ft, it gains a point of Armor Class (AC33), and it gains an additional Stone Stomp during full attack actions.

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 16,000 gp (heavy role included)

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.