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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Belial666 on May 06, 2011, 04:17:34 PM
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Here are some all-time favorites;
Clay Golem
A vaguely humanoid statue made out of 1 ton of clay powered by the rune of life on its forehead
High Concept: Living Clay Man
Other Aspects: The Rune of Life, No Initiative, Slow but Strong
Skills:
Good: Endurance, Fists
Fair: Athletics, Might, Weapons
other skills default to mediocre
Stunts/Powers:
[-3] Automaton - a golem has no physiology or emotions. It is immune to biological or emotional effects but cannot learn any nonphysical skills. It is still subject to spiritual attacks on its animating spirit.
[-2] Unfeeling Lump - a golem is denser, heavier and less vulnerable than a creature its size. It gets extra stress as if it was a size larger without any other benefirs or penalties of hulking size.
[-2] Inhuman Strength
Total Refresh Cost:
-7
Stone Golem
A vaguely humanoid statue made of 2,5 tons of stone and powered by powerful magic
High Concept: Living Stone Man
Other Aspects: Stonewall, No Initiative, Slow but Strong
Skills:
Great: Endurance, Fists
Good: Athletics, Might, Weapons
other skills default to mediocre
Stunts/Powers:
[-3] Automaton - a golem has no physiology or emotions. It is immune to biological or emotional effects but cannot learn any nonphysical skills. It is still subject to spiritual attacks on its animating spirit.
[-2] Unfeeling Lump - a golem is denser, heavier and less vulnerable than a creature its size. It gets extra stress as if it was a size larger without any other benefirs or penalties of hulking size.
[-2] Inhuman Strength
[-1] Supernatural Toughness - catch is explosions and weapon 4 or higher crushing attacks
Total Refresh Cost:
-8
Iron Golem
A vaguely humanoid statue made of 7 tons of iron powered by powerful magic
High Concept: Living Iron Man
Other Aspects: Really Heavy, No Initiative, Slow but Strong
Skills:
Great: Endurance, Fists
Good: Athletics, Might, Weapons
other skills default to mediocre
Stunts/Powers:
[-3] Automaton - a golem has no physiology or emotions. It is immune to biological or emotional effects but cannot learn any nonphysical skills. It is still subject to spiritual attacks on its animating spirit.
[-2] Hulking Size
[-2] Unfeeling Lump - a golem is denser, heavier and less vulnerable than a creature its size. It gets extra stress as if it was a size larger without any other benefirs or penalties of titanic size.
[-4] Supernatural Strength
[-2] Supernatural Toughness - catch is antitank weaponry and magical rust
Total Refresh Cost:
-13
Mithril Golem
A vaguely humanoid statue made of three tons of titanium alloy powered by powerful magic
High Concept: War Golem
Other Aspects: No Initiative, Fast Yet Strong
Skills:
Superb: Endurance, Fists
Great: Athletics, Might, Weapons
other skills default to mediocre
Stunts/Powers:
[-3] Automaton - a golem has no physiology or emotions. It is immune to biological or emotional effects but cannot learn any nonphysical skills. It is still subject to spiritual attacks on its animating spirit.
[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-2] Hulking Size
[-2] Unfeeling Lump - a golem is denser, heavier and less vulnerable than a creature its size. It gets extra stress as if it was a size larger without any other benefirs or penalties of titanic size.
[-4] Supernatural Strength
[-2] Supernatural Toughness - catch is antitank weaponry and magical rust
Total Refresh Cost:
-15
Adamantium Golem
A vaguely humanoid statue made of forty tons of tungsten alloy powered by powerful magic
High Concept: Unstoppable Juggernaught
Other Aspects: No Initiative, Mountain's Weight, Mountain's Might
Skills:
Fantastic: Might, Weapons
Superb: Athletics, Endurance, Fists
other skills default to mediocre
Stunts/Powers:
[-3] Automaton - a golem has no physiology or emotions. It is immune to biological or emotional effects but cannot learn any nonphysical skills. It is still subject to spiritual attacks on its animating spirit.
[-2] Tremendous Blows - an adamantium golem's hands are fashioned in the shape of 3-ton wrecking balls that can be used as weapon 4 weapons.
[-1] Dual Blows - as off-hand weapon training
[-2] Hulking Size
[-2] Unfeeling Lump - a golem is denser, heavier and less vulnerable than a creature its size. It gets extra stress as if it was a size larger without any other benefirs or penalties of titanic size.
[-4] Night Invulnerable - an adamantium golem is almost impossible to destroy; it takes half damage from all attacks except magical disintegration
[-6] Mythic Strength
[-4] Mythic Toughness - catch is magical disintegration
Total Refresh Cost:
-24
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Wow that adamantium golem is nasty.
You should add a wood golem too.
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Here are some all-time favorites;
Clay Golem
A vaguely humanoid statue made out of 1 ton of clay powered by the rune of life on its forehead
High Concept: Living Clay Man
Other Aspects: The Rune of Life, No Initiative, Slow but Strong
Skills:
Good: Endurance, Fists
Fair: Athletics, Might, Weapons
other skills default to mediocre
Stunts/Powers:
[-3] Automaton - a golem has no physiology or emotions. It is immune to biological or emotional effects but cannot learn any nonphysical skills. It is still subject to spiritual attacks on its animating spirit.
[-2] Unfeeling Lump - a golem is denser, heavier and less vulnerable than a creature its size. It gets extra stress as if it was a size larger without any other benefirs or penalties of hulking size.
[-2] Inhuman Strength
Total Refresh Cost:
-7
Just a thought: would you add a Toughness Power with The Catch being that aforementioned Rune of Life? Just curious if this was something closer to the legends (and the others followed suit in different ways), or a whole new breed of golems, so to speak.
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@BumblingBear:
For -24 refresh? It's actually quite weak. Yeah, it has weapon 12 attacks at fantastic skill and is hard to kill but it is farly easy to hit, it is slow and it is not nearly as dangerous as other creatures at that level. A -24 refresh wizard could flatten small battleships, a sidhe lady could decapitate you without ever breaking her greater veil, vampire lords would be too fast to hit by most people and could kill you with a touch, and loup-garou are plain immune to damage.
@Crion:
The Rune of Life would work for clay golems like sunlight works against a vampire. Erasing the rune (with a maneuver) would be like kicking the vampire through an open doorway and into the sun.
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The combination of 'Nigh Invulnerable' and Mythic Toughness makes me nervous. At the very least, there needs to be clarification as to how they interact (do you apply the armour first, or the halving?)
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The combination of 'Nigh Invulnerable' and Mythic Toughness makes me nervous. At the very least, there needs to be clarification as to how they interact (do you apply the armour first, or the halving?)
Why not use Physical Immunity with the catch?
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Night Invulnerable is, more or less, a physical immunity with a +2 catch (disintegration) with a further +2 because it has half effect instead of full effect. And yes, the halving apples first.
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@BumblingBear:
For -24 refresh? It's actually quite weak. Yeah, it has weapon 12 attacks at fantastic skill and is hard to kill but it is farly easy to hit, it is slow and it is not nearly as dangerous as other creatures at that level. A -24 refresh wizard could flatten small battleships, a sidhe lady could decapitate you without ever breaking her greater veil, vampire lords would be too fast to hit by most people and could kill you with a touch, and loup-garou are plain immune to damage.
I was thinking in terms of my current campaign.
Sure, my combat optimized character could probably take it out at 10 refresh, but it's still pretty nasty. :)
Otherwise, I get what you are saying.
This vamp is -21 refresh, and she is a much nastier enemy than the golem.
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/let-s-keep-austin-a-little-less-weird/characters/meggala (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/let-s-keep-austin-a-little-less-weird/characters/meggala)
That said, she is a plot device, but a golem by nature is a mook. A 20+ refresh mook, even not optimized is a powerful mook.
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Night Invulnerable is, more or less, a physical immunity with a +2 catch (disintegration) with a further +2 because it has half effect instead of full effect. And yes, the halving apples first.
You may want to rephrase it. When I read:
[-4] Night Invulnerable - an adamantium golem is almost impossible to destroy; it takes half damage from all attacks except magical disintegration
I think:
IF attack = magical disintegration THEN full damage
ELSE half damage
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Night Invulnerable should probably be Nigh Invulnerable. Unless I'm missing something.
Does the halving of damage happen before or after armour is taken into account?
I read it the same way devonapple does, by the way. Is that incorrect?
Otherwise, everything looks good. I suggest that you take these characters and powers to a compilation thread on the resources board.
PS: I worked out Method 1 summoning complexities for these guys, just because. Here's what I got: Clay 16, Stone 23, Iron 28, Mithril 39, Adamantium 59. All a bit too high. Maybe I shouldn't calculate as though they had a full skill pyramid.
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Yeah, it's "nigh". I was thinking about Elena's actions and night came up a lot in my thought process. :P
And yes, that reading of Nigh Invulnerable is correct; disintegration satisfies the catch for both the immunity and the toughness.
Also, you should probably calculate summoning complexity with the skills they have, not normal pyramid, seeing as their lack of skills is a specific weakness. Also, they can only be given a simple program as summons or the caster must command them directly for them to act, since they lack mental skills. Without such commands, they'll just sit there, gathering dust.
On the other hand, golems are exceedingly effective in manual labor. Want a hydroelectric generator to work without water going through it? Have one of the bigger golems manually turn it. Want a truck that never runs out of gas and is really simple to maintain? replace the engine with a smaller golem riding a bicycle. Hell, you can do the same to a Zeppelin and have a self-powered, perpetual-motion aircraft. Especially if you use a Mithril Golem; it's really light for its strength and speed.
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Does summoning Golems require you to scrounge for that much wood/mithril/adamant and make the body or is the material made of ectoplasm.
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If you want the golems to melt on water or be unable to cross thresholds or be disabled by circles, sure, you can go ectoplasm. If you don't want such problems, you have to make an actual physical body.
Just remember than 40 tons of tungsten cost about 1 million dollars or so.
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If you want the golems to melt on water or be unable to cross thresholds or be disabled by circles, sure, you can go ectoplasm. If you don't want such problems, you have to make an actual physical body.
Should this effort be considered part of the overall Complexity for the ritual? A lot of the "mithril" powers are counted for determining the number of shifts (using the system) needed to create the golem. Obviously, the caster would want to specify that some of these Ritual Declarations include acquiring and constructing the body.
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Sorry what I meant was I would require some incrediable resource rolls considering Adamantium and Mithril don't exist and therefor the only way I could think to get the metal would be to magic it up some how (alchemie perhaps) or try to buy it a fae market (on the genral assumption that fae markets sell everything especially things that don't exist).
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Sorry what I meant was I would require some incrediable resource rolls considering Adamantium and Mithril don't exist and therefor the only way I could think to get the metal would be to magic it up some how (alchemie perhaps)
I think those names are being used to refer to the original D&D versions: these writeups mention the more plausible "titanium alloy" and "tungsten alloy."
I would definitely not want any conjured or Fae metal if a golem is expected to survive contact with thresholds.
Although I am going back on my stance that the materials cost should be folded into the summoning cost. I am beginning to reflect that a 30-shift demon and a 30-shift golem shouldn't necessarily be the same thing when it comes to surviving contact with thresholds.
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Since we are talking ritual magic, one could easily roll resources for a taggable aspect to boost the spell complexity, indicating the right materials being actually bought and used instead of conjured.
OTOH, you could treat it like Necromancy; necromancers need to find the right bodies that will hold the amount of power they are channeling into them. So an artificer would need to find the right materials.
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Since we are talking ritual magic, one could easily roll resources for a taggable aspect to boost the spell complexity, indicating the right materials being actually bought and used instead of conjured.
OTOH, you could treat it like Necromancy; necromancers need to find the right bodies that will hold the amount of power they are channeling into them. So an artificer would need to find the right materials.
Ultimately it all comes down to spending shifts. Where the come from is more about narrative.
One could either charge a premium for Immunity/Block against Thresholds, folded into the Summoning Ritual, or insist on an extended challenge involving Resources/Craftsmanship/etc. to create the vessel.
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I'd call it a mandatory aspect. Like any other thaumaturgy preparation Resources declaration, only you don't get to choose whether or not to make it. If you fail or don't want to try the roll, you can take an ECTOPLASMIC defect that will get compelled when running water or a threshold shows up.
Non-pyramid-based complexity:
Clay 15
Stone 20
Iron 25
Mithril 32
Adamantium 46
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Yeah, that's more in line with the power of most golems. If you compare, for example, a lesser zombie with a clay golem, you see that the zombie has inhuman speed/strength/toughness plus living dead. It is more combat-effective than the golem by a fair margin. And if you compare the golem with a ghoul, the difference is even greater.
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Might even want to remove the anti-tank weapons from the catches. It's not like they have soft gooey centers, unless ofcourse you are dealing with a pudding golem.
Can also see at least a inhuman, if not supernatural, recovery power on a clay golem. The catch ofcourse being the rune (fire could possibly work also).
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It occurs to me that Automaton could allow a character to bypass the skill pyramid. Given its drawbacks, I think it'd be both reasonable and thematic.
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I am beginning to reflect that a 30-shift demon and a 30-shift golem shouldn't necessarily be the same thing when it comes to surviving contact with thresholds. - devonapple
Given that golems are classically created with holy power, might they entirely immune to certain thresholds?