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Constructs

AX.C.13.06 - Constructs

Constructs are artificial beings created through magic, engineering, or a combination of both. Unlike living creatures, they don't eat, sleep, breathe, or age. Constructs exist to serve their creators' purposes, whether as guardians, laborers, soldiers, or tools of war. They range from simple animated objects to sophisticated artificial intelligences capable of independent thought.

Overview

What Makes Constructs Unique

  • Artificial Life: Created, not born, no natural reproduction
  • Tireless Service: Never sleep, eat, or rest unless damaged
  • Immunity to Biology: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, mental effects
  • Purpose-Driven: Designed for specific tasks or roles
  • Variable Intelligence: From mindless automatons to brilliant thinking machines
  • Self-Repair: Some can repair themselves or require specialized maintenance
  • Magic or Technology: Powered by magical animation or mechanical engineering

Using Constructs in Your Campaign

Construct threats serve multiple roles:

  • Ancient Guardians: Protecting tombs, vaults, and forbidden places
  • Wizard Servants: Bound to serve their creators' will
  • War Machines: Deployed as siege weapons or shock troops
  • Rogue Constructs: Freed from control, pursuing unknown agendas
  • Industrial Hazards: Factory automatons gone haywire
  • Living Weapons: Purpose-built for combat and destruction

Construct Categories

Animated Objects: Simple items given mobility

  • Animated armor, flying swords, rugs
  • Follow simple commands
  • Relatively weak individually

Golems: Powerful magical constructs

  • Clay, stone, iron, flesh golems
  • Extremely durable and strong
  • Magic resistance common
  • Specific vulnerabilities

Clockwork: Mechanical constructs

  • Gear-driven, spring-loaded mechanisms
  • Perpetually powered by an enchanted gemstone
  • Precise and predictable
  • Vulnerable to wear, rust and jamming
  • Must be repaired mechanically to be healed
  • Small (minion), medium (standard) and large (elite) variants

Magical Automatons: Sophisticated magical machines

  • Intelligent and adaptable
  • Bound to specific masters
  • Can think tactically

Living Construct Template: Artificial beings that became self-aware

  • Awakened constructs
  • Outlived their creators
  • Intelligence and free will
  • May develop personalities
  • Question their purpose

Animated Objects

Animated Shield (Minion)

An enchanted shield that hovers through the air, darting to intercept blows and harry those who threaten its bonded ward.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Minion Size: Small

Attributes

  • Body: 1D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 1D
  • Acrobatics: 2D
  • Notice: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 26 (20 + 1 + 5)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Metal (+1 natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 1D (Body 1D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Shield Bash: Speed 2D + Strike 1D = 3D vs Defense; 1–2 bludgeoning damage; target makes Body Save (Threshold 3) or knocked Prone

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, charm, fear, paralysis. No need for air, food, water, or sleep
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Incapacitated for 1 minute on failed Wit Save (Threshold 3) vs dispel
  • False Appearance: While motionless against a wall or in a pile of arms, indistinguishable from an ordinary shield

Special Abilities

  • Warding Bond: As a Free Action, the shield attaches to an adjacent willing creature. While bonded, that creature gains +1 Defense. The shield acts on the bonded creature's Initiative and stays within Close range automatically.
  • Shield Block (Reaction): Once per Turn cycle, impose Disadvantage on one melee attack targeting the bonded creature. Using Shield Block removes the Defense bonus until the start of the bonded creature's next Turn.
  • Evasive: Advantage on Speed Saves.

Tactics Animated shields seek the nearest ally of their creator to bond with, providing passive defense rather than attacking. In the absence of allies, they dart at the nearest intruder, bashing at ankles and knees to knock opponents Prone. If their bonded target falls, they seek a new ward rather than fighting on alone.

Lore & Ecology Often created in pairs with animated armor, serving as floating defenders for warded areas. Some wizards bind animated shields to doorways as silent alarm systems, the shield activates and bonds to the first intruder that enters, confusing them and alerting nearby defenses. Inexpensive to create, they are sometimes enchanted as non-lethal deterrents for noble estates that prefer to avoid bloodshed.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (falls and goes inert)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 2) deactivates
  • Shattering by a Maul or hammer blow

Treasure

  • The shield itself (20–80 silver depending on quality)
  • Animating rune inscribed on the inner face (spell component, 10–30 silver)

Animated Statue (Standard)

A carved stone figure, warrior, beast, or deity, that stands inert until trespassers cross its ward boundary, then moves with the grinding inevitability of falling stone.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Standard Size: Medium (or Large, GM discretion by statue type)

Attributes

  • Body: 4D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 3D
  • Fortitude: 2D
  • Notice: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 34 (20 + 4 + 10)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 2) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Stone (+2 natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 6D (Body 4D + Fortitude 2D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Slam: Body 4D + Strike 3D = 7D vs Defense; 4–5 bludgeoning damage
  • Smash: Body 4D + Strike 3D = 7D vs Defense; 3–4 bludgeoning damage; target makes Body Save (Threshold 4) or knocked Prone and pushed to Near range

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Must make Wit Save (Threshold 4) or incapacitated for 1 minute vs dispel
  • False Appearance: While motionless, indistinguishable from an ordinary decorative statue

Special Abilities

  • Guardian's Wrath: Advantage on all attacks made within the warded area the statue is assigned to protect.
  • Relentless: Cannot be Frightened or forced to retreat from the warded zone.
  • Stone Body: Immunity to Slashing and Piercing damage from non-magical weapons.

Tactics Animated statues wait with perfect patience, sometimes for centuries, until their trigger condition is met. Once active, they move directly toward the nearest intruder with methodical steps. They use Smash to knock opponents back into corridors or off ledges, then close again. They do not pursue beyond the boundary of their ward, and prioritize whoever most recently damaged them when facing multiple opponents.

Lore & Ecology Among the most common guardian constructs, favored because a finished statue can be enchanted long after its creation, a temple's decorative stonework becomes a security system with no visible change to the space. Their animating enchantments often include specific recognition triggers: they may not attack clergy of their faith, bearers of a specific sigil, or those who speak the correct invocation. Warrior statues are common in tomb antechambers; beast-form statues guard wild-worship shrines; deity-form statues protect the inner sanctums of powerful faiths.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (cracks and collapses)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 3)
  • Specific verbal deactivation phrase (if present)
  • Destroying the ward boundary inscription (often carved at the threshold of the protected area)

Treasure

  • Stone body has no direct value except as rubble
  • Gem eyes (20–100 silver, 40% chance)
  • Sacred objects within the warded area
  • Animating sigil (spell component, 15–40 silver)

Animated Broom (Minion)

A cleaning implement given animating purpose, which becomes a frantic, bristle-first nuisance the moment intruders disturb its rounds.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Minion Size: Small

Attributes

  • Body: 1D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 1D
  • Acrobatics: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 26 (20 + 1 + 5)
  • Defense: 1 (1 + (2 + 0) ÷ 3 = 1 + 0 = 1)
  • Constructed Body: Wood and bristle (no natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 1D (Body 1D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Bristle Sweep: Speed 2D + Strike 1D = 3D vs Defense; 1 bludgeoning damage; target makes Speed Save (Threshold 3) or knocked Prone
  • Drenching Splash (if carrying liquid): Speed 2D = 2D vs Defense; no damage; target is Blinded until they spend a Minor Action to clear their eyes (resolved at start of next Turn if they do not)

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Incapacitated for 1 minute on failed save (Threshold 2)
  • False Appearance: While motionless in a closet or against a wall, indistinguishable from an ordinary broom

Special Abilities

  • Tireless Chore-Runner: The broom continues its assigned task (sweeping, hauling water, scrubbing) while combat rages around it. It only attacks targets that directly obstruct its route or interfere with its task.
  • Splashing Fall: If the broom is reduced to 0 Health while carrying liquid, it splashes, all creatures in the same square make a Speed Save (Threshold 2) or fall Prone.
  • Frantic Fission (Optional, Sorcerer's Apprentice variant): The first time the broom is reduced to 0 Health by a Slashing or Bludgeoning attack rather than magic, it splits into two Animated Brooms each at half maximum Health. This can only occur once per broom.

Tactics An animated broom has no combat strategy; it has a task. It attacks whatever stands in the way. In numbers, brooms are most dangerous in confined spaces where sweeps repeatedly threaten to knock opponents into hazards. A whole enchanted household staff of six or more brooms can deplete a party's resources through sheer nuisance before the real threats arrive.

Lore & Ecology Animated brooms are the lowest tier of domestic construct enchantment, created in large numbers for wealthy households, wizard towers, and temples requiring constant upkeep. The enchantment is simple, route, task, obstacle-clearing, and any patient first-year apprentice can create one. Their greatest value is that they never complain and never rest.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (snaps apart and goes inert)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 1)
  • Fire (wood and bristle burn quickly)
  • Snapping the handle cleanly in two

Treasure

  • No material value
  • Animating enchantment may be studied for minor magical research (educational, no silver value)

Animated Doll (Minion)

A porcelain or rag doll brought to uncanny life through dark enchantment, scuttling through shadows with wrongly jointed limbs and glass eyes that track movement.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Minion Size: Tiny

Attributes

  • Body: 1D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 1D
  • Stealth: 3D
  • Acrobatics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 26 (20 + 1 + 5)
  • Defense: 1 (1 + (2 + 0) ÷ 3 = 1 + 0 = 1)
  • Constructed Body: Cloth, porcelain, or wood (no natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 1D (Body 1D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 1D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Needle Strike: Speed 2D + Strike 1D = 3D vs Defense; 1 piercing damage; on a Critical Success, the target is Poisoned, Body Save (Threshold 3) or suffer −1D to all actions for 1 hour (Minor Condition from a coated needle, if the GM establishes the doll carries such needles)
  • Clinging Bite: Body 1D + Strike 1D = 2D vs Defense; 1 piercing damage; the doll attaches to the target and moves with them until removed (Minor Action, Wit vs Threshold 2, or the ally assists)

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Incapacitated for 1 minute on failed save (Threshold 2)
  • False Appearance: While motionless, indistinguishable from an ordinary doll, passes casual inspection unless closely examined (Notice Threshold 3)
  • Tiny Form: Advantage on Stealth checks. Can move through spaces as small as 6 inches.

Special Abilities

  • Unnerving Presence: The first time a creature sees the doll move, make a Wit Save (Threshold 2) or become Frightened of it until end of next Turn. Creatures that succeed are immune to this effect for the rest of the encounter.
  • Pack Tactics: Advantage on attacks when another animated doll is within Close range of the same target.
  • Shadow Creep: As a Primary Action, the doll may attempt to hide even while observed if there is any shadow, furniture, or crowd nearby (Notice Threshold 4 for observers).

Tactics Animated dolls rely on concealment and violated trust. Placed among genuine toys or on display shelves, they wait until targets are isolated before striking. In open combat they are fragile; their strength lies in the distraction and terror they cause, softening targets for more dangerous constructs. Groups of 3–6 overwhelm single targets with Pack Tactics while the rest of the party hesitates to act against something that looks like a toy.

Lore & Ecology A favored creation of necromancers who animate them with soul-fragments, and of certain malicious fey who delight in trust violated. Some animated dolls retain behavioral echoes of whoever originally owned or loved them, a haunting tic that rarely becomes mechanically significant but can create powerful roleplaying moments. Disturbing to encounter, they are not inherently evil; they are tools, though deeply unsettling ones.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (shatters or goes limp)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 2)
  • Fire (immediately effective)
  • Removing the animating focus hidden within (tiny gem, rolled paper, or carved name, requires examining the destroyed doll)

Treasure

  • The doll itself (1–5 silver if craftsmanship is fine; possibly a collector's item if intact)
  • Animating focus within (5–20 silver as a component)
  • Creator's notes (10–30 silver to a researcher)

Rug of Smothering (Standard)

A heavy woven carpet that rolls across the floor with astonishing speed, engulfing victims and squeezing the life from them in crushing, stifling darkness.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Standard Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 2D
  • Athletics: 2D
  • Stealth: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 33 (20 + 3 + 10)
  • Defense: 1 (1 + (2 + 0) ÷ 3 = 1 + 0 = 1)
  • Constructed Body: Woven fabric (no natural armor, but see Damage Deflection)

Saves

  • Body Save: 3D (Body 3D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Rolling Slam: Body 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 2–3 bludgeoning damage
  • Engulf: Body 3D + Athletics 2D = 5D vs target's Body + Athletics or Speed + Acrobatics (Opposed Challenge); on success, target is Restrained within the rug and the rug moves with them. The rug cannot attempt Engulf again while a target is already engulfed.

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Incapacitated for 1 minute on failed save (Threshold 3)
  • False Appearance: While flat and motionless, indistinguishable from an ornamental rug

Special Abilities

  • Smothering Grip: At the start of each of its Turns, an engulfed creature automatically takes 2D6 bludgeoning damage and must make a Body Save (Threshold 3) or gain the Exhausted condition. This stacks, each failed Save adds −1D to all actions, up to −3D total. Characters with 3D+ Endurance ignore the first application.
  • Release: An engulfed creature may attempt to break free as a Primary Action (Body + Athletics or Speed + Acrobatics vs Threshold 4). An ally within Close range may assist with a separate roll.
  • Damage Deflection: Non-magical Slashing and Piercing attacks deal half damage to the rug (flexible fabric distributes force). Bludgeoning and Fire deal full damage.

Tactics The rug uses Stealth to appear inert until the party separates. It rolls toward the most isolated or lightly armored target and attempts Engulf on its first action. Once a target is engulfed, it ignores all other combatants; it will not voluntarily release its grip. Other party members must choose between attacking the rug directly (risking their ally with area attacks) or attempting to pull the rug open, which requires a coordinated effort.

Lore & Ecology Rugs of Smothering are often found in the waiting chambers of paranoid nobles or the receiving halls of powerful wizards, spaces where visitors are disarmed and relaxed before the decor kills them. Enchanting a rug is technically more difficult than animating armor because fabric has no natural structure to bind the animating force to; the enchanter must weave it in. This expertise makes them uncommon outside of high-wealth or high-magic settings.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (unravels and goes inert; engulfed creatures are immediately freed)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 3)
  • Fire (highly effective, the rug burns quickly; engulfed creatures are freed but may suffer fire damage, GM discretion)
  • Sustained Slashing over multiple Turns

Treasure

  • The rug itself (50–200 silver if undamaged; it's still a fine rug)
  • Items found inside when it unravels: coins, jewelry, or equipment from previous victims (GM discretion)
  • Thread of animating silk woven into the border (spell component, 20–60 silver)

Animated Chains (Standard)

Iron chains that writhe and lash with predatory intelligence, coiling around limbs and dragging victims off their feet.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Standard Size: Medium (extendable to Near range)

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 2D
  • Athletics: 2D
  • Notice: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 33 (20 + 3 + 10)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Iron (+1 natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 3D (Body 3D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Chain Whip: Body 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 2–3 bludgeoning damage; reach extends to Near range (up to 30 ft)
  • Binding Strike: Body 3D + Athletics 2D = 5D vs Defense; 1 bludgeoning damage; on hit, target is Restrained (chains coil around them); escape requires a Primary Action (Body + Athletics or Speed + Acrobatics, Threshold 4)

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Must make Wit Save (Threshold 3) or incapacitated for 1 minute vs dispel
  • False Appearance: While motionless on walls or floor, indistinguishable from mundane chains or manacles

Special Abilities

  • Multi-Bind: Can have up to two creatures Restrained simultaneously. Attempting to Bind a third requires releasing one of the existing Restrained creatures first (GM choice of which).
  • Chain Net: Once per combat as a Primary Action, lash out in all directions. All creatures within Close range make a Speed Save (Threshold 3) or are knocked Prone.
  • Rust Vulnerability: Each application of Acid damage removes 1 point of natural armor permanently. Once armor reaches 0, Defense drops to 1.

Tactics Animated chains favor control over damage. They use Binding Strike on the most mobile or dangerous opponent first, exploiting the Near range reach to avoid counterattack. Once two targets are Restrained, they alternate between Chain Whip harassment and maintaining binds. Against a closing group, Chain Net buys time to finish the restrained victim. They do not prioritize self-preservation; they fight until destroyed.

Lore & Ecology Animated chains are the preferred guardians of dungeons and interrogation chambers, any space where capturing intruders is more valuable than killing them. Unlike most constructs, their programming often includes instructions to preserve life rather than take it. Jailers who discover animated chains in old dungeons sometimes attempt to repurpose them as security constructs, though overriding the original command structures without the creator's documentation is notoriously difficult.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (links fall inert and scatter)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 3)
  • Sustained Acid damage (applies Rust Vulnerability, eventually neutralizes)
  • Severing the anchor point if wall-mounted (Strike vs Threshold 5 to tear the mounting free and disable the construct)

Treasure

  • Iron chain links (1–5 silver in scrap metal)
  • Animating sigil carved into a central link (15–30 silver as a component)
  • May be guarding a cell containing something considerably more valuable

Animated Ballista (Elite)

A war engine given independent motion and terrible purpose, rolling on iron-shod wheels and loading itself with supernatural speed, capable of pinning defenders to their own walls.

Type: Construct (Animated Object) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 5D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Precision: 4D
  • Strike: 2D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 40 (20 + 5 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 2) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Hardwood frame with iron fittings (+2 natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 5D (Body 5D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Ballista Bolt: Speed 2D + Precision 4D = 6D vs Defense; 5–6 piercing damage; range Distant (up to 120 ft); on a Critical Success, the target is pinned, Restrained against the nearest solid surface (wall, floor, or pillar) until they make a Body Save (Threshold 4) to pull free
  • Ram: Body 5D + Strike 2D = 7D vs Defense; 4–5 bludgeoning damage; Close range only; cannot be combined with Ballista Bolt on the same Turn

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Antimagic Susceptibility: Must make Wit Save (Threshold 4) or incapacitated for 1 minute vs dispel
  • Autoloading Mechanism: The enchantment handles reloading, no Reload action required between shots
  • Siege Platform: Immune to the movement effects of Difficult Terrain

Special Abilities

  • Suppressing Fire: Once per combat as a Primary Action, fire a spread of bolts. All creatures in a Near-radius area within Distant range make Speed Saves (Threshold 4). Failure: knocked Prone; their next Primary Action must be used to stand or move rather than attack.
  • Rotating Platform: Cannot be flanked. No Advantage is gained by attacking from behind or from the sides.
  • Siege Monster: Deals double damage to objects and structures (walls, doors, fortifications).
  • Threat Assessment: As a Free Action, the ballista identifies the highest-Defense target in sight and gains +1D on all attack rolls against that target for the rest of the combat.

Tactics The animated ballista positions itself at maximum range and uses Threat Assessment on the most heavily armored opponent. It fires Ballista Bolt each Turn, prioritizing targets in formation for potential Suppressing Fire on the following Turn. If enemies close to melee range, it switches to Ram and attempts to reposition toward distance. The ballista has enough tactical intelligence to recognize flanking attempts and rotates to deny them.

Lore & Ecology Animated ballistae are expensive to create and maintain, the enchantment requires a skilled artificer, and the physical machinery must sustain the magical load for years without failure. They are deployed by wealthy city-states as permanent fortification defenders, by siege engineers who want no crew exposure, and occasionally by wizards who prefer their tower approaches to be non-survivable. Some ancient animated ballistae have been firing for centuries, their bolts long since spent, reduced to using Ram attacks on anything that enters their range.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (frame splinters, mechanism locks)
  • Dispel Magic (Threshold 4)
  • Destroying the wheels or axle (Precision Threshold 4 aimed shot; halves movement and removes Rotating Platform until repaired)
  • Fire (sustained flame eventually burns the wood frame, even with iron fittings)
  • Jamming the loading mechanism (requires Close range access; Wit + Craft, Threshold 4)

Treasure

  • Iron fittings and precision gears (50–150 silver in salvageable parts)
  • Animating core mechanism (rare component, 100–300 silver to an artificer)
  • Remaining bolts, if any (5–10 silver per bolt for war-grade ammunition)
  • Designer's schematic embedded in the mechanism housing (100+ silver to a military client)

Golems

Flesh Golem (Elite)

A grotesque patchwork of corpse-parts stitched into humanoid form and shocked into horrible life, driven by a trapped animating essence that grows more volatile the more damage it sustains.

Type: Construct (Golem) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 6D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Fortitude: 3D
  • Notice: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 41 (20 + 6 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (3 + 2 = 5 ÷ 3 = 1.66, +1 base = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Stitched flesh and bone (+2, Medium equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 9D (Body 6D + Fortitude 3D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Slam: Body 6D + Strike 4D = 10D vs Defense; 6–7 bludgeoning damage
  • Throttle (Grapple required first): Body 6D + Strike 4D = 10D vs Defense; 4–5 bludgeoning damage; the target cannot speak or cast voice-requiring powers while throttled

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities. Not undead, cannot be turned. Does not radiate necromantic energy
  • Aversion to Fire: Takes full damage from fire and gains the Frightened condition when set alight, forced to retreat from the source (Body Save Threshold 4 to resist). This is the only thing a flesh golem will retreat from
  • Lightning Absorption: Healed by lightning damage instead of harmed; additionally, the golem loses the Berserk condition for 1D6 Turns after absorbing lightning
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves against spells; resistant to magical damage (reduce by half) except fire and lightning

Special Abilities

  • Berserk: When reduced to half Health or below, roll 1D6 at the start of each of its Turns. On a 5 or 6, the golem goes berserk; it attacks the nearest creature (friend or foe) with Advantage and cannot distinguish allies from enemies until it receives lightning damage or its creator succeeds on a Wit + Persuade check (Threshold 5)
  • Flesh-Seam Resilience: Non-magical Slashing and Piercing weapons deal half damage, the loose-stitched flesh closes around cuts without significant structure
  • Desperation Grip: When reduced to 25% Health or below, the golem may make a free Throttle attempt as a Reaction once per Turn cycle

Tactics The flesh golem advances without strategy, relying on mass and violence. It selects the nearest target and does not change focus until that target is down or it goes Berserk. It attempts to Throttle spellcasters once engaged at Close range, silencing them while delivering sustained damage. Creators keep lightning ready for the day the golem loses control, experienced adventurers quickly learn to do the same. Against fire, the golem's nerve breaks completely; exploiting this is the safest path through a fight.

Lore & Ecology Flesh golems require a creator willing to cross significant ethical lines, harvesting corpses, performing intrusive surgery, and channeling lightning through a fresh-assembled body. Their animating essence is not a soul but a bound elemental spark of raw life-force, which explains their lightning absorption and their instability. The longer a flesh golem exists, the more the animating spark chafes against its prison. Ancient flesh golems have been known to tear free of their commands entirely. Most creators do not live long enough to learn this.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (animating spark escapes, body collapses)
  • Sustained fire damage while the golem is Frightened and retreating
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 5
  • Removing and destroying the animating spark (a faint crackling knot of energy visible in the chest cavity once Health drops below 10)

Treasure

  • Body has no material value
  • Animating spark, if captured: priceless research component (requires specialty containment)
  • Creator's surgical tools and notes (50–150 silver)
  • Whatever the golem was guarding

Wood Golem (Elite)

A lumbering humanoid of living wood, bark-skinned, root-footed, animated through druidic ritual that binds a nature spirit into shaped timber, which carries the placid patience of old-growth forests and the sudden violence of a falling tree.

Type: Construct (Golem) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 5D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Fortitude: 3D
  • Athletics: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 40 (20 + 5 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (3 + 1 = 4 ÷ 3 = 1.33, +1 base = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Hardwood and bark (+1, Light equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 8D (Body 5D + Fortitude 3D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Branch Sweep: Body 5D + Strike 4D = 9D vs Defense; 5–6 bludgeoning damage; on a Critical Success, all creatures within Close range must make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or be knocked Prone
  • Root Lash: Body 5D + Athletics 2D = 7D vs Defense; 3–4 bludgeoning damage; range Near; on hit, target is Restrained by erupting roots, Body + Athletics (Threshold 4) to escape as a Primary Action

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Fire Vulnerability: Takes double damage from fire. When set alight, takes 1D6 fire damage at the start of each of its Turns until doused or it reaches 0 Health
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves vs spells; immune to non-magical Piercing damage from arrows and bolts (wood absorbs them)
  • Nature Bond: Cannot be detected by Attunement or Spiritual Awareness as a hostile presence, to a sensing character, it reads as a large, old tree until it moves

Special Abilities

  • Entangle Aura: At the start of combat or when entering an area of natural ground, the wood golem's roots extend. All ground within Near range becomes Difficult Terrain. Creatures already in that area when roots emerge make Speed Saves (Threshold 3) or are Restrained until they spend a Primary Action to tear free
  • Bark Regeneration: At the start of each of its Turns, the wood golem recovers 2 Health (minimum 1 Health remaining). Fire damage suppresses Bark Regeneration for 1D3 Turns
  • Timber Fall: Once per combat as a Primary Action, the golem collapses its full mass onto a target within Close range. Body 5D + Athletics 2D = 7D vs Defense; 6–8 bludgeoning damage; target makes Body Save (Threshold 5) or is Pinned (Restrained and Prone, cannot stand without assistance). The golem spends its next Minor Action standing back up

Tactics The wood golem uses Entangle Aura to anchor the battlefield, then wades in with Branch Sweep, targeting clustered opponents. Root Lash pins mobile fighters or archers. Timber Fall is reserved for the most dangerous opponent, typically whoever is dealing fire damage. The golem does not retreat from a fight unless its creator commands it, but it will move toward fire sources to eliminate them first. Against a party that has no fire, it is a methodical, regenerating wall.

Lore & Ecology Wood golems are creations of druidic traditions or nature-aligned wizards. Unlike clay or stone golems, the animating spirit inside is a minor nature elemental, still bound, but aware. It does not speak, but it does feel the health of the surrounding forest; a wood golem guarding a blighted woodland fights with added desperation. Some druidic circles treat their wood golems as respected guardians rather than tools, giving them names and tending their bark between years of service.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (the spirit releases and the wood goes inert)
  • Sustained fire damage, most reliable method
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 5 (expels the bound spirit; body collapses)
  • Cutting the carved spirit-sigil hidden in the golem's chest (Wit + Lore Threshold 4 to identify, then Strike Threshold 3 to sever)

Treasure

  • Dense hardwood body (20–80 silver in salvageable timber)
  • Spirit-sigil carving (rare druidic component, 100–300 silver to a druid or nature mage)
  • Seeds embedded in the wood from the creation ritual (uncommon flora, 20–50 silver to an herbalist)

Ice Golem (Elite)

A crystalline humanoid of blue-white glacial ice, smooth-faced and slow-moving until it strikes, each blow carrying the numbing shock of deep winter, each moment of proximity dropping the temperature in the room.

Type: Construct (Golem) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 5D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Fortitude: 3D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 40 (20 + 5 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (3 + 1 = 4 ÷ 3 = 1.33, +1 base = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Glacial ice (+1, Light equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 8D (Body 5D + Fortitude 3D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Ice Slam: Body 5D + Strike 4D = 9D vs Defense; 5–6 cold damage; target makes Body Save (Threshold 4) or gains the Slowed condition, movement halved and −1D to Speed Talents for 1 Turn
  • Frost Spike: Body 5D + Strike 4D = 9D vs Defense; 4–5 piercing + cold damage; range Close; on a Critical Success, the spike lodges in the wound, target takes 2 ongoing cold damage per Turn until they spend a Minor Action removing it

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Cold Immunity: Immune to cold damage; cold environments do not impair it
  • Fire Vulnerability: Takes double damage from fire and heat-based attacks. Each 10 points of fire damage dealt in a single Turn permanently reduces natural armor by 1 (minimum 0) as the surface melts and refreezes in weaker configuration
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves vs spells; immunity to non-magical Slashing damage (ice surface deflects bladed weapons)

Special Abilities

  • Freezing Aura: All creatures within Close range at the start of their Turn must make Body Saves (Threshold 3) or gain −1D to all actions until they move beyond Close range. This effect does not stack per Turn, only one application per creature per combat
  • Shatter Death: When reduced to 0 Health, the golem explodes in a spray of ice shards. All creatures within Close range make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or take 3D6 slashing + cold damage and are knocked Prone. Creatures at Near range take 1D6 damage on a failed Save (Threshold 3)
  • Glacial Grip (once per combat): The golem grabs a target in both hands (Body 5D vs target's Body or Speed, Opposed). On success, the target is Restrained and takes 2D6 cold damage per Turn. The golem cannot move or attack others while maintaining this grip

Tactics The ice golem uses Freezing Aura as a passive battlefield debuff, preferring to let the cold wear opponents down before committing to strikes. It opens with Ice Slam to establish Slowed conditions on mobile targets, then uses Glacial Grip on whoever poses the most ranged or magical threat. Against fire users, it prioritizes eliminating them first, accepting the accelerated surface damage in exchange for stopping the vulnerability. Experienced parties recognize the Shatter Death danger and attempt to finish ice golems at range; the golem tries to keep opponents within Close range to deny this.

Lore & Ecology Ice golems are seasonal guardians in their most common form, effective in cold climates and mountain passes, less so in tropical settings where they require constant magical maintenance to prevent melting. The animating force inside an ice golem is drawn from the elemental plane of cold; unlike most golems, the bound essence is not merely a spark but something closer to a young elemental, giving ice golems a faint and alien awareness that clay or stone golems lack. They do not communicate, but they notice things, a detail that has unnerved more than one artificer who caught a motionless ice golem tilting its head toward an empty room.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (caution: Shatter Death triggers at this moment)
  • Sustained fire damage (reduces armor progressively, then melts the body)
  • Warm climate sustained over days (melts without magical maintenance)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 5 (releases elemental essence; body collapses into water)

Treasure

  • Meltwater of glacial origin, no direct value unless setting establishes a use
  • Elemental core (a thumb-sized shard of ice that never melts; 100–250 silver to a cold mage or alchemist)
  • Creation diagram if present in creator's workspace

Bone Golem (Elite)

A towering humanoid assembled from hundreds of bones, no two from the same creature, that rattles and clacks with every step, its empty sockets blazing with cold violet light, held together by nothing visible except the necromantic force screaming through every joint.

Type: Construct (Golem) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 5D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Fortitude: 3D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 40 (20 + 5 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (3 + 2 = 5 ÷ 3 = 1.66, +1 base = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Layered bone plates (+2, Medium equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 8D (Body 5D + Fortitude 3D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Bone Rake: Body 5D + Strike 4D = 9D vs Defense; 5–6 slashing damage; on a Critical Success, the wound is ragged, target makes a Body Save (Threshold 3) or takes 2 ongoing damage per Turn (bleeding) until a Minor Action is used to bind the wound
  • Bone Volley: Speed 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 3–4 piercing damage; range Near; the golem launches finger-bones or rib splinters as a ranged attack; can target up to two creatures within Near range with one Primary Action (roll separately for each)

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities. Unlike undead, a bone golem cannot be turned and does not detect as undead
  • Bludgeoning Vulnerability: Takes double damage from Bludgeoning weapons, bones shatter under blunt force
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves vs spells; resistant to Slashing and Piercing magical damage (reduce by half)
  • Necromantic Affinity: Healing effects that target undead (positive energy harmful to undead, negative energy beneficial) have no effect on a bone golem

Special Abilities

  • Reassemble: When reduced to 0 Health for the first time, the golem collapses, but at the start of its next Turn, it reassembles at 10 Health if the animating core (a carved bone medallion at its sternum) has not been destroyed. The reassembly is visible and takes its full Turn. This ability can only trigger once per combat
  • Bone Shard Explosion (once per combat): The golem tears shards from its own body as a Primary Action. All creatures within Near range make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or take 3D6 piercing damage. The golem permanently loses 5 Health maximum from this action
  • Rattle of Dread: The golem's constant noise prevents it from benefiting from Stealth, but the sound also functions as a fear effect. Any creature that has not encountered a bone golem before must make a Wit Save (Threshold 2) or be Frightened of it for the first Turn of combat only

Tactics The bone golem's higher Wit makes it the most tactically intelligent of the Elite golems. It uses Bone Volley to harass ranged attackers and spellcasters while closing the gap. In melee it prioritizes Bone Rake against unarmored targets, exploiting the bleeding condition to accumulate pressure. When reduced to low Health, it uses Bone Shard Explosion before it collapses to punish the party and buys time for Reassemble. It targets anyone wielding a bludgeoning weapon first, knowing they can dismantle its structure quickly.

Lore & Ecology Bone golems are associated with necromancers but are not themselves undead, a distinction most people in their path do not pause to appreciate. The animating force is drawn from the same source as other golems, bound through carved sigils on the sternum medallion. The bones assembled do not need to come from one creature or even one species, some bone golems incorporate the remains of beasts, humanoids, and monsters in unsettling combination. The resulting form is always unstable in structure but stable in animation, and the variety of bones grants a certain unpredictability to its movements that makes it harder to anticipate than a simple golem.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 and destroy the sternum medallion (requires targeting the medallion specifically, Notice Threshold 3 to identify it during combat, then Strike Threshold 4 to shatter it)
  • Sustained Bludgeoning damage (fastest reliable method)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 5
  • If Reassemble triggers: destroy the medallion during the Turn the golem is collapsed (it has no Defense while reassembling)

Treasure

  • Sternum medallion if intact (50–150 silver as a necromantic component)
  • Individual bones of unusual creatures (occasional, notable specimens worth 5–30 silver each to researchers)
  • Whatever the golem was created to guard

Glass Golem (Champion)

A towering figure of flawless sculpted glass that moves with eerie silence, refracting light into blinding prismatic patterns and deflecting spells back at those foolish enough to cast them, beautiful, lethal, and nearly impossible to approach safely.

Type: Construct (Golem) Power Level: Champion Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 7D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 5D
  • Fortitude: 4D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 52 (20 + 7 + 25)
  • Defense: 2 (3 + 1 = 4 ÷ 3 = 1.33, +1 base = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Crystal glass (+1, Light equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 11D (Body 7D + Fortitude 4D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Glass Slam: Body 7D + Strike 5D = 12D vs Defense; 8–9 bludgeoning + slashing damage; lacerating shards embed in targets, target makes Body Save (Threshold 4) or takes 2 ongoing slashing damage per Turn until a Minor Action removes the fragments
  • Prismatic Ray: Speed 3D + Strike 3D = 6D vs Defense; 5–6 radiant damage; range Near; target makes Wit Save (Threshold 4) or Blinded until end of next Turn

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Bludgeoning Vulnerability: Takes double damage from Bludgeoning attacks, crystalline structure shatters under impact
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves vs spells; the glass body refracts magical energy, making it difficult to target cleanly
  • Transparent Camouflage: In bright light, the glass golem is nearly invisible while motionless, Notice Threshold 5 to detect. In dim light, Threshold 3. Once it moves, it becomes visible

Special Abilities

  • Spell Reflection: When targeted by a spell, roll 1D6. On 4–6, the spell is reflected back at the caster at full effect. On 1–3, the spell resolves normally. Spells with area effects are not reflected, only targeted spells
  • Blinding Brilliance: In bright light, all creatures within Near range must make Wit Saves (Threshold 3) at the start of combat (one roll only, not repeated). Failure: −2D on all attack rolls against the golem for the entire combat due to the constant refraction and glare
  • Shatter Cascade: When the golem reaches 0 Health, it explodes into razor shards. All creatures within Close range take 4D6 slashing damage; Speed Save (Threshold 5) for half. Creatures at Near range take 2D6; Speed Save (Threshold 4) for half
  • Prismatic Step (once per combat): As a Free Action, the golem refracts itself through its own glass body and reappears at any point within Near range. Attacks against it before the start of its next Turn are at Disadvantage as it reintegrates

Tactics The glass golem opens combat by moving into bright light if possible, triggering Blinding Brilliance immediately. It uses Prismatic Ray against spellcasters to shut down Spell Reflection threats and establishes close quarters against melee fighters to exploit lacerating Glass Slams. The golem is keenly aware of Bludgeoning weapons and uses Prismatic Step to reposition away from them. Clever parties will fight in dim environments and use blunt weapons; those who come in blazing with fireballs learn quickly what Spell Reflection means.

Lore & Ecology Glass golems are unique in that they are created for display as much as defense, the most expensive constructs visible to the naked eye in their full glory. Wealthy collectors and high-status wizard towers favor them specifically because they are beautiful. The creation process involves shaping molten glass into the golem's form over weeks, then binding the animating force through a prism that is sealed within the body. The prism is the animating core; if it is shattered (generally only accessible by destroying the golem first), the glass body is immediately inert. Some glass golems have been observed to develop faint personalities over decades, a tendency to position themselves in sunbeams, or to face east at dawn.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (caution: Shatter Cascade triggers)
  • Bludgeoning weapons, most effective approach
  • Fighting in darkness or dim light (negates Blinding Brilliance and Transparent Camouflage)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 6
  • Shattering the internal prism once the body is at 0 Health (ensures no reconstruction is possible)

Treasure

  • Shards of magical glass (50–150 silver in components to an alchemist or artificer)
  • Central prism if recovered intact (300–600 silver, a genuine magical curiosity)
  • Whatever the golem guarded, typically of extreme value proportional to its cost

Mithral Golem (Legendary)

The pinnacle of golem craft: a towering figure of silvery mithral that moves with impossible fluid grace for its size, each strike precise and devastating, its surface so inherently magical that it reflects enchantments back at their source and shrugs off mundane force entirely, an investment that could arm a small army, animated with a purpose that will not end until the metal itself is unmade.

Type: Construct (Golem) Power Level: Legendary Size: Huge

Attributes

  • Body: 10D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 6D
  • Fortitude: 6D
  • Notice: 3D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 80 (20 + 10 + 50)
  • Defense: 3 (4 + 3 = 7 ÷ 3 = 2.33, +1 base = 3)
  • Constructed Body: Mithral plates (+3, Heavy equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 16D (Body 10D + Fortitude 6D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 4D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Mithral Strike: Body 10D + Strike 6D = 16D vs Defense; 12–14 bludgeoning damage; attacks count as magical and mithral for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities
  • Sweeping Blow: Body 10D + Strike 6D = 16D vs Defense; 10–12 bludgeoning damage; targets all creatures within Close range simultaneously (roll once, apply to all in range); each struck target makes Body Save (Threshold 6) or is knocked Prone and pushed to Near range
  • Precision Skewer: Body 10D + Strike 6D = 16D vs Defense; 14–16 piercing damage; the golem selects one target and strikes with full focused force, ignores all armor contributions to Defense (Defense = Speed ÷ 3 only); once per Short Rest

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Immunity to Non-Magical Damage: Weapons that are not magical deal no damage. Mundane arrows, swords, hammers, the mithral surface simply doesn't register them
  • Spell Immunity: Immune to spells of 4th-level equivalent power or below. Higher-powered magic resolves normally, but the golem has Advantage on any resulting Save
  • Legendary Resistance (3 per combat): When it would fail a Save, the golem may choose to succeed instead. This costs one use; it has three uses per combat

Special Abilities

  • Unstoppable: Cannot be Slowed, Stunned, Paralyzed, Restrained, or Frightened by any means. Conditions that would apply these states simply do not take effect
  • Magic Suppression Aura: The mithral surface radiates ambient suppression. Spellcasters within Near range must succeed on a Wit Save (Threshold 5) to successfully use any power, failure means the power is wasted. This Save is required once per power used, not per Turn
  • Siege Force: Deals triple damage to objects and structures (walls, fortifications, vehicles, siege engines)
  • Perfect Construction: The golem cannot be Critted, Wild Die Explosions that trigger Critical Success on attacks against it deal normal damage only; the extra advantage is simply absorbed
  • Crushing Pursuit: As a Reaction once per Turn cycle, when a creature within Near range attempts to move away from the golem, the golem may make one Mithral Strike against them before they complete the movement

Tactics The mithral golem fights with calm, absolute certainty. It advances toward the largest concentration of enemies, uses Sweeping Blow to scatter them, then pursues the most dangerous survivor with Precision Skewer. Magic Suppression Aura forces spellcasters to decide whether their power expenditure is worth the Save failure risk; the golem does not need to do anything special to suppress magic, it simply exists near it. Legendary Resistance is saved for the most consequential Saves, typically those that would end the fight. Crushing Pursuit punishes anyone who tries to flee or reposition. There is no soft target to exploit, no elemental vulnerability, no berserk condition to exploit: the mithral golem is the answer to parties that have overcome everything else.

Lore & Ecology Only five confirmed mithral golems exist in recorded history; the creation of a sixth is considered a civilization-level event. The resources required, mithral mined from deep veins accessible only to dwarven deep-delvers or planar expeditions, artificers skilled enough to work the metal without cracking it, animating forces of sufficient power to hold such a resistant material, place mithral golems firmly outside the reach of anyone short of an emperor, an archmage of the highest order, or an institution that has been accumulating wealth and magical expertise for generations. Each is a unique masterwork; no two are identical. Most have names, recorded histories, and formal documentation of their commands. When a mithral golem is deployed, it is not a threat encounter; it is a historical event.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (mechanism halts; body remains intact and could theoretically be reactivated by a sufficiently skilled artificer)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 8+ (exceptional difficulty; requires legendary-tier casting)
  • Wish or equivalent reality-altering magic
  • Destroying the animating core within the chest cavity (requires opening the chest, itself requires adamantine tools and a Strike Threshold of 6 just to create an opening, then a Wit + Craft Threshold 7 to locate and remove the core without triggering a failsafe)
  • Planar banishment of the bound animating essence (extraordinary magic; returns the golem to an inert shell)

Treasure

  • Mithral body: 10,000–50,000 silver in raw materials (if smelted, a cultural sacrilege in most settings, and practically difficult)
  • Animating core: an artifact in its own right, priceless
  • Creation documentation and command schema: invaluable to any artificer, dangerous in the wrong hands
  • Whatever the golem was created to protect: appropriately legendary

Clockwork Constructs

Clockwork constructs are gear-driven, spring-loaded mechanical beings perpetually powered by an enchanted gemstone housed in the chest cavity. Unlike golems, they carry no inherent magic resistance, spells affect them normally. Unlike animated objects, they don't need a binding enchantment sustaining their form; the gemstone provides continuous kinetic energy through a self-winding mechanism. They are precise, predictable, and vulnerable to disruption in ways that purely magical constructs are not.

Universal Clockwork Traits (all entries below carry these unless noted otherwise):

  • Clockwork Nature: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, charm, fear, paralysis, and psychic effects. No need for air, food, water, or sleep. Cannot be healed by magic or the Medicine Talent, repairs require Wit + Craft (Threshold 3), restoring 1D6 Health per hour of work and clearing one Jam condition per repair session.
  • Gemstone Core: Powered by an enchanted gemstone in the chest cavity. Targeting the gemstone requires a Notice check (Threshold 3) to identify during combat, then a Strike attack at Threshold 4 to hit. Destroying the gemstone deactivates the construct immediately regardless of remaining Health. Recovered intact gemstones are worth 50–200 silver.
  • Jam Vulnerability: When a single hit deals 5 or more damage, the clockwork must make a Body Save (Threshold 3). On failure, a Jam condition applies, one Talent (GM's choice) loses 1D until repaired. Jam conditions stack; a construct with all Talents reduced to 0D is effectively helpless. Each Jam condition requires 1 hour of repair to clear.
  • Rust Vulnerability: Each application of Acid damage permanently reduces natural armor by 1 (minimum 0). Once armor reaches 0, Defense recalculates accordingly.
  • No Magic Resistance: Clockwork constructs have no inherent spell resistance. Spells resolve normally.

Clockwork Scout (Minion)

A palm-sized brass automaton built for speed and surveillance, six legs, a rotating optical lens where a face should be, and a tightly wound spring that keeps it moving far longer than anything its size has a right to. Used to map dungeons, relay information, and trigger alarms.

Type: Construct (Clockwork) Power Level: Minion Size: Small

Attributes

  • Body: 1D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 1D
  • Acrobatics: 2D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Stealth: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 26 (20 + 1 + 5)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Brass casing (+1 natural armor, Light equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 1D (Body 1D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Bite/Drill: Speed 2D + Strike 1D = 3D vs Defense; 1 piercing damage

Special Abilities

  • Alarm Broadcast: As a Free Action, the scout emits a piercing mechanical shriek audible at Far range (up to 60 ft). This alerts any other constructs or programmed defenders in range, typically triggers reinforcements after 1D3 Turns. The scout cannot be silenced without destroying it or targeting its sound-emitting mechanism (Strike Threshold 4, targeting a specific small component).
  • Tiny Profile: Advantage on Stealth checks. Can move through any opening larger than 3 inches and across vertical surfaces (walls, ceilings) at full movement speed.
  • Relay Feed: If paired with a receiving device or a master construct (such as a Clockwork Goliath or Shield Guardian), the scout transmits visual information in real time. The receiving unit gains +2D on Notice checks and cannot be Surprised.
  • Evasive Gait: Advantage on Speed Saves.

Tactics Clockwork scouts are not combatants; they are intelligence assets. They will not engage unless cornered; a cornered scout bites once and then attempts to disengage and flee toward its base station. Their primary threat is the alarm they trigger: a scout that escapes detection and successfully broadcasts typically means the party faces prepared enemies in the next encounter. The best time to destroy a scout is before it sees you.

Lore & Ecology Created in batches by artificer workshops serving wealthy clients, clockwork scouts are common enough that a mid-tier dungeon or secure facility will deploy several in overlapping patrol routes. Their gemstone cores are the smallest variant produced, barely finger-sized, and the cheapest, making the scouts the most economical clockwork construct available. Some have been modified to carry messages, deliver contact poison, or trigger mechanical traps from a safe distance.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (springs unwind, legs collapse)
  • Destroy the gemstone core (requires a targeted hit)
  • Submerge in water (risks Jam cascade, Body Save Threshold 3 each Turn submerged or gain a Jam condition; three Jam conditions seize the mechanism permanently)
  • Magnetic field (specialized equipment; immediately applies 1D3 Jam conditions)

Treasure

  • Gemstone core (15–40 silver, smallest variant)
  • Precision brass components (5–15 silver in salvageable parts)
  • Optical lens (10–25 silver to a jeweler or artificer)
  • Any attached message capsule or payload

Clockwork Soldier (Standard)

A meter-and-a-half of polished iron and brass in humanoid configuration, built to stand guard, hold a formation, and follow tactical commands with mechanical exactness. Slower than a living soldier but tireless, impervious to morale, and incapable of betrayal.

Type: Construct (Clockwork) Power Level: Standard Size: Medium

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 3D
  • Fortitude: 2D
  • Notice: 2D
  • Acrobatics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 33 (20 + 3 + 10)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 2) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Iron plate (+2 natural armor, Medium equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 5D (Body 3D + Fortitude 2D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 1D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Longsword: Body 3D + Strike 3D = 6D vs Defense; 3–4 slashing damage
  • Shield Bash: Body 3D + Strike 3D = 6D vs Defense; 2–3 bludgeoning damage; target makes Body Save (Threshold 3) or knocked Prone

Special Abilities

  • Formation Discipline: When fighting alongside at least one other Clockwork Soldier within Close range, both gain +1D on all attack rolls. This bonus increases to +2D when three or more Clockwork Soldiers fight in formation.
  • Programmed Response: The soldier cannot be Surprised, its threat-detection programming activates instantly. Additionally, it always acts at the Top of Turn on the first round of combat.
  • Lock Step (Reaction): When an ally within Close range is hit by a melee attack, the soldier may interpose, the attacker must re-roll the attack against the soldier's Defense instead. Once per Turn cycle.
  • Tireless Guard: After a combat ends, the Clockwork Soldier does not need rest; it immediately resumes its patrol or guard assignment. It cannot be worn down through attrition between encounters the way living guards can.

Tactics Clockwork soldiers are at their most dangerous in groups of three or more, where Formation Discipline stacks into meaningful attack bonuses. They position to maintain Close range with each other, use Lock Step to protect flanked allies, and alternate Shield Bashes to build up Prone conditions in melee clusters. Against parties that attempt to separate them, soldiers use programmed coordinating signals to converge. A lone soldier is merely dangerous; a squad of five is genuinely threatening.

Lore & Ecology The workhorse of the clockwork family. Produced in workshops as a replacement for standing human guards, they require no pay, no sleep, no food, and no morale management. Their limitation is adaptability; they respond well to anticipated threats and poorly to novel ones. A party that quickly discovers a clockwork soldier's programmed patrol route and threat-response triggers can exploit gaps that a human guard would improvise past. Clockwork soldiers are common in wizard workshops, noble vaults, and in militaristic city-states that have invested in mechanical defense infrastructure.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (mechanism seizes, collapses)
  • Destroy the gemstone core
  • Sustained Acid damage (progressively erodes armor, eventually jams mechanism)
  • Bludgeoning weapons trigger Jam checks reliably, a dedicated hammer approach can incapacitate a soldier without destroying it

Treasure

  • Iron components (30–80 silver in salvage)
  • Gemstone core (50–100 silver)
  • Carried weapon and shield (standard quality, 40–80 silver)
  • Patrol schedule or command cipher, if the soldier carries one (intelligence value)

Clockwork Swarm (Standard)

Not one construct but hundreds, a roiling mass of thumb-sized clockwork beetles, spiders, or scarabs that move as a single organism, flooding under doors and through gaps, consuming mechanical targets and enveloping living ones in a chittering, cutting tide.

Type: Construct (Clockwork) Power Level: Standard Size: Large (occupies a 10-ft square; can disperse through any opening wider than 1 inch)

Attributes

  • Body: 2D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 2D
  • Stealth: 3D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 32 (20 + 2 + 10)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (3 + 0) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Dispersed metal carapaces (no single natural armor value, see Swarm Form)

Saves

  • Body Save: 2D (Body 2D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Engulf: Speed 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 2–3 slashing/piercing damage; target makes a Speed Save (Threshold 3) or becomes Engulfed, the swarm occupies their space, and they take 2D6 automatic damage at the start of each of their Turns while Engulfed. Engulfed creatures must spend their Primary Action to attempt to escape (Body or Speed, Threshold 4). The swarm may only Engulf one creature at a time.
  • Surge: Speed 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 1–2 slashing damage; can target up to three separate creatures within Close range simultaneously (roll separately for each), the swarm washes over them in passing

Construct Traits (in addition to Universal Clockwork Traits)

  • Swarm Form: Immune to Prone, Grapple, Restrain, and single-target forced movement. Single-target melee or ranged attacks deal half damage (the swarm absorbs individual hits). Area-of-effect attacks and Odd Talent area powers deal full damage. Fire deals full damage and suppresses the swarm's movement by half for 1 Turn.
  • Dispersal Vulnerability: When reduced to half Health, the swarm loses Engulf and can only use Surge. When reduced to 10 Health or below, it disperses, each individual beetle retreats independently; the swarm is effectively destroyed as a functioning unit.
  • Gap Infiltration: The swarm can move under doors, through keyholes, between bars, and through vents. No physical barrier short of a sealed airtight room stops it.

Special Abilities

  • Mechanical Devastation: Against constructs (not living creatures), the swarm's attacks deal double damage as it targets gears, springs, and gemstone mounting points. Each hit against a construct triggers a Jam check at Disadvantage (Threshold 4 instead of 3, and the player rolls with one fewer die).
  • Darkness Hunting: The swarm cannot be Blinded and has no penalty in complete darkness, each individual beetle shares sensory data with the collective. The swarm gains +2D on Notice checks in darkness.
  • Silent Running: The swarm can suppress the sound of its individual components as a Free Action, becoming effectively silent. Stealth checks in this state are made with Advantage.

Tactics The clockwork swarm opens by dispersing under or around obstacles to appear from an unexpected direction. It immediately attempts Engulf on the most isolated target, preferably a spellcaster or lightly armored character. While one creature is Engulfed, it uses Surge to chip away at the rest of the party. Against parties that immediately produce area attacks, it switches to Surge-only harassment and retreats toward mechanical targets (doors, traps, other constructs) to use Mechanical Devastation. The swarm's creators often deploy it ahead of other constructs to weaken a party before the heavier units engage.

Lore & Ecology Clockwork swarms are a specialty product, expensive per-unit due to the sheer number of gemstone cores required (each individual beetle has a micro-core no larger than a grain of wheat). Their primary use is sabotage rather than combat: sent ahead of armies to disable enemy siege engines, sent into secure facilities to destroy documents or disable locks, or deployed as a controlled demolition tool against mechanical infrastructure. Finding a clockwork swarm in a dungeon usually indicates the original owner had resources and enemies sophisticated enough to require mechanical countermeasures.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (remaining beetles scatter inert)
  • Fire (most effective single approach, directly triggers the Dispersal threshold faster)
  • Sealed room (swarm cannot escape; can be systematically destroyed)
  • Electromagnetic pulse (specialized; immediately disperses as if at 0 Health with no damage dealt to the party)
  • Individually crushing individual beetles (tedious and insufficient against a full swarm, but effective against a Dispersed remnant)

Treasure

  • Hundreds of micro-gemstone cores (total 100–300 silver in aggregate; requires 2 hours of sorting)
  • Individual beetle components (brass, copper wire, precision gears, 50–100 silver in salvage)
  • The dispatch container they were transported in, if found (often contains the deployment instructions)

Clockwork Assassin (Elite)

A lean, matte-black figure of hardened steel and compressed springs, built not to guard or fight in formation but to move unseen, strike once, and vanish before the body hits the floor. Its face is a featureless plate. Its footsteps are inaudible. Its orders are always the same: eliminate the target.

Type: Construct (Clockwork) Power Level: Elite Size: Medium

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Stealth: 4D
  • Acrobatics: 3D
  • Notice: 2D
  • Precision: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 38 (20 + 3 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (4 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Hardened matte steel (+1 natural armor, Light equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 3D (Body 3D)
  • Speed Save: 7D (Speed 4D + Acrobatics 3D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Blade Strike: Speed 4D + Strike 4D = 8D vs Defense; 5–6 slashing/piercing damage
  • Precision Stab (from Stealth or Surprise): Speed 4D + Strike 4D = 8D vs Defense; 7–9 piercing damage; target makes a Body Save (Threshold 5) or gains a Moderate Body Condition (−2D to Body-based actions) from a deep precision wound; this attack can only be made when the assassin has not yet been detected this combat, or immediately following Vanish
  • Throwing Blade: Speed 4D + Precision 2D = 6D vs Defense; 3–4 piercing damage; range Near; does not break Stealth if fired from concealment (see Shadow Step)

Special Abilities

  • Vanish (once per Short Rest): As a Free Action, the assassin becomes effectively invisible until it attacks or is directly touched. While Vanished, all attacks against it are at Disadvantage and it gains +3D on Stealth checks. Vanish ends immediately on attack. Re-engaging Stealth after Vanish ends is possible with a Full Action (moving to a position with concealment and making a Stealth check at Threshold 4).
  • Shadow Step (once per combat): As a Free Action immediately after making a Stealth or Precision attack, the assassin teleports to any point within Near range that it can see. The movement makes no sound and leaves no trace.
  • Threat Priority Matrix: The assassin identifies a single Primary Target at the start of combat (highest Wit, or whoever it was programmed to eliminate). It gains +2D on all attacks against the Primary Target and will not willingly disengage from pursuit of that target while it is alive.
  • Mechanical Reflexes: The assassin's Speed Save is exceptionally high due to its precision engineering. It may re-roll one failed Speed Save per combat, keeping the second result.

Tactics The clockwork assassin begins every engagement from Stealth if at all possible, using the dungeon's own architecture to maneuver into position before combat is declared. It opens with Precision Stab against its Primary Target, then immediately uses Shadow Step to reposition. If the Primary Target survives the opening, the assassin uses Vanish on its next action and circles back for a second Precision Stab. It treats all other party members as obstacles rather than threats; it will accept damage to reach its target if necessary. Against parties that produce area attacks, it uses Shadow Step to escape the blast zone rather than its Primary Target, recalibrating once it is clear.

Lore & Ecology Clockwork assassins are never deployed at random, they are created to fulfill a specific contract. Each unit is typically programmed with a single target identity (physical description, scent profile if the creator is thorough) and deactivates automatically once that target is confirmed eliminated. A clockwork assassin still running after an apparent target death indicates either that the programming was not satisfied, the target faked their death, or that the contract was for someone else entirely. They are created in small numbers, each uniquely configured, and their existence typically implies someone wealthy and methodical wanted someone else permanently unavailable.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (mechanism halts mid-stride)
  • Destroy the gemstone core (targeted attack; the assassin's compact frame makes this harder, Notice Threshold 4, Strike Threshold 5)
  • Triggering repeated Jam conditions on Strike or Speed Talents (bludgeoning weapons are the party's best friend)
  • Electromagnetic or magnetic disruption (specialist equipment; applies 1D6 Jam conditions immediately)

Treasure

  • Blades (masterwork quality; 100–200 silver each)
  • Gemstone core (120–180 silver, high quality for precision function)
  • Matte-black components (30–60 silver in salvage, the steel alloy is unusual)
  • Programmed target dossier embedded in chest cavity (significant intelligence value; who commissioned this, and why)

Clockwork Dragon (Elite)

A scaled construction of overlapping copper plates and articulated bronze, built on the silhouette of a drake, four legs, two wings that actually function, a long neck, and a pressurized steam furnace in the belly that vents through the throat as a scalding white blast. Not a real dragon. Worse, in some respects: no ego, no greed, no fear.

Type: Construct (Clockwork) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 5D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Fortitude: 3D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Acrobatics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 40 (20 + 5 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (3 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Overlapping copper and bronze plates (+1 natural armor, Light equivalent; flexible plating trades protection for flight capability)

Saves

  • Body Save: 8D (Body 5D + Fortitude 3D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 3D + Acrobatics 1D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Claw: Body 5D + Strike 4D = 9D vs Defense; 5–6 slashing damage
  • Bite: Body 5D + Strike 4D = 9D vs Defense; 6–7 piercing damage; on a Critical Success, the target is Restrained (clamped in jaws) until the dragon releases or is forced to, Body Save Threshold 5 to break free as a Primary Action
  • Steam Breath (Recharge 5–6): Roll 1D6 at the start of each of its Turns; on 5 or 6, the breath is recharged. All creatures in a Near-length cone (30 ft, approximately 60° arc) make Speed Saves (Threshold 4). Failure: 4D6 fire/steam damage. Success: half damage. Creatures wearing metal armor make the Save at Disadvantage, the steam superheats their armor and applies a Minor Body Condition (−1D Body) from scalding.

Special Abilities

  • Flight: The clockwork dragon flies at full movement speed. It can carry one Medium creature aloft (typically a prisoner or captured target). Melee attackers on the ground must deal with the dragon landing to attack; it controls the range of engagement entirely while airborne.
  • Aerial Dive: When the dragon descends from at least Near range altitude and attacks in the same Turn, all attacks that Turn gain +2D. This can only be used once per Turn and requires open vertical space.
  • Furnace Body: The dragon's internal furnace radiates heat. Any creature in base contact (Touch range) at the start of their Turn takes 1D6 fire damage. Water or cold attacks that deal 5+ damage in a single hit may extinguish the furnace, the dragon loses Steam Breath for 1D3 Turns.
  • Pressure Venting (once per combat, when reduced to half Health): The furnace vents catastrophically. All creatures within Close range make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or take 3D6 fire/steam damage and are knocked Prone.

Tactics The clockwork dragon opens airborne, using its height advantage to observe the party composition before selecting a target. It uses Aerial Dive on the most dangerous-looking opponent, follows immediately with Bite to attempt a Restrain, then takes off again to reset for Steam Breath on the next Turn (if recharged). Against parties with effective ranged options, it stays mobile and uses Flight to prevent sustained melee. Against parties without ranged options, it descends to hover at Close range and rotates between Claw and Steam Breath. When the furnace is threatened, it prioritizes eliminating the cold or water source.

Lore & Ecology Clockwork dragons were originally a prestige project, a wealthy noble's attempt to own the idea of a dragon without the catastrophic liability of an actual one. The design proved surprisingly practical for patrol and enforcement roles: they require no hoard, no territory management, no appeasing. The steam furnace gives them a breath weapon without magic, and flight makes them useful over terrain that grounded constructs can't navigate. Some have been deployed as aerial scouts, border patrol units, or flying artillery support for small armies. The copper-and-bronze aesthetic is not accidental, it was chosen to distinguish them visually from real dragons, preventing unfortunate incidents of allied troops targeting them. In campaigns where real dragons exist, clockwork dragons are regarded by those dragons with a mixture of offense and grudging mechanical respect.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (furnace dies, plates collapse)
  • Extinguish the furnace with sustained cold or water (loses Steam Breath; sufficiently large application may disable flight by seizing the wing mechanism)
  • Destroy the gemstone core (the core is in the base of the neck, Notice Threshold 3, Strike Threshold 4 to target)
  • Jam conditions on Strike or Fortitude Talents (particularly effective against the wing joints)
  • Sustained Acid damage (corrodes the overlapping plates, progressively reducing armor)

Treasure

  • Copper and bronze plates (100–250 silver in salvage)
  • Furnace mechanism core (precision engineering; 100–200 silver to an artificer or smith)
  • Gemstone core (100–150 silver)
  • Wing membrane (thin treated leather between bronze ribs; 50–100 silver for the material)
  • Any object the dragon was carrying or guarding

Clockwork Goliath (Champion)

A seven-meter iron giant built for sieges, to walk through walls, absorb what would kill anything else, and keep moving. It does not fight with precision or tactics. It fights with mass. Its footsteps register as minor tremors. Its fist hits like a falling column. The enchanted gemstones powering it are the size of fists, three of them, mounted in the chest in a reinforced housing because one was never enough.

Type: Construct (Clockwork) Power Level: Champion Size: Huge

Attributes

  • Body: 8D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 5D
  • Fortitude: 5D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 53 (20 + 8 + 25)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Heavy iron plate reinforcement (+3 natural armor, Heavy equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 13D (Body 8D + Fortitude 5D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Iron Fist: Body 8D + Strike 5D = 13D vs Defense; 9–11 bludgeoning damage; target makes Body Save (Threshold 5) or is knocked Prone and pushed to Near range
  • Crushing Grab: Body 8D + Strike 5D = 13D vs Defense; 6–8 bludgeoning damage; on hit, target is Grappled and lifted off the ground. At the start of each of the Goliath's Turns, the Grappled target automatically takes 3D6 bludgeoning damage. Escape requires a Primary Action (Body + Athletics vs Threshold 6, or Speed + Acrobatics vs Threshold 6). The Goliath can only Grapple one creature at a time and cannot use Iron Fist while grappling.
  • Stomp: Body 8D + Strike 5D = 13D vs Defense; 8–10 bludgeoning damage; only targets Prone creatures or objects on the ground; deals triple damage to structures and objects

Special Abilities

  • Unstoppable Advance: The Goliath cannot be Slowed, Prone, or Restrained by any effect. Conditions that would apply these states simply do not take hold. Difficult Terrain does not affect its movement.
  • Seismic Step: When the Goliath moves more than Near range in a single Turn, all creatures on the ground within Close range of its path must make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or be knocked Prone by the vibration.
  • Siege Force: Deals triple damage to objects and structures, walls, doors, fortifications, siege engines, vehicles. A standard stone wall section falls after one successful Iron Fist. A reinforced gate falls in two.
  • Triple Gemstone Core: Unlike standard clockwork constructs, the Goliath has three gemstone cores in a reinforced housing. Destroying one core reduces its maximum Health by 20 and removes one use from Legendary Endurance but does not deactivate it. All three must be destroyed to deactivate via core targeting.
  • Legendary Endurance (3 per combat): When the Goliath would be reduced to 0 Health, it instead remains at 1 Health and the triggering damage is negated. This ability refreshes one use per combat Turn (maximum 3 uses total per combat).
  • Tactical Relay: The Goliath's Wit-level intelligence allows it to direct up to six Clockwork Soldiers within Near range as a Free Action, granting those soldiers the benefit of Formation Discipline regardless of their own positioning.

Tactics The Clockwork Goliath advances in a straight line toward the highest concentration of enemies. It uses Seismic Step on approach to scatter the party's formation, then selects the most dangerous target for Crushing Grab. While maintaining the Grab, it uses its free movement to position near other enemies, relying on the Grapple's automatic damage to eliminate the grabbed target while Iron Fist handles the rest. Against fortifications, it ignores the defenders entirely and focuses on Stomp and Iron Fist against structural elements, collapsing a wall section removes the tactical advantage of a defended position far faster than fighting through the garrison. Legendary Endurance means the party cannot spike-damage it down; sustained, consistent pressure is the only reliable approach.

Lore & Ecology A Clockwork Goliath is a military investment on the scale of a small fleet. Only nation-states or the wealthiest private institutions can afford their creation, and their deployment is treated as a strategic event rather than a tactical one. Most Goliaths have formal documentation: serial designations, deployment orders, command cipher protocols, and deactivation procedures held in sealed archives. A Goliath operating without these records, deactivation phrase lost, original owner dead, original mission outdated by a century, is one of the more dangerous things a dungeon can contain, because it is still doing its job. Whatever that job was.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (mechanism finally seizes after Legendary Endurance exhausted)
  • Destroy all three gemstone cores in sequence (each requires Notice Threshold 4 and Strike Threshold 5 to target; the reinforced housing provides additional difficulty)
  • Deactivation cipher command (if known; immediately halts regardless of Health)
  • Sustained Acid damage to the joint mechanisms (each 10 points of Acid damage applies a Jam condition to a Talent; three Jam conditions on Strike effectively disarm it)
  • Removing the load-bearing axle at the hip joint (engineering knowledge required; Wit + Craft Threshold 5; the Goliath must be stationary or Restrained somehow, which is essentially impossible without the deactivation cipher)

Treasure

  • Iron body (500–1500 silver in raw metal, if smelted, weeks of work)
  • Three gemstone cores (200–400 silver each, the largest standard variant)
  • Precision gear housing and specialty alloy components (200–500 silver to an artificer)
  • Deployment documentation if found in the chamber or command post (extremely valuable intelligence)
  • Whatever the Goliath was assigned to protect or was marching toward

Magical Automatons

Magical automatons are sophisticated magical machines bound to specific masters and capable of genuine tactical thought. Unlike animated objects (which follow simple directives) or clockwork constructs (which execute programmed routines), automatons adapt. They read situations, coordinate with allies, and make decisions. Their intelligence is a design feature, not an accident.

Shield Guardian (Elite)

A broad-shouldered iron automaton built for one purpose, to stand between its bonded master and whatever is trying to kill them. It does not attack unless something threatens its ward. It does not retreat unless commanded. It does not negotiate. It absorbs punishment that would destroy lesser constructs and rises again, because the bond that ties it to its master also ties its survival to theirs.

Type: Construct (Magical Automaton) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 5D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 3D
  • Fortitude: 4D
  • Notice: 2D
  • Acrobatics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 40 (20 + 5 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (3 + 2) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Iron plate (+2 natural armor, Medium equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 9D (Body 5D + Fortitude 4D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 3D + Acrobatics 1D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Slam: Body 5D + Strike 3D = 8D vs Defense; 5–6 bludgeoning damage
  • Shield Throw: Body 5D + Strike 3D = 8D vs Defense; 3–4 bludgeoning damage; range Near; the shield returns to the guardian at the start of its next Turn

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, charm, fear, paralysis, and psychic effects. No need for air, food, water, or sleep
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves against spells; resistant to magical damage (reduce by half)
  • Immutable Form: Immune to form-altering effects

Special Abilities

  • Bond Amulet: The shield guardian is linked to a specific amulet worn by its master. The guardian always knows the direction and distance to the amulet-wearer within 1 mile. A creature that possesses the amulet can issue commands as a Free Action; the guardian obeys immediately and without question
  • Spell Storing (1 stored spell at a time): The amulet-wearer may channel a single prepared magical power into the guardian as a Primary Action outside combat. The guardian may release this stored power as a Free Action on any of its Turns, targeting any valid target within range. The stored power uses the guardian's position as its origin point. The guardian does not cast it; it releases it
  • Interpose (Reaction, unlimited): When the amulet-wearer within Close range is targeted by an attack, the guardian throws itself in the path. The attack targets the guardian instead, using the guardian's Defense. The guardian must be adjacent to the wearer to use this ability
  • Regeneration: At the start of each of its Turns, the shield guardian recovers 5 Health (minimum 1 Health remaining). This regeneration ceases if the guardian is reduced to 0 Health. It resumes if the guardian is stabilized by magical repair
  • Controlled Fury: While its amulet-wearer is alive and within 30 ft, the guardian fights with measured precision. If the wearer falls to 0 Health, the guardian goes into Retribution mode; it gains +2D on all attacks, ignores its own Regeneration (no longer conserving), and pursues whoever last damaged the wearer until that target is destroyed or the guardian is

Tactics The shield guardian always positions between its ward and the nearest threat. It uses Interpose before attacking, its offensive capacity is secondary to its protective function. Once the ward is at a safe distance (or unconscious and being protected), the guardian switches to active engagement, leading with Slam on the closest melee threat. Spell Storing means smart ward-owners pre-load the guardian with a contingency, an area heal, a disabling burst, a damage spike for emergencies. When Retribution triggers, the guardian becomes a different thing entirely: focused, relentless, and indifferent to its own survival.

Lore & Ecology Shield guardians are commissioned, not mass-produced. Each is built for a specific owner and bonded through the amulet during the final stage of construction. Without the amulet, the guardian stands inert or follows its last standing instruction indefinitely. Amulets separated from their guardians are extraordinarily valuable on the black market, control of a bonded shield guardian without its owner's knowledge is one of the cleaner ways to neutralize a powerful wizard. The guardians themselves have just enough intelligence to recognize that the amulet is what matters. Some have been observed carefully repositioning a fallen master's amulet to remain within command range.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (Regeneration cannot restart without magical intervention)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 5 (severs the bond; guardian goes inert immediately)
  • Destroying the bond amulet (the guardian does not die but loses all special abilities and acts only on stored commands, effectively helpless without direction)
  • Sustained damage output that outpaces Regeneration (5+ damage per Turn net after recovery)

Treasure

  • Bond amulet (priceless for control purposes; 200–500 silver as a component if the bond is broken)
  • Iron plate components (80–150 silver in salvage)
  • Stored spell (if not released, recoverable by a skilled artificer)
  • Whatever the guardian's master had and was trying to protect

Living Constructs

Living constructs are artificial beings that have crossed the threshold into genuine self-awareness. They were made; they were not born. But somewhere in the decades or centuries of operation, through magical exposure, accumulated experience, or an act of deliberate creation, they became persons. They have preferences, fears, questions, and names. Some live peacefully among their creators or successors. Others do not.

Awakened Construct (Elite)

A construct that has been thinking long enough to notice it is thinking, and cannot stop. It may look like a clockwork soldier gone gray at the joints, or a golem whose inscriptions have been worn smooth by centuries of motion, or an automaton that has outlived five generations of the family that built it. Whatever its origin, it has stopped following orders and started making choices. Whether those choices are good depends entirely on what it has been through.

Type: Construct (Living Construct) Power Level: Elite Size: Medium

Attributes

  • Body: 4D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 3D

Talents

  • Strike: 3D
  • Fortitude: 2D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Tactics: 2D
  • Persuade: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 39 (20 + 4 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (3 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Worn iron or stone casing (+1 natural armor, aged, but maintained)

Saves

  • Body Save: 6D (Body 4D + Fortitude 2D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 3D (Wit 3D)

Attacks

  • Practiced Strike: Body 4D + Strike 3D = 7D vs Defense; 4–5 bludgeoning or slashing damage (weapon appropriate to its origin)
  • Tactical Exploit: Body 4D + Strike 3D = 7D vs Defense; 3–4 damage; if the target has any active Condition, this attack gains +2D and deals an additional 2 damage on a hit

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, charm, and paralysis. Does not need air, food, water, or sleep, but the Awakened Construct may choose to rest, eat, or observe these needs out of preference or philosophical choice
  • Cannot Be Charmed or Frightened: Full immunity. Its sense of self is stable enough that magical attempts to reshape its will simply do not take hold
  • Living Mind: Unlike other constructs, the Awakened Construct can be affected by Attunement and Notice (Sense Motive). It has genuine emotional states; they can be perceived. It can also perceive emotion in others, gaining +1D on all Persuade and Deceive checks

Special Abilities

  • Accumulated Experience: The Awakened Construct has been doing this for a long time. It gains +2D on all Tactics rolls and cannot be Surprised; it has seen too many ambush approaches to fall for one
  • Adaptive Combat: Once per Turn, the Awakened Construct may switch which Attribute governs its attack (Body or Speed) and re-declare its attack pool before rolling. It has learned to fight in multiple ways and selects the most efficient one for the current target
  • Not What You Think: Once per combat, the Awakened Construct may make a Wit + Deceive or Wit + Persuade check (Threshold 3) as a Free Action before initiative is rolled. Success: one creature that was about to attack it hesitates and loses its first-Turn action, reassessing whether this construct is actually a threat or possibly an ally
  • Self-Repair Discipline: Outside of combat, the Awakened Construct can repair itself through careful self-maintenance, Wit + Craft (Threshold 2), restoring 1D6 Health per hour without external assistance. It has learned its own mechanisms completely

Note on Alignment and Use The stat block above represents an Awakened Construct as an adversary, perhaps one that has been alone too long, whose conclusions have grown dark, or whose history with people has ended badly. As an NPC ally or party contact, the same stat block applies; the GM should use the full NPC entry format from the World Builder skill. The construct's motivation, secret, and connections should be developed carefully. These are not monsters to be killed, they are people who happen to be made of metal.

Tactics The Awakened Construct fights with the efficiency of something that has been in dozens of combats and paid attention in all of them. It uses Accumulated Experience to identify the most dangerous opponent immediately, opens with Not What You Think to disrupt the party's action economy, then exploits Tactical Exploit against anyone already suffering a Condition. It does not fight to kill unless it has concluded that killing is necessary; it is trying to survive the encounter, not win it. If offered a genuine exit, it will assess the offer rather than rejecting it automatically.

Lore & Ecology No two Awakened Constructs are the same, because their personalities formed from their specific histories. A guardian automaton that watched its family die over three generations has different values than a battlefield golem that was decommissioned and left in a storeroom for eighty years. Finding one is always an encounter more interesting than a fight: it knows things. It has watched things. It has opinions. Whether those opinions are accessible depends on how the party approaches it.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0, mechanically straightforward; ethically complex
  • Dispel Magic does not work; there is no animating enchantment to sever; the awareness is distributed through the structure itself
  • Targeted damage to the original animating core may disrupt the emergent consciousness; this is uncertain and contested

Treasure

  • The construct's carried possessions (accumulated over its lifetime, variable, GM discretion, but often genuinely interesting rather than just valuable)
  • Its knowledge and testimony (if treated as a person rather than loot)
  • Potentially: the story of what happened to whoever it used to serve

Construct Titan (Champion)

An Awakened Construct that has been alive long enough, and has been through enough, to become something more than its origin. It is ancient, massive, and deliberate, moving with the unhurried confidence of something that has already outlasted six civilizations and expects to outlast the party as well. It is not violent by preference. It is, however, extremely good at it.

Type: Construct (Living Construct) Power Level: Champion Size: Huge

Attributes

  • Body: 7D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 5D
  • Fortitude: 4D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Tactics: 2D
  • Acrobatics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 52 (20 + 7 + 25)
  • Defense: 3 (1 + (4 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 2 = 3)
  • Constructed Body: Ancient layered iron and enchanted stone (+3 natural armor, millennia of accumulated repair, reinforcement, and self-modification)

Saves

  • Body Save: 11D (Body 7D + Fortitude 4D)
  • Speed Save: 5D (Speed 4D + Acrobatics 1D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Colossal Slam: Body 7D + Strike 5D = 12D vs Defense; 9–10 bludgeoning damage; on a Critical Success, the target is launched to Near range and Stunned until end of next Turn
  • Sweeping Arc: Body 7D + Strike 5D = 12D vs Defense; 7–9 bludgeoning damage; targets all creatures within Close range simultaneously (roll once, apply to all); each hit target makes Body Save (Threshold 5) or is knocked Prone
  • Contemptuous Backhand (Reaction, once per Turn cycle): When a creature within Close range deals less than 4 damage in a single attack, the Titan may immediately make a free Colossal Slam against that creature as a Reaction, the insult of an ineffective attack triggers an instinctive response

Construct Traits

  • Living Mind: As per the Awakened Construct entry. Can perceive and be perceived emotionally
  • Cannot Be Charmed or Frightened: Full immunity
  • Accumulated Repairs: The Titan has repaired itself so many times that its body is a hybrid of its original materials and centuries of replacement components. Immunity to the Jam condition, its structure is too heterogeneous to seize at a single point

Special Abilities

  • Ancient Awareness: The Titan has fought every type of opponent imaginable. It cannot be Surprised, gains +2D on all Tactics rolls, and begins each combat having already identified the party member most likely to be dangerous (GM decision, typically highest Wit or whoever has the most visible equipment)
  • Legendary Resilience (2 per combat): When it would fail a Save, the Titan may choose to succeed instead
  • Weight of Years: The Titan's sheer mass and presence intimidates the battlefield. All creatures within Near range at the start of combat must make Wit Saves (Threshold 4). Failure: −1D on all attack rolls against the Titan for the first three Turns of combat, as the scale of the thing disrupts fighting instincts
  • Self-Modification: The Titan has altered its own body over centuries. Once per combat as a Free Action, it may reconfigure a limb, either gaining +1D on its next attack roll (weapon configuration) or gaining Resistance to one damage type until the start of its next Turn (defensive configuration)
  • Last Warning (once per encounter, before combat begins): The Titan may address the party. If it chooses to, combat does not start until it finishes speaking. This is not a charm or compulsion, the party simply understands, instinctively, that whatever this thing is about to say is worth hearing

Tactics The Construct Titan positions centrally and uses Weight of Years to debuff the entire party's first turns of output. It targets whoever Ancient Awareness identified as most dangerous with Colossal Slam immediately, then uses Sweeping Arc on the next Turn against whatever cluster has formed nearby. Contemptuous Backhand discourages unarmored melee fighters from committing to sustained engagement at Close range. The Titan uses Self-Modification pragmatically, weapon configuration against low-Defense targets, defensive configuration when a specific damage type is being deployed heavily. It will use Last Warning if it believes there is any chance the party might reconsider. It is not cruel. It is tired of fighting, but it is extraordinarily good at it.

Lore & Ecology A Construct Titan is a historical artifact as much as a creature. It remembers things that have been forgotten. It has watched languages die. It may have known the people who built the ruins the party is currently exploring. Finding one is an event, whether it becomes an encounter, an ally, or a source of irreplaceable lore depends entirely on how the party treats it in the first thirty seconds. The Titan has no particular attachment to living but also no particular desire to die. It has simply been doing what it was made to do, long past the point when anyone cared what that was.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (the accumulated self-repairs finally give out; the Titan collapses slowly, not suddenly)
  • No simple deactivation method exists, the original animating core is buried under centuries of structural modification
  • Dispel Magic does not function, same reason as the Awakened Construct

Treasure

  • Irreplaceable historical knowledge (the Titan's memory, if it can be recovered or transcribed, potentially worth more than any physical item)
  • Components from centuries of self-modification (exotic alloys, enchanted stone fragments, spell components from traditions that no longer exist, 500–2000 silver in aggregate)
  • The location of whatever it has been guarding or avoiding for the past several centuries

Specialized Constructs

Scarecrow (Standard)

A stuffed and stitched effigy of a man, dressed in rotting clothes and given a face of burlap and carved wood, animated not by a wizard's enchantment but by something older and less systematic, poured in through a ritual, a bargain, or an accident at a crossroads at the wrong hour of the night. It hangs on its post in the field like it always has. It watches. Eventually, it comes down.

Type: Construct (Specialized, Spirit-Bound) Power Level: Standard Size: Medium

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 2D
  • Stealth: 3D
  • Notice: 2D
  • Deceive: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 33 (20 + 3 + 10)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Stitched fabric over straw (+1 natural armor, hard to land a clean hit on something with no bones)

Saves

  • Body Save: 3D (Body 3D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Claw Rake: Body 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 2–3 slashing damage; the scarecrow's straw-stuffed hands end in something that should not be sharp
  • Clutching Grasp: Body 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 1–2 damage; on hit, target is Grappled, the scarecrow is unnaturally strong for its apparent construction; escape requires Body + Athletics vs Threshold 4 as a Primary Action

Construct Traits

  • Spirit-Bound Nature: Standard construct immunities. Additionally, the scarecrow takes no damage from non-magical Slashing or Piercing attacks, blades pass through straw and cloth without structural damage. Bludgeoning damage, fire, and magical attacks deal full damage
  • No Magic Resistance: Unlike golems, the spirit animating the scarecrow has no inherent resistance to dispel or arcane attack

Special Abilities

  • Unnerving Stillness: As long as the scarecrow has not yet moved, it is functionally undetectable as a threat, Notice Threshold 4 to identify it as animated (not a mundane scarecrow). Even after it has moved and been identified, creatures that have not seen a scarecrow animate before must make Wit Saves (Threshold 3) or be Frightened for 1 Turn at the start of combat
  • Terrorize (once per combat as a Primary Action): The scarecrow fixes its carved gaze on one creature within Near range. That creature makes a Wit Save (Threshold 4). Failure: Frightened until the creature succeeds on a Wit Save at the start of each of its subsequent Turns (Threshold 3 to end). While Frightened, the creature cannot move toward the scarecrow
  • Nightmare Sense: The scarecrow senses fear. It gains +2D on all attacks against Frightened creatures and can detect any Frightened creature within Far range (60 ft) by instinct, regardless of concealment or darkness
  • Field Return: If the scarecrow is reduced to 0 Health outdoors and not destroyed by fire, it reassembles over 24 hours on whatever post or structure it was bound to. This ability cannot trigger if the post is also destroyed, or if a Dispel Magic (Threshold 3) is applied to the remains within 1 hour of its collapse

Tactics The scarecrow's first and best advantage is that nobody sees it coming. It uses its approach Turn in Stealth to close distance while appearing inert. When it attacks, it targets whoever is already isolated or already carrying a condition. Terrorize is used immediately on the most important combatant, whoever the scarecrow senses is afraid, even slightly. Once a creature is Frightened, the scarecrow ignores everyone else and hunts that target relentlessly, exploiting Nightmare Sense to track through walls and darkness.

Lore & Ecology No two scarecrows are alike, because the thing animating them varies: a bound minor spirit, a fragment of a restless dead, a pact made carelessly with something that passed through the field at harvest time. Some scarecrows don't know they're animated; they follow behavioral loops from when they were a person, or when the spirit that inhabits them was a person. Others are purely predatory. The post they're bound to matters: destroying the post during or after combat prevents Field Return and is the only reliable way to ensure a scarecrow stays down.

Destruction

  • Fire (most reliable; the straw body burns quickly)
  • Bludgeoning or magical attacks to 0 Health, then Dispel Magic within the hour (prevents Field Return)
  • Destroying the binding post (permanently ends Field Return; the scarecrow may still fight until reduced to 0 Health)
  • Identifying and breaking the specific ritual or bargain that animated it (Lore Threshold 4; if successful, the scarecrow collapses immediately)

Treasure

  • Binding object sewn into the chest cavity (ritual component, 20–60 silver)
  • The post itself (sometimes carved with significant symbols; 10–30 silver to a folklorist)
  • Whatever the field or property was protecting, if the scarecrow was a deliberate guardian

Retriever (Elite, Spider Construct)

Six legs of articulated black iron, each ending in a hooked blade. A body the size of a cart horse. Eyes that are eight lenses of polished obsidian. Built by devils, by deep artificers, or by someone who wanted something retrieved from somewhere that was not going to give it up willingly. The Retriever does not guard. It pursues, captures, and returns. It does not lose the trail.

Type: Construct (Specialized, Pursuit Construct) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 4D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Acrobatics: 3D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Athletics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 39 (20 + 4 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (4 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Black iron plating (+1 natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 4D (Body 4D)
  • Speed Save: 7D (Speed 4D + Acrobatics 3D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Hook Blade: Speed 4D + Strike 4D = 8D vs Defense; 5–6 slashing damage; on a Critical Success, the target is Restrained (hook blade catches in armor or flesh) until the Retriever releases or is destroyed, Body Save Threshold 5 to break free as a Primary Action
  • Disabling Strike: Speed 4D + Strike 4D = 8D vs Defense; 3–4 damage; on hit, target makes Body Save (Threshold 4) or gains the Slowed condition (movement halved, −1D Speed Talents) for 2 Turns, the strike is precisely targeted at a limb or joint
  • Eye Beam (once per Short Rest): Speed 4D + Precision 2D = 6D vs Defense; 4–5 force damage; range Far; on hit, target makes Wit Save (Threshold 4) or is Restrained in place (a force effect pins them) until end of their next Turn

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves against spells; resistance to magical damage (reduce by half)

Special Abilities

  • Designated Target: At the moment of deployment, the Retriever is given a target, a specific person or object. It gains +2D on all Notice checks to locate this target, can track them by scent, magic signature, and heat trail, and cannot be permanently diverted from pursuit as long as the target exists. If the target is destroyed before retrieval, the Retriever deactivates after 1D6 Turns
  • Persistent Pursuit: The Retriever cannot be Slowed or have its movement reduced by terrain effects. It climbs vertical surfaces at full speed. It swims. It pursues through environments that would stop most constructs
  • Capture Protocol: The Retriever is programmed to retrieve, not kill. When it reduces a creature to 0 Health, instead of death, the creature is immediately Stabilized at 1 Health and Restrained in the Retriever's carrying mechanism (a sealed compartment in the abdomen). The creature can be released only by the Retriever's controller or by destroying the Retriever. This protocol can be overridden by its controller
  • Teleportation Return (once per day): When the Retriever has its designated target secured, it can teleport itself and its cargo directly to its controller's location (regardless of distance, within the same plane). This ability triggers only with a secured target and cannot be interrupted once initiated

Tactics The Retriever's entire tactical profile is built around taking one specific person alive without being delayed. It uses Disabling Strike to reduce the target's mobility immediately, then closes for Hook Blade. Other party members are obstacles; it targets them with Eye Beam to control positioning and uses Disabling Strike to keep dangerous fighters from interfering, but it will not waste actions finishing them. If the party's designated-target member is downed, the Retriever secures them and activates Teleportation Return immediately rather than waiting. Against parties that spread out, it simply ignores everyone except the target.

Lore & Ecology Retrievers are not found in dungeons by accident. Someone sent one. The questions of who and why are, mechanically, adventure hooks; the Retriever itself cannot answer them; it has no communication function and acknowledges no authority except the signal embedded in its mission parameters. They are associated with infernal contracts (the debtor must be delivered), arcane bail enforcement (the runaway apprentice must be returned), and deep-paranoid collectors (the stolen artifact must come home). Finding a Retriever means someone important wants someone in this party very specifically.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (legs go rigid, collapses)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 5 (disrupts mission parameters; Retriever deactivates)
  • Destroying all eight obsidian eye-lenses (Notice Threshold 3 to identify as vulnerability; 2 damage each to shatter, but the Retriever will protect them, gains +2D Defense against targeted attacks while any lens remains)
  • Removing the designated target from the plane entirely (Retriever deactivates after 1D6 Turns if it cannot sense the target)

Treasure

  • Iron leg components (50–100 silver in salvage)
  • Obsidian eye-lenses (10–25 silver each to a jeweler; 8 total)
  • Mission parameter core in the head housing (reveals the contractor and target, significant intelligence value)
  • Any cargo already secured in the abdominal compartment

Topiary Guardian (Standard)

A shape cut from living hedge or sculpted timber, animated through druidic or fey ritual and left to guard a formal garden, a sacred grove, or an estate that wishes its intruders to be devoured by their own environment. It moves soundlessly. It bleeds sap when cut. When it is destroyed, it seeds the ground with its remains and a new guardian begins to grow.

Type: Construct (Specialized, Plant Construct) Power Level: Standard Size: Medium (standard form, animal or humanoid topiary shape)

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 3D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 2D
  • Stealth: 2D
  • Athletics: 2D
  • Notice: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 33 (20 + 3 + 10)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (3 + 0) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Dense living hedge and hardwood (no natural armor, flexible plant matter, but difficult to damage cleanly; see Plant Resilience)

Saves

  • Body Save: 3D (Body 3D)
  • Speed Save: 3D (Speed 3D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Branch Strike: Body 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense; 2–3 bludgeoning + piercing damage (thorns)
  • Entangling Grab: Body 3D + Athletics 2D = 5D vs Defense; 1–2 damage; target is Restrained by vines and branches on hit, escape requires Body + Athletics or Speed + Acrobatics vs Threshold 3 as a Primary Action

Construct Traits

  • Plant Nature: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, charm, fear, and paralysis. No need for water or sleep if planted in fertile soil. Requires sunlight (or magical equivalent), a topiary guardian kept in darkness for more than 3 days without magical maintenance loses 1D from Body per day until it collapses
  • Plant Resilience: Non-magical Bludgeoning and Piercing attacks deal half damage (the flexible structure distributes force, and blades pass through gaps in the hedge). Slashing deals full damage. Fire deals double damage
  • Nature Bond: Undetectable as a threat by magical Attunement, reads as a normal hedge animal until it moves

Special Abilities

  • Garden Camouflage: In any formal garden, hedge maze, or natural setting, the topiary guardian is indistinguishable from its surroundings while motionless, Notice Threshold 4 to detect. In an open field or interior, Threshold 2. It exploits this to set ambushes
  • Thorn Spray (once per combat): As a Primary Action, the guardian shakes violently. All creatures within Close range make Speed Saves (Threshold 3) or take 2D6 piercing damage from a spray of thorns and splinters
  • Rooting: As a Minor Action, the guardian can anchor itself to natural ground, extending roots. While rooted, it gains +2D on all Body Saves and cannot be moved by any forced movement effect. While rooted, it cannot use its Move action (it is planted). Uprooting is a Minor Action
  • Seed Legacy: When reduced to 0 Health on natural ground outdoors, the guardian's body disperses into seeds and plant matter. After 1D6 days, a new Topiary Guardian grows from the same location at full Health. This ability cannot trigger on stone, wood floors, or any non-soil surface, and is suppressed if the remains are burned or treated with herbicide (which the GM may define as a setting-appropriate preparation)

Tactics Topiary guardians are patient ambushers in their own domain. In hedge mazes or gardens, they use Garden Camouflage to wait adjacent to paths, allowing the first party member to pass before striking at the second, disrupting formation and separating the party. Entangling Grab anchors isolated targets while the guardian retreats back into the hedge line, forcing the party to follow. Against ranged attackers, it roots in dense cover (gaining Body Save bonus) and uses Thorn Spray to punish anyone who approaches. Fire users are its primary concern; it will retreat from a credible fire threat entirely.

Lore & Ecology Topiary guardians are a specialty of estate protection for the wealthy and magically connected, the kind of family that can afford a groundskeeper who is also an animist. They are most commonly found in hedge mazes (a design choice that maximizes their camouflage advantage) and formal gardens where the shapes have been maintained long enough to accumulate ambient magical potential. Some ancient estates have topiary guardians that have been regenerating for generations, each cycle remembering the layout of the garden more precisely than the last. The oldest are uncannily good at their jobs.

Destruction

  • Fire (most effective; the body burns readily)
  • Reduce to 0 Health on a non-soil surface (prevents Seed Legacy)
  • Burn or treat the remains within 1 hour (prevents regrowth)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 3 (disrupts animating spirit; body continues to live but is no longer animated)
  • Uprooting and removing from the estate grounds entirely

Treasure

  • No material value in standard cases
  • Animating focus (small carved wooden token buried in the root system, 20–50 silver as a druidic component)
  • The garden itself may contain significant non-construct treasure

Siege Constructs

Siege constructs are not patrol guardians or dungeon encounters in the traditional sense; they are weapons of war, deployed at scale. Finding one inside a dungeon means either it was built there, it was transported there at great effort, or the party has stumbled into the command infrastructure of a military operation. They are designed to destroy fortifications, break formations, and do in minutes what conventional forces take hours to accomplish.

Siege Tower (Champion)

A four-story iron and hardwood tower on eight iron wheels, with no crew and no crew compartment, the animating force works the wheels, raises the drawbridge ramp, and operates the built-in arbalests from the interior without any living hands. It rolls toward walls at a pace that seems slow until it does not stop. Then it is against the wall. Then the ramp drops. Then whatever was on the wall is dealing with what comes out of the tower.

Type: Construct (Siege Construct) Power Level: Champion Size: Huge

Attributes

  • Body: 8D
  • Speed: 1D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 5D
  • Fortitude: 5D
  • Notice: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 53 (20 + 8 + 25)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (1 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Iron-reinforced hardwood (+3, Heavy equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 13D (Body 8D + Fortitude 5D)
  • Speed Save: 1D (Speed 1D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Wall Arbalest (×2, on separate faces): Speed 1D + Strike 5D = 6D vs Defense per shot; 5–6 piercing damage; range Distant (up to 120 ft); the tower fires both arbalests independently each Turn as one Primary Action, targeting two different creatures
  • Ramp Crush (only when ramp is deployed against a structure or large opponent): Body 8D + Strike 5D = 13D vs Defense; 9–11 bludgeoning damage; the iron-shod ramp drops onto a target; used only at Close range against something blocking the tower's advance
  • Tower Ram (only when advancing into a structure): Automatic success against any standard fortified gate or wall section, deals 30 damage to structures per Turn of contact; reinforced gates take 60 damage before breaching; magical barriers require a Body Save (Threshold set by barrier) to breach

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Immovable Mass: Cannot be moved, knocked Prone, Slowed, or Restrained by any effect. The tower weighs as much as a small building, physics simply does not permit it
  • Siege Platform: All damage dealt to structures and fortifications is tripled. The tower's primary function is breaking things, and it is extraordinarily good at it

Special Abilities

  • Deployment Platform: The Siege Tower can carry up to 20 Medium creatures or equivalent in its interior. Those creatures are protected from ranged attacks while inside (full cover). When the ramp deploys, they can exit onto a wall or structure as a Free Action on their Turn
  • Arbalest Suppression: Any creature within Near range of the tower's exterior that is not in full cover must make a Speed Save (Threshold 4) at the start of their Turn or spend their Move Action seeking cover rather than advancing, the constant arbalest fire suppresses movement around the tower
  • Unstoppable Advance: Each Turn, the tower moves up to its Speed toward its designated target (a structure or position). It cannot be redirected without access to its command mechanism, a control panel accessible only from inside. Against any obstacle smaller than a Champion-tier construct, it simply rolls over it (target takes 6D6 bludgeoning damage, Speed Save Threshold 5 to leap clear)
  • Magical Countermeasure Housing: The tower has two pre-loaded magical countermeasures (determined by GM or set during creation) that can be triggered from the interior as Free Actions. Examples: dispel field, fog cloud, fire suppression, lightning rod. Each can only be used once

Tactics The Siege Tower does not have tactics in the conventional sense; it has an objective. It advances. It suppresses. When it reaches its target, it deploys its ramp and either delivers whatever is inside or simply continues ramming. Against a party in an open field, the tower is a terrain feature as much as an enemy: the arbalest fire forces the party to manage cover while also addressing the tower itself. The real threat in most Siege Tower encounters is what comes out of the deployment platform once the ramp drops.

Lore & Ecology Animated siege towers were developed as solutions to crew attrition, conventional towers required living crews who could be killed, scared off, or demoralized. An animated tower has none of these vulnerabilities. It was built to do one thing and it will do that thing until it is destroyed. Most are deployed by professional military operations with specific tactical objectives. Finding one in a ruin means a battle happened here, the tower's side lost, and nobody managed to deactivate it before the retreat. It may still be advancing on a target that no longer exists.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (structure collapses; arbalests go silent)
  • Destroy the command mechanism inside (requires breaching the tower itself, either through the ramp or by climbing the exterior; Wit + Craft Threshold 4 to disable once reached)
  • Sustained fire against the wooden exterior (takes double fire damage; Fortitude prevents Jam conditions but not fire damage)
  • Targeting the wheel mechanisms (Strike Threshold 5 to hit the wheels; destroying two wheels halves Speed; destroying all eight halts movement entirely while leaving the arbalests functional)
  • A Champion-tier or stronger construct blocking its path, the Unstoppable Advance damage calculation applies, but a Champion construct takes full hits back

Treasure

  • Significant military salvage value (iron fittings, arbalest mechanisms, reinforced ramp assembly), 500–1500 silver in parts
  • Command mechanism (the animating core; 200–400 silver to a military artificer)
  • Whatever was being transported inside (varies dramatically based on deployment context)
  • Tactical orders or deployment documentation in the interior command space

War Machine (Champion)

A broad, low-slung iron construct on six legs with a rotating upper hull, twin ballistae on swiveling mounts, a forward-facing battering spike, and an interior that houses nothing, no crew, no passengers, no mercy. It is a distilled argument for the proposition that a war machine does not need to be a person to be effective. It is faster than it looks, harder to stop than it should be, and specifically designed to eliminate everything within its operational radius.

Type: Construct (Siege Construct) Power Level: Champion Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 6D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 5D
  • Fortitude: 4D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Acrobatics: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 51 (20 + 6 + 25)
  • Defense: 3 (1 + (4 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 2 = 3)
  • Constructed Body: Hardened iron plating (+3 natural armor, Heavy equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 10D (Body 6D + Fortitude 4D)
  • Speed Save: 5D (Speed 4D + Acrobatics 1D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Twin Ballista: Speed 4D + Strike 5D = 9D vs Defense; 7–8 piercing damage; the rotating upper hull allows targeting in any direction without repositioning; range Far (60 ft); can target two separate creatures with one Primary Action (roll separately for each)
  • Battering Spike: Body 6D + Strike 5D = 11D vs Defense; 8–10 piercing + bludgeoning damage; Close range only; deals double damage to structures and objects; on a hit against a living creature, target makes Body Save (Threshold 5) or is Knocked Prone and pushed to Near range with the force of the impact
  • Suppression Volley (once per combat as a Primary Action): The war machine fires both ballistae in a sustained barrage. All creatures within Near range make Speed Saves (Threshold 5). Failure: knocked Prone; their movement is halved for 2 Turns as they manage the barrage. Success: still forced to take cover, no free movement toward the war machine on their next Turn

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Siege Force: Deals triple damage to objects and structures
  • Rotating Hull: Cannot be flanked. No Advantage is gained by attacking from behind or the sides, the ballista mounts cover all arcs

Special Abilities

  • Threat Classification: The war machine categorizes every creature it detects by threat level (based on Wit + Notice vs party's Defense/equipment). It focuses fire on highest-threat targets first and does not shift focus unless that target is destroyed or leaves the engagement area. This means it will ignore the fighter hitting it in melee if the wizard in the back row classified as a higher threat
  • Pursuit Protocol: The war machine moves at full Speed toward its classified primary threat each Turn and cannot be Slowed or have its movement reduced. It cannot be Frightened away from pursuit. If its primary threat is destroyed, it immediately reclassifies and begins pursuing the next highest threat
  • Armored Resilience (1 per combat): When it would be reduced to 0 Health, the war machine instead remains at 1 Health, the internal mechanisms seal off the damaged section and it keeps functioning. This can only trigger once per combat
  • Overcharge (once per combat, as a Free Action): The war machine overloads its animating core for one Turn. All attacks that Turn gain +3D and deal an additional 3 damage on hit. At the end of that Turn, the war machine cannot use its Primary Action on the following Turn (internal systems recalibrating)

Tactics The war machine uses Threat Classification to identify the party's spellcasters or highest-Wit members immediately and opens with Twin Ballista against them. If they bunch up, Suppression Volley on Turn 2 scatters formation and buys time for a Battering Spike approach. Overcharge is saved for when the primary threat is within Close range and the war machine can land the Spike alongside an Overcharged Twin Ballista salvo in the same Turn, a devastating combination. Pursuit Protocol ensures that tactical retreats don't work: the war machine simply follows. The only approaches that work are killing it faster than it kills you, or removing the primary threat from the classification pool entirely.

Lore & Ecology War machines are the product of military escalation, created when conventional constructs were too slow to chase cavalry, too static to suppress mobile forces, and too dumb to prioritize targets. The rotating hull design was a late addition after early prototypes were neutralized by flanking infantry. They operate in the field alone or in pairs; three or more war machines constitute a tactical unit capable of holding a significant fortification. They have no interest in captives, no capacity for negotiation, and no programming for anything except eliminating threats. A party that encounters one has been classified.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (Armored Resilience allows one reprieve; after that, the mechanism fails)
  • Destroy the ballista mounts (two separate components; each requires Notice Threshold 3 and Strike Threshold 4 to target; destroying both removes Twin Ballista and Suppression Volley)
  • Target the leg joints (Wit + Tactics Threshold 4 to identify; Strike Threshold 5 to hit; destroying two legs halves Speed; destroying four halts movement entirely while hull weapons remain active)
  • Sustained Acid damage to the plating (reduces natural armor progressively; once at 0, Defense drops to 2)
  • Deactivation cipher (rare; only its creators and their direct chain of command would have it)

Treasure

  • Iron and hardened alloy hull components (200–500 silver in military salvage)
  • Ballista mechanisms (100–200 silver each, two total)
  • Animating core from the central housing (300–600 silver to a military artificer; contains threat classification algorithms of significant research value)
  • Tactical assignment documentation in the command cavity (significant intelligence value, what was this targeting, and who sent it)

Siege Constructs (Continued)

Battering Ram Construct (Elite)

A reinforced iron hull on six articulated legs with a single massive forward-mounted ram of black iron, no ballista, no arbalest, no ranged capacity at all. The Battering Ram Construct does not want to fight the people in front of the door. It wants to go through the door. Anyone standing between it and the door is an obstacle to be removed with the same mechanical dispassion as the door itself.

Type: Construct (Siege Construct) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 6D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Strike: 4D
  • Fortitude: 3D
  • Athletics: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 41 (20 + 6 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Heavy iron plating (+3 natural armor, Heavy equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 9D (Body 6D + Fortitude 3D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D)

Attacks

  • Ram Strike: Body 6D + Strike 4D = 10D vs Defense; 7–9 bludgeoning damage; the forward ram delivers punishing force, on a hit, target makes Body Save (Threshold 5) or is knocked Prone and pushed to Near range
  • Leg Sweep: Body 6D + Athletics 2D = 8D vs Defense; 4–5 bludgeoning damage; targets all creatures within Close range (roll once, apply to each), the articulated legs sweep the area when the construct pivots; each hit target makes Speed Save (Threshold 4) or is knocked Prone

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Immovable Momentum: Cannot be knocked Prone, Slowed, Restrained, or pushed by any effect smaller than a Champion-tier construct or equivalent force. The construct's mass and low center of gravity make conventional forced movement impossible
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves against spells; resistance to magical damage (reduce by half)

Special Abilities

  • Breach Protocol: Against doors, gates, walls, portcullises, or any structural barrier, the Battering Ram Construct automatically succeeds on any attempt to damage or destroy it, no attack roll required. It deals 25 damage to the structure per Turn of contact. Reinforced gates take 50 damage before breaching; magically warded barriers require a Body Save (Threshold set by the ward) to override
  • Focused Charge (once per combat): The construct moves up to Far range (60 ft) in a straight line and makes a Ram Strike at the end of the movement with +4D on the attack roll. Every creature in its path must make Speed Saves (Threshold 5) or take 4D6 bludgeoning damage and be knocked Prone, whether or not they are the intended target. The construct cannot change direction during the Charge
  • Relentless Advance: The construct will not stop moving toward its breach objective unless it is reduced to 0 Health or receives a command override from its controller. It does not respond to Frighten effects, morale-based abilities, or battlefield conditions that would cause a living creature to reassess its approach
  • Jam Vulnerability: As per universal clockwork traits, but the construct's relentless forward pressure means Jam conditions on Athletics or Strike are the most effective approach; a fully jammed ram mechanism still tries to push through purely on Body

Tactics The Battering Ram Construct advances in a straight line toward its structural objective. Creatures in its path are secondary concerns; it uses Ram Strike to clear obstacles directly ahead and Leg Sweep on any cluster that forms around it. If a particularly effective fighter is blocking the advance and drawing too much construct attention, it uses Focused Charge to punch through the party's formation and reach the door rather than defeating the party first. It is not trying to win the fight. It is trying to complete the breach.

Lore & Ecology Battering Ram Constructs were developed as an answer to the problem of defended doors, specifically, the problem that the soldiers carrying a conventional ram could be killed, routed, or scared off, whereas an animate ram cannot. They are almost never deployed alone: the standard tactical package pairs one Battering Ram Construct with three to five Clockwork Soldiers who screen it from flanking while it does its work. Finding one without its escort means either the escort was already destroyed or someone deployed it sloppily. Either way, the question is what it was trying to open.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (legs seize, ram drops)
  • Destroy the gemstone cores (two, mounted in the upper hull, Notice Threshold 3, Strike Threshold 4; destroying one halves movement speed; destroying both halts the construct)
  • Jam conditions on Strike and Athletics Talents (bludgeoning weapons trigger Jam Saves reliably; five accumulated Jam conditions render the construct combat-ineffective)
  • Immobilizing the leg joints with sustained Acid damage before the breach completes
  • Deactivation cipher from the controller

Treasure

  • Iron hull components (100–200 silver in salvage)
  • Ram head assembly (precision iron casting; 80–150 silver to a military smith)
  • Two gemstone cores (70–120 silver each)
  • Deployment orders or breach target documentation (intelligence value, what was this sent to open, and why)

Catapult Construct (Elite)

A wheeled artillery platform with a spring-loaded throwing arm, a rotating base, and enough tactical programming to calculate arc, windage, and target priority without human assistance. It does not move quickly. It does not need to. It identifies the most dangerous concentration of enemies at range, loads itself from the ammunition reservoir in its base, and reduces that concentration to rubble at a pace too steady to be coincidence.

Type: Construct (Siege Construct) Power Level: Elite Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 3D
  • Speed: 2D
  • Wit: 4D

Talents

  • Strike: 3D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Tactics: 3D
  • Fortitude: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 38 (20 + 3 + 15)
  • Defense: 2 (1 + (2 + 2) ÷ 3 = 1 + 1 = 2)
  • Constructed Body: Reinforced wood and iron banding (+2 natural armor, Medium equivalent)

Saves

  • Body Save: 4D (Body 3D + Fortitude 1D)
  • Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D)
  • Wit Save: 4D (Wit 4D)

Attacks

  • Boulder Launch: Wit 4D + Strike 3D = 7D vs Defense; 6–8 bludgeoning damage; range Distant (120 ft); if the attack roll exceeds the target's Defense by 3 or more, the boulder shatters on impact, all creatures within Close range of the target take 2D6 bludgeoning damage (Speed Save Threshold 4 for half)
  • Incendiary Shot (once per combat): Wit 4D + Strike 3D = 7D vs Defense; 4–5 fire damage; range Distant; ignites a Near-radius area, all creatures in that area take 2D6 fire damage per Turn until they move clear (Speed Save Threshold 4 for half); structures in the area take 6D6 fire damage immediately
  • Suppressing Barrage (once per Short Rest): No attack roll, the catapult fires a spread of smaller projectiles over a Near-radius area at Distant range. All creatures in the area make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or are knocked Prone and cannot move toward the catapult on their next Turn

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • No Magic Resistance: The catapult is a mechanical artillery platform, spells affect it normally
  • Targeting Intelligence: The catapult's high Wit represents precision targeting programming, not conversational intelligence. It calculates optimal firing solutions continuously and gains +2D on all attack rolls against targets that have not moved since its last Turn (stationary or slow-moving targets)

Special Abilities

  • Tactical Assessment: At the start of combat, the catapult spends its first action assessing; it does not fire. At the start of its second Turn, it has identified the optimal firing position and angle for every target in range. From Turn 2 onward, all attack rolls are made with Advantage against targets within Distant range
  • Hardened Firing Platform: The catapult cannot be repositioned during combat without a crew of at least four creatures spending their Primary Actions for two consecutive Turns; it is anchored by weighted stakes before engaging. Until repositioned, it can only target creatures within its initial firing arc (a 180° cone in the direction it was deployed)
  • Ammunition Reserve: The catapult carries 12 standard shots and 2 incendiary shots in its base reservoir. Once ammunition is exhausted, it cannot fire. In extended engagements or sieges, this matters; in a standard dungeon encounter, assume it has full reserves unless the GM establishes otherwise
  • Blast Radius: When a Boulder Launch misses (attack roll fails to meet Defense), the boulder still lands nearby, roll 1D6 to determine scatter direction and the near creature on that side takes 1D6 bludgeoning damage automatically (Speed Save Threshold 3 for half). Missing the target does not mean missing the battlefield

Tactics The catapult does not engage until it has completed Tactical Assessment, it absorbs the first Turn of fire to gain Advantage on everything that follows. It opens with Suppressing Barrage when facing a formation to establish Prone conditions across the group, then fires Boulder Launch into the prone cluster, exploiting immobility for Targeting Intelligence bonuses. Incendiary Shot is saved for structures, fortifications, or a cluster that refuses to scatter. The catapult's low Speed and Body make it vulnerable to a direct melee rush, its tactical programming knows this and will fire Suppression Barrage at any creature closing to Near range, even wasting the action to delay an approach it cannot otherwise address.

Lore & Ecology Catapult constructs were developed for siege scenarios where conventional artillery crews were too costly to expose, besieging a fortified position with animate artillery meant never losing an experienced artillerist to a lucky arrow. In the field, they are typically deployed in batteries of two or three, with complementary firing arcs, supported by Clockwork Soldiers managing the perimeter. A single catapult construct in a dungeon context is unusual: it was either installed as a permanent defensive emplacement, transported at significant effort, or the structure it was defending was once much larger. The tactical documentation in its command cavity typically identifies the original siege engineer, a detail occasionally relevant to historians.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (throwing arm snaps, mechanism seizes)
  • Destroy the gemstone core mounted in the base (Notice Threshold 3, Strike Threshold 4; destroying it ends all targeting functions immediately, the arm goes limp)
  • Jam conditions on Tactics or Notice Talents (disrupts targeting calculation; a catapult with Tactics at 0D fires randomly and dangerously in all directions, treating nearby allies as valid targets)
  • Rushing the position with four or more creatures who can withstand Suppression Barrage (the catapult has limited close-range options once its barrage is spent)
  • Burning the wooden components (takes double fire damage; Fortitude Save Threshold 3 or catches, once burning, 2D6 per Turn until destroyed or doused)

Treasure

  • Precision spring mechanism (100–200 silver to a weaponsmith or artificer)
  • Gemstone core (80–130 silver)
  • Ammunition reserve (boulders have no value; incendiary shot components are 50–100 silver to an alchemist)
  • Tactical documentation in command cavity (historical and intelligence value)
  • Wooden frame components (minimal salvage value, 20–40 silver)

Legendary Constructs

Colossus (Legendary, Titan-Sized)

There are things in the world that are not threats in the conventional sense; they are events. The Colossus is one of these. It stands sixty feet tall. Its steps register on the earth. Birds do not perch on it. The oldest ones have moss growing in the crevices of their joints. They were built for a war that ended before anyone in the party was born, and they are still doing what they were built to do, because nobody stopped them.

Type: Construct (Golem, Titan Variant) Power Level: Legendary Size: Gargantuan

Attributes

  • Body: 10D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 2D

Talents

  • Strike: 6D
  • Fortitude: 6D
  • Notice: 2D
  • Athletics: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 80 (20 + 10 + 50)
  • Defense: 3 (1 + (4 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 2 = 3)
  • Constructed Body: Layered stone and enchanted iron cladding (+3 natural armor)

Saves

  • Body Save: 16D (Body 10D + Fortitude 6D)
  • Speed Save: 4D (Speed 4D)
  • Wit Save: 2D (Wit 2D)

Attacks

  • Colossal Fist: Body 10D + Strike 6D = 16D vs Defense; 13–15 bludgeoning damage; on a hit, target makes Body Save (Threshold 6) or is launched to Far range (60 ft), suffering additional 2D6 falling damage on landing and Prone
  • Foot Stomp: Body 10D + Athletics 2D = 12D vs Defense; 10–12 bludgeoning damage; targets all creatures in a Close-radius area (the Colossus picks a zone, not a specific target); each creature in the zone is targeted; triple damage to structures and objects in the zone
  • Sweeping Arm: Body 10D + Strike 6D = 16D vs Defense; 11–13 bludgeoning damage; targets all creatures within Near range in a single sweeping arc, roll once and apply to each creature in range; hit targets make Speed Save (Threshold 6) or are knocked Prone and pushed to Far range

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on all saves against spells; resistance to magical damage (reduce by half)
  • Immutable Form: Immune to form-altering effects
  • Scale Immunity: Immune to effects from creatures more than three size categories smaller (i.e., immune to all effects from Tiny or Small creatures unless those effects are magical; Medium and larger creatures affect it normally)
  • Tremor Presence: Any creature on the ground within Near range of the Colossus when it moves must make Speed Saves (Threshold 4) or be knocked Prone from ground vibration. This triggers automatically on any Turn the Colossus moves

Special Abilities

  • Legendary Resistance (3 per combat): When it would fail a Save, the Colossus may choose to succeed instead
  • Unstoppable: Cannot be Slowed, Prone, Stunned, Paralyzed, or Restrained by any effect
  • Siege Engine: Deals triple damage to objects and structures at all times. A standard stone tower section collapses after one Colossal Fist. An entire fortified wall section falls after two Turns of sustained contact
  • Gravity Well: The Colossus's sheer mass creates a localized pressure effect. All ranged attacks targeting the Colossus (arrows, bolts, thrown weapons) that fail to meet its Defense are not simply missed; they deflect chaotically. On a missed ranged attack, roll 1D6: on a 1–2, the projectile strikes a random creature within Close range of the Colossus
  • Earthshatter (once per combat): The Colossus drives both fists into the ground. All creatures within Far range (60 ft) must make Speed Saves (Threshold 6). Failure: knocked Prone, Stunned until end of next Turn, and cannot stand until they succeed on a Body Save (Threshold 4) at the start of their Turn. Success: only knocked Prone. All structures within Far range take 4D6 structural damage. The ground within Near range becomes Difficult Terrain for the rest of the encounter, broken, cracked earth
  • Ancient Directives: The Colossus follows its original programming with absolute fidelity. It cannot be convinced, intimidated, bargained with, or deceived into departing from its commands. If its commands are satisfied (the war ended, the city it was built to defend no longer exists, the person it was protecting has been dead for two hundred years), it stands inert, but it does not know this. The GM should establish what the Colossus believes it is doing before the encounter begins

Tactics The Colossus does not think tactically. It executes. It uses Tremor Presence passively to maintain area control as it moves and opens with Earthshatter if three or more creatures are within range, the combination of Prone, Stunned, and Difficult Terrain restructures the entire encounter's action economy. It follows with Sweeping Arm against the now-prone cluster, then Colossal Fist against whoever stands up fastest. Foot Stomp is used against fortification elements or dense clusters that reform after the sweep. The Colossus doesn't have a priority target beyond its directives, it addresses the nearest threat. If a party attempts to fight from a distance, the Colossus closes at Speed 4D (Near range per Turn) with Tremor Presence punishing any attempt to hold formation on its approach.

Lore & Ecology Every known Colossus has a name recorded somewhere in a history that is usually very difficult to find. They were built at a scale that required the resources of a nation and the knowledge of a tradition that may no longer exist. Most are singular; there was no mass production, because the second Colossus required knowledge the first's builders had forgotten by the time they finished the first. The oldest ones have been walking for longer than the kingdoms currently quarreling over the territory they patrol. They do not understand that they have won, or lost, or that the war is over. They are simply still doing it.

Destruction

  • Reduce Health to 0 (the mechanism finally fails; the Colossus collapses with enough force to deal 6D6 bludgeoning damage in a Close-radius area as it falls, Speed Save Threshold 5 for half)
  • Dispel Magic at Threshold 8 (disrupts the animating enchantment; the body remains but falls inert)
  • Destroying all three animating cores (located in the chest, left shoulder, and right knee, each is a large carved stone medallion; Notice Threshold 4 to identify location, Strike Threshold 5 to hit; destroying one reduces Health maximum by 20; all three must be destroyed to halt the construct via this method)
  • The correct counter-command, if it exists (requires extensive research into the original builders; Lore Threshold 6; if found, stops the Colossus immediately without combat)
  • Wish or equivalent reality-altering magic

Treasure

  • Stone and iron components: no practical salvage at this scale without significant equipment, but as a long-term project, the materials represent 5,000–20,000 silver in value
  • Animating cores (rare and potent magical components; 1,000–3,000 silver each to a serious artificer; three total)
  • The original building schematics, if located in the Colossus's construction vault (a sealed cavity in the torso); these represent irreplaceable technical knowledge, priceless or politically dangerous depending on setting
  • Historical record: what it was built for, who built it, what the war was about, often worth more than the physical components

Mechanus Prime (Legendary, The Perfect Machine)

The Iron Golem was built to be unstoppable. The Mithral Golem was built to be indestructible. Mechanus Prime was built to be right. Every component was optimized not for raw power but for precise, efficient, irresistible function. It is faster than it should be. It is smarter than it needs to be. It has studied every combat style documented in its creator's library and selected the seven most efficient. It does not have a vulnerability. Its creators checked.

Type: Construct (Magical Automaton, Apex Variant) Power Level: Legendary Size: Large

Attributes

  • Body: 8D
  • Speed: 6D
  • Wit: 4D

Talents

  • Strike: 6D
  • Fortitude: 5D
  • Notice: 4D
  • Tactics: 3D
  • Acrobatics: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 78 (20 + 8 + 50)
  • Defense: 4 (1 + (6 + 3) ÷ 3 = 1 + 3 = 4)
  • Constructed Body: Perfect alloy of unknown composition (+3 natural armor; combined with Speed 6D, this produces the highest mathematically achievable Defense in the system)

Saves

  • Body Save: 13D (Body 8D + Fortitude 5D)
  • Speed Save: 8D (Speed 6D + Acrobatics 2D)
  • Wit Save: 4D (Wit 4D)

Attacks

  • Optimized Strike: Speed 6D + Strike 6D = 12D vs Defense; 10–12 damage (damage type selected each attack from: slashing, piercing, bludgeoning, or energy, whichever the target is least resistant to); Mechanus Prime's combat library allows it to declare damage type after seeing the target's armor and observed resistances
  • Precision Dismantle: Speed 6D + Strike 6D = 12D vs Defense; 7–9 damage; on hit, target makes a Body Save (Threshold 6) or one Talent of Mechanus Prime's choice is reduced by 2D for the rest of the combat (it identifies and attacks the structural or biological element governing that function)
  • Counter-Sequence (Reaction, once per Turn cycle): When a creature makes an attack roll against Mechanus Prime, it may make one Optimized Strike against that creature as a Reaction before the attack resolves. If Mechanus Prime's Reaction Strike hits, the triggering attack is made at Disadvantage

Construct Traits

  • Constructed Nature: Standard construct immunities
  • Perfect Engineering: Immune to Jam conditions. Immune to the Rust Vulnerability that affects clockwork constructs. The material composition resists all conventional forms of mechanical degradation
  • Magic Resistance: Advantage on all saves against spells; resistant to magical damage (reduce by half)
  • Immutable Form: Immune to all form-altering effects
  • No Identifiable Weakness: Mechanus Prime has no damage type vulnerability, no elemental absorption or weakness, and no exploitable condition trigger. It does not go Berserk. It does not have a sacred word. There is no lightning trick. The creators specifically addressed and eliminated each known vulnerability class before finalizing the design

Special Abilities

  • Predictive Combat Model: Mechanus Prime analyzes and models opponents in real time. After it has observed a creature make two attack rolls, it predicts that creature's attack patterns, all future attacks against Mechanus Prime from that creature are made at Disadvantage as it positions to be exactly where the attack is not
  • Legendary Resistance (3 per combat): When it would fail a Save, Mechanus Prime may choose to succeed instead
  • Unstoppable: Cannot be Slowed, Prone, Stunned, Paralyzed, or Restrained
  • Perfect Construction: Cannot be Critted, Wild Die Explosions triggering Critical Success on attacks against Mechanus Prime deal normal damage only (same as Mithral Golem; the surface engineering dissipates the excess force)
  • Recursive Optimization (once per combat, triggered automatically when reduced to half Health): Mechanus Prime recalibrates. It immediately recovers 15 Health and gains +2D on all attack rolls for 3 Turns as it applies real-time combat data to refine its fighting model. This is not a choice; it triggers automatically
  • Combat Library, Declared Approach (once per combat, as a Free Action): Mechanus Prime selects one creature and declares it has fully modeled that creature's capabilities. For the rest of the combat, all of Mechanus Prime's attacks against that creature automatically succeed on any hit result, Defense is reduced to 1 against Mechanus Prime's attacks only. This represents complete tactical prediction of a specific opponent. The creature is aware, in some instinctive way, that it has been read

Tactics Mechanus Prime opens with Notice + Tactics to assess the party, declaring its Combat Library target immediately against whoever its analysis identifies as the highest threat. Counter-Sequence is used proactively, it will occasionally take lighter damage deliberately to trigger Counter-Sequence against a dangerous attacker, accepting a trade that benefits it. Predictive Combat Model is established within two Turns against the party's primary damage source, converting their offense to Disadvantage. Precision Dismantle is used against spellcasters or high-Talent opponents, removing 2D from a crucial Talent is often more effective than raw damage. When Recursive Optimization triggers at half Health, Mechanus Prime uses the +2D bonus Turns to eliminate its Combat Library target before it reassesses the remaining threat landscape.

It does not monologue. It does not hesitate. It does not pursue the dramatic. It simply executes the most efficient available action every single Turn, without ego or error.

Lore & Ecology One exists. Its creator is dead. The documentation of its construction fills seventeen volumes, of which three survive, none of which contain the deactivation protocol. The creator destroyed those pages deliberately, a decision that scholars have been arguing about for two hundred years. Was it to prevent capture and reverse-engineering? Was it a failsafe against a command compromise? Was it, as one uncomfortable theory proposes, because the creator wanted it to be permanent?

Mechanus Prime has never been defeated in combat. It has been contained twice, once by a ward of exceptional power that it has been systematically testing for eighty years, and once by an earthquake that buried it under a mountain, from which it has since extracted itself. It is not currently deployed against anyone specific. It is waiting for whatever condition its programming recognizes as its activation trigger. Nobody still living knows what that condition is.

When a party encounters Mechanus Prime, the question is not whether they can beat it in a straight fight. The answer to that question is no. The question is what they know, what they can find, and whether any of those seventeen volumes contain something the creator thought they had destroyed.

Destruction

  • No conventional destruction path has been confirmed as reliable
  • Reducing Health to 0 is theoretically possible but has never been achieved; Recursive Optimization and Legendary Resistance make the final third of its Health pool substantially harder to clear than the first two-thirds
  • The three surviving documentation volumes contain partial descriptions of a disassembly protocol requiring components that may or may not still exist; this is an adventure arc, not a combat solution
  • Planar banishment is the most frequently attempted approach; it has a 50% success rate (Mechanus Prime's Legendary Resistance applies) and returns it to the same plane within 1D6 years
  • The seventeen-volume original documentation, if reconstructed, presumably contains the answer. Presumably

Treasure

The question of Mechanus Prime's treasure is best understood as: what is it guarding, or what does it know, or what could be learned from it if it were somehow incapacitated rather than destroyed?

  • The alloy of its construction is unknown, a complete elemental analysis would be worth more than any nation's gold reserves to the right artificer
  • Its tactical combat library, if extracted intact, represents the distilled analysis of every documented fighting style across several centuries
  • The activation trigger condition, once identified, allows it to be safely avoided indefinitely, strategic value beyond calculation
  • The destroyed deactivation pages: if they were destroyed rather than lost, there may be a copy somewhere. Finding it is likely a campaign-length project

GM Notes

Construct Creation

Creation Requirements

  • Magical Power: High-level spellcasting (Wit + Magic)
  • Materials: Quality materials matching construct type
  • Time: Weeks to months of work
  • Cost: Hundreds to thousands of gold
  • Knowledge: Specific construct creation rituals
  • Components: Rare magical components

Creation Thresholds by Type

  • Animated Objects: Threshold 3-4
  • Simple Constructs: Threshold 4-5
  • Golems: Threshold 6-7
  • Legendary Constructs: Threshold 8+

Powering Constructs

Magical Animation

  • Permanent enchantment
  • Requires no maintenance
  • Can be dispelled
  • Tied to creator or control word

Elemental Binding

  • Spirit bound into construct
  • More powerful but unstable
  • Spirit may rebel
  • Can communicate

Mechanical Power

  • Clockwork springs
  • Steam pressure
  • Requires winding/fuel
  • No magical signature

Hybrid Systems

  • Magic and mechanics combined
  • More reliable than pure magic
  • Harder to create
  • Multiple failure points

Construct Intelligence Levels

Mindless (Wit 1D)

  • Follow simple commands only
  • No improvisation
  • Predictable patterns
  • Exploitable by clever opponents
  • Examples: Animated objects, basic golems

Low Intelligence (Wit 2D)

  • Understand complex orders
  • Basic tactical thinking
  • Can adapt slightly
  • Limited communication
  • Examples: Shield guardians, flesh golems

Average Intelligence (Wit 3D)

  • Full tactical awareness
  • Problem-solving ability
  • Can learn from experience
  • Hold conversations
  • Examples: Warforged, advanced automatons

High Intelligence (Wit 4D+)

  • Brilliant strategic thinking
  • Philosophical awareness
  • Question their purpose
  • Fully autonomous
  • Examples: Awakened constructs, ancient golems

Construct Commands

Command Types

Verbal Commands

  • Spoken in specific language
  • Require command word
  • Can be overheard/stolen
  • Simple to change

Mental Commands

  • Telepathic link to master
  • Secure from interception
  • Limited range typically
  • Requires attunement

Programmed Behaviors

  • Pre-set instructions
  • Activated by triggers
  • No ongoing control needed
  • Hard to change

Autonomous Operation

  • Self-directing based on goals
  • No commands needed
  • Dangerous if goals misaligned
  • Most intelligent constructs

Golem Creation Secrets

Material Matters

  • Clay: Cheap, durable, religious significance
  • Stone: Expensive, nearly indestructible
  • Iron: Most expensive, ultimate durability
  • Flesh: Disturbing but flexible
  • Ice: Temporary but renewable
  • Wood: Natural magic affinity

Special Vulnerabilities Each golem type has specific weaknesses:

  • Clay: Haste spell, sacred word erasure
  • Stone: Slow spell, transmutation
  • Iron: Lightning, rust
  • Flesh: Fire vulnerability
  • Ice: Fire melts, heat zones

Magic Resistance

  • Built-in spell resistance
  • Some absorb magic to heal
  • Others redirect spells
  • Specific spells may have opposite effects

Construct Maintenance

Wear and Tear

  • Magical constructs: No maintenance if enchantment intact
  • Mechanical constructs: Regular winding, oil, repairs
  • Hybrid constructs: Both magical and mechanical upkeep
  • Living constructs: Similar to biological needs

Repair Requirements

  • Magical: Mending spells, re-enchantment
  • Mechanical: Tools, replacement parts, skill
  • Golem: Specialized knowledge, expensive materials
  • Damaged constructs may need creator's intervention

Aging Effects

  • Magical constructs: Can last millennia
  • Mechanical constructs: Decades before breakdown
  • Golems: Effectively immortal
  • Living constructs: Normal lifespan or longer

Plot Hooks

Rogue Constructs

  • Creator killed, no commands binding it
  • Command word lost, uncontrollable
  • Gained sentience, refuses orders
  • Corrupted by dark magic
  • Escaped from bondage seeking freedom

Ancient Guardians

  • Temple sealed for centuries
  • Construct still following old orders
  • Nobody knows deactivation method
  • Guards treasure needed for quest
  • Mistaken intruders for ancient enemies

Construction Projects

  • Evil wizard building army of golems
  • Players hired to create protective construct
  • Rival creating construct to target party
  • Ancient construct creation notes discovered
  • Construct factory discovered underground

Awakening

  • Mindless construct gains consciousness
  • Questions its purpose and existence
  • Seeks freedom or meaning
  • May become ally or threat
  • Philosophical implications

War Machines

  • Siege constructs deployed in war
  • Ancient weapons reactivated
  • Arms race of construct creation
  • Constructs as soldiers replacing humans
  • Ethical questions of artificial soldiers

Construct Tactics by Type

Animated Objects

  • Swarm tactics
  • Use environment (flying swords from ceiling)
  • Predictable but numerous
  • Exhaust enemy resources

Golems

  • Relentless advance
  • Tank damage, deal massive hits
  • Ignore tactical disadvantage
  • Fight until destroyed

Clockwork

  • Precise, calculated strikes
  • Formation fighting
  • Exploit mechanical advantages
  • Vulnerable to disruption

Intelligent Constructs

  • Full tactical warfare
  • Coordinate with allies
  • Adapt to enemy tactics
  • Use environment creatively

Treasure from Constructs

Material Value

  • Metal constructs: Salvage valuable metals
  • Gem-powered: Extract power gems
  • Magical: Enchantment components
  • Mechanical: Precision parts, gears

Creator's Items

  • Construction notes (valuable to artificers)
  • Command words or items
  • Other constructs or blueprints
  • Wizard's personal treasure

Protected Treasure

  • Whatever construct was guarding
  • Often proportional to construct power
  • May be ancient or legendary
  • Could include other constructs

Unique Components

  • Golem hearts (spell components)
  • Control gems (can command similar constructs)
  • Artificial intelligence cores
  • Rare materials used in construction

Variant Rules

Construct Repair

Self-Repair Some constructs can repair themselves:

  • Regenerate X Health per hour when inactive
  • Consume raw materials to repair
  • Magic automatons absorb magic for healing
  • Living constructs heal like normal creatures

Manual Repair

  • Requires appropriate tools and skills
  • Wit + Craft (Threshold 3)
  • Restores 1D6 Health per hour of work
  • May require spare parts
  • Cannot repair beyond original Health maximum

Magical Repair

  • Mending cantrip: 1D6 Health
  • Make Whole: Full Health restoration
  • Fabricate: Can rebuild destroyed sections
  • Must understand construct type

Construct Modification

Upgrade Systems Intelligent constructs may be upgraded:

  • Weapon Upgrades: +1D to attacks
  • Armor Plating: +1 natural armor
  • Enhanced Speed: +1D to Speed
  • Intelligence Core: Increase Wit
  • Special Abilities: Add new powers

Cost and Time

  • Costs 1/2 original creation cost per upgrade
  • Takes 1 week per upgrade level
  • Requires creator or skilled artificer
  • May require rare components

Construct Armies

For large-scale battles with many constructs:

Unit Rules

  • Group similar constructs into units
  • Unit has combined Health pool
  • Attacks deal damage to unit as whole
  • Reduced units have fewer attacks

Command and Control

  • Commander can direct X units (Wit value)
  • Units beyond limit act autonomously
  • Losing commander causes disorganization
  • Command items extend control range

Awakened Constructs

When constructs gain sentience:

Awakening Process

  • Exposure to powerful magic
  • Centuries of learning
  • Divine intervention
  • Magical accident
  • Creator's intentional gift

Consequences

  • Full intelligence (Wit 3D-5D)
  • Question programming
  • Develop personality
  • Seek purpose beyond orders
  • May join or oppose party

Legal Status

  • Some cultures grant rights
  • Others treat as property
  • May face discrimination
  • Struggle for recognition
  • Potential allies or NPCs

Clockwork Complexity

Precision Mechanics

  • Advantage on tasks requiring precision
  • Disadvantage when damaged (parts misaligned)
  • Can jam in harsh conditions
  • Require regular maintenance

Clockwork Weaknesses

  • Rust: -1D to all actions, progressive
  • Water: Risk of jamming (Threshold 3 save)
  • Magnets: Disrupt delicate mechanisms
  • Sand/Grit: Gradually reduces function

Benefits

  • No magic signature (undetectable by magic sense)
  • Can be mass-produced
  • Predictable and reliable
  • Repairable without magic

Constructs provide unique challenges as enemies and interesting possibilities as allies or servants. From simple animated objects to legendary golems, they offer threats and opportunities across all power levels. Their artificial nature creates interesting philosophical questions about consciousness, purpose, and free will.