Creatures, lo i build you, come to my service again
Dungeon Meshi is fucking awesome. They have really cool golems too, and it makes for a really interesting monster. Basically, all a golem is is a single core animating inanimate material. Remove the core, deactivate the golem.
This is a fucking wonderful idea for an RPG. Instead of golems being big bags of hit points, each one becomes a sort of puzzle. If players know that golems are controlled with cores, then each golem becomes a problem of finding and removing it.
I've been using these in my Icewind Dale game recently to great effect. I threw my players a freebie during their downtime adventures so they could learn about golem cores, and then they came up against a fortress full of the things. Really fun encounters.
Golem Cores
A golem core is an enchanted piece of ivory, looks kind of like a man. They take a long time and a lot of magic to make. They animate material that surrounds them, but only if that material is properly inscribed with the correct runes. They are also extremely fragile. They have 1 hit point.
The trick, then, is to build extensive defenses around those cores. Because hitting a man made of iron with a sword doesn't really work, does it?
Sample Golems
Snow Golem
Snow Golems pool snow around them. Make big bulbous bodies. When they punch, their hands solidify into ice. It hurts quite a lot. You can shoot one in the head with an arrow, but as long as there is more snow nearby, it will continue to replenish itself.
The core is located in center of it's orb like body, surrounded in a hard shell of rock-ice. First you have to get past the snow, then you have to get into the core.
The core is freezing cold to the touch, attracts snow like a magnet. It will form a new ice core, and a new golem, if left in the snow for too long.
Iron Golem
Hexagonal cylinders of iron, with one leg for each face. Spider like legs and claws of steel. Iron is tough to work with, the golem core has a hard time bending such a strong form. Therefore, the iron must be kept at a high temperature. Vents in the top of the head allow smoke to escape.
To get to the core, you must peel away the face shielding and reach into the scorching heat. Alternatively, douse the thing in frigid cold and it will slow down, eventually stopping. Be quick though, the runes on it's underside are always generate forge-like heat.
Stone Golem
The stronger the form, the more difficulty the golem core has in controlling it. Impenetrable stone is one of the strongest, but their forms must be permeated with small hollow tubes to allow the flow of magical air to animate the carved rock.
But, because these golems need access to open air, their cores must be located centrally, with large windows for intake. To get around this, the windows are located on their bellies, and guarded with hand-mangling traps.
Eyeball Golem
The rarest of the golems, and the most expensive to create. The eyeball golem is comprised of eyeballs, and doesn't do much except swarm around the core. If it swarms around a person, the fluid will slowly digest them, adding their eyes to the collection, but the eyes are mindless, attracted to nothing but the core.
The reason the core is so expensive is because it is immaterial. Spectral. When the eyeball golem spots a new victim (every eye turns to face them) it shoots its core into their body, usually the stomach or liver. Then it becomes solid. The core is inside your body, and the eyes are swarming. Good news though: you know exactly where the core is and how to get it out.
When you retrieve the core, it's hard to tear your gaze away from it. It wants to attract your eyes, like a magnet.
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