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6.8<br />

BUILDING A GOLEM<br />

Having determined the specifics of the Golem’s design,<br />

the creator must assemble the necessary materials<br />

in his laboratory or workshop and commence work. (For<br />

quantities and material costs, see section 6.6).<br />

The magician must first make a Very Hard Drafting<br />

maneuver to generate the requisite blueprints. The results<br />

of this maneuver will influence <strong>construct</strong>ion as<br />

follows.<br />

Spectacular Failure: The blueprints are totally flawed,<br />

but this won’t be recognized until the golem is finished.<br />

The golem will be unable to move. All the materials are<br />

wasted.<br />

Absolute Failure: The blueprints are totally flawed,<br />

but this won’t be recognized until halfway into the<br />

creation process. The work must be abandoned with<br />

50% of the materials being wasted.<br />

Failure: The blueprints are flawed, but this won’t be<br />

recognized until one week into the creation process. The<br />

creator can start again from fresh. No materials are<br />

wasted.<br />

For any other result, the blueprints are of sufficient<br />

quality to guide the manufacture, with Unusual Success<br />

and Absolute Success giving +20 bonuses to any other<br />

skills required in the creation process.<br />

Note: A creator can reuse blueprints to make as<br />

many copies of a particular Golem type as he desires<br />

- other Golem types will require new designs, naturally.<br />

Likewise a creator can reuse the blueprints of<br />

another scholar to fashion a Golem according to that<br />

specification.<br />

The Golem’s material determines which skills are<br />

needed to actually fashion it. All Golems must be shaped<br />

into the correct form using Sculpting skill. Additionally<br />

Wood Golems require Wood Crafts to prepare and carve<br />

the wood. Stone Golems and those formed from crystals<br />

and gems demand expertise in Stone Crafts. Golems<br />

made from metals and alloys require Metal Crafts to<br />

forge the metals, form a containing mold, and cast the<br />

sculpted shape. Water Golems require the use of Metal<br />

Crafts skill to fashion the shaped tanks to hold the water<br />

as it is enchanted into permanent shape and animation.<br />

The appropriate skill maneuvers for <strong>construct</strong>ion<br />

should be made about halfway through the creation<br />

process. The difficulty level of the Sculpting maneuvers<br />

depend on how aesthetically appealing the creator intends<br />

the golem to be.<br />

Light: a very crude approximation to the organic<br />

form.<br />

Medium: a stylized representation.<br />

Hard: an accurate representation.<br />

Very Hard: an exact representation that captures every<br />

nuance of the form.<br />

Extremely Hard: a representation that is even more<br />

impressive than the real creature.<br />

(This is one step higher than suggested in School of<br />

Hard Knocks: The Skills Companion - Golems are not<br />

intended as stationary sculptures.)<br />

Failures in the Sculpting maneuver will produce an<br />

ugly or grotesque Golem.<br />

The difficulty level for any required Craft maneuvers<br />

begin at Medium, and may be modified upwards depending<br />

on the Golem’s size, shape, and material composition<br />

as follows.<br />

Tiny to Medium: no change.<br />

Large or Huge: increase Difficulty Level by one.<br />

Humanoid: no change.<br />

Unusual humanoid or animal form: increase Difficulty<br />

Level by one.<br />

Monstrous, demonic, extraplanar or other form: increase<br />

Difficulty Level by two.<br />

Materials: wood, stone, non-magical metals and alloys<br />

(excluding steel): no change.<br />

Materials: non-magical steels: increase Difficulty Level<br />

by one.<br />

Materials: magical metals and alloys, gems, laen: increase<br />

Difficulty Level by two.<br />

Example: Making a Huge Adamantine Dragon<br />

Golem requires a successful Absurd Metal Crafts<br />

maneuver (Medium becomes Hard owing to its Huge<br />

size, Hard is raised two steps to Extremely Hard<br />

because dragons are a monstrous form, and Extremely<br />

Hard is raised a further two steps because<br />

adamantium is a magical metal).<br />

A Spectacular Failure in a Crafts maneuver will lead to<br />

the Golem being misshapen and only partially functional<br />

(a winged golem might be unable to fly, a humanoid<br />

golem might be missing a hand, etc.) An Absolute<br />

Failure will cause the Golem to be merely partially misshapen<br />

but will be fully functional. A Failure result will<br />

add one extra week to the <strong>construct</strong>ion time.<br />

The alchemist can have the mundane aspects of <strong>construct</strong>ion<br />

undertaken by expert sculptors and craftsmen<br />

- however they will have to be available and working on<br />

the project throughout the creation process.<br />

In terms of spells, the alchemist must cast the appropriate<br />

Golem creation spell (see Table 6.1) each day. If<br />

the Golem is to receive any magical abilities, the creator<br />

must cast the spell to be imbedded, the appropriate<br />

Imbed N spell, and one of the Charge, Daily Power N, or<br />

Constant Power N spells each day. A spell failure does not<br />

ruin the entire process, unless the caster is incapable of<br />

recasting the miscast spell that day.<br />

When the final spell of creation is cast, the spark of<br />

“life” will enter the Golem’s frame and it will lurch into<br />

sudden animation, ready to serve its creator.<br />

62 CONSTRUCT COMPANION

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