Monster Monday - Stone Golem

I'm finally back from GaryCon and my anniversary weekend. Both were great, and GaryCon will be a story for a different time. Right now, its Monster Monday!

The people at Frog God Games are doing a Rappan Athuk Kickstarter right now, so I decided to open my S&W copy to a random page and use a monster from there. I opened it to page 145, and had a nasty encounter stare me in the face:

A great statue of an angelic being stands here at the head of a 30–40 ft.
diameter cavern, wings outspread, wearing armor, and with sword raised
on high. Strangely, the statue faces down the cavern away from the PCs as
they enter. The walls of the cavern have been smoothed, and carved with
images of oversized human warriors marching in the same direction. At
the far end of the cavern rests another vault door, opened by turning the
wheel at its center 10 times counterclockwise.
The great statue is a masterfully crafted greater stone golem, though
it only activates if the Ravager itself comes into view—even standing
still for direct attacks from lesser creatures. However, hidden amid the
carved images in the walls are 20 hasted stone golems, and which move
to intercept anyone moving into the cavern.
All golems are made of the same iridescent stone that coats the walls
of this cavern, and even if completely destroyed they regenerate from the
walls at the rate listed below, so long as the stone remains magical.

 I don't know which of the Frogs wrote this particular nasty encounter (but I would bet Bill.) But, this encounter shows how monsters can be used in different ways from a "standard book encounter." Just because a monster has stats in a book, that doesn't mean they can't be tweaked and adjusted to fit into a different hole. (Ian does this well in his Orbs series with the chimera statue in Undying Orb.)

This concept is one of the reasons why I enjoy doing Monster Monday so much. Now, let's take a look at the book stats of the Stone Golem (From Swords & Wizardry Complete, by Matt Finch):

Golem, Stone
Hit Dice: 60 hit points
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Fist (3d8)
Saving Throw: 3
Special: Unaffected by +1 or lesser weapons, immune to most spells
Move: 6
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 16/3,200
Stone golems are massive stone statues animated by very powerful
magics (much more than just animate object, in other words). They are
slowed by fire spells, damaged by rock-to-mud spells, and healed by
the reverse. Spells that affect rock, and fire spells, are the only ones that
affect stone golems. They can only be hit by +2 or better weapons.
(In AD&D they also have a Slow spell available to them.)

Golems are great for "dead" dungeons and tombs. The can remain inert for eons, don't need to consume anything (including oxygen,) can be programmed by their creators, and can appear as normal statues, blending into otherwise benign landscapes.

Golems are just as useful in "living" dungeons. Gray Varnum, a druid, was defeated by a challenger and thus reduced in rank to Druid (12th level.) The loss devastated his ego, and he has gone insane as a result. He constructed a stone golem in the shape of a giant starfish, which covers the entrance to his underwater cave. He resides inside, living out his days in the shape of a lobster.

Necromancers also find golems useful. Barriz Hajile cannot sneak his undead inside city walls. But, his stone cart, with a tongue oddly shaped by hands, passes by the guards on a weekly basis. He bides his time within the city, and if a person gets too close, they are added to the "burial cart" if nobody else is around.

Magic-users aren't the only people that find golems useful. The great warrior, Osphan found one in a forgotten tomb, and paid a sage a great sum to find its command words. Now, he uses the stone golem to guard his slaves.

As you can see, the biggest drawback to a golem is it can never be independent. At least, not normally. They are programmed or respond to commands from their owners.
Deep within Mord Mar, there is a level that breaks enchantments. But, this level doesn't destroy magic items, it just "frees" them from being commanded. At least golems roam this level, destroying all living creatures that they come across. The entrance is partially blocked by a huge ship (which was once a Folding Boat.)

Golems are the stuff that make DMs dream of ever better encounters. They are incredibly strong, resilient, resistant to magic and can take any form. Here's a list of some golem forms I have used in the past:

dog
doll
dragon (always a hit!)
giant (ho-hum)
human
medusa (what was powerful enough to turn a medusa to stone? Add the medusa's gaze attack for more evil DMly fun.)
sailing ship
spider, giant
sphynx
statue (particularly cruel is a god or demon.)

All of these golems play very differently when they hit the table. Let me know what kinds you have used!

Secret Doors!

Earlier this week, Tenkar posted about secret doors. I put my 2 coppers in there, but since, Peter Dell'Orto also spent some time on the subject. So, I guess I will add to the blog chatter for the week.

I think secret doors are a good thing in D&D (and clones). I do think they are used far too much. It's my opinion that they cannot bar a quest. Nor can they hide something important to the PC's goals. It just turns into a slog of dice rolling at that point, and sucks the fun completely out of the game for a while.

Great treasure, or treasonous secrets should be hidden behind secret doors. I used the example of a shrine to a dark cult in a mansion over at Tenkar's place. A wizard may have a secret study where he keeps a copy of all of his spellbooks, in case his enemies loot his tower.

Now, this being D&D, rules are always broken. A powerful enemy like Strahd will be the exception to the rule about barring quests. There is no reason why a powerful, rich person like Strahd would not hide his coffin behind a difficult to find door. Or a lich might hide a phalacrity behind a secret door.  But, when discussing enemies of that caliber, the heroes should have magics available to help.

So, in Mord Mar, my rules for secret doors are as follows:
1. It needs an original purpose. The secret door in Pickles and Potatoes was to hide the money-counting room.
2. The current resident needs to have the intelligence to use/find/access the secret door. A single ogre will probably not know about the secret door behind his lair, but 200 goblins would eventually stumble across a secret door in their area.
3. Almost everything behind a secret door will be "gravy." That demon's hoard of treasure seem light? Might want to search for secret doors.
4. Intelligent and powerful creatures will use secret doors to their fullest advantage. The party is beating up on the powerful mage a bit to quickly? His iron golem may just pop out of the secret door, and cover his escape.
5. Often ancient things lie behind secret doors. Maybe a long-sleeping undead, or maybe a forgotten relic?
6. The lower in the dungeon you are, the more likely there will be secret doors. The "pre-dungeon" has one secret door on level 1, two on level 2, and three on level 3. The deeper you go, the more likely that a secret door is around.

Statues

A poster on the Old School Gamers group on Facebook asked a simple question tonight:

Today's random word is statues. How have you used statues and golems in your campaign?

It sounded like a great topic for a blog post, as they really are one of my favorite tools in my gm's toolbox. Statue creatures are pretty common in FRPGs. Some common ones include: caryatid column, gargoyle, and living statue. But this isn't where they shine.

Statues are a tangible thing that links the past to the present. They are the physical representation of the dark god that cultists worship in the darkness. Statues are the effigy to heroes long past, and kings of yore. They are the divine's likeness in a town square. Yes, statues are many things.

Statues can play many roles in a FRPG game. They can be quest givers, like in Clash of the Titans. They can be quest enders: "destroy the statue of Orcus, and the undead will stop walking the night." Statues can be warnings. You know you've entered a medusa's lair when you see statues of heroes, all with surprised looks. Statues can even be rewards. Try giving the party a statue of them, in the hometown. Remind them of it when they walk by, and you will see many sly smiles.

My two favorite roles for statues are information and puzzles. Statues are born for these tasks. For example, when a GM wants to expound on the past of the campaign world, it is easy to add a Hall of Kings, with statues from every king, and their accomplishments listed on a plaque. A well known puzzle that could be used is the Eight Queens Chess Puzzle.

Here are 3 scenarios that I have or will use involving statues in Mord Mar:

1. Minotaur Statue: The party comes across a statue of a minotaur on a pedestal. It is made of obsidian, and holds a double-bladed battle axe. As soon as a party member touches the statue, it comes to life and attacks the party member. If the party member dies, it returns to the pedestal, unmoving until another person touches it. If the party defeats it, the minotaur respawns in 24 hours, stronger, and hunts the person that touched the statue. The party must find a way to defeat it without destroying it. Examples may include: leaving it in a portable hole, locking it in a room that it cannot escape from, or appeasing it in some other way (with a GM's clues.)
2. A statue stands in each corner of a room. They can be turned 360 degrees, but not moved. For the secret to be revealed, none of them can look at a wall or each other.
3. Deep in a cavern below the old city, the party finds a statue of Auror Oaktooth (high god of Mord Mar). It is badly defaced, but still recognizable. If the party restores the statue, and surrounding room to temple quality, Auror will give a great boon to them. 

Statues are one of the most versatile tools available to a Game Master. Don't just look at them as monsters to overcome, terrain to battle around, or treasure to be traded for gold. They can be so much more.