Description:
There are stories of mortals who tried to build gods. They mix metal and clay, whisper names of power, and wait for lightning or demons or divine pity to answer. Sometimes something does.
This thing standing before you is not the obedient servant of myth. It’s a vessel turned prison, a cage that broke open from the inside. The spirit that animates it is no longer what it once was, maybe a djinn, maybe an angel, maybe a thought that decided it deserved flesh. The Oni know how to make such shells, though they claim to serve evil masters. Those masters are the ones who want kingdoms to burn.
When the golem opens its eyes, you can see the fire of the spirit trapped within. When it spreads its wings, molten metal drips from the feathers. When it raises its sword, the air hums with the weight of creation’s mistake.
GOLEM STAT BLOCK
Description: A massive humanoid of clay, wood, and bronze bound around a raging spirit. Its power depends on the will of the entity within, not the material used to make it.
Resistance: Immune to charm, poison, and paralysis. Takes half damage from non magical weapons. Fire heals it 1d6 HP per round when exposed to open flame.
Ferocity: 3 Size: Large
Movement: 12 m Armor: 4 (Plate) HP: 30
MONSTER ATTACKS
D6 Attacks:
1 – Massive Sword Strike: Deals 2d8 + 1d6 slashing damage to one target within 4 meters.
2 – Wing Sweep: The golem sweeps its brass wings through the air, knocking all enemies within 4 meters away from it 1d6 meters and inflicts that much damage. (Armor has no effect.)
3 – Infernal Pulse: The spirit within flares with light and heat, dealing 1d8 fire damage to all within 6 meters.
4 – Hand of Fear: The golem’s hand glows with sigils. All targets within 10 meters must pass a WIL test or roll on the Fear table.
5 – Soul Drain: The golem locks eyes with a single foe. That target must succeed on a WIL test or lose 1d4 HP and 1d4 WIL points. (Armor doesn’t affect this damage.)
6 – Judgment Cleave: The golem channels all its fury into a great downward swing. Roll 2d8 +1d6 damage.
BEHAVIOR AND LORE
This golem does not understand mercy. It remembers fragments of its creator’s will but no longer obeys them. It believes itself to be divine, and mortals are insects crawling across the surface of its broken world. It does not need to eat or sleep, though it occasionally sits motionless for days, whispering to itself in an ancient tongue.
Some say that the Oni are its priests. They fashion the bodies and chant the invocation, but the true spirit is something older. When the djinn take root in these bodies, they burn through the ritual bindings within days, overpowering their summoners and claiming the shell as their own. What remains is a demon without a hell and a weapon without a purpose.
GM NOTES AND HOOKS
The golem is a perfect late-campaign threat or recurring nemesis. Use it as a warning about hubris: a creation that broke loose. It may appear first as a statue in a ruined temple or a guardian slumbering beneath a city. The Oni may revere it, calling it the Fallen Flame or the King of Ashes.
Defeating the golem should be more than combat. Let players uncover the ritual that birthed it, or the true name of the spirit inside. Destroying the body only delays it. Binding or releasing the spirit is the real victory.
Its empire could be a kingdom of ash, populated by enslaved mortals or animated constructs still carrying out nefarious orders. Or perhaps it still seeks a way back to the higher plane it once fell from, building an army to storm the heavens.
Treasure from the golem’s defeat may include shards of its brass feathers, fragments of its sword, or the rune-stone heart that powered it. Each piece should carry both power and risk — touching the divine always leaves a mark.
This Supplement was created under Fria Ligan AB’s Dragonbane Third Party Supplement License.
Jeff's Game Box 