Golem/Homunculus Crafting NeXT
Golem/Homunculus Crafting NeXT
-Golem Crafting-
Crafting a golem is considered to be the pinnacle of artifice, at least by those who no longer believe homonculi are within the realm of possibility. A tenuous balance between magic and science must be struck, and the materials are esoteric and valuable.
Universal Golem Rules
Golems cannot learn Skills or gain XP. Their capabilities are set on creation and for the most part cannot be changed, as a finished golem is one continuous piece bound by magic. Trying to alter a finished Golem is like trying to replace a heart between beats, with equally disastrous results at the slightest mistake.
Golems can only recover HP or MP by spells based in Alchemy or Ether, and can only benefit from items created specially for golems. Golems that have no need for MP are assumed not to have any.
Any Golem can be broken down and sold as scrap material for half the final cost of its creation, which will also restore any EXP spent in the process. Buyers rarely purchase secondhand golems due to the prohibitive trouble of reprogramming them, but the eccentric may pay handsome commissions if one is built from the ground up.
Lastly, all golems are powered by a bound spirit of some sort. Anything that lacks a physical body will more or less work. If the spirit is to be used unwillingly, it must be defeated or bound long enough to complete the final steps of Golem creation. If the spirit is used willingly, you'd better stay on its good side. A golem brought to the usual death threshold grants the spirit inside a chance to escape, rendering its former body scrap. The very last check rolled to create the golem is the DC the spirit must beat to break free, using it's own Willpower or Spirit bonus if the spirit itself lacks stats.
-Construction-
Construction of a Golem has three distinct steps. Building, where the physical body of the golem is created. Programming, where the golem's abilities are set. And lastly, Binding, where the core is infused with the spirit that will power it. Each stage has it's own DC and costs, as well as its own chances for customization of the finished project. Some such choices will be required, others will be listed under 'OPTIONAL' and should be planned for carefully; A golem crafter can only add one 'OPTIONAL' augment per 5 levels of Arcane Science.
Once all choices are made in each section, the DC and cost are totaled up and the crafter can begin rolling as normal.
-BUILDING-
Choose a level of the body. The highest you can build is your Arcane Science level.
Choose from the following. Attempts to experiment will cost the standard amount, and will either add to the below, default to one of the below, or fail to work, forcing the artificer to start over. You won't know until you make the Build DC.
Humanoid - The standard shape for a golem, two arms, two legs, a torso and maybe a head. No particular strengths or weaknesses.
Quadraped - A golem in the shape of any beast, what kind doesn't particularly matter.
Abomination - Created by accident at first, until their virtues were noted and the methods of their creation codified, an Abomination is a loosely gathered clump of golem parts held together by a bubbling goo of alchemical byproducts, or by pure energy. It can manipulate the world around it with hands floating in its mass or psuedopods, if the crafter feels like keeping the theme.
Mimic - A bizarre yet strangely practical form of construct mimicing, ironically, the Mimics that occur naturally.
Totem - A curious form of golem given life through divine means. A Totem takes the form of a statue, a pillar, or an obelisk of some sort. A totem can only be made properly under the close watch of someone with Divine arcana or a patron spirit of a similar level of power. Totems are only animated through Beseeching.
'OPTIONAL'
Specialize - Doubles one stat's default value & halves another. DC is increased by the number of points the doubled stat is increased by. Cost is increased by (Golem level * Number of points stat is increased by * 5,000) gil.
Big - Multiplies DC, cost, and materials needed by 1.5. Applies 'Giant 1' trait.
Tiny - Multiplies DC, cost, and materials needed by 0.75. Applies 'Tiny 1' trait.
Embed Weapon - Adds a weapon to the design of a golem, allowing it to be used. The weapon must be on hand, and half of its cost and DC to create it are added to the cost and DC of the golem. Golems can only use melee weapons or crossbows. Any developed weapons have their normal material cost and must be crafted by a sufficiently skilled blacksmith.
Clockwork - Doubles the final cost of the golem's body, but greatly increases the speed & maneuverability of the finished product. If the creator has Engineering skill equal to or exceeding their Arcane Science, the cost is only increased by 50%.
A Clockwork Golem gains five milestones under the category of Dexterity or Awareness, creator's choice.
Beautiful - An emphasis on aesthetics is struck, making the golem more a wonder of art and less of a bulky, slightly creepy death machine. Increases final cost by 10% and requires an extra day of work. Particularly finicky spirits may not willingly inhabit a Golem without this trait.
Gem Materials - Requires the ability to Blacksmith Gems, or a friend that can do that part for you. Golem gains innate armor and fists of the same material it is lined with. A Gem Mimic uses the same level of dagger as this material level for its Bite attack. Requires 2 units of the desired material.
Frankensteiner - Supposedly the earliest golems created by man rather than god were composed of dead flesh brought to life by the merest spark of magic present in mundane lightning. A Frankensteiner requires body parts matching the build of the Golem, in decent condition. How you acquire these is up to you and the darkest part of your mind.
A Frankensteiner is healed by Lightning damage unless they are weak against it, and is affected by any spell that would normally target a zombie.
Wood - Wooden golems are extremely flimsy, extremely cheap, and extremely bad at fighting. They are mostly used for very basic physical labor and practice when a golem crafter is just starting out. The nature of golems prevents the wood from even being enchanted.
Wooden Golems have costs and DCs reduced to 10% and all stats are capped at 50. Incompatible with Gem Materials.
Ent - The golem is built into a living tree. This requires a very healthy, very large tree and the use of Druidic arcana to keep it alive and healthy during crafting. The resulting creature is made of living, magical wood, and considered a plant for all intents and purposes. It can benefit from Druidic and Plant based magic. An Ent cannot house a Fire, Death, or Lightning aligned spirit, at least not if it wants to live very long. Incompatible with Gem Materials.
-PROGRAMMING-
Choose a programming level. This can be any multiple of five equal to or less than your Arcane Science skill. This level will decide how many Skill Points the golem can spend. It can only take Athletics, weapon proficiencies, Reaction, Acrobatics, and Advanced Skills in those areas. If the form of a golem grants it additional possible skills, these can also be bought, as can their Advanced Skills.
No skill can be higher than the crafter's Arcane Science skill, and the crafter must have the help of someone with the Skill he's programming (Or have it himself). Leftover points are lost forever.
'OPTIONAL'
Add 1 Feat - 50 EXP and one full day of concentration. Feat subject to approval, and for the most part can only be Ability Feats.
Add 1 spell the golem can cast - DC of Programming increased by 25%. Spell must be cast on the golem 10 times every time a Programming check is made. If a spirit of the opposite element to any known spells is Bound later, the golem will lose those spells. Golems cast spells from HP ratherthan MP, unless using an Unshackled spirit (see below).
Add 1 language - The Golem learns a language known by the creator, or an ally that is willing to help. Each language takes a full day of concentration to program in and consumes 65 SkP. It is NOT assumed that the golem can speak, comprehend, or read otherwise, and most golems are not coordinated enough to write. A golem with no languages communicates with its master mentally.
The golem speaks in a creepy, emanating voice of the one who donated the language, unless it has some means of producing sound. If it is Unshackled, it may instead speak in the voice of the spirit animating it.
Reaction - Programs in a reaction that can be toggled by the master of the golem. This is a simple 'If-Then' statement that the Golem will abide by automatically, for better or for worse. The 'If' must be something that a dog would understand, and the 'Then' can only be a single action. In a combat situation, the Reaction will only trigger on the Golem's action.
Advanced Parsing - Allows the golem to understand more complex sentences when receiving commands, essentially anything that only takes one comma to get across. This increases the DC by 25%.
IED Recognition - Allows the golem to remember people it meets, largely in terms of 'friend' and 'not friend'. How it responds to Not Friends depends on the orders it is given. A person is marked as a 'friend' if the creator introduces them as such. The golem can also be taught to respond to marks, badges, or uniforms.
This takes a full day of concentration to add and costs 130 SkP.
-BINDING-
The final, most crucial part, and the difference between a golem and a very expensive action figure/statue. The binding of a spirit to animate the Golem is a torrid affair in the best circumstances. The higher the level of the Body, the greater the spirit needed to fuel it. Once a properly powerful spirit, or spirits, are selected, they must be subdued, captured, or convinced that being stuffed in a golem will be fun, and must remain so the entire time it takes the meet the Binding DC.
Once per day, the Artificer rolls a magic attack on the spirit, costing MP and dealing damage as if by a spell level equal to the Arcane Science skill/5. When the spirit's HP hits 0, the binding is complete (Willing spirits will usually forego their Magic Soak and 'Take Ten' on the defense roll, making the DC to hit half their total defense). Luck Points cannot be used for these checks.
Once the binding is technically 'finished', things can still go wrong if the artificer isn't careful. The last attack roll made to finish the Bind becomes the DC for the Spirit to break free if it ever gets the chance. Furthermore, the spirit may prove too weak, or too elementally adverse to its form for the creature to function. At this point there is no choice but to cut the spirit loose and try again.
For the faint of heart or those who can't figure out how to spirit, there is another option that is less of a straight line. A 'Soul Link' allows the crafter to link the golem to a still living character, either themselves or a friend. The process is very much the same, but the "damage" of each bind attempt must be halved to preserve the delicate living energy
The character being Linked must have at least 500 EXP per level of the golem's Body, or half that for each character if a Shikon Bind is used. If the golem or character is brought to death threshhold, the link is severed as a fail safe and must be redrawn. If the linked character is knocked out or otherwise put out of commission, the golem ceases to function until they are brought back around but the link need not be reestablished.
An 'Unshackled' Soul Link is not possible, but the Linked character's Elemental Affinity applies naturally, and the golem 'inherits' one spell or technique that the character knew per Programming Level.
The third and simplest, if a bit of a 'milk for cream' sort of substitution, is to purchase a Golem Core on the market. These are dug up from god knows where, created by alchemy, or modified from Reaverbot cores.
A Golem Core must be of the combined level of Body and Programming, and cost 100,000 Credits per level. (Multiply by 2-6 to to get one with an elemental affinity)
The universe is vast, and there may be still other sources of energy that would properly bind a Golem...
'OPTIONAL'
Attunement Bind - Replaces the standard core of the Golem with practically anything. This can make Binding easier or harder, or add special traits to the finished product. It is, however, completely at the whim of the GM what if any effect this has, and you won't know until you've already finished the Bind.
Shikon Bind - A method hailing from the orient, where two spirits of relatively equal strength but opposite alignment are bound simultaneously.
Unshackled Bind - A dangerous method created by more benign elementalists, an Unshackled spirit is more loosely tethered to the golem.
Beseech - Calls on a patron of god-like stature to bless a Totem with life.
-HOMUNCULI-
Can be done simply enough for double the building cost. A Homunculus can learn skills, equip items, and gain EXP (in the same manner a Servant can) while a Golem can't. The 'Binding' stage may need to be altered to something more fitting. A homunculus cannot be in battle with its creator at the same time.
Crafting a golem is considered to be the pinnacle of artifice, at least by those who no longer believe homonculi are within the realm of possibility. A tenuous balance between magic and science must be struck, and the materials are esoteric and valuable.
Universal Golem Rules
Golems cannot learn Skills or gain XP. Their capabilities are set on creation and for the most part cannot be changed, as a finished golem is one continuous piece bound by magic. Trying to alter a finished Golem is like trying to replace a heart between beats, with equally disastrous results at the slightest mistake.
Golems can only recover HP or MP by spells based in Alchemy or Ether, and can only benefit from items created specially for golems. Golems that have no need for MP are assumed not to have any.
Any Golem can be broken down and sold as scrap material for half the final cost of its creation, which will also restore any EXP spent in the process. Buyers rarely purchase secondhand golems due to the prohibitive trouble of reprogramming them, but the eccentric may pay handsome commissions if one is built from the ground up.
Lastly, all golems are powered by a bound spirit of some sort. Anything that lacks a physical body will more or less work. If the spirit is to be used unwillingly, it must be defeated or bound long enough to complete the final steps of Golem creation. If the spirit is used willingly, you'd better stay on its good side. A golem brought to the usual death threshold grants the spirit inside a chance to escape, rendering its former body scrap. The very last check rolled to create the golem is the DC the spirit must beat to break free, using it's own Willpower or Spirit bonus if the spirit itself lacks stats.
-Construction-
Construction of a Golem has three distinct steps. Building, where the physical body of the golem is created. Programming, where the golem's abilities are set. And lastly, Binding, where the core is infused with the spirit that will power it. Each stage has it's own DC and costs, as well as its own chances for customization of the finished project. Some such choices will be required, others will be listed under 'OPTIONAL' and should be planned for carefully; A golem crafter can only add one 'OPTIONAL' augment per 5 levels of Arcane Science.
Once all choices are made in each section, the DC and cost are totaled up and the crafter can begin rolling as normal.
-BUILDING-
Choose a level of the body. The highest you can build is your Arcane Science level.
Humanoid - The standard shape for a golem, two arms, two legs, a torso and maybe a head. No particular strengths or weaknesses.
Quadraped - A golem in the shape of any beast, what kind doesn't particularly matter.
Specialize - Doubles one stat's default value & halves another. DC is increased by the number of points the doubled stat is increased by. Cost is increased by (Golem level * Number of points stat is increased by * 5,000) gil.
Big - Multiplies DC, cost, and materials needed by 1.5. Applies 'Giant 1' trait.
Tiny - Multiplies DC, cost, and materials needed by 0.75. Applies 'Tiny 1' trait.
Embed Weapon - Adds a weapon to the design of a golem, allowing it to be used. The weapon must be on hand, and half of its cost and DC to create it are added to the cost and DC of the golem. Golems can only use melee weapons or crossbows. Any developed weapons have their normal material cost and must be crafted by a sufficiently skilled blacksmith.
Clockwork - Doubles the final cost of the golem's body, but greatly increases the speed & maneuverability of the finished product. If the creator has Engineering skill equal to or exceeding their Arcane Science, the cost is only increased by 50%.
A Clockwork Golem gains five milestones under the category of Dexterity or Awareness, creator's choice.
Beautiful - An emphasis on aesthetics is struck, making the golem more a wonder of art and less of a bulky, slightly creepy death machine. Increases final cost by 10% and requires an extra day of work. Particularly finicky spirits may not willingly inhabit a Golem without this trait.
Gem Materials - Requires the ability to Blacksmith Gems, or a friend that can do that part for you. Golem gains innate armor and fists of the same material it is lined with. A Gem Mimic uses the same level of dagger as this material level for its Bite attack. Requires 2 units of the desired material.
Frankensteiner - Supposedly the earliest golems created by man rather than god were composed of dead flesh brought to life by the merest spark of magic present in mundane lightning. A Frankensteiner requires body parts matching the build of the Golem, in decent condition. How you acquire these is up to you and the darkest part of your mind.
A Frankensteiner is healed by Lightning damage unless they are weak against it, and is affected by any spell that would normally target a zombie.
Wood - Wooden golems are extremely flimsy, extremely cheap, and extremely bad at fighting. They are mostly used for very basic physical labor and practice when a golem crafter is just starting out. The nature of golems prevents the wood from even being enchanted.
Wooden Golems have costs and DCs reduced to 10% and all stats are capped at 50. Incompatible with Gem Materials.
Ent - The golem is built into a living tree. This requires a very healthy, very large tree and the use of Druidic arcana to keep it alive and healthy during crafting. The resulting creature is made of living, magical wood, and considered a plant for all intents and purposes. It can benefit from Druidic and Plant based magic. An Ent cannot house a Fire, Death, or Lightning aligned spirit, at least not if it wants to live very long. Incompatible with Gem Materials.
-PROGRAMMING-
Choose a programming level. This can be any multiple of five equal to or less than your Arcane Science skill. This level will decide how many Skill Points the golem can spend. It can only take Athletics, weapon proficiencies, Reaction, Acrobatics, and Advanced Skills in those areas. If the form of a golem grants it additional possible skills, these can also be bought, as can their Advanced Skills.
No skill can be higher than the crafter's Arcane Science skill, and the crafter must have the help of someone with the Skill he's programming (Or have it himself). Leftover points are lost forever.
Add 1 Feat - 50 EXP and one full day of concentration. Feat subject to approval, and for the most part can only be Ability Feats.
Add 1 spell the golem can cast - DC of Programming increased by 25%. Spell must be cast on the golem 10 times every time a Programming check is made. If a spirit of the opposite element to any known spells is Bound later, the golem will lose those spells. Golems cast spells from HP ratherthan MP, unless using an Unshackled spirit (see below).
Add 1 language - The Golem learns a language known by the creator, or an ally that is willing to help. Each language takes a full day of concentration to program in and consumes 65 SkP. It is NOT assumed that the golem can speak, comprehend, or read otherwise, and most golems are not coordinated enough to write. A golem with no languages communicates with its master mentally.
The golem speaks in a creepy, emanating voice of the one who donated the language, unless it has some means of producing sound. If it is Unshackled, it may instead speak in the voice of the spirit animating it.
Reaction - Programs in a reaction that can be toggled by the master of the golem. This is a simple 'If-Then' statement that the Golem will abide by automatically, for better or for worse. The 'If' must be something that a dog would understand, and the 'Then' can only be a single action. In a combat situation, the Reaction will only trigger on the Golem's action.
Advanced Parsing - Allows the golem to understand more complex sentences when receiving commands, essentially anything that only takes one comma to get across. This increases the DC by 25%.
IED Recognition - Allows the golem to remember people it meets, largely in terms of 'friend' and 'not friend'. How it responds to Not Friends depends on the orders it is given. A person is marked as a 'friend' if the creator introduces them as such. The golem can also be taught to respond to marks, badges, or uniforms.
This takes a full day of concentration to add and costs 130 SkP.
-BINDING-
The final, most crucial part, and the difference between a golem and a very expensive action figure/statue. The binding of a spirit to animate the Golem is a torrid affair in the best circumstances. The higher the level of the Body, the greater the spirit needed to fuel it. Once a properly powerful spirit, or spirits, are selected, they must be subdued, captured, or convinced that being stuffed in a golem will be fun, and must remain so the entire time it takes the meet the Binding DC.
Once per day, the Artificer rolls a magic attack on the spirit, costing MP and dealing damage as if by a spell level equal to the Arcane Science skill/5. When the spirit's HP hits 0, the binding is complete (Willing spirits will usually forego their Magic Soak and 'Take Ten' on the defense roll, making the DC to hit half their total defense). Luck Points cannot be used for these checks.
Once the binding is technically 'finished', things can still go wrong if the artificer isn't careful. The last attack roll made to finish the Bind becomes the DC for the Spirit to break free if it ever gets the chance. Furthermore, the spirit may prove too weak, or too elementally adverse to its form for the creature to function. At this point there is no choice but to cut the spirit loose and try again.
For the faint of heart or those who can't figure out how to spirit, there is another option that is less of a straight line. A 'Soul Link' allows the crafter to link the golem to a still living character, either themselves or a friend. The process is very much the same, but the "damage" of each bind attempt must be halved to preserve the delicate living energy
The character being Linked must have at least 500 EXP per level of the golem's Body, or half that for each character if a Shikon Bind is used. If the golem or character is brought to death threshhold, the link is severed as a fail safe and must be redrawn. If the linked character is knocked out or otherwise put out of commission, the golem ceases to function until they are brought back around but the link need not be reestablished.
An 'Unshackled' Soul Link is not possible, but the Linked character's Elemental Affinity applies naturally, and the golem 'inherits' one spell or technique that the character knew per Programming Level.
The third and simplest, if a bit of a 'milk for cream' sort of substitution, is to purchase a Golem Core on the market. These are dug up from god knows where, created by alchemy, or modified from Reaverbot cores.
A Golem Core must be of the combined level of Body and Programming, and cost 100,000 Credits per level. (Multiply by 2-6 to to get one with an elemental affinity)
The universe is vast, and there may be still other sources of energy that would properly bind a Golem...
'OPTIONAL'
Attunement Bind - Replaces the standard core of the Golem with practically anything. This can make Binding easier or harder, or add special traits to the finished product. It is, however, completely at the whim of the GM what if any effect this has, and you won't know until you've already finished the Bind.
Shikon Bind - A method hailing from the orient, where two spirits of relatively equal strength but opposite alignment are bound simultaneously.
Can be done simply enough for double the building cost. A Homunculus can learn skills, equip items, and gain EXP (in the same manner a Servant can) while a Golem can't. The 'Binding' stage may need to be altered to something more fitting. A homunculus cannot be in battle with its creator at the same time.