Category:Sand Golem

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

The sand golem is a magically animated construct and as such lacks the dread golem template. It is a mindless automaton that obeys in the most straightforward way possible the orders of its maker, drawing no conclusions and taking no initiative. The creature will not resort spontaneously to special actions such as tripping or disarming, but it may either be given a specific instruction to make one such attack or may be directed as necessary by a maker who is immediatley at hand. When issuing instructions to the animate thing, its maker is wise to error on the side of simplicity. The creature may be lent a humanoid shape but whatever the particulars of it, the thing is always cloaked in a cloud of dust and it merges smoothly with, and flows freely through, the sand at its "feet". It can disappear into the sand and move beneath it. Its employment is by desert dwellers and most typically druids who may use it as a guardian.

Construction

This section contains Homebrew non-canon info, created by fans

The 14th caster level is required to create a sand golem. The maker pours 65,000 gp (or its equivalent) into bringing his or her idea to "life". Of this total, 2000 gp are for a set of amulets and 500 gp are for esoteric instruments which are reusable and constitute a cost saving of 500 gp for the creation of subsequent golems of this type. Simply fashioning the thing's body consumes 500 gp of the above total, requires a successful Craft (sculpting) check (DC 15), and takes 4 months. The ultimate animation of the thing requires 5000 XP from the caster and the casting of the following spells: awaken sand, fuse sand, and geas/quest.

John W. Mangrum's Sand Golem Lore^[1]

This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources

Sandstorm (as Golem, Sand)

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about sand golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 22: This vaguely humanoid, walking sand dune is a sand golem. This result reveals all construct traits.

DC 27: A sand golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its ever-shifting body absorbs minor attacks. However, adamantine bludgeoning weapons can prove effective, and a transmute mud to rock effect slows the creature for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating sand golems.

DC 32: A sand golem attacks by smashing foes with its powerful fists. Whenever it strikes a living foe, some of its sand is rammed into the victim’s nose and mouth, risking suffocation. Rather than dealing damage, blast of sand and flaywind burst spells actually repair a sand golem; a fuse sand spell repairs it completely.

DC 37: A sand golem is constantly surrounded by a dense cloud of blowing sand that causes brownout conditions to the limit of the golem’s reach. Each sand golem is mystically bound to a set of magic amulets at the time of its creation. The wearer of such an amulet can command its bound golem from any distance.

References