Golemageddon: Golem Ideas for Your Next Campaign – Part 1 – Roleplaying Tips

A couple of quick announcements.

First, I was on the Roleplay Rescue podcast recently with Tiny Prep co-author, Che Webster. It starts off with a question: What would you do if you had a new player to add to your existing roleplaying group? And the convo evolves from there.

Here’s the link to listen.

Second, Platinum Wizards of Adventure, please keep an eye on your inbox this week for your CampaignCraft invitation. You’ll get two invites:

1. A link to access CampaignCraft at no charge
2. An invite to the CampaignCraft private community

Dear GM, if you are not yet a Platinum Wizard of Adventure, I’ll have more details about CampaignCraft: From 5 Room Dungeon to Universe later this month or in early June.

However, if you’d like early access to build a campaign starting with a single 5 Room Dungeon, become a Platinum Wizard of Adventure today.

Golemageddon – Part 1

RPT GM Matt emailed me with the idea of sodium golems.

Talk about pouring salt in the party’s wounds, eh?

I’ve got golems down as a bucket list monster for my CampaignCraft: From 5 Room Dungeon to Universe campaign.

So let’s talk about some ideas for golems I’ve been noodling on. Maybe you’d be interested in scooping them for your own games.

I’ll cover two ideas today, in Part I. The third tip that I wrote wandered into word-building and puzzle-making territory, so I’ll put it on its own in Part 2 later this week.

1. Awakened

I got this idea from a novel about animals gaining intelligence and rebelling. Alas, I cannot recall the title. I was also inspired by the uplifting concept from David Brin’s excellent Uplift Saga.

Awakened golems are like animals becoming sentient and intelligent.

So I ask myself, what if golems got smart, got together, and started scheming? And, what would they want?

Gots me a whole new faction and some potential great gameplay with this idea!

2. Special Material

Matt’s salty comment made me wonder about alternative materials for golems that add more features to the creatures.

For example, a sodium golem could herd cattle. It’s a mobile salt lick.

Ever since I read about the evil draconians in Dragonlance as a boy, I loved the idea of monster variations as distinct foe and skirmish groups. Each has at least one special power or gimmick, like turning to stone vs. exploding upon death.

Here are d6 golem materials I’m thinking about:

1. Tar. It ignites easily, burns hard and hot, and could garner a tricky attack with fiery, sticky, tar balls.
2. Clouds. I bet Luke would have loved a water vapour golem to make farming easier. I’m thinking golems need a way to secretly communicate. What if it was via mists and fogs?
3. Fungi. Been watching The Last of Us recently. Lots of ways to make fungi golems terrifying. Just research mushroom and mould varieties and effects for inspiration. Perhaps a Cordyceps Fungi Golem variant shoots mind-altering spores.
4. Nitroglycerin. I can’t stop chuckling about the look I imagine will be on the barbarian player’s face when a giant hammer smacks into Nitro Golem’s chest and the whole thing goes kaboom. For fantasy, I might call it a Hellfire Golem or some such.
5. Glue. Elmer the Golem makes it really tough to fight by pulling weapons out of foe hands. It’s a sticky situation, for sure. A fly trap alchemist experiment gone wrong, then turned horrifying by being Awakened.
6. Sandpaper. A Sandstone Golem that excels at grappling. Eight long, strong, sinewy arms lash out and grapple opponents up to a polearm’s length away. Bear-hugged foes are then vigorously scraped against the golem’s extremely rough body. Perhaps there’s a broken glass variant out there somewhere — Stop, Drop, and Roll! Roll! Roll!

For more golem ideas, here are d20 Ways To Hide A Golem.

Next newsletter I’ll carry on with Part 2, which covers golems as puzzles and world-building opportunities. See you then.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
Have more fun at every game!

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