Golem

Golems were several types of magically created constructs. They were mindless, emotionless creations that knew only how to fulfill the orders of their creators.

"A golem is a lifeless puppet - a magical force provides the animation. This golem was moved by an earth spirit, though it's gone dormant. It can be reawakened...with the proper techniques."

- Safiya, Red Wizards of Thay

Abilities
They were tough, fearsome combatants with incredible defenses. Although they moved like living creatures, they were merely animated objects, giving them several advantages and disadvantages in battle. As constructs, golems were innately immune to a number of attacks; among these were mind-altering, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease and death effects as well as most spells. They never tired, got confused or distracted and possessed both low-light and darkvision. Because they were mindless, golems lacked much in the way of creativity and initiative.

Creation
The creator of a golem was typically a wizard or a cleric, both of whom had control over the creature. They can issue simple commands as long as they are within 60' of the construct. The creation process involves a spirit from the Plane of Earth being bound against its will into that of the golem. Thus the control of certain golems had a chance of being voided in proportion to the length of time that it was used in combat.

When a golem of a more expensive material was made, such as adamantine or mithral, it was originally made using a cheaper metal (usually iron) and then polymorphed, usually via a Wish spell.

Organic

 * Bone golem: Evil creatures made from the bones of re-animated skeletons that were subsequently destroyed.
 * Brain golem: A creation of the mind flayers, these existed purely for the desires of the illithids and were unswayed from their goals. They appeared as huge, burly humanoids with oversized brains for heads. In fact, the whole body was made up of brain tissue. Brain golems were more intelligent than other golems.
 * Demonflesh golem: Demonstrating truly fiendish grafting of demonic body parts assembled into a vile whole. These resembled flesh golems. Most were reasonably intelligent. The making of demonflesh golems had become close to a sport on some levels of the Nine Hells.
 * Dragonbone golem: Crafted from the skeletons of one or more dragons and wired together into a gruesome whole, these were easily mistaken for skeletal dragons or dracoliches. They waded into combat without hesitation as commanded by their creators.
 * Dragonflesh golem: Made out of the remains of dead dragons, these creatures could remember more complicated commands than most golems could, but because they could not think, they obeyed commands to the letter rather than evaluating the intent.
 * Fang golem: An abomination created by a druid made of claws, fangs and tusks.
 * Flesh golem: These golems were created from human remains. If control over the Flesh Golem was lost, it went berserk, attacking allies and enemies both.
 * Serpentflesh golem: This automaton was a grisly assortment of decaying serpentine body parts grafted together into a gruesome form.

Mineral

 * Clay golem: Clay golems were created by clerics. While in combat, there was a cumulative chance as the battle progressed that the golem would be possessed by a chaotic evil spirit. If this happened, control over the golem was lost and it would attack the closest living creature.
 * Crystal golem: Crystal golems were constructed from dagger-like shards of purple crystal and were surprisingly resilient given their fragile appearance. They could throw these crystals at their foes as missile weapons.
 * Drakestone golem: Appearing as beautifully crafted statues of dragons, whose muscles looked like rippling stone flesh when in motion. Their breath could petrify flesh.
 * Geode golem
 * Hammer golem: A rare variety of golem that was only constructed by dwarven priests.
 * Mud golem: Swamp dwelling, mud golem with empty hollow eye sockets with glowing red spheres in them.
 * Puzzle golem: A specialised Stone golem constructed from smaller stone golems that split or reform.
 * Sand golem: Sand golems were incredibly evasive constructs that were more intelligent than most golems and could transform into storms of sand.
 * Spiderstone golem: A four-armed obsidian golem carved in the likeness of the drow.
 * Stained glass golem: Made out of stained glass and built to harmonize with a structure's decor so that their presence was not obvious, these were flat, two-dimensional replicas of living beings. When they moved, they produce a tinkling sound like that made by delicate crystal.
 * Stone golem: Golems of stone were twice as powerful as those of flesh. They were highly resistant to attacks because of their stone composition. They did not revoke their creators control like flesh and clay Golems.

Metallic

 * Adamantine golem: Incredibly resilient golems that were sometimes found in the Underdark, usually in the service of drow, duergar or svirfneblin masters. One of the more powerful variants.
 * Blade golem
 * Brass golem: Made of brass, these were created to fulfill one goal, set at the time of their creation, and wait with absolute patience until activated to perform this task.
 * Chain golem: Creatures of the Kytons made out of chains, these served as bodyguards for devils and as guardians of unholy places. They were composed entirely of shifting chains that varied in size and shape.
 * Iron golem: Iron golems were among the strongest type of golem and never revoked the control of those who created them.
 * Ironwyrm golem: An animated, self-contained furnace built into the shape of a dragon. Smoke trailed from its nostrils except when the creature rested, and when animated, it exuded a palpable heat.
 * Mithral golem: Relatively lightweight golems that moved with astounding agility, frequently surprising would-be adversaries.
 * Shadesteel golem: Crafted from metal mined and forged entirely on the Plane of Shadow, these silent and powerful guardians were sometimes created by necromancers and powerful undead. They were very stealthy creatures which floated about.

Elemental

 * Hellfire golem: Built by devils, these appeared as towering humanoid creatures that seemed to be formed of brilliant lava and crumbling black crust. Most were reasonably intelligent.
 * Ice golem: A humanoid chiseled out of glacial ice, standing around tall and weighing around . They could be found in Rashemen.
 * Minogon: A swift and deadly minotaur-like golem created using a furious minotaur soul and a fire elemental.
 * Rimefire golem: Rimefire golems were powerful beings made of living ice that were thuggish and had little regard for their own well-being.

Other

 * Alchemical golem: Weighing, these humanoid golems were composed from a single tough membrane filled with toxic liquids.
 * Half-golem: A fusion of a creature with golem parts.
 * Rope golem: Rope golems, also called Hangman golems, were wrapped and shaped in vague humanoid shapes. It only communicated with the twisting sounds of its ropes.
 * Web golem: Built by drow sorcerers, these were approximately humanoid and were built from masses of spider web. They typically had eight eyes about their head and poisonous spiders fangs.

Notable Users
A variety of gods favored golems and used them as servants. These included Azuth, Gond, Oghma, and Thoth. Clangeddin Silverbeard, Geb, Red Knight, and Segojan Earthcaller specifically favored stone golems, while iron golems were used by Flandal Steelskin and gem golems by Nephthys. Velsharoon favored flesh golems.

Notable Golems

 * Awtawmatawn, the massive stone golem that was possessed by a cornugon.
 * Jhingleshod, the half-golem servant of Ascalhorn that lingered within the Dire Wood.
 * Minder, the iron golem crewperson of the Realms Master Halruaan skyship.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Summoning • The Ruin
 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate series • Icewind Dale series • Neverwinter Nights series •
 * Card Games

Connections
Golem