FREQUENCY: Very rare
FREQUENCY: Common ([Dungeon Level X])
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 6“
HIT DICE: 80 HP
% IN LAIR: Nil (1 Iron Golem: any(lightly settled forest or mountain area suggested; in ruin), TPL72:12th, REF4.23)
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 ~ 7
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4-40
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poison gas
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Hit only by +3 weapons, immunity to most spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (12‘ tall)
LEVEL/X.P.VALUE: X | 14,550

Construction of an iron golem, bipedal and manlike, requires a magical
tome or a magic-user of 18th or higher level employing the following
spells: wish, polymorph any object, geas, and cloud kill. The cost in
materials is 1,000 gp per hit point, and it requires 3 months
construction time.

The golem created always remains under the control of the magic-user
who created it. It can obey any simple commands. It will stand, non-
functioning, as a guard until some event takes place, i.e. until a door is
opened, a book read, etc.

In addition to striking, an iron golem will breathe out a cloud of poisonous
gas, 1“ X 1” X 1”, directly before it, once every 7 melee rounds.

The strength of an iron golem is three times greater than that of a flesh
golem. An iron golem can do 1 point of structural damage per melee
round.

An iron golem can be struck only by magical weapons of +3 or greater
enchantment. Normal and magical weapons under +3 do no damage.
The only magical attacks which affect the iron golem are electrical, such as
a lightning bolt, which slows the monster 50% for 3 melee rounds. Magical
fire attacks repair damage on a 1 hit point for 1 hit point basis. Iron golems
are subject to attack from the rust monsters.

Question: A character with a vorpal sword decapitated an iron golem.
This would negate the golem’s special attack of poisonous gas, wouldn’t it?
Or can the golem still see and use its breath weapon after it is decapitated?

Answer: Decapitating a golem does not necessarily render the crea-
ture helpless or harmless. In essence, it turns the golem into two
separate monsters. The body is still able to function, and will
continue to attempt to carry out the wishes of its creator.
Whether or not the body can “see” after the head is severed
depends on your interpretation of how a golem “sees” in the first
place. It is possible that the golem is magically empowered to
detect the presence of a threat, and doesn’t really need the
“eyes” in its head to find its way around. It is also reasonable to
treat a headless golem as a creature which has been blinded,
and apply the appropriate penalties on the monster’s “to hit,”
saving throw, and armor class figures.
    And what about the head? It, too, remains “alive” and func-
tional, although it is immobile and the effectiveness of its breath
weapon is drastically reduced. To determine the position and
placement of the fallen head, the DM can roll d4 or d6 for the
direction in which the top of the head points, and d4 again to
determine which surface (face, back, either side) is pointing
down. The breath weapon will continue to function once every 7
rounds, and the cloud of gas will still expand to fill a 1” x 1” x 1”
volume directly in front of the source. But since the head is not
capable of independent movement, it should be a simple matter
to keep away from it when it’s about to discharge.
    In a case such as this, DM’s must decide how to apportion HP between the two parts.
The iron golem’s head must still
be “defeated” to stop the expulsion of the poisonous gas; it will
retain a certain fraction of the golem’s current hit points when it
is severed, and it will still have all the general properties (+3 or
better to hit, etc.) the creature normally has.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Mouser

Gary, I was just rereading the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story "Bazaar of the Bizzare" and was wondering if the fight with the iron statue was an inspiration for the iron golem. I know the clay golem comes from Jewish mythology (and the flesh golem seems to be somewhat a take on Frankenstein's monster) but the iron statue armed with a sword and with breath weapon (albeit, not poisonous gas) seems quite similar to the foe Fafhrd faced.

Thanks in advance.

Gray Mouser

You have the inspirational sources for the clay and flesh golems correct
The iron golem was drawn from Greek mythology, the bronze one therein, Talos.
The breath weapon addition was from Rob.

Cheers,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Mouser
Thanks for the info, Colonel. I'm just glad Rob's inspiration for the wip of cockatrice feathers didn't become standard fare for iron golems! <paranoid>

Gray Mouser

What about the power to levitate and the poison sword? those with the fiery breath and the petrifaction from the whip made that critter really fearsome <nervous laugh>

Cheerio,
Gary