2501
| Climate/Terrain: | Any land |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Very rare |
| Organization: | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle: | Any |
| Diet: | Nil |
| Intelligence: | Semi- (2-4) |
| Treasure: | Nil |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| No. Appearing: | 1 |
| Armor Class: | -3 |
| Movement: | 12, Fl 24 (C) |
| Hit Dice: | 20 |
| THAC0: | 3 |
| No. of Attacks: | 3 |
| Damage/Attack: | 2d6/2d6/1d20+10 (claw/claw/bite) |
| Special Attacks: | Breath weapon |
| Special Defenses: | See below |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil |
| Size: | G (27-35’ long) |
| Morale: | Fearless (20) |
| XP Value: | 23,000 |
A golem is actually a “construct”, a powerful, enchanted monster created and animated by a high-level wizard or priest. These creatures can be made from almost any material. The drolem — the most fearsome of all such constructs — proves especially difficult to create.
A drolem looks like a dragon: either a beast of a certain color, a composite of different types, or simply a dragon skeleton. In many ways its physical abilities rival those of the formidable beasts it resembles, but the drolem is extremely stupid — utterly incapable of speech, spellcasting, or the devious plotting that so often marks the actions of true dragons.
Combat: In battle, the drolem proves as formidable as any true dragon. The monsters can sustain damage only from weapons of +2 or greater enchantment and remain immune to all from of fire, cold, and gases (since they do not need to breathe except to use their breath weapon). In additlon, drolems are immune to poisons, mind-affecting attacks, and to all spells of 4th level or lower. They can cast detect invisibility to a range of 60 feet.
Unfortunately, a drolem’s Intelligence (or lack of same) limits its tactics. One of these creatures does not often attempt strategies more complex than a direct attack. If given extremely precise instructions by its creator, it mght successfully execute a maneuver such as picking up an opponent, flying into the air, and dropping the unfortunate victim. However, it could accomplish this sort of act only after receiving the most careful of instructions. Normally, a drolem can follow commands no more complex than: “Kill anyone who enters this chamber, except me.”
Most drolems prefer to attack from the air when possible. In battle, they attack with their immense foreclaws, each one inflicing 2d6 points of damage, and their wicked bite (1d20+10 points of damage). In addition, a drolem can use its breath weapon three times per day to exhale a small, poisonous cloud (a cube measuring 20 feet on each side, appearing directly in front of the drolem) All within the cloud must make a saving throw vs. dragon breath or die.
Habitat/Society: These automatons, which operate under the direct control of their creators, have no society or association with any particular habitat. Golems can obey simple commands but have very limited mental capauhes. Unlike most such constructs, a drolem can think, but in a quite limited fashion; it obeys all its creator’s instructions exactly to the letter. This habit can cause difficulties — it is not unheard of for an incautious wizard to give a drolem a command that leads to the creator’s own demise.
Ecology: As unnatural creatures, drolems play no part in the natural ecology. They neither eat nor sleep, and they “live” until destroyed, usually in combat.
Most true dragons hate drolems with a passion. The mighty reptiles either see the constructs as vicious mockeries of themselves or find themselves horrified by the acts that drolems are so often built to accomplish. In particular, dragons despise drolems created in their own image. Thus, an onyx dragon becomes most enraged by the sight of an onyx drolem, a red dragon particularly hates the sight of a red drolem.
Because drolems are particularly rare and powerful golems, they guard only the most special places and treasures. The especially arduous creation process can take almost a year to complete, even after all the components have been assembled. Only a wizard of at least 18th level can create a drolem, using a certain book and several rare materials, found only on Mystara. These materials, which cost about 90,000 gold pieces, are detailed in books that describe drolem creation, but remain unknown to the general public. The scales from at least three different types of dragons go into this golem’s construction, rumors say.
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