Clockwork Golem

Variants:

Clockwork golems range considerably in their size, agility and function with some obviously intended to serve as workers and labourers, and others clearly designed only to kill.

Standard Clockwork Golem

Standard clockwork golems are the servants, protectors and general labourers of whatever ancient society created them. They stand about 3m in height, and will typically be encoutnered aither guarding, patrolling a defined path, or performing a repetitive task, which they will continue forever unless disturbed or alerted by an intruder. Their heavy armour and large weapons make them a formidable threat in combat.

An attack with the acid of an Iron Ant, or the Decay spell (if not resisted using Stability) will reduce the Protection of a clockwork golem by 1 and do 3d6+1 points of damage to its Health. Additionally, if the caster or attacker succeeds a 21C using the Engineering or Mechanics skill, they can identify key components, and the rolled damage will be doubled.

With a full complement of 20 clockwork scarabs inside it, a clockwork golem will regenerate 1 Health every 3 minutes.

Clockwork Page

Clockwork pages are the smallest of clockwork golems, standing 1m in height. They are built to work as servants and menial workers and unless they are performing a repetitive task, endlessly on a loop, they will typically be encountered standing immobile with nothing to do, awaiting orders that will never come from masters who no longer exist. Clockwork pages are neither inert, nor helpless, however; they are simply 'untasked'. When intruders are detected, or things are left out of place, they will respond to put things back the way they should be. Their metal bodies are quite durable, and they carry a large wrench that serves as a general-purpose tool for their typical tasking, but can also be used as a mace in combat.

An attack with the acid of an Iron Ant, or the Decay spell (if not resisted using Stability) will reduce the Protection of a clockwork page by 1 and do 3d6+1 points of damage to its Health. Additionally, if the caster or attacker succeeds a 21C using the Mechanic or Engineering skill, they can identify key components, and cripple the clockwork page in one shot.

With a full complement of 6 clockwork scarabs inside it, a clockwork page will regenerate 1 Health every 10 minutes.

Clockwork Giant

Clockwork giants stand about 8m in height, filling the space between the towering clockwork colossi and the approximately human-sized standard clockwork golem. While some believe these were created to serve as the primary protectors of their long-extinct civilizations, others propose they were created merely as prototypes for the colossi. In any case, once they are awakened, they are virtually unstoppable. Mindless and tireless - a clockwork giant is a terrifying weapon of unknown origin and unclear purpose.

The internal functions and requirements of clockwork giants are many times more complex than those of standard clockwork golems, preventing them from being vulnerable to single targetted uses of the Decay spell or Iron Ant acid. An attack with the acid of an Iron Ant, or the Decay spell (if not resisted using Stability) will reduce the Protection of a clockwork giant by 1 and do 3d6+1 points of damage to its Health. Additionally, if the caster or attacker succeeds a 21C using the Engineering skill, they can identify key components, and the rolled damage will be doubled. If resisted, the spell does nothing.

With a full complement of 60 clockwork scarabs inside it, a clockwork giant will regenerate 1 Health every minute (12 turns).

Clockwork Assassin

Clockwork assassins are terrifying humanoid automata designed only to kill. They cannot be bargained with, or reasoned with, and they absolutely will not stop, ever, until their target is dead. Clockwork assassins stand about 2m tall and have a bipedal, humanoid form similar to a clockwork golem, but lighter, less heavily armoured, and more fluid in their movements. They typically wear a cloak or robes, which may help them pass undetected among humanoids.

Clockwork assassins have sharp metal claws on their hands, lubricated from internal reservoirs containing giant centipede venom. They also carry darts covered in this venom that that they will throw at targets with lethal efficiency. Even more fearsome is that they are able to produce a very dangerous acid equivalent to that of a swamp dragon that they can spray from their mouths. This acid is carried in a bladder seemingly harvested from the ovipositor of an iron ant queen. This leathery sack is sealed in their torso and only contains one dose of the acid, but they can replenish it in 24 hours by harvesting the necessary materials in any outdoor or underground environment - grinding them into a paste using gears in their 'mouths' and 'swallowing' them into the ovipositor sack where they are transformed via alchemical process into more acid. The acid bladder only sprays enough acid to last 1d6 turns instead of the usual 1d12.

The intricate machinery of a clockwork assassin is extraordinarily complex and somewhat fragile. An attack with the acid of an iron ant, or the Decay spell (if not resisted using Stability) will reduce the Protection of a clockwork assassin by 1 and do 3d6+1 points of damage to its Health. Additionally, if the caster or attacker succeeds a 21C using the Mechanic or Engineering skill, they can identify key components, and cripple the clockwork assassin in one shot. If resisted, the spell does nothing.

With a full complement of 12 clockwork scarabs inside it, a clockwork assassin will regenerate 1 Health every 5 minutes.

Advanced Clockwork Assassin

The advanced clockwork assassin is superior in every way to its predecessor. It is smarter, faster, stronger, more agile, and has a number of advanced abilities to increase it's overall mobility and lethality. Compared to the standard clockwork assassin, it has a stronger venom on its claws and darts, (giant scorpion venom) and a larger bladder for manufacturing and spraying acid equivalent to that of a swamp dragon. This bladder will spray enough acid to last the full normal duration of 1d12 turns (but can still only carry 1 dose at a time).

The machinery of the advanced clockwork assassin is at least complex and fragile as that of the standard version, but it is better isolated and protected. An attack with the acid of an iron ant, or the Decay spell (if not resisted using Stability) will reduce the Protection of an advanced clockwork assassin by 1 and do 3d6+1 points of damage to its Health. Additionally, if the caster or attacker succeeds a 21C using the Engineering skill, they can identify key components, and the rolled damage will be doubled. If resisted, the spell does nothing.

With a full complement of 12 clockwork scarabs inside it, an advanced clockwork assassin will regenerate 1 Health every 5 minutes.

Clockwork Colossus

A clockwork colossus is an enormous humanoid machine - a kind of giant clockwork giant, standing over 30 meters in height, and all but indestructible. While legends tell of the great colossi, it is not clear whether these stories are simply exaggerated tales of clockwork golems, or if a colossus (or even many of them) actually existed. Colossi - if they do exist - would be all but unstoppable; resilient to magical and physical damage and impervious to manipulation, control, disease or poison, a single colossus could lay waste to an entire city.

The Decay spell and Iron Ant acid are only useful in a narrow domain against a colossus. The caster or attacker must first enter the inner workings of the colossus (which itself might be a difficult feat). From there, they must succeed a 21C using the Engineering skill to determine where to locate the vulnerable mechanisms of the enormous machine. Once these mechanisms are located - often deep inside the complex, grinding gears of the colossus, the caster or attacker can roll a 21 Challenge using their Mechanic skill to identify key components. Each successful identification and casting (resisted using Stability) or application of Iron Ant acid will do 3d6+1 points of damage to its Health, but will have no effect on its Protection (as the attacker is operating from within, and the outer armour is far too thick for these tactics to effect it.

Note that the insides of a colossus will often be protected against assaults from magical engineers by clockwork spiders and clockwork archers moving within them, acting as a sort of immune system. With a full complement of 1440 clockwork scarabs inside it, a clockwork colossus will regenerate 2 Health every turn.