The Golem - 5e Race

# Golem

"A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed that it was the wretch, the filthy daemon to whom I had given life."

-Mary Shelly, Frankenstein

"Who am I?" "What  is my purpose?" Every golem starts their life asking these questions. Be they sentient tools, animated objects, or living weapons, the consciousness given to golems sets them aside from other living creatures. Free golems must navigate a world beyond their computation and carve a purpose for themselves, but while many try, few succeed.

### It's alive!

While golems are commonly composed of metal, clay, stone, or wood, any solid material conducive to the magic or science used to awaken them can be used. Consequently, golems vary considerably in size and appearance.

Artificers and mages often shape their golems into humanoid shapes, as these forms are generally the best at serving a diversity of purposes, but this is not a necessity. While they are few and far between, some golems throughout history have been inspired by beasts, monstrosities, or even simple tools; However, those who have dedicated their lives to golemcraft have concluded that these eclectic designs are broadly inferior to the simple yet effective humanoid motif.

Golems have no functional gender and cannot reproduce as biological races might. While many creators of golems may imprint their creations with a "male" or "female" personality for the sake of familiarity, golems often have a hard time understanding the concept of gender regardless.

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#### Purpose
| d8  | I was originally created to... |
| --- | --- |
| 1   | Protect my master. |
| 2   | Guard a location or area. |
| 3   | Perform manual labor. |
| 4   | Fight alongside others in a war or battle. |
| 5   | Train others in the service of your creator. |
| 6   | Attend to the bookkeeping of my creator's estate. |
| 7   | Explore in lieu of your creator. |
| 8   | House a dangerous artifact inside my carapace. |

#### Creator
| d8  | My creator was... |
| --- | --- |
| 1   | A sorcerer in liege to a powerful warlord. |
| 2   | A tinkerer who created me just to see if they could. |
| 3   | A court mage looking to better their king's domain. |
| 4   | A deity with the intention of providing a miracle to its followers. |
| 5   | An archwizard who needed to win a drunken wager. |
| 6   | An artificer in need of an extra hand. |
| 7   | A sorcerer who required a living vessel to imprison an evil curse or artifact.
| 8   | No one. You have no recollection of a creator. Perhaps you were awakened by ancient magic or as the byproduct of a powerful spell. |

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### It won't die!
Golems are given their sentience by an animating force called Anima. An Anima is an artificial soul and can be resurrected or imprisoned like any other soul might. The Anima of a golem is created during the awakening process of the golem, where the creator of the construct uses the golem's physical body as a catalyst to capture and stockpile magical energy until it combines into the Anima for the construct in question. The golem's Anima is bound to the soul of their creator, and other than extenuating circumstances, this bond can only be broken through the death of one or the other. This bond is used in the final step of the awakening process as the mechanism for the creator to imprint the purposes and ideals they wish for their creation to have.

The artificial nature of a golem's Anima gives them a unique and juxtapositional psychology. While onlookers commonly describe golems as being slow to learn or adapt, these constructs often excel at the purpose for which they were created. Even though golems marvel at the novelty of the world with the innocence of a child, they are often imbued with certain preconceptions or beliefs during their creation.

Their static state of being is most easily seen when conversing with older golems. They often speak anachronistically -- a telltale sign of their slowness to adapt to the world around them and their inability to change in haste; Older golems frequently carry old or outdated values, and are regularly jaded from prior experiences. While this can be overcome through persistent effort on the golem's part, it is much more common that reason for their increased adaptive affinity is a result of a more powerful mage conducting their awakening.

While golems are almost always created for a singular purpose or activity, not all golems have a goal or objective. Some creators, perhaps in the hope of a more personable and companionable construct may not provide their golems a strict goal. More often than not, however, a golem without a goal is due to the death of their creator breaking the bond between them and their creator's soul, thusly releasing the golem from their programmed purpose. Golems without a goal are noted to be quicker learners and faster adapters, in place of a single-minded focus on a particular goal.

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### It's... talking?
The contrast between the emotional Anima and the emotionless physical form that contains it gives rise to numerous idiosyncrasies and challenges for the majority of golems. Even though the golem's Anima strives to convey emotions, the synthetic structure of the golem encounters difficulties in channeling them, akin to an individual trying to play a piano that is out of tune.

The emotive capacities of the Anima are typically perceived as an incidental outcome of the awakening process. Creators often overlook and dismiss their golems' emotions, hoping the golems will simply ignore these emotions along with the associated challenges. Consequently, many golems remain "underdeveloped," a trait particularly conspicuous in purposeless golems that have been severed from their creators. Although these golems may have previously suppressed their emotions while dedicated to their creators' service, they all come to realize the vital importance of these once-dismissed emotions in their existence.

As golems learn to harness and control their emotions, they begin to realize how different they are from their biological counterparts. While natural living beings will have their emotions nurtured by a family and community of similar beings, golems are just too rare for something similar to be possible; One golem is rare enough, and the amount necessary to form a family, nevertheless a community, is unheard of. Thusly, golems must learn to navigate the challenges of a life with emotion by themselves, and these often cause them to develop several quirks that give an odd nature to their behavior.

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As golems master the art of harnessing and managing their emotions, they gradually grasp the stark contrast that sets them apart from their biological counterparts. Unlike natural living beings, whose emotions are nurtured within the embrace of a familial and communal network of similar entities, golems face the challenge of extreme rarity, rendering the formation of a family, let alone a community, a virtually unattainable concept. As a result, golems find themselves navigating the intricacies of an emotional existence in solitude, which often leads them to develop a variety of quirks that impart an unusual nature to their behavior.

#### Personality quirk
| d8  | Quirk |
| --- | --- |
| 1   | You are programmed with an intricate etiquette algorithm, often addressing others with elaborate courtesies and formalities, even in the heat of battle. |
| 2   | You mirror the actions and phrases of those around you in an attempt to integrate seamlessly. Believing that this emulation is the key to social success, you wholeheartedly adopt these behaviors, often with an endearing earnestness. |
| 3   | Your innate understanding of machinery compels you to fix, tinker, or disassemble objects you come across. You treat damaged constructs and devices with a tenderness that borders on empathy. |
| 4   | You possess an irresistible instinct to tidy up disorder and chaos, whether it's arranging scattered items or wiping away dust. The sight of disarray triggers an almost meditative need within you to restore order, creating a sense of calm in the midst of chaos. |
| 5   | Your eyes, aglow with an ethereal radiance, serve as a dynamic indicator of your emotional state. The hues that emanate from your gaze transform and shift, providing an insightful visual representation of your feelings and moods to those around you. |
| 6   | You have an unwavering passion for cartography and navigation. You take every opportunity to create detailed maps of your surroundings, using your insights to chart the party's course and uncover hidden routes. |
| 7   | As a habitual response to your emotions, you emit a cascade of whimsical robotic melodies when you're joyful, and a series of plaintive chimes that express a sense of sadness when you're feeling upset or contemplative. |
| 8   | Your default mode of understanding is rooted in taking things literally, often leading to you seeking clarification on metaphorical expressions or statements that others might understand intuitively. |

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### Golem names
In the realm of the golems, names serve as both legacy and identity, woven into the very core of their existence. Each golem may bear a name bequeathed upon them by their creator, a label that encapsulates purpose, sentiment, or aspiration. These names often honor figures of admiration, cherished ideals, or embody the creator's deepest affections.

Yet, the passage of time can paint new strokes upon the canvas of identity. As golems embark on their journeys, forging bonds and collecting experiences, they might embrace a new name, shedding the old like armor worn in a past life. This rebirth of nomenclature signifies growth, transformation, and the profound essence of their adventuring spirit.

Function and form intertwine harmoniously, echoing the very essence of these enchanted beings. Golems, like artisans refining their craft, often assume names that mirror their roles and abilities. Much like the strokes of a masterful painting, these names delineate the intricate tapestry of purpose and destiny woven into their being.

Functional names: Sentry, Guard, Soldier, Smith, Protector, Viceroy, Servant, Shield, Hammer, Jailor, Butler, Builder, Bastion, Juggernaut, Scribe, Aegis.

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### Golem traits
Golems have a number of unique traits due to their artificial nature.

Ability score increase. Your Constitution ability score increases by 2, and your Strength ability score increases by 1.

Alignment. Golems tend towards neutrality and lawfulness, preferring a structured and logical view of the world around them; However, golems may either be imprinted with a certain alignment during their awakening, or they may simply be influenced by their creator throughout their life.

Age. Golems do not age; They transcend the grasp of time, untouched by age's currents. Their magical vitality defies decay, granting an enduring existence. Unlike mortals, they resist death's cycle. Enduring through years, spanning short or eternal, only overwhelming damage can still them.

Size. Golems come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and forms, but typically range between 3 to 8 feet in height. You may choose either Medium or Small to be your size when you create your character.

Speed. Your walking speed is 20 feet. Your density slows you down significantly.

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Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.

Artificial Life. You have two creature types: humanoid
and construct. You can be affected by an effect if it works
on either of your creature types.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Constructed Resilience. You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits:
* You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
* You don't need to eat, drink, or breathe.
* You are immune to disease.
* You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Sentry's Rest. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn't render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.

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Artificial, Not Biotic. Due to your artificial nature, healing magic struggles to get the job done. Whenever you are healed by magic, treat it as if you have resistance against it. You are only healed half the original amount, rounded down.

Long-Limbed. When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

Artificial Armor. You are composed of a tough and dense material. You have a natural unarmored defense of 13 + Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Unique Design. Your construct frame is incompatible with armor made for normal creatures. You cannot wear any armor that was not made specifically for you. To make armor tailored to your unusual form, you or a smith must spend an additional amount of gold equal to 4 times the original cost to create the armor.

Expertly Designed. Choose a design perk listed below when you create your character. You gain its benefits.
* Heavily Armored. You gain +1 AC.
* Artificial Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

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> Balanced using the "[Detect Balance: a 5e Homebrew Race Guide](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vq1kz6PRAbw5LHy6amH-bNb4OuB8DBXL1RsZROt03Sc/edit#gid=872807765)."

#### Balance Table
| feature | point cost |
| --- | --- |
| ASI +2  | 8 |
| ASI +1  | 4 |
| 20ft speed | -3 |
| Dual creature typing | 2 |
| Constructed Resilience | 11 |
| Sentry's Rest | 2 |
| Healing Resistance | -8 |
| Long-Limbed | 6 |
| Artificial Design | 5 |
| Cannot wear common armor | -3 |
| Heavily Armored or Artificial Toughness| 5 or 8|
|TOTAL: | 29 or 32 |
|GOAL:  | 25-30 |