Golems 201 -- A Historical Reference Part Two:
The Legend of
Ruby By
Mark A. Jindra

The gaming session started as they usually did ("Weary
from your travels, you have found an inn where you can spend the
night"), but would quickly take a turn for the worse. The party was
preparing for the next day’s ride when suddenly an explosion
shattered the tavern wall. The heroes found themselves in the middle
of a city under siege, a situation that would end with the last of
the party standing over the corpse of a fallen warlord. It was in
this battle that the PCs met "Ruby," and it was in this battle she
was destroyed.
Part
Two
Good morning, class. I would
like to start by saying that all of your papers were excellent. It
was impossible for me to choose only one to read to the class, so I
chose instead to read excerpts from them that best described our
subject.
The
Legend of Ruby
Our
story starts over a hundred years ago in a small family jewelry
shop. Founder William Runnymede was a fine jeweler and gem cutter
who became quite wealthy applying his trade. Shortly after founding
the jewelry store, William began collecting uncut rock crystals
(clear quartz) of varying sizes. He cut and polished these crystals,
fashioning them into various odd shapes, then locking them in a
special hidden safe. Upon his death some forty years after founding
the store, his grandson Jacob took over the business.
Once
William died, Jacob was the only person who knew of the secret safe.
He opened it a few weeks after his grandfather’s death. Inside he
found hundreds of crystals, a silk pouch with a large ruby, and a
tome containing diagrams for constructing a gemstone statue of a
female warrior. Apparently, the crystals William had spent his
lifetime carving were to have been the building blocks of the
statue.
Jacob
studied the plans and continued where his grandfather had left off.
Thirty years passed as he worked to complete the statue. Finally,
per the plans, Jacob cut the ruby into the proper shape and inserted
it into the chest of the statue, sealing it in with the last piece
of crystal.
The
statue was a marvel to behold. It stood slightly more than three
feet tall, fully clad in armor, wielding a sword and shield. When
placed in the light, the ruby radiated a rosy red glow though the
entire statue, giving it an almost heavenly aura.
Having fallen on hard times Jacob closed the jewelry store
and shopped the statue around among the city’s noble families, He
was soon contacted by a mage, who called himself Vollus, from a
nearby town. They struck a deal and Vollus took possession of the
statue.
Vollus had spent many years crafting golems and had perfected
a ritual that included permanently enlarging the golem to nearly
twice its size; this technique made it cheaper and easier to craft
golems. In the past, Vollus had added gems to stone golems as
decoration, but he had never tried creating a golem made entirely
from gemstones.
The
animation ritual proved longer and much more taxing than Vollus had
anticipated, and he had to start from the beginning more than once
because of exhaustion. When he at last completed the ritual, the
crystal golem stood before him, just over six feet tall and
brandishing a sword and shield. The ruby red glow emanating from the
golem lit the entire room.
Vollus named the
golem Ruby. She stood guard over his keep for many years, until it
was overrun during an attack on the city. Vollus was killed and the
golem destroyed in that battle. Some say that Ruby single-handedly
saved the city and destroyed over a thousand attackers before
falling. Rumor has it the townspeople gathered Ruby’s remains and
buried them in the town square beneath a stone statue of her. The
large red ruby was not among the stones.
|
Gemstone Golem (Ruby) |
"Ruby" |
|
Large Construct |
Medium-size Construct |
Hit Dice: |
10d10 (55 hp) |
8d10 (44 hp) |
Initiative: |
+1 (Dex) |
+1 (Dex) |
Speed: |
30 ft. (can’t run), burrow 10 ft. |
30 ft. (can’t run), burrow 10 ft. |
AC: |
25 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +15 natural) |
33 (+1 Dex, +5 large shield, +15 natural)
|
Attacks: |
2 slams +12 melee |
+5 longsword +16/+16/+11 melee |
Damage: |
Slam 2d10+11 |
+5 longsword 1d8+10 |
Face/Reach: |
5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft. |
5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft. |
Special Attacks: |
Spell-like abilities |
Spell-like abilities |
Special Qualities: |
Magic immunity, damage reduction 30/+1, construct,
regeneration 10 |
Magic immunity, damage reduction 30/+1, construct,
regeneration 10 |
Saves: |
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +4 |
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +3 |
Abilities: |
Str 23, Dex 12, Con --, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 1
|
Str 21, Dex 12, Con --, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 1
|
Climate/Terrain: |
Any land and underground |
Any land and underground |
Organization: |
Solitary, pair, or troop (3-5) |
Unique (1) |
Challenge Rating: |
11 |
13 |
Treasure: |
None (except heart) |
None (except heart) |
Alignment: |
Always neutral |
Neutral |
Advancement: |
11-20 HD (Large); 21-30 HD (Huge) |
|
Ruby Golems
(Base creature description
by Rob Heinsoo, from Monster
Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn)
Ruby golems stand 9 feet tall.
Their gemstone-faceted skin varies in color from light red to nearly
black. Ruby golems’ facets tend to be softer and more malleable than
those of the other gemstone golems -- their heads are frequently
carved to resemble lions, dragons, or screaming
gargoyles.
Ruby golems’ natural gem magic
affinities link them to the healing powers of the earth. They can
burrow through rock and soil, and they nearly always choose to
travel long distances underground even if overground travel would be
faster. Ruby golems’ healing properties enable them to regenerate
from most damage, but their flaw is that they are more vulnerable to
sonic damage than are the other gemstone golems.
Combat
Ruby golems frequently
interpret orders to attack as orders to grapple, even if their
master would prefer that they remain standing. They sometimes prefer
not to recognize that a foe has been pounded flat, often continuing
to attack a foe who has fallen.
Regeneration (Ex):
Sonic attacks deal normal damage to a ruby golem.
Magic Immunity (Ex):
Ruby golems are immune to all spells, spell-like abilities, and
supernatural effects, except as follows. A shatter spell affects the
ruby golem per the spell’s standard effects. A mending spell heals
2d6 points of the damage the golem has suffered. Sonic spells, sonic
spell-like abilities, and sonic effects affect the ruby golem
normally.
Construct: Immune to
mind-influencing effects, poison, disease, and similar effects. Not
subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy
drain, or death from massive damage.
Construction
The
heart of a ruby golem is a great ruby that must be worth at least
10,000 gp. The golem costs an additional 55,000 gp to create, which
includes 2,000 gp for the semiprecious stones that make up the body.
Assembling the body requires a successful Craft (gemworking) or Heal
check (DC 15).
The creator must be 16th level
and able to cast arcane spells. Completing the ritual drains 1,500
XP from the creator and requires limited wish, move earth, polymorph
any object, and stone shape.
Treasure
A ruby golem possesses no
treasure, but if the golem is killed, it crumbles into a pile of
worthless powder surrounding its unscathed ruby heart. The heart has
the same gold piece value that the ruby had when the golem was
created.
"Ruby"
Ruby's healing
properties enable her to regenerate from most damage, but she
is more vulnerable to sonic damage than are other
golems.
Combat
Ruby carries a +5
gemstone shield the size and shape of a large steel
shield. The crystal sword resembles a standard longsword with
a +5 enhancement bonus and the special ability of Speed (see
page 187 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide).
Regeneration (Ex):
Sonic attacks and bludgeoning weapons deal normal damage
to Ruby.
Magic Immunity (Ex):
Ruby golems are immune to all spells, spell-like
abilities, and supernatural effects, except as follows. A
shatter spell affects the ruby golem per the spell’s
standard effects. A mending spell heals 2d6 points of
the damage the golem has suffered. Sonic spells, sonic
spell-like abilities, and sonic effects affect the ruby golem
normally.
Construct: Immune
to mind-influencing effects, poison, disease, and similar
effects. Not subject to critical hits, ability damage, energy
drain, or death from massive damage. Unlike other constructs,
Ruby is vulnerable to subdual
damage. |

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