Golemancer

Wizards of the school of golemancy strive to create artificial life and intelligence through purely arcane means. Though such golemancers see necromancy spells that bring the dead back to life or create undead as useful tools, they are unsatisfied with just restoring consciousness or creating a facsimile of life. They spend years studying consciousness, and weave enchantments that allow them to create a personality and persona.

As a golemancer, you have built a custom golem, carefully choosing its materials and components, installing specialized augments, and finally applying the persona you so precisely crafted. A golem is often a reflection of its creator, telling you much about their intentions and sensibilities; clay is used to denote protection of people, flesh used in a creator’s attempt to create humanoid life, iron used for guardians of its creator’s person and belongings, and stone used for stewards of particular locations. No matter what materials and features your golem possesses, you have created a companion that will safeguard and fight alongside you for the remainder of your days.

Level 3: Golem Companion

You construct a golem and imbue it with artificial life. It is friendly to you and your companions, and it obeys your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the Golem Companion stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places. You determine the golem’s appearance and the materials from which it is constructed, neither of which have an effect on its game statistics.

In combat, the golem companion shares your initiative, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you otherwise command it. You can use your action to have it take one of the actions in its stat block or to have it take the Help action, or you can use your bonus action to have it take any other action. You can’t use your action and bonus action to command your golem on the same turn.

If the Mending spell is cast on the golem, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The golem companion returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored.

At the end of a long rest, you can create a new golem companion if you have the materials to do so. If you already have a golem companion from this feature, the first one immediately perishes. The golem also perishes if you die.

Level 3: Arcane Augmentation

You cannot help yourself but to try to improve your golem, seeking absolute perfection. Your golem companion gains two of the following augmentations of your choice. If an augmentation has prerequisites, you must meet them to choose it. You can choose the augmentation at the same time that you meet its prerequisites.

Your golem companion gains two additional augmentations of your choice at 6th level, and one additional augmentation of your choice at 10th and 14th level. Whenever you create a new golem, you can reselect its augmentations. When you do, you can’t choose more than one augmentation that has a 10th-level prerequisite or more than one augmentation that has a 14th-level prerequisite.

Adamantine. You replace some of the materials used to construct your golem with adamantine, making it more resistant to devastating injuries. Any critical hit against your golem companion becomes a normal hit.

Linked. While you’re within 60 feet of your golem companion, you can communicate with it and give it commands telepathically.

Scan. Your golem companion gains the following action: Scan. The golem magically analyzes a creature or object within 10 feet of it. If the target is a creature, you learn which ability score is the creature’s highest (the DM’s choice in the case of a tie), as well as if it has any damage resistances, damage immunities, or condition immunities and what those resistances and immunities are. If the target is an object, you learn the object’s AC, as well as whether or not it is magical or under the effects of a spell, though not any further information about the object or spell’s properties.

Shield. While you’re within 5 feet of your golem companion and it isn’t incapacitated, you gain a +2 bonus to your AC.

Skilled. Choose two skills other than Athletics. Your golem companion adds your proficiency bonus to any ability check it makes using the chosen skills. You can choose this augmentation multiple times, selecting different skills each time.

Replicate. Your golem companion gains the following action: Replicate. The golem contorts itself to copy the form of any mundane object you have seen, such as a door, a wagon, or a statue. Its statistics, size, and weight remain the same in the new form, though its speed becomes 0 and the only action it can take is to return to its true form. If its new form has wheels or another property that would allow it to be easily pushed or dragged, a creature can do so without suffering the normal movement penalty of pushing and dragging it.

Resistance. Choose acid, bludgeoning, fire, lightning, piercing, psychic, or slashing damage. Your golem companion has resistance against the chosen damage type. For bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, the resistance only applies against nonmagical weapons that aren’t adamantine. You can choose this augmentation multiple times, selecting a different damage type each time.

Sentry. Your golem companion gains a +5 bonus to its passive Perception.

Tooled. Your golem companion gains proficiency with a tool kit of your choice, and you design a copy of that tool into the golem, allowing it to produce and use that tool at your command. You can choose this augmentation multiple times, selecting a different tool kit each time.

Magic Weapons (6th Level). Your golem companion’s weapon attacks are magical.

Philology (6th Level, Scan augmentation). When your golem uses its Scan action on an object containing a written language you can’t read, you can choose to have it analyze the text for 1 hour. If you do, it learns to read the language. You can have your golem translate the text of any language it can read to a different language you or it can read, given that you supply it with the ink and parchment required to do so. It takes 1 minute for the golem to translate each page. The golem doesn’t decode secret messages in a text or glyph, and only provides the literal meaning of any text it translates.

Your golem can store a number of written languages you don’t understand up to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of one). If you have it store a written language beyond this number, you must choose a previously stored language for it to forget.

Responsive (6th Level). You can use a bonus action on each of your turns to command your golem companion to take one of the actions in its stat block or to take the Help action.

Spell Storing (6th Level). You can store spells within your golem companion. To do so, you must cast the spell on the golem, including providing and expending any components the spell normally requires. If it is a wizard spell of a level no greater than your wizard level divided by 4, you can choose for the spell to have no effect but to become stored within the golem. When you command your golem to do so as an action or when a situation arises that you predetermined when you stored the spell, the golem casts the stored spell with any parameters you set, requiring no components. When your golem casts the spell or you store a new spell within it, any previously stored spell is lost.

Translation (6th Level, Linked augmentation). You design your golem companion to assimilate new languages. If your golem listens to a language spoken by a fluent speaker for at least 1 minute, you can choose for it to understand that language when it is spoken. As long as you are within 60 feet of the golem when it hears a language it understands but you do not, it telepathically translates the language for you. Additionally while you are within 60 feet of the golem, you can choose to have it translate any language you are speaking into one it understands but you do not.

Your golem companion can store a number of spoken languages you don’t understand up to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of one). If you have it store a language beyond this number, you must choose a previously stored language for it to forget.

Analysis (10th Level, Scan augmentation). When your golem companion uses its Scan action, it gains further information about the target. If the target is a creature, you learn if it has any damage vulnerabilities and what those vulnerabilities are, as well as its AC and any saving throw bonuses it has. If the target is an object, you learn its current hit points, the school of any spell affecting it, its rarity, and whether or not it is cursed.

Blindsight (10th Level). Your golem companion gains blindsight out to a distance of 30 feet.

Bound (10th Level). When you take damage while you’re within 60 feet of your golem companion and it has at least 1 hit point, you can choose to transfer half the damage, rounded up, to the golem.

Poison Breath (10th Level). Your golem companion gains the following action: Poison Breath. The golem exhales poisonous gas in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, taking 5d8 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. When the golem uses this ability, it can’t use it again until 1 minute has passed or until you cast a spell of 6th level or higher.

Absorption (14th Level). Choose acid, fire, or lightning damage. Whenever your golem companion is subjected to the chosen damage type, prevent the damage dealt to it. It instead regains a number of hit points equal to the damage prevented.

Multiattack (14th Level). Your golem companion gains the following action: Multiattack. The golem makes two slam attacks. If your golem has access to the Poison Breath action, it can replace one slam attack with its poison breath. The golem companion can’t use its multiattack if it has used it since the start of its last turn.

Transformation (14th Level, Replicate augmentation). When your golem companion uses its Replicate action, it can assume the form of any air, land, or water vehicle you have seen, changing its size to be able to accommodate up to 10 Medium or smaller creatures. Its speed also changes based on the type of vehicle: it gains a flying speed of 30 feet while in the form of an air vehicle, its base walking speed becomes 40 feet while in the form of a land vehicle, and it gains a swimming speed of 40 feet while in the form of a water vehicle, though it can only use this swimming speed to move across the surface of a liquid. While in a vehicle form, it is able to take the Dash action or any action in its stat block, but no other actions beyond returning to its true form.

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