D: Doll Golem

Doll golems are the simplest of constructs.  An apprentice animator will often have several to assist with chores. Even powerful animators may keep a doll golem to fetch spell components.

Doll Golem

AC: 12 MV: 20ft, HD: 1, HP: 3,

Ability Score Modifier

Met	7	-2
Dex	10	--
Bra	7	-2
Wts	7	-2
Cha	10	--
Per	10	--

Small:

Construct Traits:

Lightweight: A single Doll Golem may carry / equip 1ENR worth of equipment (several may combine to carry / use heavier objects).

Teamwork: Up to 4 Doll Golems may occupy the same space and work together to perform an action.

Attacks:

(no attacks unless equipped with a weapon)

Dagger: -- to hit, 1d4 slashing/ piercing dmg,

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Comments and questions are welcome.

Equipment for Necromancers

The Necromancer requires a ready supply of mortal remains as subjects for their dark magic. Keeping fresh (or not so fresh) body parts can be difficult however, especially in large quantities. These items are essential for any serious practitioner of the Necromantic arts.

Body Bag
Although you could just stuff a body in any old sack the Body Bag is a vastly superior choice. This huge leather bag has a thick double lining and is waterproof. It can shut air-tight when drawn closed. A Body Bag can hold up to ten hit dice worth of body parts and weighs 1ENR if empty ( it can fold up fairly small when not in use). If in use the Body Bag weighs 1ENR + 1ENR per hit dice worth of body parts contained within. A Body Bag can be used by non-necromancers as well as a means of transporting the body parts of exotic creatures to market, or even to safely transport the remains of a fallen comrade. A Body Bag costs 10gp.

Preservative Agents
These alchemical potions help greatly to stave off the effects of rot and decay. If a single dose if poured into a Body Bag and left overnight all the remains inside the bag will stay "fresh".  If a Body Bag receives daily applications of  Preservative Agents and is kept in a cold and vermin-free environment it will continue to preserve the remains nearly indefinitely. The alchemical ingredients required to make Preservative Agents are expensive and rare however, thus each dose costs 5gp.

Flesh Scarabs
These vile little creatures are of invaluable help to Necromancers who prefer to work with skeletal remains. Each Scarab is only slightly larger than a coin and they are typically sold in small colony groups of a few dozen individuals. A colony of Flesh Scarabs comes in a small sealed iron box which contains a small quantity of sand. If the open box is placed inside a Body Bag which contains "fleshy" remains and left overnight by morning the bones will be stripped nearly clean of flesh and the scarabs will have retreated back into their sandy home. A colony of Scarabs which are given a steady supply of flesh to eat will be able to reproduce and replenish their numbers indefinitely but it is impossible to breed additional colonies. Each colony of Flesh Scarabs must be imported from distant lands and thus each box costs 50gp, The iron box they are housed in weighs 1ENR.  

Peddler's Bag
A Peddler's Bag is a small cloth bag which contains simple supplies of the sort usually used by peddlers to mend shabby clothes. Each bag usually contains a random assortment of soiled rags, strips of leather, wooden sticks, nails, small twisted bits of metal, pins, needles, string and twine. Each bag weighs 1ENR and contains 20 uses. You could scrounge up the materials that make a Peddler's Bag by paying any shopkeeper 3 copper pieces for the privilege of searching through their waste-bin.

( Note: Many Necromancer spells such as "Create Skeletal Wretch" require 1d6 uses from a Peddler's Bag, as well as many of the spells used by Animators.)

Gargoyles

Humanity has been crafting guardian totems since the dawn of time, creating more and more elaborate constructions as the ages moved on. The wooden totem poles in small villages eventually gave way to exquisitely sculpted stone guardians standing atop city walls or massive cathedrals. Each gargoyle is chiseled from stone to be a unique structural feature. The particular form of a gargoyle is entirely dependent on the sculptor and the desires of the patron who commissioned the work. Many different styles of gargoyle have been fashionable throughout history, but most often they incorporate both bestial and humanoid features. 
Gargoyles were meant to be mere decorative fixtures with the superstitious secondary function of warding away evil spirits. As the study of magic developed and the Animator school emerged, guardian statues began to serve more practical uses.

In times of trouble Animators would turn to the city gargoyles for a quick and ready supply of guardian constructs. These strange half-stone monsters are similar to living statues and golems- they are brought to life by Animators infusing anima into sculpted stone. Far more sophisticated than simple animated objects gargoyles tend to have more developed and unique personalities. It is believed that decades of lurking high up on city structures instils a special kind of animating spirit into these constructs. The subconscious fears and dreams of the citizens far below seeps up through the stone, so that an animator simply needs to expend a small spark of anima to 'wake up' these watchful but slumbering guardians. The cumulative imagination of the citizens quite literally inform the personality and behavior of a gargoyle once it is 'awakened'.

 Gargoyles are usually winged but that is not always the case, although non-winged gargoyles would have a considerably more difficult time traversing the city and tend to be even more territorial in defending their ledge or perch than their aerial cousins. Winged gargoyles are unsurprisingly stiff and clumsy fliers, but it is quite miraculous that they are capable of flight at all. Scholars believe the same telekinetic energy that allows animated objects to move  is used by gargoyles to somehow change their gravity. In effect gargoyles are able to 'fall' in the direction of their choosing- laterally or even vertically upwards, this control is far from perfect however and is constantly in conflict with the real forces of gravity acting upon their cumbersome stone bodies.  

 
Unlike standard animated objects, awakened gargoyles require a degree of mobility and flexibility not normally found in stone. The stoneflesh spell makes this mobility possible, allowing stone to flex and bend without breaking- although superficial cracking will be visible around joints. Gargoyles are notoriously easy to 'awaken' - even tiny amounts of anima being sufficient. The stoneflesh spell is a much more difficult spell to use and expends a considerable amount of arcane energy to maintain. This combination of factors means many supposedly inanimate gargoyles in a city could in fact be fully aware but trapped and unable to move. Frustration after years of imprisonment may explain why there are many known instances of gargoyles acting with violence and hostility. Gargoyles are notoriously difficult to command and prefer to be left to their own devices, very often going rogue and ignoring the orders of their "master".
   

 

The first rule of Animating magic is Function Follows Form.  Judging by this law we can see that the personality and behavior of a gargoyle depends largely on it's outward appearance. Therefore a sinister and cruel looking gargoyle will usually act accordingly.  Gargoyles do all seem to have a wide territorial streak, jealously guarding their particular ledge and generally being protective of the structure they inhabit. Some gargoyles enjoy their role as city guardians and have been known to help or rescue citizens in distress. More malevolent gargoyles view the city inhabitants as vermin and inflict casual acts of violence against them.

Gargoyles are fascinating and unique creatures which are very reflective of the society that creates them.

Animate Object

Animators believe that every object or tool created by intelligent beings is "alive" - that in the process of creation a magic force infuses an object. Thus every object has a dormant life force or spirit dwelling within it. Animators claim that they simply provide the magical energy to rouse the spirits and sustain them.

Another core principal of the Animator craft is the belief that "Function Follows Form". In the creation of an object the spirit of that object becomes predisposed toward a desire to accomplish it's function.  A chair given animating force will strive to be a comfortable or at least stable place to sit, shears will try to cut, and rope will attempt to bind and tie.

The actual way this animating force (Anima) manifests is a form of self-directed telekinesis. The power of this animating telekinesis is directly proportional to the weight and mass of the object,and usually just slightly higher - the object has enough strength to act upon itself.  This means that an object could not will itself to levitate and fly through the air. Animating force usually manifests similarly to a push or tug to the object- of about the same strength of a creature of similar size and dimensions to the object. A chair could push itself along a flat surface, a statue could tip itself forward, and a sword could tug in it's wielder's grasp. Animating force does not allow an object to bend or change any of it's characteristics- an animated table could not for instance move its legs in an imitation of quadrupedal locomotion, nor could a metal sword flex and stretch.

It is easy to think of objects and by extension animated objects as soulless nonliving things, but Animators maintain that every object has a unique spirit- unique to it's specific moment of creation. It is certain that animated objects can seem to manifest certain peculiarities or even some would say personalities. Also it is interesting to note that complex hierarchies and relationships seem to form between animated objects and their owners, as well as amongst themselves.  These personalities become more pronounced in the more complex forms of animated beings- mainly the various types of Golems. 

Some folk believe a bond can form between a person and their possessions which can slowly infuse some Anima into owned objects. This theory is used to explain how over time a person can own a "lucky" or "Trusty"  item that they feel particularly attached to.

-More on this later...