I happened upon the image at right whilst cruising the interwebs.
It’s a sculpture made from woven willow rods, right in the middle of this forest trail, poised to shoot an arrow at folks enjoying a pastoral jaunt. Aside from being completely bad-ass in its own right, the piece more than adequately satisfies my long-standing (and inexplicable) golem fetish.
(The sculpture shown is called the Huntress of Skipton Castle Woods, by Anna & The Willow. The image itself is taken from a promotional article on My Modern Met and used here without permission.)
I see a few of these guys guarding a forest lair, cleverly hidden in the brush to ambush PCs on their way to thump on whomever lives within. With all that in mind, below are the BX/OSE stats for the Willow Golem.
Golem, Willow
6-9′ tall, stationary humanoid sentry woven from rooted saplings. Guards or prevents passage through or into an area. Slashes melee foes with stout branches and armed with long bows that fire an endless supply of arrows plucked from their brush and brambles.
AC 5 [14], HD 3+1* (14hp), Att 1 x slash (1d6) or 1 x weapon (1d6 or by weapon), THAC0 16 [+3], MV 0′ (0′), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (3), ML 12, AL Neutral, XP 75, NA 0 (1d4), TT None
- Mundane damage immunity: Can only be harmed by magical attacks.
- Surprise: On a 1-4, in a forest, due to being mistaken for trees or brush. Encounters occur at 30 yards or less.
- Initiative: -1 penalty due to stiff movement.
- Flammable: -2 to saves against fire attacks; suffers one extra point of damage per die.
- Zero hit points: When defeated, emits loud howl that alerts all nearby monsters, who cannot be surprised for the next 1d6 turns.
- Regrow: Unless destroyed by flame, frost, or acid, a willow golem reduced to 0hp regrows at a rate of 1 HD per week.
Final Words
A few variants come to mind:
- Smaller (HD 2+1*, XP 35): Armed with short bows; NA 0 (1d6)
- Conifer (HD 3+1*): Lobs pine cones that explode with caustic sap (thrown flask range, 1d4 splash damage)
- Jungle (HD 3+1**, XP 100): 1d4+1 strangling vines that extend up to 20′ (requires successful attack roll and causes 1d6 damage per round; entangled creatures cannot move but may break free as if caught in a web)
- Seasonal regrowth: 1/2 rate in winter, x2 rate in summer
I’m sure you’ll think of others…
The willow golem is offered for your personal use only. I’ll likely formalize it as OGC in the future, but for now, no external publication, please.