Monster design help needed

[Merlin273]

Hey gang,

 

I am trying to create a new monster called a 'book golem', but I need to know what the DEF and Body of a big medieval-type book be (for its inherent toughness).

 

Thanks

[Slide_Kick]

Vellum pages are tougher than parchment which is tougher than paper. Most books were bound with thin wood wrapped in leather or cloth (or skin depending) with sewn bindings. Big fancy ones had metal clasps and locks. Since there were no standards for paper sizes the book could be as small as a 3 x 5 index card to as large as the Klencke Atlas which was 6 foot tall by about 6 foot wide open fully. No standards for book binding or printing until well after Gutenberg made his press.

My two coppers....

[Christopher]

Hey gang,

 

I am trying to create a new monster called a 'book golem', but I need to know what the DEF and Body of a big medieval-type book be (for its inherent toughness).

 

Thanks

I would jsut pick a power level and a basic role (brick, speedster, damage dealer). And set the values accordingly to that role.

A book golem is composed of many books. How tough each indidual book is has no real meaning. How much damage he can take before the animating magics break, that is important. And it is best solved with defenses and body according "to it's job in the adventure".

Golems in general tended to be the bricks/tanks of squishy wizards (wich go into glass cannon territory). Durability (to use them as shield) is the primary goal. Strenght is another (in case some manual labor is nessesry). Offensives tend to be limited to melee. Plus maybe a few stored spells. Consider adding an antimagic effect or immunities/extra defenses to magic (using automaton rules will give immunity to Mental Powers; otherwsie look at autoamton powers).

[Sean Waters]

I would suggest a PD of 2 or 3, which corresponds to leather or boiled leather armour, which sounds right for a medieval book cover.  Body will depend on how big your golem is.

 

A book would have a Body of 1 or 2.  Each doubling of size would add 3 Body (and should also increase Def a bit too).  Assuming that a medieval book weights 2 to 4 pound (1 or 2 kilos, say 2).  So, 4, 16, 128, or 2 Body, 5 Body, 8 Body.

 

OK, maybe 3 Def and 8 Body for a human sized Book.  Probably takes extra damage from fire.

 

That is just a starting point though, you can't get it wrong as such, unless you create something that the PCs can not affect (and do that accidentally).  I might increase Def to reflect a book cover for a human sized object being thicker than for a normal book, depending on how much of a challenge I want this thing to be.

 

If the golem is a conglomeration of books rather than a paper and leather human sized homunculus, I would up Body and reduce Def: books relatively easy to damage but you'll have to damage a lot to take it down.