Constructs

Constructs often appear to be statues or other objects that can move about on their own. A few resemble living (or undead) things. They are made of a range of different materials, and are animated in several ways. They are loyal to you, their creator, and they lack the ability to reproduce. Because the magic needed to create them is powerful, they are not easily made, and they are rare.

Constructs are magical monsters that you can create if you have the Craft Construct feat. That feat has a prerequisite, the Craft Permanent Items feat, which is the Tier II Enchanter Tree feat. Thus, creating constructs requires you to be within the Adventurer Tier.

Activation and Control

As with permanent magic items, constructs can function without a soul-link, but have expanded powers when they are soul-linked. Even without being soul-bonded, a construct has a control-connection with its creator, so that only the creator can give it orders. A magic item called a String of Construct Control can break a connection and assign it to someone else. Each time the creator levels, the Universal System offers the opportunity to soul-bond to your control-connection constructs, or to end prior soul-bonds with constructs, the same as with other magic items. Soul-bonded constructs count in calculating experience point award reductions when the game master assigns xp.

Constructs only accept orders from people with whom they have a control-connection or a soul-bond (usually, that means the person who is the creator). Since only the person linked can order a construct, a construct's utility to another person is limited.

Linked constructs are controlled through orders given by the owner. These must be simple, in 10 words or less, such as "Attack any creatures who enter this room." The construct will continue following these simple orders even centuries after the owner's death. Orders to follow another person's orders are too complex and always fail.

Using a portion of your own drive and will, soul-bonded constructs gain these benefits while bonded.

• Adventurer Tier: The construct gains Intelligence 3 and can follow complicated commands. It can be ordered to follow another's orders.

• Hero Tier: You can transfer any number of your own hit points to the construct if it is damaged as a standard action, repairing it.

• Legend Tier: You can possess your construct from afar, seeing through its senses and speaking through it as a standard action so long as you are both on the same plane. While doing so, you can give it orders. This requires concentration, so you can take no other standard or full-round actions while possessing your construct, and your own senses are unavailable to you. Tales of self-willed constructs stem from this ability, but in fact, mortals cannot give constructs free will, not even using the rules for intelligent items.

The Construct Type

Features: A construct has the following features.

• 10-sided hit dice.
• Base attack bonus equal to total hit dice.
• No good saving throws.
• No skill points.

Traits: A construct possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).

• No Constitution or Intelligence score.
• Low-light vision.
• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
• Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects.
• Cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired by exposing them to a certain kind of effect (see the creature's description for details) or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
• Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue effects, or energy drain.
• Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).
• Not at risk of death from massive damage. Immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or less.
• Since it was never alive, a construct cannot be raised or resurrected
• Proficient with its natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with any weapon mentioned in its entry.
• Proficient with no armor.
• Constructs do not eat, sleep, or breathe.

Because its body is a mass of unliving matter, a construct is hard to destroy. It gains bonus hit points based on size, as shown on the following table.

Construct Size	Bonus Hit Points
Tiny (and smaller)	—
Small	10
Medium	20
Large	30
Huge	40
Gargantuan	60
Colossal	80

Repairing Constructs

Constructs have no natural healing, and the Heal skill has no effect on them. Those who have the Craft Construct feat can repair 1 hp damage by spending one hour of labor and 25 gp in materials to do so. The Make Whole spell repairs damage to constructs, but only if the caster is the person soul-linked to the construct. A Hero or Legend Tier owner can use their own hit points to repair a soul-bonded construct (see above).

Construct Varieties

These monsters range from weak to mighty. In general, only a crafter in the Adventurer Tier and higher can make a construct, and the creator's caster level dictates available options. The greatest constructs result from the labors of legendary people.

Base Constructs

Construct	CR	Creation Cost (gp)	Creation Cost (xp)	Required CL	Type
Homunculus	1	1,000	100	7	Minor
Ivory Cobra	2	2,000	200	8	Minor
Animated Object (Medium)	3	3,000	300	9	Minor
Ice Golem	4	4,000	400	10	Minor
Animated Object (Large)	5	6,000	600	11	Medium
Wood Golem	6	8,000	800	12	Medium
Animated Object (Huge)	7	10,000	1,000	13	Medium
Flesh Golem	8	12,000	1,200	14	Medium
Animated Object (Gargantuan)	9	14,000	1,400	15	Medium
Clay Golem	10	17,000	1,700	16	Major
Animated Object (Gargantuan)	11	20,000	2,000	17	Major
Stone Golem	12	23,000	2,300	18	Major
Retriever	13	26,000	2,600	19	Major
Iron Golem	14	30,000	3,000	20	Major

Note that once soul-bonded, a construct requires maintenance just like any other item.

Level	Tier	Minor	Medium	Major
6-10	Adventurer	750 gp	1,500 gp	3,000 gp
11-15	Hero	2,500 gp	5,000 gp	10,000 gp
16-20	Legend	8,750 gp	17,500 gp	35,000 gp

Advanced Constructs

It is possible to start with a base construct as a starting point, and create it in a stronger or weaker version.

Crafting a construct with more hit dice than the typical specimen described in each entry can be done, up to double the base version's hit dice. Each extra hit die raises the cost of the construct in gold and experience by 10 percent per die; every two hit dice increase raises the required caster level (CL) by 1.

A construct one size larger than described can be made, but only one size change may be applied to a construct. The increase in gold and experience point costs is 100% of the base price, and the required CL rises by 2. A size decrease reduces base construction costs by 10 percent and reduces the required CL by 1. Size advancement does not apply to animated objects — see the table above regarding size variations for them.

Building a golem with the advanced template increases its cost by 30 percent of the base price and raises the required CL by 2. (Applied to constructs, this template does not increase ability scores that start at —.)

Building a golem with the young template decreases its cost by 15 percent of the base price and reduces the required CL by 1.