Van Richten's Monster Hunter's.pdf - Askadesign.com

.
can be the site of a golem scenario.
But even if the PCs are in a strange
town, they might still find a warm inn
or a friendly tavern. When violence and
fear strike in such comforting
surroundings, the result is far more
confusing and horrifying than, say,
being attacked while crossing an orc
tribe's lands.
As noted, an intimate situation may
involve familiar people as well as
places, For example, perhaps the
golem's creator has stolen the
animating spirit from someone the PCS
know and care for. While the group
may realize this awful truth at first, the
golem may retain certain memories
about the party and use the
information against them. For
example, if a character's mother has
been ill, the golem might leave crude
notes asking whether she has
recovered.
Such a golem is particularly
appropriate for the role of a recurring
enemy. All golems make excellent
recurring foes, of course, due to their
power and regenerative abilities. But a
creature whose spirit was linked to the
PCs both before and after animation
can add a neatly macabre note to
confrontations. And having a PC wake
to discover some evidence that a
former acquaintance laid beside him
in the night-when the PC had no idea
that character was even in the area let
alone still alive-can be as intimately
horrifying as the kiss of the succubus.
Of course, as the PCs soon discover,
that former acquaintance will most
certainly have changed for the worse.
Even more intimate and horrifying is
discovering that a member of one's
own adventuring party has been
placed within the body of a golem.
Such adventures approach their peak
of horror as the golem PC rapidly
begins to lose control, and his friends
attempt to reverse the terrible
transplantation before it is too late.
This type of adventure is extremely
3 tricky to run, however. Pacing and
balance are critical. To maintain
effective tension, the DM must empha-
size the golem PC's gradual loss of
identity and control (which is the true
horror), while still allowing the party
some hope of saving the PC. If this
balance can be struck correctly,
however, you can be sure your players
talk about this adventure for a long
time to come.
Tmgedy
Although golems are creatures of
darkness, they are also creatures of
great tragedy. As noted in Chapter
Two, a golem may be animated by the
life force stolen from another living
being. During the course of its
"kidnapping," the spirit becomes
warped. However, it still maintains
some idea of its former self, some
memory of who it once was. The
doomed spirit, twisted by the
malignant obsessions of its creator, is
evil and must be destroyed. The heart
of the golem's tragic existence lies in
both the tiny shred of humanity forever
trapped within the golem's body and in
the golem's initial doomed attempts to
reach out to others from its utter
isolation.
Frankenstein's monster is an
excellent example of the doomed
creation of a mad scientist. The
creature yearns for companionship,
acceptance, and even love, but its true
nature can never allow the monster to
attain these goals. Struggling and
raging against its creator, its own
nature, and the world that rejects it,
Frankenstein's monster is a study in
tragedy.
The golem's creator can also be
portrayed as a tragic figure. With only
minor modifications in the case history
Dr. Van Richten presented in the last
chapter, Fressen could be seen as a
tragic figure. If his cold and
disapproving father had murdered
Danalie and then sent the grieving and
shocked Fressen to the asylum, his