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9.1 CREATION MAGIC,
ARTIFICIAL ENTITIES, AND
THE CAMPAIGN SETTING
Campaigns
9.1.1 WHICH TYPES OF CREATION
MAGIC
Construct Companion has presented six different categories
of magical machines and artificial life. Including
all six types in the same setting could potentially overwhelm
it through sheer diversity in much the same way
that having all the races from Creatures & Monsters
appear in one small area will strain most players’ credibility
(unless of course that locale is a key nexus of world
or interplanar commerce). Too much of a good thing
can be harmful, so moderation is the key. Choosing
which to include is a key decision for the GM.
For GMs running historical campaigns incorporating
magical or legendary elements, the appropriate creation
magics will be largely determined by the period (see
Chapter 2).
Automata will almost certainly be present, as every age
has had its inventors. GMs should consider adjusting the
Difficulty Levels for technology upwards for early historical
periods (e.g. perhaps steam power should be
Extremely Hard or even Sheer Folly) unless the intent is
to create an alternate history with more advanced “magical”
technology.
In terms of artificial entities, Golems and Constructs
are the obvious representatives. Strict interpretations of
the various legends will impose constraints on the auxiliary
spell lists allowed in the game. Spirit Empowerment
and Demonic Empowerment are likely to be the only
intelligence imbedding lists available. The GM may also
have to codify the spirits and demons described in the
era’s myths and possibly adjust the two Empowerment
lists accordingly. Golem Magic and Construct Magic
should not be generally available – instead acquiring
such knowledge should require dedicated research, travel
to consult with sages, and quests.
For campaigns set in medieval and Renaissance times,
the homunculi of alchemists such as Paracelsus may be
represented by Simulacra. GMs may allow some of the
“creation time” (as determined by the formulae in section
8.2) to include maturation time outside the vat.
Amalgams may first appear in games set in the Enlightenment
era of the 18th century.
Changelings are too fantastic for most historical campaigns.
For GMs using published fantasy settings or novels as
the basis for their worlds, determining which types are
available requires a thorough search of the modules and
source material. (See Section 2.5 for commentary on
several classic fantasy novels.) ICE’s Shadow World setting
contains recognizable Golems, Constructs, Amalgams
(more familiarly known as Flesh Golems), and
Simulacra (in the form of Shards, Viles, etc.). Many of the
stranger species could be explained away as
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descendants of Changelings created by the Lords of Essence,
while Automata may have a role to play in Shadow
World’s more technologically advanced societies.
For GMs using settings of their own devising, anything
is possible. None, some or all of the six categories
may appear in the world and/or be available to PCs.
Personal preference and the GM’s vision of the setting
will guide the selection. The following guidelines may
prove helpful.
While there are six distinct entity categories, these can
be grouped into three larger classes with similar creation
processes: Automata; Golems and Constructs; Amalgams,
Simulacra, and Changelings. Each of these
“supercategories” is independent of the others and so
may appear on its own in a world.
Golems and Constructs are different routes to the
same sort of artificial entity. The existence of Golems
does not require or preclude the existence of Constructs
and vice versa. GMs who only wish to have either Golems
or Constructs need simply ban the spell list relating to the
other variety. The Entity Control spell list of the Entity
Hunter TP is designed to handle both types but has been
written in an “entity-neutral” fashion, so may be used
without alteration. GMs will also need to decide on
which types of intelligence imbedding are available – if
Demonic Empowerment and Elemental Empowerment
lists are prohibited, then the Dark Creator and Elemental
Creator TPs should be removed. The generic Creator
and Religious Creator TPs do not have specific Empowerment
lists “hard-wired” in, so should be always available.
Amalgams, Simulacra, and Changelings may be used
individually or in combination. The only difficulty with
using only one or two of this supercategory is that the
Abomination Lore spell list is not “entity-neutral”. GMs
should either remove the list entirely (and the absence of
a counterspell list makes the entity creators more powerful)
or remove the unused spells from the list. In the
second case, the GM may wish to consider shuffling the
spells to fill gaps at key slot levels (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and
50) and inserting intermediate spells to fill the new gaps.
For example, in a Simulacrum-only world, the GM
might introduce Command Simulacrum I, III, V, VII,
XII, and High Simulacrum (30th-level) as well as longer
ranged versions of Hold Simulacrum or Trace Abomination,
while raising the levels of the existing Command
Simulacrum spells.
The GM may also wish to consider making creation
magic racially or culturally-specific. This is an excellent
way of both allowing a gradual introduction of the
material into an existing world (e.g. PCs on an expedition
to a distant land encounter distinctive magical
traditions) and enhances the diversity of the world (e.g.
Dwarves are the Construct masters, while Elves are the
Simulacra adepts, say). No individual culture has a monopoly
on all creation magic, so accidental game imbalances
are prevented. And the GM can now play with all
the “cool toys” in this book without worrying that the
campaign world has been over-seasoned.