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7.1
THINKING CREATIONS
A standard golem or construct, fresh from the workshop,
is an extremely stupid creature. Its intelligence can
be rated as equivalent to the empathic intelligences of
some magical items or animals with “low” intelligence
or worse (Memory and Reasoning stats of 12 or less).
Limited to comprehending spoken orders of five words
or less, the entities are always literal in their obedience.
Woe betide the sarcastic mage who cannot guard his
tongue – those off-hand remarks could cost him his life!
Golems and constructs can be made substantially
more intelligent. The first method draws upon a mage’s
own sentience and is a temporary magical effect. The
second method requires a spirit, a demon, an elemental,
or a living creature to place its “essence” (soul and mind)
within the entity, voluntarily or otherwise. In some
cases, the new inhabitants will require some mental
boosting for them to be smarter than the original basic
creature. The third method is to permit a wandering
spirit or demon to possess the artificial being.
Intelligent Entities
7.1.1 ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
An entity with superior intelligence can be of great
benefit to its creator. It would be able to follow more
complex orders with less direct supervision. It would be
able to interpret orders less literally, and be able to
improvise solutions when the obvious methods have
failed. In combat situations, the entity would have a
better tactical grasp of its environment, its opponents,
and its own resources, enabling it to utilize its attacks
and special abilities to maximum effect. For creators
who don’t inscribe Glyphs of Control onto their entities,
methods of enhancing entity sentience via imbedding
spirits and the like have the other advantage that they
know the “mind” inhabiting their entity rather than
having to deal with an opportunistic spirit which chanced
to possess the creature. “Better the devil you know” is an
article of faith in some arcane circles.
Unfortunately increased intelligence is not without a
few subtle drawbacks. A little learning can be a dangerous
thing – the entity may now be sufficiently smart to
avoid obvious flaws in its reasoning, only to be outwitted
by a truly clever opponent willing to do the unexpected.
Conversely, mages may treat the entity as being
more intelligent than it actually is, and become habituated
to issuing casual and potentially ambiguous commands.
Sooner or later, such orders will be misinterpreted
and there may be no one nearby able to countermand
the entity in time.
Masters of golems and constructs, which have been
animated by incarnate spirits and their ilk, should always
be alert for signs of disloyalty. Whereas a standard
entity will simply go berserk immediately, its smarter
siblings will bide their time and await the most opportune
moment to strike.
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For every spell, there is a counterspell. Intelligence
provided by purely magical means is subject to dispelling
and the normal process of the spells’ durations running
out. Intelligence provided by the life essences of natural
and supernatural beings can be removed by exorcism
rituals and spells such as Purge Golem # and Purge
Construct #. The unfortunate entity will then revert to its
normal level of stupidity, with serious adverse consequences
if it is undertaking orders that require intelligence
to complete safely, let alone successfully.
7.1.2 THE ETHICS OF IMBEDDING
INTELLIGENCE
Raising the intelligence of a Golem or a Construct by
drawing upon one’s own capabilities is unlikely to raise
moral concerns. Raising an entity’s intellect by imbedding
the life essence of another creature into that entity
does have ethical implications, however, and can cause
conflict between creators and the spiritual and temporal
authorities of the world.
Confinement to the body of a golem or construct may
be considered by some beings (such as itinerant spirits,
some elementals, etc.) to be a particularly cruel form of
imprisonment. Once resident, there is no escape unless
a Purge Golem or a Purge Construct spell expels the
animating spirit, the entity is destroyed beyond repair, or
the caster relents.
The confinement may also be worse than just captivity.
Mages normally create golems and constructs to
serve them and others. The imprisoned being may find
itself deprived of its free will and compelled to obey every
order of its creator and master – condemned to be an
eternal slave in an alien body. Demons and other highly
independent beings will normally resent the loss of their
independence.
For some beings, such as demons, elementals, and
spirits, the process of imbedding them into an entity
transforms them into a wholly spiritual nature. On release
from being incarnated within the entity, they are
restored to their natural physical body, elemental energy
or original spiritual form. For all other creatures, such as
animals, monsters, and members of intelligent races, the
process of imbedding separates the life essence from the
physical body. Unless special precautions are taken, the
body will sicken and die preventing the animating spirit
from returning there, but the creature’s mind and soul
will remain with the entity for an indefinite period. If and
when the life essence is released, the soul may be finally
able to journey to the next plane of existence or alternatively
it may be damned to roam the living world as a
disembodied spirit. The decision as to what happens in
such cases will vary from setting to setting and is a
decision for the GM to make.
For many, what or who is imbedded may determine
whether the act of imbedding is itself an evil act. Some
may consider forcibly imbedding an inherently evil being
such as a demon into a Golem a just punishment