A Guide to Golems
By Ralnos

As many Channellers may have questions as I did, I've decided to write up a guide, and I've also included all the pages of the Book of Golems here for those who wish to read or reread it, as it does not save through reboots. Please note that there will be no information on Golem Tests until I try them myself or get information from someone who has, and I will also not say how to complete them.


Building Your Golem

First, cast the spell "Animate Golem" at yourself, if it says something like "The maximum golem weight you can animate is 0kg", then you cannot animate a golem yet. You need it to be at least 50kg or more. The bigger the golem, the better it is, as I've been told. Secondly, make absolutely sure your base spell points (without Energy Aura up) are above the required cost as stated in "help spell animate golem", the cost varies with the moons, so be sure to watch it. The reason for this is rather subtle, because it may be a small bug. I tried animating a golem with a bit less than 750 base SPs when the cost was 750, but I had Energy Aura up and had 830 current maximum SPs, yet it wouldn't let me animate the golem. The day after, I tried again, when the cost was 696, and it let me.

Thirdly, you need the correct items to make the golem. An enchanted orb made by you of the same material as at least SOME of the items in the golem is required. If you don't have enough of the same materials as the orb is made of in the table, then it won't let you animate it. I highly recommend making a golem out of a single material, as it has higher intelligence if it has only one material in it. Lastly, you need a golem construction table. These are VERY heavy, and cost 100,000 gold. If you can't afford it or carry it, look in player cities, they may have one for you to use. Now, I'll go over the commands required and provide a description of them.

Commands required.
Do not include the quotations.

"put itemname in table"
The above allows you to put an item on the table. You MUST put the enchanted orb you've made for the golem into the table, and I believe you require at least one other item in there to cast the spell properly.

"look table"
Allows you to see commands for the table (such as compact and dump) and what all is on the table.

"compact table"
Makes EVERYTHING on the table get compacted into the table's storage unit, which you CANNOT retrieve the items from. Useful for saving resources over reboot.

"dump amount materialname from table"
Allows you to dump any amount of a material from the table, destroying it in the process.

"cast animate golem at table name namehere"
Allows you to attempt to animate your golem. You MUST supply a unique name instead of "namehere". For example, "cast animate golem at table name Dreri" would probably allow you to animate your golem, should the spell work and should everything else be in order.

Note that I left certain things out, for now.


Maintaining Your Golem

After going through all the work of making your golem, you'll probably want to protect it. The spells "Golem Heal" and "Transform Golem" are practically required to do so. Golem Heal requires a rod of the same material as the heart (enchanted orb) of your golem, so you should check the guild store or ask a Merchant to make you one. Transform Golem requires nothing but some skill, Cast Transformation allow you to manipulate increasingly large golems, and it allows you to keep your golem safe on your person by transforming it into a small figurine. Note that Transform Golem is said to damage your golem a little. Casting Transform Golem at yourself will allow you to see the maximum size golem you can shrink.


Golem Orders

You can order it to do the following commands: stomp, wield, wear,
remove, cast, push, pull, ram, pound, open, close, force, follow, stay, get,
drop and give.

I'm not sure what ALL of these do, but I'll list what I know. Also, the golem is slow and will take a few seconds to do any command, but generally if it takes a minute, something is wrong. This is not a complete list of commands.

Cast
Allows you to make your golem cast the spell that you put in the orb you made it with. Useful? Depends on the spell, as the golem can only cast it at itself.

Follow
Makes your golem follow you or someone else. Note that they are slow, and cannot follow you if you escape their sight. Also note that if you make it follow someone else, it will obey them for the time it spends with them.

Stay
Makes your golem stop following.

Wear
Obvious, really. Makes the golem wear something.

Remove
Also obvious. Makes your golem remove something from its equipment.

Wield
Makes your golem wield a weapon.

Get
Makes your golem get something.

Drop
Makes your golem drop something.

Give
Makes your golem give something.

Some of the other commands (Pound, Ram, Guard) are listed in the Book of Golems in detail, near the end of this post.


The Book of Golems
As seen in-game.

Instruction Manual for Golem Creation and Ownership
Golems are constructed beings, artificially made and infused with an elemental
spirit. This spirit is a stranger to our world, confused and befuddled by even
the simplest things we take for granted. However the magic that binds this
spirit into its shell also binds it to servitude. It must obey its creator to
the best of its ability. Sadly, most golems are too stupid to understand
complicated commands. The remainder of this book will describe the basics for
the creation of a golem and the care with which it should be treated.

The first thing you will need to construct your own golem is a magic orb you
have created yourself. This orb acts as a kind of beacon to the spirit, a
light it can see that keeps it within the body of the golem. This orb, often
referred to the heart of the golem, is where the spirit resides. Damage to the
body of the golem is nowhere near as dangerous as damage to its heart, and
when the heart is broken, the spirit escapes, leaving your golem as little
more than a statue. Because the spirit is so closely attuned to the orb, it
will have access to the spell within it, and furthermore can activate it many
times without the orb breaking. It is worth noting that the spirit cannot use
this spell on anything besides itself.

The next thing you will need to make a golem is the materials needed for the
body. Just about anything can be used. In the past, golems have been made of
carefully hewn rock, suits of armour, piles of torches, or even dead bodies.
As may be expected, the materials used to make the golem's body greatly affect
how it withstands abuse. Equally obvious is that the amount used is critical
when trying to make a larger, and therefore stronger, golem. Many creators
turn to merchants and other adventurers to acquire the vast amounts of the
specified material they desire to make a golem with specified attributes.
Others, who do not need a lifelong servant but a temporary companion, throw
together anything they can find. The only restriction on materials used is
that a small proportion must match the heart in composition, for if this is
not the case, the elemental spirit cannot attune itself to the body and will
remain trapped in a stationary prison.

The final ingredient for golem creation is a specially constructed table.
These tables are built not just to hold the materials into a humanoid shape
until the spell binds the body together, but also has restraints to hold the
golem down until the spirit gains control of the body. Construction tables are
reusable (unless destroyed by an accident, of course) and can be bolted to the
floor as forges. Further they will save in player city rooms as long as they
are bolted. Once the ingredients are put into the table, the spell is cast
upon them to awaken your creation.

The name a golem takes is just as important as the name taken by any mortal.
Just as mortals die and are raised or reincarnated, so too can your golem, but
only one golem can exist with the same name. Failure to obey this restriction
can have dire consequences. When creating a golem (or, as described later,
restoring one), its name can be chosen to be anything between 3 and 12 letters
with no spaces. Attempting to make a golem with the same name as a player can
also have serious side effects. You can change the name of your golem when
restoring it, but not at any other time.
Syntax: cast animate golem at <table> name <golem's name>

The commands a golem can understand and obey can be seen by its creator by
looking at it. Further it is quite obvious when a golem understands your
order, because its eyes will glow. This is a side effect of its brain heating
up, due to the exhausting labor of thinking and trying to comprehend a spoken
language. Golems are not just slow thinkers, but slow movers as well. It may
take a few seconds for the spirit to remember the exact procedure to execute
the motions it desires. However, if it takes longer than a minute, something
is clearly wrong.
Syntax: order <golem> <action>

Some of the not purely obvious commands a golem might be able to perform:

Follow: golems are not able to fend for themselves with any degree of
competence. To insure their survival, they need to be kept within earshot so
they can obey your spoken commands. Alternatively, golems can be sent to
follow another person, and during this time it will obey them as readily as
they obey you. Sadly, golems can only remember one such 'friend' at a time,
over and above you. You can get them to stop following with 'stay here'.
Golems are not very original thinkers and will not be able to follow you if
you escape their direct line of sight.

Pound: you can order your golem to unleash a massive punch at something.
Golems feel no pain and will hold nothing back when slamming their fist into
their target, even solid rock. However, if your golem is pieced together from
random items, or if it is made of a fragile material, you may need to repair
it later. Golems are far too slow to pound a moving target.

Ram: golems are not familiar with the concept of doors. To them, its just part
of the wall, and part which is particularly easy to walk through. Smashing
down a door isn't a whole lot different from punching the wall. It just takes
them a bit of practice. Naturally, stronger golems can break open doors with
more ease. Some doors, of course, are built ram-proof.

Guard: the smartest of golems not only understand what doors are, but can act
as one as well. They are too slow to block off a tunnel or path, but standing
in a doorway is a task they can manage. While doing so, they will allow their
creator through, and certain smaller, quicker people might be able to slip by.
Anyone else they block. It should be noted that golems cannot completely
replace city guards, nor can they prevent people from entering a city they
own.

Golems are not alive. They are merely statues inhabited by a spirit, which is
not technically the same thing. Their bodies do not regenerate damage, cleanse
toxins, or otherwise heal as other creatures do. Worse, the famous healing
spells priests use have far less impact than they do on living beings. To
repair the damage a golem will inevitably do to itself, the spell golem heal
must be used. When casting this spell, you form a link between yourself and
the golem along a rod that bridges the gap between living and inanimate. This
rod must match the material of the golem's heart or the spell will fail

Golems can be made of garbage and then disposed of when no longer needed.
However, it is also possible to make golems from tons of material, enormous
creations of gemstone or valuable metals, which represent too much of an
investment to leave behind. Through the use of the transform golem spell, the
golem's body can be reduced to the size of a child's doll or back. While the
spirit is very likely confused by this change, it will accept it -- so long as
you are its master. When returning a golem to full size, you can change its
name (the golem doesn't care). The transformation process has a few quirks,
however. The rough size and shape of the golem remain but there may be some
minor damage caused by the stress on its system. First-time casters will want
to cast this spell at themselves before golem construction.
Syntax for reducing: cast transform golem at <golem name>
Syntax for enlarging: cast transform golem at <figurine> name <new name>

The spirit within the golem is trapped within a shell it cannot feel and can
barely move. While it is a prisoner, abuse to the body, even such extreme
abuse as setting it on fire or immersing it in acid, will not disturb the
spirit -- they don't feel pain. However, there are spells and other effects
that go straight for the heart of the golem, and which can enrage the spirit
within. Golems in this rage are called 'rampant' and immediately go on a
killing spree, attacking anyone they see, even their creator. Some golems are
harder to anger than others, but once a golem goes rampant they no longer obey
any commands. Once a golem goes rampant, the only way to stop it is to put it
down, by destroying the body or finding some other method of immobilization.

There are rumors of other, more potent golem powers. Not all golems
will have access to them -- indeed, they will be quite rare.

-- the ability to form weapons from its body
-- access to an attack spell it can use in self defense
-- the ability to report its current status
-- the ability to eat items of its own material and grow
-- the ability to gather items up without being specifically told
-- the ability to dig up rocks or plants
-- the memory of its attackers so it is not so helpless
-- enhanced tracking ability for greater speed of following

Golems with such powers would be very valuable indeed.


Please remember that this is a work in progress. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome, as is more information.