Golem, Sentient Wax

This eerily expressionless man has a glistening quality about him, as though he were completely covered in an oily sheen. His clothes' colors are unsaturated and bland, his skin slightly gray, and his features and lines unnaturally soft.

Golem, Sentient Wax (CR 4)

Sentient Wax Golem commoner 1
Medium Construct
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +3
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision; Perception +6

Speed: 30 feet
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 15, touch 9, flat-footed 15 (-1 Dex, +6 natural)
Hit Points: 47 (5 HD; 4d10+1d6+21)
Saving Throws: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +1
Immunity: construct traits, magic
Weaknesses: vulnerability to fire

Offense

Melee: slam +6 (1d6+3)
Reach: 5 feet

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
14 (+2)	9 (-1)	-	10 (+0)	11 (+0)	1 (-5)

Base Attack Bonus: +4
CMB +6
CMD 15

Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes

Skills: Appraise +6, Craft (carpentry) +7, Disguise +7 (+17 to appear as the individual it was crafted to resemble), Perception +6

• Racial Modifiers: +12 Disguise

Languages: Common

Special Qualities: conditional sentience

Special Abilities

NONE

Ecology

Environment: Any
Organization: solitary
Treasure: none


A wax golem is an exact replica of a particular person, composed completely of wax. While skilled artists pride themselves on their ability to make wax sculptures look lifelike, builders of wax golems go one step further and actually bring their art to life. Though eerily silent and unblinking, well-built wax golems bear such striking similarity to the subjects they are modeled after that some golems begin to think they are in fact that person. A wax golem can be constructed to resemble any person or creature, though they typically look like human subjects, standing at the same height and weighing about three times as much.

**Ecology** Wax golems are often constructed by artistic spell-casters who fancy making their work a little more authentic-looking. Though these golems can look like anything from faceless, colorless drones to finely detailed reconstructions, they all share the commonality of being formed purely from hard wax. Most wax golem crafters choose to create these lifelike statues not for aesthetic purposes, however, but to undertake devious chores such as infiltration, espionage, or assassination.

**Habitat & Society** Wax golems possess the mysterious ability of possibly gaining self-awareness, an attribute almost exclusively reserved for humanoid creatures born of natural means. By resembling a subject so greatly, wax golems have a small chance of gaining conscious thought and higher-level thinking, effectively manifesting their own sentience. This extraordinary ability has no logical explanation, though some constructors of these beings who have witnessed this transformation theorize that wax golems obtain self-awareness by watching humanoids over an extended period of time. Wax golems that spend a significant amount of time around people who mistake them for the subjects they resemble (such as golems sent to perform espionage) have an even greater chance of gaining sentience.

Oddly, wax golems that gain sentience also develop the genuine belief that they are who they are modeled after. This notion is so strong that if such a wax golem were to encounter the individual it is modeled after, it would go to great lengths to exterminate the person and take his or her place in society, even adopting a code of morals and principles similar to those of the murdered subject. In this way, wax golems stealthily inject themselves into roles as diplomats, leaders, and authority figures, often to the detriment of people close to the usurped individual. So meticulously designed are wax golems, however, that few can identify a wax golem as a fraud, even when in close proximity.

Along with sentience, wax golems achieve moderate intelligence, as well as the ability to communicate and speak. In order to mask the glossy sheen associated with their wax bodies, deceptive golems take special care to garb themselves in clothes that hide their peculiar complexions. They still do not eat, sleep, or breathe, but crafty golems easily avoid the complications associated with these trivialities. The only definitive clue a well-built wax golem cannot easily hide is the distinct texture of its skin, which, even to the most unobservant individual, does not feel anything like flesh. Because of this, wax golems tend to be aloof and secretive, never allowing any one person to get too close, a trait that does not go unnoticed by those well-acquainted with the original individual, who tend to pick up on the rather sudden shift in demeanor.

Environmental hazards such as heat from the sun or cold precipitation have little effect on wax golems, though constant exposure to temperatures over 100 degrees for more than an hour does produce a rather odd sheen, and spending longer than a day in such weather begins to take its toll on the golem, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage every hour spent in the elements after the first.

**Construction** The construction of a wax golem requires a block of solid wax the size of whatever individual it is to be molded after, typically weighing over 1,000 pounds. The wax is treated with dyes and magical unguents worth at least 500 gp. The simplest wax golems require the creator to make a Craft (sculptures) check, with wax golems resembling specific races or individuals requiring higher DCs. While wax golems that look like living creatures possess greater versatility, they also have the potential of gaining a strange sort of sentience.

Wax Golem CL 9th; Price 14,000 gp Construction Requirements: Craft Construct, animate objects, geas/quest, limited wish, silent image, creator must be caster level 9th; Skill Craft (sculptures) DC 18 (DC 25 if the creator wants the golem to look like a member of a particular race; DC 30 if the creator wants the golem to look like a specific individual Cost 7,000 gp