flatline wrote:How much time and resources do you think it takes to create the golem body? Now multiply that times 1000 to just have enough golem bodies to make an army of 1000 golems. If the players go through the trouble to get the materials, build the bodies, and animate them, why would you deny them the fruits of their labors?
The SDC cost is a petty attempt to address a perceived abuse that isn't abusive.
--flatline
Materials:
-animal blood
-clay
-2 onyx gems worth 1,000 each.
-1 iron heart
The only materials that have any significant cost would be the gems and the iron heart.
The gems combined only cost 2,000 credits.
The iron heart might be tricky if you have to forge it yourself, but only really the first time. After that, you'd just need a proper mold and a laser torch or something to melt the iron down to pour into the mold.
Less if you use some kind of mass-production, or even a relatively cheap TW device, to make the hearts.
Of course, if you stick a diamond in the heart, that's CR 8000 more, bringing the cost up to a bit over CR 10,000 total.
Time:
How long does it take to make a rough humanoid form out of clay?
Not very long, if you have the clay. A few hours, maybe, tops.
How long does it take to make a rough humanoid form out of iron?
Like the heart, it could take a long time if you're doing the job yourself, the first time. After that, you just melt iron and pour it into a mold. Or buy mass-produced statues, or make a TW machine to mass-produce them.
How long does it take to perform the ritual? 1d4x10+15 minutes, for an average of 40 minutes.
So, really, after the prototype, we're probably looking at an hour or two.
Hell, let's just say 5 hours.
Without the SDC restrictions, and with a decent budget, you could crank out maybe 2 golems per day without a hell of a lot of effort, if you focused your attention on it.
Do that for a year, and you have 700+ semi-indestructable, mega-damage minions.
I can see why the restriction is in place.