Alchemical Golem — Catalyst of Ruin
The laboratory is quiet. The fluids behind its glass plates have never stopped moving.
The apprentice has counted every bottle and extinguished every furnace. Yet fluid still rises through the glass tubes beneath the stairs. From the dark, a broad figure of metal, stitched membrane and lit vessels moves towards the door. Its maker is long dead, but the last command has not expired.
An alchemical golem is a walking experiment, less a forged warrior than a vessel for dangerous reactions. Its strikes scatter corrosives; a broken reservoir can threaten those standing close; and the contents of its sealed core may be more valuable than the creature itself.
Not every alchemical golem is built in the same way. Some contain coloured solutions in glass and brass chambers. Others are humanoid membranes stretched around a moving volume of toxic chemicals. Their differences matter in play, and the rules below keep the editions distinct.
Behaviour and Purpose
An alchemical golem has no curiosity or malice of its own. It repeats the commands given by its maker: protect this door, collect those herbs, test the quality of every vial, or prevent any patient from leaving the building. A well-designed command keeps neighbours safe. A careless command can turn a useful guild servant into an enduring catastrophe.
The dwarven art of bound guardians was first established to protect communities fleeing the giant successor kingdoms. Later guild artificers combined that craft with alchemy. The earliest such constructs may have carried life-saving medicines into polluted tunnels, but the same vessels also make formidable weapons when filled with acids and poisons.
What Is Happening Right Now?
A shuttered apothecaries’ hall near Prague still issues medicine to the poor every week. The cure works, then slowly strips away memory. An alchemical golem inside has followed its plague-era orders for decades, carrying fresh ingredients into a sealed dispensary that no living person dares enter. The guild wants the hidden formula; a physician needs samples to reverse the sickness; an ageing dwarven ward-smith can identify the original maker’s seal but fears what lies in the vault.
Recognising an Alchemical Golem
Thin trails of chalky corrosion mark its habitual route. The room smells of vinegar and hot metal even when no fire burns. Strange crystal crusts grow where it has stood motionless for years. Whenever the creature moves, liquids rise through tubes that should have drained long ago.
Alchemical Golem Stat Blocks
Choose the edition used at your table. Pathfinder First Edition and D&D 3.5e have different published versions. The 2024 and 2014 entries are original campaign conversions, not official fifth-edition monster statistics.
Alchemical Golem — 5.5e / 2024
Original campaign conversion · Large Construct · Unaligned · CR 9 (5,000 XP, PB +4)
AC 18; Initiative +6 (16); HP 168 (16d10 + 80); Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 (+5) | 14 (+2) | 20 (+5) | 3 (−4) | 10 (+0) | 5 (−3) |
Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +9; Damage Resistances Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning; Damage Immunities Poison, Psychic; Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned. Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10. Languages Understands the languages of its creator but cannot speak.
Traits
Immutable Form. Cannot change shape. Magic Resistance. Advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Reactive Vessels. Once per turn when hit by a melee attack within 5 feet, the attacker takes 3 (1d6) Acid, Cold, Fire or Lightning damage (roll 1d4 to determine type); on a critical hit the splash deals 7 (2d6) instead.
Fractured Core. On destruction, each creature within 10 feet makes a DC 17 Dexterity save, taking 14 (4d6) Acid damage on failure or half on success. The core is thereafter inert.
Actions
Multiattack. Two Syringe Slam attacks.
Syringe Slam. Melee Attack Roll +9, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) Bludgeoning plus 7 (2d6) Acid damage.
Volatile Bomb. Ranged Attack Roll +6, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (8d6) Acid, Cold, Fire or Lightning (roll 1d4); each creature within 5 feet of the target takes 3 (1d6) damage of the same type, Dexterity DC 17 negates splash damage.
Caustic Vent (Recharge 5–6). Pressurised chemicals fill a 30-foot cone. Dexterity DC 17; on failure a creature takes 35 (10d6) Acid damage, or half on success.
Original 2024-compatible campaign conversion, not a published 2024 SRD creature. The concept is informed by Pathfinder’s Alchemical Golem.
Alchemical Golem — Pathfinder 1e
Published Pathfinder First Edition creature · CR 9 · XP 6,400 · N Large construct
Initiative +4; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0.
Defence
AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+4 Dex, +10 natural, −1 size); HP 96 (12d10 + 30); Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +4; DR 10/adamantine or bludgeoning; Immunities Construct traits, magic except listed cases.
Offence
Speed 30 ft.; Melee two slams +19 (2d8 + 8 plus alchemy); Ranged bomb +15 against touch AC (8d6 energy); Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 (+8) | 18 (+4) | — | — | 11 (+0) | 1 (−5) |
Base Atk +12; CMB +21; CMD 35; Environment any; Organisation solitary or gang (2–4); Treasure none.
Special Abilities
Alchemical Slam (Ex). Roll 1d6 on each hit: 1–4 adds 1d6 Acid, Cold, Electricity or Fire damage respectively; 5 causes sickened for 1d4 rounds unless a Fortitude DC 16 save succeeds; 6 entangles the target for 1d4 rounds unless a Reflex DC 16 save succeeds.
Bombs (Ex). A standard action launches a bomb as a ranged touch attack up to 60 feet. A direct hit deals 8d6 randomly determined Acid, Cold, Electricity or Fire damage. Creatures adjacent to the impact take 1d6 splash damage of the same type; a miss scatters as a splash weapon.
Splash (Ex). A non-reach melee weapon hit splashes 1 point of randomly determined elemental damage onto the attacker, or 1d6 on a critical hit.
Immunity to Magic (Ex). Spells allowing spell resistance normally fail, except those with the Sonic descriptor. Shatter affects it as a crystalline creature.
Construction
Approximately 1,000 lb. of metal fittings, glass chambers and other alchemical devices, worth 3,000 gp. CL 10th; Price 33,000 gp; Cost 18,000 gp; Craft (alchemy) DC 20; requires Craft Construct, geas/quest, gentle repose, major creation, resist energy and telekinesis.
Published rules: Pathfinder Bestiary 2 Alchemical Golem (OGL).
Alchemical Golem — D&D 3.5e
Published D&D 3.5e creature · Monster Manual III · CR 11 · Large Construct · Neutral
Hit Dice 22d10 + 30 (151 HP); Initiative +1; Speed 20 ft. (cannot run).
AC 26 (−1 size, +1 Dex, +16 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 25; DR 10/adamantine and 20/piercing or slashing. Darkvision 60 ft.; low-light vision; construct immunities and immunity to most magic.
Base Attack/Grapple +16/+26; Attack Slam +21 melee (2d8 + 6 plus 2d6 Acid); Full Attack two slams +21; Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 (+6) | 12 (+1) | — | — | 10 (+0) | 1 (−5) |
Saves Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +7; Skills/Feats —; Organisation solitary or gang (2–4); Treasure none; Advancement 23–33 HD (Large), 34–44 HD (Huge).
Special Attacks and Qualities
Acidic Touch (Ex). A creature touching the exposed chemical membrane, including through an unarmed strike or grapple, takes 2d6 Acid damage.
Berserk (Ex). Each combat round carries a cumulative 1% chance that the bound force breaks loose. The golem then attacks the nearest living creature, destroying objects if none is accessible. Control cannot be restored.
Breath Weapon (Su). A 15-foot cone every 1d4+1 rounds. Reflex DC 21 halves 5d6 Acid damage. Each creature in the cone must also save Fortitude DC 21 or suffer 2 Constitution damage from inhaled fumes.
Rupture (Ex). A single attack that inflicts at least 10 damage punctures the membrane, releasing the equivalent of its breath weapon into a 5-foot square toward the attacker. Upon destruction its liquid contents fill a 15-foot radius with the same effect.
Alchemical Healing (Ex). Two full rounds consuming a vat of special 500-gp mixture restores the golem to full HP.
Immunity to Magic (Ex). Magic that allows spell resistance normally fails. Neutralize poison slows it 2d6 rounds without a save, while a poison spell restores all missing HP.
Construction
A durable humanoid membrane around unstable chemicals; body materials worth 2,000 gp. Craft (alchemy) DC 20, CL 14th, Price 70,000 gp, Cost 36,000 gp + 2,720 XP. Requires Craft Construct, geas/quest, limited wish, poison, polymorph any object and caster level 14.
Figures and summarised mechanics: Monster Manual III (2004), Alchemical Golem; this differs significantly from Pathfinder 1e’s glass-and-metal golem.
Alchemical Golem — 5e / 2014
Original campaign conversion · Large construct, unaligned · CR 9 (5,000 XP)
AC 18 (natural armour); HP 168 (16d10 + 80); Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 (+5) | 14 (+2) | 20 (+5) | 3 (−4) | 10 (+0) | 5 (−3) |
Saving Throws Con +9, Wis +4; Damage Resistances Cold, Fire, Lightning; Damage Immunities Acid, Poison; Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned. Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10. Languages Understands its maker but cannot speak.
Traits
Immutable Form. Immune to effects changing its form. Magic Resistance. Advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects. Magic Weapons. Weapon attacks are magical.
Reactive Chemistry. A creature hitting the golem with a melee attack from within 5 feet takes 3 (1d6) Acid damage; a critical hit against the golem increases this splash to 7 (2d6).
Unstable Reactor. When destroyed, each creature within 10 feet makes a DC 17 Dexterity save, taking 14 (4d6) Acid damage on failure, or half on success.
Actions
Multiattack. Two Injector Slam attacks.
Injector Slam. Melee Weapon Attack +9, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) Bludgeoning plus 7 (2d6) Acid damage; Constitution DC 17 or Poisoned until the end of the creature’s next turn.
Alchemical Bomb (Recharge 5–6). Launch a bomb to a point within 60 feet; creatures within 10 feet make a Dexterity DC 17 save, taking 28 (8d6) Acid, Cold, Fire or Lightning damage (roll 1d4) on failure, or half on success.
Original 2014-compatible campaign conversion, not a published fifth-edition SRD monster. Inspired by alchemical golems in earlier games.
Encounter Tactics and Choices
Breaking the glass can be worse than leaving it alone. The creature works well at a tight doorway or among stacked reagent shelves, where adventurers must consider splash damage and collateral contamination. Reach weapons, clear lines of escape and careful choice of spells matter more than simply dealing the highest damage.
The binding may forbid the loss of reagents or require the preservation of experimental samples. Reading a command plate, turning a shut-off valve, closing a drain or presenting an authorised guild seal could give the party a way past without destroying it.
Adventure Encounters
The Physician’s Last Prescription
The town’s healer needs the golem’s records to cure a spreading illness. The construct continues distributing a medicine that has begun poisoning patients. Find the changed formula, reassign its collecting route or destroy the dispensary before the next delivery. Every broken vial is evidence lost.
Glass Beneath the Guildhall
A rival guild is paying thieves to break one precise flask inside a dwarven alchemical laboratory. The golem will interpret the breach as an attack and release the room’s chemical defences. The party can expose the saboteur, read the old guild charter or move the dangerous stores before the guard makes another circuit.
The Six Colours of the Vault
Six coloured reservoirs line the gate to an underground hospital. The guardian tests each seal once per hour, unaware that a living spore colony now grows in one vessel. A collector wants the spores; a physician believes they hold a cure. Both offers risk the drinking water beneath the city.
Rewards and Aftermath
A command seal, annotated formula, intact reaction flask or partly completed golem manual may be worth more than the body. Restoring an abandoned dispensary could benefit a community, provided its makers’ mistakes are not repeated.
Related Monsters and Magic
See the Golem family, Clay Golem, Stone Golem, Iron Golem, Clockwork Golem, cloudkill and adamantine.
Sources: Pathfinder Bestiary 2 (Alchemical Golem, OGL); D&D 3.5e Monster Manual III (Alchemical Golem, edition reference). Fifth-edition conversions and scenario material are original and explicitly labelled. Do not combine the editions’ mechanics.
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