The Tome Unleashed series fleshes out monsters from the Tome of Beasts, giving GMs ways to modify existing monsters to surprise well-prepared players or introduce new monsters to a campaign. Last month, we changed up the lantern dragonette.

This time, we’re looking at ways to change up the hoard golem (see Tome of Beasts) including magic items, spells, and adventure hooks inspired by it.

Born from the paranoia of dragons, a hoard golem is a massive heap of treasure that defends itself, rising like a wave to crush thieves under a weight of roiling avarice.

Alternate Traits and Actions

The following changes allow GMs to alter a hoard golem without modifying its challenge rating.

Fire Fusion. If the hoard golem takes fire damage, coins and other metal items within the golem fuse together. The golem’s walking speed decreases by 10 feet (minimum 10 feet), and it has disadvantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws. These changes end when the hoard golem completes a long rest.

In addition to gaining the Fire Fusion trait, the hoard golem also gains resistance to fire damage.

Small Components. The hoard golem is composed exclusively of coins, gems, and other small pieces of treasure. It can move through a space large enough for a creature two sizes smaller than it without penalty.

The hoard golem’s Strike with Awe trait is effective for 30 fewer feet (90 feet for a typical hoard golem).

Alternate Hoard Golems

These hoard golems are available to those with lesser and greater means.

A lesser hoard golem’s body is composed of items worth at least 2,000 gp. It is 15 feet tall and weighs 10,000 pounds.

Hoard Golem, Lesser

Large Construct, Unaligned
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 114 (12d10 + 48)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	17 (+3)	18 (+4)	3 (−4)	11 (+0)	1 (−5)

Saving Throws Con +7
Skills Athletics +8, Perception +3
Damage Immunities poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t adamantine
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages understands the language of its creator but can’t speak
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)                   Proficiency Bonus +3

Immutable Form. The lesser hoard golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Magic Resistance. The lesser hoard golem has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The golem’s weapon attacks are magical.

Strike with Awe. A creature within 90 feet of an immobile lesser hoard golem suffers disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks, as it is distracted by the collection of treasure.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The lesser hoard golem makes two Slam attacks.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 23 (4d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

Thieving Whirlwind (Recharge 6). The lesser hoard golem transforms into a 10-foot radius whirlwind of treasure of which it is composed. In this form, it has immunity to all piercing and slashing damage. As a whirlwind, it can enter other creatures’ spaces and stop there. Each creature in a space the whirlwind occupies must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 27 (6d8) bludgeoning damage and the whirlwind removes the most valuable visible item on the target, including wielded items, but not armor. On a success, the target takes half the bludgeoning damage and retains all its possessions. The golem can remain in whirlwind form for up to 3 rounds, or it can return to its normal form as a bonus action.

A greater hoard golem’s body is composed of items worth at least 20,000 gp. It is 40 feet tall and weighs 50,000 pounds.

Hoard Golem, Greater

Gargantuan Construct, Unaligned
Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 330 (20d20 + 120)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
24 (+7)	13 (+1)	22 (+6)	3 (−4)	13 (+1)	1 (−5)

Saving Throws Con +12
Skills Athletics +13, Perception +7
Damage Immunities poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t adamantine
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages understands the language of its creator but can’t speak
Challenge 18 (20,000 XP)                              Proficiency Bonus +6

Immutable Form. The greater hoard golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Magic Resistance. The greater hoard golem has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The golem’s weapon attacks are magical.

Strike with Awe. A creature within 150 feet of an immobile greater hoard golem suffers disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks, as it is distracted by the collection of treasure.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The greater hoard golem makes two Slam attacks.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 59 (8d12 + 7) bludgeoning damage.

Thieving Whirlwind (Recharge 4–6). The greater hoard golem transforms into a 30-foot radius whirlwind of treasure of which it is composed. In this form, it has immunity to all piercing and slashing damage. As a whirlwind, it can enter other creatures’ spaces and stop there. Each creature in a space the whirlwind occupies must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 65 (10d12) bludgeoning damage and the whirlwind removes two of the most valuable visible items on the target, including wielded items, but not armor, or one piece of armor. On a success, the target takes half the bludgeoning damage and retains all its possessions. The golem can remain in whirlwind form for up to 4 rounds, or it can return to its normal form as a bonus action.

New Magic Items and Spells

The following magic item and spells are inspired by the hoard golem.

Hoardling Coin Purse

Wondrous Item, Uncommon (Requires Attunement)

This leather purse fits comfortably in your hand and is large enough to hold up to 500 coins or similar objects. The purse has 3 charges. You can use an action to expend 1 charge and draw out up to 100 coins, worth at least 100 gp, to create a swarm of coins you can throw up to 20 feet away from you. The swarm uses the stats for a swarm of rats, without the Keen Smell trait, with a hoard golem’s Immutable Form trait, and dealing bludgeoning damage instead of piercing damage. The swarm returns to the purse as individual coins in 1 hour, when it is reduced to 0 hit points, or if you use a bonus action to return the swarm to the purse while the swarm is within 5 feet of you. If the swarm is reduced to 0 hit points, the value of the coins used to create it is reduced by 10 gp.

The swarm is friendly to you and your companions, and it acts on your turn. You can use a bonus action to command how it moves and what action it takes on its next turn, or to give it general orders, such as to attack your enemies. In the absence of such orders, the swarm defends itself.

The purse regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dusk.

Create Hoard Golem

8th-Level Transmutation | Cleric, Wizard (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (treasure worth at least 2,000 gp)
Duration: 1 year

You create a lesser hoard golem from the treasure used as the material component. For the duration, the golem is tied to the area within range that you designate, and can move up to 300 feet from this location. If you are within 120 feet of the golem and it can hear you, you can command it using a bonus action. The golem otherwise attacks intruders. When you cast this spell, you can designate up to 10 creatures that the golem will not attack.

You can end this spell with a 10-minute ritual that causes the golem to revert to its component treasures.

At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 9th level, you create a hoard golem. The value of the material components increases to a minimum of 5,000 gp.

Distracting Glint

1st-Level Illusion | Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 180 feet
Components: V, S, M (a polished coin)
Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours

You project an image of a coin struck by bright light within range. Creatures within range that can see have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks as their vision focuses on the shiny object.

Thieving Whirlwind

4th-Level Evocation | Sorcerer, Wizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You create a whirlwind of grasping air within range that lasts for the duration. The whirlwind has a 10-foot radius and can enter spaces occupied by other creatures. When it is created and when it stops its movement, each creature in its space must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 8d6 bludgeoning damage and the whirlwind removes a random object (including wielded items but excluding armor) from the target. On a success, the creature takes half the bludgeoning damage and doesn’t lose an item.

As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the whirlwind up to 40 feet, or you can command the whirlwind to eject any objects it carries which land in a location within 5 feet of you. When the spell ends, items carried by the whirlwind fall into the space it occupies.

At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each spell slot level above 4th, and the whirlwind’s radius increases by 5 feet for each two spell levels above 4th.

Hoard Golem Adventure Hooks

• Rumors say that a dragon that terrorized the region has died, leaving its hoard unguarded. Several groups move to investigate and perhaps gain the riches left behind. Indeed, the dragon perished, but it had created one or more hoard golems out of its treasure to guard its hoard from beyond the grave.
• A kingdom’s treasury spontaneously transformed into a hoard golem! The monarch hires adventurers to defeat the uncontrollable creature and return the treasury to its former state. Or was it so spontaneous after all?

Tome Unleashed is going back to where it all began, with Tome of Beasts. If you’ve got a favorite from that book, please let us know in the comments or elsewhere in the Kobold warrens, and we’ll add it to the queue.

---