Effigy Creature
Effigies are magically animated automatons built in the form of living creatures. They are things of clockwork mechanisms and always animated by an elemental spirit bound to their mechanical shells. Magical artificers and artisans capable of creating such complex devices are few and far between, so effigies are not at all common.
Unlike with most constructs, an effigy creature's true nature is not always immediately obvious. Some are quite lifelike, revealing their true nature only after taking serious damage. An observer must succeed at a DC 20 Spot check to notice that the effigy is an automaton, not a living creature of its type.
Effigy creatures do only what they are instructed to do by their creators. They draw no conclusions of their own and follow orders explicitly with no regard for their own safety. The commands given them must be simple, such as "Remain here and attack any elves who enter this room," or "Follow and defend against any who attack my party."
An effigy's creator can command it if the effigy is within 60 feet and can see and hear him. If uncommanded, an effigy usually follows its last instruction to itself if attacked. An effigy's creator can order the creature to obey the orders of another individual (who can in turn order effigy to obey someone else), but the effigy's creator can always resume control over his creation by commanding the effigy to obey him alone.
Damaged effigies can be repaired by means of any repair spell or by manual repair in an appropriate workshop or laboratory. The individual performing the repairs must have the Craft Construct feat or 10 ranks in Knowledge (architecture and engineering), and must spend 50 gp and 1 hour per hit point restored.
Creating An Effigy
"Effigy" is n acquired template that can be added to any corporeal aberration, animal, dragon, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or vermin (referred to hereafter as the base creature). An effigy uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The creature's type changes to construct. It loses all subtypes and does not gain the augmented subtype. Recalculate base attack bonus, saving throws, feats, and skills accordingly as described below.
Hit Dice and Hit Points: Drop any Hit Dice gained from class levels (to a minimum of 1) and change remaining Hit Dice to 10s. As a construct, the creature loses any bonus hit points for high Constitution, but gains bonus hit points based on its size, as shown below:
| Construct Size | Bonus Hit Points |
| Fine to Tiny | - |
| Small | 10 |
| Medium | 20 |
| Large | 30 |
| Huge | 40 |
| Gargantuan | 60 |
| Colossal | 80 |
Speed: As base creature.
Armor Class: An effigy's natural armor bonus improves by 2 points. It is crafted from material generally tougher than living flesh.
Base Attack Bonus: As a construct, an effigy creature's base attack bonus is equal to 3/4 its Hit Dice (as a cleric).
Attack: An effigy retains all the natural attacks and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. An effigy based on a humanoid or human-shaped creature with no natural attacks gains a slam attack as shown below, which it can use in place of a weapon attack. An effigy that has two slam attacks can wield a weapon in one hand and make a slam attack with its offhand at a -5 penalty, adding 1/2 its Strength bonus on the damage roll.
| Size | Attack |
| Fine or Diminutive | - |
| Tiny | 1 slam (1d2 plus 1-1/2 x Str bonus) |
| Small | 1 slam (1d3 plus 1-1/2 x Str bonus) |
| Medium | 1 slam (1d4 plus 1-1/2 x Str bonus) |
| Large | 2 slams (1d6 plus Str bonus) |
| Huge | 2 slams (2d6 plus Str bonus) |
| Gargantuan | 2 slams (3d6 plus Str bonus) |
| Colossal | 2 slams (4d6 plus Str bonus) |
Special Attacks: An effigy loses all supernatural special attacks, spell-like abilities, and extraordinary special attacks for which a target's saving throw is based on the effigy's Constitution (since the creature no longer has a Con score). It retains any extraordinary special attacks that do not allow a saving throw (such as rake, rend, or constrict) or any for which the target's saving throw is based on the creature's Strength (such as trample) or Dexterity (such as a howler's quills).
Special Qualities: An effigy loses all the special qualities of the base creature, but it gains the special qualities given below.
- Damage Reduction (Su): An effigy gains damage reduction based on the base creature's Hit Dice:
Hit Dice Damage Reduction 1-3 1/adamantine 4-6 3/adamantine 7-10 5/adamantine 11-15 7/adamantine 16-20 10/adamantine 21 or more 15/adamantine
Saving Throws: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/3 HD.
Abilities: An effigy creature's Strength increases by 4, and it takes a -2 penalty to Dexterity. It has no Constitution or Intelligence score, and has Wisdom 11 and Charisma 1.
Skills and Feats: An effigy creature loses all skill points and all feats except for those feats that improve its attacks (such as Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or Weapon Focus).
Environment: Any.
Organization: None.
Challenge Rating: Same as base creature +1.
Treasure: None.
Alignment: Always neutral.
Advancement: None.
Level Adjustment: -