This Monster Sucks - Gloom Golem - Monster of the Week - Dungeons and Dragons Lore

[@marcuswillbrandt5901]

One fun thing would be to have the Shadows the Golem produces to be hostile towards everything including the Golem itself. Feels more flavourful than them being on the same side.

[@DungeonDad]

Ooh, that is a very cool idea

[@Lee-yl4ul]

I was thinking along the same lines, but I imagined the souls it holds being corrupted over time so that the first batch would be hostile to the party, but each subsequent batch is more and more hostile to the golem. Probably wouldn't be as satisfying mechanically though, since the fight would get easier and easier as the golem got weaker.

[@equidistanthoneyjoy7600]

Maybe for flavour, a 1 round warning, and to keep it deadly; have the shadows go straight to attack the golem, but the golem be immune to necrotic damage and strength reductions so the shadow can't actually hurt it. The shadows then just start attacking the players. Because shadows are chaotic evil, and it makes you ask the question 'what is the golem doing in there to twist any soul it might pull in into such an evil creature?'; so it's fair to say that the shadows certainly hate the golem. I mean, shadows have a negative in intelligence and charisma, so the golem hasn't just twisted them but has also taken away parts of its ability to think. Maybe the golem feeds on happiness, and love, and all the good things in a persons head and leaves behind this hateful husk that truly despises the golem. So the shadows wouldn't be allied with the golem as such, they're just tortured beings of hate and rage that are even more frustrated at the fact that they can never truly harm the one thing they hate most.

[@gabef9538]

Have the shadows hide from it as if an invisible light projected from the void burns the shadows. Have it chase its own shadows and heal a litle when ot catches 1. It only makes shadows when it is hit. If players get to close to a shadow, roll for possession, have the possessed player flee, have the golem chase and try to slurp out the shadow.

[@yeahhi27]

or maybe they are only hostile towards the golem as they were trapped by it for so long only to become shadows, but the golem is healed by their damage or something, which the shadows dont realize because firstly they were inside of his body untill now and dont really understand it (or are just not intelligent enough) and secondly because they are blinded by pain and hatred. Maybe they are even inclined to kill whomever destroys the golem coz they were hoping to get back to their bodies or something but thats a bit of a stretch

[@Balcamion79]

You know who has loads of money and wants people they kill to stay dead? Monarchs... How about one of these that just stays in a literal dungeon and attends the royally decreed executions to ensure the "criminals" stay dead. Or what if the golem IS the dungeon, whether that's to trap the souls until they are judged or as an adventure location?

[@DungeonDad]

That is a genius idea

[@HenriFaust]

Maybe the Devils lent the knowledge and materials to the King in exchange for a pact.

[@GringatTheRepugnant]

Reminds me an awful lot of the Kingmaker module line from Neverwinter Nights that got axed. The story opens with you having to judge the spirit of a criminal whose soul has been prevented from reaching the afterlife for more than a year by the sorcerer-emperor's magic.

[@growthisfreedomunitedearth7584]

oh snap.

[@tuopi27]

if you want to have the souls disperse when it dies, you could always have the golem simply burst into a fireball-like explosion of necrotic damage as all the souls rupture free.

[@ShadowReignhart]

Makes me want them to be used as makeshift kamikaze soldiers. Keep fighting, then explode for massive damage when killed. Maybe make a chain reaction.

[@Zthewise]

Since the golem is made of mud and souls from the River Styx, I can see a representative of Charon or Hades hire the party to destroy one.

[@nathanialwoods8281]

I can almost imagine a pair of these guarding a gateway to the underworld and the sound alone keeping most normal people away. However those in the know and have travel to the underworld just giving "just follow the scream of the damned" as a clue to the foolish and brave would send a message.

[@marcuswillbrandt5901]

"Beware mortal, for these are only a drop from the ocean behind this door."

[@your_doppleganger2304]

I could see using this thing as a mini boss for a Hag adventure. Just have it in and iron flask, and once the player's figure out who the Hag is she has it attack while she runs

[@LegendStormcrow]

I think it'd be creepier if they had cracked gems of silence that occasionally failed for a few moments.

[@TnTyson81]

The art is and law are so awesome, I'm super happy you put the work in to "fixing" it. Good job Dad.

[@agentchaos9332]

Yugoloths. I'm thinking arcanoloths, since they have the magic to make these, or the merreneloth, since they have the most access to the river Styx. I know some people are thinking hags, but frankly they've already Got a zillion options for minions, and these sound like a great way for yugoloths to simultaneously transport captured souls and gain a powerful minion

[@frankly_earnest]

I can envision a campaign based around a Gloom Golem that's lived long enough and accumulated enough souls that it becomes sentient...or maybe it's absorbed its own master's (lich's?) soul, and that soul is trying to escape. Also, since I love inversions: how about an Awe or Glory Golem? A good deity temple guardian that constantly spews out hymns that overwhelm all listeners to tears of rapture, and captures the souls of heroic martyrs for said deity?

[@HenriFaust]

Gloom golem with gibbering mouther abilities!

[@ThefifthBishopofGord]

It is a one(?) man choir and it will be almost deafening going off my experience when going to church.

[@justinedwards5047]

A labyrinth made out of living walls, filled with these guys as guards, everything is just constantly screaming forever

[@vorak7]

They come across one just standing in the road, over a dead body. They hear arguing as well. Upon getting closer they find the golem still, and that the voices arguing are both coming from it, one at a time. Two different faces take turns filling the void and speaking their piece, seemingly arguing over who get's the body. Commence them each trying to convince the players that they should be the one revived into that body, and that they are the original owner of that body, the other being the creator of the Golem trapped in his own creation.

[@GringatTheRepugnant]

I could see this one as a really good tool for a lich or night hag to use if its user is able to take the souls back out of it. It roams around collecting souls then deposits them into the phylactery or soul bag or whichever. Or perhaps the golem itself is a vessel for a lich's phylactey to keep it protected. A night hag could send it across vast distances of the plains of Hades looking for souls to bring back to her. Or they would make excellent shock troops in the Blood War especially with them shattering and releasing the souls when destroyed, or as a way to try and store and stop the souls of the opposing side returning to their home plane to be reborn. Imagine the party shattering one of these while in the lower planes, and instead of shadows the spirits of lesser fiends come streaming out, or even a captured general from the Blood War who may either try and kill the adventurers or thank them and give them some kind of twisted reward.

[@midnightstorm6576]

"The noise will keep anyone from investigating!" *5 second later* "The sound will nearly guarantee the players will investigate!"

[@jeanrushmer8192]

The duality of pcs and npcs

[@KevinVideo]

"A happy and safe November 10th." Love that ADR audio. XD

[@DungeonDad]

How could you tell it was ADR???

[@connormurphy349]

I like the idea of this thing being able to “retrieve” people who have wronged it’s creator, and being able to store them in a sort of pocket dimension after being sucked into its “mouth”. So the party may be encountering these golems regularly after crossing an evil sorcerer who wants to capture them. Maybe the golems can also be created with the corpses of the party if they ARE successfully captured, with the screams being eerily similar to those of the previously livening character.

[@jabiluss]

I don't know if anyone suggested this but how about this: Use the Gloom Golem as a ritual repository. Several dark rituals require the sacrifice of souls but it's so hard to get and keep a ton of living sacrifices all at once. Solution? A golem that can sit there and keep the souls nice and fresh while still generating power through their pain. Also, what if a demon is trying to tip the balance of the Eternal War by harvesting a bunch of souls to create a sudden massive rush of fresh forces? They can't let one of those pesky celestials or even worse, devils to get hold of them so why not take a little extra effort to just make the holding jars mobile and able to defend themselves?

[@superdimentiobrolyX]

i feel like this thing could have some sort of health drain self heal effect when i look at it, maybe a sortof wail that tears away part of the soul and heals partially itself in doing so. i definitely think one or 2 of these would make great companions or guards to a necromancer or lich, much more unexpected than a flesh golem. perhaps the lich uses them as a way to collect souls to charge their phylactery with.

[@mrtieguy8021]

This is a really cool creature! I think this would work really well (especially given it's connection to the afterlife) as the start of an arc where maybe the cleric resurrected the barbarian one too many times and now a golem has been sent by some fed up entity from the afterlife as a sort of bounty hunter to retrieve their soul once and for all

[@DracosDiabolis]

Should this golem actually managed to pull off a TPK. And it sucks in their souls. Create a "mini realm" for the players to get out and get back to their body. Since it's made from the mud from the banks of the river of styx. Make it some hellscape (Constantine) maze. With souls running around completely insane looking for the exit.

[@HenriFaust]

Treat it like the inside of the Astral Dreadnaught.

[@DracosDiabolis]

@@HenriFaust that's a great idea!

[@ramuk1933]

A great addition to a lich's sarcophagus! Specifically, an Illithilich.

[@The1Camosurfer21]

id love to play this where the creature is completely silent until you get within the radius of its crushing despair similar to a black holes event horizon except with sound

[@DungeonDad]

So scary!

[@jeanrushmer8192]

Have its wails and scream be inward, like breathing in while screaming.

[@ramuk1933]

The lich knew it was goint to die. The adventurers hadn't found the last phylactery, but it knew if it were to be resurrected there, they would. So, the lich did the made sure the it wouldn't be revived until things became safer. The lich commanded its trusty golem minion to look at it and run, and then the lich killed itself.

[@zenithmaiden2109]

The world I run has a creation myth where two "gods" once fought long ago and relics of their remains can still be found to this day. These remnants are the basis for magic and technology used in the "modern" setting, ages after the battle happened. One of these "gods" has very heavy undeath/outsider themes in his portfolio and the campaign is trying to uncover a plot to bring his return to the plane. But I can picture the very ground where this entity's blood was spilled as having the necromatic/outside energies sufficient enough to create one of these creatures. I imagine the cult responsible harvesting this blighted earth to use in foul rituals involving binding a soul to it in an eternal hell between both the "god's" realm and the physical one, as a way to bridge the gap and feed things to it and make offerings to their god. I can also see these things being created in the remains of an old battlefield where this god once fought, springing forth from the cursed earth in an amalgamation of all the latent magic such a place would have and the overwhelming death that must have once happened there. I'm already designing a dungeon crawl for much later in the campaign that will have the party walk in on a ritual to summon a homebrewed maw of acamar that turns into an escape for their lives as the maw begins to bring the place down on their heads. A dark, waterlogged cave entrance with soft earth to track the bizarrely solitary footprints of a gloom golem that's sending unholy wails echoing from every direction would be a memorable encounter I think. I may even give this cave system a lair effect where light sources are half as effective or a DC for healing magic to succeed to really drive home how far gone and evil this place is. I can see the place crawling with shadows, a few wraiths, bodaks, water wierds or any other incorporeal undead/critters that would be skilled at hiding from the notice of the ravenous golem (and the party by proxy..). I would probably pump the golem since my group tend to run more of a wargame table (learned the hard way to max HP and give +2AC/DC), allowing it to use souls as fuel for several spell like abilities like eldritch blast (5e) with an invocation or two, darkness/blindness, hold person, eyebite/fear, phantasmal killer, etc. Spells designed to really drive home its unearthly, horrific nature to make it more of a miniboss with its ability to eat up actions. Alternatively, when this thing dies I could also see something like a Caller in Darkness appearing as the torrent of tormented souls escapes. I would allow the party to avoid the combat if they attempt to pray/consecrate, use calm emotion or otherwise facilitate the souls' passage to the afterlife in some way, since this would be an undead not native to the negative plane possessing of the natural born hatred for the positive/material. I love monsters like these, they give so many ideas! I see it sharing a similar space to the Devourer or a Corpse Gatherer's little brother and perhaps forming under similar conditions. Alternatively, maybe it's like an oblex and can absorb knowledge/memories and project its victims into the world, developing a terrible intelligence unnatural even to other golems and even becoming terribly insane as they become more saturated. I can imagine a golem that hasn't had a tune-up to collect some of the souls within it going terribly haywire in this way, becoming supercharged from the overwhelming souls within and acting highly erratic, venting all manner of minor incorporeal undead like a compromised pressure vessel. I could imagine that being used as intended by particularly heinous individuals, setting a golem on a rampage with little care if it does go insane, caring only to harvest and loot behind it...or even as shock troops in a necromatic army, plated with heavy metals to shield the magical clay.

[@DungeonDad]

This was a good read. I love the idea of using these things in a necromantic army of some kind.

[@RougeMephilesClone]

Bionis and Necronis fought, eh? Very cool. Great adventure ideas.

[@avenshil]

Im so glad this was posted. I had a situation coming up for my party that needed a sentry a very concerning sentry and this guy will fit the bill perfectly.

[@DungeonDad]

Excellent! Let us know how your players react!

[@MegaHuntress]

Got any updates on that guard post gloom golem :3

[@alpacino8919]

dont leave us hangin'

[@MarvelX42]

Something I think would be cool is if the GG could spit out a soul/person that it controlled the body of, but not the mind, so the soul/body while fighting the PCs would be constantly begging the party to release them and that they don't want to be doing this and to not hurt them, etc. Also if it has a sort of necklace with the gem of silence the party might see that and even see that it is magic, perhaps think that that is what is powering it, knock the necklace off and therefore making things worse.

[@DungeonDad]

That is a VERY cool idea!

[@ethanliles5515]

Alright what if these things were used as interrogators, here me out. In a city in hell that is ran by humans and the like an artifact or temple has been destroyed or taken, the city goes on lock down and almost sort of a witch hunt. Because the city is in hell they have learned the strongest survive and moral questionable action are taken in the name of survival or efficiency. Gloom golems patrol the streets accompanied by guards and people are snatched out of their homes on to return pale and shook a few days later. Upon investigation or if the party is interrogated they find out gloom golems are being used as a torture chamber. The guards be you black and blue and if you still refuse to talk the gloom golem temporarily devours your soul and later spitsyou out. After a hours or days of your soul enduring the most unimaginable torture you are questioned again. The people are either released and encouraged to help guards find the criminal. The whole city eventually turns into a Salem witch trial, citizens are pointing fingers but the criminal is still not found. The party might have to escape this city or pursue their own investigation, along the way fighting these creatures or maybe they helped steal or destroy the artifact or temple because it was being misused by the city, then they have to hunt down certain golems to release their friends. If you made it this far then thanks for reading and if you implement this into your campaign or make it a campaign in it of its self let me know how it went. Goodluck gms and players on your many adventures.

[@Weirdoid]

A couple thoughts crossed my mind. First, contain the void in a clay head with a hinged jaw so it looks like it inhales the souls. Second, have one made from cloth instead of clay and spread a rumor of a fae/demon with a bag of souls only to discover the bag became a monster from the evil souls within it.

[@mrurl42]

I think I might use one of these in an upcoming Fragged Empire game of mine. I think it would work great as a Nephilim creation... as a genetically engineered monstrosity. Not as a golem, but an intelligent creature I think might make this even MORE terrifying.

[@atriumgamesmore4336]

Currently I am using these as the servants of a False Wildhunt in my setting, and I plan on having some of the future ones taking on the form of a massive void-headed tiger or bear and serving as horrific mounts for the hunters.

[@BramLastname]

I feel like this would make for a great cavern dweller, As haunting echoes make this creature still really difficult to locate. Adding a lot atmosphere to the dungeon.

[@kindatim]

You could make it so when the party approaches the section of the cave this thing is in, they hear the screams getting even louder, and then the golem slowly walks from behind a stalagmite or a wall and they see the gaping abyss in it's head that produces the horrifying shreeks of the tortured souls.

[@witchBoi_Connor]

Its appearance reminds me of the Harald Knights from Dark Souls 3. Maybe give them some kind of weapon/armor to make them a bit nastier than just their features alone if you want this to be even more of a mini-boss monster.

[@EvilDeath66X]

For the silenced ones I can imagine the feeling of terror from the players when they realize they can't hear anything. They try to talk about it to realize they can't produce any sound either. Then hell breaks loose and the golem or golems attack.

[@electricdanish912]

I'm so glad you mentioned the gem of silence idea, because my first impression, creatively, was the idea of a gloom golem that literally silences whatever space it's in--essentially making everyone within it deaf and mute for the time being. Quiet monsters ftw.

[@affsteak3530]

Pair one of these with a false Hydra. 😈

[@matthieudeloget8998]

​@@affsteak3530Wouldn't having a walking silence zone in town be dangerous for the hydra's identitiy

[@DeggaTheDev]

Holy crap. You made it good. I may have to sneak this thing into my game. Thank you!

[@DungeonDad]

Happy to help!

[@FlutesLoot]

I read the title as "Gloom Gloom" and was hyped for a Pokemon-inspired monster.

[@severalcakes3267]

If you don’t want to go interplanar with your campaign, I can imagine duergar or drow building one of these things, considering both of those races have ties to the lower planes. Duergar moreso, because gloom and misery is much more of a theme with them than with the drow.

[@ArkBlanc]

Give the Gloom Golem a grab action; when it grabs a living creature, it will lift the creature up and stick its head inside the whorl. Victims being held inside will have their health drained until they die or the golem suffers a certain amount of damage. Victims who had their head stuck in will be traumatized for 1 month or until cured by magic.

[@JediKalElStarkiller]

Awesome ideas. I have so many ideas on how to use this creature in my campaign. One of the players is looking for information on a legendary explorer, I think I know where the explorers soul is going to be. ;). Thank you.

[@williamvalleau5654]

Your BBEG could absolutely use these in a siege. I imagine they've taken the outer wall and left the players trapped in the inner city and they build gloom golems into the watchtowers to demoralize the people still trying to defend the city

[@benrunsacross2935]

Why not stick an adventure inside the gloom golem? Players get stuck inside and have to escape.

[@celestialbat9813]

You have just given me an idea. I will use a gloom golem to keep souls inside of it. Those souls though will be demon souls who have died and have tried to come back alive again. The party will be tricked into killing this creature and thus releasing all the demon spirits causing possibly an end of the world sinairio. Hehehe.😂

[@DungeonDad]

Oh man, what an awesome concept.

[@zevrotheknight4934]

Just had an idea with it being a golem and own or used by high level spell casters. A party would be investigating a dungeon that is practically a maze that has Silence casted upon the whole thing, making the party unable to hear the forever screams of the damned as it prowls the halls. Either it sneaks up behind the party and is a intense scare or a party wizard understands the Silence spell, is able to detect and then dispell it, suddenly the whole party either hears distance wails, or very very close wails. And I can see a wizard to do this for the hell of it, scrying on it as it attacks adventures. Just something goofy but also very horrifying. Darn, wrote this before the Silence gem part lol

[@superlucfitness8118]

Who s in the market for souls? Night hags. Where? In your local "haunted" swamp. The hag lets her pet walk about and it collect souls for her, a mobile bank if you will. Moaning a problem? It walks underwater or hides in the muck of a river bank. Mercenary: Can you hear that? Traveling Merchant: Yes, sounds like moaning but far away. Mercenary: People just shouldn't go into this swamp. Traveling Merchant: We re cutting days by cutting into it... Gloom Golem raises from the muck, absorbs the merchant s soul and walks back into the water to go see his mistress.

[@MrDEMarq]

I could see this thing as an uncontrolled monster where it's master ether died or it killed them due to their carelessness, and it's up to you to ether stop it or say, tough...lolz

[@GringatTheRepugnant]

Then slaying the golem could potentially let the party release and then speak to the spirit of its creator.

[@MrDEMarq]

@@GringatTheRepugnant Yes, releasing the innocent spirits might also ether help revive some of the victims (If their bodies are preserved) or the released spirits reveal a treasure or next clue in the quest =^_*=

[@skarletfenrir6979]

A way I would probably use this is as a mid boss/living alarm what I mean by that is you encounter it half way through the dungeon and once you kill it the screaming stops and because of this the enemies in the rest of the dungeon know there are intruders making stealth not really a option anymore so the smart play would be to figure out how to sneak past the Golem. Maybe for the first half of the dungeon the screaming is so loud that you automaticaly succeed on stealth checks as long as nobody is looking at you and if you do end up fighting the screaming covers up the noises made during the fight so the guys in the next room still dont know you are there

[@the_nerd_showtv5562]

Even if this video Is 1 year old, I've yo expose me, saying that I read "this Monster sucks: Golem Golem" instead of Gloom Golem, what a beautiful way to start a video!

[@skilledwarman]

Im thinking of combining this with another video youve done: the city corruptor My plan is to ditch the river styx clay since our D&D homebrew world doesnt really have a good version of it. Instead I'm going to have the party meet a magic shop owner early on who is attempting to build a trio of golems to help restore order in the city. He'll suceed in finishing one and sending it out with the party for one of the big encounters I have planed, but when they return to the shop they'll find him and the other two golems gone. Then later when things are real bad in the city the golems will return having been morphed into these

[@SIRTONIUS]

What really stick out to me is the idea of capturing souls. This seems to me the ultimate cheat for the soul trade of the lower planes. Instead of going through the fuss and bother of farming souls the old school way, ie. through the corruption process, this could be a quick and easy, no fuss-no muss, kind of way of gathering souls. It's like a Roomba for night hags and yugoloths. The River Styx runs through all the lower planes, so both yugoloths and night hags, both being well-known magic users, would have easy access to the required mats for making them. I imagine them putting together swarms of gloom golems to rampage through a few prime material cities and then collecting those sweet, sweet souls as the dust settles. It'd be like cracking open a piggy bank as they harvest the gathered souls. Yugoloths would certainly do this, how could they not? Night hags, too!

[@hajimichealis7922]

heres a thought, gloom golems are used as an intense prison to keep the most dangerous souls under lock and key. the party comes across one and makes the mistake of killing it, which in turn releases the souls that are seeking out to reform themselves into maybe a lich and or other evil creatures.

[@DanSolo41]

Something like this just screams wisdom save vs insanity.

[@chaoticleaf3658]

Fun backstory idea. A merchant travels with some adventurers to the river of Styx... They lose their lives as the merchant escapes with a large hunk of the clay. He sells it to a rich craftsman who makes a small cute golem as a toy for his daughter. It starts moving though due to the souls the clay absorbed from the adventurers and against better judgements he lets his daughter keep it... You can fill in the story from there but it ends with a abandoned town and the golem down the well... The Town of the Screaming Well!

[@irrevenant3]

Gloom golems seem like a lot of work to make, which begs the question: Why not go for a golem that doesn't require planar travel to construct? What do gloom golems have going for them that makes them worth the effort? My answer: They harvest souls. That sounds awfully useful if someone wants to collect a large number of souls to fuel horrible eldritch rituals. ie. Gloom golems are batteries. I envision that, once they're filled with enough souls, their creator sacrifices them to some massive, horrible effect. But they could equally be rechargeable batteries, bringing their master a dozen souls at a time to use, then wandering off to find more...

[@Beepers559]

I’ve thought a bit about some stuff for the gloom golem, and my interpretation is this: Rather than constantly howling, the vortex emits an audible yet low hum (think of the sun’s “song” only more echoey) that eats away at the psyche of anything in its vicinity, the screams themselves will come out from the faces along its body as a sort of howl attack. The vortex also does slurp up souls of anything that gets too close to its vortex, this can include its maker as well. As for the shadow aspect, instead of directly summoning shadows, it uses the souls to boost its attacks, including giving itself abilities like a “howl” that can deal necrotic damage, the ability to “vomit” up the souls it has as a sort of ranged attack, using the faces to spew smoke-like shadow that can cloud its body, and finally as a final action, it will have a chance to explode upon death after a good warm up, allowing the party to distance themselves, the trapped souls acting as projectiles. Its appearance in my version will also be different, taking whatever shape the master wants, be it lanky and tall, or bulky. Granted they will all have claws ranging from long and shaped like the blade of a scythe, or curved and short and perfect for crushing.

[@NPCMimic]

my immediate thought for this monster would be: a series of artifacts that were used to seal evil spirits are being stolen from various churches or temples, and the players track them down to a hidden chamber somewhere, only to find that theyre being fused into a golem and are potentially too late to stop the creation of a gloom golem. once they beat it however, maybe the spirits that were housed within have now fused into an entity more powerful than their subsequent parts, thus making a bbeg for the part to eventually defeat as the thing they just freed escapes to collect itself. idk, i like the idea of solving one problem, only to make a bigger one later

[@MrThunderfish24]

I could see this working in spelljammer setting with a little bit of black hole flavoring

[@XperimentorEES]

Oh just had the idea to have one in motion instead of guarding an arbitrary place, as trapped souls wouldn't be able to answer to any summons or speaking spells either nor could they be located. A powerful necromancer could set out a couple Gloom Golems with a couple Cadaver Collectors, such a group of unholy constructs would effectively be able to erase all trace of a heroic uprising, and provide their master with even more materials to build an empire.

[@the13stroke29]

Imagine a Lich that uses Gloom Golems to harvest souls to sustain his Phylactery and stay immortal

[@captainmorganiv1034]

I love the idea of having a quest to find an ancient city that disappeared long ago and when they go where the city used to be there is just a village where the castle once stood In the center of this village is an inactive gloom golem that the villagers say is their guardian Then later when they find this city they just see HUNDREDS of inactive gloom golems scattered about that all spring to life at once and begin SCREAMING Then the party hears more screaming from above as they realize the villages guardian was actually their doom

[@nathanielgrey4091]

I hope you see this, it's a year later. The shadowsteel golem is the COOLEST looking thing in MM III which has the coolest monsters. I would love to see that golem redone

[@martinpat94]

You know what could be cool is like these things being like dementors, like I have an undead kingdom in my game and I think it would be cool to have these things being jailers or executioners in such a place as when you are a ghost this thing just walking past might just suck you right in

[@HenriFaust]

9:29 Only special golems have a will in D&D (e.g. the Inevitables). I would make sure to use a different expression on your group to maintain the flavor.

[@agentchaos9332]

I wouldn't even call inevitables " Golems." They might both be constructs but that's the only similarity. Golem are just man made tools that follow orders, inevitables are sentient beings created by Primus/the plain of law itself to protect reality and enforce law across the cosmos.

[@HenriFaust]

@@agentchaos9332 Inevitables are artificial tools made to follow their creator's orders as well. Inevitables do not possess a will so that they can interpret their orders however they want. Inevitables are not Warforged.

[@affsteak3530]

I'd change it so the Gloom Golem can be created out of any clay suffused with dead sentient creatures. A mass grave or town buried in a mudslide could be a source of Gloom Golem clay. I'd also make them spontaneously rise out of the mud every once in awhile. A humanoid figure slapping itself together out of mud and forming human faces in it would be terrifying to encounter.

[@kronosshadow1554]

The golem is a lich's Phylactery

[@thehillz726]

Wouldn't it eat the litch's soul ?

[@HenriFaust]

@@thehillz726 Yes.

[@koopaking6148]

The way I see it there might actually be more than one way to make a gloom golem besides using the mud from the river sticks... And I could totally see a litch or a wizard experiment with making a gloom golem, either by accident or on purpose...

[@starwalker9188]

Use one of these for a bad end (like, apocalypse level) to a campaign. Be it a vision or actual ending. A gloom golem that gets larger with each soul consumed, eventually becoming large enough that it becomes bigger than a mountain and from miles away a sheer gravitational force will draw you in before the screams of millions of agonized souls rend you asunder into nothing but a soul to be consumed. Literally. Thunder/Force damage.

[@Gripen1974]

i added that faces on the body is former victims and if is loved ones to the golems potential new victims those will have disadvantage on attacks and saves agaisnt the golem. Basically if a players wife or children are devoured by the golem so will that player have problem hitting it and will have problem save agaisnt the abilities of the golem.

[@spoookley]

I think it would be neat if it’s head is almost a legitimate black hole, or at least has a VERY tiny one inside it, and so all sound within a certain radius is sucked in, so it’s eerily quiet the entire time you’re near it and I just got to the point of the video where you said that they can be perfectly silent… welp, good thinking then lol

[@mogo5055]

My Strahd will always have one of these in the basement. Well done on the reimagining!

[@paul-georgjordan2650]

I had one of them in an old campagne, there good necromancers use gloom golems to hunt "echos" (reflawered shadows as Poltergeister, from german folklore).

[@zachsmalley2380]

What about the glume gollom protecting an under water temple or lair? Increase the aura by 3x ( because sound carries in water. ) Then the aura would encourage drowning and excape and the shadows would drain the strength to keep the party from effectively swimming to the surface.

[@gabef9538]

When it dies it drop a cursed bag of holding and fleshy clay.

[@MattSparks80]

Going to use this as a patrol unit in a city being taken over by undead, thanks!

[@reyvynnightveil1706]

Man, I been really binging this channel lately at work and printing out the stat blocks at home for some leisure reading. I love a lot of these, but so many are unusable at a couple of my tables because there's no miniatures of them out there, for the most part. I do one theater of the mind game, but my other games really like the minis (as do I, cuz I like to paint and make terrain). Would have been dope to commission and sell STLs for some of these, or list some good proxies.

[@harambe4267]

Here's a hook: You have Vlad the Impaler-esque character overseeing a village or town and keeping the population pacified by using these golems as patrolmen, they wouldn't need brute strength or great numbers because simply their presence would terrify most civilians into submission. You'd only need a handful to pacify a city of thousands, alternatively you could extend it to an entire kingdom where these things are just patrolling the lands keeping most of the subjects completely terrified, they could be fueled by the souls of criminals because the punishment for all transgressions is is execution at the hands of the golem, and most neighbouring kingdoms not willing to take in great numbers of refugees as to not anger the monarch, maybe add some resistance amulets for the rulers retinue and court so they aren't impeded by the aura.

[@cabalarcana6996]

So, Gloom Golem is basically Relinquished, from Yu-Gi-Oh!

[@Non-vegen]

What if it was a playable race like maybe instead of being souls who want to get out, it comprimises souls of soldiers and knights who use the gloom golem as a vessel. A possible backstory that this golem was made sentient by some unknown force, and it is probably tasked to protect a person or thing that they carry.

[@s7r337r4c3r]

The Ravenloft version is awesome. It had a yell attack at will that works the same as the down Ray of Enfiblement cast by a 10th lvl sorcerer. It also can go into a range as if it was a lvl 20 Barbarian. Plus, as a templet creature type, it has bonuses over the base version of what ever golem you choose.

[@thatoneguywiththevoice328]

What if the gloom golem was like those lion dog on asian places Like a guard that watches Maybe it can even identify friend and foe Or what if the spirits have a little bit of influence on the gloom golem's thoughts If your party member gets absorbed they can roll for a small chance to stop it from attacking Like pulling their arm back

[@LorenzoVargas1981]

I like them.I have that 3.0 book and was always intrigued by them

[@yanaleigh]

I'm running the 3.5 adventure "The Tearing of the Weave" updated for 5e and I was prepping for tonight's session when I read they are going to stumble into a gloom golem. The name didn't ring any bells, but as soon as I saw the rather spectacular artwork I was like, "Dungeon Dad did this for me!!!" So, thank you. Hopefully they'll find it tonight so that i can eat one of their souls. (it'll probably be the druid)

[@Icedra-wo8nh]

Thinking about the river Styx, it would be a good construct to have guarding the soul of a dead player within the underworld as the party is attempting to revive them. You could also have some of the screams sound like the dead PC or a npc begging for the party to give into the gloom's void and if that doesn't work the gloom could have the shadows take the form of the dead character and even let them keep some abilities from their past life.

[@VoidyBoiii]

I imagine it having the ability to shut up if it wants or even speak picking the words that the souls speaks in the void so like every word is different voice and tone

[@drewgilbertson]

Plot Hook: the gloom golem is a walking cage for souls. They are basically equipment. So there is a group of interplaner bounty hunters who use these. These are mostly half-demons or half-devils. If there is a particular soul a high ranking demon or devil wants and they don't have any mortal minions able to make the grab, they post a bounty. Typically these bounty hunters work in 2 man teams, 1 ranger and 1 wizard, with the Gloom Golem along as a combination cage and body guard. So if a character pisses off something powerful from the lower planes, they might have a team like this hunting them down.

[@saintlucus2359]

I'd like this as the city guard for a city run by vampires or evil rulers. They can act as a means to not only keep the civilians from attacking or rising up due to just their strength but also due to the AOE debuff making them have disadvantage on attacks, but they could also keep them up all night with constant wailing making them sleep deprived. When some fool does decide to rise up, they can store them inside of their void and regurgitate them to show them in front of the head vampire.

[@KaelaMensha]

The souls inside golem should not scream phisically, it has to be psykik scream.

[@cesarsandelis6379]

There should be a gold golem. Basically a iron golem but much higher charisma. Made of gold and gems it can redirect any lightning damage, and if hit by a bright light it will flash that will blind anyone looking at it. They are made when you want a iron golem but want to show off how rich you are.

[@damienfeymont3433]

I plan on using this in the Barrowmaze campaign book!

[@Buddy74656]

Sounds great for an enforcer for Night Hags. Something they could make in their cauldron.

[@blackgriffinxx]

This one sound like it was made to go after bards.

[@marioskonstantinidis2685]

My bbeg in my campaign, is a harbringer of souls litteraly a soul harvester, so I can imagine him having these creatures surround him and him using them as fighting batteries

[@dillonjj3]

Gloom Golems at the vanguard of an undead army that a Lich is directing.

[@torazely]

Make a gloomy golem embedded with some sound mimicry charm. Suddenly it can copy the voices of the souls it took.

[@VengefulJarl]

I have a group infiltrating a old church of Mask in Westgate in the firgitten realms that is currently ran by the church of Shar until Masks followers build back their numbers. Anyways i remembered this from cormyr tearing of the weave in 3.5 and remembered you had this. I went ahead and added back the touch of woe cha drain ability. I run to.orrow so will ha e to wait to see how it goes, but i plan on the golem basically standing in either the torture chamber or the jail to leave prisoners weak with its crushing despair.

[@DMKen]

Not getting notifications for your videos lately. Glad I checked

[@DungeonDad]

Me too! Thanks for watching! Also KZbin algorithm if you read this pls send notifs thank you

[@HenriFaust]

I've been having the same issue for months.

[@Nyghtking]

I think what I would do with this would be that once it dies any remaining shadows will convert to ghosts instead, become directionless, and non-hostile unless attacked as the golem's influence over them ends.

[@andrewamann2821]

This gives me an interesting idea for a prison... Basically, acting as a means to keep those who have been condemned to death imprisoned. Have it be staffed by a bunch of deaf guards, or utilize some warforged to act as the prison's execution detail...

[@stormrogers5318]

I like it. I would add short distance teleportation, and a pull effect. And a black hole bomb when killed

[@Rathmun]

In an encounter with two of them, the "come here" effect could be put to particularly annoying use. Whenever you're within 5' of one you don't have to run toward it, but you _do_ still have to run toward the other if it's hit you with that effect too. So you're left spending the entirety of every turn running back and forth instead of taking actions.

[@Mwilli2132]

Another thing that definitely doesn’t want to get gloss to this thing: a ranger with a FNAR-H sitting at just under half a mile away. (My DM did a one-shot that was a mix between steampunk and modern.)