### Rock Golems

Rock golems were an early creation of the Empire, back in the days when they were just figuring out the basics of mineral-based life. Unfortunately, the empire found them rather difficult to control - not because they are rebellious or willful, which they are not. But they are really, really dumb, and they just don't understand instructions very well. They don't remember them very well, either, unless they're really simple. If you tell the rock golem to go to the field, pick up some nice round rocks, and carry them to your house, you may discover later that the rock golem got confused, pulled your house up from its foundations, and carried it to the field. As a result, the empire tends to only use them as brute force defenders when possible.

While golems do have a brain, it only gets used when they are faced with something that their raw instinct can't deal with, such as dealing with obstacles in their path. While they can speak, their vocabulary is rather limited and shallow. They don't need to eat, and instead take great pleasure in crushing their prey with their large and heavy fists. They won't kill anything else that is a rock, and since their intelligence level is low, this means that someone clever could easily disguise themself as something rock-shaped and escape their clutches.

Rock golems are very difficult to kill permanently, as if you break them down, they will eventually reconstruct themselves over time. It takes much longer for them to be prepared for combat again, however. But for the practical purposes of smitemasters, the worst thing about golems is probably the piles of rocks that are left when you "kill" them. These will become an obstacle, so you will have to be careful where you choose to attack the golem. It is possible to destroy a golem completely (whether or not it is already broken down) by using a bomb, however.

Rock golems move in a very simple fashion. In order for them to move, you will have to be either in their horizontal or vertical line of sight. They aren't smart enough to move around obstacles by themselves, and will need to be "guided" around them.

Monster Reference
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