Homebrew Hive Golem Species Details

They come every spring, slow and quiet from the forests. Don't know how long they've been coming or what brought them here but they come with the first flowers of spring and stay till the leaves start to change. The old folk say to thank them for coming and to leave them sweet wines, the young folk think them monsters and talk of chasing them off the land. The longer I live the more I trust the old folk. I know these things hear us, understand our words, they think and remember, they tell others. The town just south chased one off and they all stopped coming. Doomed themselves. The harvest failed, their old passed sooner, the sick grew sicker. Can't afford for them to stop coming. They looked at my horses last sping, stayed in the barn when it rained, made a mess; but my farm grew strong and my boys stayed healthy. Sometimes I wonder if I made them a barn too that they might stay.

— Stedd Dundragon, Farmer

Despite their unusual appearance Hive Golems have developed fairly peaceful relations with most races. 

Whether united under the leadership of a mighty warlock or having fought to a standstill after years of conflict, orc and human tribes sometimes form alliances, joining forces into a larger horde to the terror of civilized lands nearby. When these alliances are sealed by marriages, half-orcs are born. Some half-orcs rise to become proud chiefs of orc tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded orc rivals. Some venture into the world to prove their worth among humans and other more civilized races. Many of these become adventurers, achieving greatness for their mighty deeds and notoriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury.

Humming Travelers

Ranging from 5 feet to 30 feet tall these creatures are often mistaken by strangers for aggressive due to the buzzing hum generated by the insects they home. Every spring and summer they develop prominent ridges along the backside of their body and their heads increasing their size, strength, and stability. If injured these ridges can be broken off and pasted over the damage to recover from injury at the cost of further growth. 

The insects living within the golem can significantly alter the strengths and vulnerabilities of the being. Honey bees being the most common golem hosts lead to a waxy golem in a soft golden brown color. While the most visually appealing of the hive golems they also smell the strongest and lead to the largest messes leaving a slow drizzle of honey wherever they step and smelling of their most recent harvests. Wasps being less common lead to papery golems that despite being more fragile are significantly more aggressive known to seek out small animals, other hive golems for food. If allowed to grow too large, they turn to travelers.

Hive Sentience 

Hive Golems were originally created by Druids either intentionally for magic-infused honey and protection or unintentionally when an independent beehive had been pollinating plants grown with Druid magic. The most common form of Hive Golems are Beeswax Golems due to the popularity and easy training of honey bee strains. As time went on hives split and created children, contained hives crossed with wild hives, and other species of hive building insects started to absorb the magic. Intentionally formed Hive Golems can last for decades past the loss of their original Druid if left unharmed and are more drawn to civilization than their wild variation. If a Hive Golem could find another magic source before their time came to an end they could extend their lives even further. However, if a Hive Golem becomes too low on magic it will curl up and return to a non-sentient but otherwise healthy hive. If the Hive Golems host insect swarm is killed the Golem may last a few hours but will become brittle and crumble if a new swarm is not introduced. 

[Culture]

Hive Golems are travelers but will typically stay within a 3-mile radius of their original creation point, only leaving if they can no longer find enough magic to be sustained there or if they are no longer safe. They prefer forests, large fields, or farmland but can thrive almost anywhere if provided the correct food for the host insect and a source of magic. Family units consist of 4-10 golems on average with the larger golems splitting in the spring to produce offspring and larger clans splitting into two when the territory becomes too crowded. Lone golems are uncommon but not entirely unheard of. They are often isolated due to forest fires or conflict with neighboring species with few leaving the clan to discover new foraging grounds or magic sources. [Section in Progress]

Hive Golem Names

Hive Golems communicate with one another through hums, gestures, and dances so most of their names are granted to them by travelers that cross their paths. Families will bring young ones to the edges of villages or trusted roads with a wooden plaque and wait for trusted companions to tell them their name and carve it into their plaque. [Section in Progress]

Male Hive Golem Names: 

Female Hive Golem Names:

Deeply Loyal

While Hive Golems typically remain in their family groups and only venture along the outskirts of towns, if one is befrended it becomes fericely loyal. 

Hive Golem Traits

Your Hive Golem character will have traits similar to Golems with alterations based on the host hive that built the character.

Swarm

Whenever the golem starts its turn with 60 hit points or fewer, roll a d6. On a 6, the golem becomes immobile and summons a swarm of bees with equal hit points to that of the golem. On each of its turns, while swarming, the swarm attacks the nearest creature it can see. If no creature is near enough to move to and attack, the swarm attacks an object, with a preference for an object smaller than itself. Once the golem swarms, it continues to do so until it is destroyed, regains hit points above 60, or is left undisturbed for 1 D4 roll of turns. Swarm functions as a swarm of insects (Wasps) with all applicable resistances, and immunities. https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-insects-wasps

Immutable Form

The golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Magic Resistance

The golem has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons

The golem's weapon attacks are magical.

Ability Score Changes

STR - (+3)
DEX - (-1)
CON - (+3)
INT - (-4)
WIS - (-1)
CHA - (-5)
(pulled from Clay Golem monster page with slight adjustments for the softness of wax)

Alignment

Hive Golem alignment is heavily impacted by which variant they are with most being primarily true neutral. Honey bees especially those who have been nurtured by neighboring towns or a Druid are often Neutral Good whereas Wasps tend to fall under Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Evil.

Size

Beeswax golems grow as they age from medium to large. Though they average 5-10 feet they can reach as many as 30 if undamaged and stationary for long enough. 

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. (+5 in hot weather, -5 in cold weather)

Languages

Understands the languages of its creator but can't speak.