Flesh Golems require Animate Dead and golems are generally infused with the spirit of an earth elemental while animate dead spell by definition is infusing corpses with negative energy.
'Van Richten's Guide to Created' book sheds some light into the dreaded secrets of golems. According to his studies, he believes that the force that animates the golem is not created per se. Rather, it is a pre-existing spirit, drawn into the vessel that is the golem body, and then trapped within it. Such animating forces may be of two varieties:a dark spirit or a stolen life force. Both are horrid in their own way.
'Van Richten's Guide to Created' book sheds some light into the dreaded secrets of golems. According to his studies, he believes that the force that animates the golem is not created per se. Rather, it is a pre-existing spirit, drawn into the vessel that is the golem body, and then trapped within it. Such animating forces may be of two varieties:a dark spirit or a stolen life force. Both are horrid in their own way.
That's specifically for the Ravenloft (gothic horror) campaign setting. It doesn't necessarily apply in the Forgotten Realms.
You can go back to the inspiration for golems in jewish mythology (speciacally clay golems), or Frankenstein (flesh golems) but DnD generally treats them as magical robots.
'Van Richten's Guide to Created' book sheds some light into the dreaded secrets of golems. According to his studies, he believes that the force that animates the golem is not created per se. Rather, it is a pre-existing spirit, drawn into the vessel that is the golem body, and then trapped within it. Such animating forces may be of two varieties:a dark spirit or a stolen life force. Both are horrid in their own way.
That's specifically for the Ravenloft (gothic horror) campaign setting. It doesn't necessarily apply in the Forgotten Realms.
You can go back to the inspiration for golems in jewish mythology (speciacally clay golems), or Frankenstein (flesh golems) but DnD generally treats them as magical robots.
Right. In any case, whether being a magical robot or animated by powers truly alien and unknown to humankind, they are very different than humanoid, living beings. They are not undead, either. Thus it makes sense that they are immune to many things that hamper the living and the undead. 3e simplified things by calling them 'constructs' and giving them a wider set of pre-determined immunities and resistances.
Undead are dead beeings brought back to life. Golems are inanimate things brought to life. With bone Golems the inanimate object just happens to be bones.
Comments
In terms of lore, skeletons are animated by energy drawn from the negative material plane, golems aren't.
So I guess a Wizard did it.
You can go back to the inspiration for golems in jewish mythology (speciacally clay golems), or Frankenstein (flesh golems) but DnD generally treats them as magical robots.