Golem, Sand (3.5e Monster)

''Through the swirling cloud of choking, blinding dust you see a looming shadow, an area where the sand has condensed to form a pyramidal pile with a pair of humanoid arms. As you hack at it, pieces of its form crumble away to reveal a single glimmering quartz gemstone at its center, seemingly pulling all the sand in the immediate vicinity towards it. This action continually reshapes the creature’s body even as you cut it down again and again.''

A sand golem is an animated pile of shifting dust and stone controlled by a magical gemstone core. At first glance one can easily mistake it for a recently disturbed sand dune, but that's until it grinds them down into so much gory paste they could become part of its body.

Sand golems are simple in construction and the perfect guardians for many desert locales, everpresent and self-sufficient sentinels. Their tasks rarely stray from such duties, as anything more complex is best left to the more free-thinking inhabitants of the area.

Combat
A sand golem is able to totally disintegrate its own form, becoming indistinguishable from a pile of normal sand, and when in sandy terrain it may make Hide checks even while observed with a +10 cirsumstance bonus. This ability to hide, as well as its fearsome presence when remerged, make it a terrifying opponent so long as it is in its favored circumstances.

 : A sand golem, being made of tiny grains of compressed rock, can allow pieces of its body to be blasted off while keeping the whole alive. When struck with an attack, the sand golem may choose to take an immediate action to negate all the damage done by that attack. In return, the golem is treated as slowed during its next turn. This effect cannot be counteracted by haste or anything similar.

This is typically used as an emergency defense, however, as the golem is extremely difficult to harm. It takes half base weapon damage from any and all attacks. Because it can also draw sand into its body, it gains fast healing 10 whenever it is in an of sandy terrain. Lastly, by engulfing foes with pieces of itself, it gains a +4 bonus on grapple checks and never provokes attacks of opportunity for initiating a grapple.

 : Because of the fragile construction of the sand golem’s body, pieces of it tend to remain hovering in a cloud around it. This causes the area within the golem’s melee reach to resemble a violent sandstorm that replicates all the effects of a whirlwind spell. In addition, all creature’s inside must make a Reflex save (DC 19) or be blinded for the duration that they are inside the area and for 1 round thereafter. Creatures struck by at least one of the sand golem's slam attacks must also make the same save or be blinded for one round. This save DC is Dexterity-based.

 : A sand golem recieves maximum hit points per Hit Die.

 : A sand golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance, except for those described below. Certain effects work differently on the golem.

Any effect targeting the golem that has the [Fire] descriptor deals no damage but causes the golem’s body to partially turn into glass, causing it to lose the benefits of its destructible form ability and instead take maximum weapon damage for a number of rounds equal to the length of its exposure to the flame. Non-magical flames do not affect the golem, and if the effect in question allows a saving throw the golem may negate the above effects with a successful save.

 : A sand golem has the ability to hurl clods of condensed sand at opponents within Medium range (190 feet) as a standard action that requires a ranged touch attack. Not only does this sand projectile deal 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per CR of the golem (default 9d6), but it also carries the blinding effect of the dust devil ability.

This sand clods have the added advantage of bursting on contact with anything solid. As such, they cannot be deflected and any attempt to do so that would normally have been successful merely halves the damage dealt and negates the blinding effect.

Construction
A sand golem’s body consists of two essential ingredients, the first of which is the sand itself. Ten thousand pounds of sand are required for the creation of a sand golem; these are then sprinkled with magical powders and concoctions that cost around 1000 gold pieces in order to lace the sand with necessary magical properties. The final step is the golem’s core, a rare gemstone make of smoky quartz which is ensorcelled with the necessary spells.

CL 9th; Craft Construct, animate objects, blindness/deafness, whirlwind, caster must be at least 9th level; Price 33,000 gp; Cost 18,000 gp + 1050 XP.