The "Bronze" Golem is an enemy in The Wizard's Workshop, and it has 22 Health. The "Copper" Golem is an enemy in Lord Stafford's Treasure, and it has 35 Health. But the metal we call bronze is stronger than copper and most players of fantasy RPG's are aware of this. These names should be swapped, right? Of course, there's the Flailing Bronze Fists card on the "Bronze" Golem which might come into question. But still: metallurgy, dude.
I figure it has to do with the arcane conductivity of the golem's composition. There's more to a golem than sheet metal, after all. Bronze being primarily an alloy of copper and tin, there's a clear progression here from Tin Golem > Bronze Golem > Copper Golem.
Ehh . . . I don't think that mystically-minded people, real-world or otherwise, would disregard bronze's superior qualities. Being "more than the sum of the parts" is itself a mystical sorta thing. And if you were to use such a system, you'd have to come up with somewhere logical to go next. Other alloys of copper include brass . . . which is mixed with zinc. So is a "Zinc Golem" an ultimate monstrosity with 60 Health? Another is pewter; but, wait, that's a different sort of alloy with tin! We're back to square one! Technically, you'd have a shot if you went toward silver. However, copper and silver alloys include billon and sterling silver, both of which have problems: the first sounds really weird to the average gamer ("Huh? So there's a billion of these things?"), and the second may be too long a name to fit. Why yes, I put a lot of thought into such things.
Well this is just based on what i have seen in rpgs but golems actually tend to go by the value of the material rock iron bronze gold diamond but really only the iron and diamond make sense as rock is decently easy to smash and pure gold is bendable by hand
Did you write a story about it? I'm not denying that bronze is superior to copper where tensile strength is concerned. But while I would prefer a bronze shield over a copper one every time, metals have other properties as well. Thus my allusion to 'conductivity.' Would you rather have a bronze CPU in your computer? Inasmuch as golems are magically animated, the backstory I would construct holds that their strength is as much or more a product of the magic used as it is the base materials (which, despite the names, are unlikely to be uniform throughout). "Well, the basic theory is pretty simple," Ülm explained as they traveled. "Most golems start with a sort of internal skeleton that holds all the parts up and a bunch of winches and whatnot to move it at the joints. It's a lot like you and me in that respect.""It is hardly like you and me," griped Esperance. The holy woman held the view that golems were an abomination, and she had been testy ever since they learned of the malfunctioning constructs."As I was saying," the dwarf continued with a frown, "the basic mechanics are not what really makes a golem a golem, though. You have to have something to turn all the gears and lever all the levers. So what you want to do is fit the scaffolding inside a metal shell and surround it all over with a mix of bearings, tiny gears, some longer connecting rods and plenty of grease. Then you fasten down the other half of the shell over the top of it all and the construction part is done. I'm simplifying a bit,you know—""I know no such thing," Esperance broke in. "Why do keep saying this as if I were making one?""Easy now. It's just a manner of speaking. Though my nephew Hatt used to tinker with golems. It got a little messy trying to keep all that stuff in while he matched up the seams. Used to come out of his hobby shop with all manner of sprockets and pawls caught in his beard. His wife had to go through it with a fine comb every night.""A hobby!"Staci intervened before another argument broke out. Ülm's wizardly knowledge set Esperance on edge at the best of times. "Please," she urged, "you were going to tell us about their weaknesses. We're fighting them, not building them.""Damn straight I'm telling you about their weaknesses. So the real secret of golems is that this shell, you see, is all carved with runes on the inside. Usually there's a master rune on the breast plate that controls the whole thing. Once you have it put together, you channel your arcane energy into the runes and there you go. The golem starts walking around under its own power.""Blasphemous! Madmen trying to usurp God's creation of life.""Well now, that was a matter of some pretty heated debate back in my clan. You see, it's all there in the runes. A golem only follows whatever instructions its maker gives it, so the general feeling is that so long as you don't draw the energy from actual necromatic sources you've done nothing but forge a tool. On the other hand, the whole thing is self-organizing. You don't have to get every part just so, the energy pattern aligns all the smallest little bits for you." He glanced at Esperance, clearly expecting another outburst. "I've even seen where you could repair some problems with a spell of healing."But the priestess evidently chose to ignore further conversation, staring darkly at Aloyzo's tower door as their goal came in sight around a bend in the road."Well, as I say, that was back in the clan. And I guess I'm here with you now." The dwarf fell silent.Staci would have liked very much to hear more about the old dwarf's mysterious past, but they were on Aloyzo's garden path now and a more immediate concern demanded her attention. "So we just go in and Esperance casts her healing on the misbehaving golems?""No, no. I said some problems, didn't I? That's only if there's some small mechanical failure. It sounds to me like our grand employer Aloyzo misformed his runes when he built the things. All of the golem's behavior is controlled by the runes, and everyone thinks they can do better than copying the tried-and-true. Well, if you're wrong the golem goes crazy. And I guess he botched the 'Stop' command, too. What we want to do is to disrupt the energy flow and shut it down for good." Ülm blew out a deep breath and turned toward Staci. "Kill it, just like a trog. One of your axes through the master rune should do the trick. Of course, most wizards reinforce the chest for that very reason, so failing that a good chop at the back of the knees is probably the best way to slow it down."
