Dissecting the 5E D&D Construct Creature Type

November 15, 2021

Salutations, nerds! Like clockwork I’ve found my way to the construct creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Whether it’s in terms of golems, modrons or anything else made instead of born I’m taking you up close and personal with some 5E D&D creatures probably made by an artificer or a wizard.

Construct creatures in 5E D&D

A construct in 5E D&D is a constructed being to put it simply. Anything made, from a little homunculus to a massive iron golem and beyond. Anything you animate with a spell is probably going to be of the construct creature type. There are constructs with very low Intelligence that basically follow simple programming and there are constructs seeming to have their own souls and irrefutably have wills of their own.

Although many 5E D&D constructs are unaligned you can find examples of pretty much any alignment, usually to do with what they were created to do in the first place. Constructs also sit in a weird place when it comes to poisons and certain conditions like charmed and frightened. While the individual abilities of each construct matter a great deal in many cases their inorganic nature makes a lot of these effects pass over them like water.

“Constructs are made, not born. Some are programmed by their creators to follow a simple set of instructions, while others are imbued with sentience and capable of independent thought. Golems are the iconic constructs. Many creatures native to the outer plane of Mechanus, such as modrons, are constructs shaped from the raw material of the plane by the will of more powerful creatures.” — from the 5E D&D Monster Manual

Things Constructs Do

Constructs have a tendency to be unaffected by a lot of conditions and circumstances other creature types are subject to in 5E D&D. They tend to feature a lot of damage and condition immunities. Many constructs don’t have to eat or breathe. Back in ye olden times in 3.5 D&D you couldn’t critically hit a construct though I’m pretty sure they remedied this in 5E D&D except maybe an individual example or two.

Constructs tend toward high Armor Class and typically higher than average hit points for their challenge rating. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise how most of the time the large tanky looking iron can is going can take a licking and keep on ticking. They also have a strong tendency towards slam attacks and understanding languages so they can follow commands while generally unable to speak.

Five Constructs of Note

Flesh Golem. Imagine Frankenstein’s Monster. Basically a flesh golem represents a creature of this sort. And man, these things are gross. It’s a golem made of flesh. Lightning heals it, you can’t polymorph it and unless your attacks are magical you basically can’t hurt one. Absolutely nightmarish. 10/10 would terrorize my players with it again.
Homunculus. A Tiny creature created by magic and sharing a telepathic bond with the one who made the construct. It can fly, it is adorable and it has a poisonous bite, which are all things making me predisposed to want to pat its head. It’s also CR 0.
Iron Golem. The strongest construct in the Basic Rules the iron golem boasts a buttload of hit points, an AC of 20, a ton of damage and condition immunities and not only does it not take damage from fire but fire actually heals this construct. Iron golems are only CR 16 but it’s going to be a huge pain in the butt for most parties — especially if they don’t know what they’re getting into.
Keg Robot. You may or may not have noticed I try to keep my examples mostly to the Basic Rules for these posts but the Keg Robot from Acquisitions Incorporated is just too fun to leave out. It holds liquid, has acid and beer attacks (no this isn’t a joke) and can absolutely mess you up with hot oil. If you want your adventuring party screaming and laughing at the same time then please, give this thing a shot.
Shield Guardian. An excellent example of the stereotypical construct, the Shield Guardian is connected to an amulet and protects the one to whom the amulet is bound. Shield guardians also have Regeneration making them tankier than most classes. A good investment.

One good thing about constructs is there’s a lot of them in 5E D&D and most of the time adventurers don’t have to feel bad about fighting them because it’s really more like breaking something than killing a creature and they usually feel more like something than someone. You don’t have to think of answers to questions like how it’s been feeding itself down in this dungeon for 100 years.

Please, let me know of your construct experiences in the comments below. Anybody playing a warforged? Tweet me about it @Nerdarchy or me @Pyrosythesis or connect with us on Facebook and of course, stay nerdy!

*Featured image — A selection of constructs of note from 5E D&D — the iron golem, homunculus, shield guardian, keg robot and flesh golem. Another conceptual theme often applied to construct creatures is the idea of clockworks, a topic we delved into for one of our live chats, which segues into the weekly newsletter with juicy parts recreated right here on Nerdarchy the Website. [Composite images courtesy Wizards of the Coast]