Ring of the Ram and (Any) Golem 3.5 D&D

Question

Golems, pretty terrifying in their own right (and, I've heard, broken in design), are immune to any spells or spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance and have DR 5-15 / adamantine (and crushing for Clay).

First Question:
Does a Ring of the Ram's damage (Xd6 Force damage for X charges spent, where X is a max of 3) hurt it? As far as I can tell the ring does not allow spell resistance, and since it's magic it bypasses DR, but it seems so wrong that such a simple item can hurt a CR 13 Iron Golem.

Second Question:
One of my PCs, a sorcerer, cast Ice Storm. Ice Storm deals part bludgeoning damage and part ice damage. Since all of the damage is created magically I assume that none of the damage bypasses a Golem's immunity to magic, even though the bludgeoning damage is "mundane" (i.e. a heavy thing hit it on the head.)

P.S. I may stop using Golems in the future.

Answer 1

Ring of the Ram

Spell resistance is defined as affecting spells and spell-like abilities. Some items (wands, command-word items) replicate spells, and are affected by it, but other items are their own magical effect, not replicating a spell, and thus ignore it. Ring of the ram does not replicate any given spell, and therefore ignores SR.

As for it being “wrong,” the rules aren’t ever perfect. There are far more egregious oddities than this; in this case there are even SR: No spells that deal force damage, so that much isn’t so unusual. Not to mention that Supernatural abilities ignore spell resistance as well, even if they replicate a spell. Spell resistance really is about spells specifically, not just any kind of magic.

Also, while ring of the ram might be “just” an item, 3d6 damage isn’t at all impressive. It’s a ranged attack (not a touch attack), you are limited to 50 charges, and it’s quite pricey.

Ice Storm

The spell is SR: Yes, and therefore golems are immune to it. That includes both bludgeoning and cold damage.

To affect a golem as a spellcaster, you need SR: No spells, or you need to not affect it directly, but rather indirectly by buffing allies. Conjuration and Transmutation are by far your best bets for these. For a well-prepared spellcaster, golems are usually a fairly minor threat, as it turns out. Spell resistance is common enough that every spellcaster should prepare at least a few SR: No spells every day, and therefore be well-equipped to handle golems. Grease does hilarious things to them, for example, and that’s a first-level spell.