So it's golems, just with more steampunk fluff ?
Steampunk typically requires...y'know...steam. Or at least stuff moving by something other than magic.
But essentially, yes. Of course, in fiction, the only major difference between a robot, a golem, and an
artificial (demi)human is where and when they're "allowed" to show up.
I fail to see the interest in this. Why just not make a puppet with movable parts and then make these move with telekinetic magic?
Funnily enough, that's precisely the suggestion.
We already have a bronze colossus who magically moves without even being made of different parts.
Yes, dwarves know about gears and with magic it could be doable. But it seems improbably complex when golems already exist in the world, and are far simpler than that.
I'm all for my dwarves building golems, but let's just go with the original Jewish golem myth and be done with it. aka: craft statue out of some material, add magical item on it, instant golem.
Have you contemplated the possibility that golem-making secrets might not be known to dwarves, if extant? Or that moving something designed to move might be easier/simpler than bending a solid metal statue?
Df is set in a science+ universe. Science + magic, specifically. We shouldn't try to integrate the magic into the science somehow, as I doubt it'll just lead to strange and nonsensical handwaves.
Just make sure that science is scientific and magic A is magic A.
Often, yes, but we should at least be able to figure out what magic
does. How does the golem move? We now know a bit more about how the golem should behave in odd circumstances. (Which DF players will inevitably put it in.)
Feet of Clay Golems are dwarfier, emphasis on clay (or rather cogs), inscribing what you wish them to do, and the possibility to go utterly insane from such if fucked up. Also, intelligent.
Just a note, those are standard golems, based on the original jewish myth.
They also exist elsewhere in the Discworld.