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[StagnantSoul]

Can you make a granite golem as well?

[katwithk]

Well the reason I opted for iron over stone is stone golems had a habit of getting their limbs broken off. But yeah, totally doable.

[Ladygolem]

If that's the case it might actually add to the gameplay; you can make the choice between cheaper, more fragile stone golems or durable but costly iron ones. You could even have a sort of 'desperation' golem - very cheap, but with a very limited lifespan, so it falls apart after only a single battle. Typically not worth it, but when the alternative is total destruction of your fortress, sacrifices may have to be made...

Also: I really love how you made the golems a bit more differentiated than simply a dwarf made of iron. Question: how big are they in comparison to a regular dwarf? Also: if you want to make them more limited you could perhaps require the reaction to require any large gem, which should be quite rare, or maybe even a custom ore? Just a suggestion. Love the work so far!

[StagnantSoul]

Wood golems could be produced as desperate measure golems, as they'd die fast, not put out much damage, but would be easy to make.

On top of size: I'd say five times the size of a human would be reasonable, considering the cost.

[katwithk]

Consider each golem also costs a living dwarf, which is why I hesitate to make them of inferior materials.
Turning a dwarf into wood is just wrong.

[katwithk]

If that's the case it might actually add to the gameplay; you can make the choice between cheaper, more fragile stone golems or durable but costly iron ones. You could even have a sort of 'desperation' golem - very cheap, but with a very limited lifespan, so it falls apart after only a single battle. Typically not worth it, but when the alternative is total destruction of your fortress, sacrifices may have to be made...

Also: I really love how you made the golems a bit more differentiated than simply a dwarf made of iron. Question: how big are they in comparison to a regular dwarf? Also: if you want to make them more limited you could perhaps require the reaction to require any large gem, which should be quite rare, or maybe even a custom ore? Just a suggestion. Love the work so far!

I will also add stone golems (probably obsidian, maybe something else, maybe several types), that don't live quite as long (still in the hundreds of years, so it's not really relevant in the context of any one fort (usually)). They won't be quite as durable, or learn quite as fast.

I like the large gems idea, any chance you know the token to specify that?

EDIT: Forgot to answer your question. The golems are slightly larger than a fully grown dwarf, at 64,000 cubic urists. I have yet to test if this affects which class of armor they can wear.

Double EDIT: It should be noted that a dwarf of any age, when converted into a golem, will become golem-sized, but should not change in age. I also fixed the golem's description not displaying properly, and put in a tag to make the new golem genderless. I'm going to see if I can also make severance of relationships (or prevention thereof) an option too, as unfeeling lumps of stone and metal will obviously not be making many friends.

[StagnantSoul]

They can't possibly equip armour, unless you're making them into a caste for dwarves.
Also, why have it consume dearves? Why not have them be immune, and use prisoners?

[Ladygolem]

The item token for a large gem is simply GEM (as opposed to ROUGH for uncut gems and SMALLGEM for regular cut gems).

Also, if the golems are going to have lifespans of hundreds of years and only be present in fort mode (seeing as they can't spawn naturally, I assume) then what functional difference is there between a lifespan of several centuries and immortality?

The way I see the 'unstable golems' would be yes, the only significant price would be the dwarf itself - perhaps without a gem to stabilize it, the golem can only maintain animated form for a limited amount of time. This would limit this type of golem to the sort of situation when you have twenty goblins in your dining hall and a FB is making a beeline towards your lower entrance. One would stick to regular golems supplementing a traditional military for your day-to-day defines needs.

As for relationships, I'd suggest keeping them, actually - while the golem itself would obviously be incapable of caring, a parent might still become distraught at seeing the machine that bears their child's likeness be ripped apart by a bronze colossus.

[katwithk]

If you abandon a fort during peaceful circumstances, all of your dwarves (and golems) scatter throughout the world, and may be met again in future fortresses (as migrants) or recruited in adventure mode (maybe? I don't think they can talk)

EDIT: By the way, in adventure mode, their eyes glow red in the dark (it shows up as an asterisk) because flavor.

[katwithk]

They can't possibly equip armour, unless you're making them into a caste for dwarves.
Also, why have it consume dearves? Why not have them be immune, and use prisoners?

They are a controlleable caste of intelligent creature and other than their inability to gain in skilled labors can be used in all respects like a normal dwarf. If you wanted to break your immersion you could even make one your mayor. It consumes dwarves both for convenience (in the way I made it) and because the nature of the product should require a high cost. What you get is a extremely long-lived, nearly unkillable, unfeeling, untiring soldier and worker. In theory, if you could even golemify extremely skilled workers to make them (essentially) eternal avatars of their craft.

Also, the way I see it, becoming a golem is an honor, not a punishment. Golems would be seen as respected entities. Plus I wouldn't want to have to spend the next eighty or more years looking at that same ugly goblin that shot me in the knee.

[StagnantSoul]

Well I'll try it out at the release.

[katwithk]

So I want to make some stone golems. I don't want to make golems for -every- stone, but I figure more than just obsidian might be a good idea. Thoughts?

[StagnantSoul]

Obsidian, granite, shale, and quartzite. One from each stone layer type.

[katwithk]

I like that idea, thanks!

[katwithk]

I'm almost ready for a release, breaking for late breakfast so I thought I'd give y'all an update.

There will be, in all, eight types of golem: Iron, Obsidian, and six "lesser" stone golems (one for each magma-safe stone other than obsidian than can form entire layers)

Iron golems will remain mostly as described, living on average about 1600 years, gaining combat skills quickly, and having others frozen in place. Only iron golems will be able to enter martial trances. It will require 3 small gems (if I did it right, if not I'll change it to 1 large) and 128 iron bars to create an iron golem.

Obsidian golems will live, on average, about 800 years. They will not learn as quickly as iron golems, but are otherwise much the same, other than being notably more fragile. It will require 3 small gems (if I did it right, if not I'll change it to 1 large) and 128 obsidian blocks to create an obsidian golem.

Lesser stone golems will live between 160 and 320 years. They will learn combat skills slower still than obsidian golems (about the rate of normal dorfs). In addition to being unable to gain any ranged combat skills, their noncombat skills will rust away very quickly. They will, however, gain wrestling much faster than obsidian golems. They have only one eye, and are much larger than other golems (slightly larger than a human) require them to use larger equipment should you decide to attempt to arm and armor them. It will require one small gem (if I did it right) and thirty-two raw stone to create a lesser golem.

Golems are universally marked as non-living now, and so will not be able to be reanimated if they are deanimated.

Notes:
It is likely different kinds of stone will stand up better or worse to punishment, but all should be fairly tough. So far in my testing, obsidian golems do fantastically in 1:2 (golem to goblin) ratio settings without weapons or armor or skills. Blunt weapons will be the most likely to cause significant damage, followed by axes- spears are pretty much useless. Bolts mostly bounce off, or chip off pieces of stone (which does nothing but piss the golem off).
Golems who lose all limbs should be euthanized, as I didn't give them mouths so they can't bite.