What are Gearsmen made for?

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

Most of the robots we've seen have very clear functions, except for Gearsmen. On top of that, they seem to have a very different visual aesthetic than the other Androffan robots, with a distinctly lower-tech look.

What purpose did they serve aboard the Divinity? Will their slightly-off appearance be a plot point?

[James Jacobs]

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Most of the robots we've seen have very clear functions, except for Gearsmen. On top of that, they seem to have a very different visual aesthetic than the other Androffan robots, with a distinctly lower-tech look.

What purpose did they serve aboard the Divinity? Will their slightly-off appearance be a plot point?

It's not a plot point, really. Their purpose was basically as security/enforcers. They're one step down on the humanity scale, if you will, from the mannequin robot, which is itself one step down from the android. But yeah; they're basically the bouncers and security force and the beat cops of the ship, built to be human shaped because that makes the most sense for their position and job, but kind of old-fashioned looking as a sort of affectation. Think of it almost as a uniform.

[Hobgoblin Shogun]

Well, it's reeeeally hard to follow up a James Jacobs response. But MY theory is

spoiler:

since the various books imply that they just happen to be listening to the Technic League's orders, but also will just simply ignore those orders. And since the Technic League "found" the Gearsmen in the Silver Mount, I reckon they're just directly or indirectly under the power of Unity.