I've just got the latest source book for the Iron Kingdoms RPG, and boy is it awesome.
This is only going to be a quick overview, as I haven't had enough time to read in depth, but a full review will appear in time.
The book is produced the same way as the core book, being a full colour hardback. While I haven't counted the pages yet, it has roughly the same page count as the core book, while containing much more fluff over rules!
The book is divided into 6 sections, covering the major kingdoms of Western Immorean. Not only does each section have a map and an outline of the kingdom's history, but it also includes geographic information, as well as the major mover's and shakers.
Each section also includes a players section which provides new careers, abilities, spells, gear and warjacks relevant to the nation. Anyone who wanted to play as one of the units from the wargame now has everything they need.
Overall this looks to be another excellent book. Only one gripe so far, and that their is a players section at the end of each nation, which while I understand works well layout wise, but is a pain for referencing. Especially as some of the abilities and spells are available to other careers.
However, I'm really looking forward to devouring the book, and will give a fuller review once I have.
Showing posts with label Iron Kingdoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iron Kingdoms. Show all posts
Friday, 20 September 2013
Friday, 2 August 2013
Kickstarter - Warmachine Tactics
Its one week to go in the Warmachine: Tactics Kickstarter, and I've finally
got round to posting this! Better late than never, and a great time to support
if you haven't already.
Unless you are a first time visitor to this blog (hello to you), you will know I'm a big Warmachine fan.
I bought into the game at its release, collecting Cryx and Menoth. Although I've only recently been getting regular games in, I've got most of the books connected to the wargame and the RPG.
So 5 years ago when Privateer Press announced they were going to create a computer game based on Warmachine, I was one of those people that were over the moon. The preview video that was released later on did nothing to dent my enthusiasm. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and the news about the video game was sparse. Despite Whitemoon Dreams (the developer) stating that work was continuing, the game was presumed to be vapourware. That was until the teaser trailer was released!
Not only were we getting a game, but instead of the action game they were originally working on, instead it’s a turn based strategy game. Oh hell yes!!
If you want the full details, the Kickstarter page is:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/409030043/warmachine-tactics
So, the next thing is, why should you pledge to support this Kickstarter?
Firstly, for only $20 you can get a digital copy of the game on release. That is a bargain compared to the price of computer games these days. Not only that, but because the stretch goals are all about improving the game, you will get all those as well. Already your $20 gets you access to all 4 prime factions, their signature character jacks, 8 mercenary characters and a new single player campaign. Further stretch goals include more content, as well as more playable factions. On release, certainly the additional campaigns are likely to be DLC, so you get the benefit now.
Not only that, but you can get your hands on some exclusive alternate sculpts of Journeymen warcasters for each faction that will be released with Warmachine: Vengeance later this year.
Each of the models is up to the standard you'd expect from Privateer Press, but they also add a new tactical angle for each of the factions. Previously only Cygnar had access to a Journeyman Warcaster, but with every faction will do soon. Personally I like the idea of coupling the Cryx one with one of the ranged crab jacks that can be a bit focus hungry for our regular casters.
I'm working on a post about them for later, as it’s not so time critical!
If you've got the cash, there are some nice higher priced rewards, like canvas art prints, but they are a bit outside most people's budget.
Other than the incentives, what about the game? Well for a start, Matt Wilson, the founder of Privateer Press, is part of the team developing the new game. Anyone who might be worried about the Iron Kingdoms not translating across can rest assured that it can be in no better hands that his. While the game won't be a direct translation of the tabletop game, they are committed to keeping the aesthetic and feel as close as possible.
Game play wise, as well as the single player campaigns, they've promised a number of ways of playing multiplayer, including LAN and play-by-post, as well as the more standard methods.
Privateer Press has also promised not to start another Kickstarter until they've delivered on this one. This is a nice promise, as some companies can stack too many projects up, and find they fall apart on delivering some.
The cherry on top (for those that are concerned about this) is a promise to avoid DRM in the game. They've said they will have to include it for platforms such as Steam, but there will be DRM free versions for those that want it.
Hordes fans will see a version of the game at some point, although whether it is an expansion or standalone but multiplayer compatible game remains to be seen.
So, if you enjoy the Iron Kingdoms setting, or like games such as X-Com and Shadowrun Returns, then you can't go wrong by backing this Kickstarter.
Unless you are a first time visitor to this blog (hello to you), you will know I'm a big Warmachine fan.
I bought into the game at its release, collecting Cryx and Menoth. Although I've only recently been getting regular games in, I've got most of the books connected to the wargame and the RPG.
So 5 years ago when Privateer Press announced they were going to create a computer game based on Warmachine, I was one of those people that were over the moon. The preview video that was released later on did nothing to dent my enthusiasm. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and the news about the video game was sparse. Despite Whitemoon Dreams (the developer) stating that work was continuing, the game was presumed to be vapourware. That was until the teaser trailer was released!
Not only were we getting a game, but instead of the action game they were originally working on, instead it’s a turn based strategy game. Oh hell yes!!
It only took less than 48 hours before it had passed its
$500,000 target, and quickly has been knocking down the stretch goals. With a
week to go, and over $1.1 million already pledged, this shows the support of
the gaming community for the project.
If you want the full details, the Kickstarter page is:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/409030043/warmachine-tactics
So, the next thing is, why should you pledge to support this Kickstarter?
Firstly, for only $20 you can get a digital copy of the game on release. That is a bargain compared to the price of computer games these days. Not only that, but because the stretch goals are all about improving the game, you will get all those as well. Already your $20 gets you access to all 4 prime factions, their signature character jacks, 8 mercenary characters and a new single player campaign. Further stretch goals include more content, as well as more playable factions. On release, certainly the additional campaigns are likely to be DLC, so you get the benefit now.
Not only that, but you can get your hands on some exclusive alternate sculpts of Journeymen warcasters for each faction that will be released with Warmachine: Vengeance later this year.
Each of the models is up to the standard you'd expect from Privateer Press, but they also add a new tactical angle for each of the factions. Previously only Cygnar had access to a Journeyman Warcaster, but with every faction will do soon. Personally I like the idea of coupling the Cryx one with one of the ranged crab jacks that can be a bit focus hungry for our regular casters.
I'm working on a post about them for later, as it’s not so time critical!
If you've got the cash, there are some nice higher priced rewards, like canvas art prints, but they are a bit outside most people's budget.
Other than the incentives, what about the game? Well for a start, Matt Wilson, the founder of Privateer Press, is part of the team developing the new game. Anyone who might be worried about the Iron Kingdoms not translating across can rest assured that it can be in no better hands that his. While the game won't be a direct translation of the tabletop game, they are committed to keeping the aesthetic and feel as close as possible.
Game play wise, as well as the single player campaigns, they've promised a number of ways of playing multiplayer, including LAN and play-by-post, as well as the more standard methods.
Privateer Press has also promised not to start another Kickstarter until they've delivered on this one. This is a nice promise, as some companies can stack too many projects up, and find they fall apart on delivering some.
The cherry on top (for those that are concerned about this) is a promise to avoid DRM in the game. They've said they will have to include it for platforms such as Steam, but there will be DRM free versions for those that want it.
Hordes fans will see a version of the game at some point, although whether it is an expansion or standalone but multiplayer compatible game remains to be seen.
So, if you enjoy the Iron Kingdoms setting, or like games such as X-Com and Shadowrun Returns, then you can't go wrong by backing this Kickstarter.
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Iron Kingdoms GMs Kit - Review
I'm a bit behind with this review, but better late than never.
As is traditional in an RPG release schedule, one of the early releases is a GMs kit, containing a GMs screen and some additional content to entice us to hand over our money.
Not ones to break tradition, Privateer Press's second release in the Iron Kingdoms line is a Games Masters toolkit to aid all those hard working GMs in running their games.
The main component of the kit is the 4 pane games masters’ screen. With the panes orientated landscape, the screen is low enough that a GM can comfortably look over while sitting, but will hide notes and dice rolls from players. With a double sized centre panel, you have plenty of width to work with, and don't feel cramped with a pile of notes.
The screen is made from tough card, like the cover to the Iron Kingdoms core book. This means that it will easily stay standing on its own, and even absorb dice impacts without moving. This isn't a 1990's White Wolf screen here!
The outer screen graphics are up to the normal excellent standards of Privateer Press. The double sized pane gives a great opportunity for some metal mangling action, and it doesn't disappoint. You can’t get much more of a representative view of the Iron Kingdoms than a heavy warjack fighting a bionic pig man over a crashed steam engine.
On the inner screen is the real meat of the product, with useful tables and charts for reference in game. While I haven’t road tested the screen, it contains everything I would need to reference quickly during a game. It also includes page references for sections if you want to look at the full rules, which is really handy. The text is a reasonable size, and laid out well, making it easy to read. Use of bold text and inverted text colour for headings means that you can quickly find what you are looking for.
Onto the extras. These vary from company to company, some offering an adventure, others a small booklet of GM related material that didn't make the cut into the core book. In this case there are couple of gaming aids to help run your game.
To start us off, there is a pad of 25 full colour character sheets, like the ones found in the core book. Next, there is a pad of 25 full colour encounter sheets, again like the ones found in the core book. There are also 10 laminated Character health trackers and 10 laminated initiative trackers.
For me, while gorgeous quality, I'm unlikely to ever use the character or encounter sheets. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but I tend to find character sheets get used and abused in a way that doesn’t warrant using better than a black and white printout. Also, the paper is slightly gloss, and I'd imagine writing in pencil may be more difficult, leading to problems when changes needed to be made. It would also make the encounter sheets only usable once. That being said, there is nothing wrong with them, just a matter of personal preference.
The laminated health and initiative trackers though, I will be making use of. The health tracker gives the player an easy way to track life or damage (in the case of a warjack) and their current Feat Points, without having to keep rubbing out a section of the character sheet. The Initiative Tracker card, not only gives the GM a place to record individual initiative scores, but also a character's stats and current Armour and Defense, so they don't need to refer back to the player as often. While not vital to running a game, it certainly makes tracking things much easier.
Finally, perhaps the more difficult aspect is the product’s value for money. At $27.99 rrp, it is actually more expensive than Urban Adventures, and is likely to see less use. Looking at previous GMs screens I’ve bought, it is certainly much better than the screens I have for the FFG 40K RPGs, and just as good as my Eclipse Phase screen. For me, the additional items don’t quite have as much worth as the adventures/GMs books that the other screens provided, but I’m willing to let that go.
If you intend to run a game of Iron Kingdoms, you can’t go wrong by picking up the screen. The information it provides alone makes it a must have, saving time leafing through the rule book. Consider it an investment if nothing else.
As is traditional in an RPG release schedule, one of the early releases is a GMs kit, containing a GMs screen and some additional content to entice us to hand over our money.
Not ones to break tradition, Privateer Press's second release in the Iron Kingdoms line is a Games Masters toolkit to aid all those hard working GMs in running their games.
The main component of the kit is the 4 pane games masters’ screen. With the panes orientated landscape, the screen is low enough that a GM can comfortably look over while sitting, but will hide notes and dice rolls from players. With a double sized centre panel, you have plenty of width to work with, and don't feel cramped with a pile of notes.
The screen is made from tough card, like the cover to the Iron Kingdoms core book. This means that it will easily stay standing on its own, and even absorb dice impacts without moving. This isn't a 1990's White Wolf screen here!
The outer screen graphics are up to the normal excellent standards of Privateer Press. The double sized pane gives a great opportunity for some metal mangling action, and it doesn't disappoint. You can’t get much more of a representative view of the Iron Kingdoms than a heavy warjack fighting a bionic pig man over a crashed steam engine.
On the inner screen is the real meat of the product, with useful tables and charts for reference in game. While I haven’t road tested the screen, it contains everything I would need to reference quickly during a game. It also includes page references for sections if you want to look at the full rules, which is really handy. The text is a reasonable size, and laid out well, making it easy to read. Use of bold text and inverted text colour for headings means that you can quickly find what you are looking for.
Onto the extras. These vary from company to company, some offering an adventure, others a small booklet of GM related material that didn't make the cut into the core book. In this case there are couple of gaming aids to help run your game.
To start us off, there is a pad of 25 full colour character sheets, like the ones found in the core book. Next, there is a pad of 25 full colour encounter sheets, again like the ones found in the core book. There are also 10 laminated Character health trackers and 10 laminated initiative trackers.
For me, while gorgeous quality, I'm unlikely to ever use the character or encounter sheets. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but I tend to find character sheets get used and abused in a way that doesn’t warrant using better than a black and white printout. Also, the paper is slightly gloss, and I'd imagine writing in pencil may be more difficult, leading to problems when changes needed to be made. It would also make the encounter sheets only usable once. That being said, there is nothing wrong with them, just a matter of personal preference.
The laminated health and initiative trackers though, I will be making use of. The health tracker gives the player an easy way to track life or damage (in the case of a warjack) and their current Feat Points, without having to keep rubbing out a section of the character sheet. The Initiative Tracker card, not only gives the GM a place to record individual initiative scores, but also a character's stats and current Armour and Defense, so they don't need to refer back to the player as often. While not vital to running a game, it certainly makes tracking things much easier.
Finally, perhaps the more difficult aspect is the product’s value for money. At $27.99 rrp, it is actually more expensive than Urban Adventures, and is likely to see less use. Looking at previous GMs screens I’ve bought, it is certainly much better than the screens I have for the FFG 40K RPGs, and just as good as my Eclipse Phase screen. For me, the additional items don’t quite have as much worth as the adventures/GMs books that the other screens provided, but I’m willing to let that go.
If you intend to run a game of Iron Kingdoms, you can’t go wrong by picking up the screen. The information it provides alone makes it a must have, saving time leafing through the rule book. Consider it an investment if nothing else.
 |
| Iron Kingdoms Games Masters Tool Kit Contents |
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Iron Kingdoms: Urban Adventure Review
I'm a bit slow on this one, as the book was released just before Christmas, however the for-mentioned holiday delayed me giving the book a good read. That has now been rectified, so on with the review.
No Quarter Presents: Iron Kingdoms Urban Adventure is the first source book in the Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy Roleplaying Game and aims to claim the title of the longest source book title ever released. Weighing in at 94 pages, it won't win any prizes for the largest book in the world, but in full colour it certainly wins on quality.
Urban Adventure is providing rules and information for both GMs and players who want more information on adventuring in an urban environment.
First up are 6 new careers, one for each of the non human races that serve to help bolster there character options. Some, like the Seeker and Labour Korune are very much linked to their racial fluff but I'm sure Pugilist could be adapted for a human. They look good, and combined with the existing careers will lead to some interesting characters. Certainly it will help mesh some of the races into an Urban Campaign
8 pages of new equipment follow, from weaponry to new alchemical potions. Nothing outstanding, but some useful additions.
Perhaps one of the more interesting sections, is a section on Urban Combat. This section introduces some new combat techniques that any character can use to make combat encounters more interesting and varied. They all need a reasonable skill prerequisite (usually 2 in the relevant skill) and the expenditure of a feat point to attempt. For those that are familiar with the wargame, think power attacks! I look forward to seeing more options in future source books.
Next we get 6 pages devoted to labour jacks, including new chassis and upgrades to existing ones. Describing the types of jacks you would see working in an urban environment, they are also solid starts for adventuring companies to adapt into combat jacks.
The largest section of the book, clocking it at 20 pages, is an concise outline of the city of Five Fingers. As stated in the contents, this material is not new but instead has been taking from a previous Iron Kingdoms product. Even owning the original book, I don't feel cheated as the concise guide is well done and gives a nice outline and chance at game ideas without the need to wade through an entire book. For those that want to run a game set in Five Fingers, I would strongly advise picking up Five Fingers: Port of Deceit if you can. If you don't, then the section is full of flavour, and I'm sure you'll find something to inspire you.
The Urban Encounters section provides 4 encounters that can easily be adapted and fitted into an existing campaign. These can serve as jumping in points, or simply a break from your over arcing plot. I'm certainly looking at using a couple for my next game.
For those attracted by the dark side, the Sevants of Thamar section gives you a wealth of information for both playing, and running characters who worship Thamar. Included is a new career (Thamar Advocate), as well as specific abilites and spells to the career. As well as more about being a Thamar worshipper, we get information on Necromancy, and new rules on creating your own Thralls. This section is excellent for GMs wishing to either strongly feature Thamar worshippers, or Undead. The career is usable as a PC career, but it may be difficult to make best use of all there abilities in an average adventuring party. Still, always fun for someone.
In an interesting combination of fluff and crunch, there are 2 pages on criminal adventuring companies PCs can be part of. As well as providing bonuses for characters who meet their pre-requisites, these make interesting foils for more law-abiding adventuring groups. Usefully, there is also a table giving you an idea of the severity of crimes in each country. Not surprisingly, wracking features strongly in the Menoth list of punishments.
Finally is a detailed adventure for characters with 10 - 15xp. This is a 3 act adventure, and would do well as a one-shot, or working into a longer running campaign. While it would be difficult to move out of the Five Fingers setting, there are suggestions of how to get groups involved. As well as NPC stats, there are decent maps and combat tactics. The maps are also available online as a high quality PDF that can be printed out and put together to provide the full size map for each encounter. The adventure itself looks solid, with a nice mixture of combat and investigation.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this product. While not as in-depth as some source books, it certainly wins on quality over quantity. While GMs will obviously get the most out of this book, players in a campaign set in Five Fingers will find this invaluable as a source of setting information.
I look forward to more Iron Kingdoms books, as well as the Games Masters Toolkit.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Privateer Press TempleCon Announcements
This weekend was the first of the big gaming conventions of the year, TempleCon in the US, and Privateer Press are using it to make some big announcements.
This time last year we had the announcement of Colossals/Gargantuans and Level 7, and this year the big announcements were equally as awesome. 
The big announcement has to be the introduction of a new Warmachine faction, the Convergence of Cyriss.
Cyriss, or The Maiden of Gears, is the newest of the Gods of Immorean, who has slowly been gaining followers since her discovery. First featured in the Witchfire Trilogy adventure, back in the early days of the Iron Kingdoms, they represent humanities wish to up lift themselves through technology.
The exact fluff details on why the Convergence is fighting will be uncovered when the Forces book is released, but some idea of how they will play has been revealed.
The force is made up of uplifted humans (human souls put into machines) as well as advanced clockwork machines. So far we have only seen pictures of a few of the models, but the aesthetic can be described as steampunk art deco.
Convergence Warcasters are much like their more fleshy counterparts, except they all have a Field Marshal ability that will give models in their battlegroup such as Arc Node and Shield Guard. As they are mechanical, they can also be repaired using Repair and Bodge actions, which is handy because one of the light Vectors has repair!
The warjacks, called Vectors, have a number of unique rules that will make them stand out from the other factions. Instead of having their own MAT and RAT, they will instead inherit the stats from their Warcaster. Depending on how this works, this could have some interesting implications for play. They also have an Induction Coil, that will allow them to pass on 1 focus to another Vector when they spend it. This means that Vectors are going to be very focus efficient, and I’d imagine Convergence forces are going to be Vector heavy.
Released at Lock and Load, Privateer Press’ Convention held 31st May – 2nd June, we can expect a full Forces of book, as well as a starter Battlebox. While exact details are still thin on the ground, the Q&A after the keynote said that the line will feature a high percentage of plastic models, but Warcasters, Solos and at least one Vector will be in metal.
At release, and long term, expect to see a Convergence Battle Engine and Colossal, although it doesn’t sound like any cavalry will be coming any time soon.
The Convergence of Cyriss promises to be an interesting faction to play against, suiting those who like a Heath Robinson style of play. I’m not totally sold on the miniatures, however I’ll be picking up the Forces book for the juicy fluff.
As well as a new Faction, Privateer Press announced a brand new game, also set in the Warmachine/Hordes universe. High Command is a deck building game, that will allow you to take control of your faction like never before, and fight across the length of Immorean.
Coming out towards the end of the year, with the Warmachine set before the Hordes set, you’ll be able to take control of one of the 4 core factions and build up a force to take and hold key objectives.
At this moment, not much else is know about the game, especially game mechanics. However, with high quality art work, and being non-collectable appeals greatly to me!
This year promises to be a great year for fans of the Iron Kingdoms. As well as the above announcements, there is the new fiction line coming, as well as Gargantuans for Hordes, and another Warmachine book later in the year which will feature more Warcasters.
If you are interested in the full videos, I’ve included them below.
Convergence Of Cyriss
High Command
Monday, 22 October 2012
Iron Kingdoms RPG Review
It's been a while since I've had a new RPG to review since I've started becoming a lot more selective with my gaming purchases. That, and many of the lines I was buying have slowed down considerably! However, this one is well worth singing its praises.
I don't think it would shock anyone to say I'm a huge Iron Kingdoms fan. I bought the 2 of the original Warmachine battle boxes, despite not having anyone to play against at the time. With the exception of the Force Books for armies I don't play, I have all the rule books from Mk1 Prime. I even bought 2 of the original Hordes Battle Boxes when I still didn't have anyone to play against. (forever the optimist!)
The Iron Kingdoms though, didn't start off in the miniatures game. It originally existed as part of a adventure trilogy for 3rd Edition D&D published under the OGL. The Witchfire Trilogy was so popular that eventually a small RPG line was published alongside the emerging miniatures game. WHile the setting was good, unfortunatley the use of OGL D20 caused some issues meshing gameplay to player's expectations, especially once they saw what the equivilent unit in the miniatures game could do. While I did run the Witchfire Trilogy (its an awesome campaign BTW. Key moment in Iron Kingdoms history, great set peices and classic NPCs) the D20 rules held us back, and Gun Mages and anyone wanting to craft stuff was seriously disadvantaged.
When Privateer Press started work on Mark 2 Warmachine, they put a hold on the entire RPG line, promising to re-visit it with a new system once Mark 2 was up and running.
Roll on a couple of years, and we now have one of the best looking RPG books around.
With production values on par with the Warmachine/Hordes rule books (and light years beyond the original Iron Kingdoms Character Guide), the new Iron Kingdoms RPG is a full colour hardback book, weighing in at 340 pages.
Kicking off the book is an excellent section on the history of Western Immoren. Covering prehistory, all the way up to the "modern" day, this is a great introduction to the world. Much of this history has been covered in various of the miniature books, but it is well written and worth having in one place. Following swiftly afterwards is a section looking at aspects of Western Immoren as it stands, including magic, religion and Mechanika. These two sections total over 100 pages and gives even those completely new to the setting everything they need to know.
Character creation gives you the chance to get into the crunchy parts of the book. Building from a stat line that will look familiar to anyone who's played the miniature game, each character gets to pick a race, archetype and 2 careers to form the backbone of the character. The races feature all the options available in the original RPG, and cover just those living in Western Immoren, later books will open up options to play Skorne and some of the more exotic races. The careers are much like you would expect with classes key to the setting such as the Alchemist, Gunmage and Warcaster represented along with more generic, but equally important careers such as soldier and spy. With each character picking 2, it leads to much more variation and gives much more opportunities for creating interesting characters.
Each career seems balanced, with even the lowly Spy being able to bring something to the table when up against Warcasters and Gunmages.
The conflict resolution system is very similar to the miniatures game, with the combat and magic systems being a pretty straightforward port. While I don't find that a problem, some people may find the overly tactical combat system, which works better with miniatures, to be a problem. Certainly it would not take much to shift to a miniature-less combat, and there is a section in the back that covers this, but otherwise they expect models on the table.
One of the biggest flaws in the D20 version was always the crafting. In the setting, magical items are rare, with most "magical" items actually being Mechanika, a blend or magic and technology. However D20 could never handle this, and so you ended up with much of the fun classes (Alchemist and Arcane Mechanic) being hobbled and unable to be truly awesome. Thankfully the new book presents crafting in a manner that really fits with the setting, and allows crafting classes to be really useful.
My only real gripe is there is not enough in the book. Its a poor gripe, but a valid one, as there is so much crammed in, that some sections are much shorter than I'd have liked. The antagonists section feels especially small, but this is being supported via the No Quarter magazine (and excellent publication for Iron Kingdoms fans) and online. Given the scope of the setting, there is plenty of material and I look forward to an updated Monsternomicon.
Overall, the Iron Kingdoms RPG is an excellent successor to the D20 variant, and continues the tradition of excellent products that started all those years ago with the Witchfire Trilogy.
I don't think it would shock anyone to say I'm a huge Iron Kingdoms fan. I bought the 2 of the original Warmachine battle boxes, despite not having anyone to play against at the time. With the exception of the Force Books for armies I don't play, I have all the rule books from Mk1 Prime. I even bought 2 of the original Hordes Battle Boxes when I still didn't have anyone to play against. (forever the optimist!)
The Iron Kingdoms though, didn't start off in the miniatures game. It originally existed as part of a adventure trilogy for 3rd Edition D&D published under the OGL. The Witchfire Trilogy was so popular that eventually a small RPG line was published alongside the emerging miniatures game. WHile the setting was good, unfortunatley the use of OGL D20 caused some issues meshing gameplay to player's expectations, especially once they saw what the equivilent unit in the miniatures game could do. While I did run the Witchfire Trilogy (its an awesome campaign BTW. Key moment in Iron Kingdoms history, great set peices and classic NPCs) the D20 rules held us back, and Gun Mages and anyone wanting to craft stuff was seriously disadvantaged.
When Privateer Press started work on Mark 2 Warmachine, they put a hold on the entire RPG line, promising to re-visit it with a new system once Mark 2 was up and running.
Roll on a couple of years, and we now have one of the best looking RPG books around.
With production values on par with the Warmachine/Hordes rule books (and light years beyond the original Iron Kingdoms Character Guide), the new Iron Kingdoms RPG is a full colour hardback book, weighing in at 340 pages. Kicking off the book is an excellent section on the history of Western Immoren. Covering prehistory, all the way up to the "modern" day, this is a great introduction to the world. Much of this history has been covered in various of the miniature books, but it is well written and worth having in one place. Following swiftly afterwards is a section looking at aspects of Western Immoren as it stands, including magic, religion and Mechanika. These two sections total over 100 pages and gives even those completely new to the setting everything they need to know.
Character creation gives you the chance to get into the crunchy parts of the book. Building from a stat line that will look familiar to anyone who's played the miniature game, each character gets to pick a race, archetype and 2 careers to form the backbone of the character. The races feature all the options available in the original RPG, and cover just those living in Western Immoren, later books will open up options to play Skorne and some of the more exotic races. The careers are much like you would expect with classes key to the setting such as the Alchemist, Gunmage and Warcaster represented along with more generic, but equally important careers such as soldier and spy. With each character picking 2, it leads to much more variation and gives much more opportunities for creating interesting characters.
Each career seems balanced, with even the lowly Spy being able to bring something to the table when up against Warcasters and Gunmages.
The conflict resolution system is very similar to the miniatures game, with the combat and magic systems being a pretty straightforward port. While I don't find that a problem, some people may find the overly tactical combat system, which works better with miniatures, to be a problem. Certainly it would not take much to shift to a miniature-less combat, and there is a section in the back that covers this, but otherwise they expect models on the table.
One of the biggest flaws in the D20 version was always the crafting. In the setting, magical items are rare, with most "magical" items actually being Mechanika, a blend or magic and technology. However D20 could never handle this, and so you ended up with much of the fun classes (Alchemist and Arcane Mechanic) being hobbled and unable to be truly awesome. Thankfully the new book presents crafting in a manner that really fits with the setting, and allows crafting classes to be really useful.
My only real gripe is there is not enough in the book. Its a poor gripe, but a valid one, as there is so much crammed in, that some sections are much shorter than I'd have liked. The antagonists section feels especially small, but this is being supported via the No Quarter magazine (and excellent publication for Iron Kingdoms fans) and online. Given the scope of the setting, there is plenty of material and I look forward to an updated Monsternomicon.
Overall, the Iron Kingdoms RPG is an excellent successor to the D20 variant, and continues the tradition of excellent products that started all those years ago with the Witchfire Trilogy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)