Privateer Press - Iron Kingdoms Character Guide AT THE PRINTERS! - See .pdf preview

[Desdichado]

A few comments, if I may:

• Eberron and Iron Kingdoms have very little in common from standpoint of setting elements. Eberron is taking high magic standard D&D to it's logical conclusion, Iron Kingdoms is introducing a little Industrial Revolution to a (slightly) lower magic D&D default. Neither is steampunk.
• I'm not currently playing any IK, so the delays haven't affected me too much. I'll still pick it up as soon as it's out, still read it through probably pretty fast, and still do what I always planned to do with it anyway -- steal elements for my homebrew.
• My interest in the Iron Kingdoms is as high as it's ever been. The Monsternomicon is still a good candidate for my favorite d20 book ever. Along with The Book of Fiends from Green Ronin and Call of Cthulhu from Wizards.

 

[Banshee16]

I think it may finally see the light of day. I think that this book was hit worse than most by 'the curse of steam'. (Sorcery & Steam - late. OGL Steampunk - late. Steam & Steel - late. Sorcery & Steam-Trains... last heard from in August of 2003... A mighty potent curse that.)

The Auld Grump

OGL Steampunk? What's that? I've got Sorcery & Steam, but never heard of the other one....

Banshee

 

[Banshee16]

A few comments, if I may:

• Eberron and Iron Kingdoms have very little in common from standpoint of setting elements. Eberron is taking high magic standard D&D to it's logical conclusion, Iron Kingdoms is introducing a little Industrial Revolution to a (slightly) lower magic D&D default. Neither is steampunk.
• I'm not currently playing any IK, so the delays haven't affected me too much. I'll still pick it up as soon as it's out, still read it through probably pretty fast, and still do what I always planned to do with it anyway -- steal elements for my homebrew.
• My interest in the Iron Kingdoms is as high as it's ever been. The Monsternomicon is still a good candidate for my favorite d20 book ever. Along with The Book of Fiends from Green Ronin and Call of Cthulhu from Wizards.

They've got black powder pistols, cannons, appear to have clockwork devices, and there are steamtrains....that sounds pretty Steampunk to me.

It's marketed as Heavy Metal Fantasy, but it seems pretty steampunkish to me...

If Iron Kingdoms ever gets zeppelins, that will be too cool

Banshee

 

[Carnifex]

They've got black powder pistols, cannons, appear to have clockwork devices, and there are steamtrains....that sounds pretty Steampunk to me.

It's marketed as Heavy Metal Fantasy, but it seems pretty steampunkish to me...

If Iron Kingdoms ever gets zeppelins, that will be too cool

Banshee

You've mentioned the steam aspects... where's the punk? Iron Kingdoms is steam tech, not steampunk.

And yes, it's the steam curse Steam & Steel has nearly overcome it now, Iron Kingdoms too - no idea about OGL Steampunk, but I haven't heard anything about Steam Trains & Sorcery for a while...

 

[TheAuldGrump]

OGL Steampunk? What's that? I've got Sorcery & Steam, but never heard of the other one....

Banshee

OGL Steampunk is one of the stand alone OGL games from Mongoose. There is some info here.

And it should in theory be out in July... (Originally planned for April an I recall correctly.)

I am afraid that I am doomed to buy this one...

The Auld Grump, giving some thought to a Space: 1889 game using OGL Steampunk...

 

[Banshee16]

You've mentioned the steam aspects... where's the punk? Iron Kingdoms is steam tech, not steampunk.

And yes, it's the steam curse Steam & Steel has nearly overcome it now, Iron Kingdoms too - no idea about OGL Steampunk, but I haven't heard anything about Steam Trains & Sorcery for a while...

Apparently I'm misusing the term then. What exactly does "punk" imply in Steampunk then?

I thought it was the whole edgy, Oliver-twist type attitude with accents, gritty, dark, sooty cities, etc.

Given that my perception appears to be wrong, what is punk *supposed* to imply?

Banshee

 

[robotron666]

If Iron Kingdoms ever gets zeppelins, that will be too cool

Banshee

You will *NEVER* see zeppelins in the Iron Kingdoms. Trust me, there is only one instance of that aberration and it will not be repeated.

 

[Desdichado]

They've got black powder pistols, cannons, appear to have clockwork devices, and there are steamtrains....that sounds pretty Steampunk to me.

Unless I'm woefully misinformed, that does not describe Eberron at all. Nor does it describe steampunk. Eberron is the opposite of -punk, it's another misused term -pulp. Punk is all about gritty urban dystopias, Eberron is all about high adventure and over-the-top action ala Raiders of the Lost Ark. Also, Eberron doesn't have any steam-like technology, which has been repeated ad nauseum here and other places. Why that particular fallacy continues to dog discussions of the setting is beyond me.

It's marketed as Heavy Metal Fantasy, but it seems pretty steampunkish to me...

That's because you apparently don't understand what steampunk is. Steampunk isn't just anything with steampowered engines of some sort, and Cockney accents, it's a specific vision of an urban dystopia centered on an Industrial Revolution type of setting. Iron Kingdoms really doesn't have that vibe at all and is therefore only superficially a little bit like steampunk, if even that.

If Iron Kingdoms ever gets zeppelins, that will be too cool

Zeppelins are always nice. They may already exist, though -- the Warmachine book does mention once or twice odd flying contraptions. I guess if the book actually does come out within the next month or two we'll all know, won't we?

 

[reutbing0]

There's a new pdf preview up at privateerpress.com : http://www.privateerpress.com/goodies/files/privateer_press_IKCG_preview_02.pdf

 

[barsoomcore]

If the book(s) is good, I will buy it but it not high on list like the new WoTC setting is.

See, "new" doesn't equal "better", to me. Since I'm not running an Iron Kingdoms game I haven't needed any of the details in this sourcebook, so there's been no frustration associated with the delay. I've worried about the health of Privateer Press, to be sure, but it sounds like they're doing just fine after all.

Eberron has much less sparkle for me. But then Privateer Press has a much better COOL to noise ratio than WotC.