D&D 5E Iron Kingdoms 5e
- Thread starter Rogerd1
- Start date
LuisCarlos17f
Legend
I am awaiting to be published the Spanish translation in the end of this year. But if I am sincere really I would rather to create a mash-version mixing things from different settings.
TwiceBorn2
Adventurer
I have never played or owned any Iron Kingdoms content, but am intrigued by the setting.
Here are two completely opposite takes on the 5e version:
Here are two completely opposite takes on the 5e version:
Dimitri Mazieres
Explorer
(Disclosure: I'm a Warmachine player and Iron Kingdoms overall enthusiast. I've participated in both of the IKRPG Kickstarter campaigns so far, and will probably pledge in the upcoming one).
I still haven't played with it but, from what I've read, I like it. The Essence system (basically an alternative to Tasha's optional abilities' bonus system) is quite interesting. It allows you to choose an "essence" (Intelectual, Agile, Mighty, Gifted or Pious) that determines your ability bonus and bonus proficiencies instead of those provided by your race (as well as giving access to a set of restricted feats), thus avoiding that your pick of race doesn't match you choice of class.
There are other interesting mechanical bits, like commanding warjacks and using steam-powered armor. Also new classes (the warcaster class seems quite powerful), subclasses and backgrounds. And, of course, lots of setting information to advance the lore to the current in-game timeline.
The books are well laid out (they did a round of backer-reviewed feedback that catched quite a few errors) and the art, while mostly re used from the miniature games, is awesome.
If you like the setting, you can't go wrong with this one, at least the pdf. It is true that there were issues with some of the hardbacks' bindings. Privateer Press used a type of binding that allows for the books to stay opened flat on the table, and quite a few backers had to have their books replaced because of loose or detached pages. I was lucky enough to not being among those.
I still haven't played with it but, from what I've read, I like it. The Essence system (basically an alternative to Tasha's optional abilities' bonus system) is quite interesting. It allows you to choose an "essence" (Intelectual, Agile, Mighty, Gifted or Pious) that determines your ability bonus and bonus proficiencies instead of those provided by your race (as well as giving access to a set of restricted feats), thus avoiding that your pick of race doesn't match you choice of class.
There are other interesting mechanical bits, like commanding warjacks and using steam-powered armor. Also new classes (the warcaster class seems quite powerful), subclasses and backgrounds. And, of course, lots of setting information to advance the lore to the current in-game timeline.
The books are well laid out (they did a round of backer-reviewed feedback that catched quite a few errors) and the art, while mostly re used from the miniature games, is awesome.
If you like the setting, you can't go wrong with this one, at least the pdf. It is true that there were issues with some of the hardbacks' bindings. Privateer Press used a type of binding that allows for the books to stay opened flat on the table, and quite a few backers had to have their books replaced because of loose or detached pages. I was lucky enough to not being among those.
Dimitri Mazieres
Explorer
Here is a follow up to that video where the author is a bit less angry after receiving replacements for his faulty books. He still isn't convinved by the game, though. But I think that he had some misplaced preconceptions about the game, such as thinking that it was a self contained game, as opposed as a setting book with additional rules
RuinousPowers
Hero
I prefer the lore from 3e, but it looks like the book covers most things. There was a monster or two I would have liked to see in the new Monsternomicon, but there will probably be another one coming.
humble minion
Legend
I've got my copy of the first Kickstarter material (Requiem, Monsternomicon, and the new Witchfire adventure) and I've read through the backer pdf of the second Kickstarter material (Borderlands and Beyond)
I haven't playtested any of it, and I'm not too familiar with the old 3e game material, though I do have a reasonable level of setting knowledge. The original 3e line kinda built a RPG setting from scratch which later inspired a tabletop miniatures game. The 5e material is going the other way, taking the tabletop game setting as its base and building an RPG on top of that lore.
Requiem covers the Warmachine tabletop game material, while Borderlands and Beyond is more concerned with the Hordes material.
The background and setting is covered in a pretty comprehensive manner without getting too deep into the weeds and minutae. Playable as is with no real need to hunt up extra background (which can be legendarily difficult considering how Privateer scatters their lore across dozens of supplements and (often-unfinished) fiction pieces which never get second print runs). The RPG line is set after the recent big upheaval in the setting, the return of the Infernals, and a significant proportion of the population jumping through a art deco clockpunk stargate to go into space in order to kick off a rather meh and uninspiring sci-fi miniatures game. However, more recent PP material from the miniatures game has talked about the return of the Orgoth and their new invasion of Khador etc. This stuff is not yet in the RPG, and has rendered a bunch of the first setting book 'canonically' obsolete, for whatever that's worth to you.
There are some significant lore gaps due to the way that the world has been divided into ~9 monthly book releases, and this is occasionally annoying. All throughout Requiem, for instance, we're told how something mysterious and terrible is happening in the elven land of Ios, but we are never told what it is despite Iosian elves being a playable race in Requiem. The Borderlands and Beyond release (still not commerically available) covers what's going on, but it's distinctly odd to have it divided between books like this. Similarly, there's big holes in the coverage of the Legion of Everblight, Skorne is basically not mentioned at all, there's very little coverage of Cyriss except in the history, and there's no playable gatormen despite the area they live sitting in between a whole bunch of regions/races who are covered. I expect this stuff to be detailed in later books, but it leaves big gaps in the line as is (although some is slowly being released as for-pay pdf-only enhancements). Still, you have the basics of the core Iron Kingdoms/Warmachine firmly covered, even if they've only scraped the surface of Hordes. They have announced an upcoming kickstarter focused on Cryx, which'll probably go live once the Borderlands and Beyond hardcopies escape from shipping hell (they've said they always want to have the previous kickstarter delivered before starting the next one).
As I said, I haven't tested the game mechanics, so can't comment on them too much (especially the more complex and iconic classes like Warcasters and Warlocks, the warjack customisation rules, or the heavy emphasis on guns). As others have said, there's an optional system for racial ability score bonuses that attempts to break the shackle between race and optimal class. There are some obvious balance issues - ogrun are waaaay overpowered as melee combatants due to their ability to wield a 2-handed weapon in a single hand. Other people have noted a major class-breaking exploit with Warlocks, but i'm not sure if that's been fixed in the final product after feedback. Some of the subclasses etc are interesting, some are clearly placeholders (invented in a spirit of 'we need a fighter subclass for this book, quick, think something up!' rather than 'oh yeah, [archetype X] is something we really need to cover due to its importance to the setting'). It falls a bit prey to the classic 3pp issue of inventing new core classes when they're probably not strictly necessary - gunslinger could easily be a fighter subclass, for instance. Overall, I suspect that mechanically, player options from this book would probably trend a bit (not overwhelmingly) more powerful, and probably somewhat less well playtested. If you're GMing, I'd be prepared to veto or house rule, especially if you allow non-core 5e material too. There are notes about how 'conventional' D&D classes etc fit in the setting - sometimes the answer is 'not well' but it's your game.
I haven't playtested any of it, and I'm not too familiar with the old 3e game material, though I do have a reasonable level of setting knowledge. The original 3e line kinda built a RPG setting from scratch which later inspired a tabletop miniatures game. The 5e material is going the other way, taking the tabletop game setting as its base and building an RPG on top of that lore.
Requiem covers the Warmachine tabletop game material, while Borderlands and Beyond is more concerned with the Hordes material.
The background and setting is covered in a pretty comprehensive manner without getting too deep into the weeds and minutae. Playable as is with no real need to hunt up extra background (which can be legendarily difficult considering how Privateer scatters their lore across dozens of supplements and (often-unfinished) fiction pieces which never get second print runs). The RPG line is set after the recent big upheaval in the setting, the return of the Infernals, and a significant proportion of the population jumping through a art deco clockpunk stargate to go into space in order to kick off a rather meh and uninspiring sci-fi miniatures game. However, more recent PP material from the miniatures game has talked about the return of the Orgoth and their new invasion of Khador etc. This stuff is not yet in the RPG, and has rendered a bunch of the first setting book 'canonically' obsolete, for whatever that's worth to you.
There are some significant lore gaps due to the way that the world has been divided into ~9 monthly book releases, and this is occasionally annoying. All throughout Requiem, for instance, we're told how something mysterious and terrible is happening in the elven land of Ios, but we are never told what it is despite Iosian elves being a playable race in Requiem. The Borderlands and Beyond release (still not commerically available) covers what's going on, but it's distinctly odd to have it divided between books like this. Similarly, there's big holes in the coverage of the Legion of Everblight, Skorne is basically not mentioned at all, there's very little coverage of Cyriss except in the history, and there's no playable gatormen despite the area they live sitting in between a whole bunch of regions/races who are covered. I expect this stuff to be detailed in later books, but it leaves big gaps in the line as is (although some is slowly being released as for-pay pdf-only enhancements). Still, you have the basics of the core Iron Kingdoms/Warmachine firmly covered, even if they've only scraped the surface of Hordes. They have announced an upcoming kickstarter focused on Cryx, which'll probably go live once the Borderlands and Beyond hardcopies escape from shipping hell (they've said they always want to have the previous kickstarter delivered before starting the next one).
As I said, I haven't tested the game mechanics, so can't comment on them too much (especially the more complex and iconic classes like Warcasters and Warlocks, the warjack customisation rules, or the heavy emphasis on guns). As others have said, there's an optional system for racial ability score bonuses that attempts to break the shackle between race and optimal class. There are some obvious balance issues - ogrun are waaaay overpowered as melee combatants due to their ability to wield a 2-handed weapon in a single hand. Other people have noted a major class-breaking exploit with Warlocks, but i'm not sure if that's been fixed in the final product after feedback. Some of the subclasses etc are interesting, some are clearly placeholders (invented in a spirit of 'we need a fighter subclass for this book, quick, think something up!' rather than 'oh yeah, [archetype X] is something we really need to cover due to its importance to the setting'). It falls a bit prey to the classic 3pp issue of inventing new core classes when they're probably not strictly necessary - gunslinger could easily be a fighter subclass, for instance. Overall, I suspect that mechanically, player options from this book would probably trend a bit (not overwhelmingly) more powerful, and probably somewhat less well playtested. If you're GMing, I'd be prepared to veto or house rule, especially if you allow non-core 5e material too. There are notes about how 'conventional' D&D classes etc fit in the setting - sometimes the answer is 'not well' but it's your game.
I think it would be a perfect as a 40k Steampunk / Artificer type setting in my mind with the power levels turned down a notch to suite DnD 5e. At this that is how I am doing it. Importing Changeling, and Shifters from Eberron would make the setting nearly perfect, we even have Battle Chaplains, and Inqisitors too.
Overall, I like the 5e version., although I am curious how it stacks up to the original non-5e version. Anyone know about this last bit
humble minion
Legend
I'm not sure about how comparable the two are.
There was so much stuff added to the setting in the minis game material between the initial 3e release of the Witchfire modules etc, and the current day, that they're almost different settings. 3e Iron Kingdoms was D&D with guns and steampunk, and the line reflects that. In 5e, the standout features of IK are warcasters and warjacks and the like, aspects of the setting drawn primarily from the miniatures game which were not at the core of the original modules.
RuinousPowers
Hero
Yeah, firearms went from being prohibitively expensive, to extremely commonplace between 3e and their house system, for example.
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