Dragonmech

The thing is, I was less than enthused about receiving Dragonmech for review. I like Joseph Goodman’s (Goodman Games) work as much as anyone, but we had seen attempts made at Mecha for D20.

Doom Stiders (Bastion) had some interesting ideas powering it, but the mechanical execution was sloppy enough that it never got played in this neck of the woods. D20 Mecha (Guardians of Order) was a nice, complete system (and penned by the reigning king of “technology in RPGs”, David Pulver) but, though it’s cover art featured classic Mechs, and the robust system was capable of modeling them, it was at its heart not a Mech game at all so much as a generic Vehicle Creation supplement for D20 (filling much the same role as David Pulver’s earlier effort,GURPS Vehicles, had for GURPS).

So then Dragonmech arrives and, I’ll tell you right now, succeeds admirably where others had failed to catch and hold my attention.

Dragonmech succeeds in my eyes because it is a near perfect melding of creative elements and mechanical inventiveness (I rue the day that “Fluff” and “Crunch” became passé terms )

I’ll break with my own tradition and begin this time with “the Crunch” The new mechanics Goodman presents are interesting and useful beyond my expectations. The Mecha rules presented are nice and solid. They can afford to be, since they do not attempt to overreach themselves and become all things to all people. The Mecha rules presented are tuned fairly specifically to the setting, and (I will quote the author here) “…are modeled on medieval European imagery, crafted in an era where mass manufacture is unknown, and constructed with antique machinery, hand-tooled parts and massive amounts of hard physical labor. The advanced mecha of Japanese anime have no bearing on Dragonmech. Instead, consider the Gutenberg press, hand-made muskets with custom-fitted bullets, and DaVinci’s flying machines. That is the historical legacy in which the Dragonmechs are steeped…”.

And it’s true. The mecha tend more toward descriptors like “lumbering” and “monolithic” rather than “sleek” or “feline”.

The new character classes presented are as attuned to the setting as he mechs themselves and include such interesting takes on the base classes as…

• The Clockwork Ranger: The ranger class re-tuned to the massive “jungles” of clockwork machinery that allow the City-Sized mecha to operate.
  
• Mech Jockey: necessary for the setting and aptly done. No more or less than you would expect.
  
• Staker: a variant rogue adept at infiltrating—and disabling—the giant Mecha of the setting.
  
• Steamborg: a very novel “Cyborg”-type character class. This is a class rather than a race because the character is always “tinkering” with himself (sounds dirty) and improving his steam-driven form as he advances in levels.
  
  And….
  
• Coglayer: The most innovative and interesting class I’ve seen in awhile. The Coglayer is the class that brings the supplement’s Steam Powers rules into play.

Steam Powers are a fantastic mechanic. After reading the section I can’t wait to try them out, and that doesn’t happen too much anymore! To put it simply, the Coglayer can use his “Steam Powers” (which are a number of effects which increase with level) to create steam powered devices for his use. Eg. Taking a normal repeating crossbow, and adding the Steam Power Automater (which allows a normal device to perform a simple task of up to three steps), Targeter (which allows a weapon to aim itself), a Discriminator (which allows a weapon to tell friend from foe) andVoice Command (which allows a device to be operate by voice, rather than manual controls) and you have a nice shoulder-mounted, voice operated weapon that will attack the owners enemies on command.

Reading the list of Steam Powers sets the mind awhirl with such ideas.

As for the the setting, the author has turned in a very bleak, very grim post-apocalyptic world replete with magic, dragons, underground kingdoms, all of the stock D&D races, and…Mecha! Mecha that are integral to the survival of the world as the PC’s know it.

But the very addition of the Mecha to this post-Apocalyptic world has changed the very social structures of the world, so it is in turmoil as much from the vast changes in the society (from a magical/religious power base to technological one). The author describes these changes in painstaking detail.

The art is magnificent. Though it is black and white, the choices made by the artist (Niklas Janssen) are good ones. My artist-wife tells me that the works are done either in charcoals, ink-wash or “gouache” (whatever the hell that is), but the results are intense...Dark, brooding and vaguely medieval looking.

That is: perfect for the setting.

I was very impressed with Dragonmech and intend to play it as soon as I can drum up players.

I doubt it will take long.

This hardcover core rulebook introduces not just a new world but the first comprehensive d20 treatment of fantasy mechs. Built on the foundation of a traditional fantasy campaign, DragonMech is easy to integrate into any ongoing game, or it can be used on its own. It features extensive rules for fantasy mechs powered by machinery, magic, and manual labor, fully integrated with a host of new classes, feats, skills, and items specially designed for a mech-based fantasy campaign.

DragonMech

DragonMech is a campaign setting for d20 system fantasy, prominently featuring giant robot-like constructs. The book is written by Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games. In an unusual move, the book is published by White Wolf under their Sword & Sorcery banner.

A First Look

DragonMech is a 240 page hardcover book priced at $34.99 US.

All art in the book is attributed to Niklass Jansen. The cover is color and depicts some mechs engaging in hand-to-hand combat, with bizarre creatures in the backdrop.

The interior is black and white. The interior illustrations all have a somewhat smudgy looking black and gray inkbrush style.

A Deeper Look

DragonMech takes an approach to setting design not unusual for d20 fantasy settings: they take the basic D&D races and classes and adjust and add to them as needed to fit the setting.

The idea behind DragonMech is that the moon of the DragonMech world drew close to its parent, and rained destruction down upon it, in the form of both damaging particles that came down in a "lunar rain" as well as monstrous alien creatures that ravaged the surface (in particular, lunar dragons). The surface dwelling races fled to the "underdeep" inhabited by the dwarves at the time.

One dwarf pioneered the creation of mechs which allowed a return to the surface world, providing both protection from the lunar rain and a means to combat the alien creatures which ravaged the surface. Some mechs that were built were the size of cities.

The worst of this disaster has passed, but the mechs remain and not all threats are abated by the time that the campign begins. The campaign is thus set in a period of recovery and rediscovery of the surface world. The rains are still there, but not so bad. The lunar dragons (and other strange creatures) are out there, but the races of the world have mechs now.

Character races are essentially unchanged from d20 fantasy/D&D, though there is about a third of a page devoted to each describing how they fit in the setting. Classes are a different story. Some classes have few tweaks, and new variants and whole new classes are provided:

-Clockwork ranger: A very odd tweak, the clockwork ranger is adapted to the unusual wilderness that exists inside some city-mechs, the gear forests (unoccupied machinery spaces that have acquired wildlife of its own.)
-Coglayer: This is DragonMech's principle "tinkerer" class. Class abilities include "steam powers." Essentially, the coglayer can only maintain so much steamtech gear at one time. See below for details on the steam powers system.
-Constructor (variant wizard): The constructor is essentially a specialist wizard with access to a new school of spells introduced in the book related to constructs. Like divination specialists, they must surrender access to one school.
-Mech Jockey: The model mech-piloting class in the game. Many characters can pilot mechs, but the class abilities of the mech jockey are essential in getting the best performance out of a mech, overcoming many weaknesses inherent to a mech.
-Stalker (variant rogue): The stalker is a rogue specialized in infiltrating and/or destroying mechs. They vary from a standard rogue primarily in that their class skill list is slightly different, and their special abilities gained after 10th level relate to defeating mechs.
-Steamborg: A second steam tech class, steamborgs replace part of their body with steamtech. They gain some steam powers as coglayers do (but slower) as well as enhancements to their personal abilities as they replace parts.

There are also a variety of prestige classes that fill specialized roles or mix class abilities.

The major new class mechanic is steam powers. Characters with steamtech classes progress slowly as they gain levels; this represents the amount of steamtech items a character can maintain. A character gains individual powers but each device may include multiple powers. Powers can be stacked to gain greater potency, or new functions.

Overall, I found the steamtech rules more manageable than those in FFG's Sorcery & Steam, but still wonder how it would work out in play in comparison to core classes. They don't seem overtly weaker than existing classes, but given they only gain powers linearly, and have to invest powers either to add new powers or enhance old, it seems like they are force to choose between depth and breadth in their abilities.

The heart of the book is the mech rules themselves, which can support mechs so big that they are called "cities."

Basic mech characteristics are primarily determined by two factors: size and power source.

Power source is of one of five types: steam powered, man-powered (i.e., using many slaves to move the mech), clockwork, animated, and undead (the latter two resembling many existing D&D construct types). The power source used has a strong influence on the capabilities of the mech. However, even given these effects, the man-powered mech stretches my suspension of disbelief. I just have a hard time picturing an array of slaves manipulating levers and pulleys powering an effective mech.

Mechs begin and large size on the standard d20 creature scale. However, they blow the top off of the scale. DragonMech extends the scale beyond colossal. Like Dragonstar, it adds roman numerals to represent larger sized mechas (Colossal II throught Colossal V). But the scale does not stop there. Six further categories are labeled City Mech A through F.)

To repeat for those who missed it: there are 10 size categories beyond colossal. How big some of these are is mind-boggling. A city mech F can have over 800 hit dice! Mechs receive ability scores, spped, and HD according to type and size. Mech constructors can add armor and other traits, and severel sample mechs are provided.

Much of what makes the dragonmech campaign world has gone before – the moon, it's effects, and the creation of mechs. The setting chapter describes the DragonMech world in further detail. Another major feature of the DragonMech world is a large seasonal variance in water levels, which the author purports would result in no ports, more amphibious life, and frequent changes in landforms. It also gives the major detailed continent it's name: Highpoint, describing the continent high relative elevation, which gives it an advantage over other continents assailed by the sea.

The setting chapter discusses regions and settlements of Highpoint in detail. Not all major cities are city mechs, but many former major cities lie in ruins. The city mechs, in particular, are located in flatlands near the dwarven lands in which they were first forged.

The creatures chapter in significant, weighing in at 25 pages. Most of the creatures fall into two categories: steamtech constructs and lunar creatures (like lunar dragons).

A campaigning chapter discusses various ways to apply the material in the book. This chapter is strong compared to similar such chapters in other books in that it strongly focuses on the themes introduced in the book, and provides strong ways to play up those themes and utilize the setting. A minor bit of the chapter is concerned with adapting the books material to other settings, and appealing idea simply because the book looks ready made for such use.

A final chapter introduces a detailed city mech that can be used as the basis for a campaign.

Conclusions

I took in DragonMech with a mixture of bewilderment and awe. Some of the concepts are mind boggling, but appealing. I feel this book could have sold its feel better with a stronger artist of a wider variety of artists that could have perhaps better captured and conveyed some of the feel of the setting that I only saw glimpses of it the muddy looking artwork in this book.

The mechanics are overall an improvement over some other Steamtech materials I have seen. The classes are overall well done, though I do have questions about how the steam powers system would pan out in actual play.

Overall Grade: B

-Alan D. Kohler

What the CR for a city sized mech?

Aaron

As always. a good review, Psion.

I'm in the opposite camp as far as the artwork goes, though: I couldn't imagine a better choice for the artist, and I love that Goodman went with one artist for the whole book. It gives DragonMech a very cohesive vision, and I think the style perfectly complements the setting: evocative without being too detailed.

....

....

When I first heard about Joseph Goodman’s DragonMech, I was more than intrigued. I was excited. I saw the cover, saw some ads in the usual RPG magazines and really wanted to know more. I wasn’t sure what to think, but one thing was certain: I was convinced that this was a product that was going to be one more ‘steam and fantasy’ product, being another in the increasing line of products like Iron Kingdoms, Eberron, OGL Steampunk, etc. As I read through it, I realized that I had stumbled on to something entirely different.

DragonMech is certainly unlike these other products. For the most part, other products in this growing genre focus on steam and sorcery powering the mechs, ‘jacks, etc. In DragonMech, the technology is certainly based on steam and sorcery but some are actually suits with a single or multiple ‘jockeys’ inside controlling the mech while others are colossal, housing not just a team but some even can house an entire city’s population! It certainly reminds readers of Battletech, Robotech and other tactical games. To be fair, though, Goodman makes it abundantly clear that the intention is not at all to draw a similarity to Battletech and Robotech. Goodman claims that rather than the sleek Anime style, these should remind the player of large Gutenberg presses, clunky furnaces and the black soot of the Industrial Revolution.

I was hooked.

The mechs themselves are certainly the focal point of the book. There are ample rules for styles of mechs, powers for the mechs and different ways they operate. For instance, there are some are powered by clockwork technology while others are powered by steam and magic, while others are horrible necromantic creations, fused from the dead. Furthermore, the rules are excellent for simulating full-scale battles. Imagine, if you will, a huge field of battle, comprised of titans the size of Redwood trees, firing blasts of flame and electricity, then engaging in hand-to-hand combat with massive chains, axes and buzz-saws. As if that were not inspiring enough, imagine further that off in the distance a massive structure, large than the fighting mechs. Then you discover that this larger structure is a mech that houses an entire city and roams the land, stamping out enemies.

Yes, an entire city living in a mech.

To say that I was overwhelmed is an understatement. I went over the book several times, critically examining the rules and the backdrop and still have yet to fully get my mind around it. I believe that the words ‘mind boggling’ are certainly appropriate in this sense. Whereas this is certainly impressive, it may take time for players and GMs to adjust and finally conceptualize this kind of campaign.

To be fair, Goodman makes it very clear that there are numerous styles of campaigns that can be run. The possibility of the characters controlling the mechs from inside is an obvious one. But there are just as many campaign ideas that revolve around the characters engaging in traditional adventures such as dungeon crawling, fantasy combat and engaging terrible menaces such as orcs and trolls. Therefore, if the idea of having wizards and rogues inside a giant, walking tank turns you off, don’t worry; there are plenty of other things to do with the setting. But the mechs are certainly there, tempting players and GMs alike . . .

The world of DragonMech is set in the world of Highpoint. Reminding me somewhat of Malhavoc Press’ When the Sky Falls, this world is in the rebuilding stage of a post-apocalyptic nightmare. The history tells us that there were meteors from the moon that began falling as a result from the ‘lunar dragons’ fighting amongst themselves or some, as of yet, unknown enemy. The huge chunks of rock that bombarded the earth destroyed all the traditional cities, forcing the population to go underground and seek solace. As a result of the broken moon, the tides changed, causing severe weather patterns as well as radical changes in sea levels. Large parts of the land were swallowed by the ocean and the major portions of the land not under sea levels is where most of the action takes place (and why the area is called ‘Highpoint’).

Dwarven technology saved the day, creating (or unearthing) the technology to build these massive constructs. At the start of the campaign the lunar rains have slowed considerably. Humanity is now taking a cautious yet hopeful approach to starting to repopulate. However, they are not about to completely abandon their cavernous homes or their mobile mech-cities.

What I liked:

There is a lot that DragonMech has to offer. Often I hear gamers’ desires for something new or some unique kind of setting. In the past few years there has been a floodgate of unique and unusual settings to chose from: Xcrawl, Arcana Unearthed, Midnight, Iron Kingdoms, and Eberron. However, none of them compare with DragonMech in terms of uniqueness. This is certainly the cure for any group desperately looking for something truly different.

The rules for the mechs as well as the mech combat are spot on. I won’t lie that I was concerned at first. I wondered how on earth such massive combats could be replicated and how these huge mechs could be put together without ‘breaking’ the rules or, at the very least, stretching them to their sane limits. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. What I saw really impressed me as everything had reasonable costs associated with the construction and maintenances of the mechs (coal, gold, energy, etc.) The various mechs seem logical (I mean, for a fantasy game) and they are impressive the way in which they operate. Furthermore, for those interested in major battles with several mechs against several mechs, Goodman promised us a subsequent book on the subject, specifically dealing with large scale combat.

Further, I loved the various campaign ideas. For 232 pages, I was impressed at how much got crammed in. Not only are there rules for new classes (which are a great additions for this kind of world), but new prestige classes, reasonable feats and even a few spells and monsters. But the campaign ideas were the best. The book is written in a way where 20 different GMs could read the book and likely come away with 20 different ideas on how to put together a campaign. Obviously, I was not immune, either, as campaign ideas bounced around in my own mind as I read and took notes . . .

Finally, I really enjoyed the art. Whereas I would have enjoyed more pictures that looked like sketched out schematics, penned from the Dwarven engineers, the interior artwork from Niklas Janssen is great and has this dark and smudgy look to it, bringing to mind the bleak themes and somewhat eerie outlook on life that the inhabitants of Highpoint share.

What I did not like:

Honestly, the campaign setting did not overly thrill me. I realize this may seem somewhat contradictory to my above statement about how much I loved some of the campaign ideas, but there is a distinction. Whereas I did like the post apocalyptic theme, the world was so complicated, especially when one considers that the players and GM are already being asked to conceptualize some of the other issues like mechs and steam technology. No disrespect to Goodman, but the campaign world seemed like it was created as a vehicle (pardon the pun) for the mechs. The campaign world seemed like an afterthought and even seemed contrived as if it were just created after the fact. Certainly, it is workable and it is logical with the various bandits, rogue nations and powerful strong men who rose to the top of a nation of weak willed individuals. It just did not capture as me as much as other campaign settings have. The saving grace is that the campaign world is not absolutely necessary for the DragonMech world to work so GMs are free to adopt the mech rules and some of the concepts, putting together their own world or better yet, slowly and logically introduce the mechs into an existing campaign. Of course the majority of this is, of course, personal tastes.

Another problem I had was the organization of the book. Truthfully, I had a difficult time actually understanding what was going on at times. The real explanation of the mechs and the rise of this technology were really not explained until much later in the book. The beginning of the book would have been a much better place to house this information. In fact, I can’t imagine how helpful it would have been if Goodman had given a detailed and thorough explanation of what it was I was about to read. It would have saved me a lot of confusion and second-guessing. There is certainly the possibility that I am thick as a plank and just somehow missed something but I don’t think so. I remember deciding to skip certain parts once I got clueless, flipped to other parts of the book to read what exactly a city-mech was (and if it was exactly what I thought it was).

These two problems I had with it should in no way dissuade anyone from getting this book. This is such a monumentally unique book that I would encourage anyone interested in something new or interesting to give this a serious look. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the material on the mechs is so revolutionary that GMs and players alike can certainly mine a plethora of resources from this product.

I give DragonMech 3.5 out of 5.

Dragonmech is the latest campaign setting from Goodman Games. Weighing in at 240 black and white pages for $34.99 with art by Niklas Janssen and writing by Joseph Goodman, the book is laid out by Rick Achberger with maps by Robert Lazzaretti. For art, if you like the cover, you’ll love the interior as it’s the same style. The writing is crips and easy on the eyes. Layout varies from three to two columns depending on what’s on the page, but flows and leads the reader on.

Interior covers aren’t used. The book has four pages of ads at the end. First page covers credits, while the next two cover the table of contents. It’s a very detailed listing and in tandem with the index, makes navigating the book a snap. The interior art is fantastic. Between each chapter is a full page illustration and large illustrations help capture the feel and mood of the setting. Despite the talent behind the art, much like the Black Company and the Iron Kingdoms sourcebook, the art is sometimes a little too dark and details that might be visible in color are obscured and rendered gray.

When reading the book, the side and tops look like the cover side and tops but in grayscale with a row of gears at the top of the page. Page numbers are located at the top outer edge with the chapter number next to it.

This book serves two purposes. First, it brings fantasy mecha to the d20 system. This isn’t the first book to do this. Doom Striders from Bastion Press and Mecha d20 from Guardians of Order, with a support book by Dream Pod 9, the Mecha Compendium, already cover that ground. The second thing though, is it brings a fantasy setting, Highpoint, to the game with a reason to have mechs.

Unlike some mecha in other campaigns, the mecha here are unique constructs. They are the result of workmanship unlike that found today or in common anime/manga conventions. These are not lithe and limber creatures capable of martial arts and quick movement, but rather, lumbering buildings whose ability to strike another target is often dependent upon that target being another behemoth.

Mechs go through a variety of stages in their design. This includes game stats like hit dice, speed, armor class, and other stats, to unique factors like power sources, steam, man, clockwork, animated, and undead. Most types have good and bad sides to them. For example, animated mecha require little in terms of maintenance, but are extremely vulnerable to dispel magic attacks. Each type has statistics for size ranging from the smallest, which is size large, to city-mech F.

In making mechs, it’s bets to actually work through the formula a few times and look over the many predesigned versions to see if any of them fit your needs. Most mechs should actually be those that are already designed as most starting players won’t have adequate reason to craft their own mecha. The good news is that details are included that range from labor and material cost, to what the skill DC is to successfully create them.

A number of additions can be made to mechs. Most often, this is armor and weapons. For armor, we have everything from flesh, to steel and for weapons, a whole armory.

Joseph includes a nice selection of details to help the GM run mechs. This includes combat between mechs and rules for boarding and getting the crew, to rules for mechs moving beyond their normal speed and hoping they don’t trip on anything.

For lazy people, we have twenty two mechs already designed. These mechs include faction information, size, power, and price. One thing I can tell that the author took into account is that if the game is going to use mechs, pricing them beyond a kingdom’s expense isn’t a good idea. Some of the smaller ones like the barbagula, a humanoid mech with an oversized lance, runs for a moderate 3,000 gold pieces while the steam powered Scorpion, a Colossal II sized mech, runs for 15,932 gold pieces.

Now in a world of mechs, base character assumptions undergo a little change. For example, instead of a ranger, we have a clockwork ranger who fights in the gear forests of his city mech. Instead of just an expert, we have a PC worthy class, the Coglayer. To take down these mechs, instead of sneaky rogues, we have Stalkers who locate weak points. To take advantage of the new fighting machine, we have mech jockeys. These new core classes help showcase the differences between a standard fantasy campaign and one that incorporates mecha and include background information for the campaign setting as well.

Take the cleric. Unlike a standard campaign, Highpoint is being crushed by the falling moon. This is a result of the lunar gods assault upon the gods of Highpoint and clerics suffer a bit in that they’re not as free to cast and select their spells, having to make a Wisdom check to see if they gain their spells.

Since we’re talking about classes, there are new prestige classes. In looking at one of the forms a PrC can take, this book goes for the customized class to fit a specialized niche. Included are the assimilated, mech jockeys who’ve bonded with their machines and dare devil robot fighters called mech devil whose requirements go into the dangerous realm of roleplaying or a PrC that’s showcases how magic might be used to circumvent the situation on the world, the Riftwalker, powerful mages who travel the planes to avoid the lunar rain.

The new skills focus on the new mechanics providing Craft, Mechcraft,Knowledge of Mechs, and Mech Pilot. Feats are similarly focused with new craft feats like Magic Mech, Powered Mech, and Steam Gear alongside combat feats like the dreaded and ill-named Mech Fu and Mech Weapon Proficiency. These abilities augment the pilot’s fighting abilities by providing ability with weapons or deflect melee attacks from your machine.

Even as the players have new options, the GM has new creatures. This includes the new type, the lunar creature. My favorite beast here is the lunar dragon, a creature who as a wyrmling rates a CR of 5 and as a grey wyrm comes in at a CR of 27. Now that’s a lot of power. Part of the setting, the Iron Shambler is a construct created through the use of animate gears but some are ‘feral’ or without masters and wander the land. Some of the creatures have risen in prominence due to the lunar rains like the Tortogs, humanoids that resemble the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. See, due to their shells, they can survive the casual rains and make excellent smugglers.

Highpoint itself, in this book, reads to me like a generic fantasy setting with a few unique elements that has been turned on it’s head to showcase how a fantasy setting can go from swords and sorcerer to steam powered machinery. To me, that’s not a problem. I enjoy Warcraft and Iron Kingdoms so seeing how a traditional fantasy setting moves into the ranks of steam and steel is a good thing.

Highpoint suffers from lunar rain. This caused all sorts of problems as few races could withstand the bombardment. The natural world is pretty much toasted and one of the campaign notes is that beauty in and of itself is appreciated. This reminds me a bit of the old Robotech cartoon where the main hero is enjoying a field of flowers, or the savage world of Fist of the North Star where growing your own food is considered a major achievement.

The dwarves, despite being underground, suffered during this time too. See, other races knew that the dwarves weren’t being pounded into oblivion so sought to get in. All in all, a very ugly time for people because not only was the moon falling on them, but the things from the moon were hitting the world including the lunar dragons, beasts of such size and power that standard dragons seemed like infants to them.

This required a new way of thinking, or more precisely, an old way of thinking brought back as an ancient dwarf brought for the tomes that would help his people create the city mechs, massive machines who could survive the lunar rains, which were not as common or as devastating, but more importantly, could defeat the lunar dragons.

So in this brave new world, the standard classes look for new roles to fill even as the author crafts new classes to take advantage of the circumstances. It’s a good mix allowing the GM to use the machines as much or as little as he wants. Is he going to use a standard party and have the machines be the backset, the city-mechs be the locations or is he going to have a party where most of the characters are adequate behind a pilots seat and run combat in steam powered machines?

Any way he handles it, the GM has a lot of options. There are numerous factions in the world and some of them are already up to their old tricks and adventure seeds are sown about for the GM to pick and choose. For example, Tannanliel is an elf city mech and is remarkable in the fact that it is the only city mech and is one powered by magic. The only thing that’s off thought is how exactly is it being powered? The crafter, Tannan, “is inextricable linked to the mech.” What happens if say, he went crazy?

The book includes some nice tools. Included is a two spread character sheet and a two page index. I enjoyed reading the designer’s notes as it gives you a peak behind the design decisions.

Dragonmech [PDF version]

INTRODUCTION
I had bought myself Dragonmech in Dec 05 from DriveThruRPG during Goodman Game's (GG) 30% Xmas Sale. This is a hefty 44.5 MB download but is worth every single byte. I'll explain why in my review below.

DISCLAIMER - I am not affiliated to GG in any way.

THE REVIEW PROPER
The well bookmarked Dragonmech PDF clocks in at a whopping 484 pages. That's slightly more than twice the size of the print version. What gives?

Well, the great guys at GG decided to place the original and easy-print version together into one giant PDF. This is a great concept but I felt that search times took a bit longer to stop - fortunately there are no duplicated search entries as the easy-print version does not present any entries. Some of the later PDF books from the Dragonmech series (probably at someone's request) are actually split into two PDF files.

The cover artwork depicts a war battle with two mechs slugging it out on a bed of metal and dead men. In the background of the artwork (near the top), there is a mech fighting off a giant worm.

Browsing the context-linked Contents Page, you will find that the rest of the book is divided into 8 chapters. Each chapter is divided by an artwork depicted as a photographic "plate" - the chapter artwork is only adequate since they only take up about half the page.

The main text is generally divided into 3 columns. Across the top of the page is a repeating set of artwork depicting gears of all sorts. A small corner shows the page/chapter number next to it. I didn't like the font used for the page numbers as it looked too thin and gothic.

There is also a repeating motif of single gears (there are several different types) appearing throughout the book and is blended with the good artwork depicting characters/mechs/equipment or the Dragonmech world on the landmass called Highpoint by its people.

I'll briefly run through the 8 chapters of the book below:

Introduction (4 pages) - This introduces the book proper and throws you into the ravaged world of Highpoint. And ravaged it truly is as huge lunar rocks rain from the sky flattening civilization everywhere. Accompanying the lunar rocks are the sinister lunar dragons who wander aimlessly hunting, killing, and devouring everything. This forces a mass exodus for the underworld and the poor dwarves are the first to stand in line against the refugees. Wars are fought as the dwarves bravely defend their underground cities and losses are great for all. Fortunately, an old mysterious dwarf introduces a vision of mechanized walkers powered by steam. This is where the "mech" of Dragonmech comes in. From there, the rest, as they say is history... you can't help but feel a hint of greater things to come within the book - I leave you to read the rest.

Characters (58 pages) - A treatise on adjusting the baseline D&D races and classes are given. New classes and prestige classes are also introduced. We have the clockwork ranger, coglayer, constructor, mech jockey, stalker, steamborg classes and the anklebiter, assimilated, gearwright, mech devil, riftwalker, steam mage, vessel of Dotrak prestige classes. The entire lot of classes is rather imaginative and well-thought out although I have not had the opportunity to play-test them yet. The chapter ends with skills, feats, spells, steam powers, and a re-envision of religion appropriate to a steam and mech-type campaign. One thing that really surprised me was the new Cleric Domain: Engines. Now, that's something you won't find everyday in most other d20 products.

Mechs (56 pages) - The stars of the show are depicted in this glorious chapter. From combat to construction rules and a Monster Manual-esque listing of mechs from the Barbagula to the Viper; you'll find enough here to whet your appetite (until you get your hands on the Mech Manual - another book from the Dragonmech series).

Equipment (22 pages) - The weapons, armor and mech-related magic items found in this chapter are variations of steam-mechanized versions of modern-day and ancient equipment. You will find "cannons", "electric saws", "guns", "flame throwers", "bombs", "flares", "ballistas". I found the Hydraulic Armor to be a very cool concept.

The World of Dragonmech (36 pages) - The continental mass of Highpoint seems to be an area of extremes but yet life has evolved through living with or within giant entities which we know as steam-mechanized mechs. All the races (including the hated orcs) are represented. There is a quick gazeteer of Highpoint accompanied with a map of the landmass. Nex, the mechdoms, equivalent to kingdoms without a well-defined boundary (since the cities mechs can trundle all over the surface of Highpoint) are described. They include The Stenian Confederacy, the Irontooth Clans, L'arile Nation, The Rust Riders, The Legion, and the Mech Tribes.

Creatures (26 pages) - What campaign wouldn't give you unique creatures to battle over? Well, this one doesn't as the book has managed to squeeze in sixteen entries. Some of these creatures are worthy of destroying mechs, so adventurers had best look out!

The Dragonmech Campaign (16 pages) - This chapter is basically DM advice on how to run adventures based on Mechs, the devastating Lunar Rain, and attempting to rebuild the surface world. It's quite useful and gives a DM many ideas on a direction to go in building an epic series of adventures for his gaming group.

City-Mech Nedderpik (5 pags) - Well, whadya know... they managed to squeeze in a city-mech called Nedderpik. And Nedderpik is no small thing, its touted as the second city-mech ever built. The self-contained goverment, society, economy, military and organizations on Nedderpik are briefly introduced and up to the DM to flesh out. Unfortunately, no maps of the City-Mech accompany it.

At the end of the book you will find a short Designer's Notes (quite an interesting read), a useful Index, the obligatory Legal Information and OGL License, plus a handy Character Record Sheet. This is followed by a four-page advert and then the easy-print version portion of the book. The easy-print version is identical to the main book except that there is no background texture - this will save on the ink if you decide to print the book.

HITS AND MISSES
Now that the breakdown of the book has been laid out. Let's head on to my opinions as to what are the hits and misses.

I find the Dragonmech campaign to be a creative one. Thinking out of the box must have been what the guys at GG were doing (well... actually just read the Designer's Notes). I always admire a game of creativity... For example, take a look at Spelljammer (or even Planescape), since these out-of-print games have a slight "technological" slant and a great sense of wonder... if that is what you are looking for in a game, I feel Dragonmech makes as a good investment - you can't help having the same feeling when reading through the book.

Also, the fact that PCs have to worry about the phenomena known as lunar rain, or to worry whether their mech can survive a red critical hit, or to wonder if the group of forestrati standing over there is considering having them for "lunch"; these are what I feel essentially bring a very unique angle to the traditional role-playing fantasy genre, as opposed to the traditional fantasy type worlds envisioned by say Greyhawk or even Faerun.

If you have ever run Battletech games before, then you will not overly feel like a stranger when playing in Dragonmech. There are some minor general similarities between these two games with regards to the mechs. Of course, with regards to magic, that is where the similarities end. In Battletech, the lasers and high tech weapons are the "magic" items. Running through a game of Dragonmech brings back that twinge of nostalgia from the yesteryear of tabletop battlemech wargaming. No other fantasy RPG evokes that sense in me.

The singular thing I dislike about the book is that there is only enough material to tide things over for a handful of months... that is until you get your hands on the rest of the add-on material promised by GG. If you are not getting the rest of the Dragonmech material being released, it is nice to know that (like any other book), Dragonmech does succeed in throwing in a large pile of tantalizing hooks that you as DM can expand on to further enrich your game.

VERDICT
This book alone drove me to buy the rest of the series from GG which includes:

Mech Manual - this whets my appetite on mechs and monsters.
The Shardsfall Quest - a cool introductory adventure.
Steam Warriors - a book laden with extra character options.
Second Age of Walkers - the world of Highpoint and mechdoms described in detail.
The Last City - a complete description of Edge, the last remaining intact city snuggled comfortably next to and inside a towering cliff that divides the land.

(I didn't buy the Dragonmech: Rumors & Lies support book from Ronin Arts - I thought it to be too costly and the sample preview showed there wasn't much material that I liked within.)

As you can see, I love and treasure my Dragonmech PDF book a lot... it is creative and is actually a mix of concepts from BattleTech (from FASA/Fanpro), When The Sky Falls (from Malhavoc) and Legends and Lairs: Sorcery and Steam (from FFG).

I heartily recommend this campaign if you like the idea of mixing fantasy with a large helping of "science"!