A Steam-Powered Tale of Tragedy and Triumph

[Gospog]

So, like many other people, I'd been waiting for the Iron Kingdoms Character Guide (IKCG) for a very long time, espescially since starting my own Iron Kingdoms campaign last October.

Last month, I got my hands on the book, VERY excited to see all the inspiring new ideas and to revel in all the time and work it would save me.

I was severely dissapointed. The information in this book is not what I need. Several pages are given to the calendar and ther phases of the moon. Several, several pages list all of the different types of human my players can play. Generous amounts of room describe the political situation in the world, which is great, but battles between armies is not the focus of the RPG (they have a cool-looking minis game for that).

Also, I had avoided buying the Witchfire Trilogy, because by the time I saw all three actually availible (at GenCon), my players were 5th level or more.
Well, the IKCG makes it very clear that I need all three modules in addition to Lock & Load and the Monsternomicon (which I have) to really use all of the IKCG. I could, of course, just make up my own world facts in lieu of purchasing the modules (assuming I could find them). But how much work am I saving by buying this book? Why did I give these people $40?

To say that I was looking forward to this book would have been an understatement. After reading it, my little geek heart was broken.

Then I found DragonMech. I saw it on the shelf and thought "why not". Why not, indeed!

Dragonmech is awesome!!! THe world makes sense, the ideas are exciting, and this one book is enough to play forever! (of course it promises fututre supplements, and that is great as well)

I'm not a game designer, so I really can't tell you what DragonMech does better than the IKCG. In fact, I hope people pick up DragonMech without reading the IKCG. It's not fair to compare them.

The basic classes in Dragonmech don't break much new ground, but they definately evoke the setting. The prestige classes are just plain cool.

The spells are really interesting, and make me want to play a spellcaster.

My time to write this is running out. I just wanted to post and share my tale of steam-powered anticipation, anguish and rebirth.

The IKCG might still be good for you, but if you like steam, if you love "the giant robots", go check out DragonMech. I'm planning my campaign right now.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

Actually, what it seems you've been longing for wasn't the IKCG. Think of that as the players handbook for the Iron Kingdoms, lots of intersting information on character classes and how they run in the Iron Kingdoms, but not a ton of fluff, just enough to spark the imagination and get things churning in the players heads.

What you've been longing for is the Iron Kingdoms World Guide, which is due out (hopefully) around the end of this year. November ~ December range has been bounced around.

Originally the book was supposed to be around 250 pages long and cover all the information as far as class changes and world information in one book. But by the time the folks at Privateer Press were done, it had grown into an 800 page tome and they had to split it into a characters guide, and a world guide, each 400 pages.

My thought, and this is pure speculation on my part, is that they looked at the ravening roleplaying fans screaming for more Iron Kingdoms, and figured that the character guide would help us fans that have eagerly been gobbelying up their products to get started playing. We can utilize the fluff from the three modules, the primer, and the character guide to get going while we wait for the definitive information in the world guide.

Whatever the reason, you've got a book comning down the pipe that sounds like it is what you thought you were buying witht the character guide. I've personally checked out the Dragonmech stuff and put it back on the shelf because it didn't send me. To magic rich and looked to "Realms" as far a magic is concerned. But YMMV.

I've been looking for a system that looked at magic differently, that took the idea of worship within the campaign and skewed it and made it deeper than ability boosts. this, to me, was what the IKCG was. The character guide won't tell you the current political climate of a small town in northern Khador, but it gives you enough to start playing there and maintain the feeling of the Iron Kingdoms that we got from the Primer and the Witchfire trilogy.

-Ashrum

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Gospog, am I understanding your post correctly? I believe I have boiled it down to your essential points:
---

IKCG has stuff on Calendars and Political climate - I don't like fluff

You can't compare IKCG with Dragonmech

Dragonmech roolz, It has cool spells and PrC's

---
Personally, I love the extensive detail the IKCG gives for the setting, including the dozens of pages on the small pantheon etc... Finally a book that doesn't try to cram every page with new rules or character options. This kind of detail really fires my imagination and fosters creative PC/NPC backgrounds & motivations.

Although you'll definitely WANT The Monsternomicon you don't need the older IK books. Sure, the IKCG refers to elements from it's other books. Why not? It doesn't make them necessary though.

Since you have both books, why not give your opinion on the comnpatibility of material from both books ( ie, using IKCG material in a Dragonmech Campaign , or vice/versa ) ?

 

[Desdichado]

YMMV, and obviously does. The Iron Kingdoms book is by far my favorite purchase of the year. As soon as I finish the bloody thing (freaking huge; but I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel) I'll be posting an extensive review.

 

[Gospog]

Thanks for the feedback.

I have the Monsternomicon, and I love it.

I have a lot of other gripes with the IKCG, but I didn't want to have this post contstrued as a post just bashing the book. It has it's good points.

Mostly, I just wanted to let anyone else dissapointed with the book know that DragonMech might be a viable alternative.

As for combining elements of both, that is something I have already begun.

Thanks again.

 

[Gundark]

Well I can understand some of your concerns, it would have been nice to have some more world info. I am curious to hear what some of your gripes are about the IKCG.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

I'd also be interested in what your "gripes" as you call them are.

I love the book and have a lot of great ideas perculating in my head to run, but sometimes it takes another persons perspective to show us the cliff edge we're racing torwards. Perhaps what you consider faults I don't, but perhaps you've seens something I missed.

-Ashrum

Edit: Heh! Five years lurking and posting and I finally hit 200 posts. Yeah me!

 

[Pandion]

Well OK here's a gripe with the IKCG, the typos. After all the time that was spent preparing the book it shouldn't have as many typos as it does.

I also don't like the numerous references to products no longer being printed or not yet in print. Every time I read a "Refer to Lock & Load" or "As mentioned in the IKWG" I thought of WotC and their marketing technique.

Other than these two things I really liked the IKCG. Now if they could just dumb down the Mechanika rules...

 

[Gundark]

Well OK here's a gripe with the IKCG, the typos. After all the time that was spent preparing the book it shouldn't have as many typos as it does.

I also don't like the numerous references to products no longer being printed or not yet in print. Every time I read a "Refer to Lock & Load" or "As mentioned in the IKWG" I thought of WotC and their marketing technique.

Other than these two things I really liked the IKCG. Now if they could just dumb down the Mechanika rules...

Yeah the typos are pretty beastly, I too thought that after years of waiting the book would be in tip top shape. The IKWG goes along with the IKCG so I will be getting this book too. The one gripe I may have if they don't stick a colour map in the IKWG, then that'll suck cause the only one will be in Lock and Load which like you said is hard to get. There hav been lots of gripes on the privateer press forums about the mechanika rules, I admit they were a bit tough to chew. I think this was due to how they were presented rather than the actual rules of mechanika. BTW Gospog we're still waiting.

 

[Desdichado]

I thought the typos weren't much worse than any other product of similar scope and size is; WotC has similar levels of typos, in my experience.