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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Krug" data-source="post: 2009833" data-attributes="member: 2141">This is not a playtest review.There are PDFs that don't bother with design and illustrations at all, and there are those that use it badly, and now there's this; first thing you notice when you open up the PDF is how well-illustrated this book is. Done by Christopher Shy of Studio Ronin, who have handled many other RPG products, this sets a new standard for PDFs. There's more than a dozen atmospheric pieces, which might kill off your inkjet, but thankfully Reed has included a printer-friendly B&W version that dispenses with the illustrations.Construct Mechanus introduces a race of mechanical creatures, Mechanus, that are playable as PCs. They  have a +4 to Fortitude saves and a +1/odd level after, though why exactly isn't explained. They do not eat or sleep, have 120' darkvision, and a level adjustment of +4. I would have prefered a lower level adjustment or none at all. Mechanus also have a big achilles heel; they start to malfunction when exposed to water. The Mechanus are divided into two sub-races; Stilt and Abominus. Stilts are build using 30 points, allowing them to choose from a range of bodies, appendages and special features. Abominus are just hulks of metal designed to destroy, and have a +8 to Strength, compensated by a -2 to Dex and a -4 to Charisma.Two classes are introduced for the Mechanus: The Tanker, a fighter type, and the Mystic Defender, which can cast arcane spells. The latters seems too powerful for my taste. It has a whole slew of bonus feats every odd level, spell resistance and Cleric style BAB progression, and the ability to deal double damage to all those 1/4 the defenders HD. Ugly.A bunch of Feats are included to further personalize your Mechanus, including such things as Augmented Strength (+2 to Strength !!?!) and a Mounted Cannon. Finally there's a section on firearms, which introduces new firearms for inclusion in your game.There's quite a few editing errors; the Tanker class has a listing for his Fort saves, while the Mystic Defender doesn't. Is the former cumulative with the Tanker's Fort save adjustments? (Which I feel is an unnecessary complication) Other minor editing errors crop up, but nothing major.The main complaint is that it's too short. There's undoubtedly a lot of material more to be covered, and the book feels incomplete. We're promised a Construct Mechanus II which includes a detailed Mechanus community. I feel the product would have been stronger with this inclusion, and sample mechanus characters as well. Most of all, I feel that the powers of the Mechanus have been toned down to make it on an equal or near equal footing as compared to other races. It's hard to give a strict rating; I like the product for it's ideas but think it would need some major tweaking to fit into my campaign. The illustrations are fabulous and the price is paltry. I'm kind of skeptical about how balanced the Mechanus race is, particularly the Mystic Defender, but I do think there's lots of good ideas here.</blockquote>

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