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<blockquote data-quote="Teflon Billy" data-source="post: 2011593" data-attributes="member: 264"><p>The thing is, I was less than enthused about receiving <strong>Dragonmech</strong> for review. I like <strong>Joseph Goodman</strong>’s (Goodman Games) work as much as anyone, but we had seen attempts made at Mecha for D20.</p><p></p><p><em>Doom Stiders</em> (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. <em>D20 Mecha</em> (Guardians of Order) was a nice, complete system (and penned by the reigning king of “technology in RPGs”, <strong>David Pulver</strong>) 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,<strong>GURPS Vehicles</strong>, had for GURPS).</p><p></p><p>So then <strong>Dragonmech</strong> arrives and, I’ll tell you right now, succeeds admirably where others had failed to catch and hold my attention.</p><p></p><p><strong>Dragonmech</strong> 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 <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />)</p><p></p><p>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) “<em>…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 <strong>Dragonmech</strong>. 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…”</em>.</p><p></p><p>And it’s true. The mecha tend more toward descriptors like “lumbering” and “monolithic” rather than “sleek” or “feline”.</p><p></p><p>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…</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The Clockwork Ranger</strong>: The ranger class re-tuned to the massive “jungles” of clockwork machinery that allow the City-Sized mecha to operate.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Mech Jockey</strong>: necessary for the setting and aptly done. No more or less than you would expect.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Staker</strong>: a variant rogue adept at infiltrating—and disabling—the giant Mecha of the setting.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Steamborg</strong>: 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.<br /> <br /> And….<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Coglayer</strong>: The most innovative and interesting class I’ve seen in awhile. The Coglayer is the class that brings the supplement’s <em>Steam Powers</em> rules into play.</li> </ul><p></p><p>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 <em>repeating crossbow</em>, and adding the Steam Power <em>Automater</em> (which allows a normal device to perform a simple task of up to three steps), <em>Targeter</em> (which allows a weapon to aim itself), a <em>Discriminator</em> (which allows a weapon to tell friend from foe) and<em>Voice Command</em> (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.</p><p></p><p>Reading the list of Steam Powers sets the mind awhirl with such ideas.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>That is: perfect for the setting.</p><p></p><p>I was very impressed with <strong>Dragonmech</strong> and intend to play it as soon as I can drum up players. </p><p></p><p>I doubt it will take long.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Teflon Billy, post: 2011593, member: 264"] The thing is, I was less than enthused about receiving [b]Dragonmech[/b] for review. I like [b]Joseph Goodman[/b]’s (Goodman Games) work as much as anyone, but we had seen attempts made at Mecha for D20. [i]Doom Stiders[/i] (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. [i]D20 Mecha[/i] (Guardians of Order) was a nice, complete system (and penned by the reigning king of “technology in RPGs”, [b]David Pulver[/b]) 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,[b]GURPS Vehicles[/b], had for GURPS). So then [b]Dragonmech[/b] arrives and, I’ll tell you right now, succeeds admirably where others had failed to catch and hold my attention. [b]Dragonmech[/b] 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) “[i]…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 [b]Dragonmech[/b]. 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…”[/i]. 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… [list][*][b]The Clockwork Ranger[/b]: The ranger class re-tuned to the massive “jungles” of clockwork machinery that allow the City-Sized mecha to operate. [*][b]Mech Jockey[/b]: necessary for the setting and aptly done. No more or less than you would expect. [*][b]Staker[/b]: a variant rogue adept at infiltrating—and disabling—the giant Mecha of the setting. [*][b]Steamborg[/b]: 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…. [*][b]Coglayer[/b]: The most innovative and interesting class I’ve seen in awhile. The Coglayer is the class that brings the supplement’s [i]Steam Powers[/i] rules into play. [/list] 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 [i]repeating crossbow[/i], and adding the Steam Power [i]Automater[/i] (which allows a normal device to perform a simple task of up to three steps), [i]Targeter[/i] (which allows a weapon to aim itself), a [i]Discriminator[/i] (which allows a weapon to tell friend from foe) and[i]Voice Command[/i] (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 [b]Dragonmech[/b] and intend to play it as soon as I can drum up players. I doubt it will take long. [/QUOTE]
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