[E.N.Pub] Mechamancy!

[HellHound]

[imager]http://www.rpgnow.com/products/product_5161.jpg[/imager]
Mechamancy



Things Change

Mechamancy turns magic from its ancient role as a mysterious power into a modern tool. Mechamancers - mages who combine spellcasting with the principles of clockwork technology - are bringing magic to the common man, creating conveniences that will march the world toward a future where magic and science are one. Though they have many opponents who want to defend the old ways, the mechamancers have powerful weapons at their disposal, and the fantastic revolution seems inevitable.

Inside you will find the history of mechamancy, and the tools that will help you shape its future. Included are:

• The Machinist and Technician prestige classes, those who command and create items of mechamancy.
• 15 mechamancy spells, including grand calculation and summon machine.
• 25 mechamancy items, including Skinner armor and the White-Barker Enhanced Light Cannon.
• Detailed rules for designing and creating your own tools, weapons, armor, vehicles, and creatures with mechamancy.

Things change.
Your power will decide where that change will lead.

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E.N. Toolbook - Mechamancy is now on sale in non-watermarked, non DRM PDF format at DriveThruRPG, and will be available shortly in PDF -AND- Print editions at RPGnow!

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

This looks REALLY nice!

Wanna trade?

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Sounds like something that'll fit perfectly into my fantasy homebrew game. Looking forward to having it!

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Oooh... Shiny mechanical goodness....

The Auld Grump, tick tock, tick tock, tick....

 

[TheAuldGrump]

How compatible is this with the wonderful Steam & Steel?

The Auld Grump

 

[RangerWickett]

It's more like a prequel. Mechamancy is 'clockpunk,' as opposed to 'steampunk,' but a lot of the non-rules advice from Steam & Steel can still apply to the mechanical revolution as opposed to the steam revolution. Thing is, Steam & Steel already covered a lot of ground, so we didn't go so much into the world-building effects of technology.

Also the design team was completely different, and I'm a bit picky as an editor, so I guided Robert Sullivan (Grumpy Celt, the author) toward a slightly less realistic ruleset (e.g., I asked him to take out some rules on machine maintenance and remove a skill that was necessary to operate some machines).

Robert was much more familiar with S&S than I was. I tried to simplify some things that were from S&S, like the malfunction table and maintenance checks. I hope I didn't make him make too many changes that it disappoints S&S fans.

It's probably best to think of Mechamancy as another take on the combination of magic and technology, rather than as a sequel or prequel to Steam & Steel. There are similarities, and if I could start over from the beginning, I would have kept a copy of S&S open to make sure we stayed consistent whenever it would work. But where Steam & Steel has the feel of "powerful industry and the strength of science" with lots of sample devices, Mechamancy appeals more to tinkerers, since you get to make your own devices with ease.

Also, it's fun to have an item with a Craft check DC in the low hundreds.

Just so you know, I'm currently collaborating with another author on a third possible way of looking at magic interacting with technology (in this case, they're opposed, and you have to purify mechanical devices, removing latent magic to make them work). I like all three books, but they serve different purposes.

Of course, I encourage people to give us a review of the book. I'm sure the author would be very interested to hear how his work is being received.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, that actually makes me less interested in it.

I will likely still get it, but the systems in S&S see use in very nearly every game I run in either the Iron Kingdoms or my OGL Steampunk setting. I would rather have seen an effort toward compatibility.

The Auld Grump

 

[Ranger REG]

And here I thought it was about mecha. D'oh!