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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Varianor Abroad" data-source="post: 2542494" data-attributes="member: 12425">Mechamancy: The Clockwork MagicReview by Bill CollinsMechamancy is a 56 page pdf from EN Publishing, written by Robert Sullivan. Art is by Marcio Fiorito, J.L. Jones, and Juan Navarro. I received a complimentary review copy.The book focuses on technology powered by magic. This is a topic I love, even if my players usually don’t. If you like clockworks, magick engyns and a series like The Empire of Unreason, then you’ll like this book. The retail price is $15.95 (a bit steep if it were true), currently on sale for $8.95 at DTRPG, which I think is quite reasonable for what you get.It is divided into Sections, rather than Chapters, which was a subtle touch. There is an extensive and prominent playtester list. It covers the subject matter in detail. These are all good things.Section 01 - IntroductionThis very short section includes a glossary of terms, a interesting and indeed necessary inclusion. I am going to speak about one thing mentioned here. Otherwise this is just what you would expect: an introduction.Mechamancy creates a new statistic called Construction that replaces Constitution for constructs, especially living machines. It reminds me of Tik-Tok from the Oz books, because machines with Construction wind down and need rewinding. This is a cool plot point, but it’s scattered through the text and needed more description and centralization. Construction is odd the rules make all sorts of references to it that aren’t then covered in Section 04 where it’s discussed. For example, it mentions intelligent machines being “asleep” at –1 hp when you cast Undo Device, yet this is not covered later and the rules appear to contradict it. That said, it’s a good idea since we’ve all run up against the bizarre case where monsters lacking Con scores still needing to do things relating to one’s Constitution, but instead substitute Charisma. (Huh? I still say that 5 years later.)Section 02 - For GameMasters A short discussion on introducing mechamancy to your game world. While I have seen few books define and then discuss morals as applied to magically powered machines, I found the exploration of it here quite useful. I’ve been pondering a Renaissance era d20 game for some time (having run a non-d20 one that ended five years ago), and this helped crystallize my own thoughts. The discussion of mechamancy and technology as evil was particularly interesting. It’s one of those fun thought exercises for a DM that would probably not come into actual play except in one of those legendary groups one reads about on the Internet where the outre is expected, if not mundane. The most useful part was the section dealing with adding it to a fantasy world. Unfortunately, the authors added a setting, Elstrice, a pseudo-Italian cognate, without giving it a map. Settings inserted in a book are useful to illustrate the author’s ideas. Even though I use few elements of them, I like reading them. The setting in this book is too short, though it’s decently done. It mainly focuses on House Verrocchio and Cardinal Ludd, two opposing forces. (The obvious reference to Luddites is too plain.) Details on these two factions appear in general terms, without some specifics such as gp resources and numbers of members to help save time for the DM who wants to insert this into their game. I really wanted to hear more about the magical catastrophe mentioned, but that too was glossed over. However, the description of Ludd himself and his philosophy is real and believable. I found myself intrigued by the possibilities of someone like that in a fantasy game. Another couple pages discussing more of the pseudo-Renaissance fantasy and the clockwork economy would have been gold. This section had intriguing examples of the distinctions between magic and mechamancy that left me wanting more.Section 03 – The Magic of MechamancyThis deals with feats, spells, guns, and other mechanics pertinent to character creation. A couple of the feats, like Living Machine Familiar, and Long-Term Effort, were neat ideas. All were functional and well-described, although I thought the Eidetic Memory feat was vague. It grants a +1 to +8 bonus (too high on the upper end!) to Int/Knowledge checks at DMs discretion. That sort of feat needs clearer guidelines, in my opinion, or players always argue for the +8. Even a short chart or table of examples would have been very helpful.The first Prestige Class, the Machinist,  I found very interesting. It is intended for clerics of the Divine Machine. They can turn living machines, heal damage to machines, and have technology-related abilities. They seem a tad overpowered compared to the core system with two good saves and nine levels of spellcasting over 10 total PrC levels with only a few prereqs. Given all they get, the loss of a second level of spellcasting advancement would be appropriate. However, this was a nicely flavorful, unique PrC for a cleric. Thumbs up!The next Prestige Class is the Technician, intended for non-divine casters. It too has a high spellcaster progression, giving nine +1 caster levels over 10 levels. They have higher entry requirements than the Machinist, but they probably get better use out of the feats and skills requisites along the way. This class is a machine-themed caster with mechamancy skills boosts. It’s heavily front-loaded. The most useful feat or ability they get after level 1 is Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Renaissance firearms), but the character will be level 10 by the time they get it, at which point spells overshadow a pistol. It’s got too many bonus feats and abilities for the tradeoff of losing one caster level from the progression. This class could have been compressed to a more tightly focused 5-level PrC.The Machine Guild is detailed and interesting. This is portable into any existing campaign. The writeup caused ideas to spark, which is always a good sign. I also like the author’s sidebars comparing the role of the Guild in the fantasy game to the Dutch East India Company to help determine a similar role in your fantasy game. The benefits for joining the guild are clear and decently balanced. I enjoyed the fact that you can get a small advantage without having to take a Prestige Class. I would have liked more discussion on what happens if a mechamancer fails to share a new discovery with the Guild, but that’s a bit of a nit to pick.Mechamancy spells are presented next. There are 13 (or 21) new spells here: Summon Machine I-IX and a set of other interesting options. I was disappointed to see that there were no bard spells. Except for Summon Machine, the cleric list was minimal. After providing us with the flavorful, divine Machinist, a little more support would be good. Though the new Machine domain provided is cool. (Though it grants Turn Living Machine, making it redundant with one of the Machinist abilities.) The sorceror and wizard get an excellent allotment of spells of course. The spells were all thematic (a big plus), and well written. Here are specific comments:All spells used the older convention for casting time of “one round” or “one action”. This should be specified more clearly, such as “1 full round” or “1 standard action”, as most companies do now.Alter Range: Many players will love this spell, since it doubles range increments, or reduces them for the other side. The spell does not specify if it can or can’t be cast a second time (and should state that) on the same targets. This is the sort of spell I don’t care for as a DM. It enables sniping by PCs and reduction of opponents’ weapon ranges, changing the tactics on the battlefield. With its Long range, the wizard can easily destroy enemy missile users and enhance the party archers, turning a fight into a long-range damage dealing exercise. The archer will of course crow with delight. If this had a Touch range, I’d be delighted with it because then it might spur a “sneak into the enemy camp” decision by PCs. Other groups will find this admirably suits their playstyle though. It’s balanced if you’re going to include it.Awaken Machine is a logical, cool concept. This is shades of Perdido Street Station with the Construct Council. The spell has an immediate flaw in it that it refers to the (living) subtype and doesn’t describe it right there or reference it anywhere else in the text. (It’s not defined in the pdf either.) This is going into my game.Clear Metal is a flavorful and interesting spell, remniscent of the old Glassteel. The one serious flaw is that it allows rogues to sneak attack constructs by making their innards visible. Just because you can see inside an iron golem doesn’t make it more vulnerable. Granted, the mechamantic machines or the living subtype constructs described could be vulnerable, but that’s really too good for a 1st level spell. If in fact the spell only worked on the living constructs of this volume, it would be perfect.Grand Calculation has excellent ideas that seem inconsistent. You gain a +20 to a single Knowledge: Mathematics check for one round. Who do you know of that can solve complex math problems in six seconds? (By complex I mean a multistep equation or formula, not just something like computing out the value of pi to x decimal places.) Had the author expanded the uses of Knowledge: mathematics in the skills chapter to show me how this is useful, I think my objection to it would vanish. I do like the second half of the spell which lets you ignore cover and the first three range increments for the next round. That’s very neat. There is a typo in the components line. It says “DF” when it should say AF or F. There is also no listed cost for the abacus or slide rule arcane focus, which needs a price. (It doesn’t appear in the Equipment Section either.)Magnetic Spell Bottle wowed me with both the description and the idea. The cost however seemed odd. For spell level * caster level * 20 to make the special bottle, you gain the benefit of Brew Potion or AE’s Craft Single-Use Item to create single-use spells for a fraction of the typical spell level * caster level * 50 cost. Granted, damage spells are centered on the bottle and go off in a random direction if they’re a ray or line, but you can easily get around that by making tiny flying automata to drop this on enemies. Technically this should be an abjuration and not an evocation spell since it creates a magical barrier imprisoning another spell. Many casters will like the utility of this spell.Magnetize is a very clever 0-level spell. It’s nice to see folks coming up with balanced, creative cantrips.Sabotage is a decent spell to target machines and objects only. I personally think this could be lower level by one, making it 4th level, but others will disagree.Summon Machine is pretty neat. I like the 9th level version in particular, which lets you summon a vehicle instead of a creature. (Vehicles Undo Device is a fun spell. Non-rogues will beg wizards for this. I assume a golem is not a device, but after reading the spell I do think it could have used a little clarification on what constituted the spell’s target. Does it include magical machines? Mechamancy? If the target line read “One non-magical…” I think that would entirely clear it up. The components line should read “V, S, F/DF”. It also appears to contradict the later rules, since it defines a construct at –1 hp as “asleep”, yet in Section 04 it advises that devices brought to 0 hit points can’t be repaired.The Divine Engine religion gets a decent, if too-short treatment. This is another one of the enjoyable ideas in this book – that a machine can become a god. This would have been a good place for some art – illustrating the holy symbol of the religion. There is a short analysis of other “domain” deities view on mechamancy, a helpful piece indeed.Section 04 – Creating Fantastic DevicesRight off the bat the fact that a sidebar addressed Prosthetics was really cool. The rules are also simple and easy to use. A bonus! This is a complete subsystem for creating mechamantic devices and beings. It’s more complex than say, Chaositech, but also more detailed, which I prefer. I like the fact that the author carried the example devices throughout the chapter, showing how to create both powered armor and a lightning cannon. The Malfunction rules need a bit of clarification. They don’t specify when to check for it, other than when someone deliberately tampers with a clockwork. The Malfunction table itself is fun.I tried constructing a sample device – a mithral invisibility detecting watch that rings when someone invisible comes close. This would be equivalent to see invisibility. I gave it 20 extra hp just for fun. It works 3 x/day. You have to push a special button on the side to activate it. The cost (if I figured it correctly) came out to 3170 gp, with a Craft DC of 22. The rules did not seem to account for materials types cost, just weight. My watch is slightly cheap, but it does require rewinding, and it can be seized, so it seems all right.Overall I found this section good. The Craft DCs have a tendency to rise really fast as you try to toss more good stuff onto the item. If there’s any negative to this subsystem, it’s exactly that. The Craft DC can rise really high really fast, especially compared to a similar magical device which can be made with the right spell prereq and caster level. The balance to this is the cost, which is a percent of the Craft DC. (I would rather have a direct relationship, as in standard D&D, with higher costs.) It is a good reflection of a new and difficult ability still under refinement, so many DMs will like putting wands of infinite magic missiles out of reach of their PCs. It does support epic mechamancy campaigns since some of the Craft DCs rise above 100.Section 05 – Tools and Magic ItemsNew equipment is always cool. This section had a neat selection, many of those described earlier included. My favorite is the Gatling magic missile gun – although it’s not named that. When you look at the prices, everything does seem really cheap. The high Craft DC is supposed to balance everything, but the Wings of Daedal grant a 100 flight speed with good manueverability plus Dodge and Manueverability for 3770 gp. That’s too good. The pricing is at least consistent. With some tinkering with the multipliers, I think this would come in line with D&D pricing. The ideas themselves are all solid, and describe many items PCs will want.Appendix 1 contains the Clockwork Egg, a really neat artifact that would be perfect if there were a diagram or picture of the innards, and Vectheafod, The Head of Death. The latter is an artifact reference to an old (still funny) D&D joke, the Head of Vecna. The Clockwork Egg is going into my next campaign somehow.Appendix 2 contains the Observatory. It has many references to the webcomic Something Positive (with permission of the author). Some people will really like this. Others (like myself who don’t read that comic regularly) will find no value in the reference. (For me, in-joke references distract from a mostly serious work. I like my in-jokes a little better disguised.) But, it’s an appendix, so it’s not vital. This is another area that would really benefit from a map or illustration to let you just drop it into your campaign. The Observatory seems like a really cool spot for an adventure though, so I'll probably use it as some point.Art CommentsThere is no front cover. While this is becoming standard in the pdf industry, I’m old-fashioned enough that I prefer products that have it. There is a first page with a very cool clockwork illustration with tiny runes at all the cogs. I liked this piece right away. The other art pieces are sparse, but well done and fit the theme nicely. The myrmidon illustration and the p. 6 picture are probably my favorites.EditingI need to nitpick. There are a serious lack of references within the text. Even “See Section X; subhead” indicators would be helpful. The reader is left to puzzle out whether topics that are mentioned are discussed elsewhere in the text (the aforementioned “living” subtype come to mind). However, the text is clear and easy to read. The writing is engaging. I didn’t notice anything glaring other than passive voice, a sin of which I am also guilty. (So I don’t mark off for it.) I didn’t notice any typos, and the layout was very clean. With that taken into consideration, I give the editor good marks.ConclusionMechamancy is an imaginitive and well-done product that left me wanting a lot more. Had this been a 96-page sourcebook, it would have merited five stars. As it stands, I’ve picked a lot of nits, many of which do not change the fact that this is a solid product, so I give it four stars. It’s easily adaptable to a game where you want to introduce technology without going wholly steampunk. It expands upon the d20 rules while demonstrating a good grasp of them. I liked it. I’ll look for other books in this line and by this author. Maybe he’ll even expand it.</blockquote>

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