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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010536" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Brad Mix, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine RackSizing Up the TargetThis review is for Factory by Perpetrated Press. This 192-page softbound books retails for $24.95 and is worth every penny. Written by Erik Kjerland this offers to add mechanization and new technology to your d20 world. First BloodLet me start this by saying that is not meant to be used against wizards and warriors but should be used in a setting like d20 Modern or Dragonstar or any other setting that uses computers. The first thing the book starts off with is balance issues and how to resolve them. Depending on how much technology you want to have in place in the campaign setting will help you determine how much technology to use. If you are playing a Terminator inspired game then everything in this book is for you. If you just want a few new ideas for golems then you could use some of this information. A wide array of technomagic based campaigns are possible. Apocalyptic civilizations could be coming back to power. Cyberpunk is a world controlled by corporate powers and anything to increase efficiency is needed. For a typical fantasy campaign robots could be just advanced golems that shoot fireballs.Some new skills are introduced to use this new tech. Computer use, Craft: Computer, Pilot: Exo suit, and Repair. New feats include Craft: Robotics, Craft: Software, Implant Dweoware (wearable tech) and Strong Soul which helps you avoid the unpleasant side effects of dweoware. Some new spells are included as well. Spells like heal light wounds have been reengineered to be used for items. Heal light damage is the result. My favorite spell is blue screen of death. This is familiar to anyone with a computer. All of a sudden your screen turns blue and nothing works. Over 30 spells are included. Computers, their history and their role in society are covered next. Computers are listed as magic items for the purposes of game play and can be effected by dispel magic and anti-magic fields. Some very secure computers have added protection to protect from dispel magic. An optional in depth rule allows for more detailed computer use. Instead of just one check, additional checks are needed to access different areas of a computer system. This requires more work for the GM but adds a touch of realism to hacking into a computer. Robotics and their special issues are next. These robots have all of the ability scores except constitution. They also have many immunities, like immune to sleep, no need to breath, can’t use potions, immunity to mind altering effects and do not suffer the effects of aging. Size does matter for a robot. The bigger it is, the tougher it is. The bigger it is, the more you have to destroy to kill it. Both hardware and software upgrades are available and a decent description is given for each. Robots for PC’s to encounter are also included. These can also be used as ordinary utility robots if the combat program is removed. The traffic control, police, security, assault, reconnaissance, onslaught, riot control, and transcendent robot are all given the standard write up. The transcendents believe that the human race needs to be exterminated to allow the evolution of robotic forms to continue. Powered exosuits are basic tools that a character can wear to perform some hazardous activities. Like working next to a volcano. A basic suit does not offer a lot of options It is the upgrades that can turn a character into an Iron Man clone or a Gundam warrior. These suits are very expensive though. Robots as PC’s is a very interesting chapter. The rare spark of life has been granted to a few robots. Be it from a deity or some other force, the robot is alive. A class and alignment are chosen. But the ability scores are determined by the type of robot that was manufactured. All the standard classes from the PHB are included and tips on how and why a robot would chose that class. A few upgrades are allowed and if not used are lost. I found the Robot Shadowdancer to be a little odd though. A special character sheet is also included at the back of the book. A d20Modern conversion chapter handles the details using this book in that setting. The biggest change is in the massive damage rule. Some of these robots can deal massive damage to most folks on an average roll. It is up to the GM on how to use massive damage or to tweak it a bit. Options for each are included.Critical HitsBeing an old Shadowrun player I was immediately drawn to the Dweonetics chapter. Dweonetics are permanent magical items implanted into a characters body. The person getting the implant pays all of the XP cost for an item. Common dweoware includes darkvision, hyper reflexes, muscle grafts, spell resistance, and subdermal plating. Before running out to get these items you need to be warned about some of the side effects like, nausea, confusion, internal organ damage, death, and arcane psychosis. Implanting an item requires surgery. During the surgery the surgeon makes a check and depending on the result can result in complete rejection of the device by the body to critical success where no follow up check is needed by the patient. In most cases though some complications do occur. A check is made by the character. These complications can last for a few hours like nausea and confused to death. More advanced dweoware include flight, arcane organ, claws, extra arm, healing organ and stealth cloak. Over 195 implants are included. Although some are the same thing just a better version. Like muscle graft comes in +1 to +5 versions. Critical MissesThe artwork hardly does the book justice. Black and white sketches mostly and do not give much detail. Only a few exceptions to this, mainly in the dweonetics section. Only a few pages are devoted to weapons and these are reprints from Perpetrated’s other book Arsenal. This would have been a good opportunity to set out some new weapons along with the standard items. Coup de GraceI was very pleased with the ideas presented in the book. The idea of spicing up a d20Modern or other campaign is very exciting. The editing is well some with only a few spelling errors. I hope to see more of this kind of good work from Perpetrated. This is only their second work. To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=353" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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