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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Keeper of Secrets" data-source="post: 2011639" data-attributes="member: 13836">It is fair to say that Privateer Press’ Iron Kingdoms’ Character Guide may be one of the most widely anticipated products in the past three years.  It is the first major product from Privateer Press (PP) for their RPG line since the very popular Monsternomicon.  For those who are unfamiliar with the genre, the Iron Kingdoms is a d20 campaign setting that is one of the more unique and stylistic settings available for Dungeons and Dragons.  It combines steam-operated technology and gun powder with low magic to form a world filled with a ‘Steampunk’ feel (much as the authors don’t seem to like that term).  The Character Guide is the first of two books that detail PP’s setting, allowing players and GM’s to create exciting campaigns in their gaming world.  Gamers have gotten a nice taste of the Iron Kingdoms through use of the war game line, Warmachine.  Now that the Character Guide is available, it can really involve gamers who have little or no interest in war games.Overall, the writing is good, keeping the reader interested in the world of Iron Kingdoms.  The interior art is excellent, really capturing the feel of what the game is trying to convey.  Then again, Brian Snoddy and Matt Wilson seem to do a great job in whatever project they undertake.Chapter 1:  Western ImmorenThe first chapter does an excellent job of detailing the major continent in the Iron Kingdoms.  Western Immoren contains four major countries; Khador, Cygnar, the Protectorate of Menoth, and the sinister nation of Cryx.  This geographical overview discusses the history, the calendar and the races of Western Immoren.  One of the more appealing things about the discussion on the races is that each nation has different types of humans.  For instance, during the discussion on Khador (a nation that is very reminiscent of feudal Russia), there are different racial traits of different people living within the borders.  The closest comparison might be showing the reader that there is a difference between Siberians and Ukrainians and offering different modifiers, advantages and disadvantages for each group.  This offers a player more options when they decide to simply play a human.  In addition to human races there are several races of Elves, Dwarves, and some new races; the Gobber, the Trollkin and the Ogrun.  The Gobber are a race with the appearance of goblins but act more like traditional gnomes.  They tend to be tinkerers, inventers and rogues and are perfect for a PC race as they are accepted in all societies of the Iron Kingdoms.  Trollkin are a noble race of Troll-like creatures that live in tightly-knit communities and have a ‘noble savage’ appeal.  They are geared towards the barbarian class.  Whereas they are not as generally accepted in society, they are not inherently evil as are trolls from most traditional fantasy settings.  Finally, the Ogrun, while similar to the Trollkin in their society, often live among the dwarves and both share a common beneficial history, differing significantly from most traditional fantasy games.  The Ogrun is a race that has often helped humans in the past due to the common interests in fighting off oppressors.  The first chapter does a great job of introducing the reader to the Iron Kingdoms.  Although some of the discussions on the geography and the days of the week and month are somewhat tedious, they are important for the establishment of Western Immoren as a believable, operating set of nations and races.  Once the reader gets past the first few pages and delves into the interesting discussions on races, the reading becomes much more exciting and the ideas for a campaign world begin forming almost immediately.Chapter 2:  Characters and ClassesThe second chapter explains the new classes, new prestige classes and the variation of traditional classes that are found in the Iron Kingdoms.  This is one of the most interesting chapters in the book as it shows the amount of thought and consideration that the authors had for their world.  For some, this may be the ‘make or break’ chapter as there are some significant variations made to well-known classes such as the paladin, cleric, wizard and bard.  However, for anyone turned off by the treatment of some of the traditional classes, the new classes presented more than make up for it, specifically the gun mage, fell caller, arcane mechanik and bodger classs.Essentially, the bard is eliminated and in place is a ‘war bard.’  There are a few differences between the bard and the war bard but the most significant is perception.  War bards are really more of troubadours for their nation’s military campaigns that are constantly being undertaken.  The war bard sings the praises of the armed forces, waves the flag and uses their spells to help out when needed.  The cleric and the paladin lead much more regimented lives than those mentioned in the Player’s Handbook.  These classes have lives of serious meditation and in some ways, a grim outlook on society.  As will be discussed later, the gods are very serious about the behavior of their followers and proscribe divine punishment for those who deviate from holy law.  Some examples include the brutal punishment that comes with healing people of dissimilar alignment of the god, going beyond the amount that clerics are allowed to heal per day and not offering proper praise and sacrifice.  The wizard and sorcerer are also perceived differently in this world, although their classes haven’t changed from traditional role playing settings.  Like the war bard, the classes can do essentially the same thing, but unlike the war bard, the spell casters are typically seen as witches, heretics and troublemakers.  As the book points out, it is not an uncommon sight to watch a wizard burn at the stake or hang from a rope in town square.  Of course, as most players who like using spellcasters will observe, the secret to playing the wizard or sorcerer is to not advertise their magical abilities, lest they be in an unenlightened area.The new classes introduced are fascinating and show the amount of creativity that the authors have put into the product.  The gun mage for instance, uses a magical pistol through which they focus their arcane ability.  Their spell casting abilities are somewhat suspect and the ‘mage’ part of ‘gun mage’ is vastly underpowered but the class is actually useful for the sheer versatility involved.  Aside from the gun mage, there is the fell caller, arcane mechanik and bodger. The fell caller is exclusively for the Trollkin race.  It is a kind of barbarian that has a powerful shout and can unleash a powerful sonic attack.  These warriors are folk heroes and saviors among the trollkin race.  The arcane mechanik is part sorcerer and part engineer, capable of creating and repairing mechanical wonders, powering it with a combination of technology and mystical energy.  The bodger is something of a dealer in junk, trash and broken pieces, desperately cobbling together mechanical devices with less finesse than the arcane mechanik but usually equally as good when trying to get the job done.The prestige classes offered are special versions of the gun mage, the arcane mechanik, rouge and cleric.  But like many prestige classes these are simply more focused versions of the original.  Many people in the gaming community are split over the value and effectiveness of prestige classes, but the ones offered in the Character Guide are more inventive and imaginative than most.  What is most refreshing about the prestige classes is that they tie directly into the game world rather than exist in a vacuum.  With each prestige class there is a story with them that makes them a natural extension of the Iron Kingdoms setting and fills a nice role.Furthermore, this chapter is where the reader can uncover the new feats and new skills available.  Much like the faction of gamers that roll their eyes at new prestige classes, there may be an equal amount of gamers who view new feats as somewhat blasé.  But much as the prestige classes are specific enough to the game world, the feats and skills fit in perfectly.  While reading through the feats, they feel more like a natural extension of the game world rather than a system that decided to crank out a plethora of new feats for the simple reason that the author felt that the d20 system needed more.  In fact, most of the new feats are closely tied with an existing class such as Calloused Hands that allows someone who has worked on mechanika for a significant period of time to forego the need of certain tools when trying to make repairs.  Also, feats like Combat Loading assists gun mages and riflemen to quickly reload their weapons without the penalty (in combat) associated with doing so.    Chapter 3:  Weapons and GearFor some this may be the most interesting chapter.  For a world that is based around the concept of technology, ‘steampunk’ and ‘mechs’ this chapter could end up being the Holy Grail of gear. The weapons and gear are explained in detail and are even given pictures so that the reader has a visual image to go along with the description.  Naturally, characters in the Iron Kingdoms have access to the normal weapons that would be available in the Player’s Handbook but the new weapons center on what amount to flintlock pistols and large, cumbersome rifles.Upon examining some of the firearms, there was a concern that perhaps they would be  ridiculously overpriced or so devastating that everyone would want one.  It was a pleasant surprise to discover that things seemed very balanced.  In fact, if anything, the firearms seem much weaker than anticipated.  (As a side note, it is unclear if the authors will be unveiling any ‘magic firearms’ such as a +2 musket but it is widely suspected that it will appear in the subsequent volume, supposedly due out in November or December.)In addition to the pistols and blunderbusses, there is an ample supply of other items such as armor used by some of the military forces and special items used by the advanced craftsmen and arcane mechaniks.Chapter 4:  Cosmology and ReligionWhat is most impressive about this chapter is the detail given to each of the deities as well as the religious structure.  In some campaign settings, a pantheon of gods inundates the reader, the entire system virtually collapsing upon its own celestial weight.  In the Iron Kingdoms, however, there are really only a handful of gods, each serving a very specific purpose.Menoth (Lawful Neutral) is arguably the most powerful and impressive of the pantheon.  Menoth is considered the ‘old god’ and the only one in the pantheon that seems to have always existed and is mysterious in the same sense that the Judeo-Christian God is seen.  What is more interesting about Menoth is that in Western Immoren, a religious civil war split the nation of Cygnar apart, resulting in the formation of a new nation.  This new nation, the Protectorate of Menoth is a theocracy, reminiscent of the darkest part of the Catholic Church’s history, complete with torturers, inquisitors, temple knights and deranged monks.  Whereas Menoth is certainly not an evil god, the deity is certainly unforgiving and stern while his followers, though not outright evil, certainly suffer from a deranged sense of religious zeal.Morrow (Neutral Good) and Thamar (Neutral Evil) are newer gods and are much more fashionable and modern.  The two gods are twins, good and evil, each granting powers and abilities to their followers.  Morrow seems to be very popular in the ‘good aligned’ nations, replacing Menoth as the prominent deity after the aforementioned civil war.  Thamar, by contrast, has followers that skulk through the night, belong to sinister cults, and do their best to seduce and corrupt followers of good.  Cyriss (Neutral) is the goddess of all reason, logic, science and advancement.  It is mentioned that she is the most recently discovered of all the gods and to her followers she is the mother of mechanika.  What’s most appealing about this goddess is her desire to keep secrets from her followers, making them work for knowledge, appreciating her followers’ abilities to solve puzzles, riddles and complicated formulas.The Devourer Wurm (Chaotic Neutral) is the god of barbarians, beasts and the savage creatures that live in the wild.  While reminding the reader somewhat of a Lovecraftian beast, it is interesting to point out that the god is not evil, even though it is seen as such.  As the god of all that is chaotic and strange, its natural enemy is Menoth and the two are engaged in an endless battle.  Menoth cannot abide the Devourer Wurm’s unbridled chaos and the Devourer Wurm seeks to unravel the established order Marrow has created.Lord Toruk is the living dragon god that oversees his nation of Cryx, imbuing spells and abilities to his followers as if he had officially ascended into godhood.  His followers include pirates and thugs but his most notorious agents are the armies of undead at his disposal, including his generals, the nefarious Iron Liches.  The gods of the non-humans are certainly well developed but are not all that inspiring or fascinating when compared to the human pantheon.  There is an elven deity, a deity for the gobbers and dwarves as well as certain forgotten gods.  None of them seem nearly as interesting or spectacular or even have the same interesting background as the others.  There is a feel that maybe they were added in because the non-humans needed some kind of deity to round things out.Chapter 5:  Magic and MechanikaThe final chapter of the book outlines the various ways magic works in the Iron Kingdoms.  By explaining the arcane and divine forces that make up the spells in the Iron Kingdoms, the reader gets a sense of exactly how magic is supposed to work.  A healthy amount of time is devoted to necromancy, demonology and the dark arts, as there is an entire society devoted to these things.  The GM certainly needs to be well versed in the way that necromancy and undead affect the world.  The divine magic derived from the pantheon of gods is also given great detail.  By going through the kinds of schools and the kinds of powers associated with each deity (Menoth, Thamar, Morrow, Cryss) it allows for very detailed characters.  However, be warned that the path of divine magic is certainly not for all players’ tastes.  Healing is no easy task.  Average clerics can only heal a limited amount of hit points per day (determined by level and Wisdom bonus).  If they exceed this, they run the risk of angering their deity and becoming the victim of divine retribution (and the list of possibilities is rather brutal).  On the other hand, there may be some who think this is a refreshing change from the endless nagging of the cleric to be a healer.  It certainly forces the cleric player to try something much more unique with their character than simply being the party medic.  The new spells, domains, and lists of interesting, colorful religious orders to which characters may belong, go far to enhancing the rich flavor of the setting rather than distract from it.Finally, the last section of the chapter deals with the arcane art of the mechanika.  For anyone who has seen the impressive and dominating warjacks associated with the Iron Kingdoms, this is the part of the book that explains how they are made as well as some of the interesting politics associated with the steamjack unions and the various ‘approved’ shops in Western Immoren.ConclusionThe Iron Kingdoms is a great setting that will certainly appeal to a vast number of people.  It has enough of a fan base from the miniatures game as well as their initial products from a few years ago that merely flipping through the book may cause the book to sell itself.  It bears some similarity to the Eberron setting in that it has some of the technological advances and sense of adventure.  Also with the advent of recent products such as OGL Steampunk and Dragonmech it is more than evident that fans are in the mood for this type of product.Certainly the product is worthy of great praise but it is not without its shortcomings in some areas.  One criticism, which is fairly minor, is that some of the printing in the book is extremely dark; so dark, in fact that it makes reading some of the maps something of a strain.  One thing Privateer Press could do is have beautiful color maps available on their site for downloading, keeping GMs and players from straining their eyes too much.Another area in which the book is not as successful as hoped is having such a radical setting without an explanation of what campaigns are like in the Iron Kingdoms.  Certainly, that may be addressed in the subsequent volume that is being produced, but with the past track record of scheduled releases for Privateer Press’ products, gamers may be waiting awhile for it.Also, it would have been nice to have a more concise history and more focused background laid out for the reader introducing them to this fabulously rich and exotic world.  In some areas the world history section seems somewhat dull and flat, doing something of an injustice to such a wonderful setting.  (To be fair, I have a degree in history and I can certainly understand that there are times when sections on history are less than riveting.)  Truthfully, there is a great set of historical sections in their war game book, Warmachine Prime that could have easily been plucked out and reprinted, doing wonders for the setting book.The criticisms at the end aside, this is a brilliant and beautiful book.  The Iron Kingdoms campaign setting is definitely in the Top 5 of most interesting and innovative (while still remaining playable) settings available for d20.  For these reasons, a strong four and a half out of five is warranted.</blockquote>

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