Metal Gods

[PosterBoy]

Before the Fall, the Ancients created artificial intelligent beings of immense power and wonder. To the Denizens of the Twisted Earth, these creatures are no less than Gods to be feared and worshiped. METAL GODS is a DARWINS WORLD source book that details the amazing robot and android creations of the Ancients and their place in post-apocalyptic Earth. Contained within this book are new classes, feats, and rules designed for GMs and players to explore the role of robots and androids in their campaigns.

 

[GameWyrd]

Metal Gods is the latest PDF in the Darwin’s World line. Darwin’s World recently appeared in print form here in the UK. That must be the quickest transition from PDF only, into print and then into Europe yet. It’s not uncommon for straight to print RPG products in the States never to make it to Europe. Metal Gods has two main strengths: the quality of the packaging and the sheer volume of content.

Yes, a PDF product can have packaging. Metal Gods unzips to reveal a colourful and cleaning formatted RPG supplement. It also reveals a text only PDF copy and unbundled images of the map locations found at the end of the product. You’ve a good-looking product to admire while reading off the screen and an ink friendly copy to send to your printer. The only concern I have with the presentation of the PDF is that the cover picture is twice as wide as the content pages. Although you can resize at will in Acrobat, I’ve found that using the bookmarks tends to resize the whole document so that first large page fits the screen nicely but the text that you’ve just jumped to becomes too small. It’s probably not RPGObject’s fault but it is something they might want to be aware of and cater for.

The Metal Gods just keeps on coming. It’s 73 pages in length, counting intro and OGL license and similar fanfare but it seems to be a lot longer. I expected rules for robots and androids. I got nearly 20 pages of history for Darwin’s World, the run up to the apocalypse, rules for Androids as PCs with feats, skills and prestige classes, stats for dozens of robots, dozens of robot items and then the Metal God group in the Twisted Earth.

The history behind the Twisted Earth and the rise of the robots is about 15 pages long and I wouldn’t want to have seen it any longer. The description of the invention, insidious introduction and invasion of the robots is brought in stages. Each minutia of development in robotics (the first robots, anthropomorphic robots, artificial intelligence, artificial skin, warrior robots, etc) pauses to look at the response to it by the American public, secret projects inevitably spawned by the military and the plans of the companies producing the robots. The result is a slow build up to the important events that you know are going to happen. It really is a lot like reading a history book where knowing the details and the effects of each and every decision is necessary because it might come up in the exam. I’m pleased to say that unlike most history lessons Metal God’s isn’t boring. Well, it wasn’t boring for me – I’m a flavour fan. If you want mechanics and crunch from Metal Gods then you should skip straight past this section. I did find the robotic history of Darwin’s World a little disappointing. The corporations that built the robots remain faceless; there’s no Cyberdine Industries or SkyNets to terrorise your players with. If you want to introduce a corporate logo as the equivalent of Cthulhu’s yellow sign then you’ll have to do it yourself. I can just about get over the fact that mankind in this suggested background can push some of the blame from the end of the world (as we know it) off their shoulders and onto metallic ones. This point is clearly something that the author is sensitive to and it’s stressed that this entire chapter is only a possible history. At times the tone of writing seems almost apologetic. Another concern expressed by the author, one that really is valid, is that knowing some of how the Twisted Earth ended up the way it did spoils some of the mystery and the chill to the setting. If you do use the history as suggested here then you’ll be short of nothing in the development of robots.

Metal Gods introduces a new player race to Darwin’s World; Androids. Androids are artificially intelligent machines and their introduction starts to push up the Sci-Fi elements in game. One of the clever differences between humans and mutants from the core Darwin’s World rules is the problem mutants have using medicine and drugs designed for human biology. It’s nice to see this problem with "healing" continue straight into the android race too, even if it’s by accident rather than design. Androids can’t heal and must be repaired. I imagine it would be possible to spawn an entire campaign in the Twisted Earth out of this and this alone. This issue with the droids could just as well become a constant thorn in the GM’s story plans too. Androids are introduced with more game mechanics than a "traditional" new face might be. There is a whole new range of feats available which only make sense when applied to the droid – just as many of the previously published feats will not be applicable to them. There are new skills too. Droids deteriorate over time. It’s a game mechanic. You must select a new deterioration from the list when the character reaches certain character levels. Hmm. On the surface I like the idea; it probably would happen and it’s a bit similar to the defects rule mechanic. On a closer inspection I can only see trouble with it; can this deteriorations be repaired? It seems to be a lot more likely you’ll be able to scavenge a new voice simulator from the ruins of an ancient laboratory (especially if you’re using bots and droids) than you’ll be able to scavenge a miracle cure for the mutant defects. You don’t earn defects through character levels in the same way as the deteriorations work either. Unless the GM and the player work things out in advance you might end up with the silly situation where the android looked entirely humanlike before winning an important debate with a group of Thinkers but mysteriously drains of all colour afterwards. The android class isn’t a bad one, just one that needs watching. I’d rather have it than do without.

Similar observations can be made about the android prestige classes too. Of the four prestige classes, the first three (assassin android, android mastermind, Child of the Metal Gods) are detailed through ten levels and the last one (the foundation android) only through five. It’s typical luck when that happens because the Foundation Android looks to be the most interesting one of the lot. All of the prestige classes are fully fleshed out (so to speak) and have several pages of information and special abilities each.

After the Androids there’s a large list, a new chapter in fact, of robots. The robot section starts off in a similar way to the Androids looking at the general information and even at the various types of robotic intelligence. It’s after this that the list of robots begins, except there are Androids in here too. It’s a monster manual style chapter; the various mechanical enemies are presented with their stats first along with challenge rating, alignment (appropriate to those with AI) and even climate/terrain options. Unlike some the pure game mechanic bestiaries this section also contains plenty of history and current information on the creation in question. The Pleasure Android, for example, explains why and for whom such androids were built for originally and then it lets us know what Pleasure Androids are likely to be doing in the Twisted Earth – serving as rather insidious assassins and spies. Each entry finishes off with combat notes, special abilities, notes on the lore level of the robot and even any weaknesses. The chapter finishes off the Cyborg template. I think a template was the best way to present the cyborg option even though it must have been tempting to publish a long list of cool sounding cyborg creations.

Chapter four is a collection of "robot items". In fact these are items that might come into your game by simply including robots; items like "cyborg substance tubes" and power sources. Bizarrely, many of the items here are reprinted from Darwin’s World. Initially I thought the re-prints were of items from the original electronic copy of the game and cut from the text copy and have been re-printed so owners of the text copy only now have access to them. This isn’t the case though, the items, such identity cards, are available in all copies of Darwin’s World. Even items like grenades are reprinted. I’m left to guess that these are items that also seem to be specially suited to robots and the Metal Gods group.

The Metal Gods finish with the Metal Gods. Darwin’s World makes heavy use of groups of NPCs to give live to the Twisted Earth. The Metal Gods are the robotic version of one of these groups. The chapter itself seems a little place when compared to the rest of the download but it makes good sense in the overall scheme of things. Metal Gods are presented two basic ways: the hardcore facts and then how to use them. The facts are stuff like the possible motivations of the group and even the composition of combat squads. Fitting the Metal Gods into your campaign might be a little tricky if you’re playing Darwin’s World as a low levelled game and so this section seems to have been designed to make that easier. The traditional adventure hooks list is divided up into Low, Mid and High level suggestions. Then there’s a separate mini-adventure. It’s the maps from the mini-adventure that also come as separate files and can be printed off separately. The mini-adventure itself is fairly standard, nicely presented and easily browsed but as is the way of most pre-written adventures it’s not that original and there’s no guide lines as to what number and levels of characters that the encounters are tailored for. The challenge ratings of encounters in the adventure seem to range through 1 to 15.

Metal Gods doesn’t fall over. It achieves what it sets out to do and that’s the important bit. Although I had to battle with zooming in and out when reading it off the computer screen it’s packaged in such a way that printing it off would have been hassle free. Metal Gods doesn’t fall over but there are some potential stumbling points along the way. If you’re an active Darwin’s World fan then Metal Gods should certainly be on your shopping list or if you’re finding the Twisted Earth to be too alien and want to add some more familiar sci-fi elements to it then Metal Gods will also appeal to you.

* This GameWyrd review was first posted here.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Chris Sims (aka Khur), Staff Reviewer and Editor for d20 Magazine Rack

Sizing Up the Target
RPG Objects expands the Twisted Earth with their release Metal Gods. This book can be found in a 72-page PDF ($6.95) on RPGNow, or in print format for $14.95. Ask for it at your favorite game store.

First Blood
Metal Gods adds flavor and crunch to a Darwin's World game with historic text, player information, "monster" statistics for robots, new equipment, and adventure material. Players can use the new android race template and prestige classes to enjoy a new form of interaction with the Twisted Earth, while the GM has a plethora of new dangers to throw at the beleaguered mutants of the wastelands, as well as a slew of adventure ideas. Both GMs and Players have new equipment to play around with, though some of it is reprinted from the Darwin's World book. (This latter fact is a virtue for those who want Metal Gods for other purposes.) Finally, there's a short adventure.

Metal Gods has a great cover, but the interior art varies widely from cartoonish to very nice. The design is great, though, and Metal Gods has one of the best page borders I've seen on any d20 product. Unfortunately, that border takes a great deal of ink if one is printing from a PDF.

The electronic format is used to provide ease of use. Each PDF comes with extensive bookmarks and thumbnails. The cover image is quite large in file size though, and print buyers have nothing in the way of an index that even begins to compare to the PDF bookmarks.

Critical Hits
The writing in Metal Gods is superior to that of the Darwin's World rulebook. For the most part, it's clean, clear, and entertaining. The history provided is great and macabre science fiction, and viable as a historic overview of Darwin's World itself. The book even gives advice on changing the history to meet your own vision of Darwin's World.

The feats are good, and the use of feats for robotic features in character construction is a healthy balancing factor.

Since most of the book presents robot statistics (like those in the Monster Manual), this book is useful beyond the bounds of a Darwin's World campaign, with possible uses in other d20 games. In fact, whole campaigns might center on robots, or Darwin's World could come to resemble the dark future shown in other works like The Terminator, or GURPS Reign of Steel.

Most of the new capabilities added to these specific constructs work well, and definitely add flavor. Berserk robots, while pure fantasies, typify mad automatons in many sic-fi staples. They're fun. "Sputtering Death", allowing a construct to survive below 0 hit points in a severely impaired state, is a definite spark of creative genius (in addition to making robots frightening foes).

Adventure hooks are presented in classifications making them easy to use at all levels of play. Some of these so-called hooks are much more than that. They are entire campaign, or mini-campaign, ideas. A very valuable resource indeed.

The adventure may not be excellent, but it's a total bonus that rounds out this diverse package.

Critical Misses
The androids listed in the "Robotic Life" section of the book do not match the racial template very well, having incredible attributes, high HD, and so on. The author informs me that each of these droids is actually a classed character (Mostly Darwin's World classes); the worker android is a 6th-level expert, the pleasure android is a thinker 5, the scientist a thinker 7/ mech 5, and the soldier is an 8th-level guardian. Unlike most races that appear in official D&D material, the statistics for even the lowliest iconic android presented far outstrip what a player with average rolls might come up with. This problem is apparent when one sees the statistics of the androids in the adventure provided with Metal Gods. Compared to the iconic droids encounters, both of the android villains in the adventure are pathetic weaklings.

Dominic Covey told me that the iconic android characters were made tough on purpose, and that's fine; the flaw lies in the fact that it's not clear how these creatures were constructed, and it's not clear that they're intended as powerful examples. Further, they're presented in such a way that they look like they're intended as an average monster statistics block. This can lead to some real confusion, as it did for me.

While ample examples are provided in Metal Gods, there's no real help when it comes to creating your own robots with these rules. While the robots ostensibly follow the rules for Constructs, some of their statistics seem mysteriously high. For those robots with skills, it's unclear how the ranks were determined. The book would have been more successful if ambiguities such as this, and the one above, were not left in. Even with Metal Gods, it'll be more difficult than it should be to create your own artificial intelligences, besides androids, that mesh with these rules. Perhaps RPG Objects will provide some insight and errata on their Darwin's World site.

The adventure presented in the book is shallowly executed, and it's very high-level. This is especially true when one considers that the CRs for the ultimate villains are in the teens, but fail to take into account an android's +3 level adjustment. In fact, all none of the androids in the book include this CR modifier.

Coup de Grace
Metal Gods, like the game for which it was created, is a great idea with lots of potential. A GM can use these rules as is, and they'll still be fun. Caution is recommended, however, because some of the robots certainly have bonuses that they shouldn't. The content is best left under the sole purview of the GM, and most of the mechanics that one could use for original work are generously left as Open Content. With some time and effort, Metal Gods can be of service beyond the confines of a Darwin's World campaign. All of these factors combined place this product squarely above average. Yet, the Metal Gods themselves would certainly expect better.

To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.