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The Iron Kingdoms Topic; Full Metal Fantasy
Topic Started: Sep 20 2012, 08:52 PM (51,132 Views)
Lowe Gear
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HNH

For those who are familiar with Warmachine/Hordes, Iron Kingdoms is the all-new tabletop rendition of the wargame that has been several years in the making. There was a older version based off of 3.5 D&D, but this one is designed from the ground up for the setting, borrowing heavily from the source game's combat rules.

For those with no idea what any of this is, the Iron Kingdoms is a steampunk/fantasy setting full of things like Gun Mages who cast spells via magical flintlocks, steam-powered giant robots called Warjacks, Alchemists who toss grenades made of incomprehensible pseudoscience, Knights wielding oversided weapons running around in armored suits (some of which are steam-powered) that make Space Marines look underdressed, and other fun stuff that any proper Guilder should salivate over. The main players in this setting are the Iron Kingdoms of Immoren, which serve as the primary factions in the Warmachine wargame:

- Cygnar: 18th-century America with a fetish for guns, lightning, SCIENCE!, and tri-cornered hats. They have the most advanced magitek, love giving the finger to the older nations, and have the best overall relations with the non-humans...even if in a lot of cases that still means they're seen as second-class citizens. And, much like America, most of the other nations hate them to varying degrees for various reasons of variable validity.

- Khador: Tsarist Russia, full of HUGE MEN IN HUGE ARMOR WITH HUGE AXES AND HUGE WARJACKS. One of it's signature characters is basically Vlad the Impaler with armor pauldrons bigger than his torso. Another is a guy who basically had his head attached to a Warjack's body. Oh, and they're at war with Cygnar. Fun stuff.

- Mennoth: Imagine if the Catholic Church could summon holy fire to purge heretics. And had giant robots. And paladins in gigantic armor. And thought EVERYONE ELSE were heretics. And were led into battle by a 15-year-old blind piece of jailbait who floated around possessed by THE POWER OF GOD. Oh, and they recently declared independence from Cygnar (largely by declaring war on them).

- Cryx: Undead Pirates with Undead Warjacks made of bones ruled by evil, eyeless demon Dragons. Who're at war with EVERYONE.

Likewise, in addition to humans you have the standard other races, though they're a bit different from the usual depictions.

- Dwarves (aka Rhuulfolk) are...okay, they're Dwarves. Not much difference here.

- Elves are divided into the Iosans, who hate non-Elvish magic users since they think anyone else using magic is what's killing their sole-surviving goddess and spend their time hunting these people down, and the Nyss, who are bad-ass, isolationist samurai winter elves that you'll probably never meet.

- Gobbers are basically goblins, only they're personable, quick-witted, and handy with tools. Sort of like Warcraft Goblins, just with less blowing themselves up. Usually.

- Ogrun are basically the Ogres/Orcs of the setting, only rather than being seen as evil or outcast, they're just seen as big, honorable dudes who like to fight. Not very subtle, not very quick, but honest to a fault and really, REALLY good at hitting stuff until it stops moving.

- Trollkin are big blue guys who are equal parts Native American & Scottish Highlander. They like blowing things up, and are divided between those who have adapted to city life, and those who want to get back the land taken from them by the nations of Men (mostly Cygnar).

The RPG uses the same basic 2d6 + modifiers system the wargame uses, and is similar enough in terms of mechanics that you are encouraged to use Warmachine minis and data cards in combat if you have them. Character creation consists of 5 fairly easy steps:

1. Choose your race

2. Choose your archetype (Strong Guy, Smart Guy, Skilled Guy, & Magic Guy)

3. Choose 2 careers (Gun Mage, Man-At-Arms, Warcaster, Trencher, Spy, Cutthroat, Pirate, Knight, Priest, Arcane Mechanik, etc.)

4. Allocate bonus stat points (initial stats are determined by your race & archetype)

5. Buy equipment

I'm a HUGE fan of this setting, and several of my friends are avid Warmachine & Hordes players, so I'm really eager to mess around with this book. Already got a bunch of ideas for characters, mostly involving an Arcane Mechanik/Field Mechanik who'd basically be Rand from SRW Z, an Iron Fang or Stormblade (Khador & Cygnar's respective armored supersoldiers who wield exploding spears or lightning swords, respectively), or a Trollkin Gun Mage who likes to drink & fight & drink & fight & drink & fight some more (bonus points to anyone who gets the reference).
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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I'll have to check it out . . . I've played Warmachine before, and also rather like the setting. I just couldn't afford keeping up with a collectible miniatures game; it's way too expensive for all those metal models. And painting them, while fun, can take a long time and also requires some investment. At the very least, even if I don't use the system, I'm interested in how they adapted it for an RPG and in particular how they handle the magitech in game. I'm trying to include more of that in my Choking Skies campaign, to the point of developing a new Thamaturgy power tree with 16 powers for the 16 metals, but am more than open to stealing liberally from other sources.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

Yeah, I'm kinda the same; love the setting to death, but never had the cash to play the game like my friends do, outside of a few times I messed around with one of their armies.

I really like how they've adapted the system for a RPG, to the point where war gamers can settle in easily, and veteran P&P gamers can mess around with the wargame part. Plus, while I can't afford to build & paint a whole squad, I can sure do it for a character model, which is just sorta awesome. Having your own personalized game piece is just cool.
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Akito10
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Norman freakin' Jayden

Rax gave me a cursory interest in the setting, so I'm looking forward to looking through this book as well.
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Raxtenko
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The Maleficent

Clearly I'm not doing my job then. What if I smothered you into Kaya's chest.

Also Lowe since Warcasters are such an iconic part of this setting can you play as one? I imagine that it might be potentially unbalancing if the party is level 1, tasked to say defeat some gatormen (which you forgot to mention, shame on you), and the warcaster just rolls in with two jacks.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

Warcasters ARE available as a career option, actually. Like all the other magical characters, you have to take the Gifted Archetype to play one, though. The major balancing factor with Warcasters is that - compared to the other careers - your skills, spells, and abilities are INCREDIBLY limited at character creation. Warcasters get the ability to Bond with mechanika...and that's pretty much it. More so than any other Career, Warcasters look to depend heavily on their secondary choice to give them their ass-kicking abilities at the early levels. They actually don't even get a Warjack at first, just a suit of bonded armor or a bonded mechanika weapon. Looking at the CharGen section, the only career that gets any sort of 'jack starting off is a Field Mechanik, and they just get a basic Light Laborjack.

Now, as you level up, get your Focus higher, and can afford cooler toys, Warcasters can be pretty freakin' uber. But of course, at the same time everyone else has been getting all sorts of whifty toys, too. Granted, I haven't been able to play one yet, but just from looking at the book, they seem to have done a pretty decent job making sure that no one career obviously overpowers the others.
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Kagato9999
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The Blade that Cuts Injustice
I must find this game. >_>
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

>_>
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Raxtenko
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The Maleficent

But Loooooowe I want to run an Ironclad at people and tremor them ;-;
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

That's perfectly doable...once you hit Veteran or Epic.

EDIT: Privateer Press' Downloads page has added a free one-shot adventure to introduce people to the game. It contains 4 pregen characters, a set of Quick Rules on how to play the game, and a bunch of cutouts you can use for maps, character pieces, etc. Just scroll to the bottom of the page for the PDF.

http://privateerpress.com/iron-kingdoms/downloads
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Yoshi6400
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Azure Dreadking
Rax: You can have your puny Ironclad. I'm using Stormwall.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

Stormwall's definitely awesome, but I think I still prefer Behemoth.

EDIT: And in terms of sheer style, Thunderhead reigns supreme.
Edited by Lowe Gear, Sep 22 2012, 11:40 AM.
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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I'm most interested in the crafting rules myself. Have you taken a look at those? How does it play out for a character, and what kind of cool stuff can you make for yourself?

I really need to track down a PDF of this. I'd even buy it, if they offered it on the website for cheap. I just don't want to pay higher costs for a hardcover of the rulebook when I probably wont every play the game, just lift a few ideas from it for use elsewhere.

EDIT: I really don't check inboxes enough. I miss all sorts of important messages. >_>
Edited by ZetaStriker, Sep 22 2012, 07:41 PM.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

If you want a PDF, check you-know-where in a day or two. Seems some folks are hard at work on that as we speak.

There's a pretty big crafting section, and it's not terribly complicated. You have to be an Arcane Mechanik to make anything beyond mundane stuff, but the actual crafting is pretty simple. Cost is determined by how well you roll and how long it takes, and often consists of making the rune plate, capacitor, & so on before putting them all together and switching them on. And there's a pretty decent list of stuff you can make, though they've made it sound like one of the later books will have a lot more stuff. Still, it's plenty to start with, and it gives people wanting to tinker (like me) a lot to chew on.
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Kagato9999
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The Blade that Cuts Injustice
Do they have a sample character sheet?
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

The free adventure I posted up has four of them.
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FinalMax
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Apprentice Junker
I think I remember Iron Kingdoms. I think I tried the 3.5 based P&P before. That game didn't last long, but the steampunk type setting did get my interest. Might take a look and see for this new version.

Well, I can tell one guy I know that there is at least one P&P steampunk game.
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Quattro
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Almost as good as Lowe ^_^
I picked up my copy of the book when it came out, but I still haven't finished reading the whole thing. But the major thing I can say is it plays a lot different from what your use to with D&D, and basically plays closer to what the table top does with more D&D elements added if that makes sense to anyone. The system is setup on a Duel class system, ie you pick 2 out of the 30 class options, now there are restrictions for some class pairing and some are race restricted or second class restricted but most are wide open. Some classes are full on combat, while other have almost no combat skills but have tons for skills for when you're out of combat. The game also seems to highly focus on making your own steam armor and magic items, so there are two classes that can create armor and fix repairs machines. Some classes get some interesting starting bonuses as well, if you pick Field mechanic, you get a light labor jack for free, basically a 8 foot tall steam powered robot as your buddy. The game also has something called feat points which you can use in situations to well basically do super cool shit, best way to describe it really. The game looks like it's going to be a metric tonne of fun.

Oh as for crafting, alchemists also have a range of stuff they can make, I think you can also cook for some reason, I've been trying to get a handle on how combat flows. Also Arcane Mechaniks also have a pretty decent spell casting list which is pretty decent when you think of all of what the class does.
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Raine
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Newbie
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This is definitely a must buy for me. I so love Warmachine and Hordes as miniature games. Though the closest my local group has gotten to playing this as an RPG is through D20 stuff, which...not to offend those that like D20, but...I personally am not a big fan of the system. Played Dragonmech, and the system mechanics killed it for me, and even the D20 version of Iron Kingdoms...sure they were a great resource for just the material and realm, but as a game...not so much.

We've even tried converting it using various systems, like West End Games, and even Cyberpunk 2020...the most recent attempt was using another great Steampunk game, Abney Park's Airship Pirates. Which is a rather sharp system in itself, but not for Iron Kingdoms. Still a great game though, and I'd suggest it to anyone that loves Steampunk.

So yeah...this is one I need to get. I think it'd be a great kick starter game for the new apartment we'll be Christening on the first of November. I love the options it has for characters, with 28 Careers to chose from, and automatically making a paired career from the get-go. I was also happy that Privateer Press added a good variety of races in the Core Book, and not just a handful so they can plug in supplement books there-after. Sure, there will be add-on books, I'm positive of that. But at least the Core Book is a strong stand-alone tome for gaming.

Also the fact that it's rules is based off of the minis-game so fans of the wargame will be able to just slide in and understand it completely, is amazing. Quite smart, I think.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

The best part for fans of the actual wargame is that converting 'jacks and other units from it to the RPG is incredibly easy, so you can do things like throw Iosan Myrmidions and Gatormen and so on at your players.
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Quattro
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Almost as good as Lowe ^_^
I'd say in about a year or so they'll be an expansion where you can probably play Gator Men, and some of the Hordes races, probably use war beasts as well. They only have a few jacks in the book right now, but it wouldn't be too hard to convert any of the other jacks for use. They also let you customize jacks, as well which is cool, but one thing I found last night is you can get arc nodes for them. Arc nodes basically let you use your jack as a casting point for a spell, which is cool. But in Fluff terms these things are super rare military grade equipment, that not even every nation has access to, and only one mercenary caster has ever made his own. So I find it odd they included them, at least form a fluff standpoint.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

Hordes is supposed to come out in Book 3, which is currently due next summer. Book 2 will be focused on the Iron Kingdoms themselves, and is supposed to be out around February.
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Quattro
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Almost as good as Lowe ^_^
Ah I know their release schedule too well without even looking. Shit I think I've been playing Warmachine for almost 10 years now. Oh they're also putting out some adventure packs as well, basically small soft-cover books with items and adventures I would assume, there is one due out in November. I can't wait to have a full party of Gatormen in the city, or a awesome Gaterman Theif/Spy mostly because I think that will be the worst job comob for them.
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Lowe Gear
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HNH

So, you'd be Vector from Sonic? XD
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Quattro
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Almost as good as Lowe ^_^
Nothing beats a 8 foot tall Gatorman, who apparently is very stealthy and covert, I imaging him trying to sneak past with his great axe and not really fooling anyone, but utterly convinced he is a stealth master. Who isn't going to notice a giant alligator pick their pockets?

One class combo you can take which is decent but makes me laugh is the Duelist/Aristocrat combo, but only because you start with a high level of seduction and gambling. I just imagine having Lord Arlintong in your party an you can never get anywhere because he's always in the pub seducing the ladies and loosing his trust fund at dice games.
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