VariSami
2013-10-05, 01:17 PM
Hi.
So, I ordered some Iron Kingdoms d20 books since I really like the setting, and I was under the impression that they would be excellent in adding magitech and steam power to my games. Admittedly, they seem nice at first glance. However, there seem to be clear editing mistakes - especially in Liber Mechanika - so I would like to clarify a few things since my level of Google-Fu seems not to suffice for the task.
First of all, the rules for Steam Armor in Liber Mechanika. Never mind the fact that for some reason, entering a suit takes half an hour and effectively requires help (unless you want to halve your armor bonus), and that it requires 15 minutes to warm up. These are bad but they are clearly written as they are. However, there are a few glaring editing mistakes which boggle me.
1. Starting a steam armor from outside requires a successful Craft (steam engine) check but starting it from the inside with the Internal Starter modification requires a successful Craft (mechanika) check. Intentional - or simply a mistake?
2. The armor enhancements have a few lines written about the penalties incurred by adding extra armor - but these have nothing to do with the table for said enhancements below the text. Also, all steam armors start at a base speed of 20ft., but the table starts at 30ft..
I am sure that there are other such mistakes since the editing seems lackluster, to be honest. And then there's the Bodger base class in the Player's Guide. These guys can manage when they have steam-powered robots by their side but they seem very weak, to be honest. Most likely Tier 5 material since they basically do nothing effectively. Even their "trapfinding" substitute explicitly allows to Disable (but not Search for) the traps, and they must be mechanical in nature. Their best use besides supporting 'Jacks seems to be abusing UMD with Jackwrenching, but it is not even a class skill for them.
So, I ordered some Iron Kingdoms d20 books since I really like the setting, and I was under the impression that they would be excellent in adding magitech and steam power to my games. Admittedly, they seem nice at first glance. However, there seem to be clear editing mistakes - especially in Liber Mechanika - so I would like to clarify a few things since my level of Google-Fu seems not to suffice for the task.
First of all, the rules for Steam Armor in Liber Mechanika. Never mind the fact that for some reason, entering a suit takes half an hour and effectively requires help (unless you want to halve your armor bonus), and that it requires 15 minutes to warm up. These are bad but they are clearly written as they are. However, there are a few glaring editing mistakes which boggle me.
1. Starting a steam armor from outside requires a successful Craft (steam engine) check but starting it from the inside with the Internal Starter modification requires a successful Craft (mechanika) check. Intentional - or simply a mistake?
2. The armor enhancements have a few lines written about the penalties incurred by adding extra armor - but these have nothing to do with the table for said enhancements below the text. Also, all steam armors start at a base speed of 20ft., but the table starts at 30ft..
I am sure that there are other such mistakes since the editing seems lackluster, to be honest. And then there's the Bodger base class in the Player's Guide. These guys can manage when they have steam-powered robots by their side but they seem very weak, to be honest. Most likely Tier 5 material since they basically do nothing effectively. Even their "trapfinding" substitute explicitly allows to Disable (but not Search for) the traps, and they must be mechanical in nature. Their best use besides supporting 'Jacks seems to be abusing UMD with Jackwrenching, but it is not even a class skill for them.