Iron Kingdoms, A worthwhile setting?

[Ravensblood]

Hi, I'm curious to see other peoples experiences from playing Iron Kingdoms. Let me know what you think of the setting and differences to the rules. What do you enjoy or dislike about it? I generally like it but some things bother me. For instance, Warcaster armour seems way too powerful. There is no downside to it. It is the ultimate armour ever developed and it's only worn by spellcasters.

 

[Bobitron]

I think it is the best and most original setting for D&D yet published. I highly recommend it. It has great support on the Privateer Press forums, even though only the Player's Guide is available now. The upcoming World Guide looks very promising.

As for balance, Warcasters are very powerful, but rare. Just like anything else, if the DM doesn't let it get too powerful, it's not too powerful.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Bobitron speaks the truth. It is one of the main reasons I decided to actually run D&D again (as opposed to play or run some other games). IK , Eberron, and Scarred Lands are some of the best put together settings I have seen in quite some time.

As far as the warcaster goes, well, that is a Prestige Class that people can't take for quite some time. If the class does not fit in with what you want then just modify it or don't let players take it. Besides, a warcaster is someone who is best at using the big warjacks and unless you intend to allow those things running around with PCs in your campaign (which I would not suggest that you do) then people probably would not want to advance to be a Warcaster.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

My favorite setting but..

IK players guide is wonderful and the IK setting is one of my favorites. but it takes a GREAT GM to actually run it for the following reasons:

1. The Mechanika rules are complex and there is no quick reference guide in regard to this.
2. The information is scattered, for example, for a priest you would have relevant information in the Cosmology section, the magic section and even in the introductory section- the book is not player friendly.
3. It will take months for a player to be familiar with the damn book; and there is no way around this; players have to be familiar with all the new rules and quirks to be able to effectively play; ideas like cortex construction, creating items using mechanika, the different nature of alchemy, the variance in raising dead and healing etc (if used characters have to be extremely smart - i am going to use character trees ala Dark Sun in my campaign). The new classes which all need a good amount of game mechanic knowledge (other than the war caller? and the gun mage to some extent).

4. The regional package for humans seem unbalanced; some regions get multiple bonuses to stats, while other don't and the offsetting penalties are minor (jignostic etc. where you get penalties to social skills- not a good way to design in my opinion).

5. The errata where the same text is repeated for the Ranger under all of the "special abilities" descriptions is inexcusable.

That said, i am definitely going to run a campaign, but it is going to take a good amount of work on my part.

 

[Acid_crash]

How are the Mechanika rules done?

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

The Iron Kingdoms has some of the best fluff of any setting I've ever seen. The art is gorgeous, the background is original, the setting descriptions are well-written, evocative and numerous, and the NPCs are full of personality.

It also has some of the worst crunch. The mechanika rules are nightmarish, statblock errors abound, balance is nowhere to be found, and none of the new rules follow either the conventions of the d20 system or an internal logic of their own.

Buy Iron Kingdoms material in the same way you might buy Spelljammer or Dark Sun material: as a great setting that as written doesn't actually work with 3.x. Looked at in that light, you really can't do any better. Looked at as a setting you can run with basic d20 knowledge and compatibility, like Scarred Lands, Warcraft or even Arcana Unearthed, it will seem frustrating.

Personally, I love the IK and play in it at the drop of a hat. DMing it would be a much more daunting task; honestly, I'd probably use some other system for it, like Silhouette, Conan, Grim Tales or just d20 Modern, since so much of the crunch needs conversion anyway.

 

[Karl Green]

I read a friends copy of the Player's Guilde, and while I will more then likely pick up the World Guild I am skipping the Player's Guild. If I ever run the game I will make up more own rules on magic and stuff (using either Grim Tales or Black Company)

The world is GREAT and the art is some of the BEST I have ever seen in a game book... but the rules where made up by someone who wanted to go for the KEWL factors but had no idea who to do that with D&D/d20. For favor's shake the made the RULES plain bad

And I was sort of interested in IK still, even though I have had the WFT for like 3 years now... so sad

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The IK ranger kicks butt. IMO it needs Balance and Heal as class skills, and give it something to boost it's speed, but other than that it's better and more flavorful than the 3.5 ranger.

The clerics, on the other hand, suck. Really hard, at least at low levels. By effectively denying players the use of Necromancy, it takes away many attack spell options for 2nd-level clerics (IME). I couldn't use cause fear (I hate using spells subject to HD caps, but there's no good 1st-level attack spells for clerics other than that and doom) but the rules caused my character to become evil. Evil clerics have to prepare inflict wounds so there go even more options.

Oh yeah, healing got nerfed too.

 

[KaintheSeeker]

My IK complaints

1. Healing. Many there as some many clauses/issues with healing, you almost have to have cleric/group be all the same to avoid spontanously combusting (Not really but with my die rolls.. ick)
2. All Necromancy bad? Eh.. I agree it hurts some of the casting choices but I think it's survivable
3. Conjuring bad: double whammy for mages seems a bit mean, but still, most mages I game with are Evoker/Linna Inverse types so it don't hurt them much
4. Magic Items.: all sorts of confusing things on this.

Biggest suggestion
Some sort of FAQ/Reference for Cleric issues and Mage/Wizard/Sorcerer issues would make it easier to rapidly access/find the info. A 'cheat' sheet to learn the basic with so to speak.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

There's a stickied thread on the IK boards that is a great help for comprehending mechanika. When the Liber Mechanika comes out it will doubtless be much better rounded-out.

EDIT: And the Pain of Healing rules are quite clearly called out as strictly optional, and not something that most people will want to do.