Dragonmech

By Smaugdragon, Co-Host

Dragonmech is a 240-page campaign sourcebook published by Sword & Sorcery Games and in association with Goodman Games. The author is Joseph Goodman. The cover features a pair of mechs squaring off and is uncredited and it is available for $34.99.

Dragonmech is a combined effort of both Sword & Sorcery Games and Goodman Games and is the second product that combines the genres of D&D and Mech Warriors. The advantage that Dragonmech has over Bastion Press’ Doomstriders is that this is a full campaign setting. Material from Doomstriders is imminently useful in Dragonmech however. This steampunk genre campaign is gaining in popularity with players who want to play a historical based game a little more advanced than the average D&D game but not wanting to blast off into space as yet.

As I stated, Dragonmech is a full campaign and is set on the world of Highpoint. The rise of the Dragonmechs came about when the near-orbit moon began to break apart and fall to earth. This was preceded by a migration of lunar monsters and dragons. The advancing doom drove the races of this world into a crowded underground. A dwarf of the Gearwright guild is credited for creating the first walker powered by steam beginning with ten tom mechanical men and leading to the 1000 ft tall city-mechs capable of felling the lunar dragons. Five of these city-mechs have cleared space on the surface allowing for a return of settlers and trade called the Stenian Confederation. Each of these city-mechs is supported by fleets of smaller mechs, trade mechs and other purposes. The nomad tribes of humanity have united under a single leader and with their own city-mech known as the Legion. Mercenaries also play a big part in the scramble for metal and fuel. The chaos caused by the lunar rain has broken much of civilization and the only law that abounds is the martial law imposed by the Confederacy. Worship of the old gods has fallen off, replaced by a new mechanized god and the Gearwright Guild is more powerful than some of the old surface kingdoms were.

Character motivation is an important in this game and examined in chapter one. How does the past history of the character’s race, family, the lunar rain, new technology all fit into how the character thinks and by the past how does this shape the goals the character is now trying to reach. The standard races are then looked at and their place on Highpoint. Humans either tried to wait out the lunar rain in their cities (most of which fell to the lunar dragons), became nomads or retreated to the underworld. Dwarves rose to prominence with the Gearwright Guild development of steam-powered mechs. Elves survived on the surface better than did the humans but have fallen onto harder times. Gnomes became the workforce of dwarven society while halflings adapted to the newer societies. Life for Half-orcs is much the same as it always has been. The twelve core classes are re-examined; Barbarians, Bards, Fighters, Rogues and Wizards have seen little change. Clerics, Druids, Rangers and Paladins suffer from diminished resources as the gods are distracted by their own wars and Sorcerers are rising with new lunar themes to their powers. Several new core classes include:

Clockwork Ranger: a variant ranger class adapted to fighting on and around mechs.
Coglayer: a tinkerer or mechanic, always testing and improving their creations.
Constructor: A mage who has adapted to using magic in making constructs.
Mech Jockey: Pilots that make the mechs do things their designers never thought they could.
Stalker: Rogues that specialize in infiltrating and destroying mechs
Steamborg: Mech laborers and engineers who have replaced parts of their own bodies with mechanized parts.

Of course there are new Prestige classes as well:

Anklebiter: Fighters who specialize in ground combating mechs.
Assimilated: Mech Jockeys who have given so much of themselves they have become part of their mechs.
Gearwright: A dwarf or gnome member of the Gearwright Guild.
Mech Devil: Irontooth clan members who are among the most skilled and feared Mech Jockeys.
Rift Walker: Mages that learned to shift to other planes to avoid the lunar rains.
Steam Mage: Mages who aptitudes for both magic and machines.
Vessel of Dotrak: Pseudo clerics of the pseudo god of machines.

As you could expect, with this much difference in the genre setting, new skills must develop but they first must adapt out of existing skills so Craft (mechcraft), Knowledge (Steam) and Handle Animals get mech applications while new skills such as Pilot (Mech) are introduced. A whole new raft of feats are also introduced such as Gearhead, Mech Fu and Mechidextrous. Spells are also discussed here. Variant spells take spells from the Players Handbook and give then new use in Highpoint. Spells like Control Gears or Speak with Constructs are merely variations of Control Plants and Speak with Animals. A new mage school of Constructors is growing in knowledge and power. Spell lists for the Clockwork Ranger, Rift Walker and Constructors are then provided. A new cleric domain of Engines has been established by followers of Dotrak. New spells like Animate Gears, Clockwork Double and Ferrous Soul are among the new spells introduced. Mechs can also have powers built into them and the rules governing their incorporation are then covered. Among those powers are Darkness Generator, Lobber and Wavemaker. Combining these powers make for some very useful abilities on mechs and a short list of examples are provided for use. Religion on Highpoint is also dealt with. The standard religions are in play for the terrestrial folk but the lunar gods are then introduced. Because of the war of the terrestrial and lunar gods special rules govern the Resurrection and Raise Dead spells.

Chapter two features the mechs. These are meant to be inspired by the drawings of Da Vinci and the Gutenberg Press rather than mass manufacturing or Japanese anime. Each part of a mech is not only hand crafted it must be maintained in such a way also, parts are more often than not, not interchangeable. The history and society of mechs are defined before a cross-section of a working mech is shown. The requirements for constructing a mech are then defined. It would need a power source such as steam, magic animation, man or undead-powered are among the choices. Mechs are then defined in a standard monster stat block with additional stats as well. Critical thresholds, hardness factors, payloads and crew are among many that are listed. Mechs in this setting begin at Large size through Colossal until reaching the six levels of City-mech size. The mechs are then shown with power sources and their threshold limits and damage charts. The time and cost factor as well as material cost and requirements for mechs are handled next. Mech combat is then dealt with feats and movement factors discussed first. The pilot’s initiative modifiers are incorporated into the mechs with other factors like armor and Attacks of Opportunity described as well. Called shots, critical hits, damage and critical thresholds, boarding and crew are also factors covered here. Several standard construction mech are now introduced such as the Scorpion, Fangbiter, Verdant Fury and Juggernaut.

Equipment is the feature of chapter three and starts with the beginning wealth of the new core classes. Weapons from the Players Handbook are revisited with new costs and size designations to be used by the mechs. Other new weapons include Magnetic, Pressure or Rust Bombs, Bores, Buzz Saws and Flame Nozzles, new siege weapons add Cannons to the mix. New personal armors are also introduced including Gearmail (armor made from gears and scrap mech parts) and Hydraulic armor. Other new items that can be had include Coal (to power the steam engine mechs), Fruits and Vegetables (especially on a world that’s surface has been devastated), a rudimentary phone system and a new metal recovered from the lunar meteors.

A gazetteer of Highpoint is in chapter four. Highpoint refers to the main continent of the world and the world itself is now referred to as Dragonmech. I found Highpoint a better world name than the name of the campaign setting actually. Because of the close lunar orbit, tides can rise and fall as much as 30 feet in the course of a year. This has the effect of raising and sinking temporary landmasses, this is the origin of the name Highpoint. Climate time and dating and the lunar cycle are all covered as well. A map of Highpoint is provided and then follows the regional descriptions. A map of the city known as Cliffside also follows. New tribes of people such as Worm Farmers, Hypsies and Tortogs are introduced along with new political entities such as Mechdoms, the major political alliances such as the Stenian confederacy and the Irontooth Clans are also described. Even several of the city-sized mechs are covered in some detail. A drawing displays the layout of one such city. The Gearwrights Guild and Thieves Guilds are among some of the organizations introduced as well.

Chapter five is a bestiary of new creatures, lunar monsters and clockwork creations. Several types of Clockwork Puppets are given as are Coglings, Lunar Dragons, Slathem and Forestrati (undersea humanoids and altered Treants).

Chapter six covers running a Dragonmech campaign for your players. Adventure ideas centering on the mechs are covered first, several aspects of and party configurations are discussed. Adventures based on the Lunar Rain, Divine Wars, Surface World Rebirth, Political Machinations, Dungeon Crawls and Magic/Machinery Rivalries are among the possibilities here. Injecting mechs into an existing campaign is also a well-discussed subject here. Chapter seven handles the City-Mech Nedderpik, running its stats, combat strategy, appearance, access, society, government and other factors. A long letter on the design of the campaign by the author closes the book.

Dragonmech is a meld of two popular genres D&D and Mech Warriors. The concept seems very strange but the rise of the steampunk genre made this an unavoidable eventuality. There is a market for gamers who want to step beyond the standard swords and magic of D&D but not into the modern world. Steampunk campaigns such as this enable gamers to bridge this gap. The popularity of this genre is evidenced in popular comics such as Steampunk and Altered Nation. Will it take hold? Even Wizard’s own new campaign setting Eberron has the steampunk overtones to it.

I’m reserving judgment here. Reading designer notes indicate the campaign was started prior to the release of the 3.5 edition and some references do refer to 3rd edition sources. As I read through the supplemental releases I will draw a better conclusion. One of the other things I didn’t like was the way the area maps are incorporated. Call me spoiled but I like full color maps and a campaign setting is best set off in color. The sepia tones however worked well to give it that Victorian Age feel.

Dragonmech will be a hit to the steampunk crowd but I think there are enough good themes to be thought of as a waste by non-steam fans, The world itself needs fleshing out a bit but as with some of the original campaign settings such as Greyhawk, but there are a lot of good development clues and hints to allow for individual customizing of the setting by the DMs. This is not a campaign for just anyone but one for those who can play a high octane adventure with country or world spanning significance at any given time while still maintaining the ability or reign it in and have a smaller adventure of less consequence.

Added: June 9th 2005
Reviewer: Bruce Boughner
Score:
Related Link: Sword & Sorcery Games
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Language: eng