Dragonmech or Iron Kingdoms Options

[Prime Mover]

I'm a fan of gaming and I take great pleasure in finding games I haven't looked at before. And occasionally finding a game I'd like to purchase and maybe even play. It's how I found my favorite Shadowrun and how I've found 3-4 other games that I've stuck with for years. Always try to look into at least one new game a year. Recently been looking over the most recent version of Paranoia, Savage Worlds and Eclipse Phase. Today I somehow wandered into a review of these two games. Both well reviewed on the site I was at. Curious if anyone has any personal experience with either and would they recommend one or both? On what merits?

http://privateerpress.com/iron-kingdoms/books
http://www.goodman-games.com/dragonmech.html

[PBTHHHHT]

I have the iron kingdoms stuff and I love the materials. It's really steampunk/fantasy and one of the best bestiary books ever published. The downside, you have to find the secondhand books for it (prior to pdf release could run up close to 100 dollars from what I've heard), or buy the pdf's (which range between 20-30 dollars easy).

Haven't heard much of Dragonmech so I can't say which is better, just that I'm familiar with Iron Kingdoms.

[Grinder]

I have all books of both settings and have to say that Iron Kingdoms wins wins wins! the world is more detailed, has a unique flavor and is much more awesome than the dragonmech setting. And you can get the IK-books as PDFs!

[ravensmuse]

My vote is definitely for Iron Kingdoms.

Pros:

+ Really detailed world, with history, religion, politics
+ Interesting non-traditional fantasy races (goblins, ogres, trolls, racist elves)
+ Cyris, Goddess of Machinery. Love her.
+ Arcane Mechaniks and Bodgers. Arcane mechaniks are like Cid in Final Fantasy Vii, grungy, smoking cigars, yelling and using colorful language. Bodgers are more of a throw it together, pray it works version of the above.
+ Guns treated seriously in semi-traditional fantasy. Been waiting ages for that.
+ Oh yeah: battle mechs, though they're about the size of elemental suits in BT. On that note:
+ Steampowered powersuits. Hell. Yes. There's even an "ace pilot" prestige class in the Liber Mechanika.
+ In general, the mechanika rules are highly detailed. If you're the kind of person that loves that sort of thing (like me) then you'll love it.
+ At the moment, supported through PP's No Quarter magazine. Recently its been parts of a magic & religion book they never published (think like SoLA for SR).

Cons:

+ Not as crazy over the top as the mini's game would make you think. The mini game's slogan is, "Play like you got a pair!" The rpgs is, "Scrape Together Money for Bullets!" Kind of a downer.
+ The fans are a little crazy devoted to the above. Also, don't mention DnD 4e ever. If anything, say you're converting it to Savage Worlds.
+ The books are expensive and hard to get if you're looking to own print copies. The recent pdf announcement eases this some (they're just cover price now) but if you're looking for print, expect to pay upwards of 200$. (We lucked out and walked into a game store that was selling four of the seven books. Add with my gf winning a copy of Five Fingers and an ebay snag last night of Lock and Load, we're only missing two books for a complete collection).
+ Did I mention that the mechanika rules are really detailed?
+ On that note, if anyone in your group decides to play an arcane mechanik, you need to get Liber Mechanika, the mechanika supplement, which publishes a Arcane Mechanik class that actually works. The one in the character guide is a glorified wizard.
+ The only support is through No Quarter, the Privateer Press magazine, and we're talking maybe three or four pages per issue of rpg content.
+ The metaplot of the books is just around the time that Llael (a minor kingdom) gets invaded, sparking an international war. This war is briefly mentioned, but in order to get details on them, or the big demon dragon running Cryx, or what happened to the northern elves, or basically, anything involving the metaplot, you're going to have to shell out for the mini game codexes. You will not even know who some of the important NPCs are, because they're only detailed in said codexes. It's a little frustrating, especially since you can't find the stupid information online.

That's all I can think of off-hand though! My SO got me into the game when we got together (she loves it so much she costumed as the gunmage on the front cover of the Character Guide) and I've been a supporter all the way til when they announced the project was on indefinite hiatus. In fact, just this Gencon I mentioned to one of the guys working the booth that IK would be a perfect fit for DnD 4e (look, rpg politics aside, the mini game and 4e share common rules) and the look on his face I initially took to mean he violently disliked the idea - and then the announcement of a home system came out just this past week. My gf pointed out that that was probably why I got the look I did (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Grinder]

In fact, just this Gencon I mentioned to one of the guys working the booth that IK would be a perfect fit for DnD 4e (look, rpg politics aside, the mini game and 4e share common rules) and the look on his face I initially took to mean he violently disliked the idea - and then the announcement of a home system came out just this past week. My gf pointed out that that was probably why I got the look I did (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[Warlordtheft]

I've played the IK and it is 3.5 (or 3.0) D&D mechanics. Love the stting. The Mini's game rocks, if you play table top minitures. Beats Warhammer hands down IMHO.

[Critias]

I'm a big Iron Kingdoms fan, but that's partially because I write for them from time to time (or, rather, it's at least a "chicken and egg" thing, whether I was a fan and wrote for them, or have stayed a fan because of it)...so I'm a little biased.

There's some new IKRPG stuff on the back, back, burner -- be forewarned -- but I don't see most of the existing RPG material being obsolete any time soon, anyways. Ask anyone with the Iron Kingdoms World Guide, for instance -- there's pretty much no "crunch" to it, when it comes to game stats. It's an awful lot more like a history textbook than a player's handbook or something...so even when a new set of rules comes out, stuff like the World Guide will still be chock full of useful setting information.

Even the ones that are more packed with in-game numbers, monster stats, rules, etc...aren't JUST that sort of material. Much like the old Anarchist's Guides, NAN volumes, etc, are still handy to have in Shadowrun, most of the Iron Kingdoms books will still be great for background info for a good, long, time.

Also, if you find out you're a huge fan of the Iron Kingdoms, there's always the wargame(s) if you're interested...but, also handy, is that new content comes out pretty regularly in No Quarter, Privateer Press's bi-monthly magazine. Sometimes it's more crunch than fluff, sometimes it's more wargame than RPG...but there's almost always something in there an RPG fan can use.

[Adarael]

Dude, really? IK is one of my favorite game worlds ever. What have you written for them?

[Critias]

Nothing in any of the big books (most of them were published by the time I did anything for them), but I contribute to No Quarter pretty often, including a couple Guts & Gears articles (Storm Knights and the Destroyer).

I toned down my freelance stuff about a year ago when I went back to school, in an attempt to make myself prioritize like a grown up and invest my time wisely. I still do their Monsterpocalypse fiction, mostly because it's a fun break from writing scholarly history papers...and Guts and Gears articles very much aren't (they're genuinely researched and written very much like a military history paper). Giant stompy robots and space aliens fighting in, and wrecking, New York City is a lot more fun. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)