Iron Kingdoms

So I've been playing in an Iron Kingdoms game, which is fun because usually I am the one running the game. Yes, Virginia, I am talking about the super nerdtastic Role Playing Games, D&D and all its many bastard offspring.

Iron Kingdoms is somewhat unique in that it is the first RPG to come to mind that calls back to the very origin of Role Playing Games in that it is explicitly an expansion of the Table Top Wargame, Warmachine. It isn't 'inspired' by the war-game, it doesn't merely share a setting with the war-game, it literally is Warmachine with some extra focus on individual characters over sweeping strategies, with what we in the know refer to as 'granularity'.

So, your Iron Kingdoms Character could, with very little effort, be imported onto the Tabletop Wargame and be used as written just fine. The most difficult aspect might be trying to determine his point value.

This leads me to some interesting observations: First of all the balance of the RPG is wacky as hell.  Player Characters tend to be portable murder machines, mowing through ranks of lesser men like a scythe through fall wheat.

Until a lucky roll from an NPC mercs them. That hasn't happened to us exactly but its been a close call a few times.  This results in an 'injury' table that makes it virtually impossible to actually kill anyone (literally: three 1's on 3 six sided dice....), no matter how hard you hit them.

"Oh, look! That dragon just totally bit of Joe's Head!!"

"That's okay, I rolled a six, he just has a broken arm. One good healing spell and he's back in the fight!"


Um...ok?

See, a wargame demands reasonably fragile characters or it will never end, while an RPG demands reasonably tough characters or people quit in frustration. Make no mistake, despite the pleas of the old-school grognards, lamenting the loss of characters who didn't deserve names until they'd survived a year of hard campaigning (Third level, however long that took to reach), D&D didn't really grow in popularity until "my Guy" because a reasonable possibility.  Sheafs of disposable characters might be a classic trope, but it isn't a fun one for the majority of people.

My second observation is that characters come in two unnatural categories: Those useful in a fight, and those useful out of a fight, and never the twain shall meet. Oh... given that players get 'two careers' they could try and split the difference (taking on combat and one non-combat career...), but that's just bad thinking. Recall how deadly the system can be and how common fights are likely to be if you have players who can fight.

See, your skills are sharply limited, with no real grasp of 'prior experience'. If you are playing a Man'o'war (Think Steam Powered Knight), then all you can really do is stomp around and beat things with your big hammer or axe. You can't talk to a pretty girl, as Seduction is an "occupational skill", and Man-o-war's occupation is 'Steam powered badass'.

So you were born in your armor, with a hammer in hand, and were never just a guy growing up desperate to get his (imaginary) dick wet?  Man, the Iron Kingdom's setting is HARSH.

The other option is to play an Investigator or Spy or something, in which case WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ON A BATTLEFEILD WHERE PEOPLE CARRY FUCKING CANNONS AROUND!!!!!!

There does seem to be a lack of proper synergy in some classes too.  We've got a Stormblade (heavily armored Electro-Knight) Warcasters (Steam powered wizard), who doesn't have heavy steam armor because... not an option for starting war casters (despite, you know, Stormblade armor being, well, heavy. Also very distinctive to the class...).

Some of that is that our GM is still sort of new at all this, but he's got good instincts for the most part. A little antagonistic/competetive, but not abusively so.  

All and all, I rather enjoy playing the game, though I rather suspect I would hate GMing it. Not as much as I've found I hate GMing Rogue Trader, despite my long abiding love of the setting, but still. To steal another inside term, Iron Kingdoms is Rocket Tag at its finest, and everyone is a Glass Cannon. (well, maybe no my Man-o-War... He's tougher than the Giant Robot the party hauls along...).