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Rating: 
Intro:
“…This first edition of Privateer Press’ Lock & Load™ series of supplements, the Iron Kingdoms™ Character Primer, bestows heaps of information for the gaming enthusiast. You’ll learn about the various races, ethnicities, languages, and religions of the Iron Kingdoms through the insights of the notorious master spy, Gavyn Kyle, as he imparts his knowledge and experience on a protégé in some backwater pub. Through the pages of the Iron Kingdoms™ Character Primer, you can eavesdrop on this dicey discussion. “
Technical information:
Lock & Load: Character Primer
(Pip 301)
Cover: Matt Wilson
Written by: D. Seacat, J.M. Kilmartin, a.o.
Art: Matt Wilson, Brian Snoddy, a.o.
soft cover, 64 pgs + map
ISBN 0 – 9706970 – 5 – 8
WWW: Privateer Press
Behind the scenes information:
- None as of yet
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This first instalment of the L&L Series contains a lot of interesting material for players of the Iron Kingdoms d20 RPG (IK), and some material might prove equally useful for WARMACHINE adepts.
But before diving in the deep, a short lesson in history.
The first material written for the IK setting was the Witchfire Trilogy. This mini-campaign focussed on an ongoing adventure, and while providing the perils for our adventurers to overcome, it presented a lot of background material to introduce the new world of Caen.
Using sidebars and explanatory paragraphs spread throughout the adventure text the writers managed to include large chunks of the background of the IK setting, and a lot of information on religion, races, habits etc.
But this of course was not enough for the players. As the setting quickly got more known and more popular, people wanted / needed more info on the world.
So, after finishing their Book on Beasties, the Monsternomicon, the Privateers wrote the Character Primer.
It contains about 60 pages of information on the setting, races, religions, languages, weapons, etc. of the IK. As such, it provides a lot of info on almost every aspect of life in the Iron Kingdoms, and serves as a perfect starter for DMs and players alike.
The cover, painted by Matt Wilson, shows a rather nice female person fondling a huge lumbering steamjack. I want it on a poster :o)
The black and white artwork inside the book is great. Evocative and supporting the steam-and-fireball feel of the setting, it is sometimes very funny and in general of a high technical level.
The book starts with a table of contents , but quickly the quotes by Gavin Kyle will guide you through the info. In the following pages, you'll find material on:
- Races of Western Immoren
- Character Classes
- Religion
- Gear
So if you're in need of some basic info on Gobbers and Trollkin, firearms and grenades, the church of Morrow and the deities of the Elves, you can simply browse to the relevant sections. Tables and sidebars are added here and there to give you even more detailed data on lands, religions and other useful stuff.
 The book focuses on players and DMs alike. And as there wasn't much background available at the release of the Witchfire trilogy (WFT), every new bit of information is welcome. At the same time, it seems the Privateers have gone to great lengths avoiding the inclusion of WFT spoilers and players' secrets. Apart from a few references to NPCs in the WFT, I didn't find any.
Now, while we're talking about useful material. A very nice character sheet occupies the last few pages. Only detraction is the background texture, making it difficult to reproduce it for 'personal use only'. So unless you manage to get better copies than I did, you will have to write in your book, or use the downloadable sheets from the Privateer Press website.
And then a gem contained in the back and literally attached to the inside of the cover: a map of Western Immoren, to make travelling the Iron Kingdoms even more easy.
The Character Primer is a useful supplement for the Iron Kingdoms Setting, and can be used by DMs and players alike.
The 'Good': almost everything! Great material, great artwork, lot's of good ideas. There's a lot of gaming potential crammed in those 60 pages!
The 'Bad': the character sheets might prove difficult to reproduce.
It's a perfect starter. Now, we're REALLY hungry!
The 'Useful': almost everything. And people are gonna love that map!
This one is a "4 fishbones" for me!
Koen@buccaneerbass.com |
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