The Iron Kingdoms RPG sets you on your way to discover this world of fantasy, sorcery and technology. Magic and machine meet and you can use them as you set off for adventure in this mystical and mechanical world.

Description of the Iron Kingdoms Roleplaying Game:
The Iron Kingdoms RPG Core Rule Book is 358 pages. It is full of everything you need to know to run and play the game. The book starts by giving you a history of the world and what it is like to live in it.

The next section tells you how to create a character. There are four character archetypes, Mighty, Skilled, Intellectual and Gifted. Each archetype gets to choose from a set of starting abilities. Your starting stats are determined by your race, but you can distribute an additional three points to your base stats. You must also select two careers. The book contains 30 careers you may choose. Some careers have prerequisites but as long as you meet them you can choose any two careers you’d like. Your careers determine your starting skills, abilities and equipment. To finish rounding out your character you can buy additional gear, weapons and armor.

Each round of combat you are able to move, take a quick action and an attack, or use a full round action. Some quick actions are reloading or drawing a weapon, casting spells, or taking cover.

The basic resolution mechanic in the Iron Kingdoms RPG uses 2d6 added to a stat. In combat you add your roll to your MAT for melee or RAT for ranged combat. You compare this to your target’s Defense to see if you hit. If you do hit then you roll 2d6 and add your weapons POW. This gets compared to the target’s Armor. Any points above their armor value damages the target.

You start each session with three feat points. These are used for a variety of effects in the game. You can boost non-combat rolls, parry, re-roll failed rolls and even reduce the damage you take by half. Feat points are regained by rolling doubles on a successful roll, but you may never have more than three.

A Quick Review of the Iron Kingdoms RPG:
This system has some things I really like. The careers are excellent and you can spend a ton of time thinking of different combinations and the stories that might accompany those characters.

Another strong point is the combat system that mirrors the miniatures games. If you have played Warmachine or Hordes you know a majority of the combat in Iron Kingdoms. At the same time the system is simple and intuitive enough to learn quickly.

The book is gorgeous and the art is beautiful. It includes a ton of fluff for those unfamiliar with the setting and creates an immersive experience. Gamemasters that are familiar with the setting have a lot of existing materials they can use from a story standpoint.

The combat system can be predictable as well as the use of feat points, but that might be due to the composition of our group. We use feat points to fix failures or in a more reactive way. Other groups may use them differently and we might get the chance if our characters get more abilities that require feat points to use.

I like how capable PCs are at first level and yet realize that if they suffer a few hits they could die. This seems like a good tension to face when compared to RPGs that have overpowered, hard-to-kill low-level PCs.

The game could really flourish with custom terrain too. Whether you need to go to a store or have some at home it really helps immerse the entire party. It also looks impressive and draws other people in if playing in public.

Our players felt the occupation skill list could be streamlined. The gamemaster wished there was more GM support. Some also thought the careers can be pretty unbalanced and the entire group needs to talk about their expectations for the game and campaign.

If you already play Warmachine or Hordes and are looking for a role-playing game to run, pick this up. Even if you don’t know anything about the Iron Kingdoms setting I encourage you to try this RPG out. The character creation is great and the system allows for a lot of storytelling. The combat is simple and the feat points add a nice twist to the action.