I've been working to introduce steam power into a game setting for a while, and the flavor text in the introduction of this guide was worth the purchase price. The impact of the technology is considered and discussed, giving the GM quite a few ideas to consider in making the choice to add this new technology to a fantasy setting.

Even if the base system isn't d20 based, this guide is worth considering if you're thinking of introducing the technology in your world. Conversion to anther system isn't terribly difficult, and the ideas that can be spawned, not to mention the surprises that can be dropped into a game, make reading the guide worthwhile.

Glad I purchased the material.

Excellent product that give pages worth of generalized advice for developing the themes and direction of your own steampunk campaign. Lots of concrete examples of steampunk weapons, prosthetics, devices, monsters, and vehicles. This is by far a superior document to the previous published "Mechamancy 1" and "Mechamancy 2".

There are several comments on the bright sides of this product. While I agree with them, I expected something more out of this product. Logic. As it is it creates a quasi magical enviroment. eg. Flying constructs powered by steam... What I was expecting was what could be done by steam power in reality. What I expected were drawing of those engines. Every DM can design clockwork machines as long as no concept of reality exists, and this bookis more on that side. So if you are looking for a clockwork campaign, then this book is for you. But if you are looking "what could have been done with today's knowledge but with steam technology only" then this is not the book.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Not much<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Aside from my objection above, there are very few drawings to show what you are up to.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

I'm playing an Artificer right now and I'm hopeing to incorporate This into my characters "portfolio"<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Steam & Steel is a PDF product from E.N. Publishing that describes how to include steamworks into your fantasy setting. Steam & Steel is meant to be used only in a fantasy setting. It doesn?t try to lend itself to a Modern d20 setting. Buyers be warned.

From a technical standpoint, the file is done rather well. Save for the cover and the E.N. Publishing logo on the credits page, there?s no color in the product, as all the artwork is black and white. However, no printer-friendly version is included, which may be a mild cause for concern, since there is still artwork, and the pages back black borders with a gear design in the corners. The product is fully bookmarked, even for sidebars, and has a (non-hyperlinked) table of contents.

The book opens with a fairly lengthy introduction, covering the questions that a DM should ask him or herself for how they want to use the product. Will steamworks be integrated into the campaign before being added in, or will they be newly discovered? Will you have steamworks be prevalent and powerful, or will they be a struggling science that only the elite can afford? How do magic and religion interact with steamworks? All these and more are given coverage in the Introduction.

Subsequent chapters cover various aspects of using steamworks in a campaign, such as steamwork equipment, steamwork buildings, steamwork enines, and steamwork prosthetics. The basics are also covered, including such things as the breakdown table for when steamworks fail, new feats related to steamwork technology, and a few new skills. It?s interesting to note that this new system lends itself to working with magic quite well, as there are magical steamwork engines, as well as magical steamwork devices.

There are two chapters on Beasts of Steel, one for monsters, the other for vehicles. The monsters tend to include a lot of constructs, but still has several other creature types represented, such as the steamwork lich. The vehicles were given partial monstrous stats, treating them as large constructs.

After that, five new prestige classes are presented. The Balloonist, Inspired Inventor, Mechanist, Metalworker, and Steel Knight are all prestige classes based around the idea of a steamwork user who focuses on a specific aspect of steamwork. The Steel Knight, for instance, specializes in using a new type of armor presented, called super-heavy armor (which is very nearly a mecha). A dozen new spells finishes off the product, giving a variety of effects from Awaken Machine to Warp Metal.

A short appendix presents two possible steamwork campaigns, one of a populous steamwork empire, the other where steamworks are only found as the ruins of a bygone civilization. After the OGL, there?s a short page on what the author is doing next, along with compatible books from other publishers.

All in all, Steam & Steel does a very good job of presenting the material. Each chapter covers its subject in incredible detail, presenting a lot of options for various equipment types, along with their engines, items, upgrades, and more. However, Steam & Steel also had its share of problems. Magic items didn?t have an aura listed, and only had their market price listed on the purchase table, not in their individual entries; likewise, the cost to create is also missing. While all of these can be extracted from what is there, it?s still disheartening. Also, although this is a 3.5 book, the monsters were largely formatted in 3.0 style, not listed a BAB, Grapple, or Full Attack line.

However, these are little problems. Steam & Steel?s treatment of its material is incredibly in-depth, not just for all the different steamworks possible, but also in regards to how to use it. This product is a strong leader in the genre of steam-based fantasy. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The coverage of the myriad possibilities for steamworks was extraordinarily broad. It gave wonderful coverage to the different ideas of how to use steamworks in a campaign.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I didn't like how magic items didn't have their auras or cost to create listed. I likewise didn't like how all monsters were formatted mostly according to the 3.0 style, instead of 3.5E; likewise, almost all the Construct monsters had hardness instead of damage reduction<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

truly excerlent source book really enjoyed, its now the backbone of my new steampunk game.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This is an excellent product for any Gm thinking about working Steam Punk into their own campaign. It offers suggestion on all levels of avalability of steam devices and suggests what effects this would have on society at large.

While it is aimed at a D20 audience the ideas are generic enough to be adapted to any system.

The quality of the presentation was generally good, concise and clear<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: good level of detail. offers the GM some good foundations from which steamwork items can be integrated into the campaign<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A priceless sourcebook for Steam-tech settings, well-researched and thorough. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Think outside the pseudo-Medieval box! Excellent for adding fantasy steam technology, at various tech levels, to a typical fantasy campaign. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The various types of steam engines. Even within the fantasy steamworks setting, different levels of advancement are possible, opening up a fantasy arms race to see how can develop (and keep!) new technology. Well, that's what I plan to do with it.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The art could be better. Not bad, as is, though. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I enjoyed this - the new character classes have a lot of promise and can be ported into other d20 games easily<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Excellent work with a lot of great ideas, particularly if you are thinking about adding Eberron-like steam to your fantasy game.

This is an excellent product. So far its the first "Steamtech" book to get it done right. This will make an excellent add on to Iron Kingdoms when it comes out in a month or two.

The layout and art lend to the genre quite well. I see no real glaring mistakes and the quality rivals that of many of the larger print publishers.

The material itself is damned good. More material was fit into this book than i thought could be. This book covers prosthetics, constructs, vehicles, steamwork weapons/armor/equipment, feats, prestige classes, skill variations, and magic that syncs up real nice to the steamwork genre (both divine and arcane). Its support writing on how to use the books and on steamwork campaigning also hit the mark.

Its about time someone did this right.

It's a great tome, written by a friend of mine; it beats handily even published works (such as FFG's "Sorcery and Steam") by being better balanced, better thought out, and with more densley packed inspirations per page. Though the ground has been covered before, it has never IMHO been covered as well. The only flaw is the occasional editing snafus (the very first sentence has one, and a few terms are awkward), but if that's the only thing I can hold against it, it's substantially above average. Heart it, love it, and buy it, if you value a technological aspect to your game. :)

Well, I managed to download this supplement even before the announcement went up on E. N. World that Steam & Steel was available.

At first, cursory examination it looks good. Easy to read, with quality illustrations. The cover, though simple, is direct and to the point, though lacking any illustration beyond a large metallic gear. Each of the chapters is bookmarked.

Taking a deeper look I am impressed with the number of options available, and in fact several variations not covered in detail by the main text are instead highlighted in boxes and side bars.

Notes as to the likely reaction of some of the more common races of fantasy gaming is also placed in boxes rather than in the main text. Though I am intending to use this product in a game without most of these creatures I found their conclusions to be within the bounds of reason.

And then to the meat. A new craft skill (steamworks) is added and most tasks involving the technology are acomplished with this skill. Several feats are also provided, as are a number of prestige classes. running the gamut from users of the new technology to the creators of these wondrous contraptions. And a good number of new spells to compliment or combat steam creations adds some teeth to the spellcasters in a world darkened by coal smoke.

There are enough options to allow a D.M. to flavour his game as he sees fit, picking and choosing from a wide vaiety of alternatives, Don't want the good guys to have the technology? How about limiting the fuel choices to necromantic engines. Want the tech to be in the hands of arcane spellcasters? there are a number of choices to allow just that. Want technology and magic to go together poorly if at all? The rules can cover it.

As for the contraptions themselves several modes of powering the engines are given, running from conventional coal burners coal to magic to the consumption of souls. And a variety of materials and their effects upon an engine constructed from them helps add flavor and variation to the machines. Sample machines follow, running from golem like constructs to vehicles. And from armor and weapons to prosthetics. Tools and equipment also get a fair treatment, including the printing press. Unlike the other rules that I have seen for steam tech in D20 there are rules for maintainance, These are acompanied by the rules for what happens when things go SPROING! And for those who wonder getting struck by a steam train hurts! The train automatically attempts a bullrush, though if it fails the engine is derailed.

A sample setting is given a brief glimpse, as is a technological diety. A list of styles and descriptions on how to implement those styles is also a boon, covering steam punk to epic worlds torn by massive armies and huge thundering machines.

All in all I am quite pleased with this product, and will be enjoy using it this coming Saturday. I am sitting down and choosing the options I want for this campaign immediately upon finishing this review. (In fact I am using this review as a means to fill the time while my printer whirs happily away.) I am giving it a strong 5.