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Construct Mechanus
 

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Construct Mechanus
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/01/2006 00:00:00

Construct Mechanus is a toolkit for building living constructs, essentially war-golems given sentience. In addition, two new classes for Mechanus characters are introduced, many new feats (both mechanus only and general) and firearms rules are presented. The artwork, by Christopher Shy, is quite spectacular making the Mechanus both alien and fantastic.

The Mechanus are deliberately designed as magical robots, self-aware robots admittedly. It is a very different take then some other recent ideas for living constructs. They are complex and interesting machines, but role-playing them could prove to be an interesting challenge.

The Mechanus ?race? are given a set of base abilities that are in turn built upon by one of two types of Mechanus included:

Stilts, designed as scouts and light combatants are the more modular of the two. Stilts can be built with a variety of options: improved or weakened armor, additional leg, built-in weapons, and other abilities (though one -protective shield- is not given a point cost).

Abombinus, massively strong and heavily armored, the brutal Abombinus are often mistaken for golems.

Both types of Mechanus are +4 Level Adjustment characters, making it costly to take this race even with the advantages gained.

The two Mechanus classes are: Tanker, who becomes almost literally becomes a ?tank? gaining armor, built-in weaponry and -ultimately- greater size. Mystic Defender, a hybrid warrior-wizard who can absorb magic as well as wield it. Both classes seem slightly on the high end of the power curve but as they require being a +4 LA race to take them, it may balance.

Fourteen Mechanus only feats are included such as Hidden Compartment, Overlapping Plates -to improve their armor- and Terrorize. In addition, there are seven general Feats including one to be used with the firearms rules included. The general feats, again, seem on the higher end of the power curve.

The firearm rules are workable for those who wish to add such to their fantasy campaigns. Nothing overly innovative here apart from a misfire table for those unfortunate enough to roll a natural ?one? when using a firearm.

This product is a useful toolkit of options, if you wish to add magical robots and firearms to your campaign.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Fantastic art, intriguing ideas.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The DM will have to be careful in balancing the mechanus if they are included in a campaign.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Justin K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/27/2005 00:00:00

This is an absolutely beautiful supplement that takes a great idea and follows through on both the presentation and the implementation. Construct Mechanus was clearly designed to be easy to read, easy to imagine, and easy to incorporate in your game. From the two base "races" and special classes alone, a plethora of options are available. The sections on new feats and firearms effectively round out Construct Mechanus.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Christopher Shy's art expertly captures the mystique and the vitality that the text conveys. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the PDF. You get your money's worth from each page.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It's a wonderful supplement with wonderful material... I only wish it was longer!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Ronald B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/17/2005 00:00:00

Have to say a fine work of a PDF. Actually this one is one of my favorites in my collection. Kudos to the job done. I give this PDF a high rateing the material inside is very useful to any Mechanized Campaighn, GOOD WORK GUYS!.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: How well written and informative the gude book was.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: a better Rifle Misfire Chart could have been made. one inside it seems very basic kinda 1st ED.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Peter M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/08/2005 00:00:00

Pretty sweet little PDF. The modular, build-your-own system beats the Ironborn from the book of Iron Might and the Warforged from Eberron. If youwant to play a construct as a PC, this is where it's at.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Michael T. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/27/2005 00:00:00

Construct Mechanus is the first in a series of books about magical robot characters in a fantasy setting (COUGH Warforged *COUGH). Actually, I think Construct Mechanus beat Warforged to the punch. But in any case, the Ronin Arts combination of Philip Reed and Christopher Shy band together to present all the mecha goodness you could ever want for a fantasy game, including two new races (Stilt and Abombinus), two new classes (tanker and mystic defender), mechanus-specific feats, and rules on firearms.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Like all Ronin Arts products, the layout and design simply can?t be beat. Some of the mechanus are dark and creepy, others are strange and mysterious. Unfortunately, none of them look like characters so much as villains, which is a shame.

The modular design of the mechanus means there?s a lot of variety. And then there?s the guns, which lets them blow stuff up real good. This is a daring product that isn?t afraid to take risks and go places with the d20 system.
<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are a lot of strange rule presentations throughout the book. For example, the Tanker class has ?As Fighter? for its Base Attack Bonus progression. Similarly, Mystic Defender has ?As Cleric.? Was it that hard to put the bonuses in?

The Tanker class gains the Ignore Damage ability. Which reduces damage by 6 points. Kind of like?damage reduction.

The other challenge is that the presentation of the mechanus veers from science fiction to fantasy. The Tanker class can grow when the mechanus reaches a high enough level, the Stilt race has a life force that bestows a deflection bonus, and the classes allow firing of magic missiles and fireballs. Conversely, the mechanus have ?programming? as well as targeting systems. The concept doesn?t always work, and sometimes it feels like science fiction robot square peg got hammered into the fantasy round hole.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
As one of my very first D20 projects (and easily the "crunchiest" at the time) I look back on this product and want to spend a month completely recreating it. I'm happy you enjoyed it despite the mechanical issues.
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Michel M. d. C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/08/2005 00:00:00

Wahoo! Steam punk in fantasy! Great ideas, races, and a fun way to make a doomsday machine. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The book had a good variety of abilities for the mechanus, even if there were only two species. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not enough customization for the second species. That was a letdown. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Devon A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/21/2005 00:00:00

Overall, a nice publication. Good production value. The elements seemed to be put together from disparate campaign settings, and didn't seem to gel as a whole.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Wonderfully creepy artwork, intriguing idea for construct-level player races.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There were some inconsistencies with the Stilt abilities, specifically missing the point-cost data. The Abombinus was eerily devoid of customization in comparison with the Stilt. The major inconsistencies have already been identified in other reviews. There should be an errata produced to cover some of the missing details and inconsistencies.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by alex H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/11/2005 00:00:00

great but simple mistakes which could have been easily spotted have been left in. also links to the websites where there is supposedly free content leads to a pair of art websites wheich makes this feel like a bit of a money making exercise where more care could have been taken. a good example of this is when the author shows how the stilt race is created, the sample character only adds up to twenty points when he says it should have thirty points. still a great idea and also a viable PC race for a campaign, if a little overpowered.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: idea and characters<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: mistakes and genreal feel<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Peter K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/08/2005 00:00:00

Construct Mechanus provides details for using sentient golems for the d20 system. It also does a pretty nice job of outlining origins, physical concerns, and possible outlooks of Mechanus characters.

Two races are provided, two classes, and a whole bunch of feats. Also, some details for including fantasy firearms in your game (for Mechanus or others) are thrown in at the end to spice things up.

The two races are "Stilts" and "Abominus":

Stilts are limited constructs which can be heavily customized at first level using a point-buy system (and: no, they aren't necessarily required to have a spindly stilt-like appearance).

Abomin(-us? -uses? -i?) are tought, often enormous, constructs meant to take a pounding as frontline troops. They are significantly less customizable except through the use of feats.

The two classes are the "Tanker" and "Mystic Defender":

The Tanker class is somewhat like the Fighter, except that they get massive amounts of armor and other swank magical construct type benefits in place of the standard feats.

The Mystic Defender on the other hand has the spells of a gimped out Wizard, but with better BAB and some pretty sweet (and, in my humble opinion, generally fitting) spell-like abilities acquired in addition to the normal spell progression.

Both these classes are both intended only for Mechanus characters. But while it would be difficult to apply the Tanker to other types of characters, I see no reason that the Mystic defender could be used by most other races with little modification.

The feats are mainly additional physical (occasionally magical) features which can be used to further customize a mechanus beyond the Stilt point-buy system. Very few of them could reasonably be used on non-Mechanus characters unless you want to get silly (but sillyness is your thing then: Hey! Go for it.).<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I'd just like to say: Wow!

That said: The idea is nicely laid out. The art was wonderfully evocative and really helped set the tone for the book.

The way Construct Mechanus was presented gave me some neat ideas for how these guys other stories and settings, D&D or otherwise. Frankly I have to say I'm inspired by it.

Rarely do I buy pre-made adventures and campaign modules, but I'm actually looking forward to purchasing "The Clockwork Heart" and "The Mechanical Woodsman and Other Stories".

Definitely worth the $4.95 I paid.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The complaints I had were few but included: 1) Slightly inconsistent treatment of the races motives. We're told early on that Mechanus characters may have many different motives and feelings. Later descriptions seem to paint a somewhat more shallow and stereotpyical picture of these constructs.

2) Feat purchasing limitations. Many of the Feats have the special limitation that they can only be acquired at first level. This after other text indicates that Mechanus change physically over the course of their advancement. Possibly this limitation was imposed for game balance reasons, but it's a little bit of a let-down for players who want to eventually build in some neat modifications to their character over time.

2) A little too fighty. From Stilts at least I expected a type of character dedicated primarily to activities other than fighting, but they're described as, "constructed as a warrior race" and many of the customizable abilities dealing with combat. I suppose this not unexpected in a game as focused on combat as the d20 system (especially fantasy variants), but I'd hoped for more examples of other character focuses. Although I'm no expert on "game balance", some of the modifications also strike me as a bit powerful compared to the existing PC classes.

3) Magically limited. Unless special GM fiat is applied the default is that Mechanus characters apparently can't use or learn magic except that inherent in their own special features or part of the special mechanus classes presented. This would be easy to fix (the GM simply says, "Mechanus can take standard core SRD classes."), but does not appear to be fully explained.

4) Origins and life sketchy. The ritual (probably a Feat) to create Mechanus characters is intentionally left out of this PDF. This might be interesting to have included as it suggests the possability of self-sustaining Mechanus communities. The inclusion of such a feat is not necessary to playing a character though, just my personal preference.

It is possible that some of these issues are dealt with later in the Mechanus series of books which I haven't read yet.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Christopher H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/19/2004 00:00:00

Metal men seem to be "in", in fantasy, no? A versatile, modular mechanical man race that can be used as PCs or NPCs. They have an ECL, so they're better to start off, as PCs, at higher levels. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Dave H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/06/2004 00:00:00

Very nice concept. Different for a fantasy RPG. Very Nice art. Nice for a cahnge of pace. Good value.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by James S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/26/2004 00:00:00

Extremely well done! I can't wait until they decide to do a Moderns version!!! <whistles and slowly continues with his business>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Thomas F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/22/2004 00:00:00

As a roleplayer and GM, I love mixing it up with tech & magic. I am extremely fond of steam tech and Victorian-era campaigns because I feel it was a pivotal time in technological history. There were a number of different ways it could've gone and I like exploring them in my games. This supplement allows me to do that with characters. Plus, the background info is great for supporting material.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Dave S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/12/2003 00:00:00

Overall a moderately interesting book. The constructs in this book don't seem to go as far as one might imagine. I'd look at the stuff from Forgotten Realms and the gnomes and Gond stuff before I went here.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Steve S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/19/2003 00:00:00

Very cool new race! Great stuff! I would recommend this product to anyone.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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