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>
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