OSSR: Dragonmech: Steam Warriors

[Maxus]

Steam Warriors

Chnk-GSSSSSS

OVERVIEW

For all its obscurity, Goodman Games really did try with Dragonmech. There's a mech manual, a location sourcebook that's pretty decent, a sort of "Campaign Book 2" about more in-depth things in the setting, and a few others. There's a feel that the setting was a labor of love and a sense that the writers actually did enjoy making up stuff for this weird little world where people live in big clumsy mechs because redhot rocks fall from the sky and people cut off their leg and replace it with one with a built-in-cannon because it seems good in a fight.

Steam Warriors is the steampunk sourcebook. It's 127 pages log, and apart from a couple of classes and a section of spells, it's all for the setting tech, focsed on the steamborgs (mostly) and coglayers.

It also introduces a variant Steamborg class, which gets to pick what it wants at each level, at the cost of less total stuff. This is as underwhelming as it sounds, and it's a shame because a lot of the new steamborg feats and options are neat concepts. That's a TL;DR of this book: Great concept, slightly underwhelming execution.

So I guess this review is focused on "Was this worth the space, either mechanically or conceptually?" Because they have a Steamborg PrC where you get your prostheics made made animal-style so you can become a quadrupedal wolf-cosplaying robot-man a robot spider-thing, and another PrC where you try your damnedest to be a Transformer--being able to design limbs so they combine to make new weapons and configurations. And those ideas are awesome. But likely mechanically underwhelming and reserved in how far they let you go.


I'm sure I'll hear Shrapnel's squeal of excitement from here, despite the undoubtedly vast distance between the Deep South and wherever he is.

In a somewhat odd editing choice to me, the first section of the book is feats, rather than the Steamborg Mk. II class or something. We'll get a look at them soon.

[Stahlseele]

*tiny yay*

[Koumei]

Captain Buzzsaw there looks awesome. I don't care about the awkwardness or the problems of designing someone in such a way that the arms seem to be permanently thrust out forward with a deadly weapon attached, it's still awesome.

[Prak]

It looks like the sawblade actually splits in two, and fingers stretch forward to be the forks that hold it. So presumably there's a "not actively chainsawing fucks" mode.

I'd love to see a steamborg leg with a built-in cannon based on the same active/inactive mode idea. Like you swing your leg forward and it locks into firing mode as a swift action so you can use your std to fire a cannonball that's kept in your thigh.

[Maxus]

It looks like the sawblade actually splits in two, and fingers stretch forward to be the forks that hold it. So presumably there's a "not actively chainsawing fucks" mode.

I'd love to see a steamborg leg with a built-in cannon based on the same active/inactive mode idea. Like you swing your leg forward and it locks into firing mode as a swift action so you can use your std to fire a cannonball that's kept in your thigh.

Yeah, it's the art for the Cogmorph, the transformer steamborg. They get that whole active/inactive thing.

Normal steamborgs can build weapons into their artificial limbs as a matter of course, so they can be that guy from that Leslie Nielson movie. The one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man who had a sniper rifle in his prosthetic leg.*

*his silencer was a hush puppy.

[Koumei]

so you can use your std to fire a cannonball that's kept in your thigh.

If you have a sexually transmitted disease that fires cannonballs out of your thigh, you need to get that checked out. Either by a doctor or a movie director.

[Prak]

I meant standard action, but now I'm just laughing at artillery stis. It's like my joke about "Wang Fire" in Avatar. It sounds like an Avatar-verse std, one that makes your penis firebend. Which would be fucking amazing, even if it were really inconvenient.

• "Sir, where are your pants?"
• "Oh, they burned."
• "Ah, get in a fight with a firebender?"
• "No, my penis just firebends at random. After the first three pairs this was the logical answer."

*his silencer was a hush puppy.

I was confused for a moment, because I'm far more familiar with "hushpuppies" being delicious fried cornmeal that comes with fish and chips.

[OgreBattle]

So is being steam powered a mechanically different thing to the standard magic powered borgs

[Slade]

So is being steam powered a mechanically different thing to the standard magic powered borgs

In dragonmech most things are steam powered. The Mechs, the weapons, etc. I personally liked the new weapons in this supplement.

Steamborg was also a class compared a race.

They nerfed it (imo) with 3/4th BAB, but the strength boosts almost make up for it (like War hulk Prc in Complete Warrior).


Ooh, this is the book, that gave us the first Construct race for Dragonmech, the Tik-toks.

We get the opposite Flame Thrower: Frost Launcher.
Also power Armors!

Also rereading the book, alternate metals.

[Maxus]

We get the opposite Flame Thrower: Frost Launcher.
Also power Armors!

Also rereading the book, alternate metals.

And armor worn by suicide bomber orcs, and Cleaning Acid, which doesn't damage metal.

Anyway, helping a friend move, going to be somewhat later today when next section is posted.

[Shrapnel]

[quote="Maxus]

I'm sure I'll hear Shrapnel's squeal of excitement from here, despite the undoubtedly vast distance between the Deep South and wherever he is.[/quote]

Holy shit, that dude looks exactly like a human version of Armada Buzzsaw:


Well, he does to me, at least.


(PS, I'm in Massachusetts, if you must know. So Deep North.)

[Maxus]

Feats
[
Feat: Tough fingers. So you don't lose them when your pet grease lizard gets free with his teeth. No, not an actual feat in here.


In an unusual move from an editing standpoint, the book's first proper section is a ton of feats, and THEN it gets to class-related things. I guess because the classes are PrCs instead of base classes, but there's the Steamborg Mk. II in there, so that doesn't quite hold up.

Anyway, there's a big pile of feats in here. Most you wouldn't care about enough to burn a feat for, like Accurate Lob, the very first feat, which reduces the penalties for 'indirect combat', like firing with artillery or something. There plenty of feats like that--feats to remove a penalty for something niche, although the ones for operating a flying or aquatic mech are nice ideas.

There's feats to modify the Tik'toks, the construct race introduced here, a la the Warforged feats, and which you know nothing about because of, to say it kindly, questionable book organization.

The best feats in here from a character standpoint are Power Source and everything that follows. They let you turn yourself into a steamborg without taking the steamborg class, and you can take Steamborg feats--some of which are class features of the steamborg, like getting metal plates installed on your skin, as well as new ones, like Coupling.

No, not that kind of coupling, Coupling lets a bunch of steamborgs with the feat all hook together so they can't be flanked or sneak attacked, and they get an attack bonus. It's +1 per 2 'borgs in the pile, up to +5, but they can only do it for 1d4 + number of participants in the pile. So...the entire fight.

It's goofy, but I want to have a boss that does that. A bunch of steamborgs that hook up to form Devastator.


Common, motherfucker, do you speak it?

Another feat of interest is one that gives you Exotic Weapon Proficiency with your four picks off a list of the setting's steam weaponry. There's Improved Animal Companion for a level 4 or higher Clockwork Ranger, it makes your level the same as a druid's for your animal companion, and it's a prerequisite for a feat chain that involves you training up a big pile of grease lizards and turning them loose, including with a new Rage trick.

A similarly intensive feat chain I like is one that lets you just declare a hazard happening to enemies you're fighting in a gear forest. You get to declare a piston is shooting out of the floor, or there's a gear spinning at buzzsaw speeds in that wall, or something. I mean, it'd only be used by NPCs because it involves living in the place long enough to know its quirks and it's several feats long, but the end result looks like it'd make for an interesting fight. There's also a few feats to enhance you in a gear forest--like you being able to score a free amplifier if you're in one by learning to tap into a steam outler or a spinning gear to get your steam powers some more kick.

Anyway, lastly, there's feats to handle mechs, and most of them are about living on mechs. One of them is Overseer, which takes Leadership to qualify for but it means you can single-handedly coordinate ([Charisma modifier x 2] x character level) laborers in mech construction. On a similar vein, there's a Gallant Commander feat where the crew on your mech gets bonuses from your inspirational leadership.

As always with any pile of feats, it's hit-and-miss. Most of the interesting ideas would be better suited for NPC specialty fights, but there are a few good ideas there--specifically the "get proficiency with 4 of the setting's badass weapons" and "Become a steamborg without sinking class levels into it. Instead, you sink in feats." And it might be counter-productive, but I've had players who would do that. But still, they had a few good ideas and good feats there, so I would call this section better than most sourcebook feat lists, so it gets a C for acceptability.

Next section: PrCs

[Stahlseele]

So, getting a good alternative PRC aside from Steamborg(seriously, because of rule of cool, would you ever?) and then multiclassing by using feats to add on Steamborg stuff that does not suck and, hopefully, meshes well with what the PRC you chose is supposed to do?
And then maybe even still be able to be proficient with 4 badass weapons?
I see some merit in there, depending on how good the stuff you can actually get is, and i don't even play this game O.o

[Aryxbez]

I know Frank has said that D&D esque games can have feats like D&D does it, but reward additional ones at the end of every session. Do you think that would improve this game at all, especially the feat selections?

Also The Grease lizard Taming sounds really interesting. That would be a cool shtick to have out of mech, maybe even then ones in with you while you're piloting, or you're using them to make minor repairs/run certain parts inside the Mech itself.

[Maxus]

I know Frank has said that D&D esque games can have feats like D&D does it, but reward additional ones at the end of every session. Do you think that would improve this game at all, especially the feat selections?

Also The Grease lizard Taming sounds really interesting. That would be a cool shtick to have out of mech, maybe even then ones in with you while you're piloting, or you're using them to make minor repairs/run certain parts inside the Mech itself.

I think it would be a huge improvement, because individual feats are largely crap, but add up to neat effects/chains. Take the Grease Lizard thing. You start off with a grease lizard like you were a druid for animal companion bennies, then you can make it better and teach it to Rage like a barbarian, and then you can have a whole horde of grease lizards with Druid-level animal companion benefits and, yes, they can Rage.

Anyway. Dad's birthday was today, and ended up wandering around downtown with my sister for a couple of hours, they were having a pokemon go event, and I went for the ride and entertainment. So PrCs coming tomorrow.

Flavor text IS cool in here though. Here's a preview:

"I don't think you know what it's like to have someone remove a bone, an entire bone, from your arm and put on the table in front of you and then replace it with something...more powerful."

[Maxus]

Classes

Now we come to the part of the book that people can identify with, if someone were to just pick it up and turn pages. Steam Warriors has a ton of PrCs, mostly variants on Steamborgs, but other classes get a little love, too.

I don't much care for the opening spiel of the section, though

Prestige classes are more than just new options for player characters. They’re also a way to define your game world. Membership in a prestige class requires a formal association, secret knowledge of some kind, or dedicated training—plus a number of difficult prerequisites. Within a world of steam engines and gigantic mechs, prestige classes help define how people respond to mechs, machines, and the myriad changes taking place in their world. The following prestige classes are not only new player options; they’re also NPC backgrounds and motivations — and even adventures waiting to happen.

As we recall from the first Dragonmech OSSR, Goodman Games likes stiff or unusual prereqs for a prestige class. and that is bullshit.

Anyway. You can read this and tell they were experimenting and brainstorming and went "Yeah that's cool!". The first PrC, the Chainmuscle, gets inherent ability score boosts to a physical stat of their choose, as well as full BAB, good Fort and Will, and 5 artificial Parts over 10 levels, along with a few steam powers and piddling DR. As far as a melee class goes, there's stuff that's been written that's a lot worse. The flavor text isn't bad either, it's the one I previewed earlier.


MR. STAKE SMASH

A chainmuscle can put their points in Dex as easily as Strength and become a ranged or initiative monster. But it's got a counterpart called the Logician, which gets basically equivalent bonuses--mental score boosts--but no spell casting and a worse chassis--one good save instead of two, and medium BAB.


This thing is an abomination of lazy writing.

It's garbage, it doesn't even get more steam powers than the chainmuscle who, the flavor text tells us, isn't interested in the tech beyond the physical enhancements. In a glaring oversight, the table for the Logician doesn't even list the usual X+Int Steam power format. They seriously only get 3 extra steam powers by the end of the class.

You can just TELL the Logician was made an inversion of the Chainmuscle, and just like how Good isn't [Evil x -1], a good physical-based class and a good mental-based class aren't exact opposites of each other. The Chainmuscle isn't even that good at its own job, the only thing it can produce is big numbers, and big numbers aren't good for mental-based classes with no casting or equivalent.

There's three broad categories of classes here: Steamborg PrCs, mech pilot PrCs, and the nonborgs. I'm going to break it down by type, and do this in two posts, because, dammit, this section goes from page 19 to page 52. It's about half the reason you'd want this book.

THE NOT-BORGS
Special note goes to the Cogworm of the Great Walkers class, the PrC with the longest entry I've ever seen. This class takes four full pages, including sidebars on related topics, to describe.


This cogworm's expression here? That's the face I made reading through the four pages of ability description. Except without the beard.

It boils down to: Cogworms are mech inhabitants who are thought to be like benevolent helping spirits by the 'normal inhabitants'. In reality, they're mech-dwellers who have built special things that let them leech mechanical energy--they have a couple of special devices and gears--so they can undetected in a mech but still use sophiscated technology. Their other big thing is they can commune with the spirits of the great mechs. One of the sidebars is about the personalities of the city mechs, who have their individual personalities. So the Cogworms are like priests for a god they live in. And like Bender's term as God to a civilization of tiny people, the mechs make requests and demands--they know of repairs that are needed, make requests for enhancements and assign the cogworms tasks. So they make improvements and repairs when no one else is around. For the good of the colony.

Related to them is the Grease Prophet, a former cleric whose faith in machinery lets them burn spell levels to temporarily create assemblages of Steam Powers, and polymorph into clockwork or steam-driven creatures or constructs; the capstone is they can extend that into becoming an autonomous mech for a while. It's an interesting idea, and them getting auto-succeed on Reflex saves in gear forests is a thoughtful touch. On the whole, I like the class, but I might still be stunned by Cogworm verbiage.

There's a PrC called the Gear Eater, they specialize in fucking up mechs and gears. I actually kinda like them. Their hatred of machinery is such that they manifest the ability to use Rusting Grasp, and they get the ability to sabotage mechs to hinder operations, with no skill check needed--just time. They get limitations for using steam gear, and can't invest in skills. I don't like this as much as the Grease Prophet, but it's not bad for what it is, and the sabotage abilities could make for neat adventures, with the rest of the party trying to make sure the Gear Eater goes undisturbed so they can work.

The last few cpuple of non-borg classes are kind need.. Iron Giantkillers are super-heavy infantry in power armor who are specialized in fighting mechs, and get bonuses to criticals, and they can use oversized weaponry. It's looks about like they get the tools they'd need to fulfill their specified role--fighting a mech while not having a mech of your own.


If only the art wasn't giving a Nazi salute.

The last class who isn't a borg and isn't a mech pilot is the Steam Weapon Adept. They're full BAB, full Fort, who get proficency with basically all the steam weapons and armor, and can pick gear to 'master' to get tricks and bonuses, like adding their class level to the save DC to dodge their flamethrower blasts, or getting reduced penalties when they're in the hydraulic armor.

The one you're mostly likely interested in this likely this one, from level 1:

Build Up: Steam weapon adepts have learned how to get the most out of their equipment. By letting the steam power build up in a steam weapon for 1 round (in other words, not attacking with it), the steam weapon adept can improve the damage caused the following round. Use of this ability does not in any way affect her chances of hitting the target, but if the attack is successful, the target will automatically take
maximum damage from the weapon’s damage roll

Later on, you get the ability to maintain, but not build, your own steam powers, so you could find something to do between rounds attacking with your weapon, like shooting lightning or something.


Also, the class art looks kinda like the Hunter from Borderlands, and I like that.

Basically, if you've got a player playing a Fighter in Dragonmech, because of some ungodly lapse of judgement, this is a class to help them out. I like it.

Next time: The Mech PrCs (including mech speedsters, mech monks, mech paladins, and mech slavers), and the Steamborg PrCs (with undead 'borgs, alien borgs, sneaky borgs, freaky borgs, monster borgs, and unborgs)

[Stahlseele]

There's a PrC called the Gear Eater, they specialize in fucking up mechs and gears. I actually kinda like them. Their hatred of machinery is such that they manifest the ability to use Rusting Grasp, and they get the ability to sabotage mechs to hinder operations, with no skill check needed--just time. They get limitations for using steam gear, and can't invest in skills. I don't like this as much as the Grease Prophet, but it's not bad for what it is, and the sabotage abilities could make for neat adventures, with the rest of the party trying to make sure the Gear Eater goes undisturbed so they can work.

are these locked to non mech based races?
otherwise i kind of question why they are allowed to stay in a mech.

[Maxus]

There's a PrC called the Gear Eater, they specialize in fucking up mechs and gears. I actually kinda like them. Their hatred of machinery is such that they manifest the ability to use Rusting Grasp, and they get the ability to sabotage mechs to hinder operations, with no skill check needed--just time. They get limitations for using steam gear, and can't invest in skills. I don't like this as much as the Grease Prophet, but it's not bad for what it is, and the sabotage abilities could make for neat adventures, with the rest of the party trying to make sure the Gear Eater goes undisturbed so they can work.

are these locked to non mech based races?
otherwise i kind of question why they are allowed to stay in a mech.

Just says they have to be Chaotic, have 12+ Wisdom, and have the Wrecker feat and 8 ranks in Disable Device.

The flavor text makes a deal over them feeling it's a holy calling or passion, and they sneak about mechs to do the sabotage. Most mechdoms--everyone except the elves, the gear eaters don't have a problem with animated or necromantic mechs--have a problem with this particular practice of religion have a bounty on gear eaters and the Irontooth Clans will kill them as soon as they're discovered.

So playing one in Dragonmech is like playing a normal Paladin in D&D in a game where evil NPCs abound. It's rife with chances to make the game fall apart.

[Stahlseele]

Ah, but at least they adressed that . .
I mean, that's kinda alike to having a pyromaniac run around in your village <.<

[name_here]

Geeze, that sounds like a class that's perfect for a little paragraph to the effect of "having seen their effectiveness in battle, the Legion has dedicated a great deal of effort to studying their abilities and produced a force of Gear Eaters of their own". There's plenty of conflict between the mechdoms, after all.

[Maxus]

Classes part 2

Mech classes

The first mech class is the Irontooth Flea. They're mech pilots who can squeeze more speed out of any mech--10 feet per class level--and get some bonuses to maneuvering mechs. Not that mechanically exciting, but the flavor is, at least, thoughtful--they get used as scouts and messengers among the Irontooth clans, and love racing. They'd be neat to be buddies with, and I can see a party mech pilot going for this, I guess. The combat abilities suffer a bit, but if you're having more mech-on-mech action, that loss of attack bonus won't bother you unduly.

The next is the Irontooth Ronin, who are another subculture of the Irontooth Clans. Rather than any specific clan, they care about the group as a whole, and work to defend the borders. They channel ki through their mechs, so their 'unarmed' mech attacks count as magic weapons (enhancement bonus equal to class level), they get both bonus damage dice, AND a flat damage boost--+5 at level 1, +10 at level 3, and +15 at level 5--with their mech attacks. On top of the +3d6 to unarmed mech damage they get at level 5. This is actually a pretty swag deal if you're playing the right kind of mech, that's a lot of extra damage that can help avoid getting hosed by some DR. This is probably my favorite class of this group.


I dig the tats on the character art, too.

The Mech Slaver is someone who squeezes more out of manpowered mechs. They, and their crew, can squeeze more Strength and Dexterity out of a mech. You have to be Evil to do the class, have to have served on a manpowered mech for six months, but you start being able to operate with an understaffed crew or call out a burst of extra power. If mech crew rules weren't such a bookkeeping nightmare, I'd probably call this a neat class.

The last mech class is the Mech Templar (I call the Mech Symbiote much more of a Borg-based class). They're basically mech paladins, but other classes can join. They get a couple of interesting things, like being able to give personal class features to their Mechs--so a druid Mech Templar could give their mech Trackless Stride. They get SRD Smite Evil--which, of course, sucks--and have to have Improved Initiative, get an initiative bonus on top of that, and they can reroll initiative once an encounter, a number of times a day equal to their wisdom modifier. All in all, not a bad mech class. I like the simplicity of the Ronin's stuff better, though.


Glowing sword, now in mech-size!

On the whole, the mech pilot classes in this book aren't terrible. I could see three of the four getting used. The Mech Slaver's a neat idea of what happens when an efficiency-minded hands-on person is in control of a manpowered mech, but mech crew rules are such a morass I can't see many people dealing with them in detail.

Soon: The Borg-based PrCs. I already covered two above, the Chainmuscle and Logician

[Stahlseele]

so a druid Mech Templar could give their mech Trackless Stride.

several hundred feet tall, walking on 2 feet city, probably in the hundreds of tons of weight or more as well . .
"he can't be in the mountains, there's no tracks in the snow!"
does it say anything about how that is supposed to work?
does it also make Metroplex more silent when moving around?
"You failed a listen check. But you notice it got a bit darker all of a sudden. Like as if a cloud had moved in front of the sun. But a bit more. Congratulations. You failed to notice a city sneaking up on you. Lose 50XP and feel very ashamed"

[Maxus]

so a druid Mech Templar could give their mech Trackless Stride.

several hundred feet tall, walking on 2 feet city, probably in the hundreds of tons of weight or more as well . .
"he can't be in the mountains, there's no tracks in the snow!"
does it say anything about how that is supposed to work?

Mech Meld (Su): At 10th level, while piloting a Huge (or smaller) mech, the mech templar may add his saves to the mech’s total, and he may use certain class special abilities and feats he possesses (GM’s discretion) with the mech — the mech essentially becomes an extension of his body. For example, while in the mech, a paladin’s auras would center on both the paladin and the mech he pilots, so the radius of any such auras would extend from the mech itself. A mech templar with fighter levels would be able to use his combat feats with the mech; a mech templar with at least three druid levels could walk a mech through terrain without leaving a trail; and wizards and sorcerers could cast spells through them without penalty. GMs, of course, may wish to prohibit certain class special abilities, like the druid’s shapechanging abilities, from being usable with mech meld. Players and GMs should work together to determine which of a character’s abilities can be used in this fashion.

I forgot the Huge-size restriction, but yes. Hilarity shall ensue.

[Maxus]

Classes, part 3

THE BORG

To get the joke out of our system

So here we are at last. I put this one off because it's just so many and they experiment so much. Take the Cogmorph from above--the class grants the power to combine artificial limbs into bigger artificial limbs, so they can access different bonuses and steam power combinations sort of on the fly. It's a neat thought, but not quite worth the PrC (cool as the idea is) and probably shouldn't take so long to explain. But when you read it, you can tell Goodman Games was experimenting and thinking and I guess that counts for something.

My personal favorite Borg class in here is the Ghostgear, the sneakyborg. Entry requirements are surprisingly light (you need 4 ranks in different skills, a BAB of +4. and the Power Source feat or a steam engine from being a steamborg, so a Stalker could go into this easily). They get full BAB, +3d6 Sneak Attack over ten levels (which is surprising in conjunction with full BAB), 6+Int skill points, a big skill list, steam powers, and a couple of stealth bonuses--later on they get a +4 to Move Silently, but right out of the gate they get this:

Still Gears (Ex): The ghostgear can sit perfectly still as long as he wishes, until he passes out from exhaustion or hunger after several days. While sitting still, he gains a +5 circumstance bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. (Even though he isn’t moving, he may still need to make an opposed check against a nearby enemy.) The ghostgear can shut off his smokestack for 10 minutes before he must emit the exhaust or begin to suffocate.

I mean, yeah, it's underwhelming compared to some SRD classes but it's a lot more than some get. This is one of the classes I would gladly play myself, it just feels cool.


Also, the character art looks a little like the Hellboy movie Kroenen, and I like that.

Experimentation doesn't always go well, though. They put in a class called the Hissing Psiborg which gets Psychic Warrior caster levels, artificial parts, steam powers, and a special psionic power called Attune Artificial Part. Which is pretty swanky flavor, as far as it goes.

Attune Artificial Part
Telepathy
Level: Psion 2, Psychic Warrior 2
Display: Material
Manifesting Time: One hour
Range: Touch
Target: One artificial part
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Willing only
Power Resistance: No
Power Points: 9, XP, M

You attune one artificial part so that it can store and regain power points as if it were flesh and blood. This creates a fundamental change in the materials the artificial part is made of — it becomes living metal. The subject loses any invulnerability to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects, but her artificial parts heal as if they were organic, and they receive the full benefit of magical healing.
If the subject has other artificial parts which have not been attuned, she still suffers the power point penalty for them, and 10% of her hit points, per non-attuned artificial part, do not heal naturally but must be repaired.
XP: 1,000 XP
Material Component: 1,000 gp worth of aspecially treated living plant spore

But it's still a psionics-based character and not that great.


Also, the richness of that droll! Doh ho ho ho ho, it's a cyborg with psionics so it's a psiborg! Delicious drolleries abound!

The next class is something really new--the Lunarborg. There's a rock called moonstone that can be burned like coal, but it gives off side effects. The Lunarborg burns moonstone (which is 5 GP a pound and the Lunarborg needs at least a pound of it a day or suffers withdrawals. They also can't take levels in other classes without having to roll to beat the addiction, once they become a Lunarborg). Special note is you have to have 13 Wisdom or lower to take the class.


Kids! Don't do drugs, and eat your vegetables, or you turn into this guy!

They can turn moonstone smoke/gas into a 1/day con damage (1d6, since you ask) poison cone. It incidentally auto-kills normal plants and does double damage on magic/animated plants. At level 4, they can use the power to turn coal or other fuel into moonstone, so they become more self-sufficient and, I suppose, can also go into business as a moonstone merchant.


Or at least hook their friends up with all the moonstones they want to evolve their Nidorinos

Later on, their physiology has converted enough that lunar creatures consider him to be one of them, and won't attack first (no, this doesn't work for the rest of the party), and eventually they get the lunar traits, like resistance to mind-affecting effects.

The Mech Symbiote is a step past the Assimilated. Using a feat called Arterial Node, they coax their body to spread and grow through the mech, and the border between living flesh and cold metal blurs until there's no difference--their veins and nerves run through the whole thing, they get several boosts to mech piloting, and they can bud and move their body around the mech for whatever reason.


These guys look at assimilated and go 'amateurs'

It's more of an NPC class, and exploring a Mech Symbiote on a big mech would be a hell of an adventure. If rather squicky.

The Necroborg is a neat idea--over ten levels, they transform into an undead who runs on blood and coal and steam, and can make lesser undead. The capstone's a little underwhelming--getting claws that do 1d4 Con damage on a failed save. It'd probably be better as a 5 level class, all in all, but the abilities are something I can see people wanting. One neat bit is that losing the Con score means the Necroborg can take as many artificial parts as he can gets points for, instead of being limited by his constitution.


Does make you look grumpy, though.

The Steam Monster is a neat flavor; they get special Monster Parts that give bonuses and can be taken again for increasing bonuses. If they sink all three Monster Part points into Aquatic, for example, they can stay underwater indefinitely and get pretty fast swim speed. If they take Four-Legged Twice, they become a sort of robo-centaur. Or being able to make webbing and get a climb speed.

There's a whole page of devoted to all the different monster themes and I'll go over them if someone asks, but none strike me as being amazing--climbing is probably the best, what with the climb speed and making rope, in a dungeon-crawling or mech-crawling game but even that's just because of the utility.


His favorite band is Steel Panther.

Our second-to-last PrC is the Steelbound Soul. Their whole shtick is they're packing in artificial parts and powers faster than even a steamborg deems safe, and at level 8 they have to pass a DC 20 Fort Save or die. But he's a Steamborg-based class, which has Con as their key ability, and the class itself has a good Fort Save, so he's already packing a fort save of around +14, and that's without save and stat boosters. You get Steampowers and artificial parts at a slightly faster rate; the one nifty bit is getting Ageless at class level 5. So if you ever wanted a character to get immortality, you can score it around character level 11.

The last PrC I'll cover is the Unborg. They're a steamborg who gives it up and begins removing their pieces. In exchange, they get some of the druid class features by trading in artificial points. They can also regenerate their lost limbs, as long as they worship a deity and go through a ceremony once they've removed a prosthetic.

Flavor text is nice, though.

“I’ve got my hands back. I can feel the nails growing out of my flesh. They are warm and soft and they hurt when I bang them carelessly against things. I can go back and touch my wife and she won’t recoil from these hands. I have my hands back and although I can’t do a thing with them, not even bend steel, it is the most wonderful thing in the world.”

Now, at last, the book gives its one Core Class--the Steamborg Mk. II. They trade in the sheer amount of stuff the Steamborg gets, in exchange for being able to pick exactly what they get every other level--more artificial parts, more steam powers, or a steamborg feat from the book. One could take just an engine and a ton of steam powers if they so wanted, or shoot for specific PrCs or builds. Whatever. They still get Medium BAB and good Fort and Will.


Neat art, though.

At the very end of this section, it lists variant Steamborg power sources. The kinetic engine has less installment requirements, but makes you eat and sleep more the more you use your powers. A Blood engine runs, you guessed it, off blood and can be made by adding a Blood Pump steam power onto a steam engine. Last, a Necrotic engine is...well, I'll let the book explain it.

Necrotic Engine: A necrotic engine is composed of animated dead matter. A spellcaster can use animate dead to create a necrotic engine if he has 5 ranks in Craft (mechcraft). Creating the engine is the same as creating an undead with the same Hit Dice as the steamborg or mech. If the steamborg gains a level, or the mech gains a Hit Die, a new engine must be made, so it is a good idea to create an engine that can support a few extra Hit Dice, especially for a steamborg who gains levels.

A necrotic engine is harmful to the living. A steamborg with such an engine takes one point of permanent Constitution damage each week until he dies, at which point he rises as an undead. He can spend levels to
come back as a specific undead, otherwise he becomes an intelligent zombie and gains the undead type.

A necrotic engine requires water just like a steam engine, but it charges the water with negative energies to power the artificial parts and steam powers. Everything in a mech or steamborg with a necrotic engine is built with a backwards flow, as the machine is driven by cold and suction.

Parts built for any other kind of engine must be converted to function with this one. This costs 25% of the item’s total value. The cost is the same to convert a part made for a necrotic engine to another kind.

The necrotic engine heals (harms) itself and other necrotic parts. Every 24 hours, it heals a number of hit points equal to the Hit Dice, or
character level or the device, mech or steamborg.

In a living creature, it instead causes hit point loss, but this ability can be turned off. Necrotic engines radiate a negative aura that the living find uncomfortable, and they are considered evil for the purpose of detect evil.

As Meikle just pointed out to me, you could get straight mechanical power with just skeletal limbs in a box, so it seems a bit pointless, but whatever.

That's the Steam Warriors classes.

Next up: Equipment. Lots and lots of equipment.

[Stahlseele]

Take the Cogmorph from above--the class grants the power to combine artificial limbs into bigger artificial limbs

*juvenile snicker*
Also:
a) do you have to be undead to become Ravage or can you do that as a "living" Steamborg as well?
b) if you need con to support your toys and the necrotic engine makes you lose con to con vert you into an undead who does not have con anymore . . how does that abomination then support the steampunk stuff that needs con to work with as per the rules in the first place? is that just a glaring inconsistency that i am allowed to feel smart for finding despite not knowing the system or am i missing something probably rather important here?

furthermore, the living metal stuff . .
so you go from T-800 to T-1000 so you can be healed but basically just go back to being a shiny human because you lose most of what makes a steamborg in the first place?
so can you do that just for the healing and then simply go back to Ahnohld Build no questions asked once you are fully . . is it healed or is it repaired with these things?

aside from the fluff, for example that nice flavour text about growing back hands to be able to touch ones wife again . . are the perks worth it losing your borg stuff for? O.o

in other terms: why would any rollplayer/munchkin/powergamer/minmaxer/prefered derogatory term for stat based character built for efficiency rather than roleplaying ever do that to themselves?
is there an offensive use of this ability?
can you do that to enemy borgs wether or not they want to?
so, say, perform ritual to replace artificial eyes with new growing fleshy ones that basically make the target blind untill they are fully regrown?