Get Roleplaying In The Iron Kingdoms With Requiem Soon!
July 8, 2020 by brennon
Privateer Press recently held their 20th Anniversary Keynote Stream which went into detail about a lot of what they have planned for their games. One of the elements that really caught my attention was the re-introduction of the Iron Kingdoms RPG with Reqiuem which uses the core rules and mechanics from 5th Edition.
Iron Kingdoms: Requiem // Privateer Press
This new take on the Iron Kingdoms RPG is going to take all of the best bits of the world of Immoren with its Warjacks, Steampunk technology and powerful magics and mix it together with the tried and tested mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. This should mean that Reqiuem is now more accessible than ever as pretty much everyone has played around with the classic d20 system once in their life.
As well as detailing all of the lore and background of the world of Immoren, you'll also find ways to make the unique characters that make up its rich tapestry. Of course, this also means the magic systems, classes, races and more!
This new roleplaying game twist is going to be coming to Kickstarter soon so keep an eye out for its release.
Catch Up On The Privateer Press Keynote
As well as the news about Iron Kingdoms: Reqiuem you can also catch up on the entire Keynote which went live recently.
This had plenty more information on what's happening across all of their game systems and we'll be going into more detail about that over the coming days. Additionally, you are also able to snap up a new miniature for this special occasion!
Stryker Archon // Warmachine
This is an alternative sculpt for those wanting to dive in and build up collection!
"Those who bore witness to Coleman Stryker’s personal sacrifice during Cygnar’s last stand against Khador reported an unexplained flash of light at the moment of his passing. Now, as one of the greatest heroes of the Iron Kingdoms returns from Urcaen as an Archon to battle for humanity against the Infernal Claiming, Coleman Stryker’s ascension is confirmed."
Are you tempted to dive back into some roleplaying within the Iron Kingdoms and did anything else catch your eye from the Keynote?
Drop your thoughts below...
"Are you tempted to dive back into some roleplaying within the Iron Kingdoms and did anything else catch your eye from the Keynote?"
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OSL seems to be a great way for more settings to get in to print. 5th edition is, for me, the best version of D&D I have played in 37 years (yikes, has it been that long).
When they scrapped the OGL for 4e, there was kind of a boom for indie RPG systems.
It seems that time is now over, and we’re going back to the D20 dominated role playing scene.
I’m not totally sure how I feel about all of that, to be honest.
it has it’s place, the problem is when people only write rules with d20 in mind you get shocking games that make no sense, I’m looking at you d20 Call of Cthulhu.
I’ve not enough of a clue about the setting for Iron Kingdoms to say whether or not it’s a good thing.
This setting actually started out in D20 before it hosted Warmachine and Hordes, so it isn’t completely foreign to go back to D20.
After 4e, they developed their own system- which is really good. It is a shame to lose it, but it clearly wasn’t popular enough for them to continue with it (they haven’t released anything new for a while).
Seems good to me. Easier way to get into IK RPG is always good thing. Battletech RPG did something similar with Mechwarrior Destiny.
Frankly disappointed they are using 5e OGL. There was nothing wrong with IKRPG last edition.
I think they’re looking at the widespread D&D player base and trying to make Iron Kingdoms an attractive option since folks won’t have to learn a new set of mechanics.
I have nothing against new mechanics but you can’t deny it’s handy to have 5E as this springboard for people to play in your game world.
I honestly think DnD is the worst introduction to roleplaying. Just because it is common place does not make it the best.
I think this is because I come from a world where mechanics matter in rpgs.
When every RPG uses the same base system for every IP, no matter the company or genre, I feel that it starts to rob flavour and style from a game. There is a reason why Monte Cooks World of Darkness (d20 system) or GURPS Vampire the Masquerade are bad games.
Oh I don’t disagree with the general premise (although I don’t think D&D is the worst introduction to roleplaying heh, personal preference I guess). I think that mechanics married to specific systems is great because it helps develop flavour and depth within a world when you’re roleplaying – rather than just having one-size-fits-all. But, 5E is so easy to teach and very easy to mod (obviously, other systems are too but D&D is commonplace) so having a way to say to someone “hey, do you want to try this new world? Don’t worry, it uses mechanics you already know” can… Read more »
If by Mods you mean just different ways to give “advantage” or “disadvantage” to a roll. Then yeah, its insanely mod-able.
…and the ways to create different classes bolted onto existing roles, races, quick ways to develop skills and feats etc etc. There are plenty of ways that people have been inventive with the traditional 5E systems.
They don’t work for everything, but it is a handy toolset. As I said, I’m not saying 5E is the be all and end all of rules but it’s pretty obvious why companies/individuals are making content that can slot into its rules.
True, but none of that is remotely “new” at all. Nor is somehow “easier” or more improved because of 5e.
That is how D&D has always been since the dawn if its inception. 5e doesnt do that any better then any other edition did or does to this day.
DnD Beyond
DMs Guild
Critical Role
Online Roleplay Support
The only four things 5e has every done better then any other system.
The thing about 5e is that it’s designed to restart after every campaign.
Every few months a new campaign book comes out that goes from 1st to 15th (or 20th) level and then you start again.
There’s no character continuity from one campaign to another, no continuity of story. The world is full of retired high level characters who probably aged about six months in the campaign.
That’s a major flaw in a level based system.
The lack of continuity is not the system’s fault. That’s up to the individual groups (my group frequently changes the face of whatever setting we’re in, and our next campaign invariably deals with at least some of the fallout from past campaigns). We will stick with a setting up until we’ve changed it so much and no one has a great idea for the next campaign based on what we’ve already done. You can do that with a campaign book if you want to, but it isn’t really the job of Wizards of the Coast to tell you to involve… Read more »
‘Bad games’ LOL. D&D 5th has increased the player base, helped by a bunch of high profile online groups who love the game. And looking at the variety of settings and types of games being played by these diverse groups, the rules don’t seem to be creating a vanilla experience.
I didn’t say DnD 5th was bad. The examples I gave were examples where an IP was shoehorned into a generic rule system resulting in a mess.
And while DnD 5e has increased the player base – is that because it is a “good rpg” or simply good marketing with Critical Role?
The thing I find is that while DnD is an OGL license, I feel it takes some proper dedication to make the rules fit the setting, rather than just making do with the rules and the rules not really pushing the theme/tone of the setting.
To be fair, Iron Kingdoms was D20 OGL long before the Warmachine system was created.
I do prefer the current IK system, though. I might switch over to the new books once they have loads of stuff released for it, but for now my group will be playing using the current IK stuff.
(I don’t think we’ll be switching terribly soon, you know?
I actually think that the old IKRPG did that pretty well. However, the ‘feel’ of the setting changed quite a bit after Warmachine came out and became prominent, and I don’t think the D&D rules will ever fit Warmachine as well as the current IKRPG. I feel like we can expect PP to at least do as good a job as they did before in adapting the rules to their setting. My group plays IK very regularly when there isn’t a pandemic. We’ll be sticking with the current rules for now, but we’ll probably switch over once IK5e has more… Read more »
I would argue that Critical Role, DnD Beyond, the DMs Guild, and online roleplay support are actually to be the cause of 5E rise to fame.
The actual game system itself would be a distant 5th in line, when compared to those four huge factors.
History is full of mediocre things becoming popular thanks to marketing, celebrities’ and shear volume.
I am on the DnD 5e is not the best wagon, but I also can’t fight what my friends want to play. Once you understand the 5e system, people simply do not want to learn another system even if it is better.
At this point I just accept and play while my shelf has better options that will never get played.
Have to agree. IKRPG could maybe have done with a bit of work on personalising characters more, but it was a sound system and extremely easy to pick up compared to D&D. We know what IK/D&D is like because they did it with 3.5, and it felt like D&D with guns, not Iron Kingdoms at all. Very disappointed with this decision, and will not be getting involved.
Although I like the setting and character generation of IKRPG and the Unleashed rules, I found the 2d6 system problematic with extended play.
The average roll of 7 meant that there was a point where certain checks were always success or always failure making combat take ages.
We ended up abandoning the campaign for that reason.
However, 5e is not an ideal choice, but I can see why PP chose it… D&D sells to the target audience. Cubicle 7 did same with the One Ring, making a 5e variant. One Ring is far superior and closer to the setting material.
I completely disagree. My group didn’t find the 2d6 system to be a problem at all. We’ve played quite a few campaigns up to high levels (we were in the middle of one when the pandemic shut down our game night, and it hasn’t started back up yet). My group found the system to be very easy to learn, and crunchy enough to remain playable for long campaigns (less crunchy systems don’t work for long campaigns like we play). We did play with some high defense characters and enemies, but we never had an issue where fights would take forever… Read more »
Maybe your players don’t min/max as much as mine do. I was considering replacing 2d6 with a d12, but we got sidetracked by another campaign and never returned to it. Honestly I have never found a combat ruleset that suits my group and I’ve played a lot of games over the last 40 years. Given that we are short on game time (even prior to covid) we lean towards less crunchy games and there’s nothing more tedious than a combat that lasts the entire game session (and in the case of some systems like high level d&d 3.5 or Rolemaster… Read more »
Personally I found so long as players spend focus, rolled crits, and kept using resources like that, a lot of combats ended quite quickly.
All this talk is inspiring me to run a streamed one-shot for DDR, like we did for Soulbound.
I remember when IKRPG use to be D20 3rd edition based, the most popular version of D&D at that time. Then they went there own way, because it was better for the IP and opened more doors for them creative wise to make a RPG that really fit the IK themes and not be restricted by a D&D ruleset.
Lol.
I wonder if those game designers are some of the ones that left the company.
Yeah- I think the IK system is better than D20- though D20 had some advantages as well.
Right now it seems like a choice between a better system (which not everyone will agree with) and making it easy to find players.
From a strictly business sense… I can see how finding more players/customers would take priority.
Honestly, no one can argue that having 10,000 customers buying an average “popular” system/book is hands down better for a company then 1000 people buying the “greatest” system/book ever would.
So you cant fault them for joining the hype train there. There is a reason why its a hype TRAIN, after all.
Ooh lots of new challenging characters to content with then.
TRENCHER TROLLS!!!! TRENCHER TROLLS!!! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS YEARS, EVER SINCE I FIRST GOT INTO WARMACHINE!!
I knew I liked you