[RPG]: Cloak of Steel, reviewed by Tim Kirk (3/4)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10582.phtml

Tim Kirk's Summary:

Solid game with a fun incarnation of the OGL license. Needs some work/supplemental support

Go to the full review for more information.

Post originally by Kester Pelagius at 2004-08-27 09:01:32
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Greetings,

Nicely done. That was a very informative review that not only covered most of the salient points about the game but also provided some nice insights into how the game works in actual play.

I also agree with your assessment that the PDF could be broken up into smaller sections, after all there's no limit to how many files you can put into a ZIP. Though I'd rather see the current PDF given a TOC as, otherwise, it's almost laid out perfectly for printing out and binding.

Can I ask you if you encountered any accessibility issues or other anomalies with the PDF itself?


Kind Regards,

Kester Pelagius

Post originally by Tim Kirk at 2004-08-27 10:24:57
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I had no problems opening or viewing the PDF. I did have issues with printing (which is not the PDF but Adobe bloatwaree vs 6.01 blah. I can print any PDF just fine with 4.0 but try the same PDF on 6 and it locks up my printer.)

Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2004-08-27 20:31:24
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Quality review, Tim!

So, how would you describe the overall tech level of the setting?

Also, what sorts of monsters are there?

--
Dan Davenport

Post originally by Tim Kirk at 2004-08-27 21:13:42
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Tech Level: Is mostly magical with some steam tech and guns--though their are cybernetic magical items so it depends greatly on your view of "tech" essentially it looks like your fair anime "mix" of tech. Guns are blackpowder slow and dangerous, yet steam boileers are advanced enough to have quick start and reliable uses as engines for mecha. If it were Gurps it be 3+3 in some areas and (3 being general Medieval IIRC and the + indicating advancements out of range but equally TL6 roughly)

Monsters vary since it is designed to adapt any from the Monster books for D20--they have Dragons, Dryads, Elementals, Gargoyles, Giants, Ghouls, Giant Spiders, Hydras, Manticores, etc. In other words you general broad range "any fantasy critter" type world.

Post originally by flyingmice at 2004-08-30 06:22:36
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Hiya Sid!

Great review! Jim Desborough (not Dresborough) is a brilliant guy. His 100 x Adventure Seeds series is great stuff. The major complaint you had seems to be organizational, so I bet this could be addressed fairly easily. Excellent analysis!

-mice

Post originally by Tim Kirk at 2004-08-30 14:47:04
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Yep. It needs a bit of organizational, and some tiny add ins of explination to cover the fact that not everyone who buys an OGL game will be familiar with D&D.