Age of Electrotech (PFRPG)

4.70/5 (based on 3 ratings)
RHG321E
Facebook Twitter Email

Got batteries, will travel! From Jules Verne to Nicola Tesla, electro-mechanical gadgets have puzzled, empowered, and endangered heroes and common folk alike. Whether rare wonders from a lost age or as shiny exemplars of a brand new one, electrotech opens new doors to new and electrifying possibilities. Age of Electrotech for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game includes a ton of crackling goodness:

  • Ideas for electrotech in your campaigns.
  • The technician base class, with diverse "trades" around bombs, crafting, firearms, scavenging, soldiering, symbionts, tinkering, and traps.
  • Archetypes such as the cyborg, electromedic, esotechnic, necrotech, and transmoglomaniac. Plus new feats.
  • Twenty-eight pages of electrotech gear: armaments, batteries, household goods, toolkits, vehicles for all terrains, and "wonders of madness" from the cosmitron and hypnogogue to the pleasure orb and zealotron.
  • Rules to craft and augment characters with bizarre and practical gadgets such as the cricket for your feet, an electromechanical grappling hook, and a life scanner. Every gadget comes with multiple upgrade options to keep gadgets close to one's heart over a career.
  • Symbionts: rules for growing and implanting biological augments.
  • Two new races, the mutamorph and nashi, plus a character history generator, traits, downtime and kingdom building options.
  • Inspiring fiction for an age where science is the romance.

Product Availability

Print/PDF Bundle:

Backorder

Will be added to your My Downloads page when your order ships.

Print Edition:

Backorder

Ships from our warehouse in 21 to 34 business days.

PDF:

Fulfilled immediately.

Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

RHG321


See Also:

Average product rating:

4.70/5 (based on 3 ratings)

Sign in to create or edit a product review.

4/5

I have very mixed feelings about this product.

On one hand the Technician class is one of the most diverse tech-based class and has a lot of interesting peripheral material. On the other hand it hits a lot of technology pet peeves making me need to apply house rules to fit it in my campaigns.

Like other tech classes it gains spell-like 'tinker's which represent small disposable gadgets he possesses. In the Technician's case he casts them by preparing them with charges from his personal battery (a point pool mechanic.) They also choose a diverse range of trades that define what kind of technician it is and a list of talents to further diversify the class. Almost everything evokes a lot of flavor and allows the technician to be built as a healer, a bruiser or a general problem solver.

The only class feature I didn't like was Gadgets, mainly because I hate Gadgets. To explain; Gadgets are pretty much technological wondrous items that have a list of upgrades that they can take. You also apply battery points to them in order to power up the upgrades and use them to begin with and that's where it gained friction with me. Its a series of technology that has to be bought, as opposed to being granted by the class, that only one class (unless you take a feat to use it badly) has real access to. It opens a whole new can of worms in regards to the nature of energy and battery points (only Technicians have the right 'kind' of battery points for gadgets) in a world of other technological items. Luckily the battery point pool is actually pretty huge so some house rules letting that battery pool interact with Paizo technological items was easy.

But for a lot of other people this is barely a problem if even that so if that kind of thing doesn't bother you then the the rest of the book is pretty sweet. You get a new kind of item that represents cyborg-ish bits to add as implants, new weapons and armor. Mundane tech gear. New races and some support from Ultimate Campaign Subsystems. All cleanly written, minimum glitches, concise and works well.

Overall this is a great product... but I have to knock off a star. Its kind of unfair but I hate how the Gadgets are bought/crafted items that for the most part one class can actually make or use effectively because it stops playing nice with other tech classes or crunch that could come along and it becomes hard to justify why its not a class feature or why it's exclusive. I just think that little bit is objectively bad enough to drag this product down to four stars despite that I know for a fact that is more likely to be five stars in anyone else's mind.


An Endzeitgeist.com review

5/5

This book clocks in at 100 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 94 (!!!) pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?

So what is this book? Well, it can be thought of as a huge campaign-template akin to LPJr Design's Obsidian Apocalypse - the age of electrotech has dawned and now, super-science and magic exist side by side, with electricity-based gadgets and the like influencing how everything is run. A fitting analogy would be a kind of Tesla-Punk - how to integrate this (e.g. just one country - à la Golarion's Numeria or Ravenloft's Lamordia) to the full world - all depending on the DM's whim.

The book kicks off with the Technician base class, which receives d8, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with light armor, simple weapons and shields, 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-and will-saves and a so-called maximum tinker-level scaling from 1st up to 6th. The class also receives 1 battery point, scaling up to 105 at 20th level...but what does all of that mean?

Well, first of all, obviously, technicians receive Electrotech Proficiency as a bonus feat as first level and they also receive + class level to Craft (electrotech)-checks analogue to alchemist et al. High intelligence increases the battery points the class has and battery points recharge after 8 hours. They are essentially the technician's resource, which powers his gadgets, tinkers and similar devices. hooking up a device to the battery pack requires 1 minute. Technicians may construct so-called gadgets - these can be used by paying their base cost, upgraded by allocating additional battery points. At 4th level and every 3 levels thereafter, the technician can craft progressively better upgrades from +1 battery point cost to +5 at 13th level. Gadgets take up one of the item-slots - chest, hands, head or feet and equipping/removing them requires 10 rounds, with the option to hasten it at the chance of rendering the gadget broken. Effect generated by gadgets are extraordinary effects, but unlike most such abilities, they are subject to SR and can potentially be counterspelled/dispelled - we have full system-transparency here.

Tinkers on the other hand are devices that can be wielded like wands to duplicate effects, functioning pretty much like spellcasting. Unlike spells, though, a tinker may be charged with battery points to increase the daily amount the tinker can be used. The formula for their creation are marked in a tinker manual, somewhat akin to a spellbook. Now beyond this exceedingly flexible base system, the class ALSO sports so-called innovations - gained at 2nd level, +1 every 2 levels thereafter, these constitute the talents of the class and allow for even more options - for example combining multiple gadgets into one, on-the-fly reassignment of battery points etc. Better driving-skills (more on that later), weaponized tinkers, better weakness analysis of foes - this is very much a scientist-class - but the technician does NOT stop there - at 1st level, the class also decides on a trade (though, again, this can be modified by innovations!) - trades work somewhat akin to oracle mysteries or bloodlines in that they provide a trade skill as class skill, a bonus-feat selection and a linear progression of special abilities gained at 1st, 3rd, 9th and 15th level. Sounds like a bloodline, not a mystery? Yeah, but I also evoked mysteries due to one fact - each trade add certain, exclusive innovations to the array the technician can choose from. The trade provide for a focus on crafting, firearms (including grit), junker's jury-rigging, vehicle/driver-specialization, soldier, tinker, trap and symbiont specialization - more on that later. And yes, were I to go into details regarding these options, this review would bloat beyond belief. More than one page of favored class options can be found herein. It admittedly took some time to properly analyze this complex class...and know what? It WORKS. Superbly so. One note - if you're using Interjection Games' Tinker or Gadgeteer-classes, I'd suggest renaming the technician's tinkers and gadgets. ;)

The technician's flexibility does NOT end here, though - beyond the absolutely astounding flexibility provided by the base class, we also receive archetypes for the class - beyond providing more than superb crunch, these guys cover quite literally everything cool I would have wanted from technician archetypes - Cyborg? Check. Electromedics (who needs clerics?) - check. Pact Magic-crossover occult esotechnicians? Check. Grenadiers? Check. Holotechnicians? Check. Necrotechnicians creating techno-undead? Friggin' yeah and check! Transmogriphiers that specialize in transmuting and mutagens? Check! At this point, picture me drooling wide-eyed and grinning at the screen.

Now a complete subsystem of items and a class should render it no surprise that the pdf also sports quite a significant array of different feats. These include metatech feats (guess what these do...) and the usual improvements for additional uses of limited daily use-abilities etc.

At this point, the 32-page mark, we enter the electrotech gear chapter - yes. I'm not kidding. So, the weapons. The table covers a whole page. And yes, modifications like double barrels can be added to e.g. nucleonic rifles, while sawridge shields and splinterhail grenades as well as stock prods breathe the spirit of scifi, super-tech, tesla-punk...however you want to call it, the chapter is glorious. Beyond these implements of death, several defensive items and household items can be found herein as well - chamber lamps, air stabilizers, heaters, iconographs, phonographs - it may seem like nothing special, but without these, the book would be missing vital pieces that really help get into the mood of the material Specialized tool and skill kits also elp portraying a society that has moved beyond the traditional confines of medieval society.

And then, there would be madnesses. These truly go off the deep-end and constitute technical wonders beyond what is readily available in a default society - what about e.g. a pod that can modify your age, pigmentation and even gender or race? Stasis pods? Helms that can be used to stimulate or hamper a character's performance? Hypnotist's helmets? Color-coded mind-influence? The equivalent of an atomic bomb? A machine to purge foreign subjects from a target? Pleasure-hazes creating orbs, with truly nefarious extensions? A chair that allows you to extend the reach of your magic to miles? Röntgen booths? Machines for forced alignment changes? Yes, these essentially artifact-level wonders run the gamut of traditional scifi and weird fiction, making me constantly envisioning my favorites of the classics - I am not engaging in hyperbole when I'm saying that EACH of these items can change a campaign, nay can even power a whole campaign. They're this iconic, this interesting.

Of course, classic science-fiction is, more often than not, also defined by the fantastic vehicles sported within - especially Jules Verne has become pretty much the default association just about anyone would have in that regard. And yes - from flying saucers to hover-vehicles to jetcrafts and tanks - vehicles upon vehicles, all ready for your perusal...oh so AWESOME!

Now I mentioned gadgets - these do not simply pop up, as one could have expected - instead, concise and easy to grasp rules for research and crafting them can be found within these pages alongside comprehensive tables of gadgets - from ant-inspired better carrying/less armor issues (and even wielding oversized weapons) to blasters, jetpack-like vastly improved jumps, the gadgets are surprisingly versatile - and, more often than not, do something utterly, completely UNIQUE. The gadgets alone would be cool - but combine their neat basic premises with aforementioned, rather interesting special tricks AND the 5-step upgrade system for maximum customization options and we have a system that ends up as not only flexible, but downright brilliant. And yes, we get grappling hooks, bionic commando style, scanners, magnifiers...even personal translators! Beyond these, there are symbionts - and,a s an old Venom fanboy, I was pretty much looking forward to them, their concise rules and implementation. And yes, these symbionts are rather interesting - though surprisingly, and somewhat disappointingly mundane though they turned out to be. What do I mean by this? Well, first of all, there is nothing wrong with the symbionts - there rules are concise, their benefits unique and they make for a very cool way to reward players even in campaigns that sport no electrotech - just explain it via aberrant stuff etc. and you#re good to go. That being said, they are pretty much one note-augmentations - no detrimental effects, no symbiont-highjacks - nothing. Again, this does not make them bad and their acquisition, recovery and death-rules are concise, but especially when compared to the rest of the book, they feel very static and ironically, inorganic when compared to the vast panorama of options provided by gadgets et al. One deserves special mention, though - the animan symbiont can transform normal humans into an animal-like race called mutamorphs, one of two new races.

The base mutamorph race receives +2 Con, -2 Cha, count as both mutamorphs and humans, receive -4 to all cha-based check and get low-light-vision. Additionally, they may select one of 8 basic sets, which align them with e.g. bears, wolves etc. and influence thus their movement rate, a further +2 bonus to an attribute etc. Here, the rules-language could be a) slightly more precise and b) balancing is off. Natural weapons fails to specify whether they're primary or secondary and bite attacks, for example do not adhere to the standard damage for medium creatures. Additionally, we have unassisted personal flight at 1st level for e.g. Bat mutamorphs, which can be a problem in quite a few campaigns. The second new race, the raccoon-folk Nashi receive +2 Con, -2 Int, are small, slow, receive +1 to diplomacy and Knowledge, low-light vision, +2 to Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering), Appraise, Perception and Spellcraft as well as early firearm proficiency. Okay race. Both races receive full arrays of favored class options. Nashi can also select a bunch of alternate racial traits, some of which are pretty strong and replace bland +2 bonuses to skills - which renders them pretty much a no-brainer. Not a particular fan of this decision.

Character traits, new skill uses for old (and new skills) etc. also make an appearance

After the rather sobering racial write-ups, we're back to form - with technician background generators akin to those found in Ultimate Campaign as well as *drum-roll* KIMGDOM-BUILDING SUPPOORT! Electroplants, hydroworks, MONORAIL TRACKS (!!!), radiation sickness, airfields, broadcasting towers - even in completely unrelated settings, the content provided here is gold. Better yet, new rooms and buildings for my beloved downtime system are also provided for - including airfields, factories etc. - and there it is again, the manic, stupid grin that was on my face for most of the time while I was reading this book.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed next to no glitches - quite a feat for a book of this size. Layout adheres to an easy-to-read, printer-friendly 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf has copious amounts of awesome, original pieces of b/w-artwork. The pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks for your convenience.

Radiance House does not publish books often, but when they do, they tend to rank in the upper echelon - indeed, so far, I have yet to be truly disappointed by a given book. Dario Nardi and Alexander Augunas did not break this trend. Instead, they deliver something special: I expected this to be a PFRPG-book of the Electrotech-world detailed in other supplements - instead, I received a thoroughly concise campaign-overlay. With the content herein, you can easily introduce electrotech in any doses you deem appropriate into your campaign - from full-blown all-out scifi to fantasy with fallen spacecrafts to anything in-between. Whether you're playing Rhûne or Pure Steam, Iron Gods or any other even remotely steampunky/science-fiction-style setting, this delivers. In fact, if you're aiming for a magic-less system sans deities etc., this answers the healing question. From hardcore scifi to teslapunk, in small doses or in buckets - the Age of Electrotech is an absolute must-own publication. The technician is one of the coolest classes currently available and its massive customization options are downright beautiful to behold. After some tinkering, I am proud to say that I could not flaws with this exceedingly versatile class - which is quite a feat. Indeed, this is quite probably the best gadgeteering class currently out there - and one for which I really hope I'll see more material. Making a technician is simply an immensely rewarding experience and the playtesting does show - even more impressive then, that a class of this complexity is so utterly easy to grasp. Kudos indeed!

My criticism towards the symbionts should be considered nagging at a high level, and thus, we only remain with the racial write-ups not being on par with the otherwise exceedingly high quality of this book. But that also pales before the VAST array of utterly inspiring options contained within these pages - from the Ultimate Campaign-support to the vehicles, this book is a joy and one I definitely will get in print as soon as my finances permit it.

Before I gush even more and start to sound like a complete fanboy - the Age of Electrotech should be considered a must-have addition to any game that likes to introduce a bit of the uncommon into their fantasy - the content's rules alone, heck, the class alone maybe worth the asking price. Add to that the fact that you can easily reskin the fluff to treat this as magic, steam or whatever, and we have a massive book of glorious crunch, with inspiring fluff sprinkled in that can easily be summed up with the words "must have". My final verdict will clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval and I nominate this as a candidate for my top ten of 2014 - this book deserves your attention and delivers excellence for its price.

Endzeitgeist out.


Snap Judgment Review: Age of Electrotech

5/5

Disclaimer: This review is based on initial read through and impressions. Balanced concerns are touched on lightly.

Chapter One presents the Technician, a new 20 level base class designed around using the tech in this book. It is a 6 level “casting” class. The Technician uses Gadgets, which give bonuses using a point pool and 6 levels of Tinkers, effectively spells. Tinkers and Gadgets draw from the same pool. These choices are made at the start of the day. It feels like a cross between Incarna (or Essence if you follow Dreamscarred Press Akashic material) and a prepared Psionic – where you allocate your points at the start of the day. To be honest it would be pretty easy to reflavor this with magic for a more traditional settings – Gadgets are magic items, and Tinkers are spells, or maybe one time use magic items – to have a D&D 3.5 Artificer like class in your game.

This class has mechanical depth, flexibility and great flavor. There are numerous archetypes, and the class itself has Trades, or paths the Electrotech follows, for greater flavor and role definition. Note that one of the archetypes is a class that deals with symbiotes instead of gadgets.
This is one of the most flavorful classes I have seen in quite a while. Looks very fun to play.

The next 2 chapters deal with tech, and then the Gadgets that an Technician uses. It is a good collection to get you started. Personally I'd like to see more in an expansion, but I'm greedy.

The last chapter deals with game mechanics outside of the class: 2 new races, skill use, advice on how to work the systems into your game. Here we have Favored Class for every class before the Advanced Class guide; and the Technician has favored class bonuses for every race in the Advanced Race Guide. Also included is a history generator for use in the class section of Character History from the Ultimate Campaign Guide; there is support for buildings, towns and kingdom building from the same book, utilizing Electrotech. This level of support for the more “fringe” books is something you don't see very much from Third Party support, and it really should be done more often. Kudos to Radiance House for doing this – here is hoping more publishes take this approach. I would have loved to see Mythic content too, but as I said, I'm greedy.

Included is advice on how to include electrotech in your games, and at what level in impacts the world. The default nomenclature creates a feel for a pulp style approach, I'm using it for a steampunk feel, but change the names to real world names and it is perfect for modern settings – thus allowing for a broader use of the material.

I saw two or three minor editing mistakes.

The layout is easy to read, the art evokes the material.

Overall an excellent book and highly recommended.

5/5 stars.

P.S. If you use Interjection Game's Tinker class, the work Tinker gets multiple definition, I would humbly suggest the word “Widget” for the one time use effect items that a Technician uses.


1 to 50 of 71 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
Webstore Gninja Minion

Now available!


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Oooh, that looks mighty interesting. Any chance of a print edition?

Webstore Gninja Minion

I certainly hope so!


*adds to list*

Contributor

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Zaister wrote:
Oooh, that looks mighty interesting. Any chance of a print edition?

100% chance. We're working on it.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

That's great!


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Hmm. Would it perhaps be possible to get the PDF now and upgrade that to a Print/PDF bundle later, or will I need to have to wait for a bundle to be announced?


Interesting. Any of this fit into dieselpunk settings?

Contributor

2 people marked this as a favorite.

If the Kitsune Compendium has been a labor of love for me because of its flavor, Age of Electrotech has been a labor of love for me because of its mechanics. I slaved and stretched my brain into non-euclidean shapes creating the technician class, especially its weird, new "casting" system.

Essentially, the technician is a non-magical class that combines alchemist extracts and incarnum together using a power points system (called battery points) to regulate usage. You get an allotment of battery points and need to choose whether you use that energy to empower your jet back for a few uses, build a wand-like device that fires a blast of combustive fire at foes, or build some other fantastic invention.

I talk a LOT about what, exactly, you'll find in this book mechanics-wide here, in our product announcement thread.

I'm often asked how this book compares to the Technology Guide. Simply put, it doesn't. They're compatible with each other because they're very different eras of technology. The Technology Guide assumes that its wears are rare, exotic, and futuristic. That they're from beyond the stars, crashed onto this world by interplanetary travelers. Age of Electrotech assumes that your technology level is squarely placed in the mid-to-late Industrial Revolution and it is set against a Roaring 20s backdrop. You won't find cameras in Age of Electrotech, like you would in the Technology Guide: you'll instead see stats for daguerreotypes.

And yes. We made a Rocket Raccoon race for our technology book. Because we love you almost as much as we knew we'd love Guardians of the Galaxy.

Contributor

Odraude wrote:
Interesting. Any of this fit into dieselpunk settings?

See above. It assumes Industrial Revolution / Roaring 20s, but it should fit your needs perfectly. Dario and I based our flavor after cult-famous scientists like Tesla, but the style is purposefully between WWI and WWII.

You'd have to ignore most of the artwork in the book and say it looks like your own stuff, but there's nothing specifically stopping it from being diesel, and it would work well enough flavored as such. We define the driving power source, immateria, as being "any mundane natural force," of which diesel power certainly applies.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:
And yes. We made a Rocket Raccoon race for our technology book. Because we love you almost as much as we knew we'd love Guardians of the Galaxy.

Argh! I'm going to have to graciously overlook that race. :)

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Zaister wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
And yes. We made a Rocket Raccoon race for our technology book. Because we love you almost as much as we knew we'd love Guardians of the Galaxy.
Argh! I'm going to have to graciously overlook that race. :)

Aw, don't say that! The nashi have been in my home game for about two years now. D:


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Welp. That's on the list for next purchases.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Zaister wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
And yes. We made a Rocket Raccoon race for our technology book. Because we love you almost as much as we knew we'd love Guardians of the Galaxy.
Argh! I'm going to have to graciously overlook that race. :)
Aw, don't say that! The nashi have been in my home game for about two years now. D:

Don't worry, it's just me. If theres one thing that completely destroys the attraction of a movie or something similar for me, it's talking and/or anthropomorphized animals. I just can't stand that. So, to "Guardians of the Galaxy", for me, it's just NO. :)


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Odraude wrote:
Interesting. Any of this fit into dieselpunk settings?

See above. It assumes Industrial Revolution / Roaring 20s, but it should fit your needs perfectly. Dario and I based our flavor after cult-famous scientists like Tesla, but the style is purposefully between WWI and WWII.

You'd have to ignore most of the artwork in the book and say it looks like your own stuff, but there's nothing specifically stopping it from being diesel, and it would work well enough flavored as such. We define the driving power source, immateria, as being "any mundane natural force," of which diesel power certainly applies.

I can most certainly dig that. I was just complaining about a lack of dieselpunk in Pathfinder so this will fit nicely.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Odraude wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Odraude wrote:
Interesting. Any of this fit into dieselpunk settings?

See above. It assumes Industrial Revolution / Roaring 20s, but it should fit your needs perfectly. Dario and I based our flavor after cult-famous scientists like Tesla, but the style is purposefully between WWI and WWII.

You'd have to ignore most of the artwork in the book and say it looks like your own stuff, but there's nothing specifically stopping it from being diesel, and it would work well enough flavored as such. We define the driving power source, immateria, as being "any mundane natural force," of which diesel power certainly applies.

I can most certainly dig that. I was just complaining about a lack of dieselpunk in Pathfinder so this will fit nicely.

I myself have been gaining an interest in dieselpunk. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE steampunk, but there are 30 million steampunk resources out there. Besides, dieselpunk is what Crimson Skies and Sky Captain are.

This is absolutely added to my list.


If there's a print edition I'm in.


As soon as I see a print or print/pdf option, I'll be all over this! The preview at that other RPG web store looks great!

Grand Lodge

2 people marked this as a favorite.

This was a lot of fun to see developed and to play with. Radiance House out did themselves on this one.
I feel it's better than the electrotech featured in d20 IK setting.

~Greg


I got one. Taking a long hard look at it for a review. This will take a bit because it's long and I probably have to build some of the options to understand them.

Contributor

Ken Pawlik wrote:
As soon as I see a print or print/pdf option, I'll be all over this! The preview at that other RPG web store looks great!

Dario is communing with the forces that be (Paizo) in order to see if we can set up a Print Preorder for the website while still getting folks the digital copy in a timely matter. Hold fast, heroes! I should have the answers you seek soon enough.

Contributor

GarnathFrostmantle wrote:

This was a lot of fun to see developed and to play with. Radiance House out did themselves on this one.

I feel it's better than the electrotech featured in d20 IK setting.

~Greg

For those who didn't know, Amora Games (of which Greg owns and operates) playtested our Age of Electrotech book. It came out with tons of shiny, statically-charged gold stars.

Contributor

Warhawk7 wrote:
Odraude wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Odraude wrote:
Interesting. Any of this fit into dieselpunk settings?

See above. It assumes Industrial Revolution / Roaring 20s, but it should fit your needs perfectly. Dario and I based our flavor after cult-famous scientists like Tesla, but the style is purposefully between WWI and WWII.

You'd have to ignore most of the artwork in the book and say it looks like your own stuff, but there's nothing specifically stopping it from being diesel, and it would work well enough flavored as such. We define the driving power source, immateria, as being "any mundane natural force," of which diesel power certainly applies.

I can most certainly dig that. I was just complaining about a lack of dieselpunk in Pathfinder so this will fit nicely.

I myself have been gaining an interest in dieselpunk. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE steampunk, but there are 30 million steampunk resources out there. Besides, dieselpunk is what Crimson Skies and Sky Captain are.

This is absolutely added to my list.

As I said to Odraude, you'll have to do a little bit of modding to make the book fit a diselpunk setting, as its really designed to hit that Industrial Revolution / Roaring 20s vibe. If you replace "battery point" with "fuel point" or personally flavor the batteries as being diesel based rather than alchemical based, then you're pretty much good to go!

Contributor

Malwing wrote:
I got one. Taking a long hard look at it for a review. This will take a bit because it's long and I probably have to build some of the options to understand them.

It is definitely not a book for beginner players and took even Amora Games' most experienced of playtesters a few sessions to actually get the hang of the electrotechnology mechanics. I took painstaking efforts to write it as clearly and concisely as possible (as I did in Pact Magic Unbound), but the simple fact is that this book's options are designed more like an Advanced Class Guide class rather than a Core Rulebook class.


Is this similar to the Technology rules in Paizo's Technology Guide?


Well my first glance impressions are; (numbered for response ease)

1) Oh god is this going to take some back and forth reading. I thought this as soon as I saw Gadgets and Tinkers on the same page both referring to lists. My reading comprehension skills are going to be put to the test here.

2) I have a pet peeve with techno classes that are both realized and alleviated here. Technology is one of those things where logically anyone with the right knowledge and craft skills should be able to use so I don't like it when a class kind of hordes it all to himself when martials are still relying on magic just to stay functional. Battery points kind of do that but I have to do some mental gymnastics to imagine why he isn't making more than one. Depending on my feelings when I make some characters and finish reading/comprehending the book I may flavor immateria to be somewhat magical in my home games (like alchemist extracts, or Mobius energy with Machinesmiths) and assume that he's producing it with his body rather than an external battery.

3) I'm having a hard time visually separating Innovations from non-innovations in the class features. For a minute I thought he had like a ton of class features.

4) Gadgets have slots that aren't normal slots? Man I hope there's a sheet to track this in the back.

5) I wonder how I can fit third party spells under the tinker list. I guess it doesn't matter there's a lot of things this does.

6) The archetypes are hilarious. I like that they don't just ignore magic.

7) The Extra Battery feat requires that you use 'Tunkers'

8) Nice for there to be a feat for other classes to use gadgets.

9) The weapons and armor seem to not need battery points so I assume they are free game.

10) FORCE SWORDS!

11) All these great vehicles and nobody ever has the decency to put in a hoverboard. Back to the Future goes as far as next year and even in our fantasy games we can't get a hoverboard.

12) Gadgets require so much re-reading. Once I'm sure I fully understand it I'll get to judging how complex it is because I could just be lazy or something.

13) So the new races are dirty muties and Rocket Racoon. Okay.

14) Oh cool, some Ultimate Campaign support.

15) I think most of my final verdict is going to depend on comprehending Gadgets.

Contributor

Malwing wrote:
2) I have a pet peeve with techno classes that are both realized and alleviated here. Technology is one of those things where logically anyone with the right knowledge and craft skills should be able to use so I don't like it when a class kind of hordes it all to himself when martials are still relying on magic just to stay functional. Battery points kind of do that but I have to do some mental gymnastics to imagine why he isn't making more than one. Depending on my feelings when I make some characters and finish reading/comprehending the book I may flavor immateria to be somewhat magical in my home games (like alchemist extracts, or Mobius energy with Machinesmiths) and assume that he's producing it with his body rather than an external battery.

The simple fact is that you cannot make a class that focuses on crafting while systematically allowing those craftables to be made by every other class. Balance-wise, its a nightmare. (Believe me, I tried it for early renditions of the book.) I'm sorry you don't like the flavor that we went with to justify why its mostly just technicians using this sort of tech, but your options are limited when you want A) a true technology-based artificer that B) does not use a lick of magic in the standard class.

Quote:
3) I'm having a hard time visually separating Innovations from non-innovations in the class features. For a minute I thought he had like a ton of class features.

Its no worse then how rogue talents were presented in the Core Rulebook, or how innovations are presented in the Advanced Class Guide.

Quote:
4) Gadgets have slots that aren't normal slots? Man I hope there's a sheet to track this in the back.

No, because there are only four gadget slots (chest, hands, head, and feet).

Quote:
5) I wonder how I can fit third party spells under the tinker list. I guess it doesn't matter there's a lot of things this does.

The general theme of the technician is: the biggest, flashiest spell effects that are 6th level or lower. Technicians want you to KNOW that they built machines that can produce magic-like effects using the mundane forces of nature.

Quote:
6) The archetypes are hilarious. I like that they don't just ignore magic.

Nope! I wanted the standard technician (and its trades) to be very traditional and very staunchly no-magic, but then have a whole bunch of archetypes that convey the idea that technicians are thinkers and innovators, and do a lot of weird things with their machinery. (My favorite is the transmoglomaniac, who uses the alchemist's mutagen to hilarious effect.)

Quote:
7) The Extra Battery feat requires that you use 'Tunkers'

Whoops, good catch! I'll send the typo to Dario. We might be able to fix it in before the printing goes live.

Quote:
9) The weapons and armor seem to not need battery points so I assume they are free game.

Unless noted otherwise, you only need battery points for gadgets and tinkers. It is a technician class mechanic.

Quote:
10) FORCE SWORDS!

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Quote:
11) All these great vehicles and nobody ever has the decency to put in a hoverboard. Back to the Future goes as far as next year and even in our fantasy games we can't get a hoverboard.

Sadly, I had a hoverboard in at one point but I ultimately had to scrap it for space. There's a vehicle in there that's basically a hover bicycle. A hoverboard would cost the same amount to use, honestly. Just add that you use Acrobatics or Profession (driver) to drive it.

Quote:
12) Gadgets require so much re-reading. Once I'm sure I fully understand it I'll get to judging how complex it is because I could just be lazy or something.

SUPER complex. But basically, you determine a gadget's total costs by adding the upgrade costs of any upgrades you build into your gadget to the gadget's base cost (this is always 1 battery point). Then, you can pay battery points to your gadget in increments equal to its total cost in order to gain "units" to spend using the gadget. Think of it as trading a number of battery points for a grit pool that can spent activating the gadget, but you can "purchase" the same gadget multiple times to double up (or even trip or quadruple up) on the pool's size.

Quote:
13) So the new races are dirty muties and Rocket Racoon. Okay.

What can I say? I liked Guardians of the Galaxy before they were cool and loved Batman Beyond back when it was cool. ;-)

Quote:
14) Oh cool, some Ultimate Campaign support.

Nobody but Jason Nelson and I ever do that, do they?

Contributor

Odraude wrote:
Is this similar to the Technology rules in Paizo's Technology Guide?

Having purchased the book myself, no. They're quite different.

There are some overlapping items. For example, at the time I designed the book the Technology Guide (and its contents) hadn't been announced, so I ended up reprinting most of the era-appropriate tech items from Rasputin Must Die in this book. So you'll see the automatic property as it appears in the Tech Guide in this book, because the Tech Guide swiped it from Rasputin Must Die! In most other places, we handle things much, much differently. For one, our technology (and the effects they produce) is much cheaper then that in the Technology Guide. While our symbionts are similarly priced to their cybernetic enhancements (and that's probably the closest area of overlap), most of our items are priced around being A) readily available to a consumer and B) not having ridiculously potent effects. For example, you can buy one of our daeurgographs (a photo-sensitive machine that uses chemical reactions to burn captured images on a silver-coated plate), but it is much slower than the Technology Guide's camera.

We have a couple of technological artifacts called Wonders of Madness too, but I haven't seen a whole lot of overlap there. Some similar concepts with very different executions. For example, we have a "make me look young" device that is basically a facelift machine. The Technology Guide has an item that takes you apart and rebuilds you as a young adult. Again, similar themes, similar mechanics in some places, but not identical in terms of mechanics.


Alexander Augunas wrote:
Malwing wrote:
2) I have a pet peeve with techno classes that are both realized and alleviated here. Technology is one of those things where logically anyone with the right knowledge and craft skills should be able to use so I don't like it when a class kind of hordes it all to himself when martials are still relying on magic just to stay functional. Battery points kind of do that but I have to do some mental gymnastics to imagine why he isn't making more than one. Depending on my feelings when I make some characters and finish reading/comprehending the book I may flavor immateria to be somewhat magical in my home games (like alchemist extracts, or Mobius energy with Machinesmiths) and assume that he's producing it with his body rather than an external battery.

The simple fact is that you cannot make a class that focuses on crafting while systematically allowing those craftables to be made by every other class. Balance-wise, its a nightmare. (Believe me, I tried it for early renditions of the book.) I'm sorry you don't like the flavor that we went with to justify why its mostly just technicians using this sort of tech, but your options are limited when you want A) a true technology-based artificer that B) does not use a lick of magic in the standard class.

It's not that big of a problem. Out of the technology classes that I use (Tinker, Machinesmith, Mechamage, Gearhead, Steamwrite) I think one has techology associated with it that can be used by anyone. I think the big divide is that I'm often seeking a technology system that is separate from the techno class but the techno class is better at it or does unique things with it, while most techno classes have classes that produce the technology exclusively. To that end I really like that there are mundane electrotech items and a means to interact with gadgets, but I'm likely to reflavor where the battery points come from because with enough time I wonder why the class isn't producing more than one battery and tinkers reactions to anti-magic.

Also internally I think creators make techno classes this way because a class that is inherently a item producer is too broken too fast, but techno classes are defined by creating machines and whatnot, so they often, like this product, feel like the Alchemist's chassis. I think my ideal artificer is one that comes with a system of technological items but interacting with them uniquely by incorporating them into his physiology.

But so far this product does offer a lot and I plan to use it particularly because I may patch in a feat that allows the technician to use his battery points for the techological gear in Paizo's Technology Guide. (so that he can shoot laser guns without needing an energy reactor.) Oddly enough since he does have a personal battery energy point pool the Technician is currently my most ideal third party class that can easily be house ruled into interacting with the Technology Guide while still being able to do his own thing.

Sovereign Court

As the second author, it'll add my second cent:

Electrotech can fit well into the Iron Gods AP and Golarion. Despite the ancient technology being very high level, electrotech is a simpler version that natives of Golarion might have been able to reverse engineer. The Technic League has figured out some of the principles, etc, possibly using magic like Commune to do that. It's a way to get some tech into the hands of PCs without giving them super-powerful stuff (well, the Maxim is pretty nice, as is the Nucleonic Rifle).

Webstore Gninja Minion

Print edition now available for preorder. :)

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Liz Courts wrote:
Print edition now available for preorder. :)

Allow me to cackle a moment.

*Ahem*

ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Ka-ching!


How would one of these guys do for a Dragonlance Tinker Gnome?

Contributor

Gambit wrote:
How would one of these guys do for a Dragonlance Tinker Gnome?

They're the ones that inspired World of Warcraft's gnomes, right?

If so, very, very good. World of Warcraft's take on technology was one of my inspirations in writing this book.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Hero Labs support forthcoming? :)

Contributor

Tal Meta wrote:
Hero Labs support forthcoming? :)

Neither Dario nor I own Hero Lab, so probably not unless either A) the guys at Hero Lab donate a copy for me to mess around with or B) some kind soul develops Hero Lab support for the product independently of us.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Alexander Augunas wrote:


The simple fact is that you cannot make a class that focuses on crafting while systematically allowing those craftables to be made by every other class. Balance-wise, its a nightmare. (Believe me, I tried it for early renditions of the book.) I'm sorry you don't like the flavor that we went with to justify why its mostly just technicians using this sort of tech, but your options are limited when you want A) a true technology-based artificer that B) does not use a lick of magic in the standard class.

I think one thing to focus on is what your craftables do and how flexible they are. PFRPG abstracts a lot of stuff just like D20 and a "normal" gun or rifle isn't going to do much more damage than a crossbow because in many cases the assumptions are different from a "hard reality" setting. A gun that can fire lighting bolts and then freeze rays or be set to ignore magic-- well that's not a mundane gun, it's a technological version of a magical item and should be just as hard to build.

Amusingly, the most dramatic "setting breaking" stuff an engineer can make are things like printing presses and freezers-- stuff that you'll likely never see in a dungeon, but that will result in a world completely unrecognizable compared to your typical fantasy setting.


Alexander Augunas wrote:
Malwing wrote:

14) Oh cool, some Ultimate Campaign support.

Nobody but Jason Nelson and I ever do that, do they?

This is one of the things that really jumped out at me. I love almost everything in this book, and that was one I really liked. That, and favored class for everything in the ARG. Really nice support for the later Paizo books. Personally I wish every class had the Background generator, full Favored Class, and some Mythic bits for it - hey I can dream.

I've been toying with the idea of writing reviews; I have a LOT of 3PP, and always get more. Aside from Endzeitgeist I don't see a whole lot of reviews for them, but I know I can't be as detailed or specific as him... and to be honest our home game uses houserules, and usually gestalt, so I don't know that I would see a balance problem even if it hit me over the head, so I have been leery of doing so. But this book is one I want to shout to the heavens, so I will write my first review for it - likely this weekend.


Is this basically a Pathfinder version of Radiance RPG?

Contributor

OberonViking wrote:
Is this basically a Pathfinder version of Radiance RPG?

No, Radiance is designed to cover a large area of topics and is designed around ease of play. This book is mostly a Pathfinder version of Radiance RPG's electrotech rules. It takes all of the pulpy goodness that Dario designed for the Radiance RPG and brings it to Pathfinder in the form of a new class (with new archetypes) and several new types of equipment.

If you have Radiance RPG, you'll recognize most of the artwork, though. We were very careful to try and import as much of it as possible. Large chunks of Radiance's world flavor are purposefully absent from this book (although the overarching fiction that I wrote for the book takes place in the city of Ellencourt, with our heroes being terrorized by a member of the nefarious Brimbsbi family). Likewise, the new races in this book are something that I invented for Electrotech, they weren't taken from Radiance RPG.

That said, most of Radiance's races and classes and its tier-based leveling system are not in this book. We wanted something very specific, very cut-and-dry for our first "cross pollination experience," if you will. If Age of Electrotech is successful, then you'll probably see me converting more from that book to Pathfinder. Dario has been on my case about converting the Townie Rules to Pathfinder for a LONG time. ;-)


Review posted here and at DTRPG.

Contributor

Lord Mhoram wrote:
Review posted here and at DTRPG.

Thank you very much for taking the time to write such an in-depth review of our product!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Lord Mhoram wrote:
Review posted here and at DTRPG.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such an in-depth review of our product!

You are welcome.

I've always thought about doing reviews, but I never wanted to do just a few sentence review if I did one...and I liked this book so much, I had to write one. :D

Scarab Sages

Alexander Augunas wrote:
Liz Courts wrote:
Print edition now available for preorder. :)

Allow me to cackle a moment.

*Ahem*

ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there a rough date as to when you'd think Paizo would have the print copies? Weeks away, months away, etc.

Contributor

davrion wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Liz Courts wrote:
Print edition now available for preorder. :)

Allow me to cackle a moment.

*Ahem*

ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there a rough date as to when you'd think Paizo would have the print copies? Weeks away, months away, etc.

There are a couple of contingencies. We sent the request for print samples from our printer on the same day that this product went live on Paizo.com (August 28th). Typically, it takes them about two weeks to get everything set up, and then they mail a proof copy to Dario. If everything is in order with the proof, then Dario okays it and the printer starts making print copies, which Dario can then have shipped directly to Paizo's warehouse. If the proof has errors or something is wrong (which is what happened with PMUv2's print edition), then we have to repeat the process until we get a proof that lives up to our high standards of craftsmanship.

With any luck, the first proof should be arriving at Dario's doorstep in the next few business days. If everything is okay, then it should only be another week or so before Paizo gets the print copies in stock. If everything's not okay, it'll take longer as we sort out problems. To use perfect-form verbs, we're looking at future perfect, where your book will be shipped anywhere from a week from now to some undisclosed point in the future.

Contributor

This is Dario Nardi. He's looking relieved because Age of Electrotech came back from the printer in perfectly pristine condition. Liz should have it in the warehouse in one to two weeks, so everyone who ordered it should have it in their mail boxes in two to three weeks.

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Here's a picture of me holding my own personal copy of Age of Electrotech! If I have it, then Paizo should have it in the next few days, as Dario is on the same coast as Paizo is. The wait is almost over!

And speaking of the wait, I have great news for everyone! If you purchase the book from this initial wave, you get a special surprise! A misprinted collector's edition! What's the misprint, you may ask? Well, in the interior cover one of the author's surnames is misspelled. I'll give you a hint — its NOT the author with a five-letter last name! For extra giggles while you enjoy your shiny new collector's edition, take solace in the fact that the author who's name is misspelled did the initial text layout for the product. In short, I misspelled my own last name on the title page and now you all get to laugh at me while enjoying what will henceforth be a collector's edition of the book. ;-)


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

So I had been waiting for the print/pdf bundle to come out of pre-order status so I could use the store credit a friend got me for my birthday to buy this. Then the Great Golem sale happened, and I used up all my store credit there. Yesterday.

Yesterday! I even double-checked this before ordering!

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to wait a little bit longer. I need this book. You had me at force swords. :P


My print copy is in the mail!

1 to 50 of 71 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Paizo / Product Discussion / Age of Electrotech (PFRPG) All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.