"Clock & Steam", ZGG 2008

[Havard]

Clock & Steam

By Rodney Thompson
Buy PDF at DrivethruRPG

Once viewed as the idle pursuit of low races, the development of clockwork and steam power has since swept across the lands of the North like a wildfire. High Thonians now boast the bravest and most innovative advances in these arts, and the call for the fruits of their labors grows louder with each passing day. But every new order threatens the old, and resistance to the march of progress grows, as well. What stand will you take in the name of science? Harness the Power of Invention ! Welcome to Clock and Steam, the comprehensive guide to "gadgetech" for Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. This long-awaited sourcebook reveals the ways in which clockwork and steam-powered devices have shaped the lands of Blackmoor, and adds new dimensions of play to any fantasy campaign. Now players can step into the role of creator, with a new base class-the inventor-and prestige classes such as the clock mage, the infuser, and the warmaker!

Publisher : Zeitgeist Games (January 1, 2008)
ISBN-10 : 0978576152
ISBN-13 : 978-0978576158
Item Weight : 12.6 ounces

This was one of the last books that were published for D&D 3E by Zeitgeist Games before their cooperation with Code Monkey Press. Interestingly the book states that the material within is not official Blackmoor material, but is designed for a somewhat non-canonical expansion of the setting with an increased focus on various forms of fantasy technology. In addition to a new Inventor Class which was later updated to 4E, the book also features new techological items, powers, artifacts etc as well as setting material to make it easier to integrate some of the rules concepts of the book into the setting.

I didn't really feel like cramming even more setting material into the small region of Blackmoor from Dave Arneson's map, so I adapted much of this material into my Thonian Rand Sourcebook.

Overall, I enjoyed this book even though it might not be for everyone's Blackmoor campaign.

-Havard

[Havard]

Looks like the author of this book is in the news!

-Havard

[aldarron]

One of the things I appreciate about the book is his writeups for the mechanical horse and mechanical armor of the Blue Rider.

[Havard]

New blog entry about this sourcebook.

Also, I noticed that this was published before the CMP/ZGG partnership. I have removed a reference to CMP in the OP.

-Havard

[Yaztromo]

I haven't used a lot this sourcebook as it is in my opinion very suited for D&D 3.0 specific mechanics, but if you use a different (or quite different ruleset, as in my case) it becomes less useful.