I’ve just cracked open my personal copy of the Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy Roleplaying Game: Core Rules, and it is a beautiful thing. My gaming group wants to play a group of adventuring Menites, and they are excited to bring some of the Lawgiver’s light into the dark corners of western Immoren. I wanted to play something a little different from the standard priest or knight, so I’ve opted to create a self-surrendered Vassal of Menoth. There were a few different ways to go about doing this, and I thought it would be fun to walk you through my character creation path.

Racial and archetype selection is a breeze. Being a Menite pretty much predetermines my character as being human. I want to play a Vassal, one of the Protectorate’s arcane slaves, so I know I want to be Gifted (in the RPG your character must have the Gifted archetype to use magic).

Now that those decisions are out of the way, let’s take a look at career options. Arcane Mechanik, Arcanist, Gun Mage, Priest, Sorcerer, and Warcaster are the spellcasting careers offered in the Core Rules. We can easily eliminate a few off the bat. Gun Mage, Warcaster, and Priest don’t quite fit the character concept. The Sorcerer career jumps out as being what Vassals native to the Protectorate are all about: devout Menites who are overcome with their arcane abilities and seek repentance. Also, it lets me play with fire—who doesn’t love that? Sorcerer will be one of my two careers.

It is at this point I have to make an important decision. Do I want to pair Sorcerer with Arcane Mechanik to play a Vassal Mechanik, one of those specially trained by the church in the repair and cleansing of warjacks? It would allow me access to all sorts of warjack-buffing spells and be useful for keeping the party in a steady supply of sanctified mechanika tools. Or do I want to be an Arcanist and play a more traditional Vassal that is focused on casting spells?

I think it would be fun to leave the ‘jacks to the other players and enjoy my self-imposed imprisonment, so I’ll end up playing an Arcanist/Sorcerer. This combination gives me access to a very respectable starting spell list that includes Fire Starter, Wall of Fire, and Aura of Protection, among others. It also gives me some very respectable occupational and martial skills, so if I’m pressed into the thick of things my character can hold his own. I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

My favorite thing about this character is that it fulfills the requirements for the arcane order adventuring party, but being a group of Menites in the service of the scrutators and the House of Truth is very different than being members of the Fraternal Order of Wizardry. This adventuring party creates all sorts of unique stories that the Game Master couldn’t tell with any other group, and that is what has me most excited about playing the Iron Kingdoms RPG.