No Quarter Presents: Iron Kingdoms Urban Adventure releases today, allowing players to expand their adventures into the dangerous, intrigue-filled streets of the Iron Kingdoms’ great cities. In celebration of this release, I thought I’d give you a little insight into the book’s contents.
We chose to focus the material on an urban setting largely because the cities of the Iron Kingdoms offer players a variety of unique opportunities iconic to western Immoren. Cities are an easy stepping-off point for beginning players and Game Masters—often that first adventure is right outside the door. In addition, the teeming cities of Cygnar, Khador, Ord, Llael, and the Protectorate of Menoth give players a chance to become embroiled in some of the monumental events that have shaped the Iron Kingdoms over the last five years.
Okay, so what’s actually in the book? I’ll go through each chapter and detail the material within as well as the thought process behind its inclusion.
Chapter 1—Urban Adaptation: This chapter offers a new career for each of the six non-human races in the Iron Kingdoms RPG. The idea for this chapter was proposed as a simple question. How do the non-human races of the Iron Kingdoms adapt and even thrive in the human-dominated cities of western Immoren? The answer to that question is the gobber Guttersnipe, the ogrun Labor Korune, the trollkin Pugilist, the Rhulic Searforge Trader, the Iosan Seeker, and the Nyss Urban Nomad.
Chapter 2—Urban Gear: Every character in the Iron Kingdoms needs equipment, and those braving the dangerous cities of western Immoren sometimes need very special equipment. This chapter presents a bevy of new gear and gadgets for the urban adventurer, including defensive items like the blast shield, sneaky firearms like the collapsible pistol and rifle, and even a few alchemical goodies like crowd-clearing fear gas and soothing firebane salve.
Chapter 3—Urban Combat: Fighting is practically a way of life in the cities of the Iron kingdoms, and the urban environment demands a slightly different approach to pounding the snot out of your opponent. This article is filled with dirty tricks and clever maneuvers for the urban combatant, giving players concrete rules for gouging eyes, stomping feet, applying a devastating chokehold, and even the old cheater’s standby—throwing dirt in an opponent’s eyes. There’s also a ton of new improvised weapons, allowing your character to dispatch his enemies with broken bottles, lengths of chain, and virtually anything heavy or sharp enough to do some serious damage.
Chapter 4—Urban Laborjacks: The cities of western Immoren are bastions of industry, and where there’s industry in the Iron Kingdoms there are laborjacks. This chapter presents two new laborjack chassis: the robust Artificer, a heavy laborjack, and the adaptable Bulldog, a light laborjack. In addition to the new chassis, this section of the book also offers new equipment for laborjacks of all types.
Chapter 5—Five Fingers: Well, we couldn’t write a book about adventures in the cities of the Iron Kingdoms without including an actual city, right? This chapter details the Ordic city of Five Fingers, the infamous Port of Deceit. Here you’ll find all you need to base an adventure or even an entire campaign in Five Fingers and fight against or become part of the powerful criminal enterprises that control the city.
Chapter 6—Urban Encounters: This chapter presents four short encounters that take place within the various cities of the Iron Kingdoms. These encounters can be used straight out of the book to demonstrate the unpredictable peril of urban life in the Iron Kingdoms or they can serve as a jumping-off point for larger adventures. Each encounter comes complete with new monsters and villains, including a diabolical serial killer in Ord, a group of skilled and deadly grave robbers in Caspia, and rumors of albino gatormen lurking in the sewers of Corvis.
Chapter 7—Servants of Thamar: Who doesn’t like a little necromancy in their roleplaying games? We sure do. This chapter gives players and Game Masters all they need to include Thamarites in their urban campaigns. The new Thamarite Advocate career lets players become devotees of the dark goddess with new Thamarite abilities and spells, while the new thrall crafting rules let them build a legion of undead followers. There’s also a ton of useful advice for the Game Master on including Thamarites in his game.
Chapter 8—Risk and Reward: Crime pays in the Iron Kingdoms, and the cities of western Immoren are rife with criminal enterprises of all types. This chapter details three new adventuring companies, each one focused on a specific criminal activity. Here you’ll have the opportunity to become a cortex smuggler in Cygnar, engage in human trafficking in Five Fingers, or take on the powerful bratyas in Khador.
Chapter 9—Friends in High Places: The last chapter in the book is a full-length urban adventure that takes place in Five Fingers. This adventure embroils the characters in the vicious gang activity of Five Fingers, putting them at the mercy of one of the infamous High Captains that rule the city. This one has it all: plenty of opportunity for research and roleplaying, thrilling combats, memorable villains—the works.
So if hardened characters in a gritty setting is up your alley, you’ll love Urban Adventure! Be sure to download the online extras we’re offering for No Quarter Presents: Iron Kingdoms Urban Adventure, including a detailed map of Five Fingers and printable battle maps for the adventure “Friends in High Places”.
Friends in High Places Maps