During your stay in the lovely but rugged lands of Khador, whether touring the scenic steppelands of our Khardic forefathers, riding the Iron Highway on state-of-the-art Blaustavya trains, or visiting the ancient shrines and temples of both the Good Twin and the Shaper of Man, there are some things you will often be called upon to know.

Our land is a proud Monarchy, headed by Queen Ayn Vanar XI. Her bloodline draws back to the ancient pre-Orgoth horselords, and she is a fine example of Khadoran strength and austerity. Her house and army are strong, and she is admired and beloved by her people. For fourteen years she has given the Khadoran people much to be proud of. Serfdom has been abolished by royal decree since 546 AR; it is said that every loyal Khadoran is truly free.

The weather in Khador has always been described as “harsh,” as our long winters freeze this part of Immoren for five months out of the year, but this is mostly only true of the northern reaches. Our farmers and craftsmen are known for their efficiency and strength, making due with relatively short growing seasons and the threats of the northern wilderness. Against these dangers the Winter Guard is ever-vigilant, patrolling our major settlements constantly.

Every Khadoran is required to register for possible conscription upon reaching adulthood. In times of need, every male that is of age may be called upon to assist the Winter Guard to keep the peace and defeat our enemies. As a matter of civic pride, nearly all Khadoran men volunteer for military service at seventeen years of age. Khadorans have always been a strong people, and visitors are advised to avoid arousing the locals’ tempers.

The worship of Morrow is predominant, though the Old Faith of Menoth remains strongly anchored in our culture. Ever respectful of our ancient traditions, we honor Menoth the Lawgiver and Shaper of Man, all the while seeking self-betterment and enlightenment as Morrow would have us. In Khador more than anywhere else, the faiths of Menoth and Morrow cohabitate harmoniously, each held firmly in the hearts of our people. Please note that leaders of the Old Faith here in the North do not recognize the Heirarch in Southern Cygnar, instead relying upon the older tradition of leadership by a number of Visgoths. The Church of Morrow in Khador, as with everywhere else, respects the authority of the Primarch and the Exordeum.

Our money is accepted throughout the Iron Kingdoms and is well known for its reliable purity, the artisanship of its design, and its economical proportions. Khadoran currency is minted in accordance with the Corvis Treaties. Each is stamped with the likeness of the current monarch on the obverse, and the coin’s namesake on the reverse.

The Horn is cast in copper
The Hoof is cast in silver
The Talon is cast in gold
The Fang is cast in platinum

When visiting Khador, you are advised to trade in foreign jink at the nearest tax collector’s office to ensure favorable exchange rates. Many loyal Khadoran shopkeepers and professionals will not accept foreign moneys, or charge an exorbitant fee for dirtying their hands with the stuff.

When traveling overland, keep an eye out for any Czavyana Trading Posts that may be available. In addition to excellent trade goods at good prices, Czavyana maintains inns that can provide a weary traveler with a soft bed, a hot bath, and a good warm meal with the best of Khadoran hospitality.

*Note: This is a rewrite of an older article regarding Khador.

It’s official, the Iron Kingdoms World Guide has shipped. The folks at Privateer Press announced it today on their website. The official street date in March 11th, and I anticipate that the folks at Clark’s Trading here in Santa Rosa will be getting regular pesters from myself and other Iron Kingdoms enthusiats on a daily basis until it hits the shelves.

True to earlier forecasts of the IKWG being available around March of this year, Privateer Press has announced that they’ve sent the final layouts to the printshop. The new sourcebook and companion to last year’s IKCG includes the following long-awaited features:

• Full Color Detailed Map of the Iron Kingdoms
• Resources and Industry Maps for All Regions
• Complete Details for Every City – Industry, People, Points of Interest, Politics, and More…
• Comprehensive Timeline and History
• 400 Pages and Richly Illustrated
• Details on the Monarchs and Rulers of Every Kingdom

They were also so kind as to provide a zipped PDF with a sneak preview of four pages of the Iron Kingdoms’ history (pages 10-13 of the finished product). I’m giddy with anticipation.

*edit on 2005-01-24: Discount RPG will let you pre-order this at a discount now.

It looks like the long-awaited IKWG will be a little while more in the waiting. Originally the contents of this book were slated to be included with the IKCG, but there was just too much content, so they had to split it in two. This followup to the IKCG will include more of the nitty-gritty details about living in the Iron Kingdoms, as opposed to the game mechanisms needed to run a game there. Sections are expected to be included for each of the major cities in Western Immorren, including more that just a simply statblock of population sizes, wealth, and major industries. We can expect to find an awful lot of fluffy goodness in here.

Privateer Press announced today that they expect to have this out in March of 2005, the most specific promise-date we’ve seen since the original IKCG project was split. The sticker price on this should be around USD$39.95, but if it’s half as good as I expect it to be, it’ll be worth twice that. A smallish mock-up of the cover art is available on the Privateers’ site.

Sometimes you come across a really good explanation for why something is the way it is in a given campaign setting. On the subject of flying machines in the Iron Kingdoms, we are given further evidence that the Privateer Press writers know what they’re doing:

This question comes up a lot. There are a few hot air balloons in the Iron Kingdoms, mostly as a toy for the very wealthy. You can only go up and down in them. They aren’t dirigible. When Vinter Raelthorne made his escape in a hot air balloon, he went into the Bloodstone Marches because that is where the wind took him. He certainly didn’t want to go there (but it worked out to his advantage when he did).

One out of game reason why there aren’t any aircraft in the IK is lighter-than-air dirigibles and sleek and aerodynamic aerostats go against the heavy, bulky, ironclad imagery that forms the core of the Iron Kingdoms setting. Another out of game reason is that it makes rapid transportation possible outside of preset travel routes. If you want to get from Caspia to Corvis in a hurry in the current setting, you take the train to Bainsmarket (passing through Steelwater Flats and Fharin and many other little towns on the way) and then cut through a pass in the Dragonspine Peaks (passing the Tomb of Lost Souls on the way) to the river and then take a boat down stream to Corvis. With an airplane, you would take off from Caspia and land in Corvis and totally avoid any interesting scenery or encounters. Airplanes pretty much negate geography.

An in-game reason for the lack of aircraft is that no one has developed any. No one wants to break the surly bonds of earth and touch the face of god when that god is Lord Toruk or one of his children. In the real world, we only have to worry about hitting a flock of geese or something. In the Iron Kingdoms, there are big flying monsters who will have the home field advantage. An early airplane would be completely out maneuvered and outclassed by any flying creature. And most flying monsters are predatory and would likely attack a flying intruder into their domain.

After much waiting, tearing of cloth, and gnashing of teeth, Privateer Press really did manage to get the IKCG written, printed, shipped, and into my happy little hands. This was a couple of weeks ago now, and I’ve had some time to thumb through everything two or three times, so here we go:

First off, it’s huge. While the artwork is excellent, it doesn’t pad out the book as much as one might expect. There really is 400 pages worth of material in there. Secondly, it is chock-full of Iron Kingdoms. If you aren’t familiar with the Iron Kingdoms, it is a “Full Metal Fantasy” setting, by which it is meant that the setting combines an era of technological innovation and arcane development that are progressing hand-in-hand. This means 400 pages of flavor, a handful of new classes including the Bodger, Gunmage, and Arcane Mechanik, and lots and lots and lots of new rules that further bolster the flavor of the setting.
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At long, long last Privateer Press is reporting that not only is the IKCG written, edited, laid-out, printed, proofed, re-printed, and shipped. It has also been received by distributors. Keenly aware that they have a PR problem with the severe delays in releasing this product, they had the excellent taste to display the following on their main page:

Flying pigs spotted off the coast of Washington!
[7/20/04 19:28 GMT]
First reports have started popping up of distributors receiving the Iron Kingdoms Character Guide! We have seen the reprinted sections of the book, and though the additional delay was inconvenient, we are quite happy with the decision to fix the sections that were too dark. The book finally is real, and should be in stores within the next week or sooner…

Note that I’m not holding my breath yet, but I’ll probably feel a little less pessimistic when I head by my FLGS on Friday to pester the staff about whether UPS has shown up yet.

It’s out. Or so they say. Sure, the IKCG showed up at Origins this week, but could it be that Privateer Press has actually managed to write edit, lay-out, proof, print and ship the dang thing for general consumption. Well, that’s what they’d have us think:

The wait is coming to a close, the ulcers are beginning to heal, and the Iron Kingdoms Character Guide is SHIPPING. It’s printed. It’s finished. It’s being packed into boxes, taped shut, slapped with packing slips, and loaded onto trucks.

Heck, they even put out a third preview complete with the forward by Joe Martin, Editor-in-Chief and all-around nice guy.

Unfortunately, my local gaming store doesn’t reserve copies, so I may have to resort to violence when their normal shipment arrives this coming Wednesday. I swear I won’t be responsible for my actions if it is sold out by the time I show up on my lunch break…

The folks at 3rdedition.org managed to shoehorn themselves into the headquarters of Privateer Press and manhandled Matt Wilson into giving them a tour of the facilities. Check out the full article for their take on the good ship Privateer. Now if only somebody that’s going to Origins would be so kind as to pick me up an IKCG and mail it back to me…

The Privateers are at it again. Having shipped the IKCG to the printers back in May, the crew of Privateer Press have decided to wave pages of their long-awaited tome under our noses. Last week we were given glimpses of several sections, and this week we get even more.

The second preview contains a lot of juicy goodness:

1. A fraction of the explanation of the Morrowan Calendar, including major feastdays and the origins of month names.
2. The the Cleric class entry and the beginning of the Druid entry.
3. A snippet of item descriptions for miscellaneous equipment.
4. The tail end of the description of the god Menoth, and the beginning of Dhunia’s entry. Information regarding the origin of Menoth is especially tastey. We also see that Dhunia has four brand-spanking-new clerical domains, one for each season.
5. A pageful of alchemical healing items. A couple of them look at lot like what my players have been relying on in my Falconbridge campaign. Volden Mirsk would be proud. My version is a lot more potent and I have made them much more affordable, but I tend to run low-money games, so I suppose it fits. Nothing listed for alchemical goods is what I would normally consider a good bargain.
6. An appendix of clerical titles (Priest, Chaplain, Battle Chaplain, Rector, et cetera).

Overall, this provides a pleasant combination of fluff and crunchy rules-stuff. I was seriously concerned, when the IKCG and the IKWG were split apart from the original IKCG project, that we’d get a whole bunch of new rules in the first book, and all the excellent Iron Kingdoms fluff in the second book. I recognize that more people are looking for crunchy rules than fluffy background information, but I’m glad that it at least looks like they’re putting in a solid effort to achieve a balance.