EZG reviews Tinkering 301: Pimp my Alpha
This pdf clocks in at 8 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let’s take a look, shall we?
The pdf takes a cool approach to Alphas – it introduces unique customization options for Alphas via advanced inventions – these can only be applied to alphas and only one can be applied at a given time, unless it’s based on another one, in which case it may replace that.
It is this new class of options that can be enhanced via two new innovations, with the first option allowing tinkers to temporarily impede the use of advanced inventions and the second allowing the tinker to remove the advanced descriptor at the cost of increasing BP cost by multiplying it with two. As a new greater innovation, you can add up to two advanced inventions to a given alpha.
Further enhancements to str or dex, more hit points are among the options here – the 18 inventions provided do not simply adhere to solid, but none-too-exciting further enhancements to existing inventions, though – what about a defense mechanism that reflexively activates to provide DR versus a type of physical damage, surprisingly not the type that dealt the damage? Yeah, mechanically interesting! Now on the side of pretty awesomeness would be an integrated beehive that, while somewhat dangerous to harvest, continuously produces honey, beeswax etc.? (and yes, that can be VERY useful!)
A dream for maximizers would be the blast-resistant plating, which allows your automatons to take damage from kamikaze, not be automatically destroyed. Allowing automatons to cannibalize limited use inventions to refresh their own daily uses also offers A LOT of options to make some tricks.
Chest-mounted, spring-loaded punching gloves, sawblades etc also allow automatons to execute combat maneuvers after hitting targets, though one of them mentions the wrong maneuver – the disarm invention instead mentions “sunder.” Getting an umbrella-style static shield and rapid blasting of flasks as well as improved kamikaze avoidance. One particular protocol is also very interesting – it allows an automaton to deploy a copy of a just deployed automaton, but expends all remaining deploying capacities of the master. More importantly, the automaton may actually direct said progeny and needs no master and no explicit directive.
Now truly cool would be the inventions that overheat an automaton to continuously generate a smoke-screen or the one that always makes it possible to pin-point the master of the automaton -great narrative or fail-safe-devices!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not as perfect as most Interjection Games’ offerings. Layout adheres to the elegant 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf comes with thematically fitting stock-art.
Bradley Crouch’s latest addition to the Tinker’s excessive, awesome arsenal offers fun, complex options that make the Alpha stand out more – the advanced inventions offer a vast array of cool options, some of which are simply glorious – and of which we require more. Seriously, beyond further customization for the alpha, making it stand out so much more, not-so-far-advanced inventions would make for a cool tertiary class of inventions…but perhaps I’m at this points just too enamored with the tinker’s options.
The content herein is damn cool, though not flawless – and I would have loved for one or two more of the unique ones, but this remains a great expansion for the tinker indeed -My final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
You can get this cool supplement here on OBS!
If you like the Tinker, you may also want to check out the awesome book Interjection Games is kickstarting right now, Strange Magic. You can take a look here!
Endzeitgeist out.
