Iron Kingdoms Conversion

[scc]

OK, people have done Iron Kingdoms conversions before, but I am a little unhappy with them, they tend to focus on the SteamJacks and other minor matters, rather then dealing with core-to-the-universe concepts. 'Jacks are simply robots with a hardwired NAI and Mute, plus probably some other disadvantages relating to the fact that they can't unerstand the spoken word.

Now this won't be a perfect conversion, a lot of events in-universe are driven by something called the War of Souls, a war between gods, which whilest an interesting setting feature, may not be good for roleplaying. Beyond that, I get the feeling that decisions are otfen made based upon what would be good for Warmachines, regardless on it's what it means for the setting.

Right now magic in the IK, as of the newest RPG rules, is Threshold-Limited Magic with a slight twist, maximum range of spells is controlled by a caster's Control Area, I am unsure if this would be an modifier/enhancement on Magery or something seperate. Now Threshold's will be pretty low but regain very fast, on the order of something like complete recovery every 10 seconds. Note that being a Magic user is a decision made at creation and it can't be changed later, or thats what I get from the rules.

Warcasters are a bit of a problem but, specfically what makes them Warcasters. Simply being a Warcaster looks to be a +100% enhancement to Magery, but that represents untrained Warcaster, a fully trained one posses a Power. That Power has a Source of Magic, and uses Magery as it's Power Talent and is limited in range to the exact some one as spells, and it's looks like it includes Telesend in order to instruct 'Jacks, but beyond that I don't know what else it includes, if anything.

Mechanika is probably the bigest stumbling block for any IK conversion. When 'Magic Item' creation is standardized, modulized and coming of the factory line you need rules for making all those parts and putting them together. At a minimum you needs rules for Accumluators, Runeplates and housings, advanced rules would also include various types of condutes and other power transmission cabling, sockets, switches and all sorts of narrower use addations depending upon what you want the device to do. It would also require two new skills, one for designing Mechanika devices and another for actually building.

Runeplates are simple enough, they're basically scrolls that use an external power source, scribed on metal, you'd need skill on alchemy and symbol drawing skills, Scribe Scroll spell and the cost would probably be about three times normal for casting the spell. Stormchambers, an alternative to Accumluators that are only good for electrity based effects are the Power enchantment, but beyond that I'm stumped, any ideas?

[mhd]

If you're complaining that conversions are too much focused on 'jacks and Warmachine paraphernalia, in my opinion that should include the current official system. The old D&D rules might never been the best fit for them, but neither does the current implementation match all the setting details, especially regarding magic.

So I wouldn't pay too much mind to the refresh mechanics of spellcasting, whether it's Vancian daily casting or threshold-based. The Focuser/Weaver (or whatever it was called) distinction also seems not too much based in the setting background, whereas the sorcerer/wizard split that was deemed quite important in the history of the setting (witch hunts) is now just two different spell lists and all of a sudden has an elemental theme.

Between the background over the entire time and the two systems both seeming to be a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to fulfilling its premise, I think one of the most important things about doing your own conversion is making clear how magic integrates into the setting & gameplay before, preferably so that it doesn't come as a surprise to the players.

After that try to express it in GURPS rules, where I don't expect that the current implementation details matter a lot.

(From my personal experience: Steamjacks in GURPS are utterly dreadful. I wouldn't recommend setting player magic on a level where they can easily destroy them. So regarding jacks and warcasters, you're better off with the D20-ish power estimates than "everyone gets to be a battlefield superhero" of the current skirmish game incarnation)

[scc]

That's because the setting is no longer a setting with wargame, it's a wargame with a setting, and decisions are made based upon what's good for the wargame, not what makes sense in-universe or would make for a better story