The CONSTRUCT MECHANUS download comes in the form of two PDF files. The first is a very attractive, full-color version of the supplement that weighs in at 24 pages, while the second a plain (though not plaintext) version of the same information suitable for printing. While the former is the most fun to read, particularly onscreen, the latter is far more appropriate when one gets down to the process of actually working with the information in the supplement. Illustrator Christopher Shy’s colorful, and sometimes bizarre, artwork is a must-see, as it evokes the intended mood – dark, moody, and even frightening – of the CONSTRUCT MECHANUS world posited by author Philip Reed.
Though slender, the supplement packs in a wealth of material. It introduces two types of mechanus for play, the stilt and the abombinus, along with guidelines detailing their assembly in game terms. The stilts use a point system to “buy” their body parts, and the end result of this process can be quite twisted and bizarre, with multiple arms tipped with blades, mechanical mandibles chomping away at its head, and spindly wings extending from its back. The abombinus are simply huge, powerful beings layered with armor and built for combat. Judicious application of CONSTRUCT MECHANUS’s new feats can modify a mechanus even further, adding mounted weapons, hidden compartments, and more.
Reed provides a pair of mechanus-only classes, the tanker and the mystic defender, though mechanus are perfectly capable of assuming any of the standard classes found in the PLAYER’S HANDBOOK. These classes play directly to the magical, inorganic nature of the mechanus, and feature not only standard progressions in attack bonuses and the like, but also alter the character as levels accumulate. In the case of the tanker, the ultimate mechanus fighting class, a mechanus who gains a level also begins to mutate. This mutation could mean thicker armor, or the sudden growth of a mounted weapon. Similarly, the mystic defender – a sort of preprogrammed magical warrior – spontaneously accrues spellcasting and other abilities as it advances, seemingly acting as an arcane magnet in a process that is mysterious and inexplicable.
An air of mystery hangs over the entire CONSTRUCT MECHANUS supplement. This is partly thanks to the text itself, which offers no easy answers for the origin of the mechanus, or the nature of their class- and feat-related transmutations, and partly due to the supplement’s brevity. Philip Reed’s supplement is low on fluff, even managing to cram in a couple of pages on black-powder weaponry, so if the prospective DM/GM wants answers to the conundrum of the mechanus…too bad. This is one of CONSTRUCT MECHANUS’s greatest strengths, as these strange beings should not be taken for granted. This is not the umpteenth variation on elves, dwarves, or some other fantasy-gaming staple, but something truly unique. One hopes that the promised follow-ups will be as rich as this inaugural entry.
