[HoE] Iron Oasis - a review - no maps

[Kirt Dankmyer <loki@triadntr.net>]

Okay, I've gotten a copy of Iron Oasis, and I'd like to record my opinion for
posterity. ;)

First, let's get this out of the way: I DON'T CARE THAT THERE WASN'T A
FULL-COLOR MAP. In fact, I'm glad Pinnacle didn't waste its money on such a
frivolity for something that's not a boxed set. The map that's in there,
combined with the general description of the geography, is more than enough
for me to run a game set there. If ya can't read the map, for fifty cents you
can get a magnifying glass. *I* didn't think it was that small.

Right, that unpleasantness is done. Now, the meat.

The player's section is very, very good, and I have to say covers everything
I'd want to know as a player, including the fact that Junkyard has a currency,
which I think is cool. Bo is a great character, and I hope he comes back
Harrowed, because he shows that Librarians don't have to be geeks. Bo gave me
a feel for the last chance for civilization in the Wasted West, and though
Junkyard has problems, I got a real sense of hope for the future of the Wasted
West. Also, it started giving me character ideas, which is always a good sign
for a player's section in any sourcebook.

My only annoyance was finding out that Spook Juice didn't really exist before
the Last War, but that's less of a problem with the Iron Oasis book and more a
problem with the previous source material, which didn't make that clear, IMHO.
I probably would have been less annoyed if I hadn't been running my game as if
Spook Juice existed pre-War. Ah, well, I'll just disregard that bit in my
game. ;)

I like the Sky Pirates rules, and the Bionics rules. I'd been waiting for them
for a long time. especially the Bionics rules. The new Junker powers that
dovetail with the flying stuff and the Bionics were a Good Thing (tm). (The
Junker in my game has been bothering me about zeppelins since he first started
playing, and now he has enough gear-head flying powers to cream in his jeans
about.) Since I felt the material on Junkyard was reasonably complete, I did
not mind the Sky Pirates stuff at all -- especially since it's relevant to
Junkyard's defence against Throckmorton. The rules were more than worth the
space they took up. And as someone who has played both Cyberpunk and
Shadowrun, I did NOT feel that the Bionics rules were "nothing new" at all.
The distinction between pre-War and Junker bionics was an interesting and
useful one, and the concept of the Soul Tap (eun cybernetics by sucking energy
from your soul -- whee) was both useful and scary. Combined with the Cyborgs
book, this should keep any would-be borg happy -- and no AI to worry about,
and no extra chips for the Marshal! As both a player and a GM I was pleased
with the new rules in the set.

The Marshal section was short but to the point, and I like the new rules on
explosives. Pinnacle gets a gold star from me, like the gold star I mentally
gave the Cyborgs book, for having at least one thing in the Marshal section
that *good* (rather than depressing and evil, like most Marshal information)
that the PCs don't know about.

My only complaint is that there was a bit too much of the "Always Drink Your
Ovaltine" Factor, i.e. there was a touch too much of "we'd tell you about
this, but we have an adventure/supplement/widget that'll outline it, so we're
not going to tell you about it, but we promise it'll be cool." I'm sorry, but
for my money, I don't care how cool it is, give me the outline at least, and
then I can decide if I want to buy the "cool thing" or not. I'm less likely to
buy a "cool thing" promoted in that way -- I'm probably NOT going to buy the
"Urban Renewal" adventure. Now, I understand if y'all didn't have room -- I
know that we got extra pages in Iron Oasis as it is -- but I'm more
sympathetic to "we don't have room, more info in another supplement" than I am
to what amounts to an faintly patronizing advertisement.

That aside, all and all, Iron Oasis is one of the better supplements for Hell
On Earth to date. If sacrificing a bleedin' full-color map gets us this level
of quality and this amount of material, I say: Bring on the black and white
maps, and more of them!
	-Loki

P.S. If you really want a full-color map, I suggest a photocopier set on
enlarge and some crayons.