This
sourcebook covers the mysterious scientists/engineers
know as the Junker's. The book contains the
usual mix of well-written background information,
comic material, new powers and new rules.
If any of you want to play Junkers you must
be prepared to ride in the back seat behind
other characters who are playing Sykers, Templars
and Doomsayers. All of which have powers that
can be used at any time, whereas the Junker
is more like the whole A-Team rolled into
one. All you need is an old car and a pile
of junk and very soon you'll have a tank.
Only problem is it all takes time. So make
sure you keep a few more ‘direct’
characters around as back up.
In the first section we
have all the usual background information
from the point of view of a Junker in the
Wasted West. In this case a Junker by the
name of Lazlo Huber. In his story we learn
how the Junkers gained their powers, how many
of these older Junkers worked on the bombs
that destroyed civilization thirteen years
ago and the friends and enemies of the Junkers
in the Wasted West. The story of how the Junkers
gained their powers goes back to the Weird
West, where there was a group of people known
as Mad Scientist's who created steam-punk
devices with the help of evil spirits. As
opposed to Junkers' who use the spirits of
humanities destroyed tech to meld any old
junk into working devices. Many of the people
who are now Junkers were once Mad Scientists
who worked on devices of war for various world
powers. The most destructive of these was
the Irradiated Ghost Rock Bombs, which were
used on Judgment Day to kill 95% of the world
population.
Then we get a section on
the allies of the Junkers' which include powerful
techno-spirits and the Chamber (a group of
Junkers' dedicated to some mystic cause).
The enemies of the Junkers' include Old Way
Indians (the bow and arrow type), gremlins
(who seek to disrupt Junker tech) and the
Neo-Luddites (a group against technology who
act like The Amish with attitude). On top
of all these are the Combine a group who seek
to use Junkers' to create Cyborgs, these Cyborgs
are for use in ‘PERSUADING’ everyone
to join their Combine (read Conquer).
In the next section we get
into the new rules and edges. This section
is ok, with some very good additions in the
form of a pair of new Edges called Browser
spirit and Familiar, both are powerful techno-spirits
who grant the Junker new powers and help with
a certain type of techno-magic, in addition
the Familiar gets a small robotic body (normal
the size of a cat.) These spirits grant the
Junker some good little powers that he can
use at any time as long as he has the chips
to pay.
Some of these powers are
Automatic hits with weapons, Increased vehicle
performance, Code breaking, Creating buildings
and Picking up old transmissions (from old
military bases telling people new password
to get into the armory). The other really
good part is the Tool Tricks; small acts of
magic that makes the Junkers life easier.
From Light (a small sphere of light that follows
the techno-mage) to Reload (Transfer ammo
from belt to gun very quickly.)
After this we get into the
new power section where we find out how to
build these wonders of Techno-Magic. With
the right set of powers and the time a player
can create Massive Walking Robots, Plasma
swords, rocket packs and anything else in
your twisted little mind. These powers are
a bit complicated to begin with so if your
a player you may want to work yourself through
several devices to see if you really want
to be a Junker. If you do… you have
the power to be one of best characters in
the party, at least once you have built a
few funky devices. For example the Junker
has the only ways of bringing dead characters
back to life, first using a powerful healing
device he can create and second by turning
the dead body into a cyborg (the only other
way come back is as Harrowed, Undead with
a soul and a lodger.)
That is pretty much it for
the Junkman Cometh, which is a good book for
a limited character type, but with this the
Junker has a few more options. And if you
do play a Junker my advice is to create a
lot of new Tool Tricks with the help of the
Marshal (so be nice all you Marshal's.) Even
with the Junkers themselves being limited,
the background material is very good leaving
lots plot hooks for the Marshal to work into
his game, you may get annoyed by the information
on Cyborgs which amounts to "get our
new sourcebook." But that one is very
good and is also reviewed by me on KMANT.
Junkman Cometh is a pretty
good book but being a Junker is a lot more
work than some of the other Arcane Backgrounds,
so check with any players who want to be one
that they are really up to it, if they are,
enjoy.
Other Sources:
Back to the Future (All
of them.): The Doctor/inventor who created
the time traveling car would be a good example
of a Junker.
Rifts RPG: Here we have
the OCC Techno-Mage, magic user who enchants
items to focus their powers.
The A-Team- For ideas on
what you can create with miscellaneous pieces
of junk.
Reviewed By Martin Dye |
