Ironclaw Gushing, Part I
okay, so the first thing i have to say about Ironclaw is its worldbuilding. the cover art...
gives the impression of it being a silly, high fantasy romp with funny talking animals, but when i started reading the lore parts of the book, and seeing a lot of the interior art, and noting the equipment tables, my mind was violently cast into memories of Albedo Anthropomorphics, a comic and tie-in TTRPG that's often noted for its mature, sober stories, and attention to technical detail in its setting.
while there's plenty of insert art that's consistent with the cartoony look on the cover, most of it feels much more faithful to the tone the game and lore seems to lean towards, from beautifully rendered paintings of anthropomorphic animals in lovingly detailed historical dress to anthropomorphized twists on well-known medieval engravings and tapestries, to drawings of a landscape scene that could have been by Victor Ambrus were it not for the bipedal boars.
It all comes together to convey the sense of this game being a real passion project for both furries and medieval history, not simply the common tropes of fantasy fiction looking for a gimmick to stand out with. and this is reinforced with things like a section in the equipment chapter briefly going over the details and history of Calabria's coinage system, and the Appendix that explains the three different calendars in use among its people, as well as how time of day is reckoned.
Like... I could and have gone off for hours about all the little bits and bobs that get me excited about this setting not because I have any particular passion for medieval history myself, but because of how clearly the writer of these sections has one, and how infectious the palpability of it is.
Well, that'll do for now, as a primer. Look forward to the next section where I start going off on the rules system.
On to Part II: Skill Checks
