D&D - Iron Heroes...between the poles

[Particle_Man]

What the heck. How about Gestalt Iron Hero characters with magic items.

 

[Malachias Invictus]

What the heck. How about Gestalt Iron Hero characters with magic items.

Give 'em Divine Ranks.

 

[Cactot]

The problem being, one person's low powered game is another person's high powered game. Some people think D&D gets high powered at level 6, others think it gets high powered at level 40. Which is right? Answer: Both! It's an oppinion.

As for IH, its on the same power level as D&D for the most part (maybe a little lower due to lack of certain things D&D characters take for granted). So, if you like the D&D power curve, then you'll like the IH power curve. If you don't like the D&D power curve, you probably won't like the IH power curve.

I am jumping into this conversation a little late, but here is the way i judge "high-powered" versus "low-powered": I imagine the party, with their abilities, magic items, etc. in any given fantasy book, and think how they would dominate or be dominated. A decently built 12th-15th level party could have decimated the entire invading army from Return of the King, hell a semi-optimized wizard, druid, or cleric at around the same level could pretty much do it alone. (Hell a cleric with holy word and a metamagic widen rod could clear 80' radius (~20,000 sq/ft) swathes of baddies with no survivors likely, and no way any baddies would live if he used some prayer beads) Same in the Song of Ice and Fire series, the Wheel of Time series, or pretty much any other major work of fantasy literature you could care to think of, with the possible exception of the Riftwar saga and those novels based on the DnD universe, damn near everything else would be blown out of the water by an average party of adventurers from DnD.

That being said, I would not consider Iron Heroes "low powered" though they do posses lower capacity for mass slaughter than their magic equipped counterparts. If i were looking to do a lower power game, in a gritty atmosphere, i would be looking at the black company campaign setting (which is an excellent setting btw, i highly recommend it.)

 

[Odhanan]

By the way:

It would be overpowered if you gave IH characters D&D magic items, because the classes of Iron Heroes were designed to have the magic in them already.

There are rules to use magic items with IH characters. IH's rules for magic items and the way they differ from their D&D counterparts is described in Mastering Iron Heroes. This is basically the "Stormbringer" concept: an item brings some power to your character but also brings a variety of flaws with it. This makes it "balanced" on a give & take level.

 

[ruleslawyer]

I'm waiting to see what Mastering IH has to say on the topic, but for now I plan on adding in "non bonus" magical items. The PC's of IH are expected to hold their own within the CR system (which, yes, I use in practice) without the benefit of magical pluses. They don't need a +1 longsword, and if I gave them one it would (1) be boring, and (2) throw off my CR calculations. What I do plan on providing is a sword that glows when orcs are near, or a rope whose knots either cannot be untied or simply come apart with a tug, as its named owner requires.

Heh. My thoughts exactly. This is how I'm planning on distributing items for my IH/AE/D&D hybrid.

The thing I have never liked about D&D is how magic items are built in to the core mechanics. IMX, it detracts entirely from the "special-ness" of items and turns them into tools rather than heirlooms or story drivers, which is what I like them to be. The science-fiction feel of wands, magical swords, etc. as gear just isn't my cup of tea. I find that IH, by freeing one of the need to include "plus" items, allows one to seed the game with items that have a "kewl" or "heirloom" factor. I'm likely to include three kinds of items:

1) The drawback item. This is one that carries an ancient curse, is imbued with the spirit of a corrupting demon, damages or drains its user, etc.

2) Reward items: These are the Glamdrings and Stings of the world: Items that don't really carry a drawback, are rare as hen's teeth, and carry what amounts to an invisible level adjustment on the PC wielding them. In essence, you get the cool item instead of more XP.

3) Heirloom or "destiny" items: These require a particular bloodline or set of conditions to activate. They are likely to work only a few times, be geared to a specific quest, and/or involve a serious set of quests to be able to use in the first place.

Generally, I think, as long as you award items that don't carry flat bonuses and provide capabilities that don't directly stack with IH abilities, I think you're fine.