Iron Heroes - I have it in my hands!

[Matrix Sorcica]

Okay...this makes LOTS of sense - simple and intuitive. Sounds similar to the system in WFRP and the one from Black Company (but less complex) as well. So there are specified mana costs for various areas of effect (I imagine a 30' cone is more than a 10' cone? or a 30' line?), energy types (fire and what else?), and damage increases. Since every mana spent on damage adds 2 to the casting DC, I think you'll see fewer direct damage spells. I assume there are mana costs for the non-damaging spells as well? How are those laid out?

Well, you need a certain mastery rank to achive certain effects. Fire requires mastery 1, Cold requires mastery 4 etc.
A ray requires mastery 2, cone 15 feet mastery 3. The mana cost is highest requirement plus half the other requirements.
Damage requires 1 per 1d6. You can max. deal your mastery rank in d6's of dam. (10 at 20th level.).
The other spell effects follow a similar pattern. Alter Mind, duration, number of targets, creature type etc. affects mana cost and required rank.

 

[JohnSnow]

Well, you need a certain mastery rank to achive certain effects. Fire requires mastery 1, Cold requires mastery 4 etc.
A ray requires mastery 2, cone 15 feet mastery 3. The mana cost is highest requirement plus half the other requirements.
Damage requires 1 per 1d6. You can max. deal your mastery rank in d6's of dam. (10 at 20th level.).
The other spell effects follow a similar pattern. Alter Mind, duration, number of targets, creature type etc. affects mana cost and required rank.

Sounds like mastery levels replace spell levels...with 1-10 instead of 0-9 (a weird D&Dism to say the least).

So a 6d6, 30' Cone of Cold would cost (7 + 4/2 + 6) = 15 mana. And its DC would be 15 + 5 + 6 (because damage counts twice) = 26. And this would require at least a mastery level of 7 to cast. So does your Primary Spell Mastery follow the same progression as Primary feat mastery? (i.e. Mastery 7 at 11th level).

EDIT: Actually I was just noticing this...

An arcanist chooses at 1st level which scool to be his primary and another to be his secondary. At 3rd level he gets a tertiary scool and at 5th level he gets access to all scools. This determines his spell mastery ratings in the various schools.
The mastery determines what is possible to do with the spell.

And while checking the hunter, I noticed that he gets Mastery 2 in Tactics at level 1 + Mastery 1 in Lore. Then he gets Mastery 1 in weapons at level 3 and gets access to other feats at level 5. Awfully familiar...

So I'm guessing that Mike's canny enough that he used the exact same system for spell mastery that he did for feat mastery. He's often said that Spells and Feats are the primary "level-based" effects in the game.

On that issue, how does feat mastery stack when multiclassing?

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

oops, you get mastery 10 at 17th level.
So yeah, it follows feat mastery.

Haven't found feat mastery and multi-classing, but I guess it just follows your class level, and stacks with other class levels that advance in that feat mastery. Like the stacking of uncanny dodge or sneak attack, I guess.

 

[Tear44]

I'm not sure combat "taking longer" is quite so bad. If IH manages to make combat an entertaining and interesting part of the narrative of the game, then it's OK if it takes longer.

I agree with this 100%.

That being said, what if the reference to comabt taking longer isn't in terms of acctual time, but an increased number of turns? IH characters will be spending more "time" evaluating enemies, looking for ropes to climb and setting up for stunts. It maybe more of a more activities in combat causeing it to carry over in to more turns?

Or maybe it is just longer.

 

[Kintara]

28 feats go to mastery 10, although not all of them have ten tiers.

Uhhuhuhuhuhuh...Tuhwenty Eight....

I'm so...happy....

Those two random feats are awesome. Razor Fiend. God, a TWF (oh god TWF Mastery....) Weapon Master will be doing an utterly insane number of dagger attacks. All those hits....

If I get any happier, alll my posts will be stunned ellipses. This is going to be better than I imagined. I just know it.

 

[JPL]

And they are!!
And I really like those rules, very simple and flexible, yet wholly adequate.

To get a +2 bonus to an ability check, suffer 5 hit points of strain damage. No upper limit, so anything's possible!

Cool

Like that time I tried to deadlift 195 for five reps. Not a cleric in sight, either.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Like that time I tried to deadlift 195 for five reps. Not a cleric in sight, either.

JPL... of Legacy

 

[Particle_Man]

You can max. deal your mastery rank in d6's of dam. (10 at 20th level.)

Hmmm...so there is no equivalent to the 18th level archmage casting an 18d6 damage spell?

 

[Kunimatyu]

Sorcica, any chance we could hear about the Armiger class?

The Indomitable Wall of Steel technique in particular sounds neat.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Hmmm...so there is no equivalent to the 18th level archmage casting an 18d6 damage spell?

This is a gross oversimplification, but I am not at all surprised to find that "caster level" seems to advance at about half the rate of regular D&D.