[Iron Heroes] What's this game all about?

[Nightfall]

Well, you can make a halfling just by taking the "small" trait really.

Yeah but it's really not the same. I mean it's like having Elijah Woods being a hobbit. It's not that it's no doable, it's just some times a strain on the belief that he's THAT short.

 

[Wik]

After our Savage Tide game ends, we were thinking of running a Dark Sun game with the Iron Heroes rules, calling it Iron Sun. I think it'd fit excellently.

You have to realize that IH is *not* low-magic. I made that mistake when I bought it - it very much expects a fair amount of magic, just not as much magic in the PC's hands. I have a review for the bestiary up... I think the bestiary is one of the best monster books out there, and fits in well with the general theme of IH (that is, to make combats as exciting as possible).

When we played, we had an archer, a weapon master, an Armiger, and an Arcanist. The whole group was pretty tough at the lower levels, taking out most of my monsters in only a round or two. Both the archer and weapon master were amazing characters - the other two didn't shine as much.

The rules in IH are great, but you really have to look over the system. Also, I found that it probably works better with players that are willing to read up and use the rules - it doesn't fit well with casual players (which is why my IH game bombed). Casual players just don't utilize things like challenges or stunts unless you out and out say "this area allows a combat stunt, if you'd like...". The token use can also be a bit iffy with casual players - our archer only saved up tokens when he felt he could get away with wasting an action, and our weapon master refused to touch 'em because they confused her. And the dodge token pool doesn't always make sense to me.

I really like the Man-At-Arms class. It allows you to replicate the effects of any feat in the game, with a bit of preparation. It's cool, because you can really play a jack-of-all-trades warrior, which is something I've always wanted to play.

 

[RigaMortus2]

So I read over the Reserve HPs and I have some questions about them and healing in general. Reserve HPs seem to be used between battles, with the exception of a feat (or perhaps class ability) that does let you use them during combat. How do characters heal themselves in mid-combat?

Also, IME (the games I've played in) even 1 combat can be draining. The Reserve HPs make mention that you should have enough Reserve HPs to get through about 4 encounters per day. Again, IME, I've found that after 2 (or in some cases 1) encounter, the party is pretty beat up and the healers are very drained. With only using a Reserve HP system to heal yourself, can you realistically get through 4 encounters before calling it a day?

Last question (for this post anyway )... I've read that some of the rules don't make sense or can be unbalanced. I have yet to run into this, but I am new to the system and have yet to run a game (I did create 4 characters to get the hang of it, an Archer, Armiger, Executioner and Berserker). Anyway, what are some common over-powered combinations or rules I should look out for?

 

[hong]

Yeah but it's really not the same. I mean it's like having Elijah Woods being a hobbit. It's not that it's no doable, it's just some times a strain on the belief that he's THAT short.

"Short" should really be taken to mean "short race". Being size Small for a human is more than just short, it's positively stunted (2-4' tall).

Alternatively, you could use it to build a child character (8-10 years old).

 

[Soul]

Dark Sun and IH would be an excellent match, I'd probably even still replace the arcanist with the true sorcery variant instead of using dnd castering classes, then go off the sacrifice rules to create preservers/defilers, the biggest issue would be psionics, trying to find a good psionic ruleset, especialy one that preserves the whole wild talent aspect, if I ever ran Dark Sun again I'd use IH.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Dark Sun and IH would be an excellent match, I'd probably even still replace the arcanist with the true sorcery variant instead of using dnd castering classes, then go off the sacrifice rules to create preservers/defilers, the biggest issue would be psionics, trying to find a good psionic ruleset, especialy one that preserves the whole wild talent aspect, if I ever ran Dark Sun again I'd use IH.

We are currently running standard 3.5 D&D in the Midnight campaign setting... I think IH would work REALLY well for Midnight...

 

[iwatt]

So I read over the Reserve HPs and I have some questions about them and healing in general. Reserve HPs seem to be used between battles, with the exception of a feat (or perhaps class ability) that does let you use them during combat. How do characters heal themselves in mid-combat?

Berzerkers can transfer RP during combat, and there is one trait that allows for the same. The heal skill allows for hp transfer as well, but it isn't very efficient.

Also, IME (the games I've played in) even 1 combat can be draining. The Reserve HPs make mention that you should have enough Reserve HPs to get through about 4 encounters per day. Again, IME, I've found that after 2 (or in some cases 1) encounter, the party is pretty beat up and the healers are very drained. With only using a Reserve HP system to heal yourself, can you realistically get through 4 encounters before calling it a day?

The only resource that determines how many encounters you can have in a day is hitpoints. Since abilities are token-based, and therefore used on a per/encounter instead of per/day, only how many hitpoints you have determines your durability. ME with D&D is that the 4 encounters per day doesn't hold much there either, unless you institue a lot of time constraints.

Last question (for this post anyway )... I've read that some of the rules don't make sense or can be unbalanced. I have yet to run into this, but I am new to the system and have yet to run a game (I did create 4 characters to get the hang of it, an Archer, Armiger, Executioner and Berserker). Anyway, what are some common over-powered combinations or rules I should look out for?

Check the errata Armiger in the Iron Heroes forum. much betetr than the one in the book. (more consistent, more logical, and a bit stronger as well).

A lot of people feel the Might Build, Weapon Bond (Con) berzerker is a bit over the top.

Personally I houseruled Mighty Build away, not so much because of the power as because of the visual of a guy swinging a freaking 8' sword.

 

[RigaMortus2]

A lot of people feel the Might Build, Weapon Bond (Con) berzerker is a bit over the top.

That is a good one... I came up with a Might Build, Weapon Bond (Dex) Archer...

Can use a Large sized Composite Longbow (2d6 base damage) and add Dex mod to damage, not bad...

 

[Pbartender]

Oh, and here's an Iron Heroes Primer (.doc, 66 kB) that I typed up as a cheat sheet for stunt, challenges and reserver points for my players.

You guys might find it useful.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Oh, and here's an Iron Heroes Primer (.doc, 66 kB) that I typed up as a cheat sheet for stunt, challenges and reserver points for my players.

You guys might find it useful.

Thanks you. That should come in handy. I haven't gotten to the stunt part yet, skimmed over them. I just read them now though, and I am slightly confused. Why would you use a stunt when a normal skill or ability check would work? I assume the answer is, "You wouldn't, but there are times when a normal skill or ability check doesn't quite cover it." to which I would ask, can you provide an example of when you would use a stunt over a skill or ability check?