Iron Lore ... can't wait ... Any playtesters here?

[Felon]

I guess a rule change so you don't need magic weapons to hurt incorporal undead? Geoff.

Hmm. The solution can't be equipment-based, because that's not in keeping with the IL design philosophy.

I used to think that the solution would be to have an arcanist in the party, but Mike just said that there shouldn't be "required" party members.

I'm stumped.

 

[Andor]

Obvious answers.

Feats/skills/class abilities that allow you to make your weapon magic.

Feats/skills/class abilities that allow you to make the incorporeal corporeal.

Feats/skills/class abilites to allow you to hamstring a party member and run away. "I don't have to out run the shadows, I just have to outrun you."

Rules changes to incorporeality.

Go back to town and hire an NPC arcanist to magic your weapons for a day and a night.

Let them kill you, and then kick their ass after you rise up as undead.

 

[A'koss]

Obvious answers.

Feats/skills/class abilities that allow you to make your weapon magic.

I'm pretty sure Mike has already said IL won't allow you to do this.

Feats/skills/class abilities that allow you to make the incorporeal corporeal.

I can't see it being a feat or class ability as it would require you to have that class or feat in order to be able to fight them at all. A skill... perhaps. Maybe some sort of knowledge skill that could help you in some way? We keep hearing how IL makes new use of skills in combat - I can see that, but I have no idea how they'd implement it.

Feats/skills/class abilites to allow you to hamstring a party member and run away. "I don't have to out run the shadows, I just have to outrun you."

...

Heh, speaking of the most obvious solutions...

Rules changes to incorporeality.

It could be something as simple as silver or cold iron being capable of harming them now.

Cheers!

 

[Andor]

I'm pretty sure Mike has already said IL won't allow you to do this.

I can't see it being a feat or class ability as it would require you to have that class or feat in order to be able to fight them at all.

I should have said "skill/feat/class ability that allows you to treat a weapon as magic for the purpose of overcoming incorporeality/DR" I could easily see a chain of overcome DR feats. Or perhaps you just get to treat weapons as magic as you go up in levels, like a monk does with his fists.

But I suspect there are some changes to incorporeality as the easiest solution, otherwise a party without an arcanist could easily be TPKd by a single shadow if they didn't have the *whatever* that lets you hit incorporeality.

 

[A'koss]

I should have said "skill/feat/class ability that allows you to treat a weapon as magic for the purpose of overcoming incorporeality/DR" I could easily see a chain of overcome DR feats. Or perhaps you just get to treat weapons as magic as you go up in levels, like a monk does with his fists.

From the previous IL thread:

ecliptic observes:
I am just afraid the book may take it a bit too far. Like a feat that makes your weapon "magic" for going through damage reduction.

Mike replies:
ICK! No, IL does not cheese out on you like that.

However, on the DR side, I'm sure I've heard that there are ways to use skills, maneuvers or class abilities to find "the chink in the armor" as it were.

But I suspect there are some changes to incorporeality as the easiest solution, otherwise a party without an arcanist could easily be TPKd by a single shadow if they didn't have the *whatever* that lets you hit incorporeality.

I'm sure it'll have to be something so that anyone can do it...

Cheers!

 

[Andor]

From the previous IL thread:

ecliptic observes:
I am just afraid the book may take it a bit too far. Like a feat that makes your weapon "magic" for going through damage reduction.

Mike replies:
ICK! No, IL does not cheese out on you like that.

Heh. Amusingly enough there is already an official stock WOTC feat that let's you 'cheese' your way past the first 5 points of DR.

 

[Felon]

Well, D&D didn't invent ghosts, and they have been combatted in works of fiction without resorting to impaling them on magic swords.

I'm trying to recall some movie I saw when I was a kid. I believe it was called "Spectre" and it starred Robert Culp. He's an occult investigator who battles spiritual evil. The only scene I recall distinctly is one where he explains that while spirits can ignore our physical laws, certain words or symbols can stop them as effectively as brick walls can imprison a human. Maybe Knowledge Relgion or Planes will be a useful tool?

I always liked the idea of heroes actually having to figure out a monster's weakness in order to defeat it, rather than simply expect everything up to and including a tarasque to succumb to brute force. Then again, I guess with the emphasis on "ass-kicking" I've heard so far, I suspect IL will not be too different from vanilla D&D in this respect.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I like the idea of skills letting you get passed it, that's mighty interesting.

For a lot of it I'm thinking it will follow the pattern of the Oathsworn in AE and enable you to ignore certain qualities based on your own level and making modifications to your fighting style.

 

[Particle_Man]

Maybe the feat makes *you* go incorporeal and fight it on its own turf?

 

[Driddle]

Or maybe Santy Claws comes down from heaven and sprinkles incorporeal fairy dust on the good boys and girls so they can play an "interrupt" card on the bad ghosties...

(sheesh) So many convoluted, complicated ideas about a simple game mechanic that really isn't very important.

Does the Iron Lore treatment of incorporeal-ness give me a tax exemption? No? Then I don't care.

Not that the rest of you can't keep guessing, of course. I'm not the preachy sort ...